CHAPTER III _An exhortation to obedience_, 1-4; _trust in God's providence_, 5, 6; _to humility_, 7, 8; _to charity_, 9, 10; _to submission to God's chastening_, 11, 12. _The profitableness of wisdom in all the concerns of life_, 13-26. _No act of duty should be deferred beyond the time in w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:2. _FOR LENGTH OF DAYS_] THREE eminent _blessings_ are promised here: 1. ארך ימים orech yamim, long days; 2. שנות חיים shenoth chaiyim, years of lives; 3. שלום shalom, prosperity; i.e. health, long life, and abundance.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:3. _LET NOT MERCY AND TRUTH FORSAKE THEE_] Let these be thy constant _companions_ through life. _BIND THEM ABOUT THY NECK_] Keep them constantly _in view_. _Write_ _them upon the table of thine heart _- let them be thy _moving_ _principles; feel_ them as well as _see_ them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:4. _SO SHALT THOU FIND FAVOUR_] Thou shalt be acceptable to God, and thou shalt enjoy a sense of his approbation. _AND GOOD UNDERSTANDING_] Men shall _weigh_ thy character and conduct; and by this _appreciate_ thy motives, and give thee credit for sincerity and uprightness. Though... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:5. _TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL THINE HEART_] This is a most important precept: 1. God is the _Fountain_ of all good. 2. He has made his intelligent creatures _dependent_ upon himself. 3. He requires them to be _conscious_ of that dependence. 4. He has _promised_ to communicate w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:6. _IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM._] Begin, continue, and end every work, purpose, and device, with God. Earnestly pray for his _direction_ at the _commencement_; look for his continual _support_ in the _progress_; and so begin and continue that all may terminate in his glory: an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:8. _IT SHALL BE HEALTH TO THY NAVEL_] We need not puzzle ourselves to find out what we may suppose to be a more _delicate_ meaning for the original word שר _shor_ than _navel_; for I am satisfied a more proper cannot be found. It is well known that it is by the _umbilical cord_ tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:9. _HONOUR THE LORD WITH THY SUBSTANCE_] The מנחה MINCHAH or gratitude-offering to God, commanded under the _law_, is of endless obligation. It would be well to give a portion of the _produce of_ _every article_ by which we get our support to _God_, or to the _poor_, the representat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:11. _DESPISE NOT THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD_] The word מוסר _musar_ signifies _correction, discipline_, and _instruction_. _Teaching_ is essentially necessary to show the man the _way_ in which he is to go; _discipline_ is necessary to render that _teaching_ _effectual_; and, often... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:12. _WHOM THE LORD LOVETH_] To encourage thee to bear correction, know that it is a proof of God's love to thee; and thereby he shows that he treats thee as a father does his son, even that one to whom he bears the fondest affection. The last clause the _Septuagint_ translate μαστι... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:13. _HAPPY_ IS _THE MAN_ THAT _FINDETH WISDOM_] This refers to the advice given in Proverbs 2:4; where see the note. Proverbs 2:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:14. _FOR THE MERCHANDISE_] סחר _sachar_, the _traffic_, the _trade_ that is carried on by _going through countries_ and _provinces_ with such articles as they could carry on the backs of camels, c. from סחר _sachar_, to _go about, traverse_. _Chaffarynge_; Old MS. Bible. _AND THE G... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:15. _SHE_ IS _MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES_] מפנינים _mippeninim_. The word principally means _pearls_, but may be taken for _precious stones_ in general. The root is פנה _panah_, he _looked, beheld_; and as it gives the idea of the eye always being turned towards the observer, Mr. Par... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:16. _LENGTH OF DAYS_ IS _IN HER RIGHT HAND_] A wicked man shortens his days by _excesses_; a righteous man prolongs his by _temperance_. _IN HER LEFT HAND RICHES AND HONOUR._] That is, her hands are full of the choicest benefits. There is nothing to be understood here by the _right... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:17. _HER WAYS_ ARE _WAYS OF PLEASANTNESS_] These blessings of true religion require little comment. They are well expressed by the poet in the following elegant verses: - "_Wisdom Divine_! Who tells the price Of Wisdom's costly merchandise? _Wisdom to silver we prefer,_ And _gol... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:18. _SHE_ IS _A TREE OF LIFE_] עץ חיים _ets chaiyim_, "the tree of lives," alluding most manifestly to the tree so called which God in the beginning planted in the garden of Paradise, by eating the fruit of which all the wastes of nature might have been continually repaired, so as t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:19. _THE LORD BY WISDOM HATH FOUNDED THE EARTH_] Here wisdom is taken in its proper acceptation, for that infinite knowledge and skill which God has manifested in the creation and composition of the earth, and in the structure and economy of the heavens. He has established the _orde... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:20. _BY HIS KNOWLEDGE THE DEPTHS ARE BROKEN UP_] He determined in his wisdom how to _break up_ the _fountains of the_ _great deep_, so as to _bring a flood of waters upon the earth_; and by his knowledge those fissures in the earth through which _springs_ of water arise have been ap... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:21. _LET NOT THEM DEPART FROM THINE EYES_] Never forget that God, who is the author of nature, directs and governs it in all things; for it is no self-determining agent. _KEEP SOUND WISDOM AND DISCRETION_] תושיה ומזמה _tushiyah_ _umezimmah_. We have met with both these words befor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:24. _WHEN THOU LIEST DOWN_] In these verses (Proverbs 3:23-20) the wise man describes the confidence, security, and safety, which proceed from a consciousness of innocence. Most people are afraid of _sleep_, lest they should never awake, because they feel they are not prepared to a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:27. _WITHHOLD NOT GOOD FROM THEM TO WHOM IT IS DUE_] מבעליו _mibbealaiv, from the lords of it_. But who are they? The _poor_. _And what art thou, O rich man_? Why, thou art a _steward_, to whom God has given substance that thou mayest divide with the poor. They are the right owners... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:28. _SAY NOT UNTO THY NEIGHBOUR_] Do not refuse a kindness when it is in thy power to perform it. If thou have the means _by_ _thee_, and thy neighbour's necessities be pressing, do not put him off till the _morrow_. Death may take either him or thee before that time.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:30. _STRIVE NOT WITH A MAN_] Do not be of a litigious, quarrelsome spirit. Be not under the influence of too nice a sense of honour. If thou must appeal to judicial authority to bring him that wrongs thee to reason, avoid all enmity, and do nothing in a spirit of revenge. But, if he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:31. _ENVY THOU NOT THE OPPRESSOR_] O how bewitching is _power_! Every man desires it; and yet all hate _tyrants_. But query, if all had _power_, would not the major part be _tyrants_?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:32. _BUT HIS SECRET_] סודו _sodo, his secret assembly_; godly people meet there, and God dwells there.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:33. _THE CURSE OF THE LORD_] No godly people meet in such a house; nor is God ever an _inmate_ there. _BUT HE BLESSETH THE HABITATION OF THE JUST._] He considers it as his _own temple_. There he is worshipped in spirit and in truth; and hence God makes it his _dwelling-place_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:34. _SURELY HE SCORNETH THE SCORNERS; BUT HE GIVETH GRACE_ _UNTO THE LOWLY._] The _Septuagint_ has Κυριος ὑπερηφανοις αντιτασσεται, ταπεινοις δε διδωσι χαριν. _The Lord resisteth the_ _proud; but giveth grace to the humble_. These words are quoted by St. _Peter_, 1 Peter 5:5, and b... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 3:35. _THE WISE_] The person who follows the dictates of wisdom, as mentioned above, _shall inherit glory_; because, being one of the _heavenly family_, a _child of God_, he has thereby heaven for his _inheritance; but fools_, such as those mentioned Proverbs 1:7 and Proverbs 2:12; Pr... [ Continue Reading ]