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C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on Proverbs 13:14

Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Browse this work.

Proverbs13:14

Pro 13:14 14 The doctrine of the wise man is a fountain of life,      To escape the snares of death.

An integral distich, vid., p. 8 of the Introduction. Essentially like 14a, Pro 10:11 says, “a fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous.” The figure of the fountain of life with the teleological 'לסור וגו (the ל of the end and consequence of the action) is repeated Pro 14:27. The common non-biblical figure of the laquei mortis leads also to the idea of death as יקוּשׁ a fowler, Psa 91:3. If it is not here a mere formula for the dangers of death (Hitzig), then the proverb is designed to state that the life which springs from the doctrine of the wise man as from a fountain of health, for the disciple who will receive it, communicates to him knowledge and strength, to know where the snares of destruction lie, and to hasten with vigorous steps away when they threaten to entangle him.

C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, Proverbs 13:14. Public domain.

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