Matthew Poole and continuators on Proverbs 24

1 BE not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them .

Their Company or manner of life.

Marginal references: Ps. 37. 1. &c. & 73. 3. Ch. 3. 31. & 23. 17. Vers. 19.

2 For their heart studieth destruction , and their lips talk of mischief.

How they may oppress and destroy others, which yet at last falls upon their own heads.

Marginal references: Ps. 10. 7.

3 Through wisdom is an house built, and by understanding it is established .

There is no need that thou shouldst raise thy Self and Family by ruining others, as the manner of wicked men is, which thou maist more easily and effectually do by Wisdom, and the fear of God.

4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Which in Scripture Phrase includes the love and practice of that which we know.

5 A wise man is strong , yea, a man of knowledg increaseth strength.

Is couragious and resolute, and able by Wisdom to do greater things than others can accomplish by their own strength.

Marginal references: Ch. 21. 22. Eccles. 9. 16.; Heb. is in strength.; Heb. strengtheneth might.

6 For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war : and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

War is better managed by Wisdom than by strength So this proves what he said in the last Verse.

Marginal references: Ch. 11. 14. & 15. 22. & 20. 18.

7 Wisdom is too high for a fool , he openeth not his mouth in the gate .

Either 1. really, it is above his reach or capacity. Or 2. in his opinion; he judgeth it too hard for him, he despairs of attaining it, he pretends the impossibility of it, because he will not put himself to the charge or trouble of getting it: as on the contrary Wisdom is said to be easie to him that understandeth, Prov. 14. 6. because he seriously giveth his mind to it, and therefore easily and certainly attains to it.

For a wilful Fool, or a wicked Man, whose lusts enfeeble and darken his Mind, and make it uncapable of Wisdom.

Either 1. he can say nothing for himself when he is accused before the Magistrate, for which he gives frequent occasion. Or 2. he knows not how to speak acceptably, and profitably in the publick Assembly among wise men.

8 He that deviseth to do evil, shall be called a mischievous person .

Heb. a Master of mischief. The sense is, Though he cover his wicked devices with fair pretences and would be better esteemed, yet he shall be noted and branded with that infamy which is due to him.

9. The thought of foolishness is sin : and the scorner is an abomination to men .

The very inward thought or contrivance of evil, of which he spake, v. 8. even before it break forth into action, is a sin in God's sight, and it is hateful to God. Or, foolishness is put for foolish or wicked men, by comparing this with the next clause where the scorner is opposed to it. So the sense is, All the Thoughts of wicked men are onely evil and that continually, as is said of man in his corrupt estate, Gen. 6. 5. and therefore abominable to God.

He who not onely deviseth and practiseth wickedness, but obstinately persists in it, and rejects all admonitions against it.

Is abominable not onely to God, as all sinners are, but to all sober men.

Marginal references: Or, but.

10 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small .

If thou art impatient and unable to bear sufferings, if thy resolution flag, and thou givest way to despondency or dejection of Mind.

Heb. is narrow, it lives in a little compass, it is as strait as thy condition is; for there is an Elegant allusion in the Hebrew words. The sense is, This is a sign that thou hast but little Christian strength or courage, for that is best known by adversity.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1+ letters] row.

11 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain :

When it is in thy power to do it lawfully.

To wit, unjustly or by the violence of lawless men.

That are in present danger of Death or Destruction.

Marginal references: Ps. 82. 4.

12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not : doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it ? and he that keepeth thy soul , doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works ?

I was ignorant either of his innocency, or of his extream danger, or of my power to relieve him.

That this is onely a frivolous excuse, and that the true reason of thy neglect was thy want of true love to thy Brother, whose life thou wast by the Law of God, and of Nature obliged to preserve, and thy sinful selflove, and a carnal fear of some mischief for trouble which might befal thee in the discharge of thy duty.

God who is the preserver of men, Job 7. 20. who daily doth and who onely can keep thee both in and from the greatest dangers. And this favour of God may be here mentioned partly as a strong Obligation upon him to preserve him▪ who is made after God's Image, and whom God hath commanded him to love and preserve; partly as an encouragement to the performance of his duty herein from the consideration of God's special care and watchfulness over those that do their duty; and partly to intimate to them the danger of the neglect of this duty whereby they will forfeit God's protection over themselves, and expose themselves to manifold dangers and calamities. Or, as others render it, and as the Hebrew Verb is frequently used, he that observeth thy Soul, that seeth all the secret Thoughts and inward motions of the Heart. Which exposition is favoured both by the following words, Doth not he know it? Which agrees better to God's observing than to his preserving a Man's So[illegible: 1+ letters] and by the former clause, to which this Translation doth more exactly answer, the same thing being here repeated in other words, after the manner of these Sacred Writers.

God will certainly deal with thee as thou hast dealt with him, either rewarding thy performance of this duty, or punishing thy neglect of it.

Marginal references: Or, him.; Job 34. 11. Ps. 62. 12. Jer. 32. 19. Rom. 2. 6. Rev. [illegible: 1+ letters]. 12.

13 My son, eat thou honey , because it is good; and the honey-comb which is sweet to thy taste.

This is not a command but a corcession, and is here expressed onely to illustrate the following Verse. Honey in those parts was excellent, and an usual and acceptable food. See Deut. 8. 8. Iudg. 14. 18. 1 Sam. 14. 25.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] thy Palate.

14 So shall the knowledg of wisdom be unto thy soul, when thou hast found it , then there shall be a reward , and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

Whereby he implies that there is indeed some difficulty and trouble in the pursuit of Wisdom, but that it is abundantly compensated with the sweetness and advantage of it when a Man arrives at it.

Heb. and, or also there is a reward. It is not onely as good as hony, sweet for the present, but it is infinitely better, bringing a sure and everlasting reward with it.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 10. [illegible: 1 word] 103.; [illegible: 1 word]. 18.

15 Lay not wait O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous : spoil not his resting place.

Do him no injury either by subtil and secret devices, or, as it follows, by manifest violence.

Against his Person or Family or Possessions.

16 For a just man falleth seven times , and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief .

Either 1. into sin. Or rather 2. into calamities, of which he evidently speaks both in the foregoing Verse, and in the opposite and following branch of this Verse, and so this word is used in the next Verse, and Psal. 37. 24. Isa. 24. [illegible: 1+ letters]0. Ier. 25. 27. Amos 8. 14. Mic. 7. 8, &c. And so this is fitly alledged as a just reason to distuade wicked Men from their unjust attempts against righteous men, because they should not succeed in them, and although they might, by God's permission, bring them into some distress for a time, yet God would deliver them out of their hands, and they should be disappointed of their hopes.

i. e. Frequently.

Into unavoidable and irrecoverable destruction, oft-times in this life, and infallibly in the next.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 19▪ [illegible: 1 word] 19.; [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] 5. 2.

17 Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth h, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

g To wit, into mischief, as in the former Verse. Please not thy self in his destruction. Which plainly shews that the love of our enemies is a Precept of the Old Law as well as of the Gospel. See Exod. 23. 4, 5.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 31. 29. [illegible: 1 word]. 15. [illegible: 1 word] 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. 5.

18 Lest the LORD see it, and † it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him .

Understand, upon thee, which is implied in the Hebrew Phrase, such defects being usual in that concise Language, Psal. 84. 11. Prov. 19. 1. and oft elsewere. This consideration strikes at the root of that sinful and inhumane disposition, which is an expectation of safety or advantage to himself by his enemies downfal, which, saith he, by this very mean thou shalt lose, for thine enemy shall be raised, and thy danger greatly increased by thy provoking both God and him against thee.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 2. [illegible: 1 word] in [illegible: 1 word].

19 Fret not thy self because of evil men , neither. be thou envious at the wicked.

Which Translation of the word is confirmed by the Parallel word in the following clause.

For their present impunity and good success.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters]. 37. 1. [illegible: 1 word] 23. 17. [illegible: 1 word] 1.; [illegible: 1 word], keep not [illegible: 1 word] with [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].

20 For there shall be no reward to the evil man , the candle of the wicked shall be put out .

All his hopes and happiness shall quickly and eternally perish, and he shall have no share in those solid Felicities and blessed recompences of a better life which thou shalt enjoy. Therefore thou hast no reason to envy him.

All their comfort and glory shall cease.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 8. 5, 6. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word]. 17. [illegible: 1 word] 13. 9.; [illegible: 1 word] 20. Or, [illegible: 1 word].

21 My son, fear thou the LORD, and the king : and meddle not with them that are given to change .

Honour and obey both God and the King, and all in Authority. He puts God before the King, because God is to be served in the first place, and our obedience is to be given to Kings onely in subordination to God, and not in those things which are contrary to the will and command of God, as is manifest both from plain Scripture, as Act. 5. 29. and from the judgment and practice of wise and sober Heathens.

Heb. Mix not thy self with them, either in their counsels and practices, or in familiar conversation.

That love or use changes, that are unstable in their Obedience to God or to the King, and are prone to rebellion against either of them. Those men that wickedly forsake God, and break his Laws are said to change their God, Jer. 2. 11. and to change God's judgments and Ordinances, Isa. 24. 5. Ezek. 5. 6.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].

22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly, and who knoweth the ruin of them both .

Who can conceive how sore and sudden it will be!

Of them that fear not God, and of them that fear not the King, for they have two potent and terrible enemies; and therefore if they will not obey them out of Conscience, as their duty binds them, yet they should do it at least for their own sakes, and for fear of those severe punishments which they will certainly inflict upon Rebels.

23 These things also belong to the wise . It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment .

These Proverbs or Counsels here following to the end of the Chapter no less than those hitherto mentioned.

Are worthy of the consideration, and fit for the use of them who are or would be wise; for onely such are capable of understanding and improving these Proverbs, as was noted, Ch. 1. 5, 6, 7. and elsewhere.

For Judges to determine Controversies partially according to the quality of the Persons, and not according to the merits of the Cause.

Marginal references: Lev. 19. 15. Deut. 1. 17. 16 191 Ch. 18. 5. & 28. 21. Joh. 7. 24.; Heb. to acknowledge.

24 He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous ; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him .

To wit, publickly and in judgment, as he now said, and as appears by the publickness of the Curse following upon it, for People or Nations do neither observe nor hate every Man who saith thus privately.

That justifie wicked men in their unrighteous courses.

Partly for the grossness and odiousness of the Crime; and partly for the great and general mischief which such practices bring to civil Societies.

Marginal references: Ch. 17. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. Isa. 5. 23.

25 But to them that rebuke him shall be delight , and a good blessing shall come upon them.

That publickly and judicially rebuke and condemn the wicked.

The peace of a good Conscience, and the Comfort of a good Name.

Which the People shall wish, and by their Prayers obtain from God for them; which is fitly opposed to the Peoples curse in the last Verse.

Marginal references: Heb. a blessing of good.

26 Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer .

Shall highly respect and love him, of which kissing was a sign.

Who being called to speak either as a Judge, or Witness, or otherwise, in weighty matters speaks pertinently, and plainly, and truly, to the conviction and satisfaction of the hearers.

Marginal references: Heb▪ that answereth right words, or, plain words, as Ch. 9. 9.

27 Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thy self in the field; and afterwards build thine house .

This is a Domestical Precept requiring both Industry and Prudence in the management of a Man's concerns, that he take care in the first place to furnish himself with Cattel and the Fruits of the Field which are necessary for his subsistence, and after that he may procure such things as are for Ornament and Comfort, such as the building of a convenient House is.

28 * Be not witness against thy neigbour without cause : and deceive not with thy lips.

Either in judgment or in private conversation.

Rashly or falsly, without just and sufficient cause.

Neither thy Neighbour, to whom thou hast made a shew of friendship, nor the Judge, nor any other hearers with false information. Or, this clause forbids flattering him to his face, as the former forbids standering him behind his back.

Marginal references: Gr. be not wide in thy lips.

29 Say not , I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work .

Within thy self: give not way to any such Thoughts or passions.

I will repay him all his calumnies and injuries.

Marginal references: Ch. 20. 22. Rom. 12. 17, 19.

32 Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction .

I learned Wisdom by his folly, and by his gross idleness was provoked to greater care and diligence.

Marginal references: Set my Heart.

33 * Yet a little sleep ▪ a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

See this, and the following Verse in Prov. 6. 10, 11.

Marginal references: Ch. 6. 9, &c.