Proverbs 13 commentary

There is great hope of those that reverence their parents. There is little hope of any who will not hear those that deal faithfully with them.

By our words we must be justified or condemned, Mt 12:37.

He that thinks before he speaks, that suppresses evil if he have thought it, keeps his soul from a great deal both of guilt and grief. Many a one is ruined by an ungoverned tongue.

The slothful desire the gains the diligent get, but hate the pains the diligent take; therefore they have nothing. This is especially true as to the soul.

Where sin reigns, the man is loathsome. If his conscience were awake, he would abhor himself, and repent in dust and ashes.

An honest desire to do right, preserves a man from fatal mistakes, better than a thousand fine-drawn distinctions.

Some who are really poor, trade and spend as if they were rich: this is sin, and will be shame, and it will end accordingly. Some that are really rich, would be thought to be poor: in this there is want of gratitude to God, want of justice and charity to others. There are many hypocrites, empty of grace, who will not be convinced of their poverty. There are many fearing Christians, who are spiritually rich, yet think themselves poor; by their doubts, and complaints, and griefs, they make themselves poor.

Great riches often tempt to violence against those that possess them; but the poor are free from such perils.

The light of the righteous is as that of the sun, which may be eclipsed and clouded, but will continue: the Spirit is their Light, he gives a fulness of joy: that of the wicked is as a lamp of their own kindling, easily put out.

All contentions, whether between private persons, families, churches, or nations, are begun and carried forward by pride. Disputes would be easily prevented or ended, if it were not for pride.

Wealth gotten by dishonesty or vice, has a secret curse, which will speedily waste it.

The delay of what is anxiously hoped for, is very painful to the mind; obtaining it is very pleasant. But spiritual blessings are chiefly intended.

He that stands in awe of God, and reverences his word, shall escape destruction, and be rewarded for his godly fear.

The rule by which the wise regulate their conduct, is a fountain yielding life and happiness.

The way of sinners is hard upon others, and hard to the sinner himself. The service of sin is slavery; the road to hell is strewed with the thorns and thistles that followed the curse.

It is folly to talk of things of which we know nothing, and to undertake what we are no way fit for.

Those that are wicked, and false to Christ and to the souls of men, do mischief, and fall into mischief; but those that are faithful, find sound words healing to others and to themselves.

He that scorns to be taught, will certainly be brought down.

There are in man strong desires after happiness; but never let those expect any thing truly sweet to their souls, who will not be persuaded to leave their sins.

Multitudes are brought to ruin by bad company. And all that make themselves wicked will be destroyed.

When God pursues sinners he is sure to overtake them; and he will reward the righteous.

The servant of God who is not anxious about riches, takes the best method of providing for his children.

The poor, yet industrious, thrive, though in a homely manner, while those who have great riches are often brought to poverty for want of judgment.

He acts as if he hated his child, who, by false indulgence, permits sinful habits to gather strength, which will bring sorrow here, and misery hereafter.

It is the misery of the wicked, that even their sensual appetites are always craving. The righteous feeds on the word and ordinances, to the satisfying of his soul with the promises of the gospel, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Bread of life.

CHAPTER 13

Pr 13:1-25.

1. (Compare Pr 6:1-5; 10:1, 17).

2. shall eat--that is, obtain (Pr 12:14).

transgressors--as in Pr 2:22.

violence--or, "mischief" to themselves.

3. He ... mouth ... life--because evil speeches may provoke violence from others.

he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction--On last clause, compare Pr 10:14.

4. (Compare Pr 12:11, 27).

5. loathsome ... shame--better, causeth shame and reproach (compare Pr 19:26), by slander, &c., which the righteous hates.

6. A sentiment of frequent recurrence, that piety benefits and sin injures.

7. In opposite ways men act hypocritically for gain of honor or wealth.

8. Riches save some from punishment, while others suffer because they will not heed the rebuke of sloth, which makes and keeps them poor.

9. light ... lamp--prosperity; the first, the greater, and it

rejoiceth--burns brightly, or continues, while the other, at best small, soon fails.

10. The obstinacy which attends self-conceit, produces contention, which the well-advised, thus evincing modesty, avoid.

11. by vanity--or, "nothingness," that is, which is vain or useless to the public (as card playing or similar vices).

gathereth ... labour--(Compare Margin), little by little, laboriously.

12. desire cometh--is realized.

a tree of life--or, "cause of happiness."

13. the word--that is, of advice, or, instruction (compare Pr 10:27; 11:31).

14. (Compare Pr 10:11).

fountain--or, "source of life."

to depart--(compare Pr 1:2-4), or, "for departing," &c., and so gives life.

15. Right perception and action secure good will, while evil ways are difficult as a stony road. The wicked left of God find punishment of sin in sinning.

hard--or, "harsh" (compare Hebrew: De 21:4; Jr 5:15).

16. dealeth--acts with foresight.

a fool ... folly--for want of caution.

17. A wicked--or, "unfaithful"

messenger falleth into mischief--or, "by mischief," or "evil," and so his errand fails. Contrasted is the character of the faithful, whose faithfulness benefits others.

18. (Compare Pr 10:17; 12:1).

19. Self-denial, which fools will not endure, is essential to success.

20. The benefits of good and evil of bad society are contrasted.

21. (Compare Pr 11:31).

good ... repaid--or, "He (God) will repay good."

22. wealth ... just--While good men's estates remain in their families, God so orders that the gains of sinners enure to the just (compare Pr 28:8; Psa 37:18, 22, 26, &c.).

23. The laboring poor prosper more than those who injudiciously or wickedly strive, by fraud and violence, to supersede the necessity of lawful labor.

24. spareth--or, "withholds."

rod--of correction.

hateth--or, acts as if he hated him (compare Pr 3:12; 8:36).

chasteneth ... betimes--or, "diligently seeks for him all useful discipline."

25. The comparative temporal prosperity of the righteous and wicked, rather than contentment and discontent, is noted.

A wise son heareth his father's instruction - The child that has had a proper nurturing, will profit by his father's counsels; but the child that is permitted to fulfill its own will and have its own way, will jest at the reproofs of its parents.

He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life - How often have the foolish, headstrong, and wicked, forfeited their lives by the treasonable or blasphemous words they have spoken! The government of the tongue is a rare but useful talent.

But he that openeth wide his lips - He that puts no bounds to his loquacity, speaks on every subject, and gives his judgment and opinion on every matter. It has often been remarked that God has, given us two Eyes, that we may See much; two Ears, that we may Hear much; but has given us but One tongue, and that fenced in with teeth, to indicate that though we hear and see much, we should speak but little.

The soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing - We often hear many religious people expressing a desire to have more of the Divine life, and yet never get forward in it. How is this? The reason is, they desire, but do not stir themselves up to lay hold upon the Lord. They are always learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. They seek to enter in at the strait gate, but are not able, because they do not strive.

There is that maketh himself rich - That labors hard to acquire money, yet hath nothing; his excessive covetousness not being satisfied with what he possesses, nor permitting him to enjoy with comfort what he has acquired. The fable of the dog in the manger will illustrate this.

There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches - "As poor," said St. Paul, "yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things." The former is the rich poor man; the latter is the poor rich man.

As the words are here in the hithpael conjugation, which implies reflex action, or the action performed on one's self, and often signifies feigning or pretending to be what one is not, or not to be what one is; the words may be understood of persons who feign or pretend to be either richer or poorer than they really are, to accomplish some particular purpose. "There is that feigneth himself to be rich, yet hath nothing; there is that feigneth himself to be poor, yet hath great riches." Both these characters frequently occur in life.

The ransom of a man's life - Those who have riches have often much trouble with them; as they had much trouble to get them, so they have much trouble to keep them. In despotic countries, a rich man is often accused of some capital crime, and to save his life, though he may be quite innocent, is obliged to give up his riches; but the poor, in such countries, are put to no trouble.

The light of the righteous rejoiceth - They shall have that measure of prosperity which shall be best for them; but the wicked, howsoever prosperous for a time, shall be brought into desolation. Light and lamp in both cases may signify posterity. The righteous shall have a joyous posterity; but that of the wicked shall be cut off. So 1Kgs 11:36 : "And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light (נר ner, a lamp) always before me." 1Kgs 15:4 : "Nevertheless for David's sake did the Lord give them a lamp, to set up his son after him." See also Psa 132:17, and several other places.

By pride cometh contention - Perhaps there is not a quarrel among individuals in private life, nor a war among nations, that does not proceed from pride and ambition. Neither man nor nation will be content to be less than another; and to acquire the wished-for superiority all is thrown into general confusion, both in public and private life. It was to destroy this spirit of pride, that Jesus was manifested in the extreme of humility and humiliation among men. The salvation of Christ is a deliverance from pride, and a being clothed with humility. As far as we are humble, so far we are saved.

Wealth gotten by vanity - Wealth that is not the result of honest industry and hard labor is seldom permanent. All fortunes acquired by speculation, lucky hits, and ministering to the pride or luxury of others, etc., soon become dissipated. They are not gotten in the way of Providence, and have not God's blessing, and therefore are not permanent.

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick - When once a good is discovered, want of it felt, strong desire for the possession excited, and the promise of attainment made on grounds unsuspected, so that the reality of the thing and the certainity of the promise are manifest, hope posts forward to realize the blessing. Delay in the gratification pains the mind; the increase of the delay prostrates and sickens the heart; and if delay sickens the heart, ultimate disappointment kills it. But when the thing desired, hoped for, and expected comes, it is a tree of life, עץ חיים ets chaiyim, "the tree of lives;" it comforts and invigorates both body and soul. To the tree of lives, in the midst of the gardens of paradise, how frequent are the allusions in the writings of Solomon, and in other parts of the Holy Scriptures! What deep, and perhaps yet unknown, mysteries were in this tree!

Whoso despiseth the word - The revelation which God has in his mercy given to man - shall be destroyed; for there is no other way of salvation but that which it points out.

But he that feareth the commandment - That respects it so as to obey it, walking as this revelation directs - shall be rewarded; shall find it to be his highest interest, and shall be in peace or safety, as the Hebrew word ישלם may be translated.

The law of the wise is a fountain of life - Perhaps it would be better to translate, "The law is to the wise man a fountain of life." It is the same to him as the "vein of lives," מקור חיים mekor chaiyim, the great aorta which transmits the blood from the heart to every part of the body. There seems to be here an allusion to the garden of paradise, to the tree of lives, to the tempter, to the baleful issue of that temptation, and to the death entailed on man by his unwisely breaking the law of his God.

The way of transgressors is hard - Never was a truer saying; most sinners have more pain and difficulty to get their souls damned, than the righteous have, with all their cross-bearings, to get to the kingdom of heaven.

A wicked messenger - The Septuagint: basileuv yrasuev, a bold king; instead of מלאך malach, a messenger, they had read מלך melech, a king: but they are singular in this rendering; none of the other versions have it so. He that betrays the counsels of his government, or the interests of his country, will sooner or later fall into mischief; but he that faithfully and loyally fulfils his mission, shall produce honor and safety to the commonwealth.

The desire accomplished - See on Pro 13:12 (note).

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise - To walk with a person implies love and attachment; and it is impossible not to imitate those we love. So we say, "Show me his company, and I'll tell you the man." Let me know the company he keeps, and I shall easily guess his moral character.

A good man leaveth an inheritance - He files many a prayer in heaven in their behalf, and his good example and advices are remembered and quoted from generation to generation. Besides, whatever property he left was honestly acquired, and well-gotten goods are permanent. The general experience of men shows this to be a common case; and that property ill-gotten seldom reaches to the third generation. This even the heathens observed. Hence:

De male quaesitis non gaudet tertius haeres. "The third generation shall not possess the goods that have been unjustly acquired."

That is destroyed for want of judgment - O, how much of the poverty of the poor arises from their own want of management! They have little or no economy, and no foresight. When they get any thing, they speedily spend it; and a feast and a famine make the chief varieties of their life.

He that spareth his rod hateth his son - That is, if he hated him, he could not do him a greater disservice than not to correct him when his obstinacy or disobedience requires it. We have met with this subject already, and it is a favourite with Solomon. See Psa 34:10 (note) and Psa 37:3 (note).

The Rev. Mr. Holden makes some sensible observations on this passage: "By the neglect of early correction the desires (passions) obtain ascendancy; the temper becomes irascible, peevish, querulous. Pride is nourished, humility destroyed, and by the habit of indulgence the mind is incapacitated to bear with firmness and equanimity the cares and sorrows, the checks and disappointments, which flesh is heir to."

To the satisfying of his soul - His desires are all moderate; he is contented with his circumstances, and is pleased with the lot which God is pleased to send. The wicked, though he use all shifts and expedients to acquire earthly good, not sticking even at rapine and wrong, is frequently in real want, and always dissatisfied with his portion. A contented mind is a continual feast. At such feasts he eats not.

Shall eat - Shall receive comfort, and benefit by his wise and profitable discourses.

Keepeth him - From that over - throw which befal sinners.

Maketh rich - Some men who have little or nothing, pretend to have great riches. Maketh rich - Some rich men profess to be poor.

Riches - Riches enable a man to redeem his life when it is in greatest danger, and poverty preserves a man from many injuries. Because they are cautious, that they may not provoke others; and because they are esteemed objects of pity.

The light - The prosperity. Rejoiceth - Shines with a pleasant and constant brightness. Rejoicing is here ascribed to the light, as it is to the sun, Psal 19:5, metaphorically. Put out - Their felicity shall have a hidden end.

Pride - It is chiefly, pride which blows up the coals of contention. Well - advised - Who are not governed by their passions, but by prudent considerations. Wisdom - Which teaches them to avoid contention.

Vanity - By wicked practices.

Hope deferred - Delays in obtaining what a man passionately desires. The desire - The good desired. A tree of life - It is satisfactory, and reviving.

The word - The word of God.

The law - The instruction, or counsel; as the word law, is frequently understood in scripture.

Giveth - Makes a man acceptable to God. Rough - Offensive and hateful to God and men, as rough ways are to a traveller.

Knowledge - Considerately and discreetly. Layeth open - By his foolish actions.

A messenger - Who is unfaithful in the execution of that which is committed to his charge. Is health - Procures benefit, as to his master, so to himself.

Sweet - Whatsoever men earnestly desire, the enjoyment of it is sweet to them; therefore sinners rejoice in the satisfaction of their sinful lusts, and abhor all restraint of them.

Evil - Punishment proportionable to their sin.

The poor - Poor persons by their diligent labours, and God's blessing often grow rich. Destroyed - Or, consumed, brought to poverty, for want of discretion.

Hateth his son - His fond affection, is as pernicious to him as hatred.

1. A Wise son heareth his fathers instruction : but a scorner heareth not rebuke .

Which word is understood out of the next clause, as is frequent in the Hebrew text.

Or, Rebuke or Reproof.

He hareth reproof either from his Father, or from any other man.

2. A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth : but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence .

Shall receive much comfort, and credit, and benefit to himself.

By his wise and profitable discourses.

i. e. The person, as the soul is oft used.

Who transgress with their Lips, as this general Phrase may be restrained from the former clause.

Shall have that violence and injury returned upon themselves which they have offered to others in word or deed.

Marginal references: Ch. 12. 14.

3. He that keepeth his mouth , keepeth his life : but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction .

To wit, shut, for this is opposed to the opening of it: who speaks sparingly, and with due care and caution.

Prevents many sins and mischiefs which others run into.

That takes liberty to speak every thing which pleaseth him, or cometh into his mind▪

From God or men.

Marginal references: Ch. 18. 21. & 21. 23.

4. The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing : but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat .

Because he contenteth himself with lazy desires without diligent endeavours.

He shall be enriched with the fruit of his own Labours.

Marginal references: Ch. 10. 4.

5. A righteous man hateth lying : but a wicked man is loathsom, and cometh to shame .

Both in himself and in other men, whereby he getteth that good name which is like a pretious Ointment.

Who accustometh himself to lying, as may be gathered from the foregoing words.

Makes himself contemptible and hateful to all that know him; there being scarce any reproach which men more impatiently endure, and severely revenge, than that of being called or accounted a Lyar.

Marginal references: Or, causeth stench & shame.

6. Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner .

Either from [illegible: 1+ letters]in: or from that overthrow which befals sinners in the next clause.

Heb. the man of sin, who giveth up himself to wicked courses.

Marginal references: Chap. 11. 3, 5, 6.; Heb. sin.

7. There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing , there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great Riches .

Some men who have little or nothing pretend to have great Riches, and carry themselves accordingly, either out of Pride and Vanity, or with a design to gain Reputation with others whom they intend to defraud.

Some rich men seem and profess themselves to be very poor that they may preserve and increase their estates by concealing them from those who would either desire a share in them, or take them away by deceit or violence.

Marginal references: Chap. 12. 9.

8. The ransom of a mans life are his Riches, but the poor heareth not rebuke .

This verse sets forth, Either 1. The several advantages of Riches and Poverty. Riches enable a man to redeem his life when it is in greatest danger, and Poverty preserves a man from those Rebukes and Injuries which endanger and oft destroy the Rich. Or 2. The convenience of Poverty above Riches. Riches frequently expose men to the peril of losing their Lives by false Accusers, or Thieves, or Tyrants, which they are forced to redeem with the loss of their Riches; whereas Poverty commonly secures men not only from such kinds of death, but even from Rebukes and Injuries; partly because such persons are cautious, that they may not offend or provoke others; and partly because their persons and actions are neglected and slighted, and they are esteemed Objects of pity.

9. The light of the righteous rejoiceth , but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out .

The Prosperity or Happiness, which is oft called a Light or Lamp in Scripture, and other Authors.

Shineth with a pleasant and constant Brightness and Glory; for this is opposed to the putting out in the next clause. Rejoicing is here ascribed to the light, as it is to the Sun, Psal. 19. 5. both Metaphorically, because they would rejoice in it, if they were capable of any such passions, and Metonymically, because they refresh and chear mens Spirits. So Mountains and Trees are said to rejoice, Psal. 65. 12. & 96. 12.

Their felicity shall have a sudden and a dismal end.

Marginal references: Job 22. 28.; Job 18. 6. & 21. 17.; Or, candle.

10. Only by pride cometh contention , but with the well-advised is wisdom .

Which is not to be understood exclusively as to all other causes; for contentions oft spring from Ignorance, or Mistake, or Covetousness, or other Passions, but eminently, because as Pride bloweth up those coals of Contention which other Lusts kindle, so oft-times Pride alone, without any other cause, stirreth up strife; which it doth by making a man self-conceited in his opinions, and obstinate in his Resolutions, and impatient of any opposition, and many other ways.

Who are not governed by their own passions, but by prudent consideration, and the good Counsel of others.

Which teacheth them to avoid and abhor all contention.

11. Wealth gotten by vanity , shall be diminished , but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

By vain, or deceitful, or wicked practices.

Because the Curse of God attends upon it.

By diligence in an honest Calling.

Marginal references: Ch. 10. 2. & 20. 21.; Heb. with the hand.

12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but when the desi[illegible: 1+ letters]e cometh, it is a tree of life .

Delays in obtaining that good which a man passionately desireth and hopeth for.

The good desired and expected, Acts being oft put for the Objects.

It is most sweet, and satisfactory, and reviving.

Marginal references: Ver. 19.

13. Whoso despiseth the word , shall be destroyed , but he that feareth the commandment , shall be rewarded.

The word of God, which is called the word by way of eminency, Deut. [illegible: 1+ letters]0. 14. Compare with Rom. 10. 18. 1 Tim. 5. 17. and elsewhere

Except he repent, and return to his Obedience.

That hath a Reverence to its authority, and is afraid to violate it.

m Disobeyeth it wilfully and presumptuously.

Marginal references: Or, shall be in peace.

14. The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

The Doctrine, Instruction, or Counsel, as the word, Law, is frequently understood in Scripture.

Of holy men, who are commonly called wise, as sinners are called Fools, in this Book.

Marginal references: Ch. 14. 27.

15. Good understanding giveth favour , but the way of transgressors is hard .

Discovering itself by a mans holy and righteous practices and ways, as appears from the opposition of the way of transgressors to it, and as words of Understanding in this and other Books of Scripture commonly include practice.

Maketh a man acceptable both to God and men.

The carriage or manner of conversation.

Or, rough, as this very word is used, Deut. 21. 4. offensive and hateful to God and Men, as rough ways are to a Traveller, fierce, and intractable, and incorrigible.

16. Every prudent man dealeth with knowledg , but a fool layeth open his folly .

Heb. Acteth, or doth, manageth all his affairs.

Considerately and discreetly.

By his heady and foolish Actions.

Marginal references: Ch. 12. 23. & 15. 2.; [illegible: 1+ letters]eb. spreadith.

17. A wicked messenger falleth into mischief , but a faithful ambassador is health .

Who is unfaithful in the execution of that which is committed to his charge, as appears by the opposite clause.

Shall not escape punishment from God, or from them who sent him.

Or, wholsom, procureth safety and benefit, as to his Master, so also to himself.

18. Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction , but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured .

Whereby he might have been kept from destructive and dishonourable courses.

That considers it seriously, receiveth it kindly, and reformeth himself by it.

And enriched, which is implied from the former branch. Not that it is so always, but commonly, and when God sees it good for a man. Or, if he do not always gain Riches, he shall certainly have honour both from God and men.

19. The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul , but it is an abomination to fools, to depart from evil.

The satisfaction of a mans desires by the enjoyment of the things desired is very acceptable to him. Which may be taken either 1. Of the desire of Fools, which may be understood out of the next clause. So the sense of the verse is, It is sweet to sinners to indulge and satisfie their desires, which are wholly carnal and sinful, and for that reason they love sin, and hate the thoughts of leaving it, because their desires are wholly and fully set upon it. Or 2. Of good desires, or of the desires of wise and good men, as the LXX, and Chaldee, and Syriack, and Arabick Interpreters understand it, by the opposition of Fools in the next clause. So the sense may be this, The desires of good men are set upon what is good, and they rejoice when they attain to it, and are grieved when they fall short of it; but the desires of the wicked are set upon sin, and it is a pleasure to them to commit it, and an abomination to them to be hindred from it. Or rather 3. Of desires in general. Whatsoever men do earnestly desire, the enjoyment of it is very sweet and grateful to them; and therefore sinners rejoice in the pursuit and satisfaction of their sinful Lusts, and abhor all Restraint and Mortification of them: For this is certain and confessed, that many things are understood in these short proverbial Speeches which are not expressed.

Or, and, as this particle properly signifies; or, therefore, as it is frequently used.

Marginal references: Ver. 12.

20. He that walketh with wise men, shall be wise , but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

i. e. Commonly converseth and associateth himself.

Shall learn Wisdom and Goodness both from their Counsels and Examples. The design of this Proverb is to shew the wonderful influence which a mans society hath upon him, either to save, or to corrupt and destroy him.

Marginal references: Heb. shall be broken.

21. Evil pursueth sinners , but to the righteous good shall be repayed.

Evil of punishment proportionable to their evil of sin, as appears from the next clause.

And sooner or later shall certainly overtake them, albeit they please themselves with hopes of impunity.

Obstinate and incorrigible sinners.

Gods blessings and true happiness.

22. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his childrens children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just .

Is by Gods powerful Providence oft-times translated to good men of another Family, who will be more faithful Stewards of it.

Marginal references: Job 21. 17. & 27. 17. Chap. 28. 8. Eccl. 2. 26.

23. Much food is in the tillage of the poor , but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment .

Poor and mean persons by their diligent labours in tillage or other employments, and Gods Blessing upon them oft-times grow rich.

Or, consumed, to wit, in his estate, brought to poverty.

Either 1. For want of discretion and convenient care and diligence in tilling his Land, and in managing his Affairs, which he neglects himself, and leaves to the care of others, whereas poor men are forced by their necessities to look to their own concerns, and to use their utmost diligence in them. Or rather 2. By Injustice, as this Phrase is used, Prov. 16. 8. Ier. 17. 11. & 22. 13. Ezek. 22. 29. Nor do I find it in any other Scripture. By his Frauds, Rapines, and Oppressions, and other unjust and wicked practices, whereby he seeks to enrich himself, as refusing and scorning to get an Estate by honest labours. So this agrees with what is said v. 11.

Marginal references: Ch. 12. 11.; Chap. 21. 4.

24. He that spareth his rod , hateth his son : but he that loveth him, chasteneth him betimes.

Heb. with-holdeth it from his Son when it is due to him.

That correction which his Sons fault requires, and he as a Father is required to give him.

Not directly and properly in regard of his Affection, but consequently, and in respect of the event. His fond affection is as pernicious to him as his or another mans hatred could be.

Either 1. In his tender years as soon as he is capable of it. Or 2. Speedily, before he be hardened and inveterate in sin.

Marginal references: Ch. 19. 18. & 22. 15. & 23. 13. & 29. 1[illegible: 1+ letters], 17.

25. The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul , but the belly of the wicked shall want.

Gods Favour and Blessing gives him a competent Estate, and an Heart to use it, and Comfort and Satisfaction in it, whereas wicked men commonly want either all these Blessings, or some of them.

Marginal references: Psal. 34. 10. & 37. 3.

Pro 13:1

The proverb Pro 12:28 is so sublime, so weighty, that it manifestly forms a period and conclusion. This is confirmed from the following proverb, which begins like Pro 10:1 (cf. 5), and anew stamps the collection as intended for youth: 1 A wise son is his father’s correction;    But a scorner listens not to rebuke.

The lxx, which the Syr. follows, translate Ψἱὸς πανουργὸς ὑπήκοος πατρί, whence it is not to be concluded with Lagarde that they read נוסר in the sense of a Ni. tolerativum; they correctly understood the text according to the Jewish rule of interpretation, “that which is wanting is to be supplied from the context.” The Targ. had already supplied שׁמע from 1b, and is herein followed by Hitzig, as also by Glassius in the Philologia sacra. But such an ellipse is in the Hebr. style without an example, and would be comprehensible only in passionate, hasty discourse, but in a language in which the representation filius sapiens disciplinam patris audit numbers among the anomalies is not in general possible, and has not even its parallel in Tacitus, Ann. xiii. 56: deesse nobis terra, in qua vivamus - in qua moriemur, non potest, because here the primary idea, which the one expression confirms, the other denies, and besides no particle, such as the ו of this passage before us, stands between them. Böttcher therefore maintains the falling out of the verb, and writes יבּין before בּן; but one says not בין מוסר, but שׁמע מוסר, Pro 1:8; Pro 4:1; Pro 19:27. Should not the clause, as it thus stands, give a sense complete in itself? But מוּסר can hardly, with Schultens and Ewald, be taken as part. Hoph. of יסר: one brought up by his father, for the usage of the language knows מוסר only as part. Hoph. of סוּר. Thus, as Jerome and the Venet. translate: a wise son is the correction of his father, i.e., the product of the same, as also Fleischer explains, “Attribution of the cause, the ground, as elsewhere of the effect.” But we call that which one has trained (vegetable or animal) his Zucht (= παιδεία in the sense of παίδευμα). To the wise son (Pro 10:1) who is indebted to the מוסר אב (Pro 4:1), stands opposed the לץ (vid., Pro 1:22), the mocker at religion and virtue, who has no ear for גּערה, strong and stern words which awaken in him a wholesome fear (cf. Pro 17:10, Jud 1:23 : ἐν φόβῳ).

Pro 13:2 2 From the fruit of the mouth of a man he himself enjoys good;    But the delight of the godless is violence. 2a = Pro 12:14, where ישׂבּע for יאכל. A man with a fruit-bringing mouth, himself enjoys also the blessing of his fruit-producing speech; his food (cf. βρῶμα, Joh 4:34) is the good action in words, which in themselves are deeds, and are followed by deeds; this good action affords enjoyment not merely to others, but also to himself. Ewald and Bertheau attract יאכל to 2b; so also does Fleischer: “the violence which the בּגדים wish to do to others turns back upon themselves; they must eat it also, i.e., bear its evil consequences.” The thought would then be like Pro 10:6 : os improborum obteget violentia, and “to eat violence” is parallel to “to drink (Pro 26:6) violence (injury).” But wherefore then the naming of the soul, of which elsewhere it is said that it hungers or satiates itself, but never simply (but cf. Luk 12:19) that it eats? On the contrary, נפשׁ means also appetitus, Pro 23:2, and particularly wicked desire, Psa 27:12; here, as Psa 35:25, the object of this desire (Psychol. p. 202). Regarding בגדים, vid., above, p. 85. There are such as do injury in a cunning deceitful manner to their neighbour to their own advantage. While the former (the righteous) distributes to his neighbour from the inner impulse without having such a result in view, yet according to God’s direction he derives enjoyment himself therefrom: the desire of the latter goes to חמס, ἀδικία, and thus to the enjoyment of good unrighteously and violently seized.

Pro 13:3 3 He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his soul;    He that openeth his lips, to him it is destruction. 3a is extended in Pro 21:23 to a distich. Mouth and soul stand in closest interchangeable relation, for speech is the most immediate and continuous expression of the soul; thus whoever guards his mouth keeps his soul (the Venet., with excellent rendering of the synonym, ὁ τηρῶν τὸ στόμα ἑαυτοῦ φυλάσσει τὴν ψυχὴν ἑαυτοῦ), for he watches that no sinful vain thoughts rise up in his soul and come forth in words, and because he thus keeps his soul, i.e., himself, safe from the destructive consequences of the sins of the tongue. On the contrary, he who opens wide his lips, i.e., cannot hold his mouth (lxx ὁ δὲ προπετὴς χείλεσιν), but expresses unexamined and unconsidered whatever comes into his mind and gives delight, he is destruction to himself (supply הוּא), or to him it is destruction (supply זאת); both interpretations are possible, the parallelism brings nearer the former, and the parallel Pro 18:7 brings nearer the latter. פּשׂק means to spread (Schultens diducere cum ruptura vel ad rupturam usque), here the lips, Pih. Eze 16:25, the legs, Arab. fashkh, farshkh; vid., regarding the R. פש, to extend, to spread out, Fleischer in the supplements to the A. L. Z. 1843, col. 116. Regarding the Mishle word מחתּה, vid., under Pro 10:14.

Pro 13:4

The three proverbs (Pro 13:1-3) which refer to hearing and speaking are now following by a fourth which, like Pro 13:2 and Pro 13:3, speaks of the נפשׁ.

The soul of the sluggard desires, yet has not;

But the soul of the industrious is richly satisfied.

The view that the o in נפשׁו עצל is the cholem compaginis, Böttcher, §835, meets with the right answer that this would be the only example of a vocal casus in the whole of gnomic poetry; but when on his own part (Neue Aehrenlese, §1305) he regards נפשׁו as the accus. of the nearer definition (= בּנפשׁו), he proceeds inadvertently on the view that the first word of the proverb is מתאוּה, while we read מתאוּה, and נפשׁו is thus the nom. of the subject. נפשׁו עצל means “his (the sluggard’s) soul” (for עצל occurs as explanatory permutative briefly for נפשׁ עצל), as סעיפיה פּריּה means “its branches (i.e., of the fruitful tree),” Isa 17:6. One might, it is true, add ה to the following word here, as at Pro 14:13; but the similar expression appertaining to the syntax ornata occurs also 2Sa 22:33; Psa 71:7, and elsewhere, where this is impracticable. Meîri appropriately compares the scheme Exo 2:6, she saw him, viz., the boy. With reference to the ואין here violently (cf. Pro 28:1) introduced, Böttcher rightly remarks, that it is an adverb altogether like necquidquam, Pro 14:6; Pro 20:4, Psa 68:21, etc., thus: appetit necquidquam anima ejus, scilicet pigri. 4b shows the meaning of the desire that has not, for there תדשּׁן occurs, a favourite strong Mishle word (Pro 11:25; Pro 28:25, etc.) for abundant satisfaction (the lxx here, as at 28:25, ἐν ἐπιμελείᾳ, sc. ἔσονται, instead of which, Montfaucon supposed πιμελείᾳ, which is, however, a word not authenticated). The slothful wishes and dreams of prosperity and abundance (cf. Pro 21:25., a parallel which the Syr. has here in view), but his desire remains unsatisfied, since the object is not gained but only lost by doing nothing; the industrious gain, and that richly, what the slothful wishes for, but in vain.

Pro 13:5

Two proverbs of the character of the righteous and of the effect of righteousness:

A deceitful thing the righteous hateth;

But the godless disgraceth and putteth to shame.

With דּבּר in the sphere of an intelligible generality (as here of falsehood, or Psa 41:9 of worthlessness) a concrete event is in view, as with דּברי in the following plur. a general fact is separated into its individual instances and circumstances (vid., at Psa 65:4); for דבר means not only the word in which the soul reveals itself, but also any fact in which an inner principle or a general fact or a whole comes forth to view. The righteous hateth all that bears in it the character of a falsehood (punctuate דּבר־שׁקר with Gaja, cf. Pro 12:19), but the godless ... Should we now, with Bertheau, Hitzig, and others, translate “acteth basely and shamefully”? It is true that both Hiphs. may be regarded as transitive, but this expression gives not right contrast to 5a, and is pointless. We have seen at Pro 10:5 that הבישׁ, like השׂכּיל, has also a causative signification: to put to shame, i.e., bring shame upon others, and that Pro 19:26, where מבישׁ וּמחפּיר are connected, this causative signification lies nearer than the intrinsically transitive. Thus it will also here be meant, that while the righteous hateth all that is false or that is tainted by falsehood, the godless on the contrary loves to disgrace and to put to shame. But it is a question whether יבאישׁ is to be derived from בּאשׁ = בּושׁ, and thus is of the same meaning as יבישׁ; הבאישׁ, Isa 30:5, which there signifies pudefactum esse, is pointed הבאישׁ, and is thus derived from a יבשׁ = בּושׁ, vid., 2Sa 19:6. But הבאישׁ occurs also as Hiph. of בּאשׁ, and means transitively to make of an evil savour, Gen 34:30, cf. Exo 5:21, as well as intransitively to come into evil savour, 1Sa 27:12. In this sense of putidum faciens, bringing into evil savour, יבאישׁ occurs here as at Pro 19:26, suitably along with יחפיר; Pro 19:26 is the putidum facere by evil report (slander), into which the foolish son brings his parents, here by his own evil report, thus to be thought of as brought about by means of slander. The old translators here fall into error; Luther renders both Hiphils reflexively; only the Venet. (after Kimchi) is right: ὀζώσει (from an ὀζοῦν as trans. to ὀζεῖν) καὶ ἀτιμώσει, he makes to be of ill odour and dishonours.

Pro 13:6 6 Righteousness protecteth an upright walk,    And godlessness bringeth sinners to destruction.

The double thought is closely like that of Pro 11:5, but is peculiarly and almost enigmatically expressed. As there, צדקה and רשׁעה are meant of a twofold inner relation to God, which consists of a ruling influence over man’s conduct and a determination of his walk. But instead of naming the persons of the תּמימי דּרך and חטּאים as the objects of this influence, the proverb uses the abstract expression, but with personal reference, תּם־דּרך and חטּאת dna תּם, and designates in two words the connection of this twofold character with the principles of their conduct. What is meant by תּצּר and תּסלּף proceeds from the contrasted relationship of the two (cf. Pro 22:12). נצר signifies observare, which is not suitable here, but also tueri (τηρεῖν), to which סלּף (vid., at Pro 11:3, and in Gesen. Thesaurus), not so much in the sense of “to turn upside down,” pervertere (as Pro 11:3; Pro 23:8), as in the sense of “to overthrow,” evertere (as e.g., Pro 21:12), forms a fitting contrast. He who walks forth with an unfeigned and untroubled pure mind stands under the shield and the protection of righteousness (cf. with this prosopopoeia Psa 25:21), from which such a walk proceeds, and at the same time under the protection of God, to whom righteousness appertains, is well-pleasing. but he who in his conduct permits himself to be determined by sin, godlessness (cf. Zec 5:8) from which such a love for sin springs forth, brings to destruction; in other words: God, from whom the רשע, those of a perverse disposition, tear themselves away, makes the sin their snare by virtue of the inner connection established by Him between the רשׁעה and the destruction (Isa 9:17). In the lxx this 6th verse was originally wanting; the translation in the version of Aquila, in the Complut. and elsewhere, which the Syr. follows, falsely makes חטאת the subj.: τοὺς δὲ ἀσεβεῖς φαύλους ποιεῖ ἁμαρτία.

Pro 13:7

Two proverbs of riches and poverty: -

There is one who maketh himself rich and hath nothing;

There is another who representeth himself poor amid great riches.

A sentence which includes in itself the judgment which Pro 12:9 expresses. To the Hithpa. התכּבּד (to make oneself of importance) there are associated here two others, in the meaning to make oneself something, without anything after it, thus to place oneself so or so, Ewald, §124a. To the clauses with ו there is supplied a self-intelligible לּו.

Pro 13:8 8 A ransom for a man’s life are his riches;    But the poor heareth no threatening.

Bertheau falls into error when he understands גּערה of warning; the contrast points to threatening with the loss of life. The wealth of the rich before the judgment is not here to be thought of; for apart from this, that the Torâ only in a single case permits, or rather ordains (Exo 21:29.), ransom from the punishment of death, and declares it in all other cases inadmissible, Num 35:31. (one might indeed think of an administration of justice not strictly in accordance with the Mosaic law, or altogether accessible to bribery), 8b does not accord therewith, since the poor in such cases would fare ill, because one would lay hold on his person. But one may think e.g., on waylayers as those introduced as speaking Pro 1:11-14. The poor has no room to fear that such will threateningly point their swords against his breast, for there is nothing to be got from him: he has nothing, one sees it in him and he is known as such. But the rich is a valuable prize for them, and he has to congratulate himself if he is permitted to escape with his life. Also in the times of war and commotion it may be seen that riches endanger the life of their possessor, and that in fortunate cases they are given as a ransom for his life, while his poverty places the poor man in safety. To לא שׁמע Hitzig fittingly compares Job 3:18; Job 39:7 : he does not hear, he has no need to hear. Michaelis, Umbreit, Löwenstein (who calls to remembrance the state of things under despotic governments, especially in the East) also explain 8b correctly; and Fleischer remarks: pauper minas hostiles non audit, i.e., non minatur ei hostis. Ewald’s syntactic refinement: “Yet he became poor who never heard an accusation,” presents a thought not in harmony with 8a.

Pro 13:9

The three following proverbs in Pro 13:9-11 have at least this in common, that the two concluding words of each correspond with one another almost rhythmically. 9 The light of the righteous burneth joyously,    And the lamp of the godless goeth out.

The second line = Pro 24:20, cf. Pro 20:20. In the Book of Job 18:5., אור רשׁעים ידעך and נרו עליו ידעך (cf. Pro 21:17) stand together, and there is spoken of (Pro 29:3) a divine נר as well as a divine אור which enlightens the righteous; however, one must say that the poet, as he, Pro 6:3, deliberately calls the Torâ אור, and the commandment, as derived from it and separated, נר, so also here designedly calls the righteous אור, viz., אור היום (Pro 4:18, cf. 2Pe 1:19), and the godless נר, viz., נר דלוק - the former imparts the sunny daylight, the latter the light of tapers set in darkness. The authentic punctuation is אור־צדיקים, Ben-Naphtali’s is 'אור צ' si s'i without Makkeph. To ישׂמח Hitzig compares the “laughing tongue of the taper” of Meidâni, iii. 475; Kimchi also the “laughing, i.e., amply measured span, טפח שׂוהק,” of the Talmud; for the light laughs when it brightly shines, and increases rather than decreases; in Arab. samuḥa has in it the idea of joy directly related to that of liberality. The lxx translates ישׂמח incorrectly by διαπαντός, and has a distich following Pro 13:9, the first line of which is ψυχαὶ δόλιαι (נפשׁ רמיּה?) πλανῶνται ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, and the second line is from Psa 37:21.

Pro 13:10 10 Nothing comes by pride but contention;      But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.

The restrictive רק (only) does not, according to the sense, belong to בּזדון (by pride), but to מצּה, vid., under Psa 32:6 and Job 2:10. Of יתּן = there is, vid., under Pro 10:24. Bertheau’s “one causes” is not exact, for “one” [man] is the most general personal subject, but יתן is in such cases to be regarded as impersonal: by pride is always a something which causes nothing but quarrel and strife, for the root of pride is egoism. Line second is a variant to Pro 11:2. Bescheidenheit (modesty) is in our old [German] language exactly equivalent to Klugheit (prudence). But here the צנועים are more exactly designated as permitting themselves to be advised; the elsewhere reciprocal נועץ has here once a tolerative signification, although the reciprocal is also allowable: with such as reciprocally advise themselves, and thus without positiveness supplement each his own knowledge by means of that of another. Most interpreters regard 10b as a substantival clause, but why should not יתן be carried forward? With such as permit themselves to be advised, or are not too proud to sustain with others the relation of giving and receiving, there is wisdom, since instead of hatred comes wisdom - the peaceful fruit resulting from an interchange of views.

Pro 13:11 11 Wealth by means of fraud always becomes less;      But he that increaseth it by labour gains always more.

We punctuate הון־מהבל (with Makkeph, as in Ven. 1521, Antw. 1582, Frank.-on-the-Oder 1595, Gen. 1618, Leyden 1662), not הון מהבל (as other editions, and e.g., also Löwenstein); for the meaning is not that the wealth becomes less by הבל (Targ., but not the Syr.), or that it is less than הבל (Umbreit), but הון־מהבל is one idea: wealth proceeding from הבל; but הבל tub ;הב, properly a breath (Theod. ἀπὸ ἀτμοῦ or ἀτμίδος), then appearance without reality (Aquila, ἀπὸ ματαιότητος), covers itself here by that which we call swindle, i.e., by morally unrestrained fraudulent and deceitful speculation in contrast to solid and real gain. The translations: ἐπισπουδαζομένη μετὰ ἀνομίας (lxx), ὑπερσπουδαζομένη (Symmachus, Quinta),A fragment of an anonymous translation, so called from the place it holds in Origen’s Hexapla.festinata (Jerome), do not necessarily suppose the phrase מהבּל = מבהל, Pro 20:21 Kerı̂, for wealth which comes מהבל is obtained in a windy (unsubstantial) manner and as if by storm, of which the proverb holds good: “so gewonnen so zerronnen” (= quickly come, quickly go). מהבל needs neither to be changed into that unhebraic מהבּל (Hitzig) nor into the cognate מבהל (Ewald), but yet inferior to מהבל in the content of its idea. The contrast of one who by fraud and deception quickly arrives at wealth is one who brings it together in his hand, ἐπὶ χειρός (Venet.), i.e., always as often as he can bear it in his hand and bring it forth (Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, and Lagarde), or according to the measure of the hand, κατὰ χεῖρα (which means “according to external ability”), so that על, which is applied to the formation of adverbs, e.g., Psa 31:24 (Hitzig) - by both explanations על־יד has the meaning of “gradually,” - is used as in the post-bibl. Hebr. על יד על יד = מעט מעט, e.g., Schabbath 156a (vid., Aruch under על) (distinguish from ביד = with thought, intentionally, Berachoth 52b). There is scarcely a word having more significations that יד. Connected with על, it means at one time side or place, at another mediation or direction; that which is characteristic here is the omission of the pronoun (על־ידו, על־ידיו). The lxx translates על יד with the unrestrained freedom which it allows to itself by μετ ̓ εὐσεβείας, and has following πληθυνθήσεται another line, δίκαιος οἰκτείρει καὶ κιχρᾷ (from Psa 37:26).

Pro 13:12

The figures of paradise in Pro 13:12 and Pro 13:14 require us to take along with them the intermediate verse (Pro 13:13). 12 Deferred waiting maketh the heart sick,      And a tree of life is a wish accomplished.

Singularly the lxx Κρείσσων ἐναρχόμενος βοηθῶν καρδίᾳ, followed by the Syr. (which the Targ. Transcribes):That the Targum of the Proverbs is a Jewish elaboration of the Peshito text, vid., Nöldeke in Merx' Archiv, Bd. ii. pp. 246-49.

Better is he who begins to help than he who remains in hesitating expectation, by which תחלת is doubled, and is derived once from הוחיל, to wait, and the second time from החל, to begin. If the lxx, with its imitators, deteriorates to such a degree proverbs so clear, beautiful, and inviolable, what may one expect from it in the case of those not easily understood! משּׁך signifies also, Isa 18:2, to be widely extended (cf. Arab. meshaḳ), here in the sense of time, as נמשׁך, to prolong, Isa 13:22, and post-bibl. משׁך הזּמן, the course of time. Regarding תּוחלת, vid., at Pro 10:28, where as Pro 11:27 תּקות, here תּאוה, as also Psa 78:29 of the object of the wish, and with בוא in the sense of being fulfilled (cf. Jos 21:43), as there with הביא in the sense of accomplishing or performing. Extended waiting makes the heart sick, causes heart-woe (מחלה, part. fem. Hiph. of חלה, to be slack, feeble, sick; R. חל, to loosen, to make loose); on the contrary, a wish that has been fulfilled is a tree of life (cf. p. 23), of a quickening and strengthening influence, like that tree of paradise which was destined to renew and extend the life of man.

Pro 13:13 13 Whoever despiseth the word is in bonds to it,      And he that feareth the commandment is rewarded.

The word is thought of as ordering, and thus in the sense of the commandment, e.g., 1Sa 17:19; Dan 9:23, Dan 9:25. That which is here said is always true where the will of a man has subordinated itself to the authoritative will of a superior, but principally the proverb has in view the word of God, the מצוה κατ ̓ ἐξ. as the expression of the divine will, which (Pro 6:3) appears as the secondary, with the תורה, the general record of the divine will. Regarding בּוּז ל of contemptuous, despiteful opposition, vid., at Pro 6:30, cf. Pro 11:12. Joël records the prevailing tradition, for he translates: “Whoever despises advice rushes into destruction; whoever holds the commandment in honour is perfect.” But that ישׁלּם is to be understood neither of perfection nor of peace (lxx and Jerome), but means compensabitur (here not in the sense of punishment, but of reward), we know from Pro 11:31. The translation also of יחבל לו by “he rushes into destruction” (lxx καταφθαρήσεται, which the Syr.-Hexap. repeats; Luther, “he destroys himself;” the Venet. οἰχησεταί οἱ, periet sibi) fails, for one does not see what should have determined the poet to choose just this word, and, instead of the ambiguous dat. ethicus, not rather to say יחבּל נפשׁו. So also this יחבל is not with Gesenius to be connected with חבל = Arab. khabl, corrumpere, but with חבל = Arab. ḥabl, ligare, obligare. Whoever places himself contemptuously against a word which binds him to obedience will nevertheless not be free from that word, but is under pledge until he redeem the pledge by the performance of the obedience refused, or till that higher will enforce payment of the debt withheld by visiting with punishment. Jerome came near the right interpretation: ipse se in futurum obligat; Abulwalîd refers to Exo 22:25; and Parchon, Rashi, and others paraphrase: משׁכּן יתמשׁכּן עליו, he is confiscated as by mortgage. Schultens has, with the correct reference of the לו not to the contemner, but to the word, well established and illustrated this explanation: he is pledged by the word, Arab. marhwan (rahyn), viz., pigneratus paenae (Livius, xxix. 36). Ewald translates correctly: he is pledged to it; and Hitzig gives the right explanation: “A חבלה [a pledge, cf. Pro 20:16] is handed over to the offended law with the חבוּלה [the bad conduct] by the despiser himself, which lapses when he has exhausted the forbearance, so that the punishment is inflicted.” The lxx has another proverb following Pro 13:13 regarding υἱὸς δόλιος and οἰκέτης σοφός; the Syr. has adopted it; Jerome has here the proverb of the animae dolosae (vid., at Pro 13:9).

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.

Pro 13:15

Four proverbs follow, whose connection appears to have been occasioned by the sound of their words (שׂכל ... כל, בדעת ... ברע, רשׁע ... רישׁ). 15 Fine prudence produceth favour;      But the way of the malicious is uncultivated.

Regarding שׂכל טוב (thus to be punctuated, without Makkeph with Munach, after Codd. and old editions), vid., p. 84; for the most part it corresponds with that which in a deep ethical sense we call fine culture. Regarding יתּן, vid., at Pro 10:10 : it is not used here, as there, impersonally, but has a personal subject: he brings forth, causes. Fine culture, which shows men how to take the right side and in all circumstances to strike the right key, exercises a kindly heart-winning influence, not merely, as would be expressed by ימצא חן, to the benefit of its possessor, but, as is expressed by יתּן חן, such as removes generally a partition wall and brings men closer to one another. The איתן [perennis], touching it both for the eye and the ear, forms the contrast to יתן חן. This word, an elative formation from יתן = Arab. wtn, denotes that which stretches itself far, and that with reference to time: that which remains the same during the course of time. “That which does not change in time, continuing the same, according to its nature, strong, firm, and thus איתן becomes the designation of the enduring and the solid, whose quality remains always the same.” Thus Orelli, Die hebr. Synonyme der Zeit u. Ewigkeit, 1871. But that in the passage before us it denotes the way of the בגדים as “endlessly going forward,” the explanation of Orelli, after Böttcher (Collectanea, p. 135), is withdrawn by the latter in the new Aehrenlese (where he reads ריב איתן, “constant strife”). And נחל איתן (Deu 21:4) does not mean “a brook, the existence of which is not dependent on the weather and the season of the year,” at least not in accordance with the traditional meaning which is given Sota ix. 5 (cf. the Gemara), but a stony valley; for the Mishna says: איתן כמשׁמעו קשׁה, i.e., איתן is here, according to its verbal meaning, equivalent to קשׁה (hard). We are of the opinion that here, in the midst of the discussion of the law of the עגלה ערופה (the ritual for the atonement of a murder perpetrated by an unknown hand), the same meaning of the איתן is certified which is to be adopted in the passage before us. Maimuni= R. Moses b. Maimum = Rambam, so called by the Jews from the initial letters of his name = Maimonides, d. 1204. (in Sota and Hilchoth Rozeach ix. 2) indeed, with the Mishna and Gemara, thinks the meaning of a “strong rushing wâdy” to be compatible; but קשׁה is a word which more naturally denotes the property of the ground than of a river, and the description, Deu 21:4 : in a נחל איתן, in which there is no tillage and sowing, demands for נחל here the idea of the valley, and not primarily that of the valley-brook. According to this tradition, the Targum places a תּקּיפא in the Peshito translation of 15b, and the Venet. translates, after Kimchi, ὁδὸς δὲ ἀνταρτῶν (of ἀνταρτής from ἀνταίρειν) ἰσχυρά. The fundamental idea of remaining like itself, continuing, passes over into the idea of the firm, the hard, so that איתן is a word that interchanges with סלע, Num 24:21, and serves as a figurative designation of the rocky mountains, Jer 49:19, and the rocky framework of the earth, Mic 6:2. Thus the meaning of hardness (πετρῶδες, Mat 13:5) connects itself with the word, and at the same time, according to Deu 21:4, of the uncultivable and the uncultivated. The way of the בּגדים, the treacherous, i.e., the manner in which they transact with men, is stiff, as hard as stone, and repulsive; they follow selfish views, never placing themselves in sympathy with the condition of their neighbour; they are without the tenderness which is connected with fine culture; they remain destitute of feeling in things which, as we say, would soften a stone. It is unnecessary to give a catalogue of the different meanings of this איתן, such as vorago (Jerome), a standing bog (Umbreit), and ever trodden way (Bertheau), etc.; Schultens offers, as frequently, the relatively best: at via perfidorum pertinacissime tensum; but יתן does not mean to strain, but to extend. The lxx has between 15a and 15b the interpolation: τὸ δὲ γνῶναι νόμον διανοίας ἐστὶν ἀγαθῆς.

Pro 13:16 16 Every prudent man acteth with understanding;      But a fool spreadeth abroad folly.

Hitzig reads, with the Syr. (but not the Targ.) and Jerome, כּל (omnia agit), but contrary to the Hebr. syntax. The כּל־ is not feeble and useless, but means that he always acts בּדּעת, mit Bedacht [with judgment] (opp. בּבלי דעת, inconsulto, Deu 4:42; Deu 19:4), while on the contrary the fool displays folly. Pro 12:23 and Pro 15:2 serve to explain both members of the verse. Bedächtigkeit [judgment] is just knowledge directed to a definite practical end, a clear thought concentrated on a definite point. יקרא, he calls out, and יבּיע, he sputters out, are parallels to יפרשׂ. Fleischer: פּרשׂ, expandit (opp. Arab. ṭawy, intra animum cohibuit), as a cloth or paper folded or rolled together, cf. Schiller’s (Note: “Er breitet es heiter und glänzend aus, Das zusammengewickelte Leben.”) - “He spreads out brightly and splendidly

The enveloped life.”

There lies in the word something derisive: as the merchant unrolls and spreads out his wares in order to commend them, so the fool does with his foolery, which he had enveloped, i.e., had the greatest interest to keep concealed within himself - he is puffed up therewith.

Pro 13:17 17 A godless messenger falls into trouble;      But a faithful messenger is a cordial.

The traditional text, which the translations also give (except Jerome, nuntius impii, and leaving out of view the lxx, which makes of Pro 13:17 a history of a foolhardy king and a wise messenger), has not מלאך, but מלאך; the Masora places the word along with המלאך, Gen 48:16. And יפל is likewise testified to by all translators; they all read it as Kal, as the traditional text punctuates it; Luther alone departs from this and translates the Hiph.: “a godless messenger bringeth misfortune.” Indeed, this conj. יפּל presses itself forward; and even though one read יפּל, the sense intended by virtue of the parallelism could be no other than that a godless messenger, because no blessing rests on his godlessness, stumbles into disaster, and draws him who gave the commission along with him. The connection מלאך רשׁע is like אדם רשׁע, Pro 11:7 (cf. the fem. of this adj., Eze 3:18). Instead of בּרע is בּרעה, Pro 17:20; Pro 28:14, parallels (cf. also Pro 11:5) which the punctuators may have had in view in giving the preference to Kal. With מלאך, from לאך, R. לך, to make to go = to send, is interchanged ציר, from צוּר, to turn, whence to journey (cf. Arab. ṣar, to become, to be, as the vulg. “to be to Dresden = to journey” is used). The connection ציר אמוּנים (cf. the more simple ציר נאמן, Pro 25:13) is like Pro 14:15, עד אמונים; the pluralet. means faithfulness in the full extent of the idea. Regarding מרפּא, the means of healing, here to strength, refreshment, vid., Pro 4:22; Pro 12:18.

Pro 13:18 18 Poverty and shame (to him) who rejecteth correction;      But he who regardeth reproof is honoured.

We are neither to supply אישׁ before רישׁ קלונו (or more correctly, abstr. pro concr., as רמיּה, Pro 1:27), nor ל before פורע, as Gesenius (Lehrgeb. §227a) does; nor has the part. פּורע the value of a hypothetical clause like Pro 18:13, Job 41:18, although it may certainly be changed into such without destroying the meaning (Ewald, Hitzig); but “poverty and shame is he who is without correction,” is equivalent to, poverty and shame is the conclusion or lot of him who is without correction; it is left to the hearer to find out the reference of the predicate to the subject in the sense of the quality, the consequence, or the lot (cf. e.g., Pro 10:17; Pro 13:1; Pro 14:35).Vid., regarding the strong demand which the Hebr. style makes on hearer and reader, my Gesch. der jüdischen Poesie (1863), p. 189.

Regarding פרע, vid., p. 73. The Latin expression corresponding is: qui detrectat disciplinam. He who rejects the admonition and correction of his parents, his pastor, or his friend, and refuses every counsel to duty as a burdensome moralizing, such an one must at last gather wisdom by means of injury if he is at all wise: he grows poorer in consequence of missing the right rule of life, and has in addition thereto to be subject to disgrace through his own fault. On the contrary, to him who has the disgrace to deserve reproof, but who willingly receives it, and gives it effect, the disgrace becomes an honour, for not to reject reproof shows self-knowledge, humility, and good-will; and these properties in the judgment of others bring men to honour, and have the effect of raising them in their position in life and in their calling.

Pro 13:19

Two pairs of proverbs regarding fools and wise men, ranged together by catchwords. 19 Quickened desire is sweet to the soul,      And it is an abomination to fools to avoid evil.

A synthetic distich, the first line of which, viewed by itself, is only a feebler expression of that which is said in Pro 13:12, for תּאוה נהיה is essentially of the same meaning as תאוה באה, not the desire that has just arisen and is not yet appeased (Umbreit, Hitzig, Zöckler), which when expressed by a part. of the same verb would be הוה (= אשׁר היתה), but the desire that is appeased (Jerome, Luther, also Venet. ἔφεσις γενομένη, i.e., after Kimchi: in the fulfilling of past desire; on the contrary, the Syr., Targ. render the phrase נאוה of becoming desire). The Niph. נהיה denotes not the passing into a state of being, but the being carried out into historical reality, e.g., Eze 21:12; Eze 39:8, where it is connected with באה; it is always the expression of the completed fact to which there is a looking back, e.g., Jdg 20:3; and this sense of the Niph. stands so fast, that it even means to be done, finished (brought to an end), to be out, to be done with anything, e.g., Dan 2:1.We have said, p. 156, that a Niph. in which the peculiar causative meaning of the Hiph. would be rendered passively is without example; we must here with נהיה add, that the Niph. of intransitive verbs denotes the entrance into the condition expressed by the Kal, and may certainly be regarded, according to our way of thinking, as passive of the Hiphil (Gesen. §51, 2). But the old language shows no ההוה to which נהיה (Arab. âinhaway, in Mutenebbi) stood as passive; in the Arab. also the seventh form, rightly regarded, is always formed from the first, vid., Fleischer’s Beiträge, u.s.w., in the Sitzungs-Bericht. d. Sächs. Gesellschaft d. Wiss. 1863, p. 172f.

The sentence, that fulfilled desire does good to the soul, appears commonplace (Hitzig); but it is comprehensive enough on the ground of Heb 11 to cheer even a dying person, and conceals the ethically significant truth that the blessedness of vision is measured by the degree of the longing of faith. But the application of the clause in its pairing with 19b acquires another aspect. On this account, because the desire of the soul is pleasant in its fulfilment, fools abhor the renouncing of evil, for their desire is directed to that which is morally worthless and blameworthy, and the endeavour, which they closely and constantly adhere to, is to reach the attainment of this desire. This subordinate proposition of the conclusion is unexpressed. The pairing of the two lines of the proverb may have been occasioned by the resemblance in sound of תועבת and תּאוה. סוּר is n. actionis, like Pro 16:17, cf. 6. Besides, it in to be observed that the proverb speaks of fools and not of the godless. Folly is that which causes that men do not break free from evil, for it is the deceit of sinful lust which binds them fast thereto.

Pro 13:20 20 Whoever goes with wise men, becomes wise;      And whoever has intercourse with fools, becomes base.

Regarding the significance of this proverb in the history of the religion and worship of Israel, vid., p. 39. We have translated 20a after the Kerı̂; the translation according to the Chethı̂b is: “go with wise men and become wise” (cf. Pro 8:33), not הלוך, for the connection of the (meant imperatively) infin. absol. with an imper. (meant conclusively) is not tenable; but הלוך is an imper. form established by הלכוּ, Jer 51:50 (cf. הלוך = לכת, Num 22:14), and appears to have been used with such shades of conception as here as intercourse and companionship for לך. Regarding ירוע gnid, vid., at Pro 11:15; there it meant malo afficietur, here it means malus (pejor) fiet. The Venet. (contrary to Kimchi, who explains by frangetur) rightly has κακωθήσεται. There is here a play upon words; רעה means to tend (a flock), also in general to be considerate about anything (Pro 15:14; 44:20), to take care of anything with the accusative of the person (Pro 28:7; Pro 29:3), to hold intercourse with any one: he who by preference seeks the society of fools, himself becomes such (Jerome, similis efficietur), or rather, as ירוע expresses, he comes always morally lower down. “A wicked companion leads his associate into hell.”

Pro 13:21 21 Evil pursueth sinners,      And the righteous is repaid with good.

To תּרדּף of the punishment which follows after sinners at their heels, cf. Nah 1:8. Greek art gives wings to Nemesis in this sense. To translate 21b, with Löwenstein, “The pious, the good rewards them,” is untenable, for טוב, the good (e.g., Pro 11:27), never appears personified, only טוב, goodness, Psa 23:6, according to which the lxx τοὺς δὲ δικαίους καταλήψεται (ישׂיג) ἀγαθά. Still less is טוב meant personally, as the Venet. τὰ δὲ δίκαια ἀποδώσει χρηστός, which probably means: righteous conduct will a good one, viz., God, reward. טוב .dr is an attribute of God, but never the name of God. So the verb שׁלּם, after the manner of verbs of educating and leading (גמל, עשׂה, עבד), is connected with a double accusative. The Syr., Targum, and Jerome translate passively, and so also do we; for while we must think of God in the retribuet, yet the proverb does not name Him any more than at Pro 12:14, cf. Pro 10:24; it is designedly constructed, placing Him in the background, with vague generality: the righteous will one, will they, reward with good - this expression, with the most general personal subject, almost coincides with one altogether passive.

Pro 13:22 22 The good man leaveth behind him for his children’s children,      And the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

As a commencing word, טוב signifies in the Mishle for the most part bonum (prae); but here, as at Pro 12:2, cf. Pro 22:9; Pro 14:4, it signifies bonus. As the expression that God is טוב (Psa 25:8, etc.) of the O.T. is equivalent to the N.T. that He is ἀγάπη, so that man who in his relation to others is determined by unselfish love is טוב for the good man [der Gütige], i.e., the man who is willing to communicate all good is truly good, because the essence of צדקה, righteousness of life, is love. Such an one suffers no loss by his liberality, but, according to the law, Pro 11:25, by which a dispenser of blessings is at the same time also a recipient of blessings, he has only gain, so that he makes his children’s children to inherit, i.e., leaves behind him an inheritance extending even to his grandchildren (vid., regarding הנחיל, p. 182; here trans. as containing its object in itself, as at Deu 32:8 : to make to inherit, to place in possession of an inheritance). The sinner, on the contrary (חוטא sing. to חטּאים, ἁμαρτωλοί), loses his wealth, it is already destined to pass over to the righteous who is worthy of it, and makes use (cf. Job 27:17) of that which he possesses in accordance with the will and appointment of God - a revelation of justice appertaining to time, the exceptions to which the old limited doctrine of requital takes no notice of. חיל, strength, then like our “Vermögen” (cf. opes, facultates), that by means of which one is placed in circumstances to accomplish much (Fl.); cf. regarding the fundamental idea contorquere, compingere, p. 226, also regarding צפן, properly condensare, then condere, p. 61.

Pro 13:23

Connected with Pro 13:22 there now follow two proverbs regarding sustenance, with one intervening regarding education. 23 The poor man’s fresh land gives food in abundance,      And many are destroyed by iniquity.

The Targ. and Theodotion (μέγας) translate רב, but the Masora has רב־ with short Kametz, as Pro 20:6; Ecc 1:8 (cf. Kimchi under רבב). The rendering: multitudo cibi est ager pauperum, makes the produce the property of the field (= frugum fertilis). ניר .)s is the new field (novale or novalis, viz., ager), from ניר, to make arable, fruitful; properly to raise up, viz., by grubbing and freeing of stones (סקּל). But why, asks Hitzig, just the new field? As if no answer could be given to this question, he changes ניר into ניב, and finds in 23a the description of a rentier, “a great man who consumes the income of his capital.” But how much more intelligible is the new field of the poor man than these capitals (ראשׁים) with their per cents (ניב)! A new field represents to us severe labour, and as belonging to a poor man, a moderate field, of which it is here said, that notwithstanding its freshly broken up fallow, it yet yields a rich produce, viz., by virtue of the divine blessing, for the proverb supposes the ora et labora. Regarding ראשׁים = רשׁים, vid., at Pro 10:4. Jerome’s translation, patrum (properly, heads), follows a false Jewish tradition. In the antithesis, 23b, one is tempted to interpret ישׁ in the sense of Pro 8:21 [substance, wealth], as Schultens, opulentia ipsa raditur quum non est moderamen, and Euchel: that which is essentially good, badly managed, goes to ruin. But ישׁ and וישׁ at the beginning of a proverb, or of a line of a proverb, in every case means est qui. That a wealthy person is meant, the contrast shows. נספּה, which denotes anything taken away or gathered up, has the same meaning here as at 1Sa 27:1 : est qui (Fl. quod, but the parallel does not demand this) abripiatur, i.e., quasi turbine auferatur et perdatur; the word reminds us of סופה, whirlwind, but in itself it means only something smooth and altogether carried off. The בּ is here as at Gen 19:15; elsewhere בּלא משׁפּט means with injustice (properly, not-right), Pro 16:8, Jer 22:13; Eze 22:29; here it is not the ב of the means, but of the mediate cause. While the (industrious and God-fearing) poor man is richly nourished from the piece of ground which he cultivates, many a one who has incomparably more than he comes by his unrighteousness down to a state of beggary, or even lower: he is not only in poverty, but along with this his honour, his freedom, and the very life of his person perish.

Pro 13:24 24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son,      And he who loveth him visits him early with correction.

The paedagogic rule of God, Pro 3:12, avails also for men, Pro 23:13., Pro 29:15. The rod represents here the means of punishment, the patria potestas. He who spareth or avoideth this, and who does this even from love, has yet no true right love for his son; he who loveth him correcteth him early. With ἐπιμελῶς παιδεύει of the lxx (cf. Sir. 30:1, ἐνδελεχήσει μάστιγας) the thought is in general indicated, but the expression is not explained. Many erroneously regard the suffix of שׁחרו as referring to the object immediately following (de Dieu, Ewald, Bertheau, Zöckler); Hitzig, on the contrary, rightly remarks, that in this case we should expect the words to be, after Pro 5:22 (cf. Exo 2:6), את־המּוּסר. He himself, without any necessity, takes שׁחר in the sense of the Arab. skhar, compescere. Hofmann (Schriftbew. ii. 2. 402) is right in saying that “שׁחר is connected with a double accusative as elsewhere קדּם occurs; and the meaning is, that one ought much more to anticipate correction than restrain it where it is necessary.” שׁחר means to go out early to anything, according to which a Greek rendering is ὀρθρίζει (Venet. ὀρθριεῖ) αὐτῷ παιδείαν: maturat ei castigationem = mature eum castigat (Fl.). שׁחר does not denote the early morning of the day (as Rashi, לבקרים), but the morning of life (as Euchel, בשׁחר ימיו). “The earlier the fruit, the better the training.” A father who truly wishes well to his son keeps him betimes under strict discipline, to give him while he is yet capable of being influenced the right direction, and to allow no errors to root themselves in him; but he who is indulgent toward his child when he ought to be strict, acts as if he really wished his ruin.

Pro 13:25 25 The righteous has to eat to the satisfying of his soul;      But the body of the godless must suffer want.

Jerome translates תחסר freely by insaturabilis (he has want = has never enough), but in that case we would have expected תחסר תּמיד; also in 25a עד־שׂבע would have been used. We have thus before us no commendation of temperance and moderation in contrast to gluttony, but a statement regarding the diversity of fortune of the righteous and the godless - another way of clothing the idea of Pro 10:3. שׂבע is a segolate form, thus an infin. formation, formally different from the similar שׂבע, Pro 3:10. Regarding בּטן, vid., Psychol. p. 265f.; it is a nobler word than “Bauch” [belly], for it denotes not the external arch, but, like κοιλία (R. בט, concavus), the inner body, here like Pro 18:20, as that which receives the nourishment and changes it in succum et sanguinem. That God richly nourishes the righteous, and on the contrary brings the godless to want and misery, is indeed a rule with many exceptions, but understood in the light of the N.T., it has deep inward everlasting truth.

Moral Maxims.

1 A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

Among the children of the same parents it is no new thing for some to be hopeful and others the contrary; now here we are taught to distinguish. 1. There is great hope of those that have a reverence for their parents, and are willing to be advised and admonished by them. He is a wise son, and is in a far way to be wiser, that hears his father's instruction, desires to hear it, regards it, and complies with it, and does not merely give it the hearing. 2. There is little hope of those that will not so much as hear rebuke with any patience, but scorn to submit to government and scoff at those that deal faithfully with them. How can those mend a fault who will not be told of it, but count those their enemies who do them that kindness?

2 A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth: but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.

Note, 1. If that which comes from within, out of the heart, be good, and from a good treasure, it will return with advantage. Inward comfort and satisfaction will be daily bread; nay, it will be a continual feast to those who delight in that communication which is to the use of edifying. 2. Violence done will recoil in the face of him that does it: The soul of the transgressors that harbours and plots mischief, and vents it by word and deed, shall eat violence; they shall have their belly full of it. Reward her as she has rewarded thee, Rev. xviii. 6. Every man shall drink as he brews, eat as he speaks; for by our words we must be justified or condemned, Matt. xii. 37. As our fruit is, so will our food be, Rom. vi. 21, 22.

3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.

Note, 1. A guard upon the lips is a guard to the soul. He that is cautious, that thinks twice before he speaks once, that, if he have thought evil, lays his hand upon his mouth to suppress it, that keeps a strong bridle on his tongue and a strict hand on that bridle, he keeps his soul from a great deal both of guilt and grief and saves himself the trouble of many bitter reflections on himself and reflections of others upon him. 2. There is many a one ruined by an ungoverned tongue: He that opens widely his lips, to let our quod in buccam venerit—whatever comes uppermost, that loves to bawl, and bluster, and make a noise, and affects such a liberty of speech as bids defiance both to God and man, he shall have destruction. it will be the destruction of his reputation, his interest, his comfort, and his soul for ever, Jam. iii. 6.

4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.

Here is, 1. The misery and shame of the slothful. See how foolish and absurd they are; they desire the gains which the diligent get, but they hate the pains which the diligent take; they covet every thing that is to be coveted, but will do nothing that is to be done; and therefore it follows, They have nothing; for he that will not labour let him hunger, and let him not eat, 2 Thess. iii. 10. The desire of the slothful, which should be his excitement, is his torment, which should make him busy, makes him always uneasy, and is really a greater toil to him than labour would be. 2. The happiness and honour of the diligent: Their soul shall be made fat; they shall have abundance, and shall have the comfortable enjoyment of it, and the more for its being the fruit of their diligence. This is especially true in spiritual affairs. Those that rest in idle wishes know not what the advantages of religion are; whereas those that take pains in the service of God find both the pleasure and profit of it.

The Righteous Exclusively Happy.

5 A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.

Note, 1. Where grace reigns sin is loathsome. It is the undoubted character of every righteous man that he hates lying (that is, all sin, for every sin is a lie, and particularly all fraud and falsehood in commerce and conversation), not only that he will not tell a lie, but he abhors lying, from a rooted reigning principle of love to truth and justice, and conformity to God. 2. Where sin reigns the man is loathsome. If his eyes were opened, and his conscience awakened, he would be so to himself, he would abhor himself and repent in dust and ashes; however, he is so to God and all good men; particularly, he makes himself so by lying, than which there is nothing more detestable. And, though he may think to face it out awhile, yet he will come to shame and contempt at last and will blush to show his face, Dan. xii. 2.

6 Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.

See here, 1. Saints secured from ruin. Those that are upright in their way, that mean honestly in all their actions, adhere conscientiously to the sacred and eternal rules of equity, and deal sincerely both with God and man, their integrity will keep them from the temptations of Satan, which shall not prevail over them, the reproaches and injuries of evil men, which shall not fasten upon them, to do them any real mischief, Ps. xxv. 21. Hic murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi. Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence, Still to preserve thy conscious innocence. 2. Sinners secured for ruin. Those that are wicked, even their wickedness will be their overthrow at last, and they are held in the cords of it in the mean time. Are they corrected, destroyed? It is their own wickedness that corrects them, that destroys them; they alone shall bear it.

7 There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

This observation is applicable,

I. To men's worldly estate. The world is a great cheat, not only the things of the world, but the men of the world. All men are liars. Here is an instance in two sore evils under the sun:—1. Some that are really poor would be thought to be rich and are thought to be so; they trade and spend as if they were rich, make a great bustle and a great show as if they had hidden treasures, when perhaps, if all their debts were paid, they are not worth a groat. This is sin, and will be shame; many a one hereby ruins his family and brings reproach upon his profession of religion. Those that thus live above what they have choose to be subject to their own pride rather than to God's providence, and it will end accordingly. 2. Some that are really rich would be thought to be poor, and are thought to be so, because they sordidly and meanly live below what God has given them, and choose rather to bury it than to use it, Eccl. vi. 1, 2. In this there is an ingratitude to God, injustice to the family and neighbourhood, and uncharitableness to the poor.

II. To their spiritual state. Grace is the riches of the soul; it is true riches; but men commonly misrepresent themselves, either designedly or through mistake and ignorance of themselves. 1. There are many presuming hypocrites, that are really poor and empty of grace and yet either think themselves rich, and will not be convinced of their poverty, or pretend themselves rich, and will not own their poverty. 2. There are many timorous trembling Christians, that are spiritually rich, and full of grace, and yet think themselves poor, and will not be persuaded that they are rich, or, at least, will not own it; by their doubts and fears, their complaints and griefs, they make themselves poor. The former mistake is destroying at last; this is disquieting in the mean time.

8 The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.

We are apt to judge of men's blessedness, at least in this world, by their wealth, and that they are more or less happy accordingly as they have more or less of this world's goods; but Solomon here shows what a gross mistake it is, that we may be reconciled to a poor condition, and may neither covet riches ourselves nor envy those that have abundance. 1. Those that are rich, if by some they are respected for their riches, yet, to balance that, by others they are envied and struck at, and brought in danger of their lives, which therefore they are forced to ransom with their riches. Slay us not, for we have treasures in the field, Jer. xli. 8. Under some tyrants, it has been crime enough to be rich; and how little is a man beholden to his wealth when it only serves to redeem that life which otherwise would not have been exposed! 2. Those that are poor, if by some, that should be their friends, they are despised and overlooked, yet, to balance that, they are also despised and overlooked by others that would be their enemies if they had any thing to lose: The poor hear not rebuke, are not censured, reproached, accused, nor brought into trouble, as the rich are; for nobody thinks it worth while to take notice of them. When the rich Jews were carried captives to Babylon the poor of the land were left, 2 Kings xxv. 12. Welcome nothing, once in seven years. Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator—When a traveller is met by a robber he will rejoice at not having much property about him.

9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.

Here is, 1. The comfort of good men flourishing and lasting: The light of the righteous rejoices, that is, it increases, and makes them glad. Even their outward prosperity is their joy, and much more those gifts, graces, and comforts, with which their souls are illuminated; these shine more and more, ch. iv. 18. The Spirit is their light, and he gives them a fulness of joy, and rejoices to do them good. 2. The comfort of bad men withering and dying: The lamp of the wicked burns dimly and faint; it looks melancholy, like a taper in an urn, and it will shortly be put out in utter darkness, Isa. l. 11. The light of the righteous is as that of the sun, which may be eclipsed and clouded, but will continue; that of the wicked is as a lamp of their own kindling, which will presently go out and is easily put out.

10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

Note, 1. Foolish pride is the great make-bate. Would you know whence come wars and fightings? They come from this root of bitterness. Whatever hand other lusts may have in contention (passion, envy, covetousness), pride has the great hand; it is its pride that it will itself sow discord and needs no help. Pride makes men impatient of contradiction in either their opinions or their desires, impatient of competition and rivalship, impatient of contempt, or any thing that looks like a slight, and impatient of concession, and receding, from a conceit of certain right and truth on their side; and hence arise quarrels among relations and neighbours, quarrels in states and kingdoms, in churches and Christian societies. Men will be revenged, will not forgive, because they are proud. 2. Those that are humble and peaceable are wise and well advised. Those that will ask and take advice, that will consult their own consciences, their Bibles, their ministers, their friends, and will do nothing rashly, are wise, as in other things, so in this, that they will humble themselves, will stoop and yield, to preserve quietness and prevent quarrels.

11 Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

This shows that riches wear as they are won and woven. 1. That which is won ill will never wear well, for a curse attends it which will waste it, and the same corrupt dispositions which incline men to the sinful ways of getting well incline them to the like sinful ways of spending: Wealth gotten by vanity will be bestowed upon vanity, and then it will be diminished. That which is got by such employments as are not lawful, or not becoming Christians, such as only serve to feed pride and luxury, that which is got by gaming or by the stage, may as truly be said to be gotten by vanity as that which is got by fraud and lying, and will be diminished. De male quæsitis vix gaudet tertius hæres—Ill-gotten wealth will scarcely be enjoyed by the third generation. 2. That which is got by industry and honesty will grow more, instead of growing less; it will be a maintenance; it will be an inheritance; it will be an abundance. He that labours, working with his hands, shall so increase as that he shall have to give to him that needs (Eph. iv. 28); and, when it comes to that, it will increase yet more and more.

12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Note, 1. Nothing is more grievous than the disappointment of a raised expectation, though not in the thing itself by a denial, yet in the time of it by a delay: Hope deferred makes the heart sick and languishing, fretful and peevish; but hope quite dashed kills the heart, and the more high the expectation was raised the more cutting is the frustration of it. It is therefore our wisdom not to promise ourselves any great matters from the creature, not to feed ourselves with any vain hopes from this world, lest we lay up matter for our own vexation; and what we do hope for let us prepare to be disappointed in, that, if it should prove so, it may prove the easier; and let us not be hasty. 2. Nothing is more grateful than to enjoy that, at last, which we have long wished and waited for: When the desire does come it puts men into a sort of paradise, a garden of pleasure, for it is a tree of life. It will aggravate the eternal misery of the wicked that their hopes will be frustrated; and it will make the happiness of heaven the more welcome to the saints that it is what they have earnestly longed for as the crown of their hopes.

13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

Here is, 1. The character of one that is marked for ruin: He that despises the word of God, and has no regard to it, no veneration for it, nor will be ruled by it, certainly he shall be destroyed, for he slights that which is the only means of curing a destructive disease and makes himself obnoxious to that divine wrath which will certainly be his destruction. Those that prefer the rules of carnal policy before divine precepts, and the allurements of the world and the flesh before God's promises and comforts, despise his word, giving the preference to those things that stand in competition with it; and it is to their own just destruction: they would not take warning. 2. The character of one that is sure to be happy: He that fears the commandment, that stands in awe of God, pays a deference to his authority, has a reverence for his word, is afraid of displeasing God and incurring the penalties annexed to the commandment, shall not only escape destruction, but shall be rewarded for his godly fear. In keeping the commandment there is great reward.

14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

By the law of the wise and righteous, here, we may understand either the principles and rules by which they govern themselves or (which comes all to one) the instructions which they give to others, which ought to be as a law to all about them; and if they be so, 1. They will be constant springs of comfort and satisfaction, as a fountain of life, sending forth streams of living water; the closer we keep to those rules the more effectually we secure our own peace. 2. They will be constant preservatives from the temptations of Satan. Those that follow the dictates of this law will keep at a distance from the snares of sin, and so escape the snares of death which those run into that forsake the law of the wise.

15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

If we compare not only the end, but the way, we shall find that religion has the advantage; for, 1. The way of saints is pleasant and agreeable: Good understanding gains favour with God and man; our Saviour grew in that favour when he increased in wisdom. Those that conduct themselves prudently, and order their conversation aright in every thing, that serve Christ in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, are accepted of God and approved of men, Rom. xiv. 17, 18. And how comfortably will that man pass through the world who is well understood and is therefore well accepted! 2. The way of sinners is rough and uneasy, and, for this reason, unpleasant to themselves, because unacceptable to others. It is hard, hard upon others, who complain of it, hard to the sinner himself, who can have little enjoyment of himself while he is doing that which is disobliging to all mankind. The service of sin is perfect slavery, and the road to hell is strewed with the thorns and thistles that are the products of the curse. Sinners labour in the very fire.

16 Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.

Note, 1. It is wisdom to be cautious. Every prudent discreet man does all with knowledge (considering with himself and consulting with others), acts with deliberation and is upon the reserve, is careful not to meddle with that which he has not some knowledge of, not to launch out into business which he has not acquainted himself with, will not deal with those that he has not some knowledge of, whether they may be confided in. He is still dealing in knowledge, that he may increase the stock he has. 2. It is folly to be rash, as the fool is, who is forward to talk of things he knows nothing of and undertake that which he is no way fit for, and so lays open his folly and makes himself ridiculous. He began to build and was not able to finish.

17 A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.

Here we have, 1. The ill consequences of betraying a trust. A wicked messenger, who, being sent to negotiate any business, is false to him that employed him, divulges his counsels, and so defeats his designs, cannot expect to prosper, but will certainly fall into some mischief or other, will be discovered and punished, since nothing is more hateful to God and man than the treachery of those that have a confidence reposed in them. 2. The happy effects of fidelity: An ambassador who faithfully discharges his trust, and serves the interests of those who employ him, is health; he is health to those by whom and for whom he is employed, heals differences that are between them, and preserves a good understanding; he is health to himself, for he secures his own interest. This is applicable to ministers, Christ's messengers and ambassadors; those that are wicked and false to Christ and the souls of men do mischief and fall into mischief, but those that are faithful will find sound words to be healing words to others and themselves.

18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

Note, 1. He that is so proud that he scorns to be taught will certainly be abased. He that refuses the good instruction offered him, as if it were a reflection upon his honour and an abridgment of his liberty, poverty and shame shall be to him: he will become a beggar and live and die in disgrace; every one will despise him as foolish, and stubborn, and ungovernable. 2. He that is so humble that he takes it well to be told of his faults shall certainly be exalted: He that regards a reproof, whoever gives it to him, and will mend what is amiss when it is shown him, gains respect as wise and candid; he avoids that which would be a disgrace to him and is in a fair way to make himself considerable.

19 The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.

This shows the folly of those that refuse instruction, for they might be happy and will not. 1. They might be happy. There are in man strong desires of happiness; God has provided for the accomplishment of those desires, and that would be sweet to the soul, whereas the pleasures of sense are grateful only to the carnal appetite. The desire of good men towards the favour of God and spiritual blessings brings that which is sweet to their souls; we know those that can say so by experience, Ps. iv. 6, 7. 2. Yet they will not be happy; for it is an abomination to them to depart from evil, which is necessary to their being happy. Never let those expect any thing truly sweet to their souls that will not be persuaded to leave their sins, but that roll them under their tongues as a sweet morsel.

20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

Note, 1. Those that would be good must keep good company, which is an evidence for them that they would be good (men's character is known by the company they choose) and will be a means of making them good, of showing them the way and of quickening and encouraging them in it. He that would be himself wise must walk with those that are so, must choose such for his intimate acquaintance, and converse with them accordingly; must ask and receive instruction from them, and keep up pious and profitable talk with them. Miss not the discourse of the elders, for they also learned of their fathers, Ecclesiasticus viii. 9. And (Ecclesiasticus vi. 35), Be willing to hear every godly discourse, and let not the parables of understanding escape thee. 2. Multitudes are brought to ruin by bad company: A companion of fools shall be broken (so some), shall be known (so the LXX.), known to be a fool; noscitur ex socio—he is known by his company. He will be like them (so some), will be made wicked (so others); it comes all to one, for all those, and those only, that make themselves wicked, will be destroyed, and those that associate with evil-doers are debauched, and so undone, and at last ascribe their death to it.

21 Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.

Here see, 1. How unavoidable the destruction of sinners is; the wrath of God pursues them, and all the terrors of that wrath: Evil pursues them closely wherever they go, as the avenger of blood pursued the manslayer, and they have no city of refuge to flee to; they attempt an escape, but in vain. Whom God pursues he is sure to overtake. They may prosper for a while and grow very secure, but their damnation slumbers not, though they do. 2. How indefeasible the happiness of the saints is; the God that cannot lie has engaged that to the righteous good shall be repaid. They shall be abundantly recompensed for all the good they have done, and all the ill they have suffered, in this world; so that, though many have been losers for their righteousness, they shall not be losers by it. Though the recompence do not come quickly, it will come in the day of payment, in the world of retribution; and it will be an abundant recompence.

22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.

See here, 1. How a good man's estate lasts: He leaves an inheritance to his children's children. It is part of his praise that he is thoughtful for posterity, that he does not lay all out upon himself, but is in care to do well for those that come after him, not by withholding more than is meet, but by a prudent and decent frugality. He trains up his children to this, that they may leave it to their children; and especially he is careful, both by justice and charity, to obtain the blessing of God upon what he has, and to entail that blessing upon his children, without which the greatest industry and frugality will be in vain: A good man, by being good and doing good, by honouring the Lord with his substance and spending it in his service, secures it to his posterity; or, if he should not leave them much of this world's goods, his prayers, his instructions, his good example, will be the best entail, and the promises of the covenant will be an inheritance to his children's children, Ps. ciii. 17. 2. How it increases by the accession of the wealth of the sinner to it, for that is laid up for the just. If it be asked, How should good men grow so rich, who are not so eager upon the world as others are and who commonly suffer for their well-doing? It is here answered, God, in his providence, often brings into their hands that which wicked people had laid up for themselves. The innocent shall divide the silver, Job xxvii. 16, 17. The Israelites shall spoil the Egyptians (Exod. xii. 36) and eat the riches of the Gentiles, Isa. lxi. 6.

23 Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

See here, 1. How a small estate may be improved by industry, so that a man, by making the best of every thing, may live comfortably upon it: Much food is in the tillage of the poor, the poor farmers, that have but a little, but take pains with that little and husband it well. Many make it an excuse for their idleness that they have but a little to work on, a very little to be doing with; but the less compass the field is of the more let the skill and labour of the owner be employed about it, and it will turn to a very good account. Let him dig, and he needs not beg. 2. How a great estate may be ruined by indiscretion: There is that has a great deal, but it is destroyed and brought to nothing for want of judgment, that is, prudence in the management of it. Men over-build themselves or over-buy themselves, keep greater company, or a better table, or more servants, than they can afford, suffer what they have to go to decay and do not make the most of it; by taking up money themselves, or being bound for others, their estates are sunk, their families reduced, and all for want of judgment.

24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

Note, 1. To the education of children in that which is good there is necessary a due correction of them for what is amiss; every child of ours is a child of Adam, and therefore has that foolishness bound up in its heart which calls for rebuke, more or less, the rod and reproof which give wisdom. Observe, It is his rod that must be used, the rod of a parent, directed by wisdom and love, and designed for good, not the rod of a servant. 2. It is good to begin betimes with the necessary restraints of children from that which is evil, before vicious habits are confirmed. The branch is easily bent when it is tender. 3. Those really hate their children, though they pretend to be fond of them, that do not keep them under a strict discipline, and by all proper methods, severe ones when gentle ones will not serve, make them sensible of their faults and afraid of offending. They abandon them to their worst enemy, to the most dangerous disease, and therefore hate them. Let this reconcile children to the correction their good parents give them; it is from love, and for their good, Heb. xii. 7-9.

25 The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want.

Note, 1. It is the happiness of the righteous that they shall have enough and that they know when they have enough. They desire not to be surfeited, but, being moderate in their desires, they are soon satisfied. Nature is content with a little and grace with less; enough is as good as a feast. Those that feed on the bread of life, that feast on the promises, meet with abundant satisfaction of soul there, eat, and are filled. 2. It is the misery of the wicked that, through the insatiableness of their own desires, they are always needy; not only their souls shall not be satisfied with the world and the flesh, but even their belly shall want; their sensual appetite is always craving. In hell they shall be denied a drop of water.

CHAP. XIII. Verſ. 1. A wiſe ſon heareth his Fathers inſtruction.]

HEbr. Is the inſtruction (or diſcipline) of his Father; Philoſtratus. hee was not natus ſapiens (as Apollonius) ſed factus, not born wiſe to ſalvation, but made ſo by his Fathers diſcipline, as Solomon, Prov. 4.4. See the Note there.

But a ſcorner heareth not rebuke] Or, heareth and ſcareth, as Lots ſons in law, as Elies ſons, and (afterward) Samuels. Samuel ſucceeds Eli in his croſs, as well as in his place, though not in his ſin of indulgence. God will ſhew, that grace is by gift, not by inheritance, or education. Ciceroni degenerem fuiſſe fili [illegible: 3 letters] conſtat, & ſapiens ille Socrates liberos habuit matri ſimiliores quam patri, ſaith Seneca. Cicero had a ſon nothing like him; ſo had Socrates.

Verſ. 2. A man ſhall eat good by the fruit of his mouth] See the Note on Chap. 12. verſ. 14. and on Chap. 10. verſ. 6. and on Mat. 12.37.

Verſ. 3. Hee that keepeth his mouth] As the guard keepeth the gates in a ſiege. God hath ſet a double guard of lips and teeth before this gate; and yet unleſs hee himſelf ſet the watch, and keep the door, all will bee loſt, Pſal. 141.3.

But hee that openeth wide his lips] As ſhee did her feet, to multiply her Whoredomes, Ezek. 16.25. [non-Latin text not transcribed] Gaping-mouthed men are noted for fools by Lucian and Ariſtophanes. Scalig Arab, Prov. cent. 1. Prov. 75. An open mouth is a purgatory to the Maſter ſay wee. And cave ne feriat lingua tua collum tuum, ſay the Arabians in their Proverb; Take heed that thy tongue cut not thy throat.

Verſ. 4. The ſoul of the ſluggard deſireth, &c.] Vult, & non vult piger (ſo the Vulgar reads it) The ſluggard would, and hee would not: hee would have the end, but hee would not uſe the means; hee would ſit at Chriſts right hand, but hee would not drink of his cup, or bee baptized with his baptiſm. Lyra compares theſe men to Cats that would fain have fiſh, but are loath to wet their feet. (This is an Engliſh Proverb; for Lyra was a famous Engliſh Jew, and flouriſhed in the year of Grace, 1320.) Affection without endeavour is like Rachel, beautiful, but barren.

But the ſoul of the diligent ſhall bee made fat] i. e. Thoſe that work as well as wiſh, that adde endeavours to their deſires, as 2 Cor. 8.11. David raviſhed with the meditation of the good mans bleſſedneſs, preſently conceives this deſire and purlues it; not, Oh that I had this happineſs! but, Oh that I could uſe the means, that nay wayes were ſo directed, Pſal. 119.4, 5.

Verſ. 5. A righteous man hateth lying] Hateth it as hell, Rom. 12.9. [non-Latin text not transcribed] I hate and abhor lying ſaith David, Pſal. 119.163. and yet among other corruptions, hee had an inclination to this ſin. See how roundly hee tells three or four lyes together, 1 Sam. 21.2.8. and 1 Sam. 27.8, 10. but hee both hated it in himſelf, and prayed againſt it, Pſal. 1[illegible: 1 letter]9.29.

But a wicked man is loathſome] Stinks above ground; a lyer eſpecially is looked upon as a Peſt. Riches cannot make a man ſo graceful, as lying will diſgrace him; for a poor man walking in his integrity, is better than a rich man that is a lyer, Prov. 19.22. Hence the lyer denies his own lye, becauſe hee is aſhamed to bee taken with it. Some read it thus; A wicked man maketh others loathſome, and caſteth ſhame upon them, ſc. by raiſing or reporting lyes of them, by blaſting or blemiſhing their good names. Thus Core and his Complices ſought to caſt an odium on Moſes; the Phariſees upon our Saviour, the Arrians upon Athanaſius, the Papiſts upon Wicliffe, whom Bi[illegible: 1 letter]ius ſlanders for his miſſing the Biſhoprick of Worceſter, to have fallen upon that ſucceſsful contradiction;Epiphan. like as the ſpiteful Jews ſaid Paul did, becauſe hee could not obtain the High-prieſts daughter to wife.

Verſ. 6. Righteouſneſs keepeth him that is upright] That, though belyed or otherwiſe abuſed, hee will not let go his integrity, Job 27.5. Davids feet ſtood on an even place, Pſal. 26.12. The Spouſe, though deſpoiled of her veil, and wounded by the watch, yet cleaves cloſe to Chriſt, Cant. 5. Not but that the beſt are ſometimes diſquieted in ſuch caſes; for not the eveneſt weights, but at their firſt putting into the ballance; ſomewhat ſway both parts thereof, not without ſome ſhew of inequality; which yet after ſome little motion, ſettle themſelves in a meet poize and poſture.

But wickedneſs overthroweth the ſinner] Hebr. the ſin, as if the man were transformed into ſins image. What is the tranſgreſſion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria, Lipſ. Antiq. lect. Mic. 1.5. Tubulus quidam paulo ſupra Ciceronem Praetor fuit[illegible: 1 letter] homo tam projecte improbus ut ejus nomen non hominis ſed vitii eſſe videretur, ſaith Lipſias. The Pope is called the Man of ſin, 2 Theſſ. 3.2. to note him Merum ſcelus, ſaith Beza, made up meerly of ſin.

Verſ. 7. There is that maketh himſelf rich] Such [non-Latin text not transcribed] (as the witty Gretian calleth them) there are not a few, that ſtretch their wing beyond their neſt, that bear a port beyond their eſtate, that trick up themſelves with other mens plumes, laying it on above meaſure in cloaths, fair building, &c, when not worth a groat, but dye in priſon, or make a fraudulent compoſition. This is no better before God than rapine and robbery.

There is that makes himſelf poor, &c.] As the new-elected Pope doth, when in his Lateran proceſſion, hee caſts among the people peeces of braſs and copper,B. Halls Serm. ſaying, Silver and gold have I none, but ſuch as I have I give you. So the Friats are a race of people (ſaith one that hath been long amongſt them) that are alwaies vowing obedience,Spec. Europ. but ſtill contentio[illegible: 1 letter]s: Chaſtity, yet moſt luxurious: Poverty, yet every where ſcraping and covetous. No Cappucine may take or touch ſilver; at the offer of it hee ſtarts back, as Moſes from the Serpent;B. Halls Epiſt. 5. D c. 1. Godw▪ Catal. yet hee carries a boy with him that takes and carries it, and never complains of either metal or meaſure. Wee had in King Stephens dayes a rich Chancellor of England, who yet was, and would bee called Roger paupere cenſu.

Verſ. 8. The ranſome of a mans life are his riches] They may help a man out at a dead lift, and get him a releaſe out of captivity, or a leaſe of his life. Slay us not, ſay they, Jer. 41.8. for wee have treaſures in the field, &c. So hee forbore and ſlew them not among their brethren. Some read it thus, The price of a mans life are his riches. It coſts him his life that hee is rich, as Naboth, and as many Turkiſh Viſiers. Dio in Calig. In the dayes of Caligula the Tyrant, publicum crimeu fuit, divicem fuiſſe, it was crime enough to bee rich: And in the reign of Henry the ſecond of France, many were burned for Religion as was pretended: but indeed,Hiſt. of Councel of Trent. 387. to ſatiate the covetouſneſs of Diana Valentina the Kings Miſtreſs, to whom hee had given all the confiſcations of goods made in the Kingdome, for cauſe of hereſie.

But the poor heareth not rebuke] Hee ſcapes many times as not conſiderable, as not worth a chiding, as under law. In a Tragedy there is no place for a poor man but onely to dance, as Arrian hath obſerved upon Epictetus.

Sol non patitur celipſin, ſed videtur tautum p[illegible: 2 letters]i.Verſ. 9. The light of the righteous rejoyceth] As the Sun rejoyceth to run his race, and ſeemeth ſometimes to ſuffer eclipſe, but doth not. A Saints joy is as the light of the Sun, fed by heavenly influence, and never extinct, but diffuſed through all parts of the world.

But the Lamp of the wicked ſhall bee put out] Their joy is but as the light of a Candle, fed by baſe and ſtinking matter, ſoon waſting and ending in an offenſive ſnuffe. The light of the wicked ſhall be put out, and the ſpark of his fire ſhall not ſhine. The light ſhall be dark in his Tabernacle: and his Candle ſhall be put out with him. Job 18.5, 6. Ecquandone vidiſti ſtammam ſtipula exertam claro ſtrepitu, largo fulgore, cito incremento, ſed enim mater alevi, Apuleius in Apolog. caduco ine endio, nullis requiis? Salomon compares it fitly to a handful of bruſh-wood, or ſ[illegible: 1 letter]are thorn under the pot. Eccleſ. 7.6.

Verſ. 10. Only by pride cometh contention] Hebr, dabit jurgium. Pride if there be no cauſe of contention given will make it. Tranſcend[illegible: 1 letter], non obedio, perturbo, is the Motto written upon prides tripple-crown. A proud perſon is full of diſcontent: nothing can pleaſe him, &c. Juſt like one that hath a ſwelling in his hands, ſomething or other toucheth it ſtill, and driveth him to out-cries. Pride maketh a man drunk with his own conceits, Hab. 2.5. The proud man is as he that hath tranſgreſſed by wine: And drunkards we know are quarrelſome. The Corinthians had riches, and gifts, and learning: and carried aloft by theſe waxen wings, they domineered and deſpiſed others, 1 Cor. 4.8. they were divided and diſcontented, 1 Cor. 3.3. and theſe over-flowings of the gall and ſpleen came from a fulneſſe of bad humours. Pride is a dividing diſtemper: gowty ſwoln leggs keep at a diſtance: bladders blown up with wind ſpurt one from another, and will not cloſe: but prick them, and you may pack a thouſand of them in a little room.

But with the well-adviſed is wiſdome] The meekneſſe of wiſdome (as St. James hath it, Chap. 3.13.) of the which we may well ſay as Tertullus ſaid to Felix, Acts 24.2. By thee we enjoy great quietneſſe. It was a great trouble to Hama[illegible: 1 letter] to lead Mordecai's Horſe, which another man would not have thought ſo. The moving of a ſtraw troubleth proud fleſh: whereas humility if compelled to goe one mile, will goe two for a need: yea, as far as the ſhooes of the Goſpel of peace can carry it. The wiſdome from above is peaceable, Jam. 3.

Verſ. 11. Wealth gotten by vanity ſhall be diminiſhed] De malè quaſitio [illegible: 1 letter]ix gauget tertius haeres. Horat. Ill gotten goods fly away without taking leave of the owner: leaving nothing but the print of talons to torment him. Prov. 23.5. Many when they have a loſſe in their riches, it is as it were raked out of their bellies, Joh 20.15. A piece of their very heart goes with it.

But he that gathereth by labour, ſhall encreaſe] Howbeit ſometimes it is otherwiſe; Maſter, we have laboured all night and taken nothing. Behold,Luke 4. is it not of the Lord of Hoſts, that the people ſhall labour in the very fire, and the people ſhall weary themſelves for very vanity? Hab. 2.13. There is a curſe upon unlawful practices, though men be induſtrious, as in Jehojakim, Jer. 22.

Verſ. 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart ſick] Hopes hours are full of eternity: and how many ſee we lye languiſhing at Hopes Hoſpital, as hee at the Pool of Betheſda? Spes in terronis incerti nomen boni ſpes in divinis nomen eſt certiſſimi, Heb. 11.1. Hope unfailable, Rom. 5.5. is founded upon faith unfained, 1 Tim. 1.5.

But when the deſire cometh] As come it will to thoſe that wait patiently upon God: (for waiting is but hope and truſt lengthened) Deo confiſi, nunquam confuſi. The viſion is but for an appointed time; therefore wait, Hab. 2.3. you ſhall be well paid for your patience. Wee are apt to antedate the Promiſes, and to ſet God a time, as they (Jer. 8.20.) looked for Salvation at Summer at furtheſt: We are ſhort breathed, ſhort-ſpirited: But as God ſeldome comes at our time, ſo he never fails at his own: and then he is moſt ſweet, becauſe moſt ſeaſonable.

Verſ. 13. Who ſo deſpiſeth the Word, ſhall be deſtroyed] Biſhop Bonners Chaplaine called the Bible (in ſcorn) his little pretty Gods Book.Lindan. pa[illegible: 1 letter]. lib. 1. cap. 9. Commonitorium. Bell. Gifford and Rainold, ſaid, it contained doctrinam peregrinam ſtrange doctrin, yea, ſome things profane and Apocryphal. The more modeſt Papiſts account Traditions the touch-ſtone of doctrin, and foundation of faith: And repute the Scriptures to be rather a kind of ſtore-houſe for advice in matters of Religion. We account them the Divine beam, and moſt exact ballance. Cor & animam Dei, the heart and ſoul of God, as Gregory calleth them; the beſt fortreſſe againſt errours, as Auſtin, &c. though ſome of our ſublimated Sectaries blaſpheme that bleſſed Book as a dead letter, and a beggerly element.

But he that feareth the Commandement] That honoureth the Scriptures, and trembleth at the Word preached, as King Edward the ſixth did (that ſecond Joſiah) and as Queen Elizabeth (his ſweet ſiſter Temperance, as he uſed to call her) who when the Bible was preſented to her as ſhe rode triumphantly thorow London after her Coronation, ſhe received the ſame with both her hands: and kiſſing it, laid it to her breaſt, ſaying, that it had ever been her delight, and ſhould be her Rule of Government.

Verſ. 14. The law of the wiſe is as a well of life] Or, the Law to the wiſe is a fountain, &c. whence he may draw the beſt directions and helps to holineſſe and happineſſe. It confines him to live in that element where hee would live, (as if one were confined to Paradiſe where hee would be) though there were no ſuch Law. The wicked, on the contrary, leaps over the pale after profit and pleaſure, and falls upon the ſnares of death; as Shimei ſought his Servants, loſt himſelf.

Verſ. 15. Good underſtanding giveth favour] See this exemplified in Joſeph, David, Daniel, Paul, Acts 27.43. & 28.2. God oft ſpeaketh for ſuch in the hearts of their enemies, who cannot but admire their piety and patience, and ſpend more thoughts about them than the world is aware of; as Darius did about Daniel when caſt into the Den. Natural conſcience cannot but doe homage to the Image of God ſtamped upon the natures and works of the godly; when they ſee in them that which is above the ordinary nature of men, or their expectation, they are afraid of the Name of God, whereby they are called, Deut. 28.9, 10. and are forced to ſay, Surely this is a wiſe and underſtanding Nation, Deut. 4.6. God is in this people of a truth, 1 Cor. 14.25. Certainly this was a righteous man, Luk. 23.47.

But the way of tranſgreſſors is hard] Or rough and rugged. Satan is a rough harſh Spirit, (hence Devils are called Sheguirim, hairy ones, Levit. 17.7. Satyres, Iſa. 34.14.) So are all his; [non-Latin text not transcribed], fierce, heady, high-minded, 2 Tim. 3.3, 4. living in malice and envie, hateful and hating one another, Tit. 3.3. Such were Iſhmael, Eſau, Saul, Antiochus, (that little Antichriſt) the Pope, that [non-Latin text not transcribed], and our Richard the third; who well knowing it was no good policy to play the Devil by half deal, reſolved to leave never a rub to lye in the way that might hinder the running of his bowl: and hence was he ſo infinitely hated of all.

Verſ. 16. Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge] Obſerves circumſtances, and deports himſelf with diſcretion: thruſts not himſelf into unneceſſary dangers, carves not a piece of his heart but to thoſe hee is well aſſured of. See an inſtance of this prudence in Ezra, chap. 8.22. in Nehemiah, (chap. 2.5. Hee calls it not the place of Gods Worſhip, (ſuch an expreſſion that Heathen King might have diſguſted) but the place of his Fathers Sepulchres,) in Eſther, who concealed her Stock and Kindred till ſhe ſaw her time; in Chriſt, when he was tried for his life: in Paul, Acts 23.6. & Act. 19.10. he lived two years at Epheſus, and ſpake not much againſt the Worſhip of their great Goddeſſe Diana, verſ. 37. The prudent ſhall keep ſilence in an evil time. Amos 5.13. 'Tis not good provoking evil men that are irreformable: nor ſafe pulling a Bear or mad Dog by the ear.

But a fool layeth open his folly] Plaſheth it, and ſetteth it a ſunning, as it were, by his head-long head-ſtrong exorbitances: by his inconſiderate courſes hee openly bewraies and proclaims what he is: he ſets his folly upon the cliffe of the rock, that it ſhould not be covered, Ezek. 24.7.

Verſ. 17. A wicked meſſenger falleth into miſchief] Incurs the diſpleaſure and juſt revenge of them that ſent him: Or at leaſt, of God, in caſe of their ſlackneſſe. How much more then wicked Miniſters, thoſe Meſſengers of the Churches,Jer. 4[illegible: 1 letter].10. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. 2 Cor. 8.23. that doe the Lords work negligently, that corrupt his Meſſage, 2 Cor. 2.17. that huckſter it and handle it craftily and covetouſly, good evil, and evil good, &c. Who is blinde but my ſervant? or deaf as my meſſenger? Iſa. 42.19. Such an Ambaſſadour was once worthily derided in the Roman State. As at another time, a certain ſtranger coming on Ambaſſage to the Senators of Rome, and colouring his hoary hair, and pale cheeks, with vermilion hue, a grave Senator eſpying the deceit, ſtood up, and ſaid, What ſincerity are wee to expect at this mans hands, whoſe locks, and looks, and lips do lye? It was an honeſt complaint of a Popiſh Writer, Wee (ſaith hee) handle the Scripture, tantum ut nos paſcat & veſtiat, that wee may pick a living out of it, and are therefore fain to preach placentia, and ſo to put men into a Fools Paradiſe. But ſhall they thus eſcape by iniquity? Pſal. 56.7. have they no better Medicums?

But a faithful Ambaſſador is health] To him that ſendeth him, to thoſe hee is ſent to, and to himſelf: So is a faithful Miniſter that delivers the whole counſel of God, all that hee hath in Commiſſion, Jer. 1.17. Ezek. 3.17.

Verſ. 18. Poverty and ſhame] Theſe two are fitly ſet together; for poverty is uſually ſlighted, if not ſhamed, Jam. 2.16.

Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in ſe Quàm quod ridiculos homines facit.—

The world looks over a poor, though vertuous man. Luke 15. This thy ſon, not this my brother. And why? but becauſe in poverty. How much more an uncounſelable and incorrigible man, as here, and that Prodigal had been, till hee came to himſelf.

But hee that regardeth reproof, ſhall bee honoured] Though not haply inriched, hee ſhall bee of good account with the wiſe and godly, though in meaner condition. Mr. Fox being asked whether hee knew ſuch an honeſt poor man, who had received ſuccour and good counſel from him in time of trouble, anſwered, I remember him well; I tell you I forget Lords and Ladies to remember ſuch.

Verſ. 19. The deſire accompliſhed is ſweet to the ſoul] Tota vita boni Chriſtiani ſanctum deſiderium eſt, ſaith Auguſtine. The whole life of a good Chriſtian is one holy deſire; hee even ſpends and exhales himſelf in continual ſallyes as it were, and expreſſions of ſtrongeſt affection to God, whom hee hath choſen, and with whom hee hath much ſweet intercourſe; hee cannot bee at reſt without ſome comings in from him every day: And then, O the joyes, the joyes, Mrs. Kath. Brettergh. the unconceivable joyes! as ſhee once cryed out. O that joy! O my God, when ſhall I bee with thee? Theſe were the dying words of the young Lord Harrington: Hee was in heaven aforehand, as having let out his holy ſoul into God,Fun. Serm. by Mr. Stock. the fountain of all good.

But it is abomination to fools to depart from evil] To bee pulled from their vain delights, though never ſo ſinful, never ſo deſtructive: Eſau for a meſs of pottage ſold his birth-right. Cardinal Burbon would not part with his part in Paris, for a part in paradiſe. Theotimus in Ambroſe, being told that intemperance would bee the loſs of his eye-ſight, cried out, Vale lumen amicum. Hee would rather loſe his ſight, than his ſin; ſo doth many a man his ſoul. The Panther loves mans dung, they ſay, ſo much, that if it bee hanged a height from him, hee will leap up, and never leave till hee hath burſt himſelf in peeces to get it; and this is the way they get that creature. Like policy uſeth Satan, by baſe luſts to draw many to hell. It was a ſpeech of Gregory Nyſſen, Hee that doth but hear of Hell, is without any further labour or ſtudy taken off from ſinfull pleaſures. Mens hearts are grown harder now adayes.

Verſ. 20. Hee that walketh with wiſe men, ſhall bee wiſe] Hee that comes where ſweet ſpices and ointments are ſtirring, doth carry away ſome of the ſweet ſavour, though hee think not of it; ſo he that converſeth with good men, ſhall get good. Holineſs is ſuch an Elixar, as by Contaction (if there bee any diſpoſition of goodneſs in the ſame mettal) it will render it of the property. A childe having been brought up with Plato, Sen. de ita l. 3. c. 11. and afterwards hearing his Father break out into rage and paſſion, ſaid, I have never ſeen the like with Plato.

But a companion of fools ſhall bee broken] There is an elegancy in the Original that cannot bee Engliſhed. Bede by a companion or friend of fools here, underſtands thoſe that take delight in Jeſters, Stage-players, and ſuch idle companions, unprofitable burdens, — fruges conſumere nati, the botch and canker of the Commonwalth.Plutarch. Theatra juvenes corrumpunt, ſaith Plato, — ludi praebeut ſemina nequitiae, ſaith Ovid. The Lacedemonians would not admit of them, that ſo they might not hear any thing contrary to their laws, whether in jeſt, or in earneſt. Func. Chron. And Henry the third Emperour of Germany, when a great ſort of ſuch fellows flocked together at his wedding, ſent them all away, not allowing them ſo much as a cup of drink, Anno Dom. 1044.

Verſ. 21. Evil purſueth ſinners] Hard at heels. Flagitium & flagellum, ut acus & filum. Sin and puniſhment are linked together with chains of adamant. Of ſin wee may ſay as Iſidore doth of the Serpent, Tot dolores, quot colores, ſo many colours, ſo many dolours: The wages of ſin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, Rom. 6. ult. The ſame in effect with this ſentence of Solomon.

But to the righteous good ſhall bee repaid] Or hee (that is God) ſhall repay good. Now hee is a liberal pay-maſter, and all his retributions are more than bountiful. Never did any yet do, or ſuffer ought for God, that complained of an hard bargain.L. Brooks diſcourſe of Epiſcop. God will recompence your loſſes (ſaith that thrice noble Lord Brook, who loſt his precious life in this late unhappy wars at Litchfield) as the King of Poland did his noble ſervant Zeliſlaus; having loſt his hand in his wars, hee ſent him a golden hand. Caius (Agrippa having ſuffered impriſonment for wiſhing him Emperor) when hee came afterwards to the Empire, the firſt thing hee did was to prefer Agrippa, and gave him a chain of gold, as heavy as the chain of iron that was upon him in Priſon. Thoſe that loſe any thing for God, hee ſeals them a bill of Exchange, of a double return, nay an hundred fold here, and eternal life hereafter.

Verſ. 22. A good man leaveth inheritance to his childe] Perſonal goodneſs is profitable to Poſterity: God gives not to his ſervants ſome ſmall annuity for life onely (as great men uſe to do) but keepeth mercy for thouſands of generations of them that fear him, Exod. 34.7. Where the Maſorites obſerve Nun. Rabbath, a great N in the word Not for keepeth; to note the large extent of Gods love to the good mans poſterity. God left David a Lamp in Jeruſalem, 1 Kings 15.4. although his houſe were not ſo with God, 2 Sam. 23.5.

And the wealth of the ſinner is laid up for the juſt] as Nabals was for David, Hamans for Mordecai, the Canaanites for the Iſraelites. Howbeit this holds not perpetually and univerſally in every wicked perſon; for ſome of them are full of children, and leave the reſt of their ſubſtance for their babes, Pſal. 17.14. Hereupon their inward thought is, that their houſes ſhall continue for ever, &c. they call their Lands after their own names (as Cain called his new built City after the name of his ſon Henoch, Gen. 8.4.) This their way is their folly, or is their conſtant hope (for the word ſignifies both) and their Poſterity approve their ſayings, and vote the ſame way, Pſal. 49.11, 13. But together with their lands, they bequeath their children their ſins and puniſhments, which is far worſe than that legacy of Leproſie that Joab left his iſſue, 2 Sam. 3.29. Confer Job 27.16, 17. Iſa. 61.5.

Verſ. 23. Much food is in the tillage of the poor] Who have but a little, and look well to it. That of the Poet is well known — Laudato ingentia rura, Exiguum colito — It is beſt for a man to have no more than hee can maſter, and make his beſt of. Vigil. Geog. lib. [illegible: 1 letter]. Lib. 1. cap 3. The ground ſhould bee weaker than hee that tills it, ſaith Columella. The earth is a fruitful mother, and brings forth meat meet for them by whom it is dreſſed, Heb. 6.7.

But there is that is deſtroyed for want of judgement] viz. in plowing and ſowing, Iſa. 28.26. or in managing and husbanding what hee hath gotten, for the beſt. For non minor eſt virtus quam quaerere, parta tueri. Wee muſt bee good husbands, and ſee that Condus bee fort[illegible: 1 letter]or Promo, our comings in more than our layings out. Bonus Servatius facit bonum Bonifacium, ſaith the Dutch man in his blunt Proverb, A good ſaver, makes a well-doer.

Verſ. 24. Hee that ſpareth his rod, hateth his ſon] It is as if one ſhould bee ſo tender over a childe, as not to ſuffer the wind to blow upon it, and therefore hold the hand before the mouth of it, but ſo hard as hee ſtrangleth the childe: It is ſaid of the Ape, that ſhee huggeth her young one to death; ſo do many fond Parents, who are therefore peremptores potius quam parentes, rather Paricides than Parents. Eli would not correct his children: God therefore corrected both him and them. David would not once croſs his Abſolom, and his Adonijah, Bern. and hee was therefore ſingularly croſt in them ere hee dyed. The like befell old Andronicus the Greek Emperour, in his unhappy Nephew of the ſame name; and Muleaſſes King of Tunes, in his ſon Amida, whom hee cockered ſo long, till Abſolom-like hee roſe againſt his father;Turk hiſt. 745.747. and poſſeſſing himſelf of the Kingdome, put out his father and brethrens eyes, ſlew his Captains, polluted his Wives, and took the Caſtle of Tunes.

But hee that loveth him, chaſteneth him betimes] And this is a God-like love, Prov. 3.12. Rev. 3.19. See the Notes there. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Ariſt. Ethic. l. 2. Correction is a kinde of cure ſaith the Philoſopher, the likelieſt way to ſave the childes ſoul; where yet, curam exigeris, non curationem, ſaith Bernard, it is the care of the childe that is charged upon the Parent, not the cure, for that is Gods work alone. But hee uſually worketh by this mean, and therefore requires that it bee ſoundly ſet on, if need ſo require. A fair hand, wee ſay, makes a foul wound. A weak doſe doth but ſtir bad humours and anger them, not purge them out. In ſome diſeaſes the Patient muſt bee let blood, even ad deliquium animae, till hee ſwoon again. So here. Quintilian tells us of ſome faults in a childe that deſerve not a whipping. And Chryſippus is ill ſpoken of by ſome, becauſe he firſt brought the uſe of the rod into the Schools. It was hee (I trow) that firſt offered that ſtrict and tetrical diviſion to the world, Aut mentem aut reſtim comparandam. Either a good heart, or a good halter for your ſelf, and yours. The condemned perſon comes out of a dark priſon, and goes to the place of Execution; ſo do children left to themſelves, and not nurtured, come from the womb their priſon to the fire of hell their execution. Severitas tamen non ſit tetra, ſed tetrica: Corrections muſt bee wiſely and moderately diſpenſed. Sidonius Ep. lib. 4. Col. 4.21. Parents provoke not your children to wrath, leſt they bee diſpirited, and, through deſpondency, grow deſperate, or heartleſs. Our Henry 2. firſt crowned his eldeſt ſon Henry whilſt hee was yet alive, and then ſo curbed him, that, through diſcontent, hee fell into a Feaver, whereof hee dyed before his Father. A Prince of excellent parts, Daniels hiſt. who was at firſt caſt away by his Fathers indulgence; and afterwards by his rigour.

Verſ. 25. The righteous eateth to the ſatisfying of his ſoul] Have hee more or leſs, hee hath that which ſatisfies him. Nature is content with a little, grace with leſs; Cibus & potus ſunt divitia Chriſtianorum. If Jacob may but have bread to eat, and cloaths to put on, it ſufficeth him; and this hee dare bee bold to promiſe himſelf. Beg his bread hee hopes hee ſhall not; but if hee ſhould, hee can ſay with Luther (who made many a meal with a broyled herring) Mendicato pane hic vivamus; Luth. in Pſal. 132. annon hoc pulchrè ſarcitur in eo quod paſcimur pane cum angelis, & vitâ aterna, Chriſto, & ſacramentis? Let us bee content to fare hard here: Have wee not the bread that came down from heaven?

But the belly of the wicked ſhall want] Becauſe their belly prepares deceit, Job 15.35. not their heads onely;Job 20.22. Mic. 6.14, 16. they take as much delight in their witty wickedneſs, as the Epicure in his belly-timber, therefore in the fulneſs of their ſufficiency they are in ſtraights, they are ſick of the bulimy, or doggiſh appetite.