Proverbs 14 commentary

A woman who has no fear of God, who is wilful and wasteful, and indulges her ease, will as certainly ruin her family, as if she plucked her house down.

Here are grace and sin in their true colours. Those that despise God's precepts and promises, despise God and all his power and mercy.

Pride grows from that root of bitterness which is in the heart. The root must be plucked up, or we cannot conquer this branch. The prudent words of wise men get them out of difficulties.

There can be no advantage without something which, though of little moment, will affright the indolent.

A conscientious witness will not dare to represent anything otherwise than according to his knowledge.

A scorner treats Divine things with contempt. He that feels his ignorance and unworthiness will search the Scriptures in a humble spirit.

We discover a wicked man if there is no savour of piety in his discourse.

We are travellers, whose concern is, not to spy out wonders, but to get to their journey's end; to understand the rules we are to walk by, also the ends we are to walk toward. The bad man cheats himself, and goes on in his mistake.

Foolish and profane men consider sin a mere trifle, to be made light of rather than mourned over. Fools mock at the sin-offering; but those that make light of sin, make light of Christ.

We do not know what stings of conscience, or consuming passions, torment the prosperous sinner. Nor does the world know the peace of mind a serious Christian enjoys, even in poverty and sickness.

Sin ruins many great families; whilst righteousness often raises and strengthens even mean families.

The ways of carelessness, of worldliness, and of sensuality, seem right to those that walk in them; but self-deceivers prove self-destroyers. See the vanity of carnal mirth.

Of all sinners backsliders will have the most terror when they reflect on their own ways.

Eager readiness to believe what others say, has ever proved mischievous. The whole world was thus ruined at first. The man who is spiritually wise, depends on the Saviour alone for acceptance. He is watchful against the enemies of his salvation, by taking heed to God's word.

Holy fear guards against every thing unholy.

An angry man is to be pitied as well as blamed; but the revengeful is more hateful.

Sin is the shame of sinners; but wisdom is the honour of the wise.

Even bad men acknowledge the excellency of God's people.

Friendship in the world is governed by self-interest. It is good to have God our Friend; he will not desert us.

To despise a man for his employment or appearance is a sin.

How wisely those consult their own interest, who not only do good, but devise it!

Labour of the head, or of the hand, will turn to some good account. But if men's religion runs all out in talk and noise, they will come to nothing.

The riches of men of wisdom and piety enlarge their usefulness.

An upright man will venture the displeasure of the greatest, to bring truth to light.

Those who fear the Lord so as to obey and serve him, have a strong ground of confidence, and will be preserved. Let us seek to this Fountain of life, that we may escape the snares of death.

Let all that wish well to the kingdom of Christ, do what they can, that many may be added to his church.

A mild, patient man is one that learns of Christ, who is Wisdom itself. Unbridled passion is folly made known.

An upright, contented, and benevolent mind, tends to health.

To oppress the poor is to reproach our Creator.

The wicked man has his soul forced from him; he dies in his sins, under the guilt and power of them. But godly men, though they have pain and some dread of death, have the blessed hope, which God, who cannot lie, has given them.

Wisdom possesses the heart, and thus regulates the affections and tempers.

Piety and holiness always promote industry, sobriety, and honesty.

The great King who reigns over heaven and earth, will reward faithful servants who honour his gospel by the proper discharge of the duties of their stations: he despises not the services of the lowest.

CHAPTER 14

Pr 14:1-35.

1. Every wise, &c.--literally, "The wisdoms" (compare Pr 9:1) "of women," plural, a distributive form of speech.

buildeth ... house--increases wealth, which the foolish, by mismanagement, lessen.

2. uprightness--is the fruit of fearing God, as falsehood and ill-nature (Pr 2:15; 3:32) of despising Him and His law.

3. rod of pride--that is, the punishment of pride, which they evince by their words. The words of the wise procure good to them.

4. crib is clean--empty; so "cleanness of teeth" denotes want of food (compare Am 4:6). Men get the proper fruit of their doings (Ga 6:7).

5. A faithful witness, &c.--one tested to be such.

utter lies--or, "breathe out lies"--that is, habitually lies (Pr 6:19; compare Ac 9:1). Or the sense is, that habitual truthfulness, or lying, will be evinced in witness-bearing.

6. An humble, teachable spirit succeeds in seeking (Pr 8:9; Joh 7:17; Jas 1:5, 6).

7. Avoid the society of those who cannot teach you.

8. Appearances deceive the thoughtless, but the prudent discriminate.

9. Fools make a mock at sin--or, "Sin deludes fools."

righteous ... favour--that is, of God, instead of the punishment of sin.

10. Each one best knows his own sorrows or joys.

11. (Compare Pr 12:7). The contrast of the whole is enhanced by that of house and tabernacle, a permanent and a temporary dwelling.

12. end thereof--or, "reward," what results (compare Pr 5:4).

ways of death--leading to it.

13. The preceding sentiment illustrated by the disappointments of a wicked or untimely joy.

14. filled ... ways--receive retribution (Pr 1:31).

a good man ... himself--literally, "is away from such," will not associate with him.

15. The simple ... word--He is credulous, not from love, but heedlessness (Pr 13:16).

16. (Compare Pr 3:7; 28:14).

rageth--acts proudly and conceitedly.

17. He ... angry--literally, "short of anger" (compare Pr 14:29, opposite idea).

man ... hated--that is, the deliberate evildoer is more hated than the rash.

18. inherit--as a portion (compare Pr 3:35).

are crowned--literally, "are surrounded with it," abound in it.

19. Describes the humbling of the wicked by the punishment their sins incur.

20. This sad but true picture of human nature is not given approvingly, but only as a fact.

21. For such contempt of the poor is contrasted as sinful with the virtuous compassion of the good.

22. As usual, the interrogative negative strengthens the affirmative.

mercy and truth--that is, God's (Psa 57:3; 61:7).

23. labour--painful diligence.

talk ... penury--idle and vain promises and plans.

24. (Compare Pr 3:16).

foolishness ... folly--Folly remains, or produces folly; it has no benefit.

25. Life often depends on truth-telling.

a deceitful ... lies--He that breathes out lies is deceit, not to be trusted (Pr 14:5).

26. The blessings of piety descend to children (Pr 13:22; 20:7; Ex 20:6).

27. (Compare Pr 13:14).

fear of the Lord--or, "law of the wise," is wisdom (Psa 111:10).

28. The teaching of a true political economy.

29. slow ... understanding--(Compare Pr 14:17).

hasty--(Compare Pr 14:17).

exalteth folly--makes it conspicuous, as if delighting to honor it.

30. A sound heart--both literally and figuratively, a source of health; in the latter sense, opposed to the known effect of evil passions on health.

31. reproacheth his Maker--who is the God of such, as well as of the rich (Pr 22:2; Job 31:15; and specially 1Sa 2:8; Psa 113:7).

32. driven--thrust out violently (compare Psa 35:5, 6).

hath hope--trusteth (Pr 10:2; 11:4; Psa 2:12), implying assurance of help.

33. resteth--preserved in quietness for use, while fools blazon their folly (Pr 12:23; 13:16).

34. Righteousness--just principles and actions.

exalteth--raises to honor.

is a reproach--brings on them the ill-will of others (compare Pr 13:6).

35. wise--discreet or prudent.

causeth shame--(Pr 10:5; 12:4) acts basely.

Every wise woman buildeth her house - By her prudent and industrious management she increases property in the family, furniture in the house, and food and raiment for her household. This is the true building of a house. The thriftless wife acts differently, and the opposite is the result. Household furniture, far from being increased, is dilapidated; and her household are ill-fed, ill-clothed, and worse educated.

The mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride - The reproofs of such a person are ill-judged and ill-timed, and generally are conveyed in such language as renders them not only ineffectual, but displeasing, and even irritating.

But much increase is by the strength of the ox - The ox is the most profitable of all the beasts used in husbandry. Except merely for speed, he is almost in every respect superior to the horse.

1. He is longer lived.

2. Scarcely liable to any diseases.

3. He is steady, and always pulls fair in his gears.

4. He lives, fattens, and maintains his strength on what a horse will not eat, and therefore is supported on one third the cost.

5. His manure is more profitable.

6. When he is worn out in his labor his flesh is good for the nourishment of man, his horns of great utility, and his hide almost invaluable.

It might be added, he is little or no expense in shoeing, and his gears are much more simple, and much less expensive, than those of the horse. In all large farms oxen are greatly to be preferred to horses. Have but patience with this most patient animal, and you will soon find that there is much increase by the strength and labor of the ox.

A scorner seeketh wisdom - I believe the scorner means, in this book, the man that despises the counsel of God; the infidel. Such may seek wisdom; but he never can find it, because he does not seek it where it is to be found; neither in the teaching of God's Spirit, nor in the revelation of his will.

When thou perceivest not - the lips of knowledge - Instead of דעת daath, knowledge, several MSS. have שקר sheker, a lie. How this reading came I cannot conjecture. The meaning of the adage is plain: Never associate with a vain, empty fellow, when thou perceivest he can neither convey nor receive instruction.

Is to understand his way - Instead of הבין habin, to understand, הכין hachin, to Direct his way, is found in one MS. It makes a very good sense.

Fools make a mock at sin - And only fools would do so. But he that makes a sport of sinning, will find it no sport to suffer the vengeance of an eternal fire. Some learned men by their criticisms have brought this verse into embarrassments, out of which they were not able to extricate it. I believe we shall not come much nearer the sense than our present version does.

The heart knoweth his own bitterness - מרת נפשו morrath naphsho, "The bitterness of its soul." Under spiritual sorrow, the heart feels, the soul feels; all the animal nature feels and suffers. But when the peace of God is spoken to the troubled soul, the joy is indescribable; the whole man partakes of it. And a stranger to these religious feelings, to the travail of the soul, and to the witness of the Spirit, does not intermeddle with them; he does not understand them: indeed they may be even foolishness to him, because they are spiritually discerned.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man - This may be his easily besetting sin, the sin of his constitution, the sin of his trade. Or it may be his own false views of religion: he may have an imperfect repentance, a false faith, a very false creed; and he may persuade himself that he is in the direct way to heaven. Many of the papists, when they were burning the saints of God in the flames at Smithfield, thought they were doing God service! And in the late Irish massacre, the more of the Protestants they piked to death, shot, or burnt, the more they believed they deserved of God's favor and their Church's gratitude. But cruelty and murder are the short road, the near way, to eternal perdition.

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful - Many a time is a smile forced upon the face, when the heart is in deep distress. And it is a hard task to put on the face of mirth, when a man has a heavy heart.

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways -

1. Who is the backslider? סוג sug.

1. The man who once walked in the ways of religion, but has withdrawn from them.

2. The man who once fought manfully against the world, the devil, and the flesh; but has retreated from the battle, or joined the enemy.

3. The man who once belonged to the congregation of the saints, but is now removed from them, and is set down in the synagogue of Satan.

2. But who is the backslider in Heart?

1. Not he who was surprised and overcome by the power of temptation, and the weakness of his own heart.

2. But he who drinks down iniquity with greediness.

3. Who gives cheerful way to the bent of his own nature, and now delights in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind.

4. Who loves sin as before he loved godliness.

3. What are his own ways? Folly, sin, disappointment, and death; with the apprehension of the wrath of God, and the sharp twingings of a guilty conscience.

4. What is implied in being filled with his own ways? Having his soul saturated with folly, sin, and disappointment. At last ending here below in death, and then commencing an eternal existence where the fire is not quenched, and under the influence of that worm that never dieth. Alas, alas! who may abide when God doeth this?

And a good man shall be satisfied from himself -

1. Who is the good man? (איש טוב ish tob).

1. The man whose heart is right with God, whose tongue corresponds to his heart, and whose actions correspond to both.

2. The man who is every thing that the sinner and backslider are not.

2. He shall be satisfied from himself - he shall have the testimony of his own conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, he has his conversation among men.

3. He shall have God's Spirit to testify with his spirit that he is a child of God. He hath the witness in himself that he is born from above. The Spirit of God in his conscience, and the testimony of God in his Bible, show him that he belongs to the heavenly family. It is not from creeds or confessions of faith that he derives his satisfaction: he gets it from heaven, and it is sealed upon his heart.

A wise man feareth - He can never trust in himself, though he be satisfied from himself. He knows that his suffiency is of God; and he has that fear that causes him to depart from evil, which is a guardian to the love he feels. Love renders him cautious; the other makes him confident. His caution leads him from sin; his confidence leads him to God.

He that is soon angry - קצר אפים ketsar appayim, "short of nostrils:" because, when a man is angry, his nose is contracted, and drawn up towards his eyes.

Dealeth foolishly - He has no time for reflection; he is hurried on by his passions, speaks like a fool, and acts like a madman.

The evil bow before the good - They are almost constrained to show them respect; and the wicked, who have wasted their substance with riotous living, bow before the gates of the righteous - of benevolent men - begging a morsel of bread.

But the rich hath many friends - Many who speak to him the language of friendship; but if they profess friendship because he is rich, there is not one real friend among them. There is a fine saying of Cicero on this subject: Ut hirundines festivo tempore praesto sunt, frigore pulsae recedunt: ita falsi amici sereno tempore praesto sunt: simul atque fortunae hiemem viderint, evolant omnes - Lib. iv., ad Herenn. "They are like swallows, who fly off during the winter, and quit our cold climates; and do not return till the warm season: but as soon as the winter sets in, they are all off again." So Horace: -

Donec eris felix, multos numerabis amicos:Nullus ad amissas ibit amicus opes. "As long as thou art prosperous, thou shalt have many friends: but who of them will regard thee when thou hast lost thy wealth?"

He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth - To despise a man because he has some natural blemish is unjust, cruel, and wicked. He is not the author of his own imperfections; they did not occur through his fault or folly; and if he could, he would not retain them. It is, therefore, unjust and wicked to despise him for what is not his fault, but his misfortune.

But he that hath mercy on the poor - Who reproaches no man for his poverty or scanty intellect, but divides his bread with the hungry - happy is he; the blessing of God, and of them that were ready to perish, shall come upon him.

In all labor there is profit - If a man work at his trade, he gains by it; if he cultivate the earth, it will yield an increase; and in proportion as he labors, so will be his profit: but he who talks much labors little. And a man words is seldom a man of deeds. Less talk and more work, is one of our own ancient advices.

But the foolishness of fools is folly - The Targum reads, The honor of fools is folly. The fool, from his foolishness, produces acts of folly. This appears to be the meaning.

In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence - From this, and from genuine Christian experience, we find that the fear of God is highly consistent with the strongest confidence in his mercy and goodness.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life - מקור חיים mekor chaiyim, the vein of lives. Another allusion to the great aorta which carries the blood from the heart to all the extremities of the body. Of this phrase, and the tree of lives, Solomon is particularly fond. See on Pro 4:23 (note); Pro 10:12 (note).

In the multitude of people - It is the interest of every state to promote marriage by every means that is just and prudent; and to discourage, disgrace, and debase celibacy; to render bachelors incapable, after a given age, of all public employments: and to banish nunneries and monasteries from all parts of their dominions; - they have ever, from their invention, contributed more to vice than virtue; and are positively point blank against the law of God.

That is hasty of spirit - קצר רוח ketsar ruach, "the short of spirit;" one that is easily irritated; and, being in a passion, he is agitated so as to be literally short of breath. Here put in opposition to ארך אפים erech appayim, long of nostrils; see on Pro 14:17 (note); and of the same import with St. Paul's μακροθυμια, longsuffering, longmindedness. See on Eph 4:2 (note).

A sound heart is the life of the flesh - A healthy state of the blood, and a proper circulation of that stream of life, is the grand cause, in the hand of God, of health and longevity. If the heart be diseased, life cannot be long continued.

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker - Because the poor, or comparatively poor, are, in the order of God, a part of the inhabitants of the earth; and every man who loves God will show mercy to the poor, for with this God is peculiarly delighted. The poor have we ever with us, for the excitement and exercise of those benevolent, compassionate, and merciful feelings, without which men had been but little better than brutes.

The wicked is driven away in his wickedness - He does not leave life cheerfully. Poor soul! Thou hast no hope in the other world, and thou leavest the present with the utmost regret! Thou wilt not go off; but God will drive thee.

But the righteous hath hope in his death - He rejoiceth to depart and be with Christ: to him death is gain; he is not reluctant to go - he flies at the call of God.

But sin is a reproach to any people - I am satisfied this is not the sense of the original, וחסד לאמים חטאת vechesed leummim chattath; which would be better rendered, And mercy is a sin-offering for the people. The Vulgate has, Miseros autem facit populos peccatum, "sin makes the people wretched." Ελασσονουσι δε φυλας ἁμαρτιαι; "But sins lessen the tribes." - Septuagint. So also the Syriac and Arabic. The plain meaning of the original seems to be, A national disposition to mercy appears in the sight of God as a continual sin-offering. Not that it atones for the sin of the people; but, as a sin-offering is pleasing in the sight of the God of mercy, so is a merciful disposition in a nation. This view of the verse is consistent with the purest doctrines of free grace. And what is the true sense of the words, we should take at all hazards and consequences: we shall never trench upon a sound creed by a literal interpretation of God's words. No nation has more of this spirit than the British nation. It is true, we have too many sanguinary laws; but the spirit of the people is widely different.

If any one will contend for the common version, he has my consent; and I readily agree in the saying, Sin is the reproach of any people. It is the curse and scandal of man. Though I think what I have given is the true meaning of the text.

The king's favor is toward a wise servant - The king should have an intelligent man for his minister; a man of deep sense, sound judgment, and of a feeling, merciful disposition. He who has not the former will plunge the nation into difficulties; and he who has not the latter will embark her in disastrous wars. Most wars are occasioned by bad ministers, men of blood, who cannot be happy but in endeavoring to unchain the spirit of discord. Let every humane heart pray, Lord, scatter thou the people who delight in war! Amen - so be it. Selah!

Buildeth - Maintains and improves her family and estate. Her hands - By her idleness or sin.

A rod - His insolent speeches as they are like a rod, offensive to others, so, they make a rod for their own backs.

The crib - The stable is empty of food for cattle, and much more for man. In the same sense cleanness of teeth is put for famine, Amos 4:6. The strength - By their labours, or by diligence in husbandry, which then was principally managed by oxen.

Findeth it not - Because he doth not seek it aright. That understandeth - That is honest and pious.

His way - Consists not in vain speculations, but in a diligent study of his duty, and of the way to eternal happiness. The folly - The wit of ungodly men, which is really their folly, is employed only in finding out ways of deceiving.

Favour - They find favour both with God and men.

Bitterness - The inward griefs and joys of mens hearts, are not known to any but a man's self.

Right - There are some evil courses which men may think to be lawful and good. The end - The event shews that they were sinful and destructive.

In laughter - The outward signs of joy are often mixed with real sorrow.

In heart - He who departs from God inwardly. Filled - With the fruit of his ways, the punishment of his sins. Satisfied - From the pious temper of his own heart, which cleaves to the Lord, he shall receive unspeakable comfort.

The simple - A foolish man. Looketh - He orders his dealings in the world with due circumspection, not considering so much what other men say as what he ought to do.

Feareth - Trembles at God's judgments when they are either inflicted or threatened. Rageth - Frets against God; or is enraged against his messengers. Confident - Secure and insensible of his danger.

Foolishly - His passion hurries him into foolish speeches and actions. Wicked devices - One who suppresses his passion, but meditates revenge. Hated - Both by God and men.

Inherit - They possess it as their inheritance, holding it fast, and glorying in it. Knowledge - The saving knowledge of God and of their own duty.

The evil - Good men shall have the pre - eminency over the wicked.

Hated - Despised and abandoned.

Despiseth - That does not pity and relieve the poor.

The talk - Idle talking will bring a man to poverty.

Riches - They are a singular advantage and ornament to them. But - As for rich fools, their folly is not cured, but made worse and more manifest by their riches.

Souls - Such as are innocent, from false accusations.

To depart - To preserve men from destructive courses.

Exalteth - Heb. lifteth up, like a banner, makes it known and visible to all men.

A sound heart - Free from envy and inordinate passions. Is life - Procures and maintains the health and vigour of the body.

His maker - Whose image the poor man bears, by whose providence he is made poor, and who hath declared himself to be their protector and avenger.

Driven away - In his death, from God's favour and presence. Death - In his greatest dangers and distresses, yea even in death itself.

Resteth - Is laid up and hid there. In the midst - In the heart. Made known - They will publish in all times and companies.

Shame - Both to himself, by his foolish management of the king's affairs, and to the king who made so foolish a choice of a servant.

1 EVery wise woman buildeth her house , but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands .

He speaks of the Woman not to exclude the Man, of whom this is no less true, but because the Women, especially in those times, were very industrious in managing their Husbands Estates, of which see Prov. 31.

Maintaineth and improveth her Family and Estate, as this Phrase is used, Exod. 1. 21. 2 Sam. 7. 11. Psal. 127. 1.

Either by her idleness and not using her hands, or by her foolish and sinful courses.

2 He that walketh in his uprightness , feareth the LORD , but he that is perverse in his ways, despiseth him .

Whose conversation is sincerely pious and righteous. The design of this Proverb and Verse is to shew, that God doth, and men may judge of mens outward professions and inward dispositions by the common course of their lives.

Plainly declares that he doth not fear God, but despise him, and his commands, and threatnings.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 12. 4.

3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride , but the lips of the wise shall preserve them .

His proud and insolent speeches as they are like a Rod, offensive and injurious to others, so they make a Rod for their own Backs, by provoking God and men against them. Which sense seems most probable both from the opposite Clause, and by comparing this place with Prov. 10. 13. & 26. 3. For this Phrase, The Rod of Pride, it may be compared with other like Phrases, as the foot of Pride, Psal. 36. 11. The scourge of the Tongue, Job 5. 21. and the Rod of the Mouth, Isa. 11. 4.

From that Rod.

4 Where no Oxen are, the crib is clean : but much increase is by the strength of the oxe .

The Barn or Stable is empty of food for Cattel, and much more for Man, whose food is more scarce and dear. In the same sense cleanness of Teeth is put for Famine, Amos 4. 6.

By their labours, or by diligence in Husbandry, which then was principally managed by Oxen.

5 A faithful witness will not lie , but a false witness will utter lies .

To wit, in common discourse and conversation, whereby he sheweth his love to truth, and giveth assurance that when he is called to be a Witness, he will be true and faithful.

Or, as the words lie in the Hebrew, And, or But he that will utter lies (that accustometh himself to lying) is or will be a false Witness, when occasion requires it. Having debauched his Conscience by daily lying he is thereby prepared and disposed to false-witness-bearing. Compare Prov. 12. 17.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 25. [illegible: 1 word]. 20. 16. [illegible: 1 word] 1. [illegible: 1+ letters]6. 19. & [illegible: 1 word] 17▪

6 A scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not , but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth .

A proud, self-conceited, and profane Person.

Because he doth not seek it aright, to wit, sincerely, and earnestly, and seasonably, and in a constant and diligent use of all the means which God hath appointed to that end, and with an honest intention of employing his knowledge to the service of God, and the furtherance of his practice of Religion.

Is plain and easily attained by him.

That knoweth and is deeply sensible of his own want of knowledge, and of the great worth and necessity of knowledge, which will make him use all possible means to it, and, among other ways, pray earnestly to God for it. Or, that is honest and pious: for words of knowledge are oft understood practically, especially in this Book.

Marginal references: Chap. 8. 9.

7 Go from the presence of a foolish man , when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledg .

Avoid the company and conversation of ungodly men.

When they break forth into foolish or wicked discourses, left thou either be infected by them, or seem to approve of them.

8 The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way , but the folly of fools is deceit .

It consists not in vain Speculations, nor in a curious prying into other mens matters, nor in cunning arts of deceiving others, but in a diligent study of his own duty, and of the way to true and eternal happiness.

The wit of ungodly men, which, though they account their Wisdom, is really their folly, is employed onely in finding out ways of over-reaching and deceiving others, and themselves too.

9 Fools make a mock at sin , but among the righteous there is favour .

Wicked men, as appears from their opposition to the righteous in the next Clause.

Please and sport themselves with their own and other mens sins, which is an high offence and provocation to God and men. Or, as others render it, excuse or cover sin, sin against God or men, and then justifie or extenuate their sins, which is to double the injury. Possibly this Clause may be thus rendred, Sin deludes or makes a mock of Fools, or sinners, i. e. exposeth them to shame and contempt, which is fitly opposed to favour in the next Clause. And thus two Ancient and Learned Interpreters, Aquila and Theodotion, render it. And this suits exactly with the Hebrew words, whereas in the other Translation the Noun and Verb governed by it are of divers Numbers, which though somtimes it be allowed, yet is not to be supposed without necessity. But this I submit to the learned and judicious.

Who are so far from making a mock of sin, or excusing it, that they do not allow themselves to commit it.

They find favour both with God and men, as this very word thus generally expressed is used, Prov. 11. 27. because they make conscience of ordering their lives so that they offend neither God nor men, or if they offend either, they heartily repent of it, so far are they from excus[illegible: 1+ letters]ng it or pleasing themselves with it. Or, there is good will, as the word properly and usually is taken: they have a real love, and are ready to do all Offices of kindness one to another, and therefore neither sin against others, nor rejoice in the sins of others.

Marginal references: Ch. 10. 23.; Ch. 21. 10.

10 The heart knoweth his own bitterness , and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy .

The sense of the Verse is this, The inward griefs and joys of mens Hearts, though somtimes they may be guessed at by outward signs, yet are not certainly known to any but a mans s[illegible: 1+ letters]lf. Compare 1 Cor. 2. 11. The scope of the Parable may be to keep men from murmuring under their own troubles or envying other mens happiness.

Any other Person without or beside a Mans self.

Doth not partake of it, nor understand it.

Marginal references: Heb. the [illegible: 1+ letters]itterness of his Soul.

11 The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tabernacle of the upright shall prosper.

Their dwelling and family.

Which is a weak, and poor, and unstable thing, soon reared up, and soon taken down, and is here opposed to the large, and strong, and magnificent House of wicked men.

12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man , but the end thereof is the ways of death .

There are some evil actions or courses which men may think to be lawful and good, either through gross and affected ignorance; or through partiality or self-flattery; or through want of necessary diligence in examining them by the rule of God's will or word; all which are culpable causes of the mistake and therefore do not excuse the error.

The event sheweth that they were sinful and destructive.

Marginal references: Ch. 16. 25.

13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is heaviness .

The outward signs of joy are commonly mixed with or end in real and hearty sorrow. The design of the Proverb is to declare the vanity of all worldly joys and comforts, and to teach men moderation in them, and to persuade us to seek for more solid and durable joys.

Marginal references: Chap. 5. 4.

14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways , and a good man shall be satisfied from himself .

He who departeth from God and from the way of his Precepts with all his Heart, which implies the doing it upon deliberation, with free choice, and full purpose, and customary practice, as ungodly men commonly do, and is opposed to the [illegible: 1+ letters]lips of humane frailty; for otherwise every sin is a revolt from God.

With the fruit of his ways or doings, the punishment of his sins.

i. e. From his ways, as appears by the opposition from the pious temper of his own Heart which cleaveth to the Lord, when the hearts of sinners forsake him, and from the holy and righteous course of his life, from which he shall receive unspeakable comfort and satisfaction, both here and hereafter to all Eternity.

Marginal references: Psa. 44. 18▪; Ch. 1. 31. & 12. 14.

15 The simple believeth every word , but the prudent man looketh well to his going .

Either the harmless Man: or rather a foolish Man, because he is opposed to the prudent.

Is easily deceived with the smooth words and fair pretences of false and deceitful men.

Either 1. to his own going, as this is generally understood, he ordereth his conversation and dealings in the World with due circumspection, not considering so much what other men say as what he ought to do. Or, 2. to the going of the deceiver, whose the word in the former clause is suppos'd to be. So the sense is, he judgeth of mens words and professions by their conversations; which is a good rule.

16 A wise man feareth , and departeth from evil , but the fool rageth and is confident .

Trembleth at God's judgments when they are either inflicted or threatned.

From sin, which is the procuring cause of all calamities.

Fretteth against God, or is enraged against his Messengers who bring the threatning, or disquieteth himself in vain. Or transgresseth, as this Verb in its simple form and first conjugation commonly signifies, or, goeth on in sin constantly and resolutely, according to the Emphasis which this conjugation commonly adds to the simple Verb. And this is most fitly opposed to departing from evil, as being confident is opposed to fearing.

Secure and insensible of his danger till God's judgments overtake him.

Marginal references: Ch 22. 3.

17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly , and a man of wicked devices is hated .

His passion hurries him into many rash and foolish speeches and actions.

One who suppresseth his passion, but designeth and meditateth revenge, watching for the fittest methods and opportunities of executing it.

Both by God and men, as being most deeply malicious and like the Devil, and most dangerous and pernicious to humane Society, whereas men that are soon angry give a Man warning and are quickly pacified, and therefore pitied and pardoned.

18 The simple inherit folly , but the prudent are crowned with knowledg .

They possess it as their Inheritance or portion, holding it fast, improving it, delighting and glorying in it. In like manner David took God's Testimonies for his Heritage, Psal. 119. 111. where the word is the same: Withal he may imply that folly is Natural and Hereditary to them.

They place their honour and happiness in a sound and practical, and saving knowledge of God and of their own duty, and therefore earnestly pursue after it, and Heartily embrace it.

19 The evil bow before the good , and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

Giving honour to them, and supplicating their favour and help, either for supply of their wants, as being brought low for their sins, or for counsel or comfort, or for their prayers to God for them.

As Clients, and Petitioners, and Beggers use to wait at the Doors, and Houses of Great and Potent men. The sense is, Good men shall have the preeminency over the wicked, oft-times in this life, when God sees it expedient, but assuredly in the next life.

20 The poor is hated even of his own neighbour , but the rich hath many friends.

i. e. Despised and abandoned, as hateful Persons and Things are.

Strictly so called, who is nearest to him, either by habitation or by relation, and therefore most obliged to love and help him.

Marginal references: Ch. 19. 7.; Heb. many are the lovers of the Rich.

21 He that despiset his neighbour , sinneth : but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he .

That doth not pity and relieve the poor, as this is explained in the next Clause, the word Neighbour being here generally taken for any Man, as it is most commonly used in Scripture; which not relieving him, proceeds from a contempt of his Person.

And therefore shall be punished for his inhumanity, which is opposed to his being happy in the next Clause.

That sheweth his compassion by his bounty and relief.

He doth a worthy action, and shall be blessed in his deed.

Marginal references: Ps. 112. 9.

22 Do they not err that devised evil ? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good .

They do certainly err from the right way, and mistake their mark, and shall miss of that advantage and felicity which they promise to themselves by such practices.

That do not onely commit it but make it their design, and study, and business, that are Artists or Masters in it, as the word signifies.

Either 1. mischief to men. Or 2. any kind of wickedness against God or men; for the expression is general; and this seems best to agree to the following Clause.

Either 1. from men; Men shall deal truly and kindly with them, partly because such men by their carriage oblige them to do so, and partly because God inclineth their hearts to it. Or 2. from God to whom these two properties are jointly ascribed in divers places of Scripture.

That designedly and industriously apply themselves to the doing of all good offices to God and men.

23 In all labour there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth onely to penury .

Diligem labour is the ready way to riches, but idle talking, wherein too many spend most of their pretious time, will bring a Man to poverty.

24 The crown of the wise is their riches : but the foolishness of fools is folly .

They are a singular advantage and ornament to them, partly as they make their Wisdom more regarded, when the poor Man's wisdom is despised, Eccles. 9. 16. and partly as they give a Man great opportunity to discover and exercise his Wisdom or Vertue by laying out his Riches to the honour and service of God, and to the great and manifold good of the World; which also highly tends to his own glory and happiness.

But as for rich fools, for to them the general word is to be restrained from the opposite Clause, their folly is not cured, but made worse and more manifest by their riches. Their Riches find them Fools, and leave them Fools; they are not a Crown, but a reproach to them, and an occasion of their greater contempt. For the Phrase, we have the like in the Hebrew Text, 1 Sam. 1. 24. The Child Samuel was a Child. It is an elegant Figure called Antanaclasis used in all Authors.

25 A true witness delivereth Souls , but a deceitful witness speaketh lies .

i. e Persons, to wit, such as are innocent from the mischief of false Accusations, by declaring the truth, which is sufficient for their Vindication.

To the injury and destruction of the Innocent, which is easily understood out of the former Clause, and from the practice of false Witnesses.

Marginal references: Vers. 5.

26. In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence ; and his children shall have a place of refuge.

A sure ground of confidence, or a strong refuge, as the next Clause explains it.

Either 1. God's Children. Or 2. the Children of them that fear God, who are sufficiently understood out of the former Clause.

27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death .

To preserve men from deadly and destructive courses.

Marginal references: Ch. 13. 12.

28. In the multitude of people is the kings honour , but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.

Because it is an evidence of his wise and good government. Under honour he here comprehends also strength and safety, (as appears from the opposite Clause,) which depend much upon a Princes reputation. And honour may be here put for strength, as strength is put for honour or glory, Psal. 8. 2. & 29. 1. & 96. 7.

29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding ▪ but he that is hasty of spirit, exalteth folly.

Sheweth great and true wisdom in conquering his sinful and shameful passions.

Heb. lifteth up, like a Banner, makes it known and visible to all men.

Marginal references: Heb. short of Spirit.

30 A sound heart is the lise of the flesh ; but envy the rottenness of the bones .

Free from envy and such like inordinate passions, which are commonly called the Diseases of the Soul, not onely in Sacred, but even in Heathen Writers, Or, as others render it, An healing Heart, mild, and merciful, and kind to others, which is opposed to envy.

Procureth and maintaineth the health and vigor of the whole Body.

It wasteth the Spirits, and consumeth even the strongest and most inward parts of the Body.

31 He that oppresseth the poor , reproacheth his maker : but he that honoureth him , hath mercy on the poor .

That useth him hardly, as the Syriack renders it, that with-holdeth from him that which is his due, either by the rules of strict justice or by the great Law of Charity, of which see Prov. 3. 27. and so it is opposed to having Mercy in the next Clause.

Whose Image the poor Man bears, which might challenge respect; Iob 31. 15. by whose counsel and providence he is made poor; 1 Sam. 2. 7. Prov. 22. 2. and who hath declared himself to be their protector and avenger.

His Image, and Works, and Laws.

Doth not onely forbear, oppressing or injuring of him, but affords him his pity and help.

Marginal references: Ch. 17. 5. Mat. 25. 40, 45.

32 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness : but the righteous hath hope in his death .

To wit, in his Death, as is gathered from the opposite Clause: driven away from God's favour and presence, and from the Society of the Just, and from all his hopes of Happiness both in this life and in the next. This expression notes that this is done suddenly, violently, and irresistibly, as the smoke or chaff are driven away by a strong Wind.

Or, for his wickedness, Heb. in his evil, which may be understood of the evil of punishment; in the day of his calamity, when he shall flee to God for help.

Of deliverance from it, or of great and everlasting advantage by it.

In his greatest dangers and distresses, yea even in I eath it self, which therefore he can receive with comfort and confidence.

Marginal references: Job 13. 15. & 19. 26. Ps. 23. 4. 1 Cor. 15. 19. 2 Cor. 1. 9.

33 Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding, but that which is in the midst of fools is made known n.

Is laid up and hid there, and not vainly nor rashly uttered by him, but only upon necessary or fit occasions.

i. e. In the heart, which is expressed by this very word, Psal. 64. 6. and elsewhere. That Folly which is there instead of Wisdom: or, that small degree of Wisdom or Knowledg which they have.

r They will publish it in all times and companies, without any consideration or discretion.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] 12. 23.

34 Righteousness exalteth a nation , but sin is a reproach to any people .

Maketh it honourable in the Eyes of God, and of all other Nations, as it did the ancient Romans.

Brings contempt and ruine upon them by provoking both God and men against them.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 span]

35 The kings favour is toward a wise servant, but his wrath is against him that causeth shame .

Both to himself, by his foolish management of the Kings affairs commited to him, and to the King who made so foolish a choice of a Servant.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word]. 17. 2.

Pro 14:1 1 The wisdom of the woman buildeth her house,    And folly teareth it down with its own hands.

Were it חכמות נשׁים, after Jdg 5:29, cf. Isa 19:11, then the meaning would be: the wise among women, each of them buildeth her house. But why then not just אשּׁה חכמה, as 2Sa 14:2, cf. Exo 35:25? The Syr., Targum, and Jerome write sapiens mulier. And if the whole class must be spoken of, why again immediately the individualizing in בּנתה? The lxx obliterates that by its ᾠκοδόμησαν. And does not אוּלת [folly] in the contrasted proverb (1b) lead us to conclude on a similar abstract in 1a? The translators conceal this, for they translate אולת personally. Thus also the Venet. and Luther; אוּלת is, says Kimchi, an adj. like עוּרת, caeca. But the linguistic usage does not point אויל with אוילי to any אוּל. It is true that a fem. of אויל does not occur; there is, however, also no place in which אולת may certainly present itself as such. Thus also חכמות must be an abstr.; we have shown at Pro 1:20 how חכמות, as neut. plur., might have an abstr. meaning. But since it is not to be perceived why the poet should express himself so singularly, the punctuation חכמות is to be understood as proceeding from a false supposition, and is to be read חכמות, as at Pro 9:1 (especially since this passage rests on the one before us). Fleischer says: “to build the house is figuratively equivalent to, to regulate well the affairs of a house, and to keep them in a good condition; the contrary, to tear down the house, is the same contrast as the Arab. 'amârat âlbyt and kharab albyt. Thus e.g., in Burckhardt’s Sprüchw. 217, harrt ṣabrt bythâ 'amârat, a good woman (ein braves Weib) has patience (with her husband), and thereby she builds up her house (at the same time an example of the use of the preterite in like general sentences for individualizing); also No. 430 of the same work: 'amârat âlbyt wla kharâbt, it is becoming to build the house, not to destroy it; cf. in the Thousand and One Nights, where a woman who had compelled her husband to separate from her says: âna âlty 'amalt hadhâ barwḥy wâkhrnt byty bnfsy. Burckhardt there makes the remark: 'amârat âlbyt denotes the family placed in good circumstances - father, mother, and children all living together happily and peacefully.” This conditional relation of the wife to the house expresses itself in her being named as house-wife (cf. Hausehre [= honour of a house] used by Luther, Psa 68:13), to which the Talmudic דּביתי (= uxor mea) answers; the wife is noted for this, and hence is called עיקר הבית, the root and foundation of the house; vid., Buxtorf’s Lex. col. 301. In truth, the oneness of the house is more dependent on the mother than on the father. A wise mother can, if her husband be dead or neglectful of his duty, always keep the house together; but if the house-wife has neither understanding nor good-will for her calling, then the best will of the house-father cannot hinder the dissolution of the house, prudence and patience only conceal and mitigate the process of dissolution - folly, viz., of the house-wife, always becomes more and more, according to the degree in which this is a caricature of her calling, the ruin of the house.

Pro 14:2 2 He walketh in his uprightness who feareth Jahve,    And perverse in his ways is he that despiseth Him.

That which syntactically lies nearest is also that which is intended; the ideas standing in the first place are the predicates. Wherein it shows itself, and whereby it is recognised, that a man fears God, or stands in a relation to Him of indifference instead of one of fear and reverence, shall be declared: the former walketh in his uprightness, i.e., so far as the consciousness of duty which animates him prescribes; the latter in his conduct follows no higher rule than his own lust, which drives him sometimes hither and sometimes thither. הולך בּישׁרו .rehtih (cf. ישׁר הולך, Mic 2:7) is of kindred meaning with הולך בּתמּו, Pro 28:6 (הולך בּתּום, Pro 10:9), and הולך נכחו, Isa 57:2. The connection of נלוז דּרכיו follows the scheme of 2Ki 18:37, and not 2Sa 15:32, Ewald, §288c. If the second word, which particularizes the idea of the first, has the reflexive suff. as here, then the accusative connection, or, as Pro 2:15, the prepositional, is more usual than the genitive. Regarding לוּז, flectere, inclinare (a word common to the author of chap. 1-9), vid., at Pro 2:15. With בּוזהוּ, cf. 1Sa 2:30; the suffix without doubt refers to God, for בוזהו is the word that stands in parallel contrast to 'ירא ה.

Pro 14:3 3 In the mouth of the fool is a switch of pride;    But the lips of the wise preserve them.

The noun חטר (Aram. חוּטרא, Arab. khiṭr), which besides here occurs only at Isa 11:1, meaning properly a brandishing (from חטר = Arab. khatr, to brandish, to move up and down or hither and thither, whence âlkhṭtâr, the brandisher, poet. the spear), concretely, the young elastic twig, the switch, i.e., the slender flexible shoot. Luther translates, “fools speak tyrannically,” which is the briefer rendering of his earlier translation, “in the mouth of the fool is the sceptre of pride;” but although the Targum uses חוטרא of the king’s sceptre and also of the prince’s staff, yet here for this the usual Hebr. שׁבט were to be expected. In view of Isa 11:1, the nearest idea is, that pride which has its roots in the heart of the fool, grows up to his mouth. But yet it is not thus explained why the representation of this proceeding from within stops with חטר cf. Pro 11:30). The βακτηρία ὕβρεως (lxx, and similarly the other Greek versions) is either meant as the rod of correction of his own pride (as e.g., Abulwalîd, and, among the moderns, Bertheau and Zöckler) or as chastisement for others (Syr., Targum: the staff of reviling). Hitzig is in favour of the former idea, and thinks himself warranted in translating: a rod for his back; but while גּוה is found for גּאוה, we do not (cf. under Job 41:7 : a pride are the, etc.) find גאוה for גוה, the body, or גּו, the back. But in general it is to be assumed, that if the poet had meant חטר as the means of correction, he would have written גּאותו. Rightly Fleischer: “The tongue is often compared to a staff, a sword, etc., in so far as their effects are ascribed to it; we have here the figure which in Rev 1:16 passes over into plastic reality.” Self-exaltation (R. גא, to strive to be above) to the delusion of greatness is characteristic of the fool, the אויל [godless], not the כּסיל [stupid, dull] - Hitzig altogether confounds these two conceptions. With such self-exaltation, in which the mind, morally if not pathologically diseased, says, like Nineveh and Babylon in the prophets, I am alone, and there is no one with me, there is always united the scourge of pride and of disgrace; and the meaning of 3b may now be that the lips of the wise protect those who are exposed to this injury (Ewald), or that they protect the wise themselves against such assaults (thus most interpreters). But this reference of the eos to others lies much more remote than at Pro 12:6; and that the protection of the wise against injury inflicted on them by words is due to their own lips is unsatisfactory, as in this case, instead of Bewahrung [custodia], we would rather expect Vertheidigung [defensio], Dämpfung [damping, extinguishing], Niederduckung [stooping down, accommodating oneself to circumstances]. But also it cannot be meant that the lips of the wise preserve them from the pride of fools, for the thought that the mouth preserves the wise from the sins of the mouth is without meaning and truth (cf. the contrary, Pro 13:3). Therefore Arama interprets the verb as jussive: the lips = words of the wise mayest thou keep i.e., take to heart. And the Venet. translates: χείλη δὲ σοφῶν φυλάξεις αὐτά, which perhaps means: the lips of the wise mayest thou consider, and that not as a prayer, which is foreign to the gnome, but as an address to the hearer, which e.g., Pro 20:19 shows to be admissible. but although in a certain degree of similar contents, yet 3a and 3b clash. Therefore it appears to us more probable that the subject of 3b is the חכמה contained in חכמים; in Pro 6:22 wisdom is also the subject to תשׁמר עליך without its being named. Thus: while hurtful pride grows up to the throat of the fool, that, viz., wisdom, keeps the lips of the wise, so that no word of self-reflection, especially none that can wound a neighbour, escapes from them. The form תּשׁמוּרם is much more peculiar than ישׁפּוּטוּ, Exo 18:26, and תעבוּרי, Rth 2:8, for the latter are obscured forms of ישׁפּטוּ and תעברי, while on the contrary the former arises from תּשׁמרם.Vid., regarding these forms with ǒ instead of the simple Sheva, Kimchi, Michlol 20ab. He also remarks that these three forms with û are all Milra; this is the case also in a remarkable manner with ישׁפּוּטוּ, vid., Michlol 21b; Livjath Chen ii. 9; and particularly Heidenheim, in his edition of the Pentateuch entitled Meôr Enajim, under Exo 18:26.

If, according to the usual interpretation, we make שׂפתי the subject, then the construction follows the rule, Gesen. §146, 2. The lxx transfers it into Greek: χείλη δὲ σοφῶν φυλάσσει αὐτούς. The probable conjecture, that תשׁמורם is an error in transcription for תּשׁמרוּם = תּשׁמרנה אתם (this is found also in Luzzatto’s Gramm. §776; and Hitzig adduces as other examples of such transpositions of the ו Jer 2:25; Jer 17:23; Job 26:12, and Jos 2:4, ותצפנו for ותצפון), we do not acknowledge, because it makes the lips the subject with an exclusiveness the justification of which is doubtful to us.

Pro 14:4

The switch and the preserving, Pro 14:3, may have given occasion to the collector, amid the store of proverbs before him, now to present the agricultural figure:

Without oxen the crib is empty;

But rich increase is by the strength of the plough-ox.

This is a commendation of the breeding of cattle, but standing here certainly not merely as useful knowledge, but as an admonition to the treatment in a careful, gentle manner, and with thankful recompense of the ox (Pro 12:10), which God has subjected to man to help him in his labour, and more generally, in so far as one seeks to gain an object, to the considerate adoption of the right means for gaining it. אלפים (from אלף, to cling to) are the cattle giving themselves willingly to the service of men (poet. equivalent to בּקרים). שׁור (תּור, Arab. thwr), Ved. sthûras, is the Aryan-Semitic name of the plough-ox. The noun אבוּס (= אבוּס like אטוּן, אמוּן) denotes the fodder-trough, from אבס, to feed, and thus perhaps as to its root-meaning related to φάτνη (πάτνη), and may thus also designate the receptacle for grain where the corn for the provender or feeding of the cattle is preserved - מאבוּס, Jer 50:26, at least has this wider signification of the granary; but there exists no reason to depart here from the nearest signification of the word: if a husbandman is not thoughtful about the care and support of the cattle by which he is assisted in his labour, then the crib is empty - he has nothing to heap up; he needs not only fodder, but has also nothing. בּר (in pause בּר), clean (synon. נקי, cf. at Pro 11:26), corresponds with our baar [bare] = bloss [nudus]. Its derivation is obscure. The בּ, 4b, is that of the mediating cause: by the strength of the plough-ox there is a fulness of grain gathered into the barn (תּבוּאות, from בּוא, to gather in, anything gathered in). רב־ is the inverted בּר. Striking if also accidental is the frequency of the א and ב in Pro 14:4. This is continued in Pro 14:5, where the collector gives two proverbs, the first of which commences with a word beginning with א, and the second with one beginning with ב:

Pro 14:5

Striking if also accidental is the frequency of the א and ב in Pro 14:4. This is continued in Pro 14:5, where the collector gives two proverbs, the first of which commences with a word beginning with א, and the second with one beginning with ב: 5 A faithful witness does not speak untruth;    But a lying witness breathes out falsehoods.

The right vocalization and sequence of the accents is בּקּשׁ לץ חכמה (ק with Tsere and the servile Mahpach, חכמה with Munach, because the following Athnach-word has not two syllables before the tone). As in 5a עד אמוּנים, so in 5b עד שׁקר is the subject. Different is the relation of subject and predicate in the second line of the parallel proverbs, Pro 14:25, Pro 19:5. With 5a cf. ציר אמוּנים, Pro 13:17; and regarding יפיח (one who breathes out), vid., at Pro 6:19; Pro 12:17.

Pro 14:6 6 In vain the scorner seeketh wisdom;    But to the man of understanding knowledge is easy.

The general sentence is concrete, composed in the common historical form. Regarding ואין, necquidquam, vid., at Pro 13:4. The participle נקל is here neut. for נקלּה, something which makes itself easy or light. The frivolous man, to whom truth is not a matter of conscience, and who recognises no authority, not even the Supreme, never reaches to truth notwithstanding all his searching, it remains veiled to him and far remote; but to the man of understanding, who knows that the fear of God and not estrangement from God leads to truth, knowledge is an easy matter - he enters on the right way to this end, he brings the right receptivity, brings to bear on it the clear eye, and there is fulfilled to him the saying, “To him that hath it is given.”

Pro 14:7

Three proverbs regarding fools: 7 Go from the presence of a foolish man,    And surely thou hast not known lips of knowledge;i.e., surely hast not brought into experience that he possesses lips which express experimental knowledge, or: surely thou must confess on reflection that no prudent word has come forth from his mouth. If 7b were intended to assign a motive, then the expression would be כּי בל־תּדע or וּבל־תּדע (Isa 44:9), according to which Aquila and Theodotion translate, καὶ οὐ μὴ γνῷς. נגד is the sphere of vision, and מנּגד denotes either away from the sphere of vision, as e.g., Isa 1:16, or, inasmuch as מן is used as in מעל, מתּחת, and the like: at a certain distance from the sphere of vision, but so that one keeps the object in sight, Gen 21:16. נגד ל denotes, as the inverted expression Deu 28:66 shows, over against any one, so that he has the object visibly before him, and מנּגד ל, Jdg 20:34, from the neighbourhood of a place where one has it in view. So also here: go away from the vis-à-vis (vis = visûs) of the foolish man, if thou hast to do with such an one; whence, 7b, follows what he who has gone away must on looking back say to himself. בל (with the pret. as e.g., Isa 33:23) expresses a negative with emphasis. Nolde and others, also Fleischer, interpret 7b relatively: et in quo non cognoveris labia scientiae. If וּבל־ידע were the expression used, then it would be explained after Pro 9:13, for the idea of the foolish man is extended: and of such an one as absolutely knows not how to speak anything prudent. But in וּבל־ידעתּ the relative clause intended must be indicated by the added בּו: and of such an one in whom... Besides, in this case וּלא (vid., Psa 35:15) would have been nearer than וּבל. The lxx has modified this proverb, and yet has brought out nothing that is correct; not only the Syr., but also Hitzig follows it, when he translates, “The foolish man hath everything before him, but lips of knowledge are a receptacle of knowledge” (וּכלי דּעת). It racks one’s brains to find out the meaning of the first part here, and, as Böttcher rightly says, who can be satisfied with the “lips of knowledge” as the “receptacle of knowledge”?

Pro 14:8 8 The wisdom of the prudent is to observe his way,    And the folly of fools is deceit.

The nearest idea is that of self-deceit, according to which the lxx, Syr., and Jerome render the word error (“Irrsal”). But מרמה is nowhere else used of self-deception, and moreover is not the suitable word for such an idea, since the conception of the dolus malus is constantly associated with it. Thus the contrast will be this: the wisdom of the prudent shows itself in this, that he considers his conduct (הבין as Pro 7:7, cf. Psa 5:2), i.e., regulates it carefully, examining and considering (Pro 13:16) it according to right and duty; and that on the contrary the folly of fools shows itself in this, that they aim at the malevolent deception of their neighbour, and try all kinds of secret ways for the gaining of this end. The former is wisdom, because from the good only good comes; the latter is folly or madness, because deception, however long it may sneak in darkness, yet at last comes to light, and recoils in its destructive effects upon him from whom it proceeds.

Pro 14:9 9 The sacrificial offering of fools mocketh;    But between upright men there is good understanding

We may not give to the Hiph. הליץ any meaning which it nowhere has, as, to excuse (Kimchi), or to come to an agreement by mediation (Schultens). So we may not make אוילים the subject (Targ., Symmachus, Jerome, Luther, “fools make sport with sin”), for one is persuaded that אוילים is equivalent to כל אחר מן האוילים (Immanuel, Meîri, and others), which would be more admissible if we had מליץ (vid., Pro 3:35), or if יליץ did not immediately follow (vid., Pro 28:1). Aquila and Theodotion rightly interpret the relation of the component parts of the sentence: ἄφρονας χλευάζει πλημμέλια; and this translation of אשׁם also is correct is we take πλημμέλεια in the sense of a θυσία περὶ πλημμελείας (Sir. 7:31), in which the Judaeo-Hellenic actually uses it (vid., Schleusner’s Lex.). The idea of sacrificial offering is that of expiation: it is a penitential work, it falls under the prevailing point of view of an ecclesiastical punishment, a satisfactio in a church-disciplinary sense; the forgiveness of sins is conditioned by this, (1) that the sinner either abundantly makes good by restitution the injury inflicted on another, or in some other way bears temporal punishment for it, and (2) that he willingly presents the sacrifices of rams or of sheep, the value of which the priest has to determine in its relation to the offence (by a tax-scale from 2 shekels upwards). The Torâ gives accurately the offences which are thus to be atoned for. Here, with reference to 9b, there particularly comes into view the offence against property (Lev. 5:20ff.) and against female honour (Lev 19:20-22). Fools fall from one offence into another, which they have to atone for by the presentation of sacrificial offerings; the sacrificial offering mocketh them (הליץ with accus.-object, as Pro 19:28; Psa 119:51), for it equally derides them on account of the self-inflicted loss, and on account of the efforts with which they must make good the effects of their frivolity and madness; while on the contrary, among men of upright character, רצון, a relation of mutual favour, prevails, which does not permit that the one give to the other an indemnity, and apply the Asham- [אשׁם = trespass-offering] Torâ. Symmachus rightly: καὶ ἀνάμεσον εὐθέων εὐδοκία. But the lxx confuses this proverb also. Hitzig, with the Syr., follows it and translates:

The tents of the foolish are in punishment overthrown [verfällt];

The house of the upright is well-pleasing [wolgefällt].

Is not this extravagant [ungereimt = not rhymed] in spite of the rhyme? These אהלי [tents] extracted from אוילים, and this בית [house] formed out of בין, are nothing but an aimless and tasteless flourish.

Pro 14:10

Four proverbs of joy and sorrow in the present and the future: 10 The heart knoweth the trouble of its soul,      And no stranger can intermeddle with its joy.

The accentuation לב יודע seems to point out יודע as an adjective (Löwenstein: a feeling heart), after 1Ki 3:9, or genit. (of a feeling heart); but Cod. 1294 and the Jemen Cod., and others, as well as the editions of Jablonsky and Michaelis, have לב with Rebia, so that this is by itself to be taken as the subject (cf. the accentuation Pro 15:5 and under at 16a). מרּת has the ר with Dagesh, and consequently the short Kametz (Michlol 63b), like שׁרּך Pro 3:8, cf. כּרתה, Jdg 6:28, and on the contrary כרּת, Eze 16:4; it is the fem. of mōr = morr, from מרר, adstringere, amarum esse. Regarding לב, in contradistinction to נפשׁ, vid., Psychol. p. 251. “All that is meant by the Hellenic and Hellenistic νοῦς, λόγος, συνείδησις, θυμός, is comprehended in καρδία, and all by which the בשׂר and נפשׁ are affected comes in לב into the light of consciousness.”

The first half of the proverb is clear: the heart, and only it, i.e., the man in the centre of his individuality, knows what brings bitterness to his soul, i.e., what troubles him in the sphere of his natural life and of the nearest life-circle surrounding him. It thus treats of life experiences which are of too complex a nature to be capable of being fully represented to others, and, as we are wont to say, of so delicate a nature that we shrink from uncovering them and making them known to others, and which on this account must be kept shut up in our own hearts, because no man is so near to us, or has so fully gained our confidence, that we have the desire and the courage to pour out our hearts to him from their very depths. Yet the saying, “Every one knows where the shoe pinches him” (1Ki 8:38), stands nearer to this proverb; here this expression receives a psychological, yet a sharper and a deeper expression, for the knowledge of that which grieves the soul is attributed to the heart, in which, as the innermost of the soul-corporeal life, it reflects itself and becomes the matter-of-fact of the reflex consciousness in which it must shut itself up, but also for the most part without external expression. If we now interpret לא־יתערב as prohibitive, then this would stand (with this exception, that in this case אל instead of לא is to be expected) in opposition, certainly not intended, to the exhortation, Rom 12:15, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice,” and to the saying, “Distributed joy is doubled joy, distributed sorrow is half sorrow;” and an admonition to leave man alone with his joy, instead of urging him to distribute it, does not run parallel with 10a. Therefore we interpret the fut. as potentialis. As there is a soul-sorrow of the man whose experience is merely a matter of the heart, so there is also a soul-joy with which no other (vid., regarding זר, p. 135, and cf. here particularly Job 19:27) intermeddleth (ההערב בּ like Psa 106:35), in which no other can intermeddle, because his experience, as e.g., of blessed spiritual affection or of benevolent feeling, is purely of a personal nature, and admits of no participation (cf. on ἔκρυψε, Mat 13:44), and thus of no communication to others. Elster well observes: “By this thought, that the innermost feelings of a man are never fully imparted to another man, never perfectly cover themselves with the feelings of another, yea, cannot at all be fully understood by another, the worth and the significance of each separate human personality is made conspicuous, not one of which is the example of a species, but each has its own peculiarity, which no one of countless individuals possesses. At the same time the proverb has the significance, that it shows the impossibility of a perfect fellowship among men, because one never wholly understands another. Thereby it is indicated that no human fellowship can give true salvation, but only the fellowship with God, whose love and wisdom are capable of shining through the most secret sanctuary of human personality.” Thus also Dächsel (but he interprets 10b admonitorily): “Each man is a little world in himself, which God only fully sees through and understands. His sorrow appertaining to his innermost life, and his joy, another is never able fully to transfer to himself. Yea, the most sorrowful of all experiences, the most inward of all joys, we possess altogether alone, without any to participate with us.”

Pro 14:11 11 The house of the wicked is overthrown;      But the tent of the upright flourishes.

In the cogn. proverb, Pro 12:7, line 2 begins with וּבית, but here the apparently firmly-founded house is assigned to the godless, and on the contrary the tent, easily destroyed, and not set up under the delusion of lasting for ever, is assigned to the righteous. While the former is swept away without leaving a trace behind (Isa 14:23), the latter has blossoms and shoots (הפריח as inwardly transitive, like Job 14:9; Psa 92:14); the household of such remains not only preserved in the same state, but in a prosperous, happy manner it goes forward and upward.

Pro 14:12 12 There is a way that seemeth right to one,      But the end thereof are the ways of death.

This is literally repeated in Pro 16:25. The rightness is present only as a phantom, for it arises wholly from a terrible self-deception; the man judges falsely and goes astray when, without regard to God and His word, he follows only his own opinions. It is the way of estrangement from God, of fleshly security; the way of vice, in which the blinded thinks to spend his life, to set himself to fulfil his purposes; but the end thereof (אחריתהּ with neut. fem.: the end of this intention, that in which it issues) are the ways of death. He who thus deceives himself regarding his course of life, sees himself at last arrived at a point from which every way which now further remains to him leads only down to death. The self-delusion of one ends in death by the sentence of the judge, that of another in self-murder; of one in loathsome disease, of another in a slow decay under the agony of conscience, or in sorrow over a henceforth dishonoured and distracted life.

Pro 14:13 13 Even in the midst of laughter the heart experiences sadness;      And to it, joy, the end is sorrow.

Every human heart carries the feeling of disquiet and of separation from its true home, and of the nothingness, the transitoriness of all that is earthly; and in addition to this, there is many a secret sorrow in every one which grows out of his own corporeal and spiritual life, and from his relation to other men; and this sorrow, which is from infancy onward the lot of the human heart, and which more and more depends and diversifies itself in the course of life, makes itself perceptible even in the midst of laughter, in spite of the mirth and merriment, without being able to be suppressed or expelled from the soul, returning always the more intensely, the more violently we may have for a time kept it under and sunk it in unconsciousness. Euchel cites here the words of the poet, according to which 13a is literally true: “No, man is not made for joy;

Why weep his eyes when in heart he laughs?”“Nein, der Mensch ist zur Freude nicht gemacht, Darum weint sein Aug' wenn er herzlich lacht.”

From the fact that sorrow is the fundamental condition of humanity, and forms the background of laughter, it follows, 13b, that in general it is not good for man to give himself up to joy, viz., sensual (worldly), for to it, joy, the end (the issue) is sorrow. That is true also of the final end, which according to that saying, μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες νῦν ὅτι γελάσετε, changes laughter into weeping, and weeping into laughter. The correction אחרית השּׂמחה (Hitzig) presses upon the Mishle style an article in such cases rejected, and removes a form of expression of the Hebr. syntaxis ornata, which here, as at Isa 17:6, is easily obviated, but which is warranted by a multitude of other examples, vid., at Pro 13:4 (also Pro 5:22), and cf. Philippi’s Status Const. p. 14f., who regards the second word, as here שׂמהה, after the Arab., as accus. But in cases like שׂנאי שׁקר, although not in cases such as Ezr 2:62, the accus. rendering is tenable, and the Arab. does not at all demand it.Regarding the supplying (ibdâl) of a foregoing genitive or accus. pronoun of the third person by a definite or indefinite following, in the same case as the substantive, Samachscharî speaks in the Mufassal, p. 94ff., where, as examples, are found: raeituhu Zeidan, I have seen him, the Zeid; marartu bihi Zeidin, I have gone over with him, the Zeid; saraftu wugûhahâ awwalihâ, in the flight I smote the heads of the same, their front rank. Vid., regarding this anticipation of the definite idea by an indefinite, with explanations of it, Fleischer’s Makkarî, Additions et Corrections, p. xl. col. 2, and Dieterici’s Mutanabbi, p. 341, l. 13.

In the old Hebr. this solutio of the st. constr. belongs to the elegances of the language; it is the precursor of the vulgar post-bibl. אחרייהּ שׂל־שׂמחה. That the Hebr. may also retain a gen. where more or fewer parts of a sentence intervene between it and its governing word, is shown by such examples as Isa 48:9; Isa 49:7; Isa 61:7.These examples moreover do not exceed that which is possible in the Arab., vid., regarding this omission of the mudâf, where this is supplied from the preceding before a genitive, Samachscharî’s Mufassal, p. 34, l. 8-13. Perhaps לחמך, Oba 1:7, of thy bread = the (men) of thy bread, is an example of the same thing.

Pro 14:14

There follows a series of proverbs which treat of the wicked and the good, and of the relation between the foolish and the wise: 14 He that is of a perverse heart is satisfied with his own ways;      And a good man from himself.

We first determine the subject conception. סוּג לב (one turning aside τῆς καρδίας or τὴν καρδίαν) is one whose heart is perverted, נסוג, turned away, viz., from God, Psa 44:19. The Book of Proverbs contains besides of this verb only the name of dross (recedanea) derived from it; סוּג, separated, drawn away, is such a half passive as סוּר, Isa 49:21, שׁוּב, Mic 2:8, etc. (Olsh. §245a). Regarding אישׁ טוב, vid., at Pro 12:2, cf. Pro 13:22 : a man is so called whose manner of thought and of action has as its impulse and motive self-sacrificing love. When it is said of the former that he is satisfied with his own ways, viz., those which with heart turned away from God he enters upon, the meaning is not that they give him peace or bring satisfaction to him (Löwenstein), but we see from Pro 1:31; Pro 18:20, that this is meant recompensatively: he gets, enjoys the reward of his wandering in estrangement from God. It is now without doubt seen that 14b expresses that wherein the benevolent man finds his reward. We will therefore not explain (after Pro 4:15, cf. Num 16:26; 2Sa 19:10): the good man turns himself away from him, or the good man stands over him (as Jerome, Venet., after Ecc 5:7); - this rendering gives no contrast, or at least a halting one. The מן of מעליו must be parallel with that of מדּרכיו. From the lxx, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν διανοημάτων αὐτοῦ, the Syr. rightly: from the fruit (religiousness) of his soul; the Targ.: from his fruit. Buxtorf, against Cappellus, has already perceived that here no other phrase but the explanation of מעליו by ex eo quod penes se est lies at the foundation. We could, after Pro 7:14, also explain: from that which he perceives as his obligation (duty); yet that other explanation lies proportionally nearer, but yet no so that we refer the suffix to the backslider of 14a: in it (his fate) the good man is satisfied, for this contrast also halts, the thought is not in the spirit of the Book of Proverbs (for Pro 29:16 does not justify it); and in how totally different a connection of thought מעליו is used in the Book of Proverbs, is shown by Pro 24:17; but generally the Scripture does not use שׂבע of such satisfaction, it has, as in 14a, also in 14b, the recompensative sense, according to the fundamental principle, ὃ ἐὰν σπείρῃ ἄνθρωπος τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει (Gal 6:7). The suffix refers back to the subject, as we say: רוּחי עלי, נפשׁי עלי (Psychol. p. 152). But considerations of an opposite kind also suggest themselves. Everywhere else מעל refers not to that which a man has within himself, but that which he carries without; and also that מעליו can be used in the sense of משּׁעליו, no evidence can be adduced: it must be admitted to be possible, since the writer of the Chronicles (2Ch 1:4) ventures to use בהכין. Is מעליו thus used substantively: by his leaves (Aben Ezra and others)? If one compares Pro 11:28 with Psa 1:3, this explanation is not absurd; but why then did not the poet rather use מפּריו? We come finally to the result, that ומעליו, although it admits a connected interpretation, is an error of transcription. But the correction is not וּמעלּיו (Elster) nor וּמעלליו (Cappellus), for עלּים and עללים, deeds, are words which do not exist; nor is it וּמפּעליו (Bertheau) nor וּמגּמליו (Ewald), but וּממּעלליו (which Cappellus regarded, but erroneously, as the lxx phrase); for (1) throughout almost the whole O.T., from Jdg 2:19 to Zec 1:18, דרכים and מעללים are interchangeable words, and indeed almost an inseparable pair, cf. particularly Jer 17:10; and (2) when Isaiah (Isa 3:10) says, אמרו צדיק כי־טוב כּי־פרי מעלליהם יאכלוּ, this almost sounds like a prophetical paraphrase of the second line of the proverb, which besides by this emendation gains a more rhythmical sound and a more suitable compass.As here an ל too few is written, so at Isa 32:1 (ולשׂרים) and Psa 74:14 (לציים) one too many.

Pro 14:15 15 The simple believeth every word;      But the prudent takes heed to his step.

We do not translate, “every thing,” for “word” and faith are correlates, Psa 106:24, and פּתי is the non-self-dependent who lets himself be easily persuaded by the talk of another: he believes every word without proving it, whether it is well-meant, whether it is true, whether it is salutary and useful, so that he is thus, without having any firm principle, and without any judgment of his own, driven about hither and thither; the prudent, on the other hand, considers and marks his step, that he may not take a false step or go astray, he proves his way (8a), he takes no step without thought and consideration (בּין or הבין with ל, to consider or reflect upon anything, Psa 73:17, cf. Psa 33:15) - he makes sure steps with his feet (Heb 12:13), without permitting himself to waver and sway by every wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14).

Pro 14:16 16 The wise feareth and departeth from evil;      But the fool loseth his wits and is regardless.

Our editions have ירא with Munach, as if חכם ירא were a substantive with its adjective; but Cod. 1294 has חכם with Rebia, and thus it must be: חכם is the subject, and what follows is its complex predicate. Most interpreters translate 16b: the fool is over-confident (Zöckler), or the fool rushes on (Hitzig), as also Luther: but a fool rushes wildly through, i.e., in a daring, presumptuous manner. But התעבּר denotes everywhere nothing else than to fall into extreme anger, to become heated beyond measure, Pro 26:17 (cf. Pro 20:2), Deu 3:26, etc. Thus 16a and 16b are fully contrasted. What is said of the wise will be judged after Job 1:1, cf. Psa 34:15; Psa 37:27 : the wise man has fear, viz., fear of God, or rather, since האלהים is not directly to be supplied, that careful, thoughtful, self-mistrusting reserve which flows from the reverential awe of God; the fool, on the contrary, can neither rule nor bridle his affections, and without any just occasion falls into passionate excitement. But on the other side he is self-confident, regardless, secure; while the wise man avoids the evil, i.e., carefully goes out of its way, and in N.T. phraseology “works out his own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Pro 14:17

This verse, as if explanatory of מתעבר, connects itself with this interpretation of the contrasts, corresponding to the general usus loquendi, and particularly to the Mishle style.

One who is quick to anger worketh folly,

And a man of intrigues is hated.

Ewald finds here no right contrast. He understands אישׁ מזמּה in a good sense, and accordingly corrects the text, substituting for ישׂנא, ישׁוּא (ישׁוּא), for he translates: but the man of consideration bears (properly smooths, viz., his soul). On the other hand it is also to be remarked, that אישׁ מזמה, when it occurs, is not to be understood necessarily in a good sense, since מזמה is used just like מזמות, at one time in a good and at another in a bad sense, and that we willingly miss the “most complete sense” thus arising, since the proverb, as it stands in the Masoretic text, is good Hebrew, and needs only to be rightly understood to let nothing be missed in completeness. The contrast, as Ewald seeks here to represent it (also Hitzig, who proposes ישׁאן: the man of consideration remains quiet; Syr. ramys, circumspect), we have in Pro 14:29, where the μακρόθυμος stands over against the ὀξύθυμος (אף or אפּים of the breathing of anger through the nose, cf. Theocritus, i. 18: καὶ οἱ ἀεὶ δριμεῖα χολὰ ποτὶ ῥινὶ κάθηται). Here the contrast is different: to the man who is quick to anger, who suddenly gives expression to his anger and displeasure, stands opposed the man of intrigues, who contrives secret vengeance against those with whom he is angry. Such a deceitful man, who contrives evil with calculating forethought and executes it in cold blood (cf. Psa 37:7), is hated; while on the contrary the noisy lets himself rush forward to inconsiderate, mad actions, but is not hated on that account; but if in his folly he injures or disgraces himself, or is derided, or if he even does injury to the body and the life of another, and afterwards with terror sees the evil done in its true light, then he is an object of compassion. Theodotion rightly: (ἀνὴρ δὲ) διαβουλιῶν μισηθήσεται, and Jerome: vir versutus odiosus est (not the Venet. ἀνὴρ βδελυγμῶν, for this signification has only זמּה, and that in the sing.); on the contrary, the lxx, Syr., Targum, and Symmachus incorrectly understand איש מזמות in bonam partem.

Pro 14:18 18 The simple have obtained folly as an inheritance;      But the prudent put on knowledge as a crown.

As a parallel word to נחלוּ, יכתּרוּ (after the Masora defective), also in the sense of Arab. âkthar, multiplicare, abundare (from Arab. kathura, to be much, perhapsAccording to rule the Hebr. ש becomes in Arab. ṯ, as in Aram. ת; but kthar might be from ktar, an old verb rarely found, which derivata with the idea of encircling (wall) and of rounding (bunch) point to. properly comprehensive, encompassing), would be appropriate, but it is a word properly Arabic. On the other hand, inappropriate is the meaning of the Heb.-Aram. כּתּר, to wait (properly waiting to surround, to go round any one, cf. manere aliquem or aliquod), according to which Aquila, ἀναμενούσιν, and Jerome, expectabunt. Also הכתּיר, to encompass in the sense of to embrace (lxx κρατήσουσιν), does not suffice, since in the relation to נחלו one expects an idea surpassing this. Certainly there is a heightening of the idea in this, that the Hiph. in contradistinction to נחל would denote an object of desire spontaneously sought for. But far stronger and more pointed is the heightening of the idea when we take יכתרו as the denom. of כּרת (Gr. κίταρις, κίδαρις, Babyl. כדר, cudur, cf. כּדּוּר, a rounding, sphaera). Thus Theodotion, στεφθήσονται. The Venet. better actively, ἐστέψαντο (after Kimchi: ישׂימו הדעת ככתר על ראשם), the Targ., Jerome, Luther (but not the Syr., which translates נחלו by “to inherit,” but יכתרו by μεριοῦνται, which the lxx has for נחלו). The bibl. language has also (Ps. 142:8) הכתיר in the denom. signification of to place a crown, and that on oneself; the non-bibl. has מכתיר (like the bibl. מעטיר) in the sense of distributor of crowns,Vid., Wissenschaft, Kunst, Judenthum (1838), p. 240. and is fond of the metaphor כתר הדעת, crown of knowledge. With those not self-dependent (vid., regarding the plur. form of פּתי, p. 56), who are swayed by the first influence, the issue is, without their willing it, that they become habitual fools: folly is their possession, i.e., their property. The prudent, on the contrary, as Pro 14:15 designates them, have thoughtfully to ponder their step to gain knowledge as a crown (cf. העשׁיר, to gain riches, הפריח, 11b, to gain flowers, Gesen. §53, 2). Knowledge is to them not merely an inheritance, but a possession won, and as such remains with them a high and as it were a kingly ornament.

Pro 14:19 19 The wicked must bow before the good,      And the godless stand at the doors of the righteous.

The good, viz., that which is truly good, which has love as its principle, always at last holds the supremacy. The good men who manifest love to men which flows from love to God, come finally forward, so that the wicked, who for a long time played the part of lords, bow themselves willingly or unwillingly before them, and often enough it comes about that godless men fall down from their prosperity and their places of honour so low, that they post themselves at the entrance of the stately dwelling of the righteous (Pro 13:22), waiting for his going out and in, or seeking an occasion of presenting to him a supplication, or also as expecting gifts to be bestowed (Psa 37:25). The poor man Lazarus πρὸς τὸν πυλῶνα of the rich man, Luk 16:20, shows, indeed, that this is not always the case on this side of the grave. שׁחוּ has, according to the Masora (cf. Kimchi’s Wörterbuch under שׁחח), the ultima accented; the accentuation of the form סכּוּ wavers between the ult. and penult. Olsh. p. 482f., cf. Gesen. 68, Anm. 10. The substantival clause 19b is easily changed into a verbal clause: they come (Syr.), appear, stand (incorrectly the Targ.: they are judged in the gates of the righteous).

Pro 14:20

Three proverbs on the hatred of men: 20 The poor is hated even by his neighbour;      But of those who love the rich there are many.

This is the old history daily repeating itself. Among all people is the saying and the complaint:Donec eris felix multos numerabis amicos,Tempora si fuerint nubilia solus eris.Ovid, Trist. i. 8.

The Book of Proverbs also speaks of this lamentable phenomenon. It is a part of the dark side of human nature, and one should take notice of it, so that when it goes well with him, he may not regard his many friends as all genuine, and when he becomes poor, he may not be surprised by the dissolution of earlier friendship, but may value so much the higher exceptions to the rule. The connection of the passive with ל of the subject (cf. Pro 13:13), as in the Greek with the dative, is pure Semitic; sometimes it stands with מן, but in the sense of ἀπό, Sol 3:10, before the influence of the West led to its being used in the sense of ὑπό (Ges. §143, 2); ישּׂנא, is hated (Cod. 1294: ישּׂנא, connects with the hatred which is directed against the poor also the indifference which makes him without sympathy, for one feels himself troubled by him and ashamed.

Pro 14:21 21 Whoever despiseth his neighbour committeth sin;      But whoever hath compassion on the suffering - blessings on him!

One should regard every human being, especially such as God has placed near to him, as a being having the same origin, as created in the image of God, and of the same lofty destination, and should consider himself as under obligation to love him. He who despiseth his neighbour (write בּז with Metheg, and vid., regarding the constr. with dat. object. Pro 6:30, cf. Pro 11:12; Pro 13:13) sins in this respect, that he raises himself proudly and unwarrantably above him; that the honour and love he shows to him he measures not by the rule of duty and of necessity, but according to that which is pleasing to himself; and in that he refuses to him that which according to the ordinance of God he owes him. In Pro 14:21 the Chethı̂b עניּים and the Kerı̂ ענוים (vid., at Psa 9:13) interchange in an inexplicable way; עני is the bowed down (cf. Arab. ma'nuww, particularly of the prisoner, from 'ana, fut. ya'nw, to bow, bend), ענו (Arab. 'anin, with the art. âl'niy, from the intrans. 'aniya, to be bowed down) the patient bearer who in the school of suffering has learned humility and meekness. One does not see why the Kerı̂ here exchanges that passive idea for this ethical one, especially since, in proving himself to be מחונן (compassionate) (for which elsewhere the part. Kal חונן, Pro 14:31; Pro 19:17; Pro 28:8), one must be determined only by the needy condition of his neighbour, and not by his (the neighbour’s) moral worthiness, the want of which ought to make him twofold more an object of our compassion. All the old translators, from the lxx to the Venet. and Luther, on this account adopt the Chethı̂b.

Pro 14:22

The proverb terminating (Pro 14:21) with אשׁריו (cf. Pro 16:20) is now followed by one not less singularly formed, commencing with הלא (cf. Pro 8:1).

Will they not go astray who devise evil,

And are not mercy and truth to those who devise good?

The part. חרשׁ signifies both the plougher and the artisan; but on this account to read with Hitzig both times חרשׁי, i.e., machinatores, is nothing less than advisable, since there is connected with this metaphorical חרשׁ, as we have shown at Pro 3:29, not only the idea of fabricating, but also that of ploughing. Just so little is there any reason for changing with Hitzig, against all old translators, יתעוּ into ירעוּ: will it not go ill with them...; the fut. יתעו (cf. Isa 63:17) is not to be touched; the perf. תעו (e.g., Psa 58:4) would denote that those who contrive evil are in the way of error, the fut. on the contrary that they will fall into error (cf. Pro 12:26 with Job 12:24). But if הלא יתעו is the expression of the result which shall certainly come to such, then 22b stands as a contrast adapted thereto: and are not, on the contrary, mercy and truth those who contrive that which is good, i.e., (for that which befalls them, as Pro 13:18, cf. Pro 14:35, is made their attribute) are they not an object of mercy and truth, viz., on the part of God and of men, for the effort which proceeds from love and is directed to the showing forth of good is rewarded by this, that God and men are merciful to such and maintain truth to them, stand in truth to them; for חסד ואמת is to be understood here, as at Pro 3:3, neither of God nor of men exclusively, but of both together: the wicked who contrive evil lose themselves on the way to destruction, but grace and truth are the lot of those who aim at what is good, guarded and guided by which, they reach by a blessed way a glorious end.

Pro 14:23

There now follows a considerable series of proverbs (Pro 14:23-31) which, with a single exception (Pro 14:24), have all this in common, that one or two key-words in them begin with מ. 23 In all labour there is gain,      But idle talk leadeth only to loss.

Here the key-words are מותר and מחסור (parallel Pro 21:5, cf. with Pro 11:24), which begin with מ. עצב is labour, and that earnest and unwearied, as at Pro 10:22. If one toils on honestly, then there always results from it something which stands forth above the endeavour as its result and product, vid., at Job 30:11, where it is shown how יתר, from the primary meaning to be stretched out long, acquires the meaning of that which hangs over, shoots over, copiousness, and gain. By the word of the lips, on the contrary, i.e., purposeless and inoperative talk (דּבר שׂפתים as Isa 36:5, cf. Job 11:2), nothing is gained, but on the contrary there is only loss, for by it one only robs both himself and others of time, and wastes strength, which might have been turned to better purpose, to say nothing of the injury that is thereby done to his soul; perhaps also he morally injures, or at least discomposes and wearies others.

Pro 14:24 24 It is a crown to the wise when they are rich;      But the folly of fools remains folly.

From Pro 12:4, 31; Pro 17:6, we see that עטרת חכמים is the predicate. Thus it is the riches of the wise of which it is said that they are a crown or an ornament to them. More than this is said, if with Hitzig we read, after the lxx, ערמם, their prudence, instead of עשׁרם. For then the meaning would be, that the wise need no other crown than that which they have in their prudence. But yet far more appropriately “riches” are called the crown of a wise man when they come to his wisdom; for it is truly thus that riches, when they are possessed along with wisdom, contribute not a little to heighten its influence and power, and not merely because they adorn in their appearance like a crown, or, as we say, surround as with a golden frame, but because they afford a variety of means and occasions for self-manifestation which are denied to the poor. By this interpretation of 24a, 24b comes out also into the light, without our requiring to correct the first אוּלת, or to render it in an unusual sense. The lxx and Syr. translate the first אולת by διατριβή (by a circumlocution), the Targ. by gloria, fame - we know not how they reach this. Schultens in his Com. renders: crassa opulentia elumbium crassities, but in his Animadversiones he combines the first אולת with the Arab. awwale, precedence, which Gesen. approves of. But although the meaning to be thick (properly coalescere) appertains to the verbal stem אול as well as the meaning to be before (Arab. âl, âwila, wâl), yet the Hebr. אוּלת always and everywhere means only folly,Ewald’s derivation of אויל from און = אוין, null, vain, is not much better than Heidenheim’s from אולי: one who says “perhaps” = a sceptic, vid., p. 59, note. from the fundamental idea crassities (thickness). Hitzig’s אוּלת (which denotes the consequence with which the fool invests himself) we do not accept, because this word is Hitzig’s own invention. Rather לוית is to be expected: the crown with which fools adorn themselves is folly. But the sentence: the folly of fools is (and remains) folly (Symmachus, Jerome, Venet., Luther), needs the emendation as little as Pro 16:22, for, interpreted in connection with 24a, it denotes that while wisdom is adorned and raised up by riches, folly on the other hand remains, even when connected with riches, always the same, without being either thereby veiled or removed - on the contrary, the fool, when he is rich, exhibits his follies always more and more. C. B. Michaelis compares Lucian’s simia est simia etiamsi aurea gestet insignia.

Pro 14:25 25 A witness of truth delivereth souls;      But he who breathes out lies is nothing but deception.

When men, in consequence of false suspicions or of false accusations, fall into danger of their lives (דיני נפשׁות is the designation in the later language of the law of a criminal process), then a tongue which, pressed by conscientiousness and not deterred by cowardice, will utter the truth, saves them. But a false tongue, which as such (vid., Pro 14:5) is a יפח כזבים (after the Masora at this place ויפח, defective), i.e., is one who breathes out lies (vid., regarding יפיח at Pro 6:19), is mere deception (lxx, without reading מרמּה [as Hitzig does]: δόλιος). In Pro 12:17 מרמה is to be interpreted as the object. accus. of יגיד carried forward, but here to carry forward מצּיל (Arama, Löwenstein) is impracticable - for to deliver deceit = the deceiver is not expressed in the Hebr. - מרמה is, as possibly also Heb 12:16 (lxx δόλιος), without אישׁ or עד being supplied, the pred. of the substantival clause: such an one is deception (in bad Latin, dolositas), for he who utters forth lies against better knowledge must have a malevolent, deceitful purpose.

Pro 14:26 26 In the fear of Jahve lies a strong ground of confidence,      And the children of such an one have a refuge.

The so-called בּ essentiae stands here, as at Psa 68:5; Psa 55:19; Isa 26:4, before the subject idea; the clause: in the fear of God exists, i.e., it is and proves itself, as a strong ground of confidence, does not mean that the fear of God is something in which one can rely (Hitzig), but that it has (Pro 22:19; Jer 17:7, and here) an inheritance which is enduring, unwavering, and not disappointing in God, who is the object of fear; for it is not faith, nor anything else subjective, which is the rock that bears us, but this Rock is the object which faith lays hold of (cf. Isa 28:16). Is now the וּלבניו to be referred, with Ewald and Zöckler, to 'ה? It is possible, as we have discussed at Gen 6:1.; but in view of parallels such as Pro 20:7, it is not probable. He who fears God entails in the Abrahamic way (Gen 18:19) the fear of God on his children, and in this precious paternal inheritance they have a מחסה (not מחסה, and therefore to be written with Masoretic exactness מחסּה), a fortress or place of protection, a refuge in every time of need (cf. Psa 71:5-7). Accordingly, ולבניו refers back to the 'ירא ה, to be understood from 'ביראת ה (lxx, Luther, and all the Jewish interpreters), which we find not so doubtful as to regard on this account the explanation after Psa 73:15, cf. Deu 14:1, as necessary, although we grant that such an introduction of the N.T. generalization and deepening of the idea of sonship is to be expected from the Chokma.

Pro 14:27 27 The fear of Jahve is a fountain of life,      To escape the snares of death.

There springs up a life which makes him who carries in himself (cf. Joh 4:14, ἐν αὐτῷ) this welling life, penetrating and strong of will to escape the snares (write after the Masora ממּקשׁי defective) which death lays, and which bring to an end in death - a repetition of Pro 13:4 with changed subject.

Pro 14:28 28 In the multitude of the people lies the king’s honour;      And when the population diminishes, it is the downfall of his glory.

The honour or the ornament (vid., regarding הדר, tumere, ampliari, the root-word of הדר and הדרה at Isa 63:1) of a king consists in this, that he rules over a great people, and that they increase and prosper; on the other hand, it is the ruin of princely greatness when the people decline in number and in wealth. Regarding מחתּה, vid., at Pro 10:14. בּאפס signifies prepositionally “without” (properly, by non-existence), e.g., Pro 26:20, or adverbially “groundless” (properly, for nothing), Isa 52:4; here it is to be understood after its contrast בּרב־: in the non-existence, but which is here equivalent to in the ruin (cf. אפס, the form of which in conjunction is אפס, Gen 47:15), lies the misfortune, decay, ruin of the princedom. The lxx ἐν δὲ ἐκλείψει λαοῦ συντριβὴ δυνάστου. Certainly רזון (from רזן, Arab. razuna, to be powerful) is to be interpreted personally, whether it be after the form בּגוד with a fixed, or after the form יקושׁ with a changeable Kametz; but it may also be an abstract like שׁלום (= Arab. selâm), and this we prefer, because in the personal signification רזן, Pro 8:15; Pro 31:4, is used. We have not here to think of רזון (from רזה), consumption (the Venet. against Kimchi, πενίας); the choice of the word also is not determined by an intended amphibology (Hitzig), for this would be meaningless.

Pro 14:29 29 He that is slow to anger is rich in understanding;      But he that is easily excited carries off folly. ארך אפּים (constr. of ארך) is he who puts off anger long, viz., the outbreak of anger, האריך, Pro 19:11, i.e., lets it not come in, but shuts it out long (μακρόθυμος = βραδὺς εἰς ὀργήν, Jam 1:19); and קצר־רוּח, he who in his spirit and temper, viz., as regards anger (for רוּח denotes also the breathing out and snorting, Isa 25:4; Isa 33:11), is short, i.e., (since shortness of time is meant) is rash and suddenly (cf. quick to anger, praeceps in iram, 17a) breaks out with it, not ὀλιγόψυχος (but here ὀξύθυμος), as the lxx translate 17a. The former, who knows how to control his affections, shows himself herein as “great in understanding” (cf. 2Sa 23:20), or as a “man of great understanding” (Lat. multus prudentiâ); the contrary is he who suffers himself to be impelled by his affections into hasty, inconsiderate action, which is here expressed more actively by מרים אוּלת. Does this mean that he bears folly to the view (Luther, Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster, and others)? But for that idea the Mishle style has other expressions, Pro 12:23; Pro 13:16; Pro 15:2, cf. Pro 14:17. Or does it mean that he makes folly high, i.e., shows himself highly foolish (lxx, Syr., Targum, Fleischer, and others)? But that would be expressed rather by הגדּיל or הרבּה. Or is it he heightens folly (Löwenstein, Hitzig)? But the remark that the angry ebullition is itself a gradual heightening of the foolish nature of such an one is not suitable, for the choleric man, who lets the evenness of his disposition be interrupted by a breaking forth of anger, is by no means also in himself a fool. Rashi is right when he says, מפרישה לחלקו, i.e., (to which also Fleischer gives the preference) aufert pro portione sua stultitiam. The only appropriate parallel according to which it is to be explained, is Pro 3:35. But not as Ewald: he lifts up folly, which lies as it were before his feet on his life’s path; but: he takes off folly, in the sense of Lev 6:8, i.e., he carries off folly, receives a portion of folly; for as to others, so also to himself, when he returns to calm blood, that which he did in his rage must appear as folly and madness.

Pro 14:30 30 A quiet heart is the life of the body,      But covetousness is rottenness in the bones.

Heart, soul, flesh, is the O.T. trichotomy, Psa 84:3; Psa 16:9; the heart is the innermost region of the life, where all the rays of the bodily and the soul-life concentrate, and whence they again unfold themselves. The state of the heart, i.e., of the central, spiritual, soul-inwardness of the man, exerts therefore on all sides a constraining influence on the bodily life, in the relation to the heart the surrounding life. Regarding לב מרפּא, vid., at Pro 12:18. Thus is styled the quiet heart, which in its symmetrical harmony is like a calm and clear water-mirror, neither interrupted by the affections, nor broken through or secretly stirred by passion. By the close connection in which the corporeal life of man stands to the moral-religious determination of his intellectual and mediately his soul-life - this threefold life is as that of one personality, essentially one - the body has in such quiet of spirit the best means of preserving the life which furthers the well-being, and co-operates to the calming of all its disquietude; on the contrary, passion, whether it rage or move itself in stillness, is like the disease in the bones (Pro 12:4), which works onward till it breaks asunder the framework of the body, and with it the life of the body. The plur. בּשׂרים occurs only here; Böttcher, §695, says that it denotes the whole body; but בּשׂר also does not denote the half, בשׂרים is the surrogate of an abstr.: the body, i.e., the bodily life in the totality of its functions, and in the entire manifoldness of its relations. Ewald translates bodies, but בשׂר signifies not the body, but its material, the animated matter; rather cf. the Arab. âbshâr, “corporeal, human nature,” but which (leaving out of view that this plur. belongs to a later period of the language) has the parallelism against it. Regarding קנאה (jealousy, zeal, envy, anger) Schultens is right: affectus inflammans aestuque indignationis fervidus, from קנא, Arab. ḳanâ, to be high red.

Pro 14:31 31 He who oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker;      And whosoever is merciful to the poor, it is an honour to him.

Line first is repeated in Pro 17:5 somewhat varied, and the relation of the idea in 31b is as Pro 19:17, according to which וּמכבּדו is the predicate and חונן אביון the subject (Symmachus, Targ., Jerome, Venet., Luther), not the reverse (Syr.); חונן is thus not the 3 per. Po. (lxx), but the part. Kal (for which 21b has the part. Po. מחונן). The predicates חרף עשׂהוּ (vid., regarding the perf. Gesen. §126, 3) and ומכבדו follow one another after the scheme of the Chiasmus. עשׁק has Munach on the first syllable, on which the tone is thrown back, and on the second the העמדה sign (vid., Torath Emeth, p. 21), as e.g., פּוטר, Pro 17:14, and אהב, Pro 17:19. The showing of forbearance and kindness to the poor arising from a common relation to one Creator, and from respect towards a personality bearing the image of God, is a conception quite in the spirit of the Chokma, which, as in the Jahve religion it becomes the universal religion, so in the national law it becomes the human. Thus also Job 31:15, cf. Pro 3:9 of the Epistle of James, which in many respects has its roots in the Book of Proverbs. Mat 25:40 is a New Testament side-piece to 31b.

Pro 14:32

This verse also contains a key-word beginning with מ, but pairs acrostically with the proverb following:

When misfortune befalls him, the godless is overthrown;

But the righteous remains hopeful in his death.

When the subject is רעה connected with רשׁע (the godless), then it may be understood of evil thought and action (Ecc 7:15) as well as of the experience of evil (e.g., Pro 13:21). The lxx (and also the Syr., Targ., Jerome, and Venet.) prefers the former, but for the sake of producing an exact parallelism changes במותו [in his death] into בתמּו [in his uprightness], reversing also the relation of the subject and the predicate: ὁ δὲ πεποιθὼς τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ὁσιότητι (the Syr.: in this, that he has no sin; Targ.: when he dies) δίκαιος. But no Scripture word commends in so contradictory a manner self-righteousness, for the verb חסה never denotes self-confidence, and with the exception of two passages (Jdg 9:15; Isa 30:2), where it is connected with בּצל, is everywhere the exclusive (vid., Psa 118:8.) designation of confidence resting itself in God, even without the 'בה, as here as at Psa 17:7. The parallelism leads us to translate ברעתו, not on account of his wickedness, but with Luther, in conformity with במותו, in his misfortune, i.e., if it befall him. Thus Jeremiah (Jer 23:12) says of the sins of his people: בּאפלה ידּחוּ, in the deep darkness they are driven on (Niph. of דחח = דחה), and Pro 24:16 contains an exactly parallel thought: the godless stumble ברעה, into calamity. Ewald incorrectly: in his calamity the wicked is overthrown - for what purpose then the pronoun? The verb דחה frequently means, without any addition, “to stumble over heaps,” e.g., Psa 35:5; 36:13. The godless in his calamity is overthrown, or he fears in the evils which befall him the intimations of the final ruin; on the contrary, the righteous in his death, even in the midst of extremity, is comforted, viz., in God in whom he confides. Thus understood, Hitzig thinks that the proverb is not suitable for a time in which, as yet, men had not faith in immortality and in the resurrection. Yet though there was no such revelation then, still the pious in death put their confidence in Jahve, the God of life and of salvation - for in JahveVid., my Bibl.-prophet. Theol. (1845), p. 268, cf. Bibl. Psychologie (1861), p. 410, and Psalmen (1867), p. 52f., and elsewhere. there was for ancient Israel the beginning, middle, and end of the work of salvation - and believing that they were going home to Him, committing their spirit into His hands (Psa 31:6), they fell asleep, though without any explicit knowledge, yet not without the hope of eternal life. Job also knew that (Job 27:8.) between the death of those estranged from God and of those who feared God there was not only an external, but a deep essential distinction; and now the Chokma opens up a glimpse into the eternity heavenwards, Pro 15:24, and has formed, Pro 12:28, the expressive and distinctive word אל־מות, for immortality, which breaks like a ray from the morning sun through the night of the Sheol.

Pro 14:33 33 Wisdom rests in the heart of the man of understanding;      But the heart of fools it maketh itself known.

Most interpreters know not what to make of the second line here. The lxx (and after it the Syr.), and as it appears, also Aquila and Theodotion, insert οὐ; the Targ. improves the Peshito, for it inserts אוּלת (so that Pro 12:23; Pro 13:16, and Pro 15:2 are related). And Abulwalîd explains: in the heart of fools it is lost; Euchel: it reels about; but these are imaginary interpretations resting on a misunderstanding of the passages, in which ידע means to come to feel, and הודיע to give to feel (to punish, correct). Kimchi rightly adheres to the one ascertained meaning of the words, according to which the Venet. μέσον δὲ ἀφρόνων γνωσθήσεται. So also the translation of Jerome: et indoctos quosque (quoque) erudiet, is formed, for he understands the “and is manifest among fools” (Luther) not merely, as C. B. Michaelis, after the saying: opposita juxta se posita magis elucescunt, but of a becoming manifest, which is salutary to these. Certainly בּקרב can mean among = in the circle, of Pro 15:31; but if, as here and e.g., Jer 31:31, בקרב is interchanged with בלב, and if חכמה בקרב is the subject spoken of, as 1Ki 3:28, then בקרב does not mean among (in the midst of), but in the heart of the fool. According to this, the Talmud rightly, by comparison with the current proverb (Mezîa 85b): אסתירא בלגינא קישׁ קישׁ קריא, a stater in a flaggon cries Kish, Kish, i.e., makes much clatter. In the heart of the understanding wisdom rests, i.e., remains silent and still, for the understanding feels himself personally happy in its possession, endeavours always the more to deepen it, and lets it operate within; on the contrary, wisdom in the heart of fools makes itself manifest: they are not able to keep to themselves the wisdom which they imagine they possess, or the portion of wisdom which is in reality theirs; but they think, as it is said in Persius: Scire tuum nihil est nisi scire hoc te sciat alter. They discredit and waste their little portion of wisdom (instead of thinking on its increase) by obtrusive ostentatious babbling.

Pro 14:34

Two proverbs follow regarding the state and its ruler: 34 Righteousness exalteth a nation,      And sin is a disgrace to the people.

The Hebr. language is richer in synonyms of “the people” than the German. גּוי (formed like the non-bibl. מוי, water, and נוי, corporealness, from גּוה, to extend itself from within outward; cf. Pro 9:3, גּפּי, Pro 10:13, גּו) is, according to the usus loq., like natio the people, as a mass swollen up from a common origin, and עם, 28a (from עמם, to bind), the people as a confederation held together by a common law; לאם (from לאם, to unite, bind together) is the mass (multitude) of the people, and is interchanged sometimes with גוי, Gen 25:23, and sometimes with עם, Pro 14:28. In this proverb, לאמּים stands indeed intentionally in the plur., but not גוי, with the plur. of which גּוים, the idea of the non-Israelitish nations, too easily connects itself. The proverb means all nations without distinction, even Israel (cf. under Isa 1:4) not excluded. History everywhere confirms the principle, that not the numerical, nor the warlike, nor the political, nor yet the intellectual and the so-called civilized greatness, is the true greatness of a nation, and determines the condition of its future as one of progress; but this is its true greatness, that in its private, public, and international life, צדקה, i.e., conduct directed by the will of God, according to the norm of moral rectitude, rules and prevails. Righteousness, good manners, and piety are the things which secure to a nation a place of honour, while, on the contrary, חטּאת, sin, viz., prevailing, and more favoured and fostered than contended against in the consciousness of the moral problem of the state, is a disgrace to the people, i.e., it lowers them before God, and also before men who do not judge superficially or perversely, and also actually brings them down. רומם, to raise up, is to be understood after Isa 1:2, cf. Pro 23:4, and is to be punctuated תּרומם, with Munach of the penult., and the העמדה-sign with the Tsere of the last syllable. Ben-Naphtali punctuates thus: תּרומם. In 34b all the artifices of interpretation (from Nachmani to Schultens) are to be rejected, which interpret חסד as the Venet. (ἔλεος δὲ λαῶν ἁμαρτία) in its predominant Hebrew signification. It has here, as at Lev 20:17 (but not Job 6:14), the signification of the Syr. chesdho, opprobrium; the Targ. חסדּא, or more frequently חסּוּדא, as among Jewish interpreters, is recognised by Chanan'el and Rashbam. That this חסד is not foreign to the Mishle style, is seen from the fact that חסּד, Pro 25:10, is used in the sense of the Syr. chasedh. The synon. Syr. chasam, invidere, obtrectare, shows that these verbal stems are formed from the R. הס, stringere, to strike. Already it is in some measure perceived how חסד, Syr. chasadh, Arab. hasada, may acquire the meaning of violent love, and by the mediation of the jealousy which is connected with violent love, the signification of grudging, and thus of reproach and of envy; yet this is more manifest if one thinks of the root-signification stringere, in the meaning of loving, as referred to the subject, in the meanings of disgrace and envy, as from the subject directed to others. Ewald (§51c) compares חסל and חסר, Ethiop. chasra, in the sense of carpere, and on the other side חסה in the sense of “to join;” but חסה does not mean to join (vid., Psa 2:12) and instead of carpere, the idea more closely connected with the root is that of stringere, cf. stringere folia ex arboribus (Caesar), and stringere (to diminish, to squander, strip) rem ingluvie (Horace, Sat. i. 2. 8). The lxx has here read חסר (Pro 28:22), diminution, decay, instead of חסד (shame); the quid pro quo is not bad, the Syr. accepts it, and the miseros facit of Jerome, and Luther’s verderben (destruction) corresponds with this phrase better than with the common traditional reading which Symmachus rightly renders by ὄνειδος.

Pro 14:35 35 The king’s favour is towards a prudent servant,      And his wrath visits the base.

Regarding the contrasts משׂכּיל and מבישׁ, vid., at Pro 10:5; cf. Pro 12:4. The substantival clause 35a may mean: the king’s favour has (possesses)..., as well as: it is imparted to, an intelligent servant; the arrangement of the words is more favourable to the latter rendering. In 35b the gender of the verb is determined by attraction after the pred., as is the case also at Gen 31:8; Job 15:31, Ewald, §317c. And “his wrath” is equivalent to is the object of it, cf. 22b, Pro 13:18. The syntactical character of the clause does not permit the supplying of ל from 35a. Luther’s translation proceeds only apparently from this erroneous supposition.

We take these verses together as forming a group which begins with a proverb regarding the good and evil which flows from the tongue, and closes with a proverb regarding the treasure in which blessing is found, and that in which no blessing is found.

Wisdom and Folly.

1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Note, 1. A good wife is a great blessing to a family. By a fruitful wife a family is multiplied and replenished with children, and so built up. But by a prudent wife, one that is pious, industrious, and considerate, the affairs of the family are made to prosper, debts are paid, portions raised, provision made, the children well educated and maintained, and the family has comfort within doors and credit without; thus is the house built. She looks upon it as her own to take care of, though she knows it is her husband's to bear rule in, Esth. i. 22. 2. Many a family is brought to ruin by ill housewifery, as well as by ill husbandry. A foolish woman, that has no fear of God nor regard to her business, that is wilful, and wasteful, and humoursome, that indulges her ease and appetite, and is all for jaunting and feasting, cards and the play-house, though she come to a plentiful estate, and to a family beforehand, she will impoverish and waste it, and will as certainly be the ruin of her house as if she plucked it down with her hands; and the husband himself, with all his care, can scarcely prevent it.

2 He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord : but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.

Here are, 1. Grace and sin in their true colours. Grace reigning is a reverence of God, and gives honour to him who is infinitely great and high, and to whom all honour is due, than which what is more becoming or should be more pleasing to the rational creature? Sin reigning is no less than a contempt of God. In this, more than in any thing, sin appears exceedingly sinful, that it despises God, whom angels adore. Those that despise God's precepts, and will not be ruled by them, his promises, and will not accept of them, despise God himself and all his attributes. 2. Grace and sin in their true light. By this we may know a man that has grace, and the fear of God, reigning in him, he walks in his uprightness, he makes conscience of his actions, is faithful both to God and man, and every stop he makes, as well as every step he takes, is by rule; here is one that honours God. But, on the contrary, he that is perverse in his ways, that wilfully follows his own appetites and passions, that is unjust and dishonest and contradicts his profession in his conversation, however he may pretend to devotion, he is a wicked man, and will be reckoned with as a despiser of God himself.

3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.

See here, 1. A proud fool exposing himself. Where there is pride in the heart, and no wisdom in the head to suppress it, it commonly shows itself in the words: In the mouth there is pride, proud boasting, proud censuring, proud scorning, proud commanding and giving law; this is the rod, or branch, of pride; the word is used only here and Isa. xi. 1. It grows from that root of bitterness which is in the heart; it is a rod from that stem. The root must be plucked up, or we cannot conquer this branch, or it is meant of a smiting beating rod, a rod of pride which strikes others. The proud man with his tongue lays about him and deals blows at pleasure, but it will in the end be a rod to himself; the proud man shall come under an ignominious correction by the words of his own mouth, not cut as a soldier, but caned as a servant; and herein he will be beaten with his own rod, Ps. lxiv. 8. 2. A humble wise man saving himself and consulting his own good: The lips of the wise shall preserve them from doing that mischief to others which proud men do with their tongues, and from bringing that mischief on themselves which haughty scorners are often involved in.

4 Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

Note, 1. The neglect of husbandry is the way to poverty: Where no oxen are, to till the ground and tread out the corn, the crib is empty, is clean; there is no straw for the cattle, and consequently no bread for the service of man. Scarcity is represented by cleanness of teeth, Amos iv. 6. Where no oxen are there is nothing to be done at the ground, and then nothing to be had out of it; the crib indeed is clean from dung, which pleases the neat and nice, that cannot endure husbandry because there is so much dirty work in it, and therefore will sell their oxen to keep the crib clean; but then not only the labour, but even the dung of the ox is wanted. This shows the folly of those who addict themselves to the pleasures of the country, but do not mind the business of it, who (as we say) keep more horses than kine, more dogs than swine; their families must needs suffer by it. 2. Those who take pains about their ground are likely to reap the profit of it. Those who keep that about them which is for use and service, not for state and show, more husbandmen than footmen, are likely to thrive. Much increase is by the strength of the ox; that is made for our service, and is profitable alive and dead.

5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

In the administration of justice much depends upon the witnesses, and therefore it is necessary to the common good that witnesses be principled as they ought to be; for, 1. A witness that is conscientious will not dare to give in a testimony that is in the least untrue, nor, for good-will or ill-will, represent a thing otherwise than according to the best of his knowledge, whoever is pleased or displeased, and then judgment runs down like a river. 2. But a witness that will be bribed, and biassed, and browbeaten, will utter lies (and not stick nor startle at it), with as much readiness and assurance as if what he said were all true.

6 A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.

Note, 1. The reason why some people seek wisdom, and do not find it, is because they do not seek it from a right principle and in a right manner. They are scorners, and it is in scorn that they ask instruction, that they may ridicule what is told them and may cavil at it. Many put questions to Christ, tempting him, and that they might have whereof to accuse him, but they were never the wiser. No marvel if those who seek wisdom, as Simon Magus sought the gifts of the Holy Ghost, to serve their pride and covetousness, do not find it, for they seek amiss. Herod desired to see a miracle, but he was a scorner, and therefore it was denied him, Luke xxiii. 8. Scorners speed not in prayer. 2. To those who understand aright, who depart from evil (for that is understanding), the knowledge of God and of his will is easy. The parables which harden scorners in their scorning, and make divine things more difficult to them, enlighten those who are willing to learn, and make the same things more plain, and intelligible, and familiar to them, Matt. xiii. 11, 15, 16. The same word which to the scornful is a savour of death unto death to the humble and serious is a savour of life unto life. He that understands, so as to depart from evil (for that is understanding), to quit his prejudices, to lay aside all corrupt dispositions and affections, will easily apprehend instruction and receive the impressions of it.

7 Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.

See here, 1. How we may discern a fool and discover him, a wicked man, for he is a foolish man. If we perceive not in him the lips of knowledge, if we find there is no relish or savour of piety in his discourse, that his communication is all corrupt and corrupting, and nothing in it good and to the use of edifying, we may conclude the treasure is bad. 2. How we must decline such a one and depart from him: Go from his presence, for thou perceivest there is no good to be gotten by his company, but danger of getting hurt by it. Sometimes the only way we have of reproving wicked discourse and witnessing against it is by leaving the company and going out of the hearing of it.

8 The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.

See here, 1. The good conduct of a wise and good man; he manages himself well. It is not the wisdom of the learned, which consists only in speculation, that is here recommended, but the wisdom of the prudent, which is practical, and is of use to direct our counsels and actions. Christian prudence consists in a right understanding of our way; for we are travellers, whose concern it is, not to spy wonders, but to get forward towards their journey's end. It is to understand our own way, not to be critics and busybodies in other men's matters, but to look well to ourselves and ponder the path of our feet, to understand the directions of our way, that we may observe them, the dangers of our way, that we may avoid them, the difficulties of our way, that we may break through them, and the advantages of our way, that we may improve them—to understand the rules we are to walk by and the ends we are to walk towards, and walk accordingly. 2. The bad conduct of a bad man; he puts a cheat upon himself. He does not rightly understand his way; he thinks he does, and so misses his way, and goes on in his mistake: The folly of fools is deceit; it cheats them into their own ruin. The folly of him that built on the sand was deceit.

9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.

See here, 1. How wicked people are hardened in their wickedness: they make a mock at sin. They make a laughing matter of the sins of others, making themselves and their companions merry with that for which they should mourn, and they make a light matter of their own sins, both when they are tempted to sin and when they have committed it; they call evil good and good evil (Isa. v. 20), turn it off with a jest, rush into sin (Jer. viii. 6) and say they shall have peace though they go on. They care not what mischief they do by their sins, and laugh at those that tell them of it. They are advocates for sin, and are ingenious at framing excuses for it. Fools make a mock at the sin-offering (so some); those that make light of sin make light of Christ. Those are fools that make light of sin, for they make light of that which God complains of (Amos ii. 13), which lay heavily upon Christ, and which they themselves will have other thoughts of shortly. 2. How good people are encouraged in their goodness: Among the righteous there is favour; if they in any thing offend, they presently repent and obtain the favour of God. They have a goodwill one to another; and among them, in their societies, there is mutual charity and compassion in cases of offences, and no mocking.

10 The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.

This agrees with 1 Cor. ii. 11, What man knows the things of a man, and the changes of his temper, save the spirit of a man? 1. Every man feels most from his own burden, especially that which is a burden upon the spirits, for that is commonly concealed and the sufferer keeps it to himself. We must not censure the griefs of others, for we know not what they feel; their stroke perhaps is heavier than their groaning. 2. Many enjoy a secret pleasure, especially in divine consolations, which others are not aware of, much less are sharers in; and, as the sorrows of a penitent, so the joys of a believer are such as a stranger does not intermeddle with and therefore is no competent judge of.

11 The house of the wicked shall be overthrown: but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish.

Note, 1. Sin is the ruin of great families: The house of the wicked, though built ever so strong and high, shall be overthrown, shall be brought to poverty and disgrace, and at length be extinct. His hope for heaven, the house on which he leans, shall not stand, but fail in the storm; the deluge that comes will sweep it away. 2. Righteousness is the rise and stability even of mean families: Even the tabernacle of the upright, though movable and despicable as a tent, shall flourish, in outward prosperity if Infinite Wisdom see good, at all events in graces and comfort, which are true riches and honours.

12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

We have here an account of the way and end of a great many self-deluded souls. 1. Their way is seemingly fair: It seems right to themselves; they please themselves with a fancy that they are as they should be, that their opinions and practices are good, and such as will bear them out. The way of ignorance and carelessness, the way of worldliness and earthly-mindedness, the way of sensuality and flesh-pleasing, seem right to those that walk in them, much more the way of hypocrisy in religion, external performances, partial reformations, and blind zeal; this they imagine will bring them to heaven; they flatter themselves in their own eyes that all will be well at last. 2. Their end is really fearful, and the more so for their mistake: It is the ways of death, eternal death; their iniquity will certainly be their ruin, and they will perish with a lie in their right hand. Self-deceivers will prove in the end self-destroyers.

13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.

This shows the vanity of carnal mirth, and proves what Solomon said of laughter, that it is mad; for, 1. There is sadness under it. Sometimes when sinners are under convictions, or some great trouble, they dissemble their grief by a forced mirth, and put a good face on it, because they will not seem to yield: they cry not when he binds them. Nay, when men really are merry, yet at the same time there is some alloy or other to their mirth, something that casts a damp upon it, which all their gaiety cannot keep from their heart. Their consciences tell them they have no reason to be merry (Hos. ix. 1); they cannot but see the vanity of it. Spiritual joy is seated in the soul; the joy of the hypocrite is but from the teeth outward. See John xvi. 22; 2 Cor. vi. 10. 2. There is worse after it: The end of that mirth is heaviness. It is soon over, like the crackling of thorns under a pot; and, if the conscience be awake, all sinful and profane mirth will be reflected upon with bitterness; if not, the heaviness will be so much the greater when for all these things God shall bring the sinner into judgment. The sorrows of the saints will end in everlasting joys (Ps. cxxvi. 5), but the laughter of fools will end in endless weeping and wailing.

The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.

14 The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.

Note, 1. The misery of sinners will be an eternal surfeit upon their sins: The backslider in heart, who for fear of suffering, or in hope of profit or pleasure, forsakes God and his duty, shall be filled with his own ways; God will give him enough of them. They would not leave their brutish lusts and passions, and therefore they shall stick by them, to their everlasting terror and torment. He that is filthy shall be filthy still. "Son, remember," shall fill them with their own ways, and set their sins in order before them. Backsliding begins in the heart; it is the evil heart of unbelief that departs from God; and of all sinners backsliders will have most terror when they reflect on their own ways, Luke xi. 26. 2. The happiness of the saints will be an eternal satisfaction in their graces, as tokens of and qualifications for God's peculiar favour: A good man shall be abundantly satisfied from himself, from what God has wrought in him. He has rejoicing in himself alone, Gal. vi. 3. As sinners never think they have sin enough till it brings them to hell, so saints never think they have grace enough till it brings them to heaven.

15 The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.

Note, 1. It is folly to be credulous, to heed every flying report, to give ear to every man's story, though ever so improbable, to take things upon trust from common fame, to depend upon every man's profession of friendship and give credit to every one that will promise payment; those are simple who thus believe every word, forgetting that all men, in some sense, are liars in comparison with God, all whose words we are to believe with an implicit faith, for he cannot lie. 2. It is wisdom to be cautious: The prudent man will try before he trusts, will weigh both the credibility of the witness and the probability of the testimony, and then give judgment as the thing appears or suspend his judgment till it appears. Prove all things, and believe not every spirit.

16 A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

Note, 1. Holy fear is an excellent guard upon every holy thing, and against every thing that is unholy. It is wisdom to depart from evil, from the evil of sin, and thereby from all other evil; and therefore it is wisdom to fear, that is, to be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy, to keep up a dread of God's wrath, to be afraid of coming near the borders of sin or dallying with the beginnings of it. A wise man, for fear of harm, keeps out of harm's way, and starts back in a fright when he finds himself entering into temptation. 2. Presumption is folly. He who, when he is warned of his danger, rages and is confident, furiously pushes on, cannot bear to be checked, bids defiance to the wrath and curse of God, and, fearless of danger, persists in his rebellion, makes bold with the occasions of sin, and plays upon the precipice, he is a fool, for he acts against his reason and his interest, and his ruin will quickly be the proof of his folly.

17 He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.

Note, 1. Passionate men are justly laughed at. Men who are peevish and touchy, and are soon angry upon every the least provocation, deal foolishly; they say and do that which is ridiculous, and so expose themselves to contempt; they themselves cannot but be ashamed of it when the heat is over. The consideration of this should engage those especially who are in reputation for wisdom and honour with the utmost care to bridle their passion. 2. Malicious men are justly dreaded and detested, for they are much more dangerous and mischievous to all societies: A man of wicked devices, who stifles his resentments till he has an opportunity of being revenged, and is secretly plotting how to wrong his neighbour and to do him an ill turn, as Cain to kill Abel, such a man as this is hated by all mankind. The character of an angry man is pitiable; through the surprise of a temptation he disturbs and disgraces himself, but it is soon over, and he is sorry for it. But that of a spiteful revengeful man is odious; there is no fence against him nor cure for him.

18 The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

Note, 1. Sin is the shame of sinners: The simple, who love simplicity, get nothing by it; they inherit folly. They have it by inheritance, so some. This corruption of nature is derived from our first parents, and all the calamities that attend it we have by kind; it was the inheritance they transmitted to their degenerate race, an hereditary disease. They are as fond of it as a man of his inheritance, hold it as fast, and are as loth to part with it. What they value themselves upon is really foolish; and what will be the issue of their simplicity but folly? They will for ever rue their own foolish choice. 2. Wisdom is the honour of the wise: The prudent crown themselves with knowledge, they look upon it as their brightest ornament, and there is nothing they are so ambitious of; they bind it to their heads as a crown, which they will by no means part with; they press towards the top and perfection of knowledge, which will crown their beginnings and progress. They shall have the praise of it; wise heads shall be respected as if they were crowned heads. They crown knowledge (so some read it); they are a credit to their profession. Wisdom is not only justified, but glorified, of all her children.

19 The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

That is, 1. The wicked are oftentimes impoverished and brought low, so that they are forced to beg, their wickedness having reduced them to straits; while good men, by the blessing of God, are enriched, and enabled to give, and do give, even to the evil; for where God grants life we must not deny a livelihood. 2. Sometimes God extorts, even from bad men, an acknowledgement of the excellency of God's people. The evil ought always to bow before the good, and sometimes they are made to do it and to know that God has loved them, Rev. iii. 9. They desire their favour (Esth. vii. 7), their prayers, 2 Kings iii. 12. 3. There is a day coming when the upright shall have the dominion (Ps. xlix. 14), when the foolish virgins shall come begging to the wise for oil, and shall knock in vain at that gate of the Lord at which the righteous entered.

20 The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.

This shows, not what should be, but what is the common way of the world—to be shy of the poor and fond of the rich. 1. Few will give countenance to those whom the world frowns upon, though otherwise worthy of respect: The poor, who should be pitied, and encouraged, and relieved, is hated, looked strange upon, and kept at a distance, even by his own neighbour, who, before he fell into disgrace, was intimate with him and pretended to have a kindness for him. Most are swallow-friends, that are gone in winter. It is good having God our friend, for he will not desert us when we are poor. 2. Every one will make court to those whom the world smiles upon, though otherwise unworthy: The rich have many friends, friends to their riches, in hope to get something out of them. There is little friendship in the world but what is governed by self-interest, which is no true friendship at all, nor what a wise man will either value himself on or put any confidence in. Those that make the world their God idolize those that have most of its good things, and seek their favour as if indeed they were Heaven's favourites.

21 He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.

See here how men's character and condition are measured and judged of by their conduct towards their poor neighbours. 1. Those that look upon them with contempt have here assigned them a bad character, and their condition will be accordingly: He that despises his neighbour because he is low in the world, because he is of a mean extraction, rustic education, and makes but a mean figure, that thinks it below him to take notice of him, converse with him, or concern himself about him, and sets him with the dogs of his flock, is a sinner, is guilty of a sin, is in the way to worse, and shall be dealt with as a sinner; unhappy is he. 2. Those that look upon them with compassion are here said to be in a good condition, according to their character: He that has mercy on the poor, is ready to do all the good offices he can to him, and thereby puts an honour upon him, happy is he; he does that which is pleasing to God, which he himself will afterwards reflect upon with great satisfaction, for which the loins of the poor will bless him, and which will be abundantly recompensed in the resurrection of the just.

22 Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

See here, 1. How miserably mistaken those are that not only do evil, but devise it: Do they not err? Yes, certainly they do; every one knows it. They think that by sinning with craft and contrivance, and carrying on their intrigues with more plot and artifice than others, they shall make a better hand of their sins than others do, and come off better. But they are mistaken. God's justice cannot be out-witted. Those that devise evil against their neighbours greatly err, for it will certainly turn upon themselves and end in their own ruin, a fatal error! 2. How wisely those consult their own interest that not only do good but devise it: Mercy and truth shall be to them, not a reward of debt (they will own that they merit nothing), but a reward of mercy, mere mercy, mercy according to the promise, mercy and truth, to which God is pleased to make himself a debtor. Those that are so liberal as to devise liberal things, that seek opportunities of doing good, and contrive how to make their charity most extensive and most acceptable to those that need it, by liberal things they shall stand, Isa. xxxii. 8.

23 In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.

Note, 1. Working, without talking, will make men rich: In all labour of the head, or of the hand, there is profit; it will turn to some good account or other. Industrious people are generally thriving people, and where there is something done there is something to be had. The stirring hand gets a penny. It is good therefore to keep in business, and to keep in action, and what our hand finds to do to do it with all our might. 2. Talking, without working, will make men poor. Those that love to boast of their business and make a noise about it, and that waste their time in tittle-tattle, in telling and hearing new things, like the Athenians, and, under pretence of improving themselves by conversation, neglect the work of their place and day, they waste what they have, and the course they take tends to penury, and will end in it. It is true in the affairs of our souls; those that take pains in the service of God, that strive earnestly in prayer, will find profit in it. But if men's religion runs all out in talk and noise, and their praying is only the labour of the lips, they will be spiritually poor, and come to nothing.

24 The crown of the wise is their riches: but the foolishness of fools is folly.

Observe, 1. If men be wise and good, riches make them so much the more honourable and useful: The crown of the wise is their riches; their riches make them to be so much the more respected, and give them the more authority and influence upon others. Those that have wealth, and wisdom to use it, will have a great opportunity of honouring God and doing good in the world. Wisdom is good without an inheritance, but better with it. 2. If men be wicked and corrupt, their wealth will but the more expose them: The foolishness of fools, put them in what condition you will, is folly, and will show itself and shame them; if they have riches, they do mischief with them and are the more hardened in their foolish practices.

25 A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.

See here, 1. How much praise is due to a faithful witness: He delivers the souls of the innocent, who are falsely accused, and their good names, which are as dear to them as their lives. A man of integrity will venture the displeasure of the greatest, to bring truth to light and rescue those who are injured by falsehood. A faithful minister, who truly witnesses for God against sin, is thereby instrumental to deliver souls from eternal death. 2. How little regard is to be had to a false witness. He forges lies, and yet pours them out with the greatest assurance imaginable for the destruction of the innocent. It is therefore the interest of a nation by all means possible to detect and punish false-witness-bearing, yea, and lying in common conversation; for truth is the cement of society.

26 In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. 27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

In these two verses we are invited and encouraged to live in the fear of God by the advantages which attend a religious life. The fear of the Lord is here put for all gracious principles, producing gracious practices. 1. Where this reigns it produces a holy security and serenity of mind. There is in it a strong confidence; it enables a man still to hold fast both his purity and his peace, whatever happens, and gives him boldness before God and the world. I know that I shall be justified—None of these things move me; such is the language of this confidence. 2. It entails a blessing upon posterity. The children of those that by faith make God their confidence shall be encouraged by the promise that God will be a God to believers and to their seed to flee to him as their refuge, and they shall find shelter in him. The children of religious parents often do the better for their parents' instructions and example and fare the better for their faith and prayers. "Our fathers trusted in thee, therefore we will." 3. It is an over-flowing ever-flowing spring of comfort and joy; it is a fountain of life, yielding constant pleasure and satisfaction to the soul, joys that are pure and fresh, are life to the soul, and quench its thirst, and can never be drawn dry; it is a well of living water, that is springing up to, and is the earnest of, eternal life. 4. It is a sovereign antidote against sin and temptation. Those that have a true relish of the pleasures of serious godliness will not be allured by the baits of sin to swallow its hook; they know where to obtain better things than any it can pretend to offer, and therefore it is easy to them to depart from the snares of death and to keep their foot from being taken in them.

28 In the multitude of people is the king's honour: but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.

Here are two maxims in politics, which carry their own evidence with them:—1. That it is much for the honour of a king to have a populous kingdom; it is a sign that he rules well, since strangers are hereby invited to come and settle under his protection and his own subjects live comfortably; it is a sign that he and his kingdom are under the blessing of God, the effect of which is being fruitful and multiplying. It is his strength, and makes him considerable and formidable; happy is the king, the father of his country, who has his quiver full of arrows; he shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with his enemy in the gate, Ps. cxxvii. 4, 5. It is therefore the wisdom of princes, by a mild and gentle government, by encouraging trade and husbandry, and by making all easy under them, to promote the increase of their people. And let all that wish well to the kingdom of Christ, and to his honour, do what they can in their places that many may be added to his church. 2. That when the people are lessened the prince is weakened: In the want of people is the leanness of the prince (so some read it); trade lies dead, the ground lies untilled, the army wants to be recruited, the navy to be manned, and all because there are not hands sufficient. See how much the honour and safety of kings depend upon their people, which is a reason why they should rule by love, and not with rigour. Princes are corrected by those judgments which abate the number of the people, as we find, 2 Sam. xxiv. 13.

29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.

Note, 1. Meekness is wisdom. He rightly understands himself, and his duty and interest, the infirmities of human nature, and the constitution of human society, who is slow to anger, and knows how to excuse the faults of others as well as his own, how to adjourn his resentments, and moderate them, so as by no provocation to be put out of the possession of his own soul. A mild patient man is really to be accounted an intelligent man, one that learns of Christ, who is Wisdom itself. 2. Unbridled passion is folly proclaimed: He that is hasty of spirit, whose heart is tinder to every spark of provocation, that is all fire and tow, as we say, he thinks hereby to magnify himself and make those about stand in awe of him, whereas really he exalts his own folly; he makes it known, as that which is lifted up is visible to all, and he submits himself to it as to the government of one that is exalted.

30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.

The foregoing verse showed how much our reputation, this how much our health, depends on the good government of our passions and the preserving of the temper of the mind. 1. A healing spirit, made up of love and meekness, a hearty, friendly, cheerful disposition, is the life of the flesh; it contributes to a good constitution of body; people grow fat with good humour. 2. A fretful, envious, discontented spirit, is its own punishment; it consumes the flesh, preys upon the animal spirits, makes the countenance pale, and is the rottenness of the bones. Those that see the prosperity of others and are grieved, let them gnash with their teeth and melt away, Ps. cxii. 10. Rumpatur, quisquis rumpitur invidia. Whoever bursts for envy, let him burst.

31 He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.

God is here pleased to interest himself more than one would imagine in the treatment given to the poor. 1. He reckons himself affronted in the injuries that are done them. Whosoever he be that wrongs a poor man, taking advantage against him because he is poor and cannot help himself, let him know that he puts an affront upon his Maker. God made him, and gave him his being, the same that is the author of our being; we have all one Father, one Maker; see how Job considered this, Job xxxi. 15. God made him poor, and appointed him his lot, so that, if we deal hardly with any because they are poor, we reflect upon God as dealing hardly with them in laying them low, that they might be trampled upon. 2. He reckons himself honoured in the kindnesses that are done them; he takes them as done to himself, and will show himself accordingly pleased with them. I was hungry, and you gave me meat. Those therefore that have any true honour for God will show it by compassion to the poor, whom he has undertaken in a special manner to protect and patronise.

32 The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.

Here is, 1. The desperate condition of a wicked man when he goes out of the world: He is driven away in his wickedness. He cleaves so closely to the world that he cannot find in his heart to leave it, but is driven away out of it; his soul is required, is forced from him, And sin cleaves so closely to him that it is inseparable; it goes with him into another world; he is driven away in his wickedness, dies in his sins, under the guilt and power of them, unjustified, unsanctified. His wickedness is the storm in which he is hurried away, as chaff before the wind, chased out of the world. 2. The comfortable condition of a godly man when he finishes his course: He has hope in his death of a happiness on the other side death, of better things in another world than ever he had in this. The righteous then have the grace of hope in them; though they have pain, and some dread of death, yet they have hope. They have before them the good hoped for, even the blessed hope which God, who cannot lie, has promised.

33 Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known.

Observe, 1. Modesty is the badge of wisdom. He that is truly wise hides his treasure, so as not to boast of it (Matt. xiii. 44), though he does not hide his talent, so as not to trade with it. His wisdom rests in his heart; he digests what he knows, and has it ready to him, but does not unseasonably talk of it and make a noise with it. The heart is the seat of the affections, and there wisdom must rest in the practical love of it, and not swim in the head. 2. Openness and ostentation are a mark of folly. If fools have a little smattering of knowledge, they take all occasions, though very foreign, to produce it, and bring it in by head and shoulders. Or the folly that is in the midst of fools is made known by their forwardness to talk. Many a foolish man takes more pains to show his folly than a wise man thinks it worth his while to take to show his wisdom.

34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

Note, 1. Justice, reigning in a nation, puts an honour upon it. A righteous administration of the government, impartial equity between man and man, public countenance given to religion, the general practice and profession of virtue, the protecting and preserving of virtuous men, charity and compassion to strangers (alms are sometimes called righteousness), these exalt a nation; they uphold the throne, elevate the people's minds, and qualify a nation for the favour of God, which will make them high, as a holy nation, Deut. xxvi. 19. 2. Vice, reigning in a nation, puts disgrace upon it: Sin is a reproach to any city or kingdom, and renders them despicable among their neighbours. The people of Israel were often instances of both parts of this observation; they were great when they were good, but when they forsook God all about them insulted them and trampled on them. It is therefore the interest and duty of princes to use their power for the suppression of vice and support of virtue.

35 The king's favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.

This shows that in a well-ordered court and government smiles and favours are dispensed among those that are employed in public trusts according to their merits; Solomon lets them know he will go by that rule, 1. That those who behave themselves wisely shall be respected and preferred, whatever enemies they may have that seek to undermine them. No man's services shall be neglected to please a party or a favourite. 2. That those who are selfish and false, who betray their country, oppress the poor, and sow discord, and thus cause shame, shall be displaced and banished the court, whatever friends they may make to speak for them.

CHAP. XIV. Verſ. 1. Every wiſe woman buildeth her houſe.]

QUavis pia & perita. Every holy and handy woman buildeth her houſe; not onely by bearing and breeding up children, as Rachel and Leah builded the houſe of Iſrael, Ruth, 4.11. but by a prudent and provident preventing of loſſes and dangers, as Abigail, as alſo by a careful plotting, and putting every thing to the beſt: like as a Carpenter that is to build an houſe, laies the plot and platform of it firſt in his brain, forecaſts in his mind how every thing ſhall be, and then ſo orders his ſtuff, that nothing bee cut to waſte. Lo ſuch is the guiſe of the good houſewife. As the husband is as the head from whom all the ſinews do flow; ſo ſhee is as the hands into which they flow, and enable them to do their office.

But the fooliſh plucketh it down with her hands] With both hands earneſtly: ſhee undoes the family,Sicut ut liguo vermis, ita perdit virum ſuum mulier malefica. Hier. whereof ſhee is the calamity, bee ſhee never ſo witty, if withall ſhee bee not religious and thrifty, heedy and handy. Bee the huſband never ſo frugal, if the wife bee idle, or laviſh, or proud, or given to gadding and goſſipping, &c. hee doth but draw water with a ſieve, or ſeek to pull a loaded cart through a ſandy way without the help of a horſe; it little boots him to beſtir himſelf, for hee puts his gets into a bag with holes, Hag. 1.6. Hee labours in the very fire, Hab. 2.15. as Cowper Biſhop of Lincolne did, whoſe wife burnt all his Notes that hee had been eight years in gathering, leſt hee ſhould kill himſelf with over much ſtudy (for ſhee had much ado to get him to his meals) ſo that hee was forced to fall to work again, Young, his benefit of Afflict. 153. and was eight years in gathering the ſame Notes wherewith hee compoſed his Dictionary, that uſeful book. How much happier in a wife was that learned Gul. Budaeus? Conjux mea, ſaith hee, ſic mihi morem gerit, ut non tractet negligentius libros meos quam liberos, &c. My wife ſeeing mee bookiſh, is no leſs diligent about my Books, than about my Barus, whom ſhee breeds up with ſingular care and tenderneſs. How well might hee have done (having ſuch a learned helper) as a Country man of his did, of whom Thuanus reporteth, quod ſingulis annis ſingulos libros & liberos, Reip. dederit, that hee ſet forth every year a book and a childe,Andreas Tiraquellius. a book and a childe? But this by the way onely.

Verſ. 2. Hee that walketh in his uprightneſs, feareth the Lord] Hee is in the fear of the Lord all day long, Prov. 23.17. hee walketh in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghoſt, Act. 11.31. The fear of the Lord is upon him, ſo that hee takes heed and does it, 2 Chron. 19.7. for hee knows it ſhall bee well with them that fear God, that fear before him, Eccleſ. 8.12. Gods Covenant was with Levi of life and peace, for the fear wherewith hee feared God, and was afraid before his Name. Hence the Law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: hee walked with God in peace and equity, and did turn many from iniquity, Mal. 2.5, 6. Hee that truly fears God, is like into Cato, of whom it is ſaid, that hee was Homo virtuti ſimillimus, and that hee never did well, that hee might appear to do ſo, ſed quia aliter facere non potuit, but becauſe hee could not do otherwiſe.

But hee that is perverſe in his waies, despiſeth him] Sets him aſide, departs from his fear, dares to do that before him, that hee would bee loth to do before a grave perſon. Thus David deſpiſed God, when hee defiled his neighbours wife, 2 Sam. 12.9. Not but that even then hee had God for his chief end, but hee erred in the way, thinking hee might fulfil his luſt, and keep his God too (hee would not forgo God upon any terms) as Solomon thought to retain his wiſdome, and yet to purſue his pleaſures. Hence his partial and temporary Apoſtacy (as the word here rendred perverſe importeth) his warping and writhing from the way of righteouſneſs (as the Septnagint here interpret it) which was interpretative, [non-Latin text not transcribed] [illegible: 1 letter]ortuoſe incedens a deſpiſing of God, a ſaying, Hee ſeeth it not.

Verſ. 3. In the mouth of the fooliſh, is a rod of pride] wherewith hee beats others, and layes about him like a Mad-man; or rather like a mad Dog, hee bites all he meets, and barks againſt God himſelf: till he procure the hate of God and men, and ſmart for his petulancy; being beaten at length with his own rod, as the Lion beats himſelf with his own tayl.

But the lips of the wiſe ſhall preſerve them] From the aſperſion of falſe and fooliſh tongues. Their good names are oyled, ſo that evil reports will not ſtick to them. Dirt will ſtick upon a mud wall, not ſo upon marble. Or if they lye under ſome undeſerved reproach for a ſeaſon, either by a real or verbal Apologie they wade out of it, as the eclipſed Moon, by keeping her motion, wades out of the ſhadow, and recovers her ſplendor, Iſa. 54.17.

Verſ. 4. Where no Oxen are, the Crib is clean] The Barn and Garners are empty. Neque mola, neque farina, no good to bee got without hard labour of men and Cattel. Let the idle mans Motto be that of the Lilly, Neque laborant, neque neut. They neither toyl nor ſpin, Matth. 6.28. Man is born to toyl, as the ſparks fly unwards, Job 5.7. And Spinſter they ſay is a term given the greateſt women in our Law. Our lives are called the lives of our hands, Iſa. 57.10. becauſe to be maintained by the labour of our hands.

But much increaſe is by the ſtrength of the Oxe] This is one of thoſe beaſts, that ſerve ad eſum & ad uſum, and are profitable both alive and dead. An Heathen counſelleth good husbands that would thrive in the world, to get firſt an Houſe, then a Wife, and then an Oxe that luſtily ploweth, and bringeth in much increaſe. Bede applies this text to painful Preachers (ſet forth by Oxen, 1 Cor. 9.9. Rev. 4.7. for their tolerance and tugging at the work) where theſe labour luſtily, there is (commonly) a harveſt of holineſſe, [non-Latin text not transcribed] of [non-Latin text not transcribed] duſt. a crop of comfort. Only they muſt be duſtily diligent.

Verſ. 5. A faithful witneſſe will not lie] Nec prece nec precio, he cannot lend an oath for a need before a Magiſtrate. Nay, hee will not lye upon any condition. See the note on chap. 13.5.

But a falſe witneſſe will utter lyes] Or, he that telleth lyes will be a falſe witneſſe: he that makes light of a lye, will not ſtick at Perjury. That was a foul blur to the Romans of old (if true) that Mirrhanes the Perſian General chargeth upon them, Romanis promittere promptum eſt, Procop. lib. 1. de bel. Perſi[illegible: 1 letter] promiſſis autem quanquam juramento firmatis minimè ſtare. The Romans will preſently promiſe any thing, but perform no promiſe though confirmed with an oath. Of the Romiſts at this day it is written by an Italian (no ſtranger to the Court of Rome,) that their Proverb is, Mercatorum eſt, non Regum, ſtare juramentis? It is for Merchants, not for Princes, to ſtand to what they have ſworn. Fides cum haeretic is non eſt ſervanda is their poſition: and their practice is according. They play with Oathes as the Monkey doth with his Collar, which he doth ſlip on for his Maſters pleaſure, and ſlip off again for his own. Paſcenius ſcoffs King James for the invention of the Oath of Allegiance.

Verſ. 6. A ſcorner ſeeketh wiſdome, and findeth it not] Or, he ſeeketh wiſdome, and he ſeeketh it not. He ſeeketh it not ſeriouſly, ſeaſonably, duly: he ſeeks it as a Coward ſeeks his adverſary, with a hope he ſhall not find him: or a man ſeeks his falſe coyn, which he hath no joy to look upon. What's truth ſaid Pilate? in a jear to Chriſt; but ſtaid not the anſwer. How can this man give us his fleſh to eat, ſaid thoſe carnal Capernaites? John. 6. and away they went; who if they had ſtayed out the Sermon, might have been ſatisfied in the point. Herod ſought to ſee Chriſt, but never ſent for him, nor went to him: and when the Lord Chriſt was brought before him, he looked upon him no otherwiſe than as upon ſome Jugler to ſhew him ſome Tricks, and make him ſport; and is therefore anſwered with ſilence.

But knowledge is eaſie to him that doth underſtand] In any Science the worſt is at firſt: as the root of the Herb Moly in Homer, is ſaid to bee black and unſightly, but the leaf lovely, and the fruit pleaſant. The more a man ſees into heavenly Myſteries, the more hee may. I love them that love me,Prov. 8.17. ſaith Wiſdome, and thoſe that ſeek me early ſhall find me: Provided that they be not proud perſons, but come with a deſire to learn, and a reſolution to practiſe. Hee that comes to a fountain to fill his pitcher, muſt firſt waſh it, and then put the mouth of it downward to take up water: So hee that would have heavenly knowledge,Deut. 33.3. muſt firſt quit his heart of corrupt affections, and high conceits, (Intus exiſtens prohibet alienum) and then humble himſelf at Gods feet, every one to receive his words. See the Note on Chap. 8.9.

Verſ. 7. Go from the preſence of a fooliſh man] If hee bee a proud fool, as verſ. 6. a ſcorner and derider of good counſel, and one that knows not how to liſp out the leaſt ſyllable of ſavoury language: Break off ſociety with ſuch, as ſoon as may bee; for what good can bee gotten by their company or conference? Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thiſtles? They infect the very air they breathe upon, Dabhar a word, Debher a Peſt. and are therefore called [non-Latin text not transcribed], Peſts (according to the Septuagint) Pſal. 1.1. their tongues have the very plague in them, their breath as fire ſhall devour you, Iſa. 33.10. Non poteſt vir ille fine convitiis quenquam à quo diſſentit vel in leviſſimis nominare, ſaith Dr. Rivet concerning Biſhop Montague. That man hath not the power to forbear railing at any one that diſſents from him, though in never ſo ſmall a matter. Is there any good to bee gotten by ſuch?2 Tim. 2.17. Do not their words eat as a gangrene?

Verſ. 8. The wiſdome of the prudent is to underſtand his way] His wiſdome begins in the right of himſelf, and ends in the right knowledge of God, that hee may walk worthy of God in all well-pleaſing, worthy of the calling wherewith hee is called, that high and heavenly calling, Heb. 2.1. to the fruition of high and heavenly priviledges, to an Angelical and convincing converſation, ſuch as may draw hearts, or daunt them. Wee uſe to ſay of him that knows his place, and carries himſelf accordingly, Such a man underſtands himſelf well enough: So here.

But the folly of fools is deceit] Or, is to underſtand deceit, to know the Devils depths, to ſearch his skull for carnal arguments that they may cum ratione inſanire, bee mad with ſhew of reaſon, and deceive the hearts of the ſimple. This their way is their folly; yet their poſterity (as wiſe as their fool-fathers) approve their ſayings, abbet their practices, Pſal. 49.13.

Verſ. 9. Fools make a mock of ſin] A ſport or paſtime of it, Prov. 10.23. (See the Note there) they dance with the Devil all day, and yet think to ſup with Chriſt. But what ſaith the Heathen Hiſtorian, Nae illi falſi ſunt qui diverſiſſim as res expectant, ignaviae voluptatem, & praemia virtutis. In good truth they are utterly out, that take their ſwinge in ſin, and yet look for the reward of vertue. No, their ſweet meat muſt have ſowr ſawce. God alſo will laugh at their deſtruction, and mock when their fear commeth: And then they all ſhall bee damned that had pleaſure in unrighteouſneſs, 2 Theſſ. 2.12. yea double-damned, becauſe they jeared, when they ſhould have feared, 2 Pet. 2.13.

But among the righteous there is favour] That, though they ſin of infirmity, yet for as much as they are ſenſible and ſorrowful for their failings, and ſee them to confeſſion, God will never ſee them to their confuſion. Homo agnoſcit, Deus ignoſcit, Man repenteth, and God remitteth; yea, hee compaſſeth his returning people with favour as with a ſhield, hee re-accepts them with all ſweetneſs through Chriſt, who is the propitiation for their ſins, 1 Joh. 2.2.

Verſ. 10. The heart knoweth his own bitterneſs] None can conceive the terrors and torments of a heart that lyes under the ſenſe of ſin, and fear of wrath. A little water in a leaden veſſel is heavy. Some can bear in their grief better than others: But all that are under this affliction have their back burden. Jobs ſtroak was heavier than his groaning, and yet his complaint was bitter too. Chap. 23.2. Some holy men (as Mr. Leaver) have deſired to ſee their ſin in the moſt ugly colours,Dr. Sibbes. and God hath heard them. But yet his hand was ſo heavy upon them, that they went alwayes mourning to their graves: And thought it fitter to leave it to Gods wiſdome to mingle the portion of ſorrow, than to bee their own chooſers.

And the ſtranger doth not intermeddle with his joy] None but ſuch as are of the family of Faith, can conceive the ſurpaſſing ſweetneſs of ſpiritual joy.Gal. 6. The Cock on the dunghil knows not the worth of this Jewel. It is joy unſpeakable, 1 Pet. 1.8. Such as none feel but thoſe that ſtir up ſighs unutterable, Rom. 8.26. It is joy unſpeakable, and full of glory, a hanſel of Heaven, a foretaſte of eternal life. It is the peace that paſſeth all underſtanding; they that have it,Phil. 4.7. underſtand not the full of it, nor can relate the one half of it. Paul ſaid ſomewhat to the point, when hee ſaid, I do over-abound exceedingly with joy: [non-Latin text not transcribed]. 2 Cor. 7.4. Chryſoſt. but words are too weak to utter it. Father Latimer ſaid ſomewhat, when hee ſaid it was the ſweet-meats of the feaſt of a good conſcience. But ſermo non valet exprimere, experimento opus eſt. It is a thing fitter to bee beleeved, than poſſible to bee diſcourſed. Tell a man never ſo long what a ſweet thing hony is, hee can never beleeve you ſo well, as if himſelf taſte it. Thoſe that never yet taſted how good the Lord is, are far from intermedling with the juſt mans joy.Act. & Mon. fol. 1668. The World wonders (ſaith Mr. Philpot Martyr) how wee can bee ſo merry in ſuch extreme miſery. But our God is omnipotent, which turneth miſery into felicity. Beleeve mee, there is no ſuch joy in the world, as the people of Chriſt have under the Croſs: I ſpeak it by experience, &c. Another holy Martyr, Richard Collier, after his condemnation ſang a Pſalm: Ibid. 1533. Wherefore the Prieſts and the officers railed at him, ſaying, Hee was out of his wits.

Verſ. 11. The houſe of the wicked ſhall bee overthrown] As Phocas his high walls were, becauſe ſin was at the bottome. Brimſtone alſo ſhall bee ſcattered on the top, Job 18.15. As it befel Diocleſian, whoſe houſe was wholly conſumed with fire from Heaven: Wherewith himſelf alſo was ſo terrified, that hee died within a while after.Euſeb. de vit. Conſt. lib. 5.

But the Tabernacle of the upright ſhall flouriſh] The wicked have houſes, and are called the Inhabitants of the earth, Rev. 12.12. The upright have Tabernacles or Tents that were tranſportative, and taken down at pleaſure: Here they have no continuing City, no manſion-place: And yet that they have ſhall flouriſh. Our bed is green, the beams of our houſe are Cedar, and our rafters of Firr. Cant. 1.16, 17. See 2 Sam. 23.4.

Verſ. 12. There is a way that ſeemeth right unto a man] Sin comes cloathed with a ſhew of reaſon, Exod. 1.10. And luſt will ſo blear the underſtanding, that hee ſhall think that there is great ſenſe in ſinning. Adam was not deceived, 1 Tim. 2.14. That is, hee was not ſo much deceived by his judgement (though alſo by that too) as by his affection to his wife, which at length blinded his judgement. The heart firſt deceives us with colours; and when wee are once a doting after ſin, then wee joyn and deceive our hearts, James 1.26. uſing fallacious and ſpecious ſophiſms, to make our ſelves think that lawful to day, which wee our ſelves held unlawful yeſterday; and that wee are poſſeſt of thoſe graces whereto wee are perfect ſtrangers.

But the end thereof are the waies of death] Via multiplex ad mortem. The very firſt ſtep in this evil way, was a ſtep to Hell: But the journies end (if men ſtop not, or ſtep not back in time) is undoubted deſtruction. Some flatter themſelves, as Micah, Judg. 17.13. They flye to the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord: And think to take Sanctuary and ſave themſelves there from all danger; as the Jews fable that Og King of Baſhan eſcaped in the flood by riding aſtride upon the Ark without. Wherein it falls out oft as it did with the riflers of Semiramis her tomb; who, where they expected to finde the richeſt treaſure, met with a deadly poiſon. Or, as it doth with him, that lying aſleep upon a ſteep rock, and dreaming of great matters befallen him, ſtarts ſuddenly for joy, and ſo breaks his neck at the bottome. As hee that makes a bridge of his own ſhadow, cannot but fall into the water: So neither can hee eſcape the pit of Hell, who laies his own preſumption in place of Gods promiſe, who caſts himſelf upon the unknown mercies of God, &c.

Verſ. 13. Even in laughter the heart is ſorrowful] Nulla eſt ſincera voluptas. Labor eſt etiam ipſa voluptas. Of carnal pleaſures a man may break his neck, before his faſt. All this avails mee nothing, ſaid Haman. Omnia fui, & nihil profuit, ſaid that Emperour. Vanity of vanity, all is vanity, ſaid Solomon, and not vanity onely, but vexation of ſpirit. Nothing in themſelves, and yet full of power and activity to inflict vengeance and vexation upon the ſpirit of a man; ſo that even in laughter, the heart is ſorrowful. Some kinde of frothy and flaſhy mirth wicked men may have; ſuch as may wet the mouth, but not warm the heart, ſmooth the brow, but not fill the breaſt: It is but a cold armful, as Lycophron ſaith of an evil wife; as they repent in the face, Mat. 6.16. ſo they rejoyce in the face, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Lyc. not in the heart, 2 Cor. 5.12. Rident & ringuntur; there is a ſnare or a cord in the ſin of the wicked, that is, to ſtrangle their joy with, but the righteous ſing and are merry, Prov. 29.6. Others may revel, they onely muſt rejoyce, Hoſ. 9.1.

And the end of that mirth is heavineſs] They dance to the Timbrel and Harp, but ſuddenly they turn into Hell, Job 21.12, 13. and ſo their merry dance ends in a miſerable downfal.Luk. 6. Woe bee to you that laugh now. Thoſe merry Greeks (that are ſo afraid of ſadneſs, that they baniſh all ſeriouſneſs) ſhall one day wring for it. Adoniah's gueſts had ſoon enough of their good cheer and jollity: So had Belſhazzar and his combibones optimi. Thou mad fool, what doſt thou? Eccleſ. 2. ſaith Salomon to the mirth-monger, that holds it the onely happineſs to laugh and bee fat. Knoweſt thou not yet there will bee bitterneſs in the end? Principium dulce eſt, ſed finis amoris amarus, The candle of the wicked ſhall be put out in a vexing-ſnuff. Their mirth (as Comets) blazeth much, but ends in a peſtilent vapour. As lightning it ſoon vaniſheth, leaveth a greater darkneſſe behinde it, and is attended with the renting and roaring thunder of Gods wrath.

Verſ. 14. The Back-ſlider in heart ſhall bee filled with his own waies] Hee hath made a match with miſchief, hee ſhall ſoon have enough of it; hee hath ſold himſelf to do wickedneſs, and hee ſhall bee ſure of his paiment; hee hath drawn back to perdition, hee hath ſtollen from his colours, run away from his Captain, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Heb. 10.38. hee ſhall have Marſhal-Law for it. God will ſerve ſuch odious Apoſtates, as Theodorick King of Gothes did a Deacon, that to engratiate with this Arrian Prince, turned Arrian; inſtead of preferring him, hee cut off his head. Or as that Turk ſerved the traitour that betrayed the Rhodes: His promiſed wife and portion were preſented; but the Turk told him that hee would not have a Chriſtian to bee his Son-in-law, but hee muſt bee a Muſulman, that is, a beleeving Turk both within and without. And therefore hee cauſed his baptized skin (as hee called it) to bee taken off, and him to bee caſt in a bed ſtrawed with ſalt, that hee might get a new skin, and ſo hee ſhould bee his Son-in-Law. But the wicked wretch ended his life with ſhame and torment.

But a good man ſhall bee ſatisfied from himſelf] For hee hath a ſpring within his own breaſt, hee needs not ſhark abroad: hee hath an Autarkie, a ſelf-ſufficiency, 1 Tim. 6.6. Hic ſat lucis, ſaid Oecolampadius claping his hand on his breaſt, when ſick, and asked whether the light did not offend him? Another being likewiſe ſick, and asked how hee did? anſwered, My body is weak, my mind is well. Mr. Bolton. A third, when the pangs of death were upon him, being asked by a very dear friend that took him by the hand, whether hee felt not much pain? Truly no, ſaid hee, the greateſt I finde is your cold hand. Theſe good men knew within themſelves, that they had in Heaven a better, and a more enduring ſubſtance, Heb. 10.34. within themſelves they knew it; not in others, not in books, but in their own experience and apprehenſion, in the workings of their own hearts. Their knowledge was, non in eodicibus, ſed incordibus: They could feelingly ſay, that in doing of Gods will (not onely for doing it, or after it was now done, but even whiles they were doing of it) there was great reward, Pſal. 19.11. Righteouſneſs is its own reward, and is never without a double joy to bee its ſtrength: Gaudium in re, gaudium in ſpe, gaudium de poſſeſſione, Bern. gaudium de promiſſione, gaudium de praeſenti exhibitione, gaudium de futura expectatione, joy in hand, and in hope, in preſent poſſeſſion, and in certain reverſion.

Verſ. 15. The ſimple beleeveth every word] You may draw him any way with a wet finger, perſwade him, to any thing, as Rehoboam that old Baby. [non-Latin text not transcribed], was a very good rule of Epicharmus. Bee not light of beleef: Try before you truſt, look before you leap. Bern. de bono deſert. Alioqu[illegible: 1 letter] ſaliens antequàm videas, caſurus es antequàm debeas. Wiſdome would, that as men ſhould not bee over cenſorions (This man blaſphemeth, ſaid they of our Saviour) ſo neither overcredulous, as the giddy-headed Galathiaens were to their ſeducing Doctors, Chap. 1.6. I wonder that yee are ſo ſoon removed, &c. Let us leave to the Papiſts Miniſtrorum muta officia, populi caeca obſequia, their Miniſters dumb ſervices, their peoples blinde obediences: And ever count it a ſingular folly to take mens bare authority in matters of faith, and not to prove the ſpirits whether they are of God, 1 Joh. 4.1. as thoſe noble Beraeans did, and are worthily renowned for it, Act. 17.

But the prudent man looketh well to his goings] Hee looketh not ſo much what others beleeve, or not beleeve, do or not do, as what hee is bound to beleeve or do. Hee pins not his faith to another mans ſleeve, hee frames not his pace by another mans practice, but walks by line and by rule, treads gingerly, ſteps warily, lifts not up one foot till hee findes ſure footing for the other, as thoſe Pſal. 35.6. This is to walk exactly, accurately, not as fools, but as wiſe, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Eph. 5.15.

Verſ. 16. A wiſe man feareth and departeth from evil] Hee trembleth at the judgements, whiles they hang in the threatnings, meets God with intreaties of peace, and ſo redeems his own ſorrows. Solo auditu contremiſco, ſaith Hierom, Speaking of that terrible text, Ezek. 16.42. I tremble at the very hearing of it. So Eraſmus repeating thoſe words, Ezek. 3.18. His blood will I require at thy hands; Theſe, ſaith hee, are fulmina, non verba, not words, but thunderbolts. A good childe, if but threatned only, will amend his fault; yea, if hee but hear others threatned. Daniel was more troubled than Nebuchadnezzar was, Dan. 4.18. Habakkuck, when in a viſion hee ſaw the judgements of God that were to come upon the Caldeans, it made his very heart to ake and quake within him, Chap. 3.16.

But the fool rageth, and is confident] Some render it Rangeth, and is confident, tranſit & confidit (ſo the Vulgar, and Original will well enough bear it) hee paſſeth on from ſin to ſin, like a mad man, and yet perſwades himſelf that all ſhall do well; ſuch a deſperate fool was Balaam, though the Angel met him with a drawn ſword, yet hee would needs on; and what was the iſſue? hee dyed by the ſword of Iſrael, though hee ſeemed a friend to Iſrael. Not to bee warned, is both a juſt preſage and deſert of ruine.

Verſ. 17. Hee that is ſoon angry, dealeth fooliſhly] Alexander in his hot blood ſlew his deareſt friend, whom hee would have revived again with his heart-blood.

— Qui non moderabitur irae Infectum velit eſſe dolor quod ſuaſerit & mens.

Raſh anger differs from madneſs (ſaith Seneca) in nothing, but in time onely. See my Common-place of Anger.

And a man of wicked devices is hated] i. e. Hee that beareth a grudge, intending revenge (as one that onely wants, and therefore waits a fit time, as Abſolom did for Amnon) this is a dangerous man, and deſervedly deteſted of all: It is counted Manhood, indeed its Doghoo[illegible: 2 letters] The Curs of Congo they ſay, bite, but never bark: Eſau threatned Jacob. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 2 letters]ius lentus in meditando, ubi prorupiſſet, triſtioribus dictis atrocia facta conjungebat. The more hee meditated revenge, the more did time and delay ſharpen it; and the further off bee threatned, the heavier the ſtroke fell; therefore hee was generally hated, as an odious miſcreant.

Verſ. 18. The ſimple inherit folly] Acceperunt per ſucceſſionem ſeu hareditario jure, ſo one renders it, they are as wiſe as their fore-fathers, and they are reſolved to bee no wiſer. Me ex ea opinione quam à majoribus accepi de cultis deorum, nullius unquam movebit oratio, ſaid Tully. I will never forſake that way of divine ſervice, that I have received from my fore-fathers, for any mans pleaſure, or by any mans perſwaſion. The Monarch of Morocco told the Engliſh Ambaſſadour for King John, that hee had lately read Saint Pauls Epiſtles, which he liked ſo well,Heyl. Geog. that were he now to chuſe his Religion, he would, before any other, embrace Chriſtianity. But every one ought, ſaith he, to dye in the religion received from his Anceſtors, and the leaving of the faith wherein he was born, was the only thing that he diſliked in that Apoſtle.

But the prudent are crowned with knowledge] They know that dies diem docet: and therefore are not ſo wedded to their old Principles, Superſtitions and Fopperies, but that they can, as right reaſon requires, relinquiſh and abjure them, glorifying the Word,Acts 13.48 Acts 13. And receiving the truth in love, 2 Theſ. 2.10. whereby it ſoon comes to paſſe, that they get good repute and report of all men (as Demetrius had) yea and of the truth it ſelf, 3 Joh. 12. which is the Crown of all commendation. Haud velim Eraſmi gloria aut nomine vehi, ſaith Luther. I care not to be cried up as Eraſmus is, &c.

Verſ. 19. The evil bow before the good] Here they do ſo many times, as Joſephs brethren before him in his greatneſſe, as Saul before Samuel, Balſhazzar before Daniel, Euſeb. the perſecuting tyrants before Conſtantine the great; yea one of them, viz. Maximinus Galerius, being viſited with grievous ſickneſſe, not only proclaimed liberty to the poor perſecuted Chriſtians, but alſo commanded their Churches to be re-edified,Creſius and publick Prayers to be made for his recovery. So Ezra 6.10. Pray for the Kings life, and for his Sons: ſome of which had dyed in their minority, for the reſt therefore Prayer muſt be made by the Church. That place is wel known, Iſa. 49.23. Kings ſhall be thy nurſing fathers, and their Queens thy nurſing mothers: they ſhall bow down to thee with their faces toward the earth, and lick up the duſt of thy feet, &c. The Prophet ſeems to allude to the manner of the Perſians: Pictorum ſolea baſiare regum. Martial. who when they were to ſpeak to their King, did firſt kiſſe the pavement whereon he trod. Howſoever natural conſciences cannot but doe homage to the Image of God, ſtamped upon the natures and practices of the righteous (as is afore-noted,) and the worſt cannot but think well of ſuch, and honour them in their hearts. In the life to come theſe things ſhall have their full accompliſhment, and at the laſt day when the Saints ſhall judge the world, and Chriſt ſhall have put all things under his feet, ſo that they ſhall have power over the Nations, Rev. 2.26.

Verſ. 20. The poor is hated] i. e. Leſſe loved, little respected, as Gen. 29.31. Mal. 1.5. Luke 14.26. The Heathen could ſay, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Adverſity findes few friends. Et cum fortuna ſtatque caditque fides. Few will appear for ſuffering Saints, (This Job and David much complain of; but as when a Deer is ſhot, the reſt of the Herd puſh him out of their company; ſo here, Tempora ſi fueriut nubila, ſolus eris. The ſame Hebrew word that ſignifies Winter, (an Embleme of Poverty,) ſignifies reproach. This thy ſon, Luke 15.30. Not this my brother, Joſeph. becauſe in poverty. The Samaritans would not once own the Jewes when they were at an under, but diſavow them, as they did to Antiochus Epiphanes. But when in proſperity, then they would curry favour with them, and call them their ſweet Couſins. When it was ſometimes diſputed among the Romans in the Council, uſing to deifie great men, whether Chriſt, having done many wonderful works, ſhould bee received into the number of the gods? it was reſolved that he ſhould not, Propter hoc, quod paupertatem praedicarit & elogerit, quam mundus contemnit, becauſe he preached poverty, and choſe poor men whom the world cares not for.

Purchas. But the rich man hath many friends] Such as they are, ollares amici, trencherflies, ſuch as follow the ſcent, and (like Bohemian Curtes) will fawn upon a good ſuit. As for faithful friends, divitibus ideo amicus deeſt, quia nihil deeſt, ſaith one, few ſuch to be found, ſuch as with Ittai the Gittite, and Huſhai the Archite will ſtick cloſe to a David when ſtripped of all. Joſephus relates of the Jewes, that they were very careful how they received Proſelites in Salomons time, becauſe then the State of the Jews flouriſhed.

Verſ. 21. Hee that deſpiſeth his neighbour, ſinneth] His poor neighbour: Where the hedge is low, the beaſt will eaſily break over: None uſually are ſo trampled on with the feet of pride, and contempt, by the great Bulls of Baſan, as the neceſſitous and afflicted. Hence poor and afflicted are ſet together, Zeph. 3.12. ſo are to want, and to be abaſed, Phil. 4.11. This is a great ſin ſaith Salomon, it is to commit ſin, and to bee convinced of the Law, as tranſgreſſors, ſaith Saint James, chap. 3.9.

But he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he] His ſins ſhall be remitted, his neceſſities relieved, and the bleſſings of God multiplied upon him, even a [non-Latin text not transcribed]. See my Common-place of Almes.

Verſ. 22. Doe they not erre that deviſe evil] Heb. That plow it and plot it, that dig it and delve it, that whet their wits and beat their brains about it;Toto errant calet doe not theſe erre? are they not heavenly wide, utterly out? ſhall they not miſſe of their purpoſe, and meet with diſappointment? witneſſe thoſe Babel-builders, Gen. 11. thoſe Kil-Chriſts, Pſal. 2. thoſe State Traytors, Sheba, Shebna, &c. divers Engliſh Traytors who drew their laſt thread in the Triangle of Tiburn. Knute the firſt Danique King, cauſed the falſe Edrics head to bee ſet on the higheſt part of the Tower of London: Daniels Hiſt. 19. therein performing his promiſe of advancing him above any Lord in the Land. Traytors always become edious, though the treaſon bee commodious. Philip Duke of Auſtria, Parei Hiſt. prof. madul. 769. paid the Ambaſſadours of Charls the fourth (who had betrayed their truſt) in counterfeit coyn: whereof when they complained, he anſwered, that falſe coyn was good enough for falſe knaves: James the firſt King of Scots, was murdered in Perth, by Walter Earl of Athol, in hope to attain the Crown:Hect. Boeth. but his hopes failed him. Crowned indeed he was, but with a Crown of red hot Iron clapt upon his head, being one of the tortures wherewith hee ended at once his wicked dayes and deviſes.

But mercy and truth ſhall be to them that deviſe good] Mercy and truth were the beſt that David could wiſh to his faſt friend Ittai, 2 Sam. 15.20. Theſe two Attributes of God ſhall cauſe that good deviſes ſhall not miſcarry. His mercy moves him to promiſe, his truth binds him to perform, 2 Sam. 7.18, 21. For thy words ſake, and according to thine own heart haſt thou done all theſe things. According to thine own heart, that is, of meer mercy, out of pure and unexcited love, thou didſt give thy Word and Promiſe, and for thy words ſake thou haſt performed it.

Verſ. 23. In all labour there is profit.] In all honeſt labour: for there are that doe wickedly with both hands earneſtly; and what profit have ſuch of all their labour, &c. Eccleſ. 1.3. doe they not take pains to goe to Hell? There are alſo that labour about [non-Latin text not transcribed], toylſome toys, that pay not for the pains, that doe magno conatu magnas nugas agere. Such a one was Paleottus Arch-biſhop of Bonony, who made a great book of the ſhadow of Chriſts Body in a [illegible: 2 letters]ndon; and it was commented upon by the Profeſſour there. This Ariſtotle calls laborious loſſe of time. The Apoſtle calls upon men to labour, working with their hands the thing that is good: ſo ſhall they have, [non-Latin text not transcribed] not for their own uſes only, but alſo to give to him that needeth, Epheſ. 4.28.

But the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury] Great talkers are doe-littles, for moſt part, Corniculas citiùs in Africa, quam res rationeſque ſolidas in Turriani ſcriptis invenies, ſaith one, Turrian, was a very wordy man, yee cannot finde matter for words in him. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. The Athenians fought againſt Philip with words and meſſages, ſaith one: but Rabſhekah could tell Hezekiah, that warre was to be made (ſo is work to be done) not with words, and the talk of the lips, but with counſel and ſtrength, Iſa. 36.5. And why ſtand you looking upon one another? get you down to Aegypt, ſaid Jacob to his ſons, Gen. 42.1.

Verſ. 24. The crown of the wiſe is their riches] An ornament, an incouragement in well-doing, and an inſtrument of doing much good, if God give an heart thereto: for quid cervo ingentia cornua cum, deſit animus? To what end is a treaſure, if a man have loſt the Key that leads to it?

Vel mihi da clavem, vel mihi tolle ſeram.

But the fooliſhneſſe of fools is folly] That is, of rich fools: ſuch as was Pope Clemens the fifth, of whom the Hiſtorian ſaith, Papa hic ditior quam ſapientior, that hee was more wealthy than wiſe. The Crown of the wiſe is their riches; but yet give them a fool, you put a ſword into a mad mans hand; the folly of ſuch fools will ſoon bee fooliſhneſs. Why? was it not fooliſhneſs before they were rich? yes, but now it is become egregious fooliſhneſs. [non-Latin text not transcribed], the earth cannot bear the inſolencies of ſuch. Set a beggar on horſe-back, &c.

Verſ. 25. A true witneſs delivereth ſouls] Or lives that lye at ſtake. Hee that helps the truth in ſuch a neceſſity, doth a worthy work. To walk about with ſlanders, is to ſhed blood, Ezek. 22.9. Way was made to that bloody French maſſacre, by falſe reports caſt abroad by the Fryar-lyars, that the Proteſtants under pretence of Religion, met by night that they might feed daintily, and then lye together promiſcuouſly. He that hath a mind to hang his Dog, (ſaith the French Proverb) will firſt give out that hee is run mad.John 8.48. The Devil was firſt a lyar, and then a murtherer from the beginning.

Verſ. 26. In the fear of the Lord is ſtrong confidence] The reverential fear of God, is monimentum, munimentum, ornamentum. The wiſe man had ſaid, verſ. 24. The Crown of the wiſe are their riches, and chap. 18.11. hee will tell us, that the rich mans wealth is his ſtrong City. Now, leſt any ſhould hereby bee brought to think of riches more highly than is meet, hee gives us to know, that wealth ſevered from the fear of God, can neither adorn us, nor ſecure us. Great is the confidence of a good conſcience. Our God whom wee ſerve is able to deliver us, and hee will deliver us out of thine hand, Dan. 3.17. Hezekiah pulled down the brazen Serpent,2 King. 18.5. for hee truſted in God. At ego rem divinam facio, But I am ſacrificing, ſaid Numa, when they told him the enemy was at hand. Non ſic Deos coluimus, aut ſic vivimus ut illi nos vincerent, ſaid the Emperour Antoninus. Wee are bold to beleeve that God will deal better with us than ſo.

And his children have a place of Refuge] i. e. Gods children run to his name and are ſafe. Or, the children of him that fears God. For God will bleſs thoſe that fear him, both ſmall and great, Pſal. 115. If I can but once finde the fear of God in thoſe about mee,Selnecer. ſaid Reverend Claviger, ſatis habeo, ſatiſquo mihi, meae [illegible: 1 letter]xori, filiis, & filiabus proſpexi, I ſhall have enough for my ſelf, wife and children; they will bee all cared for.

Verſ. 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life] So ſaid to bee, both for the conſtant faithfulneſs, as never failing, and for the gracious effects, viz. Bleſſings of all ſorts; 1 Temporal, Prov. 22.4. Riches, Honour, Life. 2 Spiritual, Mal. 4.2. Such ſhall grow up as the Calves of the ſtall, fat and fair-liking. 3 Eternal, Pſal. 31. O how great things, &c. eye hath not ſeen, &c. It ſhall bee alwaies well with them, Eccleſ. 8.12. And though many afflictions, &c. yet hee that feareth God, ſhall come out of them all, Eccleſ. 7.18.

To depart from the ſnares of death] Satan that mighty hunter, hath laid ſnares for us in all places: And the way of this world is like the vale of Siddim, ſlimy and ſlippery, full of lime-pits and pitfalls, ſnares and ſtumbling-blocks, laid on purpoſe to maim us or miſchief us. Hee that fears God, comes off without hurt, by remembring that (which as ſhort as it is, yet our memories are ſhorter) Cave, Deus videt. Take heed, God ſeeth thee. A godly man had theſe verſes written before him on a Table, in his ſtudy; Ne pecces, Deut ipſe videt, tuus Angelus aſtat: Accuſat Satanas & lex, mens conſcia culpae: Mors incerta furit: cruciat te lurid us Orcus: Et manet aeternum triſti damnatio poenâ.

Verſ. 28. In the multitude of people is the Kings honour] For that's a ſign of peace, plenty, proſperity, and juſt government, as in Salomons daies, when Iſrael and Judah were many, as the ſand which is by the Sea in multitude, eating, and drinking, and making merry,Flor. hiſt. lib. 4 1 King. 4.20. and as in Auguſtus his daies, when Chriſt (the Prince of Peace) was born into the world, cuncta atque continua totius generis humani aut pax fuit, aut pactio. Ferdinand the third, King of Spain, reigned full 35 years: In all which time, nec fames nec pestis fuit in regnoſuo, ſaith Lopez, Gloſſ. in prolog part. 1. there was neither famine nor peſtilence throughout that Kingdome. What incredible waſte of men hath war lately made in Germany (that ſtage of war) in Ireland, and here in this Kingdome, beſides what formerly? In the Civil diſſentions between the houſes of York and Lancaſter, were ſlain eighty Princes of the blood royal, and twice as many Natives of England, as were loſt in the two Conqueſts of France. Dan. Hiſt. The diſſentions between England and Scotland, conſumed more Chriſtian blood, wrought more ſpoil and deſtruction to both Kingdomes, and continued longer, than ever quarrel wee read of did between any two people of the world. Camd. Eliſ. 165. Bee wiſe now therefore, O yee Kings, &c. Tu vero Herodes ſanguinolente time, as Beza covertly warned Charles the ninth, author of the French Maſſacre. Many parts of Turkie lie unpeopled: moſt of the poor being enforced with Victuals and other neceſſaries, to follow their great armies in their long expeditions; of whom,Turk. Hiſt. ſcarce one of ten ever return home again, there by the way periſhing, if not by the enemies ſword, yet by want of victuals, intemperateneſs of the air, or immoderate pains-taking. Hence the Proverb, where-ever the Great Turk ſets his foot, there graſs grows not any more.

Verſ. 29. Hee that is ſlow to anger, is of great underſtanding] The wiſdome from above is firſt pure, then peaceable, tractable, &c. Thunder, Hail, Tempeſt, neither trouble nor h[illegible: 2 letters] caeleſtial bodies. Anger may ruſh into a wiſe mans boſome, not reſt there, Eccleſ. 7.9. it dwells onely where it domineers, and that is onely where a fool is Maſter of the family. A wiſe man either receives it not, or ſoon rids it. Bee ſlow to wrath, [non-Latin text not transcribed], ira, horror, furor, wrath, war, jar, ſtrife, &c. is a leſſon that God hath engraven (as one wittily obſerveth) in our very nature. For the laſt letter that any childe ordinarily ſpeaketh is R. and that's the radical letter of all words of ſtrife and wrath, almoſt in all languages.

But hee that is haſty of ſpirit, exalteth folly] Hee ſets it up upon a pole, as it were; hee makes an Oyes, and proclaims his own folly, by his ireful looks, words, geſtures, actions, as that furious Fryar Feuardenſius doth in his book called Theomachia Calviniſtica; where hee took up his Pen with as much paſſion and wrath, as any ſouldier takes up his ſword. Such another haſty fool was Fryar Alphonſus the Spaniard, who reaſoning with Mr. Bradford Martyr,Act. & Mon. was in a wonderful rage chafing with Om, and Cho; ſo that if Bradford had been any thing hot, one houſe could not have held them.

Verſ. 30. A [illegible: 1 letter]ound heart is the life of the fleſh] A heart well freed from paſſions and perturbations holds out long, and enjoys good health: Neither cauſeth it moleſtation of mind, or want of welfare to others.R. Levi. It is the life of fleſhes (in the plural) not onely its own, but other mens bodies are the better (at leaſt not the worſe) for it; whereas the envious and angry man rangeth and rageth; and like a mad Dog biting all hee meets, ſets them (as much as in him lies) all a madding, and undoes them.

But envy is the rottenneſs of the bones] A corroding and corrupting diſeaſe it is, like that which the Phyſicians call Corruptio totius ſubſtantiae, it dries up the marrow; and becauſe it cannot come at another mans heart, this hell-hag feeds upon its own, tormenting the poor carkaſs without and within. It is the moth of the ſoul, and the worm (as the Hebrew word ſignifies) of the bones, thoſe ſtronger parts of the body; it is the ſame to the whole man, that ruſt is to Iron (as Antiſthenes affirmeth) it devoureth it ſelf firſt, as the worm doth the Nut it grows in. Socrates called it ſerram animae, the ſouls ſaw; and wiſhed that envious men had more ears and eyes than others, that they might have the more torment by beholding and hearing of other mens happineſſes, For invidia ſimul peccat & plectitur, expedita juſtitia. Like the Viper, it is born by eating through the dams belly: Like the Bee, it loſeth its ſting and life together: like the little Flie, to put out the Candle, it burns it ſelf: like the Serpent Porphyrius, it drinks moſt part of its own venome; like the Viper that leapt upon Saint Pauls hand to hurt him, but periſhed in the fire; or as the Snake in the Fable, that licked off her own tongue, as envying teeth to the file in the forge. In fine, Envy ſlayeth the ſilly ſoul, Job 5.2. as it did that fellow in Pauſanias, who envying the glory of Theagenes a famous wreſtler, Pauſan. Eliac. p. 188. whipt his Statue (ſet up in honour of him after his death) every night ſo long, till at length it fell upon him, and killed him.

Verſ. 31. Hee that oppreſſeth the poor, reproacheth his Maker] Sith it is hee that maketh poor, and that maketh rich, and (thereby) killeth and maketh alive, 1 Sam. 2.6, 7. Rich men onely ſeem to bee alive. Hence David ſending his ſervants to that Pamphagus, 1 Sam. 25.6. that rich cormudgin Nabal, ſpeaketh on this ſort,Pſal. 88.5. Thus ſhall yee ſay to him that liveth (there is no more in the Original) as if rich men onely were alive; poor people are free among the dead (free of that company, as David was) when they are cruſhed and oppreſſed, eſpecially by rich Cormorants and Cannibals, Pſal. 14.4. A poor mans livelihood is his life, Luke 8.43. for a poor man in his houſe is like a ſnail in his ſhell, cruſh that, and you kill him. This reflects very much upon God, the poor mans King (as James the fourth of Scotland was called) who will not ſuffer it to paſs unpuniſhed; for hee is gracious. As unskilful Hunters may ſhoot at a beaſt, but kill a man: So do theſe oppreſſours, hit God the poor mans maker.

But hee honoureth him that hath mercy on the poor] Quibus verbis nihil gravius, nihil efficacius dici potuit: God takes it for an honour; how ſhould this prevail with us? Honour the Lord with thy ſubſtance, Prov. 3.8. and take it for a ſingular honour, that hee will vouchſafe to bee thus honoured by thee, as David did, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Heb. 12.23. 2 Sam. 29. How exceedingly ſhall ſuch bee honoured in that great Panegyris at the laſt day, when the Judge ſhall ſay, Come yee bleſſed, &c. I was hungry, and yee fed mee, &c. Mat. 25.

Verſ. 32. The wicked is driven away in his wickedneſs] Being arreſted by death (as a cruel Serjeant) in the Devils name, hee is hurried away, and hurled into hell, as dying in his ſins, and killed by death, Rev. 2.23. And oh what a dreadful skreek gives the guilty ſoul then to ſee it ſelf launching into an infinite Ocean of ſcalding lead, and muſt ſwim naked in it for ever!

But the righteous hath hope in his death] Death to the righteous, as the valley of Achor, is a door of hope to give entrance into Paradiſe; to the wicked it is a trap-door to Hell. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Improbi dum ſpirant, ſperant: juſtus etiam cum expirat, ſpe[illegible: 1 letter]at. Aelian tells how hee once heard a dying Swan ſing moſt ſweetly and melodiouſly, which in her life time hath no ſuch pleaſant note. As on the other ſide Syrens are ſaid to ſing curiouſly while they live, but to roar horribly when they dye. Such is the caſe of the godly and the wicked when they come to dye.

Verſ. 33. Wiſdome reſteth in the heart of him, &c.] Hee ſets not his good parts and practices a ſunning, as vain-glorious fools uſe to do, that they may bee cried up,Epiſt. ad Julian. conſolator. and applauded. As Hierome calls Crates the Philoſopher (wee may call the whole Nation of them ſo) Gloriae animal, popularis aurae vile mancipium, a baſe hunter after praiſe of men. The truly wiſe concealeth himſelf till hee ſeeth a fit time, and may bee compared to the red Roſe, which though outwardly not ſo fragrant, is inwardly far more cordial than the Damask, being more thrifty of its ſweetneſs, and reſerving it in it ſelf; Or, to the Violet which grows low, hangs the head downward, and hides it ſelf with its own leaves: Whereas the Marrigold (of nothing ſo good a ſmell) opens and ſhuts with the Sun; which when it is ſet, it hangs down the head, as forlorn and deſperate. So, that which is in the midſt of fools is made known. Jehonadab muſt needs ſee what zeal Jehu hath for the Lord of Hoaſts; His piety is ſhored up by popularity, &c.

Verſ. 34. Righteouſneſs exalteth a Nation] True Religion and the power of godlineſs is the beauty and bulwark of a State: So are good Laws enacted and executed.Deut. 28.13. This made the faithful City (Iſa. 1.21.) to bee the Princeſs of Provinces, Lam. 1.1. that land, a land of deſire, an heritage of glory, Jer. 3.19. even the glory of all Nations, Ezek. 20.6. Joſephus calls that Commonwealth, [non-Latin text not transcribed], and Prospers conceit is, that Judae[illegible: 1 letter] were ſo called, becauſe they received jus Dei. It was ſaid of old, Angli quaſi Angeli, and Anglia regnum Dei. England was called the Kingdome of God; and Albion quaſi Olbion, Polyd. Virg. a happy Country, the Paradiſe of pleaſure, and Garden of God. Now the Lord is with us, while wee are with him, &c. But if wee caſt off the yoke of his obedience, as Capernaum, though lifted up to heaven, wee ſhall bee brought down to hell. Sins are the Snuffes that dim our Candleſtick, and threaten the removal of it: The leven that defiles our Paſſeovers, and urges God to paſs away and depart from us; The reproach that will render us a Proverb and a by-word, Deut. 28. an aſtoniſhment and an hiſſing, Jer. 25.9. like Sodome and her ſiſters, a reproach and a taunt, Ezek, 5.15. which to prevent,Iſidor. Currat poenitentia, ne praecurrat ſententia. Mittamus preces & lachrymas cordis legatos. Cyprian. Let us break off our ſins, and cry mightily to God; For otherwiſe a diſmal change, a ſad removal of our Candleſtick may bee as certainly foreſeen, and foretold, as if viſions and letters were ſent us from heaven, as once to thoſe ſeven Churches of Aſia, Rev. 2. & 3.

Verſ. 35. The Kings favour is toward a wiſe ſervant] As was Pharaohs toward Joſeph, Solomons toward Jeroboam, Dariuſſes toward Daniel, Henry the eighths toward Cromwell, whom for his wiſdome and faithfulneſs, hee raiſed from a mean man (ſon to a Blackſmith) to bee firſt Maſter of his Jewel-houſe, then Baron of Okeham in Rutlandſhire, then Knight of the Garter, Earl of Eſſex, Lord great Chamberlain, and laſtly, ordained him his Vicar general.Speed. And if Kings do thus, what will not the King of Kings do for every faithful and wiſe ſervant of his, whom he hath made Ruler over his houſhold, Mat. 24.45. Verily, I ſay unto you, that hee ſhall make him Ruler over all his goods, verſ. 47. yea, partaker of his Maſters joy, Mat. 25.

But his wrath is againſt him that cauſeth ſhame] Such as was Jeroboam at length, Haman, Shebua, Ziba, Gehezi, Ahitophel, Judas, &c. It fares with many Princes, as it doth with the creature called Millipeda, which the more feet it hath, the ſlowlier it goeth. Corrupt ſervants hinder the courſe of Juſtice, that it cannot run down as a torrent. This reflects upon their Lords, and at length falls heavily upon themſelves.