John Trapp on Proverbs 13:16

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

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