John Trapp on Proverbs 20:30

Verſ. 30. The blowneſſe of the wound cleanſeth] Some muſt be beaten black and blew, ere they will be better: neither is wit any thing worth with them till they have paid well for it. The Jewes were ever beſt when in worſt condition. The Athenians, Non niſi atrati, would never mend till they were in mourning. And, Anglica geus eſt optima fleus, & peſſima rident,

As a great Stateſ-man ſaid of this Nation. Phyſicians commonly cure a Lethargie by a Fever. Chirurgians let their Patients bloud ſometimes, etiam ad deliquium animae. The Scorpion heals his own wounds: and the Viper being beaten and applied cures his own biting. Surely as the ſcourging of the garment with a ſtick, beats out the mothes and the duſt: ſo doe corrections corruptions from the heart; and as launcing lets out filth, ſo doth affliction ſin.