PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Proverbs
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 266,170 words · 546 reading sections
Proverbs 4:13
Proverbs 4:13 Ver. 13. Take fast hold of instruction,.... Not the law, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it; but the instruction of wisdom, the doctrine of Christ or the Gospel; see Pr 8:1; which is an instruction into the mind and will of God, concerning the salvation of men; into the grace of God, showing that salvatio…
589 wordsSECTION 62Proverbs 4:14
Proverbs 4:14 Ver. 14. Enter not into the path of the wicked,.... Which leads to eternal death; join not with them in their wicked ways and practices; have no fellowship, keep no company, with them; do not set one foot in the path they tread, lest thou shouldest be tempted to proceed to more ungodliness; you do not kn…
243 wordsSECTION 63Proverbs 4:15
Proverbs 4:15 Ver. 15. Avoid it,.... As dangerous and pernicious, as abominable and detestable; or, "flee from it", as the Vulgate Latin version: Jarchi and Gersom interpret it, "make it void"; cause it to cease, destroy it, do all you can to hinder the wicked from accomplishing their designs; pass not by it; do not …
142 wordsSECTION 64Proverbs 4:16
Proverbs 4:16 Ver. 16. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief,.... Or they cannot sleep, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it. Oftentimes they cannot sleep on their beds for devising mischief, their thoughts are so intensely set on contriving wicked schemes; and when they have so done, they cannot sleep until…
175 wordsSECTION 65Proverbs 4:17
Proverbs 4:17 Ver. 17. For they eat the bread of wickedness,.... Either that is gotten by wicked and unlawful means, or wickedness itself is bread unto them; it is that to their minds as bread is to their bodies; they feed upon it with as much eagerness, appetite, gust, and pleasure; it is a sweet morsel to them; it i…
140 wordsSECTION 66Proverbs 4:18
Proverbs 4:18 Ver. 18. But the path of the just [is] as the shining light,.... The "just" man is one that is made righteous through the righteousness of Christ imputed to him; and who is created anew in Christ, in righteousness and true holiness; and, under the influence of divine grace, lives soberly, righteously, an…
658 wordsSECTION 67Proverbs 4:19
Proverbs 4:19 Ver. 19. The way of the wicked [is] as darkness,.... They are in the darkness of sin, ignorance, error, and unbelief; their works are works of darkness; the way in which they are leads to eternal darkness, ruin, and misery, and so must be most uncomfortable and dangerous; they know not at what they stum…
99 wordsSECTION 68Proverbs 4:20
Proverbs 4:20 Ver. 20. My son, attend to my words,.... Which go before and which follow after, his doctrines, instructions, cautions, and exhortations; incline thine ear unto my sayings; stoop and bow the ear; listen attentively to what is said, as being of the greatest moment and importance.…
49 wordsSECTION 69Proverbs 4:21
Proverbs 4:21 Ver. 21. Let them not depart from thine eyes,.... Commit them to writing, frequently read them over; let them be always in sight, as a rule and directory to steer the course of life by. Some understand this of the wicked, as if the sense was, let not them, the wicked, cause them to depart from thine eyes…
1,367 wordsSECTION 70Proverbs 5:1
Proverbs 5:1 INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 5 The general instruction of this chapter is to avoid whoredom, and make use of lawful marriage, and keep to that. It is introduced with an exhortation to attend to wisdom and understanding, Pr 5:1; one part of which lies in shunning an adulterous woman; who is described by her f…
363 wordsSECTION 71Proverbs 5:2
Proverbs 5:2 Ver. 2. That thou mayest regard discretion,.... Observe it; retain it in thine heart, as Aben Ezra adds, and use it; think, speak, and act discreetly, and so avoid the bad woman afterwards described: the Vulgate Latin version is, "that thou mayest keep the thoughts"; and so Gersom interprets the word; "go…
236 wordsSECTION 72Proverbs 5:3
Proverbs 5:3 Ver. 3. For the lips of a strange woman drop [as] an honeycomb,.... "Mulsa dicta", "honey words", as is Plautus's {e} expression. The Septuagint and Arabic versions premise something here which is not in the Hebrew text, "do not give heed to a wicked woman;'' and the Vulgate Latin version, "to the fall…
292 wordsSECTION 73Proverbs 5:4
Proverbs 5:4 Ver. 4. But her end is bitter as wormwood,.... Which is opposed to the honeycomb her lips are said to drop; so that, as Juvenal says {g}, "plus aloes quam mellis habet": the end which she brings persons to, or the issue of complying with her, is bitterness; such as loss of credit, substance, and health, r…
194 wordsSECTION 74Proverbs 5:5
Proverbs 5:5 Ver. 5. Her feet go down to death,.... The ways in which she walks, and in which she leads others, issue oftentimes in corporeal death; and always in eternal death, if grace prevent not; and unless men are brought to a sense of sin, to repent of it and leave it. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render i…
287 wordsSECTION 75Proverbs 5:6
Proverbs 5:6 Ver. 6. Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life,.... Consider and meditate which is the way to get out of her hands and ways, and escape death, and obtain eternal life; lest those she has drawn into her wicked course of life should be religiously inclined, and think of quitting such a course, and inqu…
396 wordsSECTION 76Proverbs 5:7
Proverbs 5:7 Ver. 7. Hear me now therefore, O ye children,.... Since such is the character, this the wretched end, and these the ways of the adulterous woman; those that are young in years, and liable to be ensnared by her, should hear what Solomon, or Christ, here says, for their caution and instruction; and especial…
136 wordsSECTION 77Proverbs 5:8
Proverbs 5:8 Ver. 8. Remove thy way far from her,.... The way of the mind, walk, and conversation; keep at the greatest distance from her; neither come where she is, nor look at her, nor converse with her; shun her, as one would the pest or a loathsome carcass; go a good way about rather than come near her, or be with…
244 wordsSECTION 78Proverbs 5:9
Proverbs 5:9 Ver. 9. Lest thou give thine honour unto others,.... To strumpets, their children, attendants, servants, and friends; that is, either wealth or riches, which make men honourable; or their three, credit, and reputation, which are lost by keeping company with such persons; or the outward comeliness of the b…
416 wordsSECTION 79Proverbs 5:10
Proverbs 5:10 Ver. 10. Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth,.... The adulteress, her husband, children, friends, bawds, and such like persons she is concerned with; these share the wealth of the adulterer, abound with it, and live profusely on it, until he is stripped quite bare and destitute: or, "with thy streng…
271 wordsSECTION 80Proverbs 5:11
Proverbs 5:11 Ver. 11. And thou mourn at the last,.... Or roar as a lion, as the word {s} signifies; see Pr 19:12; expressing great distress of mind, horror of conscience, and vehement lamentations; and yet not having and exercising true repentance, but declaring a worldly sorrow, which worketh death. This mourning is…
234 wordsSECTION 81Proverbs 5:12
Proverbs 5:12 Ver. 12. And say, how have I hated instruction,.... To live virtuously, and avoid the adulterous woman; this he says, as wondering at his stupidity, folly, and madness, that he should hate and abhor that which was so much his interest to have observed. Gersom interprets it of the instruction of the law; …
161 wordsSECTION 82Proverbs 5:13
Proverbs 5:13 Ver. 13. And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,.... Parents, tutors, masters, and ministers of the word; neither regarded the advice of parents, nor the instructions of tutors, nor the commands of masters, nor the sermons of ministers: these are all lost on some persons; they are proof against the…
119 wordsSECTION 83Proverbs 5:14
Proverbs 5:14 Ver. 14. I was almost in all evil,.... Scarce a sin but he was guilty of; contempt of private and public instructions, the instructions of parents and ministers of the Gospel, and following lewd women, commonly lead to the commission of all other sins, even the most atrocious. Some understand this, not o…
369 wordsSECTION 84Proverbs 5:15
Proverbs 5:15 Ver. 15. Drink waters out of thine own cistern,.... Arguments being used to dissuade from conversation with an adulterous woman, taken from the disgrace, diseases, poverty, and distress of mind on reflection, it brings a man to; the wise man proceeds to direct to marriage, as a proper antidote against it…
379 wordsSECTION 85Proverbs 5:16
Proverbs 5:16 Ver. 16. Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad,.... Or "shall abound", as the Targum; that is, streams of water from fountains; which Aben Ezra interprets of a multitude of children, namely, that are lawfully begotten: the "fountains" are the man and his wife in lawful marriage; the streams are their off…
197 wordsSECTION 86Proverbs 5:17
Proverbs 5:17 Ver. 17. Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. Or "they shall be thine own" {u}, as the Targum; meaning not the cistern, the well, or the wife, but the fountains and rivers, or the children; by a man's cleaving to his own wife, who is a chaste and virtuous woman, he is satisfied that …
141 wordsSECTION 87Proverbs 5:18
Proverbs 5:18 Ver. 18. Let thy fountain be blessed,.... Thy wife; make her happy by keeping to her and from others; by behaving in a loving, affable, and respectful manner to her; by living comfortably with her, and providing well for her and her children: or reckon her a happiness, a blessing that God has bestowed; o…
198 wordsSECTION 88Proverbs 5:19
Proverbs 5:19 Ver. 19. [Let her be as] the loving hind and pleasant roe,.... That is, the wife of youth; let her always appear to thee as amiable and lovely as these creatures are; or let her be loved by thee as these are by princes and great men {w}, who used to keep them tame, keep them clean, wash, comb them, and a…
306 wordsSECTION 89Proverbs 5:20
Proverbs 5:20 Ver. 20. And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman,.... Or "err with her" {y}; after all those inconveniences and miseries that follow upon a conversation with a harlot, and all those advantages of a marriage state set before thee; why wilt thou be, so foolish and mad as to have a fondn…
948 wordsSECTION 90Proverbs 6:1
Proverbs 6:1 INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 6 In this chapter the wise man dissuades from rash suretyship; exposes the sin of idleness; describes a wicked man; makes mention of seven things hateful to God; exhorts to attend to parental instructions and precepts, and cautions against adultery. Suretyship is described, Pr 6:…
578 wordsSECTION 91Proverbs 6:2
Proverbs 6:2 Ver. 2. Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth,.... Got into a snare out of which an escape is not easy; art no longer free, and thine own man, but under obligation to pay the debt if required; by the verbal agreement made and confirmed by striking hands, and this before witnesses; thou art taken wi…
96 wordsSECTION 92Proverbs 6:3
Proverbs 6:3 Ver. 3. Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself,.... Take the following advice, as the best that can be given in such circumstances, in order to be freed from such an obligation, or to be safe and easy under it; when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; or, "because or seeing thou art fallen into…
462 wordsSECTION 93Proverbs 6:4
Proverbs 6:4 Ver. 4. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Until the above things are done; which denotes of what consequence and importance they are; and that persons in such circumstances should not be careless, dilatory, and unconcerned; but should use great diligence, and leave no stone untur…
64 wordsSECTION 94Proverbs 6:5
Proverbs 6:5 Ver. 5. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand [of the hunter],.... As such a creature, which is very swift, when it is got into the hand of the hunter, will strive and struggle to get out; so should a man try all ways and means to get out of his suretyship engagements, especially when he finds himself li…
124 wordsSECTION 95Proverbs 6:6
Proverbs 6:6 Ver. 6. Go to the ant, thou sluggard,.... That art become surety for another, and got into a snare and net, and yet takest no pains to get out. Or this may be directed, not to the surety, but the debtor; who, through his slothfulness, has contracted debts, and uses no industry to be in a capacity to pay t…
333 wordsSECTION 96Proverbs 6:7
Proverbs 6:7 Ver. 7. Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler. None to guide and direct her what to do; nor any to overlook her, to see that she does aright, or to oblige her to work, and keep her to it; nor any to call her to an account, and correct her for doing amiss; and nevertheless diligent and industrious, doi…
126 wordsSECTION 97Proverbs 6:8
Proverbs 6:8 Ver. 8. Provideth her meat in the summer,.... Against the winter, of which it is mindful, when it never comes out of its place, having in the summer time got a sufficiency laid up in cells for its use: she toils in the heat of summer to get in her provision for the winter, being sensible that nothing is t…
441 wordsSECTION 98Proverbs 6:9
Proverbs 6:9 Ver. 9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?.... Or "lie" {q} in bed, indulging in sloth and ease; while the industrious ant is busy in getting in its provisions, even by moonlight, as naturalists {r} observe; when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? and be about thy lawful calling? doing the duties of re…
214 wordsSECTION 99Proverbs 6:10
Proverbs 6:10 Ver. 10. [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber,.... Or, "little sleeps, little slumbers" {s}. These are the words of the sluggard, in answer to the call of him to awake and arise, desiring he might not be disturbed, but be suffered to sleep on longer: there is a very beautiful climax or gradation in the…
260 wordsSECTION 100Proverbs 6:11
Proverbs 6:11 Ver. 11. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,.... Either swiftly and suddenly, as a traveller makes haste to get to his journey's end, and comes upon his family or friends at an unawares; or though he moves gradually, by slow paces and silent steps, yet surely: and so it signifies that pover…
214 wordsSECTION 101Proverbs 6:12
Proverbs 6:12 Ver. 12. A naughty person, a wicked man,.... Or, "a man of Belial, a man of iniquity" {w}. The former signifies an unprofitable man, a man good for nothing, that is of no use to God or man; or one that is lawless, that has thrown off the yoke of the law, and will not be subject to it; Belial is the name …
195 wordsSECTION 102Proverbs 6:13
Proverbs 6:13 Ver. 13. He winketh with his eyes,.... Not through natural infirmity, but purposely and with design; with one of his eyes, as Aben Ezra, as is usual with such persons: it is the air and gesture of a sneering and deceitful man, who gives the wink to some of his friends, sneering at the weakness of another…
281 wordsSECTION 103Proverbs 6:14
Proverbs 6:14 Ver. 14. Frowardness [is] in his heart,.... Or perverse things; evil habits and principles of sin; all manner of wickedness, errors and heresies; things contrary to right reason, repugnant to the will and law of God, and the reverse of sound doctrine; all evil thoughts and evil things; see Mt 15:19; he …
268 wordsSECTION 104Proverbs 6:15
Proverbs 6:15 Ver. 15. Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly,.... Unthought of and unexpected: he that deviseth mischief to others secretly shall have no warning of his own ruin, nor time and means of preventing it; the destruction of antichrist will be sudden, and of all wicked men at the coming of Christ, 1Th 5…
142 wordsSECTION 105Proverbs 6:16
Proverbs 6:16 Ver. 16. These six [things] doth the Lord hate,.... That is, the six following, which are all to be found in a man of Belial, a wicked man before described. There are other things besides these that God hates, and indeed more so; as sins against the first table, which more immediately strike at his being…
259 wordsSECTION 106Proverbs 6:17
Proverbs 6:17 Ver. 17. A proud look,.... Or, "eyes elated" {d}; scorning to look down upon others; or looking upon them with disdain; or reckoning them as unworthy to be looked upon, having an high opinion of their own worth and merit. Pride is the first of the hateful things mentioned; it being the first sin committe…
342 wordsSECTION 107Proverbs 6:18
Proverbs 6:18 Ver. 18. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,.... Or, "thoughts of wickedness" {e}; which are framed and formed in the heart: and this being the source and fountain of all wickedness, is placed in the midst of these hateful and abominable things; See Gill on "Pr 6:14"; evil thoughts and designs, b…
3,772 wordsSECTION 108Proverbs 7:1
Proverbs 7:1 INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 7 The sum of this chapter is to exhort men to attend to the doctrines and precepts of Wisdom, in order to avoid the adulterous woman; the exhortation to keep them with care, affection, and delight, in order to answer the end, is in Pr 7:1. A story is told, of Solomon's own knowle…
386 wordsSECTION 109Proverbs 7:2
Proverbs 7:2 Ver. 2. Keep my commandments and live,.... Not the commandments of the law only, but the commandments of Christ; and even the doctrines of Christ are so called, as faith in him, and love to the saints, 1Jo 3:23; which is the way to live comfortably, peaceably, pleasantly, and honourably; and my law as th…
108 wordsSECTION 110Proverbs 7:3
Proverbs 7:3 Ver. 3. Bind them upon thy fingers,.... Let the above words and doctrines be as ready and familiar as if they were at the fingers' ends; or let them be always fresh in memory, as a piece of thread is tied about the fingers, to put in mind of anything to be done; or let them be as rings upon the fingers, b…
124 wordsSECTION 111Proverbs 7:4
Proverbs 7:4 Ver. 4. Say unto wisdom, Thou art [my] sister,.... Intimately acquainted, greatly beloved, and highly delighted in: this may be understood both of the Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery, which men should be conversant with, be strongly affected to, and take delight and pleasure in; and of Christ, the …
162 wordsSECTION 112Proverbs 7:5
Proverbs 7:5 Ver. 5. That they may keep thee from the strange woman,.... Nothing has a greater tendency than Christ and his Gospel, and an intimate acquaintance with them, and a retention of them, to keep from all sin, from all fleshly lusts, from the sin of uncleanness; and also from all the errors, heresies, idolatr…
108 wordsSECTION 113Proverbs 7:6
Proverbs 7:6 Ver. 6. For at the window of my house,.... This is either an historical account of a matter of fact known to Solomon, or a parable made by him, setting forth the cunning artifices of an harlot, the folly and weakness of a young man ensnared, and the ruin he is brought into by her. As Solomon was a public …
280 wordsSECTION 114Proverbs 7:7
Proverbs 7:7 Ver. 7. And beheld among the simple ones,.... Such as are easily persuaded and drawn into sin; simple and foolish in things moral and spiritual, and not arrived to any ripeness of understanding in things natural and civil; have seen but little of the world, and know less of religion, and are easily impose…
178 wordsSECTION 115Proverbs 7:8
Proverbs 7:8 Ver. 8. Passing through the street near her corner,.... The house of the harlot that stood in a corner to take in persons that came both ways; to come near which is dangerous; this was putting himself in the way of temptation; or the corner of the street where she stood to pick up young men; it could be w…
256 wordsSECTION 116Proverbs 7:9
Proverbs 7:9 Ver. 9. In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night. Which is the usual time adulterers take to commit their works of darkness in, by which they think to conceal them; they being such as they themselves do not care should be seen and known, Job 24:15; their works will not bear the sun and…
342 wordsSECTION 117Proverbs 7:10
Proverbs 7:10 Ver. 10. And, behold, there met him a woman,.... A married woman, and an adulteress, as the following account of her shows; as soon as ever she discerned the young man before described, who she knew, by his air, walk, and dress, was a fit person for her turn, she at once set out from her house, or the co…
415 wordsSECTION 118Proverbs 7:11
Proverbs 7:11 Ver. 11. She [is] loud and stubborn,.... "Loud"; not that her voice may be heard, and so be found by those that seek her in the dark, as Aben Ezra interprets it; but rather clamorous, noisy, and talkative, when she has got her gallant with her; pouring out foolish and unchaste words to allure and entice …
238 wordsSECTION 119Proverbs 7:12
Proverbs 7:12 Ver. 12. Now [is she] without,.... The word for whore is sometimes rendered in the Targum {i} one that goes abroad, or without her house; sitting or standing at the door of it, in an idle posture, and in order to invite her lovers in; and if she can get none this way, or quickly, grows impatient: she is …
221 wordsSECTION 120Proverbs 7:13
Proverbs 7:13 Ver. 13. So she caught him, and kissed him,.... The young man that went near her corner where she was plying, or in the way to her house, where she was sitting, or standing, waiting and watching for such an opportunity, for such a person, as a prey to fasten on; and no sooner she saw him, and come up to …
181 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.