PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs
William J. Deane [1853-1943] & Stephen Taylor Taylor-Taswell · 558,136 words · 584 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 61
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-9.-The conditions of religious lmowledge. The previous chapter having shown us in a variety of representations the necessity and the worth of wisdom, the question is now dealt with-How shall it be sought and attained? I. Co:tnlITIONS oN MAN'S SIDE. The enumeration is climactic, …
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worker eh11mee the sloth of the spiritual tnan. But let us not ignore the other side. 'l'he toil in the spiritual region ie not obvious to the eye like the other, but is not the Ieee really practised in silence by thousands of faithful souls. We should reflect on the immense travail of soul it bas cost to produce the b…
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II. THE DANGERS FROM WHICH IT PRESERVES. Social dangers. In society lies our field of full moral development, both in sympathy with the good and in antipathy to the evil. 'l'wo dangers are particularized. 1. The influence of the bad man. We know men by their talk and by their actions-their habit in both; their "styl…
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purification nnd enlightenment of her conscience by the gospel, she looked for a" better country, that is, an heavenly." Both senses may be included. The enlightened spirit knows bow to idealize every material content, and will leave much undefined in the prospect. Enough to say of all the seekers of God's kingdom and …
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V ers. 10-15.-The course of sin and the strength of righteousness. We have here portrayed for us- I. THE SHOCKING COURSE OF SIN. 1. It begins in departure from rectitude. Evil men first manifest their error by "leaving the paths of uprightness." They were once under the wholesome restraints of righteousness. Parental…
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III. THE STRENGTH AND BEC!JRlTY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. When wisdom enters tho heart and knowledge is pleasant to. the soul, then discretion will preserve, and 1mder- standinii; will keep us (vers. 10, 11). In other words, the cordial acceptance of the truth of God is the one security against sin. Delighting to do God's will…
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tricious paper. (2) The way of escape is immediate and total abandonment of sin. Such resolution made at once, seeking God's strength and grace, will permit the wanderer to" return again."-C. Vers. 20-22.-Recompense and retribution. It ought to be enouah 0 for us that wisdom is the supremely excellent thing; that th…
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of rewnrd (vera, 2, 4, G, 8, 10), e.ncl these commandments must be based on the reco~- promises are brought forward with the view nitiou of the fa.et that the affections of tho to encourage the observe.nee of the duties heart are to be employed in the service of Go<l, the keeping of the commandments is tn recommended …
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l ifc, is unfounded. The scope of the promise xxv.10; xl.11; lvii.4-11'; cviii. 5; cxxxviii. bcl,,rc ns is ccmfined to the present stage of 2), ond, when predicated of ma.n, indic:ite the existence, nnd it is negatived nlso by the hi~hest normal standard or morol porfcction similar use of the plural in eh. xvi. 5, "Iu …
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literally, and find. A peculiar use of the of God and man (b'eyney elohim v'adam); imperotive, tho impern,tive knl (m'tsa) with literally, in the eyes of Eloliim and man; i.e. vau consecutive (1) being equive.lent to the according to the judgment of God and IT'a'l. future, " thou she.It find," ns in the Autho- (Zock…
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"·e nre to rely, but also where we are not to especially iu R01n. xii. 16, "De not wise in reh-. your own couceits" (cf. 1 Oor. viii. 8; Go.l. "\'er. 6.-In all thy ways. This expree- vi. 3). It commends humility. The rliligeut eion covers the whole area of life's action- search for Wisdom is commanded. The grellt a…
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thus they are strengthened: •· His bones are a religious obligation was observed by an- moistened with marrow'' (Job xxi. 24). cient pagan nations (see Dio<l. Sic., i. 14; Where there is an absence of marrow the Pint.,' De lside,' p. 377; Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.,' drying up of the bones ensues, and hence 18. 2 (Ziickler). S…
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sist<'d of two parts, the gath (equivalent to "to f<;.)ect," and then "to despise nnd con• the L11 tin 1-0rcularium. 1-0rc?tl1tm, or t,n-cular; temn.' Tho Te.rgum Jonathan puts the Greek, >-1Jvos, ifott. xxi. 33), into whicll tile thought in a stronger form, ne exeareris, grapes were Ml!ected from the surrounding "d…
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eon whom 110 loves. The idea of the p:i.~sage in Heb. xii. 5, evidently arises from the is evidently tnken from Deut. viii. 5, "Thou translators having read :i~?'. (yalcev), " ho shalt also consider in thine henrt, that as a. scourgeth" for :itp1 (vuk'av), "even as n man chasteneth his son, eo the Lord thy God father."…
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Vulgate, crcqnisilio; LXX., l/L11'op<onr8at. to denote precious stones in geneml. The The gain arising from trading in wisdom is LXX. renders, " She is morn prC'cious than better than that which arises from trading precious stoneo (J..{80,v ,roJ..vT•i\wv)." So the in silver. Sakh'1·crh is the gain or profit Targum J…
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seek her. The LXX. aclds, "Out of her deeming work. "The tree of life is the mouth proceedeth righteousness; justice cross of Christ," lignum vitro crux Christi ancl mel'cy she bea.reth upon her tongue ; " (quoted by Delitzsch). The symbol, Plump- possibly suggested by eh. viii. 3. The tre remarks, entered largely in…
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bring-s her forwnrd ns the meilium of creation, tion of the waters from the citrth, when "the And henoe in her relation to God. By wisdom, waters were gathered togcthel' unto their (b'kol;/1moh); Vulg1tte, ~11.pienti&; LXX., "'ff own place," as recorded in Gen. i. 9. So crocplf!-. It is evident that Wisdom is here M…
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Ver. 21.-lly aon, let not them depart hie twofold nature, internal and external. from thine eyea. After the description of Life is in its highest and widest sense the -power of Wisdom exhibited in creating given to the soul (sfle eh. ii. 16, 18; iv. 22; o.nd eusta.ining the earth, the exhortation to viii. 35), and favo…
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like shakavta, kal perfect, in the correspond- "Let Jove's dread arm with thunders rand ing hcmistich, is from shakav, "to lie down," the spheres, specially to lay one's self down to sleep, ae Beneath the crush of worlds undaunted he in Gen. xix. 4; Ps. iii. 6. Vulgate, si appears." tlormieris; cf. eh. vi. 22, "when th…
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Tho LXX. rencls, 1r-r&11rr111, pa1'orem. n-r611rru, in particular anyone who is to be the recipient in Pinto, Aristotle, and Plulnrch, is used of the good. But the Jewish interpreters subjectively, nnd mee.ns '' e.ny vehement generally (e.g. Ben Ezra.) understand it of emotion." The word only occurs once in the poor, e…
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"to return,'' but to T<'tum again to something (cf. Ps. xxvi. 41 5); but it o.lso has the mean• (so Delitzsch); cf. Vulgate, revertere; and ing "to dwell," a.nd the partioiple yd8hev, ns the words, "to-morrow I will give thee," here userl; in Gen. xix. 23: Judg. vi. 21, show. The LXX. adds, " For thou knowest means" …
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Envy not ; i.e. BB Stuart, " Do not anxiously Ver. 88.-The curse of the Lord is in the covet the booty which men of violence house of the wicked. From ver. 33 to the ELcquire." Success and wealth may follow end of the discourse the contrast is con- from severity and extortion, bnt the mELn tinued between the condition …
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th11t antithetical force here 11s in Job viii. 20. tributive sense, Bs in vcr. 18, or Tea/on, is The lotoly (anayyim); Vulgate, wtnsueti; the subject. Vo.rious interpretations ho.ve LXX., ,,-a,r,ivo,; properly, "the afflicted," been given of the passngc. (l) Tho Vulgato with added notion of submission and lowly rend…
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Much supersUtion prevails on these points. People seem to think that there is a virtue in the mere act of reading a chapter from the Bible, and some seem to go throuah the task as a sort of penance, imagining that they thus score some points to their cr~dit in heaven. The Bible is valuable to us only in so far as it in…
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Vers. 9, 10.-Oonsecrated propirty. I. WE 0AN HONOUR Goo WITII OUR PROPERTY. It is not to be supposed that because religion is a wholly spiritual power it has no bearing on material things. Our religion is a mockery unless it affects the way in which we spend our money, as well as all other conc(lrns of life. Propert…
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II. TnE MOTIVE WITH WHIOH GoD OHABTENS HIS CHILDREN IS FATHERLY LOVE. 1. God must be angry with us for owr sin. His anger, however, is not the fruit of me.ligne.nt hatred, but the expression of grieved love. For love can be angry, nay, sometimes must be, if it is pure e.nd strong. The weak kindliness which is a strange…
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Vers. 27, 28.-Di1atoriness in the payment of fust debts. I. Tms DILATORINESS IB MORALLY cULPADLE, AND MOST INJURIOUS TO SOCIETY. Through thoughtlessness in some cases, through deliberate meanness in others, many people postpone the payment of their just debts as long as possible, though they have the money by them, and…
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formed, and the result will be favour in the sight of God, and a "good opinion" in the minds of men. The two relations form a correlation. 'l'here is no true standing with God which does not reflect itsel_f in the good opinion of good men; no worthy opinion of a ma.n which does not furnish an inde,a; to God's view o…
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languid minds nre the least touched by affliction. In these adjustments, love is still revealed. 6. Suffering must be viewed under the analogy of the parental and filial relation. Let these words once become clear, Father, son, in their application to God's relation to ue, and ours to him, and the theory of sufferini i…
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Vers. 27, 28.-Promptitude in good actions. I. NEGATIVE UNKINDNESS. (Ver. 27.) 1. It consists in withholding good which it is in our power to impart. 2. It is analogous to the refusal to pay a /ust debt. Kindness is the "due" of our fellow-men. 'l'his does not imply the giving to every beggar or borrower. No act is r…
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IlI. A MATTER oF GREAT MOMEN'r ENl"ORCED. This is the cherishino- of the truth by th~ spirit which has received it in t~e love of it. "My son, forget not my law; ... let thme heart keep," etc. (ver. 1); "Bmd them about thy neck; write them upon the tablet of thine heart" (ver. 3). If these precepts are to be duly ca…
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seething, struggling, incomprehensible world-world of circumstance and world of thought-can but make vain guesses as to our true course, and are certain to wander far from the home of Goel. What the shrewdest and cleverest of men most ur"'ently and sorely need is the guiding hand of a heavenly Father, who, through all …
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. Ver~. 11,_ 12.- Wrong views of af!,iction, an~ the right one. Sorrow is a v~ry large rngred1ent m the cup of human hte. It begms so early and lasts so long; 1t lies so near the surface and it strikes so deep into our nature; it is so certain that we shall meet with it before long, and so likely that we may renew o…
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are. His wonder-workings in the heavens above and on the earth beneath, in sun and star, in gre.in and grass, in coal and iron, in rain and dew,-a.ll are the product of Divine wisdom. II. PoBBEBBORB OF IT, WE HAVE A WELL-BEING THAT ENDURES. "Length of days is in her right hand" (ver. 16). "She is a tree of life to the…
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dues may be (1) the wages of the workman; (2) the debt contracted with the trades-' man ; (3) the sum promised to the relative or friend. This may be denied even when it could be easily rendered, through an "avaricious reluctance" to part with money or a culpable disregard of other men's neC61!Sities and claims, Suc…
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EXPOSITION. Bohlius, in bis • Ethics Se.era.,' diap. vi. OHAPTER IV. p. 65, sqq., assigns "discipline" (musar) to Vera. 1-27. -7. Seventh admoflitory this cbo.pter; and Melanctbon describes the discourse. We here enter upon the second admonitions of the chapter before us as group of admonitory discourses, as is indi…
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Solomon, and that the discourse is Solomonic. to yourself wisdom," so the one before ue Compo.re especially ver. 3 with 1 Chron. hM the same force, and signifies the ge.ining :uviii. 5 e.nd xxii. 9, and ver. 18 with the or appropriation of understanding, i.e. the last words of David in 2 Sam. xxiii. 4. faculty of di…
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"s 1,i9 father's advice wns the outcome of David's instructions to Solomon are found affection, so he addresses his hearers in the in 1 Kings ii. 2; 1 Caron. xxil. 12, 13; same spirit. Dathe and others connect xxviii. 9. And he taught; i.e. his fath6r, for "tencler"(rak)with "son" (ben),andrender, viiyyoreni is masculi…
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nc>ecl to supply "it" after the verb al-tish'- prize. There is e. r,Iay upon the words in kakh, " forget not,'' as Holden states, ond e,s the original (htn'yan ki 1.'neh), whioh is pre- appears in the Authorized Version, since served in our tro.nsla.tion. 11hahiihh is found with min (JJ:?), "of" or Ver. 8,-EHlt her,…
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other instances where this verb occnre in the he.s given in times past. So Delitzsch. But pilel form, khrbbele. Esteem and hononr, the Gejerus gives them the combined force of confldence of others, elevation to offices of the past e.nd future, "I have taught anrl I trust and consequence, are some of the re- will more f…
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passive sense, thongh an RCtive signification tho preceding section is obvious. Thore is given it by the Riibbi NRthiin bon Jcchiel, e.ro two ways diametriciilly opposite-the quoted by Delitzsch, in loc., who renders, way of wisdom and the wiiy of evil ; the '' Thou sh0.lt not need to bind together, or one the way of l…
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imperative of dviir, '' to p11es ov&r," equi va- are eo cond_itioned .. 1:here is no comparison lent to Lo.tin tra,mire, here meo.ne " to paee expressed :m the ong:mal, as the rendering on, or along," "to go beyond," like the Ger- adopted. by Schultens o.nd others implies, man Ger weif,er gehn. The counsel of the "For …
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participle of nnother verb, is found in 1 Sam. teaching, 11 But if 11, rnau walk in the night, xvii. 41, "The Philistinc'enme nearer and he stumbloth, because there is no light in nearer (lu5lek v'l.-arev);" I Sam. ii. 26, "The him" (John xi. 10; of. xii. 36). The ex- child Samuel grew on more and more (Mlek pressio…
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each one of thoe~ who receive tho precepts is conveyed to the remotest extremities of of wisdom. •'fhe all implies the cowplete- the body. And as the bodily health de- ness of the restorntion ; it is not confined to pends on the healthy action of the heart, so one part, but pervo.des the whole body. the moral health…
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on," signifies what is strn,ight in front of the soul. The po.sea.go reminds us of the one; adverbially, it bas tho same meaning "single eye" (li1r,\ous), "simple," i.e. intent as that given in the Authorized Version. on heaven nnd God, of Mo.tt. vi. 22. The corresponding "before" (ni!gi!d) is sub. Ver. 26.-Ponder t…
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fo.there and eons had a similar opinion of the best of treasures. One labours to leave heavy legacies in his will; another aims at securing good posts for his sons; a third is proud of the unsullied family honour; but many forget that which alone secures true welfare here and eternal life hereafter. It is beautiful to …
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Ver. 12.-A free course. Religion is looked upon too much in the light of a restraint, and the Christian is often regarded by the world as hampered and shackled by irksome bonds. But the very opposite is suggested by the words of our text. We see the servant of Divine Wisdom running with freedom on his course, and at …
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by inevitable experience; it is not received without conscious effort. What has been won may be lost. That which is not Mtura.lly a. pa.rt of our being may be detached from us. 2. The truth is spiritual. Therefore it belongs to a. different region from that of everyday experience in the world, and It is in danger of be…
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Ver. 18.-" The path of the fust." I. .A. SHINING LIGHT. 1 It has all the great leading characteristics suggested by light, viz. truth, purity, joy, life. Perhaps the leading idea is that of holy gladness. This is to be enjoyed here on earth in those pleasant ways and paths of peace through which Wisdom leads her vot…
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" The world wo.s void, The populous nnd the powerful ,n1.s o. lump, Sensonless, herbless, treeless, mnnless, lifeless- A lump of death-a chaos of hard clo.y. The rivers, lakes, o.nd ocean nil stood still, And nothing Htirred within their silent depths; Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea, And their masts fel…
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God. Feeling that" the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," knowing how powerful are the temptations of the world, we may well despair of keeping the heart pure and safe. God meets us in our helplessness, and offers to keep it for us if we will put our trust and love in him. "My son, give me thy…
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Every higher effort of the intellect rests on memory. Our later life is for the most part the reproduction in other forms of the deep impressions of childhood, III. THE C01''TENTS OF THIS TRADITION ARE SIMPLE, YET PROFOUND, (Vera. 4-9.) They are summed up in "the one thing needful." In opposition to the cynical maxi…
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out of e. perverted consciousness, as the drunkard cannot live without the alcohol which h killing him. III. THE PATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. (Ver. 18.) There is a change of figure; for the image of the path, the image of the advancing light of morning is substituted. 1. Light as an image of moral goodness. It is universal,…
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Vers. 1-13.-The solidtude oj the wise fatlier: a sermon to parents and children. In these verses we have a peep into the royal house at Jerusalem while David wa~ on the throne. And we have such a glimpse as we should expect to gain. We see the devout man extremely solicitous that his son should walk in the ways of D…
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thought is presented, is repeated, is pressed on the reason and the conscience. David evidently yearned, strove, persisted with patient and resolute zeal, that he might con- vince and ip.spire his son with the sacred truths he held so dear. He represented heavenly wisdom, the truth of G'od, rts (1) the thing of surpass…
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Vera. 18, 19.-Dai·kness and light. We have two perfect contrasts in these two verses-the path of the just and the way of the wicked; the one is very closely con- nected with light and the other with darkness. I. SIN AND DARKNESS. (Ver. 19.) We may say that: 1. Sin is darkness. It is (1) the ignorance of the mind; it i…
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v. RESOLUTENESS IN THE I\IGHT PATH, (Ver. 27.) There must be no "tumino- ngain to folly" (Ps. lxxxv. 8); no turning to the right or left into either ma.in hio-h'.:: ways of vice and open sin, or any byways of error and ill-doing. Even the pleas;nt path that seems to skirt the King's highway so closely that at any time …
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CHAPTER V. the wife of one's youth (vcrs. 15-20). And (3) the epilogue, which, in addition to the Vers. 1-23.-S. Eighth admonitory dis- disastrous temporal consequences which ronrse. Warning agai11st adultery, and com- follow on the violation of the sanctity of mendation of ·marriage. The teacher, in marriage, ment…
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oonsidered and prudential, may result in honeycomb. The conjnnction "for" (Hebrew prudent conduct. The word m'zimml)th, ki) here, like the LXX. 'Y(J;p, states the however, does not travel beyond the sphere reason why the preceding exhortation is of wha.t is conceived in the mind, and con- worthy of attention. Some comm…
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may be and is undoubtedly true, but the scription of the harlot. Ker feet go down Inst of her as experienced by thoso who have to death ; her steps take hold on hell. She intercourso with her-her character ns it leads her victims to rnin. She hastens to stands revealed at the last. So it is said of death and the grave,…
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.