| for practice is the great defign of this Book. r Such as are hard to *Job 28: be underſtood by inconſiderate and ungodly men, but to be found 58. out by diligent, and humble inquiry.
Pal: 1217.
* 1 Kings
&. 32+ Chap. 19. 1, & 25. 1s
ſl O r, ads viſement,
fCha.g. 9.
7 * The fear of che LORD s 3s || the beginning # of
To. know:edge : but fools u deſpiſe wiſdom and in{tructi- Chap 9.10. 1 4
rage s Reverence and obedience to God, or his Worſhip and Service, ; > © as this word is commonly uſed: # Either the Foundation, or the principal T Et; 62-6 end "rh" Mick all” ooh part OP, anu Pci ECt1ON, Or CAIET point, without WAICN all ofnher s kn wledge is vain anduielets « Wicked men, called Folsrhrough this whole Book; ſuch as do not fear God. x» Are fo far from at- taining true wiſdom, t::at they detpiſe it, and all the means of get- tingit Which fully proves what he now ſaid, that che fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wiſdom.
8 My ſon y, * hear the inſtruction of thy father z,
- He wp 5 and forfake not the law of thy mother 4.
y He ſpeaks to his Scholars with paternal Authority andAffection | Teachers amohg the |
to make them more attentive and obedient Hebrews and others, were commonly called Fathers, and their Scho-
Jars their Sos. z His good and wholſome Counſels, bur nor ſuch zs |
are contrary to Gods Law, Prov 19. 27. 4 Thoſe pious inſtructi- ons which thy Mother inſtilled into thee in thy render years. See Prov. 31. 8. 2 Tim: 1:5. 6 3: 14, '5. This he adds, becauſe Children when grown up, are very prone to flight their Mothers advice, becauſe of the hr ales of their Sex, and becauſe they have not that dependance upon, and expectation irom their Mothers, which they have from their Fathers.
9 For they ſhall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck 6.
6 This will make thee amiable and honourable in the ſight of God. and of men ; whereas the forfaking of taoſe good Counſels will make thee contemprible.
10 My 1on, it finners c entice thee, conſent thou not.
c Eminently ſo called. as Gen. 13 13. Pſal. r. x. and 26: 9. ſuch as fe!] themſelves to work all ma: ner cf wickedneſs : particularly Thieves, arc Robbers, arid Murtherers, as appears from the next verie,as alſo opprefiors and cheaters, by comparing this with v.19.
11 If tiiey fay, Come with us 4, icc us lay wait for B_ e ; ler us wrkprivily f for the innocent g without Gaule þ
F Heb: an #dajng,
E R B $. d We are numero'ts and Rrong, and ſociable. e To ſhed Blood, He expreficth nor their words, which would rather affright than in- veigle a young novice, bur the true nature and conſequence ofthe Action, and whar lyes at the bottom of their ſpecious prerences: f So we ſhall ncither be prevented before, nor diſcovered and puniſhed afterward. g Harmlcts Travellors,"who are more carejeſs and ſe- cure and unprovided for oppoſition, than ſuch Villains as them- ſelves. þ Though they have not provoked us, ner deſerved th's uſage from us. This Solon adds to diſcover their malignity and batenceſs, and fo deter the young Man from aſſociation with rhem.
whole, as thoſe that go down into the pit &.
i Which ſpeedily covers and conſumes dead bodies. Sce Pſal. 55. 33. ts. & 124. 3. We ſhall do our work quickly, ealily, and without fear of diſcovery. k Into ſome deep pir, into which a Traveller falls unawares, and is utterly loſt and never diſcovered.
i2 We ſhall find all precious ſubltance ; we ſhall fill cur houſes with ſpoil /. |
I As our danger is little, fo our profit will be great.
14 Caſt in thy lot among us m2 ; let us all have one purſe » : |
m i e, Put in thy Money into our Stock. Or rather, thou ſha!; ca5t thy It among(t us, 1. e. Thou thalt have a ſhare with us, and that equally and by lot, although thou arr but a Novice and we Vete- ranes. This agrees beſt with their deſign, which was toallure him by the promile ofadvantage, » Or, we wil have. &c. One Purie {ha]l receive all our profits, and furniſh us with all expencess $o we ſhall live with great facility and true friendſhip.
15 My fon *, walk nor thou in the way with them o; refrain thy foot from cheir path p.
o Avoid their courſes, and their converſation, and company. Þþ When thou haſt any thought, or inclination, or temptation to fo]- low their counſels or examples, ſurppreſs it, and reſtrain thy ſelf as ' it were by force and violence, as the word implies.
ſhed blood s.
q They make haſte, as it follows without conſidering what they are doing. + To do evil to others as was expreſſed, wv. ti, i2. which alſo will bring evil upon themſelves. 5s To ſhed innocent blood : which is an inhumane and dangerous practice.
17 Surely in vain the net is ſpread Þ in the ſight of a- ny bird x. SE |
t The deſign of theſe words is to ſet forth the folly of theſe men that hy by the {imilitude of a Bird, which yet is very variouſly applied and wing. underſtood by divers Interpreters. Bur Iſhall not confound the Rea- der with the rehearſal of them. This Clauſe, i vain, upon the un- derſtanding whereof the whole depends, may be underſtood, either I. 1n reſpett of the Fowler, So the ſenſe is, the Fowler who ſpreads his Net in the ſight of the Bird Ioſeth his labour, becauſe the Bird perceiving the danger, will not be tempred to come to the Bairt,bur flees away from it. But, or yet, th:ſe ( as the firſt words of the next Verſe may well be, and by the Chaldee Tranſlator are rendred) are more fo0};ſh than the ſilly Birds, and tho they are not ignorant of the danger and miſchief which theſe evil courles will bring upon theme ſelves, which I have here repreſented, yet they will not take ware ning, but 1nadly ruſh upon their own ruine. Or. 2.in reſpe& of the Bird. $0 the Senſe is, The filly Bird, although it ſee the ſpreading of the Net, yer is not at all inſtructed and cautioned by it, bur through the greedineſs of the bait, ruſheth upon it, and is taken by it. And theſe men are not one jot wiſer, but albeir they know and find that by theſe practices they expoſe themſelves to the juſtice cf the Magiſtrat,and to the vengeance of God, the ſad effects where« of they daily ſee in the deſtruction of . their Brerhren in iniquiry, yer they will boldly and madly run themſelves into the ſame mi ſeries. Both ways the ſenſe comes to the ſame. |
18 Anda they lay wait for their own blood x ; they lurk privily for their lives. |