THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED nY THE
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN OF GLOUCESTER;
AND BY THE
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
WITH
INTRODUCTIONS BY THE
VERY REV. F. W. FARRAR, D.D., F.R.S., DEAN OF CANTERBURY. RIGHT REV. H. COTTERILL, D.D., F.R.S.E. VERY REV. PRINCIPAL J. TULLOCH, D.D. REV. CANON G. RAWLINSON, M.A.. REV. A. PLUMMER, M.A., D.D.
NEW EDITION.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1906 .PRINTED 13V WILLIAM CLf?WES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
(Tiu riglzls of translation antl re/rotluction are reserved.) THE
PULPIT COMMENTARY, EDITED BY THE
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DBAll' 01' GLOUOUTD:
AND BY TllB
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
PR OV.E RBS. <!xposHion BY REV. W. J. DEANE, M.A.., BECTOR OP AllHSN ;
AND !IT
REV. S. T. T.A.YLOR-T.A.SWELL, M.A., BJ:CTOR OP .WlTB.ERLEY.
1t1omilrtfcs IlY REV. PROFESSOR W. F . .A.DENEY, M.A. 111omflits b12 Wnrious !autf)ot!. ltEV. PROF. E. JOHNSON, M.A.. BEV. W. CLARKSON, B..A.
NEW EDITION.
;FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YORK 1906 THE PROVERBS.
INTRODUCTION.
§ I. NAME OF THE Booir. THE book which we are about to consider takes its general title f'rom the words with which it opens in the Hebrew original, • The Pro,erbs of Solomon '-Mishle Shelomoh. This name, or, in an abbreviated form, Mishle, has always been current in the Jewish Church. Later, in rabbinical writings, it was cited under the appellation of Sepher Chocmah, 'Book of Wisdom,' which title also included Ecclesiastes. In the Septuagint it is headed Il.apo,µla, laXwµ.wvTo; in some manuscripts, though in others, and those the earliest, the name of Solomon is omitted. St. Jerome, in the Latin V ulgate, gives a longer title : 'Liber Proverbiorum quem Hebrmi Misle appellant.' Among the early Christian writers, in addition to the name given in the Septuagint, it was called lo<J,{a, 'Wisdom,' or 'H Il.avapETo, locp{a, 'All- virtuous Wisdom,' though this last title was also applied to Ecclesiasticus and the Book of Wisdom. Clemens Romanus, in his 'Epistle to the Corinthians' (i. 57), heads a quotation from eh. i. 23-33 thus: Oin-w, yap >..lyu ~ IlavapETo, lo<J,{a, "Thus saith All-virtuous Wisdom." That this was commonly received as the designation of our book is clear also from Eusebius, who writes (' Hist. Eccl.,' iv. 22), "Other passages also, as if from unwritten Jewish tradition, Hegesippus cites; and not only he, but Irenieus, and the whole band of ancient writers, called the 'Proverbs of Solomon' 'Pa.naretos Sophia.'" It is true that in the writings which are attributed to Irenieus still extant, quotations from the Proverbs are cited simply as Scripture without further definition, but we have no reason to discredit Eusebius's testimony concerning a matter with which he must have been well acquainted. Two other titles are found, viz. 'H locp~ B{/31'.o;, 'The Wise Book,' so ce.lled by Dionysius of Alexandria; and Ila,8ayW")ltK71 locp{a, • Educational Wisdom,' by Gregory of Nazianzum. Melito of Sardi11 (1\ccording to Eusebius, 'Hist. Eccl.,' iv. 26) states, in giving 11, catalogue PBOVERE~ b ii INTRODUCTION TO 1 of canonical Scriptures, that the book was known by the name of 'locf,{a., 'Wisdom,' as well as that of 'Proverbs of Solomon.' This title, which, better perhaps than that of Proverbs, expresses the chief subject of the work, seems not to have been invented by the primitive Christian writers, but to have been derived from still earlier times, and to have been banded down by that unwritten Jewish tradition of which Eusebius speaks. In considering the appropriateness of the usual name of our book, we must sec what is meant by the Jewish term mishle, "proverbs," as we trans• late it. The word mashal bas a much wider significance than our word "proverb." It is derived from a root meaning" to be like," and therefore has primarily the meaning of comparison, similitude, and is applied to many discourses, sentences, and expressions which we should not class under the head of proverbs. Thus Balaam's prophecy is so called (Numb. xxii. 7, etc.); so too Job's didactic poem (Job xxvii. 1); the taunting satire in Isa. xiv. 4, etc. ; the parables in Ezek. xvii. 2 and xx. 49, etc. ; the song in Numb. xxi. 27, etc. It is often translated "parable" in the Authorized Version, even in the book itself ( eh. xxvi. 7), and in the historical psalm (lxxviii.), the second verse of which St. Matthew (xiii. 35) tells us Christ fulfilled when he spake by parables. This would lead· us to expect ·to find other meanings in the term and under the husk of the outward form. And, indeed, the Hebrew mashal is not confined to wise or pithy sayings, express. ing in pointed terms the experience of men and, ages; such an account would, as we see, be most inadequate to describe the various forms to which the term was applied. That there are in our book numerous apothegms and maxims, enforcing moral truths, explaining facts in men'.s lives and the course of society, which are proverbs in the strictest sense of the word, is obvious; but a very large proportion of the utterances therein are not covered by that designation. If the notion of comparison at first restricted the term to sayings containing a simile, it soon overstepped the bounds of such limitation, and comprehended such brief sentences as conveyed a popular truth under figures or metaphors. 0£ this sort is the pointed query, " Is Saul also among the prophets ? " (1 Sam. x. 12) ; and, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge " (Ezek.. x-viii. 2); and, "Physician, heal thyself" (Luke iv. 23). In many so-called proverbs the contrasted objects are placed side by side, leaving the hearer to draw his own deduction: In the longer pieces so-named a single idea. is worked out at some length in rhythmical form. Further, under this general category are contained also dark sayings, riddles, intricate questions_ ( chidah), which have always had great attraction for Oriental minds. •The Queen of Sheba, we are told, came to try Solomon with hard questions (1 Kings x. 1); as the Septuagint renders it, "with enigmas.'' Probably such puzzles are found in eh. :xxx., and in many of those passages which, according as they are pointed, are capable of very different interpretations. There is one other word used in this connection (eh. i. 6)--melitsah, which is rendered, :in the Authorized Version " interpretatio:tl," ,i,nd i.µ the Revieed Version " a THE PROVERBS. iii