The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 24

though a symbolical meo.ning has been an ornament of grace." The Hebrew ,7;)~ attached to them by the rabbis(eee Rabbi Sa- (liv'yah)is derived from the root ;i,~ (lavah), lomon, in loo.)," father" being understood as representing God, an(! "mother," the people. "to wind a roll" (Delitzsch) or "to be But the terms are !bore than merely figura- joined closely with" (Gese!3ins)! and hence tive expressions (Stuart). Those who look signifies an ornament that 1s tW1sted, and so upon the Proverbs as the address of Solomon a wreath or garland. Gejeros and Schul- to hie son Rehoboam naturally take" father" tens translate the phrase by <XJrolla grati- as standing for the former. Ne.~mah, _in osa, i.e. "a crown full of grace," ancl so this case must be the mother (1 Kmgs xiv. meaning conferring or produc1_ng grace, 81). It is almost unnecessary to stat~ that just as the expression, "the chastisemen~ of pious parents are presupposed, and that 01;1ly onr peace" (Isa. !iii. 5), means the cbast1s?- that instruction and law can be meant which ment bringing or procurrng our peace. So is not inconsistent with the higher and more aaain. a "precious stone," •in eh. xvii. 8, m"argin "a stone of grace," is one conferring perfect Law of God (Gejerus, Wardlaw). And forsake not the law of thy mother. gracefuiness. The marginal reading, " an Forsake. The radical meaning of l!ir!>('I (tit- adding" (additamentum, Vata~lus), convey~, though obscurely, the sam~ idea; and this toeh) is that of "spreading," then of " scat- sense is ao-ain reproduced m the Vulgate, tering" (Aiken), and so the word comes to ut addatur°gratia capitifsuo (" in order thnt mean" forsake, reject, or neglect." The LXX. grace may be added to thy head"). 'J'.he reads ,i,r~crp, from d.,ro9.~"'i abjicere, ." to push LXX. reads, cr-re.pavos xapl-r•"'· And cha.ins away reject." Cf. abjwias (Arabic). The about thy neck. Chains; properly, necklaces; Vulg~te has dimittae, i.e. "abandon," and C'j?#]f (anakim), plural of p~ (anak), "a tho Syriac, obliviscarie, i.e. " forget." The law· niir.i (torath), construct case of ;i:,m collar or necklace;" the ,cJ\.o,6s xptcr,os, or ( tor~h), from the root ;,~ (yarah ), "to teach," "golden collar," of the LXX., and torques (i.e. twisted neckchain) of the Vulgate. hence here equivalent to "a law" in the se_nse There is a very apposite parallel to this of that which teaches- precept ( doctnna, verse in eh. vi. 20, 21 (cf. eh. iii. 3; see also Jun. et Tremell., Piscat., Castal., Versions). Judg. viii. 26). The gold chain round the With. one exception (eh. viii. 10), it is ~he neck was II mark of distinction, and was term which always expresses the mstruction conferred on Joseph by Phare.oh when in- given by Wisdom (Delitzsch). The law vesting him with authority and dignity (torah) of the mother is that preceptive (Gen. xli. -12), and on Daniel by Belshazzar teaching which she imparts. orally to _her in the same way (Dan. v. 29 ; see Song of son but torah is also used m e. techmcal Solomon iv. 9). The mere adornment of the sen~e as lez, v&p.os 'lifrp.os, that which is. lai~ person with gold and pearls, without ~he down and established, e. decretum or insti- further adornment of the moral character With tutum, and designates some distinct pro- Christian e-races is deprecated both by St. vision or ordinance, as the le.w of sacrifice Paul and St. Pet~r (see 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10, and (Lev. vi. 7). In Josh. i 8 we find it em- 1 Pet. iii. 3, 4). Neck, n,,r:,~ (gar'g'roth) ployed to signify the whole body of the Mosaic Law (sepherhatorah). Mother. Not only occurs in the plural (Ges·eniW!). (See insertsd here as a natural expansion of the eh. iii. 3, 22; vi. 21.) idea of the figure required by the laws ~f Ver. 10.-My son, if sinners entice thee. poetic parallelism (as. Ziickler), since this (As to the form of address, se~ ver. 8'.) It is weakens the force of the passage. Mothors here used because the writer 1s passrng to a are mentioned bece.use of their sedulousness warning against bad company, and hence in imparting instruction (Bayne). the term is emphatic, e.nd in_tend~d to c~ especial attention to what 1s slUd. It is Ver. 9.-For they (she.II be) an ornament repeated ngaiu in ver. 15, at a _furthe~ stage of graoe unto thy head, 'fhe sentiment here in this n<ldress, with the same new. Sinners; expressed is put forward as an inducement C'Nlj)n (kllottaim), the plural of N~i:, (khatta), to youth to observe obedience towards the f~m- the root Nr!ln (khata), properly "to miss instruction of the fother e.nd the law of the the mark, to e~ ~" cf. Greek, dp.ap-rd.1101, " t? mother, and the meaning is that,_just as in sin" (Gesenius), here equivalent to "habi- popule.r opinion ornaments e.nd Jewels are tual, abandoned sinnera," and those espe- supposed to set off the pe~sonal form, so cially who make robbery and b~oods~ed a obedience towards parents III the ways of profession. Not simply peceantes, 1.e. smners virtue embellishes the moral oharacter as a gencrio designation of the human race, (Bayne, Cartwright, Holden). An ornament for "All have sinned and come short of the of grace; Hebrew, l!J M~)? (liv'yath k11en); glory of God" (Rom .. iii. ~3), but p~ccatores litere.lly, a, w-reath or garlan~ of i,race . . We (Chaldee, Syrie.o, Paglll., T1gur., Vers1_ons an~ meet with the same expre~s1on m eh. 1v. 9, Vulgate), "sinners," i.e. those who s~n. ha.b1- "She [i.e. wisdom] shall give to thine head tue.lly, knowingly, wilfully, and me.holOusly  'l'HE PROVERBS. [on. x. 1-33. -------------------------------------- (Gcjcrus). or those who givo themselves up tro11 aYµ,a'Tos, i.e. "let us share in blood." On t.o iniquity, nud persunde others to follow the other hand, J~~ (tzaphan), from which their example (Cartwright). In the New :ii!),~ (nitz'p'nah), translated in the Autho- Testament they are styled dµ,ap'T6'J\ol. They a.re those of whom David spoake in strik- rized Version, "let us lurk privily," is " to ingly parallel language in Ps. xxvi. 9, hide or conceal," and intro.ns. "to hide one's "Gather not my soul with sinners (khattaim ), self," or ellipt., "to hide nets, snares" (Gese- nor my lire with bloody men" (cf. Ps. i. 1). uius, Holden). This sense agrees with the The LX.X. has lfvSp,s drnfkis (i.e. ungodly, Vulgate abscondamus tendioulas; i.e. " let unholy men). Entice thee; "]lr-l1J; (y'phat- us conceal snares." Delitzscb, however, holds that no word is to be understood with tukha) ; the piel form, ;i;;,!a> (pitah ), of the this verb, and traoes the radical meaning to kal :i;;,\? (pafah), "to open," and hence to that of restraining one's self, watohing, lurk- make accessible to persuasion, akin to the ing, in the sense of speculari, "to watch for," Greek 'll'EL6eiv, "to persuade." The noun insidiari, "to lay wait for." The two verbs •;:ii;, (p'fl,i), is "one easily enticed or per- combine what may be termed the apparatus, suaded" (Gesenins). The LXX. reads µ,¾, the arrangement of the plot and their lurk- r.>..c.vi1rr"'rrw, "let them not lead thee astray." ing iu ambush, by which they will await The idea is expressed in the Vulgate by their victims. For blood (c-;,7, l'dam). The lactavc,·i11t; i.e. "if sinners allure or deceive context (see vers. 12 and 16), bearing as it thee with fair words." The Syriac, Montan., does upon bloodshed accompanying robbery, J u.i. et Tremell., Versions read pel"lexerint, from pellicio, "to entice." Consent thon not. requires that the Hebrew cf (l' dam) should bo understood here, as Fleischer remarks, (N;)r:-',~, al-tolleN). The Masoretie text hero either elliptically, for "the blood of men," has bee:i emended by Kennicott and De Rossi, as the Jewish interpreters explain, or syne- who, on tho joint authority of fifty-eight dochically, for the person, with especial manuscripts, maintain that N;)r'l (toveN)shonld reference to his blood being shed, n,s in Ps. be written l>:;)t<ci (to1S1Jeis). Others read t<::lQ xciv. 21, Vatablns, Cornelius a Lapide, and (tavoN), i.e. ·• thou shalt not go," which, Gesenins support the latter view (cf. Micah though good sense, is incorrect. ..i,~ (al) is vii. 2, "They all lie in wait for blood," i.e. the adverb of negation, i.q. µ,¾,, ne. The for bloodshed, or murder. c;r (dam) may Hebrew is;)h (to'De!>:) is derived from ;i.i1;1 be also taken for life in the sense that "the (avah), "to agree to, to be willing" (Gese- blood is the life " (Dent. xii. 23). Let us nius, Delitzsch), the preformative is being lurk privily for the innocent without co.use. omitted, and is accurately rendered by the The relation of the phrase, "without cause" (CJr,, khinnam), in this sentence is a matter LXX., µt} fJov7l'fJ6ffs, and the Vulgate, ne acquiescas. The warning is especially of much dispute. It may be taken either brief and striking. The only answer to all with (1) the verb (as in the Authorized Ver- enticements of evil is a decided negative sion, Wordsworth, Luther, Van. Ess, Noyes, (Plnmptre). Compare St. Paul's advice to Zockler, Delitzsoh, Hitzig, LXX., Syriac, tlie Ephesians (Eph. v. 11, "And have no Rasbi, Ralbac), and then" lurk privily with- fellowship with the unfruitful works of out cause" is equivalent to (a) without darkness, bnt rather reprove them"). having any reason for revenge and enmity (Zockler), i.e. though they have not pro- Ver.11.-If they say, Come with us, let us voked UB, nor done us e.ny injury, yet let ns lny wait for blood. The teacher here puts hurt them, in the sense of absque causd into tl,e month of the sinners, for the sake (Mnnsterns, Paganini Version, Piscatoris of vivid representation, the first inducement Version, Mercerus), dli,,cws (LXX.), iniqU6 with which they seek to allure youth from (Arabic); (b) with impunity, since. none the paths of rectitude, viz. privacy and con- will avenge th~m in th~_sense _of Job 1~. 1_2 cealment (Cartwright, Wardlaw). Both the (this is the view of Lowestem, but 1t IS verbs ::i::i1;1 (arav) and J~~ (tzaphan) mean rejected by Delitzsch); or (2) it may bo •• to lay in wait" (Zockler). The radical taken with the adjective "innocent," in meaning of arav, from which ;"1;!7!;!J (neer'- which case it means (a) him that is inno- vah), "let us lay in wait" (Authorized_ Ver- cent in vain; i.e. the man whose innocence sion) is taken, is "to knot, to weave, to mter- will in vain protect (Zockler, Holden), who twine." Verbs of this class are often applied gets nothing by it (Plumptre),. or,. innoc~nt io snares and craftineas ( of. the Greek 6d>,011 in vain, since God does not vrndicate him vrpatvu11, and the Latin inBidias =tere, "to (Gorneli~s a Lo.pide). On the analogy. of weave plots, or lay snares"). Generally, 1 Sam. Xll. 5; xxv. 31; Ps. x.x.xv. 19; l.x.i.L urav is equivalent to "to watch in ambush" 4 • Lam. iii. 52, it seems preferable to adopt (Gesenius); cf. the Vulgate, insidiemur Ban- the first connection, and to take the adverb guini; i.e. "let ue lay wait for blood." The with the verb. In the whole of the passage LXX. parapl.u-ases the expression, 1<0111rfJ1171- there is an evident allusion to nn evil preva- OII, I. 1-33,] THE PROVERBS, 9