The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 49

conclusion, wherein the respective destinies cor. Understanding (:illJl;I, t'tJunah) is hero of the pious Rnd wicked are portrayed. The interchanged witli "wisdom," which must partiole "if" (o~) is conditional, and serves determine its meaning to some extent. The to introduce the series of clauses (,·ers. 1-4) LXX. interpreters take it ns 0-611,rns, "the which lay down the conditions upon which fo.cultyof comprehension." Like ;ii•:;i (tJi11al,) the promises <lepend, and which form the in eh. i. 2, the word describes the faculty of protasis to the double apodosis in vers. 5 distinguishing or separating: but it does not and 9. De W t'lto, Meyer, and Delitzsch appear to be here used as representing this regard it a5 volnntati're, as expressing a wish •• as o. faculty of the soul, but o.s o. Divine on the pa1t of the teacher, and translate, power which communicates itself as the gift "Oh that thou wouldst!" and tl~, "if," is of God" (Delitzsch). A second o.nd perhaps used in this wav in Ps. cxxxix. 19; but the simpler sense may be given to the sentence. LXX. (Uv) and Vulgate (si) make it con• It may mean the turning or applying of the ditional. It is repeated in an emphatic heart in 1111 affectionate and loving way, i.e. form in vcr. 3. Receive. The verbs "re- with full purpose, to the discrimination of ceive" and "hide" show that the endeavour what is right and what wrong. The ideas after Wisdom is to be candid and sincere. of wisdom and understanding seem to some •• To receive" (;if?.~) seems to bo here used, extent to be brought forward as personifica- tions. They are things outside of ourselves, like the Lll. li,xfreiu, in the sense of "to to which we have to give attention. Religion receive graciously," "to admit the words of appeals not only to the affections, but also Wisdom." It is noticeable that there is a to the intellect, as this satisfies all the yearn- gradation in emphasis in the various terms ings of our nature. here used by the t.eacher. Just as'' command- Ver. 3.-Yea, if thou criest after know- ments" is stronger than •'words," so "hide" ledge. The endeavour after Wisdom is not is stronger than ·• receive." The emphasizing only to be sincere, it is also to be earnest, is carried on in the following verses in the as appears from the "yea, if," and the verbs same way, and at length culminates in ver. "crying" and "lifting up the voice," both 4, which sums up the ardent spirit in which of which frequently occur in Scripture as the search after Wisdom is to be prosecuted indicating earnestness. This earnestness is in presenting it to us in its strongest form. the counterpart of that which Wisdom herself Ride. ThA original ()~¥, tsaphan) is here displays (see eh. i. 20, 21). Knowledge; i.e. 11Sed in a different sense to that in which insight. In the original there is practically it occurs in eh. i. 11 and 18. It liere refers, little difference between "knowledge'' and as in eh. vii. 1 ; x. 14 ; and xiii. 22, to the "understanding" (;ii•~ and ;iii:ir:,). They storing or laying up, as of treasure, in some carry on the idea expressed in "understand- secret repository, and means "to lay up." ing" in the preceding verse, and thus throw The Divine commands of the teacher are to the empliasis on the verbs. The LXX. and be hidden in safe custorly in the memory, Vulgate, however, take ''knowledge" as in the understanding, in the conscience, and equivalent to rro,pla, sapientia, "wisdom." in the heart (cf. eh. iv. 21; vii. I). The The reading of the Targum, "If thou callest psalmist expresses the same idea in Ps. understanding thy mother," arises from read- cxix. 11, "Thy words have I hid in my ing tl!I for o~, but is not to be preferred to heart, that I might not sin against thee." the Masoretic text, as it destroys the Ver. 2.-This 'l"erse is dependent on the parallelism. preceding. So that thou incline. The literal Ver. 4.-If thou seekest, eto. The climax trarulation is "to incline ; " but the inclina- in the series of conditions is reached in this tion of the ear and tbe application of the heart verse; and the imagery employed in both follow as a consequence upon the preceding clauses indicates that the search nfter Wis- ideas (cf. the Vulgate, ut audiat 8apientiam dom is to be persetJering, unrelaxing, and auru tua). The root-idea. of the original diligent, like the unremitting toil and labour (:Jl?'P., ka8ha1J) is "to sharpen," viz. the ear with wliich men carry on mining operations. "To seek" (ll't;1, bakash) in the original is as expre;;sed, e.nd so to give diligent atten- tion to the precepts of Wisdom. In eh. i. properly "to seek diligently" (pie!), and is 24 it is rendered "to regard.'' To apply kindred to "t.o search" (li:IPR• khaphas), which thine heart is to turn the heart with the again is equivalent to "to dig" (,~r;i. ltha- whole scope of its powers, in the spirit of phar), the Vulgate effodere, "to dig out." humility and eagerness, to understanding. Compare tb:e expression in Job iii. 21, "And As the ear represents the outward vehicle dig for it more than for hid treasures." We of communication, so the heart (:i',, lev) re- trace in these verbs the idea in the mind of presents the inward, the intellectual faculty, the teacher indicated above, which finds the mind, or it may mean the affections as expression also in the object of tlie search, 1uggested by the LXX. Kap~la and Vnlgate • the silver, in its orude et.ate, u.nd the hirlden • OH, II, 1--22.] THE PROVERBS. 35