sense, i.e. the upright, a.s in Im. v. 20. The <Tovnu, "shall remoin;" permanebunt, Vul- Ynlgntc renders, i,1 via bouu, "in tlie. good gate. way." " The way of good men" is the way Ver. 22.-But the wiokod shell be out ol! of God's commandments, the way of obedi- from the earth, The punishment of the ence, Keep, The Hebrew verb •t?;;i (shamar) wicked is contrasted with the blessings that is here used in the sense of "to observe," a.re promised to the upri~ht. Shall be cut off; "to attend to,'' but in a different sense from 1nJJl.' (yikl,aretliu), niph. future of n::,;, Ps. xvii. 4, "I have observed the ways of (lca,·ath), "to cut off, or destroy." LXX., the violent man," i.e. that I might avoid clJ\.ouv-ra.1; Vulgate, perdentur. The expres- them. To keep the paths of the righteous sion is used to convey the idea of ex term i- is to carefullv attend to the life of obedience nation, as in Ps. xxxvii. 9 (cf. Job xviii. 17; which thev • follow. The LXX. closelv Ps. xxxvii. 28; civ. 35), The verb is found connects this verse with the preceding, and also in Gen. uii. 14; Exod. xii. -15. T11e renders," For if they had walked in good ways, t1arth; properly, the land. 'fhe same word they would have found the paths of righteous- (Y:,~, arets) is used as in ver. 21. The trans- ness light." gressors (ci•:r~\:.i, bog'dim); here employed Ver. 21.-l!'or the upright shall dwell in the la.nd. l\Iuch the same language is met synonymously with "the wicked" (Cl'J?tr'., with in Ps. xxxvii. 29, " The righteous shall y'shaim), "the impious." The p1ime.cy- inherit the laud, and dwell therein for ever." mee.ning of the verb from whioh it is derived It is the secure and peaceful dwelling in the (1~~. bagad) is "to c_over," •~ to deal treach- land which is intended (cf. eh. x. 30). To erously," and.hence the word signifies those dwell in the land was always put forward as who a.et treacherously or perfidiously, the the reward of obedience to God's command- faithless. They are those who perfidiously ments (see Exod. x.x, 12; Lev. xxv. 18; depart from God, and break away from the xxvi. 5), and the phrnse conveyed to the covenant wHh Jehovah. LXX., .,..a,pa.voµ.o, Hebrew mind the idea of one of the greatest, (cl'. eh. xi. 3, 6; xiii. 2, 25; xxii. 12; Ps. if not the greatest, of all temporal blessings. xxv. 3; lix.. 5; Isa. :xx.xiii. 1). Shall be The love of country was a predominant rooted out (1np•, yiss'lchu). This word is characteristic of tbe race. Elster, quoted by ta.ken by De.vidaon as the future kal of n~J Zockler, remarks," The Israelite was beyond (nasah), "to pluck up," and hence is the power of natural feeling, which makes equivalent to "they shall pluok up," or, home dear to every one, more closely bound passively, "they shall be plucked up." De- to tbe ancestral soil by the whole form of the litzsch remarks that it is as o.t eh. xv. 25 and theocracy ; torn from it, he was in the inmost P~. Iii. 7, aotive, "they shall pluck up," and roots of life strained e.nd broken. Especially this with the subject remaining indefinite is from psalms belonging to the period of the equivalent to the passive form, "they shall exile this patriotic feeling is breathed out in be plucked up." This indefinite " they" the fullest glow and intensity." The land can be used of God, as also in Job vii. 3 (n.1$, arets) was the promised land, the land (Fleischer). The expression bas been under- of Canaan. The word is not need here in stood as referring to being driven in to exile the wider sense in which it occurs in Matt. (Gesenius), e.nd this view would be amply v. 5, " Blessed are the meek: for they shall justified by the fate which overtook the inherit the earth." And the perfect shall apostate no.tion when both the kingdoms of remain in it; i.e. tlley shall not, as Rabbi Levi Israel and Judah suffered this fo.te (of. remarks, be driven thence nor caused to LXX. •~c.,6-f,<Tov-ra.,, '' they shall be driven migrate. The perfect (ci•r;i•r;ir, th'mi-mim), out"). It also derives colour from the the holy (LXX., 311,01), the spotless (imma- lan"uage of the preceding verse, but the culati, Ta.rg,im), those without o. stain (qui ime'.'aery appears to be derived from the cut- gine /a.l,e, Syrie.c), the gnileless (simplices, ting" down and rooting up of trees. The Vulgate). Shall remain; 1,ii,: (yivvath'ru), de.struction of the wicked and transgressors will be complete. They shall be extermi- nipll. folnre of ,n: (yathar), properly "to nated ( cf. Targum, eradicabuntur; Syriac, Le reduudant," and in the niph. form, "to evellentur; o.nd Arabic, exterminabuntur). be left," or •' to remain." LXX., V'IToJ\.fiq,8~-
HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-5.-J?ie search/or wisdom. I. DIVINE WIB~OM MUST BE BOUG~T _BEFORE IT CAN BE FOUND. It is true that Wisdom cries aloud lll the street and_ mv1te~ the icrnorant o.nd simple to partake of her stores. But the burde~ of her cry 1s to_ bid us E~ek her. It is the voice of invitation, not that of revelation. The latter 1s only audible to those who incline their ears purposely and thoughtfully. '£he thoughtless OIi, U, 1-22,] THE PROVERBS. 43