The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 119

oonsidered and prudential, may result in honeycomb. The conjnnction "for" (Hebrew prudent conduct. The word m'zimml)th, ki) here, like the LXX. 'Y(J;p, states the however, does not travel beyond the sphere reason why the preceding exhortation is of wha.t is conceived in the mind, and con- worthy of attention. Some commentators sequently does not mean conduct (ae Holden render '' although,'' "albeit," as correspond- oonceivee), except in a secondary sense, as ing with the antithetical "but" in ver. 4. tha.t thoughts and plans are the necessary The lips; Biphthey, the construct cas0 of 11reliminarics to action and conduct. Mnffet, saphah in ver. 2. The organ of speech is in loc., explains, "that thou mayest not here userl fo-r the speech itself, like the conceive in mind any evil or vanity." The parallel "mouth." A strangewrYTnan (zarah); word m'z,mmoth is the plural of m'zrmmah, i.e. the harlot. The word occurs before in which occurs in eh. i. 4. This word eh. ii. 16, and again in eh. v. 20; ,ii. 5; generally means any plan, project, device, xxii. 14 ; xxiii. 33. She is extranea, a either in a good or bad sense. In the latter stranger with respect to the youtn whom sense it is applied to intrigue and deceitful she would beguile, either as being of foreign conduct, as in eh. xxiv. 8. It is here used extraction, or as being the wife of another in a good sense. Indeed, Delitzsch remarks man, in which capacity she is so represented that the use of the word in a good sense is in eh. vii. 19. In this sense she would be peculiar to the introductory part of the an adulteress. St. Jerome, in Ezek. vi., Pl'Overbs (eh. i.-ix.). The Vulgate renders, takes her as the representative of the allure• "That thou mayest guard thy thoughts or mente from sound doctrine, and of corrupt reflection ( ut cw,todiaa cogita.tiones). " So the worship (Wordsworth). Drop aa an honey- LXX., •rv,. </lvll.a!11s l11vo1a11 a:ya8f111, "That comb (nophi!th trthoph'nah); rather, distil thou mayest guard good reflection," the honey. The Hebrew nophi!th is properly adjective d'Ya8f, being introduced to note the a. "dropping," distillatio, and so the honey sense in which the 111110,a, i.e. act of thinking, flowing from the honeycombs (tsuphim). properly, is to be understood. The prefix Kimchi explains it as the honey llowing ~ ("to") before shamar, "to guard," in from the cells before they arc broken, and lrshmor, expresses the purpose, as in eh. i. hence it is the pure fine virgfa honey. 5; ii. 2, et alia. The second end in view ie, Exactly the same phrase occurs in Cant. that thy lips may keep knowledge; literally, iv. 11, "Thy lips, 0 my spouse, drop as an and thy lips shall keep knowledge. 'fhose honeycomb (nophi!th uthoph'nah)." The only lips keep or preserve knowledge which other places where we meet with the '«orcl literally retain the instruction of Wisdom 116pheth are Ps. xxiv. 10 (11) (there com- (Ziickler), or which e.llow nothing to pass bined with tsuphim, which helps to Jeter- them which does not proceed from the know- mine its meaning) and eh. xxiv. 13; xxvii. ledge of God (Delilzsch), and which, when 7. The meaning is the same o.s she "th,t- they speak, give utterance to sound wisdom. tereth with her words" or eh. ,ii. 5, in The meaning may be illustrated by Ps. xvii. which chapter the teacher gives an example 3, " I am purposed that my mouth shall not of the alluring words which the strange tra.nsgress." The same expression occurs in woman uses (eh. vii. 14-20). As honey is Mal. ii. 7, "Fol' the priest's lip~ should keep sweet o.ncl attractive to the taste, so in a knowledii:e," i.e. preserve nnd give utterance higher degree are her wordB pleasant to the to it. Where "the lips keep knowledge,'' senses. Her mouth is smoother than oil ; there they are protected against the lips of i.e. her words are most plausible aucl persuu- the strange woman, i.e. against her allure- si ve. The He brow khik is properly " the ments, be~ause they will be fortified with palate," though it also inclnclecl the cor- purity. Thy lips; s'pluitheyka is the dual responding lower part of the mouth (Gese- of the feminine noun atiphah, " a lip." 'fhe nius). It is used as the instrument or organ teacher desiguedly uses this word instead of of speech in eh. viii. 7, "For my mouth "thy heart " ( cf. eh. iii. 1), because of the (khilc) shall speak truth;" and in Job xxxi. contrast which he has in mind, and which 30, "I have not suffered my mouth (khih) he produces in the next verse. The LXX., to sin." Under the same figure D,,vid Vulgate, and Arabic adcl, "Attend not to describes the tr~achery of his friend in Ps. the deceitful woman," which'Houbigant and Iv. 22, "Hie words were softer than oil, yet Schleusner think is required by the context. they were drawn swortls." The addition, however, is without authority Ver. 4.-The contrast is drawn with great (Holden). vividness between the professions of the Ver. 3.-The teacher enters upon the " strange woman " and the tlisa,trous con- subject of his warning, and uncler two eeq uences which overtake those who listen familiar figures-common a.like to Oriental to her enticements. She promisi-s enjoy- and Greek writers-describes the nature of ment, pleasure, freedom from do.Hger, but the "strange woman's" allurements. For her end ia bitter as wormwood. " Her eml," the lips of a strange WOlll6D drop BB an not merely with reference to herself, whicll 108 THE PROVERBS. [on. v. 1-23,