Vers. 12-15.-.d picture of spite. L THE SPITEFUL MAN DEFINED GENERALLY, (Ver. 12.) He is" naughty," the old English word being expressive; otherwise" a thing of naught," a "slight man" (Shakespeare); in German heilloss, "unsound," "unworthy," and so worthless. Gather up the sense and force of these adjectives, and we get the idea comprehensively of badness, the sensuous counterpart of which is rotten- ness, corruption. II. His CHARACTERISTICS. (Vers. 13, 14.) 1. In mien and gesture and lang'/1,11,ge. His mouth is twisted to a false expression, and utters false things. There is an obliquity and uncertainty in his glance (comp. eh. x. 10). He is full of shy tricks and hints- the thrust of the foot, nudges and signs with his fingers. "The shrug, the •hum!• the 'ha!' those petty brands that calumny doth use" (Shakespeare). 2. In spirit per-verse. It is a nature awry, inwardly deformed. Busily inventive, scheming mis- chief, breeding qnarrels (comp. on eh. iii. 29). It is a mind naturally active and curious, which, disabled from good, swings inevitably to the other extreme. III. His DESTINY. An overthrow, sudden, utter, irremediable. 1. This is described constantly as the common doom of all kinds of wickedness, 2. The Bible makes sharp distinctions, and opposes characters in an absolute manner. Fine distinctions would run into the infinite. But we must make them in every particular case. 3. The doom ever stands in the relation of correspondence to the guilt.-J. Vers. 16-19.-A catalogue of abominations. I. WHAT IS AN ABOMINATION? The word (as a verb) is of Roman or pagan origin, and denoted the feeling of abhorrence for what was ill-omened. In the moral sphere all evil conduct is like a bad omen, exciting dread and aversion, because boding calamity. In the direct langua~e of the Bible, referring all things imm~diately to God, abominations are defined as" thmgs that Jehovah hates, and that are an aversion to his soul" (ver.16). II. AN ENUMERATION OF THKSE DIVINE AVERSIONS, 'l'he particular number is explained by the parallelism of Oriental poetry generally. It has no direct. r?ligious significance. 1. Proud eyes. Literally, lofty eyes. The grande supercilium, oi haughty brow, of the Romans. The sensuous expression contains and implies in every case the inner- mood. This Divine aversion for pride is deeply marked in the Biblo and in ancient thought generally. Pride is an excess-the excess of a virtue of due self-valuation. Therefore it is a disturbing element in the moral worlcl, or God's order. It tends to disjoint the social system. 2. A lying tongue. The liar is thus a solvent of society. It must break up were lying to become universal, and must decay RO fn.r as the vice of individua.ls becomes the custom of the multitude. 3. Bands of violence and in;'ttstice. The ty!s-:it is a usurper of God's authority. He "plays such tricks . . . ns OH, VI, 1-35.] THE PROVERBS. 147
angels weep at." The judicial murderer sets at naught the justice both of heaven and e11rth, tho rights of God and of men. 4. The malicious, scheming heart. (See on ver. 14.) That quick "forge and working-shop of thought" (Shakespeare) that we call the imagination may become a very devil's smithy, a minufactory of the newest implements of mischief, from the patterns of hell. 5. Feet t'hat 8peed to rr,ischief. All couriers of ill news, eager retailers of slander, all who cannot bear to be forestalled in the hurtful word, who are ambitious of the first deadly blow. 6. The" breather of lies." (Ver. 19.) The false witness, the lying informer; all who trade in falsehood, and breathe it as their atmosphere. 7. The mischief-maker. The instigator of quarrels between brethren (see on ver. 14). All who partake of the leavened bread of malice, rather than of the pure, unferment_ed, and incorruptible bread of sincerity and truth. 1. Our aversions s)loul<l. be God's aversions. 2. The reasoning antipathy is the counterpart of improper sympathy. 3. Our love and our hate are liable to aberration i_f not governed by reason and religion. 4. lmtinctive antipathy means only that we have found in another something that is opposed to our personal sense of well-being; conscientious antipathy, that we have found that which is opposed to the order of God's world.-J.
_Vers. 20-24.-Exhortati011, to chastity. I. PREFACE. (Ver. 20; see on eh. v. 1, 2; eh. i. 8.) II. EXHORTATION TO MINDFULNESS OF EARLY LESSONS. (Ver. 21; see on eh. ii. 3.) It is in oblivious moments that we sin. We may forget much that we have learned, having outgrown its need. We can never outgrow the simple, early lessons of piety. 'fhe chain that links our days each to each in moral progress is the memory of those lessons. III. VITAL VIBTUE IN THOSE REMEMBERED LESSONS. They have a true vis vitalis. They guide in action, protect in passive hours (see on eh. iii. 23, 24). In wakeful hours of the night they seem to talk to the heart, as it "holds communion with the past." "Spirits from high hover o'er us, and comfort sure they bring." The truth l;>rcomes as a guardian angel. There is a junction of light and life in religion (ver. 23). What is seen in the intelligence as true translates itself into health in the habits. IV. THEY ARE SPECIALLY PRESERVATIVE AGAINST THE WICKED WOMAN AND HER WILES. (Ver. 24; see on eh. ii. 16; v. 20.) Nothing is said directly of the reflex effect of vice upon the mind. It is always the danger externally considered that is pointed out. But this is due to the objective presep.tative form of the biblical thought and speech. We must learn to render the objective into the subjective form, to oote how every outward drama has its reflex in the spirit itself; and thus we draw a double benefit from Bible lore. The pictures must be taken first in their proper meaning, then be converted into figures of the inner life.-J.