The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 355

EXPOSITION. neither iu tellectunlly nor more.Hy olear e.s to CHAPTER XIX. his path or ohjcot. But the gnome is better Ver. 1.-:Better is the poor that walketh taken in a more general sense. '.rhe igno- iu hiB integrity. The word for ".poor_" i~, rnnt mo.n, who acts hastily without duo here nn<l in vers. 7, 22, rash, winch s1gm- deliberation, is sure to make gro.ve mistakes, fies "poor" in opposition to "rich." In e.nd to come to misfortune. Haste is oppose,l the present reading of t~e s_eco?d c)Aus?, to knowledge, because the latter involves than he that is perverse m hiB lips, and 1s prudence o.ud circumspection, while the a fool, thPre seems to be a failure in anti- former blundere on hurriedly, not seeing thesis, unless we can understand the fool RS whither actions lead. We all ho.ve occasion a rich fool. This, the repetition of the to note the proverbs, Festina lente; '' More mRxim in oh. xxviii. 6 (" Than he that is haste, less speed." 'file history of Fa.bins, per,•er,;e in his ways, though he be rich"), who, as Enniua said, would lead one to admit. The Vulgate accordingly has, Quam div~ torquem labi_a "Unus homo nobis cuncto.ndo restituit rem," •ua et insipi.em, " Than a rICh man who 1s shO\vs the value of deliberation and caution. of perverse lips and a fool." Wi_th this the The Greeks recognized this- Syriac partly agrees. S? that, 1f we take DpowfrE<a. ,roMois luTlv a.hla. 1ta.1ew11. this reading, the moralist says tbnt the pnor man who _lives. a guileless, i~nooent " Rash hnste is cause of evil unto many." life content with his lot, end nS1ng no Erasmus, in his 'Adagio.,' has a long artiole wr~n"" means to improve his fortunes, is commenting on Festinatio prmpropera. The happier and better than the rich man ~ho Arabs say, "Patience is the key of joy, bnt is Jiypocritical in his words and deceives ha.ate is the key of sorrow." God is patient others, and has won his wealth by such because he is eternal. means, thus proving hi~lf to be a fool, a Ver. 3.-The foolishness of man per- morally bad man. But 1f we content our- verteth his way; rather, overturns, turns selves with the Hebrew text, we must find from the right direction and causes a me.n the antithesiB in the simple, pious, poor man, to fall (eh. xiii. 6). It is his own folly that contrasted with the arrogant rich man, who leads him to his ruin ; but he will not see ■neers at his poor neighbour as an inferior this, end blames the providence of God. creature. The writer would seem to in- And his heart fretteth age.inst the Lord. sinuate that there is a natural connection Septnao-int, "He accuseth God in his between poverty and integrity of life on the 0 heart" ( comp. Ezek;. xviii. 25, 29; xxxiii. one h,,nd, and wealth and folly on !he 17, 20). Ecclus. xv. 11, etc.," Se.y not thou, other. He would assent to the sweepmg It is throun-h the Lord that I fell awny; for assertion, Omnu dioe, aut iniquus atd iniqui thou onghtest not to do tbe things that he /~es, ",Every ~ich man is either a rascal or hateth. Say not thou, He has caused me a rascal s lieu. to err· for be he.th no need of the sinful Ver. 2..-Also, that the soul be without mo.n "• etc. The latter part of this im- knowledge, it is not good. "Also" 0am), por~nt passage St. Augustine quotes ~h?~: Wordsworth would render "evea," "even "Item apud ~alomonem_: ~eus a_b rn1tio the soul, i.e. life itself, without knowledge constituit hommem et rehqUlt eum m manu is not a blefsing;" it is {Jios ov fJ,,,,,,.,k At consilii sui: e.djecit ei me.ndatn et prmcept~; first sight it looks as if some verse, to which si voles prrocepta servare, servabunt te, et in this one was appended, had fallen oat; but posterum fidem placite.m facere. . Appos?-it there is no trace in the versions of any such tibi aquam et ignem, ad quod vis pomge loss. We have had a verse beginniag in manum tuam. Ante hominem bonum et the same manner (eh. xvii. 26), and here it malum, vita et mora, paupertas et honestas seems to emphasize what follows-folly is a Domino Deo eunt" (' De Perf. Just. Hom.,' bad, so is ignorance, when the soul lacks cap. xix. § 41). And again, "Man;if~stum knowledge, i.e. when a man does not know est, quod si ad ignem manum m1ttit, et what to do how to act in tl..ie circumstances malum ac mors ei placet, id voluntas of his life' has ia fact no practice.I wisdom. hominis operatnr; ei autem bo~um et_ vitr.m Other thi~o-s 0 '' not good" are named in eh. diligit, non solum volnntos 1d ag1t, sed xviii. 5; x x. 23; xxiv. 23. And he that divinitus adjuvatur" (' De Gest. Pelag.,' hasteth with his feet sinneth; misseth hie cap. iii. § 7). Homer, 'Od.,' i. 32, etc.- we.y. Dclitzsch coafiues_ t~1e _meaning ~f th.iH hemistich to the und1sc1phned pursuit " Perverse mankind I whose wills, created of kr;owledge: "He who h~steneth with t~e free, kgs e.fter it goeth &!!tray, becauae he 1.8 Charge all their woee on absolute decree; err. ,iu. 1-29.] THE PROVERBS. 365