The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 374

poses of a man are hidden in his breast like integrity, It is better to connect the two deep water (oh. xviii. 4) in the bosom of the clauses together, Rad not to tnke the first ne earth, hard to fathom, hard to get. But a a separate sentence, thus; "He who ns e. just man of underet&nding will draw it out. man walketh in his integrity "-Blessed aro One who is intelligent and understands his ohildren after him (comp. eh. xiv. 26). human nature penetmtes the secret, and, by So the Se1;1tuagint and Vulgate. The me.11 judicious que~tions and remarks, draws out of pure hfe, who religiously performs hie (l~av.->,.17,r,., Septuagint) the hidden thought. duty towards God and mo.n shall bring- o. Ver. 6.-Most men will procl&im every blessing on his children who follow his goo.! one his own goodness; chesed, "kindness," example, bo!h during his life and after his "mercv," "liberalitv," as in eh. xix. 22. So death. The temporal promise is seen in E'l"<ala' Rnd others. 'Hitzig o.nd Kampbausen Exod. xx. 6; Dent. iv. ·40; Ps. cxii. 2, etc. translate, "Many a man one names his dear Some see here au inst11nce of utilitarianism· friend;" Dclitzsch and Nowack prefer, but it cannot be supposed that the write; "Most men meet a man who is gracious to inculcates virtue for the sake of the worldly them;" i.e. it is common enough to meet e. advantages connected with it; rather he men who seems benevolent and well dis- speaks from experience, e.nd from e. faithful posed. Yu Igate, "Many men are called dependence on Providence, of the happy merciful ; " Septuagint, "Man is a great results of a holy life. thing, and a merciful man is a precious Ver. 8.-A royal and right noble maxim. thing." The renderings of most modern A king that sitteth in the throne of jndg- commentators imply the statement that love ment scatteretb away all evil with his eyes. and mercy are common enough. at least in The king, sitting on the tribune.I and exe- ontward expression. The Authorized Ver- cuting his judiciary office, sees through all sion pronounces that men are ready enough devices and pretences which cloak evil, and to po.rode and boa.et of their liberality, like scatters them to the winds, o.s the chaff flies the hypocrites who were said proverbially to before the winnowing-fan. Nothing un- sound o. trumpet when they performed their righteous oan abide in bis presence (comp. almsdeeds (Matt. vi. 2). Commenting on ver. 26; eh. xvi. 10, etc.). See here an the Greek rendering of the clause given adumbration of the cho.re.cteristic of the aboye, St. Chrysostom observes, "This is Messiah, the great King whose" eyes behold, the true character of man to be merciful ; whose eyelids try, the cllildren of men" (Ps. vea, rather the character of God to show D. 4); who is" of purer eyes than to behold mercy. . . . Those who answer not to this evil" (Hab. i. 13); who "with righteous- description, though they partake of mind, ness shall judge the poor, and reprove with and a.re never so capable of know ledge, the equity for the meek of the earth: and she.11 Scripture refuses to acknowledge them as smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, men, but calls them dogs, and horses, and and with the breath of bis lips shall slay serpents, and foxes, and wolves, and if there the wicked" (Isa. xi. 4; comp. Matt. iii. 12). be any animals more contemptible"(' Hom. Septnagint, "When the righteous king shall iv. in Phil.' and 'Hom. xiii. in 1 Tim.,' Ox- sit upon his throne, nothing that is evil ford transl). The contrast between show, shall offer itself before his eyes." or promise, and performance is developed in Ver. 9.-Who can say, I have made my the second clause. But a faithful man who heart olean, I am pure from my sin 1 The can 1i.nd ! The faithfulness intended is question implies the answer, "No one." fidelity to promises, the practical execution This is expressed in Job xiv. 4, "Who can of the vaunted benevolence; this is re.re bring a clean thing out of e.n unclean? not indeed, so that a psalmist could cry, "I said one." At the dedication of the temple, in my haste, All men a.re Iiara" (Ps. cxvi. Solomon enunciates this fa.et of man's cor- 11; comp. Rom. iii 4). Lesetre refers to ruption, "There is no man that einneth not" M.assillon's sermon, 'Sur la. Gloire Hu- (I Kings viii. 46). The prophet testifies, maine,' where we read (the preacher, of "The heart is deceitful above all things, and course, rests on the Latin Version), "Ces it is desperately sick: who can know it?" hommes vertneux dont le monde se fa.it tant (Jer. xviL 9). And St. John we.rns, "If d'honneur, n'ont an fond souvent pour eux we say that we have no sin, we deceive our- que l'erreur publique. Amis fideles, je le selves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John venx; mais c'est le gout, la vanite ou l'in- i. 8). The heart is cleansed by self-exami- teret, qui les lie; et da.ns !ear amis, ils nation and repentance; but it is so easy to n'e.mient qu' eux-mlimes. . . . En nu mot, deceive one's self in this matter, sins may lurk dit l'Ecriture, on lea appelle misericordieux, undetected, motives may be overlooked, so ils ont tontes les vertns pour le public; mais that no one can rightly be self-righteous, or n'etaut pas fideles a Dieu, ils n'en ont pa.d conceited, or proud of his spirituu.l state. une seule pour eux-memes." The "my sin" at the end of the clause is Ver. 7.-The just JllaD walketl!. in bole rather possible tbe.n u.ctu11l sin i o.nd $he OH, XX, 1-30,] THE PROVERBS. 385