The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 497

of moro.l excellence. Hence other interpre- seeketh out evils, but e.n upright heart tations he.ve been proposed. Ewald renders, seeketb knowledge." "e.nd o. tne.n according to his boasting," Ver. 22.-Though thou shouldest bre.y a the.t is, according to that which he most fool in e. mortar aD1ong wheat with a pestle. pmises in himself e.nd others. Bo virtually '"fo bray" is to pound or beat small. Hitzig, Bottcher, Zockler, and others. In "Wheat," r,i~•:,, riplwth. (only in 2 Sam. this view the gnome denotes that a man's xvii. 19), "bruised corn." Vnlgate, In pi1a real character is best examined by the light quasi ptisanaa (barley-groats) feriente; cast upon it by his usual line of thought, Aquila and Tbeodotion, 'Ev µeuq, /µ1rT1rrrro- what he most prides himself upon, what he µl11ow, "In the midst of grains of com being admires most in other men. Plumptre, pounded." The LXX., reading differently, e.fter Gesenius e.nd Fleischer, has, " So let bas, "Though thou scourge a fool, disgracing a man be to his praise," i.e. to the mouth him (~v µerrtp uvveopfov) in the midst of which praises him; let him test this com- the congregation." Of course, the process mendation, to see what it is worth, before of separating the hnsks_ from the corn by he accepts it as his due. The exple.na.tion the use of pestle e.nd mortar is much more first given seems on the whole most suitable, delicate and careful than threshing in the when we reflect that the highest morality is usual clumsy way; hence is expressed the not a.lwe.ys enunciated, e.nd that secondary idea that the most elaborate pains are motives o.re widely recognized as factors in wasted on the incorrigible fool ( see on eh. e.ction e.nd judgment. There are not wanting i. 20). His foolishness will not depart from men in modem days who uphold the maxim, him. An obstinate, self-willed, unprincipled Voz populi, voz Dei. Septuagint, "The man cannot be reformed by any means ; bis action of fire is a test for ail ver e.nd gold, so folly be.a become a second nature, and is not a me.n is tested by the month of them that to be eliminated by e.ny teaching, dfaoipline, pmise him." No surer test of a man's true or severity. There is, too, e. judicial blind- character can be found than bis behaviour ness, when, after repeated wa?nings wilfully under praise; mo.ny men a.re spoiled by it. rejected and scorned, the sinner is left to If a man comes forth from it without injury, himself, given over to a reprobate mind. not rendered ve.in, or blind to bis defects, or "Whoso teacbetb a fool," Si.racides pro- disdainful of others, bis disposition is good, nounces, "is o.s one that glueth o. potsherd and the commendation lavished upon him together, o.nd as be that waketh one from a may be morally o.nd spiritually beneficial. sound sleep" (Ecclus. xxii. 7). Again, Vulgate, Sic probatur homo ore laudantis, "The inner parts of a fool are like a broken "So is a 1nan proved by the mouth of him vessel, e.nd he will hold no knowledge as that praises him." The following passage long as he liveth" (Ecclus. xxi. 14). Ju from St. Gregory, commenting on this, is Turkey, we are told, great criminals were worth quoting, "Pro.ise of one's self tortures beaten to pieces in huge mortars of iron, in tbe just, bnt elates the wicked. But while which they usually pounded rice. "You it tortures, it purifies tho just; and while it cannot straighten a dog's ta.ii, try e.2 yon pleases the wioked, it proves them to be may," says a Telugu maxim (Le.ne). There reprobo.te. For these revel in their own is o. saying of Schiller's which is quite praise, because they seek not the glory of proverbial, "Heaven and earth fight in their Maker. But they who seek the glory vu.in ago.inst e. dunce." Homce, • Epist.,' i. of their Maker are tortured with their own 10. 24- pro.ise, lest that whioh is spoken of without "Naturam expellas furcu., ta.men usqu~ should not exist within them; lest, if that recu1Tet." which is said really exists, it should be made void in the sight of God by these very Juvenal, • Sat.,' xiii. 239- honours ; lest the praise of men should soften the firmness of their heart, and " Tamen e.d mores ne.tura recurrit should lay it low in self-satisfaction; and Damnatos, fi.xe. et muto.ri nescia." lest that which ought to aid them to increase Vera. 23-27.-A masba.l. ode in praise of their exertions, should be even now the a pastoral and o.gricultural life. The more.Hat recompense of their labour, But when they see that their own praises tend to the glory evidently desires to recall his oountryme11 of God, they even long for and welcome from the luxury of cities and the temptations them. For it is written, "That they may of money-making to tho simple ways of the see your good works, and glorify your patriarchs and the pleasures of country Father which is in heaven" (' Moral.,' xxvi. pursuits-which a.re the best foundation of 62, Oxford tra.nsl.). The LXX. adds a enduring prosperity. verse wbioh is not found in the Hebrew, but ocouJ"B in some manuscripts of the Le.tin Ver. 23.-Be thou diligent to know the Version, " The heart of the tmnsgressor state of thy ftooks. "State:" c•l~ (panim); 620 'l'HE PROVERBS. [CH, XXVII, 1-27,