i V V t ,1 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PRINCETON, N. J. PRESENTED BY MRS. HUSTON DIXON Section. ..\..4~:A.S^ O A COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: CRITICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND HOMILETICAL, WITH SPECIAL KEFERENCE TO MINISTERS AND STUDENTS BY JOHN PETER LANGE, D.D., IS CONNECTION WITH A NUUBEB OF EUINENT EUKOPEAD DIVINES. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, AND EDITED, WITH ADDITIONS, BY PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., ASSISTED BY AMERICAN SCHOLARS OP VABIOUS EVANOBLICAL DENOMINATIONS. VOL. X. OF THE OLD TESTAMENT : CONTAINING PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, AND THE SONG OF SOLOMON. NEW YORK: SCEIBNER, AKMSTRONG «fe CO., 664 BROADWAY. 1873. ^% 1938 THE ^^"^^msi St^ PEOYEEBS OF SOLOMON". THEOLOGICALLY AND HOMILETICALLY EXPOUNDED BY DE. OTTO ZOOKLEE, PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY AT GEEIFSWALD. TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY Rev. CHARLES A. AIKEN, D.D., FREttDDrC OF UNION COLLEQE, SCH£N£CTADT, M. T. NEW YORK: SCRIBNER, AKMSTRONG & CO., 654 BROADWAY. 1873. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by CHARLES SCRIBNER, & CO., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. JAS. B. RODOEKS CO., ELZCTSOTVPERS, 52 ft 64 N. Sixth St., Philadelphia. PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. The present volume corresponds to Parts XII. and XIII. of the Old Testament Division of Dr. Lange's Biblework, and contains the Solomonic writings, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the SoKG OF Solomon. They form an important part of the Old Testament, and give us the poetry and practical philosophy of the wisest of men, with none of his follies and sins, which were over- ruled in his writings for the advancement of wisdom and virtue. The English translation, with additions and improvements, was intrusted to three eminent Oriental and Biblical Scholars, too well known in America to need an introduction. They have done their work well, and have added very materially to the value as well as the size of the original. In this volume the text of the Authorized Version is superseded by a new metrical version in accordance with the laws of Hebrew poetry. The same will be the case in the other poetical books of the 0. T. To retain the prose version of King James' revisers, and to insert the cor- rections in brackets, would conceal to the reader the beauties of the original as a work of art. In Ecclesiastes, Prof. Tayler Lewis has thought best to retain the common version for the Com- mentary, and to give his metrical version as a separate appendix. Some remarks will introduce the author of this part of the Bibleioork, and explain the relation which the several parts of the American edition sustain to the German. Dr. ZOCKLER. The author of this Commentary on the Solomonic writings belongs to the younger generation of German divines, and appears now for the first time in an English dress ; none of his previous writings having been translated. Dr. Otto Zockler was born at Griinberg, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, May 27, 1833. Af- ter a thorough training in classical and oriental philology, philosophy and theology, he entered the career of an academic teacher of theology, A. D., 1856, as privatim docens, in the University of Giessen ; he advanced to the position of professor extraordinarius in 1863, and in the autumn of 1866 he was called by the Prussian Government as professor ordinarius to the University of Greifswald, in Pomerania, where he still labors with fidelity and success. He is a very able and learned divine, a fertile author, a modest, retiring and amiable gentleman, of unblemished cha- racter, a little hard of hearing, and hence the more devoted to the cultivation of the inner life by study and contemplation, yet wide awake to all the living questions of the age. His learning covers a large ground, especially Exegesis of the 0. and N. Testaments, Church History, Apologetics, Na- tural Sciences. His biography of St. Jerome, with which I am quite familiar, is one of the best historical monographs. He is now engaged on Daniel for Lange's Bibleivork. The following is a chronological list of Dr. Zockler's writings to the present date : De vi ac notione vocabuli e^Trig in iV! To. diss, inmiguralis. Giss., 1857. Theologia naturalis. Entwurf einer systematischen Naturtheologie vom qffenbarungsgldU' bigen Standpuncte aus. Bd. I. Frankft. a M., 1860. Kritische Geschichte der Askese ( Critical History of Asceticism) ; ein Bcitrag zur Ge- schichte chrisllicher Sitte und Cultur. Frankft. 1862. HiERONYMUS ; sein Beben u. Wirken aus seinen Schriften dargestelU. Gotha, 1864. PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. Dis Evangelienkritik und das Lehenshild Christi nach der Schrift. 2 Vortrdge. Darmstadt, 1864. Oommenlar zu den Sprtjechen Salomonis. 1866. -j Comvientar zum Hohenlied u. Predigee. 1868. > in Lange's Bihleworh. Commentar zum PropJieten Daniel (in course of preparation). J Die Urgescliichte der Erde u. des Menschen ( The Primilive History of Earth and Man). 6 Vortrdge gehalten in Hamburg. Giitersloh, 1868. Prof. ZoCKLEE is also the principal editor of a valuable apologetic monthly entitled : Der Beweis des Glaubens {The Evidence of Faith), Giitersloh (Westphalia), since 1865, and of the Allgememe Literarische Anzeiger fur das evang. Deutschland [General Literary Intelligencer for Evange- lical Germany), published at Giitersloh, since 1869. PROVERBS. Prof. ZoCKLER introduces his commentary on this storehouse of practical philosophy and heavenly wisdom with the following preface : "A theological and homiletic exposition of the Book of Proverbs has diflSculties to contend with which exist in an equal degree in but few books of the Old Testament, and in none in quite the same form. Even the most searching investigation is able to gain only partially and ap- proximately fixed points for the determination of the time when the book originated, and of the editorship of its several main divisions as it is now constructed. In almost every new group of Proverbs the linguistic and theological exposition of the individual Proverbs encounters new dif- ficulties— and these difficulties are, in many cases, of such a sort that we must utterly despair of fully assured exegetical results. And finally, to treat the book homiletically and practically, in so far as it regards only brief passages, is rendered more difficult by the obscurity of many single sentences; and in so far as it attempts to embrace large sections, by the unquestionable lack of fixed order and methodical structure, which appears at least in the central main division of the collection (chap. x. 1 — xxii. 16), as well as in the supplement added by Hezekiah's men (chaps. XXV. — xxix.)." " To this is to be added the imperfection of previous expository works, both the scientific and the practical." [The author then reviews the recent commentaries of Hitzig, Umbreit, Ew- ALD, Bertheau, Vaihinger, and Elster, as well as the older works of Michaelis, Geier, Starke, Stocker, Melanchthon, and concludes:] " In view of this condition of exegetical literature, heretofore so unsatisfactory in many ways, the author has at least attempted, with the most conscientious application of his powers, and with the use of the most important works that have hitherto appeared, to effect what might be done tj relieve these difficulties, which exi^t in all directions in considerable numbers. . . . Over many of the obscurities that exist, he hopes that he has thrown substantially the right light ; with regard to others, that he has turned attention to the most promising avenues to an appropriate exposition and a useful application ; and that for the whole he has proposed a mean- ing essentially sound, scientifically defensible, and, for that very reason, edifying." The work on Proverbs was first committed to the hands of the late Robinson P. Dunn, D. D., Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Brown University. He was one of the most accomplished scholars of New England, and " one of those rare men who, by a happy combina- tion of the gifts of nature and of grace, seemed adapted to usefulness in every department of life." But he had scarcely collected a complete apparatus and finished the rough draft of his translation as far as the opening sentences of § 9 of the Introduction, when he was suddenly called to his rest, Aug. 28, 1867, in Newport, R. I., the place of his birth, at the age of forty- three. His last words were similar to those of Dr. Neander: "Good-by,'l am going home." His pen was found in the Commentary on the Proverbs, at the page he had reached, as a sign of his last study on earth. His initials are attached to the notes he added.* • An elegant memorial volume, published by his widow, pp. 237, contains a biographical sketch by Dr. Samuel L. Cald- ■VTELi., the Commemorative Discourse delivered, at the request of the Faculty of Rrown University, by the Kev. J. L. Dimax, Prof " 94-95 14. The Naming — Adam. vi. 10 101 15. The "Light of thy countenance" :•••• 1^1 16. The oppression of the wise man 106 17. " Wisdom giveth life." vii. 12 107 18. Over-righteousness, Over-wisdom 108 19. Soliloquizing style of Koheleth 113-114 20. "The wicked buried" — the "going to and from the Holy Place." viii. 10 119 21. " The days of thy vain life." Pathetic Repetition, ix. 9 126 22. False logical and ethical divisions of many commentators 137 23. "Dead flies." x 138 24. "Knows not how to go to the city;" interpretation of x. 14, 15 141-142 25. Speech of the prattling fool. False view of Hitzig 142 26. "The sight of the eyes," and "the way of the heart." xi. 9 152 27. " Keepers of the house" — " the Grinders " — " the Light darkened " — "Clouds after rain." 154 28. " Those who look out of the windows." " The doors shut in the streets." 155 29. The Mill, and the constant grinding of an ancient household ; with illustration from the Odyssey 155-156 30 The Almond Tree 157 31. Images of the Silver cord, the Golden bowl, the Fountain, etc 160 32. Creatlonism. xii. 27 164 33. The " making many books " 168 To these may be added many minor marginal notes, together with the notes on particular words, the ancient versions, and various readings, as they are attached to each division of the text. Special attention is here paid to words alleged to belong to the later Hebrew. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. The Commentary on the Song of songs [D");t^n Tp, Sept.: ^Aa/ia aa/xdruv, Vulg.: Canticum caniicorum], as this most beautiful of poems of pure and holy love is called, was prepared by the Rev. Dr. Green, Professor in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. The difficulty of the book is such as to allow considerable latitude of individual opinion, but it is all important to have a proper view of its spirit and aim. The German author justly rejects both the profane rationalistic exposition which can see no more in the Song than a sensual erotic poem, and the opposite allegorical interpretation which regards the persons and objects described as mere figures or names for spiritual persons and objects, leaving a large margin for random guess-work and unbridled extravagance.* Most nearly agreeing with his friend, t'rof. Delitzsch, * The aUegorical interpretation, it must be admitted, has tho authority of many of the greatest divines, both Jewish and Christian, Catholic and Evangelical, and is also sanctioned by tho headings of our English Bible. It will probably alway* retain tho ascendancy in tho pulpit, and in books for popular devotion. Many of the most eloquent sermons (as St. Ber- nard's Sermnnes in cant, cant., an^l Krummacher's Salnmo und Sidamith), and of tho sweetest hymns (by Oerhardt, Dess- LER, Drese, Zixzendobf, Wkslev, and Gdstav IIahn's, Dos Hohe Lied in Lie.dern, Halle, 1853) are based upon this view. If wo distinguish carefully between exposition and application, wo may allow a considerable latitude for homiletic and ascetic purposes. One of the very best legitimate practical ai)i)lications of the passage li. 15, I have seen, is in a littlo book of Mrs. 11. Beechor Stowe, where the " little foxes that spoil the vines" (ii. 15), are applied, in a series of entertaining homilies, to little faults that disturb domestic happiness. But in .an exegetical point of view most of the allegorical interpretations tura out to be arbitrary impositions rather than erpositions. Just as I write, a new attempt in this line comes to my eyes in tho British and Foreign Evangelical Quarterly Review for Oct. 18G9, pp. 773-79G. The writer of this article (iiscovers in the Song PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. he adopts the typical or typico- Messianic view, which is not so old and generally received among orthodox divines as the allegorical, but which has the sanction of such eminent names as Light- foot, BossTJET, LowTH, and is more natural and in harmony with the typical and prophetical character of the whole ancient theocracy, as foreshadowing the substance of Christianity, and pre- paring the way for its introduction. The Canticles are probably a nuptial song or lyric drama (melo-drama) from Solomon's best period, and present the ideal Hebrew view of marriage as established by God Himself in Paradise on the basis of the strongest and tenderest passion He has implanted in man ; and this ideal is realized in the highest and hohest sense in the relation of Christ to His Church (Comp. Eph. V. 32). The American editor, while recording his approval of Zocklee's method and standpoint in general, especially his typical view (see pp. 19-25), has expressed his dissent from certain parts of his scheme. He inclines to regard the Canticles as a series of unconnected scenes rather than a well-arranged, continuous drama, with a regularly unfolded plot, as is done by Zocklee and Delitzsch, also, with various modifications, by Lowth, Ewald, Umbreit, Bottcher, Hitzig, Eenan. He is moreover of the opinion that the Song should be more favorably interpreted by itself than from the history and later character of Solomon as given in the first book of Kings. In this last point I entirely agree. Any reference to Solomon's polygamy, unless it be in the way of rebuke, would mar the beauty and purity of the poem, and make it unworthy of its place in the canon. The next most considerable addition is to the bibliography at the close of the Introduction (pp. 43-47), where a pretty full account is given of English and American Commentators on the Song. The critical and grammatical notes have been very materially enriched both from the editor's own researches and from the early English translations, and from English commen- tators. I must add that Dr. Green had inserted a considerable number of Arabic and Persian words, but erased nearly all of them in the proof sheets, because, after the type had been procured at con- siderable trouble, it was found almost impossible to obtain accuracy in characters unknown to the compositors, and because they rather disfigured the pages. I now commit this new volume to the churches of the English tongue, with the wish that it may be as cordially welcomed, and prove as useful, as the other parts of this Commentary. Philip Schaff. 5, Bible House, New York, Nov. 19, 1869. a progressive drama beginning at the gates of Eden and running through the light and shade of the history of Judaism and Christianity till the glory of the millennium. He distinguishes in it the following parts: 1. The Church before the advent, waiting and longing for the coming of Christ. 2d. The theocracy under Solomon, which in the temple and its worsliip, afford the fullest and clearest typical revelation of Christ which that dispensation admitted of. 3d. The gradual decadence that followed, in both type and prophecy, which went on till at last it deepened into the darkness of the captivity. Ith. The sudden opening of the gospel day iu the advent of the Saviour, and the preaching of the apostles — the voice of the turtle, and the flowers that now begin to cover the earth. 5th. A second night, during which Christ is again absent ; this lasts longer than the first, and during it a deeper sleep oppresses the church. On awakening, she is seen seeking her beloved, wounded and bleeding, from the sword of persecution. 6th. The bursting out of the day of the Reformation — the morning of the millennium — and then the church is beheld " terrible as an army with banners," clothed with truth, and shining with a light which makes her the admiration of the nations, — '• fail- as the moon, clear as the sun." A few specimens of interpretation on this scheme, will suffice. The kisses of the Bridegroom are the promises of Christ's coming ; the "Virgins" who love the spouse (ch. i. 3), like the Virgins in the Apocalypse, represent those who had not de- filed themselves with the idolatrous rites of pagan or papal worship ; the " wilderness " from which the bridegroom comes on the day of his espousals (iii. 6), is Jewish formalism, Gentile scepticism, and pagan idolatry ; and the clouds of smoke, which attended the royal progress, are the symbols of mysterious providences. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. INTRODUCTION. § 1. THE ETHICAL AND EELIGIOTJS EANK AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. The collection of Proverbs ^vhich bears the name of Solomon is the chief storehouse of moral instruction and of practical wisdom for the chosen people of God under the old dispensation. It forms, therefore, the principal documentary source of the Ethics of the Old Testament, just as in the successive steps of a gradual revelation, it is the peculiar office of the Pentateuch to exhibit the fundamental truths of its Theolog)', the Psalter those of its Anthropology, and the Propheti- cal Books those of its Cliristology and Soteriology. Some of the more genei'al principles and postulates of Ethics, especially much of what belongs to the province of the so-called doctrine of the Highest Good, and, as might be expected, the whole doctrine of the Moral Law, are indeed found in the Books of Moses. Single topics connected with the doctrine of virtue and obligation are occasionally more fully discussed in the Psalms and the Prophets. But the special doctrine of virtue and duty, which must ever hold me chief place in the system of Ethics, finds nowhere else in the Old Testament so thorough, so individualizing, and so lively a presentation as in the Proverbs; and even the more general principles of Ethics, as well as the fundamental maxims of rectitude and law are, if not directly referred to in them, at least incidentally assumed.* Resting on the basis of the widest and most diverse experience, and adopting the form of the most thoughtful, pithy and suggestive apothegms, they apply to the life of man in all positions, relations and conditions, the moral precepts contained in the law. In other words, what the law reveals as a universal rule for the national Hfe of the covenant people in a religious and a politi- cal aspect, the Proverbs apply to the relations and obligations of the private life of each indivi- dual of that people. The principle of consecration through fellowship with Jehovah, the God of the Covenant, which was revealed through Moses, and established in general in his legislation, is individuahzed and developed in detail by Solomon with reference to the special domestic and social relations of his countrymen. Note. — It has been often observed that the Proverbs of Solomon are the chief source of the Old Testament Ethics. Origen, in the Preface to his exposition of the Song of Solomon, ex- pressed the opinion that in the Proverbs Solomon had aimed to discuss the iidmi'i, in Ecclosiastes the (pvaiK//, and in the Canticles the Aoj7«y or ^ecjptK// (the science of the contemplation of Divine things), and Jerome adopted from him this view (Preface to the Coram, on Eccles., Ep. 30 to Paula).! * [This threefold division of Ethics, originating with ScHLEiERMACHEn, and closely adhered to by Rothe, is generally adopted in Germany. " Giiterlehre " is the doctrine of the Good as an object of desire or a thing to be attained. '• Tugcnd- khre" id the doctrine of the sentinieufs and inclination towimla virtue. " Pflichtenlchrc''' is the doctrine of the riglit aa the foundation of law. The first and the last are objective; the second is subjective.— R. P. D.] t In his 107 Ep. to Lwta in reference to the education of her daughter Paula, .Jerome says; "Discat prima Psalterium, his se ca-nlicis sanctam vocH, d in Pnnvrhiis Salomnnis crudiatur ad ritani." Compare the title naiSayuyiKt, ia. whi^h Gbeqort of Nazianzus was wont to give to the Book of Proverbs. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. LrxHER, in his Preface to the Books of Solomon, written in 152-!: (Erlang'-n ed., Vol. LXIIl., p. 35), says of the Proverbs : " It may be rightly called a book of good works ; for he (Solomon) there teaches the nature of a godly and useful life, — so that every man aiming at godliness should make it his daily Handbook or Book of Devotion, and often read in it and compare with it his Ufe." Stakke (Introd. to the Proverbs, oynops., Pt. IV., p. 1591) thus describes its con- tents : " It is for the most part a school of Christian Morals ; upon the basis of faith it founds the wisest counsels in reference to the believer's duties towards God, towards his neighbor, and to- fl'ards himself .... By means of a great variety of sententious maxims this book teaches man how to escape from sin, to please God, and to secure true blessedness." The elder Mi- CHAELis (Christian Benedict) gives a like estimate of the ethical value of the Proverbs. He passes from an exposition of the Psalms to one of the Proverbs with these words : " From the oratory of David we now proceed to the school of Solomon, to find in the son of the greatest of theologians the first of philosophers." On account of the ethical wisdom of the Proverbs of Solomon, the Wiirtemberg Theosophists, Bengel and Oetinger, preferred them to most of the other books of the Old Testament. They made them the theme of' their devout meditations, and earnestly sought to penetrate their deeper meaning. (See for Bengel : Osk. Waech cer's " JoA. Alb. Bengel: Life, Character, &c., p. 166). Oetinger, when, as a youthful master of arts, he resided at Halle, thought of lecturing on "■ Philosophiam sacram el applicatam, drawn from tlio Scriptures, especially the Proverbs of Solomon." This pi m he did not, however, carry out. At a later period, when he was a pastor first at Hirsau and then at Walddorf, he diligently studied the Proverbs as the chief repository and source of what he called "Sensus communis." He used them for purposes of religious instruction ; he wrote them on separate slips of paper, put them in a box, and made his scholars draw them out as lots. lie also published a little book of a cate- chetical nature, with the title " How shall the head of a family exemplify at home the Proverbs of Solomon?" and a larger work called " Common Sense in the Proverbs and Ecclesiastes," Stuttgard, 1753. " The Proverbs," he once observed, " exhibit Jesus with unusual clearness, and he who cannot perceive this knows not Paul's meaning when he says, 1 Cor. xiv. 20, ' In under- standing be men' " (see Ehjiann's ^'Life and Letters of Oetinger;" also the essay in Vilmar's Fast-theol. BIL, 1865, I., pp. 265 sq, on "Theosophy: Oetinger and the Lutheran Church."— Still earlier the Rostock theologian, Samuel Bohl, had attempted in his Ethica Sacra (1610) a systematic exhibition of the ethics of Solomon, in the form of a continuous commentary on the first nine and the last two chapters of Proverbs. Most of the modern interpreters have in like manner justly appreciated the superior ethical value of this book. According to Kahnis [Luth. Dogmatik, I., 282) its peculiar excellence lies in the skill with which its author " has presented the maxims of a practical wisdom which aims in all the human relations of the Kingdom of God to govern the lives. of men in harmony with the intentions of its founder." Elster {Deutsche Zeitschr.fur Christl. Wissenschaft, 1859, and in his Commentary on the Proverbs) ascribes the importance of this book of Solomon to the fact that "it consists of a didactic religious discussion of practical experience," in the form of proverbial wisdom, which is not mere human prudence, but " a new emanation from the Divine essence itself, a new communication of eternal wisdom, which alone is true wisdom." It is a proverbial wisdom which, " like the Law and the Pro- phets, has its own peculiar and most important province," and has upon the varied and symmet- rical development of the individual man an influence which should be deeply felt and fully re- cognized. Bruch ( Weisheitslehre der Hebrder, pp. 102 sq.), Oehler {Die Grundzuge der alt- testammtl. Weishcii, pp. 5 sq.), Delitzsch (Article Spri'iche Salomo's in Heezog's Real-Ency- clopddie), express themselves in similar terms with reference to the high ethical and religious rank of this book. Even Hitzig, while denying its inspiration, and perceiving in it nothing but human wisdom, recognizes in it " a religious consecration and an irresistible attraction of the heart towards morality," which distinguish this monument of Hebrew proverbial wisdom above all similar productions, whether of Arabian literature or of the Semitic mind in general {"Die Spriiche Salomo's ubersetzl und ausgekgt," p. xii.). [Coleridge says : " The Book of Proverbs is the best statesman's manual which was ever writttn. An adherent to the political economy and spirit of that collection of apothegms and essays would do more to eradicate from a people the causes of extravagance, debasement and I 1. THE SIGNIFTCANCE OF THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 3 ruin, than all the contributions to political economy of Say, Smith, Malthus and Chalmees together."— Prof. M. Stoart says (Preface to his Comm. on Proverbs, p. 9) : "All the hea- then moralists and proverbialists joined together cannot furnish us with one such book as that of the Proverbs." In his Introd., p. 64, he says : "After all the light which Christianity has shed upon us, we could not part with this book without a severe loss." " The book contains a striking exhibition of practical wisdom, so striking that it can never be antiquated." — J. Muen- 6CHER, in his Introd. to his Comm. on Proverbs, says, p. xliv.: " The moral precepts of Solo- mon rest on the foundation of religion and true piety, and in this respect differ heaven-wide from the systems of the ancient heathen moralists." — R. P. D.J [Dr. Gray observes, The Proverbs of the inspired son of David " are so justly founded on prin- ciples of human nature, and so adapted to the permanent interests of man, that they agree with the manners of every age, and may be assumed as rules for the direction of our conduct in every condition and rank of life, however varied in its complexion or diversified by circumstances ; they embrace not only the concerns of private morality, but the great objects of political importance." — Dr. JoRTiN says : " They have not that air of smartness and vivacity and wit which modern writers have usually affected in their maxims and sentences ; but they have what is better, truth and solid good sense." " Though the composition be of the disjointed kind, yet there is a gene- ral design running through the whole, which the author keeps always in view ; that is, to in- struct the people, and particularly young people, at their entrance into public and active life, — to give them an early love and an earnest desire of real wisdom, and to lay down such clear rules for their behaviour as shall carry them through the world with peace and credit." (See D'Oyly and Mant, Introd. to Proverbs). Bridges (Exposition of the Proverbs, Am. Ed., Pref., pp. iii., vii., ix., etc.) says: "This wonderful book is indeed a mine of Divine wisdom. The views of God are holy and reverential. The observation of human nature is minute and accurate." " Doubtless its pervading character is not either explicit statement of doctrinal truth or lively exercises of Christian experience. Hence the superficial reader passes over to some (in his view) richer portion of the Scriptural field." " While other parts of Scripture show us the glory of our high calling, this may instruct in all minuteness of detail how to ' walk worthy of it.' Elsewhere we learn our completeness in Christ (Col. ii. 10) ; and most justly we glory in our high exaltation as "joint heirs with Christ," eic. (Rom. viii. 17 ; Eph. ii. 6). We look into this book, and, as by the aid of the microscope, we see the minuteness of our Christian obligations ; that there is not a temper, a Inok, a word, a movement, the most important action of the day, the smallest relative duty, in which we do not either deface or adorn the image of our Lord, and the profession of His name." Wordsworth (Introd. to Proverbs, pp. ix., x.) says: "The Book of Proverbs is an inspired book adapted to the circumstances of the times of Solomon." " The Holy Spirit, in inspiring Solomon to write the Book of Proverbs, supplied an antidote to the poison of those influences (temptations attending the splendor and prosperity of the times), and has given to the world a moral and spiritual manual, which has its special uses for those who dwell in populous towns and cities, and who are busily engaged in worldly traffic, and are exposed to such temptations as are rife in an age and country like our own, distinguished by commercial enterprise and me- chanical skill, and by the production of great works of human industry, in Art, Literature and Science, and also by religious activity, especially of that kind which aims to give to Religion ex- ternal dignity and beauty, such as reached its highest pitch in the Temple of Solomon." Again, " The Proverbs of Solomon come from above, and they also look upward. They teach that all True Wisdom is the gift of God, and is grounded on the fear of the Lord. They dwell with the strongest emphasis on the necessity of careful vigilance over the heart which is manifest only to God ; and on the right government of the tongue, whose sins are rarely punished by human laws ; and on the duty of acting, in all the daily business and social intercourse of life, with an eye stea- dily fixed on the throne of God, and with habitual reference to the only unerring standard of hu- man practice, His Will and Word. In this respect the Book of Proverbs prepared the way for the preaching of the Gospel ; and we recognize in it an anticipation of the Apostolic precept concern- ing all domestic and social relations, ' Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord.' " Dean Stanley [Hislory of the Jewish Church, II., 269, Am. Ed.), looking at the other side of INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. the shield, says, This book " has even something of a worldly, prudential look, unlike the rest of the Bible. But this is the very reason why its recognition as a Sacred Book is so useful. It is the philosophy of practical life. It is the sign to us that tlie Bible does not despise common sense and discretion. It impresses upon us in the most forcible manner the value of intelligence and prudence, and of a good education. The whole strength of the Hebrew language, and of the sacred authority of the book, is thrown upon these homely truths. It deals too in that refined, discrimi- nating, careful view of the finer shades of human character, so often overlooked by theologians, but eo necessary to any true estimate of human life." Dr. Guthrie {Sunday Magazine, Oct., 1868, p. 15) calls attention in his forcible way to other qualities of the book, and bears a valuable testimony to its experimental worth in a wide sphere. " It fulfils in a unique and pre-eminent degree the requirements of effective oratory, not only every chapter, but every verse, and almost every clause of every verse expressing something which both ' strikes and sticks.' " " The day was in Scotland when all her children were initiated into the art of reading through the Book of Proverbs. . . . I have no doubt whatever — neither had the late Principal Lee, as appears by the evidence he gave before a committee of parliament — that the high character which Scotsmen earned in bygone years was mainly due to their early acquaintance with the Proverbs, the practical sagacity and wisdom of Solomon The book has unlbrtu- nately disappeared from our schools ; and with its disappearance my countrymen are more and more losing their national virtues — in self-denial and self-reliance, in foresight and economy, in reverence of parents and abhorrence of public charity, some of the best characteristics of old manners and old times." — A.] A.— GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL LITERATURE ASCRIBED TO SOLOMON. I 2. THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN GENERAL, IN ITS RELATION TO THE PHI- LOSOPHY OF OTHER NATIONS. The peculiar form in which the ethical doctrines and precepts of the Proverbs are presented is that of the JIhokmah, or Proverbial Philosophy of the Hebrews. It is a species of moral and philosophical instruction in practical wisdom, which though distinguished by its thoroughly re- ligious character from the secular philosophy of all other races, stands in the same relation to the spiritual development of the covenant people as that occupied by this philosophy in refer- ence to the general culture of men who are without the Scriptures. For, whatever answer be given to the somewhat perplexing question, whether the Hebrews can be properly said to have had a philosophy, it is certainly true, that the essential feature of philosophy, the striving after objective wisdom, or after a true conception of the absolute fitness of the world to accomplish its ends, in both a theoretical and a practical aspect, is most completely presented in the Hhokmah of the old dispensation ; and that in fact it is only the peculiar form in which this striving de- velops itself in the Old Testament literature, which distinguishes this Hhokmah from the phi- losophy of Greek and Roman antiquity. Thb wisdom of the people of God under the Old Tes- tament is the art of so shaping life in harmony with the divine will, and in obedience to its peculiar laws learned by experience and reflection, as to make one an upright subject of the kingdom of God, in other wofds, so as to secure at once the divine favor and earthly blessed- ness. [When NoYES [A new Translation of the Proverbs, etc., Introd. to Proverbs, p. xiv.) says: " It is true that the religion and morality of the Book of Proverbs will not bear a favora- ble comparison with those of Jesus Christ. Its morality is much lesa disinterested, being for the most part founded in prudence rather than in love. Its motives generally are of a much less elevated kind than those which Christianity presents .... Prudential motives, founded on a strict earthly retribution, are the principal encouragements to a life of virtue which he presents," etc., we recognize the truth which he exhibits, but notwithstanding his supplementary and balancing statements prefer Isaac Taylor's mode of exhibiting the truth. Speaking immedi- ately-of the 23d Psalm he says [Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, Am. 12mo. ed., p. 38): "The bright § 2. THE rHILOSOPHY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. idea of earthly well-being pervades the Old Testament Scriptures ; and this worldly sunshine is their distinction as compared with the New Testament; but then there are many cognate ideas which properly come into their places around the terrestrial idea .... A feeling is here indicated which was of that age, and which was approvable then, although it has been superseded since by sentiments of a higher order, and which draw their reason from the substitution of future for present good." — A.] In so far as God is alike the beginning and the end of this pursuit of wisdom, or in so far as it both necessarily springs from the fear of God, — Prov. i. 7; ix. 10; comp. Job xxviii. 28 ; Ps. cxi. 10 ; Ecclesiast. i. 16, — and leads to a purifying fellowship with Him, Prov. viii. 35; iii. 16, ete., it has an essentially religious and practical character. Its sphere of reflection and of action must therefore be also more limited than that of the old classi- cal or of the modern philosophy, both of which delight in profound theoretical inquiries in refer- ence to created existence, and investigatious of not only the end but also the origin of both nature and man. Those questions concerning the origin of the world and the origin of evil which play so conspicuous a part in the philosophy of ancient and of modern times, are only incidentally discussed in the Hebrew literature of wisdom, whether in the works ascribed to Solomon, the book of J.ob, or the kindred Psalms ; and then only in their relation to the motives and tendencies to practical morality. The divine wisdom which establishes the relation of God to the world, and is at once the chief source and fundamental law of both the subjective and the objective wisdom of men, (Prov. viii. 21; ix. 12; Job xxviii. 24 sq. ; Ecclesiast. xxiv.) is always represented rather as the medium of the foreknowledge and the providence of God, than as a creative power, or even as the ideal pattern of the world (the Kdapog voTjrog of Plato). In fine, the essential character of the Hebrew philosophy is far more practical than speculative; it is as little inclined to pursue or to prompt genuine speculation as it is to identify itself with, secular philosophy in general, and with unaided human reason to investigate the final causes of things. It is essentially a divine philosophy planting its feet upon the basis of the divine revela- tion, and staying itself upon the eternal principles of the divine law; and it is this determinate and positive character of its method of conceiving and teaching, that chiefly distinguishes it from the philosophy of other nations and of other times. Moreover, the habitual, and not as was the case with many ancient philosophers, the occasional, adoption of the poetical form of the Gnome or didactic apothegm for conveying its instructions, must be regarded as a marked and import- ant feature of this whole body of Old Testament literature, and as a decided indication of its method and of its tendencies. Note 1. — The Strasburg theologian, J. F. Bruch, in his " Weisheitslehre der Hehrder ; ein Beiirag zur Gesch'-chle der Philosophie," Strasburg. 1851, thoroughly discusses the question whether or not the doctrine of the Hhokmah in the Old Testament is to be considered philoso- phy in the strict sense, and decides it in the affirmative. TJiis was the prevailing opinion in former times among the theologians of all the churches. Jesuits, e. g. Menochius in his learned work, " De Repuhlica Hebneorum," Book VII., Chap. 1; many of the Heformers of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially the followers of Descartes and Cocceius ; and Lutherans like the aforementioned Bohlius in his "Ethica Sacra,''' or the eminent Budd^us in his "Intro- ductio ad Historiam philosophies Hebrmorum," 2d ed., Leipsic, 1720, all spoke without hesitation of the Hebrew philosophy, of the philosophy of Solomon, David, Moses, Joseph, and Abraham. Indeed they often ventured to trace the philosophy of the patriarchs as far back as to Adam. Even at the beginning of the present century Blessig-, in his Introduction to J. G. Dahler's "Denk- und Sitteyispriichen /Safowo's" (Strasburg, 1810), unqualifiedly characterized the prover- bial poetry of the Hebrews as philosophical ; De Wette, in his Hebrew Archseology, spoke of " the speculative and practical philosophy of the Hebrews ;" and Staeudlin wrote a dissertation on " The Philosophy, the Origin and Design of the Book of Job." (See his " Beitrdge zur Philosophie und Geschichte der Religion und SitLenlehre," II., 133 sq. ; compare the same author's " Geist der SiUenlehre Jesu," I., 74 sq.). Theologians of the most diverse schools agreed in assuming in general the existence among the eai'ly Hebrews of a style of wisdom which might claim the undisputed title of a philosophy. The opposite view is represented not only by many later philosophers especially those of the critical school of Kant, but also by such theologians as limit the notion "philosophy" to the 6 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. scholarly scieutifio speculative inquiries peculiar to modern times, and must therefore consider not only the Hebrews, but all the Semitic races, and indeed the Orientals in general, as totally destitute of a philosophical habit of mind. Such was the opinion of Brucker before the time of Kant, when he asserted in his Critical History of Philosophy (Leipsic, 1767, I., 64), " non coajundendam esse Hebrceoruvi sapientiam cum philosophia 2)ropra nominis alque significalionis." Kkug [Philosophisch-Ilncyclopjddisches Lexicon, II., 328) thinks that anything like philosophy or philosophical wisdom is not to be looked for among the ancient Hebrews." Heinhold [LeJirbuch der Geschichte der Philosophie, p. 15) denies in general the existence of any proper old Oriental philosophy side by side with the Greek. Hitter [Geschichte der Philosophie, I., 48) bluntly says, " Of the only Asiatic nations whose literature is known to us, we may venture to assert, without fear of much contradiction, that in the early times they had no philosophy. Among these are the Hebrews," etc. Of the more recent theologians R. F. Geau (" Semiten und Indogermancn in ihrer Bezleliung zu Religion und Wissenschaft," p. 28 sq.) has warmly and zealously supported the proposition that '"the Setnitic mind in general has no capacity for either philosophy or science," and Lu- THAEDT (in the " Leipziger Vortrdge uher die Kirche, nach Urspjrung, Geschichte und Gegen- wart, pp. 18 sq. [pp. 19 sq, of the translation published by Messrs. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1867]) adopts his opinion at least in reference to the Hebrews. All these scholars manifestly have too limited and partial a conception of philosophy. They with one consent understand by it an exercise of the human intellect controlled by the rigid laws of logic and carried on in a scientific method such as was never seen among the early He- brews, or indeed among any of the older Eastern nations. But philosophy means far more than this. It is in itself, as its etymology, (pL^-oaoipla, i. e. studtum sapientice [love of wisdom], indicates, and as the whole practice and method of the oldest Greek philosophers down to the time of Aristotle demonstrates, nothing but a love for wisdom; an earnest endeavor to find a theoreti- cal and a practical solution of the problems of our earthly life; that intellectual eflfort which strives to re-establish the proper relation between the absolute omniscience of God, and the relative knowledge possessed by the reason of man. A philosophy and philosophical science in this wider sense must be claimed for the people of God under the Old Testament. We cannot, however, quite agree with Bruch {ut supra, p. 20 sq.) when, having defined philosophy in its objec- tive aspect as " the science of the Absolute, or the science of the supreme necessary causes of all that is or that must be," and in its subjective aspect, " as the unaided inquiry after the absolute, or rational thinking in so far as renouncing all external authority it investigates the supreme necfssary causes of all that is or that must be," he ascribes both to the Hebrews. For, in the first place, that which among them corresponds to the philosophy of other nations is not pro- perly science, but rather a knowledge and comprehension, an intellectual effort and reflective process in general ; and in the next place, it is not so much the " supreme necessary causes " as the chief practical ends of our earthly life and being which occupied the mind of the Hebrew thinker. It is then only philosophy in its subjective character, as above defined, which can in the main be ascribed to the Hebrews, and even this in a form quite unlike that in which it pre- sents itself to Bruch, one which secures the full recognition of its predominant practical and theological character. A philosophy consisting in such an essentially practical or ethical ten- dency of the mind, which by an examination of the highest moral and religious ends of all human and superhuman existence, seeks to determine the normal relation between God and the world, and thus to point out the way to truth and blessedne.ss, may without hesitation be ascribed to the people of the Old Covenant. It is indeed a philosophy, which though its shape and dress are religious and poetical rather than didactic and scientific, contains within itself all the elements which are essential to strictly scientific development, or to an entrance into the sphere of dogmatic and moral and theological speculation. In this properly limited sense has Ewald, among others, [Geschichte des Volkes Israel, III., 82) recognized the existence of an old Hebrew Philosophy. " Philosophy," says he, '• may exist even where the rigid laws of thought (logic) are not observed, or where no attempt is made to reduce all truths and conceptions to a symmetrical whole (a system). This, it may be admitted, is ijts final aim, — though this aim like every other human aspiration is so often tho- ^ 2 THE rniLOSOniY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. roughly erroneous and misleading ; — it is not, however, its beginning nor its constant living im- pulse. Its beginning and very life is rather the intense and unquenchable desire for investiga- tion, and for the investigation of all objects, both higher and lower, remote and near, human and divine. Where the problems of existence allow thoughtful men no rest, where they provoke among the mightiest intellects of any people, or of several nations at once, an un- wearied rivalry in the attempt to solve them, Philosophy is in the bloom and vigor of youth. In that earlier time the noblest of the Semitic races had plainly reached that sta"-e when the Greeks were far from having approached it; and Israel, whose higher religion fur- nished besides a special impulse to reflection on the relations of things, now entered with them upon this nobler field of hongr in the most generous rivalry." Similar views are expressed by Umbreit in his ingenious and instructive, though somewhat prolix observations "on the wisdom of the East" [Commentar iiber die Sprilchc Salomas, Eln- leiLung, pp. iii. sq.); by Delitzsch (Article " Spriiche Salomas," in Herzog's Real-EncycL, XIV., pp. 712 sq.), as well as by the editor of this Biblework in his General Introduction to the Old Testament (Genesis p. 19, [Am. Ed.]). Oehlek in his wori "-Die Grundziigeder alttestam. Weisheit, pp. 5 sq., as well as his follower Kahnis [LxUherische Dogmatik, 1., 304), essentially agrees with the above statements. The latter says excellently, among other things, " To find in the life of nature and of man, in the revelations of the kingdom of God, in the whole world the divine 'wherefore,' the divine fitness to accomplish the proposed end, was the great aim of the wisdom of Solomon. Here unquestionably existed a tendency to science, to philosophy. But the national life of Israel rested on too divine a foundation to permit great freedom of in- quiry, and the kingdom of God had too many practical aims to favor a purely theoretical explo- ration of the objects of existence. Springing from the practical this wisdom sought to further the practical," etc. Note 2. — In harmony with his above-quoted definition of the philosophy of the Hebrews, as an inquiry into the highest necessary causes of all that is or that shall be, Bruch (pp. G9 sq.) introduces the cosmogony of the first two chapters of Genesis into his representation of the philosophy of the Old Testament. He thus regards the substance of these chapters as a portion of a philosophical system, and indeed in its essential features as the earliest instance of philo- sophical reflection among the Hebrew race. (Herder, as is well known, held similar vievvs. In his " Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschhed " he termed the Mosaic cosmogony "an ancient philosophy of the history of man "). This view of Bruch's is connected with his assumption of the purely human and moreover half-mythical character of the Mosaic narrative. It is therefore to be decidedly rejected, together with his opinion that the Old Testament " wisdom " is the product of unaided human speculation, and that no divine or specifically supernatural factor is to be recognized in the Old Testament revelation in general. Note 3. — The word '^^r''? primarily denotes (in accordance with the fundamental meaning of the root DJH, ^Ov.?*' ^^ Arabic, where it means to fasten, to hold fast, and then to separate, to decide) the fixing of an object for cognition, and secondarily, simply knowledge, insight. It is therefore in Prov. i. 2 used as precisely synonymous with t^iil, and elsewhere, as in Isa. xi. 2 sq., as at least parallel with T^y2. The DDn is then in the first instance the wise, the learned man in general (comp. Jer. viii. 9), whether he be a judge (1 Kings iii. 28: comp. the corresponding Arabic word which always signifies a judge), or an artificer (Ex. xxviii. 3; xxxi. 6 ; Jer. x. 9), or finally a cunning, subtle man who can use his craft for his own or for others' advantage (Job v. 13, comp. 2 Sam. xiii. 3; xx. 16). In the religious realm HO^n naturally denotes insight into that upright dealing which pleases God and conforms to the divine law, a knowledge of the right way which is to be followed before God, and of the wrong one which is to be shunned. In short it is that practical uprightness, founded on religious enlightenment, in which the true happiness of man consists, and which is therefore frequently represented by n^t^=iil (i. e. well being and wisdom in one), e. g. Prov. ii. 7 ; iii. 21 ; viii. 14; xviii. 1; Job xi. 6; xii. 16; xxvi. 3. Compare in general Hitzig, Die Spruche Salomo's, Einleitung, p. Iii INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. sq. The latter, however, gives a somewhat different and less correct etymology of the word. He defines Dlin as one wlio joossesses the spiritual power of control and determination, and noDn as the power of moral self-subjugation. He thus gives to the notion of government a prominence which is by no means justified by the Arabic ,t^^is^ Note 4.— The Wo or Hebrew gnome, as the distinctive artistic form adopted by the Old Testament philosophy and proverbial poetry, will be particularly discussed in a later section. We may, however, here observe that of all the titles borrowed from kindred secular literature, and applied to the Proverbs of Solomon on account of their peculiar form, none appears more just and appropriate than that adopted by Bruch, who terms them (p. 104) an Anthology of Hebrew Gnomes. In the explanation and justification of this title he, however, as he does elsewhere, disparages the theopneustic character of this Book of Scripture. §3. THE AGE OF SOLOMON, OR THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE HEBREW LITERATURE OF WISDOM. As among other nations philosophy is not wont to assume its proper form till a long time after the religious and civil foundations of national culture are securely laid, so in Israel no season of undisturbed reflection and of philosophical inquiry and instruction could be enjoyed, before the protracted ptorras and conflicts of the period of the Judges had fixed the religion of the law in the depths of the popular consciousness, or before the reigns of Saul and Da- vid, the earliest kings, had firmly established the theocratic national life. The power of ex- ternal enemies must first in some way be broken and overthrown, and the prosperity of the citizen and the political and social influence of the nation upon the life of the surrounding nations must be to a certain degree secured; but this could not be effected before the bril- liant and glorious though warlike reign of David. Furthermore, as an element of the inter- nal culture of the nation, the spirit of the law must have begun to receive a new invigora- tion and a fresh inculcation, which it derived from the schools of the prophets which sprung up after the time of Samuel. Hand in hand with the directly religious activity of this pro- phetic company the national poetry must make its earliest start, and create for that philoso- phy a proper literary and aesthetic form. These conditions were not all of them fully realized until the time of Solomon, when the people were blessed with a long period of peace, rich in earthly possessions and enjoyments of all sorts ; they then began a lively and widely extended intercourse with foreign nations, and with an extending view reaching even to Tarshish and Ophir, their thought and their activity received the most various impulses in a direction which was no longer narrow and strictly national, but more or less universal and as broad as humanity itself.* There was therefore associated with the priests, the prophets, the warriors, the judges, a new class of notables, that of the Hhakamim (D'03n 1 Kings iv. 30, 31 ; Jer. xviii. 18 ; Prov. i. 6; xiii. 20 ; xxii. 17), the wise, or the teachers of wisdom, who began to bear their part in the whole work of training the nation. A pretty large number of such wise men, of considerable importance, must have appeared under Solomon, and have been associated with him as the most famous of all. For the books of the Kings mention besides him some of his contemporaries, viz.: " Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol," as representatives of the wisdom of that time (1 Kings iv. 31 ; comp. 1 Chron. ii. 6), and compare the wisdom of these Hebrew Hhakamim with that of all the children of the East coun- try, and all the wisdom of Egypt " (1 Kings iv. 30). Whether they did or did not form a well de- * ["That stately and melancholy figure (Solomnn'8)-in some respects the grandest and the saddest in the sacred vo- lume-18, in detail, little more than a mighty .hadow. Bnt, on the other hand, of his age, of his court, of his works, we know more than of any other." (Stanlky, Jcxm.h Church, II., 1S4). And the accomplished author goes on to indicate the mnlt.pljnng points of contact with the outer and the later world, and with secular history: and adds (p. lS6j : "To have had many such characters in the Bil,lic:tl History would have hrought it down too nearly to the ordinary lorel. But to have one such is necessary, to hI.ow that the i,>t,.r,.st which we inevitably feel in such events and such m"en has a place in the designs of Providence, and in the les.ons of Revelation." See also pp. 252 sq.-Prof B. B. Knw.tRns ( yrritings, etc., II., 402), speaking of the fitness of the age to develop this species of poetry, says: "It was the period of peace, extended commerce, art, reflection, when the poet could gather up the experiences of the past, and embody them in pithy sayings, sharp apothegms, instructive allegories, or spread them out in a kind of philosophical disquisition."— A.] § 3. THE AGE OF SOLOMON. fined, exclusive class of popular teachers gathered about some leader or master, whether there were thus special schools for tlie wise, or the schools of the prophets were also chief places of culture for the disciples of the Hhokraah, these Hhakaraim of the age of Solomon and of subsequent ages must be considered a verj' important factor in the limited mental development of the people, and as a factor possessing, like the prophetic and the priestly order, an independent importance (conip. Jer. xviii. 18 ; Ez. vii. 26). They had doubtless offered a vigorous resistance to those frivolous im- pulses of the D'V!?. ^^6 freethinkers and insolent scofTers, that had manifested themselves since the times of Saul and of David. Their positive agency was exerted in the propagation and dissemina- tion of that deeper religious knowledge and practical wisdom of life, beside which all woz'ldly pru- dence, fine culture and enlishtenraent must appear as foolishness (comp. '731 ri73J. r\rT2i etc- Prov. xiii. 20 ; xvii. 21 ; Ps. xiv. 1 ; Is. xxxii. 6). The first decided manifestation of this new in- tellectual tendency, together with the literature produced by it under Solomon's peaceful reign, marks this bright summit of the entire theocratic development in the Old Testament as the golden age and the really classic epoch of this especially important branch of the intellectual culture in the life of the covenant people. Note 1. — The independent significance of (he riDDTI as a special tendency of the mind, exerting •with the nx=l3J, or the gift of prophecy, an important influence has been recently estimated with special correctness by Ewald. In his dissertation " on the popular and intellectual freedom of Israel in the time of the great prophets down to the destruction of Jerusalem " [Bibl. Jahrbilcher, 1, 96 sq.), he says, among other things, " It is not easy to conceive correctly how high a development was reached m the pursuit of wisdom ( Philosophy) in the first centuries after David — and it is not usual to consider how mighty was the influence which it exerted on tl\e entire development of the national life of Israel. The more closely those centuries are reviewed, the greater must be the as- tonishment at the vast power so early exerted on all sides by wisdom as the peculiar concern of many men among the people. It first openly manifested itself in especial circles of the nation, whilst in the peculiarly propitious age after Solomon eager and inquisitive pupils gathered about individual teachers until ever-improving schools were thus formed. But its influence gradually pervaded all the other pursuits of the people, and acted upon the most diverse branches of author- ship." The existence of especial schools of the wise, like those of the Prophets, thus asserted, can- not be satisfactorily proved. Delitzsch's remark in favor of this assumption {ut supra, p. 717), that the usual form of address in the Proverbs, 'J2, my son, whicli is not that of a father to a son, but of a teacher to a scholar, implies that there were then n:opn \J3, {. e., pupils of the wise, just as there were " sons of the prophets," and that there must also have been "schools of w^isdom," is and must remain a mere hypothesis. It is moreover an hypothesis, which from the acknowledged wide application of the conception j3, son, in Hebrew, and its almost absolute lack of all support in the Proverbs as well as in the other books of the Old Testament, must alM'ays be regarded as a rather unsafe one. Comp. Bruch, pp. 57 sq., who is at all events so far correct that he observes : ''The Hebrew wise men were not philosophers by profession; they constituted no class distinct from others, but might belong to diflferent classes," For there is the less reason for supposing from the above cited passage (Jer. xviii. 18) that there was a special class of Hhakamira,. beside that of the priests and the prophets, from the fact that in the parallel passage, Ez. vii. 26, the notion of " the wise" is represented by that of " the ancient," D'JP.I- Note 2. — The antithesis between \2 and D^n which runs through the entire body of Old Tes- tament literature pertaining to wisdom has been discussed in an eminently instructive manner by Delitzsch, ut supra, pp. 713 sq. He shows very strikingly how "in the age of Solomon, which was peculiarly exposed to the danger of sensuality and worldliness, to religious indifference and freethinking latitudinarianism," the number of D'V^ necessarily increased, and their skepticism and mocker)- must have assumed a more decided and aggravated form. " For those men who de- spised what is holy, and in doing so laid claim to wisdom (Prov. xiv. 6), who, when permitted to speak, indulged in contention and bitterness (xxii. 10), who carefully shunned the company of the Hhakamiiu, because they fancied themselves superior to their reproofs (xv. 12), the age of Solo- 10 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. mon," he says, " firot invented the title ]*7 [scorner]. For in the Psalms of the time of David their common designation is /3J (which occurs in Prov. xvii. 21 only in the general sense of low fellow, Germ. Buhe [Eng. ' Booby.' It occurs also in Prov. xvii. 7, and xxx. 22, and the corresponding verb in xxx. 32 — R. P. D.], while the word yi is found in no other than the 1st Psalm, which has a later origin. One of the proverbs of Solomon (xxi. 24, comp, xxiv. 8) gives a definition of the new term : "Proud and haughty scorner (1*7) is his name who dealeth in proud wrath." The conscious self-sufficiency of his ungodly thoughts and deeds distinguishes him from the "'il??! the simple, who has been only misled, and may therefore be reclaimed (Prov. xix. 25 ; xxi. 11). His disowning the Holy, in opposition to a better knowledge and better opportunities, distinguishes him from the Vd3 [" foolish," i. e., gross or stupid], the v\1X [" foolish," i. e., lax or remiss], and the ^^-'IDH [the man "void of understanding," lit., lacking heart, i.e., sense], all of whom despise truth and in- struction through want of understanding, narrowness and forgetfulness of God, rather than from essential perverseness." Note 3. — Of the four wise contemporaries of Solomon mentioned in 1 Kings v. 11 (iv. 31 accord- ing to the older division of chapters [the one followed in our English Bible]) Pieman and Ethan appear in Ps. Ixxxviii. 1 and Ixxxix. 1 as " Ezrahites," i. e., descendants of Ezrah or Zerah, the son of Judah (Num. xxvi. 13, 20). Chalcol and Darda (in the parallel passage, 1 Chron. ii. 6, Dara) are designated as v'lnrD 'p3, i. e., either "sons of Machal," a man otherwise unknown, or if vino be taken as an appellative, " sons of verse," i. e., singers, leaders of the chorus (comp. Eccl. xii. 4). Luther's translation, " poets," and his reference of the title to all the four, are unsupported by the original. Comp. Keil, Commentar zu den Biichern der Konige, pp. 42 sq. I 4. SOLOMON AND THE POETRY OF WISDOM WHICH MAY BE CALLED SOLOMON'S IN THE STRICTEST SENSE. As the chief representative and promoter of the Jewish literature of wisdom, we have Solomon himself [" not only the Auoustds of his age, but its Aristotle" (Stanley)]. The Old Testa- ment exalts the wisdom of this monarch, as a direct gift of Divine grace* (1 Kings iii. 5-12; iv. 29), high above that of all other wise men, whether of his own or of other nations, — especially above that of the teachers of wisdom already named, Heman, Ethan, Chalcol and Darda (1 Kings iv. 30, 31). This is described as consisting, in the first place, in the highest virtues of the ruler and the judge, or, as it is expressed in 1 Kings iii. 9, in "an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad ;" and in the second place, in an unusually wide and varied knowledge as the basis of his teaching, which related to all the possible relations of created existence. [Comp. Stanley's Jewish Church, II., pp. 254 sq.] It is this vast erudition which is referred to in the expression "largeness of heartf (37 3n'i) even as the sand that is on the sea shore," which, with the words "" wisdom and understanding exceeding much," is used in 1 Kings iv. 29 to describe his extraordinary endowments. With the same intent it is said of him, ver. 33, that " he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hy.soop thatspringeth out of the wall; he spake also of beasts, and of fowl and of creeping things and of fishes." Among these discourses of his upon all possible manifestations of life in nature are doubtless meant wise sayings in reference to their deeper sense, and the Divine majesty and wisdom reflected in them, physico-theological observations and descriptions, therefore, such, for example, as still present themselves to us in the concluding chapters of the Book of Job (chaps, xxxviii. — xli.), and in several of the sublimest Psalms (viii.; ix.; civ., etc.) ; or shorter aphorisms, parabolic reflec- * [" He showed hia wisJoni by asking for wisdom. IIo became wise because he had set his heart upon it. This was to him the special aspect tlirough wliich tlie Divine Spirit was to be approached, and grasped, and made to bear on the wants of men; not the liighest, not the choice of David, n«t the choice of Isaiah; but still the choice of Solomon. 'lie awoke, and behold, it wiis a dream." But the fulfilment of it belonged to actual life." DEiN STANLEY, History of the Jewish amrcli, 11., 1116.— A.] t Luthkr's translation, "getrnsks ITerz" [a comforted, then a courageous or confident heart], must be rejected as con- trary lo the sense of the original. Comp. Keil m 7oc., who correctly explains "largeness of heart" as "comprehensive understanding," "intellectual capacity to grasp the widest realms of knowledge." 2 4. SOLOMON AND THE POSTRY OF WISDOM. 11 tions and pointed sentences, such as are quite numerous in the Proverbs and in Ecclesiastes (e. g., Prov. vi. 6-8; xx. 1 sq.; xxvi. 1 sq.; xxvii. 3 sq.; xxx. 15 sq.; comp. Eccles. i. 5 sq.; vii. 1 sq.; x. 1 sq.; xii. 1 sq.). It is the manifold materials and themes of both ihe lyrical and the didactic poetry of Solomon (or, according to 1 Kings iv. 32, his " Proverbs " and " Songs "), which in that noteworthy passage are mentioned as proofs of the unusual extent of his knowledge, this theoretical foundation of his wisdom, or are pointed out by the prominence given to a few noted examples from the vegeta- ble and the animal world. Josephus indeed rightly understood the passage as a whole, when he found that it ascribed to Solomon a comprehensive knowledge and a profound philosophical view of natural objects [Antl., VIII., 2, 5 : ov^Efxiav tovtuv (I>vqiv i/yvoTjaev ovde ■nfifjfp^.dev avE^haaTov dZA' kv irdaaig £(piXoa6(p)/aev [he was not ignorant of the nature of any of these things, nor did he pass them by unexamined, but he philosophized concerning them all]. A similar correct estimate of the na- ture and extent of the philosophical knowledge of this great monarch is found m Iren^us [Adv. haer., IV., 27 1), who, on the authority of the same passage says of Solomon, " earn quce est in con- ditione {i. e., ktlgel) sapientiam Dei exponebat ■physiologiee." He thus in like manner ascribes to him not perhaps a purely descriptive or historical knowledge of natural objects, but a knowledge of nature serving as a basis for fine religious and philosophical observations and ethical instructions in wisdom. Many of the fruits of this learned pursuit of wisdom must have had a literary character. According to 1 Kings iv. 32 " he spake three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thou- sand and five." Not only then had he inherited from his father David, in undiminished fer- tility, the power of composing songs, the gift of both sacred and secular lyrical verse, but he also originated and established a new species of Hebrew poetic art, that of gnomic didactic poetry, of which before his time there had existed but mere germs, imperfect attempts com- pletely eclipsed by his achievements. Proportionably few specimens of eithei" class of his poetical productions have come down to us. Instead of one thousand and five songs we have in the Canon but two Psalms, which bear his name, the 72d and the 127th. The exclusioa of so large a number of his lyrics from the collection of the religious verse of his nation may have been occasioned either by their lack of a directly religious character, or by their too in- dividual bearing. In reference to another monument of the lyrical poetry associated with the name of Solomon, the Canticles, it is still an undecided and controverted question whether Solomon was the proper and immediate author of it, or rather some contemporary poet who chose him as its subject (see ^ 5). The remains of his gnomic didactic poetry, as they are presented in the Proverbs, are much more numerous. Even this collection, however, contains not more, perhaps, than one quarter of those 3,000 sayings which Solomon uttered ; inasmuch as several parts of the book are by their titles expressly ascribed to other authors, and of the remaining 746 verses hardly the whole can be directly ascribed to him (see § 12). It will always be uncertain whether those 3,000 proverbs of which it is expressly said that he " spake " them, were all actually recorded by him or one of his contemporaries, or whether many of them, as matters of merely oral tradition, were not gradually lost. That in general he spoke more than he wrote, so that the greater part of the utterances of his wisdom consisted in pithy maxims and acute sayings, like the riddles of the modern Ori- entals, maybe pretty safely inferred from the statement, that "there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the eartli, which had heard of his wisdom " (1 Kings iv, 34). The same inference may be drawn partly from the Scripture narrative, and partly from the old Jewish tradition preserved by Josephus in reference to the Queen of Sheba's visit to his court (1 Kings x. 1 sq.), as well as from the account of his contest with King Hiram, and with the Tyrian Abdemon, in the proposing of ingenious riddles. (Josephus, Antt. VIII., 5, 3). Note 1.— Besides songs (D'T^?), gnomes or maxims (D'Styo), and riddles (HlTn), Hitzig, ut supra, p. xvi., ascribes fables to Solomon. " The discourse concerning beasts, trees, fowl, etc., ascribed to him (in 1 Kings iv. 33)," he thinks, "cannot be properly referred to the substance of his maxims, but is most naturally understood of his invention of fables." This is a rather ar- bitrary conceit of Hitzig' s, which he unsuccessfully tries to sustain by the hypothesis which he 12 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. throws in, that ' perhaps in the ^'ttX, 1 Kings iv. 33 (hyssop), the came of ^sop lies concealed" (Aj(T«TOf=L'(TcrwTOi ??). Notwithstanding tiie contrary assertion of Herder, in his well-known work, "The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry" (II., p. I3j, the Old Testament offers no example of a proper fable. The story of the bramble invited by the trees to be their king (Judg. ix. 8-15) is in its whole plan and tendency much more of a parable than a fable. Note 2. — According to Oriental traditions in reference to Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, her name was Balkis or Belkis ; she became Solomon's concubine, or his actual wife (the first is asserted by the Ilimyaritic Arabs, the latter by the -.Ethiopians) ; she bore him a son, Mc-niie- hek, with the surname Ibn-el-hagim, son of thewi^e; she iirsL brought to Palestine the root of the genuine balsam, afterwards cultivated at Jericho and near Engedi (comp. I Kings X. 10, and in addition Josephus, Antt. VIII. 6, 6), etc. Legends of this sort, invented especially by the Rabbis to heighten the kingly glory and wisdom of Solomon, and found some of them in JosEPQUS [ut supra), others in the Talmud (e. g. Jalkub Jlelachim, p. 195), others in the Koran (Sura 27), others in later Arabic, yEthiopic and Persian documents, abound in thecompreher uve Turkish work Suleiman name, i. e. the Book of Solomon, which, according to Vox Hammer, consists of 70 folio volumes. Comp. Vox Hammer " Rosenol, or Oriental Legends and Tradi- tions from Arabic, Persian and Turkish sources," Vol. I., pp. 147-257. See also H. Lddolp, Hist. JEihiop., II , c. 3, 4: Pococke, Specimen hist. Arab., p. 60; Caussin de Perceval, ^s.sai siir I'histoire des Arabes, I., pp. 76 sq. ; and P. Cassel, Elagabal, in the Elberfeld '• Vortrdge f. d. gebildete Publikum," lSG-4, p. 182. Note 3. — [The question of Solomon's moral qualification to be the author of some of the books contained in the canon of the Scriptures has sometimes perplexed honest disciples, and been made a specious argument in the mouths of cavillers. The point is well put and the an- swer well given by Arnot, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth, pp. 11-13. " The choice of Solomon as one of the writers of the Bible at first sight startles, but on deeper study instructs. We would have expected a man of more exeiujlary life— a man of uniibrm holiness. It is certain that, in the main, the vessels which the Spirit used were sanctified vessels : ' Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' .... But the diversity in all its extent is like all the other ways of God; and He knows how to make either extreme fall into its place in the concert of His praise. He who made Saul an apostle did not disdain to use Solomon as a prophet If all the writers of the Bible had been perfect in holiness, — if no stain of sin could be traced on their character, no error noted in their life, it is certain that the Bible would not have served all the purposes which it now serves among men. It would have been Godlike indeed in matter and mould, but it would not have reached down to the low estate of man— it would not have penetrated to the sort's of a human heart Practical lessons on some sub- jects come better through the heart and lips of the weary, repentant king than through a man who had tasted fewer pleasures, and led a more even life Here is a marvel ; not a line of Solomon^ s writings lends to palliate Solomon's sins The glaring imperfections of the man"s life have been used as a dark ground to set off the lustre of that pure righteousness which the Spirit has spoken by his lips." — A.] I 5. the song of SOLOMON IN ITS RELATION TO THE LITERATURE OF WISDOM ASSOCIATED WITH SOLOMON.* The opinion that the Song of Solomon is not only a production of the age of Solomon, but most probably the work of Solomon himself, is favored both by its numerous allusions to the personal and historical relations of this king {e. g. iii. 2; iv. 4; vi. 8; vii. 5; viii. 11), and by its general aesthetic character, its lively conception of nature. Thus it manifests a decided pre- ference for comparisons with natural objects of all sorts, especially with such as are distinguished ♦[While there must bo conceded to be weight in the objections urged by IsA\o Taylor (chap. iii. of his "Spirit of Hebrew Podry") to the recognition of a proiier drama in the Scriptures, wo cannot agree witli him that it is only with "a voiy forced moaning" tliat such books as .lob and SoloMion's Song can bo called dramatic. There is, on the other liiind, need to guard against tlie fondness of some for as^imi^^ting tlie Scriptures in their descriptive terma to secular litera- ture; is there not in the other direction such an error as hyper-fastidiousness? A.j g 5. RELATION TO THE LITERATURE OF WISDOM. 13 either by their beauty or their variety ; it refers not only to numerous important places of both Norlhern and Soutfiern Palestine, but also to regions, cities and persons beyond the limits of Palestine (e. g. Kedar, Damascus, Pharaoh, etc.). Had it been composed merely with reference to Solomon, it would not have been ascribed to this monarch either in the title of the Masoretic text, or by the unanimous tradition of Jewish antiquity. It is manifestly a product of that extremely rich and fruitful poetical activity of Solomon, described in 1 Kings iv. 32, 33. In virtue of its erotic contents it belongs essentially to that division of his poetry which is there indicated by the mention of the songs which were a thousand and five, and thus to the lyrical class, whose characteristic features must be recognized in it, though with Umbreit, Ewald, Delitzsch and others, we regard it as a dramatic composition. For even though this pre-emi- nently probable view of its artistic form be adopted, — a view which alone offers a thorough and generally satisfactory refutation of the recently somewhat popular theory, which divides the entire composition into a simple cycle of " love songs," — the essentially lyrical and erotic character of its separate parts is ever unmistakable; so that the name of a drama in the nar- rower and stricter sense of the word is not on the whole applicable to it, but rather only that of a "lyrical drama" (Bottcher), a garland of erotic songs joined in dramatic unity (De- litzsch). But notwithstanding this its lyric and dramatic, or perhaps even melo-dramatic form, and notwithstanding its somewhat wide deviation from the Maschal form of the Proverbs, there exists between its fundamental idea and that of the strictly didactic or aphoristic poetry of Solomon a significant inner connection. The Song of Solomon must undoubtedly be classed with the Hhokmah poetry in its wider sense, because its fundamental idea when rightly viewed, must be admitted to belong to the circle of those ethical ideas which form the chief and the favorite subjects of Solomon's doctrine of wisdom. This fundamental idea consists in the exaltation of conjugal love and faithfulness as the most excellent and sure foundation of earthly prosperity, as a moral force in life triumphing over all the misery and mischief of this earth and even death itself. This fundamental idea is prominent in passages like chap. vii. 7, 8, and viii. G-8, which are closely related to expressions like those found in Prov. v. IS, 19; xviii. 22; xix. 14; xxxi. 10 sq. This must be admitted to be the chief topic in the poem and i\& central point in its descriptions, whether we assume, with EwALD and others, that the design is to celebrate the changeless constancy and innocence of the Shulamite, that was proof against all the flatteries and artful temptations of the luxurious Solomon, or with Delitzsch, that the work belongs to an earlier period in the life of that king, before he had sunk into the foul depths of polygamy and idolatry, and that consequently it refers to his chaste relations to a single wife. It is evident that the latter view is more harmonious with the opinion which, on both internal and external grounds, asserts the authorship of Solomon, than is that of Ewald, or than the interpretation most nearly related to it adopted by Hua, Bottcher and the author of this general commentary ; it also favors equally, if not still better, the recognition of a secondary or a mystical reference of the poem to the Messiah. For as a representation of the rapturous joy and bliss arising from the conjugal relation between Solomon, the prince of peace, and his beloved Shulamite, the poem admits of innumerable typical and prophetic applications to Christ and His Church. And these applications render superfluous all other expositions of its Christological contents, such as have resorted to various allegorizing expedients, from the earliest periods of the Church down to the time of H. A. Hahit and Hengstenbero- [with whom must be reckoned as in general sympathy a considerable number of British and American expositors, among the most conspicuous and emphatic of whom is Bishop Wordsworth]. The mystery of the Song of Solomon is that of the marriage relation, and therefore the poem not only admits of that somewhat general Messianic sense which belongs to every poetical celebration of bridal love and conjugal faithfulness within the range of the Scripi.ures (comp. Eph. v. 32), but also appears as a Messianic prophecy of a specific typical significance, as a prediction in which the marriage of a theocratic king of Israel is described as an especially suggestive analogue and typo of the relation of Christ to the Church of the New Testament. In this aspect it closely resem- bles the 45th Psalm, which likewise celebrates an Old Testament royal marriage as a type of the New Testament covenant relation between Christ and His Church ; this Psalm, however, pro- 14 INTRODUCTION TO THE prtOVEIlBS OF SOLOMON. bably refers to a later prince than Solomon, acd both by this its origin, in a period after Solomon, and by the unmistakable decrease, in its delineations, of the favorite ideas and characteristio imagery of Solomon's poetry, it shows that it must have sprung from another sphere of spiritual culture and production than that of the classic Hhokmah literature of the earlier age. [All comment on this view of Solomon's Song, together with all comparative and supplemen- tary presentation of views that have been held in Great Britain and America, is deferred to the Introduction and Exegetical notes connected with our author's companion Commentary on the Book, which is contained in the present series and will be found translated in the present vol- ume]. Note. In these hints with reference to the relation in which ihe Song of Solomon stands to the literature of wisdom which bears his name, we have mainly followed Delitzsch. In his " JJntersuchung und Audeguyig des Hohenliedes,'" 1851, p. 171, he does not hesitate to designate it as " a production of the Hhokmah," — a species of literature cultivated and employed by Solo- mon with conspicuous skill. • This he does in virtue of the broadly human and ethical character of the idea of conjugal love and union which forms its chief theme. " For," he adds, arguing pertinently in support of his view, "the Hhokmah of the age of Solomon is devoted to the ex- position of those creative ordinances of the Cosmos, which have a broader range than the national limits of Israel, and of the universal axioms of religion and morality. The poetry of the Hhokmah is therefore didactic; and both proverbial poetry and drama were developed by it." Delitzsch's view of the Song of Solomon and of its ethical and theological value, is in f^eneral more interesting and in all respects more satisfactory than any other modern one; it is also preferable to that of the respected founder of this general Commentary, who, on p. 36 [Am. Ed.] of the General Introduction to the Old Testament, expresses the view " that the poem doubtless sprung from the theoretic indignation provoked by the anticipated allowance of religious freedom by Solomon, his polygamy implicating him with heathenism." The fun- damental idea is therefore held to be that " the Virgin of Israel, or the theocracy, refuses to be numbered with the heathen wives, or religions, as the favorite of Solomon, but turns to her true betrothed, the still remote Messiah." We cannot adopt this view, chiefly because the arguments for the genuineness of the poem or the authorship of Solomon, seem to us to outweigh all that lie against it. As little, and indeed still less, can we approve the two conceptions most nearly related to this of Lange. That of Hug {"Das Hoheliedin einer noch unversuchten Deuiung," 1813) refers the poem to the time of Hezekiah, and considers it as a symbolical expression of the desire of the ten tribes of Israel for reunion with the kingdom of Judah represented by the king of peace, Hezekiah — Solomon. That advocated by Bottcher [Die dltesten Buhnendichtungen, 1850) regards it as a lyrical drama, produced and represented in the kingdom of Israel about the year 950 B. C, some time after Solomon's death, and aimed at the royal house and the manners of the harem, so hostile to the life of the family. A more extended critical discussion of these views would here be out of place. An examination of the various modifications of the Messianic allegorical interpretation, as well as of the purely historical or profane erotic view (Theodore of Mopsu- esta, Castellio, J. D. Michaelis, Herder, Eichhorn, Hitzig, etc.), must be left for the Introduction to this book of Scripture. J 6. THE BOOK OF JOB, CONSIDERED AS A PRODUCT OP THE POETRY OF WISDOM, KNOWN IN THE BROADER SENSE AS SOLOMON'S. The Book of Job must also be without doubt classed with the productions of the poetica\ Hhokmah literature, and indeed, as a whole, with even more justice than the Song of Solomon. For although its composition cannot be confidently referred to the time of Solomon, since verbal and other considerations seem to indicate a later period for its origin, its inner relationship to the chief characteristic productions of that literature, to the Proverbs on the one hand and to Ec- clesiastes on the other, is so much the less doubtful. Its ethical and religious tendency, developed in the representation of the conflict and the victory of a godly man in sore trial, and in the justification of the divine dealing in the face of the apparent injustice of such sufferings as his, § 6. THE BOOK OF JOB AS A KINDRED PRODUCTION. 15 and the peculiar method in which it develops this fundamental thought, by means of conversa- tions and discourses which are made up now of gnomes or moral maxims strung together like pearls, and again of lively and symbolical pictures from nature and from human life, — both alike prove the close connection of this didactic poem with the proverbial poetry of Solomon as we have above (§§ 3, 4) characterized it. Moreover, the manner in which the poet in chap, xxviii. rises to the idea of the absolute wisdom of God, and represents a participation in it aa dependent on a godly and upright course, is very closely related to that which appears in pas- sages like Prov. viii. 22; ix. 12; Eccl. xii. 13 ; Prov. i. 7; iii. 16, etc. The fundamental prin- ciple and the didactic tendency of the book seem in all essential features to have sprung from the same style of seeking after wisdom and of religious and philosophical inquiry as the Pro- verbs and Ecclesiastes ; and if, in consequence of a certain tinge of skepticism peculiar to its theological views and reflections, in which the decidedly skeptical attitude of the Preacher to a certain extent betrays itself, it forms a sort of connecting link between these two books, so on the other hand it is by virtue of its poetical form most nearly related to the Song of Solomon. For like this it appears in the poetical garb of a drama, of a drama, however, which, in so far as it bears an impress of an epico-dramatic rather than of a ^yrico-dramatic (melodramatic) kind, de- viates from the pure central and typical form of this species of poetry in a diflferent direction from that taken by the Song of Solomon. It is on this account, therefore, to be likened to such in- tellectual creations as Dante's Divine Comedy (or even as the philosophical dialogues of Plato, so far as these may be considered as artistic poetical productions in the wider sense), rather than to the erotic lyrical dramas or idylls of other nations.* At all events the interlocutory dramatic style of the poeai prompts one to fix the time of its composition as near as possible to that of the Song of Solomon, and to regard it as havinor originated, if not under Solomon, at least in the age immediately following him. This period is in- dicated on the one hand by the sublime character of its descriptions of nature, reminding one strongly of the universally extended horizon of the epoch of Solomon (compare especially chaps, xxxviii.-xli. with 1 Kings iv. 33), and on the other by the traces appearing in passages like ix. 24 ; xii. 17 sq. ; xv. 18 sq., of a decline already begun in the glory of the kmgdom, and of heavy national calamities. That the whole book must in any case have appeared long before the Babylonish captivity, is evident from such a familiarity with its contents as a whole, and with individual descriptions in it, as is exhibited by the prophets Ezekiel (xx. 14, 20) and Jeremiah (xx. 14 sq., corap. Job iii. 3 sq.). This origin before the exile is to be claimed also for the discourses of Elihu in chaps, xxxii.-xxxvii. the more confidently, in proportion as they unmistakably form an essential and indispensable link of connection between the conversation of Job with his three friends, and the manifestation of Jehovah which brings the final solution of the whole problem. [Among English authors who agree in this classification of the Book of Job few are more emphatic in their assertions or more felicitous in their illustration than Dean Stanley [Jewish Church, II., 270-1) : "Nothing but the wide contact of that age with the Gentile world could, humanly speaking, have admitted either a subject or a scene so remote from Jewish thought and customs, ^s that of Job." "The allusions to the horse, the peacock, the crocodile and the hippopotamus, are such as in Palestine could hardly have been made till after the formation of Solomon's collections. The knowledge of Egypt and Arabia is what could only have been acquired after the diffusion of Solomon's commerce. The questions discussed are the same as those which agitate the mind of Solomon, but descending deeper and deeper into the ditficulties of the world," etc. — On the other side, apart from formal commentaries, one will hardly find a clearer and more vigorous presentation of the reasons, both in the style and substance of the Book of Job, for assigning it an earlier date, "an age as early at least as that of the Israelitish settlement in Palestine," than is given in chap. 8 of Isaac Taylor's Spirit of Hebrew Poetry. — A.] Note. — If the Book of Job belongs to the epoch of Solomon, there is the more reason for re- * Compare the excellent essay of G. Baur, " Das Buck Hioh und DanWs goUliche Komodie, eine ParaUele," in the Sttidien und Kritiken, 1856, III. 16 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. garding this period as one of unequalled richness in the manifuld variety of its poetical ideas, its Bpecies and forms of poetic art. For beside.T the religious lyric and the proverbial poetry, both of the chief forms of the Old Testament drama, the religious-erotic and the religious-didactic or philosophical, must have attained their maturity during this period ; and there is the more truth in what Ewald — who, moreover, refers the Book of Job to the period just before the exile — re- marks in characterizing this epoch : "Thus at this time poetry expands, seeking new paths in every possible direction, though she could only enter them. This is the period of the full forma- tion and broadest development of Hebrew poetry, when it reveals all its latent capacities, and gathers up all its scattered forces; and it is just this that is here new and peculiar" {Die jjoet- ischen Bucher des alien Bundes, I., p. 19). Compare Haeveenick, EMelt. in das A. T., herausg. von Keil, Bd. III., p. 12: "Thus Solomon excels his father in fruitfulness of poetic inspiration, and this fruitfulness testifies to the great wealth of this period in poetical produc- tions. As the splendor and richness of Solomon's peaceful reign is a fruit of David's strifes and victories, so the poetry of his time is but the rich unfolding of the fruit planted and nourished by David. It proves itself to be such by its peculiar character of peaceful objectiveness, while the poetry of David is the thorough expression of deeply stirred subjective emotion. The blessedness of the peace, which, after long and bitter conflicts, the theocracy enjoyed under Solomon, reflects itself as clearly in the 72d and 127th Psalms as in the Song of Solomon, and gives to the latter, notwithstanding its thoroughly emotional contents, a repose and objectiveness of attitude which has loner since overcome all struggle and conflict. With this is also connected the broader hori- zon which poetry gains under Solomon, as well as the complete development and rounding out of its form which likewise marks this period," etc. Many of the characteristics here mentioned belong as well to the book of Job ; this is not, however, the case with all of them. The passages above quoted [on the preceding page], for example, refer rather to a disturbed and troublous pe- riod, than to the peaceful repose and glory of Solomon's reign. On this account we do not ven- ture to adopt without hesitation the view that the book originated in this period, as held by Luther, Doedeklein, Staeudlin, Haevernick, Keil, Schlottjiann, Hahn, Vaihixger, and others. We regard as more probable the assumption of a somewhat later composition (adopted by the general Editor; see Introd., etc., p. 35). We do not, however, for that reason, with Ew- ALD HiEZEL, Heiligstedt, Bleek, and others, assign its origin to the seventh century before Christ; or, with Clericus, Gesenius, Umbreit, Vatke, Bunsen, and others, refer it to the exile or the period that immediately followed it. § 7. THE LITERATURE OF WISDOJI AFTER SOLOMON ; o) EcCLESIASTES. To the productions of the Hhokniah that undoubtedly belong after Solomon is to be referred Koheleth or the Preacher (J^^np, 'E/v/i?.?/CT the younger son of Sirach* clothed in its present Greek garb the Hebrew work of his gra,udfather of the same name (a Jew of Palestine), can be no other than Ptolemy Physcon, or Ptolemy Euergetes II. (B. C. 170-117). The Book of Wisdom, according to internal evidence, belongs rather to the more advanced than to the earlier period of Alexandrianism ; it must pro- bably have been produced, therefore, not until near the age of Philo, rather than have been com- posed by a contemporary of Aristobulus, or, as some claim, by Aristobulus himself The book Baruch, finally, which has as little to do with the old Baruch of the school of the prophets, as the " Letters of" Jeremiah " which it contains have to do with the old prophetic teacher, is very certainly quite a late post-canonical production. No one of these works — «and this is quite as true of the book Tobias, and the " Prayer of Manasseh," which exhibit at least some points of contact with the later Jewish literature of wisdom — reaches back even as far as the time of Ec- clesiastes, the latest production of the canonical or classical Hhokmah poetry. In their literary artistic character, and their religious didactic substance, the three works named above are distin- guished one from another in this, that the collection of gnomes by Jesus, son of Sirach, in regard to contents as well as form, appears to be mainly an imitation of the Proverbs, without, how- ever, attaining the classical excellence of its model; that, furthermore, the "Wisdom of Solo- mon," less rich in genuine theological and ethical substance, in its didactic form (as a monologue) and its free poetical appropriation of the person of Solomon, approaches Ecclesiastes quite as much as it differs from it in the, not sceptical but, Platonic speculative stamp of its argument; and that finally Baruch, which attempts to array the fundamental ideas of the doctrine of wis- dom in the form of the old prophetic admonitions, commands, and letters, reaches nothing better than a dull, spiritless reproduction of these prophetic forms, of as little theological as philosophi- cal value. Note. — The collection of proverbs by the son of Sirach, in spite of the occasional originality and beauty of its contents, still falls far below the poetic perfection and the theological ripeness of the model furnished by Solomon. It therefore cannot be regarded as a composition bearing the stamp of inspiration and worthy of a place in the Canon. These points are conceded even by several of the most recent defenders of the Apocrypha against the criticisms of the English Reformed School; e.g., Hengstenberg [Evaiig. Kirchen-Zeilung, 1853, Nos. 54 sq.; 1854, Nos. 29 sq.) and Bleek {Studieyi und Kritiken, 1853, II.). Bruch also, in particular, has commented very justly on the literary value of Ecclesiasticus as compared with the Proverbs. He says in his " Weisheitslehre der Hebrder," p. 273 : " The true Hebrew gnome did indeed stand before this sage as a lofty ideal. This was the goal toward which he pressed, but which he was not able to reach. Only now and then d'^es he attain in his proverbs the condensed brevity, the suggestive fullness of meaning, and the telling rhythm of proposition and antithesis, which * [A genealogy based on the assumed correctness of the first prologue to the Book of Ecclesiasticus has been constructed as follows: 1. Sirach. 2. Jpsus. son (father) of Sirach (a«Wior of the book). 3. Sirach. 4. Jesus, son of Sirach ((ransZator of the book). See B. F. Wesicott's articles, "Jesus, the son of Sirach," aud " Ecclesiasticus," iu SMlin's Dictionary of tht JBibk.—A.] 20 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOiMON. distinguish the Proverbs of Solomon. In many cases it is only with difficulty that he succeeds in comprehending a thought, in its rounded fullness of meaning, witiiin the narrow limits of a single jjroposition. Still less frequently does he bring corresponding members into a true anti- thetic relation. He usually carries out his thoughts through a series of complementary pro- verbs, which not seldom run out at last into dull prose. The true poetic spirit is altogether wanting to the son of Sirach. He fiequently expresses himself, it is true, in imagery, but then he heaps figure upon figure improperly, and in his similes falls into the inflated and fantastic. The quiet attitude of reflection would better befit the whole individuality of this Jewish sage," etc. Furthermore, that Sirach, notwithstanding his comparative lack of originality and independent creative power, was still no mere imitator of Solomon's Proverbs, but that besides this he made use of other collections of ancient and esteemed maxims, appears from some hints in his own book (e. g., xxiv. 28 ; xxxiii. 16). It appears also from the fragments of ancient Hebrew pro- verbs which still occur here and there in the Talmudio literature of the Jews, which fragments point to the existence of similar collections of gnomes by the side of and before that of the son of Sirach. Comp. Brijch, p. 274 ; Delitzsch, "Zur Geschichte dcr Hebrdischen Poesie,'^ pp. 20i sq.; Bertheau, "Exeget. Handbuch zu den Spr. Sal.," Introd., pp. xlii. sq. In regard to the literary and theological character of the Book of Wisdom, in its relations to the canonical literature of wisdom in the Old Testament, comp. Bruch (the work above cited), pp. 322 sq., and Grimm, in the "Kurzgef. exegel. Handbuch zu den Apocryphen," Vol. 6, In- troduction ; and likewise Kuebel (Pastor in Wiirtemberg), " Die ethischen Grundanschauungen der Weisheit Salo77ios: ein Beitrag zur Apocryphenjragc" Studicn und Kriliken, 1865, IV., pp. 690 sq. In regard to the book Baruch, see 0. F. Fritzsche, in the "■KurzgeJ. exeg. Handb. zu den Apocr.," I., 167 sq., and Brtjch, in the work already cited, pp. 319 sq. [Dean Stanley [Jewish Church, II., 272) says of the Book of Wisdom : "It is one link more in the chain by which the influence of Solomon communicated itself to succeeding ages. As the undoubted ' Wisdom/ or Proverbs of Solomon, formed the first expression of the contact of Jewish rehgion with the philosophy of Egypt and Arabia, so the apocryphal ' Wisdom of Solomon ' is the first expression of the contact of Jewish religion with the Gentile philosophy of Greece. Still the apologue and the warning to kings keeps up the old strain ; still the old ' wisdom ' makes her voice to be heard; and out of the worldly prudence of Solomon springs, for the first time, in distinct terms, 'the hope full of immortality ' " (Wisdom i. 1 ; vi. 1, 9; iii. 1-4; v. 1-5, etc.) — A.] I 10. SYSTEM OF THE LITERATURE OP WISDOM IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND THE RELATIVE PLACE OF THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. So far as the entire literature of wisdom in the Old Testament can be treated as an organic whole, and this whole be viewed as the didactic part of the religious literature of the Old Testa- ment, as distinguished from its other main divisions, we recognize first a classical and a post- classical period [post-heroic, compared by the author to the age of the Epigoni in Greek legend. — A.] as the most strongly marked phases in the course of its development. And within each of these two periods there grows up side by side with gnomic poetry, or the Hhokmah litera- ture in the narrower sense, a similar literature of broader range. In the classical period, or within the bounds of the canonical literature of the Old Testament, the Hhokmah poetry in the strictest sense is represented by the Proverbs of Solomon, with their maxims of wisdom aiming to secure a conception and treatment of nature and of the life of man that shall be conformed to the will of God. Side by side with its profound, concise, vigorous, marrowy sentences we find the glowing delineations and soaring lyrical effusions of Solomon's Song, this glorification of the mystery of love, as it is contemplated from wisdom's point of view. The traditional triple chord in the harmony, — the trilogy in the drama, — of the writings ascribed to Solomon, is completed by the broader reflections to which the Preacher (Ecclesiastes) gives utterance concerning the nothingness of all that is earthly, and the duty of a cheerful but also grateful and devout enjoyment of life. Outside this trilogy, which contains at least one work not im- 2 10. SYSTEM OF THE LITERATURE OF WISDOM. 21 mediately from Solomon, we find some oilier products of the Hliokmah literature in the wider sense. There are the didactic Psalms of later date than Solomon, which m lat resemlde the Maschal poetry of the Book of Proverbs, since they are mainly nothing mare than f^nomes de- veloped in poetic form. And there is tlie Book of Job, thj dramatic form of whos'i dialo^^ue is analogous to that of Solomon's Song, while it reveals a certam internal likeness to Ec -lesiastes in its devotion to the problems of the day, although, at the same time it f^ives expression to many sceptical thoughts. Of the productions of the post-classical age, or the literature of wisdom contained in the Jewish Apocrypha, the collection of proverbs by the son of Sirach [Eoctesiasticus], represents the Hhokmah poetry in the narrower sense ; for it is a direct imitat on of the Proverb-i and in part a later gleaning from the same field. Of the writings which are to be classed here only in the broader sense, the Book of Wisdom stan.ls parallel to Ecclesiastes. and Baruch to the Song of Solomon; still further, if one will, in Tobit a counterpart may be found for Job, and in the Prayer of Manasseh for many of the didactic Psalms. The Proverbs of Solomon appear therefore, as the central spring and storehouse of the gnomic wisdom of the Old Testament ; or, as the true and main trunk of the tree of Hhokmah poetry, widely branching and laden with fruit. And it is mainly on account of tliis radical impulse, and because of this main trunk, consisting so largely of eh-raents really furnished by Solomon, that the whole development deserves to be called in a general and comprehensive way an intel- lectual production of the wisest of all kings in Israel. Note 1.— Exhibited in a tabular form the above representation of the lit'-rature of wisdom in the Old Testament would stand somewhat as follows, — according to its genetic development and its organic relations : I. Classical or Hebrew canonical period of the Hhokmah. 1. Hhokmah poetry in the strictest sense, or in the primitive form of the Maschal (the true gnomic poetry of Solomon) : The Proverbs. 2. Hhokmah poetry in the broader sense ; or in various transformations and modifica- tions of the primitive type : A. The Mas-chal form transformed to dramatic dialogue : a) Solomon's Song, — a didactic drama, with strongly marked lyrical and erotic character. b) Job, — a didactic drama, with a preponderance of the ejoic character. B. The Maschal form expanded in monologue : a) Ecclesiastes, — a collection of reflective philosophical monologues, constructed from the point of view of the Hhokmah. b) The didactic Psalms, — specimens of the lyrical development of some fundamental ideas and principles of the Hhokmah. II. Post-classical period, or Hhokmah literature of the Jewish Apocrypha. 1. True Hhokmah poetry, with a direct imitation of the old Maschal form : Ecclesiasticus. 2, Hhokmah compositions in the broader sense : A. "With evident leaning toward the elder literature of the prophetic, or epic and dramatic style : a) Baruch. b) Tobit. B. With leanings toward elder didactic and lyrical compositions, reflective and philosophical ; a) The Wisdom of Solomon. b) The Prayer of Manasseh. Note 2. — The grouping of Proverbs, Solomon's Song and Ecclesiastes as a trilogy of com- positions by Solomon cannot be critically and chronologically justified. Nevertheless it finds 22 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. its partial truth and justification in the fact that precisely these three works constitute the normal types of the entire literature of wisdom, in respect both to substance and form (see the Table in note 1). If they be contemplated ideally from this point of view, we cannot refuse to recognize a degree of truth in the old parallel drawn by Origen and Jerome between this trilogy, and the phi- losophical triad,— Ethics, Logic, Physics. Attention has been already called to this in the note to g 1. Compare also page 67 of the General Introduction to the Old Testament section of this Com- mentary, where the author has given a classification of the writings of Solomon, or, as he puts it, " of the general didactic system of Solomon," which likewise includes the above trilogy. An analysis of the literature of wisdom in the Old Testament which differs in several points from our own, while it also brings out clearly many correct points of view, is proposed by Bruch, pp. 67 sq. I. Period before the Exile : a) Monuments of the practical philosophy of this period : Pro- verbs; 6) Theoretical philosophy: Job; c) compositions of partly practical, partly theoretical nature: the older didactic Psalms. II. Period after the exile : a) Practical philosophy ; Ecclesi- asticus ; b) Theoretical : Solomon's Song ; c) partly practical, partly theoretical ; the later didactic Psalms, and also the Book of Wisdom, which at the same time forms the transition to the Alexan- drian philosophy. By others the apocryphal literature is ordinarily excluded from the classification, and, on the other hand, all the lyrical poetry of the Psalter brought in, so that the result is a classification of all the poetical literature of the Old Testament Canon. See, e. g., Haevernick and Keil's Einle'dung, Vol. III., page 81, where the two great departments of lyrical poetry T^, and gno- mic poetry vE'O are distinguished, and to the first are assigned Psalms. Solomon's Song, and La- mentations,— to the latter, Proverbs, the discourses of Job, and the reflections of Ecclesiastes. Frederic Schlegel [Lectures on the History of Literature, 4th Lecture), and following him, Delitzsch (in Herzog's " Real-Encyclopddie," XIV., 716), propose two main classes of Old Tes- tament writings : 1, historico- prophetic, or books of the history of redemption, — and 2, poetical, or books of aspiration. The latter class, according to them, includes Job, the Psalter, and the writings of Solomon, and these correspond to the triple chord of faith, hope and love. For Job is designed to maintain faith under trials : the Psalms breathe forth and exhibit hope in the conflict of earth's longings ; the writings of Solomon reveal to us the mystery of Divine love, and Proverbs in particular makes us acquainted with that wisdom which grows out of and is eternal love. With reference to the position to be assigned to Proverbs within the circle of the poetical litera- ture of the Old Testament, these classifications are very instructive. And this is especially true of that last mentioned, which is as evidently correct in its exhibition of the relation-of Proverbs to Job and the Psalms, as it is defective with respect to the third of Solomon's writings, Ecclesiastes (which surely has very little to do with " the mystery of Divine love"). In one passage, J. A. Bengel (in his "Beitrdge zur Schrijterkldrung ," edited by Osc. Waech- TER, Leipsic, 1866, p. 27) expresses himself singularly in regard to the significance of the group- ing, that has been so long traditional, of Proverbs, Job and Solomon's Song in a trilogy. " The reason why Proverbs, Job and the Canticles stand together in the best Hebrew codices is this, — man standing under paternal discipline needs the Proverbs; when he has passed out from this into the fellowshi[) of suffering he needs Job ; after he has been perfected he enters into the unio mystica (mystical union) and comprehends Canticles." B.— SPECIAL INTRODUCTION TO THE PPvO VERBS OF SOLOMON 1 11. names of the collection. The superscription of the book which has been handed down in the Masoretic text, and which rests upon several passages of the book itself (see especially i. 17 ; x. 1 ; xxv. 1) is nD'7E' 'j'tr'? is more correctly rendered, not " Proverbs " [Spruchwbrter), but Sayings of Solomon [Spruche]* * I To speak of the Proverbs of Solomon, or any other one man, is, in the strict use of terras, a self-contradiction. A proverhium, a Spriicliwort, a proverb, is strictly an olil ami popular saying. Archbishop Trench (see Lecture I. in his valiiabli! little work " On the lessons in Proverbs ") speaks of "popularity — acceptance ami adoption on the part of the people," as " the must essential of all " the qualities of a proverb. A little later ho adds, " Herein, in great part, the force 2 11. NAMES OF THE COLLECTION. 23 This corresponds with the Uapoiuiai of the LXX, and the Parabolce, not Proverbia, of the Vul- gate. For the word '^'^ does indeed sometimes describe proverbs in the true sense, or general, practical maxims, growing out of the spirit of a people and expressed in popular form (e. g., 1 Sam. X. 12; Ezek. xvi. 44 ; xviii. 2). But in itself it signifies only resemblance, likeness [simile, compa- ratio, napajSoAr/, napoi/iia) ; it is therefoi'e used, according to the peculiarity of Oriental poetry, to designate symbolical or parabolic apothegms, or poetic and philosophical maxims in the widest sense. [The verb vl^O is found with two quite distinct significations — to command, and to com- pare. Gesenius ( Thesaurus, s. v.), after proposing two different ways of deriving these from one primary radical meaning, suggests that possibly there are two independent radicals. Fuerst regards them as wholly distinct, the primary meaning of the one being " to be strong," of the other ''to combine, connect, entwine." Some old commentators erroneously derive the noun from the first of these two verbal roots; e. g., Trapp (Comm. on Prov., i. 1) : " Master sentences; max- ims, axioms, speeches of special precellency and predominancy." — A.] Accordingly prophetical predictions (e. g., those of Balaam, Num. xxiii. 7, 18 ; xxiv. 3 ; comp. Is. xiv. 4 ; Mich. ii. 4 ; Hab. ii. 6), as well as didactic Psalms [e.g., Ps. xlix. 5; Ixxviii. 2) or sententious discourses of wise men {e, g., Job xxvii. 1 ; xxix. 1) are designated as W'l'dT^. In the special and predominant sense 7tyo is however the designation of a maxim or gnome from within the sphere of the Hhokmah ; it is therefore the sentiment or the moral axiom of a Hhakam (see above, ^^ 2, 3). For it was just these men, the Hhakamim of the Old Testament economy, that exhibited their main strength iu .giving utterance to pertinent comparisons, and significant truths of general practical value, and who were accustomed to impart their instructions chiefly in the form of maxims (Prov. i. 7 ; xxv. 1). An old synonym of the title "Book of Proverbs" or "Proverbs of Solomon" is therefore " Book of Wisdom " "^^Pl^ "^rl?- [Comp. Fuerst's Kanon des alien Tcstavienls, etc., 1868, pp. 73 sq. — A.]. The book probably received tKis title now and then in the old Hebrew times. At any rate it is so called several times in the Talmud [e. g., Tosephoth to Baba Bathra, f 14, b), and amono- the earliest Fathers of the Greek Church, like Clement, Hegesippus, Iren^us, e^c, it received the name y navaperor anla [similitudes of Solomon, which is also wisdom]. Compare further the titles mipij jii jiloQ and TraiSnyuytK!/ aofia [" the wise book " and " instructive wisdom "] which Dionysius of Alexandria and Gregory of Nazianzum employ. We may therefore even now give to our collection of Pro- verbs the title of " Book of Wisdom," as well as the more common designation of " Proverbs." And this is all the more allowable, because this collection is far better entitled to be called a " Book of Wisdom " than the Alexandrian apocryphal work which has assumed the name ; it is also far more worthy than Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus, to which old Jewish and Christian works not unfrequently apply the title in question (nODH, ^ixpia). Note 1. Haevernick (III. 386) and Keil (Inirod., ^ 117, p. 396) are in error when they dispute the opinion put forth by Bertheau, that the designation of the Proverbs as HODH t3D originated among the early Jews. The words of Melito quoted by Eusebius (passage above cited) are a conclusive proof of the correctness of this view, as they belong to a passage whose express object is to give the designations of the books of the Bible that were current among the Jews. Comp. Delitzsch (work above quoted, p. 712). Note 2. As synonymous with ^K'O there occur in the Proverbs of Solomon and elsewhere in the Old Testament the words HTH (Prov. i. 6 ; Ps. xlix. 5 ; Ixxviii. 2; Hab. ii. 6) and nvSp (Prov. of a proverb lies, namely, that it has already received the stamp of popular allowance." He calls attention to the Spanish name of the proverb, " re/ran, which is a referenda, from the oftenness of its repetition." The probable etymology of wopoifn'a, as " a trite, wayside saying," points the same way.— Dean Stanley (Jewisli Church, II., 267), illustrating the Bame view, says of the Proverbs of Solomon: "They are individual, not national. It is because they represent not many men's wisdom, but one man's supereminc-nt wit, that they produced so deep an impression. They were gifts to the people, not the produce of the people," etc. The adage, adagium, is of doubtful etymology; probably from ^^ ad agendum apta." The jrapa^oA>), from irapa-pa\Ku}, to cast or put beside, is in form a conparisoii, in purjiose au illustration. An instruciiv* and entertaining discussion of this subject, enriched with the amplest illustration, may be found in the London (^ua/terly Ktview, July, 186S. — A.] 24 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. i. 6 ; Hab. ii. 6). The first expression, which properly signifies "enigma" (comp. Judg. xiv. 14 ; 1 Kings x. 1, etc.), [Etym., knotted, involved, intricate, Gesen., Fueest, etc.\ stands for any dark, involved, profound utterance whatsoever; as in Matth. xiii. 35 the Dip. 'il/p HITn is rendered by KeKpvftfxeva (nrb KaTaf3o?.f/g (instead of the ■KpolilrjfiaTa air' apxvc oi the LXX). Cora- pare Augustine, who uniformly explains (enigma by obscura allegoria: corap. also Luther's "in einem dunklen Worte " [through an obscure word] for the phrase iv aiviyfian ["darkly," Eng. vers., — " by means of a mirror in riddles," De Wette, — " still darkly as in riddles," Van Ess, Allioli]. If therefore an, ethical axiom, a gnome or parable be designated as this HTn this is always done with reference to the deeper meaning hidden in it under a figurative veil (comp. in addition to the passages above cited Ezek. xvii. 2). Examples of these enigmatical proverbs [" dark sayings "] in our collection are to be found especially m the " words of Agur," in chap. xxx. Comp. the remarks on xxx. 15, 16. The meaning of H^'yO is disputed. According to Gesenius, Bertheau, and HiTZio it is equivalent to " interpretation," " discourse requiring interpretation," (comp. the aKorsLvog loyog of the LXX, Prov. i. 6). According to Delitzsch, Haevernick and Keil it is "brilliant or pleasing discourse," oratio splendida, luminibus ornata." [Fuerst adheres to the derivation first preferred by Gesenius (following Schultens) according to which p"? (obs. in Kal), Arab. ^^ .signifies " to be involved, entangled," and used of discourse, " to be obscure, and am- biguous,"— and n^'iD " figurative, involved discourse." Gesenius afterward developed the meaning of the noun from the radical idea of " stammering." — A.]. A sure decision can hardly be reached ; the analogy of "f ra, however. Job xxxiii. 23, Gen. xlii. 23, Isa. xliii. 27, etc., seems to speak for the first interpretation, to which the second may be appended, as appropriate at least for Hab. ii. 6. The radical word is then Y^l, torquere, to twist, — and HX 7O is properly ora- tio contorla sive difficilis [involved or difficult discourse], just as HTn (from Tn defledere [to turn aside]) is properly oratio obliqua sive per ambages [oblique or ambiguous discourse]. Note 3. With reference to the true conception of the "Proverbs" of Solomon as compared with the proverbs (properly so called) of the Hebrews, and of various other nations, see espe- cially Bruch, p. 103. " The maxims which are here collected (in the Proverbs) are a product not of the popular spirit of the Hebrews, but ot Hebrew wisdom. They have not sprung up unsought, but rather betray deliberate reflection. * * * * They do not lie separate and iso- lated, like the proverbs of a people, but rest upon certain fundamental conceptions, and together make up a whole. They bear the impress of the Hebrew spirit, but only so far forth as the wise men from whom they come themselves rendered homage to this spirit; in many other respects they rise, as their authors did, essentially above the spirit of the Hebrew nation. They contain rules for conduct in the most diverse conditions of life; but having a bond of connection in ge- neral truths, they reach far beyond the sphere of mere experience. Now and then they take a speculative flight, and give utterance to profound conceptions and doctrines of philosophy. * * * * All are clothed in the garb of poetry ; every where the law of parallelism prevails in them. That elevation of language which is characteristic of Hebrew poetry is apparent in most of them, while the true proverbs of the people are for the most part expressed in prosaic forms, and often in very common language. It is therefore altogether erroneous to compare this Book of Proverbs with the collections of Arabic proverbs ; it might be more fitly compared with the gpomic poetry of the Greeks. It is strictly an Anthology of Hebrew gnojnes." Comp. | 2, note 4. The comparison of the Hebrew Maschal -poetry with the sententious and proverbial poetry of the Arabs, although so peremptorily denied by Bruch, is not without its justification. See Umbreit's Commentary, Introduction, p. Iv., where the two Arabic collections of proverbs, by the grammarian Al Meidani (f 1141), are named as affording at least some parallels to the Proverbs of Solomon. Reference is made beside to H. A. Schultens' Anthologia sententiarum Arabicarum (Leyden, 1772), and to the collections of Erpenius, Golius, Kallius, etc. (in § 12. ORIGIN AND COMrOSITlON OF THE COLLECTION. 26 Schnuerer's Bibliolhcca Arahica, pp. 210-221) as furnishing such parallels in rich abundance. The latest and best edition of these collections of Arabic proverbs is that of Freytag, Arabum -proverbia sententkeque jvoverbiales, Bonn, 1838-43, which not only contains entire the collection of Meidani numbering above 9,000 proverbs, but also gives information concerning the 29 collections of gnomes existing in Arabic literature before Meidani. Comp. also Haevernick and Keil, III., 381 sq., and Bleek's Introduction, p. 632, where among other things an interesting observation of Al Meidani is given, with reference to the great value of the proverbial wisdom ; " acquaintance with proverbs does not merely adorn with their beauties all circles of society, and grace the inhabitants whether of cities or of the desert; it imparts brilliancy to the contents of books, and by the allu'^ions which are hidden in them sweetens the words of the preacher and teacher. And why should it not? since even the word of God, the Koran, is interwoven with them, — the discourses of the Prophet contain them, — the most eminent scholars, who have trod- den the path of a mysterious wisdom have won this knowledge as their friend?" "Proverbs are to the soul what a mirror is to the eyes." Manifestly it is not common popular proverbs to which this enthusiastic praise refers, but maxims from the schools of the sages, and of a poetic, philosophic character, similar to those of the Old Testament, though mainly ot far inferior worth. (This is pertinent also as a reply to Delitzsch, p. 691, who following Ewald, declares the com- parison of the Hebrew with the Arabic collections of proverbs altogether inadmissible). I 12. ORIGIN AND COMPOSITION OP THE COLLECTION. .The collection of the Proverbs of Solomon in its present form opens with along superscription, •which, in the style of oriental titles, praises the whole book for its important and practically useful contents. This is followed by three main divisions of the book, of unequal length and distinguished by separate titles, to which are appended two supplements. The Ji7'st main divi- sion (chap. i. — ix.) subdivided into.three sections (chaps, i. — iii., iv. — vii., viii. — ix.) contains an exhibition of wisdom as the highest good to be attained. To the attainment and preservation of this in the face of the dangers that threaten the possession of it, — sensuality, impurity, adul- tery, etc., — youth in particular are admonished : and this is done in the form of instructions or admonitions, somewhat prolonged, and having an inward connection of parts, addressed by a father to his son, — and not in brief, aphoristically separated maxims. The second main division (chap. x. — xxiv.) again comprises three sections, not symmetrical but of quite unequal length ; a) chaps, x. 1 — xxii. 16, with the superscription HDW '^C^O; a collection of separate, loosely connected, and for the most part very short maxims, which in part depict wisdom and the fear of God, and in part folly and sin, according to their chief mani- festations and results ; and this they do without rigid adherence to a fixed train of ideas, with so loose a coherence of the individual sentences that either no connection of thought appears, or one merely external, brought about by certain characteristic words or terms of expression. b) chap. xxii. 17 — xxiv. 22; a Maschal introduced by a special injunction to hearken to the words of the wise (chap. xxii. 17 — 19), quite well connected in its parts, and evidently forming one whole ; this contains various prescriptions of equity and worldly prudence. c) chap. xxiv. 23 — 34; a short appendix, which by its superscription D'DDnS nbx OJ ["these also are the words of the wise "], is described as the work of various wise men, no longer definitely known ; it consists of some maxims which, although nearly all having the form of commands or prohibitions, have no internal mutual connection. Then follows the third main division (chap. xxv. — xxix.) having the superscription, "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, the King of Judah, collected :" — a collection of single, loosely grouped proverbs, among which are found an unusually large num- ber of pointed comparisons and antitheses. The two-supplements of the collection are, 1) chap. xxx. " The words of Agur the son of Jakeh," a compilation of maxims distinguished by their peculiarly artificial garb, and the partial obscu- rity of their meaning ; 2) chap. xxxi. bearing the superscription " Words of Lemuel the king of Massa, which his mother taught him.'"* Under this title (in regard to which we shall soon have * [For the various explanations of the verse see Coinui. on xxxi. 1]. 26 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. more to say) the chapter contains a) a series of maxims for kings, and b) the praise of a virtuous matron, which is clothed in the form of an alphabetic song (vers. 10-31). That the collection as a whole is not the immediate work of Solomon, or in other words, that the introductory words of the first superscription (chap. i. 1) " Proverbs of Solomon, son of Da- vid, king of Israel," so far as they relate to the whole, design to claim the authorship for Solo- mon only in the most general sense, appears from the most hasty glance at our abstract of the contents. For apart from the fact that at the opening of the second main division there is a re- petition of the title " Proverbs of Solomon," — the last divisions, from xxii. 17 onward, are intro- duced by quite different superscriptions, two of which refer vaguely to " wise men" as the authors of the respective sections, and two to definite persons (although these are otherwise unknown), •while the one which contains again the expression " Proverbs of Solomon" designates as the " collectors " of these " Proverbs of Solomon " the " men " of a king of Judah who did not live until 300 years after Solomon. [Fuerst's inference from these diverse superscriptions and ap- pellations IS thus stated [Cayion des alien Testaments, p. 74) ; " that it is not the originating of all the proverbs with Solomon that was emphasized, though he be regarded as their main source, but only the aim and efi'ect of the proverbs to promote wisdom." — Dean Stanley, [uhi supra, p. 268) says " as in the case of the word 'wisdom,' the connection of ' Proverbs' with Solomon can be traced by the immense multiplication of the word after his time." — A.]. And not only these diverse superscriptions, but various peculiarities of language, style, etc., such as present them- selves to the attentive observer in each section in a characteristic way, bear witness to the gra- dual growth of the collection under the hands of several authors of a later day than Solomon's, each complementing the rest. We might put the whole work of compilation to the account of the " men of Hezekiah," (chap. xxv. 1), and so assume that the maxims of Solomon, before scat- tered, and transmitted in part orally, in part by less complete written records, were collected, and, with the addition of sundry supplements brought into their present form by certain wise men from the court of the devout king Hezekiah (B. C. 727—697). The verb Y^^-^ '^^"^^^ ^^ ^^® passage cited above is used to describe the agency of these men, would well accord with this as- sumption ; for it signifies, not " appended" (Luther), but " brought together, arranged in or- der," in as much as p'^Hj^n properly means " to remove from its place, to set or place some- where ;" and in the passage before us it is rendered correctly by the k^eypdrpavro of the LXX , and the transtulerimt of the Vulgate, But the relations of the matter are not quite so simple that the whole compilation and revision can be referred to these wise men of Hezekiah. For from the quite numerous repetitions of whole proverbs, or at least parts of proverbs from earlier sections, such as occur in the division chaps, xxv. — xxix. (compare e. g., xxv. 24 with xxi. 9, — xxvi. 22 with xviii. 8,— xxvii. 12 with xxii. 3,— xxvii. 21 with xvii. 3,— xxix. 22 with xv, 18, etc.) it seems altogether probable that the preceding sections existed as an independent whole, before the attachment of chaps, xxv. sq. This is confirmed by the fact that certain characteris- tics noticeable in the structure of clause and verse, and many peculiarities of phraseology and idiom likewise indicate that between the sections preceding chap. xxv. and the last seven chap- ters a wide difference exists, and one that points to the greater antiquity of the first and largest division. Hezekiah's wise men appear therefore substantially as supplementing, or more exactly as continuing and imitating a larger collection of Solomon's proverbs already in existence before their day : and the existence of this they must not only have known but studiously regarded, for the great majority of the maxims and axioms there found they did not take into their new col- lection, but sought to present that which was mainly new and independent; in consequence how- ever of the similarity of the sources from which they drew to those of the earlier collection, they could not but reproduce much in a similar form, and some things in a form exactly corresponding with the earlier. [The Jewish tradition as given by Fuerst {uhi supra, p. 75) ascribes the col- lection of the proverbs of the first three sections, chaps, i. — ix., x, — xxii. 16, and xxii. 17 — xxiv. to the men of Hezekiah. And it finds this view confirmed by the very fact that the next sec- tion begins (xxv. 1) with the words "These also, are proverbs," etc. But the subsequent col- lection (chap, xxv. sq. is " continued" by them, the proverbs being searched out elsewhere and transferred to this place; " proverbs not hitherto publicly employed for the education of the peo- 2 12. ORIGIN AND COMPOSITION OF THE COLLECTION. 27 pie they brought into a collection, to be in like manner used as a collection of Solomon's pro- verbs." The " men of Hezekiah " he regards moreover as not all contemporaries and agents of the good king, but as organized into a "college," continued for literary, religious, and judicial pur- poses 280 years, seven full generations. This is Jewish tradition. — A.]. That the older collection is not however to be itself regarded as all of one casting, but likewise as a product of the activity of one or several editors collecting and combining from still earlier sources, appears from several facts. Within this section, as well as the later, instances occur of the repetition of single proverbs in an identical or analogous form (comp. e. g. xiv. 12 with xvi. 25, — xvi. 2 with xxi. 2, — x. 2 with xi. 4, — xiii. 14 with xvi. 27, — xix. 12 with xx. 2, etc.). We have, besides, this fact, which is still more significant, that here again a diversity appears, marked by decided peculiarities of form as well as substance, between the two large subdivisions, chaps, i. — ix., and chaps, x. 1 — xxii. 16. In the second of these sections we find mainly verses symmetrically constructed, — so-called "antithetic couplets," — and each verse presents an idea quite complete and intelligible. It is the simplest and, as it were, the ideal type of the Maschal that here predominates; and since the simplest is wont to be as a general rule the most primi- tive, this fact suggests the conjecture that we are dealing here simply with genuine, original pro- verbs of Solomon. In other words, Chapters x. — xxii. 16 comprise the proper germ of the gnomic poetry of the Old Testament, lohich is in the strictest sense to be referred to Solomon and his age. In the two supplements to this central main division, chap. xxii. 17 — xxiv. 22, and chap. xxiv. 23 — 34 we observe in respect to form quite another character in the individual proverbs, although in their ethical tenor and substance they correspond with the preceding. They lose something of the telling, pointed brevity, the inward richness of meaning, the condensed power, that characterize the earlier proverbs; and instead of " the rapid alternation of clause and coun- ter-clause " before every where perceptible, there is apparent here less uniformity of structure, and an effort to expand the brief axiom to the longer discoui'se, admonitory, didactic, or illustra- tive of some moral truth. Still more entirely is the simple and beautiful form of the Maschal, compact, pithy and symmetrical, disregarded and cast aside m chaps, i. — ix. These present no- thing but longer admonitory discourses, moral pictures full of warning, and ethico-religious con- templations of broader compass, in all of which the simple, short proverb is only exceptional, and " proverbial poetry evidently took the form of admonition and preaching, but for this very reason became much more flexible, flowing and comprehensible." The technical language of the Hhokmah appears here in various ways expanded and refined, — especially in the application of such full allegorical delineations as are contained in chap. ix. (in the description of Wisdom's house with its seven pillars, and her feast, — and also in that of the conduct of the n^S'p3 TllJfX the personification of Folly). The nearly equal length, moreover, of the three sections into which this entire admonitory address to youth is divided, (see the earlier part of the §), the quite regular and frequent recurrence of the 'Jl, " my son," which shows this to be its chief appli- cation, (i. 8 ; ii. 1; iii. 1, 11, 21 ; iv. 10, 20 ; v. 1, etc.), the adherence to certain leading thoughts through all the change and variety in expression and delineation, — all this points us to a single author, who different as he was from the author of the collection following (x. 1 — xxii. 16), de- signed to furnish an appropriate introduction to this collection of older proverbs, and to com- mend it to the Israel of his own time, especially to its younger generation. That the mutual relations of the various parts of the Book of Proverbs are to be judged sub- stantially in this way, most of the recent commentators are agreed. [This general view both of the structure and authorship of our book is taken by most of our English and American scholars, with some divergencies of course, in the details. Thus, Stuart, Noyes, Muenscher, W. Aldis Wright, etc. Stuart sums up his view of the authorship thus (Comm. p. 63): " Solomon se- lected many, composed others, and put together those which he judged to be true, most striking, and most worthy to be preserved It matters not how much of the book of Proverbs Solomon actually composed; we only need his sanction to what it now contains." Portions of the book moreover do not even purport to be Solomon's. — A.]. We may make an exception, perhaps, of H. A. Hahn, Haevernick. and Keil, who, in spite of all internal and external dif- ferences between the several sections, which they are forced to acknowledge, — in spite of the va- 28 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. rious introduclory superscriptions, — still feel constrained to maintain Solomon's immediate au- thorship of the whole, with the sole exception of the two supplements in chaps. xx£., xxxi. (see especially Haevernick and Keil's Introduction, III., 392 sq.). [This is Wordsworth's posi- tion. It is moreover characteristic of him to look on the proverbs as having " also a tvpical character and inner spiritual significance, concerning heavenly doctrines of supernatural truth." He finds support for this view in the fact that the collection is in its introduction said expressly to comprise enigmas and dark sayings. — A.]. Inasmuch as this conclusion is made necessary neither by reasons, mternal or external, [in the book itself J, nor by any general theological interest in maintaining the inspired character of Scriptui>s, we must, unquestionably, adopt one of those views which represent the present collection as growing up gradually in the time between Solo- mon and Hezekiah, or even within a period ending somewhat later, and which disci'iminate be- tween an original nucleus that is from Solomon, and the accretions of various ages, which are due to later collectors and editors. The more imjDortant of these theories are (1) that of Ewald {Poet. Biicher des AUen Test., IV. 2 sq.). According to this, chap. x. 1 — xxii. 16 forms the earliest collection, originating perhaps two hundred years after Solomon, yet inspired throughout by Solomon's spirit; to this were ap- pended, first, in Hezekiah's time chap. xxv. — xxix., which also contain much that is the genuine work of Solomon, — then, in the following century, the Introduction, chap. i. — ix., — then the supplements to the central main division, chap. xxii. 17 — xxiv. 84, — and lastly the supplements chaps. XXX., xxxi ; and all these last are to be regarded as the independent composition of un- known sagesof the later period before the exile, without any elements whatever that are Solomon's. We have (2) the view of Bertheau [Commentary, Introd., pp. xxiii. sq.). According to this it is as impossible to demonstrate with certainty an origin earlier than the days of Hezekiah for the second collection (chap. x. 1 — xxii. 16) as for the first (chap. i. — ix.), the third (chap. xxii. 17 — xxiv. 34), or the fourth (chap. xxv. — xxix.); we must therefore in general maintain the merely negative conclusion, that the book of Proverbs in its present form originated after the time of Solomon, and that it flowed from sources oral and written that are perhaps very nume- rous. We have (3) the view of Hitzig {"Das Konigreich Massa" in Zeller's Theol. Jahrb. 1844, pp. 269 sq., and Commentary, Introd. pp. xvii. sq.). This represents the present order of the parts as substantially that of their composition. It accordingly conceives of the first collec- tion (chaps, i. — IX.) as originating pretty soon after Solomon, in the 9th century B. C. ; it then appends to this, shortly before the times of Hezekiah, or in the first half of the 8th century, the second (chap. x. 1 — xxii. 16) together with the latter part of the fourth (chap, xxviii. 17 — xxix, 27) ; to this it attaches " in the last quarter of the 8th century " the anthology in chaps, xxv. — xxvii., and about a hundred years later (at the beginning of the period following the exile) the intruded section, chap. xxii. 17 — xxiv. 34, and the fragment, chap, xxviii. 1 — 16 ; finally, at a still later day it adds the supplements in chaps, xxx , xxxi. We have (4) the view of Delitzsch (in Heezog's Encycl., as above quoted, especially pp. Y07 sq.), with which that developed by Bleek {Introd., pp. 634 sq.) agrees in the main point, — i. e., apart from some subordinate details in which it approaches more nearly the theory of Ew- ald. According to this the first and largest section of the Book of Proverbs (chap. i. 1 — xxiv. 22) comes from an age earlier than Hezekiah, the second and smaller commencing with xxiv. 23, from Hezekiah's times. The compiler of the first half lived possibly under Jehoshaphat, within a ceniuiy of Solomon. As material for the middle and main division of this work, — the germ, the mam trunk, consisting of the genuine proverbial wisdom of Solomon as contained in chap. x. 1— -xxii 16,— he availed himself above all of the rich treasures of the 3,000 proverbs of Solomon, which were undoubtedly all fully preserved to his day, and from which he may be assumed to have taken at least all that were of religious and ethical value. Still he appears to have ga- thered up much that is not from Solomon, and therefore to have united in one collection the no- blest and richest fruits of the proverbial poetry of the wise king, with the most valuable of the " side shoots which the Maschal poetry put forth, whether from the mouth of the people or the poets of that day." To this collection he prefixed the long Introduction in chaps, i. — ix.; a monu- ment of his high poetic inspiration, not in the strict form of the Maschal, but that of long poetic admonitions, — in which he dedicated the whole work to the instruction of youth. At the same I 12. ORIGIN AND COMPOSITION OF THE COLLECTION. 29 time he added an appendix, chap. xxii. 17 — xxiv. 22, consisting of proverbs from various wise men, and commencing with an apostrophe to youth (chap. xxii. 17 — 21) the tone of which re- minds one of the longer Introduction. While according to this view the first and larger section purports to be essentially a book for youth, the second and shorter division, whose nucleus is formed by the proverbs of Solomon com- piled by the men of Hezekiah, is evidently a book for the people, a treasury of proverbial wisdom for kings and subjects, — as is indicated by the first, introductory proverb : " It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, and the honor of kings to search out a matter." After the analogy of the first collection, to these proverbs gathered by Hezekiah (or this treasury of " Solomon's wisdom in Hezekiah's days," in Stier's apt phrase), a sort of introduction was prefixed, chap. xxiv. 23-34, and a supplement was added, consisting of the proverbial discourses of Agur and Lemuel, and the poem in praise of a virtuous matron, in chap, xxx., xxxi. Thus, like the older col- lection of the proverbs of Solomon, this made by Hezekiah has '• proverbs of wise men on the right and on the left ;" " the king of proverbial poetry stands here also in the midst of a worthy retinue." As to the time of the origin of the second collection, we are indeed not to assume the reign of Hezekiah itself, but the next subsequent period. The personality of the collector of this second main division stands far more in the background than that of the author of the first, larger collection, who in its introductory chapters has given rich proofs of his o^yn poetical en- dowments and his wisdom. From which of the two the general superscription of the whole, chap. i. 1-6, has come, must remain a question ; yet it is from internal evidence more probable that it was the last collector who prefixed this to the book. We have presented with especial fullness this hypothesis of Delitzsch in regard to the ori- gin of the Book of Proverbs, because it is in itself the most attractive of all, and offers the most satisfactory explanation of the various phenomena that arrest the attention of the observant reader, as he considers the superscriptions and the internal peculiarities of the several parts. It is less forced and artificial than the theory of HiTZia, which shows itself arbitrary and hypercri- tical, especially in breaking up the section, chap. xxv. — xxix.; and it does not rest content with the mere negative results of criticism, like the analysis of Bertheau, which is also chargeable with excess of critical sharpness. In comparison with Ewald's hypothesis it has the advantage, that it rests upon a more correct conception of the order of the development of gnomic poetry among the ancient Hebrews. For it rejects as a one-sided and arbitrary dictum, Ewald's axiom, that the antithetic verse of two members which predominates in chap. x. 1 — xxii. 16, is the old- est form of the Maschal, and that all proverbs and gnomic discourses otherwise constructed, by their departure from the typical form betray their origin as decidedly later than the days of So- lomon. It accordingly allows that sections in which there is a preponderance of gnomic dis- «ourses and gnomic songs, — such as chap. i. — ix. and xxii. 17 — xxiv. 22, may come, if not from Solomon himself, at least from the age immediately after Solomon. It likewise recognizes in the collection that dates from Hezekiah's day proverbial poetry which is mainly the genuine work of Solomon, or at least stands very near his day, and whose artistic character by no means (as EwALD thinks) contains traces of a decay in purity and beauty of form that is already quite far advanced. Only in this particular are we unable altogether to agree with Delitzsch, that he would find in chap. x. — xxii. together with .a selection from the 3,000 proverbs of Solomon, much that is his only in a secondary sense. We believe rather that it is just this main division which contains nothing but fruits of Solomon's gnomic wisdom in the narrowest and strictest sense, and that repetitions of individual proverbs within the section, which are partly identical and partly ap- proximative, in which especially Delitzsch thinks he finds support for the view that we are now Combating, are to be otherwise explained. They are, like the repetitions of discourses of Christ in the Gospels, to be partly charged to diversity in the sources or channels of the later oral or written tradition, and in part recognized as real tautologies or repetitions which the wise king now and then allowed himself. We should, on the other hand, be disposed rather to conjecture, that in the supplements, chap. xxii. 17 — xxiv. 34, which are expressly described as " words of wise men," and perhaps also in Hezekiah's collection, chap. xxv. — xxix., there is no inconsiderable number of utterances of wise men of Solomon's time, such as Heman, Ethan, Chalkol, etc.; and so INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. this simply for the reason, that the superscriptions O'D^n '"l^T (xxii. 17) [words of wise men], and D'ODnS n|^X DJ (xxiv. 23) [these also are from wise men], together with the peculiarity of diction which points to a high antiquity, make such a conjecture reasonable. Th-e short section becrinnincf with the superscription last cited, chap. xxiv. 23-34, we should be most inclined, it concurrence with the majority of expositors, to regard as a second appendix to the first main collection, because the assumption of Delitzsch that it is a sort of Introit to the second main division, of the same age as the section, chap. xxv. — xxix., strikes us in no other way than as too bold and destitute of all adequate foundation. It remains only to speak briefly of the superscriptions to the two supplements in chapters xxx., xxxi. The "Agur, son of .Jakeh " (?) to whom the contents of chap- ter XXX. are accredited, is a wise man otherwise altogether unknown, whose era we are as unable to determine with certainty as his residence, whose very name is almost as difficult and uncertain in its interpretation as are the words next succeeding in chapter xxx. 1. bsNI bii'r}'iih Sx'n'xS 13Jn D^^ a^r^rt. Perhaps instead of the common translation of these words : " the prophetic address of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal" [''even the pro- phecy ; the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal," E. V.], the interpretation of HiTZiG, adopted also by Bertheatj, Hahn and Delitzsch, should be followed. According to this, the words '!^p'^_^ |3 [" son of Jakeh "] by a change of punctuation are to be connected closely with the word Nfi'^n ; thus for the beginning of the whole superscription we reach this meaning : "Words of Agur, the son of her whose dominion is Massa " {ii^'Q nnp; |2), i. e., son of the queen of Massa. This queen of Massa we should then have to regard as the same person who in the superscription to the next supplement (chap, xxxi.) is designated as the " mother of King Lemuel." For in this passage also Nt^O must be regarded as the name of a country, and the aU'O "ijSiD [King of Massa] as perhaps an Israelitish Arab, or, as Delitzsch suggests, an Ish- maelitish prince, whose kingdom, to judge from the mention of it in Gen. xxv. 14; 1 Chron. i. 30, must have lain in Northern Arabia, and whose brother would have been the Agur in ques- tion. [FuERST {ubi supra, pp. 76-7) regards Xt^^D as a common noun, singular in form, but col- lective in import, having ihe meaning common in the prophets, "a prophetic or inspired utter- ance." The symbolical meaning found here by Jewish tradition may be reserved for the exege- tical notes on this chapter. — A.] Further arguments in support of this interpretation (first pre- sented by HiTZiG in the Articles in Zeller's Theol. Jahrb., 1844, cited above, and adopted, al- though with various modifications, by the other interpreters whom we have named), and in re- ply to all conflicting interpretations, will be brought forward in the special exegesis of the pas- sages involved. We shall there have occasion to discuss the further question, whether the whole substance of chap. xxx. is to be referred to Agur, and all in chap. xxxi. to Lemuel, or whether at least the Alphabetic poem in praise of a virtyous matron must not be regarded (as is done by nearly all the recent commentators) as the work of another author. § 13. THE RELATION OF THE MASORETIC TEXT OF THE COLLECTION TO THE ALEXANPRIAX. In the LXX there occur many, and in some instances very remarkable deviations from the common Hebrew text of the Proverbs. These consist in glosses to many obscure passages (i. e., either in readings that are actually correct and primitive, as, e.g., xi. 24; xii. 6; xv. 28 ; xviii. 1 ; xix. 28 ; xxi. 6, 28, etc., or in wild emendations, as in xii. 12 ; xviii. 19; xix. 25 ; xxiv. 10, etc.), in completing imperfect sentences (as, e.g., xi. 16; xvi. 17; xix. 7), in independent addi- tions or interpolations [e. g., after i. 18 ; iii. 15; iv. 27; vi. 8, 11 ; viii. 21 ; ix. 6, 10, 12 ; xii. 13; xiii. 13, 15, etc.), in double versions of one and the same proverb {e.g., xii. 12; xiv. 22; XV. 6 ; xvi. 26 ; xvii. 20 ; xviii. 8 ; xxii. 8, 9 ; xxix. 7, 25 ; xxxi. 27, in the omission of whole verses [e.g., i. 16 ; xvi. 1, 3 ; xxi. 5 ; xxiii. 23, etc.), and finally in the transposition of entire passages of greater length Accordingly, of the proverbs of Agur. the first half (chap. xxx. 1- 14) is inserted after chap. xxiv. 22, and the second, chap. xxx. 15-33, together with the words of King Lemuel, after xxiv. 34 ; the two supplements, therefore with the exception of the praise of the excellent matron (chap. xxxi. 10 sq.) appear associated with the "words of wise men" which stand between the elder and the later collection of proverbs. g 14. THE POETICAL FORM OF PROVERBS. 31 These deviations are so considerable that they compel the assumption that there were (luite earh' two different recensions of the Book of Proverbs, one belonging to Palestine, the other to Egypt, the former of which lies at the basis of the Masoretic text, the latter, of the Alexandrian version. The Egyptian text appears in general to abound more in corruptions and arbitrary alterations of the original ; sometimes, however, it preserves the original most correctly, and seems to have drawn from primitive sources containing the genuine proverbial wisdom of Solo- mon. Especially is it true that not a few of the additions which it exhibits on a comparison with the Hebrew text, breathe a spirit, bold and lofty, as well as thoughtful and poetic (see, e. g., iv. 27; ix. 12; xii. 13 ; xix. 7, etc.) ; these appear, therefore, as fruits grown on the stock of the noble poetry of wisdom among the ancient Hebrews, — in part even as pearls from the rich treasures of Solomon's 3,000 proverbs (1 Kings iv. 32). Note 1. — The critical gain for the emendation of the text and for the interpretation of the Book of Proverbs that is yielded by the parallels of the LXX may be found most carefully tested and noted — though not without many instances of hypercritical exaggeration and arbitrary deal- ing— in Fr. Bottcher's "iVciie exegetisch kritische Aehrenlese zum A. T.," III., pp. 1-39; in P. DE Lagaede's " Anmerkungen zur griechischenUebersetzung der Proverbien" (Leipz., 1863); in M. Heidenheim's Article, "Zur Textkritik der Proverbien" [Deutsche Vierteljahrsschr. fur englisch-theol. Forschung, u. s. w., VIII., Gotha, 1865, pp. 395 sq.) ; as well as in the Commen- taries of Bertheau (see especially Introd., pp. xlv. sq.) and Hitzig (Introd., pp. xix. sq.; xxiii. sq.). The last mentioned writer has also thoroughly discussed the variations of the Sy- riac version (Peschito), the Vulgate and the Targum (pp. xxvii. sq.); of these, however, in ge- neral, only the first named are of any considerable critical value, and that usually only in the cases where they agree with those of the LXX. Compare furthermore the earlier works of J. G. Jaeger, Observaiiones in Prow. Salom. ver- sionem Alexandrinajn, Lips., 1786; Schleussner, Opuscula critica ad versiones Grcecas V. T. pertinentia, Lips., 1812, pp. 260 sq.; and also Dathe, De ratione consensus versionis Chaldaicce et Syriacce proverbiorum Salomonis (in Dathii Opuscc. ed. Rosenmueller, pp. 106 sq.). Note 2. — Umbreit in his Commentary has taken special notice of several other ancient Greek versions beside the LXX, especially the Versio Veneta, which is for the most part sti'ictly lite- ral. Another text which is likewise quite literal, which Procopius used in his 'Epuf/veia elg rac •n-apoiiuac, and which Angelo Mai has edited in Tom. IX. of his Glass. Auctor., may be found noticed in Heidenheim (as above). 2 11. the poetical form of proverbs. The simplest form of the Maschal, or the technical form of poetry among the Hebrews, is a verse consisting of two short symmetrically constructed clauses, — the so-called distich [Zweizei- ler,)as Delitzsch calls it, following Ewald's peculiarly thorough investigations on the subject before us. The mutual relation of the two members or lines of this kind of verse shapes itself very variously, in accordance with the general laws for the structure of Hebrew poetry. There are synonymous distichs, in which the second line repeats the meaning of the first in a form but slightly changed, for the sake of giving as clear and exhaustive a presentation as possible of the thought involved {e.g., xi. 7, 25; xii. 28; xiv. 19; xv. 3, 10, 12, ete.). There are antithetic distichs, in which the second illustrates by its opposite the truth presented in the first [e. g., x. 1 sq.; xi. 1 sq.; xii. 1 sq.; xv. 1 sq.). There are synthetic distichs, the two halves of which express truths of different yet kindred import {e. g., x. 18, 24, etc.). There are integral {eingedayikige) dis- tichs, in which the proposition commenced in the first half is brought to completion only by the Becond, the thought which is to be presented extending through the two lines (as in xi. 31 ; xiv. 7, 10; xvi. 4, 10 ; xxii. 28). There are fmaWy parabolic distichs, i. e., maxims which in some form or other exhibit comparisons between a moral idea and an object in nature or common life : and this is effected sometimes by 3 [as] in the first clause and \3 [so] in the second, that is, in the form na- tural to comparisons, — sometimes, and more usually, in such a way that the proposed object and its counterpart are set loosely side by side, with a suggestive, emblematic brevity, with or without the copulative \ (xi. 22 ; xvii. 3 ; xxv. 25 ; xxvi. 23 ; xxvii. 21, etc.). In the central main division of the collection, chap. x. — xxii. 16, all the proverbs are these short distichs, and, as has been already 82 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. said, the larger part of them (especially in the first six chapters of the section) antithetic distichs, distinguished by the " but " (Hebr. 1) at the beginning of the second line (compare 1 12, p. 27, and below, § 15). In the supplements to the oldest collection (xxii. 17 — xxiv. 3i) as well as in the gleanings of Hezekiah's men, there are found however not a few instances of the extension of the simple typical distich to a verse of several Unes, or of the multipUcation of the couplet to four-, six- er eight -lined verses.* In the case of these longer proverbs, which comprise several verses, we find repeated, if not every one, yet the greater part of the diverse relations of the first to the second half of the pro- verb, which we had observed in the distichs. There are, it is true, no antithetic stanzas of four lines, — but there are synonymous verses [e.g., xxiii. 15 sq.; xxiv. 3 sq.; xxiv. 28 sq.), — synthe- tic (xxx. 5 sq.), — stanzas with a shigle idea (xxii, 22 sq., 26 sq.; xxx. 17 sq.), — and paraholie verses (xxvi. 18 sq.; xxv. 4sq.). Specimens of the six-lined stanzas (which are constructed mainly with a single thought, or in the synthetic form) are to be found, e.g, in xxiii. 1-3, 12- 14, 19-21, 26-28 ; xxiv. 11-12 ; xxx. 29-31. Verses 22-25 of chapter xxiii. compose a stanza of eight lines, synthetic in its structure. Side by side with this normal multiplication of the couplet to form stanzas of four, six or eight lines, there are abnormal or one-sided growths, re- sulting in triplets, with the first division of two lines and the second of one {e.g., xxii. 29 ; xxiv. 3; xxvii. 22; xxviii. 10, etc.), — or in stanzas of five lines (xxiii. 4sq.; xxv. 6 sq.; xxx. 32 sq.), or in stanzas of seven lines, of which at least one example appears in chap, xxiii. 6-8. If the proverb extends itself beyond the compass of seven or eight lines, it becomes the Mas- chal (or gnomic) poem, without a fixed internal order for the strophes. Such a poem (or song) is, for example, the introductory paragraph [of one main division], chap. xxii. 17-21 ; and again, the meditation on- the drunkard, xxiii. 29-35 ; that on the lazy husbandman, xxiv. 30-34 ; the admonition to diligence in husbandry, xxvii. 23-27; the prayer for the happy medium between poverty and riches, xxx. 7-9 ; the prince's mirror, xxxi. 2-9, and the alphabetically constructed song in praise of the matron, xxxi. 10-31. The introductory main division, chap, i. 7 — ix. 18, consists wholly of these proverbial poems, and of 15 of them (see in § 16 the more exact enumeration of these 15 subdivisions, which may again be classed in three larger groups). Inasmuch as the rhetorical presentation throws the poetical in these cases usually quite into the background, these Maschal poems may almost be called with greater propriety Maschal discourses. Yet within these there is no lack of poetical episodes, lofty and artistic in their structure, among which we would name especially the allegory of the banquet of Wisdom and Folly (chap. ix. 1 sq.), and also the numerical proverb in eight lines concerning " the six things which the Lord hates and the seven that are an abomination to Him " (in chap, vi. 16-19). Of these numerical proverbs, or .nnD, as they are called in the poetry of the later Ju- daism, chap. XXX., as is well known, contains several (vers. 7 sq., 15 sq., 18 sq., 21 sq., 24 sq.). In the Son of Sirach's collection of proverbs likewise we find several examples of the same kind (e. g., Ecclesiasticus xxiii. 16 ; xxv. 7 ; xxvi. 5, 28). Further observations on the origin and im- port of this peculiar poetic form may be found in notes on chap, vi, 16, Now and then the Book of Proverbs contains forms analogous to the Priamel [prcsambulum, a peculiar type of epigram, found in German poetry of the 14th and 15th centuries— A.] ; see, e.g., xx, 10; xxv. 3; xxvi, 12 ; xxx. 11-14 ; yet this form is hardly found except in the most imperfect state. The last of the technical forms of the poetry of the Book of Proverbs is that of the Maschal- series, i. e., a sequence of several proverbs relating to the same objects, e. g., the series of proverbs concerning the fool, chap. xxvi. 1-12,— the sluggard, xxvi. 13-16,— the brawler, xxvi. 20-22,— the * [In English Biblical literature, Bishop Lowth's discussion a"nd classification has been the basis generally assumed. Wo know no clearer and more concise exhibition of this system and the various modifications that have been proposed than that given by W. Alois Wright in Smith's Dictinnary of the. Bible (Article Poetry, Uehrexv). Lowth who is closely followed by Stoart, Edwards and others, regards a triple classification as sufficient : synonymous, antithetic and synthetic parallelisms. An infelicity in the term synonymous, in view of the extent and variety of its applications, was recognized by LowTH himself, but more strongly urged by Bishop Jebd, who proposed the term cofrnnte. This appears to he a real im- provement in terms. Mcenscher (Introd., pp. xlv. sq.) proposes two additional classes, the gradational and the intro- verted, the first of which is well covered by the term corfnate, while the second, which had been proposed by Jedd. seems open to Wrioht's exception, that it is "an unnecessary refinement." This objection does not seem to lie against the new terms proposed In ZifGKLSR'a nomenclature. — A,] § 15. THE DOGMATIC AND ETHICAL SUBSTANCE OF PROVERBS. 33 y — ~~ — "" ' ■ ' ~~ ~ " spiteful, xxvi. 23-27. This form belongs, however, as Delitzsch correctly observes, " rather to the technical form of the collection than to the technical form of the poetry of proverbs." That the former [the arrangement] is far more imperfect and bears witness to far greater indifference than the latter, — in other words, that the logical construction, the systematic arrangement of in- dividual proverbs according to subjects, especially within the central main division, is far from satisfactory, and baffles almost completely all endeavors to discover a definite scheme, — this must be admitted as an indisputable fact, just in proportion as we give fit expression on the other hand to our admiration at the wealth of forms, expressive, beautiful and vigorous, which the col- lection exhibits in its details. Note. — With reference to the connection of the several proverbs one with another, and also with respect to the progress of thought apparent in the collection as a whole, we can by no means concur in the opinion of J. A. Bengel, — at least in regard to the main divisions, x. 1 sq.; xxii. 17 Bq.; XXV. 1 sq. The collection of proverbial discourses, i. 7 — ix. 18, being intentionally arranged according to a plan, is of course excluded from such a judgment. Bengel says : " I have often been in such an attitude of soul, that those chapters in the Book of Proverbs in which I had before looked for no connection whatever, presented themselves to me as if the proverbs belonged in the most beautiful order one with another" (Osk. Waechter, Joh. Albrecht Bengel, p. 166). We must pass the same judgment upon many other expositors of the elder days, who wearied them- selves much to find a deeper connection between the several proverbs (see, e. g., S. Bohlius, Ethica Sacra, I., 297 sq., "de disposilione et cohcsrentia textus;" and Stockee in the Introduction to his "Sermons on the Proverbs of Solomon"). In regard to this matter as old a commentator as Mart. Geier judged quite correctly :* "Ordo-frustra quceritur ubi nullusfuit observatus. Quam- quam enimsub initiuvi forte libricerta serie Bex nosier sua proiiosuerit, — attamen ubi ad ipsaspro- prie dictas parabolas aut g nomas devenitur, promiscue, prout quidque se offerebat, consignata vi- demus pleraque, ita ut modo de avaritia, modo de mendaciis, modo de simpliciiate, modo de timore Dei vel alia materia sermonem institui videamus," etc. As in the case of the great majority of the songs of the Psalter, in which the arrangement is merely and altogether external, determined of- ten by single expressions, or by circumstances wholly accidental, there is found among the germi- nal elements of the Book of Proverbs little or no systematic order. The whole is simply a combi- nation of numerous small elements in a collection, which was to produce its eflfect more by the total impression than by the mutual relation of its various groups or divisions. To use Her- der's language {Spirit of Hebrew Poetry, II., 13), it is " a beautiful piece of tapestry of lofty di- dactic poetry, which spreads out with great brilliancy its richly embroidered flowers," which, how- ever, is constructed according to no other rules of art than those perfectly simple and elementary ones to which the pearl jewelry and bright tapestries of Oriental f)roverbial wisdom in general owe their origin. Comp. furthermore the general preliminary remarks prefixed to the exegetical comments on chap. x. \ 15. THE DOGMATIC AND ETHICAL SUBSTANCE OF THE PROVERBS, EXHIBITED IN A CAREFCTl SURVEY OF THE CONTENTS OP THE BOOK. Inasmuch as our book, considered as an integral part of the entire system of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, stands before us as the central and main source of Solomon's doctrine of wisdom (in the wider sense), — and so bears as it were written on its brow its Divine designation to be the chief storehouse of ethical wisdom and knowledge within the sphere of Old Testament revelation (see above, \ 1, and \ 10, latter part) we must anticipate finding in it great treasures of ethical teachings, prescriptions, rules and maxims for the practical life of men in their moral relations. In fact, the ethical contents of the collection far outweigh the doctrinal. And deeply significant as may be its contributions to the development of individual subjects in dogmatic theology, such as are found in various passages (e. g.^ iii. 19 and viii. 22 sq. in their bearing upon the doctrine of * It is in vain to seek for order where none has been observed. For while perhaps near the beginning of the book our sing arranged his material with a definite plan, — yet when we come to the parables or gnomes properly so called we find the greater part recorded at random, as one after iiiiother suggested itself, so that we see the discourse turning now upon avarice, then upon falsehoods, again upon simplicity, and onco more upon the fear of God, or some other subject," «'hich introduce the exegetical comments on chap. x. § 16. LITERATURE ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 87 2. Various warnings : viz. a) Against disgraceful conduct (especially folly, indolence, and malice) chap. XXVI. b) Against vain sel^f-praise and arrogance ; chap. XXVII. (with an exhorta- tion to prudence and frugality in husbandry ; vers. 23-27). c) Against unscrupulous, unlawful dealing, especially of the rich with the poor; chap. XXVIII. d) Against stubbornness and insubordination ; chap. XXIX. V. The Supplements: chaps. XXX., XXXI. 1st Supplement : the words of Agur ; chap. XXX. a) Introduction : Of the word of God as the source of all wisdom ; vers. 1-6. b) Various pithy numerical apothegms, having reference to the golden mean between rich and poor, to profligacy, insatiable greed, j)ride, arrogance, etc.; vers. 7-33. 2d Supplement : The words of Lemuel, together with the poem in praise of the matron : chap. XXXI. a) Lemuel's jshilosophy for kings ; vers. 1-9. b) Alphabetic poem in praise of the virtuous, wise, and industrious woman ; vers. 10-31. Note. The more thorough presentation of the didactic substance of the proverbs is reserved for the exposition that is to follow, and especially for the rubric " Doctrinal and Practical." As the best connected discussion of this subject (biblical and theological) we should be able without hesitation to commend that of Bruch ( Weisheitslehre der Hehrder, pp. 110 sq.), if it were not characterized by the fault which pervades Brdch's treatise, so meritorious in other respects, — that in the interest of critical and humanitarian views it misrepresents the stand-point and the tendency of the Hhokmah-doctrine. That is to saj', it insists that there is in this attitude of mind a relation of indifference or even of hostility toward tlie theocratic cultus and the cerenionial law, like the relation of the philosophers and free-thinkers of Christendom to the orthodox creed. No less clearly does he insist upon the general limitation to the present life of every assumption of a moral retribution ; and in his view there is an entire absence of the hope of immortality from the view of the world taken in our book. For the refutation of these misconceptions of Bruch (which are undeniably in conflict with such passages as, on the one side, xiv. 9; xxviii. 4sq.; xxix. 18, 21; xxx. 17; and on the other xii. 28 ; xiv. 32; XV. 24; xxiii. 18, etc.), Oehler's able treatise may be referred to: " Grundziige der alttes- tamentl. Weisheit" (Tiib. 1854, 4) ; although this deals more especially with the doctrinal teach- ings of the Book of Job, than with Proverbs. See likewise Ewald (as above quoted, pp. 8 Bq. ; Elster, g 1, pp. 1-6; Delitzsch, pp. 714-716, and even Hitzig, pp. xii. sq.) • § 16. THEOLOGICAL AND HOMILETICAL LITERATURE ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. Beside the general commentaries (of which we shall have especial occasion to make use of Starke's St/nojjsis, the Berleburg Bible, .J. Lange's Licht icnd Recht, Wohlfarth and Fisch- er's Prediger-Bibel, the Calwer Handbuch, and Von Gerlach's Commentary) we must men- tion the following as the most important exegetical helps to the study of the Proverbs. Me- lanchthon : Explicati'o Proverbiorum, 1525 [Opp., T. XIV.); Rebast. Munster, Prov. Sa- lom.juxta hebr. verit. trcmslata et annotationibus iUustrata (without date); J. Mercerus, Comm. in Salomonis Proverbia, Eccl. et Cantic, 1573; IVIaldonatus, Conifn. m prcecipuos librosV. Tes- tamenti, 1643 ; F. Q. Salazar, In Prov. Sal. Commentarius, 1636-7 ; Mart. Geier, Prov. Sa- lomonis ctwi cura enucleata, 1653, 1725 ; Thom. Cartwright, Commentarii succincti et dilucidi in Prov. Sal , 1663 ; Chr. Ben. Michaelis, Annotationes in Prov. (in J. H. Michaelis, " Ube- riores annotationes in Haqiogr.V. Test, libros," 1720, Vol. 1) ; A. Schultens, Prov. Salom. vers, integram ad Hebr. fonteyn expressit atque coram, adjecit, 1748 ; {In compend. redegit et 38 INTRODUCTION TO THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. obss. critt. auxit G. J. L. Vogel, Hal, 1768-9) ; J. D. Michaelis, Die Sjyruche Sal. unci der Prediger ubs. mil Anmerkungen, fur Ungelehrte, 1778 ; J. Che. Doderlein, Die Spr'uche Salo- monis mil Anmerkungen, 1778, 3d edn. 1786 ; W. C. Ziegler, Neue Uehers. der Denkspriiche Salomonis, 1791 ; H. Muntinghe, Uehers. der Spr., a. d. Holland, von Scroll, 1800-2 ; Che. G. Henslee, Erlduterungen des 1 Buches Samuels und der Salom. Denkspriiche, 1796 ; J. Fe. ScHELLiNG, Salomonis quai supersunt omnia lat. vertit notasque adjecit, 1806 ; J. G. Dahlee, Denk-und Sittenspruche Salomos, nehst den Ahweichungen der Alex. Vers, ins Deutsche ubers. mil Vorrede vo?hBi,'EssiG, 1810; C. P. W. Geambeeg, Das Buch der Spriiche Sal., 7ieu iiber- setzt, systemat. geordnet, 7nit erkl. Aiun. u. FaralL, 1828 ; F. W. C. Umbreit, Philol.-Krit. tmd Philos. Comm. uber die Spriiche Sal., nebst einer neuen TJebers. Einl. in die viorgenl. Weisheii uberhaupt u. in d. Salomonische insbes., 1826 ; H. Ewald, die poetischen Biicher des A. Bundes, Th. IV., 1837 ; F. Maurer, Gomm. gram. crit. in Prov., in usum academiarum ador- natus, 1841 ; C. Bridges, An exposition of the Book of Proverbs, 2 Vols., Lond., 1847 [1 Vol., New York, 1847] ; E. Bertheau, Die Spriiche Sal. in the " Kiirzgef. exeg. Handb. z. A. T." 1847 ; Vaihinger, Die Spr. Sal., 1857; F. Hitzig, Die Spr. Sal. ubers. u. ausgelegi, 1858 ; E. Elster, Comm. uber d. Salomonischen Spriiche, 1858. [Adolf Kamphausen, in Bunsen's Bibehverk, 1865]. [Besides the standard general Commentaries of Henry, Patrick, Adam Clarke, Gill, Oe- TON, Scott, Teapp and others, a considerable number of special commentaries on Proverbs have been written by English and American scholars. Among these are Bede, Expositio alUgorica in ■ Salom. Proverbia; M. Cope, Exposition upon Proverbs, translated by M. Outred, London, 1580 ; P. A. MuFPET, a Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, 2d ed. London, 1598 ; republished in Nichol's Series of Commentaries, Edinburgh, 1868 ; T. Wilcocks a short yet sound Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon (in his works) ; John Dod, a plain and familiar exposition of Proverbs (chap. ix. to xvii.), 1608-9; Jermin, Paraphrastical Me- ditations by way of Commentary on the whole Book of Proverbs, London, 1638 ; F. Taylor (Exposition with practical reflections on chaps, i. — ix.), London, 1655-7; Sir Edward Leigh, in his "Annotations on the Five Poetical Books of the Old Testament," London, 1657 ; H. Hammond, Paraphrase and Annotations, etc.; Richard Geey, The Book of Proverbs divided ac- cording to metre, etc., London, 1738 ; D. Durell, in his " Critical Pv-emarks on Job, Proverbs, etc., Oxford, 1772; T. Hunt, Observations on several passages, etc., Oxford, 1775 ; B. Hodgson, The Proverbs of Solomon translated from the Hebrew, Oxford, 1788 ; G. Holden, An Attempt towards an Improved Translation, etc., Liverpool, 1819; G. Lawson, Exposition of the Book of Proverbs, Edinb., 1821 ; R. J. Case, Comm. on the Proverbs of Solomon, London, 1822 ; French and Skinner, a new translation, etc., Camb., 1831 ; W. Newman, The Proverbs of Solomon, an improved version, London, 1839; B. E. Nicholls, The Proverbs of Solomon explained and illus- trated, London, 1842 ; G. R. Noyes, in his " New Translation of the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Canticles," etc., Boston, 1846 ; M. Stuart, Commentary on the Book of Proverbs, Andover, 1852 ; J. Muenscher, The Book of Proverbs in an amended Version, etc., Gambler, 1866 ; Che. WoEDSWOETH, Vol. IV., Part III. of his Commentary on the Bible, London, 1868.] Jev/ish Rabbinic Expositions; Ant. Giggejus, In Proverbia Salomonis commentarii trium Babbinorum; Sal. Isacidis, Abr. Aben Ezrcc, Levi hen Ghersom, quos A. Gigg, interpret, est, cas- tig., illustr., Mediolan, 1620. Of the more recent Rabbinical commentaries, that in Hebrew by LowENSTEiN, Frkft. a. M., 1838, is of special importance, and also that by L. Dukes, in Cohen's Commentary (Paris, 1847 ; Proverbes), where the earlier expositions of learned Jews upon our book, 38 in all, from Saadia to Lowenstein, are enumerated and estimated. Literature in Monographs. 1. Critical and exegetical : J. F. Hoffmann and J. Th. Speenger,. Observationes ad quosdam loca Proverbb. Sal, Tubing. 1776 ; * J. J. Reiske, Con- jecturoi in Jobum et Prow. Salom., Lips. 1779 ; A. S. Arnoldi, Zur Exegetik und Kritik des A. Tests., 1. Beitrag ; Anmerkurigen iiber einzelne Stellen d. Spr. Sal., 1781 ; J. J. Bellermann, JEnigmata hebraica, Prov. xxx. 11 sq., 15 sq., explicata, spec. 1-3, Erford. 1798-9; H. F. * In Umbreit (p. Ixvi.) and in Kkil (p. 395)Ciir. Fr. Sciixurrer is incorrectly named as fho author of this little trea- tise. It was rather a dissertation defended by the scholars above named under Scbnuerer's rectorate. 2 16. LITERATURE ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. 39 MuEHLAU, De proverbiorum quce dicuntur Aguri et Lemuelis (Prov. xxx. 1 — xxxi. 9) oriqine atque indole, Leips., 1869. — Compare moreover the works already named in § 13, notel, among which especial prominence should be given to Fe. Bottcher's " Neue exegetisch-kritische Aehrenlese z. A. Test. (Abth. III., herausg. von. F. Muehlau, Lips. 1865), as likewise to the treatises which are there mentioned by P. de UiiGAEDE and M. Heidenheim (the former iud». ing somewhat too unfavorably of the LXX, the latter in some cases contesting the exao-aerations of the former, and in other instances reducing them to their proper measure) ; for these are important aids to the criticism and exegesis of single passages. 2. Practical and Homiletical : Sam. BoHLitrs, Ethica sacra, Post. 1640 (compare note to § 1) ; J. Stocker (Pastor at Eisleben, died in 1649) Sermons on the Proverbs of Solomon ; Oetinger, Die Wahrheit des sensus communis in den Spruchen und dem Prediger Salomonis, Stuttg., 1753; Stattdenmaier, Die Lehrevon der Idee (1840), pp.37 sq. (valuable observations on Prov. viii. 22 sq.) ; C. I. Nitzsch, on the essential Trinity of God, Theod. Stud. u. Krit., 1841, II., 295 (on the same passage; see especially pp. 310 sq.); R. Stier, Der Weise ein Kbnig, So- lomon's Proverbs according to the compilation of the men of Hezekiah (chap. xxv. — xxix.), ex- pounded for the School and the Life of all times, Barmen, 1849 (the same work also elaborated for the laity, under the title " Solomon's wisdom in Hezekiah's days ") ; same author : " The Politics of Wisdom in the words of Agur and Lemuel," Prov. xxx. and xxxi. Timely scriptural exposi- tion for every man, with an appendix for scholars, Barmen, 1850. [In English no other recent work of. this sort can be compared with Arnot's " Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth," 2d edn. Lond., 1866. Bishop Hall's " Characters of Virtues and Vices," London, 1609, is designed to be an epitome of the Ethics of Solomon. R. Wardlaw : Lectures on the Book of Proverbs (a posthumous publication), 3 Vols., London, 1861]. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, General Superscription to the Collection. Announcement of the Author of the Collection, of its Object, and of its great value. Chap. I. 1-6. 1 Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, the King of Israel : 2 to become acquainted with wisdom and knowledge, to comprehend intelligent discourse, 3 to attain discipline of understanding, righteousness, justice and integrity, 4 to impart to the simple prudence, to the young man knowledge and discretion; — 5 let the wise man hear and add to his learning, and the man of understanding gain in control, 6 that he may understand proverb and enigma, words of wise men and their dark sayings. Introductory Section. True wisdom as the basis and end of all moral effort, impressed by admonition and commendation upon the hearts of youth. Chap. I. 7— IX. 18. 7 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge ; wisdom and discipline fools despise. First group of Admonitory or Gnomic Discourses. Chap. I. 8— III. 35. 1. The teacher of wisdom admonishes his sou to avoid the way of viee. Chap, I. 8-19. 8 Hearken, my son, to thy father's instruction, and refuse not the teaching of thy mother ; 9 for they are a graceful crown to thy head, and jewels about thy neck. — 10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not ! 4.1 42 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 11 If they say, "Come with us, and we will lie in wait for blood, will plot against the innocent without cause; 12 we will swallow them, like the pit, living, and the upright, like those that descend into the grave; 13 we will find all precious treasure, will fill our houses with spoil ! 14 Thou shalt cast in thy lot among us ; one purse will we all have !" 15 My son ! go not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path ! 16 For their feet run to evil, and haste to shed blood ; 17 for in vain is the net spread before the eyes of all (kinds of) birds: 18 and these watch for their own blood, they lie in wait for their own lives. 19 Such are the paths of every one that grasps after unjust gain; from its own master it taketh the life. Chap. I. 20-33. 2. Warning delineation of the perverse and ruinous conduct of the fool, put into the mouth of wisdom (personified). 20 Wisdom crieth aloud in the streets, on the highways she maketh her voice heard : 21 in the places of greatest tumult she calleth, at the entrances to the gates of the city she giveth forth her words : 22 " How long, ye simple, will ye love simplicity, and scorners delight in scorning, and fools hate knowledge ! 23 Turn ye at my reproof! Behold I will pour out upon you my spirit, my words will I make known to you! 24 Because I have called and ye refused, I stretched out my hand, and no man regarded it, 25 and ye have rejected all my counsel, and to my reproof ye have not yielded ; 26 therefore will I also laugh at your calamity, will mock when your terror cometh ; 27 when like a storm your terror cometh, and your destruction sweepeth on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 28 Then will they call upon me, and I not answer, they will seek me diligently and not find me. 29 Because they have hated sound wisdom and have not desired the fear of Jehovah, 30 have not yielded to my counsel and have despised all my reproof, 31 therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way and be surfeited with their own counsels. 32 For the perverseness of the simple shall slay them, and the security of fools destroy them : 33 he, however, who hearkeneth to nic shall dwell secure, and have rest without dread of evil !" CHAP. I. 1-33. 4S GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 2. [We have iu vers. 2, 3, 4, 6 final clauses, introduced by 7, and indicating the object with which these wise sayings are recorded. That purpose is disciplinary, first with reference to " the young man," and then to him who is already "wise." This discipline is contemplated not from the point of view of him who imparts, but that of those who receive it. These considerations determine our choice of words in translating several of the terms employed. Thus in ver. 2 we render ni/l7 not "to know," as this suggests the finished result rather than the process, which is "to become acquainted with, to acquire ;" so ZiicKLER, zii erkennen ; De VVktte, kennen zu lernen ; Notes, "from which men may learn;" a little less definitely, E. V., "to know;" incorrectly IIolden, "respecting the knowledge." These wise sayings are to guide to and re.-sult in knowledge ; but the verbs, except iu ver. 4, represent not the teaching, imparting, communicat- ing, but the discerning and seizing. In respect to the two shades of meaning to be given to TOO see the exeg. notes. T Gesen. and Fuerst agree in the etymology (ID') ; Fuerst, however, carries back the radical meaning one step farther; G., "to chastise, correct, instruct;" F., "to bind or restrain, chastise," etc. It should, therefore, be borne in mind that more than the imparting of information is intended by the word, it is discipline, sometimes merely intellectual but more fre- quently moral. — r\y2 ^TON. I't., "words of discernment," "words of understanding" (so E. V., Notes, Muenscher); T • ** : • Stuart, " words of the intelligent;" De Wettb like Zockler, "verstandiffe Keden;'" V.tN Ess and Alliou, with whom HoLDEN seems to agree, "die Wurle (Megeln) der Klugheit," "the words (rules) of prudence." — A.]. Ver. 3. [73t;/n TDOi — our author's conception (see exeg. notes) corresponds with that of Fuerst also, who makes the genitive not merely objective, as DeWette, etc., seem to do (" discipline of understanding," "die Zucht der Vernunft"), but makes it final, contemplating the end : Fuerst, " Z. zur Besonnenheil," Zocklkr, '^ einsichtsvoUe Zucht," discipline full of discernment, insight, understanding, i. e., in its results. The rendering of most of our English expositors is ambigu- ous or suggests other ideas: E. V. and Muenscher, "instruction of wisdom;" IIolden, "instruction in wisdom,;" Notes, " the instruction of prudence;" Stcart, "of discreetness." — D'TC'D) plural of that which is "ideally extended" and plea- • T " surable; Bottoher, Aitsf. Lehrh.. § 699. — A.]. Ver. 5. [E. V., followed by Holden and Muenscher, "a wise man will hear ;" Notes, "may hear;" Stuart, more forci- bly, "let the wise man listen," like our author, " es hure," and Bottoher (^ 950, d.," Fiens debitum") " es soil horen." De Wette makes this a final clause, like those of the three preceding verses, "dass der Weise hijre ;" but see exeg. notes, no VI is given by Bottoher (J 964, 2) as an illustration of the "consultive" use of the Jussive; Stuart makes it au ordi- nary Imperf., and renders " and he will add;" but his explanations are not pertinent; the 1 need not be "conversive," it ia simply copulative, and flQV which he assumes as the normal Imperf., is already a Jussive. — A.]. np7. properly that ■which is "taken, received, transmitted" (comp. the verb Hp/i "to attain," above in ver. 3) is like the Aram. ri73p (from l2p, to take), and like the Latin traditio [in its passive sense]. The parallel term nibsnp (from 7jn> to lead, accord- ing to the analogy of the Arabic, and cognate with /DH. cable, and 73n> steersman) is by the LXX correctly rendered by KUj3e'pi'7]<7is. Ver. 6. Luther's translation of the 1st clause, " that he may understand proverbs and their interpretation," cannot possibly be right; for Hi'^^O, if it was designed to convey any other idea than one parallel to 71^0 could not on any T • : T T principle dispense with the suffix of the 3d person (1f\-), its, comp. Vulgate: " animadvertat parabolamel interpretationem.^' T [This is also the rendering of the E. V., which is followed by Holden, while Notes, Stuart, Muenscher and Words- worth, De Weite and Van Ess agree with the view taken by our author. — A.]. Ver. 7. Q'^'IX. derived from ^)H, crassus fuit; to be gross or dull of understanding ; — Gesen., however, derives it from the radical idea " to be perverse, turned away," and Fuerst " to be slack, weak, lax or lazy." [Wordsworth adopts the latter explanation — A.]. Ver. 8. [The different renderings given to the verb of the 2d clause while agreeing in their substantial import, "for- sake," " neglect," " reject," do not reproduce with equal clearness the radical idea, which is that of " spreading," then of " scattering." — A ]. Ver. 10. X3n, scriptio defectiva, for N3NJ^i as some 50 MSS. cited by Kennioott and De Rossi in fact read, while some others prefer a different pointing >?jr\~7X [thou shalt not go], which is however an unwarranted emendation. The T ~ LXX had the correct conception : ;u.i) ^ouArjSijs, and the Vulgate : ne acquiescas. — [Comp. Green's Heb. Gram., g 111, 2, b, and § 177, 3. Bottoher discusses the form several times in different conuections, ^^ 325, d, and n. 2, — 429, B, and 1164, 3, b, — and after enumerating the six forms which the MSS. supply, X13ri- N3i^i HDNn, N3Xn, lUn, and NJIi^ de- T T cides that the original form, whose obscurity suggested all these modifications, was X3n = 3Nn. In signification ho classes it with the "dehortative" Jussives. — A.]. Ver. 11. [E. v., NoTKS, Wordsworth, Luther, Van Ess agree with one another in connecting the adverb with the verb, while De Wette, Holden, Stuart, Muenscher regard it as modifying the adjective, " him whose innocence is of no avail to protect him." — A.]. Ver. 12. [E. V., Stuart and Muenscher, like our author connect □'"n with the object of the main verb; Umbreit and HiTziG (see exeg. notes) are followed by De Wette, Holden, Notes in connecting it with the comparative clause. — 113 'Tl V, for construction see e. g., Green, gg 2V1, 2 and 254, 9, b. — A.]. Ver. 16. [:|3f^T, masc. verb with feminine subject; Bott., g 936, II., C. a; Green, § 275, 1. c— A.]. T Ver. 20. The Wisdom who is here speaking is in this verse called niODH. which is not a plural but "a new abstract : T . . derivative from nODH. formed with the ending JIVHEwald, g 165, c; a form which is also found e. g., in jlionn. Ps. T : T : Ixxviii. 15. The niinie recurs in the same form in ix. 1 ; xxiv. 7. [P()TTCher. however, regards this as an example of the pluralis extens.. to denote emphatically " true wisdom." See g 679, d, 689, C., b, 700, c and n. 4. There is no difficulty in connecting a verb fern. sing, with a subject which although plural in form is singular in idea. — A.]. — H^^Pi crieth aloud, T T from ni, comp. Lam. ii. 19; 3d sing. fern, as also in viii. 3 (Ewald, 191, c). [Comp. Green, g 97, 1, a, and Bijii., g 929, d, I - T ■who witli his usual minuteness endeavors to trtice the development of this idiom. — A.]. Ver. 21. ZiJciiLER, an dm tiirmrolhten Orlen : De VVftte, an der Ecke Uirmender Strassen; Fuerst, der bewegten Strassen ; Holden, like the Eng. Ver., in the chief place of concourse. 44 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Ver. 22. [For the vocalization of OHXH aee Green, §§ 60, 3, c. 111, 2, e. For the use of the perfect nOtl see BoTT., ^ 94S, 2. lie illustrates by such classical perfects as cyvuxa, otSa. ^l.€>aa, memini. novi, aud renders this form by concupiverml. — A.]. Ver. 23. [n>?^3Xi an fnstance of the intentional Imperf., in what Bottcher calls its " voluntative" signification, — g 965, 1,-A.]. Ver. 27. [niXi:'3, K'ri HXIti'D, the former derived from IXt^ or TMilll, the latter from Xll!?, of which verbs the T-:- : T : latter is ol)solete except in derivatives, while the former occurs in one passage in Is. in the Niphal. The signification seems to be one and tUe forms variations growing out of the weakness of the 2d aud 3d radicals. Comp. boTT., J^ Hi, a, and 811, 2.— A.]. Instead of the Infin. Xi33. we have in the 2d member, since 3 is not repeated, the Imperf. PinX' (Ew.uj), 337, b) [Stdart, § 129, 3, n. 2].— A. Ver. 28. ['JJXTp^> ^JJTHU'') 'JJXVO'. These are among the few instances in which the full plural ending U is found before sulli.ves. Green, j 105, c, BiiTT.. § 1047,/. — A.]. Ver. 29. For the use of ''2 DTM^, " therelore because," compare Deut. xxxiv. 7, and also the equivalent combination lE'K r>nn in 2 Kings xxii. 7 ; 2 Chron. xxi. 12. EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-6. The superscription to the col- lection, which is quite long, as is common with the titles of Oriental books, is not designed to be a "table of contents" (Umbreit), nor to give merely the aim of the book (so most commenta- tors, especially Ewalu, Bertheau, Elster, etc.). But beside the author of the book (ver. 1 ), it is intended to give first its design (vers. 2, 3), and then, in addition, its worth and use (vers. 4-6), and so to commend the work in advance as salu- tary and excellent (Starice, Delxtzsch). Ac- cordingly it praises the book as a source of wholesome and instructive wisdom: 1) for the simple-minded and immature (ver. 4) ; 2) for those who are already wise and intelligent, but who are to gain still more insight and under- standing from its maxims and enigmas (vers. 5, 6). — Proverbs of Solomon, elc. — In regard to the primary meaning of bUD, and in regard to the special signification which prevails here in the superscription, "Proverbs of Solomon" (maxims, aphorisms, not proverbs [in the cur- rent and popular sense]), see Introd., §11. — To become acquainted with wisdom and knowledge.— In respect to HODH and its sy- nonyms {^y2 and n^n) consult again the Introd., g 2, note 3. "1D13 properly " chastisement," sig- nifies education, moral training, good culture and habits, the practical side, as it were, of wis- dom (LXX: naLSeia; Vulg.: disciplina). In ver. 2 the expression stands as synonymous with "wisdom" (HODn), as in iv. 13 ; xxiii. 23, and frequently elsewhere ; in ver. 3, on the contrary, it designates an element preparatory to true wisdom and insight, — one serving as their foun- dation, and a preliminary condition to them. For the "discipline of understanding" (1D=I0 73tyri, ver. 3) is not, as might be conceived, "discipline under which the understanding is placed," but "discipline, training to reason, to a reasonable, intelligent condition " (as Hirzia rightly conceives it); compare the "discipline of wisdom " (noDH 1D=I0), xv. 33, and for "un- derstanding " (73tyn), insight, discernment, a rational condition, see particularly xxi. 16. Umbreit and Ewald regard '73t^n as equivalent to thoughtfulness ("a discipline to thoughtful- ness," Zuchtigung zur Besonneiiheit''') ; by this rendering, however, the full meaning of the con- ception is not exhausted. — Righteousness, justice and integrity. The three Hebrew terms pli*, CDDC'D and D'Tl^'D are related to each I vv T : • ■ T •• other as "righteousness, justice, and integrity, or uprightness" [Gerechtigkeit, Recht unci Geradheit). The first of the three expressions describes what is fitting according to the will and ordinance of God the supreme Judge (comp. Deut. xxxiii. 19); the second, what is usage and custom among men (Is. xlii. 1 ; 1 Sam. xxvii. 11): the third, what is right and reasonable, and in accordance with a walking in the way of truth, and so denotes a straight-forward, honorable and upright de- meanor. Ver. 4. To impart to the simple pru- dence.— The telic infinitive (^^ /) is co-ordi- nate with the two that precede in vers. 2 and 3, and has the same subject. Therefore the same construction is to be employed here also (to become acquainted with — to attain — to impart) ; and we are not, by the introduction of a final clause, to make the contents of this 4th versa subordinate to the preceding, as the LXX do (iva 6C K. T. 1.), and likewise the Vulg. [ut detur, etc.), and Luther (" that the simple may become shrewd, and young men reasonable and conside- rate "). The "simple" (D'XnD), properly, the "open," those who are readily accessible to all external impressions, and therefore inexperi- enced and simple, vrj-rmc, (iKaKoi (as the LXX ap- propriately render the word in this passage ; comp. Rom. xvi. 18). With respect to the relation of this idea to that of the "fool" (^3J. tl>2) com- ^ TT ■ : ' pare what will be said below on i. 32, and also Introd., I 3, note 2. — Prudence (nrD"l>', derived from D^J^) signifies properly nakedness, smooth- ness (comp. theadj. D^"1J,' ["subtle," E.V.], naked, i. e., slippery, crafty; used of the serpent. Gen. iii. 1); therefore metaphorically "the capacity for escaping from the wiles of others" (U.mbreit), "the prudence which guards itself against in- jury" (xxii. 3; 1 Saiii. xxiii. 22). — To the young man know^ledge and discretion. — Discretion, thoughtfulness (rrsirD, LXX, iin>oia), denotes here in connection with "knowledge" (r\J^n) the characteristic of thoughtful, well con- sidered action, resting upon a thorough know- CHAP. I. 1-33. 45 ledge of things, — therefore, circumspection, cau- tion. Ver. 5. Not the simple and immature only, but also the wise and intelligent, are to derive instruction from Solomon's proverbs. This idea is not, as might be supposed, thrust in the form of a parenthesis into the series of final clauses beginning \j'ith ver. 2, and reaching its conclu- sion in ver. 6, so that the verb {}?0d\) is to be conceived of as rendering the clause conditional, and is to be ti-anshxted " if he hears " (Umbreit. Elster) ; it begins a new independent proposi- tion, whose imperfect tenses are to be regarded as voluntative, and upon which the new intinitive clause with / in ver. 6 is dependent (Ewalb, Bertiieau, and commentators generally). — Let the w^ise man hearken and add tp his learning. — As to the expression "add to his learning" (np/ ^OV) comp. ix. 9; xvi. 12. The peculiar term rendered "learning" (see critical notes above) is a designation of knowledge, doc- trine, instructive teaching in general; comp. vers. 22 and 29. The word rendered "control," or mastery, is an abstract derivative, strengthened by the ending m (Ewald, Gramm., | 179 a., note 3), and expresses here in an appropriate and telling figure the idea of " skill and facility in the management of life." Comp. xi. 14 ; xii. 5 ; Job xxxvii. 12, etc. Its relation to "learning" (np/) is quite like that of "discipline" to "wis- dom " in ver. 2 ; it supplies the practical corre- lative to the other idea which is predominantly theoretical. Ver. 6. To understand proverb and enigma, etc. — ["The climax of the definition of wisdom" — Stanley]. The infinitive (r^riy) supplies the announcement of the end required by ver. 5 : to this end is the wise man to gain in knowledge and self-command or self-disci- pline, that he may understand the proverbs and profound sayings of the wise, i. e., may know how to deal appropriately with them. It is not the mere understanding of the wisdom of proverbs by itself that is here indicated as the end of the vpise man's "increase in knowledge and mas- tery," but practice and espertness in using this wisdom ; it is the callers sententias sapientum which imparts a competence to communicate further instruction to the youth who need disci- pline. If the telic infinitive (p^n'?) be taken in this frequent sense, for which may be compared among other passages Prov. viii. 9 ; xvii. 10, 24 ; Dan. i. 27, we do not need with Bertheau to give the expression a participial force (by virtue of the fact that he understands, — understanding proverbs, etc.), — nor to maintain with Hitzig and others that ver. 6 is not grammatically con- nected with ver. 5, on the ground that it is not conceivable that the "learning to understand the words of wise men " should be made an object of the endeavor of such as are wise already. It is an intensified acquaintance with wisdom that is here called for, a knowledge in the sense of the passage, "to him that hath shall be given, and lie shall have abundance," Matth. xiii. 12; comp. John i. IG ; Rom. i. 17 ; 2 Cor. iii. 18. For the verbal explanation of "enigma" and "dark say- ing" (ni"''70 and HTn) see Introd., g 11, note 2. Certain as it is that both expressions here are only designed to embody in a concrete form the idea of obscure discourse that requires interpre- tation (the parallelism with "proverbs" and "words of wise men" l/tl^D and D'ODH ''131) T T • T-: ■• : • shows this beyond dispute), we have no warrant for finding in this verse a special allusion to the obscure, enigmatical contents of chap, xxx., and so for insisting upon its very late origin, as Hit- zig does (see in reply Ewald). Nevertheless, it follows from the comprehensiveness of the plural expression "words of wise men" (comp. xxii. 17 and Eccles. ix. 17; xii. 11) that no one could have prefixed to his work an introduction like that before us, who was not conscious that he had collected with proverbs of Solomon many others that were not directly from him (comp. §12 of the Introd.). 2. Ver 7 is not to be regarded as a part of the superscription, as Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, Keil, etc., treat it, but is the general proposition introducing the series of didactic discourses that follows; — a motto, as it were, for the first or in- troductory main division of the book, as Uai- BREiT happily expresses it ; comp. Hitzig in loc. The proverb has also passed into the Arabic, and here also frequently stands at the commencement of collections of proverbs, whether because it is ascribed to jMohammed, as is sometimes done in such cases, or because it is cited as coming from Solomon. Compare Von Diez, Denkwurdiykcilen, II., 459; Meid.\ni, ed. Frcytag, III., 29, 610; Erpenius, Sent, quned. Arab., p. 45. In the Old Testament [and Apocrypha], moreover, the same maxim occurs several times, especially in Prov. ix. 10 ; Ecclesiast. i. 16, 25 ; Ps. cxi. 10. From the passage last cited the LXX repeat in our verse the words appended to the first clause : 'Apx^ corpiag (pO/SoQ Kvpiov, avvsaig de aya-dij -aciv rnlg TTOLovaiv avTTjv ["and a good understanding have all they that do it"]. — Beginning. — (iTt^XT is here equivalent to Tlvnil found in the parallel passage, ix. 10 ; it is therefore correctly rendered in Ecclesiast. and the LXX by apxv in the sense of "beginning"): compare chap. iv. 7, " the beginning of wisdom ;" not, as the words themselves would allow, "that which is highest in wisdom," "the noblest or best wisdom." [The latter is given as a marginal reading in the E. v., and is retained and defended by Holden; soalsoby Trapp and others. — A.]. — Fools. — The word designates properly the hardened, the stupid, — those fools who know nothing of God (Jer. iv. 22), and therefore refuse and contemptu- ously repel His salutary discipline (comp. above, note to ver. 2). 3. Vers. 8-19. These verses show in an exam- ple so shaped as to convey an earnest warn- ing, how we are to guard ourselves against the opposite of the fear of God, against depravity, which is, at the same time, the extremest folly. They contain, therefore, a warning against turn- ing aside to the way of vice, given as the first il- lustration of the truth expressed in ver. 7. — Vers. 8, 9. — My son. — The salutation of the THE rPtOVERBS OF SOLOMON. teacher of wisdom, who is here represented as "father" in order to illustrate to his pupil the inner reality and nature of their mutual relation (comp. 1 Cor. iv. 15; Philem. 10). The "mother" who is mentioned in connection with this " fa- tlier " is only a natural expansion of the idea of the figure, suggested by the law of poetic paral- lelism,— and not a designation of wisdom perso- nified, who does not appear before ver. 20. [Wordsworth and many of the older English expositors regard this as a specific address by Solomon to Rehoboam; this interpretation, how- ever, lacks the support of Oriental usage, and too much restricts the scope of the Book of Proverbs. The large majority, however, of English and American commentators (e. g., Trapp, Holden, Bridges, Wordsworth, Muenscher) find here a more specific commendation of filial docility and obedience. Stuart more nearly agrees with our author in making the "father" and "mo- ther" figurative rather than literal terras — A.]. — Law (min), here doctrina, instructive pre- cepts in general ; as in several other instances in our book it is used of the instruction given by parents to their children, e. g., iii. 1 ; iv. l2 ; vii. 2 ; xxviii. 7, 9. — For they are a gracefQl crown to thy head. — "Wreath of grace" on rrw) graceful crown, as in iv. 9. The com- parison of the teachings of wisdom with pearls which one hangs as a necklace about the neck, a figure which is a great favorite every where in the East, recurs again in iii. 3; vi. 21; Eccle- siast. vi. 30. Ver. 10. Transition to an intelligible admo- nitory example ; hence the repetition of the fa- miliar salutation "My son," which occurs once more in ver. 15, at the beginning of the apodo- sis. Sinners (D'XtDri). — Sinners by profession, habitual sinners, as in Ps. i. 1 ; here those in particular whose business is murder (comp. Gen. iv. 7, 8j, robbers who are murderers. — Ver. 11. "We will lie in w^ait for blood, etc. — Tiie two verbs (3TN and |31f) both signify to lie in wait for, to lay snares artfully (as the huntsman for the game, with noose and net). The adverb (Diil) is probably more correctly construed with the verb (lie in wait without cause, i. e., without having any reason for revenge and enmity), than witli the aiijective, — although this latter combi- nation is also grammatically admissible. But with the conception "him that is innocent in vain," i. e., the man to whom his innocence shall be of no avail against us, the parallel passages (Ps. XXXV. 19; Ixix. 4; Lam. iii. 52) correspond less perfectly than with that to which we have given tlie preference; comp. Hitzig inloc. — Ver. 12. — Will swallovy them, like the pit, living. — The "living" (^D"'n) can rel'er only to the suffix pronoun (in □J^733), The connection writh "like the pit" ( 71XC/3), to which Umbreit and IIitzio give the preference, gives the pecu- liarly hard sense "as the pit (swallows) that whicli lives." Comp. rather Ps. Iv. 15: "they must go down living into the pit ;" and also Ps. cxxiv. 3 ; Prov. xxx. 16, an'"} =113}^'); for it renders the second number by ^•■Briaavpllov- civ tavTo'ig kuko, " (they treasure up evils for themselves). Comp. Heidenheim in the article cited in the Introd., ^ 13, note 1. — Ver. 19. Ketrospect and conclusion; comp. Job vlii. 13; xviii. 21. — Spoil (.i'i'3) gain unlawfully acquired, as in xxviii. 16. The combination ^'V3 ;t'"ii is found also in xv. 27. The subject of the verb " takes " (npj) is;r^3 ; " the life of its owner it, unjust gain, takes away." Luther, following the LXX, Vulgate, and most of the ancient ex- positors, renders " that one («. e., of the rapa- cious) takes life from another." But the idea *' ownership, owner " (Dy^'S) has no reference to the relation between partners in violence and those like themselves, but to that existing be- tween an object possessed and its possessor. 4. Vers. 20-33. After this warning against the desperate counsels of the wicked there fol- lows in this second admonitory discourse a warn- ing against the irrational and perverse conduct of fools. In the former case it was contempt of the fear of God, in the latter it is contempt of wisdom against which the warning is directed. Both passages, therefore, refer back distinctly to the motto that introduces them in ver. 7. The admonition against folly, Avhich is now to be con- eidered, is put appropriately into the mouth of wisdom personified, — as is also, later in the book, the discourse on the nature and the origin of wisdom (chap. viii. 1 sq). — On the street and in public places wisdom makes herself heard ; not in secret, for she need not be ashamed of her teaching, and because she is a true friend of the people seeking the welfare of all, and therefore follows the young and simple, the foolish and un- godly, everywhere where they resort; comp. Christ's command to His disciples, Matt. x. 27; Luke xiv. 21. As in these passages of the New Testament, so in that before us, human teachers (the wise men, or the prophets, according to Ec- clesiast. xxiv. 38; Wisdom vii. 27) are to be regarded as the intermediate instrumentality in the public preaching of wisdom. — Ver. 21. In the places of greatest tumult she calleth, etc. "The tumultuous" (nvoh), comp. Isaiah xxii. 2; 1 Kings i. 41, can signify here nothing but the public streets full of tumult, the thorough- fares. The "beginning" (E/Xh) of these high- ways or thoroughfares is, as it were, their corner; the whole expression points to boister- ous public places. The LXX seem to have read r\10in " walls," since it translates ctt' uKpuv reiXEuv [on high walls]. Before the second clause the same version has the addition " e-l Jc TcvXaiQ dwaoTuv napeSptvei" [and .at the gates of the mighty she sits], an expansion of the figure in which there is no special pertinence. In the city ("^'.^'3) is probably to be regarded as a closer limitation of "at the entrances of the gates " (D'^J-'C/ 'nriDS), i. e., on the inner, the city side of the entrances at the gates: it is not then to be regarded as an antithesis, as Umbreit, Bertheau, Hitzig, etc., claim, [nor is it to be detached and connected with the next clause, as Stuart claims]. — Ver. 22. How long, ye sim- ple, will ye love simplicity? The discourse of Wisdom begins in the same way as I*s. iv. 2. In regard to the distinction between " simple" ('^13) and " scorner" {]'/_), comp. Introd. § 3, note 2 ; and above, the remarks on ver. 4. — The perfect tense in the second clause (HOn), which standing be- tween the imperfects of the 1st and 3d clauses ia somewhat unusual, is to be conceived of as in- choative (like the verb "despise" ^O in ver. 7), and therefore propei-ly signifies "become fond of," and not "be fond of." [See, however, the critical note on this verse]. — Ver. 28. Turn ye at my reproof, — i. e., from your evil and per- verse way. I will pour out upon you my spirit. The spirit of wisdom is to flow forth copiously, like a never-failing spring ; comp. xviii. 4; and with reference to the verb "pour out" (^^"371) which "unites in itself the figures of abundant fullness and refreshing invigoration" (U.mbreit, Elster) comp. xv. 2; Ps. Ixxviii. 2; cxix. 171. — Ver. 24, in connection with 2-5, ia an antecedent clause introduced by "because" (.\]yj, to which vers. 26, 27 correspond as conclu- sion. The perfects and imperfects with 1 consec. in the protasis describe a past only in relation to the verbs of the apodosis, and may therefore well be rendered by the present, as Luther has done: "Because I call and ye refuse," etc. To stretch forth the hand, in order to beckon to one, is a sign of calling for attention, — as in Isa. Ixv. 2. The verb in ver. 25, f. c. (J-'^^S) is doubtless not " undervalue, despise " as Hixzio explains, following the analogy of the Arabic), but "cast off, reject," as in iv. 15, (Umbreit, Ewald, Elster and commentators generally; comp. Luther's " let go, /(//irm lasse?i"). [Aa between the two the English Aversion is equivo- cal, " set at naught "]. — Ver. 26. "Laugh " and "mock" (pnti' and J^»S) here as in Ps. ii. 4. — Ver. 27 depicts the style and manner in which calamity comes upon fools, "and accumulates 48 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. expression to work upon the fancy" (IIitzig). Instead of the K'thibh HINiyD according to the K'ri we should read (1X11^3, and this should be T : interpreted in the sense of "tempest" (corap. iii. 2-3; Zeph. i. 15). Thus most commentators correctly judge, while Hitzig defends for the expres^sion the signification "cataract," which however is appropriate in none of the passages adduced, and also fails in Job xxx. 14 (coinp, Delitzsch on this passage). — In regard to the alliteration Hpril mif distress and anguish, It : TT comp. Isa. xxx. G ; Zeph. i. 15. — Ver. 28. They shall seek me diligently. Tnt:', a denomi- native verb from ini^, "the morning dawn," signifies to seek something while it is yet early, in the obscurity of the morning twilight, and so illustrates eager, diligent seeking. [Of the re- cent commentators in English, Noyes only retains and emphasizes the rendering of the E. V., " they sball seek me early.''^ The rest do not find the idea of time in the vei-b, except by sug- gestion.— A.]. Comp., with respect to the gene- ral idea of the verse, Prov. viii. 17; Hos. v. 15. [Observe also the force of the transition from the 2d person of the preceding verse, to the 3d person in this and the verses following. — A.]. — Ver. 29. The "because " ("Ii nnr\) is not depen- dent on ver. 28, but introduces the four-fold antecedent clause (vers. 29, 30), which ver. 31 follows as its conclusion. With ver. 31 comp. Is. iii. 10; Ps. Ixxxviii. 3; cxxiii. 4, where tlic figure of satiety with a thing expresses likewise the idea of experiencing the evil consequences of a mode of action. m^^j^lD, evil devices, as also Ps. V. 10. — Vers. 32, 33. Confirmatory and con- cluding propositions, connejted by "for" C3)-— rm-l^p, turning away from. wisdom and its salu- tary discipline, therefore resistance, rebellious- ness. Comp. Jer. viii. 5, Hos. xi. 5, where it sig- nifies turning away or departure from God. " Se- curity" (nnt^) idle, easy rest, the carnal secu- rity of the obdurate; camp. Jerem. xxii. 21. A beautiful contrast to this false ease is pre- sented in the true peace of the wise and devout, as ver. 33 describes it. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. As long ago as the time of Melanchthon it was recognized as a significant fact, that wisdom claims as her hearers and pupils not only the simple, the young and the untaught, but those also who are already advanced in the knowledge of truth, the wise and experienced. He remarks on ver. 5: "To his proposition he adds an ad- monition what the hearer ought to be. A wise hearer will profit, as saith the Lord : To him that hath shall be given. And again. He shall give the Holy Spirit to those that seek, not to those that despise, not to those that oppose with bar- barous and savage fierceness. These despisers of God, the Epicureans and the like, he here says do not profit, but others, in whom are the be- ginnings of the fear of God, and who seek to be controlled by God, as it is said : Ask and ye shall receive."* Susceptibility therefore both must ma- nifest,— those who are beginners under the in- struction of wisdom, and those who are more ad- vanced; otherwise there is no progress for them. It is indeed divine wisdom in regard to the ac- quisition of which these assertions are made ; and in the possession of this wisdom, and in the com- munication of it as a teacher, no man herebelo^ ever attains perfection, so as to need no further teaching. It is precisely as it is within the de- partment of the New Testament with the duty of faith, and of growth in believing knowledge, which duty in no stage of the Christian life in this world ever loses its validity and its binding power. Comp. Luke xvii. 5; Eph. iv. 15, 16; Col. i. 11; ii. 19; 2Thess. i. 3 ; 2 Pet. iii. 18. 2. The thoroughly religious character o! ■wisdom as our book designs to inculcate it, ap- pears not only in the jewel which sparkles fore- most in its necklace of proverbs (ver. 7: "The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom, cte."), but also in the fact that in the introductory admoni- tion, in ver. 10, it is Sinners (so designated with- out preamble or qualificationj, the D^XiDn (Lu- ther, "tlie base knaves," die bosen Buben), whose seductive conduct is put in contrast with the nor- mal deportment of the disciple of wisdom. Ob- serve further that in the very superscription, vers. 2 and 3, the ideas of discipline, righteousness, justice and upi'ightness are appended to that of wisdom as synonymous with it. The wise man is therefore eo ipso, also the just, the pious, the upright, the man who walks the way of truth. Inasmuch, however, as the ideas of righteousness, justice and uprightness (P."]^. 03'.i'^, D'T^'O), here, as every where else m the Old Testament, express the idea of correspondence with the re- vealed moral law, the law, the law of Moses, therefore the wise man is the man who acts and walks in accordance with law, the true observer of the law, who " walks in all the command- ments and ordinances of the Lord blameless " (Luke i. 6; comp. Deut. v. 33; xi. 22; Ps. cxix. 1). True wisdom, knowledge, and spiritual culture, are to be found within the sphere of Old Testa- ment revelation only where the law of the Lord is truly observed. Mere morality in the sense of the modern humanitarian free-thinking and polite culture could not at all show itself there ; moral rectitude must also always be at the same time legal rectitude. Nay it stands enacted also under the New Testament that " whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the king- dom of heaven " (Matth. v. 19) ; that " the weigh- tier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith," together with its less significant demands, must be fulfilled (Matth. xxiii. 23) ; that he only can be called a possessor of " the wisdom that is from above," and "a perfect man," who "of- fends not in word" (James iii. 2, 17). The fear of the Lord, which according to ver. 7 is the be- ginning of wisdom, while again in ver. 29 it is * Prnposilinm addit adnnmitiortpm, quaUm rrpnrtent audito- rem esse.. Sapiens auditor proficict, sicut Dinnnius itx/nit: Habenti dahitur. Item: Dahit spiritum sanctum peletitiOus, nnn conicmnentibus, non repurinanlibus barbaricu ct ci/c/npica ferocia. Hos cnntemptnrcs Vri, ut Epicweos ct similes, ait hie non prnfice.re, sed alios, in fii/i!>i(s sunt initia timoris Dti, et quipttunt se regi a Deo, sicut dicitur Petite ct accipictis. CHAP. I. 1-33. 49 proseated as the synonyme of the same idea (comp. ii. 5; ix. 10, etc.) consists, once for all, in a complete devotion to GotI, an unconditional subjection of cue's own individuality to the be- neficent will of God as revealed in the law (comp. Deut. vi. 2, 13; x. 20; xiii. 4; Ps. cxix. 63, eCc). How then can'he bo regarded as fearing God, wlio should keep only a part of the divine commands, or who should undertake to fullil them only ac- cording to their moral principle, and did not seek also to make the embodying letter of their for- mal requirements the standard of his life — in the Old Testament with literal strictness, in the New Testament in spirit and. in truth ? From these observations it will appear what right Bruch has to maintain (in the work before cited, p. 128), that in the collection of the Pro- verbs of Solomon, and in general in the gnomic writers of Israel, the idea of wisdom is substituted for that of righteousness which is common in Other parts of the Old Testament. Righteousness and wisdom according to this view would be es- sentially exclusive the one of the other; since the former conception "had usually attached itself to a ceremonial righteousness through works," and had appeared "to make too little reference to the theoretical conditions of all higher moral culture." In the Introduction, (§ 15, note) we have already commented on (he one-sideduess and tlie misconception involved in this view, according to which the doctrine of wisdom (the Ilhokmah-system) was Antinomian and rationalistic in the sense of the purely neg- gativo Protestantism of modern times. Further arguments in its refutation we shall have occa- sion to adduce in the exposition of the several passages tnero cited (see particularly xiv. U ; xxviii. 4 sq. ; xxix. 18, 24, etc.) See also the doctrinal observations on iii. 9. 3. That the reckless transgressor de- stroys himself by his ungodly course, that he runs with open eyes iuto tlie net of destruc- tion spread out before him, and, as it were, lies in wait for his own life to strangle it, — this truth clearly presented in vers. 17, 18 is a character- istic and favorite tenet in the teaching of wis- dom in the Old Testament. Comp. particularly chap. viii. 36, where wisdom exclaims " Whoso sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul; all they that hate me love death." So also xv. 32; xxvi. 27; Eccles. x. 8; Ps. vii. I-'); Ecclesiast. xxvii, 29 (the figure of the pit which the wicked digs, to fall into it at last himself). But in the Prophets also essentially the same thought re- curs ; thus when Jehovah (in Ezek. xviii. 31 ; xxxiii. 11) exclaims " Why will ye die, ye of the house of Israel?" Of passages from the New Testament we may cite here Rom. ii. 5 ; 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10; Gal. vi. 8; James v. 3-5, etc. Both propositions are alike true, that true wisdom, beiiig one with the fear of God and righteous- ness, is "a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her" (Prov. iii. 18; xi. 30; xv. 4; comp. iv. 13, 22; xix. 23, etc.), — and that on the other hand a walking in folly and in forgetf'ulness of God is a slow self-murder, a destruction of one's own life and happiness. See the two concluding propo- sitions of our chapter (vers. 32, 33) and the ad- mirable poetic development of this contrast in the Ps. i. 4. The explanation given above (on 4 ver. 20) of the fact that wisdom is exhibited as preaching upon the streets, i. e., in reference to her benevolent and philanthropic ch.aracter, which impels her to follow sinners, and to make the great masses of the needy among the people the object of her instructive and converting ac- tivity, seems to us to correspond better with the spirit of the doctrine of wisdom in the Old Tes- tament, than either that of Umbreit, according to which "it is only in busy life that the rich stream of experience springs forth, from which wisdom is drawn," or that of Ew.\ld, which re- cognizes, in the free public appearance of wis- dom an effective contrast to the light-shunning deeds, and the secret consultations of the sinners who have just been described, (which explana- tion, besides, would apply only to this passage, and not to its parallels in viii. 2, 3, and ix. 3). The tendency of the Old Testament Hhukmah was essentially popular, looking to the increased prosperity of the nation, to the promotion of phi- lanthropic ends in the noblest sense of the word. Love, true philanthropy is everywhere the key- note to its doctrines and admonitions. "For- giving, patient love (x. 12), love that docs good even to enemies (xxv. 11 sq.), which does not rejoice over an enemy's calamity (xxiv. 17 sq.), which does not recompense like with like (xxiv. 28 sq.), but commits all to God (xx. 22), love in its miinifold varieties, as conjugal love, parental love, the love of a friend, is here recommended with the clearness of the New Testament and the most expressive cordiality." (Delitzscu, as above cited, p. 716). Why then should not that yearning and saving love for sinners which ven- tures into the whirl and tumult of great crowds to bear testimony to divine truth, and to reclaim lost souls, — why should not this also constitute a chief characteristic in this spiritual state mo- delled so much like the standard of the New Tes- tament? It appears — in how manj' passages! — as the type of, nay, as one with the spirit of Ilim who also " spake freely and openly before the world, in the synagogue and in the temple whither the Jews always resorted" (John xviii. 20) ; who, when He said something in secret to His disciples, did it only to the end that they should afterward " preach it upon the house- tops " (Matth. X. 27); who allowed himself to be taunted as "a man gluttonous, and a wine-bib- ber, a friend of publicans and sinners," because He had come to seek and to save the lost (Matth. xi. 19; Luke xix. 10). It is at least significant that the Lord, just in that passage in which he is treating of the publicity of His working, and of the impression which His condescending inter- course with publicans, sinners and the mass of the people had made upon the Jews, designates Himself distinctly (together with His herald and forerunner, John the Baptist) as the personal Wisdom: Matth. xi. 19; Luke vii. 35. It is as though He had by this expression intended to call up in fresh remembrance Solomon's repre- sentation of wisdom preaching in the streets, and to refer to His own identity with the spirit of the Old Testament revelation that spoke through this wisdom (the " spirit of Christ," 1 Pet. i. 11). rom,p,. ^l.\v.x. Geiek and Stakke on this passage. These authors appropriately remind us of the universality of the Now Testament's proclamation 50 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. of salvation, and its call penetrating everywhere (Rom. X. 18; Col. i. 6, 28); they are in error, however, in suspecting in the suppf)sed plural niDJn (ver. 18) an intimation of the number- less ways in which wisdom ie proclaimed in the world. The true conception of this seeming plu- ral may be found above in the Esegetical and Cri- tical Notes on this passage. HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. Homily upon the entire first chapter. Solo- mon's discourse upon wisdom as the higliest good. 1) Its design, for young and old, learned and unlearned (vers. 1-6). 2) Its substance: commendation of the fear of God as the beginning and essence of all wisdom (ver. 7). 3) Its aim: a) warning against betrayal into profligacy as being the opposite of the fear of God (vers. 8-19) ; b) warning against the foolish conduct of the world as being the opposite of wisdom (vers. 20- 33). — The wisdom of ihe Old Testament as a type of true Christian feeling and action: a) with re- spect to God as the supre:ne author and chief end of all moral effort (vers. 1-0); b) with re- spect to the world, as the seducing power, that draws away from communion with God (vers. 10-19) ; c) with respect to the way and manner in which Divine wisdom itself reveals itself as an earnest and yet loving preacher of righteous- ness (vers. 20-33). — Fear of God the one thing that is needful in all conditions of life: a) in youth as well as in age (vers. 4 sq.) ; b) in cir- cumstances of temptation (vers. 10 sq.); c) in the tumult and unrest of public life (vers. 20 sq.); d) in prosperity and adversity (vers. 27 sq.). Stocker: — Threefold attributes of the lover of wisdom: 1) in relation to God: the fear of God (1-7); 2) in relatiort to one's neighbors, — and specifically, a) to one's parents; obedience (8, 9) ; b) to others: the avoidance of evil com- pany (10-19); 3) in relation to one's self; dili- gent use of the opportunity to become acquainted vvvith wisdom. Siparate passages. — Vers. 1-6. See above, Doc- itrinal and Ethical principles. 1. — Starke: — The aim of the book, and that which should be learned from it, are pointed out in these verses in various almost equivalent words. The aim is, however, substantially two- fold: 1) that the evil in man be put away; 2) that good be learned and practised. — Woiil- FARTH : — the necessity of the culture of our mind and heart. Not the cultivated, but the undisci- plined, oppose the law! God "will have all men come to the knowledge of the truth," 1 Tim. ii. 4. — [Ver. 4. Cartwright (quoted by Bridges): — "Over the gates of Plato's school it was writ- ten— M^fJe/r uyeuiteTpTiTO^ eIcIto) — Let no one who is not a geometrician enter. But very different is the inscription over these doors of Solomon — Let the ignorant, simple, foolish, young, en- ter!"] Vers. 7-9. The blessedness of the fear of God, and the unblessed condition of forgetfulncss of God, — illustrated in the relation 1) of children to their parents; 2) of subjects to authorities; 3) of Christians to Christ, the Lord of the Church. — The proposition "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" must constitute the foun- 1 dation of all the culture of the children of God, as the experience of the truth that " to love Christ is better than all knowledge" is to con- stitute its capstone and completion. — Vers. 8, 9, in general a peculiarly appropriate text for a sermon on education. — Luther (a marginal com- ment on ver. 7): "He who would truly learn must first be a man fearing God. He, however, who despises God asks for no wisdom, suiters no chastisement nor discipline." — Melanchthon (on ver. 7) : — The fear of God, which is one with true reverence for God, includes : 1) right knowledge of God ; 2) a genuine standing in fear before God; 3) faith, or the believing consecration to God, which distinguishes this fear from all ser- vile dread, and fleeing from Goil ; 4) the worship of God which aids to a true reconciliation with Him, a well ordered and assured control of the whole life. Therefore the fear of God is not merely beginning — it is quite the sum of all wis- dom, the right manager of all our counsels in prosperity and adversity. — Melanchthon (again) on vers. 8, 9: — He only reveals genuine fear of God who hearkens to the divinely instituted mi- nistry (^7ninisterium docndi) in the Church; and to this ministry parents also belong, so far forth as they are to "bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Eph. vi. 4. "Forsake not the law of thy mother," i. e., hearken always to the word of God as it has been communicated to the Church, and through the Church to all the children of God in the writings of the Prophets and Apostles. As a reward God here promises to those who practise this obedi- ence to His word a wreath upon the head and a beautiful necklace about the neck. The wreath betokens dominion, distinction, successful re- sults in all that one undertakes for himself and others, so that he becomes an instrument of blessing and a vessel of mercy for the people of God, according to the type of the devout kings, David, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, etc., and not a ves- sel of wrath after the likeness of a Saul, Absa- lom, etc. The necklace signifies the gift of dis- course, or of the command of wholesome doc- trine, through the power of the word. — Starke (on ver. 7) : — True wisdom is no such thing as the heathen sages taught, built upon reason and the human powers, inflated, earthly, and useless with respect to salvation; but it is "the wisdom that is from above, which is first pure, thea peaceable, gentle and easy to be entrented, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy" (James iii. 17). The fear of God is, however, of two kinds, the servile and the childlike; and only the latter is here meant, 1 .lohn iv. 18.— On Vers. 8, 9. From tlie fear of God as belonging to the first table of the law, Solomon passes on to the second table, and be- gins with obedience to parents : in this connection however it is assumed that parents also fulfil their duty, with regard to the correct instruction of their children; Eph. vi. 4. — Zeltner: — Many simple ones, who, however, fear God from the heart, have made such progress in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, that they have outstripped many of the learned. True wisdom is easy to be learned, if only there be true fear of God in the heart, Ecclesiast. i. 22 sq. — Lange: — [Salom. Licht und Recht). The fear of God is a desire CHAP. I. 1-33. 51 flowing from the knowledge of the essence of all essences — of the will ami the gracious acts of God, — a sincere desire heartily to love Ilim as the highest good, in deepest humility to honor Him, in child-like confidence to hope the best from Ilim, and to serve Him with denial of self, willing'*/ ami steadfastly; and all this in con- formity to His revealed will. Comp. above, Me- LANOiiTiioN, and also S. Bohlius, Elhica Sacra: "To tear God is nothing but to follow God, or to imitate none but God."* [ Ver. 7. Arnot : — " What God is inspires awe ; wiiat God has done for His people commands af- fection. See here the centrifugal and centripe- tal forces of the moral world, holding the crea- ture reverently distant from the Creator, yet compassing the child about with everlasting love, to keep him near a Father in heaven." — Ver. 8. "This verse of the Proverbs flows from the same well spring that had already given forth the fifth commandment."] Vers. 10-19. Calwer Handbuch: The first rule for youth, " Follow father and mother," is im- mediately followed by the second, " Follow not base fellows." — Starke: — .\s a good education of children lays the first foundation for their true well being, so temptation lays the first founclatiou for their destruction. — The world, in order the better to lead others astray, is wont to adorn its vices with the finest colors. There be most of all on thy guard ; where the world is most friendly it is most dangerous. It is a poi- soned sweetmeat. — If thou art God's child, en- grafted in Christ the living vine by holy bap- tism, tliou hast received from Him new powers to hate evil and conquer all temptations. — On vers. 16-19: — The ungodly have in their wickedness their calamity also, — and must (by its law) pre- pare this for one another. — Luther (marginal comment on ver. 17): "This is a proverb, and means " It fares with them as is said, ' In vain is the net,' etc.; i. e., their undertaking will fail, they will themselves perish." [Ver. 10. Arnot: — This verse, in brief com- pass and transparent terms, reveals the foe and the fight. With a kindness and wisdom altoge- ther piiternal, it warns the youth of the Danger that assails him, aud suggests the method of JJefcnce.'l Ver. 20 sq. Geier (on ver. 20, 21) :— "All this decl ires the fervor and diligence of heavenly wisdom in alluring and drawing all to itself: just as a herald with full lungs aud clear voice en- deavors to summon all to him " — L.\nge : — Eter- nal wisdom sends forth a call of goodness and grace to the pious, and a call to holiness and riglitoousness addressed to the ungodly. 0 that all would read and use aright this record written out tluis in capitals! — Calwer Handb.: — Wisdom's Avalk through the streets. The Lord and His Spirit follows us every where with monition and reminder. Here wisdom is portrayed especially as warning against the evil consequences of diso- bedience, and as pointing to the blessings of obe- dience.— Wohlfarth: The words of grief over the unrhankfiilness and blindness of men which Solomon here puts into the mouth of wisdom, — * •'Time.rii Diiiin nihil aliud ist quam sequi Dtum sive nt- mtnem imitari prseter Heum,^' we hear them, alas ! even to-day. Truth has become .... the common property of all men: in thousands upon thousands of churches and schools, from the mouth of innumerable teach- ers, in millions of written works, it speaks, in- structs, warns, pleads, adjures, so that we with wider meaning than Solomon can say, it is preached in highways and byways. If, on the one hand, we must greatly rejoice over this, how should we not in the same measure mourn tliat so many despise and scorn this call of wisdom ! Is it not fearful to observe how parents innumera- ble keep their children from schools — how many despise the preaching of the gospel, etc.? Let us therefore learn how slow man is to good, how inclined to evil, how careless he is just in con- nection with his richest privileges, etc. Vers. 22 sq. Starke: — Wisdom divides men here into three classes : 1) The simple or foolish: 2) mockers ; 3) the abandoned. Through her call, " Turn you at my reproof," etc., she aims to trans- form these into prudent, thoughtful, devout men. — No one can receive the Holy Spirit of Christ and be enlightened with Divine wisdom, and not turn to the sacrifice of Christ (.John xiv. 15 sq. — xvi. 7 sq.), renounce evil, and begin a new life (Ps. xxxiv. 15). — Lange : — If man does not follow the counsel of eternal wisdom, but walks according to the impulse of his own will, he comes at last to the judgment of obduracy. — W. Stein (Fast day sermon on i. 23-33) : — How does eternal, heavenly wisdom aim to awaken us to penitence? 1 ) She uncovers our sins ; 2) she proclaims heavy judgments ; 3) she ofi'ers us shelter and points out the way of eternal salvation. — [Ver. 23. Fi.AVEL : — Tliis great conjunction of the word .nnd Spirit makes that blessed season of salvation the time of love and of life. — J. Howe : — When it is said, "Turn," etc., could any essay to turn be without some influence of the Spirit? But that complied with tends to pouring forth a copious eftusion not to be withstood. — Arnot: — The command is given not to make the promise unnecessary, but to send us to it for help. The promise is given not to supersede the command, but to encourage us in the eff"ort to obey. — When we turn at His reproof. He will pour out His Spirit; when He pours out His Spirit, we will turn at His reproof; blessed circle for saints to reason in. — Ver. 24-28. Arnot : — When mercy was sovereign, mercy used judgment for carrying out mercy's ends ; when mercy's reign is over and judgment's reign begins, then judgment will sovereignly take mercy past, and wield it to give weight to the vengeance stroke. — Ver. 32. South: — Prosperity ever dangerous to virtue: 1) because every foolish or vicious person is either ignorant or regardless of the proper ends and rules for which God designs the prosperity of those to whom He sends it; 2) because pros- perity, as the nature of man now stands, has a peculiar force and fitness to abate men's virtues nnd heigliten their corruptions; 3) because it directly indisposes them to the proper means of amendment and recovery. — Baxter : — Because they are fools they turn God's mercies to their own destruction ; and because they prosper, they are confirmed in their folly.] 62 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 3. ExLibitiou of the blessed consequences of obedience and of striving after wisdom. Chap. II. 1-22. 1 My son, if thou receivest my words and keepest my commandments by thee, 2 so that thou iuclinest thine ear to wisdom, and turnest thine heart to understanding; 3 yea, if thou callest after knowledge, to understanding liftest up thy voice; 4 if tliou seekest her as silver, and searches! for her as for hidden treasure; 5 then shalt thou understand the fear of Jehovah, and find knowledge of God; — 6 for Jehovah giveth wisdom, from his mouth (cometh) knowledge and understanding: 7 and so he layeth up for the righteous sound wisdom, a shield (is he) for them that walk uprightly, 8 to protect the paths of justice, and guard the way of his saints ; — 9 then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice and uprightness, — every good way. 10 If wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant to thy soul, 11 then will discretion watch over thee, understanding will keep thee, 12 to deliver thee from an evil way, from the man that uttereth frowardness, 13 (from those) who forsake straight paths, to walk in ways of darkness; 14 who rejoice to do evil, who delight in deceitful wickedness; 15 whose paths are crooked, and they froward in their ways; — 16 to deliver thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who maketh her words smooth, 17 who hath forsaken the companion of her youth and forgotten the covenant of her God. 18 For her house sinketh down to death and to the dead (lead) her paths; 19 her visitors all return not again, and lay not hold upon paths of life. 20 (This is) that thou mayest walk in a good way and keep the paths of the righteous! 21 For the uprigiit sliall inhabit the land, and the just shall remain in it: 22 but the wicked are cut off from the land, and the faithless are driven out of it. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. fVer. 1 sq. Df, Wette and Notes conceive of tho first two verses as not conditional, but as containing the expressioir of a direct and independent wisli: Ok I'lal Uio% ivml'lc-iC receive, etc. Tli) LX\, Vulg , Luther, c^c, make the first verse conditional, but finE\, with n slightly different combination of the parts of ver. 2: If by inclining thine ear . . . thou will incline llune heart, etc. M., H., Stuart and others find the apodosis of the series of conditional clauses in ver. 5, CHAP. II. 1-22. 5S agreeing in this with the E. V. These diverse views do not essentially modify the general import of the passage. ZoCKLER it will be observed tiuds the apodosis in vers. 5 and U, vers. 6-S being pareutUelical. — A.J. Ver. 7. For the construction u'ith the stat. constr. compare Isa. xxxiii. 15. [Compare Green, g J ^^^ 9j h and 274, 2.] Ver. 8. The infinitive "I^J? is followed by the imperl'. "ibt!'' as above in ver. 2. [For explanations of the nature and use of this infinitive construction see Ewald, g 237, c. The literal rendering would be "for the guarding, protection, keeping." Whose keeping llie paths, tic? lioLuiiN uudeistaiid:* it of the righteous; " « ho walk uprightly by keeping the paths, etc." Most comuieutators uudi-rstaiid it ot viod, wlio is "a shield for tue protection, i.e., to protect, etc." Zockler in translation conlorms the lollowing Kat pret. to this intiu., while most others reverse the process — A.] Ver. 10. [The '3 with which the verse commences is differently understood, as conditional or temjioral, or as causal. Thus E. v., N., M., "zvhen wisdom, etc. ;" S., K., Van Ess, "for wisdom, etc. ;" De W., Z., " if wisdom, etc." Between the first and last there is no essential ditt'erence, aud this view of iho author is probably entitled to the prelerence. — A.j. The feminine flj'l, "knowledge" (which is used here, as in i. 7, as synonymous with nODH "wisdom") has T : T connected with it the masculine verbal form Q^'J', because this expression "it is lovely" Is treated as impersonal, or neuter, and Jl^T is connected with it as an accusative of object [ace. synecd., " there is pleasure to thy soul in respect to knowledge"]. Comp. the similar connection of fl^T with the masculine verbal form 7pJ in chap. xiv. 6; — also Gen. xlix. 15, 2 Sam. xi. 25. Ver. 11. [For the verbal form n3Ti*jr', with J unassimilated, " for the sake of emphasis or euphony," see BoiT., 1 1100, 3.— A.]. Ver. 12. yT is a substantive subordinate to the stat. constr. TI'IT as in viii. 13, or as in V'\ rilDDnn ver. 1-t, in J,n~'ti'JX, chap, x.xviii. 5, etc. Ver. 18. niTS^nniy. n'S which is everywhere else mascuUne is here exceptionally treated as feminine; for nnU' T ■• T T ■ - T T is certainly to be regarded as 3d sing. fern, from n-lty, and not with Umbreit and Elstee as a 3d sing, masc, for only H-Iiy and not nnty (to stoop, to bow) has the signification here required, viz., that of sinking (Lat. sidere). The LXX read T T nr^i!' from rmC) *nd therefore translate: I9cto yap napi. toJ flavaro) rbi' oIkov auT^9 [she set her house near to death] T - - T in which construction however nfli!? sidere, is incorrectly taken as transitive. [Both Bottcher and Fuerst recognize " T the possibility of deriving this form as a 3d slug, fera., either from H-liy or from nPt!^, which have a similar intrans. ~ T meaning. To T\T\'^ neither Rodiqer (Qese.v. Thes.) nor Robinson's Gesenius, nor Fuerst gives any other than a transi- * T tlve meaning. — A.]. Perhaps Bottcher (De Infcris, ?g 201, 292; Neue Aehrenh, p. 1) has hit upon the true explanation, when he in like manner makes the wanton woman the subject, but treats njT3 not as object but as supplementary to T ** the verb, and therefore translates "for she sinks to death with her house, and to the^dead with her paths. [Ron. (Thesaur. p. 1377, a) expresses his agreement with B., but states his view differently : " de ijisa muliere cuyUavit tcrtplor iiiitiii he- niistichii prioris, turn vero m fine ad complendam sententiam loco muliens subjecluin fedl ("liTB-" Fuerst also pronounces r '■ it unnecessary to think of anj' other subject than HJl'S- — A.]. Compare however Hitzig's comment on this passage, who T ■■ remarks in defence of the common reading that ^'3 is here exceptionally treated as feminine, because not so much the house itself is intended as " the conduct and transactions in it " (comp. vii. 27 ; Isa. v. 14). Ver. 22. With 1i"\1p', the expression which is employed also iu Ps. xxxvii. 9, to convey the idea of destruction, there corresponds in the 2d clause !inO'> which as derived from HDJ (Deut. xxviii 63; Ps. lii. 5; Prov. xv. 25) would require to be taken as Imperf. Kal and accordingly to be translated actively: " they drive them out," i e., they are driven out (so e. g., Umbreit, Elster, and so essentially BERTHE.iU alsoj. But iiiasuiuch as the parallelism requires a passive verb as predicate for □''HJI^ (i. e., the faithless, those who have proved recreant to the theocratic covenant with Jehovah, comp. xi. 3, 6; xiii. 2 ; xxii. 12) which is employed unmistakably as synonymous with D'l'iy^, — and inasmuch as no verb ' ■ T ; nnO exists as a basis for the assumed Niphal form !|nD', ^e must probably read with IIitzig ^TID'. as an Imperf. Hophal from PIDJ and compare np' as an Imperf. Hophal of plp^ (used with the Pual o( the same verb). EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-9. This first smaller division of the chapter, forms a connected proposition, whose hypothetical protasis includes vers. 1-4, while within the double apodosis (vers. 5 and 9) the confirmatory parenthesis, vers. (J-8 is introduced. The assertion of Ewald and Bi;rtheau [with whom KA.MPHAUSEN and Stuart agree] that the entire chap, forms only one grand proposition, rests on the false assumption that the "if" ^2 in ver. 10 is to be regarded as a causal particle, and should be translated by "for,"' — to which idea the relation of ver. 10 both to ver. 9 aud to ver. 11 is opposed. Comp. Umbreit and IIitzig on this passage. [On the other hand, the LXX, Vulg., Luther, etc., complete the first proposi- tion, protasis and apodosis, within the first two verses; the Vulgate e. y. renders "si susceperis • . . inclina cor tuu/n, etc.," aud Luther " wilUt du meine Rede annehmen . . . So lass dein Ohr u. s. w." The E. V. ends the proposition with ver. 5 as the apodosis. — A.]. — If thou receivest my words. To the idea of " receiving"' that of " keeping" stands related as the mare emphatic, just as " commandments " (niiTD) is a stronger expression than "words" (D'")DX). In the three following verses also we find this same in- creased emphasis or intensifying of the expres- sion in the second clause as compared with the first, — especially in ver. 4, the substance of which as a whole presents itself before us as a superla- tive, or final culmination of the gradation which exists in the whole series of antecedent clauses, in so far as this verse sets forth the most diligent and intent seeking after wisdom. — Ver. 3, "yea, if thou callest after knowledge, i. e., if thou not only incliuest thine ear to her when she calls thee, but also on thiue owu part callest after her, summonest her to teach thee, goest to 64 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. meet her with eager questioning. This rela- tion of climax to the preceding is indicated by the DX '3, imo, yea, rather; comp. Hos. ix. 12; Is. xxviii. 28; Jobxxxix. 14 [comp. Ewald, §343, b]. The Targum translates the passage " If thou callest understanding thy mother," and must therefore have read DX '3. But the Masoretic pointing is to be preferred for lexical reasons (instead of DX, according to the analogy of Job xvi. 14 we should have expected 'J3X, "my mo- ther"), and because of the parallelism between vers. 1 and 3. Still " knowledge " {nr3), as well as " understanding," which is named as its counterpart in the parallel clause, appears evidently as personified. — Ver. 4. Ifthouseek- est her, etc. — "The figure of diligent seeking is taken from the tireless exertion employed in mining, which has before been described in the Book of Job, chap, xxviii., with most artistic vi- vacity in its widest extent. The D'JDCpO are surely the treasures of metal concealed in the earth (comp. Jerem.xli. 8; Jos. vii. 21)," Umbreit. [For illustrations of the peculiar significance of this comparison to the mind of Orientals, see Tho.mson's Land and Book, \., 197. — A.]. Ver. 5. Then wilt thou understand the fear of Jehovah. — "Understand" is here equivalent to taking something to one's self as a spiritual possession, like the "finding" in the second clause, or like c5tjfcri?a< ["receiveth"] in 1 Cor. ii. 14. The "fear of Jehovah" (comp. i. 7) is here clearly presented as the highest good and most valuable possession of man (comp. Is. xxxiii. 6), evidently because of its imperishable nature (Ps. xix. 9), and its power to deliver in trouble (Prov. xiv. 26; Ps. cxv. 11; Ecclesiast. i. 11 sq.; ii. 7 sq.). — And find knowledge of God. — Knowledge of God is here put not merely as a parallel idea to the " fear of Jehovah " (as in chap. ix. 10; Is. xi. 2), but it expresses a fruit and result of the fear of Jehovah, as the sub- stance of the following causal proposition in vers. 6-8 indicates. Comp. the dogmatical and ethical comments. [Is the substitution of Elohim for Jehovah (in clause 6) a mere rhetorical or poetical variation? Wordsworth calls attention to the fact that this is one of five instances in the Book of Proverbs in which God is designated as Elohim, the appellation Jehovah occurring nearly ninety times. The almost singular exception seems then to be intentional, and the meaning will be, the knowledge of ^'■Elohim — as distin- guished from the knowledge of man which is of little worth." In explaiuiag the all but univer- sal use of Jehovah as the name of God in our book, while in Eccles. it never occurs, Worus- WORTH says, " when Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs he was in a state of favor and grace with Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel; he was obedient to the law of Jehovah; and tlie special design of the Book of Proverbs is to enforce obe- dience to that law," etc. (see Introd. to Eccles., p. 78)-A.]. Vers. 6-8. The Divine origin of wisdom must make it the main object of human search and effort, and all the more since its possession en- sures to the pious at the same time protectioa and safety. — And so he layeth up for the righteous sound wisdom. — So we must trans- late in accordance with the K'thibh |£)i>*1 which is confirmed by the LXX and Pesch. as the old- est reading. The K'ri {Si", without the copu- lative, would connect the proposition of ver. 7 with ver. 6 as essentially synonymous with it, to which construction tlie meaning is however opposed. [The majority of commentators prefer the K'ri, making this verse a continuation and not a consequence of the preceding. Kamphau- SEN agrees with our author in what seems to us the more forcible construction, which has the ad- vantage also of resting on the written text ; comp. BoTTCHER, § 929, b. — A.]. |3i* to protect, to preserve, after the manner of a treasure or jewel, over which one watches that it may not be stolen; comp. above, ver 1, and also vii. 1 • x. 14. — In regard to rT'ti'TI [rendered "sound wis- dom" by the E. V. here and in iii. 21 ; viii. 14; xviii. 1] properly prosperity and wisdom united, see Introd., § 2, note 3. The word is probably related to U?', and denotes first the essential or actual (so e. g.. Job v. 12), and then furthermore help, deliverance (Job vi. 13). or wisdom, reflec- tion, as the foundation of all safety ; so here and iii. 21 ; viii. 14 ; xviii. 1 ; Job xi. 6 sq.; Is. xxviii. 29. Comp. Umbreit and Hirzel on Job v. 12. HiTziG (on iii. 21) derives the word from the root T\')V, which he says is transposed into rii^l (? ?), and therefore defends as the primary signification of the expression " an even, smooth path," or subjectively " evenness," i. e., of thought, and so " considerateness ;" he compares with this "nty'ip which signifies "plain " as well as "righteousness." — A shield for them that walk blamelessly. — The substantive JJO (shield) is most correctly regarded as an appo- sitive to the subject, "Jehovah:" for also in Ps. xxxiii. 20; Ixxxiv. 11; Ixxxix. 18, Jehovah is in like manner called a shield to His saints. In opposition to the accusative interpretation of |J0 [which is adopted by Stuart among others], as object of the verb f3V (he secureth, or en- surcth) we adduce, on the one hand, the mean- ing of this verb, and on tlie other the fact that we should expect rather N'il |J0 (as an apposi- tive to iT'tyin). The old translations, as the LXX and Vulgate, furthermore read the word as a participle (!-25? ^^ l.'^I?) ' ^^^y translate it by a verb (LXX : vTvepaairiel t?/v izopeiav avriiv). — on 'Jin, literally the "walkers of innocence," are the same as "those that walk uprightly," Prov. X. 9 (the Dn3 DoSlH) or Ps. Ixxxiv. 11 (the D'pn3 O'dSiH).— To protect the paths of justice, etc. — The 8th verse gives more spe- cifically the way in which God manifests Himself to the pious as a shield, and the ensurer of their safety. "Paths of justice" are here, by the substitution of the abstract for the concrete ex- pression, paths of the just, and therefore essen- tially synonymous with the "way of the pious" in the second clause. Comp. chap. xvii. 23. — Ver. CHAP. II. 1-22. 55 9 carries out the import of the parallel ver 5 as the particle IX repeated from the preceding verse shows. — Every good path. — This ex- pression (31D~7JJ70~S3) includes the three con- ceptions given above, justice, righteousness and integrity, and thus sums up the whole enumera- tion. Therefore, it is attached without a copula ; comp. Vs. viii. ver. 9 b. 2. Vers. 10-19 form a period which in struc- ture is quite like vers. 1-9; only that the hy- poihetic.-il protasis is here considerably shorter than in the preceding period, where the con- ditions of attaining wisdom are more fully given, and with an emphatic climax of the thought. This is connected with the fact that in the former period the Divine origin of wisdom, here, on the contrary, its practical utility for the moral life and conduct of man forms the chief object of delineation. There wisdom is presented predominantly as the foundation and condition of religious and moral rectitude in ge- neral,— here specially as a power for the conse- cration of feeling and conduct, or as a means of preservation against destructive lusts and pas- sions.— If wisdom entereth into thine heart. — This ''coming into the heart" must be the beginning of all attaining to wisdom; then, however, she who has, as it were, been received as a guest into the heart must become really lovely and dear to the soul. There is, therefore, a climax of the thought, as above in vers. 1-4. The heart is here, as always, named as the centre and organic basis of the entire life of the soul, as the seat of desire, and the starting point for all personal self-determination. The soul, on the contrary, appears as the aggregate and sum total of all the impulses and efforts of the inner man. The former designates the living centre, the latter the totality of the personal life of man. Comp. Beck, Bibl. Seele/ilehre, p. 65 ; Delitzsch. Bibl. P,ii/chol., pp. 248 sq.; von Rudloff, Lehre vom 3Iensc/ien, pp. 59 sq. What the last mentioned author, pp. (ii sq., remarks in criticism upon Dk- liiTZSCH's too intellectual conception of the idea of the heart as the "birthplace of the thoughts," — that every where in the Scriptures it appears to belong more to the life of desire and feeling, than to the intellectual activity of the soul, — this view finds foundation and support especially in the passage now before us, as well as in most of the passages which mention heart and soul to- gether (e. ^., Prov. xxiv. 12; Ps. xiii. 2; Jerem iv. 19; Deut. vi. 5; Matth. xxii. 37; Acts iv. 32). Comp. also Hitzig on this passage. — And knowledge is pleasant to thy soul — [For a peculiarity of grammatical structure in the original, see critical notes.] — Ver. 11. Then will reflection watch over thee. — '^^ IOC as in vi. 22. "lOty (construed, however, with a mere accusative of the object) and "^i'J have al- ready been found connected in ver. 8 above, and occur again in chap. iv. 6. iTDJO here reflection, T . : considerateness (LXX: ^ovAf/ Kali]), properly " wisdom, so far forth as its direction is out- ward, and it presents itself in relation to the un- certain, testing it, and to danger, averting it" (HiTZlGj. Ver. 12. To deliver thee from an evil way — properly "from the way of evil." — • Prom the man that uttereth perverse ness. — nOs3nr> perverseness, a strong abstract form [found almost exclusively in Proverbs — FdkrstJ which expresses the exact opposite of D'TCO ("uprightness," ch. i. 3; ii. 9), — it is therefore deceitfulness, subtlety, maliciou.'^ness. Comp the expressions, " mouth of perverser.ess," chap. viii. 13 ; x. 32 ; " tongue of perverseness," X. 31; "man of perverseness," xvi. 28, also passages like vi. 14; xvi. 30, xxiii. 33. — Vers. 13-15 Closer description of the wny ward or per- versely speaking man, in which, because of the generic comprehensiveness of the coriceptiou t!''X, the plural takes the place of the singular. — Who forsake straight paths — The participle D'3Tj,'n expresses, strictly interpreted, a preter- ite idea, 'those who have forsaken;" for ac- cording to ver. 15 the evil doers who are de- scribed are already to be found in crooked ways. — In dark v^rays. — Comp. Rom. xiii. 12; Eph. v. 11 ; 1 Thess. v. 5; also Job xxiv. 15; Is. xxix. 15. — Deceitful wickedness — literally "per- verseness of evil" (comp. remarks on ver. 12) a mode of combining two nouns which serves to strengthen the main idea. — Whose paths are crooked — literally, "who in respect to their ways are crooked;" for the prefixed Dp'rHlIX is to be construed as an accusative of relation belonging to the following WOD'^ ; comp. xix. 1 ; xxviii. 6. In the second clause in the place of this adverbial accusative, there is substituted the more circumstantial but clearer construction with 3 "perverse in their ways." Vers. 16-19. The representation passes info a warning against being betrayed by vile women, just as in v. 3; vi. 24; vii. 5 sq. — From the strange woman, from the w^an- ton woman. — As "strange woman" (HuX rr^f) or a "wanton woman" (iT'iIDJ. properly "unknown," and so equivalent to "strange or foreign woman") the betrayer into unchastity is here designated, so far forth as she is the wife of another (comp. vi. 26), who, however, has for- saken her husband (ver. 17), and therein has tr.tnsgressed also God's commanduient, has broken the covenant with her God (ver. 17,1. c). — The person in question is accordingly at all events conceived of as an Israelitess; and this is opposed to the opinion of those who, under the designation "the strange, or the foreign woman" (especially in connection with the last expression which appears as the designation of the adulter- ess in ciiap. v. 20; vi. 24; vii. 5; xxiii. 27), think first of those not belonging to the house of Israel, because the public prostitutes in Israel were formerly, for the most part, of foreign birth (so especially J. F. Frisch: Commentaho Je mu- lifre perei/r/7ia apud Ebrxos minus honeste habita, Leips., 1744, and among recent commentators, e. g., Umbreit). This view is in coiiliict with the context of the passage before us quite as de- cidedly as is the idea of the LXX, which inter- prets the foreign and wanton woman as the per- sonification of temptation in contrast with wis- 5G THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMOX. dom (i. 1:0 sq.), but to carry out this view is obliged to introduce all manner of arbitrary re- lations,— e. g., referring that of the "companion of youth " in ver. 17 to the instruction in Divine truth [diSaaKOAta vsottjto^), which was a guide in youth. It is decisive against this allegorical conception of the strange woman, which has been a favorite with some Christian expositors also, such as Melanchthon, Joach. Lange, Chr. B. MiCHAELis, that the wicked and perverse men in vers. 12-15 cannot possibly be interpreted figu- ratively, but certainly only as individual con- crete representatives of moral evil. [This word n'"1D3 is " especially applied to those 'strange women' whom Solomon himself loved in his old age. and who turned away his heart from the Lord his God, and beguiled him to favor and encourage the worship of their false gods (see 1 Kings xi. 1-8; conip. Neh. xiii. 26, 27). Here is a solemn lesson. Solomon warns his son against that very sin of which he himself was afterwards guilty. Thus by God"s goodness Solomon's words in this Divinely inspired book were an antidote to the poison of his own vicious example" Wordsworth]. — Who maketh her ■words smooth — i. c, who know.s how to speak flattering and tempting words ; comp. vii. 21 ; Ps V. 9; Rom. iii. lo. — V^er. 17. The companion of her youth. — The same expression occurs also in Jerem. iii. 4 ; comp. Ps. Iv. 13, where •^•wX in like manner means companion, con- fidant. The forsaking of this "companion of youth," I. e., the first lawful husband, is, at the same time, a "forgetting of the covenant of her God," i. e., a forgetting, a wilful disregard of that which she has solemnly vowed to God. Marriage appears here not merely as a covenant entered into in the presence of God, but in a cer- tain sense one formed with God. Quite similar is the representation in Mai. ii. 14, where the adulterous Israelite is censured for the faithless abandonment of his C^-lj^'J Htl^N (wife of youth) because God was witness with her at the forma- tion of the marriage covenant. That the mar- riages of the Israelites "were not consummated without sacred rites connected with the public religion, although the Pentateuch makes no men- tion of them," is accordingly a very natural as- sumption,— one whicli, e. g., Ewald, Bertheau, HiTziG. Reinke, v. Gerlvch, etc., have made on the ground of the two passages here under con- sideration, especially the passage in Malachi. Yet cotnpare besides A. Kohler on the latter passage [N'ar.hi-xiL. Prnphh., IV. 102 sq.), who finds there a witness of Jehovah, not at the con- summation, but at the violation of marriage. — Vers. 18, r.i. For her house sinks down to death, etc. — .V reason for the strong expre.-sioii in ver. Iti. "to deliver thee from tlie strange woman.'— And to the dead her paths.— Tiie ^''^?1 ('• '"■' P'"i'P^''Iy 'he weak, languid, power- less [Gesen., Thes. : qwcti, silenles, — FiiERST,"the dark, the shadowy"]; comp. the ehhoAa Kn/^iov- Tuv of Homer, and the umhrie of Virgil) are the ■dwellers in the kingdom of the dead (comp. ix.: xxi. 16: Ps. Ixxxviii. 10; Is. xiv. 9: xxvi. 14, 18, 19), and stand here, like the Latin inferi, for the •worM of tlie dead, or Sheol itself. — Her visi- tors all return not again, — because from Sheol there is no return to the land of the living; see Job vii. 9, 10, — and comp. Prov. v. 5, 6. — Paths of life, as in Ps. xvi. 1 1 ; Prov. v. 6. 3. Vers. 20-22. While the ]yoh [in order that] is strictly dependent on ver. 11, and co-oi-diuate with the 7 of the two final clauses in vers. 12 sq. and 16 sq., still we are to recognize in tlie an- nouncement of a purpose which it introduces, a conclusion of the entire admonitory discourse whicii this chapter contains, — an epilogue, as it were ("all this I say to thee in order that," etc.), which again may be resolved into a positive and a negative proposition (vers. 20, 21 and ver. 22). Umbreit's translation of U'^/by "therefore" is ungrammatical, nor can it be justified by refer- ence to passages like Ps. xxx. 12; li. 4; Ilos. viii. 4.— The upright shall inhabit the land. — In the description of the highest earthly pros- perity as a "dwelling in the land " {i. e., in the native land, not upon the earth in general, which would give a meaning altogether vague and in- definite), we find expressed the love of an l^^rae- lite for his fatherland, in its peculiar strength and its sacred religious intensity. " The Israe- lite was, beyond the power of natural feeling, which makes home dear to every one, more closely bound to the ancestral soil by the whole form of the theocracy ; torn from it he was in the inmost roots of life itself strained and broken. E.'^pe- cially from some Psalms belonging to the period of the exile this patriotic feeling is breathed out in the fullest glow and intensity. The same form of expression has also passed over into the New Testament, comp. Malt h. v. 5, and also, with regard to the idea as a whole, Ps. xxxvii. 9, 11, 29; Prov. X. 30" (Elster). — But the wicked shall be rooted out from the laud. — See critical notes above. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. He only who seeks after wisdom, i. c, who turns his practical efforts wholly toward it, and walks in its ways, finds true wisdom. For wis- dom in the objective sense, is a gift of God, an effluence from Him, the only wise (Rom. xvi. 27). It can therefore come into possession of him alone who seeks appropriately to make his own tlie true subjective wisdom, which is aspiration after God and divine things; who in thought and experience seeks to enter into communion with God ; who devotes himself entirely to God, subjects himself fully to His discipline and guid- ance, in order that God in turn may be able to give Himself wholly to him, and to open to iiim the blessed fulness of His nature. — This main thought of our chapter, which comes out with especial clearness in vers. 5, G. is essentially only another side, and somewhat profotmder concep- tion, of the motto which, in i. 7, is prefixed to the entire collection, viz., tliat the fear of Jeiio- vah is the beginning of wisdom. — or again, of the significant utterance in chap, xxviii. 5: '•They that seek God understand all things." Within the limits of the New Testament we may compare above all else, what the Lord, in John vii. 17, presents as the condition of a full comprehen- CHAP. II. 1-22. 57 sion of Himself and of the divine truth revealed in Him: "If any man will do His will he shall know whether this doctrine be of God;" like- wise : " Ask and it shall be given you ; seek and ye shall find," etc. (Matt. vii. 7); and also: " Awake tliou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Eph. V. 14). Comp. further the passage from the Book of AVisdom (chap. vi. 12, 13), which Me- LAXCiiTiioN, with perfect propriety, cites in this connection : " Wisdom is willingly found of them that seek her, yea, she cometh to meet and maketh herself known to those that desire her;" arid also Daviil's language : "In thy light do we see light" (I's. xxxvi. 9), the well-known favorite motto of Augustine, which in like manner, as it was employed by the jirofound metaphysician IMalebranche, ought to be used by all Christian philosophers as their daily watchword and sym- bol. In the second section of this admonition (vers. 10-19) this true wisdom, to be conferred by God, to be found only with God, is more coiniiletcly exhibited, on the side of its salutary influence upon the moral life of humanity, especially as a preserver against sin and vice and their ruinous consequences. After this in conclusion the epilogue (vers. 20-22) contrasts the blessed re- sults of wise and righteous conduct and the pun- ishment of ungodliness in strongly antithetic terms, which remind us of the close of the first I'salm and of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vii. 24-27 ; comp. Ps. i. G). Comp. the exegeti- cal comments on these two sections. HOMILETIC. Homily on the entire chapter: The main stages in the order of grace, contemplated from the point of view of the wisdom of the Old Testa- ment: 1) The call (vers. 1-4) ; 2) Enlightenment (vers. 5, 0) ;■ 3) Conversion (vers. 7-10) ; 4) Pre- servation or sanctification (vers. 11-20); 5) Per- fection (vers. 21, 22). — Stauke: — The order of proceeding for the attainment of true wisdom and its appropriate use: 1) the order for the attainment of wisdom consists in this, — that we a) ask for it, (1-3), b) search for it with care and diligence (4). 2) The wisdom thus attained is the only ti'uc wisdom, .as appears a) from its own characteristics (5), b) from the person of its giver (tj), c) from the conduct of the men who possess it (7, 8). 3) This only true wisdom is profitable, a) for the attainment of righteousness in faith and life (9-11, b) for deliverance from evil (12-19), c) for the steadfast maintenance of an upright life (20-22). — Simpler and better Stocicer : — Sludioxi sapientix I ) ojficium (1-8) ; 2) priciiiiuni (9-22). [The student of wisdom 1) in his duty, 2) in his reward]. — Calwrr llnndh.: The way to wisdom consists 1) in listening to its call (1, 2) ; 2) in searching for it prayerfully (3-6) ; 3) in deference to that portion of wisdom which one has already attained, by earnestness in a holy walk (7-9); 4) in the experience of the power of wisdom, which lies in this, that it pre- serves from ways of evil, especially of impurity (10-22). Vers. 1-9. MELANCHTHON:-"He admonishes how we may make progress (in wisdom): for he com- bines two causes: 1) God's aid; 2) our own zeal." (No. 2 ought here necessarily to have been put first — an improvement which was made by StocIvER in his reproduction of this analysis of Melanciithox). — Stocker: — The rounds upon which one must, with divine help, climb up to the attainment of wisdom are seven: 1) eager hearing; 2) firm retention ; 3) attentive medita- tion; 4) unquestioned progress; 5) due humilia- tion; 6) devoted invoking of God's help; 7) tireless self-examination. — [Chalmers (on vers. 1-9): — The righteousness of our conduct con- tributes to the enlightenment of our creed. The wholesome reaction of the moral on the intellec- tual is clearly intimated here, inasmuch as it is to the righteous that God imparteth wisdom]. — Starke (on vers. 1-4): — As the children of the world turn their eyes upon silver and treasures, run and race after them, make themselves much disquiet to attain them, though after all they are but shadows and vanity ; so ought the children of God to use much more diligence to attain heavenly wisdom, which endures forever, and makes the man who possesses it really prosper- ous.— [Vers. 1-6. Bridges: — Earthly wisdom is gained by study ; heavenly wisdom by prayer. Study may form a Biblical scholar; prayer puts the heart under a heavenly pupilage, and there- fore forms the wise and spiritual Christian. But prayer must not stand in the stead of diligence. Let it rather give life and energy to it. — Arnot (vers. 2): — The ear inclined to divine wisdom will draw the heart: the heart drawn will in-line the oar. Behold one of the circles in which God, for His own glory, makes His unnumbered worlds go round. — (Ver. 4). Fervent prayer must be tested by persevering pains. — Trapp (ver. 2) : — Surely as waters meet and rest in low valleys, so do God's graces in lowly hearts. — (Ver. 3). A dull suitor begs a denial]. — Starke (On vers. 5-9) : — Righteousness of faith and righteousness of life are closely connected. As soon as the first exists (vers. 5-8) the other must also show itself in an earnest and pure walk before God and man, Luke i. 74, 75; Phil. i. 11. — Lange (on ver. 6) : — One may indeed by natural know- ledge very readily learn that God is a very be- nevolent being; but how He becomes to a sinner the God of love, this can be learned only from the mouth of God in the Holy Scriptures. — ■ [Trai'P (ver. 9) : — "Thou shalt understand right- eousness," not as coffuoscitiva, standing in specu- lation, but as directivn vitx, a rule of life.] Vers. 10-22.— [Ver. II. Bridges :— Before wisdom was the object of our search. Now, having found it, it is our pleasure. Until it is so it can have no practical influence. — Arnot: — It is pleasure that can compete with pleasure; it is "joy and peace in believing" that can over- come the pleasure of sin.] — Stocker (on vers. 10-12) : — Wisdom helps such as love her in all good, and preserves them against all evil; she directs them to the good and turns them from the evil way. — (On vers. 12-19): — Wisdom de- livers from the three snares of the devil, viz., l)from a godless life; 2) from false doctrine; 3) from impurity and licentiousness. — Starke (on vers. 12 sq.): — Daily experience teaches us that we are by nature in a condition from which we need deliverance. But how few are there of 58 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. those who are willing to be delivered, Matt. I vers. 21, 22): — People who mean rightly neither xxiii. 37! — (On vers. :iO-22); — Not merely some with God nor men are with their posterity steps in the right way, but continuing to the end ] rooted out of the world, lie who observes will brings blessedness, Matt. xxiv. 18! — Granted | even now see plain proofs of this. Vs. Ixxiii. 19; that for a time it goes ill with the godly in this I xxxiv. l(j. — Von Gerlacii (on ver. 21:) — The world. God's word must nevertheless be made j meaning of the promise, so common in the law, good, if not here, surely in eternity, Ps. cxxvi. j of "the pious dwelling in the land" depends f). — [Bridges: — The spell of lust palsies I he grasp especially on the fact that Canaan was type and by which its victim might have tokcri hold of the \ pledge of the eternal inheritance of the saints in vaths of life for his deliverance. J — Hasius (on j light. 4. Continuation of the exhibition of the salutary results of a devout and pious life. CuAP. III. 1-18. 1 My son, forget not my doctrine, and let thy heart keep ray commandments ; 2 for length of days and years of life and welfare will they bring to thee. 3 Let not love and truth forsake thee ; bind them about thy neck, write them upon the tablet of thy heart; 4 so wilt thou find favor and good reputation in the eyes of God and of men. 5 Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, and rely not on thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will make smooth thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear Jehovah and depart from evil. 8 Healing will then come to thy body and refreshing to thy bones, 9 Honor Jehovah with thy wealth, and with the best of all thine income ; 10 so will thy barns be filled with plenty and with new wine will thy vats overflow. 11 Jehovah's correction, my son, despise not, neither loathe thou his chastening ; 12 for whom Jehovah loveth, him he chasteneth and holdeth him dear, as a father his son. 13 Blessed is the man that hath found wisdom, and he that attaineth understanding; 14 for better is its accumulation than the accumulation of silver, and her gain (is better) than the finest gold. 15 More precious is she than pearls, and all thy jewels do not equal her. 16 Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths (are paths) of j)pace. 18 A tree of life is she to those that lay hold upon her, and he who holdeth her fast is blessed. CHAP. III. 1-35. 69 6 Description of the powerful protection which God, the wise Creator of the world, ensures to the pious. Chap. III. 19-26. 19 Jehovah hath with wisdom founded the earth, the heavens (hath he) established by understanding; 20 by his knowledge were the floods divided, and the clouds dropped down dew. 21 My son, never suffer to depart from thine eyes, maintain (rather) thoughtfulness and circumspection ; 22 so will they be life to thy soul and grace to thy neck. 23 Then wilt thou go thy way in safety and thy foot will not stumble. 24 When thou liest down thou wilt not be afraid, and when thou liest down thy sleep is sweet. 25 Thou needst not fear from sudden alarm, nor from the destruction of the wicked when it cometh. 26 For Jehovah will be thy confidence and keep thy foot from the snare. 6. Admonition to benevolence and justice. Chap. III. 27-35. 27 Refuse not good to him to whom it is due, when thine hands have power to do it. 28 Say not to thy neighbor : " Go and come again ;" or " to-morrow I will give it " — while yet thou hast it. 29 Devise not evil against thy neighbor while he dwelleth securely by thee. 30 Contend with no man without cause, when he did thee no evil. 31 Imitate not the man of violence and choose none of his ways. 32 For an abhorrence to Jehovah is the deceiver, but with the upright he maintaineth true friendship. 33 Jehovah's curse dwelleth in the house of the wicked but the home of the just he blesseth. 34 If he scorneth the scorners, to the lowly he giveth grace. 35 Honor shall the wise inherit, but shame sweepeth fools away. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 6.— [The idea of the verb "Itj/" is not that of guidance [E. V.: "shall direct thy paths "], but that of making Btraight (Stuart), or, perhaps, better still, making smooth (Fcerst, De W., Kamph.). — A.] Vers. 7, 8.— [TIP " /X. the •' dehortative " use of the Jussive, Bott., ? 964, 8 ; while in ver. 8 we have an example of the "desponsive" use— i< shall fee.— ^"^tyS. For the doubling of the 1 by Dagesh see Bott., §392 c. He explains it as "mi- metic for greater vigor." Some texts carry this even into the succeeding '^, § 885, A. Fuerst (Lex., sub verba) pronounces it unnecessary to change the vocalization as proposed by some commentators and preferred by Zockler, and agrees with Umbkeit in his view oi the meaning. — A.J Ver. 12.— In the ordinary rendering, "even as a father the son in whom he deliehfeth." or "whom he holds dear" [which is the rendering, e.y., of the E. V., De Weite, Stuart, Notes, Mue.nsch.], Hi'T is construed as in a relative clause. But then we should expect rather the perfect nV^ ; and there should have been in the first clause a comparative proposi- tion of like constniction with the one before us. Thi> LXX, from which H' b. xii. 5 is literally quoted [a rendering which Holden adopts and defends], appears to I ave read 3ND' instead of 3X3^1, fur it translates the second clause by liacriyol Je TrdvTa uib;' or 7rapa6ex€Tat [scourgeth every con whom he receiveth]. This old variation, however, appears to owe its origin to the endeavor to secure a better parallelism. [Kamph. adopts a slightly different rendering, which makee the lat- 60 THS PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. ter fart of the claii'se relative, but makes the rel itive the sulijei-t and not the object of the verb, thus obviating the objec- tion iu regard to tense ; and (dealeth) as a jatha- (whoj wisltelh well to his son. Tiie J1X ttr J^X at the beginning of the verse i8 explained by Boti., §362, 3, as the result of assimilation to the subsequent nX- — A.J Yer. IS.— Iu the Hebrew "1127X0 iTDOm the plural DOOri is employed distributively, or, as it were, of undefined T ■•. ; T .■ . : individuals, for which reason its predicate stands in the singular; comp. Gen. xlvii. 3; Num. xxiv. 9; Gjcsen., Lehrgeb., p. 7lu; KWALD, flOJ, a j BiJTT., i'iO'Z, SJ Yer. 2G. — The 3 ia 717033 is the so-called 3 csscniix, which serves for the emphatic and strengthened introduction of the predi ato, as, e.g., in '"1'J73- Ex. xviii. 1 (Gesen., Lfhrgeb., 839; Ewald, Lehrb., 217 f.). Yer. 2". — "When tliy hands have powrr to do it;" literally -'when thy hands are for Qod." With this phrase com- pare T Sx^ l^\ Gun. xxxi. 29, Micah ii. 1; or T SX7 TX, Deut. xxviii. 32; Neh. v. 5. [The weight, both of T • • • , . . I ■■ lexicograpliical and exegetical authority, is, and, we think, plainly should be, against this view of the author. See, e. g., Qesen. aud Fuerst; 7X has assigned to it distinctly the-iguification "strength," the abstract quality corresponding to the confrote, " th" s'rnng," i.e.. God. It belongs to the power^it i^ ''n the power]. Inasmu h as in these idioms the singular T always occurs, tlie K'ri reads in our passage also TT. and the LXX fur the same reason had translated >) \tip aov (the • :|T translation being a free one; Frankel. Vorstudien zur Sepfuaginta, p. 2-39). Yet there is no grammatical reason whatever for the change. Yer. 26. — [n"yi7, K'thibh, another distriuutive plural, where the K'ri has a singular; see BoTT , ^^ 702, d — S86, c. -A.] Yer. 30. — [Holden translates the last clause "surely he will return thee evil," because the ordinary rendering "gives to the word 7OJ the sense of doing or p»rformiug, which it seems never to bear, but always that of returning, requiting, - T rer,nmj)onsiiigy The primary import, however, se-'ms to be to collect, to complete, which fact, together with the tense, jus- tifies the almost entire unanimity which sustains the ordinary runderiug. — A.J EXEGETICAL. 1. The close connection between this group of admonitions and chap. ii. appears at once exter- nally iu the resuming of the address "My son " (ii, 1 ), wliicli recurs three times in chap iii , vers. 1,11,21, — without, however, for that reason, introducing in each instance anew paragraph; for in ver. 11 at least the series of admonitions begin- ning in ver. 1 continues in its former tone with out interruption (comp especially ver, 9), — and again the new commencement in ver. 21 does not equal in importance that in ver 19 sq,, or that in ver. 27 sq. — Hitzig maintains that vers. 22-20 are spurious, inasmuch as the promise of reward which it contains, after the earlier briefer sug- gestions of virtue's reward in vers. 4, 6, 8, 10, seems tedious and disturbing ; inasmuch as their style of expression appears tame, prosaic, and even, in some degree, clum.sy; inasmuch as there may be detected in them traces of a strange ami later idiom (e. ff., the jni D'TI [life and grace] in ver. 22 ; the HXi^ [destruction] in ver. 25 , the 1370 [from the snare] in ver. 26) ; and finally — the thing which appears in fact to have given the chief impulse to his suspicion — inas- much as from the omission of these five verses there would result another instance of the deci- mal grouping of verses before we come again to the address to the "children " of wisdom in chap. iv. 1, just as before the 'J3 [my son] in vers. 11 and 21 was repeated in each case after ten verses. But since no kind of external testimony can be adduced in support of this assumption. of an interpolation, while, on the other hand, a ver- sion as old as the LXX contains the verses en- tire, the suspicion appears to rest on grounds wholly subjective, and to be supported by rea- sonings that are only specious Tliis is espe- cially true of the fact that there are in each in- stance ten verses between the first addresses, " my son," — which lr)ses all its significance when we observe that in chap. i. the same address re- curs at much shorter intervals, — that between the "my son" in chap, ii, 1 and the first in the third chapter there are no less than 22 verses, — and that finally the paragraphs or " strophes " formed by the repetition of this address in the two following chapters (iv. 10 sq.; iv. 20 sq ; v. 1 sq.) are by no means of equal length, and can be brought into uniformity ouly by critical vio- lence (the rejection of chap, iv. 16, 17 and 27). — If we therefore cannot justify Hitzig's endeavor to produce by the exclusion of several verses a. symmetrical external structure for our chapter, i e., a division of it into three equal strophes, we are also obliged to dift'er w'ith liim when he con- ceives of the contents as mainly admonitory, in contrast with the more descriptive character of chap. ii. For here as there we find admonitions, direct or indirect, to the securing and retaining of wisdom (vers. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 21, 27 sq.) al- ternating with delineations of the blessedness which becomes the portion of its possessors (vers. 4, 6 b, 8, 10, 22 sq., 32 sq.), or with praises of wisdom itself (vers. 13 sq., 19 sq.). Especially are the commencement and conclusion of the chapter in close correspondence with those of chap, ii., and accordingly justify our concep- tion of the general import of the proverbial dis- courses which it contains, as being a sort of con- tinuation of the longer discourse which consti- tutes the preceding chapter. Only in two points do we find essentially new material introduced into the representation, which is now niainlj' ad- monitory and again chiefly descriptive, — viz., in vers. 19 sq., where the protecting and preserving power of wisdom is illustrated by a reference to God's creative wisdom as the original source and model of all human wisdom, — and in vers. 27 sq., where in the place of the previous admonitions of a fiiore general nature there appears a special admonition to love of one's neighbor, as the sum ami crown of all virtues. Therefore (with De- HTZscii, comp. above, Introd., § 15) at each of these points we begin a new section. 2. Continued representation of the salutary conse- quences of a wise and devout life. Vers. 1-18. CHAP. III. 1-35. 61 Vers. 1, 2. Forget not my teaching. — The substance of this teaching (iTTljl, as in i. 8), or the enumeration of the individual commands (fliyo) of which it consists, begins with ver. 3. — Length of days, properly "extension of days " (D'O' 'niX;/ as in Ps. xxi. 4), is a description of earthly prosperity as it is promised to wisdom for a reward. Comp. Ex. xx. 12; 1 Kings iii. 14. For that this long life is a happy one, a "living in the promised land" (Dcut. iv. 40; v. 80; vi. 2; xi. 9; xxii. 7; xxx. IG), an "abiding in the house of the Lord" and under His blessing (Ps. XV. 1; xxiii. 6; xxvii. 3), — this is plainly assum- ed. Comp. the parallel expression U)i'd [peace] in the second member, which here, as below in ver. 17, describes the safety which belongs only to the pious, the religious peace of mind of which the ungodly know nothing (Is. xlviii. 22; Ivii. 21). — Vers. 3, 4. The first of tlie commandments announced in ver. 1, with the corresponding pro- mise of reward. — Love and truth. — These ideas r\3X1 "IDn wliich are very often associated, in our I>ook, e. g., in xiv. 22; xvi. 6 ; xx. 28, — are, wlicn predicated of man, the designation of those attributes in which the normal perfection of his moral conduct towards his neighbor ex- presses itself. "Ipn, whicli, as a Divine attribute, is equivalent to mercy or grace, designates "the disposition of loving sympatliy with others, which rests upon the feeling of brotherhood, the feeling that all men are of like nature, creatures of tlie same God." This feeling, wliich is the prime factor in our moral life by which society is constituted, has for its natural basis the desti- tution and defencelessness of isolated man; from which springs the deeper necessity not only to augment power by mutual outwaril lielp, but also by the interchange of thoughts and emotions to effect a richer development of spiritual life, and to discern what in one's own feeling is purely individual, and what is common and eteinal " (Elster). r\OX then designates inward truth- fulness, the pectus rectum, the very essence of a true man opposed to all hypocrisy and dissimu- lation, the endeavor to mould every form into the closest possible correspondence with the na- ture of the thing, on which depends all the relia- bleness and security of life's relations" (Elster, comp. Ujibrioit). Tiie proofs of a life regulated by " love", and " truth," and so of comluct toward one's neighbor, as loving as it is true, a genuine akrj-dEvEiv iv aya.-i) [truth in love, Eph. iv. 15] are suggested in the following admonitory dis- course in vers. 27 sq. — Bind tliem about thy neck — not as talismans and amuleis, as U.mdre[t suggests, but simply as costly ornaments, which one wears upon the neck (comp. i. D; also vii. 3); or again as treasures which one will secure against loss, and therefore (if valued like a sig net ring, G"u. xxxviii. 18; Jer. xxii. 24) wears attached lo a chain about the neck. The latter explanation, to which Hitzig gives the prefer- ence, seems to be favored especially by chap. vi. 21, and also by the analogy of the parallel ex- pressicu " v.-rite upon the tablet of the heart," i. e., thoroug:ily impress upon one's self and appro- priate the virtues in question (love and truth — not perchance the "commandments" mentioned in ver. 1, of which C. B. Michaelis and others here think without any good reason) ; comp. Jer. xxxi. 33 ; 2 Cor. iii. 3 [" To bind God's law about the neck is not only to do it, but to rejoice in do- ing it; to put it on, and to exult in it as the fairest ornament." AVordsw.]. — So wilt thou find favor and good reputation — liieially, "and so find," etc. (Xi'C'j ; the luiper. with l vo'iscc. stands for an Imperf. (Ewalb, Lchrb., 235); for "by the command the certainty that obedi- ence will follow is promoted," HiTzicj. Conip. iv. 4; XX. 13; Gen. xlii. 8; Isa. viii. 9; xlv. 22. [BiiTT. calls this the " desponsive " imperative; see § 957, (3 — A.]. — "Find favor or grace" (in Ni'D) as in Jer. xxxi. 2 ; 1 Sam. ii. 26 ; Luke I" T T ii. 52 ; only that in these passages, instead of "in the eyes of God" [i. e., according to God's judgment, comp. Gen. x. 9 ; 2 Chron. xxx. 22) the siuipler phrase " with God " (DX, Trapd) is com- bined with the formula under discussion. — Good reputation. — Thus we translate, as IIiTziG docs, the expression 310 ^'^\l, which be- low in chap. xiii. 15, as in Ps. cxi. 10, conveys the idea of good understanding or sagacity [so the E. v., Bertheau, Kamph. render it in this passage also] ; but here, as in 2 Chron. xxx. 20, denotes the judgment awarded to any one, the favorable view or opinion held concern- ing any one. [Fuerst, Van Ess, etc., prefer this rendering, while Gesen., De W., Stuart, Noyes, Muensciier translate "good success." — A.]. With this interpretation the "finding favor" will have reference more to God, the "finding good opinion or favorable judgment" predomi- nantly to nun. [Kampii., however, insists that the idea is indivisible — universal favor.] Vers. 5, '!. Trust in Jehovah with all thine heart, etc.: the fundanu'nial priucj]ile of all religion, consisting in an entire self-comoiit- ment to the grace and truth of God, with the abandonment of every attempt to attain blessed- ness by one's own strength or wisdom ; comp. Ps. xxxvii. 3 sq. : cxviii. 8, 9; Jer. ix. 22. — Re- gard him. "i^J:''^, strictly "take notice of him," i. e.. recognize Him as the unconditional controller over all thy willing and doing. Comp. the opposite: 1 Sam. ii. 12, and in general for this pregnant use of the verb yi" Ps. i. 6; xxxvii. 18; Am. iii. 2, etc. — Vers. 7,8. Fear Jehovah and depait from evil (comp. xiv. 16 ; xvi. 6 ; Joli i. 1 ; sxviii. 28) ; an absolute contrast to the first clause of the verse; for he who fears God distrusts his own wisdom, when this perch'ance presents evil and wayward action as something agreeable and desirable (Gen. iii. 5). — Healing w^ill then be (come) to thy body. Thus proliably is the phrase ■'HP r'Xtil to be explained, with Bertheau and IIitzig, — for to express the idea " healing is this to thy body," (Umhreit, Evvald, Elsthr, and most of the elder commentators) N'H n?N£)"J would ratlier have been required. — Instead of 'I'l^.t-'/ '^y navel (which, according to Umbreit, here, un- like Ezek. xvi. 4 ; Song of Sol. vii. 3, is intended to be a designation of the whole body by a part of special physiological importance) it will pro- 62 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. bably be correct to read ^"^p^ as a contraction of ^TXtyS, or 'ITk^?'? as in chap. iv. 22. For translations as early as the LXX and Peshito express simply the idea " to thy body," to which furthermore the parallel "to thy bones" corres- ponds better (comp xiv. 30; Micah iii. 2) than to the very far-fetched expression "to thy navel."— Refreshing to thy bones. '^Ipi^ strictly irrigation, watering, then refreshing, invigoratiou ; here in contrast with the "lan- guishing of the bones" (Ps. xxxii. 3, 4), i. e., their drying up under a fever heat or an inward anguish of soul, e. ff., the pangs of a troubled conscience. Comp. Job xxi. 24; Is. Iviii. 11. Vers. 9, 10. Honor Jehovah with thy riches. The JO in 'IP.inO and the following phrase ^nN-12n-S3 n'K^XID is certainly not to be construed as partitive, as though God was to be honored with a part only of one's wealth and of the first fruits of one's increase (so e. g., Bertheau), but the preposition |0 here ex- presses the idea of a coming forth out of some- thing, as in Ps. xxviii. 7 ; 2 Kings vi. 27. In opposition to the comparative idea which Ewald endeavors to bring out from the JD ("more than thy wealth") see Hitzio on this passage. With regard to the idea itself compare passages like Ex. xxiii. 19; Deut. xviii. 4 sq. ; xxviii. 8 sq. ; Mai. iii. 10-12. That the offering in sacrifice the first fruits of the field and of the other revenues of one's possessions or labors was not only enjoined by their law up6n the people of God under the Old Testament, but that it was also practiced by other ancient nations as a usage connected with religious worship, appears from passages in classical authors, e. g.. Dion. SicuL., 1., 14: Plut. «?e hide, p. 377; Pliny's Hist. Nat., 18, 2. Comp. in general Spencer, Delegibus Hehrxoruin ritualibus, p. 713, sq. ("ri« primitiarum origine^'). [Be not content witii lip- service, but obey God's law by making the pre- scribed oblation and by bringing also free-will offerings to Him." — VVordsw. Our author's notes, in their distinct recognition of the first fruits as required for and by Jehovah, are to be preferred to his version, which has the more ge- neral but. less Jewish idea that "the best" should be given. — A.] — "With new wine will thy vats overflow. ^^^^3', literally: they will ex- tend themselves, separate, swell up Comp. the use of the same verb |*^3 with reference to rapiilly increasing flocks; Gen. xxx. 20; Job i. 10. — Similar strong metaphors for the descrip- tion of a rich abundance and the blessing of the harvest may be found, e.g., Joel iv. 18; Amos ix. 13 ; Lev. xxvi. 5. Vers. 11,12. Jehovah's correction despise thou not. To the "despising" (DXO here as in the quite similar passage Job v. 17 [from which WoRDSW. thinks our passage to be de- rived]), the "loathing" or "abhorring" ^]''p) is evidently the climax. [In the E. V. ger erally this distinction between the two verbs '.s very fairly made; the prevailing rendering of the former being "despise, disdain, reject refuse," while that of the latter is "loathe, abhor." In the present instance the rendering might easily be taken as an anti-climax — A.]. — And holds him dear as a father his son. For the gene- ral idea that God's corrections are essentially nothing but revelations of His educating love and fatherly faithfulness, comp. in the Old Tes- tament especially Deut. viii. 5 ; Ps. cxviii. 18 ; Lam. iii. 33 sq. Vers. 13-18. Enthusiastic praise of true wis- dom, which is one with the fear of God. — » Blessed is the man that hath found wis- dom. The perfect Xi'O, who hath found, * T 1 expresses the idea of permanent possession ; the parallel imperfect p'D^ (from pID, procedere; therefore, to bring forth, to bring to view, to bring to pass, comp. viii. 35; xii. 2; xviii. 22) denotes a continually renewed and repeated at- taining. The iKftd/.TiEtv ("bring forth") used of the scribe "instructed unto the kingdom of heaven," Matt. xiii. 52. cannot be compared directly with our expression, since p'SH clearly contains an idea synonymous and not one con- trasted with N2fO. — Better is her accumula- T T tion than the accumulation of silver. mno does not, like the corresponding term '1i3 _ r ; - ' _ ^ =■ ■ : in the parallel passage, viii. 19, denote what wisdom brings by way of gain, but the very act of gaining and acquiring [k^nopeveaOai, LXX). So with nnXOn, that which comes with and in T T : herself, the gain which exists in herself [The "merchandise" of the E. V. is unfortunately obscure and misleading]. — Than the finest gold. |*On signifies, according to most of the old interpreters, the finest and purest gold (Vulg. : auruin primum). The etymology leads, in the unmistakable identity of the root ]*in with that of the Greek ;i:pt"Tdr, at first only to the idea of clear or bright shining, gleaming or glittering (corufcare). Gold is therefore, on the ground of its brilliancy, named in the climax as a more precious possession than silver, to which in ver. 15 the "pearls" (instead of the K'thibh D^JiJ we shall be constrained to give an unqualified preference to the K'ri DTJp, comp. viii. 11 ; xx. 15: xxxi. 10, etc.) siipply the culmination in the series, and the generalizing term "all thy jewels" includes the three specified items with all similar articles of value. Comp. viii. 11 ; Job xxviii. 18, where our verse recurs almost literally. In the latter passage (Job xxviii, 15-19) besides silver, gold and pearls, various other gems, f. /7., onyx, sapphire, coral, amber, topaz, etc., are mentioned as falling far below the value of wisdom. In the LXX there appear both in ver. 15 and in KJ amplifying additions, in respect to which Hnzio, while not regarding as original the double clause interpolated in ver. 15 between the two members: o'vk avriraacerac ai'TT] o'kUv TrtirT//)6i>. EryroiGro^ earcv Trnniv Tolg kyyi^nvaiv ai'Tri [no evil thing competes with her. She is well known to all those that approach her], yet considers it as resting upon an interpo- lation that had already made its way into the Hebrew text. The supplement added to Ter. 16: « Toh (j-6fxnro(; avrrjq EKirofieve-ai liiKaioarvt), vdfiov (U Kal iXeov errl yT.dtaarjQ '/ k-mvaa'" (for thou knowest not what the morrow shall bring forth), which, however, occur in their original place in chap, xxvii. 1. — Ver. 29. De- vise not evil. The verb I^lfl here as in vi. ~ T 14, 18; xii. 20; xiv. 22, expresses the idea of contriving, and that as a development of the idea of "forging" (Ez. xxi. 30) and not that of "ploughing" (as Ewalo, following some older interpreters, maintains). — Ver. 30. "Without cause, Heb. D^n, LXX, fid-T/v, comp. 6upedv in John xv. 25. AVhat is meant by this "con- tending without cause" is made more apparent in the 2d member. In regard to the ethical signifi- cance of this precept coinp. "Doctrinal and Ethical" notes. No. 3. — Ver. 31. Emulate not the man of violence. For this siguihcatiou of ^^^.P/^"^^, which is found as early as the Vul- gate [ne xmuleris hominem injustiim), the strongest support is the parallel thought in the 2d mem- ber ; while unquestionably in passages like Ps. xxxvii. 1 ; Ixxiii. 3 ; Prov. xxiv. 1, the expres- sion 3 Njp denotes rather a "falling into a pas- sion" about some one, a "being envious." Yet comp. Prov. xxiii. 17, where the meaning plainly resembles that before us. [The diiference among these expositors, we think, is more seeming than real. Thus Stuart renders, "Be not envious to- ward," etc., and explains " do not anxiously covet the booty which men of violence acquire;" Muen- SCHER renders, " Envy thou not the man," e/c, and explains. "Do not be ottended by the success and prosperity," etc., " so as to imitate," etc. — A.] — And choose none of his ways. For "innri the LXX (,«??d£ [,r]luari^) must have read innn, a reading which HiTZia is disposed to accept as the original. But how easily could this change be introduced, following as a standard Ps. xxxvii. 1, or Prov. xxiv. 19, where no doubt innn stands as the only appropriate reading! Vers. 32-35 supply a ground in the first instance for the counsels contained in vers. 27-31, but fur- ther in general for those of the whole chapter: thus ver. 35 in particular, by its contrasting the comprehensive terras "fool" and "wise," reveals a far reaching breadth and compass in its refer- ence, like the similar expressions at the close of the 1st and 2d chapters. — An abhorrence to Jehovah is the deceiver. — IHJ, properly the "perverse," he who is deceitfully crooked and se- cret (comp. ii. 15), and so is in direct contrast with the "upright" or straightforward. [n3>^1j"1, which in the E.V. is always translated by " abom- ination," or some cognate term, is often used in other sacred books of idolatry. In the twenty or more passages in the Book of Proverbs in which the word is found it has this signification in no single instance. "It would seem," says Words- worth, in loc, " as if, when Solomon wrote the 5 Proverbs, he regarded idolatry as a thing impossi- ble. He therefore left out idolatry as the Greek Legislator omitted parricide from his code as a thing too monstrous to be contemplated. And yet Solomon himself afterwards fidl into idolatry " (Vc— A.].— "With the upright he maintains true friendship.— Literally, "with the upright is his secret compact" (ITID), his intimacy, his confidential intimacy. Comp. Job xxix. -1: Ps. XXV. 14.— Jehovah's curse dwells in the house of the wicked.— Comp. the nSx, the cursing whicu, accorUing to Zech. v. 4, will take posses-ion of the house ottlie wicked, and destroy it. (in accordance wiih Deut. xxviii. 17 sq.); and for the term n'^xp, Mai. ii. 2 (and Kouler ou both passages). Vcr. 34. If he scorneth the scorners. — To this hypothetical prota^^is the apodosis is not found in ver. 35, as Bertiieau [and Sttart] bold, but immediately after, in the second clause of ver. 34. As in Job viii. 20 ; Lam. iii. 82, there is an artjumcnlum a contrario. Comp. our mode of constructing propositions, with "while on the one hand — so on the other." For the sentiment of the 1st member, comp. Ps. xviii. 26; for that of the whole verse the passages in the N. T. which cite freely from the LXX, 1 Pet. v. 5 ; James iv. 6, and also above, i. 26 sq. — Ver. 35. Shame sweeps fools away.— j'ibp Dnp literally " shame lifts up," i. c, in order to sweep away and destroy them : Comp. Ez. xxi. 31; Is. Ivii. 14, and the corresponding use of Nt^J, tollcre^= aitferre ; Is. xli. 10 ; Job xxvii. 21. The expres- sion p'?!^, ignoviinia, properly levitas (lightness), at once reminds us directly of the familiar figure of chaif whirled away by the wind (Ps. i. 4 ; Is. xvii. 3 ; xxix. 5, etc.). Therefore we need' not take Dnp as the predicate of D'V?^ (fools) and translate it by svscipimit in the sense of " gather up," "carry away," as IIitzig does, following the LXX, Targ., Vatabl., and Rosenmieller [so NoYES, Muenscher, Wordsw., while De Wette, Stuart, etc., agree with cur author — A.]; although the distributive use of the participle in the singular instead of the plural, would have a sufficient parallel in the passage already ex- plained, chap. iii. 18 6. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. ^^Wisdom is life and gives life." This propo- sition, which finds its most pregnant utterance in ver. 18, and is formulated as a sort of Epitome of the whole chapter, is especially in the first admonitory discourse (vers. 1-18) expressed in manifold ways and exhibited in its bearing upon the most diverse relations, those of the present life first. Above all it is long life, to wliich Avalking in true wisdom aids (ver. iii. 10), and this for this reason, — because such a course is the indispensable condition of physical as well as spiritual health, — or because, as ver. 8 expresses it, " the wise findeth health for his body and re- freshing for his frame." He who is truly wise aims infallibly at the needful temperance, and a prudent self-restraint in his physical and mental 66 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. regimen, and thereby promotes health, his in- ■vvui-il and outward well-being in the liighe.st pos- sible deu;ree. Ho contributes by his (;bedient subjection to the Divine grace, to the emancipa- tion ol' his nob. est spiritual powers and capaci- ties,— secures these as well as the functions of his bodily organ iz-ati-^n against morbid excite- ment or torpidity, and so d--:velops generally his entire personal life, body, mind and spirit, to its normal harmony, and the mo:t vigorous mani- festation possible of its diverse and cardinal ac- tivities. He who has in this way become in- wardly free through the fear of God and real ■wisdom iu life, attains necessarily also to the confirmation of this his godlike freedom and vital power in connection with the phenomena of the outward natural life, as surely as the laws of the economy of nature : Silver, gold and pearls, serve and adorn the body only, wisdom, how- ever, serves and adorns mainly the soul. As much as the soul is nobler than the body, so much is wisdom also nobler thiin all treasures. Be- ware lest thou with the cliildren of this world look with delight upon the forbidden tree, and with them cat death from it. Beware lest thou choose folly instead of wisdom! — STiicKER: Whosoever desires to regain what our first pa- rents squandered and lost by the fall, namely, eternal life — let him hold fast upon heavenly wisdom — i. e., God's revealed word. This is a tree of life to all those who in true faith lay hold upon it. — Berleb. Bible : Solomon here testi- fies that wisdom even in Paradise nourished and supported men, and that the same is for this rea- son also in the restoration (the restitution of all things by Christ, Acts iii. 21) ordained for their spiritual maintenance. In this originates that most blessed condition of the new man, who gra- dually becomes again like and equal to the man of Paradise. — Wohlfarth: The tree of life of which we are to eat day by day is faith, love, hope. Faith is its trunk, hope its flowers, love its fruit, [Vers. 16, 17. Arnot : — If the law were ac- cording to a simple calculation in arithmetic, "the holiest liver, the longest liver," and con- versely, "the more wicked the life the earlier its close;" if this, unmixed, unmodified, were the law, the moral government of God would be greatly impeded, if not altogether subverted. He will have men to choose goodness for His sake and its own ; therefore a slig'ut veil is cast over its present profitableness. — South (ver. 17) : The excellency of the pleasure found in wisdom's ways appears 1) in that it is the pleasure of the mind ; — 2) that it never satiates nor wearies: — 3) that it is in nobody's power, but only in his that has it.] Vers. 19-26. Stocker: — Inasmuch as wisdom is so grand a thing that all was made and is still preserved by it, we are thence to infer that we also can be by it preserved for blessedness. We should hold dear the heavenly wisdom revealed to us in the word, and earnestly crave it, should learn to keep our eye upon God Himself, should entreat Him for all that we need, depend upon His omnipotence and faithful care, despond un- der no adversities, etc., etc. — [Bridges: (Ver. 23) Habitual eyeing of the word keeps the feet in a slippery path]. — Starke : He who orders his ways to please the Lord, can in turn depend upon His gracious oversight and protection. — Our unrest and fear spring mainly from an evil con- science ; divine wisdom however keeps the con- science from heavy sins, and stays the heart on God. — Von Gerlach : The wisdom which God imparts to the man who hearkens for His voice is no other than that by which He founded the earth; the holy order, which forms, keeps, sup- ports, holds together, develops into life, advances all. As now all that God has made is very good, each thing according to the law of the divine or- der that dwells in it, so in and for man all be- comes good that conforms to this order. — Wohl- farth (on ver. 21-2(j) : The holy rest of the pi- ous. Little as the heart's innocence, this fairest fruit of wisdom, can preserve and wholly free ua from the sufferings which God suspends over us for our refining, so surely however does it turn away the worst and saddest consequences of sin, and ensures even amidst the storms of this life a rest that nothing can disturb. — [Ver. 26. Arnot: It is the peace of God in the heart that has power to keep the feet out of evil in the path of life.] — Ver. 27-35. Stocker : The virtues of beneficence and patience are here developed after the method of the second table of the ten commandments; it is therefore taught how the believing Christian is in his relations to his neighbor to exercise CHAP. IV. 1-27. 69 himself in true charity, steadfast patience and forbearance. — Ckamer (in Starke) : When God riclily bestows upon us spiritual treasures, ouglit it to be a great matter, if we to honor Him give alms from our temporal goods? — (On ver. 32 sq.); If an ungodly man rises in prosperity, look not upon liis prosperity, but upon his end; that can easily deter you from imitating hira. — Woiil- FARTH (on vers. 27, 28) : Thankfulness toward God requires beneficence toward one's brethren. — Von Gerlach: Divine wisdom teaches the true commuuism, — makes all things common. According to true love earthly goods belong to "their lord" (ver. 27) i. e, to hiiu who needs them. — -[Ver. 27. Arxot: The poor have not a right which they can plead and enforce at a hu- man tribunal. The acknowledgment of such a right would tend to anarchy. The poor are placed in the power of the rich, and the rich are under law to God. — Ver. 33. Ar.not : In addi- fioa to the weight of divine authority upon the conscience, all the force of nature's instincts is applied to drive it home. — Ver. 34. Trapp : Hu- mility is both a grace and a vessel to receive grace. ] Second Group of Admonitory or Gnomic Discourses. Chap. IV. 1— VII. 27. 7. Report of the teacher of wisdom concerning the good counsels in favor of piety, and the warn- ings against vice, which were given him in his youth by his father. Chap. IV. 1-27. 1 Hearken, ye children, to a father's instruction, and attend to know understanding : 2 for I give you good doctrine ; forsake not my law. 3 For I was also a son to my father ; a tender and only (son) for my mother ; 4 and he taught me and said to me : " Let thine heart hold fast my words ; keep my commandments and thou shalt live ! 5 Get wisdom, get understanding; forget not, turn not from the words of my mouth ! 6 Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee ; love her and she shall keep thee. 7 The highest thing is wisdom ; get wisdom, and with all that thou hast gotten get understanding ! 8 Esteem her and she will exalt thee, will bring thee honor if thou dost embrace her. 9 She will put upon thine head a graceful garland, a glorious crown will she bestow upon thee. 10 Hearken, my son, aiid receive my sayings ; and the years of thy life shall be many. 11 In the way of wisdom have I taught thee, I have guided thee in right paths. 12 AVhea thou goest thy step shall not be straitened, and when thou runnest thou shalt not stumble. 13 Hold fast upon instruction ; let not go ; keep her, for she is thy life. 14 Into the path of the wicked enter thou not, and walk not in the way of the evil. 15 Avoid it, enter not upon it ; turn from it, and pass away. 16 For they sleep not unless they sin ; their sleep is taken away unless they have caused (others) to fall ; 70 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 17 for they eat the bread of wickedness, and the wuie of violence do they drink. 18 But the path of the just is like the light of dawn, that groweth in brightness till the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at Avhat they stumble. 20 My son, attend to my words, incline thine ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes : keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life to tliose who find them, and to their whole body health, 23 Above all that is to be guarded keep thy heart, for out of it flow the currents of life. 24 Put away from thee perverseness of mouth, and waywardness of lips put far from thee. 25 Thine eyes should look straight forward, and thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Make straight the path of tiiy foot and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to tlae right or to the left, remove thy foot from evil !" GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 2. ['nr\J> B,n " affirmative " perfect (Bott. g 947, /.), anticipating a sure result, and so confirming confidence ; not • -r merely have I already given, etc.; it will always be found true. See like instances in ver. 11. — A.]. Ver. 10. [A masculine verb agreeing with a fern, subject, the more readily because the verb precedes. The same thing recurs in ver. 25; in V. 2; vii. 11; x. 21, 32; xv. 7: xvi. 3; xviii. 6. — A.] Ver. 13. The fern, suffix in n"1if J refers strictly to nODH [TD-IO being masculine], which idea, on account of its T V : • T : T T close relationship, could be easily substituted for ID^O (comp. i. 3; xv. 33), and all the more readily because this idea was T constantly before the poet's mind as the main subject of his discourse. Like anomalies in the gender of suffixes may be found, c. g.. in Isa. iii. 16, Judg. xxi. 21. [To empJiasize the injunction tlie form of the verb m i-.xpMink'd from tlie simple nnV J by doubling the middle radical by Dagesh forte dirimens, and by attaching the suffix in its fullest form. See Bon. § 500, 12; g? 1042, 6, 1043, 6.— A.]. Ver. 14. [FuERST takes "ItJ^xn in its more common causative and therefore transitive sense, supplying as its object ?T3 7 ; he reaches, however, the same result. The third declarative use of the Piel we have not found given here by any modern commentator. — A.]. Ver. 16. [For the form given in the K'thibh ^S-liyD', see Greex, § SS, Bott. § 36", /3.— A.]. Ver. 20. [The paragogic Imperative usually and naturally takes its place at the beginning of the clause; n^'C'pn T • I; - here, and in ver. 1 follows its object as well as the vocative 'J3. Bott. § 960, c. — A.]. Ver. 21. iirv' fut. Iliphil from P7 with a doubling of the first radical, as in ^Jw' from "X"), [Verb '\^ treated like a verb _j?j;,— Green, § 160, 1 ; Bott., § 1147, B. 3.— A.]. Ver. 25. [Holden makes HD J 7 an object and not an adverbial modifier — " behold that which is right." This can hardly be reconciled with the strict meaning of HDJ. For the peculiar •ITt;?'''', in which the first radical retains fully its consonant character, resisting quiescence, see Stuart, § 69, 2; Green, g 150, 1; Bott., § 458, a, ^ 498, 12. — A.] EXEGETICAL. 1. The address to the sons, i. e., the pupils or hearers of the teacher of wisdom, in tlie plural number, appearing for the first time in ver. 1, and then recurring twice afterward, in v. 7 and vii. 24 (as well as in one later instance, in the discourse of the personified Wisdom, chap. viii. 32) announces the beginning of a new and larger series of proverbial discourses. This extends to the end of chap, vii., and is characterized by a preponderance of warning, and also by the clear of positive appeals to strive after wisdom and the fear of God. A starting point for these admonitory discourses is furnished by the com- munication made in the preceding chapter, con- cerning the good instructions which the author as a child had had urged upon his notice by his father. The negative or admonitory import of these teachings of the father is now more fully developed in the discourses, some longer, some shorter, of the next three chapters. And among these special prominence is given to sins against chastity, which had not, it is true, been expressly named by the father, but still must now come and minute delineation of the by-paths of folly ; under consideration as involving dangers espe- and vice which are to be avoided, that now 1 cially seductive and ruinous for the son, as he takes the place of the tone, hitherto predominant, | grew up from boyhood to youth. To these the^e- CHAP. lY. 1-27. 71 fore the poet reverts no less than three times in the course of the admonitions which he attaches to his account of the precepts of his father as given in chap. iv. (viz., v. 3 sq. ; vi. 124 sq. ; vii. 5 sq ). And in each instance the transition is made in a peculiarly natural way, and with a fiir more complete delineation of the repulsive details than had been earlier given on a similar occasion (chap. iii. 16-19). Of the older expositors e.g., Egvro, J. L.\ngb, St.vkke, and of the more recant Elster are in favor of extending the fatlier's admonition from ver. 4 to the end of this chapter. In favor of these limits m.iy be ad- duced especially the fact that vers. 26, 27 form a peculiarly appropriate conclusion for the father's discourse, — far more so not only than ver. 9 (with which Jerome, Bede, Lavater, the Wdrtemberg Bible, and most commentators of modern times, e. g., Ewald, Bertiieau, HtTztu, [Mue.n'scher, Kamph.] would close the discourse) but also than ver. 20, (to which point e. g., U.m- BREiT would extend it). Against those who ■would regard chap. v. 1-6 as also belonging to the father's address (Hansen, Delitzscu) yve have the substance of these verses, wliich, at least from ver. 3 onward, seem no longer appro- priate to an admonition addressed to a boy still "tender" (see iv. 3); we have besides the still more weighty fact that chap. v. forms an indivi- sible whole, from which the first six vei-sos can plainly not be separated, ou account of the re- ference to them contained in ver. 8. It is fur- thermore by no means necessary that the address "ye sons" (v. 7) should stand at the very com- mencement of the discourse where the poet resumes it. In reply to Hitzig who, for the sake of restoring a symmetrical relation of numbers, in the present chapter once more pro- nounces certain verses spurious (vers. 16, 17 and 27), see the special remarks on these verses. 2. Ver. 1-8. Hearken, ye children. It seems quite certain that this address, occurring only here and in chap. v. 7 and chap. vii. 24, is occasioned by the fact, that the author designed to represent himself in and after ver. 4 as him- self a son and the object of his father's counsels and warnings. The aim was to present the ex- ample of the one son plainly before the many sons ; for this is the relation in which the teacher of wisdom conceives of his hearers or readers. For this reason again he does not say, " mg sons," but "ye sons, ye children," here as well as in chap. v. 7. — To a father's correction, i. e., to the instruction of a man who is your spiritual father ; not to the instruction of your several fathers. For, just as in chap. i. 8, the author does not intend in the first line to exhort to obedience to parents, but simply to obedience in general. — To learn under- standing. The nr3 •n^'3^ here corresponds with TTDDn Dj,^'p in the superscription, chap. i. 2, and is therefore to be similarly understood. HiTZUi's idea " to know with the undcrstcndiiig" is evidently needlessly artificial. — Ver. 2. For good doctrine, etc. np7, something received, handed over (see on i. 5) ; the author here de- scribes his doctrine in this way because he him- self received the substance of it from his father. The LXX here translate the word outright by Supov ( Vulg. donwn). — Ver. 3. For I also ■was a son to my father, i. e., "I also once stood in the relation to my (actual) fat'ier, in which you stand to mc. your paternal instructor," (Ber- tiieau). [Muensch. less forcibly nmkes 3 temporal: when I was, etc.'\ — A tender and only (son) to my mother, strictly, before my mother, in her sight; comp. {jn;\\. xvii. 18. The mention of the mother is probably occa- sioned here, as in i. 8, by the poetic parallelism; for in what follows it does not occur again. — Tender, ^"1, not equivalent, as sometimes, to "susceptible of impressions, tractable," as the LXX conceive in translating it hy v-ijKonr ; but the expression, in connection with Tn\ "an • T only one " (comp. Gen. xxii. 2). indicates that the child has been to his parents an object of tender care; comp. Gen. xxxiii. 13, where Jacob speaks of tiie tenderness of his children. Furthermore the LXX, doubtless in remembrance of the fact that Solomon, according to 1 Chron. iii. 5, was not the only son of his mother, renders Tn'' by aya-umvog (beloved). That several ancient manuscripts and versions have substituted for "'iSX "'Jip?' '"3>t 'JS/' ^'^s ^'^^^^ of my mother, doubtless rests upon the same consideration. The earlier exegesis in general thought far too definitely of Solomon as the only speaking sub- ject in the whole collection of proverbs, and therefore imagined itself obliged in every allu- sion to a "father" or a "mother" of the poet, to think specifically of David and Bathsheba. This is also the explanation of the fact that the LXX in the verse following exchanged the singular, "he taught me and said," for a plural (ot tAi-yov Kal i6i6aaic6p /is), and accordingly represented all that follows as instruction pro- ceeding from both parents. 3. Vers. 4-9. Let thine heart hold fast my ■words. The father's instruction begins quite in the same style as all the other admoni- tions in this first main division of the Book of Proverbs. At the end of ver. 4 the Syrian Ver- sion adds the words "and my law as the apple of thine eye," which i-s, however, plainly a supple- mentary gloss from chap. vii. 2, in which passage also the expression occurs, "keep my command- ments and thou shalt live." Bertheau regards the addition as original here also, in order thus to do away with the peculiarity of three mem- bers in ver. 4 (which is surrounded by nothing but distichs), and to make of the three clauses four. But the triple t;!:ructure owes its origin simply to the fact that the first member, as an introductory formula for the following discourse, must necessarily be made to stand outside the series of clauses which are otherwise always arranged in pairs. — Ver. 5. Get wisdom, get understanding, literally, " bug wisdom, bug understanding." The doubling of tlie verb makes the demand more vehement ; as U.^mbreit explains it, an "imitation of the exclamatioa lit' a merchant who is offering his wares." — • Forget not, turn not from the w^ords of my mouth. Tlie zeugma .appears only in the translation, not in the original, since the verb THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. r\D'iy elsewhere, e. r/., Ps. cii. 5, is found con- strued with p. In the idea of forgetting there is naturally involved a turning aside or away from the object.— Ver. 7. The highest thing is wisdom. This is tlie interpretation to be here given, witli Hitzig (following Mercer, De DiEU and some older expositors), to the expression noDn n^nX"]. Itisusuallyrendered" The begin- ning of wisdom," [c.^. by theLXX,Vulg., Luther] and the following clauses, " get wisdom, e!c." are taken as the designation of that in which the beginning of wisdom consists, viz., in the " reso- lution to get wisdom " (Umbreit), or in the in- stant observance of the admonition which re- lates to this (comp. Elster on this passage [and also Kampii.]). i3ut as the beginning of wisdom the fear of God is everywhere else designated (see Obs. on i. 7) ; and for the absolute use of n'D'XI in the sense of prxstantissimum, summum (the highest, most excellent thing) we may com- pare on the one hand Job xxix. -io, and on the other Gen. i. 1. — And with all that thou hast gotten get understanding. The beau- tiful verbal correspondence in the Hebrew phrase is well indicated in the above rendering [in which the ambiguity of tne E. V. is avoided; with is not to be talten in the sense of in connec- tion with, but with the ezpenliture of, ot at the price of, — German uin or/w/-]. For the tliouglitcomp. iii. 1-4 sq. — Ver. 8. Eatesna her. The verb 7D7D which occurs only here, — the Pilel of 77D, — might possibly, as an intensive formed from this verb, which as is well known signifies *' to heap up, to build a way by mounds and em- bankments," express the idea of enclosing with a wall, of a firm surrounding and enclosure. So the LXX understood it, translating by TTepLxapd- Kuaov ahrfiv ; so also theChald., Syr., Vulg., and several modern interpreters, e. g., Bertheau, — all of whom find expressed in the word the idea of a loving clasp and embrace. It is however probably simpler and more in accordance with the sense of D^H in the parallel clause to take the word, as Aden Ezra, Luther, and most mo- dern interpreters do, in the sense of " to exalt, esteem ;"' [So II., M., N., St. agreeing with the E. V.]. With this conception also the second clause best agrees, for in this there is added to the exliortation to prize and honor wisdom, the other admonition to love her. — If thou dost embrace her. Wisdom here appears personi- fied as a loved one or wife, whom one lovingly draws to him, and embraces; comp. v. 20 ; Eccl. iii. u. — Ver. '). She will put upon thy head a graceful w^reath. Comp. i. 9. — Will she bestow upon thee. The rare verb JJO which again in llos. xi. 8 stands parallel with |nj, according to this passage and Gen. xiv. -0 undoubtedly signifies to ofl'er, to give, to pre- sent some one with something (construed with two accusatives). The old translations took it sometimes in the sense of protecting (LXX: vtv- epaarriaii aov; Vulg. ; proteget te ; so the Syriac), as though it were a denominative from |jiO> shield. With this, however, the " glorious crown" does not correspond, which is evidently introduced as an ornament, and not as a protec- tion and defence. 4. Vers. 10-19. The father instructs his son concerning the way of wisdom (vers. 11, 18) in which he should walk, in contrast with the rui- nous path of impiety (vers. 14, 19). — So shall the years of thy life be many. Comp. chap, iii. 2. [Wordsworth says "This word' □"n is plural in the original, as in iii. 2. as if Solo- mon would comprehend the future life with the present, and add Eternity to Time." He forgets that the abstract idea of life is never expressed by the singular of this noun except as its stat. constr. 'PI is used in formulas of adjuration, e. g.. Gen. xlv. 15, 16; 1 Sam. i. 26, etc. See Lex- icons generally, and Bott. § 697, 2, § 689, B. a. A.] — Ver. 11. In the w^ay of w^isdom, i. e., not "in the way to wisdom," but in the way in which Wisdom walks, here also again as it were personified, — a waj^ which is lovely and peaceful (according to iii. 17), a way with "right paths" (lit., "paths of straightness," comp. ii. 9, 12) as the 2d member and the following verse describe it (comp. Job xviii. 7). — [Ver. 12. The pecu- liar significance of such promises to an inhabi- tant of Palestine, see illustrated, e. g., in Hack- ett's Illustrations of Scripture, p. 26. — A.]. — Ver. 15. Hold fast upon instruction ; let not go; keep her; she is thy life, as the be- stower of long life ; iii. 2, 16, 18; see below, ver. 28. — Ver. 14. And w^alk not, etc. It^X properly, to go straight on, here used of the bold, arrogant walk of the presumptuous ; comp. ix. 6; xsiii. 19. To translate "U^'Xrc'^N by "do not pronounce happy" (comp. iii. 18) as the LXX, Vulg., and Syr. propose, contradicts the paral- lelism with "enter not" in the first member. — Ver. 15. J^void it. On JHi) to abhor, reject, comp. i. 25. — Turn from it and pass away, — i. e., €ven if thou hast entered upon it Clw^') '^ T T still turn aside from it and choose another way, which carries thee by the ruinous end of that one. — Ver. 16, 17. For they cannot sleep unless they sin, etc. Hitzig thinks that in this reference to the energy of the wicked in sin- ning there can be found no appropriate ground for the warning in ver. 15 ; he therefore declares vers. 16, 17 a spurious interi^olation, and at the same time inverts the order of the two following verses, i. e., makes the 19th the 18th; he then connects the ''2, "for," the only genuine frag- ment remaining of ver. 16, immediately with the nyv-} II^T e^c, of ver. 18 (19) ; "For .... the way of the wicked is as midnight, etc.'" Since however no ancient MSS. or translation exhibits anything that favors this emendation, and since a certain irregular movement, an abandonment of that order of ideas which would seem simpler and more obvious, corresponds in general with the style of our author (comp. i. 16 sq. ; iii. 3 sq. ; viii. 4sq.), we may fairl}' disregard so vio- lent a treatment. Besides, the substance of vers. 16, 17, so far forth as they depict the way of the wicked as a restless, cruel and abominable course of procedure, is plainly quite pertinent as the foundation of a warning against this way. And CHAP. IV. 1-27. 73 that subsequently the concluding description of this way as a way of darkness (ver. 19) is not introduced until after the contrasted represen- tation of the way of the pious (ver. 18), is an arrangement favorable to the general rhetorical eifect of the whole, like several which we have already found, especially in chap. iii. o4, 3-3, and also at the eud of chapters i. and ii. — Unless they have caused (others) to fall, i. e., unless they have betrayed into sin ; the ob- ject— viz., others, in general — does not need to be here distinctly expressed. For the Hiphil \l^U3l, which should be the reading here ac- cording to the K'ri, in the ethical sense of " causiag to stumble " in the way of truth and uprightness, conip. especially Mai. ii. 8, where the " causing to fall " is brought into even closer connection than in our passage with the idea of " turning from the way." [The K'thibh would require the translation " they have stumbled," i. e., (figura- tively) sinned]. — For they eat bread of wick- edness, and -wine of violence do they drink. Against the translation of Sciiultens, MuEXTINGIiE, UjIBRElT, ElSTER, [K.VMPII.VUSEX] : " for wickedness do they eat as bread, and vio- lence do they drink as wine" (comp. Job xv. 16; xxxiv. 7), may be adduced the position of the •words, which should rather stand somewhat in this way — for they liave eaten wickedness as bread for themselves — if designed to convey the manning of a mere comparison. The expressions "bread of wickedness, wine of violent deeds," plainly conveying a stronger meaning, remind us of the " bread of aliliction," Deut. xvi. 3 ; of the " bread of sorrows," Psalm cxxvii. 2, and like- wise of the " wine of the condemned' •(D'u'-IJ^? J]"') Am. ii. 8. Ver. 18, 19. Like the light of dawn that groweth in brightness till the perfect day, liter.illy, '• that grows and brightens (familiar He- brew idiom, as in .Judges iv. 21; Esth. is. 1; comp. Ew.\LD, Lchrb. 280 6.) even to the establishing of the day." JDJ (cons<. « *• ^■■> plainly tlqi whole body ; the two synonymes, the first of which describes the flesh with the frame, and the second the flesh in the strictest sense, without the bones, are designed to emphasize the idea of the body in its totality, and that witli tlie intention of marking "the utter destruction of the libertine" (Um- hreit). — Ver. 12. Why did I then hate cor- rection ? — Literally, How did 1 then hate cor- rection? i. e., in what an inexcusable waj"? How could I then so hate correction? — Ver. 14. A little more, ind I had fallen into utter destruction — i. c, how narrowly did 1 escape a fall into the extremest ruin, literally, "into entireness of misery, into completeness of de- struction!" As tlte second cbuise shows, the allusion is to the danger of condemnation before CHAP. V. 1-23. 79 the assembled congregjitiou, and of execution by Stoning ; see above on ver. 10. — Assembly and congregation — Hebrew ^Hp and mj,' — stand in the rehitiou of the convened council of the el- ders acting as judges (Deut. xxxiii. '1, 5), and the concourse of tlie people executing the condemn- ing sentence (Numb. xv. 3-3 ; comp. Ps. vii. 7). For lT\i) is in general alwavs a convened assem- bly, convocatio; HIJ^ on the contrary is a multi- tude of the people gathering without any special call, coetus sive muUitudo. 4. Vers. 15-20. To the detailed warning set forth in vers. 8-14 there is now added a corre- sponding positive antithesis, a not less appi'opri- ate admonition to conjugal fidelity and purity. — Drink w^aters outof thine own cistern, etc., i. c, seek the satisfaction of love's desire simply and alone with thine own wife. "The wife is appropriately compared with a fountain not merely inasmuch as offspring are born of her, but also since she satisfies the desire of the man. In connection with this we must call to mind, in order to feel the full power of the figure, how in antiquity and especially in the East the posses- sion of a spring was regarded a great and even sacred thing. Thus the mother Sarah is com- pared to a well spring. Is. li. 1, and Jndah, the patriarch, is spoken of as 'waters,' Is. xlviii. 1 ; as also Israel, Num. xxiv. 7 ; Ps. Ixviii. 23 " (Ujirreit). Compare also Song Sol. iv. 12. — And flowing streams from thine own well spring — With 113, i. e., properly "cistern." an artificially prepared reservoir, there is associated in the second clause ^'^^, fountain, t. e., a natural spring of water conducted to a particular foun- tain or well spring. Ouly such a natural fountain- head (comp. Gen. xxvi. 15-20) can pour forth D'/TIJ, i. e., purling waters, living, fresh, cool water for drinking (Song Sol. iv. 15; Jcr. xviii. 14). — Ver. 16. Shall thy streams flow- abroad as w^ater brooks in the streets? — To supply |£3 (Gesenius, Umbreit) or iH (Ew- ALD, BErTHEAU, Elster [Stu.\ut], etc.) is needless, if the verse be conceived of as interro- gative, which, like Prov. vi. 30 ; Ps. Ivi. 7 sq., is indicated as such only by the interrogative tone. So with unquestionable correctness Hitzig. A purely affirmative conception of tlie sentence, according to which it is viewed as representing tlie blessing of children born of this lawful con- jugal love under the figure of a stream overflow- ing and widely extending (Schultens, Doder- LEiN, Von Hofmann, Schriflbew., II., 2, 875 [Holden, Noyes, Muenscher, Wordsw.], etc.) would seriously break the connection with ver. 17. As to the subject, i. e., the description of a wife who has proved false to her husband and runs after other men, comp. especially chap. vii. 12. — Ver. 18. Let thy fountain be blessed. — TT' "attaches itself formally to the jussive Vri"' of the preceding verse" (Htrzio), and so adds to the wish that conjugal fidelity may pre- vail between the married pair, the further wish that prospprity and blessing may attend their union, 'n-1'^3 doubtless used of substantial bless- ings, /. c, of the prosperity and joy which the husband is to prepare for his wife, as an instru- ment in the favoring hand of God. This, which is Hitzig's view, the connection with the second clause recommends above that of Umbreit, which explains "H-TIB as here meaning " extolled," and also above that of Bertheait, which contem plates "children as the blessing of marriage."— ^ And rejoice w^ith the w^ife of thy youth. — Comp. L)eut. xxiv. 5; Eccles. ix. '■>. "Wife of thy youth," i. c, wife to whom thou hast given the fair bloom of thy youth (Umbreit). Compare the exj^ression "companion of youth " in ii. 17- In a needlessly artificial way Ew.-vld and Ber- theau have regarded the entire eighteenth verse as a final clause depending on the second member of ver. 17: "that thy fountain may be blessed, and thou mayest have joy," etc. Hitzig rightly observes that to give this meaning we should have expected "'rT'l instead of 'H], and likewise Dnot^l instead of notyv and that in general ver. T :- |t: - : ' ° 18 does not clearly appear to be a final clause. [Stuart makes the second clause final, depending on the first, which is also unnecessarily involved.] — Ver. 19. The lovely hind, the graceful gazelle. — Fitly chosen images to illustrate the graceful, lively, fascinating nature of a young wife; comp. the name "gazelle" C^Y, Taj3c-dd and its equivalent AopKog as a woman's proper name ; Acts ix. 86 ; also Song Sol. ii. 9, 17 ; viii. 14. Ujibreit refers to numerous parallels from Arabic and Persian poets, which show the popu- larity of this figure in Oriental literature. [" These pretty animals are amiable, affectionate and loving by universal testimony — and no sweeter comparison can be found." Thomson, The Land and the Book, I., 252 — A.]— Let her bosom charm thee alw^ays. — Instead of n']l'3, her breasts, the Vcrsio Veneta reads ri'lT her love {al ravTr/g i?Jai); which reading Hitzig prefers ("iA?-e Minne"). A needless alteration and weakening of the meaning, in ac- cordance wiih Song Sol. i. 2; Prov. vii. 18, as rendered by the LXX. Comp. rather the remarks below on ver. 20. — In her love delight thy- self evermore. TMU elsewhere used of the TT staggering gait of the intoxicated (chap. xx. 1 ; Isa. xxviii. 7), hereby a bold trope used of the ecstatic joy of a lover. That the same word is employed in the next verse for the description of the foolish delirium of the libertine hastening after the harlot, and again in ver. 23 of the ex- hausted prostration of the morally and physi- cally ruined transgressor, — and is tlierefore used in each instance with a somewhat modified mean- ing, indicates plainly a definite purpose. The threefold use of njiy is intended to constitute T T a climax, to illustrate the sad consequences of sins of unchastity. — Ver. 20. Emphatic sequel to the foregoing, concisely and vigorously summing up the admonitory and warningcontouts of vers. 8-19. And embrace the bosom of a wanton woman. This expression (pn p^np) testi- fies to the correctness of the reading H'^l in ver. 19. 5. Vers. 21-23. Epilogue for the monitory pre- sentation of the truth that no one is in condition 80 THE PROA^ERBS OF SOLOMON. to conceal his adultery, be it ever so secretly practiced, — tliat on tlie contrary God sees this with every otlier transgression, and punishes it ■with the merited destruction of the sinner. — For before Jehovah's eyes are the ways of man, and all his paths He marketh. — (D73 here also not to "ponder," but to "mark out," see note on ver. 6.) An important proof text not merely for God's omniscience, but also for His epecial providence and '^ concursus" [cooperation in human conduct]. Comp. Job xxxiv. 21 ; xxiv. 23 ; xxxi. 4, etc. — Ver. 22. His sins overtake him, the evil doer. The double designation of the object, by the suffix in '1J7^^! and then by the expression " the evil doer," added far emphasis, gives a peculiar force. Corap. xiv. 13; Ezek. xvi. 3; Jer. ix. 25. — By the cords of his sin. Comp. Isa. V. 18, and in general, for the sentiment of the whole verse, chap. i. 31, 32; xi. 5; xviii. 7 ; xxix. 6 ; Ps. vii. 15 ; xl. 12 ; John viii. 34; 2 Pet. ii. 19. — Ver. 23. For lack of correction. This is undoubtedly the explanation of "1D=!0 j'^!?, and not "without correction" (Umbreit). The 3 is not circumstantial, but causal (instrumental), as in the 2d member. — As to the meaning of njE? see above, remarks on ver. 19, T T DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, AND HOMILETIC. That our chapter holds up in opposition to all unregulated gratification of the sexual impulses, the blessing of conjugal fidelity and chastity, requires no detailed proof. It is a chapter on a pious marriage relation, appropri- ately attached to the preceding, on the right training of children ; for pious and strict disci- pline of children is impossible, where the sacred bonds of marriage are disregarded, violated and trampled under foot. In conformity with the thoroughly practical nature of the doctrine of ■wisdom (the Hhokmah), the author, as vers. 15- 20 show, completely overthrows all the demands and suggestions of a sensual desire that has broken over all the sacred bounds prescribed by God, and so, as it were, has become wild and in- sane, by exhibiting the satisfaction of the sexual impulse in marriage as justified and in conformity •R-ith the divine rule. An important hint for a practical estimate of the contents of this chapter, from which evidently there may be drawn not merely material and arguments for a thorough treatment of the Christian doctrine with respect to the sixth commandment in general, but spe- cially for the exhibition of the true evangelical idea of marriage, in contrast -vvith tlie extrava- gant asceticism of Romish theology, and also of many sects both of ancient and modern times (Moutanists', Eustathians, Cathari, Gichtelites, etc.). In this connection 1 Cor. vii. must also, naturally, be brouglitinto the account, especially the 5tli verse of this chapter, which exhibits the fundamental idea of vers. 15-20 of oui* section, reduced to the briefest and most concise form that is possible ; with the addition of the need- ful corrective, and the explanation that is ap- propriate in connection with the " always " and " evermore " of ver. 19, which might possibly be misunderstood. As a homily, therefore, on the entire chapter i On the right keeping of the Gtli commandment, a) througli tlie avoidance of all unchastity ; b) through tlie maintenance of a faithful (vers. 15- 20) and devout (vers. 21-23) demeanor in the sacred marriage relation. — Melanchthon: The sum of the matter is : Love truly thine own wife, and be content with her alone, as this law of m.arriage was at once ordained in Paradise (Gen. ii.): "they shall be one flesh," i. e., one male and one female united inseparably. For then also, even if human nature had remained incorrupt, God would have wished men to com- prehend purity, and to maintain the exercise of obedience by observing this order, viz. ,hy avoid- ing all -wandering desires. Comp. Augustine: Marriage before the fall was ordained for duty, after the fall for a remedy. Vers. 1-4. Egabd : — A harlot is the devil's de- coy, and becomes to many a tree of death unto death. The fleshly and the spiritual harlot most fill hell (chap. vii. 27). The devil comes first with sweetness and friendliness, to betray man, afterward however with bitterness, to destroy the soul. — [Ver. 3. Teafj : There is no such pleasure as to have overcome an offered plea- sure ; neither is there any greater conquest than that that is gotten over a man's corrup- tions.]— Starke: Beware of the spiritual anti- christian harlot, -who tempts the whole world to idolatry, and to forsaking the true God (1 John Y. 21). — There are in general many allegorical interpretations in the old writers, in which the strange, lascivious woman is either partially or outright assumed (as, e. g., more recently in the Berlcb, Bible.) to be the designation of " the false church," of antichrist, of worldly wisdom, etc. [See also V/ordsw. in loc., and also on ver. 19, together with his citations from Bede, etc. — A.]. For Evangelical preaching, naturally, only a treatment that is partially allegorical, can be regarded admissible, and in the end expedi- ent ; such a treatment as consists in a generali- zation of the specific prohibition of unchastity into a warning against spiritual licentiousness or idolatry in general. Ver. 15-23. Starke : An admonition to hold to one's own wife only ; 1) the admonition (16- 17) ; 2) the motives : a) the blessing on such con- jugal fidelity (18, 19) ; b) the dishonor (20, 21) and c) the ruinous result of conjugal unfaithful- ness (22, 23). — [Ver. 15. Arnot: God conde- scends to bring His own institute forward in ri- valry with the deceitful pleasures of sin. All the accessories of the family are the Father's gift, and He expects us to observe and value them. — H. Smith (quoted by Bridges) : First choose thy love ; then love thy choice.] — Egard: A married life full of triie love, joy and peace, is a paradise on earth ; on the other hand, a mar- riage full of hate, unfaithfulness and strife is a real hell. — Von Gerlach : The loveliness and enjoyment of a happy domestic relation as the earthly motive, tlie holy ordinance of matrimony watched over by God with omniscient strictness, as the higher motive to chastity. — Cahccr lland- bucli : Be true to thine own wife ; therein is hap- piness ! Sin against her, and thou becomest through thine own fault wretched! — [Ver. 21. Trapp: A man that is about any evil should CHAP. VI. 1-3 J. 81 stand in awe of himself; how much more of God! — Arnot: Secrecy is the study and hope of the wicked. A sinner's chief labor is to hiile his sin ; and his labor is all lost. Sin becomes the instrument of punishing sinners — retribution in the system of nature, set in motion by the act of sin]. 9. Warning against inconsiderate suretyship. Chap. VI. 1-5. 1 My son, if thou hast become surety for thy neighbor, hast given thine hand to a stranger; 2 if thou art entangled through the words of thy mouth, art snared by the words of thy mouth : 3 then do this, my son, and free thyself, since thou hast come into the hand of thy neighbor : go, bestir thyself, and importune thy neighbor! 4 Give no sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine ryelids; 6 free thyself, like a roe, from his hand, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. 10. Rebuke of the sluggard. Chap. VI. 6-11, 6 Go to the ant thou sluggard ; consider her ways and be wise ! 7 which hath no governor, director, or ruler ; 8 (yet) she prepare th in summer her food, she gathereth in harvest her store ! 9 How long wilt thou lie, O sluggard? when wilt thou rise from thy sleep? 10 "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest ;" — 11 then Cometh thy poverty like a robber, and thy want as an armed man ! 11. Warning against deceit and Tiolent dealing. Chap. VI. 12-19. 12 A worthless creature is the deceiver, he that walketh in perverseness of speech ; 13 he who Avinketh with his eye, who speaketh with his foot, who hinteth with his finger. 14 Perverseness is in his heart, he deviseth evil at all times ; he stirreth up strifes. 15 Therefore suddenly shall his destruction come, in a moment shall he be destroyed, and there is no remedy. 16 These six things Jehovah hateth, and seven are an abhorrence of his soul ; 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood ; 6 go THE rROYEPvBS OF SOLOMON. 18 a heart that deviseth evil plots, feet that make haste to run to evil; 19 one that uttereth lies as a false witness, and one that stirreth up strifes between brethren. 12. Admonition to chastity with a warning delineation of the fearful consequences of adultery. Chap. VI. 20-85. 20 Keep, O my son, thy father's commandment, and reject not the law of thy mother: 21 hind them to thy heart evermore, fasten it about thy neck. 22 When thou walkest let it guide thee, when thou liest down let it guard thee, and at thy waking let it talk with thee. 23 For a lamp is the commandment, and the law a light, and the reproofs of corrections are a way of life; 24 to keep thee from the vile woman, from the flattering tongue of the strange woman. — 25 Long not for her beauty in thy heart, and let her not catch thee with her eyelids! 26 For for the sake of a harlot one cometh to a loaf of bread, and a man's wife lieth in wait for the precious life. 27 May one take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 28 Or may one walk upon coalrf, and his feet not be scorched ? 29 So he who goeth to his neighbor's wife; no one that toucheth her shall be unpunished. 30 Men do not overlook the thief, when he stealeth to satisfy his craving when he is hungry ; 31 if he be found he must restore seven fold, the whole wealth of his house must he give. 32 He who comraitteth adultery is beside himself; he that destroyeth himself doeth such things. 33 Stripes and disgrace doth he find, and his reproach will not pass away. 34 For jealousy is man's fierce anger, and he spareth not in the day of vengeance. 35 He regardeth not any ransom, and is not willing if thou increase thy gift. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Vera. 1 3. The form Ty*1, 'which is found in some texts, is not a plural, but the '" "indicates in pause the pro- nunciation with - asinGeii. xvi. 5; Ps. ix. 15," HiTZio. Many MSS., moreover, exhibit here the regular form ."jj^n "rBoTTCHEE, 2 888, n. 2, utterly rejects the possibility that TJ^'1 can be a singular form, and also that the plural form ia admissible here. Holben'.s renderinj, 'thy friends," is incorrectly based upon the plural reading.— A.]. A'er. 8. [Note the appropriate change of teuse. The future TDi^. " ^ie7is solitum," BoTT. ? 943, h, and the perf. -J-, jj^^ "Perfectum effectivum," ? ? 940, 4 ; 950, 4 ; the continually recurring « preparation," the ensured " gathering."— A.] ^ Xer. 12. "nSn stands here with the simple accusative without 3, as in Mic. ii. 11; Is. xxxiii. 15 ; Pa. xv. 2. Ver. 13. [V'^ip i^sed here alone with 3, usually with a direct object. SVlO ; the verb is in use only in Piel. For the occurrence of participial forms in Piel tlius resembling Kal, see Fuerst (sub. v. SSo), and BolT. § 994, 4.— A.]. Ver 14. For the explanation . t tac K'ri DTIO (instead of the K'thibh D'JTD) see HiTZia on this passage, who • T : * ' T : is nrobablv right in referring to O.-n. xxxvii. 36 as llie source and occasion of this substitution. \er. 16. [The fern. niH used of tliat which is distinctly neuter. See Bott. § 862, 4.— A.]. Ver. 19. The n'3' cTm be regarded as a relative Imperf., with which the participle Vhp^ interchanges, or it may be regarded as an Irregular participial form, lengthened from HS'^ fs. xxvii. 12, and formed like N^r, S'tpj, etc. CHAP. VI. 1-35. 83 (So HiTzio explains the form) [Fuerst regards it an Imperf., but Bott., very decidedly as a Hiph. participal, here and in xii. i7 ; xiv. 25; xix. 5, 9; Ps. xii. 6; xxvii. 12. See ^ 994, 9.— A.]. Vfir. 21. 1 [mcyp, a masc. suffix referring to fern, nouns. Bott. § 877, 3, declares it characteristic of "secular prose, popular poetry, aiid the majority of the later Hebrew writers " thus to disregard exactness in the use of the suffix pro- nouns. Chap. XX. 12 is the only similar example adduced from Proverbs. Comp. Green, g 104, g. — A.]. Ver. 32. iTnti'O a future participle. The suffix in T\W}}^ refers to tua ^'SNJ which is readily supplied from the ntJ'X IXJ of the first member. [Interpretations divide as to the Eubject anil predicate clause of the sentence. MuENSOHEE, Notes, IIolden agree with the E. V. m making destruction the predicted fate of the adulterer ; Stoart, Kamph., and De W. agree with our author in makin^j acKiltery the natural and certain course ut the self-Jestroyer. — A.]. EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 1. The sixth chapter consists of four indepen- dent admonitory discourses of unequal length, of quite different contents, and a merely external and circumstantial connection (through points of contact, as between "sleep and slumber" in ver. 4 and the same expressions in ver. 10 ; through the triple warning against impoverish- ment: vers. 11, 15 and 26, etc.). -This is as ap- parent as is the fact that it is only in the last of these four sections that the subject of adultery, that was treated in the fifth chapter, is re.sumed. It is nevertheless arbitrary and lacks all clear proof, when HiTzia declares the three preceding sections to be the addition of an interpolator different from the author of chaps, i.-ix., who is supposed to have taken them from some old book of proverbs, and to have enlarged the third by adding vers. 10-19. For, it is argued, this nu- merical group of proverbs, of eight members, clearly shows itself to be the personal production of the interpolator, who was led by the sixfold division of the categories in vers. 12-14 to the composition of this group of the six things that the Lord hates. As though this parallel sixfold or rather sevenfold arrangement in vers. 12-19 could not be the work of the composer of the en- tire group of proverbial discourses that lies be- fore us, just as in the series of similar numerical proverbs contained in chap. xxx. (comp. Introd. § 14) ! And still further, as if there had not, been already in what has gone before at least one iso- lated warning against unchastity and adultery, as a demonstration of the fact, that in this, con- nection also the advisory and admonitory dis- courses that relate to this matter (cluxp. v. 1 sq.; vi. 20 sq.; vii. 1 sq.), must not necessarily form a whole continuing without interruption, but might very naturally be interspersed with other shorter passages of differing contents, like those forming the first half of chap, vi.i — Apart from this, HiTziG is undoubtedly correct in judging, that attention should be called to the close con- nection of vers. 16-19 with vers. 12-15, and that the first mentioned group should be regarded as a mei'e continuation and fuller expansion of the import of the last mentioned. A special argument for this is the literal repetition of the expression, "stir up strifes," from ver. 14 in ver. 19. The view recently prevalent (see e. tff., Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster on this passage), according to which vers. 16-19 form a separate group of verses as really independent as the rest (1-5, 6- 11, etc.) is to be estimated by what has been al- ready said. The correal division has been before presented by Delitzsch (Herzog's Real. Enci/cl. XIV., 698), and also by Ewald (on this pas- ' 2. Vers. 1-5. Warning against suretyship. — dKy son, if thou hast become surety for thy neighbor. — The frequent warnings which our book contains against giving security for others (comp. in addition xi. 15; xvii. 18; xx. 16; xxii. 26), are to be explained doubtless by the severe treatment, which, in accordance with the old Hebrew jurisprudence, was awarded to sure- ties ; for their goods might be distrained or they even sold as slaves, just as in the case of insolvent debtors (2 Kings iv. 1 ; Matth. xviii. 25 ; comp. Ecclesiast. viii. 13; xxix. 18-25, and also the warning maxim of the Greek philosopher Thales: '■'■Eyyiia, wdpa d'ara'^ [gi've surety, and ruin is near], and the modern popular proverb '■'■Bargen soil man wiirgen" [the alliteration cannot be translated ; an approach can be made to it in " worry a surety "]. — In the passage before us the warning is not so much against suretyship in general, as merely against the imprudent assump- tion of such obligations, leaving out of account the moral unreliableness of the man involved ; and the counsel is to the quickest possible release from every obligation of this kind that may have been hastily assumed. — Hast given thine hand to a stranger. — The stranger (1i) is not the creditor, but the debtor, who in the first clause had been designated as "neighbor." For according to Job xvii. 3 the surety gave his hand to the debtor as a sign that he became bound for him. Therefore the translation of Ewald and Elster, "for a stranger," is unnecessary as it is incorrect. — Ver. 2. If thou art entangled through the words of thy mouth. — This second half of the protasis, which, according to Hebrew idiom, is still dependent on the "if" of ver. 1, refers to the involved and embarrassed condition of the surety some time after his in- considerate giving of bonds. — Ver. 3. Then do this, my son, etc — The apodosis, with its em- phatic warning (which extends through ver. 5), is fitly introduced by the intensive particle N1£3X, now, now therefore. Comp. Job xvii. 15 ; Gen. xxvii. 32; xliii. 11. — Since thou hast come into the hand of thy neighbor. HiTZiG, interpreting the "'3, as in ii. 10, as equi- valent to DX, translates "if thou hast come," etc. But the introduction of a reason is here more pertinent, since the case of an unfortunate issue to the suretyship had alrcadj' been assumed in ver. 2. — Stamp vrith the foot. — This meaning of DDTiin, which is attested also by Ps. Ixviii. 30, is urgently commended by the following, " impor- tune thy neighbor " {^"y"} ^ni). [In our ver- sion of this phrase in its connection we have substituted Fcterst's interpretation which is also Holden's. The verb is found only here and in Ps. Ixviii. 30. Gesenius and many others, start- 84 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. ing with the radical idea, " to trample," which they find in t^3"^ and assume in D31, translate the Hitlip. in both passages, "suffer thyself to be trampled," i. «., "prostrate thyself." [So the E. v., De W., M., N. and St.]. Hupfelb (see Comm. on Ps. Ixviii. 31) and others adopt the indirect reflexive as the true meaning, — "prostrate before thyself, i.e., subdue." Fuerst, distinguishing the two verbs, interprets Di31 as meaning, in accordance with many Arabic ana- logies, "to move, stir, hasten," and the Ilithp. as meaning "«,'cA becilen, sich spulcji," i. e., in the Imperative, make haste, bestir thyself. Although this rendering has not in its favor the weight of authorities, the internal evidence appears to us to be decidedly for it. — A.] The meaning is that one should in every way force the heedless debtor — for it is he, and not possibly the creditor, that is here again intended by the "neighbor " — to the fulfilment of his obligations, before it is too late, i. e., before the matter comes to the dis- traint of goods or other judicinl processes on the part of the creditor. — Ver. 5. Free thyself as a roe from his hand, and like a bird, etc. — Gazelle and bird — in the original a paronomasia: OV and TIDi* — are appropriate emblems of a cap- tive seeking its freedom with anxious haste and exertion. The way is already prepared for these figures by the expressions employed in ver. 2. Instead of, T'O "out of the hand," all the old versions, except the Vulg. and Venet., had the reading r\i30, " out of the snare." But this is an attempt at rhetorical improvement (perhaps ac- cording to tiie analogy of Ps. xci. 3), "in which it was overlooked, that the hand was introduced the first as well as the second time with a refer- ence to the giving of the hand on becoming se- curity " (ver. 1). Conip. Umbreit and Hixzia on this passage. 3. Vers. 6-11. Go to the ant, thou slug- gard.— The ant, ever working of its own impulse quietly and unweariedly, is proverbial as an emblem of industry, both among Orientals and in the West; conip. Meidaxi's Arahic Proverbs, III., 4G8; .Saadi's Persian fable of the ant and the nightingale ; Aristotle's Historia Anim., 9, 26; Virgil's Georg.,\., 186 sq.; Horace, Serm., I., 1,33; also the German word ^^amsiff" (Old High Germ, cmaztc), which is derived from ^'Ameiie" (Weigand, dcutsches Worterb.,\., 2>b). [See Thomson's Land and Book, I., 519, 520, for illustrations both of the diligence of the ant and the utter laziness of Oriental laborers, "which have no governor, director, or ruler." — A.] — Ver. 7. Which hath no governor, director or ruler. — The three expressions "i'D "^^V and 7^0 are relatively like the Arabic otticial titles, <«Kadi," "Wali,"and "Emir." The "Wit in par- ticular is the manager, the overseer, who, e. g., in connection with public works urges on to labor (Ex. V. 6, 14 sq.). — Furthermore, compare chap. XXX. 27, where also the first clause of ver. 8 re- curs, in almost literal agreement with our passage. Vers. 9-11 add to tbe positive admonition to industry an emphatic warning against the evil consequences of its opposite. — How long wilt thou lie, O sluggard ?— Literally : till when wilt thou, etc. The 'fiO^n^* of the first clause and TI^D of the second stand in the same or- - T _ der as in Nehem. ii. 6. The meaning of the two parallel questions is substantially "Wilt thoucon- tinue lying forever ? — Wilt thou never rise ?" The double question is, as it were, a logical protasis to the apodosis which follows in ver. 11 after the in- terposingof thesluggard'sanswer (ver.lO): "then Cometh (Heb. N3-1) like a robber," etc. Comp, Bertheau on this passage. — A little sleep, etc. — Ironical imitation of the language of the lazy man; Hi orally repeated in chap. xxiv. .33. — A little folding of the hands — /. e., a little fold- ing of the arms, a well-known attitude of one who is settling himself down to sleep (comp. Eccl. iv. 5), and who in tliat act does just the opposite of that for which the hands and arms are naturally designed, that is, for vigorous work. — Then Cometh thy poverty like a robber. — ^vl'j"? strictly grassator, a frequenter of the roads, a highwayman, .a footpad (LXX : KaKu^ oSoiTzopoq). The parallel passage, xxiv. 34, has the Hithp. participle ^bnnfD without 2, which gives the far weakersense : " thencometh quietb/ thy poverty." — As an armed man — lit., as one armed with a shield (JJO t^'N) ; for even the assailing rob- ber, since he must necessarily be prepared for resistance, must carry with weapons of offence the means of defence. 4. Vers. 12-19. Against the deceitful and violent. — Concerning the relation of the two divisions of this group of verses, the first of which (vers. 12-15) depicts the seven modes of deceitful action, while the second (vers. 16-19) expressly designates them a seven hated by God, repeating also their enumeration, — see above, | 1 of these exegotical comments. — A worthless man is the deceiver. — In support of this construction of pN t^^'X as the subject and of the prefixed Sj.'^b3 DHX as the predicate [a construction pre- ferred also by Notes, Kamph. etc.'\ we have, be- sides the arrangement, especially the substitution of 13 mx for 13 ty'N, which was rather to have TT * been expected according to the analogy of 2 Sam. xvi. 7, etc. If the second expression were only " an intensive appositive to the first" (Bertheau ; see also Luther [Wordsw., M., St., H., in agree- ment with the E. V.] : "a heedless man, a mis- chievous person"), then we should have looked for t^'X in both instances. With JIX U/'X, "man of deceit, of falsity, of inward untruth and vile- ness," comp. furthermore jlX ""/lO, Job xxii. 15; and also, below, ver. 18.— He that walketh in perverseness of speech. — Comp. iv. 24 ; xxviii. 18. — Ver. 13. The three participles of thia verse are best understood, with Hitzig, as prefixed appositives to the subject contained in isba, ver. 14, which is inJeed the same as that of the 12th verse. — "Who winketh with his eyes. — Comp. x. 10; Ps. xxxv. 19. — Who speaketh with his ffeet — i. e., gives signs in mysterious ways (LXX : cijunivn), now with one foot, then with the other. — Who hinteth with CHAP. VI. 1-35. 8u his fingers. — H^ID Ilipli. part, from ni'', here used ill its most primitive meaning. The evil intent, involved in the three forms of the language of signs as here ennmerated is of course implied. — Ver. 14. He deviseth evil at all times. — Comp. iii. 29. — He stirreth up strife. — Lite- rally "he lets loose contentions" (IIitzig), or "he throws out matters of dispute" (Bertheau); comp. ver. 19 and chap. xvi. 28. — Ver. 15. Therefore suddenly shall his destruction come — Comp. i. 17; iii. 25; xxiv. 22. — Quickly will he be destroyed, ^('c— Comp. xxix. 1 ; Is. i. 28; xxx. 14; Jer. xix. 11. — Without remedy. — Comp. iv. 22. Ver. 1(1. These six things Jehovah hateth, and seven, clc. — Of the origin of this peculiar proverbial form, using symbolical numbers, a form for which Arabic and Persian gnomic literatuie supply numerous illustrations (comp. Umbrkit on this passage), Elster probably gives the simplest and most correct explanation, deriving it "purely from the exigencies of parallelism." " The form of parallelism could not, on account of harmony, be sacrificed in any verse. But how should a parallel be found for a number ? Since it was not any definite number that was the important thing, relief was found by taking one of the next adjacent numbers as the parallel to that which was chiefly in mind." In a similar way Hitzig on Amos i. 3 (where the numbers put into this relation are three and four) ; " To the number three the number four is appended to characterize the first as one optionally taken, to convey the ide.a that there are not understood to be precisely three and no more, but possibly more.'" At any rate, those expositors are in the wrong, who, as e. g., re- cently Bertheau and Von Gerlach, find the design of this mode of numeration in the fact that the last of the enumerated elements, the seventh vice therefore in the case before us, is to be brought out with especial emphasis. [Stan- ley [Ili^t. Jewish Church, II. p. 258), adduces this as a probable example of the "enigmas" or "riddles," which were one of the most charac- teristic emboiliments of the wisdom of the wise king. — Arnot : There is one parallel well worthy of notice between the seven cursed tilings here, and the seven blessed things in the fifth chapter of Matthew. The first and last of the seven are identical in the two lists. "The Lord hates a proud look" is precisely equivalent to "blessed are the poor in spirit;" and "he that sowcth discord among brethren" is the exact converse of the " peacemaker." — A.]. — Ver. 17. Haughty eyes: literally, high or lofty eyes; comp. xxx. 13; Ps. xviii. 27; cxxxi. 1; .Job xxi. 22; xl. 11; also the Latin expression grande supercilium. — Hands that shed innocent blood. Comp. i. 11 sq., and Isa. lix. 7, with wliicli passage ver. 18 :ilso corresponds in the form of expres- sion, without for that reason being necessarily derived from it, as Hitzig holds. For in case of such derivation the order of words ought to correspond more exactly with the alleged ori- ginal, as in Rom. iii. 15-17. — Ver. 19. One that uttereth lies as a false witness, literal- ly, one that breathes lies. The same characteri- zation of the false witness is found also in chap, siv. 5, 25; xix. 5, 9. As respects the arrange- ment in which the seven manifestations of treach- erous dealing are ennmerated in these verses, it does not perlectly correspond with the order ob- served in ver. 12-14. There the series is mouth, eyes, feet, fingers, heart, devising evil counsels, stirring up strifes; here it is eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet, speaking lies, instigating strife. With reference to the organs whicii are named as the instruments in the first five forms of treacherous wickedness, in the second enu- meration an order is adopted involving a regu- lar descent (ver. lG-19, eyes, tongue, hands, etc.) ; the base disposition to stir up strife, or to let loose controversy (see rem. on ver. 14) in both cases ends the series. 5. Vers. 20-24. Admonition to chastity, prepar- ing the way for a subsequent warning against adultery. — Keep, O my son, thy fatlier's commandmsnt, etc. This general introduc- tion to the new warning against adultei-y corre- sponds with the similar preparatory admonitions in chap. v. 1, 2 and vii. 1-5, and serves, like these, to announce the great importance of the succeeding warnings. With respect to ver. 20 in p.irticul ir comp. i. 8. — Ver. 21. Bind them to thy heart evermore, etc. So chap. iii. 3 and vii. 3. On account of the plural which occurs in the verse, with which the singular is inter- changed in ver. 22, Hitzig conjectures the inser- tion of this verse by .a late interpolator, and that in accordance with the standard furnished by chap. iii. 3, in which place the passage is held to be original. This is arbitrary, for no single ancient munusc'ript or version confirms the sus- picion. Just as well might ver. 22 be declared interpolated, inasmuch as only in this is the singular form found, while immediately after, in ver. 23, the double designation " coinmandnK-nt" and " doctrine" returns. — Ver. 22. When thou walkest let it guide thee. The contrast between walking and sleeping or lying is like that in iii. 23, 24. — When thou wakest let it talk with thee. The accusative suffix in ■"in't^n is here employed as in Ps. v. 4 ; xlii. 4 ; Zech. vii. 5, etc., for the designation of the per- son to whom the intercourse indicated in the action of the verb relates. With regard to n'ty to take, to converse, comp. also Ps. Ixix. 13 ; with reference to the sentence as a whole comp. Ps. cxxxix. 18. — Ver. 23. For the reproofs of correction are a w^ay of life, /. c. they lead to life, cump. ii. 19; iii. 2, 1(3. "Reproofs of dis- cipline" (1DO mnDlj^) corrective reproofs, re- proofs whose aim is correction. — Ver. 24. Prom the vile woman, strictly the woman of evil, of vileness. J^l (for which the LXX here read j^^l) is therefore a substantive, as in the phrase "the way of evil" in chap. ii. 12. — From the flattering tongue of the strange woman ; literally, from the smoothness of the tongue of the strange woman. For instead of 111^7, from I T _ which reading of the Masoretic text the meaning would result " from the smoothness of a strange tongue," we must doubtless point jity/ {construct state), since the subject of remark here is the strange, wanton woman (just as in ii. 1(J ; v. 20), while the thought of a foreign language [y/.tjaaij 86 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. a'Alorpia, LXX) is altogether remote from the context. la opposition to the transhition of EwALU, Bertueau aud El.steu, "from the smooth-tougued, the sti-ange woman," comp. HiT- ziG on this passage. 6. Ver. 2-3-y5. Warning against adultery itself. — With her eyelids, with which she throws amorous and captivating glances at her lover, comp. Ecclesiast. xxvi. 9. The eyelids (or, more literally, eyelashes) are here compared with the cords of a net, as in Eceles. xii. iJ, with the lattice of a window, or as in the orotic songs of the Arabs aud Persians, with darts, with lances, daggers or swords. — Ver. 2i). For, for the sake of a harlot one Cometh to a loaf of bread, i. e., to the last bit, the last morsel of bread, as a sign and emblem of utter poverty (thus Sohultens, C. B. Mi- CHAELis, Umbiieit, Elster); or again, the mean- ing may be to the begging a loaf of bread, to beggary (thus Abe.\ Ezra, Vatablus, Rosen- MUELLER, Elster, Hitzig). In opposition to the translation defended by most of the ancient expositors, and recently by Ziegler, Ewald, Bertueau, etc., " For as the hire of a harlot one gives hardly a bit of bread." or as others prefer "merely a bit of bread," may be adduced 1) the context, see the 2d clause; 2) the lexical fact that n>* can neither mean "hardly" nor "mere- ly;" 3) the fact, historical and archreological, established by Gen. xxxviii. 17, etc., that the harlot's reward in ancient Palestine doubtless amounted to more than a mere loaf of bread, e. g. a kid, as in the case cited from Genesis, or a price considerably higher, as seems to follow from Prov. xxix. 3 ; Ecclesiast. ix. 6 ; Luke XV. 30. — Lieth in -wait for the precious life. Very appropriately has K'pJ, "life," the predicate mp'' "costly" connected with it; for its value tit; rises above all mere property; comp. Ps. xlix. 8. — Ver. 27-29. The meaning is this: impossible as it is that the clothing on one's breast, or that one"s feet should remain unharmed by scorching if fire be brought near them, so inconceivable is it that the adulterer should follow his unlawful intercourse without evil consequences and just retribution. The two questions in vers. 27, 28 imply a strong negation, like the interrogative olauses in Amos iii. 4-6. Ver. 29 is connected with the two negative antecedent clauses as a correlative consequent, and is therefore intro- duced by |Jp, so. — Vers. 30, 31. A new figure to illustrate the punishment, surely impending and severe, which threatens the adulterer. — Men do not overlook the thief, etc. ; literally " ihey do not contemn it in the thief." The im- perf. ^ii3' expresses the idea of custom, that which occurs in accordance with experience. [Interpreters are divided between the two ideas of "scorn" aud "disregard" as proper render- ings of the verb. Siuakt, Mue.vsch., Words. adopt the former ; men do not despise the tliief, though he must be punished; they do despise the adulterer. WuKi>s. calls attention to a dis- position in modern society to reverse this judg- ment. Notes, IIoluen, like De W., Fuerst and our author, adopt the other view. — A.]. — To satisfy his craving when he is hungry. This circumstance, which exhibits the guilt of the thief in a milder light, serves evidently to dis- play the punishment that befalls the adulterei" with whom he is here compared, as one more richly deserved. For the more presumptuous his crime, the less excused, or, as it were, de- manded by his necessities, the more just is the punishment that comes upon him ! If Hitzio had taken due notice of this meaning of ver. 30, which is transparent enough, he would have seen in advance how unnecessary aud excessively artificial is the attempt to explain the verse as interrogative. [Kamph. adopts his view but does not strengthen it]. — He must restore sevenfold. According to the prescriptions of the law in Ex. xxi. 37 ; xxii. 1 sq., it should strictly be only four orfivefold (comp. the publican Zaccheus, Luke xix. 8). But in common life these prescriptions were probably not ordinarily observed: the injured party allowing his silence, his declining a judicial prosecution of the mat- ter, to be purchased at a higher rate than was exactly allowed. Furthermore, that " sevenfold" is here used loosely, only as a round number (comp. Gen. iv. 15), and is not designed, as might be thought, to mark the highest conceivable ransom, appears from the 2d member, which suggests the probability of losing "the whole wealth of his house." — Ver. 32 stands in the same relation to the two preceding as ver. 29 to 27 and 28; it expresses the conclusion that is to be drawn from the meaning, which is clothed in the form of an analogy or parable, with refer- ence to the well-deserved recompense of the adulterer. It is therefore hasty and arbitrary in IliTZiG to reject this as a spurious gloss, and to find in ver. 33 the direct continuation of the thief's punishment, which has been depicted in ver. 31. — He that destroyeth himself doeth such things. Literally, "whoso will destroy his life, he does it." — Ver. 33. Stripes and disgrace. The i'JJ, plac/a, may here very well stand in its literal sense, and so designate the blows with which the adulterer detected in the act will be visited by the husband of the unfaithful wife, and will be driven from the house (Ujibreit, Hitzig). — Ver. 34. For jealousy is man's fierce anger, i. e., the jealousy (nXJp as in chap, xxvii. 4) of the injured husband is a fire blazing fiercely, burning and raging with all the might of a man ; comp. " the hurling of a man " [or as others "a mighty prostration"'] Is. xxii. 17. The 2d half of the verse explains this somewhat brief expression, "man's wrath," which, moreover, appears to be chosen not with- out collateral reference to the more rapidly evaporating wrath of women. — Ver. 35. He re- gardeth not any ransom, litei-ally, "he does not lift up the face of any ransom," i. e., does not receive it as adequate to allay his wrath — as one lifts up the face of a suppliant when his request is granted or favorably received. — And is not willing, i. €., to forego his strict right of re- venge. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. The warning against improvident surety^- ship iu the unqu.iiified form, and the urgent and almost passionate tone iu which it is presented CHAP. VI. 1-35. 87 in vers. 1-5, rests upou the consideration that "all men are liars" (Ps. cxvi. 11 ; Rom. iii. 4), that therefore no one can be trusted (comp. Jer. xvii. 5: "Cursed be the man that trustcth in man"), that every neighbor is at the same time in a certain sense a " stranger" to us (see above on ver. 1), in a word, that one must be prepared for manifestations of unfaithfulness, or unrelia- bleness, on the part of any one whatever, though he stood ever so near us. Hence tlie duty, for the salve of preserving one's own independence and sparing one's own strength for his personal worli (bodily as well as mental), of extricating one's self at any cost and as speedily as possible from evei-y relation of suretyship, from the con- tinuance of which injurious consequences might result to our own freedom and welfare. With the admonitions of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, to be ready at all times for the lend- ing and giving away of one's property, even in cases where one cannot hope for the recovery of what has been given out (Luke vi. 30, 31, 3(j ; comp. 1 Cor. vi. 7) this demand is not in conflict. For Christ also plainly demands no such readi- ness to suffer loss on account of our neighbor, as would deprive us of personal liberty, and rob us of all means for further beneficence ; and yet this sort of evil result from suretyship is what the author of our passage has in his eye. 2. Also in the subsequent warning against slothfulness (vers. G-11) the reference to the danger of impoverishment appears to be the main motive, brought forward with especial emphasis. This is above all things else the pre- cise thing to be learned from the example of the ant, that it is important to gather diligently "in summer," that one may not suffer in winter, — that the "harvest time," when all is within reach in abundance, is the time for earnest and unceasing toils, that one may be able calmly to meet the later seasons of want which offer to the most willing and vigorous industry no opportu- nity for acquiring. Comp. the example of Joseph in Egypt (Gen. xli. sq.), and apply all this to the spiritual department of labors in Christ's service, e. g., those of the pastor, the missionary, etc. 3. The six or seven vices, twice enumerated in different order and form of expression, against which the paragraph vers. 12-19 warns (comp. the exegetical notes on ver. 19), are at the same time all of them manifestations of hatred against one's neighbor, or sins against the second table of the Decalogue ; yet it is not so much a gene- ral unkindness as rather an unkindness consist- ing and displaying itself in falseness and malice that is emphasized as their common element. And only on account cf the peculiarly mischiev- ous and ruinous character of just these sins of hatred to one's neighbor, is he who is subject to them represented as an object of especially in- tense abhorrence on the part of a holy God, and as threatened with the strongest manifestations of His anger in penalties (vers. 15, 16). 4. As a fundamental proposition for the suc- cessful avoidance of all converse with impure wantons, and of the dangers thence resulting, there is introduced in the 1st clause of ver. 25 a warning even against the very first beginnings , of all unlawful sexual intercourse, against im- \ pure longings, or unchaste desires and thoughts of the heart. Comp. the last commandment of the Decalogue (Ex. xx. 17), as well as Christ's inten- sifying and spiritualizing of the Mosaic prohibi- tion of adultery ; Matih. v. 28. — The admunitioa also, which is prefixed as introductory, to keep continually before the eyes and in the heart the teachings of Divine wisdom (comp. Tob. iv. 6), serves as an emphatic utterance of this ''Obsta pnnc/piis !" or the exhibition of the necessity that the very first germs and roots of the sin of unchastity must be rooted out. HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. In the endeavor to comprehend in one homi- letic whole the four main divisions of the chap- ter, one would first of all need to have clearly ia view the suggestions given in vers. 2, 11, 15 and 20 sq., with reference to the danger of sinking into poverty and destitution, and to employ these in fixing his central idea. In some such way as this then: Even in the present life want and evil of every sort are wont to be the attendants a) of the lighter offences 1) of inconsiderateness (vers. 1-5) and 2) of slothfulness (vers. 0-11); b) of the grosser transgressions and vices, such as re- sult 1) from pride and malignity (vers. 12-19), and 2) from lust of the eyes and sensuality (vers. 20-'5). — Comp. SxiicKEii: Against unfaithfulness in life and conversation, as it displays itself 1) ia suretyship; 2) in fulfilling the duties of one's calling: 3) in daily converse with human society; 4) in married life. Ver. 1-5. Starke: A teacher of the divine word becomes in a certain sense a surety to God for the souls of his hearers (Ezek. iii. 18) ; there- fore must he watch over them day and night, that none be lost through fault of his (Acts xx. 28). — J. Lange : In Christ our friend we have a faith- ful surety who can and will free us from all our debt. — AVoHLFARTH : From credulity to put at risk one's property, to which one's children have ' the first claim, and which one should emploj' only for the general good, and thereby to give an im- pulse to the follies and sins of others, is quite as ruinous as it is morally blameworthy. Ver. 0-11. Melanchthon : Diligence is the virtue by which we are disposed steadfastly and firmly for God's sake, and the common welfare, to perform the labors belonging to our calling, with the aid of God, who has promised aid to those that seek it. The extremes of this virtue are in- dolence and a busy ofliciousness [tio7ivtz pay fioavv)]). The indolent omits too much; the ofBcious, either from excess of ardor, undertakes many things that are not necessary, or undertakes by-works [rcdpep^a) and interferes with others' vocations,"' etc. — Egard: God will not support thee without work, but by work; that is His holy ordinance (Gen. iii. 19). Do thy part, and God will do His. ... To know how rightly to employ time and opportunity is great wisdom. Gather in summer that thou mayest have in winter ; gather in youth that thou mayest have in old age I — Ber- leb. Bible: Where the ways of Christianity are not directed in accordance with the perfect law of liberty (.James i. 25) and according to the impulse of the Spirit of God. but according to any human constitution, there men go more foolishly THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. to work than the ants in their labor. — [Trait : They are utterly out that think to have the plea- sure of idleness, and the plenty of paiufulness]. Vers. 12-19. Egard: A proud heart has never done anything specially for God's honor and a neighbor's good; through humble hearts God does great things. — Starke : The evil heart can- not long be hidden ; it soon shows itself in evil gestures, words and deeds. — (On ver. 18) : The heart underlies the 'seven vices which are an abomination to God, and in the midst, because it is the fountain from which evil flows in all direc- tions (Matth. xii. 34, 35; xv. ID). The Lord therefore hates not only the actual outbreakings of sins, but also the devices of the ungodly with which they encompass day and night. — (On ver. 16sq. ): Eyes, hands, tongue, heart, feet, are in themselves good and well-pleasing to God ; but when they turn from the path of virtue and in- cline to vice, then they are evil and cannot please God. — Woulfarth : Before the Lord proud eyes, false tongues, guilty hands, etc., cannot stand. His hand lays hold upon all such transgressors according to the holy law according to which every kind of evil finds its penalty. — [Ver. 16, 17. W. Bates : Pride is in the front of those sins which God hates, and are an abomination to Him. Pride, like an infectious disease, taints the sound parts, corrupts the actions of every virtue, and deprives them of their true grace and glory. — J. Edwards : It is vain for any to pre- tend that they are humble, and as little children before God, when they are haughty, impudent, and assuming in their behavior amongst men.] Vers. 20-35. Stocker (on ver. 25) : Solomon here warns chiefly against the things by which one may be enticed into adulteiy, namely 1) against evil desire and lust in the heart ; 2) against wanton, over-curious eyes. — Starke (on ver. 25): Since evil lusts spring up in the heart, Solomon would have us at the very beginning stop up the fountains, i. e., suppress the very first instigations of corrupt flesh and blood (James i. 14, 15). For it is always more diflicult to extin- guish sparks already existing than to guard against the heart's receiving any. — Von Ger- lach (on vers. 34, 35) : The fearful rage of the jealous husband grows out of the deep feeling that the wife is one with her husband, a part of him, whose worth cannot be counterbalanced by any possession however great, outside of him. — Comp. J. Laxge: Just as little as the adulterer taken in his adultery is left unpunished by the injured husband, so little, yea even less will the spiritual adulterer remain unpunished of the Lord (1 Cor. iii. 17). 13. New admonition to chastity, with a reference to the warning example of a youth led astray by a harlot. Chap. VIL 1-27. 1 My son, keep my -words, and treasure up my commandments with thee. 2 Keep my commandments and thou shalt live — and my instruction as the apple of thine eye. 3 Bind them to thy fingers, write them on the tablet of thine heart. 4 Say to wisdom "Thou art my sister !" and call understanding " acquaintance," 5 that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger that fiattereth with her words. — ■ 6 For through the window of my house, through my lattice I looked out, 7 and I saw among the inexperienced ones, discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding. 8 He passed along the street near her corner, and sauntered along the way to her house, 9 in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the midst of the night and darkness. 10 And lo, a woman cometh to meet him, in the attire of a harlot, and subtle in heart. 11 Boisterous was she, and ungovernable; her feet would not tarry in her house; 12 now in the street, now in the market places, and at every corner did she watch. CHAP. VII. 1-27. 89 13 And she laid hold upon him, and kissed him, put on a bold face and said to him, 14 " Thankofferings were (binding) upon me, to-day have I redeemed my vows; 15 therefore came I out to meet thee, to seek thy face, and I have found thee. 16 Tapestries have I spread upon my couch, variegated coverlets of E jyptian linen ; 17 I have sprinkled my couch with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us sate ourselves with love till morning, and enjoy ourselves in love! 19 For the man is not at home, he has gone a long journey ; 20 the purse he has taken with him ; not till the day of the full moon will he return." 21 She beguiled him with the multitude of her enticements, by the allurements of her lips she led him astray. 22 He followed her at once, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, and as fetters (serve) for the correction of fools — 23 till an arrow pierceth his liver: — as a bird hasteneth to the snare, and knoweth not that his life is at stake. — 24 And now, ye children, hearken to me, and observe the words of my mouth ! 25 Let not thine heart incline to her ways, and stray not into her paths. 26 For many slain hath she caused to fall and all her slain are many. 27 Ways of hell (is) her house going down to the chambers of death. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 7. [nj'SX, the ) consec. omitted, as is sometimes the case, the form resembling a simple Intentional. 6b- T ■ T SEX. Lehrijeh. p. 874., BiJTT. ^ ? 9(39, 6; 973, 5. Stuaut (coram, in loc.) seems to be in error in regarding this a real volim- tative, and rendering " that I might see among the simple, and observe, etc." — A.]. Vers. 8. [For the form HiJD instead of the full form n^i/D (with the ordinary form of fem. nouns with suff,), se» T • T T • BoTT. § 724, 5. Coinp. however Exegetical notes in regard to the proper reading. — A.]. Ver. 11. [.UDl?', use J of repeated recurrence in the past — Fiens multiplex pneteriti according to the terminology of BoTT. ?949,/.— A.] Ver. lo. In the verb nT^'H (lit., she made hard, corroioratu'i) the doubling of the 2d radical is omitted, as in n7nn> T ■■■■ T — Jnd. XX. 40. [Given by Bott. g 500, 5, as an example of the simplifying of that which is usually doubled, to express the idea of thi^ pernaiient, gradual or gentle. See al>o ^ 1123, 3. Coinp. Oreen, ^ 141. 1 ; Stuart, ^ 613, 11. — A.]. Ver. 1.5. [Stuart's rendering of the last clause as final, " that I might find, etc." is unnecessary ; it is rather a simple consecutive. — A.]. , Ver. 18. [nOv^nj, the co^ortaiiue use of the Intentional. Bott., g 965, 2. — A.]. EXEGETICAL. 1. From the preceding wnrnings against un- chastity and adultery (chap. ii. lB-19 ; chap. v. ; chap. vi. 20-35) the one now before us is distin- guished by the fact, that the poet, after a preli- minary general introduction (vers. 1-5 ; comp. chap. vi. 20-24), for the sake of delineating more clearly the repuLsiveness and various conse- quences of intercourse with wanton women, de- picts in narrative form the example of a single adulterous woman, who by her lascivious arts betrays a foolish youth into adultery. This is therefore a didactic narrative, with a purpose of earnest warning, here presented as a conclusion to tlie second larger group of admonitory dis- courses. It is not possibly an allegory, for no- tliing whatsoever in the text points to such a con- ception of the adulteress, by virtue of which she might be regarded as introduced as a personifi- cation of the abstract idea of folly (in contrast with that of wisdom personified). iS'ot till we come to chap. ix. 13 sq. do we find such a pre- sentation of folly under the image of a wanton, adulterous woman. — In contrast with tlie exposi- tors of the ancient church, most of wliom gave allegorical interpretations, the correct view is 90 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. found as early as M. Geier, Vatablus, Merce- Rus, Egari), Hansen, Michaelis, Starke, and also in nearly all the moderns except Von Ger- LACH. The view of several of those named, es- pecially that of Starke, that the whole narration is to be regarded a true history, an actual expe- rience of the poet, lacks sufficient support in the style and form of the delineation. The history may just as well be imaginary as the contents of many narrations of Christ, — e. >j., that of the good Samaritan, of the prodigal son, etc. 2. Vers. 1-5: Introduction in a general form, in which ver. 1 reminds us of chap. i. 8 ; ii. 1 ; vi. 20; so ver. 2 of iv. 4; ver. 3 of iii. 3 ; vi. 21 ; ver. 5 of ii. IG; vi. 24.— Ver. 2. And my teaching as the apple of thine eye, lit. " as the little man in thine eye." The same iigura- tive description is found in Arabic and Persian (see Umisrext on this passage). Comp. also the Greek Koprj, Kopdoiov (r=|]>^-r\| [the daughter of theeyc] Lam.ii.18) anil theLtitin pupa, pupiUa. The apple of the eye is also in Dout. xxxii. 10; Ps. xvii. 8: Zech. ii. 12, the emblem of a precious possession guarded with peculiarly watchful care.— Ver. 3. Bind them to thy fingers, not precisely as an amulet, as Umbreit thinks, but as an ornament, a costly decoration, like a ring; comp. Song Sol. viii. 0, and the observa- tions on iii. 3. — Without adequate reason Hitzig regards the verse as spurious, on account of its partial correspondence with Deut. vi. 8; xi. 18. As though the figures here employed, especially that in the first clause, did not occur very fre- quently within the sphere of the Old Testament, and that in every instance with a form somehow slightly modified! Comp. e. g., Ex. xiii. 9, 16; Jer. xxii. 24 ; Hag. ii. 23. — Ver. 4. " Thou art my sister!" Comp. Job xvii. 14; xxx. 29; "Wisd. viii. 2. The parallel "acquaintance" in the 2d clause corresponds with the Hebrew ex- pression >'^10, which denotes knowledge, ac- quaintance, and then (abstract for the concrete, as occurs, e. (/., also in the use of the French eonnaisfince [and the English " acquaintance "]) one well known, a friend, fainiUaris. The same expression is found also in Ruth ii. 1 as the Kri. Comp. P. Cassel on this passage, who however both for that passage and the one before us gives the preference to the K'thibh ^'TO (comp. Ps. Iv. 14 ; Ixxxviii. 9) as the more primitive reading. 3. Vers. G-9. The foolish yourif/ man. — Through my lattice I looked out. Comp. the quite similar representation in the song of Deborah, Judges V. 28. ^JU'N denotes as it does there a lat- " T : ■.■ ticed aperture, an arrangement for the circulation of fresh air (IIitzmO- — Ver. 7. And I saw among the inexperienced; literally, among the vi/niocc:, the simple ; comp. remarks on i. 4, •where the same expression D'Xr^i) is used, synony- mous with "^yi, boy, as here with D'J3. It is not necessary, with Arnoldi, Bertiieau and Hitzig, to explain the expression in exact accordance with tiie Arabic hyjiircncs [young men], — Ver. 8. Near a corner. — Tlio Masoreiic punctuation ("133 with niappikin the H (comp. mo. Job xi. 9) represents the corner as hers, i. e., tlie corner of the adulteress, the corner of her house, — and many recent expositors, e. g., Umbreit and Hit- zig, translate and explain accordingly. But in- asmuch as according to ver. 12 (which Hitzig, without any reason, pronounces spurious), the adulteress is accustomed to watch " at every corner," therefore at street corners in general, it is not quite needful to refer the corner here mentioned to her dwelling. All the ancient ver- sions moreover have read only the simple PlilS (LXX : Traod juviav ; Yu]g. : j'uxta angulum, etc.). — And sauntered along the ■way to her house. — Psychologically it is pertinent to depict the young man predisposed to sin as strolling before the house of the adulteress, and this as the beginning of his imprudence, so far forth as he thus plunges himself into temptation. The verb 1^]^ is fairly chosen, as it always expresses a certain care and intention in his going. We say substantially "he measures his steps, he paces before her door" (Umbreit). — Ver. 9. lu the tw^ilight, in the evening of the day. — The accumulation of the expressions is explained by the fact that it was fitting to characterize the action and conduct of the young man as belong- ing to the works of darkness, the deeds of night. Comp. Luke xxii. 53; Rom. xiii. 12; 1 Thess.v. 4-7, etc. There is furthermore no contradiction be- tween the notation of time in the first clause and that in the second ; for ^tl^J strictly signifies not the first evening twilight, but the later period of evening darkness, irom 9 o'clock to 12 (see Job vii. 4; xxiv. 15), and so the time immediately bordering upon the true black night or midnight. — In the blackness of night — literally, "in tlie pupil of the night," comp. xx. 20, K'ri. The tertiuin comparationis is to be found, doubtless in both, the blackness and the middle, and not in the first alone, as Umbreit holds. Comp. besides the phrase "heart of the night " in the poetic language of the Persians (see Umbreit on this passage). 4. Vers. 10-20. The adulteress. — In the attire of a harlot. — HJIT iT*^, dress of a harlot (comp. with respect to H'tJ', dress, apparel, Ps. Ixxiii. 16), stands here with no connecting word in ap- position to " woman ;" a woman a harlot's dress, as though the woman herself were nothing more than such a dress. Thus, and with good reason, Bertiieau explains [and Words.], while Hitzig altogether artificially explains T?'\D by TVW (from TW'd) as equivalent to r\?73'7, likeness, and accord- ingly translates "with the outward appearance of a harlot;" in the same way also the LXX: el6og exovaa iropviKdv. — Subtle in heart. — 37 n^>'3 is strictly "one who is guarded in heart," ('. e., one whose heart is guarded and inaccessi- ble, who locks up her plans and counsels deep iu her breast, comp. Is. Ixv. 4. Thus Cur. B. Mi- chaelis (citing the French re.tenu), Umbreit, Bertiieau, Elster, etc., and from earlier times at least the Vers. Ycncta: 7T£(l>v?My/invrf rijv KapSiav. [With these Worbsw. is in substantial agree- ment; "her heart is like a walled fortress," etc.']. The other ancient versions expressed the idea "one carrying away the heart of the young man," as though they had read nf^VJ (so also recently CHAP. VII. 1-27. 91 Arnold:). Ewald explains "of hardened heart, bold and confident ;" Hitzig, in accord- ance with the Arabic and comparing the saucia in "Viuoil's Jilnckl, IV. 1 : " an arrow in her heart, wounded by love's dart," and therefore ardent and wanton — both of these being plainly altoge- ther artificial and adventurous. [Fuekst, treat- ing the acyective as fem. constr. from lljfj, ren- ders "watching (for hearts of young men"). — Boisterous was she and ungovernable. — With the first epithet (literally, shouting) comp. chap. ix. 13; with the second, Hos. iv. 1(3, where the same word is used of a wild heifer that will not submit its neck to the yoke. — Ver. 12. Now in the street, elc. — That we have only here a custom, a habit of the wanton woman described, while in the preceding verse we have delineated her condition in a single instance, is an entirely arbitrary assumption of Hitzig's, which is alto- gether opposed by the use of the Imperfect in both cases (^IJD'i'.', ver. 11, and 3^X71, ver. 12). Therefore the argument that the verse is spuri- ous, resting as it does mainly on this alleged difference in the substance and scope of the verse, is to be rejected (comp. above, remarks on ver. 8). — Ver. 13. Put on a bold face. — Comp. chap. xxi. 29; Eccles. viii. 1. — Ver. 11. Thank- offerings were binding upon me — that is, in consequence of a vow, as the second clause shows. She has therefore on the day that is hardly gone ("to-day" — the day is here repre- sented as continuing into the night) slain a vic- tim in sacrifice that had been vowed to the Lord for some reason or other, and has prepared for a meal the flesh of this animal, which in accordance with the law. Lev. vii. 16, must be eaten on the second day, at the latest. To this meal, which, to judge from the description of the luxurious furnishing of the chamber, in vers. 16 sq., is no simple affair, she now invites the young man. — Ver. 16. Variegated coverlets of Egyptian linen. — riDpn which the older translators nearly all interpret as "variegated coverlets," the larger number derive from the Arabic ^ ^Va _>■ » to be many colored (therefore tapetes vcrsicolorcs s. picti, as it is found as early as the Vulgate) ; Bertheau, on the contrary, derives from itOPl^ 3i*n to cut, to make stripes or strips (therefore striped TaautQv'iaX) ; IIitzig finally derives from the Arab. i^Jo_c, cotton, appealing to Pliny, //. N., XIX., 1, 2, according to whom cotton fabrics in great quantity were manufactured from native material. The first of these explanations, as the simplest and best attested, deserves the prefer- ence.— pCDX is equivalent to the ^Egypt. Alhi- ouniau, linen, and is fouml in Greek also in the form b&dvr] or b^iovi.ov. [The rendering of the E. V. " with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt" conforms to* closely to the primary meaning of the verb 3i3n "to carve." It cannot refer to any carved frame work of the bed, but rather to the embroidered figures which resemble carving — A.]. — Ver. 17. I have sprinkled my couch, etc. — Hitzig, who translates the verb by " I have perfumed," has in mind a mere per- fuming of the bed or of its apparel by means of the swinging of a censer filled with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. But while H^J does properly signify to raise, to swing, yet the signification "sprinkle" is easily enough derived from this; and although the spices in question were not sprinkled precisely in the form of water holding them in solution, they still produced a satisfac- tory result if strewed upon the coverlets of the couch in little bits, fragments of the bark, fibres or scales. In no other way than this is it to be supposed that the same fragrant materials (with cassia) were employed, according to Ps. xlv. 8, in perfuming the king's robes of state; comp. also Song Sol. iii. 6; iv. 14. — Ver. 18. Let us sate ourselves with love, etc. — Comp. v. 19, and also the phrase DHH ^^2V, Song Sol. v. 1.— Enjoy ourselves in love. — Instead of the meaning "enjoy" or "delight one's self," well attested by Job xx. 18; xxxix. 13, the old inter- preters give to the verb in this instance the stronger meaning "to embrace passionately, to cohabit" (LXX: kyKv/und^u/XEV spun; Aquila and Theodotion: (n)u-epnvX£iicjfj.ev ; so also Hitzig: "let us join in love's indulgence!"). But it is plainly unnecessai-y to substitute an obscene im- port, artificially and with a possible appeal to the Arabic, for the simpler meaning, which is abundantly attested by the iisus loquendi of the Old Testament. — Ver. 19. The man is not at home. — Let it be observed with how cold and strange a tone the faithless wife speaks of her husband. — He has gone a long journey. — Lit., "upon a journey from afar;" the idea "from afar" is loosely appended to that of "journey" in order to represent not so much the way itself as rather the person traversing it as far removed. — Ver. 20. The purse he hath taken with him — and therefore proposes ex- tensive transactions at a distance from home, and will continue journeying a considerable time. — ■ On the day of the full moon he vyill return. — In the Hebrew the ND3 (for which in Ps. Ixxxi. 4 we have the form T\'^2i) forms an alliteratioa with the f]p3 in the first member, which is pro- bably not undesigned; "the verse flows so smoothly along (comp. ii. 13) and one imagines that he hears the sweetly musical voice of the be- trayer" (Hitzig). Furthermore the " day of the full moon" is not a designation of the full mooa of the feast of tabernacles which was celebrated with peculiar festivities (Umbreit, Elster), but the expression plainly relates to the next suc- ceeding full moon. Since now, according to ver. 9, the time to which the narrative relates must be about new moon, the cunning woman meatis to hint that her husband will not return for about a fortnight. See Hitzig on this passage. 5. Vers. 21-23. The result of her enticing arts. Ver. 21. With the multitude of her entice- ments.— HD/, learning (i. 5; ix. 9) is here iro- nically employed of the skilful and bewildering rhetoric wliich the adulteress has known how to employ. — With the expression "smoothness of lips" comp. "smoothness of tongue," chap. vi. THE rr.OVERBS OF SOLOMON. 24. — Vcr. 22. A; once, Hebrew Di^J^^, implies that he had at first liesitated, until this fear of his to take the decisive step was overcome by evil appetite, and he now witli passionate promptness formed the vile purpose and executed it at once, to cut oif all iurther reflection. Here is evi- dently a stroke in the picture of the profoundest psychological truth. — As an ox goeth to the slaughter. — Therefore following another, and ■with a brutish unconsciousness. Comp. the cor- responding figure, which, however, is used with a purpose of commendation, in Is. liii. 7. And as fetters (serve) for the correction of the fool. — Wiih the fetters {Djy coinp. Is. iii. 18) ;ve have here compared, of course, the adulteress who suddenly and by a single effort prevails upon the thouglitless youth, — and not, possibly, the young man himself '(as Umbreit supposes, who finds the significance of the comparison in tliis, that the foolish and ensnared youth is represented first as a dumb beast, and then as a simply material phy- sical thing, as a mere dead instrument. As the obstinate fool {r^^,) who treads a forbidden path, is suddenly caught and hold fast by the trap lying in it, so has the deceitful power of the adulteress caught the foolish young man. Thus, and with probable correctness, Elster, and long- ago many of the older expositors, like Sol. Glass, I'hilol. Sacra, p. 738, and M. Geier on this passage (only that they unnecessarily explain by an hiipallaye: "as fetters for the correction of afool," in other words, "as the fool (comes) to the correction of fetters"). Somewhat differently Berthe.vu, and before him Luther, St.a.rke, etc. [and recently Stuart] ; " He comes as if to fetters, which are decreed for the correction of the fool ;" but to supply befoi-e DDj^ ^X from the preceding has the order and parallelism against it. [Fuekst regards the noun as an instrumental accus., and translates "and as in fetters, i. e., slowly, the fool is led to correction," — but re- gards the evidence as all indicating a defective text. NoYES ami Muenscher treat the noun as instrumental, but vary the construction of the Other words: " as one in fetters to the chastise- ment of the fool." WoRDsw. suggests two or three renderings, of which that of Noyes is one, but indicates no preference. Zockler's render- ing is brought, we think, with the least violence, into correspondence with the other two compari- sons, where the idea is plainly that of a certain fate, notwithstanding unconsciousness of it. So fetters await tlie fool, though he may not be aware of it — A.] Many older interpreters, either failing to understand the figure, or judging it in- consistent with the context, have sought relief in more violent ways. The LXX, J'cschito and Targums explain the OD^ or some word substi- tuted for this, as referring to a dog (LXX : &a7rep kvuv km dEff/ioir). which is here made a parallel to the ox and then the bird in the fol- lowing verse ; so also more recent commen- tators, like Miciiaelis, Koiiler, c/c. Tlie Vul- gate probably read 1^23 instead of DD>?, since it translates "as a wanton and stupid lamb." Others, as of the older class the LXX, Pe.ichito, Targums, Arabic vers., etc. altered the /'If* to TX stag, and connected it with ver. 23; so also more recently Schelling and Kosenjiueller, e. (/.; "and like a deer rushing into fetters." IIiTZiG finally treats the passage with the great- est violence, since he transfers ver. 23, third clause, to the place of the 2d clause in ver. 22; in this line, by altering DD>? to D^'3 he changes the meaning to "for the fool is angry at correc- tion;" he finally transposes the first and third clauses of ver. 23, so that the two verses have this general import: Ver. 22. " He followcth her at once, as an ox that goetli to the slaughter, and as a bird hasteneth to the snare. Ver. 23. For the fool is angry at correction, and seeth not that it is for his life, until an arrow pierceth his liver." This might indeed have been originally the meaning of the passage ; but inasmuch as neither manuscripts nor old versions give any evidence of any other arrangement as having ever existed, the whole emendation retains only the value of a bold hypotliesis. — Ver. 23. Till an arrow pierceth his liver. — Since this clause plainly refers to the young man, and neither exclusively to the ox nor the fool, the two examples of a self-destroying folly which in the second and third clauses of ver. 23 are compared with liim, its position is parenthetical (Umbreit, Elster, Bertheau, etc.); for in the following clause still another example is added to the two mentioned before, — that of the bird hastening to the snare. The "liver" stands here as the re- presentative of the vitals in general (comp. Lam. ii. 11) as in some instances the heart or again the reins (Ps. xvi. 27 ; Ixxiii. 21 ; Prov. xxiii. 16, etc.). According to Delitzsch, ^('i/. Psijcliol., pp. 275 sq., the liver is here made prominent as the seat of sensual desire. Since the ancient Greeks, Arabians and Persians in fact connected this idea with the organ under consideration, and since modern Oriental nations also predicate of the liver what we say of the heart as the seat of the feelings and sensibilities {e. g., the Malays in Java, see Ausland, 1863, p. 278), this view may be received as probably correct. By no means is the designation of the liver in the passage before us to be regarded as a purely arbitrary poetical license or as a mere accident. — And knoweth not that his life is at stake, liter- ally, "that it is for his soul ;"' the expression ld3J3 signifies " at the price of his life," comp. Numb. xvii. 3. 6. Vers. 24-27. Concluding exhortation intro- duced by " and now," like the corresponding final epilogue, chap. viii. 32 ; comp. also v. 7. — Ver. 25. And stray not, J-'Hi^ /X, [a dehorta- tive] from "^l^P^, to go roaming about, comp. njty chap. V. 20. Ver. 26. And all her slain are many. D'OXi'.' meaning "strong" (Bertheau), is never- theless on account of the parallelism with D'3"^ in the first member to be taken in the sense of "numerous, many." comp. Ps. xxxv. 18; .Joel i. 5. [HoLii., Noyes, Muexsch . De W., K., agree with our author ; Stuaut and Words., like ilic E. v., keep closer to the original idea of strength, CHAP. VII. 1-27. 93 " many strong men" have been her victims. — A.] With the expression in the first member conip. Judges ix. 40. Ver. 27. "Ways of hell — her house. "Her house" is the subject, liaviiig here a plural pre- dicate connecteJ with it, as chap. xvi. 25; Jer. xxiv. 2. — Cliambers of death. Comp. "depths of death" or " oi ucii," chap. ix. 18: and with reference to the general sentiment of the verse, chap. ii. 18 ; v. 5. DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL, From the eai'lier and copious warnings against adultery the one now before us is distin- guished by the fact, that while chap. v. con- trasted the blessing of conjugal fidelity and chaste marital love with unregulated sexual in- dulgence, and chap. vi. 20-3-3 particularly urged a contending against the inner roots and germs of the sin of unchastity, — our passage dwells with special fullness upon the temptations from without to the transgression of the sixth com- mandment. It also sets forth the folly and the ruinous consequences of yielding to such temp- tations, by presenting an instructive living ex- ample. What elements in this vivid moral picture stand forth as ethical and psychological truths to be taken especially to heart, has been already indicated by us in the detailed interpretation. Aside from the fact that it is nocturnal rambling, that delivers the thoughtless, heedless and idling youth into the hands of temptation (ver. 9), and aside from the other significant feature, that after a first brief and feeble opposition he throws himself suddenly and with the full energy of passion into his self-sought ruin (ver. 22 ; comp. James i. 15), we have to notice here chiefly the important part played by the luxurious and savory feast of the adulteress as a cooperating factor in the allurement of the self-indulgent youth (see ver. 14 sq.). It is surely not a feature purely incidental, without deeper significance or design, that this meal is referred to as preceding the central and chief sin ; for, that the tickling of the palate with stimulating meats an:l drinks prepares the way for lust and serves powerfully to excite sexual desire, is an old and universal observation, comp. Ex. xxxii. 6 (1 Cor. x. 17). "The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play:" as also similar passages from classical authors, e. ^. Euripides, J/ce^/w, 788 ; Plautus, Miles glorinms, III., 1, 83; Arrian. Anah. Alex., II., 5, 4 ; and the well-known Roman proverb from Terence [Eunuch., IV., 5, 6; comp. Appul.. Metam., II., 11), •'Sine Cerere et Libera frxget Venus' [without Ceres (food) and Bacchus (wine) Venus (^love) is cold] : and finally Teetcl- LIAN, de jejun.. adv. Psychicos, c. 1 : " Lust without gluttony would indeed be deemed a monstrosity, the two being so united and conjoined that, if tliey could by any means be parted, the sexual parts would first refuse to be attached to the belly. Consider the body ; the region is one, and the or- der of the vices conforms to the arrangement of the members ; first t he belly , and all other sensual- ity is built immediately upon gluttony; through indulgence in eating sensual desire ensues," etc. In tlie homiletic treatment we are naturally not to dwell too long upon these details, lest the entire impression produced by the picture of the young man ensnared by the adulteress be unduly weakened. An analysis of the chapter into several texts for sermons is inadmissible on ac- count of the closely compacted unity of the action. At the most, the five introductory verses may be separated as a special text (comp. Starke) ; yet even these would better be connected closely with the whole, and all the more since they contbrm very nearly in expression and contents to similar introductory paragraphs of a somewhat general nature, of which there have already been several (see exeget. notes. No. 2). The homily that should comprehend the entire chapter might therefore present some such theme as this: How the dangers from temptation to un- chastitg are to he escaped. Answer: 1) By avoid- ing idleness as the beginning of all vice (ver. 6, sq.); 2) By shunning all works of darkness (ver. 9) ; 3) By subduing the sensual nature, and eradicating even the minor degrees of evil appe- tite (ver. 14 sq.); 4) By the serious reflection, that yielding to the voice of temptation is the certain beginning of an utter fall from the grace of God, and of eternal ruin (vers. 21, 27). — • Comp. Starke: Sin is like a highway robber, that at first joins our company in an altogether friendly way, and seeks to mislead us from the right path, that it may afterwards slay us (Rom. vii. 11). — Imaginary pleasure and freedom in the sei-vice of sin are like gilded chains with which Satan binds men. Though the tempter is deeply guilty, he who sufi'ers himself to be tempted is not for that reason excused. Let every one there- fore flee from sin as from a serpent (Ecclesiast. xxi. 2). — Comp. M. Geier : Be not moved by the flattering enticements of the harlot, the world, false teachers (that betray into spiritual adultery and abandonment of God), or of Satan himself. Close thine ears against all this, i. e. refuse iu genuine Christian simplicity and faithful love to the Lord to hearken to any solicitation to diso- bedience. Follow not Eve's example, but Jo- seph's, Gen. xxxix. 8, etc. — [Trap?: (ver. 9) Foolish men think to hide themselves from God by hiding God from themselves. — (Ver. 22). Fair words make fools fain]. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Third Group of Admonitory or Proverbial Discourses. Chap. VIII. 1— IX. 18. 14. A second public discourse of wisdom personified. Chap. VIII. 1-36. a) The ricliness of her gifts. (Vers. 1-21.) 1 Doth not wisdom cry aloud, and uuderstanding lift up hex- voice? 2 Upon the top of the high places, by the way, in the midst of the way she placeth herself. 3 By the side of the gates, at the exit from the city, at the entrance to its doors she calleth aloud : 4 " To you, ye men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of men ! 5 Learn wisdom, O ye simple ones, and ye fools, be of an understanding heart ! 6 Hear, for I speak plain things, and the utterances of my lips are right things ; 7 for my mouth meditateth truth, and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 8 All the words of my mouth are right, there is nothing crooked or false in them ; 9 they are all right to the man of understanding, and plain to them that have attained knowledge. 10 Receive my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold ! 11 For wisdom is better than pearls, and no precious things equal her. 12 I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of sagacious counsels. 13 The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil, pride, arrogance and an evil way, and a deceitful mouth do I hate. 14 Counsel is mine, and reflection ; I am understanding ; I have strength. 15 By me kings reign and rulers govern justly. 16 By me princes rule and nobles, all tlie judges of the earth. 17 I love them that love me, and they that seek me find me. 18 Riches and honour are with me, increasing riches and rigliteousness. 19 Better is my fruit than the purest, finest gold, and my revenue tlian choice silver. 20 In the way of righteousness do I walk, in the midst of the paths of justice, 21 to ensure abundance to tliose that love me, and to fill tlieir treasuries. CHAP. VIII. 1-36. 95 b) The origin of her nature in God. (Vers. 22-31.) 22 Jehovah created me as beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23 From everlasting was I set up, from the beginning, before the foundation of the earth. 24 When there were as yet no floods was I brought forth, when thei'e were no fountains abounding with water. 25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth ; 26 while as yet he had not made land and plains and the first clods of the earth. 27 When he prepared the heavens I was there, when he stretched out the firmament over the deep ; 28 when he established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep raged loudly ; 29 when he set to the sea its bounds, that the waters should not pass its border; when he settled the foundation pillars of the earth; 30 then was I at his side as director of the work, and was delighted day by day, rejoicing before him continually, 31 rejoicing in his earth, and my delight did I find in the sons of men. c) The blessing that flows from the possession of her. (Vers. 32-36.) 32 And now, ye children, hearken unto me : Blessed are they that keep my ways! 33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and be not rebellious. 84 Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors ! 35 For whosoever findeth me findeth life and obtaineth favor from Jehovah ; S6 and whosoever sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul : all they that hate me love death." GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 2. n'3=p3, in the midst, is an Aramaic idiom, occurring also in Ezekiel xli. 9. — A. Ver. 3. As to the form Hihp comp. i. 20. [Bott. 929, 5,— A] Ver. 5. Instead of 37 ^J"3n [understand ye in lieart, " be ye of an understanding lieart," E. V.], we should probably •■ • T , read with the LXX [evSeo-ee KapStafJ, Viil^., Arnolbi and Hitzig 37 IJOn. direct your heart, i. e., exert your under- Btanding, appUcaU animum. Comp. p3 J 21, Ps. Ivii. 8 ; and also 1 Sam. vii. 3 ; Job xi. 13 ; and to illustrate the use of 2^ in the sense of the understanding, the reason, comp. several other passages in the Proverbs, especially xv. 32; xvii. 16; xix. 8. Ver. 6. D'TJJ. [An illustration of the principle that "single adjectives describing what is pre-eminent or striking appear in the more elevated style, raised as it were to personality, and are therefore put in the masc. plural ;" see Bottcher, ? 707, 2.-A.] ... , Ver. 13. nX JC', [an infinitive of a verb X 7 having the feminine termination of the verbs PI 7 ; see Bott., g 10S3, 13. — A.]. 3nX [regularly 3nXX. — after the rejection of one of the weak consonants, the vowel is "assimilated " from tha T ■ • ~ V V initial vowel of the neighboring form '3ni< ; for examples of the normal modification, 3nX, with and without sufBxes, Bee Mai. i. 2; Hos. xi. 1 ; xiv. 5 : Pa. cxix. 167.— Bott., §425, 7t.— A.] 'JJXi'O', [an example of the retention of the fuller form of the plural ending with weakened rowel and toneless •ufBx;'see IJbiT., g 1047,/.— A.] 36 THE rr.OVEllBS OF SOLOMON. Ver. 24. jl'lJ'J'O. With liiis fem. plural form there occurs in an isolated instance, Ps. civ. 10 [together with four others of construct and suffix forms], the masculine D'J'J-'O > fT which reason the masc. of the adjective '^33J is the less striking fBERTHEAu). Ver. 20. [Perfect tense with DID in the sense of a Pluperfect. BoiT., J 947, c. — A.] Ver. 29. [OZl^*' vh}. Imperftct with x'?! in sense of an Imperf. Subj., '-so that," etc. Bott., g 949, 5, 2.— A.] Ver. 29. 1p-in3 stands either for IpPIS, or as Hitzio perhaps more correctly assumes for the Poal form IpDinS. [BoTTCHER prefers the first of these explanations, citing this as an example of usage varying in certain words, and sug. gestiug as a reason for the adoption of iho fuller form iu this case, correspondence with "iO^^yZ in the first clause. See gj 706, ij, and 1147.— A.] EXEQETICAL. 1. Preliminary Remark. From the preceding larger group of admonitory discourses (chap, iv.- vii.), that now before us, comprising only chap, viii. and ix., is distinguished chiefly by tlie fact that it returns to the representation, which has already been made in chapters i.-iii. of Wisdom as a person. i\.nd this is so done that the two features of the representation whicli there aj)- pcared separately ; the exhibition -of Wisdom as a public preacher (i. 20-33), and as a divine agent in the creation of the world (iii. 19-2G), are now combined in one whole. Here Wisdom appearing as a preacher herself testifies to the aid wliich she rendered God at the creation (viii. 22 sq.). Besides this point of contact with the first main group, we may also direct attention to the mention of the fear of God as a disposition in the most intimate alliance, and even identical with wisdom (viii. 13) ; this also is common to the division before us and the first; for only in chapters i.-iii. (see i. 7; i. 29 ; ii. 5 ; iii. 7) was any express utterance given to this form of the Hhokmah doctrine. The middle group (chap, iv.-vii.) nowhere contains the expression "the fear of Jehovah." There are however continu- ally coming to view many connections between the second and third groups; especially the ijlu- ral address "ye children," repeated in the dis- course of the personal Wisdom (viii. 32) from chap. iv. 1 ; V. 7 ; vii. 24 (see above, p. 95). Observe also the representation of Folly personi- fied, as a counterpart to Wisdom (chap. ix. IS- IS), appearing as an adulteress of mien and bearing quite like the adulterous woman of chap, vii. who is as it were exhibited here, " developed into a more comprehensive character" (comp. HiTzia, p. 69). — Furthermore this last section of the first main division of the Book of Proverbs consists of only two discourses of unequal length, chapters viii. and ix. each of which, however, in turn includes several subdivisions clearly distin- guishable,— chap, viii., comprising tlie three that have been given above, and chap. ix. the two pa- rallel delineations of tlie personal Wisdom (vers. 1-12) and Folly personified (vers. 13-18).— The unequal length of the two discourses Hitzig seeks to a certain extent to remove by striking out from chap. viii. a large number of verses, sixteen, and from chap. ix. a smaller number, six, as spurious additions by a later hand. Ilis grounds of distrust arc, however, here again of a purely subjective kind, and do not present for a single one of the passages in question any reli- able evidence of their spurious character, as we shall hereafter have occasion to show in detail. 2. Vers. 1-3. Doth not wisdom cry aloud? This form of interrogation (with NvH) which expects as its answer an assenting and enipliatio "Yes, truly !" points to the fact clearly brought to view in all that has preceded, that wisdom bears an unceasing witness in her own behalf in the life of men. Ver. 2. Upon the top of the high places by the way, in order that those who pass along by the way may observe her. In the midst of the V7ay. This Aramaic idiom gives no oc- casion for pronouncing the passage spurious (contrary to the view of Hitzig, who furthermore takes exception to the allusion to "high places " in the 1st clause, and therefore summarily pro- nounces the entire 2d verse interpolated). Um- BREiT translates "at the house where roads cross," and interprets, not indeed of an inn lo- cated at cross-roads (as Doderlein does), but still of a house situated at the junction of several streets. But these "ways" are roads, solitary paths, not streets in the city, and the delineation proceeds in such an order as to exhibit AVisdom first, in ver. 2, as a preacher in the open country, in grove and field, on mountains and plains, and then in ver. 3 to describe her public harangues in the cities, and in the tumult of the multitudes. The condition therefore is unlike both to that presented in i. 20, 21, and to that in ix. 13, where in both cases the interior of a city alone furnishes the scene for Wisdom's activity as a preacher. Ver. 3. At the exit from the city, literally " towards the mouth of the city," i. e., standing at the gate and facing the streets which centre there. — At the entrance to its doors, (comp. i. 21), i. e., standing on the farther (outer) side of the gateway. 3. Vers. 4-11. This more general introduction to AVisdom's discourse, with the addition of ver. 12, Hitzig declares spurious, partly on account of the alleged tautological nature of vers. 0-9, giving no genuine progress to the thought, — partly because ver. 10 is almost identical with viii. 19, and ver. 11 with iii. 15, — and lastly, partly because of the peculiar form D't^'X iu ver. 4, which is said to betray a later date. Yefc this very form is found also in Isa. liii. 3, and Ps. cxli. 4, for both of which passages the later origin (in the exile, or even after the exile) is in like manner yet to be established. And as re- spects the alleged tautologies and repetitions, similar ones occur throughout the entire Book of Proverbs (comp. Introd. § 12). The codices and old versions, however, know nothing what- ever of the absence from the text of even a single one of these verses. Ver. 5. Learn w^isdom, O ye simple ones. Comp. i. 4. — Ye fools, show^ understanding, see critical note, above. CHAP. VIII. 1-36. 97 Ver. 6. I speak plain thinss. The word here transbilcd " plain " might, it. is true, desig- nate "noble, princely things," (oonip. the ae/ui'd of the LXX, the "res matrix" of the Vulg., etc.) ; [So WoRDSw., HoLDEN, N. and M.], the paral- lelism however renders more natural the signifi- cation "plain, evident" [clara, manifesta) ; [So Stuart] ; conip. a similar term in ver. 9. This only appropriate sense we find already given in the Chaldee an'3p) occurs only here ; yet comp. the corresponding feminine form in Ps. xlvi. 9 (nT^J'flrp). The word translated "before" (0^1?.) Hitzig regards as also a substantive, synonymous with "begin- ning " (n'ti/X^), and therefore translates " as foremost of His works " Yet the conception of it as a proposition is favored by tJie usage of the 0. T. elsewhere. — Of old (I»^^), long ago, liter- ally, "from long ago," comp Ps. xciii. 2. Ver. 23. From eternity. It seems neces- sary, with the expositors of the early church and many of recent times, such as Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster, etc., to regard this difficult verb which follows as a Niphal from ^DJ, and therefore to translate it " I was anointed," i. e. consecrated to a priestly royalty ; comp. the ordinata sum of the Vulgate. But the verb is not elsewhere used in this conjugation ; and the par- allelism with ver. 22, as well as with those fol- lowing, calls for a verb having some such mean- ing as " establish, create, call into being." It seems therefore needful to read with the LXX, «'Iwas established" {''I}''\D^2^" kd-sfieMucev fie"), or, which would be better advised, so to inter- pret the form in the text as (o give the idea of a being created, or something equivalent. To this end we may either translate, with the Versio Veneia, comparing Ecclesiastic, i. 9 {s^exeev avT7)v), Kexviini, " I was poured forth," or which is on the whole to be preferred, with Hitzig we may vary the punctuation Crii)^^), so that the expression shall stand as Perfect Niphal, of the verb IjDD, and have the signification "I was woven or wrought :" with this may be compared Ps. cxxxis. 15; Isa. xxxviii. 12. — From the beginning, from the foundation of the earth. " From the beginning," as in Isa. xlviii. 16. " The foundation of the earth," an expression like that occurring in Isa. xxiii. 7 ^r?.** ^?"!pJ. denoting the earliest primasval period, the time of the beginning, the origin of the earth. How this establishment or production of Wisdom "from the foundation of the earth" is to be understood, namely, in the sense of an existence of Wisdom even prior to the earth (comp. Ps. xc. 2), appears from the three follow- ing verses. Vor. 21. When there were as yet no floods. Hitzig regards the mention of the waters before the mountains as inappropriate, and therefore conjectures that the verse is spuri- ous. As though in Ps. civ. 6 and Job xxxviii. 8 the seas were not mentioned immediately before the earth as a whole, and also before the moun- tains ! — Fountains abounding with water. The meaning is, doubtless, the springs from which the floods or the deep broke forth ; comp. Gen. vii. 11, and below, ver. 28. Ver. 25. Before the mountains wereas yet settled, with their "roots" (Job xxviii. 9) in the pliant earth ; comp. Job xxxviii. 0, where mention is made of the settling even of the pillars of the earth (in the infinite space of the heavens). With the second clause comp. Ps. xc. 2. — Land and plains. The LXX had in their day cor- rectly rendered r\Wn by aoiK/'/rovg [uninhabita- ble places] ; these are " unoccupied commons or plains," regions lying outside the occasionally occupied land (coinp. Job v. 10). — The first clods of the earth. Thus, with Hitzig, are we to understand this expression, and not "the sum or mass of the clods of the earth" (Coc- CEius, ScHiiLTENs. Bertheau, Elster, etc.); and still less "the first men" (Jarchi), or even " man as born of (he eaith" (Uaibreit); these last interpretations are plainly too far-fetched. 6. Vers. 27-31. From the antemundane exist- ence x)f Wisdom the poet now passes over to the description of her active cooperation in the crea- tion of the world. The same progress from the pre-existence to the world-creating activity of the divine Logos is found in several passages of the N. T., especially in John i. 1-3, Col. i. 15-16. — When he stretched out the firmament over the deep, i. e. when He fixed the vault of heaven, the arch of heaven (comp. Gen. i. 8; Job xxii. 14), over the waters of the earth, as a barrier between the upper and lower waters (Gen. i. 6; Job xxvi. 10). Over the deep, in the Hebrew literally " upon the surface of the deep," comp. Gen. i. 2. Ver. 28. When he fixed the clouds above. Literally, " when He made firm, made strong" (12^^X3); /. e. the clouds are, as in Job xxvi. 8 ; xxxviii. 37, conceived of as bags, which only in case they are suitably secured and do not burst, prevent the mighty outpouring of the upper waters upon the earth. — When the fountains of the deep (see ver. 24 above) raged violently. This is the interpretation to be given, with Umbreit, Winer, Hitzig, etc.; for the verb here unquestionably has the in- transitive meaning, invalescere, vehementer agitari (comp. in Isa. xliii. 16 the "mighty waters "). The transitive signification, "when He made firm, i. e. restrained, bound up" (LXX; most of the other versions, and recent interpreters loa THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. like Elster) is inadmissible from tlie absence of the suffix with the infinitive. Ver. 2'.). When he set to the sea its bounds. " Bound " here in its local sense, limit, barrier, as in Jer. v. 22; substantially the same as "its border" (VD) in the 2d member. For this expression (D'H '2) mouth or shore of the sea, instead of the phrase, elsewhere usual, "lip of the sea" (D'il r\2'y), as in Gen. xli. 3; comp. Isa. xix. 7 ; and for the description of the separation between the sea and the land in general, see Gen. i. 0, 10; Ps. xciv. 0.— When he settled the foundation pillars of the earth; end of the description of the earth's creation, comp. Job xxxviii. 6. Ver. :;0. Then was I at his side as direct- ress of the work. This nuun, derived fi'oin a verb (PJ<) signifying to be firm, true, reliable (and also kindred to {'??', dexter, "the right hand," yet not to be regarded as Hoffmann lakes it, Schriflheic, I. 9-3, as an infinitive abso- lute used adverbially, but necessarily as a sub- stantive), denotes like the parallel form found in Song Sol. vii. 2, '• artifi'x, artist, master of the work." [So WoRDSW., Hold., Muensch., Noyes; Stuart translates "confidant." — A.J Comp. the description, undoubtedly based on the pas- sage before us, found in Wisdom vii. 21 : I'j rwc ■ndvruv Tcxvlrig cni'/:a ("wisdom which is the worker of all things") ; comp. the epithet apfi6- C,()vaa (adapting) in the LXX, and the cuncta componms of the Vulgate, in our passage. In opposition to the rendering of jlOX by " ios- iQV-c\iW&, alumnus, nutriciiis" (Aquila, Schul- TENS, RosENMUELLER, Elstek) may be urged first, that then in accordance with Lam. iv. 5 we ought to point j'3J\, [which pointing Bott- cher favors, see § GGO, 6 and n. 1], and then, that this form could hardly have stood in the text as a substantive without some adjunct de- fining it more closely. The verb should be rendered, not "then became I" (Berthkau), but " then was I." For the existence of wisdom before the world's creation and at the time of the world's creation formed the principal subject of the preceding description, and not, e. g., her passing from previous rest to more active rela- tions.— And was delighted day by day. Literally, " I was delight day by day." This abstract noun plainly stands in the predicate quite as appropriately as the parallel term in the 3d clause (the participle npntyo) and aims like this expression to indicate that wisdom enjoyed «nd delighted in her creative activity. For tlie idio- matic use of this abstract noun comp. e. g., Ps. cix. 4 (" but I am prayer") ; also notes on vii. 10 above. — The verse following then declares that this her delight and exultation relates particu- larly to the manifold creatures of the earth, chiefly to man. The creative agency and control of the wisdom of God in the origin of the earth and its inhabitants, is therefore here represented as attended and sustained by the heartiest satis- faction in the natures that are created, especially in man, the persotial image of Goil ; and this is quite in harmony with the " God saw that it was goft4" of the six days of creation (Gen. i. 10, 12, 18, 31): comp. also AVisdom vii. 22, 27, 29 sq. A reference of these expressions in ver. 31 to any period subsequent to the creation (Um- breit: " In his earth do 1 now delight and am the joy of the children of men," comp. Mer- CERUS and many of the elder interpreters, and also Luther), is suggested by nothing in the context, and is rather decidedly at variance with the connection. Not before ver. 32 does the author with "and now" return from the past to the present. When Hitzig feels constrained to strike out as spurious the second clause of ver. 30 ("and I was in joy of heart day by day"), and also the 1st clause of ver. 31 ("sport- ing in His earth"), this results from the fact that he has wholly missed the progressive character of the description, which giadually descends from God and His seat in the heavens to earth, and more specifically to the human race; just as, in his representation which shows throughout a peculiarly external and mechanical conception of the nature of wisdom, he maintains, "The 1st clause of ver. 31 comes into contradiction with the first of ver. SO: for if wisdom is near Jehovah she cannot appropriately be at the same time disporting herself on the earth I " A mere hasty glance at the later representations of the nature and activity of the hypostatic AVisdom, like Wisd. vii. 8; Ecclesiast. xxiv., etc., might have convinced Hitzig of the superficial and untenable nature of sucli a view. Yet this is in trutli nothing more than the necessary fruit of his entire rationalistic view of God and the world. 7. Vers. 32-36. Concluding admonition and promise, based on ver. 22-31 as well as ver. 1-21. — Ver. 33. Hear instruction, etc. Hitzig would have this whole verse stricken out "because it has no rhythm," and because it comes in only as a disturbing element between the benedictions in ver. 32, 2d clause, and ver. 3i. But the lack of rhythm that is asserted rests on the conception of the subjective taste: and the position between two benedictions produces no distraction whatever; all the more since to the first and shorter of these two sentences be- ginning with "Blessed," a corresponding admo- nition had been prefixed, ver. 32, 1st clause. — ■ And be not rebellious. Thus with Umbreit, Elster, etc., must we understand the prohibition without a grammatical object (1>'"J2n 7X1). To supply from the 1st clause the idea "instruc- tion" is unnecessary, especially since the intran- sitive " and be wise " had been interposed as the immediate antithesis to the verb " refuse, or re- bel." For the etymology and signification of this verb (i'"»3) see, furthermore, notes on i. 25. Ver. 34. That hearkeneth to me, watch- ing, e^c. The expression, " so that he watch" Oti^^) like the following phrase "so that he keep," expresses not so much the design as the result of hearkening to wisdom ; these expres- sions give, as it were, the manner of this heark- ening, and thus correspond with the ablative of the gerund in Latin, or with the pres. participle (LXX: aypvTTvuv — T?ipuv). — For whosoever findeth me, findeth life. This is in accord- ance with the K'ri. The K'thibh is somewhat CHAP. VIII. l-"6. 101 more artificial, " for the finders of Die are fiinlers of life," i. e., those who tiud lue, they tiiid life. One may choose between the two readings which in import do not differ. [lluiiTSCHi proposes {Slud. u. Krit., Jan. 18(38, p. 134) to solve the difficulty in another way, retaining the conso- nants of the K'thibh, but modifying the punctu- ation, so that tlie two furms will be singular and apparently identical ('i^JJfOJ, the second being a form artificially constructed with ^~ as a "union vowel," (Ewald, ^ 211, b, 1), so as to secure the juxtaposition of two forms apparently the same. — A.]. — And obtain favor from Je- hovah. Literally "'and draws forth," i.e., gains for himself, harvests, bears away. Ver. 3ij. And -whosoever sinneth against me. Literally '-wlio misseth me" in coutrast with "who findeth me" in ver. 35. Comp. .Job V. 24 ; Judges xx. 16. — All they that hate me love death. Comp. iv. 13, 22; vii. 27, and also Ezek. xviii. 31. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 1. For a correct understanding of the section before us two ihings in general are to be ob- served: 1) that the entire discourse is poetical, and that tlierefore the personification of Wisdom ■which forms its chief subject is also to be re- garded as essentially, and in the first instance, the product of a bold poetical sweep of thought, and of a vivid oriental imagery; 2) that, how- ever, because of the solemn earnestness and pro- foundly religious character of the discourse, its figurative element cannot possibly be viewed as the mere play of fancy; or an empty ringing of phrases, but must rather every where stand in more or less exact harmony with the supersen- suous truth that is to be set forth. Wisdom, which here appears personified, as the principle of the world's creation, as well as of its preser- Tation and government, having sprung from God himself, and being absolutely supernatural, is no unsubstantial phantom, no unreal fiction of the fancy, no poetic creation without an underlying higher reality. It is rather a result of the pro- foundest religious and ethical inquiry, an object of the purest and most genuine knowledge of di- yine things, nay a product of divine revelation — only that this revelation has here passed through the medium of a poetic conception and repre- sentation, and for that very reason appears in its formal relations partially reflected, l)roken, or inaccurately exhibited. It is really tlu- free po- etic form, ideal in its portraiture, to wiiich must be charged whatever in the statements before us is partially inadequate, inconsistent, and not di- rectly applicable in the formation of dogmatic ideas. Tiie substance, which is easily separable from this form, bears the impress of the most genuine divinely revealed trutli, and forms one of the most important and strongest of tlie foun- dation pillars of Old Testament theology, on which the theology and Christolcgy of the New Testament is reared, the doctrine of the Trinity in the ancient church, and indeed the whole glo- rious structure of Christian dogmatics. — Comp. Sr.vuor.xMAiER, Die Lehre von der Idee, pp. 31 sq., and particularly NiTZSCH, Ueber die wets entl. Drei- einifjkeil Gotlcs (Letter to Lucke, in the Slud. und Kril., 1841, ii. ; especially pp. 310 sq.). 2. In thepictuie of wisdom drawn in our chap- ter the two conceptions of tlie divine wisdom, and the wisdom of tlie creature, or of the celestial type of the Hhokniah and its earthly and human counterpart, are plainly so combined that they more or less flow into each o'tlier, and without a clear .discrimination of their difference inter- change, (as in the shorter description of the pro- tection and blessing going forih from Gods ci'ea- tive wisdom for those who honor it, — chap. iii. 19-2(j). That wisdom is at the outset introduced as teaching and preaching (vers. 1 sq.), siiows at once tliat she is regarded essentially as a self- conscious personal being, as a reflection there- fore of the absolute personality, or the Godhead. And even within the first section (vers. 4-21), which refers in tlie first instance only to her ma- nifestations in the moral and religious life of man, several features suggest the supernatural in her nature and relations. Thus especially the predicates "counsel, understanding, strength," (in ver. 14) with which she is endowed as the Messiah is in Isa. xi. 2. So also the allusion to the fact that she imparts to and preserves for the kings, rulers, princes, and judges of the earth, all their power (vers. 15, l(j) ; and finally, with no less plainness, the declaration that she " lovee them that love her," and accordingly shows her- self to be the dispenser of all benefits and bles- sings to her faithful ones (ver. 16-21). Of a purely earthly and creature principle all this could not be asserted. It is plainly not an ab- stract conception of moral philosophy, or any de- finition pertaining to the moral and intellectual conduct of men, that is thus described, but some- thing higher, a nature fundamentally identical with the divine providence, the activity of God iu preserving and ruling the world, — a personal principle belonging to God's revelation of Him- self, which is not essentially different from the Logos of the New Testament or the Son of God. This conception of the idea of a superhuman wisdom, which determines and controls witli ab- solute power and knowledge the destinies of our race, conducts, however, immediately to the pro- per and hypostatic representation of Wisdom as an emanation from God's eternal nature, as the partaker and mediator in His absolutely creative activity. From the description of Wisdom as the mediating principle in divine Providence (vers. 14-21), the poet passes to the exhibition of her mediating participation in the creation of the world, and in this connection he reveals in the same act the deepest sources and beginnings of her nature (vers. 22-31). Wisdom is, it is true, also a creation of God, but one coming into being before all other creatures, a "first born" (tt/jw- ToiiTiarov) a "beginning of the creation of God" {apxr/ Ttjc KTiaeuQ tov •&eov), comp. Rev. iii. 14. And for that very reason she took part in His work of creation; she was not merely witness, but helper in the revelation of His power in the primitive creation that called His heavens and earth into being. She manifested herself as the regulative and formative principle, who in those mighty acts of creation "rejoiced before Him," i. e., developed before Him in free, happy action, as it were iu joyous sport and play, her infinitely 102 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. rich life, and thus produced an infinite number and variety of creature forms. This creative ac- tivity of wisdom found however its end and its completion in the creation of men in whom she has her deliglit in an altogether pre-eminent de- gree (ver. 31) for they are called to be lier con- scious recipients, and under lier enliglitening in- fluence to grow up into a walk in holy fellow.ship \vith God. Precisely for this reason the posses- sion of wisdom, i. e., in the first instance that comparative, creative wisdom which is identical with tlie fear of God and righteousness, is the sum of all that can be recommended to man as the means to the attainment of the highest tem- poral and eternal welfare. For this relative ■wisdom is in fact nothing but the reflection and emaiiiition of that which is absolute. It is the absolute divine wisdom as this has found its in- dividual reflection in the life of individual man, — the eternal wisdom of God entering into the subjective conditions of man, and so becoming crcatural. Wlien the concluding verses of the chapter (vers. 32—36) emphatically advise the ob- taining of this wisdom which has thus become mundane and human, and point to the blessed consequences of its possession, they seize again upon that which was the starting-point in the whole admonition, and show how the secondary wisdom is derived from the primitive and con- ducts again to it, how the same holy life-power infinite in its perfection, which was active in the first creation of the world and of man, must also be eSicient in their moral recreation and their perfecting after God's likenes.s. Couip. St.\uden- MAiER, as cited above, p. 38: "The eminence of man consists not merely in tlie fact that wisdom comes in him to self-consciousness, but also in the fact that by the Creator tiiere has been con- ferred upon him in the gift of freedom the power to become as it were the second creator of his own life according to the innate divine idea. This idea appears therefore now a practical one: tlie impulse to become practical existed already in its living energy, or was this very energy ; and with this it is at the same time clear that man with his freedom has pre-eminently a prac- tical religious and moral problem set before him. Since however by this very freedom he also has it in his power not to follow his destination, and even to resist it, Wisdom appeals to him to hear her voice, and does this as she speaks to him botli from within and from without, — from within by ideas (through the voice of reason and con- science), from without, through divine revelation in which absolute wisdom dwells." 3. This representation of wisdom as a personal principle mediating between God and man, ex- isting in God as the prototype, in man in the an- titype, plainly stands in the closest relationship to the doctrine of the Logos in the New Testa- ment.* * Comp. NiTZSCH as cited aliovo : " Do yon see here no traco of a divine process i\ fierin of an ontologieul sell-distiuction in (ioJ? Fur this Wisiloni is initeeil a first Goil's coMiMiiini- cation localized in tlie world, particularly in man, and still more especially in Isra'-l. Yet it will lie understood as no mi-re cre.iture like otiiers. no ani;-l, no dependent jjoweror effect; it claims to lie known an created nio " — a creation which arrordiu'j; to the connection gives no natural, creaturely liein;j; but lias a significance plainly trausceudiug these bounds, eno . 1. pp. UJsq.) his lir.iu^ht forward in support of the ojiposite view, i.e., that which de- nies tliu hypostatic nature of wisdom ia our passage. CHAP. A^III. 1-37. 103 fore lis would pre-eminently belong. When .John ascribes to the Divine Logos botli alike, the act- ing as medium of the activity of God in tbe crea- tion of the world, and the accomplishment of His enlightening and saving efiBciency on the world, — when he in doing this distinctly characterizes the Logos not as a mere attribute or impersonal reason of God, but as a hyf)ostasis self-conscious and freely coming Ibrth from the absolute ground of the Divine essence, as a Divine personality seeking incarnation (John i. 1-18), the harmony of this description of his vvitn (Solomon's praise of the Divine Wisdom cannot have continued to be merely unconscious. And this is all tlie less possible, from the consideration that this wisdom had already before his time ami in manifold in- stances been designated by the name A(i;or, c. g., Ecclesiast. i. 4 (comp. xxiv. 3), Wisdom, ix. 1. When Paul in numerous passages asserts the same of his pre-existent Christ (especially 1 Cor. viii. 6; Col. i. 15 sq.; Phil. ii. 5 sq.), among the passages from the Old Testament lying at the foundation of his views in this matter, Prov. viii. 2li sq., cannot have been wanting. And further- more his designation of the Son as the " Wisdom of God" (I Cor. i. 24, 30; comp. llom. xiii. 27 ; Col. ii. 3) cannot have developed itself on any other basis. The same liolds finally also of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (see Heb. i. 2sq.), as well as of the writer of the Apocalypse, who, by his emphatic use of the name of the Lo- gos (Uev. xix. 13), shows himself plainly enough to be no other than the Evangelist Jolin. His peculiar designation of Christ, already adduced above, as '• the beginning of the creation of God" (chap. iii. 14) may perhaps be viewed out- right as a literal allusion to verse 22 of our chapter.* If this were the case, the idea of a "beginning of the creation of God" would by no means for tliat reason require to be interpreted in the Arian sense. For in an author who elsewhere adopts the doctrine of the Logos the representation of Christ as the first creature of God would palpably be a monstrosity. John can in this expression intend to designate the Lord only as tlie active principle in the creation (comp. Duesterdieck on this passage). In just this active sense shall we be obliged to interpret the expression which possibly suggested John's language, — the "be- ginning of the ways of Jehovah " in our chapter, i. e., as relating to that activity of the eternal Wisdom of God which commenced His manifesta- tion of Himself in creation, its mediating coo2:)e- ration in God's world-creating act (see remarks on this passage above). 4. The only noteworthy difference between the idea of the Logos in the New Testament, and the hypostatic Wisdom of our passage consists, there- fore, in the decidedly created character ascribed to the latter by the expression "Jehovah created me" in ver. 22, and the parallel expression in ver. 23. Our teacher of wisdom in the Old Tes- * We here presuppose the spnrions character of the 6/c»cA)j(7ias (which, besidt-s, was early e.xpungeil by the cor- rectors of tho text) staniling in the place of (CTiVeco; in tlie Cud. Sin If this remarkable reading were genuine, the meaning of the expres.sion would certainly be altogether dif- ferent. But tbe assumption can hardly be avoided that there is here an attempted emendation in the interest of the Anti- monarchians or Auti-arians. I tament, near as he may have come to the idea, was therefore unable to rise to an altogether clear discernment of the relation existing between God and His eternal Word, who in all His like- ness of nature is yet personally distinct, and while appearing as the " first-born of every crea- ture," still on the other hand appears also as the only begotten Son of the living God, or as eternal personal emanation from the Divine essence. The hypostatic Hhokmah of our author (and also the 2o0;a of the Apocrypha, which differs from it in no essential characteristic) appears accord- ingly as an imperfect introduction and prepara- tion for the idea of the Logos in the New Testa- ment, the conception not having yet reached a full symmetrical development. So also the "Spirit of God" in the prophetic literature of the 0. T. shows itself to be the prototype, the germinal basis for the irvsiifia ayinv of the N. T., this distinctly personal third Divine agent m salvation, with the Father and the Son.* In any event, however, this conception stands much nearer to the idea of the Logos or the Son in the New Testament, and contributed more di- rectly to its development, than that personificatiou of the creative " word of Jehovah" which appears here and there in Psalmists and prophets (e. r/., Vs. xxxiii. G; cxlvii. 15; Is. Iv. 11, etc.). For this last expression has, after all, no other value than poetic figures in general, hastily thrown out. The Hhokmah of our passage, however, is, notwithstanding the poetic character of its drapery, a conception developed with the great- est care, a fruit of profound and consecrated speculation, a bright ray of Divine revelation, which, among the xMessianic prophecies of the 0. T. that relate to the Divine siile of the Re- deemer's nature, holds one of the most conspicuous places. Comp. Nitzsch, as above cited, pp. 319, 820. [5. The error in our English exegetical and theological literature with respect to our passage lias been, we think, the attempt to force upon it more of distinctness and precision in the revela- tion of the mysteries of the Divine nature than is disclosed by a fair exegesis. Sometimes it is the doctrine of the Logos that is made to .stand out with all the clearness of the New Testament an- nouncement ; sometimes it is " the eternal gene- ration of the Son" that Solomon is made, as the Spirit's mouthpiece, to reveal. Owen's elaborate arguments (Comm. on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Exercitation xxvii.), and Holuen's extended and learned comments (Comm. in loc), appear to us very plainly to err in this excess. If it be not unworthy of the Holy Spirit to employ a bold and graphic personification, many things in this chapter may be said of and by the personified Wisdom, which these and other similar authors regard as triumphantly proving that we have here the pre-existent Christ, the Son of God. How weak would that personification be which did not ascribe to the imagined person Iia/e, love, power, etc. (see Holden) ! Why cannot a personi- fied attribute, if the personification be at all successful, be represented as being born, as being by or near the Deity, as rejoicing in His sight, etc. (see Holden again) ? And yet we need not * Comp. also subsequent notes on ch. sxx. 3sq. 104 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. go so far as Owen and say, "A personal transac- tion before the creation of the world, between the Father and the Son, acting materially by their One Spirit, concerning the state and condi- tion of mankind, with respect to Divine love and favor, is that which we inquire after, and which is here fully expressed." Woudswortii not agreeing with G£s.';xius, etc., in regard to the primary meaning of the much debated DJp* admitting that it originally signifi?s acquire, nevertheless agrees wiiii Gesen., Hui'feld (?), NoYES, Stuart and others in here rendering it "created," because he wants an "eternal generation" as the product of his exegesis, — a product far enough from the thoughts of most of thosj who agree with him in his rendering. We can, to say the least, go no farther th.m our au- thor has done in discovering here the foresha- dowiiigs of the doctrine of the Logos. We are inclined to prefer the still more guarded state- ments, e. (J., of Dr. J. Pye Smith [Scripture Tes- timon;i to the Messiah, I., ooi), that this beautiful picture "cannot be satisfactorily proved to be a designed description of the Saviour's person ;" or that of Dr. John Haiiris (Sermon on Prov. viii. 30-3(1). "At all events, while, on the one hand, none can demonstrate that Christ is here directly intended, — on the other, none cunprove that He is not contemplated; and perhaps both will admit that under certain conditions language such as that in our text may be justifiably applied to Him. One of these conditions is, that the language be not employed argumenlatively, or in proof oi any thing relating to Christ, but only for the purpose of illustration; and another is that when so employed, it be only adduced to illus- trate such views of the Son of God as are already established by such other jjarts of Scripture as are admitted by the parties addressed." — A.] HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Ilomily on the entire chapter. See the translation above, andcomp. STiicKEii: The heavenly Wisdom which is the word of God is urgently commended to us: 1) by the good opportunity which we have to study it (vers. 1-5) ; '1) by the rich blessing that it brings us (vers. C-L!l) ; 3) by the eminence and majesty of the teaclier who teaches it, and who is no other than Christ, the eternal Son of God (vers. 22-36). — Starke : The true Wisdom's invitation of all men to the Kingdom of God: 1) the invitation itself (vers. 1-10); 2) the induce- ments to give heed to it, namely: a) the inesti- mable value of wisdom (vers. 11, 12); b) the blessings of those who accept her invitation to the Kingdom of tJod (vers. 13-36). — Calwtr Ilandljiich : Wisdom commends herself: 1) in general (vers. 1-5) ; 2) by her truthfulness (vers. 6-9) ; 3) by tiie prudence, understanding, honor and power that she imparts to her followers (vers. 10-21); 4) by her eternal existence, her participation in the creation, her deliglit in the fionsofmen (vers. 22-3*)). — Woiii.fauth : Wisdom the truest and best friend of men, her doors (ver. 34) standing open day by day to every one that needs and desires her. *[For a, very full and candid discussion of this with other related points, see an article by Prof. K. P. Borrows, Biblioth. Sacra, April, 1858; also, Liddon's Bamp. Lectures, pp. 60, IJl. -A.] Vers. 1-11. Egabd:— The Eternal Son of God gathers, plants, builds His Church by a voice, i. e., His word. All true teachers of the word are crying voices through which Christ calls. — Out of Christ's school is no true wisdom ; they who deem themselves wise and shrewd are unfit- ted to learn of Him. — So long as Christ's wisdom is still speaking outside of thee it avails thee nothing; but Vifheu thou allowest it to dwell in thee it is thy light and thy life. — Thou shouldst have one heart and one mouth with Christ; if false and perverse things are found in thy mouth thou art still far from Christ. — Silver and gold is mere vanity and nothingness; what can it help in the day of wrath and judgment? Let God's word be thy highest and best treasure — Berlcb. Bible: Wisdom (who speaks to us not only through the word written and preached, but also inwardly, as God's voice in our hearts) is so far from keeping silence, that although we stop our ears, we yet hear her correction within at the entrances and doors of the heart; and al- though we will not understand her, we must ne- vertheless feel her. And this is a testimony how desirous God is of our blessedness. Vers. 12-21. Mei.anohthon (on vers. 14 sq.): Those counsels are just which agree with the word of God ; and these counsels will at length have joyful issues, with the aid of the Sou of God, who wills to aid those that continue in the word which He has given, and who call upon Him. — Luther (marginal comment on vers. 15, 10): "Princes should act, speak, work, honora- bly and praiseworthily, that men niay glory in and follow their example ; and not as the tyrants, the foul, the cyclops," etc. — Hasius : AVhen true wisdom is taken into counsel in every thing, then in all ranks that will occur which each one's purpose demands according to a perfect ideal. Kings, princes, nobles, counsellors will act in conformity with the aim of their calling (2 Chrou. xix. 6, 7). — Things would stand much better in the world if men exercised their spirit more after holiness, and strove with greater zeal for wisdom, Matth. vi. 33. — Berleburg Bible: No one can rightfully take to himself the name of a Christian ruler, but he who subjects himself in spirit and truth, in humble obedience to the control of the Almighty, lays himself at His feet and allows himself to be wholly ruled by Him. Others exercise a rude, violent and tyrannical control, and an assumed authority over the per- son of men. — Von Gerlach : The wisdom who here announces herself is the very wisdom of God, and is therefore also, as all good can be from God alone, the soul of all good laws and ordinances (vers. 14-17), and must, as every thing earthly is ruled, disposed and rightly dis- tributed among men by God, necessarily reward her disciples with welfare, honor and riches (vers. 18-21). [Ver. 12. Charnock: All arts among men are the rays of Divine wisdom shining upon them. Whatsoever wisdom there is in the world, it is but a shadow of the wisdom of God. — Ver. 13. Arnot: To fear retribution is not to hate sin ; in most cases it is to love it with the whole heart. It is when sin is forgiven that a sinner can hate it. Then he is on God's side. Instead of hating God for his holiness, the for- given man instinctively loathes the evil of his CHAP. IX. 1-18. 105 own he:irt. — Jona. Edwards : " The affection of hatred as having sin for its object is spolceii of in Scripture as no inconsiderable part of true reli- gion. It is spoken of as that by wiiicli true re- ligion may be known and distinguished." — Ver. 15. Bp. Sanderson: On the etiicient cause and consequent obligation of human law. — Hooker: "By me kings reign," e/c. Not as if men did behold that book and accordingly frame their laws; but because it worketh in them, because it discovereth and (as it were) readeth itself to the world by them, when the laws which they make are righteous. — Ver. 18. Arnot : The riches which the King of saints imparts along with the patent of nobility to support its dignity withal, are linked to righteousness and last forever. Handfuls are gotten on the ground, but a soulful is not to be had except in Christ.] Vers. 22-31. Geier: — From this delineation there follows: 1) the personal difference of the Son from the Father; 2) the essential likeness of the Son to the Father, as partaker of the Di- vine activiiy in creation; 3) the unutterable love of the Father to the Son (ver. 80?) ; -1) the deep and grateful love which we in turn owe to this Divinely loved director and mediator in creation and redemption. — Zeltner: All the works of God's omnipotence and wisdom thou sliouldst contemplate with holy joy and wonder, praise the Creator for them, and with them strengthen thyself in faith in His paternal providence. — As an essential and indescribable fellowship exists between the Father and the Son, so does there exist between God and the believer a gracious spiritual union, on which the Christian must be most intent. — Starke : All things have had their beginning except the Son of God regarded in His Divine nature. He is with the Father and the Holy Ghost true God from everlasting to everlasting. All that this Eternal Wisdom does in the kingdom of nature, as well as in that of grace, she does with gladness and delight: yea, there is in this work so lovely and wise an alter- nation and manifolduess, that we must in reason wonder at it (comp. Eph. iii. 10, "the manifold wisdom of God"). — Von Gerlach : — That "play" of wisdom in which the Lord takes pleasure, and her joyousness on the earth, in which she finds her joy among men, points to the childlike gladness of the love that ruled in creation, and to the confidential relation into which the children of wisdom on earth (Matth. xi. 19) enter, to her the very wisdom of God ; comp. Prov. x. 23. In this passage there is a most clearly prophetic gleam of the light of the New Testament; God's eternal wisdom comes forth from Him that He may delight Himself in her ac- tivity ; His own eternal nature the Father for his own blessedness contemplates in the Son. And it is in a love most intimately blended with wis- dom that the Father created the world, to His own blessedness and that of His creatures. Vers. 32-36. Geier : The true fruits of obe- dience should follow the hearing of the word. To these belong: 1) walking the prescribed way; 2) willing reception of the Divine correction ; 3) the extirpation of all inner opposition ; 4) zealous and persistent seeking after salvation ; 5) thank- ful enjoyment of the true wisdom when found. — Von Gerlach (on vers. 34 sq): Wisdom here appears as a sovereign, separate and secluded in the style of Oriental monarchs, so that only those know any thing of her who diligently keep watch at her doors. Wisdom, who is universal in her call and invitation (vers. 1-3), yet in the course of communication, in order to test the fidelity of her admirers, veils herself at times in a mysterious darkness, and reveals herself only to those who never intermit their search (Matth. vii. 7) — [John Howe: There ouglit to be an ex- pectation raised in us that the vital savor dif- fused in and by the word may reach us; and many are ruined for not expecting it, not wailing at the posts of wisdom's door. — Trapp: Hear, etc. This way wisdom enters into the soul. Hear, therefore, for else there is no hope; hear, howsoever. — Flavel : It is good to lie in the path of the Spirit.] 15. Allegorical exhibition of the call of men to the possession and enjoyment of true wisdom, under the figure of an invitation to two banquets. Chap. IX. 1-18. a) The banquet of wisdom: Vers. 1-12. "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars, hath slaughtered her beasts, spiced her wine, hath also spread her table ; hath sent out her maidens ; she inviteth on the highest points (stiramits of the high places) of the city: " Whosoever is simple, let hiiu come hither !" — Whoso lacketh understand in j;, to him she saith: 106 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 5 " Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed! 6 Forsake the simple, and live, and walk in the way of understanding. 7 He who correcteth a scorner draweth upon himself insult, and he who rebuketh the wicked, it is his dishonor. 8 Reprove not the scorner lest he hate thee ; admonish the wise and he will love thee. 9 Give to the wise and he becometh yet wiser, instruct the upright and he learneth yet more. 10 The beginning of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah, and knowledge of the Holy (one) is understanding. 11 For by me will thy days become many, and the years of thy life will increase. 12 Art thou wise, thou art wise for thyself, and if thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it." b) The banquet of Folly : Vers. 13-18. 13 A simple woman (and) clamorous, is Folly, and knoweth nothing whatsoever. 14 She sitteth at the door of her house enthroned in the high places of the city, 15 to invite the wayfarers who go straight on their ways : 16 " Whosoever is simple let him come hither !" — whoso lacketh understanding to him she saith : 17 "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread taken in secret is pleasant," 18 and he knoweth not that the dead are there, in the depths of hell (the lower world) her guests. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver.3. [BoTTCHER cites 'D'lD as illustrating a peculiar Hebrew idiom by which the emphatic plural of generic de- signations of persons, places and things is used for the singular with an indefinite article, which the Hebrew lacked, and only in its later periods licgan to supplement by the numeral. He would therefore translate " on one of the high places of the city." See Ausfilhrl. Lefirb., g 702, d.]. Vers. i. [ID'i »" example of the "consultive" use of the Jussive form (see BuHl. g 964, 2), which under the intlu- \t ence of the succeeding word retains the u vowel (§ 956, g,—^ 1132, 3), the ordinary Jussive being lb'- mOX Perf con- T T ; -IT sec. employed, as it sometimes is in the lively discourse of oratory and poetry, without the connective 1 , B. g 974]. Ver. 9. [DDiTI, ^DVI, examples of Jussive with 1 consec, in the "consecutive-affirmative" sense, as giving an assured result. Bott. ^ 904. a.]. Ver. 13. [no is regarded by Bottcher also as an indefinite, quidquid or quidquam, (g 899, e), as it is by Gesenics and FCERST. Gesen. however finds a different shade of meaning in the verb, and translates " and careth for nothing "]. Ver. 16. [niDNI, an e.\:ample of the Perf. consec. in the sense of the " IHe7is solitum," the " future " with the ideaof T : T : customary action. B"iTT. § 981, B. /3.]. pillars suggests the splendor of the completed building. The sevenfold number represents this as a sacred work ; for seven stands here, as it so frequently does in the Old and New Testaments, as a sacred number (comp. my article " Siehen- zahr' in Herzog's Theol. Real-Enci/cL, XIV. 353 sq.). The house of the celestial SVisdom is by this peculiar and emblematic description repre- sented, as it were, in advance, as a temple, and tlie banquet offered in it as a sacred sacrificial meal. Special significance in the seven pillars, f. ^r., in connection witli the seven attributes of the higher wisdom enumerated in James iii. 17; or the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit referred to in Rev. i. 4, 12 sq. ; iii. 1 ; iv. 6 ; v. 6, etc. (Vi- EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-3. Wisdom hath builded her bouse. The figure of the building of a liouso which is readily suggested by the appellation " director of the work " in chap. viii. 30, appro- priately provides for a transition from the de- scription of the agency of eternal Wisdom in the creation of the world, to that here symbolized as an invitation to a banquet, — her activity among men, summoning and morally instructing them. Comp. chap. xiv. 1. — The designation of Wisdom (nirDDH) is the same as in i. 20. — Hath hewn out her seven pillars. X^^is hewing out of CHAP. IX. 1-18. 10^ TRINGA, C. B. MiCHAELIS, J. LaNGE, VoN GeR- LACH, etc.), or the seven principia deductiva Ethi- ces divinse (according to S. Bohlius, comp. re- marks above, p. 74, note), or finally, the first seven chapters of the Book of Wisdom now be- fore us, — all this is indicated by nothing what- ever in the context, and is therefore wholly ar- bitrary. The suffix in n"1^3^, since r\^3 is usually masc, seems to refer to Wisdom as the subject of the proposition, — her, not its seven pillars. Ver. 2. Hath slaughtered her beasts. Notwithstanding the sacred character of the ban- quet, nn^p is still not to be necessarily trans- lated " her victims," but signifies "that which is slaughtered," slain animals in general. There is probably no reference to vii. 14. — The "mix- ing of the wine " seems not to refer to a mere mixing of wine with water, but to the prepara- tion of a strong spiced wine with myrrh, etc. ; comp. Isa. V. 22; Prov. xxiii. 30, etc. Ver. 3. She inviteth on the highest points of the city, i. e., so that her servants must as- cend the highest elevations of the city (not spe- cifically the roofs of palaces), from which their calls of invitation to the banquet are most widely heard. Hitzig singularly translates " on the bare elevations of the city," because D'iJJ in Exod. xxi. 3, 4, and according to the Arabic, means naked, unclothed (?). — Furthermore the maidens sent forth, the servants of Wisdom, cor- respond to the servants by whom the Lord in the Gospel (Luke xiv. IG sq. ; Matth. xxii. 1 sq.) has the guests invited to his banquet. 2. Vers. 4-12. "Whosoever is simple let him come hither!" etc. On account of the si- milarity of this verse to ver. 16, which contains the words of Folly's invitation, and on account of the summons to eat bread (ver. 5) which does not agree with the mention of the slain beasts in ver. 2, Hitzig pronounces vers. 4 and 5 spuri- ous. But it is very significant and pertinent that Wisdom's invitation appears clothed in the same words as that of Folly (comp. the analogous verbal repetitions in Christ's paraVjles and di- dactic narratives, e. g., Matth. xxv. 20, 22; Luke V. 6, 9; xvi. 6, 7, etc.); and to "eat bread" stands here as in iv. 7, and indeed frequently (e g.. Gen. iii. 19; Lev. xxvi. 5; Deut. xxix. 6; Judges xix. 5; 1 Satn. ii. 36, etc.), by synec- doche for "the partaking of food, the taking a meal " in general. [The allegorical view of this passage as held, e. g., by Wordsw., and in his Commentary supported by ample use of the Church Fathers, may be illustrated by the sup- posed reference of ver. 5 to " the Body of Christ, the Living Bread, and the mystery of His blood, by which we are refreshed at His Holy Table." A.]. — The destitute of understanding, to him she saith. Before the ^VlDH there is to be supplied from the 1st member the pro- noun 'O, —literally, therefore " who is destitute of understanding, to him she saith." The dis- course accoi-dingly here (and in the 2d member of ver. 15) falls back from the stj'le of recital to that of description. Ver. 6. Forsake the simple. It will be easiest to take this phrase in its literal sense. For the verses following give this very counsel, not to keep company longer with the simple, with fools and scorners, because these are still incorrigible. The old versions and most modern commentators [as e. g., St., N., M.] re- gard the noun as abstract (equivalent to the sing. ^r\2 in i. 22, or the abstract derivative TWTMi in ver. 13), and therefore translate "Forsake simplicity, let your simplicity go." [As Trapp, in his pithy way expresses it: "No coming to this feast in the tattered rags of the old Adam; you must relinquish your former evil courses and companies"]. But such a signification of this plu- ral is attested by no example whatsoever. Just as unadvisable is it to construe the verb abso- lutely, by which Hitzig reaches the translation, "Cease, ye simple," etc.; for in Jer. xviii. 14, the verb is construed not absolutely, but rather with jp ; and the connection with wjiat follows at least decidedly favors our explanation, which is supported by Ujibkeit also among others of the later expositors. Ver. 7. He who correcteth the scorner draweth upon himself insult. Usually the connection with ver. 4-6 is so conceived as il Wisdom were here (in ver. 7-10) explaining her conduct in inviting especially the simple; she is supposed to turn to these alone, for the reason, that if she wished to invite the scornful and wicked also she would only expose herself to in- dignities, and yet would efi"ect nothing. But against this view of the course of thought may be urged decidedly, the warning and admonitory tone of vers. 8, 9, and the didactic nature of ver. 10, which make it easy to find expressed in ver. 7 also the spirit of dissuasion, and so to regard vers. 7-10 as an argument in support of the de- mand embodied in the 1st clause of ver. 6, to avoid further intercourse with the simple, scorn- ers, villains, etc. A comparison with i. 22 shows that under the " simple " may be included very readily mockers, the violent, etc., as belonging to the same category; so does also the name "sim- plicity " (^^"'iliJJ which is below, in ver. 13, directly given to the personification of Folly. "Abandon intercourse with such persons" is therefore Wisdom's admonition, "for you gain from it nothing but insult, hate and contempt; forsake the camp of the simple (D-^niJ) and come over into that of the wise (D'ODFI), whose watchword is the fear of God and knowledge of the Holy ; so will you find abundance of happi- ness and blessing." — Hitzig, whose conception of the 1st clause of ver. 6 makes the recognition of this as the true connection of thought, from the first impossible, summarily rejects ver. 7-10 as a later interpolation. But if in fact the "if thou scornest " in the 2d clause of ver. 12 sug- gested this interpolation, the verses introduced would both in form and substance have been es- sentially different. And in the form in which the passage has come down in the manuscripts Hitzig's hypothesis of an interpolation here again finds no kind of support. — -And he v/ho rebuketh a V7icked man to him it is a shame. The word lO-IO (his fault or shame) cannot be dependent on the verb (Hp 7) of the first clause which is associated with 17 [he 108 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. taketh to Limself his shame], but must be re- garded as a predicate: "this is to him shame, such action is his disgrace." Comp. Eccl. v. 16 ; Ps. cxv. 7. Ver. 9. Give to the wise and he be- cometh wiser. Comp. chap. i. 5, wliicli pas- sage all hough expressing an idea lilie tliat before lis, must nut for that reason be regarded as de- rived from tills (in opposition to Ilrrzic;). [Lord BvcON (Adv. of Jjcarning, Book IL) says, " Hero is distinguished the wisdom brouglit into habit, and that which is but verbal and swimming only in conceit ; for the one upon the occasion pre- sented is quickened and redoubled, the other is amazed and confused "]. With ver. 10 comp. i. 7; ii. 5. Corresponding with the "Knowledge of God " in the latter passage we have here "knowledge of the holy," i. e. not "knowledge of the holy" [in plural] (LXX, Vulgate, and most Catholic expositors), but "of the Holy" [in singular, '■• des IIeiliyc:ii"'\, i.e. of God. Comp. further for this plur. majest. chap. xxx. 3 and Hos. xii. 1. [See still further examples of the use of participial plurals in the same way in Isa. liv. 5; Ps. cxxi. 5; Eccl. xii. 1, etc., Ewald, Leh-b., § 178, b, Bott., | 701, Green, | 202.— With regard to the interpretation compare Dr. J. Pye Smith [Script. Test, to the Messiah, L, 811): " According to the usual construction of Hebrew poetry, the plural epithet "the Holy" must be understood in apposition with Jehovah in the former half of the distich." So H., St. M., and N.— A.] Vers. 11,12 are not to be regarded as taking up the discourse after the alleged digression in vers. 7-10, and attaching themselves to the words of invitation in vers. 4-G to justify them (Ber- THEAU, Hrrzio), but give the reason for the gene- ral affirmation in vor. 10, which had been added as a peculiarly strong motive to the acceptance of Wisdom's invitation. The address in the sin- gular has therefore nothing remarkable in it; it simply follows vers. 8, 9. — By me vvill thy days become many, etc. Comp. similar pro- mises of long life, chap. iii. 2; iv. 10. [For the use of this 3d pers. plural •lii'DV see the gram- mars generally, e. ff. Ges., § 134, 8; Green, § 243, 2, b, but more fully Bott., ^ fl3.j, GJ.—Art thou wise, thou art wise to thyself. The same thought is found somewhat more fully de- veloped in Job xxii. 2, 3; xxxv. 0-9 ; comp. also Rom. xi. 35; Rev. xxii. 11, 12. — If thou scorn- est thou alone shalt bear it. Comp. Numb, ix. 13; Jer. vii. 19; .Job xxxiv. 31, and also the Latin dictum, of Petronuts, ''Sibi qnisque peccat." The LXX offer in ver. 12, 1st clause, the fuller reading " thou shalt be wise for thyself and for thy neighbor" [kuI nj -/j/aiov) which is surely the re- sult of interpolation, like the addition which they append to ver. 10 (ru yap yvumi voiinv (hamiac earlv aya't^f/c). The longer additions also of three verses eacii, which they with the Syriac and Arabic translators exhibit after ver. 12 and ver. 18, hardly rest upon a genuine original text that been assailed and ensnared by Folly's allure- was before them, although they may readily be 1 ments (Elster) : for the suggestion of the at- rendered back into Il<-i)rew (see Ilnzia's at- | traction and charm of forbidden pleasures ap- tenipts at this, pp. 8(5 and 88), and therefore very pears most appropriately in the mouth of the probably date from pre-Alexanih-i;in times. j beguiler. Comp. UMiuiEiT on this passage. Vers. 13-18. A simple woman, clamo- \ Instead of wine (ver. 5) water is here mentioned rous, [violently excited] is Folly. The ab- sti-act j">-Vj}£), simplicity, foolishness (see above remarks on ver. 7) is here plainly the subject, and designates the personitied Folly, the e.xact opposite of Wisdom in ver. 1 With this suliject is associated and prefixed as the main predicate, the appellation " woman of folly," i. e., sim- ple woman; the n'.Oin "clamorous, boister- ous" is in turn an attribute of this predicate, and describes the passionately excited, wanton desire of the foolish woman represented as an adulteress, just as in vii. 11, with which deli- neation that before us has a general and doubt- less intentional correspondence. — And know- eth nothing w^hatever. In this way in ac- cordance with Job xiii. 13, this phrase of the Masoretic text (nr3"n>n"'-S3!|) must unques- tionably be interpreted. Liter ignorance (comp. John xi. 49, "ye know nothing at all ") would accordingly be what is here asserted of Folly. But perhaps Hitzig is right, according to the LXX {ij ovK. kTiicrarai alax'i't'jjv, "whoknowetb not shame") in reading 713/3 instead of no (the disappearance of the two consonants might easily have been occasioned by the false reading no~'72)), and therefore in translating " and knoweth no shame," which agrees admi- rably with the "boisterous" of the 1st clause. Ver. 14. She sitteth at the door of her house, like harlots who watch for passers by; comp. Jer. iii. 2 ; Gen. xxxviii. 14, and the con- duct of the adulteress described in chap. vii. 10 sq. — Seated in the high places of the city. The place thus described is not the same as that in the 1st clause, but some other, farther re- moved from the door of the house. The harlot is therefore quite like the one in chap. vii. 10 sq., represented as running irregularly this way and that and often clianging her place. In this, however, the representation accords with that in ver. 3; as Wisdom so also Folly sends forth her call of invitation from elevated places of the city (comp. also chap. viii. 2). A real throne as her seat, which she has erected under the open air, and which, in contrast to the "bald, un- covered heights" (?) mentioned in ver. 3, is sup- posed to be covered with tapestry (Hitzig), is certainly not intended; but the "throne" is here metaphorical; a "lofty throne of the city" (Umbreit) is a figurative and probably an ironi- cal representation of a specially high place on which the wanton harlot has stationed herself, and therefore is as it were enthroned. Ver. 15. Who go straight on their w^ays, and therefore quiet, unwary travellers wlio lake no thought of circuits or by-paths. The expres- sion is doubtless to be taken literally, and yet not without a secondary moral significance. Ver. 17. Stolen w^aters are sweet, etc. Plainly words of Folly, and not of tiie author (Ewalu, Bertheau), or even of one who has CHAP. IX. 1-18. 109 as tlie ingredient, of the feast, probably with reference to the waters mentioned in chap. v. 15. — Bread of secrecy, i. e. not simply bread secretly enjoyed, but also unjustly gained; an image of the forbidden enjoyment on which the adulterer seizes (coiiip. chap. xxx. 20). Ver. 18. And he knoweth not, i. e. the fd'olish victim who heeds h^v call and enters her hiiuse (comp. viii. 22). — That the dead (shades) are there, L e. children of death, who are surely moving on toward the horrors of the lower world, and therefore even now, while the body still lives, are tenants of the lower world (D'XD"1, comp. ii. 18), or "dead" (thus quite correctly according to the sense, Luther [the English version, «/c.] : comp. Matt. viii. 22; Eph. ii. 1, etc.). — In the depths of hell her guests; literally, "in the depths (not as Um- BREiT and Ew.\LD would reail 'in the valleys') of Sheol her invited ones." Therefore although in the house of Folly and to be found at her ban- quet those ensnared by her are in truth already in hell. For that house as a throat of hell reaches down to it (comp. ii. 18; vii. 27), is as it were only a station on the way of these sinners, which leads surely and irresistibly down to bell. Thus, and doubtless correctly, Hitzig, in opposi- tion to others who make this language only anti- cipative. As to the three verses which the LXX supply after ver. 18 see above on ver. 12. ' DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. The prototypical relation of the contents of this chapter to our Lord's parables founded on banquets (JNIt. xxii. 1-14; Lu. xiv. 16-2-t) is evi- dent, and therefore its special importance to the doctrine of the call to salvation. What peculiarly characterizes the representation before us is, how- ever, the twofold banquet to which invitation is given, and the correspondent resemblances and ditferences in the two feasts with their accompa- niments. In both instances, at Wisdom's feast as well as that of Folly, it is the " simple," i. e. the great mass of the unrenewed, the children of this world, those indeed needing but not yet par- taking the divine salvation, to whom the call goes forth. It also goes in both cases (Ver. 4 and 16) with the same words of invitation, and under quite similar conditions, — that is, in such a way that those to be invited are laid hold upon in the street, and at once taken into the house (comp. Matt. xxii. 9; Luke xiv. 21). With these analogies which are found mainly at the begin- ning of the acts compared, how great are the ditferences, how fearful the contrasts ! In the former case it is a splendid palace with its col- umns, a holy temple of God, in which the feast occurs; in the latter a common house, a harlot's abode, built over an entrance to the abyss of hell! In the first the entertainer, represented as the princely occupant of a palace, remains quietly at home, while her servants take charge of the invitations ; in the last the common woman goes out herself on the streets and high places of the city, that sitting in the attire of a harlot (comp. vii. 10), with the open heavens as a canopy above her, she may craftily and shame- lessly attract as many as may be affected and ensnared by the contagion of her wanton lust ! In the former instance it is simple words of God that make up the inviting testimony, words that in part with a literal exactness agree with the gracious calls of mercy and love with which the Son of Man once called sinners to repentance (comp., for example, ver. 5 with John vi. 35, vers. 7, 8 with Matt. vii. 6; ver. 9 with Matt, xiii. 12; vers. 6, 11, 12 with Matt. xi. 28-30); in the latter it is a Satanic voice of temptation that is heard, setting forth with the boldest ef- frontery as a commendable principle to which we should conform our lives, the well-knowa " we ever strive for the forbidden, and desire the denied " [nitimur in velitum semper cupimusque negata) ! comp. ver. 17 with Matt. iv. 3, 9; Rom. i. 32, etc. In the homiletic treatment of the passage as a whole it will be appropriate to set in the clearest light this parallelism of the banquets that are compared, with their special resemblances and contrasts; in some such way as this then: The friends of the kingdom of heaven and the friends of this world; or, The call of Christ to His Church, and the enticement of Satan to the ser- vice of sin; or. The feast of death, etc. Comp. Stocker : Christ's wisdom and humanity [(puav- OpuTTia); Antichrist's folly and dcstructiveness. — Starke : — A lesson on the founding of the church of the Messiah, and the collection of its mem- bers: 1) The founding of the Church by the work of redemption (vers. 1, 2). 2) The invita- tion to the enjoyment of the blessings of Christ's salvation in the Church; and in particular: a) How Christ invites to the enjoyment of these blessings of His salvation (vers. 3-6) ; b) How this invitation is foolishly despised by many men, and the allurements of sin preferred to it. — WoHLFAKTH : — The cross-roads ; while wisdom calls us to the way of virtue and offers herself as our guide on it, at the same time the pleasure of this world calls and offers everything imagina- ble to draw to itself earth's pilgrims of all races^ ages and conditions. Single jyassages. On vers. 1-6. Stocker : — (Sermon on Christmas eve) ; Christ's friendliness and condescension, as it appears 1) from the founding of His Church and its maintenance by "seven pillars," i. e. by the apostles endowed with the manifold gifts of the Holy Ghost (ver. 1); 2) from Ilis costly work of redemption in His own sacrificial death (ver. 2) ; by the institutioa of the means of grace in His Word and Sacra- ment (vers. 2-3) ; 4) from the gracious invitation to partake of all this (vers. 4 sq.). On vers. 7,8. Cramer: — In the office of the Christian ministry the function of discipline must also be especially maintained. It does not, however, produce uniform fruits; some reform, some are and continue scorners. — [Ver. 7. Fla- VEL: — What we fear might turn to our bene- fit. The reproof given is duty discharged ; and the retort in return is a fresh call to repent- ance for sin past, and a caution against sin to come. — Vers. 7-9. Arnot : — Reproof — how to give it and how to take it. There should be jealousy for the Lord's honor, and compassion for men's souls like a well-spring ever in the heart; and then the outgoing effort should be with all the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessnesa no THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. of the dove. For rightly receiving reproof the rule is, be more concerned to get the Vjenefit of the reproof than to wreak vengeance on the re- prover.] On ver. 7-12. Calwer Handbuch ; Reflections on the reception which Wisdom's invitation finds among men ; mockers answer it with derision ; ■wise, i. e. God-fearing men, and such as continue in sanctificalion grow not only in wisdom, but also in outward prosperity: the gain is in every case ours, as the loss is the scorner's. — On vers. 11, 12. Hasius : — Wisdom and virtue lose nothing by being reviled and defamed; he, however, inevi- tably loses who makes sport of them. — [T. Adams : ■ — Wisdom is the mother of abstinence, and absti- nence the nurse of health ; whereas voluptuous- ness and intemperance (as the French proverb hath it) dig their own grave with their teeth.] On vers. 13-18. Starke: — If the temptation of Satan and liis agents is so strong so much the more needful is it to try the spirits whether they be of God, and to beseech God that He will guide us in the right way. Alas ! to many men in consequence of their corrupted taste in spiri- tual things there is more relish in the bread of vice and in draughts from the impure sloughs of the world, than in what is oifered to them on the table of Jesus' grace. — Berleburg Bible: — The more faithfully one serves the world, the more he allows himself to be led by corrupt reason and gives ear to the fascinating voice of tempta- tion, the more enamored he is of the deceitful harlot, so much the deeper will he sink into the lowest depths of hell .... Who would pre- fer hell to heaven ! who would go after death that may attain life ! — [Ver. 17. Trapp: — Many eat that on earth that they digest in hell. — Arnot: — When you have tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious, the foolish woman beckons you toward her stolen waters, and praises their sweets in vain: the new appetite drives out the old]. n. ORIGINAL NUCLEUS OF THE COLLECTION— GENUINE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Ethical maxims, precepts and admonitions -with respect to the most diverse relations of human life. (Proverbs mainly in the form of antithetic distichs.) Chap. X. 1— XXII. 16. 3. Exhibition of the difference between the pious and the ungodly, and their respective lots in life. Chap. X-XV. a) Comparison between the pious and the ungodly with respect to their life and conduct in gene- ral. Chap. X. 1 Proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh glad his father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother. 2 Treasures of wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivereth from death. 3 Jehovah will not suffer the righteous to famish [E. V.: the soul of the righteous], but the craving of the wicked He disappointeth. 4 He becometh poor that worketh with an idle hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. 5 He that gathereth in summer is a wise son, but he that sleepeth in harvest is a bad son. 6 Blessings are upon the head oi' the just, but the mouth of the wicked hideth violence. 7 The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot. 8 Whoso is wise iu heart will receive precepts, but he who is of foolish lips shall fall. 9 He that walketh uprightly walketh securely, but he that perverteth his way shall be made known. CHAP. X. 1-32. Ill 10 He that winketh with the eye causeth trouble, and he that is of foolish lips is overthrown. 11 A fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked hideth violence. 12 Hate stirreth up strife, but love covereth all transgressions. 13 On the lips of the man of understanding wisdom is found, but a rod (is) for the back of the fool. 14 Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool is a near (speedy) destruction. 15 The rich man's wealth is his strong city, the destruction of the poor is their poverty. 16 The labour of the righteous (tendeth) to life, the gain of the wicked to sin. 17 A way to life is he who heedeth correction, he who resisteth reproof leadeth astray. 18 He that hideth hatred (hath) lying lips, and he who spreadeth slander is a fool. 19 In much talking transgression is not wanting, but he that governeth his lips doeth wisely. 20 Choice silver is the tongue of the righteous, the heart of the wicked is of little worth. 21 The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for want of knowledge. 22 Jehovah's blessing, — it maketh rich, and labour addeth nothing thereto. 23 It is as sport to a fool to do mischief, but to the man of understanding wisdom. 24 What the wicked feareth cometh upon him, but the desire of the righteous is granted them. 25 When a storm sweepeth by the wicked is no more, but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. 26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. 27 The fear of Jehovah multiplieth days, but the years of the wicked are shortened. 28 The expectation of the righteous is gladness, but the hope of the wicked shall perish. 29 Jehovah's way is a bulwark to the righteous, but destruction to evil doers. 30 The righteous shall never be moved, but the wicked shall not abide in the land. 31 The mouth of the righteous bringeth forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue shall be rooted out. 32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked perverseness. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 1.— [nSKf^ ; cited by Bott (g§ 943, c, e ; 950 e) as an illustration of the employment of the Imperf. to express What must be from the very nature of the case, — Fiens delitum, — " must gladden." — A.] Ver 2. — ['W'^V : as above, with the meaning " cannot profit;" §950, c, |3. — A.] Ver. 3. — [3''_y'T' ; an example of the Fiens solitum, what is %iiont to be; g 950, 6.] — The LXX, arbitrarily assimilating the language of the iirst and second clauses, read in the second D'J^K'T H^n, for they translate " the life of the un- godly," ^u)))i' SJ ao-e/3a)i' ai-aTpei/zfi. [T\>T\ has been quite variously rendered. The E. V. translates "substance," the ob- T ~ ject of the desire of the wicked. Luther, fnllowinjr the inndias of the Vulff., renders by "Schinderei^exactions or oppres- sion. IIoLOEN translates "iniquity." N., St., and M. agree with our author in retaining the simple meaning "craving, or greedy desire." So Gesen., Fuerst, etc. — A.] Ver. 5.— [U?O0 is taken by Gesen., Fuerst, Stuart as intransitive, in the sense of "acting basely." N., M., H. agree ^12 THE PROVERBS OF SOLO:\ION. ■n-ith the E. V in (ierivin;,' it fioiii a rlifferint radical idea in the verl', and niiikitig it a causative Hiphil. Tbe difference in the final imjiort is nut vt-ry great, yet tlie lormer ci^nception of the word appears to have the best warrant. — A.] Ver. 8.— [np'i Fie7is Uciliun, '-is dispused to receive," etc. BoiT, ^I'iO, c. — A.J Ver. 21.— ion is liere stat. canstr. not of tlie adj. IDH, as e. g. above in ver. 13, but of the noun "1Dn> as tlie old trans- lators correctly judged. BcRTHEAU 13 therefore wrong in rendering " through one void of understanding." Fuerst takes our author's view; so Bott. (JTy-i), who would interpret ver. lU in the same way, "the back of folly." — A.] EXEGETICAL. 1. General preliminary remark. Tbe main di- vision of the collection of proverbs that begins with chap, x., by the scattered isolation and the mosaic-like grouping of its individual elements contrasts quite strongly with the longer and well compacted proverbial discourses of the first nine chapters. And yet one would go too far in as- suming an entirely planless and unregulated ac- cumulation of the proverbs contained in chaps, x.-xxii., and failing to recognize at least an at- tempt of the collector to secure a methodical grouping of the rich store of maxims that he has to communicate. Hitzig's assumption, it is true, seems altogether artificial, and tenable only as the result of violent critical dealing, — viz., that chaps, x.-xxi. may be resolveil into four sections of equal length, of about 90 verses each ; 1 ) chaps, x.-xii. (xiii. 1 making a commencement parallel to x. 1); chap, xiii.-xv. 32 (in whicii division xiii. 23 is to be stricken out to make 91 verses, as in the preceding section) ; chap. xv. 33-xix. 3 (where by omitting xvi. 25 and insert- ing two verses from the LXX after xvi. 17 the number of 89 verses must be reached that shall correspond with the section following) ; and chap. xix. 4-xsi. 31. Ho also assumes that within these four principal subdivisions groups of verses symmetrically constructed of six, seven and eight verses respectively, succeed one another. But although such a construction according to definite relations of numbers is not demonstrable, or at least is demonstrable only in single in- stances [e. g., chap. xv. 33 — xvi. 15; see remarks on tills passage), still the existence of larger or smaller groups of proverbs of similar import cannot be denied; and many of these groups relating to one and the same subject are very probably attached one to another according to a definite plan or construction of ideas. And yet these in most cases stand in a loose co-ordina- tion, and withal quite frequently appear accom- panied or interspersed by single verses that are altogether isolated. In the chapter before us groups of this sort, governed by a certain- unity of idea, may be found in vers. 2-7, 8-10, 11-14, 15-21, 22-25, 27-30. Vers. 1, 26, 31, 82 stand isolated. Hitzig's attempt to construct from x. 1 — xi. 3 exactly five groups of seven proverbs each appears untenable after an unprejudiced examination of the real relations of the matter. — AVith reference to the contents of the six groups of verses, together with the individual verses accompanying them, and also with respect to central thoughts that may possibly be drawn from these elements, see the "Doctrinal and Ethical" notes. 2. Vers. 1. A wise son maketh glad his father, etc. — This thought, wliich is quite gene- ral, is plainly designed to serve as an introduc- tion to the entire collection of proverbs that suc- ceeds ; comp. i. 8. As in that instance, and as in XV. 20; xvii. 25; xxiii. 24 there is found here an attempt, by means of an antithetic parallelism, at Metalepsis or the distribution of tlie proposi- tions between father and mother in detail. [In- genious expositions of the diverse eflf'ects of dif- ferent kinds of conduct upon the father and the mother, like that of Lord Bacon in the "Adiumce- ment of Learning," and more elaborately in the "Z'e Augmentia Scientiariim," overlook the nature of the Hebrew parallelism — A.] "Grief, anx- iety," derived from TIT [moestus esse, dolere), LXX : ?.v7T?f ; comp. liv. 13; xvii. 21 ; Ps. cxix. 28. 3. Vers. 2-7. Six verses or three pairs of verses relating to the earthly lot of the just and the un- just, the diligent and the sluggish. — Treasures of -wickedness profit not. — Because they cannot avert the sudden and unhappy death that awaits the wicked ; comp. vers. 25-27. With the second clause compare chap. xi. 4-19. Ver. 3. Jehovah will not suffer the righteous to famish. — Literally, " the spirit of the righteous;" for this is the sense which in agreement with most interpreters we must find here, and not " the desire, the craving of the righteous," as Elster thinks, appealing for con- firmation to vi. 30; xxiii. 2. For this strong expression is inappropriate before we come to the antithesis in the second member, and here the idea is plainly enough expressed by the word ri'n, "longing" (comp. n^lN, Deut. xii. 15; 1 Sam. xxiii. 30). Compare xi. 6. Ver. 4. He becometh poor thatworketh with an idle hand. — n''p"1-'^3, not a "deceit- ful, crafty hand," but an "idle, sluggish hand," manus remissa (Vulg.); comp. xii. 24, 27; xix. 15 ; Jer. xlviii. 10.— t:'N"l, for which the LXX and Vulg. must have read t-^X"! the substantive (TTEvia, egestas), is the third Sing. Perf. Kal [or the participle] with the scriptio plena (like DNp in Hos. X. 14), and with the signification "he is impoverished," inopsfit; comp. Ps. xxxiv. 10. With the phrase T Hb';', to stir the hand, to work with the hand, comp. Jer. xlviii. 10. — But the hand of the diligent — literally, " of the sharpened," comp. xii. 24. Ver. 5. He that gathereth in summer is a wise man — lit., "is a son thatdoeth wisely," and so in the second member, "a son that doeth badly." Tiiesc same predicates stand contrasted also in chap. xiv. 35, in that case to define more closely the term " servant," but here as attributes of the "son," which designation is chosen in this instance rather than "man," probably because "the heavy labors of the field which are here spoken of devolve especially upon the younger men, and also because idleness is particularly ruinous to youth" (Ei.stf.u). — For the general sentiment comp. also chap. vi. 8, 9. Ver. 6. Benedictions (come) upon the head CHAP. X. 1-32. 113 of the just, but the mouth of the wicked hideth violence. — In this strictly literal ren- dering of tile verse there is no sharp antithesis be- tween the first and second clauses, for which reason many, following the LXX and Vulg., reverse the relation of subject and object in the second clause, and fit her translate with Doderlein, Dathe, etc., ♦' wickedness closeth the mouth of the vicious," or, inasmuch as the noun DOn cannot possibly be used in this setnse of " wickedness, evil dispo- sition," explain with Umbreit among others, "the mouth of the profligate crime covereth." [E. v.: "violence covereth tha mouth of the wicked."] (This is substantially the explanation of HiTZiG also, except that he points Hoi)' instead of HDD', and takes the noun DOFI contrary to ■.•-:' TT •' usage in the sense of " pain, ruin ;'' " the mouth of the wicked is covered with sorrow.") [Words. gives a doubtful support to this view.] liut why in just this passage and the second hemistich of ver. 11 which corresponds literally with it, it should be particularly the mouth and not the/ace of the wicked that is named as the object to be covered with crime, is not readily seen; and to read " f.ice " ("P.?) instead of "mouth" ('3) in accordance with Ps. xliv. 16; Jer. li. 51, would evidently not answer on account of the double occurrence of the expression. Therefore, with Berthk.vu, Elster, etc. [N., St., and M. in a qualified way], we should hold fast the above explanation as the simplest and most obvious, and accordingly reckon our verse among the ex- ceptions, which, moreover, are not very rare, to that antithetic mode of constructing propositions which altogether predominates in the division of the book now before us. [Rueetschi, in the Stud, und Krit., 1868, I., 135, not only agrees with our author in his construction of the verse, but endeavors more fully to justify the parallelism by the following explanation. " While the righteous, who is himself for others a fountain of life and blessing (ver. 11), nothing but love and fidelity, is himself also to expect blessing (ver. 7), the wicked has in himself only destruction; he hides it, covers it, it is true (corap. DD^), ver. 18), with his mouth, yet has it in him (Ps. v. 9) ; and this very fact, that he covers in himself •ruin for others, turns the blessing away from him."] Yer. 7. The name of the "wicked rotteth, strictly "will rot or moulder," i. e., the memory of the wicked not only disappears quickly and surely, but also so as to excite sensations of ab- horrence and disgust in other men (like ill smelling mould). 4. Vers. 8-10. Three proverbs bearing upon the contrast between wise men and fools. — He who is of foolish lips is overthrown. — With the wisely dispn.^ed (in the first clause) there is sig- nificantly contrasted the foolish speaker, the fro- ward talker, and that, too, with the designation suggested by the organ of his foolish discourse, "the fool in lips." The verb {02^\), for the most part misunderstood by the older translators, can express only the meaning of being brought to a downfall, being overthrown, prsecipitari, and accordingly sets forth the consequence of that refusal to receive commandments which charac- terizes the fool in contrast with the wise man. To secure a stronger antithesis to the verb of the first clause Hitzig reads iObV or OSV, "casta them away," i. e. the commandments. But it ia precisely the correspondence with the 2d clause of ver. 10, where Hitzig must admit the passive meaning of the verb, that makes it certain that this is here also the intended meaning ; far such verbal repetitions of whole or of half verses are among the fancies of the author of this division of our book ; see above, remarks on ver. 6. [The wise "speaks little, but hears much: re- ceives commands; therefore it goes well with him" (ver. 9, 1st clause; chap. iii. 1 sq.) ; but he " who is of foolish lips," who by his words shows himself a fool, is ever talking and not receiving instruction, is ruined; literally, is overthrown. It is in general a peculiar charm of many pro- verbs that the parallelism is not perfectly close, but it remains the function of the reader to seek out the intermediate thoughts, and to make the deductions." Rueetschi, as cited above]. Ver. 9. Is made manifest, lit., "is made known," i.e. as a sinner deserving punishment; an allusion to the judicial strictness of God, the All-seeing, [so Wordsw.], (the verb, therefore, not used as in chap. xii. 16). Hitzig strangely renders "made wiser," as though the Niphal were here passive of the Hiphil. [Rueetschi again (as cited above, p. 136) agrees with Zockler, and thus develops the antithesis : " he adopts crooked ways in order, as he thinks, to be able to practice iniquity more secure and unobserved; but he is ever known and exposed, he must himself always fear recognition, and this gives to his walk 'in- security' "]. Vt.r. 10. He that w^inketh with the eye. Comp. vi. 13, where as here the "winking with the eye" immediately follows the mention of crooked and perverse action. Instead of the 2d clause, which is identical with the 2d clause of ver. 8, and which here yields no autithetic'paral- lelism to the 1st clause, Kennicott, D.\tue, Ber- THEAU, Elster prefer the very different reading of the LXX: 6 de £A£}';^;wv [it-a Trappr/aiag slpz/vo- TToul (but he that rebuketh boldly maketh peace). This however appears rather to be an attempted emendation, the result of well-meaning reflection than the restoration of an original Hebrew text. We'must here again assume a momentary depar- ture of the poet from his ordinary strictly anti- thetical construction of his sentences. In con- nection with this, however, we are not to give to the Terb £337^ conjecturally the meaning of "stumbling" or of " groping blindly" (Hitzig), but that which is found also in ver. 8, " having a fall," "self-destruction" (Umbreit). [Here again Rueetschi comes to the defence of the poet's antithesis, with the explanation "he that winketh, the false, causes sorrow, produces vexation to himself, and he who in his folly openly utters evil falls." The results difi'er according to the nature of his wickedness; "vexation when he has done wrong secretly,, overthrow, destruction, when he has done it openly " (as above cited, p. 136)]. 6. Vers. 11-14. Two pairs of sentences con- cerning the contrast between good and evil, wis- dom and folly, associated by the mention which 114 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. is common to the iii-st and last proverb, of the mouth of those in whom the contrast appears (as the preceding group was characterized by tlie men- tion of the lipn in vers. 8 and 10). — A fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous, on account of the hearty, edifying, loving character of its utterances. For this figure compare xiii. 14; xviii. 4. For the 2d clause see remarks above on ver. 6. Ver. 12. Hate stirreth up strife, lit., ''dis- putes," "litigations;" conip. vi. 14. — All trans- gressions love covereth over, by ignoring them, by palliating words, by considerate and conciliatory demeanor; comp. xvii. 'J; James v. 20; 1 Pet. iv. 8; 1 Cor. xiii. 4.— [Tr.\pp : Love hath a large mantle]. Ver. 13. A rod for the fool's back, i. e. merited punishment overtakes him, the man void of understanding whose lips lack wisdom (comp. xxvi. 3; xix. 29). The imperfect and suggestive form of the antithesis is like that in vers. (J and 8. Ver. 14. Wise men reserve knowledge, lit., "conceal knowledge," i. e. husband the know- ledge and understanding which they possess for the right time and place, do not squander it in un- seasonable talk and babbling (comp. ver. 8). [So W., N., St., and M.]. In the pai-allel passage xiii. 23 the synonymous verb to "cover" (JIDB) corresponds with the one here used. Comp. also Mai. ii. 7. — Is a near destruction, i. e. is ever inclined to break forth with its foolish sugges- tions, and thereby to bring upon itself and upon others alarm and even destruction. Comp. the sentiment of chap. xiii. 8, which although indeed somewhat differently constructed is still in gene- ral similar. ["Near" is an adjective, and the rendering should be more distinct than the am- higuous and misleading translation of the E. V. The mouth of the wicked is not simply passively near to being destroyed; it is a quickly destroy- ing agency. — A.] 6. Vei's. 15-21. Seven proverbs mostly relating to earthly good, its worth, and the means of its attainment, — connected with the two preceding groups (although only loosely and externally) by the "destruction" of ver. 15, and the allusion to the lips in vers. 18 and 19. With the 1st clause of ver. 15 comp. xviii. 11 ; Ecclesiast. xl. 26; and Eccles. vii. 12. — The destruction of the poor is their poverty, i. e., on account of their desti- tution there is every instant threatening them an utter destruction or the sundering of all their relations; tbey therefore come to nothing, they are continually exposed to the danger of a com- plete ruin in all their circumstances, while to the rich man his means secure a sure basis and a strong protection in all the vicissitudes of life. Naturally the author is here thinking of wealth •well earned by practical wisdom; and this is at the same time a means in the further efforts of wisdom ; and again, of a deserved poverty which while the consequence of foolish conduct, always causes one to sink deeper in folly and moral need. Comp. the ver. following. Hitzig here following Jer. xlviii. 39 takes this destruction (Hi^nip) subjectively, as equivalent to "conster- nation, terror," [Noyes], which view, however, is opposed by the use of the expression in the preceding verse and in ver. 29. Ver. 16. The labor of the righteous, his acquisitions, his earnings, comp. 2 .John 8. — Tendeth to life, comp. xi. 19 and also xvi. 8. The contrast to this, " tendeth to sin," includes the idea not fully expressed, "and accordingly to all misfortune and ruin as the result of sin." Hitzig, " to expiation," i. e. to making good the losses which his sins bring upon him as just penalties (with a reference to Zech. xiv. 19 ; Jer. xvii. 3); Schultens, Arnoldi, Umbreit, etc., " to downfall, to misfortune." Both expositions fail to conform to the usual signification of DXtSn. Ver. 17. A-v/ay to life is he •who heedeth correction. "A way to life," (a well known expression like "a way, or path of life " in chap. v. 6, and therefore not to be changed by a new punctuation into C'n? H^N, " a traveller to life," as Ziegler and Ewald propose) ; so the wise obse»ver of good instruction is hei'e named because he also guides others to life, in contrast with the T])/r\TO, him who misleads, the despiser of wholesome discipline and correction, who not only fails of the right way himself, but shows himself an evil guide to others also (Matt. xv. 14). [The rendering of the E. V., "is in the way," although Ibllowed by H., N., M., W., is not full and exhaustive enough. Such a man is not merely "in the way to life ;" he is a guide, by a bolder figure he is a way to other men. — A.] The intransitive conception of this parti- ciple (LXX, Vulg., LuTiiER, and also Umbreit, EwALD, etc.), may if necessary be reached by modifying the punctuation nj/|PO (Hithp., Hit- zig) ; but the " going astray" even then does not correspond remarkably with the " way to life," so far as this expression is correctly understood. [" This sentence is an example how sometimes that which is simplest and most obvious can be persistently missed : these words so simple and true have been refined upon because the real idea was not taken. The meaning is simply this: example is efficacious ;" e^c. Rueetschi, as above, p. 137]. Ver. 18. He that hideth hatred (hath) lying lips, strictly, "is lips of falsehood," i. e. is a man of deceitful lips. [Here again the E. V. sacrifices much of the original. " Lying lips" is not here instrumental; it is the predicate. So H., N., S., M., W.— a.] Comp. for this im- mediate personification of the sinning organ, chap. xii. 19, 22, where in the first instance the "lying tongue" and then the "lying lips" ap- pear personified. For the sentiment comp. xxvi. 24. Peculiarly hard and arbitrary is Hitzig's exposition; that instead of "^P^'^ (falsehood) we should read "ItifP. (union), and that the ex- pression thus resulting, "close, compressed lips" (?) is to be taken as the description of the de- ceitfully and maliciously compressed mouth of the man who is full of hate! Ewald is also arbitrarj' (although following the LXX) ; that instead of "^ptif we should read pli* (righteous- ness); "the lips of the righteous hide liatred," i. e. cover their cnmitj' with love (?). — He •who spreadeth slander is a fool. The meaning of this 2d clause does not stand in the relation of an antithesis to the preceding, but that of a CHAP. X. 1-32. 115 climax, adding a worse case to one not so bad. If one conceals liis liatred witliin himself he be- comes a malignant fliitterer; but if he gives ex- pression to it in slander, abuse and base detrac- tion, then as a genuine fool he brings upon himself the greatest injury. [Rueetscih objects to this, 1) that the analogy of xii. 19, 22 does not justify our taking the expression "lying lips" in the 1st clause as the predicate, and 2) that the emphatic pronoun "he" (XIH) in the 2d clause is still less intelligible on this view of the structure of the verse ; he regards this rather as one of the instances, of no very rare occurrence, in which the two clauses make but one proposi- tion, and renders, " whoso conceals hatred with lying lips and at the same time utters slander — he is a fool," adding the explanation " one of the most odious of vices is where one conceals hatred under fine speech, and yet slanders behind the back ; such a man is in sight of God and men despised and spurned"]. Ver. 19. Transgression is not v/^anting. In tbis way is the verb to be rendered, with Uji- BREiT, HiTziG and most others : and not with Berthkau, transgression " does not vanish " (as though we had here something to do with a re- moval or obliteration of actual guilt) ; only with the former rendering does the antithesis in the 2d member correspond, where it is plain that taciturnity and discretion in speech are recom- mended ; comp. xiii. 3 ; xvii. 27, 28. [Noyes's translation, " offence," has the fault, rare with him, of obscurity or ambiguity]. With the ex- pression " to govern the lips " compare the Latin compescere linyuam and the parallels from Arabic and Persian poets which Umbreit adduces in illustration of our passage. Ver. 20. Choice silver, as in chap. viii. 19 (comp. 10) is here used to indicate a very great value. — Is of no ■worth, literally, "is as no- thing, is as a trifle," — a popular and proverbial circumlocution for the idea of utter nothingness or worthlessness. — Ver. 21. Feed many, i. e. nourish and refresh many with the wholesome doc- trines of godliness (comp. Eccles. xii. 11 ; Ezek.. xxxiv. 2 sq ; Acts xx. 28). — But fools die for want of knowledge, i. e. persistent fools (D'ViX) are not only incompetent to become to others teachers of truth and guides to life; they are in themselves children of death for their lack of understanding. 7. Vers. 22-25. Four proverbs relating to the conduct of the righteous and the ungodly and their respective lots. The lot of the righteous, which consists in God's blessing which makes rich without any effort, forms the starting point of the description in ver. 22. — And labor add- eth nothing beside it, i. e. as supplementary and exterior to it, that divine blessing which is all in all, which enriches the friends of God even in sleep (comp. Ps. cxxvii. 2 [and in connection with this Hupfeld's comments: "Naturally this is not to be taken literally, as though perchance labor in itself were cast aside, and the Oriental indolence commended ; nor again is the privilege given to the pious of being released from ordi- nary human toils, and of folding their hands in reliance on their powerful Friend; the aim is only, after the emphatic and one-sided manner of the proverb to make prominent the other side of the case, overlooked by restless toilers, what God does in the matter, so as to warn against the delusion that man can conquer by his toil alone," etc-Y). This view is correctly taken by Jarchi, Levi be.\ Gerson, Ewald, Hitzig, etc., while others (LXX, Vulg., Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster, [the E. V., H., N., St., M.]) translate "and addeth no sorrow thereto." But then in- stead of n^;? we should rather have had H';^ (comp. Jer. xlv. 3). Ver. 2o. As sport to a fool is the practice of iniquity, literally, " like a laugh is it to the ■fool to execute evil counsel." This "like sport" is then to be supplied also before the 2d member; "but to the man of understanding wisdom is as an enjoyment." [.M. agrees with our author whose view is both more forcible and more ac- cordant with the Hebrew idiom than that ex- pressed in the E. V. and retained by N. and S. : "a man of understanding has wisdom." More than this is meant : wisdom is his delight. — A.] The verb to practice (HltJ/jt^ ) is probably not to be supplied here before "wisdom" (ilODn) ; it is self-evident (in opposition to Hitzig's view) that wisdom is considered here as something practiced and not merely possessed. With the phrase "man of understanding," the discerning man, comp. xi. 12. Ver. 24. What the wicked feareth, lit., "the dread of the wicked." comp. Isa. Ixvi. 4; Job iii. 25; Prov. xi. 27. — The desire of the righteous is granted them. — The verb (iil'') can be regarded either as impersonal [like the German '■'■ es gibt,''' there is: comp. xiii. lO and Job xsxvii. 10], or directly changed to the passive (Ti^') as the Vulg., the Targums, and among re- cent interpreters Ewald and Hitzig. e. g., do. To supply as the -subject "Jehovah" (Aben Ezra, Ujibreit, Elster, Stuart, etc.) has its parallels indeed in xiii. 21, 22, but is here less natural than there. Ver. 25. When a storm sweepeth by the •wicked is no more. Thus correctly Ewald, Bertheau, Hitzig, [Holden, Stuart, Muen- sciier]. Against the conception of the first phrase ("113^3) as a comparison, "as a -storm sweepeth by, so," e^c. (Umbreit, Elster, [E. V., Noyes], etc.) we may urge the conjunction 1 before pX, as well as the idea of an "everlasting foun- dation" in the 2d member. With the latter -ex- pression comp. ver. 30, and also Ps. cxxv. 1. With the first clause comp. Job i. 19"; Isa. xxviii. 18, 19; Prov. i. 27. 8. Ver. 20. An isolated proverb relating to the uselessness and repulsiveness of the sluggish. Comp. xxii. 13, and also vi. 6 sq. ; xii. 27; xix. 24. — As vinegar to the teeth. So the majority correctly render, while the LXX, Pesch., Arab., etc., falsely translate the noun (]*pn, comp. Num. vi. 3; Ps. Ixix. 22) by "sour grapes" {bu^32 instead of J-U'T.' from which we do certainly gain a better paral- lelism of meaning with the 1st clause of the pre- ceding verse. And yet it seems at least suspi- cious to go so far in this endeavor to secure a parallelism in the contents of the two verses, as actually to transpose, as Hitzig does, the order of their second clauses, and so combine them in the following order: 31, 1st — 32, 2d — 32, 1st — 31, 2d. [RuEETSciii, in his criticism upon this tampering with forms and arrangement, says : "It is all needless — nay, it destroys a beautiful, life-like thought, and substitutes for it a dry commonplace." Ver. 31 says: " The mouth of the righteous shooteth forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue is rooted out;" if the mouth of the righteous may be compared to a good tree or field, that must yield good fruit, the deceitful tongue is a bad tree, that can bear only rotten fruit, and for that very reason is cut down. rooted out, destroyed. Ver. 32 adds " The lips of the righteous know," etc. " The I'ighteous finds always, as if instinctively, what is acce])table — is, as it were, inspired with it, so that his lips, as it were, naturally find it, while, on the other hand, the wicked knows and understands only v.'hat is distorted or perverse, and his mouth therefore speaks only this" (as cited above, p. 138)]. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. The contrast between the righteous and the wicked, or between the wise and foolish, forms evidently the main theme of our chapter. This contrast, after being suggested in a general and prefatory way in ver. 1, is developed with spe- cial reference, 1) to the attainment or non-attain- ment on both parts of earthly possessions, espe- cially riches and a good name (vers. 2-7) ; 2) to their difi"ering dispositions as expressed by mouth and lips, the organs of speech, with diverse in- fluence on their prosperity in lif§ (vers. 8-14) ; 3) to the eflFect, tending on the one side to bless- ing, on the other to destruction, which the labor of the two classes (whether with the hands or with the lips) has upon themselves and upon others (vers. 15-24 and ver. 26); 4) the different issues of the lives of both (vers. 25, 27-32). With the individual groups of proverbs, as we had occasion to combine them above in the exe- getical notes, these main divisions in the treat- ment of the subject correspond only in part ; for the formation of the groups was determined as we saw in manifold ways, and by quite external circumstances and relations. A peculiarly rich return, in an ethical view, is yielded by those maxims which refer to the earthly revenues and possessions of the pious and the foolish (2-7, 15, 16, 22, 27 sq.). They all serve to illustrate the great truth, "On God's blessing every thing depends," while they no less interpret that other saying (2 Thess. iii. 10; comp. vers. 4, 5 of our chapter), "If any man will not work, neither shall he eat." Eminently important and comparatively original (/. e., never before brought to an emphatic utterance) are also the proverbs relating to the worth of a cir- cumspect reserve in speech (vers. 8, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19, comp. James iii. 3-12) ; those relating to the ease with which the evil man brings forth his evil and the good his good — plainly because an evil heart underlies the works of the one, a loving spirit the other's whole mode of action (ver. 23; comp. vers. 11, 12, 18, 20, and passages of the New Testament like Matth xii. 33-35; 1 John iii. 7 sq.; v. 3) ; and lastly those relating to the spiritual blessings for others also that spring forth from the mouth of the pious as the whole- some fruit of his wisdom (vers. 11, 21, 31 ; comp. Matth. vii. 16 sq.; John xv. 4 sq.; Gal. v. 22; Phil. i. 11; James iii. 18), HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Ilnmih/ on the entire chapter. The piotis and the ungodly compared in respect, 1) to their earthly good ; 2) to their worth in the eyes of men; 3) to their outward demeanor in intercourse with others ; 4) to their disposition of heart as this CHAP. X. 1-32. 117 appears in their mien, their words, their acts ; 5) to their diverse fruit, that which they produce in their moral influence on others; G) to iheir different fates, as awarded to them at last in the retribution of eternity. — Comp. Stockkr: True righteousness : 1) its basis (ver. 1) ; 2) its mani- festation and maintenance in life (vers. 2—5) ; 3) its utility (vers. 6, 7) : 4) the manner of its pre- servation and increase (ver. 8 sq.).* St.vrke : — The grent difference between the pious and the ungodly: 1) in respect to temporal blessings (vers. 1-7) ; 2) in respect to conduct (vers. 8-2G) ; 3) in respect to their prosperity and the issue of their deeds (vers. 27-32). — Calwer Ilandbuch : Of righteousness through wisdom and of unrighteousness through folly and mockery. 1) Warning against the vices which quench delight in righieousness (1-14); 2) admo- nition to the careful government of the tongue as that on which above all things else the life and the true fruits of righteousness depend (1-5-21); 3) allusiou to riches, long life, the jo^'ful attain- ment of one's hopes, confidence in God, security, good counsel", etc., as impelling to rigiiteousness, as well as to the opposite of all these as the evil result of sin (22-32). Vers. 1-7 (Text adapted to a sermon on Educa- tion). Egard: Wilt, thou have joy and not sorrow in thy children, then train them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. vi. 4). — Stock- er: Are there to be people tliat walk justly, i. e., honorably and sincerely before God, then must they be trained to it from childhood. The educa- tion of cliildreu is the foundation that must be laid fjr righteousness. — Ver. 3 sq. St.\rke : Al- though all depends chiefly on God's blessing, yet not for that reason is man discharged from labor. Labor is the ordinance in which God will reveal His blessing (Ps. cxxviii. 2). — Von Gerlach: The Lord maketh rich, but by the industry which the righteous by His grace exercise. — [Bp. But- ler: ilichos were first bestowed upon the world as they are still continued in it, by the blessing of God upon the industry of men, in the use of tlieir understamling and strength.] — Vers. G, 7. Osian- der (in Starke) : A good name among men is also reasonably to be reckoned among the excel- lent gifts of God, Ps. cxii. 6; Eccles vii. 1. — Geier : To the righteous not only does God grant good in this life and the future ; all good men also wish them all good and intercede for ii day by day, without their knowing or suspecting it, that it may descend on them from God. Matiy righteous men unknown, or even hated during their life, are first truly known after their death and distinguished by honors of every kind, as the * Stocker brings tho contents of chaps, x. — xxiv. in gene- ral under five title:^, corresponding to the five chief virtues: Justice, Modesty, WisJum, Temperance. Patience. To Jus- tice he as.sign8 the contents of chapters x and xi.; to Mo- deration chitps. xii. and xiii.; to Wisdom chaps, xiv.— xvi.: ' to Temperance chaps, xvii. — xxiii.; to Patience chap. xxiv. He liiraself admits the arbitrariness of this division, and yet tliinks there is no undue violence done thereby to the pro- verbs in question; for there is "in tliese proverbs ot ScjIo- mon (in chaps, x. — xxiv.) in general a certain quality such 1 as we may have seen in a beautiful green meadow, on which \ all manner of beautiful, lovely, gimious flowers of many sorts and colors are to he fallen in with or found, which stand womlerfiilly mixed and confused, and are only after- wards to be brought and placed in aceitnin order by some | maiden who gathers them for a wreath." {iiermoiis, etc., I p. 16b.) I Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, etc. The off"ensive- uess of the ungodly, on the contrary, where even so much as the mention of their name is involved, is perpetual. — Funeral discourse on ver. 7. ZiEGLER (in Zimmermann's ScnntagsJ'cier, 1858, jDp. 7G0 sq.): The memory of the just is blessed 1) because of his winning friendship ; 2) because of his unfeigned piety ; 3) because of his stead- fast patience; 4) because of his noble, public- spirited activity. — [Ver. 7. J. Foster: The just show in the most evident and pleasing manner the gracious connexion which God has constantly maintained with a sinful world; they are verify- ing examples of the excellence of genuine reli- gion ; they diminish to our view the repulsive- iiess and horror of death ; their memory is com- bined with the whole progress of the cause of God on earth, — with its living agency through every stage. — Trapp : Be good and do good, so shall thy name be lieir to thy life.] Vers. 8-14. Geiee (on ver. 8) : Long as one lives he has to learn and to grow in knowledge, but above all also in the art of governing the tongue. A fool is in notliing sooner and better recognized than in his conversation — [Ver. 9. Barrow : Upright simplicity is the deepest wis- dom, and perverse craft the merest shallowness; he who is most true and just to others is most faithful and friendly to himself, and whoever doth abuse his neighbor is his own greatest cheat and foe. — BiiioGEs: "Show me an easier path" is nature's cry. "Show me," cries the child of God, "a sure path." Such is the upriglit walk, under the shield of the Lord's protection and providence ; under the shadow of His promises, in the assurance of His present favor, and in its peaceful end.] — J. Lange (on ver. 10): In his very bearing and gestures the Christian must so carry himself that there can be read in them true love, due reverence and sincerity. — He who has too many compliments for every body is sel- dom sincere; trust not such a one, etc. — [Ver. 11. Arnot: The Lord looks down and men look up expecting to see a fringe of living green around the lip of a Christian s life course.] — Zeltner (on ver. 12): Love is the noblest spice in all things, the first fruit of faith, the most useful thing in all conditions, yea, a truly Divine virtue, for God Himself is love. — Take love out of the world, and thou wilt find nothing but contention. Of the utility of true love one can never preach enough. [T.Adams: " Love covereth all sins," saith Solomon ; covers them partly from the eyes of God, in praying for the offenders ; partly from the eyes of the world in throwing a cloak over our brother's nakedness ; especially from its own eyes, by winking at many wrongs offered it.] — Cramer (on vers. 13, 14) : It is no shame to know nothing, but it is indeed to wish to know no- thing Learn in thy youth, and thou hast bene- fit therefrom thy life long. — Hasius (on ver. 13) : He who makes his tongue a rod to scourge others with, must often in turn give his back lo correc- tion.— Von Gerlach : The fool must like the beast be corrected with the stick, since he is ca- pable of no rational teaching. — [Bradford: He that trembleth not in hearing shall be broken to pieces in feeling.] Vers. 15-2G. Geier (on vers. 15, 16): Riches are a means that may be employed for good, but 118 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. as, alas, generally happens, may be misused in the service of vanity and evil. Poverty is in it- self a sad thing (Prov. xxx. 8), and brings be- sides serious dangers to the soul ; for an humble heart, however, that, child-like, submits to God's correction and guidance, it may also become a security against many kinds of sins. — [Vers. 15, 16. Tr.vpp: Surely this should humble us, that riches — tliat should be our rises to rai.se us up to God, or glasses to see the love of God in — our corrupt nature uses them as clouds, as clogs, etc., yea, sets them up in God's place. — Lord B\c6n: This is excellently expressed, that riches are as a stronghold in imagination, and not always in fact; for certainly great riches have sold more men than they have bought out. — Bridges: Our labor is God's work — wrought in dependence on Him — not for life, but to life. — Ver. 18. Barrow: Since our faculty of speech was given us as in the first place to praise and glorify our Maker, so in the next to benefit and help our neighbor, it is an unnatural, perverting and irrational abuse thereof to employ it to the damage, disgrace, vexation or wrong in any kind of our brother. — Arnot: Strangle the evil thoughts as they arc coming to the birth, that the spirits which trou- bled you within may not go forth embodied to trouble also the world. — They who abide in Christ will experience a sweet necessity of doing good to men; they who really try to do good to men will be compelled to abide in Christ.] — Starke (on ver. 18). Open hatred and secret slander are both alike works of Satan against which a true Christian should be on his guard — (On vers. 19-21) : The more one gives free course to his tongue, the more does he defile his con- science, comes too near God and his neighbor. But how usefully can a consecrated tongue be em- ployed in the instruction, consolation and counsel of one's neighbor ! Therefore let the Holy Spirit of God rule thy heart and thy tongue, Eph. iii. 29. (On ver. 28) : It is devilish to sin and then boast of sin. The wanton laughter of the wicked is followed at last, and often soon enough, by weep- ing and wailing, Luke viL 25. — (On ver. 24) : With all the good cheer of sinners th§re is yet sometimes found in them a strange unrest. Their own conscience chastises them and causes dis- may.— (On ver. 20) : Indolence is injurious to every one, whether in a spiritual or a secular calling. Not by ease, but by diligence and fide- lity does one honorably fulfil his office; 1 Cor. iv. 2. — [BuNYAN : All the hopes of the wicked shall not bring him to heaven; all the fears of the righteous shall not bring him to hell. — Ar- not : — Fear and hope were common to the righteous and the wicked in time: at the border of eternity the one will be relieved from all his fear, the other will be deprived of all his hope. — (On ver. 26) : The minor morals are not ne- glected in the Scriptures. He who is a Christian in little things is not a little Christian. He is the greatest Christian and the most useful. The baptism of these little outlying things shows that he is full of grace, for these are grace's overflow- ings.]— Berleb. Bible (on vers. 19-21): As si- lence is in many ways needful, as Christ Himself hath taught us by His own example, so on the other hand we should otFend God and rob Him of His honor if we would keep silence when He will have us speak. The lips of the righteous often serve God as an instrument by which He speaketh and instructeth him that needeth. Vers. 27-82. Zeltner: There is no grosser self- deception than when one in persistent impeni- tence and impiety yet imagines that he is at last to live in heaven. — Geier : If thy hope of eternal blessedness is not to fail thee, it must be based on the righteousness of Christ appropriated by faith, for this alone avails with God. — (On vers. 30) : Let us love and long for that whicdi is really eter- nal and unchangeable ; for only then can we say "I shall not be moved," Ps. x. 6; xxx. 6. — Starke (on vers. 31 , 32) : When God's honor and the edification and improvement of one's neighbor is not the chief end of our speaking ; it is a sign that eternal wisdom has not yet wholly sanctified our hearts, comp. ver. 13, 14. — Wohlfarth (oa vers. 23-32) : The sinner's fear and the hope of the righteous (comp. 1 John iv. 18 ; iii. 3). b) Comparison between the good results of piety and the disadvantages and penalties of ungod- liness. Chaps. XI.— XV. a) With reference to just and unjust, benevolent and malevolent conduct towards one's neighbor. Chap. XI. 1 A false balance is an abomination to Jehovah, but a true weight is his delight. 2 Pride cometh, then conieth shame, but with the humble is wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright guideth them, but the perverseness of the ungodly shall destroy them. CHAP. XI. 1-31. 119 4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death. 5 The righteousness of the upright maketh smooth his way, but by his wickedness doth the wicked fall. 6 The integrity of the upright delivereth them, but by their transgressions shall the wicked be taken. 7 With the death of the wicked (his) hope cometh to nought, and the unjust expectation hath perished. 8 The righteous is delivered from trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. 9 The hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor, but by the knowledge of the righteous shall they (he) be delivered. 10 In the prosperity of the upright the city rejoiceth, but at the destruction of the wicked (there is) shouting. 11 By the blessing of the upright is the city exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed. 12 He that speaketh contemptuously of his neighbor lacketh wisdom, but a man of understanding is silent. 13 He who goeth about as a slanderer revealeth secrets, he who is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. 14 Where there is no direction the people fall, but in a multitude of counsellors is safety. 15 He shall fare ill that is security for a stranger, but whoso hateth suretyship liveth in quiet. 16 A pleasing woman retaineth honor, and strong men retain riches. 17 A benevolent man doeth good to himself, and the cruel troubleth his own flesh. 18 The wicked gaineth a deceptive result, but he that soweth righteousness a sure reward. 19 He that holdeth fast integrity (cometh) to life, but he that pursueth evil to his death. 20 An abomination to Jehovah are the perverse in heart, but they that walk uprightly His delight. 21 Assuredly (hand to hand) the wicked goeth not unpunished, but the seed of the righteous is delivered. 22 A jewel of gold in a swine's snout, (and) a fair woman that hath lost discretion. 23 The desire of the righteous is good only, the expectation of the wicked is (God's) wrath. 24 There is that scattereth and it increaseth still, and (there is) that stinteth only to poverty. 25 A liberal soul shall be well fed, and he that watereth others is also watered. 26 Whoso withholdeth corn the people curse him, but blessings (come) upon the head of him that selleth it. 27 He that striveth after good seeketh favor, bat he that searcheth for evil, it shall find him. 28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but as a green leaf shall the righteous flourish. 29 He that troubleth his own house shall inherit wind, and the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart. 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the wise man winneth souls. 31 Lo, the righteous shall be recompensed on earth, much more the ungodly and the sinner. 120 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ter. 2. — X3 is given by Bottched, J ?50. 1, as an example of the Perfeclum relalivum, the precise time being a matter T of indifference. The luiperf. that follows is then a contingent tense describing a normal consequence, § 980 B.] Ver. 3. — mt!/l, to be read DtU'' with the K'ri. [Bottcher, in explaining forms like this, of which he adduces a ( on- T- : T - : siderable number, {i 920, /3, refers to but rejects the old exjdanation which makes the 1 an older form of the 3d personal prefix (from the pronoun X^n,li and regards it as representing in the view of the K'lhibh the conjunction 1, an error which is here corrected in the K'ri.j Ver. 15. — J^l in ^^'Tl' J,'"! is proliably not Infin. abs. Kal (which should be J,'T1), but a substantive, here used ad- verbially and attached to the reflexive Future Niphal _j;i"T to strengthen the idea. [Fuerst, while giving ^'T as an iutran- Bitive Infin. nbs., also suggests that it may bf, a noun, giving it however the place and power of a masc. and not a neuter, and making it the subject, " de.r Schlecthandeinde,"^he that manages ill.] Ver. 25. — >{"ir is either to bo taken as the Imperf Hophal of XT'^m^i or by change of pointing to be read X1-V '." T * and this is then to be regarded as another form of HT^' (Illiziu ; comp. Zieglek and Elsier). EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-11. Eleven proverbs on the value of a just demeanor towards one's neighbor, and on the curse of unrighteousness. — With vers. 1 comp. XX. 10, 23, and also Meidani's collection of Arabic proverbs, III., 538, where the first mem- ber at least appears, and tbat too expressly as a proverb of Solomon. — A true weight, lit., " a full stone;" comp. Deut. xxv. 13, where PX in like manner signifies the weight of a balance. — Ver. 2. Pride cometh, then cometh Bhame ; — lit., "there hath come priile, and tliere will come shame," i. e., on the prouil ; conip. xvi. 18; xviii. 12. — But vyith the humble is wis- dom.— That wisdom, -namely, which confers honor (iii. 16; viii. 18). "The humble," derived from nji*, which in Chaldee signifies "to con- ceal," denote strictly those who hide themselves, or renounce self (ra-rtEivol, raTreivoOfwvg^). — Ver. 3. The (faithlessness of the false) perverse- ness of the ungodly destroyeth them. — " Destroyeth," — from tljo root Ity which means " violently to fall upon and kill," iiud not merely to "desolate" (comp. Jer. v. 6). ^jp_ should in ac- cordance with the Arabic be explained either by "falseness, perverseness " (as ordinarily), or with IliTzir, " trespass, transgression." — Ver. 4. In the day of wrath, viz., the Divine wrath and judgment; comp. Zeph. i. 18; Ezek. vii. 19; Job xxi. 30. With reference to the general thought comp. chap. x. 2. — Vers. 5 and 6 are exactly pa- rallel not only each to the other, but also to ver. 3. Comp. also iii. G ; x. 8. — And by their lusts are the w^icked taken. — Literally, "and by tlie lusts ('cravings' as in x. 13) of the wicked (false) are they (the wicked) taken ;" the construction is the same therefore as in Gen. ix. 6 ; Ps. xxxii. G ; comp. also ver. 3. Ver. 7. — A further development of the idea in the second clause of x. 28. — The unjust ex- pectation.— Lit., "the expectation of depravi- ties, of wickedness " (D'Jl'X plur. of p*-*). Most interpreters regard the noun here as an abstract for a concrete : " the ex[)ectation of the ungodly, the wicked" [so De W., E. V., IL, N., M., W.]. EwALD interprets it in accordance with lies. ix. 4 by "sorrows" (continuance of sorrow) ; others in accordance with Is. xl. 26, render it by "might." In support of our interpretation see HiTziG on this passage. [Fuerst suggests that the form may be participial from the verb px with the signification "the troubled, the sorrow- ing," and BoTTCHEK, § 811, 3, deriving it as a participial form from HJX, reaches the same meaning; this is also Stuart's view, while Kampu. agrees with our author — A.] The anti- thesis in idea between the first and second clauses which is lacking in this verse, the LXX attempts to supply by reading in the first clause "when the righteous man dieth, hope doth not IJerish" {TE?iEvT/'/aavTog avc^por Sikcuov ovk o'/J.vraL iVvTtf) ; they thus put the hope of the righteous reaching beyond death in contrast with the hope- less end of the life of the ungodly. This thought the original text certainly does not express; but immortality and a future retribution are yet pre- sumptively suggested in the passage, as Mun- TiNGHE, Umbiieit, Lutz {Bihl. Dogmatih, p. 100, etc..') and others have correctly assumed. Comp. the "Doctrinal " notes. Ver. 8. The righteous is delivered from trouble, etc. — This proposition presented so con- clusively "cannot be the result of experimental observation, but only the fresh, vigorous expres- sion of faith in God's justice, such as believes where it does not see " (Elstee). — Ver.'.'. The flatterer (hypocrite) w^ith his mouth de- stroyeth his neighbor. — For the verbal ex- planation of npn which, according to the old Rab- binical tradition, and according to the Vulgate, denotes a hypocrite (Vulg., simulator), comp. Hit- ziG on this passage. He moreover needlessly al- ters this first clause in harmony with the LXX (in the mouth of the hypocrite is a snare for his neighbor), and gives to the second member also a totally difl'erent form; "and in the misfortune of the righteous do they rejoice."— By the know- ledge of the righteous are they delivered; — they, i. e., his neighbors ; the sing, "his neigh- bor," which is altogether general, admits of be- ing thus continued by a verb in the plural. The meaning of the verse as a whole is " By the pro- tective power of that knowledge which serves righteousness, they are delivered who were en- dangered by the artifices of that shrewdness which is the instrument of wickedness" (Li- ster]. Ver. 10. In the prosperity of the upright. — 3-";£33, an infinitive construction; literally, "when it goes well to the righteous," as in the second clause 1^X3, "in the perishing," when they perish. Comp. xxix. 2. — IIiTzia CHAP. XI. 1-31. 121 strikes out this verse mainly to secure again within vers. 4-11 a group of seven provcrb.'^i, as before in x. 29 — xi. 3, but without being able to allege any ground whatever of suspicion that is really valid. — Ver. 11 gives the reason why the population of a city rejoices at the prosperity of the righteous ;ind exults at the dowutall of the wiclvcd. — By the blessing of the righteous is the city esalted, — /. c, by the be)u'ficeiit and salutary words and acts (not by the benevolent wishes only) of tiie rigliteous (literally, "the straight, true, straigiitforward ") is the city raised to a flourishing condition and growth, exaltabilur civitais (Vulg. ). Not so well Elster: "is the city made secure'" — as if the idea here related to the throwing up walls of defence. 2. Vers. 12-15. Four proverbs against talka- tiveness, a slanderous disposition, foolish counsel and thoughtless suretyship. — He that speak- eth contemptuously of his neighbor. — This is the rendering here required to correspond with the antithesis in the second clause ; comp. xiv. 21 ; xiii. 13. [The E. V. and Holden in- vert this relation of subject and predicate, while Dk W., K., N., S., and M. agree with our author in following the order of the original — A.] — Ver. 13. He that goeth about as a slanderer be- trayeth secrets. — With this expression, " to go tattling, to go for slander," comp. Lev. xix. lb; Jer. ix. 3. With the expression ^^D H^J, revela- vit arcanum, "to reveal a secret," comp. xx. 19: XXV. 9; Am. iii. 7. That not this "babbler of secrets" is subject of the clause (IIitzig), but "he that goeth slandering," the parallel second clause makes evident, where with the "slan- derer" is contrasted the faithful and reliable, and with the babbler the man who "concealeth the matter, i. e., the secret committed to him." Comp. Ecclesiasticus xxvii. 10. Ver. 14. Where there is no direction. — For this term comp. i. 5. — In the multi- tude of counsellors there is safety. — This thought recurring again in xv. '11 ; xxiv. 6, is naturally founded on the assumption that the counsellors are good and intelligent persons, and by no means conflicts with the conditional truth of the modern proverb, "Too many cooks spoil the broth;" or this, "He who asks long errs long," etc. Ver. 15. He shall fare ill that is surety for a stranger. — "111, ill does it go with him, — ill, very ill will he fare, — ill at ease will he be," etc Instead of "who is surety," etc., the origi- nal has literally "if one is surety," etc. — With the second clause comp. remarks above ou chap. Ti. 1 sq. Instead of D'J^p'in (partic.) we ought probably to read here D'J'^pn (subst.) (Hitzig), or to take the plural participle in the sense of the abstract "striking liands " (instead of "those striking hands)." Thus, e.g., Umbrkit. Not so well the majority of commentators (Ewald, Bertheait, PjLster, among others), wlio read "he that liateth sureties," i. e., who will not belong to their number, who avoids fellowship with such as lightly strike hands as sureties, who therefore does not follow their example. 3. Vers. 16-28. Eight proverbs of miscellaneous import, mostly treating of the blessing thatattends righteousness and the deserved judgment of im- piety.— A gracious woman retaineth honor and strong men retain riches. — So reads the Hebrew text, according to which there ia a comparison made here ; as mighty men (lit., " tyrants, terrible men," comp. ji/aarai, Matth. xi. 12) retain their wealth and will not allow it to be torn from them, with the same energy. and decision does a " gracious woman " (comp. v. 19) watch over her honor as an inalienable posses- sion. Comp. the similar sentiment, chaj). xxix. 23 (where we have the same, "lioldeth fast ho- nor"); and as to the force of comparative sen- tences formed thus simply with the copulative conjunction 1, comp. xxv. 25 ; xxvi. 9 ; Job v. 7 ; xii. 11 ; xiv. 18, 19, e^c— The LXX, whom ZiEGLER, EwALD, HiTZiG foUow, read D'^-nn (('. e., diligent men, comp. x. 4), and besides in- sert two clauses between the first and second of this verse, so that the whole proverb has this expanded form : "A gracious woman obtaineth honor; but a throne of disgrace is she that hateth virtue. The idle will be destitute of means, but the diligent will obtain wealth." For the authenticity of this fuller form may be urged especially the vigorous expression " throne of disgrace" (iJ/iowf dn/jiag), which is hardly the product of later invention, but rather agrees antithetically with the expression which is seve- ral times found, " a seat or throne of honor" ODD ND3), 1 Sam. ii. 8 ; Is. xxii. 23 ; Jer. xvii. 12. [While RuEETSCHi (as cited above, p. 138) seems to admit the antiquity of the form repro- duced in the version of the LXX, he thus defends and amplifies the sense of the shorter form found in the Masoretic text, " A woman is powerful by her grace as the mighty are by their strength. In grace there lies as great force as in the im- posing nature of the mighty ; nay, the power of the strength of the latter gains only more pro- perty, while the woman gains honor and esteem, which are of more worth."] Ver. 17. The benevolent man doeth good to himself. — Lit., "the man of love," who by the goodness which he manifests towards otliers, benefits his own soul. The second clause in its contrast with this: "And his own flesh doth the cruel trouble," does not aim to characterize any thing like the unnatural self-torture of gloomy ascetics, but to express the simple thought that on account of the penalty with which God re- quites cruel and hard-hearted conduct, such con- duct is properly a raging against one's self. Thus the LXX had correctly expressed the idea, and among modern interpreters Hitzig, Elster, etc., while the great body (U.mbreit, Ewald, Bertheau among them), comparing Ecclesiast. xiv. 5, find the meaning of the verse to be directed against niggardliness, or ascetic self-torture: He who deals harshly and unkindly with him- self will treat others also no better." Ver. 18. The wiciced gaineth delusive gains, — I. e. such as result in no good to liimself, such as escape from under his hands. Comp. x. 2, and with reference to hSj-'S, gain, acquisition, X. 10. — But he that soweth righteousness, 122 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. a sure reiward. — The "sure reward" (i"10X "^?."^' perliaps in its sound in intentional accord with "^p'd in the first memberj is also governed by the verb "gaineth" or "workethout" {piyp); comp. Jer. xvii. 11, etc. For this figure of "sowing righteousness," i. e. the several riglit acts, which like a spiritual seed-corn are to yield as their harvest the rewards of God's grace, comp. James iii. 18; 1 Cor. ix. 11 ; 2 Cor. ix. G ; also Job iv. 8; Gal. vi. 8, etr. — "Whoso holdeth fast integ- rity (cometh) to life. — j3 before T^p^\}i (right- eousness) if genuine, (the LXX and Syriac ver- sions read instead J3, " son "), can be only an adjective or participle derived from the verb p3 " to be firm," having the meaning " firm" (comp. Gen. xlii. 11, 19) ; it therefore denotes "the stead- fast in righteousness," {. e. as the antithetic phrase in the 2d member shows, "he who holds fast to righteousness, who firmly abides in it." Thus ZiEGLER, EwALD, Umbreit, Elster, etc. Others, like Cocceius, Schultens, Michaelis, DciDERLEiN, take the word as a substantive — steadfastness (?) ; still others regard it as a par- ticle in the ordinary meaning "thus" (by which construction however the verse would lose its independent character, and become a mere ap- pendage to the preceding proverb) ; and finally, HiTZiG conjecturally substitutes DJ3 and trans- lates "As a standard is righteousness to life." Vers. 20, 21. Two new maxims concerning the contrasted lot of the righteous and the wicked, serving to confirm vers. 18 and 19. With ver. 20 comp. ii. 21 ; xvii. 20. — Assuredly, literally, "hand to hand," a formula of strong assevera- tion, derived from the custom of becoming surety by clasping hands (ver. 1-5), and therefore sub- stantially equivalent to " I pledge it, I guarantee it." Comp. the German formula which challenges to an honest self-scrutiny, " die Hand au/'s Herz !" (the hand on the heart I); and for "the sentiment of the 1st clause compare xvi. 5. [FuERST and K. regard the formula as one of asseveration ; Gesen., De W. and Noyes inter- pret, by the analogy of some similar expres- sions in cognate languages, as referring to time, "through all generations;" H., M., S. and W. retain the rendering of the E. V., " though hand join in hand." The exceeding brevity of the Hebrew formula stimulates inquiry and conjec- ture without clearly establishing either interpre- tation.— A.] — But the seed of the righteous escapeth, literally, "delivers itself" (0*70: a Ni- phal participle with reflexive meaning), that is, in the day of the divine wrath, comp. vers. 4, 23. The " seed of the righteous " is not the posterity of the righteous [soboles juntorum, Schaller, Rosenmueller, Bertheau) but is equivalent to the multitude, the generation of the righteous. Comp. Isa. Ixv. 23, " the seed of the blessed of Jehovah." Ver. 22. A gold ring in a swine's snout ; a fair -woman that hath lost discretion. — This last phrase (D>2^ ^1'^) literally denotes "one who has turned aside in respect to taste," i. e. one who lacks all moral sensibility, all higher appreciation of beauty and sense of propriety, in a word, a chaste and pure heart, — an unchaste woman. Only with this conception does the figure of the swine agree, and not with that given by RosExN.mueller, Berthe.^u, Ewald, Elster, " without judgment," i. e. stupid, weak. Compare furthermore the Arabic proverb here cited by Hitzig (from Scheid's Selecta quxdam ex sententiis, etc., 47) : "3Iulier sine verecundia est ut cibus sine sale, [a woman without modesty is like food without salt]. For the "gold ring" (ring for the nose, DiJ, not circlet for the hair, Luther) comp. Gen. xxiv. 47 ; Isa. iii. 21, and also in general what is cited by Umbreit, in con- nection with this passage, on the habits of the Eastei'n women in respect to this kind of orna- ment. Ver. 23. The desire of the righteous is good only, — i. e. nothing but prosperity and blessing, because Goil rewards and prospers them in everything. Comp. x. 28, and with the 2d clause where "wrath" denotes again God's wrath, comp. ver. 4 above. 4. Vers. 24-26. Three proverbs .ngainst ava- rice, hard-heartedness and usury. — Many a one scattereth and it increaseth still. — ^Comp. Ps. cxii. 9 (2 Cor. ix. 9), where the same verb is used of the generous distribution of benefactions, of scattering {oKop-i^ea') in the good sense (differ- ent from that of Luke xv. 13). For it is to this only true form of prodigality, this " sowing of righte- ousness" that the expression applies, as the two following verses plainly show. — And many save only to poverty, literally, "and a with- holder of wealth only to want;" (thus Bertheau correctly renders, following Schultens, etc.y With the participial clause (l^'O W^l) *^® ^^■■ firmative of the preceding clause {U]_, there is, there appears) still continues in force. Hitzig's attempted emendation is needless, according to which we ought to read VJ_] D'^t^ni in corre- spondence with the language of the LXX, eIcI 6i Kul oi cvvdyovTE^. Others, like Schellixg, Um- breit, EwALD, Elster (comp. also Luther), translate "who withholdeth more than is right;" but thus to give a comparative force to JO after ■ijbn has no sufficient grammatical support, and instead of '^li'''0 we should, according to xvii. 26, rather expect '^p/' i^_. The signification "wealth," ojoM/ert<«cf. for "^p/ is abundantly con- firmed by the corresponding Arabic word. Ver. 2-5. A liberal soul is well fed, lit., "a soul of blessing is made fat," comp. xiii. 4; xxviii. 2.5; Ps. xxii. 29; Isa. x. 16; xvii. 4, etc. — And he that watereth others is likewise w^atered, lit., "he that sprinkleth others is also sprinkled" (comp. Vulgate, '^ inebriat .... in- ebriabilur"). The meaning of the expression is unquestionably this, that God will recompense with a corresponding refreshing the man who refreshes and restores others. Comp. Jer. xxxi. 14, and with reference to the general sentiment Eccles. xi. 1 ; Ecclesiast. xi. 11, etc. Ver. 26. Whoso withholdeth corn, him the people curse. — The withholding of grain is a peculiarly injurious form of the "withholding of property" mentioned in ver. 24. 01S< /, people, CHAP. XI. 1-31. 123 multitude, as in xxiv. 24. With the 2d clause comp. X. 6. 5. Vers. 27-31. Five additional proverbs re- lating to the contrast between the righteous and the wicked and their several conditions. — Seeketh favor, that is, God's favor, gratiam Dei; comp. Ps. V. 12 ; Isa. xlix. 8. With the senti- ment of ver. 27 compare in general x. 2-4; Am. V. 14 sq. Ver. 28. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall. — Comp. x. 2 : Ps. xlix. 6 ; Ecclesiast. V. 8.— But as a green leaf shall the righteous flourish. Comp. Ps. xcii. 12; Isa. Ixvi. 14. "As a leaf," /. e. like a fresh, green leaf on a tree, in contrast with the withered, falling leaf, to which the fool should rather be compared who trusts in his riches. Jaegeb and Hitziq (following the LXX) read hS^OI "and he who raiseth up," that is, raiseth up the righteous man, proves himself their helper in time of need. On account of the appropriate antithesis to the 1st clause this reading is perhaps preferable. Ver. 29. He that troubleth his own house, lit., "saddeneth" (as in ver. 17), i. e. tiie avari- cious man, who is striving after unjust gains, straitens his own household, deprives them of their merited earnings, oppresses and distresses them, etc.; comp. chap. xv. 27 ; 1 Kings xviii. 17 (where Elijah is described by Ahab as the man that "troubleth" Israel, i. c. allows them to suifer, brings them into calamity). — Shall in- herit wind, i. e. with all his avaricious, hard- hearted acting and striving will still gain nothing. Comp. Isa.xxvi. 18; Hos. viii. 7. — The fool be- cometh servant to the \wise in heart, that is, this same foolish niggard and miser by his very course is so far reduced that he must as a slave serve some man of understanding (a master not avaricious but truly just and compassionate). Comp. ver. 24. Ver. 30. The fruit of the righteous, i. e. that which the rigiiieous man says and does, the re- sult of his moral integrity, and not in an alto- gether specific sense, his reward, as Hitzig maintains (in accordance with Jer. xxxii. lU). — Is a tree of life (comp. note on iii. 18), a growtli from which there springs forth life for many, a fountain of blessing and of life for many. Umbreit, Elster and others unnecessarily repeat "fruit" Cl^) before the "tree of life" (D"n |*;,») ; "is a' fruit of the tree of life." — And the •wise man vrinneth souls, by the irresistible power of his spirit he gains many souls for the service of God and for the cause of truth. [The E. V. which has the support of H., S., and M., here again inverts the order of subject and predicate, conforming to the order of the original. The parallelism seems to favor our author's rendering which is also that of De W. and N. Both conceptions are fall of meaning and practical value. — A.] Hitzig here again alters in accordance with the LXX, sub- stituting D:on for DDH; "but violence takoth ^ T T T T life" (? !). ZlEGLER, DoDERLEIN, D.\THE, Ew- ALD transpose the clauses of vers, 29 and 30 into this ordc"IOX TT'i)'' fcomp. DOI3 IT'S', chap. vi. 19) is to be regarded as a relative clause. [bBttchee, how- T v: - ■ T • T : - • T ever, regards rTi)' here and in vi. 19; xiv.2o; xix. -i, 9; Ps. xii. 6; xxvii.l2,asa Hiphil participle of peculiar form, found only in a f^w instances ia connection with roots containing a labial that would closely follow the O which is the ordinary prefix of the liiphil participle. The omission of this O gives a form approaching the Kal. Bottcher objects to Ewald's description of this as an intransitive Kal participle (^ 169, a), that this verb is not intransitive, etc. See 'd 994, 9 and 4). -A.] Ver. 28. — An additional objection to the ordinary interpretation (see exegetical notes below) is the absence of Mappiq in the PI ofH^TlJ. which must nevertheless be regarded as a third pers. suffix referring to npHV, "the way o£ its T • : It t: ^ path." EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-3. Three proverbs on the contrast between good and evil in general. — Who.soever hateth correction is brutish. — "i>*3, brutus, ~ T stupid as a beast ; a peculiarly strong expres- sion. Comp. chaps, xxx. 2 ; Ps. xlix. 10; Ixxiii. 22; xcii. 6. Hitzio prefers to read '^J/'3, which alteration, however, appears from the passages just cited to be unnecessary. — Ver. 2. The good man obtaineth favor from Jehovah. For the use of this verb "obtain" (lit. "tn draw out") comp. iii. 13; viii. 35. — But the man of cricked devices doth he condemn, — /. e., Jehovah. Others regard the verb as intransitive, e.g., the Vulgate, " impie affit," and now lIiTzro, ■wlio finds expressed here the idea of "incurring penalty." But for this signification of this Hip- hil there is wanting the necessary illustration and support; and as evidence that the K^'XI ri13II3 may be regarded as an accusative without the sign HX comp., e. g., x. 11 ; Ps. Ivi. 8; Job xxii. 29, etc. — With ver. 3 compare x. 25, and with the second clause in particular ver. 12 below. 2. Vers. 4-11. Eight proverbs on the blessings and banes of donie.stic life, and on the cause of both. — Ver. 4. A good vsrife is her husband's crown. Literally, a woman of power, i. e., of moral power and probity, such as mani- fests itself in her domestic activity ; comp. xxxi. 10; Ruth iii. 11. The "crown" or the gar- land (ni£0^) is here regarded evidently as an emblem of honor and renown, comp. the " crown of rejoicing" (arecbavog Kavx'/ofoc), 1 Thcss. ii. 19; also Prov. xxxi. 23, 28.— But like a rot- tenness in his bones is she that causeth shame. — Literally a worm-eating, i. e., a ruin inwardly undermining and slowly destroying ; comp. xiv. 30; Job iii. 16. — Ver. 5. The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the -wicked are deceit, — i. e., the very thoughts of the pious, much more then their words and deeds, aim at simple justice and righteousness ; the shrewd counsels, however, by which the wicked seek to direct others (ni75nn, comp. xi. 14), are in themselves deceitful and un- real, and therefore lead solely to evil. — Ver. 6. The words of the w^icked are a lying in wait for blood, — i. e., they mean malice, they are the expression of a bloodthirsty and murder- ous disposition; comp. i. 11 sq.; xi. 9. — Altogether needlessly Hitzig alters the phrase DTDIX to D3 3"1X, " are a snare for them." — The mouth of the righteous, however, delivereth them, — that is, the rigliteous (comp. xi. G), or it may be also the innocent who are threatened by the lying in wait of the wicked for blood (comp. xi. 9). [So WoRBSW. and MuenscherJ. — Ver. 7. The wicked are overturned and are no more. — The infin. abs. 'HiiJn here stands em- ' T phatically for the finite verb, and furthermore, for this is certainly the simplest assumption, in an active or intransitive sense [comp. however in general on this idiom Bottcher, | 990, a. — A.] ; "the wicked turn about, then are they no more" [comp. the proverbial expression "in the turning of a band "]. To regard it as a passive (Ewald, Elster, Hitzig) [K., M., S.] is unnecessary; this gives a stronger meaning than the poet pro- bably designed, i. e., "the wicked are over- thrown " (or even "turned upside down," Hit- zig). The subsequent clause "and are no more " would not harmonize with so strong a meaning in the antecedent clause, especially if, as Hitzig supposes, the verb really designs to remind us of the overthrow of Sodom and Go- morrah (Gen. xix. 21). With the second clause comp. X. 25; Matth. vii. 25. Ver. 8. According to his wisdom. — 'i)'? [literally " in the face or presence of"], "in pro- portion to," "according to the measure of," as in .Judges i. 8 and frequently elsewhere. — But he that is of a perverse heart shall be de- spised,— lit., '* the crooked in heart," ;'. c, the perverse man, who does not see things as they are, and tlierefore acts perversely and injudi- ciously (Hitzig). Ver. 9. Better is the lowly that serveth himself. — With this use of "lowly, insignifi- cant," comp. 1 Sam. xviii. 23. The phrase T'S THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. ^S n^^l the Targum, Aden Ezra, Bertheau, Elster [De W., N., S.], regard as expressing this idea, "and he has at the same time a ser- vant." But the parallelism demands the mean- ing early given in the LXX, Vulgate and Syr. versions [and now preferred by K., H., M., W.], " 7ninistrani sibi ipsi," serving himself, which is here evidently put in contrast with the foolish, impoverished pride of birth mentioned in the second clause, — whether we retain the Masoretic reading, or, with Ziegler, Ewald and Hitzig, read 'h n^i'l (participial). —And lacketh bread.— Com'p. 2 Sam. iii. 29. AVith the ge- neral seniiuuuit compare the passage which un- doubtedly fjrew out of this, Ecclesiast. x. 30. — Ver. 10. The righteous careth for the life of his beast, — ;. c, he knows how his beast fe?ls, he concerns himself, he cares for his do- me*ic animals, does not allow them to hunger. [Arnot: When the pulse of kindness beats strong in the heart, the warm stream goes sheer through the body of the human family, and retains force enough to expatiate among the living creatures that lie beyond]. Comp. Ex. xxiii. 9, "Ye know the heart of the stranger," from which parallel passage it appears that Zieglee, Elster, etc., are in the wrong in translating Wp} here by " hunger." For examples of this use of the verb yT "to know," in the sense of "to concern one's self, to care for something," comp. also xxvii. 23; Gen. xxxix. 6; Ps. i. 6, etc. — But the compassion of the wicked is cruelty, — lit., "is cruel." — With the whole proverb comp. Ecclesiast. vii. 23.— Ver. 11. But he that fol- lovyeth after vanity. — D'P'^. is probably not the designation of "vain persons," as in Judg. ix. 4; 2 Sam. vi. 20 ; comp. 2 Kings iv. 3 (Umbreit, Bertheau, etc.), but is to be regarded as neuter, i. e., as an abstract, and therefore as meaning vain things, vanities, and, as the contrast with the first clause shows, specially " idleness, inac- tion, laziness." Comp. the LXX, who have here rendered the expression by /udraia, but in the passage almost literally identical, chap, xxviii. 19, by (7,\W/)v; in like manner Symmaciius (^arvpayiav), Vulgate {olium), etc. 3. Vers. 12-22. Eleven additional proverbs with regard to virtues and faults in civil rela- tions, especially .^ins of the tonglie and their op- posites. — The w^icked desireth the spoil of evil doers, — /. e., one wicked man seeks to deprive another of his gains, one of them is evermore seeking the injury and ruin of ano- ther, so that no peace prevails among them (Is. xlviii. 22 ; Ivii. 21) ; they are rather " by the con- flict of their selfish strivings ever consuming one another." Thus, and doubtless correctly, Ujibreit and Elster [to whose view K. gives a qualified assent], while Bertheau, following the Targum, translates T12f73 by "net," and to illus- trate the meaning thus obtained, compares chap, viii. 35 [this is also the rendering of the E. V., which is followed by W., M., H.; S. renders "desireth an evil net," i. e., destruction, being so intent upon his evil deeds as to disregard the consequenci's ; N. renders in seeming agreement with our author " the prey of evil doers," the genitive being however possessive and not ob- jective, i. e., such prey as evil doers take] ; Ewald however and Hitzig regard the passage as altogether corrupt, on account of the widely divergent text of the ancient versions (LXX, Vulg., Syr.), and therefore propose emendations (Ewald, "the desire of the wicked is an evil net;" Hitzig, "the refuge of the wicked is crumbling clay"). It is certainly noteworthy that the LXX and Vulgate oifer a double render- ing of the verse, first one that widely departs, and then one less seriously differing from the form of the Masoretic text. — With the second clause comp. ver. 3, second clause. For the verb \r}] it is probably not needful to supply as sub- ject the word "Jehovah," which has been omit- ted (Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster [Wordsw. (?)], etc.) [nor with Luther, De W., E. V., N. and M. to supply an object, — giveth or yieldeth (fruit)] ; but, as in the instance in x. 24, to change the punctuation to the passive jP\ or again, to write jn' (derived from '^P}^, Jirmusfuit, comp. the proper name |j"\'N) with the Targum, Reiske, Hitzig [Stuart], etc. — Ver. 13. In the transgression of the lips is a dangerous snare; i. e., he who seeks to ruin others by evil speaking is himself overthrown in the same way. Bertheau proposes to construe so as to give the meaning "is a snare of or for the wicked," which, however, is contrary to the analogy of Eccles. ix. 12. — After this verse also the LXX introduces a peculiar addition consisting of two clauses, which, however, is probably nothing more than an old gloss on the following verse; comp. Hit- zig on this passage. Ver. 14. From the fruit of a man's mouth is he satisfied -with good. — Lit., "from the fruit of the mouth of the man doth he satisfy him- self with good;" i. e., it is the good fruit which one brings forth in wise, intelligent, benevolent dis- course, that results in blessing to him. Comp. xiii. 2; xviii. 20. In the second clause to good words good works are added, and as "returning upon him" (comp. Ps. vii. 16) ; they are therefore represented as being in a sense the personified bearers of reward and blessing. Compare the similar thought, referring however to future ret- ributions, and therefore somewhat differently expressed, Rev. xiv. 13, "their works do follow them." — Vers. 15 and Ifi belong together, as both refer to the fool and his opposite. — The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, — i. e., according to his own judgment (comp. iii. 7), which presents to him his own mode of action in a light favorable enough, although others may ever so often, and in a way ever so convincing, point out its pcrverseness. The exact opposite of this is found in the conduct of the wise man, the willing listener to wise counsels. Comp. xiv. 12; xvi. 2-'); xxi. 2. — The vexation of the fool is at once known, — lit., " is known even on the same day," i. e., at once, after a short time (Vulgate, sta(im). In contrast with this passionate breaking out of the offended fool, the wise man exercises a prmlent self-control in a seemly disregard of the insult put upon him, as Saul once did, 1 Sam. x. 27. — Ver. 17. He that uttereth truth proclaimeth right, /. c, always gives utterance to that which is strictly just; so CHAP. XII. 1-28 129 especially in judicial examinations as witness. This " truth " (nj'.OX) is subjective truth, fidelity to one's own convictions [Tviaric, LXX), the op- posite to the lies which characterize the false witness; comp. xiv. 5, -5. Ver. 18. There is that talketh idly, as though it were thrusts of a sword, lit., "like piercings of a sword,' or "like knife tlirusts" (HiTZUi); ?. e., he breaks out with speeches so inconsiderate and inappropriate, that tiie persons present feel themselves injured as if by sharp thrusts. This rude and inconsiderate babbling of the fool is here fitly described by the verb n£D3, which is equivalent to NCD3, used in Lev. v. T T T T 4; Numb. xxx. 7; Ps. cvi. 33 (of speaking hastily, rashly, unadvisedly). — But the tongue of the wise is health. — "iMedicine, healing" (coinp. iv. 22), forms here an exceedingly appro- priate antithesis to the inwardly wounding effect of the inconsiderate babbling mentioned before. Vers. 19. But the lying tongue only for a moment. — Literally, "till I wink again, till I complete a wink of the ej^e;'' couip. Jer. xlis. 19 and 1. 44. This is therefore a detailed poetical circumlocution for the idea of a little wliile, an instant (Is. liv. 7) : the verb here employed (i"Jl"|in) is a denominative derived from J7JT a wink. — Deceit is in the heart of those w^ho devise evil. — "Deceit, malignity" (cotnp. ver. 17, second chxuse) might here be made anti- thetic to "joy," because the necessary effect of deceit is sorrow and trouble. Therefore this noun nolo is not to be transformed to m'^O T : • ^ T : bitterness (Houbigant), nor to be interpreted by "self-deception," or by "joy in evil" (Sc/iai//'ii- frcudc) with Umbreit. — But to those who give wholesome counsel is joy. — The common rendering (as also tliat of Umuukit, El- STER, etc.), is "who counsel peace;" comp. the old reading of the LXX, ol fiovM/iievoi eip//i'/;v, and the ilprjvoTToioL of Matth. v. 9. But Dwt;/ is here to be taken in the general sense of " welfare, that which is salutary," as, for example, in Ps. xxxiv. 14; xxxvii. 37. The special signification "peace" would not correspond with the " evil" of the first clause, which is nowhere equivalent to strife, division (not in Judges ix. 23, as Um- breit thinks). The "joy" of the well-meaning counsellor is furthermore probably to be con- ceived of as one to be found in the heart, the in- ward cheerfulness and happy contentment of a good conscience (as Hitzig rightly maintains against Bertheau and others). Ver. 21. No evil befalleth the righteous. — For this verb (Pual of njXj comp. Ps. xci. 10; Ex. xxi. 13. ilX here signifies not "sin," but "evil, misfortune, calamity," like the parallel term in the second clause, or the Hl'l in T T the 91st Psalm cited above. — With respect to the sentiment, which naturally should be regarded as a relative truth, not as unconditionally illus- trated in every experience, comp. chap. x. 3 ; xi. 23 ; xii. 2, 3, etc. — With ver. 22 compare xi. 20. It is unnecessary to alter the plural 'bj,' into the singular Dbj.' (with the LXX, many MSS., Hit- zig, etc.). 9 4. Vers. 23-28. Six proverbs which relate to the contrast between the wise and the foolish, the diligent and the slothful. — With reference to the first clause of ver. 23 compare x. 14, 17 ; with the second clause, xiii. IG; xv. 2.— Ver. 24. The hand of the diligent will rule ; but the slothful will be obliged to serve. — With tlie first clause compare x. 4; with the second, xi. 29. — rfpl), "slothful," is doubtless an adjec- tive belonging to the noun T (hand), and not an abstract substantive "sloth," standing here for the concrete, "the sluggard," as J. U. Michaelis, DouERLEiN, Bertheau and Elster suggest.-^ "Will be obliged to serve," literally, "will be for tribute, for service," i. e., will be forced to labor as one owing tribute. — Ver. 25. If trou- ble be in the heart of man it boweth it down. — The suflix attached to the verb seems like that connected with the parallel verb, which, moreover, rhymes with this, to refer to the noun "heart," and this as a synonym with Ui2i "soul," has here the force of a feminine. [BoTTCHER, I 877, e, cites this among the exam- ples of tlie use of the fem. singular as a neuter with reference to objects named before but con- ceived of as neuter. See also Green, § 197, b — A.] In this connection it is indeed remarkable that nJXT (trouble), also contrai-y to its natural gender, appears here construed as a masculine. Hence the varying views of many recent exposi- tors, e. ^f., that of U.MBREiT and Elster; "if trouble be in a man's heart, let him repress it (the sorrow) ;" or that of Hitzig, who refers the suffixes of both these verbs to the noun "hand" of the verse preceding, and accordingly renders (at the same time in a peculiar way reproducing the rhyme) : " Is sorrow in the man's heart, he bends it («. e., the hand, down). But if gladness, he extends it." [Hitzig's rhyme is made with the verbs senkef and schirenket, which are rather violent equiva- lents to the Hebrew terms, but are perhaps fairly matched by hends and extends, or abases and raises. — A.] In favor of the rendering which we prefer are the old versions, and among recent ex- positors ROSENMUELLER, DaTHE, IJoDERLEIN, EwALD, Bertheau. Ver. 26. The righteous guideth his friend aright.— The verb "in\ Hiphil of ^^'\^\ (which is equivalent to "I'P), means "to set right, to guide to the right way, odr/yelv ;" ]l'}'0 is then equivalent to Jt?^, friend, companion, as in Gen. xxvi. 26; Judges xiv. 20; xv. 6.. [So Gesen., Rod., Fuerst, Ewald, Bertheau, K., S., M. and W.] — Others, especially Luther, M. Geier, etc., following the Chaldee version, regard "ip' as an adjective followed by the object of compari- son : "better than his friend is (or fares) the righteous man." [So the E. V., which is followed by NoYEs]. Others still, like Dathe, J. I). Mi- chaelis, ZiEOLERand Hitzig (the latter changing the verb to IH'), read IPiyiO, " his pasture," and \ T •• : • * so reach the meaning "the righteous looketh af- ter his pasture," i. e., his path in life. It seems, however, altogether needless to depart from the above explanation, which is grammatically ad- 130 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. missible, and gives a meaning which agrees well witli that of the secoml cluuse — But the way of the wicked leadeth them astray; tliem, i. e., the wickt'd. The conslruution is the same as in chap. xi. 0, and probably also xii. (3. Ver. 27. The slothful catcheth not his prey. — " Tlie slothful," properljr here again an adjective, "idle"' hand, expresses the idea of slot)), and then, as an abstract for the concrete, stands for "the sluggard, the slothful." ^^n then, an arra^ ?iey6/j.£vov in the Old Testament, is explained by the Rabbins, following the Aramean (Dan. iii. 27), by "to singe, to roast;" therefore Bertheau, e.g., still translates "the slothful roasteth not his prey," and then supplies the idea, "because he is too lazy to catch it." [M. adopts this explanation, and S. doubtfully.] Others, more simply, and in conformity with the old versions, render "the idle man catcheth not his game " [so K., H., and N.], for which signifi- cation of hunting, catching, seizing, Hitzig cites lexical analogies from the Arabic. [Fuerst, criticising this interpretation, and defending the other, urges 1) that not to catch game is no sure sign of laziness, and 2) "his prey" must be .al- ready in hand — A.] — But a precious treasure to a man is diligence. — To reach this meaning it is necessary either to take ]'-lin exceptionally in the abstract sense of diligence, or with C. B. MiCHAELis and Hitzig to read as an infinitive Vnn, "to bestir one's self, to show one's self diligent." — Others, like Kohler, Umbreit, Elster, etc., resort to a partial transposition of the words, yielding the meaning " but precious treasure belongeth to the diligent man" — an al- teration which is favored in advance by the Sy- riac version, and to some extent also by the LXX. Ver. 28. But a devious way (leadeth) to death. — This isdoubtless the interpretation to be given with Hitzig to this clause : for in Judges v. 6: Is. Iviii. 12, nUTIJ in fact signifies (in contrast with nii<) a crooked winding by-path, and the modification of '7N to '7X seems the more justifia- ble in proportion as the combination on which the ordinary rendering rests is otherwise un- known (niD-"7X as equivalent to niD-xS) ; "and the way of its path is not-death " (which is to be understood as "immortality," Ewald, Um- breit, Elster [K., E. V., N., S., M.], etc). Furthermore, the form of expression C^^T before HTHJ) indicates plainly that to the second of the terms employed not its ordinary sense, but a quite peculiar signification, a quasi adjective im- port is to be given. [Hodgson and Holden ex- press a decided preference for this view]. — With the general sentiment of the verse compare x. 2 ; xi. 19. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. The contrasts between diligence and indolence, wisdom and folly, which present themselves as the strongest characteristics of the second and fourth of the groups of verses found in this chapter-, lead us to refer the proverbs of these groups mainly to private or domestic life,— while the predominating reference of the third main group (vers. 12-22) to sins of the tongue or lipa, leads us to regard social or civil life as the special department here chiefly contemplated. Still this classification is after all only a general one, and proverbs of a more general moral tendency and bearing, like those contained in the introductory group (vers. 1-3) are interspersed through each of the three large groups (e. g. in vers. 6, 6, 12, 21, 26, 28): these therefore stiovv the impossi- bility of carrying through a division of the con- tents of the chapter according to definite and clearly distinct categories. Moral truths to which an emphatic prominence is given are found in the very first verse, on which Ujibreit pertinently remsiiks, "The thought seems weak, and to a spirit practised in reflec- tion hardly worth recording, yet on its truth rests the possibility of a spiritual progress in the human race, its development to a higher humanity ; one might even say, the very condi- tions of history lie in that proverb." Again we find them in ver. 10, a proverb which sets forth that tender care for animals as man's fellow- creatures, which impresses itself on so many other passages of the Old Testament, e. g. Ex. XX. 11; xxii. 29, 30; Lev. xxii. 27; Deut. xxii. fi sq. ; XXV. 4 : Ps. xxxvi. 6 ; civ. 27 ; cxlv. 15 sq.; cxlvii. 9; Job xxxviii. 39 sq. ; xxxix. 5 sq. ; Jonah iv. 11, etc.* AVe find like important truths in ver. 13, as also in general in all the proverbs that relate to the right use of the lips and tongue (compare besides vers. 14, 10-19,22, 25); so also in the commendation of a willingness to receive good counsel, ver. 15, with which we may appropri- ately compare Theogms, Gnom., V., 221-225 (see the passage in Umbreit, p. 158) ; — and again in the admonition to a wise self-command and presence of mind under experience of injury, ver. 16, with which should be compared admo- nitions of the New Testament against persistent anger and heat of passion, such as Rom. xii. 19; Eph. iv. 28, 31 ; James i. 19, 20, etc. — It has already been made evident that the concluding verse of the chapter (ver. 28, 2d clause) unlike chapter xi. 7, probably contains no hint of a hope of immortality. HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Homily on the entire chapter. On the true wisdom of the children of God, as it ought to appear 1) in the home, under the forms of good discipline, diligence and contentment ; 2) in the state or in the intercourse of citizens, under the forms of truthfulness, justice, and unfeigned benevolence (ver. 12-22) ; 3) in the Church or in the religious life, as a progressive knowledge of God, a diligent devotion to prayer and striving after eternal life (vers. 23-28). — Comp. Stocker: — On true discipline: 1) its genei-al utility (vers. 1-8) ; 2) the blessing on those who receive dis- cipline, and the curse on those who hate and despise it (vers. 9-16); 3) comprehensive repeti- tion of what has been taught concerning the salutariness of discipline (vers. 17-28). — Starke: — On the injurious nature of ungodliness and * Comp. ZiicKLER, Theologia Naluralis, Entwurf einer sys- tematisc/ien JS'aturphilosophie, etc., I., pj). 639 sq. CHAr. XII. 1-28. 131 the utility of piety; 1) in general (vers. 1-3); 2) in particular, a) in tlic marriage relation (ver. 4) ; Lj in common life (vers. 6-bj ; c) in tLie care of cattle and in agriculture (9-11); d) in tiie use of iho tongue (12-23 ; e) in attention to one's calling (2-1-28). — Calmer Ilandbuch: — The heart, the action and the speech of the fool and the wise man, — or, of the life that is to be found in the way of righteousness, and the ruin that is to be found in the way of ungodliness. Vers. 1-3. Gkieh: — No one is so perfect that he might not sometimes fail, and consequently need a chastisement not only on the part of God, but also on the part of men. — (On ver. 3): He who by faith and love is rooted in God (Eph. iii. 17) will not possibly ever be rooted up by any- thing ; Ps. Ixxiii. 25 ; .John x. 28. — Starke : — It is better to be with true sympatliy chastised by a just man, than to be deceitfully praised. — Berleburtf Bible: — He who sutfers himself to be guided comes constantly nearer to wisdom, i. e. to Christ, and for such a one His fellowship with all its blessedness stands open. — Vox Gerlacii (on ver. 1): — All that raises man above the brute is secured to him by training, by the wholesome discipline of his parents and teachers. — (On ver. 3) : The ungodly has no ground in which he is rooted, no stability in assaults from without, while the righteous man is rooted in the eternal nature of the Creator Himself. Hence the righteous man is a tree by a river's side, a house on a rock, — the ungodly, however, is a fleeting storm-cloud, a tree in a dry land, a house built on the sand, and even chaff that the wind driveth away, Ps. i. 3 sq.; Isa. xliv. 4, etc. — [Arnot (on ver. 1) : — The fool casts away the precious because it is unpalatable, and the wise man accepts the unpalatable because it is pre- cious. Nature hates reproof; let grace take the bitter potion and thrust it down nature's throat, for the sake of its healing power. — A. Fuller (on ver. 1): — He, and he only, that loves the means loves the end. The means of knowledge are "instruction" in what is right, and "re- proof" for what is wrong. He who is an enemy to either of these means is an enemy to the end. — Bridges (on ver. 3): — Firm and unshaken is the condition of the righteous. Their leaves may wither in the blast. Their branches may tremble in the fury of the tempest. But their root — the true principle of life — shall not be tiioved]. Vers. 4-11. Geier (on ver. 4): — By vicious conduct a woman destroys her husband as it were with subtle poison, but even then harms herself the most. — Zeltner (on ver. 4): — He who will enter into the marriage relation should begin with God, with hearty prayer, sound re- flection, and devout purposes, lest he be com- pelled afterward bitterly to bewail his folly, Tob. viii. 4 sq. — (On ver. 9) : An honorable life in narrow circumstances is much better and more peaceful, and besides not subject to so many temptations, as when one lives in ever so high a position in the view of the world. To make a great figure and to aim at being great is the ruin of many a man, Tob. iv. 14 ; Ecclesiast. iii. 19, 30. — Wiirtemberff Bible (on ver. 10): — The brute has no one that can do him good but man ; therefore treat it kindly, with reason and mode- ration.— [Trapp (on ver. 5): — If good thoughts look into a wicked heart, they stay not there, as those that like not their lodging. — (On ver. 7): There is a council in heaven will dash the mould of all contrary counsels upon earth. — (On ver. 11): Sin brought in sweat (Gen. iii. 19), and now not to sweat increaseth sin. — Lord Bacon (on ver. 10) : — The tender mercies of the wicked are when base and guilty men are spared that should be stricken with the sword of justice. Pity of this sort is more cruel than cruelty itself. For cruelty is exercised upon indivi- duals, but this pity, by granting impunity, arms and sends forth against innocent men the whole army of evil-doers. — Chalmers (on ver. 10): — • The lesson is not the circulation of benevolence within the limits of one species. It is the trans- mission of it from one species to another. Tiie first is but the charity of a world. The second is the charity of a universe]. Vers. 12-22. Melanchthon: — In everything are we exhorted to good, and to striving after truth, in the knowledge of God, in science and arts, in all honorable occupations and compacts; and because truthfulness belongs to the most glorious and eminent virtues, theiefore the vice opposed to it is condemned in strong language, and pronounced (ver. 22) an ofi'ence and abomi- nation in the sight of God. — Osianuek: — We use the gift of speech rightly when we employ it to God's glory and to our neighbor's benefit. — ■ Zeltner: — As one has here used his tongue, whether for good or evil, he will hereafter be recompensed. Truth is a daughter of righteous- ness ; apply thyself diligently to this, and thou hast the true witness in thyself that thou art of the truth and a child of God (1 John iii. 18, 19). Fidelity and veracity have indeed in the world, whose watchword is only hatred, a poor reward; but so much the more precious are they in the sight of God (Ps. XV. 1, 2). — [Arnot (on ver. 13) : When a man is not true, the great labor of his life must be to make himself appear true; but if a man be true, he need not concern himself about appearances. — Trapp (on ver. 20) : — Such coun- sellors shall have peace for peace: peace of conscience for peace of country]. — On ver. 20, TiscriER (in Zimmerman's " Sonntaffs/eier," 1835, No. 41) : — Every one can become acquainted with himself from his social intercourse. — [South (on ver. 22): — A lie is a thing absolutely and intrin- sically evil: it is an act of injustice, and a vio- lation of our neighbor's right. The vileness of its nature is equalled by the malignity of its effects ; it first brought sin into the world, and is since the cause of all those miseries and calami- ties that disturb it; it tends utterly to dissolve and overthrow society, which is the greatest temporal blessing and support of mankind ; it has a strange and peculiar efficacy, above all other sins, to indispose the heart to religion. It is as dreadful in its punishments as it has been pernicious in its effects]. Vers. 23-28. Hasius : — The ordinary modes of acquisition are always the safest and best. Him wlio loves crooked ways and devices we never find prospering; but those who walk in w.ays of innocence and justice, cannot become unsuccessful. — Osiaxder : — Follow thy calling in the fear of God and with diligence, and thy possessions will be with God's blessing richly 132 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. multipliod. — Starke: — lie who squanders time, shuns toil and buif.es his pouml in a napkin, is unwoi-tliy to dwell on earth (Luke xix. 20, 21). — • AVoHLFARTH (on ver. 25) : — The friendlij word. Where we can help by actual deeds, such real help is by all means better than mere consola- tion in words. If however the means for such aid are wanting to us, if the evil is of such a sort that no human help whatever is possible, theu it is a double duty to cheer the depressed I with friendly words; yes, consolation is thea often in itself helj) because it leads to God, the true helper in all need! — [Trait (on ver. 27): — Jabal and Jubal, diligence and complacence, good husbandry and well contenting sufficiency, dwell usually together. — Chalmers (on ver. 28): — The deeds of the hand have a reflex influence on the state of the heart. There is life in spi- ritual-mindedness; and it serves to aliment this life to walk in the way of obedience]. 7) With reference to the use of temporal good, and of the word of God as the highest good. Chap. XIII. 1 A wise son hearkeneth to his father's correction, but a scorner to no rebuke. 2 By the fruit of one's mouth doth he enjoy good, but the delight of the ungodly is violence. 3 He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his life, he that openeth Avide his lips shall be destroyed. 4 The sluggard desireth, but without the satisfying of his desire, but the desire of the diligent is abundantly satisfied. 5 Deceit the righteous hateth, but the ungodly acteth basely and shamefully. 6 Righteousness protecteth an upright walk, but wickedness plungeth into sin. 7 One maketh himself rich and hath nothing, another professeth to be poor yet hath great riches. 8 A ransom for a man's life are his riches, but the poor heedeth no threatening. 9 The light of the righteous rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked goeth out. 10 By pride cometh only contention, but wisdom is with those who receive counsel. 11 Gain through fraud vanisheth away, but he that gathereth by labor increaseth it (his gain). 12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, but desire accomplished is a tree of life. 13 Whosoever despiseth the word is bound to it, he that feareth the commandment is rewarded. 14 The instruction of the wise man is a, fountain of life to escape the snares of death. 15 Kindly wisdom ensureth favor, the way of the ungodly is desolate. 16 The prudent man doeth all things with understanding, but a fool spreadeth abroad folly. 17 A bad messenger falleth into trouble, but a faithful messenger is health. 18 Poverty and shame (to him) that refuseth correction ; he that regardeth reproof is honored. 19 Quickened desire is sweet to the soul, and it is abomination to fools to depart from evil. 20 Walk with wise men and become wise! but whoso delighteth in fools becometh base. CIIAr. XIII. 1-25. 133 21 Evil pursueth sinners, but to the righteous God repayeth good. 22 A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. 23 The poor man's new land (yieldeth) much food, but many a one is destroyed by iniquity. 24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son, but whoso loveth him seeketh correction. 25 The upri,o-ht eateth to the satisfying of his hunger, but the belly of the wicked shall want. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver 2 [the literaX rendering is "the soul of the wicked {shaU feed iipon) violence." Substantially this rendering ia given by tiieE V. by H., N., S . and M. Zockler [see excp;. notes] re-ards this verse as- conveying tlie two ideas tliat violence is tlie wicked man"s deliglit, and llial it is liis recompense. He feeds on it wliilo lie lives, and dies by it. Con- ceiving the former to be the more prominent idea here he gives to ^3} a secondary and figurative meaning,— the long- inn the delinht. We think that he has lost rather than gained by this refining.— A.] , ,, , Ver. 4:. According to the Masoretic pnnctuatiou tlio clause would be literally rendered "His soul— the sluggards— longeth [strongly desirethj, and there is nothing," [" His appetite." Z.] The suffix in ID'S J would then stand pleonasti- cally before the appended genitive ^^p [as e. g. Num. xxiv. 3; Deut. xxxii. 43] ; J^NT^ would however be introduced as a parenthesis between the predicate and the subject, and would express substantially the idpa "without satisfaction, without finding anything." It appears simpler and less lurced, however, to change the punctuation as HuziG does, thus : bi'y' it:^£3J I'f^l in-IXnO, in which case tyiJJ receives the meaning by metonymy "object of desire " (comp. Ps. xxxv; 25; isa. Iviii. 19), and the meaning of the whole clause is as in our version. Ver. 5. [^■'X3\ which Z. regards as equivalent to t:?■'3^ Bott. (see g 1147, C. h.) regards aa substituted for it by a n.fe interchange of weak and kindred consonants. The verbs are nearly related, ^^:^ being used of that which is o ieuslve to tho sense of smell, tyn of that which changes color, by turning pale or otherwise. The one describes mis- conduct as offensive, the other as shameful. — A.] Ver. 9. The verb 'n>,'T' seems to form a designed accord with nrDCI^' ; comp. xii. 25. Ver. 11. [The different renderings grow partly out of different conceptions of the meaning of the noun 127^ and partly from different syntactical constructions. b^H, originally " breath," then " nothingness " or " vanity," is by most Interpreters taken in some metaphorical sense. The rendering of the E. V., followed by H , is ambiguous, " by or through vanity" M. and St. render "without effort ;" Fn erst agrees wiih Z. in giving it an ethical meaning,— that which is morally nothing, nothing right, nothing good. It so desciib.-s fraud and iniquity. Oese.v., Noyes, etc., retain the primi- tive meaning, and treat the Vq as comparative. See Exeg. Notes.— A.] Ver. 15. [The rendering of 31£3-S3ti' in the E. V., is again ambiguous: "good Understanding." H., N., S., M. agree substantially with Z., interpreting the phrase as descriptive of prudence or discretion joined with kindness. Others, e. g. FUERST give it, with less probability, the passive meaning of '-consideration" or "reputation."— A.] Ver. 16. Instead of -^3 we should read ^j, in accordance with the correct rendering of the Vulg.: Astutus omnia anit cum cnnsilio. [The English commentators without exception, so far as we know, follow the E. V. and the LXX, trans- late according to the pointing of the Mas. text: ttos TravoOpyos; "every wise nian,"ete. Z.'s rendering is certainly more forcible, and justiiies the vowel change.— A.] ^t^i. .■ -,,-,, t^„^^„ Ver. 19. [The weight of authority has been decidedly against the authors conception of the poetic n^rij. UESEif. and FuERST are against him, as well as the commentators cited. Kamph. may be added to those who agree with Z. in remlerinx- this Niph. participle '• become" as meaning '-come iuto being," '■ developed," while the other conception is that it .le-^rriires what has been "completed, accomplished." Comp. ver. 12, 6, " desire that hath come," which is generally nuilerstooa to ue saiisiaciiou. t» o canuoi mmiv luai, luo pi^i.c-. ^^ .^,..v,.^o -v. v.^>. .......v...... .-• -^ •^, ~. ~~—„ suisficd The 2d clause is by H. regarded as an inference, " therefore," elc; E. V , N , S., M. regard it as an antithesis— notwithstanding their certain disappointment fools cling to evil. K. shapes the antithesis ilitferently : "a new desire is pleasant to the soul, but if it be evil fools abhor to renounce it." Z.'s view a)ipears in the not.s.— A.] Ver. 20. [For the imper. use of the inf. abs. see Green ^ 208, 2 and grammars generally. J^Tl'^ Niph. Imperf., more distinct than j;"T" which might be a neuter Kal. Bott. 1 11-47, A.— A.] • partly from the difficulties, often utterly insu- perable, which meet the attempts to point out real divisions at the beginning and end of the several alleged groups of verses. It appears further from the fact that here again it is neces- sary to stamp as spurious one verse at least (xiii. 2-3), a violent critical expedient to secure the sym- metrical relation of groups that is demanded. Comp. above, Exeget. notes on chap, x., No. 1. With respect to the groups of verses that do develop themselves with satisfactory distinct- ness, and in general with reference to the order and progress of thought in the chapter before us, see the Doctrinal and Ethical notes. EXEGETICAL. 1. With chap, xiii Hitzig would have a new section commence, extending to chap. xv. 32, anu consisting of three subdivisions of symme- trical structure. The first of these subdivisions would be chap, xiii., consisting of four groups of six verses each; the second, chap, xiv., five groups of seven verses each; the third, chap, XV., four groups of eight verses each — altogether 91 verses, precisely the same number as the preceding Section (chaps, x.-xii.) contained. — How arbitrary these assumptions are appears L34 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 2. Vers. 1-3. Three introiluctoiy proverbs, general in their import. — A wise son heark- eneth to his father's correction. — In tliis first cl.iase we must supply " hearkeueth " from the second as predicate. The conception of others, e.g. J. D. Micuaelis, Bertheau, eic: A wise son is his father's correction, i. e. the object of his correction, — is less natural on account of iis harsliness. Parallel to the milder expression " instruction, correction " ("ID'O) in clause a, we have in b the stronger term "rebuke" (m^U, as in xvii. 10). — No re-buke, no threaten- ing, no earnest enforcement of law makes any impression on the " scorner " (i. 22; ix. 7), the heedless r«viler of religiop, who has long ago thrown aside all childlike piety, and reverence for the holy. With ver. 2. clause «, comp. xii. 14; with b comp. x. 6.— The delight of the ungodly is violence, i. e. the eager desire (lyDJ) of maliciously disposed sinners is for violence (DOH), which they wish to exercise upon others, and which therefore in turn recom- penses them. " Violence," therefore, stands here with a twofold meaning [active and pas- sive] as in chap. x. G. [See Critical Notes]. — Shall ba destroyed. — rtnino, ruinn, "destruc- tion," just as in x. 14. — ["Take heed that thy tongue cut not thy throat;" an Arabic proverb quoted by Trapp from Scaliger, Arab. Prov. i. 75.— A.] 3. Vers. 4-12. Nine proverbs relating mainly to the worth and right use of wealth. — The sluggard desireth, but v/ithout the satis- fying of his desire. — [See Critical Notes]. — But the desire of the diligent is abundant- ly satisiied, literally, "is made fai," comp. xi. 25. — Ver. 5. Deceit the righteous hateth. — *^p.r^~"^?l appears to be not " word of falsehood," deceitful language (Umbreit, Bertheau), but a designation of evei-ything falling under the cate- gory of the deceitful ("13T being therefore equiv- alent to "payua) ; comp. Ps. xli. 9; Isa. xliv. 4 ; it means therefore lies and frauds, deceit. — But the ungodly acteth basely and shamefully. [See Critical Notes]. i^^'NT, lit., "maketh of- fensive, stinking," stands here as equivalent to B'"'^'', " acteth basely, or causeth shame ;" comp. chap. xix. 26. The Hiphil form Ti)n_;, which is found also in the parallel passage, here has an active meaning, "acteth shamefully," while in Isa. liv. 4 it stands as passive : couieth to shame, or is put to shame. [So the E. V., H., N., and M.. while S., K., etc., give the causative render- ing—A.]. Ver. G Righteousness protecteth an up- right walk, lit., "innocence of way," an ab- stract for the concrete, and therefore equiva- lent to "such as walk uprightly" (comp. x. 29). But wickedness plungeth into sin. — Wick- edness (nj,'iy")), literally, "perverse, malicious disposition" describes that evil state of the heart which necessarily leads to sinful action (nXDn). The verb, which is here used in its natural mean- ing, "overturn, plunge into something," has tlie end of its action, sin, connected with it witliout a preposition (comp. xix. 13). The old versions, and among modern expositors Bertheau, [Fuerst, H., N., M., S.], take the object as an abstract for the concrete, and thorefore translate " wickedness overthroweth sinners," by which rendering a more exact parallelism between a and b, it is true, is secured. Ver. 7. One maketh himself rich, and hath nothing at ail. — Comp. xii. 9, a maxim, which, like the one before us, is aimed at foolish pride of birth and empty love of display on the part of men without means. The "boasting one's self" there corresponds with the "representing one's self rich " here. Comp. also the similar proverb of the Arabs, in Meidanx, III. 429. [The second clause is differently understood; W. interprets it as referring to the "being rich in good works, and sacrificing all worldly things for God and His truth." So Holuen ; while Trapp, Bridges, N., S. and M. regard the clause as referring to the deceitful concealment of riches. The parallelism requires this view. — A.] Ver. 8. A ransom for a man's life are his riches, i. e. the rich man can and under certain circumstances, as e. g. before a court, or when taken captive by robbers or in war, must employ his wealth for his ransom. — But the poor heedeth no threatening, i. e. no warning or tiireatening however sharp ("rebuke" as in ver. 1) will be able to force anything from him who has nothing: the poor is deaf to every threat that aims at the diminution of his posses- sions, for "where there is nothing, there the Emperor has lost his rights." The spirit of this maxim, in itself morally indiiferent, seems like that of the similar proverb, chap. x. 15, to be directed to the encouragement of industry, and of some earthly acquisitions though they be but moderate. Elster is certainly in the wrong, in holding that the proverb depicts, not without a shade of irony, "the advantages as well of great wealth as of great poverty." Against various other conceptions of the verse, especially of clause b, comp. Bertheau in loco. [Holden construes interrogatively: "Doth not the poor," etc , understanding it of the helplessness of the poor ; N. and M. understand it of the safety of the poor in his poverty ; W. of his light-hearted independence ; S. of the viciously or heedlessly poor, whom nothing can arouse to virtuous in- dustry.— A.] Ver. 9. The light of the righteous burn- eth joyously. — The verb is lierc intransitive: "is joyous, i. e. burns brightly, with vigorous blaze." Hitzig rightly directs attention to the fact that the same root (not:^) in Arabic signifies to "laugh, or sport." — But the lamp of the wicked goeth out. The "lamp" of the wicked (TJ) does not seem to be emphatically contrasted as a dim night lamp with the bright light of the righteous, but is probably a simple synonym of ")1X determined by the parallelism; comp. Job xviii. 5, 6 ; xxi. 17 : xxii. 28 : xxix. 3. Ver. 10. By pride cometh only conten- tion.— "Only" (p^) although in the Hebrew put first in the clause, belongs nevertheless to the subject (Hi'O), and not to the "by pride" |nT3 [as in E. V., and Stuart] ; as though the mean- CHAP. XIII. 1-25. 135 ing were, only by pride (or, only in excitement, ebullition of passion, Umbkeit) dues one begin strife. Couip. rather as an example of this pre- fixing of "only' (p"}), Ps. xxxii. G [where HuPFELD and others do not admit this explana- tion "only to him," etc. J ; and for similar hyper- bata with DJ and 1]X oomp. Prov. xix. 2 ; xx. 11 ; Isa. xxxiv. 14. [N. and M. agree with our author. H. takes pi as a noun, "ignorance" with pride, etc. But if it be objected to the simple and obvious rendering of the words in their Hebrew order, that pride is not the only or chief cause of contention, it may no less be objected that contention is not the only or chief result of pride. Why may not the proverb be interpreted as comparing two dispositions, the proud, self-sufficient spirit, of clause a, and the modest inclination to consult and consider others, of clause b? Only by the former of these two is contention produced. — .\.] — But wisdom is with those who receive counsel. — Oomp. xii. 15, b. Instead of D'1.'>1J, "the well advised, those who hearken to counsel," Hitzig proposes to read D'J.^-Ui*, the " modest." An unnecessary change to correspond with xi. 2. Ver. 11. Gain through fraud vanisheth away.— [See Critical Notes]. The '?.;np pTl is used to describe "gain coming from nothing- ness, from the unreal," i. e. secured in an un- substantial, inconsiderate, fraudulent way (Ew- ALu, Luther, etc.). Or (with Ziegler, Doder- LEiN, Elster, Hitzig) let the pointing be 73ri:p (Pual part.); i. e. a hastily, fraudulently ac- quired wealth, substantia J'estinata, Vulg. — To regard /|3no as a comparative, "sooner than a breath" (Umbreit, Noyes and others), has this against it, — that a "vanishing away," a "dimi- nution " cannot be well predicated of a 1^\}, a nothing, a mere phantom, but may be naturally of a possession gained in an unsubstantial or un- worthy manner. — But he that gathereth by labor increaseth it. — T"7J7 is either "handful after handful" (Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, etc.), or, "according to his dhWhy," pro porlione s. mensura sua (Hitzig). In both cases it de- scribes the gradual and progressive accumulation of wealth, resulting from diligence and exertion, and so is in significant contrast with the impa- tient dishonesty of tiie preceding clause. Ver. 12. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; comp. x. 28. The predicate is not a sub- stantive, "sickness of heart" (Umbreit), but a Hiph. partic. — For the figure of the " tree of life'' in clause b comp. xi. 30. ["Desire that hath come," (Kal part.) is by common consent of lexicographers and commentators desire ac- complished. This should be remembered in the exposition of ver. 19 a. — A.] 4. Vers. 13-17. Five proverbs relating to the value of the divine word as the hifihcst good, and exhorting to obedience to it. — -Whosoever despiseth the w^ord is in bonds to it, /. e. the word or the law of God (comp. for this absolute use of "the term "word" ("^2"^) e. g., xvi. 20). The word of divine revelation is here, as it were, personified as a real superhuman power, whose service one cannot escape, and in default of this he comes in bondage to it i. e. loses his liberty. [The verb according to this rendering describes mortgages, bonds and other such legal obligations; '-wird vnpjandet," Z. — A.] Thus SciniLTENS, Ewald. Elster correctly render, while many others, e. g. Umbreit, Ber- theau, [K., E. v., N., S., M.] explain "for him is destruction provided, he shall be de- stroyed." Hitzig, however, altogether arbitra- rily takes the "word" of clause a in the sense of "command," and the "command" (nii'D) of clause h in the sense of " prohibition," and ac- cordingly translates "whosoever despiseth the command is seized by it, and whoso avoideth (heedeth) the prohibition is rewarded " (?j. For the phrase "he is requited, to him is requiial," comp. xi. 31. Ver. 14. The instruction of the w^ise man is a fountain of life. — t'omp. x. 11, wliere the "mouth of the rigiitcous," and xiv. 27, where the fear of God is described' by this figure. In the latter passage the 2d clause of our verse appears again. " Snares of death " an established formula for the description of mortal perils ; comp. Ps. xviii. 5 ; Prov. xxi. 6, and also the Latin laquei mortis. HoR. Od. III. 24, 8. Ver. 15. Kindly w^isdom produceth fa- vor.— Comp. iii. 4, where however the 2^Q~/2\^_ expresses a somewhat difi'erent idea, viz., pas- ."ively, "good reputation." [See Critical Notes]. — The way of the ungodly is desolate. — liTX, pcrennis, elsewhere descriptive of a brook or river that flows inexhaustibly, seems here to denote either a "standing bog" (J. D. Mi- cuaelis, Umbreit), or, which is perhaps more natural, it belongs as an adjective to the noun " way" C^n!!)' ^°^ characterizes the way of trans- gressors as " ever trodden," i. e. altogether hard, solid, and therefore desolate and unfruitful (Bertheau, Ewald, Elster, etc.). [As compared with the more common conception of the hard way as rough, stony (Fuerst, H., S., IM., W.) this has the advantage of tollowing more natu- rally from the radical idea of continuance and permanence. — A.] Hitzig prefers to read jnN\ makes hateful, produces hatred (?). [This is Noyes' explanation]. Ver. 10. [See Critical Notes]. For the mean- ing "the wise man doeth all things with under- standing,"' comp. xii. 23 : xv. 2. — Ver. 17. A bad messenger falleth into trouble. — A "bad messenger" (lit., "wicked") is not, as might be thought, one who is indolent, tardy, as in X. 26 (so Bertheau), but one who is faithless, not true to his master, betraying him. He '• falls into trouble" as a punishment for his faithless- ness. Abnoldi and Hitzig unnecessarily sub- stitute the Hiphilfor the Kal, and render "throws into trouble." The antithesis between a and b is at any rate not an exact one. — But a messen- ger of fidelity, a faithful messenger.— Comp. xiv. 5; XX. 6, and for this participial form of the epithet, xxv. 13.— For this use of "health," healing medicine, comp. xii. 18, 136 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 5. Vers. 18-25. Eight additional admonitory proverbs, pointing to tlie blessedness of obedi- ence to the divine word. — Poverty and shame (to him) that refuseth correction. — The par- ticipial clause is to be taken as conditional, "'if one refuses correction " (conip. Job xli. 18). The connection with the main clause is "not gram- matically complete, because intelligible of itself," conip. Prov. xxvii. 7 (Hitzig). For the meaning of tlie verb comp. i. 2-3; iv. 15; viii. 33. — With clause h comp. xv. 5, 32. Ver. 19. Quickened desire is sweet to the soul. — [See Critical Notes.] "Desire that has come to be " (Niph. part. ) cannot be designed to describe "appeased desire" (Vulg., Luther, Lerthkau, Ew.\ld, Elster [Fuerst, H., N., S., M., eAcI, but, as the import of clause b and a comparison of 12, b suggest, a desire that is just originated, has just attained its development, now first vividly experienced but not yet satisfied (Umbreit, Hitzig). Now that this desire is in many instances directed toward evil, and that this evil desire is especially hard to appease, — this is the truth to which clause b gives expres- sion (comp. James i. 14, 15). The second clause is not then antithetically related to the first, but it makes strongly prominent a single side of the general truth already uttered. [To what is said in the Critical Notes Rueetschi's comment may be added {Stud. u. KriL, 1868, p. 139). He renders clause a like the Vulg., E. V., etc., re- garding it as the statement of a general psycho- logical fact, while b supplies a particular case, illustrative and not contrasted. His practical use of the sentiment of the proverb is embodied in the appeal " Therefore see to it that thy de- sire be a good one in whose accomplishment tiiou mayest rightly rejoice !" He pronounces Hitzig's and Z.'s rendering of riTIJ as untenable lexi- T : • cally, and false to fact. — A.] Ver. 20. Walk w^ith wise men and be- come vyise. — So according to the Kthibh: an infill, abs. [used as an imperative] followed by an imperative instead of a consecutive clause, — which is to be preferred to the K'ri [which is fol- lowed by LXX, Vulg., E. V., H., N., S. and M.]. The latter makes the language less spirited and needlessly assimilates it in form to the 2d clause. — But whosoever delighteth in fools be- cometh base. — In the Hebrew there is a play upon words: he who tendeth fools (H^.'^) showeth himself base JMT. [This might be thus imitated in English: he who attendeth fools tendeth to folly]. For this use of the verb "i^y^, to follow or attach one's self to some one, sectari aliquem, to cultivate intercourse with one, comp. xxviii. 7 ; xxix. 3; Jer. xvii. 16. From this is derived J7T "friend, comrade." Ver. 21. To the righteous God repayeth good. — As subject of the verb we should supply in this instance not the indefinite suViject, " one," man, but rather Jehovah (unlike the instances in X. 24 ; xii. 12). Hitzig needle.ssly substitutes as an emendation Q^P'. "meeteth," suggested by the KnraTi^'tpETai of the LXX. For the mean- ing comp. x. 25 ; xi. 3, 5, etc. Ver. 22. A good man leaveth an inheri- tance tohischildren'schildren. Forthisab- soluteuseof the Hiph., "causeth to inherit, trans- mitteth his estate," comp. Deut. xxxii. 8. For the sentiment comp. Job xxvii. 17; Eccles. ii. 26. Ver. 23. The poor man's new land (yield- eth) much food. The noun TJ according to Hos. X. 12; Jer. iv. 3, describes "newly broken, newly ploughed land," i. e. a field newly cleared, and therefore cultivated with much effort (Vulg. correctly noi'a^(«: Luther less exactly "furrows" (Furchen). If such a field nevertheless yields its poor possessor " much food," he must be a devout and upright poor man, and so possess the main condition of genuine prosperity, which is wanting to the man mentioned in clause b, who is evidently a man of means, a rich man, who in consequence of Lis iniquity (lit., "by not- justice") is destroyed. — Hitzig on the ground of the phraseology, which is certainly somewhat hard and obscure, pronounces the verse corrupt, and therefore reads 2^1 instead of T'J, and so gets for clause a the meaning "A great man who consumes the income of capital" (!). Further- more he pronounces the whole verse spurious, and thinks it originally formed a marginal com- ment on xi. 24 (I!) but then by the mistake of some copyist was introduced into the text just at this point. [RuEETscHi (as above quoted) interprets clause a in like manner of the righteous poor man's newly cleared land, which, although wrought with difficulty, abundantly rewards the labor. The 'd^_ of clause b he regards not as a verb "there is," but as a substantive (comp. viii. 21), with the meaning "substance, wealth." This is destroyed where there has been unright- eousness.— A.] Ver. 24. He that spareth his rod hateth his son. See iii. 12: xxiii. 13, 14; xxix. 15; Ecclesiast. xxx. 1. — But ^whosoever lovetli him seeketh it, correction. The suffix of the last verb here, as in ver. 22, refers to the object immediately following, and this noun is here used actively in the sense of "chastisement, dis- cipline which one employs with another." Others take the suffix-as the indirect object, equivalent to 17, "for him;" he seeketh for him (the son) correction. This, however, is not grammatically admissible. Hitzig maintains that the verb is here to be taken after the analogy of the Arabic in the sense of "tame, subdue," and that the noun is a second accusative object (?), — and that we should therefore translate "he restraineth him by correction." So also Hofsiann. Schr{ftbeu\ II. 2, 377 (follows him up with correctioYi). With ver. 25 comp. Ps. xxxiv. 10 (11), Prov. x. 3, etc. DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC, AXD PKACTICAL. The idea which appears in the very first verse, of salutary discipline, or of education by the word of God and sound doctrine, also reappears afterward several times in a significant way (vers. 13, 14, 18, 24; comp. vers. 6, 10, 20, 21); it therefore to a certain extent controls the whole development of thought throughout this Section, so far as we may speak of anything of the kind. We have also here again as in chap. iv. (see above, p. 74,) a chapter on the true religious CHAP. XIII. 1-25. 137 training of cliiklren. Only it is here specifically training to the wise use of earthly blessings (so in particular the group vers. 4-12), and to the knowledge of God's word as the chief blessing (so especially in the 2d half, vers. 13-25); this is urged by most of the proverbs that are here grouped. Hence the frequent allusions to the blessing of constant diligence, and patient labor in one's earthly calling in reliance upon God (vers. 4, 11, 23, 25); also to the great value of earthly possessions gathered under God's gra- cious help, as important instrumentalities lor the fulfilment of the spiritual duties also involved in one's calling (vers. 8, 11, 12, 18, 22) ; further to the hateful and harmful nature of pride and vanity (vers. 7 a, 10, 16, 18) ; to the evil conse- quences of unfaithfulness, since it necessarily "smites its own lord" (vers. 2, 5, 15, 17); to the importance of good company, and of a decided abhorrence of that evil companionship which cor- rupts the morals (vers. 1, 6, 20; comp. 1 Cor, XV. 33), etc. Therefore, in the homiletic treatment of the chapter as a whole, we have as a subject " The true Christian education of children." 1) Its basis: God's word (vers. 1, 18, 14);, 2) its means: love, and strictness in inculcating God's word (vers. 1, 18, 24); 3) its aim: guidance of the youth to the promotion of his temporal and eternal welfare (vers. 2 sq., 16 sq.) Or, on the right use of God's word as the basis, the means, and the end in all human culture. Or, on the word of God as the most precious of all posses- sions (comp. Matt. vi. 33; xiii. 44-46; 1 Pet. i. 23-25). — Stocker: — The wise man's discipline [Disciplina sapientis). 1) Wherein it consists (1-10); 2) What qualities the Well-trained wise man possesses, viz. chiefly, a) Moderation and prudence in the use of earthly good; h) Humility and modesty ; 3) What is the blessing of a wise training. Vers. 1-3. Starke: — No one is born pious; every one brings sin with him into the world ; therefore from the tenderest childhood upward diligence should be employed with youth that they may grow up "in the nurture and admoni- tion of the Lord" (Eph. vi. 2). There are spirits that from merest infancy onward have their jests at everything that belongs to virtue and piety (Gen. xxi. 9) ; to improve such always costs much work and prayer. — (On vers. 2, 3) : If words spoken heedlessly before a human tribunal are often so dangerous that they can bring one into the greatest misfortune, how can evil words be indifferent in the view of God the Supreme Judge (Matt. xii. 30)? — Wohlfarth : — On what does the happy result of education depend? 1) On the side of parents, on the strictest conscien- tiousness in the fulfilment of their duties as educators (ver. 1); 2) On the side of children, on their thankful reception of this training (vers. 2-9). Vers. 4-12. Starke (on ver. 5): — The natural man shuns lying and deceit on account of the out- ward shame and reproach ; the pious abhors them with all his heart for God's sake. — (On ver. 7): A man's condition may not be with certainty inferred from the outward appearance : "all is not gold that glitters" (Eccles. viii. 4; 1 Sam. xvi. 7). The spiritually poor who feels his inward poverty stands in the right relation, in which he can become truly rich in the grace of God. — (On ver. 8) : The poor man may have many advantages over the rich, in case he knows how to use his poverty aright. — (On ver. 11): That many men of means become poor is caused by the fact that they do not wisely apply what is theirs, but waste it on all manner of use- less things. — (On ver. 12) : If thou hast made some promise to thy neighbor, defer not long the fulfilment of the promise. He who gives promptly gives double. — [Bridges (on ver. 5) : — It is not that a righteous man never lies. Nor is it a proof of a righteous man that he avoids lying. But true religion brings in the new taste — conformity to the mind of God. — Trapp (on ver. 9) : — A saint's joy is as the light of the sun, fed by heavenly influence, and never ex- tinct, but diffused through all parts of. the world. — (On ver. 11): lU-gottcu goods fly away without taking leave of the owner. — (On ver. 12) : We are short-breathed, short-spirited. But as God seldom comes at our time, so He never fails at His own; and then He is most sweet because most seasonable. — Arnot (on ver. 12) : — If the world be made the portion of an immortal spirit, to want it is one sickness, to have it is another. To desire and to possess a perishable portion are only two diflTerent kinds of misery to men]. — J. Lange (on ver. 12) : — ('hildren of God must often hope long under the cross for their deliverance. Yet when this comes at length, it is so refreshing and joyful, that they begin as it were to live anew. — Zelt- NER (on ver. 12): — Set thj' hope not on the vain, uncertain and transient, but on the imperishable and eternal, on God and His word, 1 Cor. iv. 18; 1 Tim. vi. 17. Vers. 13-17. Tubingen Bible (on ver. 13): — It is very great wisdom gladly to receive correction when one has erred ; but it is folly to be angry when one is warned against everlasting destruc- tion.— Geier : — Faithful discharge of the duties that devolve on us secures a good conscience and reward from God and men. — [Trapp (on ver. 15): — Natural conscience cannot but do homage to the image of God stamped upon the natures and works of the godly. — Arxot : — It is far-seeing mercy that makes the way of trans- gressors hard; its hardness warns the traveller to turn that he may live]. — Starke (on ver. 10) : — If thine act and project are to prosper, begin with prudence and good counsel, and so continue tdl thou hast done. — Wohlfarth: — Wisdom as the fountain of true life. Its correction like its counsel is health and blessing; its j'oke is soft and light, because it urges us to act and to walk simply according to our destination. — Von Ger- LACH (on vers. 13 sq.): — A despiser of God's word involves himself in its penalties, he falls sooner or later under its chastisement: while on the contrary his reward never fails the right- eous.— (On ver. 17): While the wicked messenger prepares misfortune for himself as well as for his master, the faithful makes good even his lord's mistakes. Vers. 18-25. Berlehurg Bible (on ver. 18) : — Where one finds a spirit that can tolerate no correction, is always excusing and defending itself, or throwing the blame on others, fi-om 138 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. such a one there is no good to be hoped. — (On ver. 20) : It is very profitable to cultivate friend- fchip and familiar intercourse witii spiritually- minded men, because one is in general wont easi- ly' to take to one's self the spirit of those with whom one associates. — Zelt.nkr (on ver. liO): — If thou shunnest an infected liouse, how much more shouldst thou shun the company of the un- godly, that thou mayest not be touched bytiie poison of their sins and vices. — [.-Vrnot: — The issue to be decided is not what lierd you shall graze with a few years before your spirit re- turn to the dust-; but what moral element j'ou shall move in during the few and evil days of life, till your spirit return to God who gave it]. — Starke (on ver. 21): — Sin evermore draws after it God's wrath and judgments as the shadow always closely follows tlie body. — [T. Ada.ms (on ver. 22) : — The usurer lightly begets blind children that cannot see to keep what their father left them. But when the father is gone to hell for gathering, the son often follows for scattering. But God is just]. — Melanchthon (on ver. 23) : — It is better to possess small means, but use them well, and enjoy them with pious and contented mind, than to heap up great treasures, that pass not away without oli'ences of many kinds. — Osi.vsder (on ver. 23). — God gives to a pious man who is poor nevertheless nourishment enough if he only labor diligently in his calling and forsake not prayer. — J. Lange (on ver. 24) : — A good father follows his children unweariedly with prayer, correction and counsel, tliat he may not be forced afterwards bitterly to deplore omitting correction at the right time. — Vo.\ Gerlach (on ver. 24) : — A loving father strives to correct his child early ; he does not wait till urgent need forces him to it. — [.Joiix Howe: — Fond parents think it love (that spares the rod) ; but divine wisdom calls it hatred. — Bridges: — The discipline of our children must commence with self-discipline. Nature teaches us to love them much. But we want a controlling principle to teach us to love them wisely. The indulgence of our children has its root in self- indulgence]. J) AVith reference to the relation between the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor, masters and servants. Chap. XIV. 1 "Woman's wisdom buildeth her house, but folly teareth it down with its own hands. 2 He that walketh uprightly feareth Jehovah, but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him. 3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod for his pride, but the lips of the wise preserve them. 4 Where there are no oxen the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox. 5 A faithful witness cannot lie, but a false witness uttereth lies. 6 The scorner hath sought wisdom, and findeth it not, but to the man of understanding is knowledge easy. 7 Go from the presence of the foolish man ; thou hast not found (with him) lips of knowledge. 8 The wisdom of the i^rudent is to understand his way, the folly of I'ools is a deception. 9 The sacrifice maketh sport of fools, but to the righteous there is favor, 10 The heart kuoweth its own bitterness, and let no stranger intermeddle with its joy. 11 The house of the wicked is overthrown, but the tent of the upright shall flourish. 12 There is a way that seemeth right to man, but the end thereof is the ways of death. 13 Even in laughter the heart will be (perchance) sad, and the end of joy is sorrow. 14 He that is of a perverse heart shall be satisfied with his own ways, but a good man (shall be satisfied) from him (E. V. " from himself"). CHAP. XIV. l-S:). 139 15 The simple believeth every word, the wise giveth heed to his way. 16 The wise feareth and departeth from evil, but the fool is presuming and confident. 17 He that is quick to angtr worketh folly, and the man of wicked devices is hated. 18 The simple have secured folly, but the wise shall embi-ace knowledge. 19 The wicked bow before the good, and sinners at the doors of the righteous. 20 The poor is hated even by his neighbor, but they that love the rich are many. 21 "Whosoever despiseth his friend is a sinner, but he that hath mercy on the poor — blessings on him ! 22 Do not they go astray that devise evil? and are not mercy and faithfulness with them that devise good? 23 In all labor there is profit, but mere talk (leadcth) only to want. 24 The crown of the wise is their riches, the folly of fools (is evermore) folly. 25 A true wdtness delivereth souls, but he that uttereth lies is a cheat. 2G In the fear of Jehovah is strong security, and to His children He will be a refuge. 27 The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, to escape the snares of death. 23 In the multitude of the people is the king's honor, but from want of people (cometh) the downfall of the prince. 29 He that is slow to wrath is great in understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. 30 The life of the body is a quiet spirit, but passion the rottenness of the bones. 31 He that oppresseth the poor hath reproached his Maker, whosoever honoreth him hath had mercy on the poor. 32 By his wickedness is the Avickcd driven forth, but the righteous hath hope (even) in his death. 33 In the heart of a man of understanding doth wisdom rest, but in the midst of fools it nuiketh itself known. 34 Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. 35 The king's favor is towards a wise servant, but his wrath against him that is base. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 1.— Read HIODH, as in i. 20; ix. 1, and not n'lrDjpn (f'^ni. plur. constr.), as though "the wise ones among wo- men " (cnmp. Jiid. V. 29) were to be here designated (so the LXX, Vnlg;.. Luther). [So substantially the E. V., Noyes, etc., distributing the plural on account of the singular of the verb. Fcerst regards Ijn as merely another form of the abstract noun. BoTT. does not admit the possibility of this, but explains the form in the text as an indef. or distributive plural, holding, nevertheless, that the antithesis with n7^X requires here the usual abstract. §§ TOO, c and n. 4, and 702, c, 6.— A.] Ver. 2. — The ^ in -iriilS is one of the few examples in the early Hebrew of the Hholem plen. in emphatic verbal forms beginning or endinu- a clause. See Bott., JIG". — A.] Ver. 3.— The form D"'%0il/j~1 should probably bo changed to DI'^Dtyj^i since the assumption of the lengthening of the vowel (vnoal Slievril in the syllable prece,o-c, i Ver. 10.— [^ITTjI' - for - in final syllable under the influence of the guttural, Green, gll9, 1; Bott., (i6iii,l, 1055. In JT^O, derived from 110, we have one of the few instances of a doubled 1. See Green, § 60, 4, a, Bottchee, 2392, 2, c— A.] Ver. 12. [lin is used in the first clause as masc, in the second as fern. In the historical books, Jerem. and Proverbs, this confusion is common. See BiJTT., §g657, 2; 877, 7. e. — A.] Ver. 13. The suffix in rijTinXI refers to the following nDOK?, as iu the passages cited above in connection witU xiii. 4. To divide Ityn iTinXI {J- D- Michaelis, IIitzig) is an alteration altogether unnecessary in the case before us, where the expression "joy " in clause 6 is nothing but a repetition of that of " laughter" in clause a. Ver. 14.— To change to vShl'DD? (L- Capellus, Jaeger, etc.), or to vh'>'0 (Elster, comp.EwALc) is plainly needless TT-:- ■ ' ., T in view of the simple and obvious interpretation of V7>?0 given in the notes. [Bott. proposes with great confidence to amend clause 6 by substituting for t^'X the verb ty''p"' ; g? 460, 2, a, and 1143, 6; "good will depart from him." — A.] Ver. 15. — [Observe the emphatic change of accent and vocalization in TIS.] Ver. 17. In vie%v of the explanation which may be given of the text, attempted emendations appear needless and in- appropriate, such, e. g., as Ewald's, who proposes instead of Njti^' to read X-IK^' (" be quiets his anger," " keeps his equa- nimity ") ; or that of Hitzig, who to secure the same meaning reads JNII'% c^c. [Rceetschi emphatically defends the re- ceived text.] L Ver. 18.— [Observe the change of tense ; tlT\l^ "Perfeclum repentinum," used of that which is easily and quickly done ; >|1ij-13\ "Fiens licitum," are disposed or inciine i to wait, etc. Bott., gg 950, B ; 940, 2; 943, c, a. — A.] Ver. 25. — [n^3') as in vi. 19; xii. 17 ; xix. 5, 9, an irregular participial form.] Ver. 28.— P"t"1 is a collateral form of n'n, as p'vd); of pt^i^. The expression hero stands as a parallel to IQ'3, as the plural DJIII often stands side by side with QO/O. ■ : • T : Ver. 30.— [D'ltyS, plural, probably, on account of the following ni'Dy_i». Bott. however (2695, 5) explains it as an example of the "pluralis extensivus'" used also of the entire, the complete, the large, — "the life of the whole body." — A.] proverb is not quite the same as in x. 15 ; xiii. 8 (a commendation of moderate wealth as a means of doing good and as a preservative from spiri- tual want). Rather is this the probable meaning: "He who will develop his wealth to a gratifying abundance must employ the appropriate means; for " nothing costs nothing, but brings nothing in" (Elster, Hitzig). — With ver. 5 comp. xii- 17; with b in particular vi. 19. — Ver. 6. The scorner hath sought ■wisdom, and findeth it not, — lit., " and it is not," comp. xiii. 7. The bearing of this proverb is plainly directed against that superlicial, trivial, seeming culture of the scoflFers at religion, (who, in the perverted sense of the word, are "the enlightened"), which lacks all genuine earnestness, and for that very reason all really deep knowledge and discernment — But to the man of understanding is knovy- ledge given. — See critical notes. Ver. 7. Go from the presence of the fool- ish man. — So Lutiif.h had already correctly ren- dered ; also De AVette, Behtueau, Elsteii; for IJjO [from the front, from before] docs not de- scribe motion directly toward or at one (Ewald, comp. Ujibkeit), but remoteness from him, as Is. i. 16; Am. ix. 3 ; and for the connection with 7 which, it is true, is unusual, comp. Judges xx. 34. [See critical notes]. — Hitzig, following the LXX and Syr. vers., writes the first word of the EXEGETICAL. 1. A^'ers. 1-7. On wisdom and folly in general. — "Woman's wisdom buildeth her house. [See critical notes]. It is plain that in contrast with this wisdom of the godly we are to under- stand by " folly " in clause b especially woman's folly. — With ver. 2, a, compare x. 9; with b, ii. 1-5; iii. 32. — Ver. 3. In the fool's mouth is a rod for his pride, — lit., "a rod of pride." [Is this genitive subjective or objective? a rod which his pride uses, for himself, or others, or both, as it has been variously understood, — or a rod by which his pride is itself chastised ? The antithesis commends the latter, which is the view of Bertiieau, Kamph., etc., as well as Z. Ac- cording to S., "pride" is the subject and not a limiting genitive — A.] Hitzig unnecessarily proposes to understand HIXJ in the sense of \J "back," a meaning which even in Job xli. 7 hardly belongs to the word [although given by Aquila, Jerome, etc.'\ (Comp. Delitzscu on the passage. ) — But the lips of the wise preserve them. — For the construction comp. xi. (i; xii. 0, etc.; for the meaning, x. 13, 14. — Ver. 4. Where there are no oxen the crib remaineth empty. — DOX, "crib," not "stall" (Umrueit); "13, in itself meaning "pure, clean," is here "empty;" so sometimes "'PJ. The drift of the CHAP. XIV. 1-35. 141 Verse /3 instead of ^^, and in clause 6 reads nyn-S^ instead of m'T ^3, from which the '^- ■ : T : -T - meaning is obtained " The foolish man hath every thing before him, but lips of knowledge are a re- ceptacle of understanding " (LXX: ij-'ka 6e ala&i/- ceuq). But the idea of the second clause experi- ences iu this way no possible improvement, but only an injury (observe the tautological charac- ter of the expressions "lips of knowledge" and " receptacle or vessel of knowledge"), and for this reason we should retain the meaning given above for the first clause also. — In clause b the vei'b is a proper perfect, " thou hast not known or recognized lips of knowledge," this is, if thou soughtest any such thing in him. [W. is wrong in rendering " over against," and " wilt not know." — A.] 2. Vers. 8-19. Further delineation of the wise and the foolish, especially with reference to their contrasted lot in life. — The wisdom of the wise is to understand his w^ay, — lit., "ob- serve his way." For this use of the verb with the accusative, in the sense of to "observe or consider something," comp. chap. vii. 7; Ps. v. 2. For the sentiment of the vorso comp. xiii. 16, and ver. 15 below. — The folly of fools is decep- tion.— "Deceit" here iu the sense of self-de- ception, imposition on self, blindness, which is at last followed by a fearful self-sobering, a coming to a consciousness of the real state of the case (comp. Ps. vii. 15; Job xv. 35). Ver. 9. The sacrifice maketh sport of fools, — i. e., the expiatory sacrifice which un- godly fools offer to God is utterly useless, fails of its object, inasmuch as it does not gain the favor of God, which is, on the contrary, to be found only among the upright (lit., "between upright men," i. e., in the fellowship of the up- right or honorable, comp. Luke ii. 14). Thus Bertheau, Ewald, Elster [Stuart and Words- WORTu], etc., while the majority, disregarding the singular member in the verb, translate "Fools make a mock at sin" [E. V., M., N., H.] ("make sport with sin," Umbreit, comp. Lu- ther). [Hodgson, rightly conceiviug the gram- matical relation, but making both subject and object concrete, renders "sinners mock at fools"]. HiTziG here again proposes violent emendations, and obtains the meaning "The tents (?) of the foolish are overthrown (? ?) in punishment ; the house (?) of the upright is well pleasing." Ver. 10. The heart knoweth its O'wrn bit- terness,— lit., "a heart knoweth the trouble of its soul," i. e., what one lacks one always knows best one's self; therefore the interference of strangers will always be somewhat disturbing. If this be so, then it follows that it is also not advisable "to meddle with one's joy," and this is the point that is urged in clause b. A precept applicable unconditionally to all cases is of course not designed here. The author of our proverbs will hardly be put in antagonism to what the Apostle enjoins in Rom. xii. 15. It is rather a hard and intrusive manifestation of sympathy in the joy and sorrow of one's neigh- bor, that is to be foi-bidden. — With 11, a, comp. xii. 7; Job xviii. 15 ; with b, Is. xxvii. (>. — With ver. 12, a, comp. xii. 15; xvi. 2. — But the end thereof are ways of death, — /. e., the way of vice, M'liicli at the beginning appears straight (the way is not directly described as the way of vice, yet is plainly enough indicated as such), at length merges itself wholly in paths that lead down to mortal ruin; comp. ver. 4; vii. 27. — The same verse appears again below in xvi. 25. Ver. 13. Even in laughter the heart will be (perchance) sad. — The Impcrf. of t!;e verb here expresses a possible case, something that may easily and often occur. The contrasted condition is suggested bj' Eccles. vii. 4: "Though the face be sad, the heart may yet be glad." [Notwith- standing Holuen's observation, that "though sorrow may be occasioned % laughter, it does not exist in it," ii is a deeper truth, that in cir- cumstances producing a superficial joyousness, there is often an underlying, profounder sor- row.— A.] — And the end of joy Lh sorrow [not by a mere emotional reaction, but] in such a case as this; the heart, which under all appa- rent laughter is still sad, feels and already anti- cipates the evil that will soon have wholly trans- Ibrmed the gladness into grief. Ver. 14. He that is of a perverse heart shall be satisfied ^with his ow^n ways, i. c, he who h;is departed from God (lit., "he that is turned aside in heart," comp. Ps. xliv. 19) is surfeited with his own ways, partakes of the ruinous results of his sinful action ; comp. xii. 14; xiii. 2; xxviii. 19. — ^But a good man (shall be satisfied) from him, /. t., the good man solaces himself in the contemplation of the wicked and his fate (chap. xxix. IG ; Job xxii. 19; Ps. xxxvii. 34; Iviii. 11); or, it may be, the upright man enters into the possession of the good which the other loses (comp. xi. 8, 29 ; xiii. 22). V7j7p, strictly "from with him," expresses here this idea, — " from that which belongs to him as its foundation" (Hitzig), and therefore " from his experience, from the sorrowful oc- currences of life in which he is deservedly in- volved." [E. v., H., N., M. render reflesively "from himself," and make the experiences pa- rallel; each shall be satisfied "with his own ways," or "from himself." The third pers. suf- fix has this reflexive meaning after 7^0 dis- tinctly in 1 Sam. xvii. 22, 89; Jonah iii. 0. The suiSx in clause a is reflexive, "his own ways," and we must regard the same construction as the simplest and most natural in b — A.] Ver. 15. The simple belie veth every w^ord, — Ei.ster: "every thing." But as objects of belief, it is, in the first instance, and most di- rectly, words alone that come under considera- tion, aTid reference is made here precisely to the unreliableness of words as used by men, as in chap. vi. 1 sq.; X. 19 ; Eccles. v. 1 sq.; Ps. cxvi. 11, etc. — With clause b compare above ver. 8 a. — Ver. 16. With clause a compare xvi. 6. 17. — The fool is presuming and confident. — Comp. xxi. 24 ; xxviii. 16. The latter of these descriptive terms unquestionably describes a false security, and carnal ai-rogance, which is the opposite of the fear of God. The former epithet means "self-exalting, bearing one's self inso- lently," or it may be (like the Kal conj. of the same verb in chap. xxii. 3) " boldly rushing on, 142 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. overriding" (IIitziq, comp. Luther, "rushes wildly througji "). Ver. 17. He that is quick to anger work- eth folly. — Strictly, " he who foams up quickly, who flies into a passion," contrasted with the man who is "slow to anger," ver. 29. [D'3X, the nostrils, then the breathing, which by its quietness or its excitement, marks the state of the temper]. — And the man of -wick- ed devices is hated. — Literally, '-the man of shrewd reflections, well contrived counsels " (comp. remarks on i. 4, and also chap. xii. 2; xxiv. 8 ; Ps. x.KXvii. 7), who is not here set as a contrast, but as a counterpart to the passionate man; the crafty and subtle man, who, in spite of all his show of mildness, is still as thoroughly hated as the irascible and passionate man. The relation of the two clauses is accordingly not an- tithetic, but that of a logical parallel. With one manifestation of an evil disposition another is immediately associated, with a suggestion of the results which are in accordance with it; comp. chap. X. 10, 18. Ver. 18. But the wise shall embrace kno^wledge.— ^TjT'PI (comp. Ps. cxlii. 8), liter- ally, "surround, enclose," cannot here mean "they crown themselves, or are crowned" [the verb is not reflexive] (Umbreit, comp. Luther [De W., E. v., H., N., S., M., W.]), but, as the parallel verb in clause a indicates, must convey simply the naeaning of "laying hoM upon," i. e., gathering, accumulating [so Fuerst, Beetheau, Kamph., etc.'\. Ver. 19. And the ■wicked at the doors of the righteous, — i. e., they bow there (the verb is to be repeated from the first clause). The figure lying at the basis of this representation is that of the ambassadors of a conquered people, who, kneeling at the doors of their conqueror's palace, await his command. For the general sentiment comp. xiii. 9, 22 ; also Psalm xxxvii. 25, etc. • 3. Vers. 20-27. On riches and poverty in their causal connection with wisdom and folly. — The poor is hated even by his neighbor. — Comp. xix. 4; Ecclesiast. vi. 7 sq.; xii. 8 sq. Numerous parallels from classic authoi-s (e. g., Theogxis, V. 621, 697 ; Ovid, Trist., I., 9, 5, 6), and also from Rabbinical and Arabic authors, may be found in U.mcreit's Commentary in loco. " Is hated," i. e., "is repelled as disagreeable, is ob- noxious" (comp. Deut. xx. 15 ; Mai. i. 3). How this may come to pass, how former friendship between two persons may be transformed into its opposite on account of the impoverish- ment of one of them, is impressively illustrated by our Lord's parable of the neighbor whom a friend asks for three loaves (comp. Luke xi. 5-8.) — Ver. 21. Whosoever despiseth his friend is a sinner, i. c, he who neglects a friend that has fallen into destitution (comp. ver. 20 a), who does not render him assistance, sins just as surely as his act is praiseworthy who is compassionate to the poor or wretched (read D"Ji^ with the K'thibh). With the benediction in clause b com- pare xvii. 20. Ver. 22. Do they not err that devise evil? — The figurative expression "carve evil" (comp. ill. 29 J vi. 14) has as its counterpart in the se- cond clause the kindred figure '• carve out good," i. e.. contrive or devise good [bona rnachi' nari). Instead of ^i,'>}\ "they err, or go astray" (comp. Job XV. 31) Hitzig reads ly)' (from >'>n): "Ought it not to go ill with them that devise evil?" But the language of the text character- izes with sufficient strength and clearness the unsettled and disastrous condition of those who have departed tVom Gods ways. — And are not mercy and truth with those that devise good? — The interrogative particle uttVcts the se- cond clause as well as the first (so Ujibukit, and doubtless correctly, in opposition to most modera interpreters [e. y., E. V., De W.. Bkrtheau, H., j\I., S., K., while Noyes agrees with oar author]). The construction is like that in xiii. 18. — " Mercy and truth " are probably God's mani- festations of Himself toward them, as in Gen. xxxii. 11; Ps. Ixi. 7, and not human attributes, as above in chap. iii. 3 (see note in loco), or as in xvi. 6; XX. 28. [So Trapp and others, while M. and S. make them human, — M. making these the experience, and S, the action of those who devise good. — A.] Ver. 23. In all labor there is profit, but idle talk (leadeth) only to want. — (Comp. xi. 24; xxi. 5) ; in the latter passage "profit" and "want" are contrasted precisely as here. — "Idle talk;" in the Hebrew literally, "word of the lips;" comp. Isa. xxxvi, 5; Job xi. 2; xv. 3. The sentiment of the entire verse is moreover plain: "One should beware of idle talk more than of the hardest toil" (Bertheau). Comp. Matt. xii. 36. V^er. 24. The crown of the wise is their riches, i. e. the well-earned possessions of the wise become his honor, are a real adornment to him, for which he is with good reason praised. " The folly of fools, on the other hand, is and continues folly," though he may ever so much parade and swell with it, though he may in par- ticular studiously -employ any riches he may chance to possess in splendidly decorating him- self, and giving himself a magnificent appear- ance by all manner of outward trifles and finery (comp. Bertheau, Umbreit, Elster on this passage). [Trapp : " Why, was it not foolish- ness before they were rich ? Yes, but now it is become egregious foolishness"]. — Hitzig has here again needlessly felt constrained to amend. He reads in clause a " their prudence," DO'llS T : r and in clause b, as the subject, " ostentation," Jl7!IX instead of r\7^X ; so he obtains the mean- ing, "The crown of the wise is their prudence (?) ; the pomp of fools is — drunken (??)." Ver. 25. A true witness delivereth souls, i. e. from the death involved in some false charge brought against them before the court, anil which therefore threatens them in case a truthful wit- ness does not clear them and bring tiieir inno- cence to light. — But he that uttereth lies (comp. ver. 5; vi. 19) is a cheat. — ('ompare xii. 17, where, however, "deceit" HO^O is object of the preceding verb " showeth forth," and not predicate. Here the abstract " deception " stands emphatically for the concrete, "a deceit- ful man, one without substance or reliableness ;" comp. above ver. 8, b. [Rueetschl (as above, CHAr. XIV. 1-35. 143 J). 142) would simplify the construction by re- taining 7'i"3 as the common predicate of both clauses, and would give to the second object the meaning " wrongiul or unrighteous possession," citing as a parallel Jer. v. 27. We cannot com- mend the suggestion. — A.] Hitzig instead of "deceit" (i^O^O) reads DrS^D "he destroyeth " (;. e. souls), in order to obtain as exact an anti- thesis as possible to the " delivereth" in the first clause. Ver. 26. In the fear of Jehovah is strong security, or, the fear of Jehovah is strong secu- rity, is a sure reliance; for the preposition may properly stand before the subject as the 3 ensen- tix, as in Isa. xxvi. -1 ; Ivii. 6 (so Hitzig). — And to His children He will be a refuge.— "To His children," /.(?. doubtless to His wor- shippers, those faithful to Him, who for that very reason are His favorites and objects of His care (comp. Deut. xiv. 1). This reference of the sutiix to .Jehovah Himself is unquestionably more natural than to refer it to the pious, an idea which must first be very artificially extract- ed from the "fear of Jehovah" (contrary to the view of Umbreit, Ewald, Beiitiieau, Elster, [H., N., M., S.]). Hitzig reads VjbS " to its builders," i. e. to them who seek to build up that strong fortress, that " security" of the fear of Jehovah (?). With ver. 27 comp. xiii. 14. [RuEETScHi (as above, p. 142) supports the idea rejected by Zocklek, that the divine pro- tection extends to the children and the children's children of such as honor God. Although not without grammatical warrant for the construc- tion, and conveying beautifully a precious scrip- tural truth, we must regard the rendering as here somewhat forced. — A.] 4. Vers. 28-35. Continued parallels between the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor — with the addition of the closely related compari- son of masters and servants. — From want of people (cometh) the dow^nfall of the prince. " People " (Di< /) as in xi. 26. Whether in the choice of the word rendered "prince" there is a hidden allusion to the ordinary meaning, "consumption" (Hitzig, comp. U.mbreit) must remain in doubt. For this use of tier's, down- fall, ruin, comp. x. 14; xiii. 3. Ver. 20. He that is slow to ailger is great in understanding. — Literally, he that is long or slow in anger, fipadvg elg opyr'/v, James i. 19; therefore, the forbearing, the patient. " Great, i. e. rich in understanding " (comp. "great in acts," 2 Sam. xxiii. 20); comp. the Latin multus prudentia. — But he that is hasty in spirit (quick-tempered) exalte th folly, i. e. makes much of it, carries it to excess. Thus Hitzig, and doubtless correctly, M'hile the ma- jority take the verb in the sense of "to exalt before the view of men," manifestare, dcclarare, for which idea however the parallel passages xii. 23 ; xiii. 16 are by no means conclusive [H., S., M., W. all take this view]. Ver. 30. The life of the body is a quiet spirit. — Lit., "life of the members (see Critical Notes) is a heart of quietness" (NiD'IO not mean- ing here " health," but composui e, a tranquil con- dition, as in XV. 4; Eccles. x. 4). — But passion the rottenness of the bones. — Comp. xii. 4, and for this use of nxjp, "passionate zeal," violent excitement in general (not specifically envy or jealousy) Job v. 2. — Ver. 31. With clause a compare xvii. 5, with b, xix. 17 a, and above ver. 2L Ver. 32. By his wickedness is the wicked driven forth, driven forth, i. e. from life; he is by a violent death swept away from this earthly life (comp. Ps. xxxvi. 12; Ixii. 3). — But the righteous hath hope (even) in his death. He "is confident," viz. in Jehovah; comp. Ps. xvii. 7, where the same absolute use of the participle " trusting " occurs (the " trustful " in general, believers). As in chap. xi. 7, and if possible even more distinctly than in that passage, we have expressed here a hope in the continuance of the individual life after death, and a just retribution in the future world. Hitzig, to avoid this admission, reads in accordance with the LXX [tv r?/ iavTov oclottjti) 13ri3, in his upright- ness, "but in his innocence doth the righteous trust." But may not this divergent reading of the LXX owe its origin to the endeavor to gain an antithesis as exact as possible to the " in his wickedness" of the first clause? [Rueetschi (as last cited) preserves the recognition of a hope of immortality and also the poetical parallelism, by giving to the word "evil," nj/'1, a physical rather than an ethical meaning : "in his misfor- tune (or adversity) the wicked is overthrown, but the righteous has confidence even in hia death." For the wicked all hope is gone. This seems to us a happy reconciliation of the gram- matical and spiritual demands of the two parts of the verse. — A.] Ver. 33. In the heart of a man of under- standing doth w^isdom rest, i. e. quietly, si- lently; comp. X. 14; xii. 16, 23, and for tliis use of the verb 1 Sam. xxv. 9. — But in the midst of fools it maketh itself known, /. e. not " fools draw out the wisdom of the wise," which is natu- rally quiet, in opposition to them and their folly (Hitzig), but, fools carry their wisdom, which is, however, in fact, only folly, always upon their tongues, and seek most assiduously to make it known (comp. xii. 23 ; xiii. 16 ; xv. 2). The expression is pointed and ironical, and yet not for that reason unintelligible, especially after expressions like those in vers. 8, 16, 24, etc. It is therefore unnecessarj- with the Chaldee version to supply the noun "folly" again with the verb. Ver. 34. Righteousness exalteth a nation. Riffhteousness, HpTi, is here used with a very ■- Itt : comprehensive import, of religious and moral rectitude in every relation and direction, and is therefore not to be restricted, as it is by many recent commentators (Umbreit, Hitzig, etc.), to the idea of virtue. Just as little is the idea of "exalting" to be identified with the idea of "honoring" (as Elster, Hitzig, etc., would have it) ; it is rather a general elevation and ad- vancement of the condition of the people that is to be indicated by the term; comp. above, ver. 29. — But sin is a reproach to the people. — For the Aramaic term HOn, " shame," comp. 144 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. xxviii. 22 (also xxv. 10), and Job vi. 14. And yet in this national reproach and disgrace there is to be included the cori'espunding injury and misery of other kinds, so that ia this view there is a certain justification for the Vulgate's ren- dering, " mkcros fac/t " (which however rests upon the different reading IDnV. comp. the LXX and the Syr. vers.), and for Luther's '^Verder- derhen," destruction. Ver. 85. With clause a comp. xvi. 12. — But his wrath -will find out the base, — lit., "his ■wrath will the base be;" comp., e. ff., xi. 1, where " his abomination " means the object of his abhorrence. To supply the preposition "to," 7, from clause a, is therefore needless (in oppo- sition to the view of Umbreit, Bertheau). DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. The representation of the entire chapter is plainly shaped by the contrast between the wise and the foolish, and it is only toward the end (vers. 20 sq.) that the kiadred contrast between the rich and the poor, and at the very last (vers. 27 sq.) that, between rulers and servants, is added. — Ethical truths to which a significant prominence is given, are contained especially in the following proverbs : Ver. 1. The building of the house by the wis- dom of woman. "Only the characteristic wis- dom of looman (not that of the man) is able to 'build itself a house,' i. e., to make possible a household in the true sense of the word; for the woman alone has the capacity circumspectly to look through the multitude of individual house- hold wants, and carefully to satisfy them ; and also because the various activities of the members of the family can be combined in a harmonious unity only by the influence, partly regulative and partly fostering, of a feminine character, gently but steadily efficient. But where there is wanting to the mistress of the house this wisdom attainable only by her and appropriate to her, then that is irrecoverably lost which first binds in a moral fellowship those connected by rela- tionship of blood — that which makes the house from a mere place of abode to. become the spiri- tual nursery of individuals organically associ- ated." (Elster). Ver. 6. The impossibility of uniting a frivolous disposition and jests at religion with true wisdom and understanding. " It is not by a one-sided action of the thinking power, but only by undi- vided consecration of the whole nature to God, wliich therefore involves above all other things a right relation of the spiritual nature to Him, that true knowledge in Divine things can be attained. The wise man, however, who has found the true bcinning of wisdom, in bowing his inmost will before the Divine, not as something to be mas- tered by the understanding, but as something to be simply sought as a grace by the renunciation of the very self, — he can easily on this ground which God's own power makes productive, at- tain a rich development of the understanding." (Elster.) Ver. 10. The disturbing influence of an unin- vited interference in the sorrow and the joy of one's neighbor. "Every one has his own circle of sorrows and joys, which his neighbor must leave to him as a quiet sanctuary for himself. For in the liveliest sympathy of which one may ever be conscious, it will still often be altogether impossible to enter into the peculiarity of others' sensibility with such a participation as is really beneficent. Therefore a Turkish proverb (in Von Hammer, Morgenl. Kkebl., p. 68) also says 'Eat thine own grief and trouble not thyself for another's'" (Umbreit). — Comp. above, our exe- getical notes on this passage. Ver. 12. The self-deception of many men in re- gard to their courses, imagined to be healthful, but in reality leading to eternal ruin. Comp. Melanchthon : " The admonition relates to the mistiness and weakness of man's judgment, and his many and great errors in counsel, for it is manifest that men often err in judging and in their deliberations. Now they are deceived either by their own imaginations, or by tiie ex- ample of others, or by habit, etc., and being de- ceived, they rush on all the more fascinated by the devil, as is \vritten of Judas in John xiii. 27." Ver. 14. The fool ever accumulating nothing but folly, and the wise man gaining in know- ledge. Li'ue ver. 24 this proverb is especially instructive with respect to the deep inner con- nection that exists on the one hand between fool- ish notions, and a poor, unattractive, powerless earthly position, destitute of all influence, — and on the other hand between true wisdom and large ability in the department both of the material and the spiritual. Vox Gerlach pointedly says, " There is a certain power of attraction, accord- ing as a man is wise or foolish ; the possessions also whicli the one or the other attains, are ia accordance with his disposition." Ver. 28. A sentiment directed against feeble princes who nevertheless array themselves with disproportionate splendor ; and this, as also ver. 34, is designed to call attention to the principle, that it is not external and seeming advantages, but simply and solelj' the inward competence and moral excellence, whether of the head or of the members of a commonwealtli, that are the condi- tions of its temporal welfare. Ver. 31. Compassion to the poor is true service of God ; comp. James i. 27. Since God has created both rich and poor (1 Sara. ii. 7), since He designs that they shall exist side by side and intermixed (Prov. xxii. 2), since the poor and lowly man is in like manner a being created in His image (James iii. 9), therefore he who deals heartlessly and violently with the poor in.sults that Being Himself who is the Maker and Kuler of all. The compassionate, on the contrary, dis- cerns and lienors His disposition toward His creatures, and the love which he manifests to- ward them, even the luimblest and most unwor- thy, is in fact manifested toward God Himself; comp. Matth. xxv. 40. — Ver. 32. The^jonfidence which the righteous man possesses even in his death. Compare the exegetical explanation of the passage. HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Homily on the entire chapter : The wisdom and folly of men considered in their respective foundations, natures and results ; and 1) within CHAP. XIV. 1-35. 145 the sphere of domestic life (vers. 1-7); 2) within that of civil life (vers. 8-25) ; 3) within that of political or national life (vers. 26-35). — Stockur: Of human wisdom as the fruit of a right cul- ture,— and 1) of the wisdom of domestic life [jn-udentia occonomica, vers. 1-25) ; 2) of the wis- dom of public life (prudentia polilica, vers. 2tJ-35). Stauke : The results of piety and ungodliness 1) in the household, and in social life generally (1-25) ; 2) in the relations of rulers in particular (26-35). Vers. 1-7. Berleburg Bible: — That wise women build their house, is to be understood not so much of the edifice consisting of wood, stone, plaster, as rather of the family and the house- hold economy, which a wise woman always strives to keep in good condition and to improve. Ps. cxxvii. 1. — Ta'niKjen Bible (on vers. 3) : He who is wise keepeth his mouth and still more his heart, that he may not in connection with out- ward consideration and high dignities fall into pride. — (On ver. 4) : He that doth not work also shall not eat; the poverty of many springs from this, that they lack industry and diligence. — Starke (on ver. 6) : He who in seeking wisdom has for his end pride and ambition, will never attain true wisdom, unless he changes his views. - — (On ver. 7): Evil one always learns more quickly and easily than good ; therefore avoid evil company. — [A. Fuller (on ver. 6) : If our inquiries be influenced by a spirit of pride and self-sufficiency, we shall stumble at evei-y thing we meet with; but he who knows his own weak- ness and conducts his inquiries with humil- ity, shall find knowledge easy of attainment. — Arnot : Those who reject the Bible want the first qualification of a philosopher, a humble and teachable spirit. The problem for man is not to reject all masters, but to accept the rightful One. Submission absolute to the living God, as revealed in the Mediator, is at oncf *be best li- berty that could be, and the only liberty that is. — Trapp (on ver. 6) : He that would have heavenly knowledge must first quit his heart of corrupt atfections and high conceits.] Vers. 8-17. Tiibingen Bible (on ver. 8) : — Steady watchfulness and attention to one's self is a great wisdom. — (On ver. 9) : To make sport of sin is the height of wickedness. — St.\rke (on ver. 10) : He who knoweth the heart alone knoweth the needs of thy heart, which no other besides doth know. He can likewise give thee joy where no other can create it for thee. — (On ver. 10): lleverence and love to God must be with us the strongest motive to avoid sin. — (On ver. 17): Between the hasty trespasses of pas- sionate natures, and the deliberate wickedness of malicious man, there is always a great dis- tinction to be made. — Von Gerlach (on ver. 10) : How hard it is to console and soothe others, Job's answers to the discourses of his friends are a signal illustration. — (On ver. 12) : In connection witli the deceptive, seductive show made by im- piety, it is important to give more careful heed to one's way in life. — (On ver. 17) : A man who quickly falls into a passion does indeed commit a folly, but yet is far preferable to the coldlj' and selfishly calculating villain. One may well be indignant at the first — the last makes himself odious. — [Lord Bacon [Advancement of Learning, 10 Book VIII.), on vers. 8 and 15: He who applies himself to the true wisdom takes heed of his own ways, foreseeing dangers, preparing remedies, employing the assistance of the good, guarding himself against the wicked, cautious in entering upon a work, not unprepared for a retreat, watchful to seize opportunities, strenuous to re- move impediments, and attending to many other things which concern the government of his own actions and proceedings. But the other kind of wisdom is entirely made up of deceits and cun- ning tricks, laying all its hope in the circumvent- ing of others, and moulding them to its pleasure ; which kind the proverb denounces as being not only dishonest, but also foolish, etc. — T. Adams (on ver. 9): Mocking is the medium or connec- tion that brings together the fool and sin; thus he makes himself merry ; they meet in mockery. Through many degrees men climb to that height of impiety. This is an extreme progress, and almost the journey's' end of wickedness. — Arnot (on ver. 10) : Tiie solitude of a human being in either extremity of the experiences of the human heart is sublime and solemnizing. Whether you are glad or grieved, you must be alone. — (On ver. 12): The result accords not with the false opi- nion, but with the absolute truth of the case. There is a way which is right, whatever it may seem to the world, and the end thereof is life. God's way of coming to us in mercy is also our way of coming to Him in peace. — (On ver. 15) : Trust is a lovely thing; but it cannot stand un- less it get truth to lean upon. — John Howe (on ver. 14) : The good man is not the first fountain of happiness to himself, but a subordinate one a good man is, and so is satisfied from himself — a fountain fed from a higher fountain — by deriva- tion from Him who is all in all, and more inti- mate to us than we ourselves. But the wicked man is the prime and first fountain of all misery to himself. — Flavel : The upright is satisfied from himself, that is, from his own conscience, which, though it be not the original spring, yet is the conduit at which he drinks peace, joy and encouragement. — R. South (on ver. 18) : 30th of Posthumous Sermons]. Ver. 18-25. Zeltner (on ver. 19) : Bear pa- tiently the pride, of the ungodly ; it lasts not long. — Starke (on vers. 20, 21) : The many promises that God will graciously reward kind- ness to the poor must make the Christian joyous and willing in labors of love. — (On ver. 22): Virtue and piety reward those who cherish them, but vices and sins cause nothing but pain and trouble. — Geier (on ver. 23) : Prating and boastful men are like an empty vessel : if one strike it, it does indeed give forth a sound, but for all that nothing goes in. — (On ver. 25) : Be intent upon truth in thy words, gestures, acts, and in thy whole wulk. Vers. 26-35. Starke (on ver. 28) : It is the duty of the lords of the land to see to it that their land be well cultivated, and in particular that "mercy and truth dwell in the land, right- eousness and peace kiss each other " (Ps. Ixxxv. 11). — (On ver. 29): Impatience opposes the will of God, and is therefore the greatest folly. — (On ver. 30) : Passion and wrath shorten the life, and care makes old before one's time. — (On ver. 31) ; Despise no man, be he ever so humble, for thou 146 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. knovvest not but in that act thou art despising a true child of God. — (On ver. 32) : There is surely a future life to be hoped for after death ; other- wise how could the righteous bo so comforted in their death ? — (On ver. 34) : Sin is the cause of all misery under the sun. — (On ver. 35): If the fidelity of his subjects is pleasing to a king, how nmch more will God take pleasure if one serves Him faithfully and with the whole heart, through the strength of Jesus Christ! — [Arnot (on ver. 25) : The safety provided for God's children is confidence in Himself, the strong tower into whicli the righteous run. — (On ver. 31) : The necessary dependence of human duty upon Divine faith. — S. D.wiES (on ver. 32): 1) Every righteous man has a substantial reason to hope, whether he clearly see it or not ; 2) Good men in common do in fact enjoy a comfortable hope ; 3) The hope which the righteous hath shall be accomplished. — Saurin (on ver. 34) : As there is nothing in religion to counteract the design of a wise system of civil polity, so there is nothing in a wise sys- tem of civil government to counteract the design of the Christian religion. The exaltation of the nation is the end of civil polity. Righteousness is the end of religion, or rather is religion itself. — Emmons (on ver. 34) : It is the nature of sin 1) to lessen and diminish a people; 2) to sink and depress the spirit of a people ; 3) to destroy the wealth of a people ; 4) to deprive them of the blessings of freedom ; 5) to provoke the dis- pleasure of God and draw down His judgments.] t) With reference to various other relations and callings in life, especially within the sphere of the religious life. Ch.\p. XV. 1 A soft answer turneth away wrath, but a bitter word stirreth up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise maketh knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools poureth forth folJy. 3 The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding the wicked and the good. 4 A mild tongue is a tree of life, but transgression therewith is a wound in the spirit 5 The fool despiseth his father's correction, but he that regardeth reproof is wise. 6 In the house of the righteous is a great treasure, but in the gain of the wicked is trouble. 7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but the heart of fools (doeth) not so. 8 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to Jehovah, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. 9 An abomination to Jehovah is the way of the wicked, but he loveth him that searcheth after righteousness. 10 There is sharp correction for him that forsaketh the way ; he that hateth reproof must die. 11 Hell and the world of the dead are before Jehovah, how much more the hearts of the sons of men? 12 The scorner liketh not that one reprove him; to wise men will he not go. 13 A joyous heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but in sorrow of the heart the spirit is stricken, 14 An understanding heart seeketh after knowledge, ^ but the face of fools feedeth on folly. 15 All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a joyful heart — a perpetual feast. 16 Better is little with the fear of Jehovah than great treasure and trouble with it. CHAP. XV. 1-33. 147 17 Better is a dish of herbs, when love is there, than a fatted ox and hatred with it. ^ 18 A passionate man stirreth up strife, but he that is slow to anger allayeth contention. 19 The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the righteous is a highway. 20 A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man despiseth his mother. 21 Folly is joy to him that lacketh wisdom. but the man of understanding goeth straight forward. 22 Failure of plans (cometh) where there is no counsel, but by a multitude of counsellors they come to pass. 23 A man hath joy through the answer of his mouth, and a \vord in due season, how good is it ! 24 An upward path of life is the way of the wise to depart from hell beneath. 25 The house of the proud will Jehovah destroy, and he will establish the border of the widow. 26 An abomination to Jehovah are evil devices, but pure (in his sight) are gracious words. 27 He troiibleth his own house that seeketli unjust gain, but he that hateth gifts shall live. 28 The heart of the righteous studieth to answer, the mouth of the wicked poureth forth evil. 29 Jehovah is far from the wicked, but the prayer of the righteous he heareth. 30 A friendly look rejoiceth the heart, good tidings make the bones fat. 31 The ear that heareth the reproof of life will abide among the wise. 32 He that refuseth correction despiseth himself, but he that heedeth reproof gptteth understanding. 33 The fear of Jehovah is a training to wisdom, and before honor is humility. aRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Yer. 1. — [3V J^-")3T undoubtedly means wratliful words, bitter words ; Ges. reaches this through a snbjectiTe meaning of 3i*>'. labor, pain to the wrathful spirit; Fuerst takes the objective, cutting words, that cause pain to their victim; the latter retains most of the radical meauing of the verb. — A.] Ver. 2. — y £0''ili lit-, maketh knowledge good ; but the radical idea of the Heb. 31£J is that which is good to the sense, especially sight; therefore bright, brilliant, — and afterward, that which is agreeable to other senses, hearing, taste, ete. The etymological meaning here best suits the sense "make knowlerlge appear attractive.'" — A.] Ver. 5. — [BiiiT. (g 10.>5, III.), commenting on the three passages where the defective form D"^>'' occurs, proposes as the probable reading D^J?^. — A.] Ver. 6. — m^JTJ (from 1D^', chap. xi. 29) is a neuter partic. used substantively in the sense of ruin, destruction; comp. iu Is. X. 23 ni'lH J, and also nO-IDO in ver. 16 below. T T •.■; / T : [Ver. 7. — Masc. verb with the fem. TlUti;, as in ver. 2; x. 21, 32.] Ver. 9.— [BoTT. (g 412, 3) suggests rhythmical reasons for the peculiar and solitary form 3nX', usually ^HX'- Comp. Green, 3112, 5, c— A.] Ver. 15.— The construction is elliptical; 37-31D is logically a genitive limiting the 'O' of clause a, and nptVO 'S a predicate to it: "the days of him who is cheerful in heart are a feast," etc. Comp. Hitzig on the passage. Ver. 21.— The Infiu. i\2l without S made dependent on the verb '\]3^^ (Ewald, Lehrh.,^28b,a.) Ver. 22. — The Infin. abs. 1371 is here naturally prefixed, instead of the finite verb, as e. g., in xii. 7. [Active used In- '• T Stead of passive, with an indefinite subject, in Iliphil and Piel as well as Kal. infinitives. See Bottcher, g 990, 1, a.— A.] Ver. 25. — Instead of 32f'1 we must with IIiTZio, t'c, and in accordance with the anc. versions read 3V1 ; for the optative rendering "and let him establish," etc. (Bertheau) does not agree with the parallelism. [Bott. regards it aa a Jussive, expressing that necessity which is seen to be involved in the moral order of the world (§964, 7). — A.] 148 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-7. Against sins of the tongue of va- rious kinds. — A soft ans-wer turneth away wrath, — lit., " bi-ingotii orturnelii back passion," comp. Is. ix. 11, IG, 20. The opposite of tliis " turning back "' or '• beating down " the violence of wrath is the "stirring it up," causing wrath to flash up or blaze out. Comp. Eccles. x. 4; Ps. xviii. 8, 9. — With the use of the epithet "soft, gentle" C^^), comp. xxv. 15. — "A bitter word" (see critical notes) is more exactly "a word of pain," i. e., a smarting, otfensive, violent word such as the passionate or embittered man speaks. Ver. 2. The tongue of the w^ise maketh knowledge attractive, lit., "maketh know- leilge good" (see critical notes); i.e., presents knowledge in apt, well arranged and winning Avays (comp. xxx. 29; Is. xxiii. 10). In contrast with this "the fool's mouth poureth forth folly," i. (?., in its repulsively confused and noisy utter- ances, brings to view not wisdom and true dis- cernment, but only folly. "Poureth forth," a decidedly sti'onger expression than "proclaim- eth," chap. xii. 23. Ver. 3. Comp. 2 Chron. xvi. 9 ; Ecclesiast. xv. 19; xvii. 16; xxiii. 28; also Ps. cxxxix. 1 sq.; Matt. X. 80; Ileb. iv. 13. Ver. 4. Gentleness of the tongue is a tree of life. — With this use of fae noun rendered "gentleness" (not "health") comp. xiv. 30, and for the expression "tree of life," xi. 30. — But transgression therew^ith is a w^ound in the spirit. — The noun ']7p probably does not here mean "perverseness" (Bertheau, 'E. Y., etc.), but apparently "trespass, transgression," which seems to be its meaning also in chap. xi. 3 (comp. Hitzig). Transgression with the tongue is, however, probably not here falsehood (Luther, and the older commentators ; comp. Ewald, "falling with the tongue"), but its misuse in the exciting of strife and contention, and so "irrita- tion, excitement" (Umbreit, Elster). "A wound in the spirit," t. e., disturbance and de- struction by restless passion of the regulated and normal state of the spirit; comp. Is. Ixv. 14. — Hitzig conjectures a corruption of the text, and therefore translates the second clause in partial accordance with the LXX, Syriac and Chaldec versions, "and whoso eateth its fruit (the tree of life), stretchcth himself comfortably (! ?)." [RrEETscui (as before cited, p. 143) carries the idea of gentleness through the two clauses as the central idea; "it is precisely with this gentle speech which otherwise does so much good, that the wicked is wont to deceive, and then one is by this more sorely and deeply stricken and dis- tressed than before." — A.] Ver. 5. Comp. i. 7; xiii. 1. — But he that regardeth reproof is wise (reproof on the part of his fathei-. or in general from his pa- rents). For this verb, " is wise, prudent, deal- eth prudently," comp. xix. 2'); 1 S.ini. xxiii. 22. — Ver. G. In the house of the righteous is a great treasure, — lit., "house of the righteous," jirobably an accusative of place. The treasure stored up in such a house is the righteousness that prevails in it, a source and pledge of abiding prosperity. [Holden and some others make tha earthly treasure too prominent, as though the direct teaching of the verse were that " temporal prosperity attends the righteous." We find in the verse rather an import tliat holds equally good in the absence of outward abundai\ce. — A.] The direct opposite of this is the " trouble " that is found in the gains of the wicked. — Ver. 7. With clause a compare x. 31. [A rendering of llf is urged by PiUeetsciii, that is more in keep- ing with its general import, and particularly ita meaning in chap. xx. 8, 26, viz.: to "sift," or " winnow;" the lips of the wise .sift knowledge, separating the chaff, preserving the pure grain. — .A.] — But the heart of fools (doeth) not so, i. e., with him it is quite otherwise than with the heart of the wise man which spreads abroad Avisdom and knowledge; a suggestion, brief in- deed b\it very expressive, of the mighty differ- ence between the influences that go J'otth from the wise man and the fool. Hitzig, to avoid- this interpretation of |D~N7, which, as he thinks, is "intolerably flat," explains the expression in accordance with Is. xvi. ti, by "that which is not so as it is asserted to be," and therefore by "error or falsehood ;" he therefore takes this as an accusative object to the verb "spread abroad," wliich is to be supplied from clause a. The LXX and Syr. adopt still another way, ac- cording to which |3 is an adjective Avith the meaning "sure, right," — "the fool's heart is not sure," not certain of its matters, and therefore incompetent to teach others (so also Bertheau). This last explanation is doubtless possible, and yet the first seems at all events the simplest and most obvious. [This is also the rendering of the E. v., etc.; S'., N., M., W. agree substantially Avith the last view, but differ in the grammatical connection of the word "sound, right," S. and M. making it a predicative epithet, N. and W. making it the object, "Avhat is not sound," "folly."-A.] 2. Vers. 8-15. Of God's abhorrence of the wicked heart of the ungodly. — With ver. 8 comp. xxi. 27 ; xxviii. 9 ; also ver. 29 below. "Sacri- fice" and "prayer" are not here contrasted as the higher and the lower [so Burgon, quoted by Wordsworth] ; but "sacrifice" is a gift to God, "prayer" is desiring from Him. Comp. Is. i. 11, 15, and besides passages like Hos. vi. 6; Mic. vi. 6-8; Jer. vii. 21 ; Ps. xl. 6 (7); li. 17 (18), etc. — Ver. 9 stands in the relation, as it; were, of an explanation of or a reason for ver. 8; comp. xi. 20; xii. 22. — But he loveth him that searcheth after righteousness. — "Searcheth after" ["pursueth," as it were, Piel part.], stronger than "foUoweth," chap, xxi. 21 ; comp. xi. 19; also Deut. xvi. 20; Ps. xxxiv. 14 (15). Ver. 10. (There is) sharp correction for him that forsaketh the Ajvay, lit., "is to the one forsaking the path," i. c, the man that turns aside from the right Avay (comp. ii. 13). — He that hateth reproof must die, — lit., "will die." Comp. Rom. viii. 13. This "death" is the very " sharp correction " mentioned in the first clause, just as he who hates correction is identical with the man who forsakes the CHAP. XV. 1-33. 149 way. Comp. x. 17:— Ver. 11. Hell (Sheol) and the world of the dead are before Je- hovah,— /. e., are not concealed from Uim, lie open and uncovered before His view, couip. Ps. cxsxix. 8; Job xxvi. 6. In the latter passage p13X, lit. " place of destruction, abyss of the pit " stands, as it does here, as a syuouyin of Sheol; so likewise in Prov. xxvii. 120 — How much more ('J3 '^i* as in xi. 37) the hearts of the sons of men; comp. Jer. xvii. 10: Hjb. iv. lo. — Observe furthermore how this pro- verb also stands related to the next preceding, giving its reason, as in vers. 8 and 9. Vor. 12. To wise men doth he not go ; among them ha will find deliverance from his folly — by stern reproof, it is true, and censure and reprimand ; comp. xiii. 1, 20. Hitzig un- necessarily proposes to read, with the LXX, " with " instead of "to," "with wise men he doth not associate." Ver. 13. A joyous heart maketh the countenance cheerful. — The verb '• maketh good" (ver. 2), "maketh pleasnnt" is here equivalent to " brighteneth." — Bat in sor- row of the heart is the spirit stricken. — Others, Umbreit, IIitzu;, e(c., render " is tiie breath oppressed, made laborious." It is true that iu this way there is proiluced a better pa- rallelism with the "cheerful countenance" in clause a. But in chap. xvii. 22 also (comp. Isa. Ixvi. 2) a "broken spirit" is described by this phrase, and not a labored breathing; and in- stances in which, instead of the outward effect, the inward cause which underlies it is named in the second clause, are by no means unknown elsewhere ; comp. x. 20 ; xii. 22, etc. Ver. 1-1. With clause a compare xiv. 33. — The face of fools feedeth on folly. — The K'ri and the ancient versions read ^2 (mouth) instead of \JD (face) for which reason many moderns adopt the same reading, e.g., Berthold [De W., Bertheacj, E V , S., N., M., H., who plead not only the authority of the Versions, but the singular number in the verb, and the greater naturalness of the expression]. But as in Ps. xxvii. 8, a " seeking " is predicated of the face [according to the rendering of Hitzig, in which he stands almost alone, "seek him, my face," — while the vast majoi-ity of interpreters make God's face the object sought], so here there might very fitly be ascribed to the face a " feed- ing on something," a pasci, especially as this verb is here employed only in a figurative Wiiy, to denote dealing with a matter (comp. xiii. 20). [Fuerst (Lex., sub verbo) takes the verb in quite a different sense; he makes a second radical meaning to be "to unite with," and then "to delight in." He also recognizes distinctly the use of tliis plural noun with verbs in the singular. See also NoKDHEiMER. Heh. Gram. § 7-59, 3, a. — .\.] Ver. 15. All the days of the afflicted are evil. — 'J>» is here not the outwardly dis- tressed, the poor, but the inwardly burdened ami attiicted, as the parallel in clause b shows. — But he that is of a joyful heart (hath) a perpetual feast, — or, a perpetual feast are liis days. The meaning of the verse is a tolerably exact parallel to ver. 13. [To this view of the | ver. RuEETSCHi (as above, p. 144) objects that the very general usus loquendl refers 'JJ^ to out- ward circumstances, and when inward condi- tions are described by this term it is never iu the way of depreciation, other terms being used to describe distress. He renders " all the days of a poor man are (indeed) evil (in regard to his outward circumstances) ; but whosoever is of a joyful heart has (nevertheless) a continual feast." — A.]. 3. Vers. 16-23. Of various other virtues and vices. — With 1(5, a, comp. chap. xvi. 8. — Than great treasure and trouble with it. — Trouble, &6pvi3or, here probably not the anxiety which apprehends losing tiie treasure again (Beutue.\u), but the care which accumulated the wealtli, and constantly seeks to increase it, I's. xxxix. 6 (7), (Hitzig) [Rueetsciii observing the more general use of the noun, undei'stands it to refer to the confusion and disorder in human society attendant upon riches without the fear of God.— A. 1. Ver. 17. Better is a dish of herbs, -wrhen love is there, — liierally, "a portion of green," i. e., vegetables (.Jer. xl. 5; Hi. 24; 2 Kings XXV. 30). Vegetables represent simple fare in general (comp. Dan. i. 2), while me;it, as always and every where in the East, is holiday fare, especially the flesh of fatted oxen (Luke XV. 23, 30). — Observe, furthermore, how the verse before us exhibits on the one hand a mean- ing exactly parallel to the preceding, while on the other hand it presents a climax to its ideas (fear of God — love to one's neighbor; trouble — hate). — As a substantial parallel compare the proverb in Meidani 11.422: " Want with love is better than hatred with riches." — With ver. 18 comp. above, ver. 1, as also xxvi. 21 ; xxviii. 25; xxix. 22; Ecclesiast. xxviii. 11-13. Ver. 19. The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns, i. e., because he is always en- countering obstacles and hinderiinces, does not come away having accomplished his life's work, but must find his foot every where entangled and kept back. [The special aptness of this figure in Palestine is amply illustrated in Hackett's Scripture Illustrations, Thomson's The Land and the Book, etc. — .\]. It is otherwise with the "upright," i. e., the man who unmoved and un- remitting goes about the performance of his duty, and continues with vigorous efficiency in the work of his calling. His way is, according to clause b, "built up," i. e., lit. raised by throw- ing up a ridge (Isa. Ivii. 14; Ixii. 10; .Jer. xviii. 15, etc.), a way which leads easily and surely to its end. — Hitzig without any necessity reads V'^j; for 7i'>', to obtain as he thinks a more ' • T •■ T appropriate antithesis to the word " upright," (Dnt^;). But that the slothful may be very fitly contrasted with the upright or righteous, ap- pears abundantly from proverbs like x. 26 ; xxviii. 19 ; vi. 10, etc. Ver. 20. With clause a comp.ive the literally identical first half of x. 1. — But a foolish man, lit. "a fool of a man;" comp. xxi. 20, and the similarly constructed expression "a wild ass of a man," Gen. xvi. 12. Bertheau wrongly renders " the most foolish of men." ■150 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Ver. 21. Folly (here unreasonable conduct, senseless action) is joy to him that lacketh wisdom. Coinp. x. 1^3. — Goeth straight forward, lit. " maketli straight to go." Going straight forward is naturally acting rightly in moral and religious matters. Ver. 22. (There is) Failure of plans where there is no counsel. Literally, " a breaking of plans " is, conies to pass, "where no counsel is." For the meaning couip. xi. 14, especially also with respect to clause b. — They come to pass, i.e., the plans. The singular of the verb is used in the Heb. distributively, as in chap. iii. 18 (see notes thtre). Ver. 23. A man hath joy through the answer of his mouth, and a word in due season, how good is it! That the second clause cannot be antithetic to the first_ (HiT- zig), but stands as its explanation or its cli- max is evident ; for the "word in its time" is just the "answer" of clause a, exciting joy be- cause apt and exactly meeting the inquiry. — Comp. furthermore parallels like x. 20, 81, 32, etc. 4. Vers. 24-33. Of several other virtues espe- cially of the religious life.— An upward path of life is the way of the wise; lit. "a path of life upward is to the wise," i. e., the roan of understanding walks in a way which as a way of life leads ever upwai-d, to ever higher degrees of moral purity, elevation and power, but also in the same ratio to an ever-increasp'.ng prosperity. A reference to heaven as the final limit of this upward movement of the life of the righteous is so far forth indirectly included, as the antithesis to the "upward;" the "hell be- neath " (hell downwards, hell to which one tends downwai-d), suggests a hopeless abode in the dark kingdom of the dead, as the final destina- tion of the sinner's course of life. Therefore we have here again the idea of future existence and retribution (comp. xi. 7 ; xiv. 32)— -a meaning Avhich Bertheau and Hitzig seek in vain to take from the proverb. Comp. Elstek on this pas- sage. Ver. 25. The hou.se of the proud will Jehovah destroy. For the verb comp. ii. 22. By "house" is here meant not the mere dwelling, but also the family of the proud, just as in xiv. 11 : compare also xiv. 1. — And es- tablisheth the border of the w^idow^, i. e., the innocent widow who is in danger of being wronged by the proud through encroachment upon her borders. Comp. moreover with this expression Deut. xxxii. 8. Ver. 26. Compare xi. 20. — But pure (in His sight) are gracious words, here pro- bably specifically wordssweetly consoling, words of love and compassion toward troubled souls, comp. xvi. 24. Such words are in Jehovah's judgment pure or precious, i.e., with a pure and genuine ring; comp. Ps. xix. 8, 9 (9, 10). — Hit- zig proposes instead of D-llHt] to read D'/StO [adhere, cleave] from which comes the meaning strengthening the antithesis of the parallel: " and pleasant words cleave fast (?)." Ver. 27. He troubleth his own house that seeketh unjust gain. For the last ex- pression "tpoileth spoil, " i. e., goes after unlaw- ful gains, seeks plunder, comp. i. 19; for the former phrase " disturb or trouble the house," xi. 29. The sentence as a whole seems to be aimed especially at unjust judges, who are will- ing to be bribed by gifts, in contrast with the judge that " hates gifts," and so is incorruptible and unchangeably upright; comp. xxviii. 16. Ver. 28. The heart of the righteous studieth to answer, i. e., reflects upon its answers with all care, that it may utter no- thing evil or perverse, while the wicked thought- Ijssly "pours forth" his evil and perverse tlioughts (pours forth, conjp. ver. 2) ; compare JVlaith. xii. 35. — With ver. 29 comp. ver. 8. Ver. 80. A friendly look rejoiceth the heart. Lit. " lustre of the eyes :" it denotes, like the "light of the countenance" in chap, xvi. 15, the cheerful beaming of the eye of the friendly, which exerts on one's neighbor also an influence refreshing to the heart, espe- cially at the time when, as clause b indicates, it communicates a " good message," " joj'ful tidings " (comp. xxv. 25). For this " rich unur- rishing of the bones " (lit., making fat), comp. xi. 28; xiii. 4: also xvi. 24. — In this conception of the verse which is the simplest and on all sides well guaranteed, according to which clause b only defines more exactly the import of clause a, there is no need either of giving an objective cast to the idea of "brightness to the eye," as though it meant " friendly recognition " ( Lu- ther, De Wette, Bertheau), or of changing I'lXp to n;O0 (Hitzig). Ver. 31. The ear that heareth the re- proof of life, i. e., reproof which has true life for its end, which points out the way to it, and for that very reason already in advance has life in itself and imparts it. — Will abide among the vrise, i. e., will itself become wise (xiii. 20), and therefore permanently be- longs to the circle of the wise. For this verb to " abide" {]'^), lit- to P^-ss the night, i. e., to tarry long at some place, comp. Ps. xxv. 13; xlix. 12 (18) ; Job xix. 4. The ear here stands by synecdoche for the hearer, as in Job xxix. 11 ; Ex. X. 26; 1 Kings xix. 18. Ver. 32. He that refuseth correction de- spiseth himself, lit. "undervalues, lightly values his soul," in so far as he does not en- sure life, in so far as, without knowing and willing it, ho loves death more than life (comp. viii. 36).— But he that heedeth reproof getteth understanding ; comp. iv. 5, 7 ; xvi. 16. The man who " getteth understand- ing" is, however, according to xix. 8 the very man who does not hate Lis own soul but loves it. Ver. 33. With clause a compare i. 7; ix. 10. — And before honor is humility. Humility here plainly appears as the necessary correlate to the fear of God, and as a chief manifestation of wisdom, which is elsewhere named as that which confers honor, e. g., iii. 16 ; viii. 18. Com- pare xviii. 12, b, where the second clause of the verse before us occurs again — The entire verse, by virtue of its somewhat general character, is equally well adapted to close a long series of proverbs, ami to open a new section. It is i here- fore unnecessary, as Hnzia does, to transfer it CHAP. XV. 1-33. 151 to the following chapter, and to regard it as a sort of superscription to the second half of that division of the Book of Proverbs in which we now are (chap, xvi.-xxii.). DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. Among the proverbs of the chapter before us, which hardly admit of a grouping according to any well-established, clearly conspicuous prin- ciple of classification (comp. the four divisions which are distinguished in the " Exegeiical Notes:" vers. 1-7; 8-15; 16-23; 24-33), several stand out as of no slight theological and soterio- logical importance, — especially the beautiful re- ference to the omniscience of God, tiie holy and righteous lluler, in ver. 3 and ver. 11, — and the twice repeated emphasizing of the religious vv'orthlessness of outward shows of reverence for God, without true devotion and consecration in the heart, vers. 8 and 29. The last mentioned truth is among the favorite ideas of the enlight- ened prophetic teachers and men of God in the Old Testament ; (compare the parallel passages cited above in connection with vers. 8). It lets the clear light of that evangelical saving grace, which was already operative under ihe economy of the law, but which only in Christ rose as a full-orbed sua, snine with quite peculiar bright- ness on the dark ground of Old Tosuimont hfe. In this connection there is, it is true, the dis- tinction to be made (noticed above under ver. 8) between "sacrifice" and "prayer;" that thj former term describes a gift brought to God, the latter a desire directed to Him. Yet this is by no means an essential difference ; for both, sacrifice and prayer, which indeed falls likewise under the category of offering in the broadest sense (Ps. cxix. lOS; Heb. xiii. 15), come under con- sideration here only as general tokens of reve- rence for God ; and the value of both is clearly defined by this test, whether the state of heart in those who bring them is or is not well pleasing to God (comp. Isa. xxix. 13; Mitt. xv. 7 sq.) ; in other words, whether the offering brought is a purely outward act, or the fruit of a sincere self-consecration of the entire personality in spi- rit and in truth, a " reasonable service" in the sense of Rom. xii. 1. Closely related to the scope of these proverbs is what was said above, on ver. 17, of the worth- lessness of outward shows of beneficence, espe- cially free hospitality without inward love (comp. 1 Cor. xiii. 2). — Furthermore a specially serious consideration is due to the warnings against low greed and avarice, as leading, nevertheless, to the destruction of one's own home : ver. 6 and 27 ; to the repeated allusions to the necessity that one readily submit himself to reproof and cor- rection for his faults : vers. 5, 10, 12, 31, 3-2 ; to the beautiful commendation of humility as the first step to true honor: ver. 33; and finally to the reiterated reference to the righteous judgment of God, which reaches its completion only in the life to come : ver. 25 (see notes on this passage). HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL, Homily on the en/ire chapter: Right sensibi- lity or a pure heart the only true service of God (1 Sam. XV. 22), demonstrated 1) in good and perverse conduct with the mouth and tongue (ver. 1-7); 2) in proper worship or the religious life (ver. 8-15) ; 3) in the intercourse of man with his neigUbors (vers. 16-33). — Or again; Love (lo God and men) as the germ and the true norm of all religious rectitude (Hos. vi. 6; Matt, ix. 13; xii. 7). — Comp. Stocker: How true pru- dence (wisdom) must guard man against sins 1) of the tongue (1-9); 2) of the heart and the hands (10-22) ; 3) against other sins of various kinds (23-33). — In a similar v/ay Wohlfartu: The effect of prudence ; a means of guarding one's self against sins of various kinds. Ver. 1-7. Starke (on vers. 1, 2) ; when ge- nuine piety exists there will not be wanting other manifestations of friendliness and gentleness. Kvcu where there is occasion for earnestness in the punishment of transgressions, a friendly spirit must still be combined with it. Ear- nestness without friendship profits as little as friendliness without earnestness. — Geier (on ver. 3) : If God knows all things then He knows also His children's need, and is intent on their help and deliverance. — (On ver. 5) : If even to the most capable and powerful spirits there is still nee I of good discipline and in- struction, how much more to the indolent and drowsy ! — (On ver. 6) ; In connection with tem- poral blessings be intent upon righteousness in their attainment, contentment in their possession, prudence and system in their employment, sub- mission in their loss! — [Ar.n'OT (on ver. 1): Truth alone may be hated, and love alone de- spised ; man will flee from the one and trample on the other ; but when truth puts on love, and love leans on truth, in that hallowed partnership lies the maximum of moral power within the reach of man in the present world. — Trapp (on ver. 6) : Every righteous man is a rich man, whether he hath more or less of the things of this life. For, first, he hath plenty of that which is precious. >Seco?jc2/j/, propriety : what he hath is his own]. Vers. 8-19. Cr.amer (on ver. 8) : It is not works that make the man good, but when the man is justified, then his works are also good ; God in His grace makes well-pleasing to Himself the works that come of faith, even though great imperfections still mingle with them. — Starke (on ver. 11) : The doctrine of God's omniscience is already in the -Old Testament revealed fre- quently enough, and so clearly that no one can excuse himself on the ground of ignorance con- cerning it. — (On ver. 12) : He is wise who gladly associates with those from whoin he can learn something, though it be disagreeable to the flesh to do so. — Zeltner (on vers. 13 sq. ) : He is the most prosperous man who possesses the treasure of a good conscience and seeks to preserve it ; he can always be joyful in God (Acts xxiv. 16). — Wohlfartu (vers. 13-17) : The joyous heart. What can all the good things of this earth profit us when our inner nature is in trouble and our countenance sad ? How rich are we, even with little earthly possession, if we only possess the one good of a conscience at peace, and a heart joyful in God I — Von Gerlach (on ver. 19) : The sluggard lets his paths grow over, i. e., his means of acquisition go to waste, and his re- 152 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. sources decay. — [Chaiinock (on ver. 11): God knows the whole state of the dead — things that seem to be out of all being; He knows the thoughts of the devils and damned creatures, ■whom He hath cast out of His care forever into the arms of His justice; much more is He ac- quainted with the thoughts of living men, etc.'] Vers. 20-33. Hasius (on vers. 22, 23): Many eyes see more than one, and many souls think more than one; therefore never esteem thyself so wise that thou shouldst not seek others' coun- sel. ... A good thought on which one falls at the right time is not to be valued with much gold. — WoiiLFARTH ( on vers. 22-2d) : Important as it is in general that one testify the truth, as important is the way in which this is done. Von Geiilach (on ver. 24): The very direction of the way which the wise enters saves him from extreme disasters ; it leads toward God, toward the kingdom of eternal light, welfare and life. — (On ver. 33) : Honor one can attain in the way of truth only by giving honor to the Lord alone, i. e., by profound humility (1 Peter v. 6). — J. Lange : True humility consists not in all manner of outward gestures, but in the fact that one in perfect self-denial agree with the will of God, Luke i. 38.— [W. Bates (on ver. 33): Humility preserves the true and noble freedom of the mind of man, secures his dear liberty and peace- ful dominion of himself. This is the effect of excellent wisdom]. 2. Admonition to a walk in the fear of God and obedience. Chap. XVL 1.— XXIL 16. a) Admonition to trust in God as the wise Ruler and Governor of the world. Chap. XVL 1 Man's are the counsels of the heart, but the answer of the tongue is Jehovah's. 2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but Jehovah weigheth the spirits. 3 Commit thy works to Jehovah, so will thy plans be established. 4 Jehovah hath made every thing for its end, even the wicked for the day of evil. 5 An abomination to Jehovah is every one who is proud in heart, assuredly he will not go unpunished. 6 By mercy and truth is iniquity atoned, and through the fear of Jehovah one departeth from evil. 7 If Jehovah hath pleasure in the ways of a man, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8 Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right. 9 Man's heart deviseth his way, but Jehovah directeth his steps. 10 Decision belongeth to the lips of the king, in judgment his mouth speaketh not wickedly. 11 The scale and just balances belong to Jehovah, His work are all the weights of the bag. 12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for by righteousness is the throne established. 13 A delight to kings are righteous lips, and he that speaketh uprightly is loved. 14 The wrath of a king (is as) messengers of death, but a wise man appeaseth it. 15 In the light of the king's countenance is life, and his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain. 16 To gain wi.'^dom — how mucli better is it than gold ! and to attain understanding to be preferred to silver! CHAP. XVI. 1-33. 163 17 The path of the upright departeth from evil; he preserveth his soul that giveth heed to his way. 18 Before destruction coraeth pride, and before a fall a haughty spirit. 19 Better is it to be humble with the lowly, than to divide spoil witli the pruud. 20 Pie that giveth heed to the word findeth good, and he who trusteth Jehovah, blessed is he! 21 The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and grace on the lips increaseth learning. 22 Understanding is a fountain of life to him that hath it, but the correction of fools is folly. 23 The heart of the wise maketh his mouth wise, and increaseth learniag upon his lips. 2-4 As honey of the comb are pleasant words, sweet to the soul and health to the bones. 25 There is a way that seemeth right to man, but its end are ways of death. 26 The spirit of the laborer laboreth for him, for his mouth urgeth him on. 27 A worthless man searcheth after evil, and on his lips is as it were scorching fire. 28 A perverse man sendeth abroad strife, and a backbiter separateth friends. 29 A violent man enticeth his neighbor, and leadeth him in a way that is not good. 30 Shutting his eyes to devise mischief, biting his lips, he bringeth evil to pass. 31 A crown of glory is the hoary head ; in the way of righteousness it shall be found. 32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. 38 The lot is cast into the lap, but from Jehovah is all its decision. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 1.— In Hin'O the p stands as simply synonymous with the S auctnris of the first clause. Ver. 3.— [A masc. verb agreeing with the fern, subject ^nJil/nD, which is less unnatural where the verb precedes; see BoXT., J 936, a.— A.J Ver. •!•— [^nj^'3 7 distinguished by the article and the daghesh as the noun HJ^'O with preposition and suffix, and not the comp. preposition JJ^O/ with a sulfix. See Green, Heb. Gram., g246, 2, a.— A.] Ver. 7.— [Dyi^j nipl'- Iniperl'. written t^t/ecityc. BiiTT. suggesls the proper reading as dSi!/' " absimilated " from the following X. See ? 1013 —A.J Ver. 13.— [Ordinarily feminine forms of adjectives are employed in Hebrew to supply the lack of neuter and abstract forms. Occasionally as i.i □''Ity niasc. forms are used in elevated style. See Bott., ^707, 2. — A.J Ver. 16.— [Both the masc. and fem. forms of the Infiu. constr. are here used, HJp and flUp, but with a masc. predi- cate, the Xiph. part. "ITI^J, which has here the meaning of the Latin part, in dus. BiJTT., §§990, 3, /3, and 997, 2, c— A.J Tor examples of the form HJp comp. xxi. 3; xxxi. 4. Ver. 19.— 7DK/ in n-n-Tpiy is here probably not to be regarded as the adjective, as in xxix. 23; Is. Ivii. 15 (so Ber- THEAU, Elster, and others regard it), but an Infinitive, which is therefore equivalent to Immiliari (Vulgate, comp. Ewald, XJmbreit, UiTZiG, efc.) For in the second clause an Infln. is the corresponding term : SSt^ pbn, " to divide spoil ;" comp. with this Is. liii. 12. [Fuerst, however (Lf.x., suh verbt), pronounces decidedly in favor of the adjective construc- tion. bcTT. regards it as au Infln., §DS7. 5, a. — A.] Ver. 20.— T3' ; compare, however, for this interchange of Sx and Sj? chaps, xxix. 5; Jer. vi. 10, 19, etc. Ver. 27.— [TTiau/ is one of the few instances in which in the Masoretic punctuation a dual or plural form is disre- garded in the vocalization of the suffix. Cases of the opposite kind are not rare. Bott., i SS6, c. The LXX conform to theK'thibh.— A.J ' 154 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Ver. 28. — ?J"1J (ifiiBvpo's, Ecclesiast. v. l-l), is cognate with J"^J, a verb which in the Arabic means susurro, to It : • TT ■whisper. Ver. 30. — nV^', related to Di*J/'. clausit, is found only here in the Old Testament. [It is a gesture accompanying and T T ~ T expressive of crafty scheming; Fuerst, s. v.] Ver. 33. — For the impersonal use of the passive }0V with the accusative, comp. Gen. iv. 18; xvii. 6; Jos. vii. 15; Ps. Ixxii. 15, etc. EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-3. Of God as the wise disposer and controller of all things in general. — Man's are the counsels of the heart, but the answer of the tongue is Jehovah's. — The "answer of the tongue" might indeed of itself signify the answer corresponding to the tongue, i. e., the supplicating tongue, and so denote " the granting of man's request" (Elstbr, comp. Umbreit, Ber- THEAU, etc.) But since the heart with its hidden plans audcounsels (lit., "arrangements:" D'Jl^'^ equivalent to the more common fem. nU"^^), is here plainly contrasted with the tongue as the instrument in the disclosure of such plans (comp. X. 8; xiv. 20, and numerous exx.), therefore the " answer of the tongue" must here be "the movement and utterance of the tongue," and Jehovah comes into the account as the giver of right words, from which health and life go forth, as the dispenser of the wholesome " word in due season " (chap. xv. 23) ; comp. Matth. x. 19, 20; also Rom. viii. 26 ; 2 Cor. iii. 5. Luther there- fore renders correctly " But from the Lord cometh what the tongue shall speak;" in general HiTziG is also right, except that he would unne- cessarily read "to" Jehovah l''7 instead of ■"•lO, and so thinks too exclusively of Jehovah merely as the judge of the utterances of man's tongue. The idea " j\Lin proposes, God dis- poses" (der Mm.sch deiikt, Gott lenkt), forms moreover quite as naturally the proper subject of discourse in the verse before us, as below in vers. 9 and 33. [Our English version sacrifices entirely the antithetic nature and force of the verse. — A.] Ver. 2. All the -ways of a man are pure in his o'wa eyes, i. e., according to his own judgment, comp. xii. 15. Lit., " sometliing cloaii ;" comp. Ewald, Lehrb., | 307, c. — But Jehovah weigheth the spirits, i. e., he tries them, not literally ponderable, with reference to their moral weight ; he wishes to test their moral competence. The "ways" and tlie "spirits" here stand contrasted as the outward action and the inward disposition ; comp. 1 Sam. xvi. 7. In the parallel passage, chap. xxi. 2, "hearts" (r\i3'7) occurs instead of " spirits " (nin^l) (com- pare also xxi. 12) and "right" ("lU'") instead of "clean" (^I). Ver. 3. Commit thy works to Jehovah. — For this phrase to "roll somotliing on some one," i. e., to commit and entrust it wholly to him. comp. Ps. xxii. 8 (9), also xxxvii. 5 (where 7^' is used instead of 7X, "upon" instead of "to"). — So will thy plans be established, — i. e., thy thoughts and purposes, those accord- ing to which thou proposest to shape thy " works," will then have a sure basis and result. Comp. xix. 21 ; Ps. xc. 17. 2. Vers. 4-9. God's wise and righteous admi- nistration iu respect to the rewarding of good and the punishment of evil. — Jehovah hath made everything for its end. — The noun HJ^'q here signifies, not "answer," as in ver. 1, or in xv. 1, 23; but in general that which corresponds with the thing, the end of the thing. The suffix refers back to the "all, all things." The Vulgate ren- ders ''propter semel ipsum," but this would have 1JJ^'27- [See critical notes. Bertheau, Kamph., Be W., N., S., M., etc., agree with our author iu the interpretation wliich is grammatically most defensible, and doctrinally least open to excep- tion. An absolute Divine purpose and control iu the creation and administration of the world is clearly announced, and also the strength of the bond that joins sin and misery. — A.] — > Even the wicked for the day of evil, i. e., to experience the day of evil, and then to receive His well merited punishment. It is not specifi- cally the day of final judgment that is directly intended (as though the doctrine here were that of a predestination of the ungodly to eternal damnation, as many of the older Reformed in- terpreters held), but any day of calamity what- soever, which God has fixed for the ungodly, whether it may overtake him in this or in the luture life. Comp. the "day of destruction," Job xxi. 30; the "day of visitation," Is. x. 3. [Molden's rendering "even the wicked He daily sustains," is suggested by his strong aver- sion to the doctrine of reprobation, but is not justified by the use of the Hebrew phrase, or by the slightest requirement or allowance in the parallelism. Liberal interpreters like Noves find not the slightest reason for following him. -A.] Ver. 5. With clause a compare xv. 9, 25, 26 ; with b, xi. 21. — In regard to the two verses in- terpolated by the LXX (and Vulgate) after ver. 5, see HiTZKi on this passnge. Ver. 6. By mercy and truth is iniquity atoned. — " Mercy and truth" here unquestion- ably, as in chap. iii. 3 (where see notes), describes a relation of man to his neighbor, and not to God, as Bertheau maintains (see in reply to l)is view especially Hoffmann's Schri/lbcir., I., 518 sq.). [Nor is it God"s mercy and truth, as Holuen suggests]. Loving and faithful conduct towards one's neighbor is, however, plainly not in and of itself named as the ground of the expiation of sin, but only so far forth as it is a sign and necessary expression of a really penitent and believing disposition of heart, and so is a cor- relative to the fear of God, which is made pro- minent in the second clause; just as in the ex- pression of .lesus with reference to the sinning woman; Luke vii. 47 : eras in Isa. Iviii. 7; Dan. iv. 24, etc. — One departeth from evil, lit., CHAP. XVI. 1- loJ " there is remaining far from evil," i. e., this is the result: so ver. 17. — "Evil" is here ac- cording to the parallelism moral evil (not misfor- tune, calamity, in conformity with vers. 4, 27, as HiTZiG holds). This is however mentioned here with an included reference to its necessary evil results and penalties; therefore, if one chooses, it is evil and calamity together ; comp. vers. 17. — With vers. 7 compare xxv. 21, 22, where as means to the conciliation of enemies there is mentioned the personal loving disposition of the man involved, who here appears as an object of the divine complacency. — With vers. 8 comp. xv. 16 ; with clause b in particular, xiii. 23. — Ver. 9. Man's heart devissth his way. The Piel of the verb here denotes a laborious consi- deration, a reflecting on this side and that. — But Jehovah directeth his steps. He de- termines them, gives them their direction, guides them (comp. notes on ver. 1, h). Umbreit, Bkr- THEAiT, EwALD, Elster, [Noyes, Stu.\rt,] "he makes them sure." But then another conjuga- tion (Pilel, I J''3') would probably have been ne- cessary, as in Ps. xxxvii. 23. For the Hiphil comp. moreover .Jer. x. 23. 3. Vers. 10-15. Of kings as intermediate agents or instruments in God's wise administration of the world. — A divine decision belongeth to the lips of the king. DpP, oracular decision or prediction, here used in a good sense of a divine utterance [ejfafum divinum ; comp. in the Vulg., dioinalio). As representative of Jehovah, the supreme ruler and judge, a king, and especially the theocratic king of Israel, speaks words of divine validity and dignity (comp. Ps. Ixxxii. 6 ; John X. 34), which give an absolutely certain de- cision, particularly in contested judicial ques- tions. Therefore that continues true which the second clause asserts : In judgment his mouth doth not speak •wickedly. " He deceives not, sins not" is not possibly, a wish (" his mouth should not err in judgment," Um- breit, Bertheau). but "the passage rather lays down the principle : the King can do no wrong, in a narrower assertion of it, and with this dif- ference, that it is here no political fiction, but a believing conviction. Righteousness at least in the final resort was under the theocratic monar- chy of the Old Testament so absolute a demand of the idea, that one could not conceive it to be unrealized" (Hitzig). [We have here the theory of the king's relations and obligations, and a clear statement of the presumptions of which lie should, according to the divine order, have the benefit. These must be clearly overthrown by him, before the people are entitled to set them aside. Comp. Rom. xiii. 1, 2. Had this pro- verb been penned near the end, instead of near the beginning of the Jewish theocracy, it would have been difficult to avoid the suggestion that the ideal and the actual are often strangely, sharply at variance. — A.]. Ver. 11. The scale and just balances be- long to Jehovah. The proposition e.xpresses the idea of an ownership in Jehovah as the first cause : for like agriculture (Ecclesiast. vii. 15) God instituted weights and measures, as an in- dispensable ordinance and instrununt in just business intercourse. — His w^orks are all the weights of the bag. His weights the oriental merchant (in Persia, e. g., even at the present day) is wont to carry in a bag; comp. Dent. xxv. 13; Mic. vi. 11. Stones were in preference em- ployed as weights because they do not wear away so easily, as iron, c. g., which from rusting easily changes its weight. Comp. Umbreit on this passage. Bertheau is quite too artificial. " His work is all of it stones of the bag, " i. e., is as sharply and accurately defined "as the smallest and finest weights (?)."— Vers. 12, 13. Two verses closely connected, expressing a single truth, which is brought out first negatively and then positively.— It is an abomination to kings to commit iniquity ; i. c, injustice practised or at least attempted by their subjects is an abomi- nation to them, representing, as they do, God and divine justice. Comp. ver. 10, and with clause b also especially xxv. 5. — And he that speaketh upriglitly is loved. For this use of the plur. masc. of ip'.', upright, which is therefore "upright things, uprightness," comp. Dan. xi. 17; also Job iv. 25. — The verb 2T^VC |TV:V is either to be taken with an indefinite subject, " him one loveth," i.e., he is loved (Umbreit, Elster, etc.), or distributively, '' him he loveth," i. e., whoever is king for the time being. Vers. 14, 15. Verses in like manner closely connected, and essentially expressing but one thought. — The wrath of the king (is as) messengers of death. This plural in the pre- dicate of the sentence hints that when the king is enraged manifold means and instruments stand at his command for the immediate de- struction of the object of his wrath. Remember the despotism and the capricious arbitrariness of Oriental sovereigns, and compare xix. 12 ; xx. 2; Eccles. viii. 3, 4. — In the light of the King's countenance is life. The " friendly countenance," lit. " light of the countenance," as in Ps. iv. 6 (7), is contrasted with the "wrath" ver. 14, a, as also are "life" and "death." — As a cloud of the latter rain. Tlie harvest rain or latter rain (Vulg., imber se- rotinus) is a rain falling shortly before the har- vest, in March or April, whose timely and abun- dant occurrence is indispensable to the success of Eastern harvests, especially so in Palestine ; comp. xi. 14; Jer. iii. 3; v. 24 ; and particu- larly Job xxix. 23, 24, which latter passage is here a general parallel. [See Thomson's Land and Book, I. 130, 11. 6G]. Vers. 16-26. Of God's righteous administra- tion in respect to the wise and the foolish. — To gain wisdom — how much better is it than gold, i. e., than the acquisition of gold; compare, for an example of this abbreviated com- parison [comparatio decurtata) Job xxviii. 8; Ps. iv. 7 (8), etc. For the general sentiment of the ver. compare iii. 14; viii. 10, 11, 19. Ver. 17. The path (the raised, well-graded road n'^prp) of the upright departeth from evil, lit. "is abiding far (to abide far) from evil," as in ver. 6; comp. also x. 17; xi. 5, 20. — Hitzig expands the verse by four clauses which he in- troduces from the LXX, and in such an order that the second clause of the Masoretic text is separated from the first by three of the inserted clauses, and a sixth is appended as a final clause. 150 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Yet he fails to give saiisfactory proof that this expanded form was the origiaul, three verses be- ing now represented by one. Ver. 18. Comp. xv. 25, 33. — The word here rendered "fall" (f^^^, tottering, downfall) is used only in this passage in the Old Testa- inent. — With respect to the sentiment of the ver. compare also the Arabic proverb, '-The nose is in the heavens, the seat in the mire " (N'asus in ccelo est, nates infimo), and the expression of Ho- EACE "... feriuntque summos fuljura montes (Odes, II. 10: 11, 12). [ And ever, where The mountaiirs suniniit [luiiits in air, Do bolted lightnings flasli." — Theo. Martin's Translation.] Ver. 10. Better is it to live humbly with the lowly. D''J>' (with which reading of the K'thibh the LXX agrees, while the K"ri reads D'1J>' ) describes those who are bowed down by • T ~. troubles, the sufferers, the lowly ; comp. Zech. ix. 9. Ver. 20. He that giveth heed to the w^ord findeth good, ;. f., naturally, to the word of God, the word j}ar excellence; comp. xiii. 13. — With the expression " findeth good, or prosper- ity," comp. xvii. 20; xix. 8. " Blessed is he ! ' (VltyX) comp. xiv. 21. Ver. 21 The wise in heart shall be call- ed prudent, understanding, knowing, a pos- sessor of ny3, discernuieut. Comp. xiv. 33. T ■ — And grace on the lips (lit. "of lips'") in- creaseth learning, i. e., secures for learning an easy access in ever widening circles, comp. 23, b. The " grace " or literally the " sweetness " of the lips is here represented as a necessary at- tendant and helper of wisdom, as in chap. xv. 2. Vers. 22. A fountain of life is under- standing to him that hath it, lit. "is the wisdom of its possessor." The thought is here in the first instance unquestionably of the bless- incf which comes directly to the possessor from his wisdom, and not of its life-dispensing, life- promoting influence on others, as Bertheau thinks. For this figure of a " fountain of life " compare x. 11; xiii. 14; xiv. 27. — But the correction of fools is folly. The subject, according to the antithetic parallelism, is "fol- ly," as " wisdom " is in clause a. The meaning can be no other than this: the folly of fools is for them a source of all possible disadvantages and adversities; the lack of reason is its own pu- nishment (comp. IIiTZiG on this passage). [So N. and W., while H., M., and S. give to "lD-10 ' ' ' ° T its active meaning, "the instruction of fools," i. e., that which they give, "is folly." — A.]. Ver. 23. Comp. remarks on ver. 21. — And increaseth learning upon his lips. " Upon his lifis," so far forth as the word that comes from the heart rests on the lips, comp. ver. 27; Ps. xvi. 4 ; and also the expression " on the tongue," Ps. XV. 3 [where the original expresses morethan more instrumentality {irifhtha tongue) ; " who bearcth not slander en his tongue' (IIup- FELD, on the passage), etc. — \.]. Ver. 24. As honey of the comb are pleasant words, lit. " word:\ of loveliness," as in XV. 2G. — For a like refereniW to the " honey- comb " see Ps. xix. 10 (11). — Sw^eet to the soul. The adj. pinO, for which we might ex- pect the plural is to be regarded as a neuter used substantively ; something sweet, sweetness ; comp. Ezek. iii. 3, and also ver. 2 above. Ver. 25. Literally identical with xiv. 12; — ■ stricken out by Hitzig from the passage before us, because it is superfluous in the gioup (vers. 22-30) assumed to consist of eight only (?). — Vers. 2(5. The spirit of the laborer labo- reth for him, /. e.. supports hitn in liis labor, impels him to greater perseverance and exertion to gain his daily bread. [Zocklek renders "the hunger," etc. So Ka.mphausen. This seems to us unnecessary. Up) is often the animal soul or spirit as distinguished from the higher intel- ' lectual, moral and religious nature. It is this spirit that feels the pressure of life's necessities, and impels to effort for their relief; comp. x. 3, elc. — A.]. — For his mouth urgeth him on, i. e., as it longs for food. This verb (construed with 7J^ and the accus. of the person) denotes, according to Arabic analogies " to heap a load or burden on one" (comp. ^^i;5, a weiglit, bur- den, Job xxxiii. 7) [E V. " be heavy upon thee "] ; and here sjiecifically, to bind one, to drive and force him to do something " (Vulg., compulil). — AVith the general sentiment compare Eccles. vi. 7. 5. Vers. 27-33. A new delineation of God's justice in punishing the wicked and rewarding the pious. Vers. 27-30 form here one connected description of the ungodly, nefai'ious conduct of the evil men on whom God's judgment falls. Vers. 31, 32 contrast with these wicked meti tlie upright and the gentle in spirit as the only hap- py men ; ver. 33 is a general conclusion point- ing us back to the beginning of the chapter. Ver. 27. A worthless man ("man of Beli- al") searcheth after evil, literally "diggcth evil, shovels out evil for himself," i. e., froni the pit which he prepares for others, to destroy them (comp. xxvi. 27; Jer. xviii. 20 sq.). For this expression "man of Belial" compare vi. 12. — On his lips is as it -vrexe scorching fire (comp. ver. 23). The woids of the worthless man are here on account of their desolating ef- fects, compared to a blazing or scorching fire (comp. Ezek. xxi. 3; Prov. xxvi. 23 ; Job xxxi. 12; James iii. 5 sq.). Vers. 28. With clause a compare vi. 14, 19. — And a backbiter separateth friends, lit. " divideth oil' the friend." The singular is not here used collectively, but in a certain sense dis- tributively ; " divideth a friend from his fellow." So in xvii. 9; comp. xix. 4. — For the use of pTJ, "backbiter" comp. xviii. 8; xxvi. 20, 22. Ver. 29. With clause n compare iii. 81 ; i. 10 sq. With h compare Ps. xxxvi. 4 (5) ; Isa. Ixv. 2. — [Rueetschi (as above cited, p. 145) thinks tiiese verses (27-29) more expressive if in eacli tiie first words are regarded as the pre- dicates, prefixed for emphasis and stronger con- trast ; "a worthless man is he, elc. ;" "a per- verse, contentious man is he, f/c," "a backbiter is he, etc.;''' "a man of violence is he, etc. ;" al- though he may excuse his conduct as mere sport. -A.]. CH.AP. XVI. 1-33. 157 Ver. 30 describes more precisely, by two par- ticipial clauses which belong to the "man of violence " in ver. '29, the way in which this wick- eil man executes the ruin which he clevises. — Shutting his eyes to devise mischief, lit. "to meditate craftiness;" comp. ii. 12, vi. 14. — Biting his lips. Witli this description, " pres.s- inj; in, pressing together his lips," comp. vi. 13; X. 10, where this verb is used of the correspond- ing action with the eyes. Ver. 31. With clause a comp. iv. 19; xx. 29; with i, iv. 10 sq., iii. 2. Ver. ol. With a compare xiv. 29. — And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city, no here not merely the spirit or the soul, but the temper, the passionate movement and excitement of the spirit. Comp. Pt7-ke Aholh cap. iv. 1, where tlie question. Who is after all the true hero ? is answered by a reference to the proverb of Solomon now before us. The Lord, moreover, in Matth. v. -5, promises to the meek that they shall inherit the earth. Ver. 33. The lot is cast into the lap. Hit. zia : " In the bosom the lot is sliaken," a render- ing which does indeed conform more closely to the import of p'n, " the bosom of the clothing," but to us who are not Orientals gives a meaning easily misunderstood. For we are wont to call the doubled or folded front of the dress the "lap." — But from Jehovah is (cometh) all its decision, the final judicial sense as it were, ("judgment," comp. Numb, xxvii. 21) in which the result of the lot is reached. Comp. xviii. 18, where, however, the discourse is specifically limi- ted to the settling of judicial disputes by lot, ■while here attention is evidently directed to lots in general (and therefore to cases like Josh. vii. 19; 1 Sam. xiv. 37 sq., Numb. xvi. 8; Ps. xxii. 18 (19), etc.) DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. A course, of thought running with any unity through the entire chapter it is here again im- possible to detect. Only small groups of con- nected proverbs stand forth here and there from the general level; e. g., vers. 1-3, vers. 10-1-5, vers. 27-30 (comp. especially the remarks on vers. 27 sq.). Hitzig's endeavor to develop here and in the two following chapters (*. e., in general terms throughout the section xv. 33 — xix. 2), symmetrically constructed groups of eight verses each, is quite as unsuccessful as his similar assumptions in respect to the construc- tion of the general division, chap. x. — xxii. 16, on definite numerical principles (comp. above, re- marks on X. 1 sq.; and on xiii. 1). A decided pre-eminence belongs in the chapter, as it is now defined, to the idea that God controls the action of mail altogether according to His own wise Judgment and good pleasure. That " man pro- poses but God disposes," — this truth which sum- mons to humble confidence in God, and a child- like and unconditional surrender to the fatherly guidance of the Lord's hand, stands at the head of the section as a whole (ver. 1), with a special emphasizing of the divine influence exerted over the manner and the results of human speech. It recurs again in vers. 10-15 before the connected delineation of the authority of human kings, aa counterpai'ts and representatives of the great King of heaven ; and here there is special refe- rence not to the speech but to the action of men (ver. 9). Finally it forms the conclusion of the chapter, and that in the form of a reference to the supreme control which God holds in His hand over the lot as any where employed by men (ver. 33). It is the doctrine of the divine government of the world (ihe gubermitio, with its four promi- nent forms or methods, permissio, impeditio. direc- tio and determinalio) ; or again the doctrine of the divine co-operation with the free self-deter- mined acts of men (the concursus as it exists tar% ad bonas qiiam ad malas actiones hominum [with reference both to the good and to the evil actions of men]), that is asserted in these propositions and developed in various directions. Especially does the intermediate place which human kings and judges assume as representatives of the di- vine justice, and in a certain sense prophets of the divine will (ver. 10), also as typically gods on earth (ver. 13-15; comp. Ps. Ixxxii. 6), in their relation to the destiny of individual men, stand out in a significant prominence ; it thus af- fords instructive premonition of the exhortations of the New Testament to obedience to the magis- trates who stand in God's phice, — such as are found in Matth. xxii. 21 ; llom. xiii. 1 sq. ; 1 Pet. ii. 17, etc. Compare what Melanchthon observes on ver. 10 sq. ; "These words affirm that the whole political order, magistrates, laws, distinctions in authority, contracts, judgments, penalties are works ordained by the wisdom of God within the human race. Therefore since we know that political order is God's work, let us love it, and seek to maintain it by our duty, and in modesty obey it for God's sake, and let us render thanks to God the preserver, and let us know that the madness of devils and of men who disturb the political order is displeasing to God, etc." Other ethical truths to which a significant pro- minence is given are contained particularly in Ver. 6. A reference to the fear of God, and penitent and believing consecration to God as the only way to the development of genuine fruits of love and of righteousness (see notes on this pas- sage). Ver. 20. Combined view of the two chief re- quisites to a really devout life; 1) obedience to the word of God, and 2) inspiring confidence in God. Vers. 21 and 23 (comp. also ver. 24). The stress laid on the great value of an eloquent mouth, as an appropriate organ for a wise heart exercising itself in the service of the Lord. Ver. 32. Reference to gentleness of spirit and the ruling of one's own passions, as the best and surest means to the attainment of real power and greatness — an expressive Biblical testimony against all uncharitable advancement of self in the way of strife, and against the combative spi- rit of brawlers and duellists. [Andrew Fuller: Tiie doctrine of verse 7 stands in apparent contradiction with 2 Tim. iii. 12. The truth seems to be that neither of the passages is to be taken ■universaUg. The peace possessed by those wdio please God does not ex- tend so far as to exempt them from having ene- 158 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. mies, and though all godly men must in some form or other be persecuted, yet none are perse- cuted at all times. The passage from Timothy may therefore refer to the native enmity which true godliness is certain to excite, and the pro- rerb to the Divine control over it.] HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Homily on the chapter as a xohole ; Of God's wise and righteous government of the world, as it is exhibited 1) in the life of men in general (1-9) ; li) in the action and administration of earthly rulers (10-15) ; 3) in the endeavors and results of human wisdom (1(5-26) ; 4) in the rigliteous reti-ibution which awaits both, the good and the evil (27-33). — Stocker: On God's gracious care for men. i) Proof \.\v.\i sucli a pa- ternally upliolding and governing providence of God over men exists, a) in general (vers. 1-9); b) through the government of the world in par- ticular (10-15). 2) The duties of the pious in recognition of this paternal providence and go- vernment of God (vers. 1(3-33). — Woiilfartii : — On the providence and government of God, and man's duty. Man proposes, God disposes, — usually otherwise than we devise and desire, but always more gloriously and better than we could do. Hence humility, prudence and trust in God are the chief duties of man in return. Vers. 1-3. Melanchthon : — It is well to con- sider that our resolves are a different thing from their success. That we may form successful and salutary resolutions we need God s aiil in two forms ; in examining the diflfercnt possible ways, and then in conforming our course to them. We must therefore at all times be of this firm pur- pose, to let our whole life be ruled by God's word, and for all things to invoke God's help. — Geier (on ver. 1) ; Teachers, preachers and rulers especially must call earnestlj' on God for the careful government and sanctification of their tongue, in order that in the fulfilment whether of their public or their private duties the right word may always stand at their command, and notiiing unseemly or injurious may escape them. — (()n ver. 3) : The duties of our calling we must indeed fulfil with fidelity and diligence, but yet in all patience await from the Lord blessing and success. — Berlch. Bible: If one is notable with- out God to utter a word that one has already conceived, how much less will one be able to bring any thing to pass without God's aid. And how much more will this be true within the sphere of the spiritual life, since man is wholly "insufficient of himself to think any thing as of himself" (2 Cor. iii. 5), but must receive all from the Lord, etc. — [Arnot (on ver. 2) : The human heart is beyond conception cunning in making that appear right which is felt pleasant. The real motive power that keeps the wheels of life going round is tliis : men like the things that they do, and do the things that they like.] Vers. 4-9. Wiirt. Bible (on ver. 4): God'g pro- vidence extends over good and wicked men (Matth. v. 45) ; through His ordaining it comes to pass that the ungodly arc punished in their time and as they deserve. — ^^Von Geri.ach fon ver. 4) : The wicked man also fulfils God's design, when tlie day of calamity comes upon him ; all without exception must serve Him. — [Charnock (on ver. 4) : If sin ends in any good, it is only from that Infinite transcendency of skill that can bring good out of evil, as well as light out of darkness — Waterland (on ver. 4): God bridles the wicked by laws and government and by the incessant labors of good men : and yet more im- mediately by His secret power over their hearts and wills, and over all their faculties; as well as over all occurrences and all second causes through the whole universe; and if He still affords them compass enough to range in, yet notwithstand- ing He rules over them with so strong and steaily a hand, that they cannot move a step but by His leave, nor do a single act but what shall be turned to good effect. — Beveridge (on ver. 4) : Goil in His revelations hath told us nothing of the second causes which He hath established under Himself for the production of ordinary effects, that we may not perplex ourselves about them, but always' look up to Him as the first cause, as working without them or by them as He sees good. But He hath told us plainly of the final cause or end of all things, that we may keep our eyes always fixed on that, and accordingly strive all we can to promote it. — Bp. Hall (on ver. 6): It is not an outward sacrifice that God regards in His remission of the punishment of our sin; but when He finds mercy to the poor, and uprightness of heart towards Himself and men, then He is graciously pleased to forbear His judgments ; inasmuch as these graces, being wrought in us by His Spirit, cannot but proceed from a true faith whereby our sins are purged. — Bonae, (on ver. 6) : Forgiveness, ascertained forgiveness, conscious forgiveness, this is the beginning of all true fear. This expels a world of evil from the human heart and keeps it from re-entrance. It works itself out in such things as these — obedience, fellowship, love, zeal]. — Starke (on ver. 0): Not of merit but of grace are the sins of the penitent forgiven for Christ's sake. One of the ciiief fruits of justification is, however, the exhibition of fidelity and truth to- wards one's neighbors (Eph. ii. 8, 9; iv. 25). — (On ver. 7): Think not that thou wilt thyself subdue and overcome thine enemies, but only seek to have God for thy friend ; He can of all thy foes make thee friends. — [Bates (on ver. 7): Many sins are committed for the fear of the an- ger of men, and presumption of the mercy of God ; but it is often found that a religious con- stancy gains more friends than carnal obsequi- ousness.— Trapp (on ver. 7) : When God is dis- pleased, all His creatures are up in arms to fetch in His rebels, and to do execution. At peace with Him, at peace with the creature too, that gladly takes His part, and is at His beck and check], — Zeltner (on ver. 9): Be presumptuous in none of thy schemes, but thinking of thine own weakness put as the foundation of every under- taking " if the Lord will " (.James iv. 15). — [.Vrnot (on ver. 9) : The desires of human hearts and the efforts of human hands go into the pro- cesses of providence and constitute the material on which the Almighty works.] Vers. 10-15. Melanchthon; comp. Doctri- nal and Ethical notes. — Starke (on ver. 10): For the right conduct of the office of ruler and CHAP. XVII. 1-28. 159 judge it is not enougli to understand well secu- lar laws and rights ; Divine wisdom is also abso- lutely essential. — (On ver. 1-) : Kings are not only not to do evil, or to let it bo done by others ■with impunity; they are to hate and abhor it ■with all energy. — VoN Gerlach (on ver. 11): Weiglit and measure as the invisible and spiri- tual means by which material possessions are estimated and determined for men according to their value, are holy to the Lord, a copy of His law in the outer world; taken up by Himself into His s.inctuary, and therefore, as His work, to bo regarded holy also by men. — (On ver. 14): Seasonable words of a wise man can easily avert the wrath of kings, destructive as that is. Therefore let each one mould himself into such a wise man, or find for himself such a one. Vers. 18-26. [Chalmers (on ver. 17) : The reflex influence of the outward walk and way on the iiiner man. — Arnot (on ver. 17): Doctrine, although both true and Divine, is for us only a shadow, if it be not embodied in holiness. — Wa- TERiiAND (on ver. 18) : Sliaine and contempt the end of pride, a) by natural tendency; i) because of God's detestation and resolution to punish it. — Mui'FET (on ver. 19) : It is a pleasant thing to be enriched with other men's goods: it is a gainful thing to have part of the prey: it is a glorious thing to divide the spoil. It is better to be injured than to do injury; it is better to bo patient than to be insolent; it is better with the afHicted people of God to be bruised in heart and low of port, than to enjoy the pleasures or trea- sures of sin or of this world for a season. — Trapp (on ver. 20) : He that, in the use of law- ful means resteth upon God for direction and success, though he fail of his design, yet he knows whom lie hath trusted, and God will " know his soul in adversity "]. — Grier (on ver. 20) : In doubtful cases to hold fast to God's ■word and believingly hope in His help, ensures always a good issue. — Starke (on vers. 21, 22): Eloquence combined with wisdom is to be re- garded as an excellent gift of God, and produces so much the more edification and profit. — Lange (on ver. 21): One must first learn to think rightly before he can speak well. — Von Gerlach (on ver. 26) •, Since that which causes us labor and trouble becomes a means of our subsistence, it in turn helps us overcome labor and trouble, for this very thing, by virtue of God's wise, re- gulating providence, becomes for us a spur to in- dustry.— [Lawson (on ver. 26) : Self-love is a damning sin where it reigns as the chief princi- ple of action; but the want of self-love where it is required is no less criminal.] Vers. 27-33. Starke (on vers. 27 sq.) : The lack of genuine love for one's neighbor is the source of all deception, persecution and slander of the innocent. — Hypocrites can indeed by an assumed mien of holiness deceive men, but before the eyes of God all this is clear and open, to their shame. — (On ver. 32) : The greatest heroes and conquerors of the world are often just the most miserable slaves of their lusts. — E. LoscH (on ver. 31 — see Sonntagsfeier, 1841, No. 27): Age, its burdens, its dignities; means to the at- tainment of a happy old age. — Saurin (Sermon on ver. 32) : On true heroism — what it is, 1) to be ruler of one's spirit; 2) to gain cities and l.mds. — Von Gkrlach (on ver. 33) : Chance there is not, and man can never give more than the outward occasion for the decision, which lies wholly in tlic hand of the Lord. — [Trapp (on ver. 30) : Wicked men are great students. . . . Their wits will better serve them to find out a hundred shifts or carnal arguments than to yield to one saving truth, though never so much cleared up to them. — MuFFET (on ver. 31) : Commendable old age leaneth upon two staves — the one the re- membrance of a life well led, the other the hope of eternal life. — See Emjidxs' Sermon on ver. 31. — J. Edwards (on ver. 32) : The strength of the good soldier of Jesus Christ appears in no- thing Hiore than in steadfastly maintaining the holy, calm meekness, sweetness and benevolence of his mind, amidst all the storms, injuries, strange behaviour, and surprising acts and evenis, of this evil and unreasonable world. — Lawson (on ver. 32) : The meek obtain the no- blest victories and enjoy the happiest kind of authority. — South (on ver. 33) : Sermon on "All contingencies under the direction of God's providence."] /?) Admonition to contentment and a peaceable disposition. Chap. XVII. 1 Better a dry morsel and quietness therewith than a house full of slain beasts ■svith strife. 2 A wise servant shall have rule over a degenerate son, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. 3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but he that trieth hearts is Jehovah. 4 Wickedness giveth heed to lying lips, deceit giveth ear to a vile tongue. 160 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 5 He that mocketh the poor hath reproached his Maker, he that rejoiceth over a cahimity shall not be unpunished. 6 The crown of the old is children's children, the glory of children is their parents. 7 High speech doth not become the fool, how much less do lying lips the noble! 8 As a precious stone is a gift in the eyes of him that receiveth it, whithersoever it turneth it maketh prosperous. 9 He that covereth trangression seeketh after love ; but he that repeateth a matter estraugeth friends. 10 A reproof sinketh deeper into a wise man than to chastise a fool an hundred times. 11 The rebellious seeketh only evil, and a cruel messenger shall be sent after him. 12 Meet a bear robbed of her whelps, and not a fool in his folly. 13 He that returneth evil for good, from his house evil shall not depart. 14 As a breaking forth of waters is the beginning of strife ; before the strife poureth forth, cease ! 15 He that acquitteth the wicked and he that eondemneth the just, an abomination to Jehovah are they both. 16 Why this price in the hand of a fool? (It is) to get wisdom, and he hath no heart to it. 17 At all times the friend loveth, but the brother is born of adversity. 18 A man void of understanding is he who striketh hands, who becometh surety in the presence of his friend. 19 He loveth sin that loveth strife, and he that buildeth high his doors seeketh destruction. 20 He that is of a false heart findeth no good, he that goeth astray with his tongue falleth into evil. 21 He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow, and the father of a fool hath no joy. 22 A joyous heart promoteth health, but a broken spirit drieth the bones. 23 A gift from the bosom a wicked man will receive to pervert the ways of justice. 24 Before the face of the wise is wisdom, but the fool's eyes are in the ends of the earth. 25 A grief to his father is a foolish son, and a trouble to her that bare him. 26 Also to punish the righteous is not good, to smite the noble contrary to right. 27 He that spareth his words hath knowledge, and he that is quiet in temper is a man of understanding. 28 Even a fool who keepeth silence will be counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is wise. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 4-— J/HO is probably not a Iliph. part.: "a wicked man," but an abstract substantive, as the parallel term "^P'Cf indicates (Ewald, Uitzio); and p;^ stands, according to the parallel 3'i:;n'3 for J'lXp. [BiiXT. insists upon regiirding the form as a Hipb. part, masc, distinguished by the vocalization from J,' 10 "friend"' (see §g 1124, A ; 7C4, c) ; Fuerst gives to the full form_^'no, which never occurs, but is assumed as the singular of D'^'^^O, the active signification "male ficui," evil doer, but maintains that ^"10, which occurs only here except with a pausai modification, has naturally the neuter abstract meaning. See also Qreev, §140, 5. — A.] Ver. 10.— From the infin. j'-\'l3n there is easily supplied as an object HZI'O.— nnn is the Imporf. of the verb fin J, to descend, to penetrate (comp. Is. x.vx. 00) : the form without abbreviatiou would, according to Ps. xxxviii. 3, have CHAr. XVII. 1-28. 161 been nnjH- [So T!ott. who alsn defends the position of the accent on the ground of emphasis (§ 497, 3), and criticizes, both on tliu ground of specific form and general construction, Fuerst's assigning it as an apoc. luiiierf. to nr,n.-A.j Ver 11.— That ^'\ is the subject of the clause, and not possibly "'"ip, as the Syr., Chald., Umbreit, Etvald, etc., maintain, appears from the position of "HX bef )re the latter word, and also from the unquestionable reference of the '13 in the 2d clause to y"l as a masculine substantive. [Rujeeischi (as above, p. 146) replies that IjX may as well throw its emphasis ou an entire proposition as on a single word (see Nordheimer, § 1072, 4) and that 13 refers to 'TO the subject of the proposition, which is an abstract in the sense of a concrete. Versions and interpreters are very equally divided; with our author emphasizing '10 as object, "only rebellion, nothing but rebellion," are tlie E. V., V. Esa, BERTHEAtT, K., S. ; with RUEETSCHi aro De VV., M., N., and substantially II. and W. We render with the latter in opposi- tion to Zockler's view. — A.j. Ver. 13. The K'thibh ty'Dil^N^ '3 to l>e retained, since the Ilipliil u/^DH lias in Ps. Iv. 12 also the intransitive • T , * '* meaning "depart." Vers. 19. A\A-:v Ezra, Geier, Schultens, ^^'c, take the expression "to m:iko high tlie door, or gate," as meaning "to open wide the mouth, to utter a vehement outcry" (nHD being taken as equivalent to Hi), us oMum U tu us ; comp. Ps.cxli. 3 ; Eccles. xii. 4). But the idea would then bo very obscurely expressed, and instead of n'SJ^D we should expect Vers. 22. nnj is not equivalent to niJ or rT'lJ, " body," (Chald., Syr., Bertheau, ete.) but is to be derived from T •• T** 1 ' : the radical nHJ, Hos. v. 13, — and therefore means "healing, recovery" (IIitzig, "the closing up of a wound"'?) T T [FUEiiST prrfprs tlie rendering nf the T^irg., Syr., etn. ; GESE?f. that ndopteil by the author. — A.]. Ver. 27. The renuering which we give conforms to the K'thibli, P-IT "IDIi to substitute for which with the K'ri (which is followed by the Vulg., Luther, e. Wit it clause a comp. Ps. cxxvii. 5. — The glory of children is their fathers. As the pride and honor of the gray-headed is the family circle that surrounds them, or the advanc- ing series .of their children, grandchildren, etc., so "on their part children, so long as they are not also parents, can only reach backward ; and with the genealogy, the farther back it reaches, the honor of the family increases " (Hitzig). Ver. 7. High speech doth not become the fool. " A lip of excess, of prominence " plainly denotes an assuming, imperious style of speech, — not the "elevated, or soaring," as EwALD, Elster, U.mbreit claim; for the paral- lel "lip of deceit" in clause b indicates its sin- ful character. — How much less do lying lips the noble? " The noble," the spirit of lotty dispositions (comp. ver. 26), — to whom, deceitfulness, and crafty, sly artifices of speech are less becoming than to any other man, — stands contrasted with the "fool" just as in Isa. xxxii.. 5 sq. Ver. 8. As a precious stone is a gift ia the eyes of him that receiveth it. Lit., "a stone of loveliness," a cosily stone, gemma ffratissima {Yu\g.) ; comp. i. 9. — TJie "master" of the gift is here evidently not its giver (Elster, comp. Luther, and many of the older exposi- tors), but he that receives it, he who is won by it; and the "gift" is here to be taken not in the bad sense, of bribery (as below in ver. 23),, but rather of lawful presents; comp. xviii. 16. — Whithersoever it turneth it maketh pros- perous; i. e. to whomsoever it may come iL will have a good result and secure for its giver sup- porters and friends. The expression conforms, to the idea of the "precious stone " in clause a (although it is not the jewel, but the gift that ia- subject of the verb "turneth"). For a really beautiful and well-cut stone sparkles, whichever- 162 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. way one may turn it, and from whichever side one may view it; just so is it with the good result of a well-directed generosity, by which the hearts of all are necessarily won A truth ■which naturally is to be taken quite in a relative and conditional sense. Ver. 9. He that covereth transgression seeketh after love, /. e. not "seeks to gain tlie lovo of others" but " seeks to exercise love, a truly charitable spirit" (so Hitzig with un- doubted correctness, in opposition to Bertheao). [Brioges and M. also take this view, which commends it.self both as the deepest and the most disinterested representation. — A.]. For the "covering transgression" cornp. x. 12, and the remarks on the passage. — But he that repeateth a matter separateth friends (sec xvi. 28). "Repeateth a matter" O^'J? HJl^) is not " to return with remarks " or " with a word" [i. e. to repeat] (Ewald, Beutheau, Elster, Fuerst, etc.), but "to come back with a matter," [Gesen.] i. e. to be continually re- verting to something, repeatedly to bring it up and show it forth, instead of letting it alone and covering it with the mantle of charity. This expression is different both from the Latin, ^^ ad alios drferre, denuiitiarn'" (Winer) and also from the Greek devrepovv loyov. Comp. furthermore Ecclesiast. xix. 6-10. 2. Vers. 10-20. Admonitions to a peaceable spirit; warnings against a contentious and \\n- cl:aritable disposition. — A reproof sinketh deeper into a ^vise man than a hundred stripes into a fool, (comp. Ueut. xxv. 3); lit., "ihan to smite the fool with a hundred." AVitli the meaning of the verse compare Sal- £U.5t's Jiigurtha, c. 11: allius in pectus descends, and the common phrase "to make a deeper im- pression." Vor. 11. Clause a, see critical notes for the reasons for our departure from Zockler's ren- dering.— And a cruel messenger shall be sent after him, i. e. by God, against whom we are to regard the "rebellion" mentioned in clause a as directed. So the LXX and Vulg. .rendered in their day, and among recent inter- preters Bertiieau, e. g. ; for to think of a mere human messenger, as in xvi. 14, is forbidden by the analogy of passages like Ps. xxxv. 5, (5; Ixxviii. 49; IIitzig's rendering, however, "and a cruel angel (a wild demon of passion, as it were), is let loose within liim," is altogether artificial, and rests upon modern conceptions that are quite foreign to the Old Testament; be- sides we ought probably to have found i3"1p3 " in the midst of him," instead of 13. Ver. 12. Meet a bear robbed of her •whelps. The Iniiu. abs. here stands for the luiper or .Tussive; comp. Gen. xvii. 10; Dent, i. IG ; Jer. ii. 2, etc. For the use of the epicene 31 for the she-bear comp. Ilos. xiii. 8; 2 Sam. xvii. 8. — The "fool in his folly" is naturally a fool who is peculiarly malignant, one who is in a very paroxysm of folly, and whose raving is more dangerous than the madness of a wild beast. Comp. Schiller : " Gef'dhrUch ists den Leu zu weaken,'' etc. ['Tis perilous to wake the lion]. Ver. 13. With .clause a compare 1 Sam. xxv. 21 ; with b, 2 Sam. iii. 29.—" Evil " here in the sense of misfortune, the penalty for acts of in- justice done the good. Ver. 14. As a breaking forth of waters is the beginning of strife [Zoiki.ior: "he letteth furih waters," etc. Z. also conceives of the latter part of the clause as meaning literally "who (lets loose) the beginning of strife;" in his view the participle is to be repeated before the word iTtyXT "beginning." The use of the vei'b "^£33 in the sense of "send forth, bring out" is confirmed by the Targum on Ex. xxi. 2t5. The particii)le cannot, however, in Z.'s view, be taken here in a neuter sense, as Ewald maintains (so U.mbreit). Fiterst maintains the view of E. and U. and cites analogous forms of verbal nouns. AVe adopt it as justified by verbal ana- logies and simplifying the construction. — A.] Luther expresses the substantial idea thus: " He who begins strife is like Jiim that tears away the dam from the water.^ "' — Before the strife poureth forth, cease ! The meaning of the verb i?vJnn which is best attested is here, as in xviii. 1 ; xx. 3, "to roll forth." Here, as in verse 8, the figurative conception employed in clause a influences the selection of the verb in b. The strife is conceived of as a flood which after its release rolls on irresistibly. Umbkeit, Elster, etc., following the Chald. and Arabic, explain "before the strife becomes warm;" HiTziG (and Ewald also) "before the strife shows its teeth." As though an altogether new figure could be so suddenly introduced here, whether it be that of a nre blazing up, or that of a lion showing his teeth! [As the word occurs but three times, and the cognate roots in the Hebrew and its sister languages are not decisive, the moral argument, may well turn the scale ; and this certainly favors the view in which Z. has the concurrence of Fuerst, Ber- THEAU, Stuart, etc. — A.] Ver. 15. Comp. xxiv. 24; Isa. v. 23. — An abomination to Jehovah are they both ; lit., "an abhorrence of Jehovah are also they two;" comp. 2 Sam. xix. 31, where DJ, also, ex- presses as it does here the associating of a sec- ond with the one. Ver. IG. Why this price in the hand of a fool, etc. [While there is no essential dis- agreement among expositors in regard to the general meaning of the verse, they are divided as to the punctuation and the mutual relation of the clauses. The Hebrew points are not deci- sive. Z. agrees with the Vulg., E. V., H., S., etc. in making the sentence one complex inter- rogative sentence. Be Dieu, Schultens, Van Ess, De Wette, Noyes, etc., make two interroga- tive clauses, followed by one affirmation. We have chosen the more equal division of the LXX. — .v.] The getting or buying of wisdom is by no means a thing absolutely impossible, as ap- pears from chap. iv. 5, where exjiress admoni- tion is given to do this. But for earthly gold, for a price, it is not for sale, and especially not for the fool, who has no understanding. For the last clause, "and heart, understanding, is not, does not exist," compare the substantially equivalent expression in I's. xxxii. 9; also Jer. v. 21, etc. CHAP. XVII. 1-28. 163 Ver. 17. Compare xviii. 24; also Ecclesiast. xii. 7. — But the brother is born of ad- versity. The ideas " IViend" and "brother" are rehiicd the cue as the climax of the other. The "friend," the companion with whom one preserves a friendly intercourse cherishes a con- stant good-will toward his comrade; but it is only necessity that develops him further into a " brother," as it gives the opportunity to attest his loving disposition by offerings of love, such as in truth only one brother makes for another. Comp. Ennius, in Cic. Litl. c. 17: Amicus ccrlus in re incerta cernitur ; and also the Arabic pro- verb (Sent. 53 in Erpenius Gramm.) : "The friend one finds out not till one needs him." — "Iz-V "he is born," as a new being, into the new conditions of the actual, brotherly relation. n"li*7 must here mean " of adversity" (Hitzig, K.), not "in adversity" (Umbeiut, N.), or "for adversity" (Ewald, Bertheait, Elster, De W., S., M., etc.). [The grammatical justification of Z.'s view is found mainly in the fact that 7 is ordinarily used when in a passive construction the efficient cause is to be expressed : see Gesex. Lehrr/ch. I 221, Rod. Gesen. Heb. Gram. | 1-10. 2. Of course it may also denote the final cause. — A.] — For ver. 18 compare vi. 1-5; xi. 15. Ver. 19. AVith clause a compare James i. 20; ■with 6, Prov. xvi. 18. — Who buildeth high his doors ; i. e. seeks to transform his simjile residence into a proud and splendid edifice, liut by that very process only hastens its " destruc- tion " (lit., "shattering, downfall," comp. the similar term in x. 14, etc.). [Sharpk's TcxIs of Bible explained, etc. : "Private houses were some- times built ostentatiously with a lofty gateway which would naturally breed jealousy in the neighbors, and invite the visits of the tax- gatherer; and in a time when law was weak and property very unsafe, might easily lead to the ruin of its owner." — A.] The sentiment is therefore directed against pride as the chief source of a quarrelsome spirit, and the most common cause of ruinous contention. Ver. 2i). With clause a compare xi. 20: xvi. 20. — He that ■wandereth with his tongue, i. e. speaks now this way, no\v that; therefore has a deceitful tongue, "a wayward tongue," s. 31 (comp. viii. 13). — Falleth into evil; see xiii. 17. Observe the climax existing in the negative expression "no good " iu a, and this " evil." 3. Vers. 21-28. Proverbs of various content, directed especially against want of sense, and loquacity. — He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his ov/n sorrow. Comp. x. 1, xviii. 13; and the converse of the thought here presented, chap, xxiii. 24 ; also xv. 20. Ver. 22. A joyous heart promoteth health. See critical note. For the sentiment comp. XV. 13; with clause b in particular, iii. 8. Ver. 23. A gift from the bosom a wicked man will receive. "From tlie bosom,"?, e. secretly and stealthily; comp. xxi. 14. The term -gift" is here used naturally of unlawful bribery. — AVith clause b compare xviii. 5; Am. ii. 7. Ver. 24. Before the face of the wise is wisdom. "Before the face," here it would seem •' very near" and therefore "close before the face" (Bertheau, Elster, etc.): or ao-ain with ZiEGLER, Hitzig, etc., the explanation may be in accordance with Deut. xvi. l(j, " AVisdoia floats before the man of understanding, he has it in his eye" (comp. xv. 14). — But the eyes of the fool (range) to the end of the eartli, i. e. "his mind is not on the subject, but roams in undefined, shadowy distance " (Hitzig) ; he tliinks of many and various things, on every possible thing. — only not of the very thing that is needful and important ; comp. iv. 25. — Ver. 25. Comp. ver. 21 and x. 1. Ver. 2'). Also to punish the righteous is not good, to smite the noble contrary to right. Tlie also (DJj plainly gives prominence to the verb that immediately follows, and this verb should be allowed to retainits ordinary signi- fication, "to punish with a fine, to impose a pecuniary fine" (comp. xxii. 8). The fine as a comparatively light penalty, which may easily at one time or another fall with a certain justice even on a "just " man {e. g. when he from inad- vertence has in some way injured the property of another), stands contrasted with the much se- verer punishment with stripes; and as these two verbal ideas are related, so are also the predi- cates "not good" (comp. ver. 20), and "con- tniry to right" (above desert, beyond all pro- portion to the just and reasonable), in the relation of a climax. On the other hand the "rigliteous" and the "noble" (as in ver. 7) are essentially persons of the same class. The pro- verb, which evidently contains an admonition to mild and reasonable treatment of upright men, or a warning against the inhuman enfoi-ce- ment of penal laws upon active and meritorious citizens, has been in many ways misunderstood and falsely applied ; and this is true of most of the recent expositors nith the exception of Um- BREiT, who alone interprets with entire correct- ness. (Bertheau and Elster are also essential- ly right, except that they do not take the "ll^'-^j; "contrary to right" as the predicate, but are disposed to connect it by way of more exact definition with the phrase " to smite the noble "). [The LXX, Vulg., followed by the E. V., AV., M., 11., N., render " for their equity." S. and K. agree with Z., both in the meaning and the pre- dicative construction. — A.] Ver. 27. AVith a comp. x. 19. — And he that is of a quiet temper. Comp. the opposite of the "coolness of spirit" here, intended {i. e. cautious, moderate, quietly considerate deport- ment); Ps. xxxix. 3 (4).— Ver. 28. Comp. Job xiii. 5; Prov. x. 19, etc. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. The introductory verse with its commendation of contentment and a peaceable spirit at the same time, or of contentment as the source and basis of a peaceable disposition and conduct, may be regarded as a prefatory announcement of the main subject of the chapter. Contentment U furthermore commended (at least indirectly) in vers. 2, 5, 8, IG, 19, 22-24; a peaceable and for- bearing disposition in vers. 4, 9-15, 17, 19, 20, 164 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 26. — The summons which comes out in the open- ing verses, 1-9, to combine with contentment the appropriate restraint and regulation of the tongue, — or to be abstemious not merely icith the mouth but with the tongue (by truthfulness and gen- tleness in speech, and by a taciturn disposition, yer. 28), — recurs again in the last two verses. It may therefore to a certain extent be regarded as in general the fundamental idea of the entire section In the asceticism of the early Church and of the monasticism of the middle ages, this idea that there must be an inward organic coex- istence of bodily and spiritual fasting, or that one should bring the tongue under a serious and strict discipline, as the organ not merely of taste, but also of speech, found as is well known only too prolific practical appreciation. For, appeal- ing to the supposed model of Christ's forty days of fasting in the wilderness, men added to the injunctions of fasting unnaturally strict pre- scriptions of silence in many forms (see my "Critical History of Asceticism," pp. 297 sq.). Apart from these extravagances and exaggera- tions, the organic connection, and living reci- procity of inflnence between the activity of the tongue as an organ of taste and an organ of speech, such as exists in every man, is a matter deserving distinct recognition ; and sins of the toncrue in both directions must be with all earn- estness shunned, and together subdued and de- stroyed (comp. James iii. 22). Other ethical sentiments of special value and compass are found in ver. 4 : the heavy guilt not only of the tempter, but also of the tempted, who, on account of his inward corruption and vileness, gives a ready hearing to the evil solici- tations of the former; comp. James i. 14 sq. — Ver. 6. The blessing of a consecrated domestic life, as it shows itself in both the parents and their posterity, in their mutual relations and demeanor. The opposite of this appears in vers. 21, 25. Ver. 16. The pricelessness of true wisdom, and the worthlessness of earthly possessions and treasures in the hand of a fool. Ver. 17. The great worth of a true friend in time of need. Ver. 26. The necessity of a mild, considerate bearing on the part of persons in judicial and magisterial station, toward deserving citizens of the state, in cases where they have perchance gone astray or come short of duty. Comp. the exegetical remarks on this passage. [L.\wsoN, ver. 4: "Wicked men have a great treasure of evil in their hearts, and yet have not enough to satisfy their own corrupt dispositions. Ver. 1-5. Justifying the wicked has an appear- ance of mercy in it, but there is cruelty to mil- lions in unreasonable acts of mercy to individu- als.— Ministers are guilty of the sin of condemn- ing the righteous when they preach doctrines unscripturally rigid, making those things to be sinful which are not condemned in the word of God, or carrying the marks necessary to discover grace to a pitch too high to suit the generality of true Christians, or applying to particular persons those terrors that do not justly be- long to them. Such was the fault of Job's friends."] HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Ilomily on the entire chapter: A peaceable spirit and contentment as the sum of ail wisdom ; its opposite (contentiousness and foolish aspiring after things that are high, see especiall}' ver. 19) as the source of all failure in things temporal as well as spiritual. — Stocicer: Of true temperance in controlling all unseasonable debate and strife; ]) the causes of these last (vers. 4-13) ; 2) the most important means of averting them (14-19); 3) the serious injuries and disadvantages which grow out of them (20-28). Vers. 1-8. H.\sius (on ver. 2) : To attain to power and influence in this world more depends on understanding and prudence than on birth ond outward advantages. — Lange (on ver. 3) : All human investigations and theories concerning the interior world of thought in man are incon- clusive and deceptive. The searching of the heart of man is one of the kingly prerogatives of God. — [Trapp (on ver. 3): God tries us that He may make us know what is in us, what dross, what pure metal; and all may see that we are such as, for a need, can "glorify Him in the very fires " (Is. xxiv. 15). — Bridges (on ver. 4): The listening ears share the responsibility of the naughty tongue.] — ^Zeltner (on ver. 4) : Accord- ing as the heart and disposition of a man are moulded, he delights either in good or in evil discourse. — AVohlfarth (on ver. 7): Force not thyself above, degrade not. thyself below thy condition. — Von Gerlach (on'ver. 7) : The out- ward and the inward must always be in harmony, else a distorted and repulsive display results. As the fool cannot fitly speak of high things, so senseless must a falsehood appear to the noble. — Lange (on ver. 8) : Though one may effect much with an unjust judge by presents, how much better will it be if thou bringest thine heart to the Lord thy God as a gift and offering! Vers. 9-15. [Lord Bacon (on ver. 9): There are two ways of making peace and reconciling differences; the one begins with amnesty, the other with a recital of injuries, combined with apologies and excuses. Now I remember that it was the opinion of a very wise man and a great politician, that "he who negotiates a peace, without recapitulating the grounds of difference, rather deludes the minds of the parties by repre- senting the sweetness of concord, than reconciles them by equitable adjustment." But Solomon, a wiser man than he, is of a contrary' opinion, approving of amnesty and forbidding recapitula- tion of the ])ast. For in it are these disadvan- tages; it is as the chafing of a sore ; it creates the risk of a new quarrel (for the parties will never agree as to the proportions of injuries on either side) ; and, lastly, it brings it to a matter of apologies ; whereas either party would rather be thought to have forgiven an injury than to have accepted an excuse.] — Melanciithon (on vers. 9-12): As the monitor must show sincerity and love of truth, and guard against a slander- ous love of censure, so in him who is admon- ished, there is becoming a readiness to be in- structed, and both must keep themselves free from (bthweiKia, from an ambitious quarrelsome- ness.— Cramer.(ou ver. 10) : To him who is of a CHAP. XVIII. 1-24. 165 noble sort words of rebuke are more grievous than blows, and he yields to the discipline of mere words. — Stauks (on ver. 13) : If Goil sharply punishes ingratitude, from this it is also evident how dear to Hiui, on the olher hand, thankfulness must be. — (Un ver, 14): From a little spark a great fire may arise (.James iii.5) ; but he who buries in the aslies the kindling con- tention may thereby avert a great disaster. — [TuAPP (on ver. 10) : The fool is beaten, but not bent to goodness ; amerced but not amended- — (On ver. 13) : To render good for evil is Divine, good for good is human, evil for evil is brutish, evil for good is devilish. — Bridges (on ver. 15): If God justifies the wicked, it is on account of righteousness. If he condemn the just, it is on the imputation of unrighteousness. Nowhere throughout the universe do the moral perfections of the Governor of the world shine so gloriously as at the Cross of Calvary.] Ver. 16-22. Zeltner (on ver. 17): The most reliable and faitiiful friend, on whom one may depend most confidently in the very time of need, is the Lord Jesus. Strive for His friend- ship above all things, and thou hast treasure enough !—[Arxot (on ver. 17): In the Scrip- tures we leai-n where the fountain of true friend- ship lies, what is its nature, why its flow is im- peded now, and when it shall be all over like tlie waves of the sea. Our best friendship is due to our best friend. He deserves it and desires it. The heart of the man Christ Jesus yearns for the reciprocated love of saved men, and grieves when it is not given.]. — Starke (on ver. 19) : He who first leaves room for one sin falls afterward into many others. — Contention and pride are almost always sisters, and of a most destructive sort. — Vo.\ Gerlach (on ver. 22) : The heart, the fountain of life, works to bless the whole of man's condition when it is really sound, i. e., when the grace of Jesus Christ has healed and renewed it. — [Trapp (on ver. 22) : When faith Jiath once healed the conscience, and grace hath hushed the affection, and composed all within, so that there is a Sabbath of spirit, and a blessed tranquility lodged in the soul; then the body also is vigorous and vigetous, for most part in very good plight and healthful constitution, which mikes man's life very comfortable. — Bridges (on ver. 22) : Liveliness needs a guard lest it should degenerate into levity; a grave tempera- ment lest it should sink into morbid dei^ression. Cliristian principle on both siiles is the princi- ple of enlarged happiness and steady consist- ency.] Ver. 23-28. Starke (on ver. 24) : The more one gapes after vanity, the more foolish does the heart become. — (On ver. 25): A wise father lias indeed now and then a foolish son ; if he has not himself perchance deserved this, by neglect in education, let him bear his cross with patience. — (On ver, 2()): He sins doubly who declares evil good, and besides visits the goodness of a rigliteous man with penalties. — Berleburg Bible (on vers. 27, 28) : It is better to say nothing than foolish things. — Von Gerlach (on ver. 28): By silence a fool abates sometliing of his sense- lessness, and since he gets the opportunity to collect himself and to reflect, a beginning of wisdom is developed in him. y) Admonition to affability, fidelity in friendship, and the other virtues of social life. Chap. XVIII. 1 He that separateth himself seeketh his own i^leasure ; against all counsel doth he rush on. 2 A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may reveal itself. 3 When wickedness cometh then cometh contempt, aud with shameful deeds reproach. 4 Deep waters are the words of man's mouth ; the fountain of wisdom is a flowing brook. 5 To have regard to the wicked is not good, (nor) to oppress the righteous in judgment. 6 The lips of the fool engage in strife, and his mouth calleth for stripes. 7 The mouth of the i'ool is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul. 8 The words of a slanderer are words of sport, but they go down into the innermost parts of the body. 9 He also who is slothful in his work is brother to the destroyer. 1G6 THE TROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 10 A strong tower is the name of Jehovah ; the righteous ruuueth to it and is safe. 11 The possessions of the rich are his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit. 12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility. 13 He that answereth before he hath heard, it is folly and shame to him. 14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, but a wounded spirit — who can bear? 15 An understanding heart gaineth knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. 16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before the great. 17 He that is first is righteous in his controversy; then Cometh his neighbor and searcheth him out. 18 The lot causeth contentions to cease, and decideth between the mighty. 19 A brother resisteth more than a strong city, and (such) contentions are as the liars of a palace. 20 With the fruit of a man's mouth shall his body be satisfied; with the revenue of his lips shall he be filled. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue ; he that loveth it shall eat its fruit. 22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and shall obtain favor of Jehovah. 23 The poor shall use entreaties, and the rich will answer roughly. 24 A man of (many) friends will prove himself base, but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 1. — It would perhaps be admissible with Hitzig (following the LXX and Tulg.) to exchange niXH/ for the rarer njXh*? ("Judg. xiv. 4), from which we should obtain the meaning "He that separateth himself seeketh after an occasion (of Strife);" Vulg.: Occasimies quserit, qui vult recedere ab amico. For the use of Vp^ with 3 see also Job x. 6. [The E. V. in the text understands the 3 as indicating the condition, and so supplying the motive of the seeker; the reading of the margin is "according to his desire." H., N., S., M., etc., agree with our author in connecting it with the object desired. The views of commentators, which are very div..u-se, may be ibaml in coiisideiable number in Muenscher, in loco. — A.] Ver. 3.— Instead of JJt^T we shall be obliged, wiih J. D. Micuaelis, Hitzig, Umbreit, dc, to point J,'C?1 as the parallel ?l7p (i. e., "infamy, infamous conduct," turpiludo) indicates. A'er. 6.— [A masc. verb again with the fem. noun 'jIBty, as in ver. 2; x. 21, 32; xv. 7. — A.] Ver. 10. — Without any necessity Hitzig proposes to read □•IT instead of V-IIN and to translate " by it (the name of T I T Jehovah) riseth up hiah." [Rueetschi (as above, p. 147) concurs in rejecting both TTitzig's emendation and his conception of the proposition. He justifies by examples like 1 Kings x 26; 1 Sara xxv. 26; Joshua xxiii. 7, efc, the use of 2 after verbs of motion,— and suggests that the concluding participle marks the quicic and sure result of the preceding act. — A.j Ver. 17. — The K'ri' X3-1 ; the K'thibh is perhaps more appropriately XD'. T , T . A'er. 19.— The LXX aud Vulg. appear to liave read ^'U'lJ Oor;eou>ecos, adjnvattir) instead of ^'D'D J ; Hitzig proposes to read by emendation J'tyi) THN, " to shut out siu is better than a strong tower," etc. Ver. 24.— JJ^^nnn*?, which is probably to be derived from the root J7"1, J7>'"1, and to be regarded as the reflexive of the Intensive forni (comp. the Niphal form n'lT. chap. xi. 10), must have the copula riTI supplied to give a full verbal •'- ■■ T T sense (comp. chap. xix. 8): it therefore means '-is to prove himself base, serves for thi.s, to show liimself base (i. c, here specifically an uuwortliy comrade, a bad friend)." The alliteration which is doubtless intentional between D'^'l and ^J?i"ir\n led even the early translators (Syr., Clinld., Vulg., and also Theodot.) to derive the latter word from n>n. asso- dare, and accordingly to explain it by "to make one's self a friend, to cultivate friendly intercourse" (comp. Vs. Ixv. 4). So recently Hitzig : " There are companions for sociability,"— for hu also reads t^' (or l^H, Mic. vi. 10) for t^'N, appealing to the Syr. and Chald., who appear to have read the text in the same way. [Bott. supports this emendation or re.storation (? 458, 2,) and proposes wiiliout asserting tlm derivatijn of ibe verb from ^'1, as a denominative (g 1120. 2^]. lint jy'X is proved to bo original by the Vulg., Theodoket, etc.; and between clauses a and 6 there appears to be a proper an- CHAP. XVIII. 1-24. 167 tithesis and Tint merely a cliiii;ix. Tliis strictly antithetic relation is also iiiturl'tM-t'il \vi;h by the method of explanatioa adopted by those wlio, liko Ujibreit, Elster, etc., render tlie verb liy '• ruin thelll^elves, make tliemselves trouble ;" ( Ewald's conception resembles this, except as it has a stul more artificial double import ■■ must be a friend to trouble ") ; the result lollows no less Irom the derivation from I'-ll, juOilare (so the Vers. Veuet.: dcijp <{>t.\'D here and in xix. 6 undoubtedly equivalent to I T ~ inii' in chap. xvii. 8, and therefore used of law- ful presents, and proofs of generosity, whose beneficent results are here emphasized, as also there, without any incidental censure or irony (as many of the old expositors, and also Umbreit hold). Altogether too far-fetched is Hitzig's idea that the "gift" is here "spiritual endow- ments or abilities," and is therefore substantially like the xApi'^."f- of the N. T. 3. Vers. 17-21. Ag.iinst love of contention and misuse of tlie tongue. — He that is first is righteous in his controversy ; i. e-. one thinks tliat, he is altogetlier and only right in a disputed matter, — then sud'i^£)J, which, according to the accents, is predi- cate of the clause, is to be taken in the sense of "setting one's self in opposition, resisting." Now a brother who resisteth or defieth more than a strong city is necessarily an alienated or litigious brother. Furthermore the whole con- nection of the verse points to this closer limita- tion of the idea of "brother," and especially the second clause, which aims to represent the difficulty of subduing the passion once set free, under the figure of the bars of a fortress, hard to thrust back or to burst. Ver. 20. Comp. xii. 14; xiii. 2. Ver. 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Comp. James iii. 5 sq. ; and also the Egyptian proverb: y'/foaaa rvxri. yluaaa 6ai/j.uv (Pi.uTARcii, Is. p. 378). — He thatloveth it shall eat of its fruit; /. e. he that suitably employs himself with it, employs much diligence in using it in discourse, whether it be with good or bad intent, as ev/^oyibv or KaKn?.()-}(Jr, blessing or cui-sing, (James iii. 9; comp. 1 Cor. xii. 3), will experience in himself the effects of its use or its abuse. Against the one-sided application of this "loving the tongue" to loquacity (Hit- ziG), is to be adduced the double nature of the expression in the first clause, as well as the ana- logy of the preceding verse. — The LXX (ol npa- Tovvreg avrf/g) seem to have read ri'm^^ (those laying hold upon it) instead of iT^nX, but this reading can hardly have been the original; comp. rather viii. 17, where the verb "to love" expresses essentially the same idea as here, that of a cherishing and cultivating or careful developing. 4. Vers. 22-24. Of conjugal, neighborly and frieiully affection. — Whoso findeth a ■wife findeth a good thing. It is naturally a good wife that is meant, a partner and head of the household such as she should be, a wife who really stands by her hu.sband's side as a "help- meet for him" (Gen. ii. 18, 20). The epithet "good," which the LXX, Vulg , etc., express, is therefore superfluous (comp. also xix. 14; xxxi. 10), and is probably quite as little an element in the original as that which in the same version is appended to our verse: "He that putleth away a good wife putteth away happiness, and he that keepeth an adulteress is foolish and ungoiily." With clause b compare furthermore iii. 13; xii. 2; Ecclesiast. xxvi. 3. [Arxot's view is more defensible: The text which intimates that a pru- dent wife is from the Lord tells a truth, but it is one of the most obvious of truths: the text which intimates that a wife is a favor fi-om the Lord, without expresslj' stipulating for licr per- sonal character, goes higher up in the hi!^tory of providence, and deeper into the wisdom of God. So substantially Mcffet, L.vwsox and others]. Ver. 23. The poor useth entreaties, but the rich answereth roughly, lit., " opposeth CHAP. XVIII. 1-24. 169 hard things " (contrasted with the supplications of clause «). Comp. the similar proverbs di- rected against tlie hardness of heart of the rich : chap. xiv. 21 ; xvii. 5. Ver. 24. A man of many friends will prove himsslf base. The "man of friends." of many friends, the "friend of all the world," will show himself a bad friend, — he with whom is contrasted in clause b the instance which is indeed rare and isolated, of a true friendly love, whicli endures in every extremity (xvii. 17), and even surpasses the devotion of oae who is a brother by nature. See Critical notes for an exhibition of the many meanings found in the verse, etc. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. That the chapter before us treats mainly of the virtues of social life, of sociability, affability, love of friends, compassion, etc., appears not merely from its initial and concluding sentences, the first of which is directed against misanthro- pic selfishness, the latter against thoughtless and inconstant universal friendship, or seeming friendship, but also from the various rebukes which it contains of a contentious, quarrelsome and partizan disposition, e. g. vers. 5, 6, 8, 17-21. But in addition, most of the propositions that seem to be more remote, may be brought under this general category of love to neighbors as tlie living basis and sum of all social virtues ; so especially the testimonies against wild, foolish talking (vers. 2, 7, 13, comp. 4 and 15); that against bold impiety, proud dispositions and hardness of heart against the poor (vers. 3, 12, 23) ; that against slothfulness in the duties of one's calling, foolish confidence in earthly riches, and want of true moral courage and confidence in God (vers. 9-11; comp. 14). Nay, even the commendation of a large liberality as a means of gaining for one's self favor and influence in human society (ver. 16), and likewise the praise of an excellent mistress of a family, are quite closely connected with this main subject of the chapter, which admonishes to love toward one's fellow-men; they only show the many-sided completeness with which this theme is here treated. [Ch.\lmeks : — Verse 2 is a notabilo. Let me restrain the vanity or the excessive appetite for sympathy which inclines me to lay myself bare before my fellow-men. — Lawson (on ver. 13) : — "Ministers of the word of God are instructed by this rule, not to be rash with their mouths to utter anything as the word of God in the pulpit, but to consider well what they are to say in the name of tlie Lord ; and to use due deliberation and inquiry before they give their judgment in cases of conscience, lest they should make sins and duties which God never made, e/c."]. Therefore as a homily on the chapter as a whole: — Of love (true love for the sake of God and Christ) as the "bond of perfectness," which must enfold all men, and unite them in one fel- lowsliip of the children of God. — Or again: On the dilference between true and false friendship (with special reference to ver. 24.) — Stocker: — Against division (alienation, contention) between friends. Its main causes are: 1) Within the sphere of the Church impiety (vers. 1-4) ; 2j Within the sphere of civil life, pride and injus- tice (vers. 5-10) ; 3) In domestic life, want of love (vers. 19-24). — Calwer Ilandbuch :— Testimony against the faults which chiefly harm human so- ciety. Vers. 1-9. Geier (on ver. 1) : — Love of sepa- ration [singularitatis studium) is the source of most contentions in Church and State. — (On ver. 4) : — Eloquence is a noble thing, especially when its source is a lieart hallowed by tiie Holy Ghost. — Berleburg Bible: — When the soul has once at- tained steadfastness in God, then words go forth from the moutli like deep waters, to instruct others and to help them; for it is a spring of water, inasmuch as the soul is in the Fountain. — Starke (on ver. 6) : — Calumniators do not merely often start contentions; they themselves seldom escape unsmitten. — Von Gerlach (on ver. 9) : — Slothfulness leads to the same end as extravagance. Vers. 10-16. Von Gerlach (on ver. 10): — The name of Jehovah (He that is) reveals to us His eternally immutable essence; in this there is given to mutable man living here in time the firmest ground of confidence, by which he may hold liimself upright in trouble. — Starke (on ver. 11): — Money and property can, it is true, accomplish much in outwaid matters ; but in the hour of temptation and in the day of judgment it is all merely a broken reed. — [Briuges (on vers. 10, 11): — Every man is as his trust. A trust in God communicates a divine and lofty spirit. We feel that we are surrounded with God, and dwelling on high with Him. A vain trust brings a vain and proud heart — ^the imme- diate forerunner of ruin. — Bates (on ver. 10, 11) : — Covetousness deposes God, and places the world, the idol of men's heads and hearts, on His throne ; it deprives Him of His regalia. His royal prerogatives, etc. The rich man will trust God no further than according to visible supplies and means]. — Zeltner (on ver. 14) : — Wouldst thou have a sound body ; then see to it that thou hast a joyful lieart and a good courage, a heart which is assured of the grace of God and well content with His fatherly ordaining. — [T. Adams (on ver. 14) : The pain of the body is but the body of pain ; the very soul of sorrow is the sorrow of the soul. — Flavel:— No poniards are so mortal as the wounds of conscience. — Water- L.\ND : — On the misery of a dejected mind]. Vers. 17-21. [Lord Bacon (on ver. 17) : — In every cause the first information, if it have dwelt for a little in the judge's mind, takes deep root, and colors and takes possession of it ; insomuch that it will hardly be washed out, unless either some clear falsehood be detected, or some deceit in the statement thereof .^Arxot : — Self-love is the twist in the lieart within, and self-interest is the side to which the variation irom right- eousness steadily tends in fallen and distorted nature.] — Stauke (on ver. 17): — He that hath a just cause is well pleased when it is thoroughly examined ; for his innocence comes out the more clearly to view. — Zeltner (on ver. 19) : — The sweeter the wine the sharper the vinegar; ac- cordingly the greater the love implanted by nature, the more bitter the hate where this love 170 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. is violated. — [TRAPp(onver. 19): — No war breaks out sooner or lasts longer, than that among divines, or as that, about the sacrament ; a sacra- ment of love, a communion, and yet the occasion, by accident, of much dissension]. — Tabimjen Bible (on ver. 20, 21) : — Speali and be silent at the right time and in the divine order, and thou shall be wise and blessed. Ver. 22. Luther (marginal note on ver. 22) : The married who is truly Christian knows that, even though sometimes things are badly matched, still his marriage relation is well pleasing to God, as His creation and ordinance ; and what he therein does or endures, passes as done or suffered for God. — Stocicer : Praise of an ex- cellent wife [prohmconjugis comniendatio) : 1) how such a one may be found; 2) what blessing her husband has in her. — Zeltner: The great mys- tery of Christ and His church (Eph. v. 32) must ever be to married Christians the type and model of their relation. — Von Gerlach : The great blessing of a pious wife can only be found, not won or gained by one's own merit. Vers. 2.3, 24. Starke (on ver. 23): If poor men must often enough knock in vain at the doors and hearts of the rich of this world, this should be to them only an impulse, to plead and to call the more on God who surely hears them. (On vers. 24): Pour out your heart before the Lord in every extremity ; He is a friend whose friendship never dies out. — Von Gerlach (oa ver. 24) : The number of one's friends is not the thing, — they are often false, unfaithful, and for- sake us in misfortunn. Let none despair for that reason; tliere are Iriends who are more closely and intimately joini'il to us than even brothers. — ■ [Arnot: The brother and the friend are, through the goodness of God, with more or less of imper- fection, often found among our fellows; but they are complete only in Him who is the fellow of the Almighty.] 6) Admonition to humility, mildness, and gentleness. Chap. XIX. 1 Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in speech and is a fooL 2 Where the soul hath no knowledge there likewise is no good, and he that is of a hasty foot goeth astray. 3 The foolishness of man ruiueth his way, yet against Jehovah is his heart angry. 4 Wealth maketh many friends, but the poor is parted from his friend. 5 A false witness shall not go unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. 6 Many court the favor of the noble, and every one is friend to him that giveth. 7 All the brethren of the poor hate him, how much more doth his acquaintance withdraw ; — he seeketh words (of friendship) and there are none. 8 He that getteth understanding loveth his soul, he that keepeth wisdom shall find good. 9 A false witness shall not go unpunished, he that speaketh lies sliall perish. 10 Luxury becometh not the fool, much less that a servant rule over princes. 11 The discretion of a man delayeth his anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. 12 The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion, but as dew upon the grass is his favor. 13 A foolish son is trouble upon trouble to his father, and the contentions of a wife tire a continual dropping. 14 House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but from Jehovah cometh a prudent wife. CHAP. XIX. 1-29. 17; 15 Slothfulness sinketh into inaction, and an idle soul shall hunger. 16 He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul, he that despiseth his ways shall die. 17 He lendeth to the Lord, that hath pity on the poor, and his bounty will He requite for him. 18 Correct thy son while there is still hope, but to slay him thou shalt not seek. 19 A man of great wrath suffereth punishment, for if thou wardest it off thou must do it again. 20 Hearken to counsel and receive instruction, that thou niayest be wise afterward. 21 There are many devices in a man's heart, but Jehovah's counsel, that shall stand. 22 A man's delight (glory) is his beneficence, and better is a poor man than a liar. 23 The fear of Jehovah tendeth to life; one abideth satisfied, and cannot be visited of evil. 24 The slothful thrusteth his hand in the dish, and will not even raise it to his mouth again. 25 Smite the scorner and the simple will be wise, reprove the prudent and he will understand wisdom. 26 He that doeth violence to his father, and chaseth away his motlier, / is a son that bringeth shame and causeth disgrace. 27 Cease, my son, to hear instruction to depart from the words of wisdom. 28 A worthless witness scoffeth at judgment, and the mouth of the wicked devoureth mischief. 29 Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 15. AU'igether unnecessarily HiTzia proposes to read TDj"1 instead of TSH and Dmn instead ol . _ ' T : nOT^n, and translates " slutlitulue:^ gives tasteless herbs to eat." [K. calls this a "remarkable alteration of the text;" T •• : - and BUEETSCHI pronounces it "nothing but a shrewd fancy of Hitzig's"]. Ver. 16. Instead of the K'thibh iTD-l') "shall be put to death," (the familiar expression of the Mosaic law for the infliction of the death penalty), the K'ri reads more mildly j"|!|0'. which is probably original in chap. xv. 10, but not T here. — Instead of TlTI^ IIitzig reads in accordance with Jer. iii. 13 TI13 : " He that scattereth his ways," but by this process reaches a meaning undoubtedly much too artificial, which furthermore is not sufficiently justified by an appeal to xi. 21 ; Job xxxi. 7. [While Gesen. makes the primary meaning of PITS " to tread under foot," Fuerst makes it "to T T scatter, divide, waste," and interprets the " dividing one's ways" as a want of conformity to the one established worstiip. This is in his view the antithesis to ■' keeping the cummandment." The only other passage in which he finds this literal meaning of the verb is Ps. Ixxiii. 20, wht-re Dii Wettb (see Coram, in loco) admits that this would be a simpler completion of the verse, but thinks himself obliged to take the verb, as has usually been done, in the sense of '• despise." Fuerst's rendering and antithesis seem preferable. — A.]. Ver. 19. Instead of the K'thibh ^TJ (which would probably require to be explained by "hard" or " frequent," as T : ScHULTENS and Ewald explain it from the Arabic), we must give the preference to the K'ri, which also has the support of the early translators [Fuerst takes the same view]. Uitzig's emendation, 70 j instead of '71J1 (he that dealeth in T : anger) is therefore superfliious. Ver. 23. J?1 " Calamity, evil" is attached to the passive verb TpD' as an accusative of more exact limitation. — UlTZlG reads instead of TJi)'' nn£3', so that the resulting meaning is : " one stretches himself (?) rests, fears no sorrow " (?). Vur. 25. n'Znn in clause 6 is either to be regarded as an unusual Imperative form (= nDID), [so B., M., S.], or, which is probably preferal le, as a finite verb with an indefinite pronoun to be supplied as its subject (rt^, quisquam, EiiKr, one); so Meeckb, Hiizig. [Fuerst calls it an Inf. coustr., and BoTT. would without hesitation read n'Dlj^ (2 1051, d).-A.]. Ver. 27. HiTzic, alters _J^"bu?7 to "['OB'S which .according to Arabic analogies is to be interpreted " to be rebellious, to reject." 172 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, EXEGETICAL. 1. Ver. 1-7. Aclmon. ions to meekness and ten- derness as they are to be munifested especially toward tlie poor. — Better is a poor man that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in speech and is a fool. The "crooked in lips" (comp. the crooked or per- verse in heart, xi. 20; xvii. 120) is here doubtless the proud man who haughtily and scornfully mis- uses his lips; for to refer the expression to strange and false utterances is less natural on account of Jhe antithesis to " the poor " in clause a. The ideas contrasted are on the one hand that of the "poor" and therefore humble, and «' perverse of lips," and on the other hand the pre- dicates to these conceptions, "walking in inno- cence," and the "fool" {i. e., foolish and un- godly at the same time, the direct opposite of humble innocence). There is therefore no need of substituting some such word as TLy;^ (rich, mighty) for Vp3 (the fool), as the Syr., Vulg. and HiTziG do, nor yet of conceiving of the fool as the "rich fool," as most of the later interpreters judge. Chap, xxviii. 6, where, with a perfect identity in the first clauses, the "rich" is after- ward mentioned instead of the "fool," cannot de- cide the meaning of this latter expression, because the second member differs in other respects also from that of the proverb before us, "his ways" being mentioned instead of "his lips." Ver. 2. Where the soul hatli no knoTV- ledge there likewise is no good. DJ, also, stands separated by Ilijperbaton from the word to which it immediately relates, as in chap. xx. 11 (see remarks above on xiii. 10) ; the " not- knowing" of the soul, is by the parallel "of hasty foot," in clause b, more exactly defined as a want of reflection and consideration; the soul finally, is here essentially the desiring soul, or if one chooses, the "desire," the very longing after enjoyment and possession (comp. xiii. 2; xvi. 26). So likewise " he that hasteth with bis feet" is undoubtedly to be conceived of as one striving fiercely and passionately for wealth ; comp. the " hasting to be rich," chap, xxvii. 20, and also 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. Ver. 3. The foolishness of man ruineth his Tvay. The verb ^^D is not " to make rug- ged or uneven" (Umbreit, Elster) but prsecipi- tare, " to hurl headlong, throw prostrate, bring suddenly down," which is its ordinary meaning; comp. xiii. G ; xxi. 12. The verb in clause b is to rage, to murmur, /. e., here to accuse Jehovah as the author of the calamity ; comp. Ex. xvi. 8; Lam. iii. 39; Ecclesiast. xv. 11 sq. Ver. 4. Comp. xiv. 20; also, below, vers. 6 sq. — But the poor is parted from his friend, that is, because the latter wishes to have no fur- ther acquaintance with him, separates his way wholly from hiin; comp. ver. 7, b. Ver. 5. A false witness shall not go un- punished; comp. xvii. 5. and for the exi)ression "ultereth or breatheth out lies" in clause b, comp. chap. vi. 19; xiv. 5. The entire proverb occurs again in ver. 9, literally repeated as far as the " shall not escape " at the conclusion, for which in the second instance there appears " shall perish." HnziG it is true proposes also the exchange for the phrase "he that speaketh lies " in 9, b, " he that breatheth out evil ;" but t lie LXX can hardly be regarded as sufficiently reliable witnesses for the originality of this di- vergent reading. Ver. G. Many court the favor of the no- ble, lit. "stroke the face," i. e., flatter him (Job xi. 19) who is noble and at the same time liberal, him who is of noble rank (not precisely "a prince " in the specific sense, Elster) and at the same time of noble disposition, comp. xvii. 7, 26. If accordingly the "noble" expresses something morally valuable and excellent, the "gift" in clause b cannot express anj'thing morally repre- hensible, but must rather be employed in the sauv5 good sense as in xviii. 16. "The man of a gift " will therefore be the generous, he who gives cheerfully, and the " aggregate " or "mass" of friends (r?.!^ '3) whom he se- cures by his gifts, will be lawfully gained friends and not bribed or hired creatures. The right conception is expressed as early as the transla- tion of the Vulg., while the LXX, Chald. and Syr., embodying the common assumption which finds in the verse a censure of unlawful gifts for bri- bery, go so far as to read J,*'in~73 " every wicked man " (na^ 6 Kanuc, etc.). Ver. 7. Comp. ver. 4, b. — How much more do his acquaintance w^ithdraw^ from him. ^"}0 (comp. remarks on chap. xii. 26) we shall be obliged to fake here as an abstract with a col- lective sense (" his friendship "^ his friends), for only in this way is the plural of the verb to be explained (for which Hitzig arbitrarily pro- poses to write Pn")'). — He seeketh words (of friendship) — and there are none. In some such way as this we must explain the third clause, with which this verse seems remarkably enriched (comp. Umbreit and Elster on the passage) ; the K'thibh is to be adhered to, [so Bott. II., p. 60, n. 4) which evidently gives a better meaning than the K'ri, IPI lS in interpret- ing which so as to conform to the context ex- positors have vainly labored in many ways (c. ff. Ewald: "he that seeketh words, to him they belong;" in like manner Bertueau). — The LXX instead of this third clause, which does indeed stand in an exceptional form, like the fragmen- tary remnant of a longer proverb, have two whole verses; the second of these: 6 tvcMo. KaKorroiuv TE?.eaioi>pyEl KaKiav, ug 6e epsdO^ei ?.6ynvg, ov aw&fj- aerai ["he that does much harm perfects mis- chief; and he that uses provoking words shall not escape:" Brenton's Transl. of the LXX], seems at least to come tolerably near to the ori- ginal sense of the passage. Hitzio through se- veral emendations obtains from this the sense " He that is after gossip hatchetli mischief, hunting after words which are nothing." Otiiers, as Bertueau, c. ff., infer from the ov cw^'/aerat of the LXX, that the original text in- stead of ri?Sn X7 (they are not) exhibited £373] X7 (shall not escape), but they supply CHAP. XIX. 1-29. r, no definite proof tli:it, tliis is original. At an.y rate we must eoncluile tliat our present text is defective, iaasniuck as verses of three members in the main division of tlie Book of Proverbs wliich is now before us occur nowhere else. (This is otherwise, it is true, in Division I.; see remarlvs above on chap. vii. 22, 23, and also in the supplement of Hezekiah's men: Comp. In- trod.. ?^ 14). 2. Vers. 8-17. Further admonitions to mild- ness, patience, pity, and other prominent mani- festations of true wisdom. — He that getteth understanding (comp. xv. 32) loveth his soul; comp. the opposite, viii. 36; xxix. 2-4. For the construction of the predicate 3i£3 X)^p7 in clause b compare notes on xviii. 24 ; for the expression of chap. xvi. 20, etc. Ver. 9. Comp. notes on ver. 5. Ver. 10. Luxury becometh not the fool. Comp. xvii. 7 ; xxvi. 1 ; and for clause b, xxx. 22; Eccles. x. 7; Ecclesiast. xi. 5. — Inasmuch as luxury naturally and originally belongs only to princes and the like exalted personages, clause b stands as the climax of a. That "servants rule over princes " will, it is true, not readily occur among common slaves in their relation to their masters ; it may however the more easily happen at the courts of oriental despots, who frequently enough exalt their favorites of humble rank above all the nobles of the realm. Ver. 11. The discretion of a man delay- eth his anger, makes him patient, lit. "length- ens, prolongs liis anger," [in the sense of defers rather than extends it ; his patience is what is "lengthened out " and not his passion]; comp. Isa. xlviii. 9, as well as chap. xiv. 17, above, in regard to impatience as the token of a fool. — And his glory is to pass over transgression, lit., "to go away over transgression," comp. Mic. vii. 18. Ver. 12. Roaring like that of a lion is the v/rath of a king ; comp. xxvi. 2 ; also xvi. 14 ; xxviii. 15. With the figure of the sweetly re- freshing dew in clause b compare xvi. 15 ; Ps. Ixxii. G. Ver. 13. A foolish son is stroke upon stroke to his father. The plural " troubles, calamities," expresses the repetition, the suc- cession of many calamities; Umbreit and HiT- ziG therefore will translate " ruin upon ruin ;" comp. also ZtEOLER " a sea of evils." — And the brawling of a wife is a continual drop- ping; for this latter phrase see also xxvii. 1-3; a pertinent figure, reminding of the distilling of the dew in 12, 6, although contrasted with it in its impression. TJie scolding words of the bail wife are as it were the single drops of the steady rain, as her perpetual temper pours itself out. Ver. 14. .Comp. xviii. 22, and the German and English proverb according to which " marriages Are made in heaven" ["a proverb which," says Archbishop Trench, "it would have been quite impossible for all antiquity to have produced, or even remotely to have approached"]. — Ver. 15. Slothfulness sinketh into torpor ; lit., "causeth deep sleep to fall" (comp. Gen. ii. 21), brings upon man stupor and lethargy; comp. vi. 9, 10. — With clause b compare x. 4; xii. 23. — Ver. 16. With clause a comp. xvi. 17 ; Eccles. viii. 5. — He that taketh no heed to his w^ays shall die. — See critical notes. — Ver. 17. — With clause a compare xiv. 31 ; with b, xii. 14; with the general sentiment (which appears also in the Ai-abic collection of Meidani), Eccles. xi. 1 ; Matth. XXV. 40; Luke vi. 30-85. 8. Vers. 18-21. Admonition to gentleness in parents and children, with respect to the work of education. — Correct thy son while there is still hope, — that is, that he may reform and come to the true life. This last phrase "while there is hope" appears also in Job xi. 18 ; Jer. xxxi. 16 sq. — With 6 compare xxiii. 13. [Rueet- scHi calls attention to the deep import of this se- cond clause, ordinarily misunderstood. It is not a caution against excess of severity, but against the cruel kindness that kills by withholding sea- sonable correction. He suggests as further pa- r.-iUels xiii. 24 ; iii. 12 ; xxii. 15 ; Ecclesiast. xxx. l.-A.] Ver. 19. A man of great wrath suffereth punishment. — One "great of wrath" is one wlio has great wrath (Dan. xi. 44; 2 Kings xx!i. 13); comp. .Ter. xxxii. 19 : "One gi-oat in coun- sel."— For if thou wardest it off thou must do it again. — For this use of /'^r}, lit., " deli- ver,"— with reference to the ruinous action of angi-y and contentious men specifically to " avert or ward off" (Hitzig), comp. 2 Sam. xiv. 6. [But this very passage favors more the common rendering ; for the object is personal, which re- quires the meaning "take away, i. e., deliver," while the rendering preferred by Z. and Hitzio demands for the object the DJJ?, punishment, of clause a. De W., B., N., S., M., W. agree with this view, while K. supports the general idea of Z. — A.] The last phrase can express only the idea that such an interposition must be frequently repeated, and therefore that in spite of all efforts to the contrary the wrathful mau must still at last fall into calamity and punish- ment. The entire verse accordingly gives a rea- son for the dissuasion in ver. 18 against too vio- lent passion in the correction of disobedient children [but see the supplementary note in re- gard to the true meaning of clause i] ; yet this is not done in any such way that the " thou must do it again" would refer to frequent corrections, and so to the sure prospect of real reformation, as many of the older expositors maintain. Ver. 20. Comp. xii. 15. Afterward — lit., in thy future, comp. Job iii. 7; xlii. 12. — Ver. 21 gives the constant direction toward God which the wise conduct of tlie well trained son must take during his later life. Comp. xvi. 1, 9. 4. Vei-s. 22-29. Miscellaneous admonitions, re- lating especially to humanity, truthfulness, the fear of God, etc. — A man's delight is his be- neficence.— "Ipn (comp. note on iii. 3) is here to be taken in the sense of the active manifesta- tion of love, or charitableness, for it is not the loving disposition, but only its exhibition in li- beral" benefactions and off'erings prompted by love to others, that can be the object of man's longing, desire or delight: [Fuerst renders "zTer," ornament, honor.] Comp. Acts xx. 35: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." With this conception of clause a the preference 174 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. expressed in b best corresponds, — that of the poor and lowly to the "man of lies," i. e., the rich man who promises aid, and might give it, but as a selfish, hard-hearted man, still fails to render it. — The LXXandVulg. deviate somewhat in the first clause from the literal rendering of the original. From their readings, which more- over differ somewhat the one from the other, HiTzio has by combination reached what he rep- resents as the original meaning: "From the revenue (?) of a man comes his kind gift." Ver. 2-3. With a compare xiv. 27. — One abideth satisfied and cannot be visited of evil, — 1)ecause .Jeliovah does not suffer sucli as fear Him to hunger (s. 3), but in every way pro- tects, promotes and blesses them (x. 29 ; xiv. 20 ; xviii. 10, etc.). The subject of the verbs in clause b is strictly the possessor of the fear of God, the devout man. Ver. 24. The slothful thrusteth his hand in the dish, rlc. — .\n allusion to the well-known method of eating among Oriental nations, wliich needs no knife and fork. A similar figure to characterize the slothful is found in chap. xii. 27. Compare also the proverb in chap. xxvi. lo, ■which in the first half corresponds literally with the one before us. Ver. 2-">. Smite the scorner and the sim- ple ^Arill be ^vise. — Since the scorner, accord- ing to chap. xiii. 1 (see notes on this passage), " heareth not rebuke," but is absolutely irre- claimable, the simple who "becom.^tli wise" in view of the punishment with which the other is visited, will be such a one as is not yet quite a scorner, but is in danger of becoming so, and therefore must be deferred by fear of the pe- nalty. In contrast with this " simple" one who walks in the right way only bj^ constraint (comp. remarks on i. 4), the "man of understanding," he who is really prudent, learns at once on mere and simple reproof, because he has in general finer powers to discriminate between good and evil (Heb. v. 14), and has moreover a reliable tendency to good. Ver. 26. He that doeth violence to his father. — The verb IIH signifies "to assail vio- lently, roughly, to misuse," as in xxiv. 15; Ps. xvii. 9. — nn^n is then " to cause to flee, thrust or chase away." — With b compare xiii. 5 ; with lJ/'3^ in particidar x. 5. Ver. 27. Cease, my son, to hear instruc- tion to depart from the -words of w^isdom. — Two conceptions are possible: 1) The "instruc- tion" is that of wisdom itself, and therefore a good, wholesome discipline that leads to life; then the meaning of the verse can be only ironi- cal, presenting under the appearance of a dis- suasion from discipline in wisdom a very urgent counsel to hear and receive it (so Ew.^ld, Bkr- TirE.\u, Et.STER). [To call this "ironical" seems to us a misnomer. "Cease to hear in- struction only to despise it." What can be more direct or literally pertinent? Cease to iiear "for the departing," i. e., to tha end, with the sole result of departure. — .\.] 2) Tlie "instruc- tion " is evil and perverted, described in clause b as one that catises departure from the words of wisdom. Then tlie admonition is one seriously intended (thus most of the old expositors, and UniBREiT [W., H., N., S., etc.l). We must chooso for ourselves between the two interpretations, although the connection in which the proverb stands with the preceding verse seems to speak decidedly for the foriiier of the two. Ver. 28. A worthless ■witness scoffeth at judgment — /. c, by tne lies which he uttrrs. — And the mouth of the ■wicked devoureth mischief, — i. e., mischief is the object of liis pas- sionate desire; it is a real enjoyment to him to produce calamity ; he swallows it eagerly as if it were a sweet fruit (Job xx. 12 ; Is. xxviii. 4) : he " drinketh it in like water " (Job xv. IG). Thus apprehended the expression " to devour mischief or wrong" has nothing at all offensive in it, and we do not need either witli the Chaldee (comp. Geier, etc.) to get rid of it by exchanging the idea of "devouring" for that of "uttering," or in any other way; nor with Hitzig (following the LXX) to read instead of "mischief" (|1i<) "justice (p"}), and to translate accordingly "and the mouth of the wicked devoureth jus- tice." Ver. 29. Judgments are prepared for scorners and stripes for the back of fools. — The "scorners" are quite the same as the "fools," as the first clause of ver. 2-5 shows; and the "stripes " (the term the same as in xviii. 6) are a special form of "judicial penalties or judgments." The verse as a whole, with which chap. xiv. 3; xxvi. 3 should be compared, stands in the relation of an explanation to the preceding, especially to the idea that the wicked eagerly devours calamity. [Their eagerness is not for- gotten by a just God, and fitting judgments await them. — A.] DOCTRI>^AL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. In the considerably rich and varied contents of the chapter, that which stands forth most con- spicuously as the leading conception and central idea is the idoa of the gentleness and mildness to be manifested in intercourse with one's neigh- bors. Gentleness and an humble devotion, ready even for suffering, man ought to exhibit first of all toward God, against whom it is not proper to complain even in calamity (ver. 3), who is in all things to be trusted (vers. 14, 17). according to M'hose wise counsels it is needful always to shape the life (ver. 21), and in whose fear one should ever walk (ver. 23). Not less is a gentle de- meanor a duty for the married in their mutual intercourse (ver. 13, 14); for parents in the training of their children (vers. 18, 19. 25) ; for children toward their parents (vers. 20, 2H) : for the rich in dispensing benefactions among the poor (vers. 1, 4, 7, 22) ; for rulers and kings to- ward their subjects (ver. 12 ; comp. vers. 6, 10); for men in general in their intercourse with their neiglibors (ver. 11 ; comp. vers. 19, 27, 28). . By far the larger number of the jiroverbs in tlie chapter are therefore arranged with reference to this leading and underlying conception of gentleness ; the whole presents itself as a tho- rough unfolding of the praises and commenda- tions of meekness in the New Testament, which are well known ; e. g., Matth. v. 5 ; James i. 20, 21. — Only some single proverbs are less aptly CHAr. XIX. 1-29. 175 classified in this connection, such as the warning against hasty, inconsiderate, rash action (ver. 2); tlTat against untruthfulness (vers. 9, 28) ; against slothtulness (vers. 15, 24) ; against folly aiKl a mocking contempt of the holy (vers. 8, 16, 29). And yet these interspersed sentences of a some- what incongruous stamp do not by any means essentially disturb the connection of the whole which is maintained and ruled by the fundamen- tal idea of gentleness. Therefore we may very suitably, in the homi- letical treatment of the chapter as a whole, take this as the general subject : The praise of meek- ness, as it is to be exhibited, 1) in respect to God, by the quiet reception of His word (James i. 21), and bringing forth fruit with patience (Luke viii. 15): 2) in relation to one's neighbors, by humility, obedience, love, compassion, etc. — Comp. Stouker: Against contempt of poor neighbors: 1) Dissuasion from this peculiarly evil fruit of wrath and uncharitableness (vers. 1-15) ; 2) enumeration of some of the chief means to be used against wrath in general [ronedia. s. relinacula irse, vers. 16-29). — Wohlfarth : On contempt of the poor, and the moderation of anger. Vers. 1-7. Geier (on ver. 1) : To tlie pious poor it may impart a strong consolation, that notvrithstanding their poverty they are better esteemed in the sight of God than a thousand un- godly and foolish rich men. — BerUburg Bible (on ver. 1) : He who has nothing that is his own, who accounts himself the poorest of all men, who sees nothing good in himself, and yet with all this Stands in the uprightness of his heart and in all simplicity, is far more pleasing to God than the souls that are rich in endowments and in learn- ing, and yet despise and deride the simple.— Stakke (on ver. 4) : Art thou forsaken by thy friends, by father and mother, by all men, be of good comfort ! if it be only on account of good- ness, God will never forsake thee. — (On vers. 6, 7) : We often trust in men more than in God, but find vei-y often that this hope in men is abortive, and is brought to shame. — [Robert Hall (on ver. 2) : Sermon on the advantages of knowledge to the lower classes. — T. Adams (on ver. 4) : Solo- mon says not the rich man, but riches; it is the money, not the man, they hunt.] Vers. 8-17. [Muffet (on ver. 8) : Every one hath a heart, but every one possesseth not his heart. He possesseth his heart that, furnishing it with knowledge of the truth, holdeth his lieart firm and fast therein, not suifering his courage to fail, nor losing that good possession which he hath gotten. — Chalmers (on ver. 10): With all the preference here expressed for virtuous po- verty— the seemliness of rank and the violence done by the upstart rule of the lower over the higher, are not overlooked.] — Melanchth-on (on ver. 10) : The ungoverned and uneducated are in prosperous conditions only the more insolent and base, as, e.g., Rehoboam, wlien lie became king, Alexander the Great after his great victories, etc. — Tahingen Bible (on ver. 11) : It is great wisdom to boar injustice with patience, and to overcome and even to gain over one's persecutors with *^"- nefits, 1 Pet. ii. 19; Matth. v. 44 sq. — (On vers. 18, 14) : God's wise providence manifests itself very specially in the bestowal of good and pious partners in marriage. — Von Gerlach (on ver. 17): The poor the Lord regards as specially His own, and therefore adjusts those debts of theirs which they cannot pay. — Berleb. Bible: With that which the righteous man dispenses in bene- factions to the poor, he is serving God in his counsels with respect to men. — [Lord Bacon (on ver. 11): As for the first wrong, it does but of- fend the law ; but the revenge of that wrong put- teth the law out of olfice. Certainly, in taking revenge a man is but even with his enemy, but in passing it over he is superior. — Trapp (on ver. 11): The manlier any man is, the milder and readier to pass by an ofiFence. When any provoke us we say. We will be even with him. There is a way whereby we may be not even with him, but above him, and that is, forgive him. — Aunot: The only legitimate anger is a holy emotion directed against an unholy thing. Sin, and not our neighbor, must be its object; zeal for righteousness, and not our own pride, must be its distinguishing character. ^ — Muffet (on ver. 17) : The Lord will not only pay for the poor man, but requite him that gave alms with usury, returning great gifts for small. Give, then, thy house, and receive heaven ; give tran- sitory goods, and receive a durable substance ; give a cup of cold water and receive God's King- dom — W. Bates: As there are numerous exam- ples of God's blasting the covetous, so it is as vi- sible He prospers the merciful, sometimes hy a secret blessing dispensed by an invisible hand, and sometimes in succeeding their diligent en- deavors in their callings.] Ver. 18 21. Tiibingen Bible: Cruelty to children is no discipline. Wisdom is needful, that one iu the matter of strictness may do neither too much nor too little to them. — Zeltner: Too sharp makes a notched edge, and too great strictness harms more than it helps, not only in the disci- pline of children, but in all stations and rela- tions.— Starke (on ver. 21) : God is the best counsellor. Who ever enters upon His cause with Him must prosper in it. — [.J. Foster: The great collective whole of the "devices" of all hearts constitutes the grand complex scheme of the human race for their happiness. Respecting the object of every device God has His design. There is in the world a want of coalescence be- tween the designs of man and God; an estranged spirit of design on the part of man. God's design is fixed and paramount, and " shall stand."] Vers. 22-29. Melanchthon (on ver. 25) : Not all, it is true, are improved by the warning ex- ample of the correction which comes upon the wicked, but some, that is, those who are rational and not insane, those who hearken to admonition and follow it. — Starke (on ver. 25) : The final aim of all penalty should be the improvement as well of him who is punished as of others who m.ay there see themselves mirrored. — (On ver. 26) : He who would not experience shame and sorrow of heart from his children, let him accus- tom them seasonably to obedience, to the fear of God and reverence. — J. Lange: God's word is the right rule and measure of our life. Whoso- ever departs from this, his instruction is deceitful and ruinous. — Hasius (on ver. 29) : Every sin, whether great or small, has by God's ordinance 176 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. its dofiuite penalty. Happy he who recognizes this, and knows how to shun these puuish- ments. [Bp. Hall (on ver. 22) : That which should be the chief desire of a man is his beneficence and kindness to others; and if a rich man promise much and perform nothing, a poor man that is unable either to undertake or perforin is better than he. — Arnot: A poor man is better than a liar; a standard has been set up in the market place to measure the pretences of men withal, and those who will not employ it must take the con- sequences.— Chalmers (on ver. 23): Religion may begin with fear, but will end iu the sweets and satisfactions of a spontaneous and living principle of righteousness. — Bp. Sherlock (on ver. 27); Since the fears and apprehensions of guilt are such strong motives to infidelity, the innocence of the heart is absolutely necessary to the freedom of the mind. We must answer for the vanity of our reasonings as well as the vanity of our actions, and if we take pains to invent vain reasoning to oppose to the plain evidence that God has afforded us of His being and power, and to undermine the proofs and authority on which religion stands, we may be sure we shall not go unpunished.] e) Admonition to avoid drunkenness, sloth, a contentious spirit, eic Chap. XX. 1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink boisterous, whosoever is led astray thereby is not wise. 2 As the roaring of a lion is the dread of the king; he that provoketh him'sinneth against his own soul. 3 It is an honor to a man to dwell far from strife, but every fool breaketh forth. 4 The sluggard plougheth not because of the cold ; he seeketh in harvest and hath nothing. 5 Counsel in the heart of a man is as deep waters, but a wise man draweth it out. 6 Many proclaim each his own grace ; but a faithful man who can find ? 7 He who in his innocence walketh uprightly, blessed are his children after him ! 8 A king sitting on his throne, searcheth out all evil with his eyes. 9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? 10 Divers weights and divers measures, an abomination to Jehovah are they both. 11 Even a child maketh himself known in his deeds, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. 12 The ear that heareth, and the eye that seeth — Jehovah hath created them both. 13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty ; open thine eyes, and be satisfied with thy bread. 14 " It is bad, it is bad ! " saith the buyer, but when he is gone his way then he boasteth. 15 There is gold, and a multitude of i>earls ; but a precious vase are lips of knowledge. 16 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and for strangers make him a bondsman. 17 Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth is filled with graveL 18 Plans are established by counsel, and with good advice make war. CHAP. XX. 1-80. 177 19 He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets ; with him that openeth wide his lips have nothing to do. 20 He that curseth father and mother, his light goeth out in utter darkness. 21 An inheritance that is hastily gained in the beginning, its end will not be blessed. 22 Say not : Let me avenge the evil ! wait on Jehovah ; he will help thee. 23 An abomination to Jehovah are diverse weights, and a deceitful balance is not good. 24 Man's steps are of Jehovah ; man — how shall he understand his way? 25 It is a snare to a man that he hath vowed hastily, and after vows to inquire. 26 A wise king sifteth the wicked, and bringeth the (threshing) wheel over them. 27 The spirit of man is a candle of Jehovah, searching all the chambers of the body. 28 Grace and truth preserve the king, and he upholdeth his throne by mercy. 29 The glory of young men is their strength, and the honor of old men is the grey head. 30 Wounding stripes are a correction of evil, and strokes in the inner chambers of the body. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 2. n3_;'nD is either to be pointed with Hitziq 113^?nD (partic. with sufBx from a denominative verb of Ara- maic form 'nSj,^'^, " to throw into a passion, to excite wrath " [HT^^']. or, which is probably simpler, with Ewald, Ber- THEAU. [Fuerst], etc., to conceive of it as a HitVip. participle, whose ordinary meaning. " to become excited against any one,' (conip. xxvi 17) here passes over into the transiciv.) nh-n. -'t < excite some o;ie against one's self, to call some one forth against one's self." Altogether too artificial, and in conflict witli the old versions (LXX : 6 rrapo^vvav avTou; Vulg.; qui provnoit eu7n) U Umbkeit's explanariou : "ho that aronsptli himself (riseth up) against him [the king]." [E. V., H., S., M., eic, agree witli our authur; Dk W. and Noyes, with UmbreitJ. Ver. 3. r\3tJ/ is according to the Musoretic punctuation the Infinitive of ^jy' [as in Isa. xxx. 7] and not, as most of the recent interpretprs [among them Umbreit, Ewald, IIitzig. [Fuerst, M., etc.]], regard it, a substantive from the root n^tJ'i for which derivation certainly no other support could be adduced than Ex. xxi. 19. Ver. 4. The K'ri TNt^l is doubtless preferable to the K'thibh IJ^t^' (Ps. cix. 10), for "to beg in harvest" would ~ T : . •• T : give a meaning too intense. [So 11., S., etc.]. — IliiziG changes cilH^ into ^in*3, which, according to Arabic analogies, should mean "a fruit basket;" he then reads jHU'' "he demands, desires," and obtains the meaning: "A pannier [?] the sluggard doth not provide [?], "trieth to borrow [?] in harvest, and nothing Cometh of it [?]." Ver. 9. ['^\'^^£^, cited by Bott. ^948, c, as one of the examples of the " stative" perfect, used to describe spiritual states. TOJ^'", on^ of his examples o( the "liens licitum," the Imperf. used to express what can be: "who can say;" § 950, ^.-A.] , Ver. 16. [np7 standing emphatically at the beginning of a verse, one of the few instances of the full Imperative form ; Bott. § llnl'. 2— A.]. A'er. 18. iiv/ALD proposes instead of Hty^ to read the lufin. T]\l^)?, as in chap. xxi. 3 ; but the Imperative seems more appropriate, and gives to the expression greater vivacity. Ver. 22. [Tn I'C/'I, one of the few examples of double accent, the penultimate accent marking the rhythm, that on ' |T ' ;-j: thn ultima sustaining its vowel ; Bott. J 4S2, e.y. — The Jussive form with 1 consec. is used to assert a sure result; Bott. " ajjirmativ covsecutiv." — \.] Ver. 25, J77\ essentially identical with ni'7, signifies, according to the Arabic, "to speak inconsiderately, to pro- ~ T . . TT mise thoughtlessly ;" ^^p is here not a substantive, but an Infinitive continuing the finite verb. According to this simple explanation, which is lexically well justified, Ewald's conception of J? 7' as a substantive, which should be pointed ^'7', and translated, " hasty vow," may be dismissed as superfluous ; and also the derivation preferred by Jerome, Luther and others of the older expositors, from the root j;i'7 " to swallow" [Vulgate : devorare sanctos; Luther : " das Heilige Zasierre"]. [Gesen. and Fuerst are authorities for the view adopted by our author, while Bott., with great pcsitivcaesa [f 964, 5 and n. 7] pronounces the form a Jussive form with a "permissive" meaning, from 1^1 7 or ^'J,'7 ; ''let him only, i.e. if ho only hurry or hasten too much." — A.] Ver. 29. [D''"l^n3- young men, jMiie;ies, as distinguished from D'T^flS, y onth, jwientas ; comp. Boii., 2 408,^. — A.]. 12 ' '' THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-5. Various precepts of prudence and integrity, (especially directed against drunk- enness, a contentious spirit and indolence). — "Wine is a mocker. The spirit of wine, and in like manner that of " mead " or "strong drink" ("13Cf, okspa, Luke i. 15),* a frequent accompaniment or substitute of wine (comp. Lev. X. i); Num. vi. 3; Judg. xiii. 4 sq. ;_ Isa. v. 11 ; xsviii. 7, etc.), appears here "personified, or represented as in a sense an evil demon, which excites to frivolous wantonness, to wild and boisterous action, and by the confusion of the senses into which it plunges man, robs him of all clear selt-possession " (Ei.steu). — Whoso- ever is led astray thereby is not wise. \Vith this phrase "to stagger, or reel because of or under souiething " comp. v. 19. For the general meaning, Isa. xxviii. 7. Vor. 2. With clause a compare xix. 12 (which is literally identical with the clause before us, except that this has nO'S<, "dread" [terrible word, an utterance that spreads terror] instead of n>'I). — He that provoketh him sinneth against his own souL For the first phrase see Critical Notes. — " Sinneth against his own soul " (1i:/3J, an accusative of respect) ; comp. kindred although not identical expressions in viii. 3G ; Ti. 32. Vor. 3. It is an honor to a man to dwell far from strife. See Critical Notes. To "dwell far from strife" is an apt expression to describe the quiet, peaceable demeanor of the wise man, in contrast with the passionate activity of the contentious multitude. For the meaning and use of the verb of clause b, J-'vjri', comp. xvii. 14; xviii. 1; with the meaning of the whole expression comp. xix. 11. Ver. 4. The sluggard plougheth not be- cause of the cold, tliat is, because the season in which his field should be cured for is too dis- agreeably rough and cold for him. [For illus- tration see 'iaoMsoii's Land and Book, I., 207]. Inconsequence of this indolent procedure "he seeketh in harvest " — for fruits of his field — " and there is nothing." See Critical Notes. [Rueet- SCHI, ubi supra, p. 149, retaining the; general meaning, objects that the term here used is not the one that of itself describes the cold and stormy harvest time; he therefore retains the temporal meaning of the preposition, and ren- ders, "from the time of the (fruit) harvest on- ward," etc., this being the proper time for the ploughing and sowing, a time which none can suffer lo pass by. — .\.] Ver. 5. Counsel in the heart of man is as deep •waters, etc.: i. c the jiiir]iose tliat one lias formed may be dillicult to fathom (see the same figtire, chap, xviii. 1) ; a wise man nevertheless draws him out, elicits from hini his secret, and brings it to light. rt/T means to " draw " water •with a bucket (wl, Isa. xl. 15), to bring it up * For II I'nll mill viilimblo discussion of the mciining of thosi' iinil Ivindncl tirms, spo ,iti article by Dr. L.\UKIE iu the MiblioUieca Sacra, January, 1809. — A. laboriously from a deep place (Ex. ii. 16, 19) — a metaphor suggested by the figure in clause a, and evidently very expressive. 2. Vers. U-ll. On the general sinfulness of men. — Many proclaim each his own grace (or love). The verb which is originally to "call" is here to " proclaim, to boast of," prxdicure. II^'X, "each individual " of the " many a man," the mass or majority of men. — But a faithful man •who can find ? For the phrase " a man of lidelity," comp. xiii. 17 ; xiv. 5; for the gen- eral meaning, I's. exvi. 11 ; Rom. iii. 4. Ver. 7. He •who in his innocexice •walk- eth upright. Thus, taking p^liT attributively, as an adjective subordinated to the participle, the LXX, Vulg., Syr., had already treated the con- struction, and later Ewald and Hixzio [and Kamph.] ; while recent expositors generally render, "isa righteous man" [H. and N.], or in other instances treat the "righteous " as the subject (Umbkeit, Eester, etc.), [S. and M., E. v., andDnW.]. — With this benediction upoa the descendants of the righteous in clause b comp. xiv. 26; with the Vinx "after him," i. e. after his death. Gen. xxiv. G7 : .Job xxi. 21. Ver. 8. A king .... searcheth out all evil \Arith his eyes. The natural reference is to the king as he corresponds with his ideul, that he be the representative on earth of God, the supreme Judge. Comp. xvi. 10; also Isa. xi. 4, where similar attributes to these are ascribed to the Messiah, as the ideal typically perfect king. With this use of the verb "to sift or winnow," to separate, comp. ver. 26. Ver. 9. Who can say : I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin ? The question naturally conveys a decided negative by implication : " No one can say," etc. ; comp. ver. 6 6, and ver. 24 b. It is not a permanent purity, a "having kept one's self pure" (from birth onward) that is the subject of the emphatic denial in this proverb (in opposition to Ber- theau's view), but a having attained to moral perfection, the having really conquered all the sins that Avere in existence before, that is denied. We should therefore bring into comparison not passages like Job xiv. 4; xv. 14; Ps. li. 5 (7), but such as 1 Kings viii. 46 ; Eccles. vii. 20 ; 1 John i. 8; James iii. 2, etc. With this expression, "I have made my heart clean," comp. Ps. Ixxiii. 13. Ver. 10 draws attention to deception in busi- ness intercourse as a peculiar and prominent form of that universal sinfulness which has just been spoken of as having no exceptions. Comp. chap xi. 1, and ver. 23 below. With the lan- guage in clause b compare xvii. 15 b. Vers. 11. Even a child maketh himself known in his deeds. With regard to the DJ> " even," which does not belong to the word next following, but to the 1^'J, "child" (as Geier, Umbreit, Elster, HiTzia rightly interpret), comp. remarks on xix. 2. — " His deeds" Ewald and U.MBHKiT are inclined to render by "plays, sports," in disregard of the uniform meaning of the word, and in opposition to the only correct construction of the " even." D /^I'.^ is rather the works, the actions, the individual results of CHAP. XX. 1-30. 179 the child's self-determination, from which it may even now be with confidence inferred of what sort "his work" is, i. e. the entire inner ten- dency of his life, his character (if one prefers the notion), the nature of liis spirit (IIitzig). — • That this thought also stamls relatod to the fact of universal sinfulness needs no fuller demon- str.ation. Coinp. the familiar German proverb, " \Fus ein Dijrnchen iverden will spilzt sich bei Z'iti'ii'" [what means to become a thorn is early sharpening]. 3 Vers. 12-19. Admonitions to confidence in God, to i^llustr^^ pruiience and integrity.— The ear that heareth, and the eye that seeth— Jehovah hath created them both. An al- lusion, pLiinly, not to the adaptation, the divine purpose and direction in the functions of hear- ing and seeing ( Hitzig), but to God's omniscience as a powerful motive to the fear of God and con- fiik'nce in Him; comp. xv. 3, and especially Ps. xciv. 9. Ver. 13. With a compare vi. 9, 10. — Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. The imperative clause, "be sat- isfi.'d with bread," has here the meaning of a consecutive clause, as in iii. 4. [This illustrates what 136tt., § 9-57, G, calls the "desponsive" use of the Imperative, conveying sure promises]. With this language compare xii. 11. To "open the eyes" is naturally the opposite of sleep and drowsiness, and therefore the description of wakeful, vigorous, active conduct. Ver. II. " It is bad, it is bad!" saith the buyer, bat ■when he is gone his •way (17 7ii*1, for which we should perhaps with HiTZiG read w /jXI, corresponds with the Ger- man, " xind trollt er sich " [when lie takes himself off], wiien he has gone his way) then he boasteth, /. e. of the good bargain that he has made. The verse therefore censures the well- known craft, the deceitful misrepresentation, with which business men seek to buy their wares as cheap as possible, below their real value if they can. In opposition to the true meaning of npp, as well as inconsistently with the idea of boasting in the second clause, Sciiultens and Elster (and LtiTHER likewise) render: "It is had, it is bad ! saith the owner (?) of his posses- sion; but when it is gone(?) then he boasteth of it (?)." Ver. 1-5. There is indeed gold and a multitude of pearls, etc. As these precious things are compared in chap. iii. 14, 15; viii. 11, with intelligent, wise dispositions and discourse, so are they here compared with wise lips, that is, with the organ of wise discourse. In this con- nection we should doubtless notice the difference between " gold and pearls " as valuable native material, not yet wrought into articles of orna- ment, and on the other hand, the lips as an ar- tistic "vase" or other "vessel" (that has come forth from the hand of the divine artificer, and is adorned and embellished by man's wise use of it). Ver. 16. Comp. vi. 1-5; xi. 15; xvii. 18. In- stead of the warnings that are there found against foolish suretyship, we have here in a livelier Style a demand to give over at once, without hesitation as bondsman any such inconsiderate surety. — And for strangers make him a surety. Instead of the K'ri " for a strange woman," i. e., an adulteress, we should unques- tionably retain here the K'thibh, " for strangers, unknown people;" while in the corresponding passage, chap, xxvii. 13, IT'^IDJ " the strange woman" is undoubtedly the correct reading. Ver. 17. Bread of deceit is sv/eet to a man, i. e., enjoyments and possessions secured by means of deceit ; comp. xxiii, 3; ix. 17. — For this use of "sand, gravel," (an appropriate em- blem to describe a thing not to be enjoyed) comp. Lam. iii. 10. Ver. 18. Plans are established by coun- sel. Hi'J^ here equivalent to 11D, counsel which one takes with another, — comp. xv. 22. — ■ And with good advice make w^ar. The " advice" or management (comp. i. 5) is plainly contemplated as the result of the counsel that has been taken ; comp. xxiv. 6. Ver. 19. With clause a compare xi. 13; with b, xiii. 3. 4. Vers. 20-23. Against hatred of parents, le- gacy-hunting, revenge, deceit. — He that cur- seth father and mother, and so in the boldest way transgresses the fifth commandment of the law, (Ex. XX. 12, comp. Ex. xxi. 17; Lev. xx. 9). — His light goeth out in utter darkness. The same figure is used also in xiii. 9, here as there serving to illustrate the hopeless destruc- tion of life and prosperity. — In regard to ] Vi^/'^X, the "pupil of the eye, blackness, midnight" — for which the K'ri unnecessarily demands the Aramaic \^^i^ — comp. notes on vii. 9. Ver. 21. An inheritance that hath been hastily gained in the beginning. In favor of the K'ri Hinbo, " hurried, hastened " (comp. Esther, viii. 14, and also remarks above on chap. xiii. 11), we have the testimony of the an- cient versions, the parallel in xxviii. 20, 22, and besides the position of this verse after verse 20. For it is precisely the wayward son, who de- spises and curses his parents, that will be very readily disposed to seize upon his inheritance be- fore the time against their will (comp. Luke xv. 12), and possibly even to drive his parents vio- lently out of their possession (comp. xix. 26). That no blessing can rest upon such possessions, that as they were unrighteously acquired at first so they must in the end be wasted and come to nought, is a truth which clause 6 in a simple way brings to view. The K'thibh nbnnp would either signify "cursed," in accordance with Zech. xi. 8 (so Elster, e. g., regards it), or in accordance with the Arabic, " acquired by ava- rice " (soU.mbreit). [H., N., W., S., M., Ber- T[iE.\u, Kampii, etc , agree in supporting the ex- position adopted by our author]. Ver. 22. Say not: let me avenge the evil; i. e , do not desire to requite evil with evil, do not avenge thyself for offences that have been done thee ; comp. xxiv. 29 ; Deut. xxxii. 35 ; Rom. xii. 17; 1 Pet. iii. 9. — The second member of clause 6 is evidently a consecutive clause, as the Jussive frequently is after the Imperative ; 180 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. comp. Isa. viii. 10; 2 Kings v. 10. The Vulgate coi'rectly renders "e/ liberabit (e," while the LXX, RosENMUELLER, EwALD, elc, treat tlie words as a final clause ; " that he may keep tliee."' Vor. 23. Comp. ver. 10. A deceitful ba- lance is not good; (Z , "is sliauieful," lit. is " not good, is no good," as in xvii. 26 ; xviii. -5) ; a liloles, expressing the idea of that which is very base. 5. Ver. 24-30. Miscellaneous admonitions to the fear of God and integrity. — From Jeho- vah are man's steps; comp. xvi. 9; Ps. xxxvii. 23. The "steps" are naturally "not acts in their subjective ethical aspect, but these acts according to their result, their several is- sues in a parallel series of experiences, — and therefore those events depending on the action of man which make up its external counterpart " (HiTzio). — In regard to the emphatic negative import of the question iu clause b, compare re- marks on ver. 9. Ver. 25. Before the t!'^p >? T [he hath vow- ed hastily] there should be supplied the con- junction DX, "if;" therefore render literally "it is a snare to a man, vows he hastily," i. e., if he in a hasty manner promises to devote a thing to God as sacred (as Kop.^'iv, Mark vii. 11). See Critical notes. — Furthermore hasty conse- crations, and in like manner, according to clause b the hasty assumption of vows, are here called a "snare" (li'^P, comp. remarks on xviii. 7), be- cause he who makes the rash vow afterward easily repents of it, and falls under the tempta- tion sinfully to break or to recall his vow (comp. Numb. XXX. 3; Eccles. v. 3). Ver. 26. A w^ise king sifteth the Mricked. To "sift" or "winnow" expresses here, just as it does in ver. 8, a discriminating separation of the chaff from the grain; comp. for this familiar and pertinent, figure Ps. i. 4 ; Isa. xvii. 13 ; Am. ix. 9. — And bringeth the ■wheel over them, i.e., the wheel of the threshing cart (Isa. xxvili. 27 sq.), which however is contemplated here not so much as an instrument of harvesting, as ra- ther in the light of a means and emblem of the severe punishment of captive enemies (in accord- ance with 2 Sam. xii. 31 ; 1 Chron. xx. 3 ; Am. i. 3). There is therefore no offence to be taken in view of thefact that in the operation of thresh- ing the crushing with the wheel preceded the winnowing or sifting, while here it is not men- tioned until after it (in reply to Brktiieau). Ver. 27. The spirit of man is a candle of Jehovah; lit., " man's irea^'t," for this is the first meaning of the Hebrew term iTDK^J (Gen. ii. 7) ; yet it is not the soul wliich pervades and animates all the members of the body (as HiT- zifj renders), according to the view of many of the elder expositors, as also Starke, Von Ger- LACir, etc., but the spirit, as the higher manifes- tation of soul-life, or if any one prefers, the rea- son, sdf-consciousness (Umureit. Elster) that is intended by the expression. For all analogies are wanting, at lea.«t within the range of the Bi- ble, for a compiirison of the so)(l with a light (the Arabic maxim in Kazwini Cosmoiy. I. 355, in whicli the soul, N'ephrsch. is designated the light of the body, plainly has no bearing on our pre- sent object). On the contrary the inner light or eye, (to (l>(l)g to kv aol) of which the Lord speaks in Matth. vi. 22, 23, is unquestionably an organ or factor of the higher spiritual soul, more pre- cisely designated as the vovg or the reason. In support of the idea that nOt!^J in the passage before us signifies essentially this and nothing else, there may be adduced the identity of D^'H no^'J with D^n nn as indicated by a comparison of Gen. vi. 17 with Gen. ii. 7. The expression " candle of Jehovah " moreover seems to point rather to the spirit as that factor in hu- man personality which proceeds immediately from God, than to the soul which inheres in the physical life, and does not rise essentially above it.*— -[WoRDSw. and some other English exposi- tors understand the allusion to be specifically to the conscience; the majority are content with the more comprehensive tei'm spirit, including intellectual and moral factors. — A."|. — Search- ing all the chambers of the body, i. e.. 1< ok- ing through its whole inferior, — which clearly suggests the 7-?///n^ relation of this "searcher" to the bod3% the sphere of its activity, and so is very pertinent with respect to the spirit, but not to the soul. In regard to the " chambers of the body " comp. ver. 36, and xviii. 8. Ver. 28. Grace and truth preserve the king. "Mercy and truth," or "love and truth," not quite in the sense of iii. 3; the at- tributes of a king are intended by the terms, which shoulil rather be rendered "grace and truth." With this idea of " preserving " comp. Ps. XXV. 21 ; with that of "upholding " in clause b, Isa. ix. 6. Ver. 20, Comp. xvi. 31 ; xvii. 6. Ver. 30. Wounding stripes are a correc- tion of evil and stvolies ((hat reach) to the chambers of the body ; i. e., stripes or blows that cause wounds, such as one administers to his son under severe discipline (comp. xix. 18), have this beneficial effect, that they intend a sa- lutary infliction or correction "on the evil" in this son, as a scouring of the rust which has ga- thered on a metal cleanses and brightens the me- tal. And not merely does such an external chastening as this accomplish the sharp correc- tion of the son ; it penetrates deep into the in- most parts of the body (comp. remarks on ver. 27), i. e., to the innermost foundations of his per- sonal life and consciousness, and so exerts a re- forming influence on him. Thus Ewald and Elster correctly render, and substantially Um- DREtT also (comp. Luther's version, which ex- presses the true meaning at least in general), while Bertheau regards p11?pr>, " remedial application," as the subject, and (after the ana- logy of Esther ii. 3, 9, 12) understands it to re- fer to " the application of ointments and per- fumes for beautifying" (! ?) ; Hitzig, however, naturally emends again, and by changing P^^On to Dp' ibil obtains the meaning: "Wounding stripes drop (?) into the cup of the wicked (?) and strokes into the chambers of the body." — [Our English version is defective from its obscu- rity: The blueness of a tvound cleanseth away evil. * Von RnDLOFF, Lehre. vnm Menschen, 2d Ed., p. 48, also takes a correct view of the passage. CHAP. XX. 1-30. 181 Recent expositors are clearer in tlieii' renderings, and dilfer but sligiitlj in their ciioice of terms. Stuart; Woundini/ siripes (H. ; the bruises of a wound) are the rcincdy for the base (H. ; are a cleansrr in a ivicked man) ; N. <'ind M. ; The scars (stripi'.i) of a wound are a cleaning from evil- ; WouDsw., parapiirasing soniowliat more: The stripes of a ivound are the (only) wiping away of (certain cases of) eviL.'\ DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. It is evidently impossible to derive the many maxims of the chapter from a single primary and fiiniiamental thoiiglit. The warning against drunkenness or the passion of the intemperate, whicli introduces the diversified series, has in the further progress of the discourse no succes- sor whatsoever of similar form, and could be re- tained as the tlieine or the germinal tiiouglit for the whole only b}' the most artificial operations, such as StocivER, e. g., and otliers of former times undertook (comp. the introductory para- graph to the Homileiic hints). Much more rea- dily might, a contentious and revengeful spirit be regarded as the chief object of the admonitory representations and suggestions of this section (see vers. 2, 3, 6, 14, 19, 22j. But a space at least equally large is given to the dissuasions from indolence and deceit (vers. 4, 10, 13, 14, 17. 23), and again to tlie commendations, some- what more general in tlicir form, of wise and^up- right conduct (vers. 7, 9, 11, 15, 18, 24— 2G, 29). Only a single group of proverbs in this cliap. stands out from the mass of diverse and isolated maxims and aphorisms, as contemplating one object with considerable compactness and unity of view. This is the division which relates to i\\Q general sinfulness of men (vers, ti-11). And this in fact presents also the ricliest and most important doctrinal material which the chapter anywiiere contains. Starting with the fact, alas! too palpable, that really faithful men, i. c.. men who are on all sides reliable, free from all falseliood and untruth, are to be found nowhere on the earth (ver. 6; chap. John via. 4G, and the passages cited above in notes to ver ti), the re- presentation Ijrings into the foreground the ideal of moral innocence, upriglitness, and the practi- cal prosperity which b^doags to it, as this ouglit actually to be realized by humanity (ver. 7). It then at once suggests the crying contrast which exists between the real moral condition of hu- manity and the ethical aim of its perfect state, pointing to tlie manifold and numberless forms of evil in conflict with whicli, injudicial expo- sures and punishments of which, earthly kings even now are engaged (ver. 8). It next gives an oul right expression to the universal need of purification and improvement (ver. 9), and then brings forward a special and conspicuous exam- ample of tile deceitful acts and endeavors of all men, so odious to God (ver. 10). It concludes at lengtii with a hint of that corruption in the de- vices and impulses of the human heart which appears even in the earliest periods of youtli (ver. 11; Gen. viii. 21). The most important 01" these utterances, which arc perhaps inten- tionally arranged as they are with refere'nce to the very line of thought that has been indicated, is at all events the testimony given in ver. 9 tj the impossibility of ever attaining in this present human life to a complete moral purity and jierfec- tion. We have here a ])roverb which, in addition to the universality, guiltiness and penal desert, of tlie original corruption of human nature, at- tests very distinctly also lis per ntanent cliarncler, i. e., its continued obstinate and ineradicable in- herence in the soul and body of man, its '■' tena- cilas, sive pertinax inhsesio," by virtue of whicli a certain spark of evil (or tinder for evil), a con- cealed germ a,nd root of sinful lust [fomes 2:>ec- cali s. concupiscentin) remains in all men, even the most sanctified and morally elevated, until their very de;ith. This proverb is also especially note- worthy, because "in contrast with tiie style of conception which is elsewhere predominant in tlie proverbs, according to which the imperfec- tion of all human piety is but slightly empha- sized, and he who is relatively pious is allowed to pass as righteous, it gives expression to the unsatisfying nature of all moral endeavors, as never conrlucting to the full extirpation of the sense of guilt, and a perfect feeling of peace with God ; it acrordinglg suggests the need of a higher re- velation, in lidiich the sense of guilt, and of an ever imperfect fulfilment of dutg shall finally be wholly overcome'" (Elstek). Memorable doctrinal and ethical truths are furthermore contained, ])articularly in ver. 1, with its significant personification of the demon of mockery, and wild, boisterous recklessness, which as it were lurks concealed in wine and other intoxicating drinks; — -in vers. 12 and 21, with their allusion to the mightily pervading in- fluence of Godi the Omniscient, overall the acts and fates of men;— in ver. 22, with its dissuasion from avenging one's self, and the spirit of retalia- tion, so suggestive of the New Testament com- mand of love to enemies; — in ver. 25, with its warning against the hasty assumption of reli- gious vows; — in ver. 27, with its beautiful illus- tration of the all-embracing authority, and the moulding influence which man's spirit, as his in- ward divine light, must exercise over his entire physical and spiritual life (and in the normal self-determination does actually exercise) ; — and finally, in ver. 28, with its admirable exaltation of the loving, faithful, upright disposition of kings as the firmest prop to their thrones. Com- pare above, the Exegetical explanations of all these passages. [Lawson (on ver. 7): The integrity of the just man is not like the pretended integrity of the moralist, for it includes piety, justice, sobriety, and a conscientious regard to every precept of God, without excluding those that appear to vaiu men to be of small importance, or those that most directly oppose the prevailing disposition of the mind. — ChalmI':rs (on ver. 27) : In order to sal- vation, the Spirit must deal with the subjective mind, and illuminate the ruling faculty there, as well as set the objective word before us, which is of His own inspiration. A more vivid eon- science will give us a livelier sense of God's law : a more discerning consciousness, reaching to all the thoughts ai\d tendencies of the inner man, will give us a more convincing view of our sad and manifold deficiencies from that law.] 182 THE PROVERBS OF SOLO.MON. HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Iloriuly on the chapter as a whole: The gene- ral sinfuliie.ss and need of salvation on the part of all men, demonstrated 1) from the magnitude and variety of the vices that prevail in huma- nity; 2) from the rareness of a sincere striving after virtue; o) from the absolute impossibility of finding complete purity and holiness except in Christ. — Stocker (less in harmony with the proper and chief contents of the chapter ; comp. what has been said above) : Of intemperance in drinking, and its evil consequences: 1) Delinea- tion of the aff«-/a W2«; 2) Reference to tlie in- commoda (the inconveniences), and 3) to the re- media ehrietatis (the remedies of drunkenness). — In like manner Wohlfarth, Calwer Ilandb., etc. ; against the intemperance and the wildness of the scofl'er. Vers. 1—5. Stauke (on ver. 1) : He who is in- clined to physical drunkenness will not be vigo- rous spiritually ; Eph. V. 18 (comp. Von Ger- LACH : A wild, unconscious excitement is far from alioly wisdom). — Geier (on ver. 2): The tvrath of an earthly king is intolerable ; liow much more the infinite eternal wrath of the King of all kings against persistent sinners at the judgment I — [Lawson (on ver. 3): A fool is so self-conceited that he can bear no contradiction; so impertinent that he will have a hand in every other man's business; so proud that he cannot bear to be found in the wrong; and so stubborn that he will have the last word, altliough his lips should prove his destruction]. — Zeltner (on ver. 4) ; On observing times (Rom. xii. 11 ; Eph. v. 18) everything depends in physical as well as spiritual things. — .J. Lange (on ver. 5); For the testing, searching, and discriminating between spirits, there should be a man who is furnished with the spirit of Christ. Vers. G-11. Zeltner (on ver. 6) : It is far bet- ter to show one's self in fact pious, benevolent, true and upright, than merely to be so regarded and proclaimed. — [Trapp (on ver. 7): Personal goodness is profitable to posterity ; yet not of merit, but of free grace, and for the promise' sake]. — Starke (on ver. 8): When Christ, the Lord and King of the whole world, shall at length sit in judgment, then will all evil be driven away by His all holy eyes, brought to an end and punished. — (On verse 9) : The justified have and keep sins within them even to their death ; but they do not let these rule in them, Rom. vi. 11. He betrays his spiritual pride .and his en- tanglement in gross error, who imagines, and, it may be, also maintains, that he has within him- self no more sins, 1 .John i. 8, 9. — (On ver. 11) : He that has charge of the training of children, benefits not them only, but the whole of human society, when he incites flexible, well-disposed spirits to good, and seeks to draw away the vile from evil with care and strictness. Ver. 12-19. Melanchthon (on ver. 12): To the successful conduct of a state two things are always needful: 1) good counsels of the rulers, and 2) willing obedience of the subjects. Both Solomon declares to be gifts of God, when he describes Him as the Ci-eator both of tlie hearing ear and of the seeing eye. — Geier (on ver. 12) : It is God from whom we possess all good as well in temporal as in spiritual things (James i. 16) : as He has given us eyes and ears, so will He also give us a new heart (Ezek. xi. 19). — Zeltner (on ver. 14): Acknowledge with thanks God's pre- sent bounties, as long as thou hast them, and em- ploy them aright, that God may not suddenly take them from thee, and thou then for the first time become aware what thou hast lost. — Egard (on ver. 17): It is the way of sin and fleshly lust that it at first seems attractive to man, but after- ward, when conscience wakes, causes great dis- quiet and anguish. — [Lord Bacon (on ver. 18) : The greatest trust between man and man is the trust of giving counsel. . . Things will have their first or second agitation ; if they be not tossed upon the waves of counsel, they will be tossed upon the waves of fortune, and be full of incon- stancy, doing and undoing, like the reeling of a drunken man.] — Tubingen Bible (on ver. 18) : To wage war is allowed, for there are righteous wars ; but they must be conducted with reason and reflection (compare General York's prayer and motto at the beginning of every battle: "The beginning, middle, end, 0 Lord, direct for the best!").- — .J. Lange (on ver. 19): Rather hear him much who reveals to thee what harms thee, than him who flatters thee.— Von Gerlach (same verse) : In all inconsiderate talking about others there is always some delight in evil or slander running along through it ; just as also all tattling and idle gossip of this kind always has something exceedingly dangerous in it. Ver. 20-23. Melanchthon (on ver. 21): It is of moment always to wait for God's ordinary call, to distinguish the necessary from the unnecessary, and to attempt nothing outside of our lawful call- ing.— Lange (same verse): That for which one strives with inconsiderate craving in unlawful ways turns not into blessing, but to a curse. — Zeltner (on ver. 22): To withstand passion, to wait in patience for the Lord's help, and to plead for the welfare of the evil doer is the best revenge on an enemy. — Berltbitrg Bible (same verse): Revenge always s]iringsfrom pride; thou wouldst willingly be like God, and be thine own helper, avenger and judge ; this pride then kindles thine anger within thee, so that thou for heat and vio- lence canst not wait until God disposes of the matter for thee. — [Laavson : By indulging your revengeful spirit, you do j'ourself a greater hurt than your greatest enemy can do you, for you gratify his ill nature when you suflfer it to tiiake a deep impression on your spirit, without which it could do you little or no hurt ; but by commit- ting your cause to God, you turn his ill-will to your great advantage, making it an occasion for the exercise of the noblest graces, which arc; at- tended with the sweetest fruits, and with the rich blessing of God.] Ver. 24-30. Geier (on ver. 24) : No one can rightly begin and walk in the way to the kingdom of heaven, who would enter without Christ ; John xiv. 6 ; xv. 5. — [Chalmers (on ver. 24) : Man can no more comprehend the whole meaning of his own history, than he can comprehend the whole mind of tliat God who is the Sovereign Lord and Oril airier of all things.] — Bcrlcburj Bible (on ver. 25) : In vows it is important to re- flect with the utmost circumspection, before one CHAP. XXI. 1-31. 188 forms a definite purpose. But what one lias once vowed, against it he should seek no pretext of any kind to annul it.— Starke (on ver. 2o) : The outward service of God without real devotion bocomas a snare to many, by which they deceive thair souls and plunge into ruin. — (Oii ver. 27): Kuovv tha nobility of the human soul, this candle of tSie Lord ! Beware therefore of all conceit of wisdom and contempt of others about thee. _ Give rather to the illumination of Divine grace its in- fluence on all the powers of thy soul, that when thine understanding is sufficiently enlightened thy will also may be reformed. — [Stoddard: The Spirit does not work by giving a testimony, but by assisting natural conscience to do its work. Natural conscience is the instrument in the hand of God to accuse, condemn, terrify, and to urge to duty.] — A. Schroder (ou ver. 28 — in the Sonntaysfeier, 1840) : How the relation of the king to his peojale and of the people to their king can be a blessed one solely through the purity and sincerity of both). — Rust (same verse — same source, issue for 1834) ; Of the exalted blessing which a living Christianity ensures to all the re- lations of the State. — Lange (on ver. 29) : Art thou still a youth in Christian relations; prove thy strength by conquest over thyself; art thou become gi-ey and experienced in them, prove thy wisdom by love and a blameless life; 1 John ii. 1.3, 14. (On ver. 30) : There is much evil about and within us from which we must be cleansed and purified ; God uses to this end the inward and outward trials of this life. — Comp. Luther's marginal comment on ver. 30: "J/aZ* non verbis scd verberibus emendantur ; pain is as needful as eating and drinking." C) Admonition to integrity, patience, and obedient submission to God's gracious guidance. Chap. XXI. 1 Like streams of water is the heart of a king in Jehovah's hand ; he turneth it whithersoever he will. 2 Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but Jehovah trieth hearts. 3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. 4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart — the light of the wicked is (nought but) sin. 6 The counsels of the diligent (tend) only to abundance; but every one who is over hasty (cometh) only to want. 6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting breath of them that seek death. 7 The violence of the wicked sweepeth them away, because they refuse to do justice. 8 Crooked is the way of the guilty man, but the pure, his work is right (or, straight). 9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the house top, than with a contentious woman in a thronged house. 10 Tiie soul of the wicked desireth evil ;_ his neighbor findeth no mercy with him. 11 When the scorner is punished the simple is made wise, aad whea the wise is prospered, he will gain knowledge. 12 The Righteous (God) marketh the house of the wicked; He hurleth the wicked into destruction. 13 He that stoppeth his ear to the cry of the poor, he also shall call and not be answered. 14 A gift in secret allayeth anger, and a present in the bosom strong wrath. 15 It is a joy to the just to do justice, but destruction to them that work iniquity. 16 A man who wandereth from the way of understanding, shall dwell in the assembly of the dead. 184 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 17 He becometh a poor man who loveth pleasure ; he that loveth wiue and oil shall not be rich. 18 The wicked becometh a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright. 19 It is better to dwell in a desert land, than to live with a contentious and fretful woman. 20 Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man consumeth them. 21 He that followeth after righteousness and mercy- shall find life, righteousness, and honor. 22 A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of its confidence. 23 He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue, guardeth his soul from troubles, 24 A proud (and) arrogant (man) — scorner is his name ; he acteth in insolence of pride (overflowing of haughtiness ). 25 The desire of the slothful killetb him, for his hands refuse to labor. 26 He desireth intensely all the day long; but the righteous giveth and spareth not. 27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination ; how much more when it is brought for evil ! 28 A false witness shall perish, the man that heareth shall speak evermore. 29 The wicked putteth on a bold face, but he that is upright establisheth his way. 30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel (is there) against Jehovah. 31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but from Jehovah is the victory. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 3.— The Infinitive form T}'^p like HJp in chap. xvi. 16. Yer. 4. Hitziu writes ^J (^=3' J, sprout or shoot) instead of 1J and translates the second clause : "The fruit of vhe ■wicked [i. e., pride] bringeth to destruction " — an emendation plainly not less unfortunate than the corresponding one, 3' J for TiJ, which he proposed in chap. xiii. 23. Compare notes on this passage. [The shortening of tlie long vowel in T'J is undoubtedly facilitated by the initial 1 of the following word.] Yer. 6.— ^7371 cannot be stat. constr., for it would be separated from its genitive by the adjective rjlj.— Ewald, Beh- THEAU, etc., read with the LXX and Vulg.: "'tl/pIO instead of 'Il/pHO and render "snares of death" Instead of "seekers of death." Hitzig, in addition, proposes f|"li instead of C11J, as well as in clause a ^j,^t instead of bj,»3, so that he reaches the meaning (which corresponds pretty closely with the LXX and Vulg.): "lie that getteth treasures by a lying tongue runuetli nitoT vanity into snares of death." Yei-. 7. — :] JXO is one of Bottcher's " relative " perfects ; they have before this destruction, be it earlier or later, refused, etc.— See §950, I'.-A.] Ver. 8.— IjDDDn, "winding, crooked" (as 'HSnj is elsewhere used, comp. xvii. 20) is not stat. constr. (Bertheau, "one crooked in his way"), but a predicate for emphasis prefixed to its subject 'HTl, as tlie parallelism shows.— ':|n at the be- ginning of clause 6 seems to be purposely chosen to correspond with TT1 at the end of clause a. Comp. 'nr in cliap. xx.ll. TT 't [This '^'^) is one of the very few words in Hebrew in which an Initial 1 remains, not being weakened int > '. It seems to be an ancient judicial term, and etymologically corresponds with the familiar Arabic word Yiziitr; comp. also Chart; v d' Affuires. See lioTT., Fuerst, etc.— A.] Ver. 9.— [nau/'^ 31t3 a masculiue predicative adjective notwithstanding the fern, form of the Infinitive. Rr.TT., g 990, 3, p.-A.] Ver. 10.— [BoTT. strongly maintains the existence of a Passive of the Kal. conj., and cites in' ivs one of the examples. See ? 90f>, c. As is well known. It has usually been called a Hophal form ; no Hiphil forms are in use, and this is in mean- ing an exact passive counterpart to the Kal. — A.] Ver. 14.— Instead of H^D' (fro"" rfr.''.), a verb occurring only here, which must mean " to bend or beat down "), IIlTZlQ proposes to read, with Stmmacuus, the Vulg. and Targ. HSD' "extinguishes." CHAr. XXI. 1-Cl. 185 Ver. 22. The H in nr)DIl"D without Mappiq, on account of the distinctive accent; conip. Jer. vi. 6; Is. xxiii. 17, 18; xlv. 6, eic— [n'^ 1' one of Buttcucr'S ''empirical Perfects;" it has heen a malter of experience ; see ^950, 3. — A.] Ver. 2S.— iLtzig, partially following the LXX (changing XV' ^b to "li»J^, and ^3Ji; to PipE/), amends thus: The man that rejoicetU to deliver (! ?) shall epeak. first fruits of a man's activity (so Ewalb, El- STER, etc.), or, which is surely preferable, it may be taken as meaning the same as "^J (comp. 1 Kings xi. 30, where instead of "IJ u'c find TJ in the sense of "light"), and in accordance with chap. XX. 37, it m:iy be regai-ded as a figurative representation of tlio entire spirit of the wicked, i. e. their proud disposition, flaring and fl.iniing like a briglit light. Thus the LXX [Aafi-r/'/p), Vulg., KciiuLTENS, Dathe, Bertheau — oxcept that the latter interpret the "light" less perti- nently of (ho brilliant prosperity of the wicked. In like manner Luther also, Geier, Dooerlein, ZiEGLER, Umbreit, who, howcver, find in the last term not an appositive to the two preceding expressions, but a third subject co-ordinate with them. [To these who adopt "light" as their rendering, may be added, although with some diversity in the grammatical relation and the in- terpretation of the term, K., De W., IL, S., M., N., and the E. V. in its marginal reading. The old English expositors generally follow the text of the E. v., " ploughing," which is also pre- ferred and defended by AVordsw., as suggesting an "evil execution" of the "proud aspirations and covetous ambition" of the wicked "in a de- liberate action." — A.]. — The predicate of clause b is with no more propriety here than in chap. X. 16 to be explained by "ruin" (disaster, de- struction),— wliich is contrary to the view of Umbreit, Hitzig, elc, — but retains the meaning which is predominant in the Old Testament; for to trace back all proud conduct and action to sin is plainly the proper drift and import of the proverb before us; comp. ver. 24, below. Ver. 5. The counsels of the diligent (tend) only to abundance ; but every one who is overhasty (cometh) only to want. " Abundance "' and " want " stand contrasted here as in xiv. 23. The "hasty," howcv.-r, in contrast with the "diligent," the man who labors in substantial and continuous methods (comp. xii. 27), must be he who in the pursuit of gain is in excessive haste, the impatient, restless for- tune-hunter, who besides is not above base and deceitful modes of acquiring, and for that very reason for a punishment is plunged into destitu- tion and penury; comp. xix. 2; also xx. 21; xxviii. 20; and with respect to the general sen- timent still further xii. 11; xiii; 11. — This ex- planation, which is as simple as it is congruous with the context, makes Hitzig's conjecture su- perfluous (instead of yX. "IJfN, "the collector," i. e. the niggard) ; comp. xi. 24. [Rxieetscui. zibi supra, p. 152, defending the common rendering, expands somewhat the implied contrast between the plans according to which the diligent toils, and the impalknt haste which cannot wait to plan. — A.]. Ver. 6. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting breath of them that seek death. The second member is lite- rally rendered according to the text: "is fleet- EXEGETICAL. 1. Ver. 1-3. Of God's all directing providence and governuK nt. — Like streams of water is the heart of a Icing in Jehovah's hand. — The terlium comp. is, according to the second member of the parallelism, the capability in the ♦' streams of water" of being directed and guided at pleasure, — the allusion being to the canals and ditches constructed for tiie irrigation and fertili- zing of meadows, gardens and fields. [See Hackett's Illustrations of Scripture, and similar •works; also Horace, Od. III., 1, 5-8. — A.] Since for the accomplishment of their object there nuist alvvays be a number of them, the plural "streams" is used, although only one king's heart is spoken of. Whether in the second line the pleasant, refreshing influence of the rivulets, dispensing blessing and increase, comes into ac- count as a point in the comparison is uncertain (comp. Is. xxxii. 2) : this, however, is not impro- bable, inasmuch as the heart of a king may in fact become in an eminent degree a fountain of blessing for many thousands, and according to God's design ought to be so. See also the com- parison of royal favor with a "cloud of the har- vest rain," in chap. xvi. 15, and in the opposite direction comp. xx. 2, 8, 26. Ver. 2. Almost precisely like xvi. 2 ; comp. also xiv. 12; xvi. 25. [Fuerst, unlike most others, renders the verb of tlie second clause " delermiueth," t. e., determines the direction, — instead of "weighing, trying," or the old Eng- lish term of our E. V., "pondcreth." — A.] Ver. 3. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. Comp. XV. 8; Ps. 1. 7 S(].; 1 Sam. xv. 22; Mich. vi. 6-8. — For this combination of rigiiteousness and justice comp. besides, e. (/., 2 Sam. viii. 15; Jeremiah ix. 23. For the "IH^J "more acceptable," lit., "chosen," i. c, desired, well- pleasing, valuable, comp. xxii. 1 ; and also viii. 10, 19. [" This maxim of the Proverbs was a bold saying then, — it is a bold saying still; but it well unites the wisdom of Solomon with that of his father David in the 51st Psalm, and with the inspiration of the later prophets." Stanley, Jewish Church, II., 257]. 2. Vers. 4-9. Against pride, avarice, deceit, violence, and vicious dispositions in general. — Haughty eyes and a proud heart; lit. "to be lofty of eyes and to be swollen of heart," for D11 and 3ni are infinitives. "Swelling of heart" is however here and in Ps. ci. 5, where it stands again in connection witli "loftiness of eyes," a proud, arrogant disposition ciiastened bv no cave ; comp. also Isa. Ix. 5; Ps. cxix. 32. — The light of the wicked is only sin. D';"-'-^"' "^J, which . T : is plainly' an appositive to •■liauglity eyes and a proud heart," may be translated either by "the fallow, or newly plouglicd land of the wicked" (comp. TJ, c\ui-p. xiii. 23), and refer to "the very 186 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. ing breath, those seeking death," — the latter phrase not to be regarded as a limiting genitive (see Critical Notes), but the two a hendiadys ; the idea "fleeting breath of those seeking death" being resolved into the two co-ordinate ideas, "fleeting breath" and "seekers of death." [WoKDSw. : '■'■vaniUj driven like chaff;'' — "the work of the wicked and covetous man is cAf/jfand his harvest is death." Kampu., while favoring a simple emendation (that of Ewald, etc.; see Critical Notes), would refer the " seekers," if the text is to be retained, to the treasures; "trea- sures unlawfully gained are not only themselyos Avithout substance, but also bring on destruction for their deceitful possessor." H. : "a vanity agitated by them that seek death;" N. : "scat- tered breath of them," etc.; S. : "a fleeting breath are they who seek death;" M.: "(like) a fleeting vapor to those who seek death." The phrase plainly requires somewhat violent gram- matical constructions, or an emendation. Our author's hendiadys making the plural participle an apparent appositive of tlie singular noun is not the most forced. — A.] With reference to the phrase "seekers of death," comp. viii. 36; xyii. 19; with respect to the expression "a fleeting vanity," Job xiv. 2 ; xiii. 2); and Pindar's well- known phrase, aiufir bvajt av\}piJ-og. It is hardly possible that we have here any suggestion of the Mirage (Isa. xxxv. 7), the "tremulous mist of the desert, vanishing again in quick deception," — for the noun b^H nowhere else occurs with this signification (this in opposition to Aukoldi, and to some extent Umhreit also). Ver. 7. The violence of the wicked sweepeth them away. The " violence "_ is not designed here to describe the destruction in- tended for the wicked (comp. Job v. 22 ; Isa. xiii. 6), but is used in the active sense, of the rapa- cious or murderous violence practised by them (comp. xxiv. 2. So the Vulg., Luther, U.m- BREir, HiTziG.) The latter, to illustrate the idea, appropriately suggests the case in which an in- cendiary is consumed in the fire which he sets. But examples like i. 18, 19; vii. 23; serve also for illustration. With clause b compare (above) Ter. 3, a. Ver. 8. Crooked is the way of the guilty man. "Burdened, laden" signifies, as the cor- responding word in Arabic does, "the guilt- laden," and so the vicious man, the malefactor, in contrast with the " pure or clean." 3. Vers. 9-18. Various warnings against fool- ish, hard-hearted, uncharitable, unrighteous con- duct.—It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, and so on the one hand, solitary and forsaken (comp. Ps. cii. 7 (8)), and on the other, exposed to all winds and weathers, in an ex- ceedingly inconvenient, uncomfortable position. [See Hackett's JlluMratioiis of Scripture, and similar works]. — Than with a contentious woman in a thronged, house : lit., "than a woman of contentions (comp. xix. 13; xxvii. lo) and a house of companionship " [olmq koivoq, LXX), — an example of hendiadys, therefore like ver. G.— On account of the correspondence of the idea with ver. 19, which certainly is re- markably close, HiTziG proposes to remove the " contentious woman " entirely from the text, for (freely following the LXX) he reads riJ^tyO in- stead of nC'X^, and so from clause b gets the meaning : " than that strife arises and the house is common." Ver. 10. For the expression in a comp. xiii. 4. — His neighbor findeth no mercy w^ith him, lit., "his neighbor is not compassionately treated by his eyes," i. c, on account of his violent wickedness and selfishness even his friend expe- riences no sympathy from him. Ver. 11. AVith a comp. xix. 25. — And when the wise is prospered, he will gain know- ledge, /. e. the simple, who must be the subject again in clause b, inasmuch as it can hardly be said of the wise that it is his prosperity that first helps him to knowledge. Usually, "and if one instruct the wise," as if the verb v'lJtyTI were here ti'ansitive in the sense of " warning, in- structing," and thus stood for n'^IH, xix. 25. But the wise man needs no longer such instruc- tion as may for the first time give him under- standing; and tins verb is found, e. g. also in Prov. xvii. 8 (comp. Isa. lii. 13), used in the sense of "possessing or finding prosperity." The whole proverb therefore demands that "the simple" be dsterred by the punishment of the fool, as well as made intelligent and stimulated to good by the prosperity of the wise. Ver. 12. The Righteous marketh the house of the wicked. That by this right- eous one God is meant, the supreme judge and rewarder, appears beyond all controversy from clause b, as well as from the parallel passage xsii. 12 (comp. also Job xxxiv. 17). Rosen- MUELLER, Ewald, Bertheau, Elster take the correct view, while Hitzig here again endeavors to emend (substituting in'3 for n"3, and making ^'d'}, "wickedness," the subject of clause b) ; Umbreit, however, harshly and ungrammatically makes the " righteous " in a a righteous man, and then in b supplies God as the subject of the predicative participle. [So the E. V., which is followed by Wordsw. ; Noyes makes the right- eous man the subject of both clauses, — while DkW., K., H., S. and M. more correctly refer both to God.— A.] Ver.-13. Comp. Matt, xviii. 23-35, a parable which fitly illustrates the meaning of this sen- tence, pronounced against hard-heartedness ; see also Matt. XXV. 41 sq. ; Luke xi. 13. Ver. 14. Comp. xvii. 8; xviii. 16; xix. 6. As in these passages so in the one before us it is not prohibited presents or bribes that are spoken of, but lawful nuinifestations of liberality, though bestowed in all quietness (in secret), i. e. with- out attracting needless attention. — A present in the bosom, is the same as the "gilt Irom the bosom" in chap. xvii. 23, a present brought concealed in the bosom (not a "present into the bosom," as Rosenji., Bertheau, e^c, would have it). Ver. 15. It is a joy to the just to do jus- tice, but fit is) destruction only to them that work iniquity. '-Contusion, terror" (comp. X. 29) is all right action to evil doers, since they distinctly feel "that its consequences must condemn and punish their own course and con- CHAP. XXI. 1-31. 1S7 duct" (Elster) ; for they practise their ungodly folly with pleasure aud delight (x. 23 ; xv. 21) ; they have a real satisfaction in their works of darkness (comp. Rom. i. 32; John iii. 19). [The E. v., followed by H., N., S., M. makes "de- struction" the subject of clause b, aud not a second predicate, as DeW., K., etc., do, like our author. The latter construction best brings out the antithesis between a "joy" and a "terror." The same course of conduct is thus diiierently viewed by and related to the contrasted classes. -A.] Ver. 16. With a compare ii. 15 ; iv. 14 sq. ; with b, ii. 18; ix. 18. Ver. 17. He becometh a poor man who loveth pleasure (lit. "a man of want"). "Joy" is here specifically intoxicating delights, such as are to be found in luxurious banquets, wlier« "wine and perfume," these familiar sym- bols of social festivity (Ps. civ. 15; Prov. xxvii. 9 ; comp. Amos vi. 6), play their part. The Vulgate, therefore, if not with verbal accuracy renders by ^'qui diligit ejnilas." Ver. 18. The wicked becometh a ransom for the righteous, i. c. so far forth as the divine wrath turns from him who is compa- ratively righteous to fall upon the head of the evil doer; comp. xi. 8. Thus according to Isa. xliii. 3 the heathen nations atone for the comparatively purer and, more upright Israel (comp. HiTziG on this passage). 4. Vers. 19-25. Admonitions of an import similar to that of the preceding series, directed especially against uncharitablcness, folly and sloth.— With ver. 19 comp. ver. 9 above. — With a contentious, fretful woman, lit., "with a woman of contentions and of worry;" the geni- tives are naturally gcnitiri effcclus. Ver. 20. Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the v/ise, but a foolish man consumeth them, /. c. wastes whatever he possesses of valuable treasures and spices. " A fool of a man," as in xv. 20. To "swallow up," /. e. to waste, destroy and ruin, as in Ecclcs. X. 12; Lam. ii. 2-8; Job x. 8, etc. — Hitzig in clause a changes pi^l to pl^"' and reads PID in- stead of np, aud tlius obtains the meaning, "Precious treasure is in a wise mouth, but a fool of a man swallows it down (?)." Ver. 21. He that follow^eth after right- eousness and mercy shall find life, right- eousness and honor. The second "righteous- ness," although wanting in the LXX, is not for that reason to be regarded an error (in opposi- tion to ZiEGLER, Elster). It denotes the judi- cial righteousness of the man who, on account of his striving after righteousness, is sanctified and blessed by God (just as in chap. viii. 18; Job xxxiii. 2G). — while in clause a the righteous- ness intended is a moral quality of the wise man who keeps the law. The relation is the same in the N. T. between StKaioavvT] as a present posses- sion of the believer {e.g. Piom. iii. 28; Gal. iii. 21), and 6(Kaio(j'vv7] as an object of Christian hope; Gal. v. 5. — With this use of the terms "life" and "honor" comp. iii. 10. Ver. 22 A wise man scale th a city of the mighty; /. c even a fortress well defended by numerous and strong warriors does not long withstand the sagacious counsel of the wise; comp. xxiv. 5, and also Eccles. ix. 15, — whore, in a reversed relation, one wise man successfully defends the city against a whole army. — For the expression, "the bulwark of its confidence," in clause b, comp. xiv. 2G. Ver. 23. Comp. xiii. 3; xix. 6. Ver. 24. A proud and arrogant (man) — scorner is his name; i. e. not, "he might reasonably be callcil scoffer," but, "the universal moral judgment of men really calls him so, looks upon him as a scofifer, as an 'infidel' (De- LiTZscH ; comp. Introd., ^ 3, N. 2), a man to whom there is nothing holy." For TH', super- biens, "arrogant, conceited," comp. Hab. ii. 5. Vers. 25 and 26 form a continuous represen- tation of the slothful, in contrast with the right- eous and therefore diligent man, who, however, on account of his diligence is also beneficent. — • The desire of the slothful killeth him, i. e. his desire for food and drinlv, his hunger, for the quieting of which he is nevertheless unable to employ the proper means — labor in behalf of his physical sustenance. Comp. xiii. 4; also xix. 24. [Stuart understands "his desire of sloth- ful repose;" which is less easily reconciled with clause a. of ver. 26. Ilis desires are not so in- tense and consuming for repose, passivity rather than activity characterizing whatever is volun- tary about him; his involuntary appetites, for which he neglects to provide, destroy him. — A.] —He desireth intensely all the day long; lit., "Every day he wisheth a wish,"/, e. he carries constantly the same intense longing for possession and enjoyment, but stops with this indolent wishing and dreaming, without passing over into energetic action. It is otherwise with the upright, who by his honorable industry is put in circumstances to distribute rich gifts among others also ; comp. xi. 24 a. 5. Vers. 27-31. Of God's righteous judgment on the wicked and disobedient. — The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination (comp. XV. 8j, how much more w^hen it is offered for evil. iTSTB might mean "with transgres- sion, with evil intent" (not " with deceit," as Bertiieau holds), comp. Ps. xxvi. 10; cxix. 150. But it seems to be more appropriately taken here as a statement of the motive of the abhorred sacrifice, and therefore to be "for transgression," for some iniquity wrought with evil intent, which is to be expiated by a sacrifice, — and by a sacri- fice only, and not by true contrition and repent- ance (comp. HiTZiG on this passage). Mai. i. 13 is therefore not so true a parallel as Ecclesiasl. xx'siv. 21-25. Ver. 28. With a corap. xix. 5, 9— The man that heareth shall speak evermore; i. c. the modest and teachable, who, instead of talking on heedlessly at random, gives thouglitful atten- tion I o all profitable teaching, and ponders quietly all that he has heard, that he may be able to give reliable testimony (comp. Solomon's "hear- ing heart," 1 Kings iii. 9) — such a one will be constantly called forth anew to testify, and so become one " speaking evermore," a testi-^ sive orator perpetuus, a witness to the truth universally esteemed and much desired, in contrast with tlio heedless, gossiping, lying witness (comp. xviii. 188 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 13). For this iaterpretatiou the parallel in xii. 19 is decisive, from wlncli appears especially tlie inadmissibility of rendering T\^}h secundum veri- tatem, according to truth (so e. y. Umbueit: "he who hears the truth"). [Uueetschi (as above, p. 152) brings out the antithetic force of the verse thus: "To hold to the truth is just what the lying witness fails to do; thereforeiuust he cease to spoalv; his way perishes, Ps. i. G. But the man that hearkens, etc., to the truth shall ever- more speak 'as a witness and otherwise, living happily shall always be able to speak, and shall be gladly heard' (Ewald), and so by no means pc-rish.'"— A.] Ver. 29. The wicked putteth on a bold face, lit., "the man of wickedness makcth bold- ness with his face." The predicate as in vii. 13, denotes the immovable fixedness of features behind wliich the shameless villain seeks to hide his criminal intentions and crafty dispositions. AVhether we are here to think specifically of a false witness implicated in some criminal con- spiracy (from the suggestion of 28, a), must re- main doubtful from tlie indefiniteness of the ex- pression (in opposition to Bertiieau, Hit/.ig).— But he that is upright establisheth his way. Instead of j'D' t,ie K'ri, with wliich the LXX agree, proposes j'^', and some modern in- terpreters prefer this reading, e. g. Hitzig: " considereth his way." But just, as it may be said of God (chap. xvi. 9) so it might be said of a pious man, that he makes his way or his steps/rm, i. e. sure and fixed (comp. Jotham's example, 2 Chron. xxvii. 6); and the antithesis between a and b becomes decidedly stronger with the read- ing of the K'thibh. [TheE. v., which is followed by H., N. and M. adopts a weakened and ambigu- ous rendering, " dii-ecteth, " — "considereth" being in the margin. S. and Woedsw. decidedly prefer the stronger rendering "establisheth," "NV. bringing out the contrast between the wicked man's harrkning his face, and the good man's hardening his way. As Rueetschi urges, both the verbs and their objects contribute to the com- pleteness of the antithesis. "The wicked man looks only to the outside, the foi-ms, the appear- ance and show, the transient rcstilt ; but the good man aims at the real, the actually good ; he therefore establishes his ways, his mode of life and action, his whole course." — .V.]. Ver. .')(). No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel is there against Jehovah. njj7 is by no means merely "before God," i. e., according to God's judgment, as U.mbueit, dc, say, but "over against, in opposition to." The meaning is that a human wisdom which would as- sert itself in opposition to the divine, is not wis- dom, but sheer folly (comp. 1 Cor. iii. 19), that in comparison with the divine wisdom that of man is altogether nought (comp. Isa. xxix. 14). Ver. 31 continues the thouglit of the preceding verse. As human wisdom, so likewise is human strength and reliance on liumati aid and might nothing; comp. Ps. xx. 7 (S) ; xxxiii. 17. — T.he horse is made ready for the day of battle. The participle expresses tiie jx'rmancnce of the matter; therefore, lit. " ::tands prepared, is pre- pared " (Hitzig). — With b compare also David's language to Goli.ath, 1 Sam. xvii. -17: " The bat- tle IS Jehovah's ;" i. e., on Him depends the decision of the war, its favorable issue, its vic- torious result. DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PPwACTICAL. According to the introduction and conclusion of the chapter, its contents refer mainly to the all-directing providence of God, the ruler of the world, just as in chap, xvi., — which furthermore in regard to several of the ethical precepts, or rules of virtue connected with these considerations about providence, stands in quite close relations to the admonitory substance of the section before us; comp. e.g. xvi. 5 with xxi. 4, 21; xvi. 10, 12 with xxi. 1; xvi. 11 with xxi. 6; xvi. 6 with xxi. 21; xvi. 17, '20 with xxi. 23: xvi. 32 with xxi. 22 ; xvi. 26 with xxi. 25, 26. Among the virtues the practice of which is commended as a chief means of putting ones self in the right re- lations to the administrative and judicial go- vernment of God over the world, righteousness or obedience to God's word, which is better than sacrifice (vers. 3, 27; comp. vers. 8, 12, 15, 18, 'Jl, 28, 29j, is the most conspicuous. Side by side with this stands patience in the sense of the New Testament (comp. v-ouori/, Luke viii. 15 ; James i. 4), i. c, steadfast endurance in labor and in suffering, such as the service of the Lord brings with it (vers 5, 17, 25, 2G). There are more isolated warnings against deception (vers. 6, 28), hard-heartedness (vers. 10, 13), luxurious exti'avagance (ver. 17, 20), scof&ng (vers. 11, 24). Since however these without difficulty group themselves about the central idea of obedience to the divine command, this obedience may itself be considered in a general way as the controlling idea in the substance of the section, and accord- ingly some such theme as " the man who heark- ens" (ver. 28; comp. 1 Kings iii. 9), or again "obedience more acceptable to God than sacri- fice" (ver. 3; comp. 1 Sam. xv. 22), may be pre- fixed as a theme or motto to all the rest. For a Jiomilg then on the cliapter as a xchole : God as ruler and judge over all the world, and man"s duty of obedience to Him, consisting in walking in righteousness, patience, love, and truth. Or more briefly: Obedience to God's word as the sum of all human duties and virtues. Comp. Stocker: Of God's gracious and right- eous government, as it shows itself in the good and the evil. — The Berleburg Bible puts it very well: God is to rule, not self-will. Vers. 1-3. Cra.meu (on vers. 1. 2): God not only knows the thoughts of men, but also has their hearts in His hands, and turns and moulds tbem as the potter the clay. In matters of laith tiierefore we are not to proceed according to the fancy of our own hearts, but according to God's command. — Geiek: Pray God earnestly that He may not leave thine heart intent on any evil, but that he may draw it to Himself to walk stead- fastly according to his word. — Woiilfauth : Not merely the plans of the lowly, but also the coun- sels and undertakings of tlie mighty depend on God, who as chief ruler of His world with wis- dom that never deceives and power that never fails shapes all according to His design. — Starke CHAP. XXI. 1-31. 189 (on ver. 3) : All outward ceremonies of worship avail notliing, if there is lacking the true inwar| ^^^'] " and he that renounces (?) his service perishes," a meaning clearly quite insipid and little appro- priate as the result of a very artificial and vio- lent emendation, for which the text of the LXX neither in ver. 8 b, nor in the spurious verse which this version exhibits appended to our verse, offers any adequate support whatsoever. — [FuEiiST distinguished two radical meanings in the verb jlX, from one of which the derived noun has the meaning "nothingness, vanity," here adopted by E. V., and B.; the other gives the meaning "calamity," and in this sense the word is here understood more forcibly and appropri- ately, by De W., K., IL, N., M., S.— RuEETscnr vigorously supports our author's interpretation of clause 6. — .\.] Ver. 9. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed. — He who is "good in the eye" is the exact opposite of the man "evil in the eye" (chap, xxiii. 6) ; it is he therefore who looks around not wickedly but in kindness and friendliness. Such a one will besides always be charitable in disposition and action, and there- fore as he dispenses blessing he will also receive blessing. The conjunction (0) as the beginning of the second clause should doubtless be regai'ded rather as a causal, than, with Hjtzig, as a con- ditional particle; it is therefore not " // he gives" (that he does this is in fact already im- plied in his being described as having "a boun- tiful eye"), but "since," or "for he gives," etc. Ver. 10. Chase avvay the scorner and contention goeth out. — That s.-offing is a cliief source of contention and strife was already expressed in chap. xxi. 24. Contention "goeth out," viz., with the scofTer, when he leaves the assembly in which he has given forth his scoffing utterances (the LXX rightly supply f'/c c7i'rf(5/)"Ji'). — And strife and reproach cease, — for the evil example of the scoffer had excited the whole assembly to mutual abuse and recrimination (Vnp has here this active meaning). CHAP. XXII. 1-16. 193 Ver 11. Ho that loveth with a pure heart, wiaosa'lips are gracious, the king is his friend. — Tluis, wiciiour doubt correctly, UiiBRwiT, Elster, HiTZici; for the passages xiii. 4, 24 ; xiv. 13 present no sufficient analogy for Ewvld's interpretation of the last clause, " he is the king's friend;" and Bertheau's conception ofthephrase "grace of lips " as a second accusa- tive object of the verb "loveth" (" he that loveth purity of heart, and grace on his lips, the king is his friend ") has against it the decided inappro- priateness of the expression "to love the grace of his lips " as conveying the idea of " cultivating a wise eloquence." Furthermore we have to compare chiefly xvi. 13 ; for it is really wise and good couiisjUors who are there as here desig- nated the favorites of the king. — [Few verses in the Book of Proverbs whose reading is unques- tioned have received more interpretations. In clause a "purity of heart" is made the object by almost every interpreter, instead of an adverbial adjunct as Z. makes it. Tiie "grace of lips" in clause b, in addition to Bertheau's construction (see above), is made a part of the subject — " to 7vkoin, or whose is grace of lips," c. (/., by De W., EwALD, K.; it is made the tirst part of the predi- cate "^'^ instead of Pi^l: Je- hovah's eyes observe wickedness. — For the verb in clause h comp. xiii. 6; xxi. 12. The "words" of the false here denote his proposals or plans, the faithlessness which he devises by himself and discusses with others. [Holden thinks it neces- sary to render the "aifairs of the transgressor." The necessity is obviated by the above explana- tion.] 4. Vers. 13-16. Of slothfulness, wantonness, folly and avarice, as further chief hinderances to tiie attainment of a good name. — The slothful saith : (There is) a lion without, etc.; — i. c, he has recourse to the most senseless and ludi- crous excuses, if in any way he may not be obliged to go out to labor ; he therefore says, e. g., a lion has stolen into the city, and may pos- sibly' destroy him in the midst of the tumult and crowd of the streets. Comp. xv. 19. [See criti- cal notes for an explanation of the tense of the main verb.] Ver. 14. A deep pit is the mouth of the strange woman, — ('. e., her seductive language; comp. ii 16; v. 3; vi. 24; vii. 5 sq.; and also xxiii. 27, where the harlot herself is described as a deep ditch. — He that is accursed of Jeho- vah.— The "cursed of Jehovah" the exact op- posite of the man "blessed (^^"'3) of Jehovah," therefore one visited by the curse of an angered God. Ver. 15. Foolishness is bound in the heart of the child, — f- e., it belongs to the dis- 13 position of all children, who are altogether and without exception v/'/moi, — infallibly so (comp. 1 Kings iii. 7), and must therefore necessarily be removed from them by the diligent employment of the "rod of correction" (comp. xiii. 24; xix. 18; xxiii. 13, 14). Comp. our proverb '-Jugcnd hat kein Tugend^' [Youth hath no virtue]. — [Kamph., from the absence of an adversative par- ticle before clause b, judges it better to take the first clause as conditional: "If foolisiiness be bound," etc. Here is then the remedy for the supposed exigency. But this is surely needless, and vastly weakens the import of clause a, with its impressive declaration of an urgent and uni- versal need. — A.] Ver. 16. One oppresseth the poor only to make him rich; — /. e., the oppression which one, perchance some rich landlord or tyrannical ruler, practises on a poor man, rouses his moral energy, and thus by means of his tireless indus- try and his productive labor in his vocation, brings it to pass, that he works himself out of needy circumstances into actual prosperity. On the other hand, according to clause b, all pre- sents which one makes to an indolent rich man, prodigal, and therefore abandoned by the bless- ing of God, contribute nothing to stay the waste of his possessions that has once commenced. What one gives to him is drawn into the vortex of his prodigality and profligacy, and therefore is subservient, in spite of the contrary intentioa of the giver, only "to want," or to the diminu- tion of his possessions (comp. xi. 24). — Thus most of the recent expositors correctly explain, especially Ewalu, Umbreit, Elster, Hitzio [De W., K.], while Bertheau's conception of the passage: "He that oppresseth the poor to take for himself, giveth to a rich man [viz., himself) only to want," approximates to the old incorrect rendering of the Vulgate, Luther, etc. See in reply Hitzig on this passage. [H., N., M., S. follow the E. V. in giving this reflexive mean- ing to the pronoun of clause a, while Worbsw. guardedly expresses a preference for (he other view; God's providence overrules the rich man's rapacity, and turns obsequious liberality toward the rich against him whom it would benefit. For according to this view it is not the giver, as the E. V. suggests, but the receiver, that shall come to want. lluEETSCHi comes vigorously to the de- fence of the older explanation. The subject is then single: the rich man seeks to advance him- self by oppression of the poor; he gives wrong- fully to one that has, and God thwarts him. We prefer this elder exposition. — A.] DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AXD PRACTICAL. The doctrine of the great worth of a good name forms undoubtedly the main theme of the section before us ; for all that follows the introductory proposition of ver. 1, which is expressly shaped with reference to this theme, may be easily and without any violence regarded as a statement of the most important means or conditions to the attainment and maintenance of a good name. These conditions are given in part negatively, as not consisting in riches (ver. 2, comp. ver. 16), nor in falseness of heart (ver. 5), nor in scoffing. 194 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. and love of ahiise (ver. 10), nor in unrighteous dealing (ver. 8, comp. ver. 12), nor in .sloth and licentiousness (vers. 13, 14). They are also given in part positively, as consisting in a genuine prudence (ver. 3), in humility and the fear of God (ver. 4), in a wise frugality and industry (vers. 7 and 16), in charity toward the poor (ver. 9), in purity of heart together with that grace of speech which rests upon it (ver. 11), — in a word, in all the excellent qualities as well as the inward and outward advantages to whicha strict and wise training of children is able to aid the man who is naturally foolish and ignorant (vers. 6 and 15). Ilomihi on the entire section: On the great worth of a good name, and ou the means to its attain- ment and preservation. Comp. Stocker: Of a good name: 1) How it is to be gained (vers. 1-4); 2) what chief hinderances threaten the possession of it (vers. 5-16). — In similar style, Wohlfarth, Calwer Ilandb., etc. Ver. 1. Melanchthon: With reason dost thou say: I need a good conscience for God's sake, but a good name for my neighbor's sake. A good name is really a good thing well- pleasing to God, and must be esteemed and sought by us, because God would have the difference between goo!l and evil brought to the day by the testimony of pub- lic opinion, so that accordingly tliose who do right may be promoted and preserved, the unjust, on the contrary, censured, punished and de- stroyed. From such public witness we are to become aware of the existence of a moral law, and should reflect, that a holy God and supreme avenger of all evil lives. We must therefore strive after a good name for two reasons : 1) be- cause God would have us regard tlie judgments of upright men (Ecclesiast. vi. 1 sq. ) ; 2) because He would also have us serve as a good example to others (1 Cor. x. 31 sq.; Phil. iv. 8). — Starke : If a good name is better than riches, then it is our duty, in case of need, to defend our innocence (Am. vii. 11; John viii. 40), but no less to rescue the good name of others also (I Sam. XX. 31 sq.). — [Ar.vot : The atmosphere of a good name surrounding it imparts to real worth additional body and breadth. — Mitffet: a good name maketh a man's speeches and actions the more acceptable; it spreadeth his virtues unto his glory, and the stirring up of others; it re- maineth after death ; it doth gool to the children of him who is well spoken of; and finally is a means of advancement.] Vers. 2—'). Melaxciitiion (on ver. 2) : Know that there is a Divine providance, and that not by chance but by God's ordinance some are rich, others poor. Therefore it is of moment that both walk before God according to their state and calling, that the poor therefore do not murmur against God, but humble himself under His hand, and take comfort in the promises of His word (Matth. v. 3), — that the rich, however, be not presumptuous, and do not set his t-rust on uncertain riches (1 Tim. vi. 17), etc. — Tiihinr/en Bible (on the same verse) : — If the rich were always humble and the poor patient, and both alike penitent, pious, loving and peaceable, then rich and poor might live liappy and content to- gether.— [R. Hall: — The rich and the poor meet together 1) in the participation of a com- mon nature; 2) in the process of the same social economy; 3) in the house of God ; 4) in the cir- cumstances of their entrance into this world and in the circumstances of their exit out of it: 5) in the great crises of the future.— Saurin : — ■ That diversity of condition which God hath been pleased to establish among men is perfectly con- sistent with equality : the splendid condition of the rich includes nothing that favors their ideas of self-preference ; there is nothing in the low condition of the poor which deprives them of their real dignity or debases their intelligence formed in the image of God, etc. — See Bishop Butler's Sermon before the Lord IMayor. — II. Hooker (on ver. 3): — It is nature which teacheth a wise man in fear to hide himself, but grace and faith teach him where. — Muffet: — • Although God can save us only by His power, yet He will not without our own care and (nd /avor, nor without those means which He hath cjrilained to that intent and purpose]. — Hasitjs (on ver. 3) : — The best hiding from danger and calamity is under the wings of the Almighty (Ps. xci. 1 sq.). — J. Lange (on ver. 4) : — He who would be ex- alted to glory, must first suflfer himself to be well luimbled. — (On ver. 5) : — The ungodly finds in the path to hell nothing but thorns and snares, and yet he presses on in it ! A sign of the great- ness and fearfulness of the ruin of man's sin. Vers. 6-13. [South (on ver. 6) : — A sermon on the education of youth]. — Starke (on ver. 6) : — The spirits of children are like plastic wax ; according as good or evil is impressed upon them will their chief inclination be a good or evil one. — On ver. 8) : — Upon unrighteousness and un- godliness there surely follows a terrible end. But who believes it? (Ps. Ixsiii. 18, 19). — Cramer (on ver. 10) : — One sin ever develops itself from another. From mockery comes wrath, from wrath comes strife, from strife one comes toblows, and from blows comes reproach. — (On ver. 11) : — A true heart and a pleasing speech are rarely found together, especially at the courts of this world's great ones, where there is only quite too much hypocrisy and unfaithfulness to be found, hiding behind smooth words. Vers. 13-16. J. Lange (on ver. 13) :— He that loveth his own soul and therefore on account of comfort and tenderness will not go forth to carry on the Lord's work, will lose and eternally de- stroy his soul, .John xii. 25. — (On ver. 15) : — God's children must in their life have to experi- ence sharp strokes of affliction in many forms, for, still as heretofore spirituallj' children, folly in many forms remains in their hearts, and the sin that yet dwells in them makes itself percep- tible by frequent outbreaks. — Geier (on ver. 15): — With mere loving words and flattering speech can no child be happily trained; strict and wise correction must be added. — (On ver. 16) : — Be- ware of all unrighteous means of becoming rich through others' injury. Better to have little with a good conscience than great treasure w'nh injustice ! — Cn/wer Handh. (on ver. 16) : — He that enriches himself on the poor, one richer than he will in turn impoverish him. — [Edwarhs (on ver. 15) : — The rod of correction is proper to drive away no other foolishness than that which is of a moral nature. But how comes wickedness to be so firmly bound, and strongly fixed, in the hearts of children, if it be not there naturally ?] CHAP. XXII. 17-29. 195 III. ADDITIONS MADE BEFORE HEZEKIAH'S TIME TO THE OLD NUCLEUS OF THE COLLECTION MADE BY SOLOMON. Chap. XXII. 17— XXIV. 34. First Supplement: — Various precepts concerning righteousness and practical ■wisdom. Chap. XXII. 17.— XXIV. 22. a) Introductory admonition to take to heart the words of the wise man. Chap. XXII. 17-21. 17 Incline thine ear and liear words of the wise, and apply thine heart to my knowledge ! 18 For it is pleasant if thou keep them within thee ; let them abide together upon thy lips ! 19 That thy trust may be in Jehovah, I have taught thee this day, even thee ! 20 Have not I written to thee excellent words, with counsels and knowledge, 21 to make known to thee the certainty of the words of truth, that thou mightest retura words of truth to them that send thee ? b) Admonition to justice toward others, especially the poor. Chap. XXII. 22-29. 22 Rob not the poor because he is poor, and oppress not the wretched in the gate ; 23 for Jehovah will conduct their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoil them. 24 Have no intercourse with an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go, 25 lest thou learn his ways and prepare a snare for thy soul. 26 Be not among them that strike hands, who become sureties for debts ; 27 if thou hast nothing to pay why shall he take thy bed from under thee ? 28 Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set. 29 Seest thou a man that is diligent in his business — before kings shall he stand ; he shall not stand before mean men. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 17. [Observe the interchange of the imperative £37] with the 2d pars. sing, of the Imperf. ri'tJ^H-— A.] Ver. 18. [In ^'^y\'' we have illustrated, ag in many other instances, the final disregard of the originally strict applica- tion of the suffixes to their own person and number: let them abide in its entireness, etc. — A.] Ver. 20. [Bott. g 707, 2, explains the masc. adj. Ct^bc; of the K'ri as an example of masculines used in describing the pre-eminent and striking, — but on account of the Dm of ver. 19 gives the preference to the K'thibh Dili' /B'. So Stuart and Moensch.— A.] 190 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Ver. 21. [Tn*?ii''?, one of the plural participles, not uncommon in our book, to be taken distriljntiveli', as applica- ble to each of all possible cases. Bott. J 702. e. — A.] , Vers. 22, 21, 26, 28. [Kui'ther examples of the Jussive with the negative adverb 7}<. instead of a direct prohibition with thn Iniporative; co-np. Litin, ne fai:ias ; Greek, fit) ypo(i)tjs (Kurhner, g 2.50, 5, Hadley. § 723, a); as though in pro- hibitions a sense of fitness or oldig.itiou were appf.ilod to rather than au auihority asserted. — A.] — (Ver. 21). j~\N j<13 here, in accordance witli the later usus loquendi, is equivalent to jlX 11 'D ; comp. Ps. xxvi. 4. Yer. 25. [The more compact form =lS>;"> for fl'7j{,-) under the influence of the preceding "]3 I Bon. g 1059, why should lie, any one do this ? BoTT. ? 5^5, c.—A.] Ver. 23. [3-^'jT; BorruuER's -Fie/is Zicii(i»i or de6i7«TO, rendered by the German fZar/; it is his privilege or preroga- tive.— A.] the conditional clause, "if thou keep," ^^c, [so EXEGETICAL. *"• 5'- ^^ ^^m '^•■> S-' ^^•' Mdfi'i^t, etc.~\, we adduce the absence of a second condition J paidicle, or at least a copula before the Imperi'., which in its present position at the beginning of a clause clearly appears to be a Jussive. Comp. Hiizio on this passage. Ver. 19. That thy trust may be in Jeho- vah I have taught thee this day, even, thee ! The perfect represents the work of teach- ing as already begun and now in progress, like the "I have given," chap. iv. 2. — nni< HX, eliani te, inquam, Germ, ja dich ! yea, thee ! even thee ! The expression brings out strongly the idea that tlie present teaching is designed for the student of wisdom who is here addressed, for him and for no one else (Meiicer, Geier, J. H. Michaelis, EwALU, De W., Bertheau, etc.). There is no occasion for Umbreit's interrogative conception of the words: "but thou?": i. e. dost thou also attend to my teaching ? and the same is true of Hitzig's attempted emendation, accord- ing to which we should read nnx '^X, " this also, the very same." — The first member, more- over, gives not so much the substance as the object of the teaching, and that as consisting in the development of a firm trust in God, or in the increase and establishment of faith (comp. Luke xvii. 5). Ver. 20. Have I not written (Z., "behold. 1 write) to thee excellent words ? (The K'ri D^tJ^'Sty from \:/'h\y). which is equivalent to TJJ, • T • T ' • T "a great man, a nobleman" (comp. Keil on 2 Sam. xxiii. 8), describes the words as of the highest, noblest worth, of pre-eminent value, as verba exiiiaa s. principalia (comp. the similar term in viii. 6). So, and doubtless correctly, Ziegler, EwALD, Elster, etc. Comp. the early rendering, Tpiafikycara, of the Vers. Veneta. [K. renders "expressive, or significant," bedeutsani]. Others interpret the K'ri diiferently, e. g. Hitzig : be- quests, Verm'dchtnisse (in accordance with the R,abbinic W'h'd, depositarius); the Vulg. and some of the older expositors, "three-fold, i. e. several times, in various ways" (so Luther) : or even "in three forms," so that the reference will be to the Law, the Trophets, and the Hagiographa, as the three chief constituents of the divine word, or again, to the three books of Solomon, etc. The K'thibh is explained ordinarily, by supplying an omitted VlOP, in the sense of "be- fore, formerly;" thus Umbreit, e. g.; "have I not formerly written to thee?" (In a similar way Beutueau). But the ellipsis of a "yester- 1. That a new division of the collection begins with ver. 17, coming from anotlier hand than compiled the preceding main division, appears not merely from the expression "words of wise men," which reminds us of i. 6, but also from the characteristic style of the proverbs which are found from this point onward to the end of chap, xxiv. These no lotiger consist of verses of two clauses constructed according to the antithetic parallelism, but for the most part of longer san- tences, which as a general rule comprise two verses, sometimes, however, three (e. g. xxiii. 1_3, 6-8), or even five (thus xxxii. 31-35; xxiv. 30-34). By the side of the isolated proverbs containing an antithesis of two members, such as are here and there interspersed (e. g. xxii. 28 ; xxiii. 9, 12, 19, 22; xxiv. 8 sq., 23 sq.), there are found in addition several verses constructed of three clauses (xxii. 29; xxiii. 5, 7, 31, 35; xxiv. 12, 31). There is prevalent everywhere the minutely hortatory or in turn admonitory style, rather than that which is descriptive and announces facts. The 7X which serves to intro- duce the utterance of wai-nings is found not less than seventeen times within the two and a half chapters before us, while in the twelve chapters of the preceding main division it occurred but twice (chap. xx. 13 and 22). Many linguistic peculiarities in the section appear, moreover, to indicate a later period ; whether it be the earliest period after the exile, as IIiTzrG proposes, may indeed be the more doubtful and uncertain, since many peculiarities of the section, especia'lly the expression, "words of the wise" (in xxii. 17), like the prevailing admonitory tone of the dis- course, seem to favor the assumption of De- LiTzscH, (hat its author is identical with that of the introductory main division, chap, i.-ix. Comp. Introiluction, ^ 12, p. 29. 2. Vers. 17-21. The introductory admonition to give heed to tlie words of the wise. Ver. 18. For it is pleasant if thou keep them w^ithin thee. " Them," y^'^., "the words of the wise," for only to these can the suffix re- late, and not to " my knowledge ;" so that ac- cordingly this proposition in ver. 18 a, beginning with "for," serves to justify only the first half and not the whole of ver. 17. With 18 b: let them abide together upon thy lips, the ad- monitory discourse proceeds, and in the first instance attaches itself to the substance of 17 b (comp. v. 2). Agaii'.st the common construction, which regards, the verb '.13\ as a continuation of CHAP. XXII. 17-29. 197 day" before this Dlli'/ty would be without any linguistic analogy ; and in a section which in- troduces subsequent admonitions a reminder of teachings formerly given seems little appropri- ate. For this reason the K'ri in the sense above given is unquestionably to be preferred. [S. and M. prefer the adverbial rendering; the ma- jority of the English commentators with ihe E. V. the substantive.— A.]— With counsels and knowledge, so far forth, viz., as these are contained in the •' princely words." Ver. 21. To make known to thee the cer- tainty of the words of truth, "(jorrect- ness, verity," as e. y. in the Targ. on Jer. xxii. 13, 15; Sam. Geu. xv. 6 (where it is made equi- valent to pli*, "righteousness"). Comp. the Chaldee NilD'J-'.p in the Targ. on our passage. — That thou mightest be able to return w^ords of truth to them that send thee. '•Words, truth," a sort of apposition, describing the discourse to be conveyed as consisting of words which are "as it were themselves the truth" (Umbreit, Elster). The expression is like the " words consolations, i. e. consoling words," in Zech. i. 13. — The "senders" (comp. X. 26) are here naturally the parents, who have sent their son to the teacher of wisdom, that he may bring back thence to them real culture of spirit and heart; or again, that "he may know how to bring home to them in all tilings true and not false or erroneous report " (Hitzig). — [Hol- DEN unnecessarily makes the suffix of the parti- ciple represent an indirect object; "them that send unto thee." For the construction " words truth" see Green, § 253, 2. — A.] 3. Vers. 22-29. Admonition to justice toward others, especially the poor and distressed. — Rob not the poor because he is poor. 7l is the depresseil, the straitened, he who is deprived of help for judicial contests and other cases of want, and who therefore needs the protection of the more powerful and the more prosperous. — And oppress not the poor in the gate, i. e. in the place where courts are held; comp Job V. 4; xxxi. 21; Ps. cxxvii. 5. — [Comp. Thom- son's Land and Book, I. 31; and other works illustrative of Oriental usages, passim. — A.] Ver. 23. For Jehovah will conduct their cause. The emphatic announcement of the reason for the warning in the preceding ver. ; comp. xxiii. 11. With respect to the just pun- ishment threatened in clause b, comp. M;itt. xviii. 32 sq. — ^[God is not merely a formidable because an all-just and almighty advocate, ap- pearing before the unjust tribunal, in behalf of the wronged; He is not merely a judge sitting in a higher court of appeal ; He is the executor of theuniversal laws of justice to which the judo-es as well as the arraigned of earth are alike amenable. When Jehovah "cheats or spoils" it is in vindi- cation and not in viol.ation of eternal justice and right. FuERST makes the "life" an adverbial modification, and not the object, so that it ex- presses the extent of his work, "even to the life."— A.] Vers. 24, 25. Warning against intercourse with men of violent temper, like xxvi. '.il ; xxix. 22; comp. James i. 20. — And w^ith a furious man thou shalt not go, lit., "go not along with him." — And prepare a snare for thy soul; viz., tlie passion that would become a snare, a fatal net for thee (comp. xx. 25). — With the warn- ing against suretyship in vers. 2U, 27, comp. vi, 1-4; xi. 15; xvii. 18; xx. 16. Ver. 28. Warning against the violent removal of boundaries ; comp. the prohibitions of the Law; Deut. xix. 14; xxvii. 17; and also Job xxiv. 2 ; Hos. v. 10 ; and below, Prov. xxiii. 10. 11. Ver. 29. Seest thou a man diligent in business. The verb, a Perf. Kal, is condiiional; "if thou seest;" comp. vi. 22. TilO, apt, ac- tive, expert (Luther, endelich). — Bsfore kings shall he stand (Z. " may he set himseli "), viz. to serve them, to receive their cutniiiand-^. comp. 1 Sam. xvi. 21, 22 — He shall not stand be- fore mean men. Lit., "men in the dark," homines obscuri, iynobiles (Vulg.). The antithesis to the "kings" is naturally an idea of a some- what general and comprehensive kind, describing those who belong to the low multitude, the ple- beians. To generalize the idea of "king" in like manner, as if it here expressed something like "noble, rich," is therefore unnecessary (in opposition to Hitzio on this passage). [Lord B.\coN says: Of all the qualities which kings especially look to and require in the choice of their servants, that of despatch and energy in the transactions of business is the most acceptable, etc., etc. There is no other virtue which does not present some shadow of oifence to the minds of kings. Expedition in the execution of their commands is the only one which contains nothing that is not acceptable (Z)e Augmentis ScieiUiarum, Lib. VIIL)]. DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. There are only two main ideas with the pre- sentation of which this section is concerned; these, however, are thoughts of no slight weight and significance. That true wisdom, which is indeed one with firm confidence in God, is to be secured and maintained above all things else, the introductory admonition (vers. 17-21) brings out with earnest emphasis. And that such wisdom as this should manifest itself in a demeanor to- ward one's fellow-men just and kind in all direc- tions,— to impress this is the single aim and end of the hortatory and admonitory addresses that follow in vers. 22-29. — For not merely the warn- ings against the unrighteous plundering of one's neighbors (vers. 22, 23), against passion and a ruinous familiarity with the passionate, and against a wicked removal of boundaries, have this end in view, — but also the cautions against suretyship, which are apparently brought for- ward merely as prudential suggestions (vers. 26, 27), and against tlie wasting of executive talents and skill in the service of insignificant masters (ver. 29), fall under the same genei-alization, so far forth as both kinds of unwise conduct point to an intentional hiding of the talent received from the Lord, and to an inclination to the low and the common, which is as wilful as it is un- profitable and contemptible. He who through 198 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. inconsiderate suretyship for unworthy men de- prives himself of the means of a free and vigo- rous efficiency in life, puts his light under a bushel quite as really, and with no less guilt than he who fritters away his strength in a narrow and obscure sphere of labor, rather than by earnest striving for an influential station seeks to make the results of his activity the common property of m-ABj. Comp. Matth. v. 14-16 ; XXV. 24; John iii. 20, 21 ; vii. 4. These two main truths, — the praise of wisdom as the source of all real confidence in God, and the subsequent admonition to righteousness in many particulars, meet in the idea of Fuilh, or obedient consecration to the invisible holy God, as the sum of all true wisdom (ver. 19). Put in form as the leading thought in a homiletic discus- sion, this fundamental idea would be expressed in some such way as this: On faith in God as the ground of all righteousness and the end of all wisdom ; — or, Faith (couiidence in God) as the basis and end of all wisdom. — Stockeii (regard- ing the whole as a direct continuation of vers. 1-16) : Admonition to seek after a good name. — Starke : Admonition to obedience to the true wisdom (17-21), to right treatment of the poor (22, 23), to the avoidance of intercourse with bad men (24-27), and to a scrupulous regard for boundaries (28, 29). Ver. 17-21. Zeltner: All the woi'ld's plea- sure is to be accounted nothing in comparison with the true, sweet pleasure which comes from the word of God. This they know who have tasted the sweetness of this word (Heb. vi. 5). — J. Lange : Where the good will to obey is want- ing, there all teaching and preaching are vain. This is the reason why so many hundred sermons are heard by the majority without profit. — He who is heartily and willingly obedient to Christ finds in this no burden ; in Christ's obedience consists rather the highest joy. — R. Floret (on vers. 17-19; see Hirtenslimmen an die Gevieinde im Hause des Ilerm, II., Leips., 1849): In the training of your children let your hope be di- rected to the Lord; for 1) the word of the Lord gives the right direction ; 2) His service gives the right strength ; 3) His grace gives the right power besides. — Th. Hergang [ReformationspTedigt) on vers. 17-19; (see Snnntagsfeier, 1861, p. 357): "What a blessed duty is it to hold in honor the memory of such men as have deserved well in the true culture of their own and succeeding times'. [A. Fuller (vers. 17, 18) : If we study the Scriptures as Christia?}s, the more familiar we are with them, the more we shall feel their im- portance ; but if otherwise, our familiarity with the word will be like that of soldiers and doctors with death — it will wear away all sense of its importance from our minds. — Trapp (ver. 19) : Only a Divine word can beget a Divine faith.] Vers. 22-29. Starke (on vers. 22, 23): If the Lord efficiently sympathizes with those who are in outward poverty, still more does He do this for the spiritually poor, who are of broken heart and tremble at His word (Is. Ixvi. 2). — [Arnot (on vers. 22, 28) : There is a causal connection and not merely a coincidence between the spread of God's word and the security of men's rights in a land. As worship rises to heaven, justice radiates on earth. If faith go foremost, charity will follow. — Lawson (ver. 22) : For magistrates to be guilty of the crime of oppression, is a per- version of an institution of God into an engine of abominable wickedness. — (On ver. 23) : The un- just spoiler has the mercy of God against him as well as His justice. — Trapp (on ver. 23) ; A poor man's livelihood is his life. God, therefore, who loves to pay oppressors home in their own coin, will have life for life. — Lord Bacon (on ver. 24): It is of the first importance for the peace and se- curity of life to have no dealings with passionate men, or such as easily engage in disijutes and quarrels; for they will perpetually involve us iu strife and faction, so that we shall be compelled either to break oflt" our friendship, or disregard our own safety. —Bridges (on vers. 26, 27) : la "devising liberal things" we must combine scrupulous regard to justice and truth. Else our charity will prove the scandal, instead of the glory, of our profession.] — jMelanchthon (on ver. 28) : The injunction (that boundaries are not to be removed) may by a simple allegory be expanded to this prohibition; that laws iu gene- ral that are venerable from their age are not to be altered, except in case of the most pressing and obvious need. — Von Gerlach (On ver. 29): Peculiar facility and ability God will bring into an appropriate sphere of action. — [Trapp: A diligent man shall not long sit in a low place. Or if he do all the days of his life, yet if his dili- gence proceed out of conscience, " he shall stand before the King" of kings when he dies.] c) Warning against greediness, intemperance, impurity, elc. CuAP. xxin. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well him who is before thee, — and thou wilt put a knife to thy throat if thou art a gluttonous man. Crave not his dainties, for it is deceitful food. CHAP. XXIII. 1-35. 199 4 Labor not to be rich ; cease from (this) thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou look eagerly after it — and it is no longer there? for assuredly it maketti itself wings, as an eagle that flieth toward the heavens. 6 Eat not tiie bread of him that hath an evil eye, and crave not his dainties. 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he ; " eat and drink " saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. 8 Thy morsel which thou hast eaten, wilt thou cast up, and wilt have lost thy pleasant words. 9 Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he would despise the wisdom of thy words. 10 Rainove not old landmarks, and into the field of the fatherless enter thou not. 11 For their avenger is a mighty one; He will maintain their cause with thee. 12 Apply thine heart to instruction, and thine ears to words of knowledge. 13 Withhold not correction from the child ; for if thou beatest him with the rod he shall not die. 14 Thou beatest him with the rod, and his soul thou deliverest from hell, 15 My son, if thine heart be made wise, my heart will rejoice, even mine ; 16 And my reins will exalt, when thy lips speak right things. 17 Let not thine heart press on eagerly after sinners, but after the fear of Jehovah all the day ; 18 for if the end come then thy hope shall not be destroyed. 19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and incline thine heart in a right way. 20 Be not among winebibbers, who devour much flesh. 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to want, and the sleep of sloth clotheth in rags. 22 Hearken to thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. 23 Buy the truth and sell it not, wisdom, and discipline and understanding. 24 The father of a righteous man rejoiceth greatly ; he that begetteth a wise man hath joy in him. 25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and her that bare thee exult. 26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways. 27 For a harlot is a deep ditch, and the strange woman a narrow pit. 28 Yea, she lieth in wait like a robber, and the false among men doth she multiply. 29 Who hath woe? who hath grief? who hath contentions, — who trouble, — who wounds without cause^ who hath redness of eyes ? 30 They that tarry long at the wine, who come to seek mixed wine. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 31 Look not on the wine, when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, when it glideth smoothly ! 32 At last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 33 Thine eyes shall see strange things, and thine heart shall utter perverse things ; 34 and thou shalt be as one that (is) in the midst of the sea, as one that lieth on the top of a mast. 35 " They have stricken me — I have not felt it — they have smitten me — I have not known it — when I awake I will seek it yet again." GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 1. [We have in J'S, as in 7'J, ver. 24, examples of the "spurious" ^p verbs, or mixed '_^ and 1_J,V The present result is that we have here iu ver. 1, and in the K'ri in ver. 24, forms apparently of the Inf. constr., where the idicim of the language requires an Inf. abs. See Green, ^ 15S, 2, 3; Uott., gg 988, 4, a ; 1141 ; 1143, 1, 2, etc. The jOil is followed by a Perf. consec. to express the idea of the "Fiens debitum," what ought always to be, and so may confidently be expressed as a finished result. iliiTT., §981, B. y.—A..] Ver. 4.— The punctuation I'l^J^ri/ is unquestionably correct (see Exegetical notes); to alter it to Ttyj^n 7 (LXX, Targ., IIitzig), .as though the admonition were against laboring for the favor of Che rich man,ia unnecessary. Ver. 6.— We render according to the K'ri ci.l^r, which is certainly to be preferred to the unmeaning K'lhibh ri'j;i (for which many conjecture ^'lyi, "as eagles and birds of the heavens"). [Bott., §1132, 3, very confidently proposes ny'l, making the verb a Jussive. — A.] Ver. 7.— [For the form Vl3X comp. critical notes on xxii. 7, 8.— A.] The verb {,'^VW pointed aiiii accented as here can be nothing but 3d pers. Perf. Ival , equivalent to the Chald. "^^l^, cogitavit, meditalus est; an 1 this meaning of the expression gives a general sense so appropriate that we ought clearly to abide by it (with Abe.v Ezr\, Umbreit, Bertueau. Elstcr, etc. [so ihe E. V., N., S., M., W., Ue W., KuerstJ, idthough no support can be found for it any where in the Old Testament. The LXX rendered 1J?2/ " hair" [so he eats and drinks, as if any one should swallow a hair]; the Chald., "Ij;^, "fool;" Schultens, "1^'ty, shuddering; Ewald and HiTzia, "Ij;-^ divided (" as one who is divided in his soul ") [Holden and others, " as he is vile "] ; but these are all unnecessary attempts at emendation. Ver. 10. [In ^TJy BiJTT., § 821, Decl. II., and n. 5, maintains that we have a sing, constr. from the original form '''^\y, and not a plur. const, collateral to HH^, as most of the grammars and lexicons hold. He compares nj» and Ver. 12.— [rii^'^n^ a poetical form, a lengthened Imper. pres. Comp. nj-H in xxiv. 14.— A.] Ver. 15. — [The supplementary "'JX conforms to the case of the preceding suffix of the same person, which is of course ■ T a genitive. Bott., g 855, 3. — A.] Ver. 19.— "lO'X is here a real Piel with a factitive meaning, unlike its use in iv. 14. Ver. 22.— [The demonstrative H' used, as it is occasionally in poetry and prophecy, not instead of a relative, but as the emphatic antecedent of an omitted relative. BiixT., §§ 896, 0 ; *97, E. — A.] Ver. 25.— [Instead of r.ading the veibs as simple Imperf.. to be rendered by the future, they may perhaps be made more expressive if made eximples of the "cons\iltative" use of the Jussive : " let thy father and thy mother," e) Ver. 7. For as he thinketh in his heart so is he See Critical notes Ver. 8. Thy mocsel which thou hast eat- en thou Shalt cast up, and iliis under the constraint of the "tvil <;ys ' exciting vexation and disgust, under the feeling of bitterness which the envy and ill will of thine entertainer will ex- cite 111 thee, and from the percpptioii of the fruit- lessness of ihy friendly words, which were in- tended to gain the false heart of ihis man 2 Vers. 9- 11. Warning against intercourse with fools, and against violence — AViih ver 9 comp IX 8 —And into the field of the fatherless piess thou not. lit. ■•come not into them," I. t:. in the way of removing boundaries or other acts of violence. [H.vckett (Scripture Illmtratwns] and other travellers in iho East call attention to the simplicity of these landmarks, a single stone or small heap of stones, — and the ease with which an aggressor could encroach without detection, — A ]. Ver. 11. For thnr avenger is a strong one, i. e., Jehovah, who appears as the vindicator of out- raged innocence (as /XJ, Job xix. 25 ; Jer. 1. 34, etc.), when human deliverers and protectors are wanting to it. (For illustration of human " redeemers ' comp. Ruth iii 12). With b com- pare xxii. 23 . also Ps. Ixviii. G. Mai. iii. 5, etc. 3. Vers. 12 18 .'Vdmoniiion to the strict train- ing of children, and to the striving after true wisdom and the fear of God — Apply thine heart to correction For this phrase " to ap- ply the heart to incline the heart,"" comp. Ps. xe. 12. b; for the "words of knowledge," chap. i. 2. Ver 12 can hardly be regarded as an intro- duction to all that follows as far as chap xxiv. 2 (in opposition to Bertheau) ; rather does the general exhortation contained in it. to ' he recep- tion of a discipline ot the understanding, pre- pare the way only for what immediately follows, — perhaps as far as ver. 16. or 18. Ver. 13 Comp iii 27. xix 18, xxii. 15. Ver 14 And his soul thou deliverest from hell i e . so far forth as correction leads to life, and is even itself life. comp. iv. 13; xv. 24 : also vii. 27 sq , ix 18 Ver, IS. 16 My son, if thine heart be- cometh wise, t e.. if it as the result of whole- some discipline shall have become wise — My heart •will lejoice even mine — i herefore not thine merely For the repetition of the suffix which expresses the genitive relation, by the ca- sus rectus, compare. 1 Kings xxi. 1. 9; 2 Sam. xvii. 5, XIX 1, and also chap xiiu 19 above. The "reins " in 16. a, are plainly only an inter- changeable expression for "heart ' (Ps. xvi. 7; xvii. 3), and the "right speaking of the lips" IS the necessary eflPect or the outward sign of having become wise. Ver 17 Let not thine heart press on eagerly after sinners, but after the fear of Jehovah all the day Thus ScnELLiNG, Um- 202 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. BREiT, HiTziG, [K.] correctly render, while the greater number, following the LXX, Vulg., etc, restrict the effect of the verb ii^p_\ to the first member, and for the second supply the Impcr. of the substantive verb. For the general idea moreover comp. iii. 31 ; xxiv. i. I'J. [Holden gives a qualified endorsement to the interpreta- tion which our author adopts ; (N., M., S. follow the E V^j in the line of the LXX rendering.— RUEETSCH I supports the view which makes the one expressed verb common to the two clauses, the shades of meaning varying as a person is the ob- ject in the former, a thing in the latter clause ; in the former case the idea is very nearly that of " envy," in the latter "to be zealous for." A more delicate point discussed by R. is the pecu liarity of the compound connective DN '2, in ver. 17 and again in ver. 18. In the former it is hardly more than the simple adversative "but" (see Ew.\LD, Lehrb. 343, b) ; in the latter (see Z's. view below), it must be virtually a causal "for," or by conjectural emendation :=: TX '3, "for then," fas above, p. 157). — A.]. Ver. 18. For if the end come. So Umbreit, Beetheau, Elster correctly render, for the con- nective is here not " rather " or " but rather " as in ver. 17, but '3 is a causal (comp. xxiv. 20), and DX supplies a condition, as in the similar passage xxiv. 14. The " end " is not specifically the hour of death (Umbreit) but the terminus which is necessarily reached in all human rela- tions (Elster), the hour of judicial decision, when God fulfils the hopes of the pious but visits the ungodly with righteous penalties. So far forth as this decisive end is ordinarily reached not till the future life, there is undoubtedly a hint of the hope of immortality and of a future retri- bution involved in this passage, as in xi. 7; xiv. 32. 4. Vers. 19-25. Warning against intemperance and extravagance, and counsel to an obedient endeavor after truth. — Hear thou, my son, and be ■wise. The pronoun is added to strengthen the appeal in the Imper. " hear " for the sake of the contrast with the disobedient in vers. 20 sq — And incline thine heart in a right way, lit " and let thine heart go straight forward m the way " {i. e., in the " way of un- derstanding ' chap. IX. G). Comp. Job xxxi. 7. Ver. 20. Who devour much flesh. This conception of the Hebrew phrase is the simplest and best supported by the authority of all the old translators. We are to think of gluttons who at their carousals with much wine consume also much flesh. Comp. vii. 14 ; ix. 2 ; and for the association of SSil " waster, consumer," with N3b, " drunkard," comp. also Dent. xxi. 20, as well as the expression of the New Testament, (pdyoi; iial olvoTrurr/i;, Matth. xi. 19, which seems to be a free rendering of this fixed formula. It is arbitrary and contrary to the meaning of 77U as established ib the usage of the language, when Ew\LD andiUiiBREiT refer it to licentious voluptuaries, who "dishonor or destroy tlieir own body." Of tlie later commentators Ber- THEAU, Elsteb., HiVziq havc taken the right view. [The author is perhaps too summary in his way of dismissing an interpretation, which has the support of Hebraists and expositors like Gesen., FuEiisT, De W., N. ; and yet we concur in his view, which is best supported by scriptu- ral parallels, and is that favored by the LXX, Vulg., Luther, E. V., H., S , M., Wordsw., etc. -A.] Ver 21. And the sleep of sloth clotheth in rags The noun TTO-O, •• sleep," which occurs only bere, according to the context describes the indolence and drowsiness into which the drunk- ard and glutton sinks in consequence of his ex- cesses, and the necessary result of which ia poverty. Ver 22 Hearken to thy father that hath begotten thee, — and for tliat itason dcsei-vea obedience, as does the mother al.^o, to wh .ui, ac- cording to clause b, it is becoming to hearken in the time of lier old age. Ver 23 Buy truth and sell it not. Tho " buying " of the truth consists in the acquisition of it with labor, exertion and sacrifice (comp. iv. 5, 7, xvi. 16; Matt. xiii. 44, 4U) The "sell- ing ■' of it would consist in its gross disparage- ment, and its sacrifice for the sake of sensual enjoyment, or any unsubstantial seeming trea- sure. ["Give up everything for truth," saya Dr Chalmers, "and let no bribery of any sort induce me to surrender it.'"] Ver. 24. The father of a righteous man rejoiceth greatly. The K'ri is unquestionably to be preferred to the K'thibh, while in clause 6 we ought probably to give the preference rather to the K'thibh , we render therefore literally, "the begetter of a wise man — and he shall re- joice in himself." — With respect to the sentiment of this vei-se and the one following comp. x. 1; XV. 20 ; xxvii. 11. 5. Vers. 26-28. Warning against licentious- ness, introduced by a summons to a loving con- secration to wisdom.— My son, give me thine heart. The speaker is evidently wisdom per- sonified, who appears here as in chap. vii. 4, 5, in opposition to a treacherous harlot, and ad- monishes to a firm adherence to her "ways," i. e. to the principles and rules of life which are prescribed by wisdom. Ver. 27. With a compare xxii. 14 a. — And the strange -woman a narro-w pit ; there- fore, those that have been ensnared by her arti- fices and brought to ruin, she releases again with as much difficulty as a narrow and deep well (possibly of a conical, or. the reverse, a funnel sliape) permits one who has fallen into it to escape. Ver 28. Yea, like a robber doth she lie in wait. '^'}T\ is used only here to describe a robber. Comp Jer. iii. 2, where a wanton har- lot is compared to an " Arab of the desert " lurking about the roads. — And the false among men doth she multiply ; i. e. by her seductive arts she allures many to unfaithfulness, especially when it is married men among whom she practises her impurities. Umbreit unneces- sarily render.s : she draweth to herself faithless ones (('. e. adulterers); — besides, the verb hero used could hardly express this idea. But it is likewise inappropriate, with Ewald, Berxueau, CHAP. XXIII. 1-35. 203 Elster, etc., to understand by the "faithless" not so much adulterers, etc., as rather robbers and murderers. No sutScieut support from the language can be adduced for Hixziu's conception of D'lJO as equivalent to the abstract n"IJli3 "perfidy, faithlessness." 6. "Vers. 29-35. Warning against the vice of intemperance, by means of a vivid picture of its ruinous results. — Who hath woe ? Who hath grief? Lit., "to whom is ah':' to whom alas?" The interjection M'DX, an expansion of 'IN is found only here. Among the subsequent terms, the "trouble" is strictly anxious care, complaint; " wounds without cause " are wounds received in causeless or wholly unprofitable dis- putes, wounds and stripes such as come of the brawls of drunken men; finally the dark "red- ness of the eyes " is the revolting effect of exces- sive use of wine as it shows itself in the face, according to Gen. xlix 12. Ver. 30. They that tarry long at the ■wine (comp. Isa. v. 11), -who come to seek mixed \wine. There is hardly need of our supposing (in accordance with BiiUTiiEAu's view) an actual entrance into a proper wine store or cellar (Song Sol. ii. 4), — but rather a concourse of several at the house of some one (comp. Job i. 4), to drink there strong spiced wine or mixed liquor (ix. 5). Ver. 31. When it sparkleth in the cup (lit., " giveth out or showeth its eye"), when it glideth smoothly (lit., " gocth a straight or right way," in " and thou wilt whisper," i. e. speak with subdued voice (from a form nSHi to be explained in accordance with the Arabic) ; [so BiJTT., making it a Iliph. from riftiJ and not a Piel from nj^S]. -T T T Both are alike .irbitrary and unnecessary. [K., Eertheao, S. and M. take our author's view]. Ver. 31. [?03, a Pual with Kamets Hhatuph; see Green, g 9), a; Dw'^n one of two examples in which !| in the T ■ "•. ~: ultima gives place in forming the plural to - with a doubled vowel. Green, 291, c. — A.] EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 23-25. AVarning against a partial ad- ministration of justice — These also are from ■wise men. According to tlie LXX, Vulg., Mi- CHAELis, Umbreit, Elster, etc, the D'pDn? should be understood "for the wise." [So the E. v., which is followed by Holden]. In oppo- sition to this we have not merely the usual moan- ing of the preposition in superscriptions, but over and above this we have the "also," which refers back to the next preceding collection of proverbs, wiiose originating with wise men was expressly emphasized, chap. xxii. 17. — To be partial in judgment is not good : strictly : to distinguish persons in judgment is not good. This short proverb, forming only a single clause, is plainly nothing but a preliminary observation or introduction to the two following verses, which treat more fully of partiality in dispensing jus- tice. Compare, furthermore, the quite similar, and almost literally identical sentences, xviii. 5 and xxviii. 21. Ver. 24. He that saith to the wicked, " Thou art righteous." Comp. chap. xvii. 1-5 : " He that justitieth the wicked." To the threat- ening intimation of God's displeasure there given, there corresponds here the threat of a condition in which one is hated and cursed on the part of the nations (comp. xi. 26 ; xxii. 14) ; for to turn justice into injustice by partiality in judgment impairs the well-being of entire nations and states. Ver. 2-5. But to them that rebuke (ini- quity) it is well ; i. e. upright judges who pun- ish evil-doers according to their desert (not merely with words but also with stringent disci- plinary enactments), instead of the curse of men, obtain as a reward nothing but blessing and welfare from God. 2. Vers. 26-29. Four additional admonitions to righteous conduct toward one's neighbors. — He kisseththe lips that giveth a righC an- swer;/, e. faithful and truthful answei-s, espe- cially before a court of justice, affect one as favorably as the most agreeable caress, or a sweet kiss on the lips. The mention of the "lips" is to be explained simply by the remembrance of the question to which the upright and truthful answer corresponds. The author of the proverb passes wholly by the fact that hearing is the ap- propriate organ for the reception of the answer. Therefore Hitzig's conception of the first clause, which differs from the common one: "He com- mends (ingratiates) himself with the lips who," etc., is plainly unnecessary. [Bertheau, Kamph., De W., N., etc., agree in our author's construc- tion and conception ; while the E. V., Muffet, H., S., M., etc., understand the allusion to be to tri- butes of love and honoT paid to Mm who answers rightly: "Every man (or, the people) shall kiss his lips." According to this view the people's curse (in ver. 24) is contrasted with their respect- ful and loving salutation ; according to the other, which is grammatically simpler and probably to be preferred, the offence given by the partial or partisan judge is contrasted with the cheering, soothing power of him who answers rightly. — A.J 212 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Ver. 27. Set in order thy work w^ithout; i. e. take care, by the protitable ami diligent prosecution of your labors in the fiehl, iirst of all for the needful and reliable support of your ex- istence; then j'ou may go on to the building up of your establishment. The " house " in clause c, is thus doubtless equivalent to " family, do- mestic establishment," as in lluth iv. 11 ; comp. above, Prov. xiv. 1. The literal rendering given by HtTZiG and others to this phrase, "build thy house," seems less appropriate, although Bibli- cal parallels might be adduced for this also, e. g. the passage Luke xv. 28, which in its moral bearing is certainly kindred. Ver 28. Bs not witness against thy neighbor w^ithout cause. "Wituout cause," i. e. witliout i^u actual reason, without necessity; comp. xxiii. 20; xxvi. 2; John xv. 25, e c. It is not so much a false witness that is meant, as one not called for, one who is incited to say injurious things by nothing beyond his own animosity. — And w^ilt thou deceive v^ith thy lips? See Critical notes for various constructions of the verb. With regard to the expression '• de- ceive with thy lips," comp. Ps. Ixxviii. 36 ; " and they did flatter him with their mouth." Ver. 21). Say not, "As he hath done to me so V7ill I do to him." We can hardly find here (with Hitzig, who follows several of the earlier expositors) a special connection be- tween this verse and the preceding, as though the man who had been wronged by the officious witness were here introduced as speaking, and a warning were given him against allowing free course to his revenge. Comp. rather the similar thought in chap. xx. 22, which like this stands quite isolated. 3. Vers. 80-34. The vineyard of the slothful: a narrative in form closely resembling the parable. Comp. Isa. V. 1 sq., as well as the passages which correspond still more closely with the form of this narration, .Job v. 3 sq. ; Ps. xxxvii. 35 sq. — By the field of a slothful man I passed along. The figure of the field is in the sequel entirely dropped, from a preference for the closely related one of the vineyard. The "man Toid of understanding" in clause b, is naturally another sluggard, one who is indolent from lack of understanding. Ver. 31. And lo ! it was all grow^n over with thorns [lit., " it came up all of it thorns"] (comp. the same word in Isa. xxxiv. 13, which is there also translated in the Vulg. by the term urticie), brambles covered the face thereof (D'h'^n, lit., "what one may not touch, things not to be approached" [Fuerst, "stinging, burning things," nettles, e. g.'\, is an accusative subordinate to the verb in the Pual), and its stone wall (lit., "its wall of stones") V7as broken down. All these features are found also in the parable of the vineyard in Isaiah, which has been already cited, Isa. v. 5, G ; comp. likewise Ps. Ixxx. 13. 14. [Travellers like Hackett {lUustrations of Scripture) call attention to the minute accuracy of the description as illus- trated by the fitct, f bat in the richer soils of Pa- lestine it is thorny shrubs, of which twenty-two kinds are enumerated, that are specially quick to spring up and overspread a neglected field. — A.] Ver. 32. Then I looked. Hitzig proposes to read DinXl instead of HinXI (comp. 2 Sam. iv. 10) : " and I stopped " (from the intransitive verb inX, sislere, to stand still). But the ordi- nary reading is abundantly confirmed by the parallel in clause b. [Kamph. calls attention to the introduction of the pronoun, as an element in the graphic fullness of the poet's description of his meditation. — A.] — I saw and took (to my.'^elf) instruction, lit., "a coirection or re- proof." What was contained in this admonition is expressed in what follows. With vers. 33, 34 comp. the almost literally identical verses 10 and 11 of chap, vi., and the Exeg notes there (p. 84). where the meaning of the divergent reading was also discussed. — And thy ^want : lit., "and thy wants,"?, e. thy de- ficits, thy pecuniary embarrassments, on account of which now one thing and then another fails. DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PKACTICAL. Righteous treatment of one's neighbor, and a prudent active industry in the discharge of duties to ourselves, are the two points to which the ad- monitory import of this section may be reduced, and in a way quite exhaustive. For as vers. 23-29, all of them with the sole exception of ver. 28 admonish to a strictly just and honorable bearing in intercourse with others, so not merely that 28th verse, but also the parabolic narrative in vers. 30-34, relates to the vice of sloth and an indolent carelessness in the performance of the domestic duties of one's calling. The general substance of this short section therefore bears a resemblance, at least partial, to that of the 6th chapter (which is indeed much richer in its full- ness). In attempting to obtain from it a central idea for homilelic use, we should be obliged to proceed as we did in that instance (comp., above, p. 87). [With reference to ver. 29 in particular (comp. what is said above on vers. 11, 12), Dr. Chalmers says : It is pleasant to observe the outgoing of the earlier morality towards the later and more advanced — of that in the Old to- wards that in the New Testament. — A.] There- fore as a homily on the whole: Neither injustice nor faithlessness toward one's neighbor, nor want of fidelity in the fulfilment of one's own domestic duties, brings a blessing. — Or, Honor- able conduct in relation to others is possible only on the basis of the industrious and conscientious performance of the duties of one's own calling. Vers. 23-25. Starke : An unjust judge loads himself with sighs which God also hears; a righteous judge, on the contrary, will surely enjoy at the same time the blessing and the in- tercession of the pious. — Woiilfarth : The bless- ing of a wise severity in the State (in the ad- ministration of the laws). Vers. 26-29. Geier (on ver. 26): If thou meanest to deal fairly with thine own soul, then rejoice heartily in good counsel given from the word of God ; though it be disagreeable to the flesh, yet it is like a precious balsam (Ps. cxli. 5). — Starke (on ver. 27): He who with all his carefulness in attention to his occupation yet forgets the one thing needful, builds his house CHAP. XXV. 1-28. 213 on the sand, because in the midst of all outward prosperity he still sutlers injury in his soul. — (On ver. 29) : If thou wouldst be really like God as His child, then follow Him in compassion and leave the right of vengeance to Him alone: Lev. xix. 18; Horn. xii. 17 sq. Vers. 30-34. Starke: Indolence is extremely injurious to the Christian life. If one does not do good with earnestness and diligence, evil surely gains more and more the ascendency, and in all conditions, in Church and State and in domestic life, want and labor are multiplied as the result of neglect of otficial duty on the part of the servants and stewards instituted by God. — WoHLFARTH (on vcr. 32) : To become wise on the follies of others is in fact an excellent pru- dence.— [.\rnot: Even the sluggard's garden brought lorth fruit — but not for the sluggard's benetit. The diligent man reaped and carried off the only harvest that it bore — a warning. — J. Foster; Lecture on Practical Views of Human Life. Let it never be forgotten in any part of the process that the etHcacy of the instruction must be from the Supreme Teacher; without Him, the attraction and assimilation of the evil would, after all, be mightier than its warning and repelling force]. IV. LATER COLLECTION BY THE MEN OF HEZEKIAH. True wisdom proclaimed as the chief good to kings aud their subjects. Chaps. XXV.— XXIX. Superscription : Chap. XXV. 1. 1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which men of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, collected. 1. Admonition to the fear of God and righteousness, addressed to kings and subjects. Chap. XXV. 2-28 2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing ; but the glory of kings to seai'ch out a matter. 3 The heavens for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings (are) unsearchable. 4 Take away the dross from silver, and there cometh forth a vessel for the refiner ; 5 take away the wicked from belbre the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness. 6 Display not thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of the great ; 7 for it is better that it be said to thee, ' Come up hither," than that they humble thee because of the king, whom thine eyes have seen. 8 Go not forth hastily to strive, lest (it be said to thee) : " What wilt thou do in the end, when thy neighbor hath put thee to shame ?" 9 Debate thy cause with thy neighbor, but disclose not the secret of another ; 10 lest he that heareth it upbraid thee, and thine infamy turn not away. 11 (Like) apples of gold in framework of silver is a word fitly spoken. 12 (As) a gold ring and an ornament of fine gold is a wise reprover to an ear that heareth. 214 THE PROVERBS OF SOLO.MON. 13 As the coolness of snow on a harvest day is a faithful messenger to them that send him ; he refresheth the soul of his master. 14 Clouds and wind and no rain — (so is) a man who boasteth of a false gift. 15 By forbearance is a prince persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaketh the bone. 16 Hast thou found honey — eat to thy satisfaction, le''lO (I'wt. Kal from "l_i'3), or the form is with R. Kimchi, BERiaEAU, i:LSTER, etc., to be re- CHAP. XXV. 1-28. 213 garded as a Pual part, with the omission of the pei-foriuative O (conip. !:<. liv. 11, etc.): comp. Ewaid, Lehrb., 1G9 d. [FuERST supports tliL" latter oxplanalion ; Gese.x , Lex. and Lt/iri/eO., iiiiiT., Green (?; and others adopt the author's view. See esp. Bott., gj 492, t) aud n. 2; luCo, Cuud u. 1. — A.] Ver. 20. — r\~\pO is usually taken as a UipU. Part, from n"I>\ " he who takelh ufi clothing," eic. Fuerst suggests the construing and rendering of it as a noun, with the meaning I'racli', splendor; Bon. strenuously maintains that it can be nothing eise. Lelii- ., 11., p. 377, n. 1, and references there given. — A.J. EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1. The Superscription — plainly belong- ing to the whole subsequent collection as far us the end of chap, xxix., aud not merely to some such portion as xxv. 2 — xxvii. 27, as Hitzig suggests; for there is in chap, xxviii. 1 no new superscription, and the assumption that in chap, xxviii. 17 ^q. the central main division of the entii'e Book of Pro- verbs (xii. — xxii. IG) is continued, while xxviii. 1-16 is a fragment from a later hand, lacks all real support. Comp. remarks above on chap, xxii. 1. — These also are proverbs of Solo- mon—whether precisely in the strictest S3u..e, or in the broader one of an authorship that is Solomon's only indirectly, on this point the ex- pression gives us no definite knowledge. Pro- verbs of Solomon in the broader sense nuiy very properly be included under the phrase. — Which have been collected. — In regard to the mean- ing of this verb see what is already said in the Introd., I 12 (pp. 2(J). The meaning "remove" (from the original place), "transfer, transplant, compile " is certainly lexically established, and is to be preferred without qualification to the ex- planations which differ from it; to "append" or "arrange" {ordine disponere). ov to "preserve" [dur are facer e, conservare). Whether as the source from which the transfer or compilation of the following proverbs was made, we are to think simply of one book or of several books, so that the transfer would be the purely literary labor of excerpting, a transcribing, or collecting by copy- ing (comp. the af k^eypdipavro of the LXX) ; or whether we have to consider as the source simply the oral transmission of ancient proverbs of wise men by the mouth of the people (Hitzig), must remain doubtful. It is perhaps most probable, that both the written and the oral tradition were alike sifted for the objects of the collection. — By the men of Hezekiah. — Possibly a learned commission created by this king for the purpose of this work of compilation, consisting of the most noted "wise men" of his time. Comp. Introd., §8, and ^12, as cited above. [Fuerst, in his Kanon des Alien Tesfamentu, cites the Jewish tra- dition as holding a different view in several of these particulars. In regard to original author- ship, the title is not interpreted as even claiming all for Solomon, though his is the chief and rep- resentative name; it is rather the aim and effect of the collection that is emphasized. Tradition, moreover, interprets the "these also" as showing that the preceding sections were likewise collected by the mea of Hezekiah, the verb =lp'n>'n in tiie superscription to this fourth collection meaning " continued." "The men of Hezekiah " further- more are represented as not simply literati and poets of the king's court temporarily associated, and engaged in a specific work, but a "college" existing for similar purposes two hundred and i eighty years, seven full generations. For de- ) tails and references see Fuerst's Kanon, pp. 73- 80.— A.] 2. Vers. 2-5. Of kings, their necessary attri- butes and duties. — It is the glory of God to conceal a thing — viz., so far forth as He, the "Uod that hideth Himself" (Is. xlv. Id), is in- compreliensible in His being, and "unsearchable in His judgments " (Rom. xi. 33), so that accord- ingly all His action is a working out from the unknown, the hidden, a sudden revealing of hid- den marvels (the "secret things" of Deut. xxix. 2',)), ["David says, 'The heavens declare the glory of God,' and Solomon adds, that Gods glory is seen not only in what He reveals, but what He conceals — a profound observation, which is the best answer to many Scriptural objections to Di- vine Revelation, as has been shown by Br. But- ler in his Analnff)/." Wordsw., in loc.]. — On the contniry, it is the glory of kings to search out a matter, rightly to discern and to make clear debatable points in jurisprudence, and ia general, on the ground of careful inquiry, inves- tigation and consultation, to issue commands and to stiape political ordinances. Comp. what Gothb once said {Sammll. Wcrke, Bd. XLV.. p. 41) : " It is the business of the world-spirit to preserve mysteries before, yea, often ai'ter the deed; the poet's impulse is to disclose tiie my.-tcry ;" and also Lutuer's marginal comment on our pas- sago (see, below, the Homilctieal notes). — "131 is moreover in both instances to be rendered T T by "thing, matter," and not by "word" (Vulg., CoccEius, Umbreit, etc); for in claused in particular this latter meaning seems wholly inapposite. Ver. 3. The heavens for height, the earth for depth, and the heart of kings (arej un- searchable.— 'Ipil j'X, "no searching out," is plainly the predicate of the subjects in clause a also, so that the entire verse forms but one pro- position. And this is not a possible admonition to kings (not to suffer themselves to be searched out, but to preserve their secrets faithfully), as UjMBREiT, Van Ess, De W., etc., think, but a simple didactic proposition, to bring out the fact, that while the heai't of man is in general deep and difficult to fathom (.Jer. xvii. 9; Ps. Ixiv. 7), that of kings is peculiarly inaccessible and shut up within itself, much as may be depending on its decisions. [While, then, according to ver. 2, " it is a king's glory to get all the light he can " (Stcj.vrt), it is his glory, and ofteit an absolute condition of his prosperity aud that of his king- dom, that he be able to keep his own counsel, — that of his heart there be "no searching out." -A.] Vers. 4, 5. Take away the dross from sil- ver.— The "dross," whose rvmoval empowers the "refiner" or goldsmith to prepare a vase of no- ble metals, corresponds here, as in Jeremiah vi. 29, to the wickcil or un.ffodly men vrlio are to be purged out of a jiolitical commonweaith. — Take avraj the wicked from before the king — 216 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. i. e., before the court or by virtue of llic king's judicial decision. Tiie wicked is probably not to be designated as a " servant of the king" by the phrase •' before the king" (contrary to the view of EwALU and Bkrtheau [Kamiti., Doi^er- lEiN, H., fte.]).— With 5, b, comp. xvi. 12; zxix. 14. 3. "Vers. 6, 7. Warning against arrogance in intercourse with kings and tlieir nobles. — Dis- play not thyself in the presence of the king;— lit., "bring not thy glory to view, make not tliyself glorious " (Stier).— With the phrase "great men" in clause b comp. xviii. 6 ; 2 Sam. iii. 38 ; 2 Kings x. 6, c^c— With ver. 7 compare in general Luke xiv. 8-11, as well as the Arabic proverb (Meid.\ni, p. 72), "Sit not in a place from which one may bid thee rise up." — Than that they humble thee (thy humbling) before the king.— Z. renders " because of a princ"," and goes on to sny : "Usually, 'before a prince, in his presence.' But then we should have expected rather the plural, 'before, in the presence of princes and nobles.' '"JS/ seems to require to be employed here rather in the sense of 'because of, in rel.ition to' (comp. 2 Sam. iii. 31); and the following 'whom thine eyes have seen ' seems to suggest the criminality, by no means ignorant, of the dishonor put on the dig- nity 0* the prince (thus Hitzig correctly ex- plains)." [We caunot see the fitness of this de- parture from universal usage in regard to 'Jp?, ■which occurs hundreds of times in the 0. T. with various modifications of the meaning "before," but has not in one conceded instance the meaning " on account of." It has been used twice just before with its ordinary meaning, and before the end of the chapter occurs again with the same meaning. There is room for difference of opinion as to the person be/ore icliom the humiliation is to be, — whether it be the king himself, or some prince or noble of his court, but there can be none as to the preposition required to express the idea. It is probably best to regard the king, wlio is chiefly affronted by such arrogance, as de- scribed here, not by his specific and official title, but as the cxalled one who was to see and be seen, and before whom the humiliation is most crush- ing.—.\.] 4. Vers. 8-10. AVarning against contentious- ness and loquacity. — Go not forth hastily to strive ; — /. c, do not begin controvorsies witli un- due lia^fe (LiiTiiEn: rush not forth soon to quar- rel).— Lest^ (it be said to thee) " "What ^wilt thou do iri, the end," e(c. — Lit., "at the end thereof, at it*^ (the strife's) end," at the time, therefore, whftn the evil results of the contention have shown themselves. It is so natural to sup- ply a verb of l^aying with the "lest" before " What wilt thoi\ do?" that we may without hesi- tation have recourse to this expedient for filling out tlie form of texpreHsion. which certainly is pcrpk'xingly concise and elliptical (comp. Um- BUEtT, Elster, Sriku [K.vmpii., H., N.. 'M.'], etc., and even a commentator as early as J.vRCiii, on this passnge). At all events this solution is bet- ter than tliat devised by Ewai.i) and Beutiieau [De AV , S.], who fake the "what" in the sense of " what evil, what terrible thing" ("lest dis- gracefully treated by thine opponent and excited to wrath, thou do some fearful thing!") Ver. 9. Debate thy cause (strive thy strife) with thy neighbor, t/c. — If tlie contest has be- come really inevitable, if it has come to process of law, then press thy cause with energy, but ho- norably, with tlie avoidance of all unworthy or low means, — and especially in such a way that thou do not by any possibility with a malicious wickedness beiray secrets of thine opponent that may have been earlier entrusted to thee. Ver. 1(). Lest he that heareth it upbraid thee. — The '-hearer" does not denote possibly the injured friend (LXX, Schultens [Wokusw.], etc.) — which would be intolerably flat and tauto- logical, but very indefinitely, any one wlio ob- tains knowledge of that dishonorable and treach- erous conduct. The Piel IpPI is used here only in the sense of "curse, despise;" comp. the cor- responding noun "reproach" in chap. xiv. 34. — And thine evil name turn not awray, — die not out again, depart not from thee. Comp. the use of ^W of wrath that is allayed or quieted; Gen. xxvii. 44, 45, and frequently. 5. Vers. 11-15. Five symmetrically con- structed and concise comparisons, in praise of wisdom in speech, of fidelity, liberality and gentleness. — Ver. 11. Apples of gold in franle^work of silver. ri'^b'O which occurred in chap, xviii. 11, in the sense of " imagination, conceit," is unquestionably to be left with its usual meaning, "sculpture" (carved or embossed work) ; comp. Ezek. viii. 12; Lev. xxvi. 1 ; Num. xxxiii. 52. Under the term we are to understand some such thing as sculptured work for the de- coration of ceilings, pillared galleries, etc., which exhibits golden apples on a groundwork of silver. That in this case we must have expected the pre- cise term for "pomegranates" (D''yi3T) is an arbitrary assertion of Hitzig's, in support of which we need neither emend with him, to read nib3t^03 (from an alleged noun rh2Vr^=b''\3V^, palm bough) "or branches," nor with Luther give to the word in question the signification "baskets," which has no parallel to support it. [Kampii., H., M., etc., support this rendering of Luther's; De W. and N. suppose the silver work to be inlaid or embossed on the golden apples; while Bertheau, Gesen., S., Wordsw., etc., un- derstand the description to be of golden fruit, represented eitlier in solid or embroidered work on a ground-work of silver. Fuebst seems to favor the application of the term to ornamented furniture or plate for the table; and this cer- tainly has the advantage of natural probaliility in its favor — A.] — (Is) a v/ord fitly spoken ["spoken in its time." — Z.] Comp. xv. 23, where however we have li^j.'^ instead of the uniqiie expression found in our verse. That this peculiar form of speech, which appears to sig- nify strictly "after the manner of its wheels, or on its wheels," is in reality equivalent to justo tempore, in tcivpore suo. is expressed as early as Sy.mmachus and the Vulg., as well as supported by the analogy of a similar Arabic expression, in which the radical word fiJIX is in like manner used to describe time revolving in its circuit, moving on in the form of a ring, or after the CHAP. XXV. i-2e 217 manner of wheels. Comp. also the well known vision of Ezekiel ; Ezek. i. 15 sq. [See Ci-it. Notes. Beuthe.vo, H., favor the exposiiio i above given; Gesen., S., M., Wordsw. favor the other and loss figurative way of reaching the same idea. — .\.] Vor. 12. A gold ring and an ornament of fine gold. Qi3i elsewhere a ring for the no.se (xi. "12, etc.), is here, as clause b shows, rather an ear-ring or eai'-drop (couip. Gen. xxxv. 4j. '7n is in general a pendant, a jewel, such as is usually worn on the neck or in the ears, (Song Sol. vii. 2 ; Hos. ii. 15) ; and is here naturally u.sed in the latter sense, therefore possibly of the ornament of pearls which was hung below the ear-ring. — (So is) a wise reprover to an ear that heareth. "The reprover, or jjuu- isher," is a concrete, lively, illustrative expres- sion instead of "rebuke or ceusure." The bold- ness of the expression still fails to justify Hit- zig's attempted einendatiou, according to which n'O is to be read instead of n-piO. and this is to be taken ia the sense of " conversatiou" ("ra- tional conversation" — comp. the h'jyo^ coipoi^ of the LXX)'. With the general sentiment comp. besides chap xv. 31, 32. Ver. 13. As the coolness of snow on a harvest day, i. e. probably, as a refresh iug drink cooled by the snow of Lebanon amidst liie heats of harvest labor. Comp. Xenoph. JJem- orab. II. 1, 3U; Plix. Hist Nat., XIX. 4; and especially the p:issages cited by Hitzig from ttie '■'■Gi'sta Dei per Francos'' (Han. IGll), p. 1098: " The coldest snow is brought from Lebanon, to be mixed with wine, and make it cold as the very ice." [See II.vckett's Illustrations of Scrip- ture, pp. 53-5, for illustrations of the usage, and statemeuts in regard to the extent of the traffic. — A.] With clauses b and c comp. x. 26; xiii. 17; xxii. 21. Ver. 14. Clouds and w^ind and no rain — (so is) a man who boasteth of a false gift. That is, a boaster who rualces much talk of his liberality, aud yet withal gives nothing (who •' promises mountains of gold, but does not even give lead," (Stier), is like clouds of vapor borne aloft and driven about by the wind (□'i^'tyj, lit, light rising vapors, which gather in clouds), which dispense no rain. The same figure, with a similar application: Jude 12; 2 Pet. ii. 17; likewise iu several Arabic proverbs, e. g. Exc. ex Sent. 43 (ed. Scheiu.): "A learned man without work, is as a cloud without rain." Ver. 14. To the recommendation of liberality in the verses preceding there is very nppro- priately added an admonition to gentleness and mildness, especially in the use of the tonguf^. Comp. XV. 1. — By forbearance is a judge persuaded, Hi., "talked over, misled," i. e , changed in his dispo-ition, influenced, comp. Luke xviii. 4, 5. |''i'p here certainly means "judge," as in vi. 7, and not "King, prince," as soma of the older expositors, and Luther also, render it, and as Umbrkit is inclined to regard it. [Why not the "prince," acting in his judi- cial capacity, and in other relations also where the bearing and spirit of those about liini will more or les3 consciously mould his action ? He is the "decider" in more v/ays than one. — A.] And a gentle tongue breaketh the bone, ('. e., subdues i-ven tiie uio.st obs.inate resistance. Comp. the Latin: " Gutta cavat lapidem," etc., as well as the German, "Pr.tience breaks iron." 6. Vers. lG-20. AVarning against intemper- ance, obtruslveiiess, slander, credulity and levity. — Hast thou found honey — eat to thy satisfaction (lit., "thy enough"). Comp. Si.Uhon and .Jonathan as finders of honey (Judges xiv. 8 sq. ; 1 Sam. xiv. 20), and also a wariiing against partaking of it. to excess, ver. 27. and Pini).\R, Nem. 7, 52 : Ko/jov 1,^" '^"' i"^^'- Ver. 17 first introduces the real application of this warning against eating honey in excess. "Withhold thy foot from thy friend's house. " Make rare, keep back, seldom enter with it," etc. Comp. the a-dviov elaaye rbv rrdJa of the LXX. — Comp. besides the similar pro- verbs of the Arabs, which warn against ob- trusiveness : "If thy comrade eats honey do not lick it all up," or "Visit seldom, and they love thee the more," etc. Also Martial's senti- ment: NulU tc facias nimis amicum. Vor. 18. A maul and a sword and a sharp arrow. T"£)0 an instrument for crushing, a club shod with iron, a war-club (Nab. ii. 2; comp. the cognate terms in Jer. Ii. 20, and Ezek. ix. 2). For additional comparisons of false, malicious words with swords and arrows, comp. Ps. lii. 4; Ivii. 5; Ixiv. 4; cxx. 4, etc. See also the previous rebukes of false testimony; Prov. vi. I'J; xii. 17; xix. 5. 9; xxi. 28. Ver. 19. A broken tooth and an un- steady foot (is) confidence in an unfaith- ful man, etc. n>'n yd is to be explained either b}^ a substantive construction, "tooth of break- ing" (Umbreit, Stier following Aben Ezra), or by a participial construction, " a breaking tooth." The latter is to be preferred as the simpler (Bertheau, Elster, etc., [See Crit. Notes]) ; to change the punctuation so as to get the meaning, "a bad, worthless tooth," Hitzig, is at any rate unnecessary, since the meaning " decayed, rotten," is in general not question- able. "Trust in (lit., of) an unfaithful man" is here a foolish, credulous reliance on one who is false. For the figure comp. furthermore, espe- cially Is. xxxvi. 6; 1 Kings xviii. 21. Ver. 20. He that layeth aside clothing in a cold day. This is plainly a senseless pro- ceeding, an entirely aimless and absurd move- ment. The same is true of the action suggested by the words following, "vinegar on nitre:" for the moistening of nitre (comp. Jer. ii. 22), /. e., doubtless carbonate of soda, or soda, with vine- gar or acid destroys its substance, while lo com- bine the same thing with oil, etc., produces a useful soap. Thus, and doubtless correctly, RosENM , Bertheau, Von Geri.acu, and sub- stantially Umbreit also (although he thinks rather of potash or saltpetre as the substance here designated). J. D. Michaklis {de nitro Hebrxorum), .1. F. Vox Meyer. Stier, etc.. think specially of the fermentation and the offensive odor which the nitre produces in contMCt with vinegar(?). Schultens. Ewald and Ei.ster un- derstand "MM in accordance with the Arabic (and also in harmony with the k'/jisi. of the LXX), 218 THE PiLOVEUliS OF SOLOMON. of a wound, wliich is washed with smarting vinegar instead of soothing oil ; against this view, however, we have of the other ancient versions except the LXX, especially the Vulg., Symmachus, the Vers. Venet., etc. IIitziu finally emends here again according to his fancy, and obtains the meaning: "He that meeteth archers, with arrow on the string, is like him who singeth songs with a sad heart"(!) — [Gesen., Fuerst and the lexicographers gener- ally refer to descriptions of Egypt and its natu- ral productions, in describing the material and its properties. H., N., M., Wordsw., etc., take the same view, and multiply and vary the refer- ences. See Thomson's Land and Book, II. 302, 303. Wordsw. expresses a decided preference for the rendering of clause a, which (see Grit. Notes) is preferred by Fuerst, Bott., etc., " dis- play in dress" instead of comfort; "as he that tricks out a man in a gay dress in winter, he who busies himself about the fineness and bril- liancy instead of the texture and warmth of the attire," etc. This certainly secures a better cor- respondence of incongruities. — A.] Moreover, the "singing songs with a heavy heart" (for these last words comp. the similar phrases in Gen. xl. 7; Neh. ii. 1, 2; Eccles. vii. 3), which is described by the two comparisons in clause a, as a senseless and perverse proceeding, is doubt- less to be understood in the sense of Ps. cxxxvii. 1, 4, and not to be taken as possibly a disregard of the Apostolic injunction in Horn. xii. 15. For the heart is hardly that of another [E. V., De AV., H., N., S., M., Wordsw.; "to a heavy heart"], but most probably the speaker's own heart. The procedure against which the sentiment of the verse is directed seems therefore to be frivolity, and superficial, insincere conduct, and not a rude indifference and uncharitableness toward one's neighbor. 7. Vers. 21, 22. Admonition to the love of enemies. — If thine enemy (lit., "thine hater") hunger, give him bread to eat, etc. "Bread" and "water" are named here as the simplest and readiest refreshment. To name meat, wine, dainties and the like would have been quite too forced. In the citation in the N. T., in Rom. xii. 20, both objects are for brevity omitted and thereby the expres.sion is made more like Matt. XXV. 35. — For so thou dost heap burning coals on his head. For tiiis verb to heap, to pile up, coiiip. vi. 27. To " heap coals on the Lead of any one" cannot be the figurative re- presentation of a burning shame which one de- velops in his opponent (Gramberg, Umbreit), for shame glows in the cheek, and not above on the head. Tlio figure is designed to describe rather the deep pangs of repentance which one produces witliin his enemy by rewarding his hatred with benefits, and in tiie procluciion of which the re- venge to be taken on him may consist, simply and solely. This correct view is first presented by Augustine, Dedoclr. Chri-it., III. 16; and then especially by Schui.tens, IIosenm., Hitzio, etc. These last at the same time adduce pertinent Arabic parallels, like Meidani, II. 721: "He who kindly treats such as envy him, scatters glowing coals in their face, etc. At all events, we must decidedly reject the interpretation of many of the Church Fathers, like Ciirysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, etc., who regarded the coals as the designation of extreme divine judgments (comp. Ps. xi. G; cxl. 11) which one will bring upon his enemy by refusing to avenge himself. [In tills last opinion our recent eom- mentators, perhaps without exception, agree with the author. In regard to his first discrimination, if any have been inclined to limit the figure to the superficial blush or the transient emotion of shame, there would be a general agreement with him. If he means to discriminate sharply be- tween shame and repentance, we must pronounce his distinctions too fine, as some will be inclined to regard his comment on the proper seat of tiie blush. A deep, true shame, may be the first step toward, the first element in repentance. — A.] 8. Vers. 23-28. Against slander, a contentioua spirit, timidity, want of self-control, f^c. North ■wind produceth rain. For the verb comp. Ps. xc. 2 ; for a description of the rainy wind of Palestine, which strictly blows, not from the Nnrtli, but from the North-west and West, a3 p£32f n^l, comp. Am. viii. 12, where this "North" is contrasted with rT^TD "the East." Perhaps this term is equivalent to Cdcpoq as a designation of a dark, gloomy region, which we are by no means to seek directly north of Pales- tine (Umbreit ; comp. IIiTzio). In no case is Jerome right (and Aben Ezra), when in view of the predominantly dry, cold and rough character of the north of Palestine, he renders the verb by ^^ dissipat pluvias, it scatters the clouds, and so ends the rain." [The author's view is that of De W., Kamph., Bertheau, Muffet, H., N., S., M., Wordsw., Gesen., and the recent commentators and lexicographers almost without exception. Now and then Je- rome's rendering, wliicli is that of the E. V., is assumed to be riglit, and illustrated, as e. g. in Thomson's Land and Book I. 131. — A.] — So doth the slanderous tongue a troubled face [lit., "a seciet tongue"]; i. e., artful calumny and slander (comp. Ps. ci. 5) produces gloomy, troubled faces, just as surely as the North-west wind darkens the heavens with rain- clouds. The tertium compar. in the figure is therefore the same as in Matt. xvi. 3 ; Luke xii. 54. Comp. besides the German proverb, " He makes a face like a three days' rain-storm." [Those who follow the E. V. in the reudering of the first clause, must with it invert subject and object in clause b, and change the epithet, "troubled," dark with sadness, for "angry," dark with passion; "so doth an angry coun- tenance a backbiting tongue." Trapp, e. g., says: "Tlie ready way to be rid of tale-bearers is to browbeat them; carry therefore in (his case a severe rebuke in thy countenance, as God doih."— A.] Ver. 24. Comp. the literally identical sentence, chap. xxi. 9. Ver. 25. (As) cold water to a thirsty soul is good news from a far country. Naturally we must here think of those far re- moved from their home and kindred, who have long remained witjiout tidings from them. Comp. XV. 30; Gen. xlv. 27; and for the figure, Jer. xviiL 14. CHAP. XXV. 1-28. 219 Ver. 26. A troubled fountain and a ruined spring (comp. for this tigure Ezek. xxxii. 2; xxxiv. 18, I'J) is the righteous man ■who wavereth before the wicked. The meaning of this is probab y not the righteous man who without, fault oj his has been brought, by evil doers into calamity, but he who through the fault of his timidity, his want of faithful cour- age and moral firmness, has been brought to waver and fall by the craft of the wicked. Compare Stier on this passage, who however understands the wavering perhaps too exclu- sively of being betrayed into sin, or some moral lapse. [Lord Bacon [De Augmentis, etc.) gives the proverb a political application: "This pro- verb teaches that an unjust and scandalous judgment in any conspicuous and weighty cause is above all things to be avoided in the State," etc.; and in his Essay (LVI.) "of Judicature," lie says: "One foul sentence doth more hurt than many foul examples; for these do but cor- rupt the stream, the other corrupteth the foun- tain."— A.] Ver. 27. To eat much honey is not good. Since this maxim, like the similar one in verse 16, must convey a warning against the excessive enjoyment of a thing good in itself, we should look in the 2d clause lor an analogous truth be- longing to the spiritual realm. That clause is therefore not to be rendered: "And contempt of their honor is honor" (thus J. D. Michaelis, Arnoldi, Ziegler, Ewald, — all of whom take *1pn in the sense of "contempt" (comp. xxviii. 11) ; and Hitziq likewise, except that he [by a transfer of one consonant! reads 11330 1133, and "contempt of honor is more than honor"). But we must here reclaim for the noun 1133 its original meaning "weight, burden," instead of D"\133 we must read Dni33, " weighty things, difficulties," and then retaining the ordinary meaning of "Ipn we must render: "and search- ing out the difiicult brings difficulty," i. e., too strenuous occupation of mind with difficult things is injurious; pondering too difficult pro- blems brings injury (comp. the common proverb, "To know everyihiug makes headache"). So Elster alone [with Noyes among our ex- positors, and Fuerst, substantially, of the lexi- cographers] correctly explains, — while Umbreit and Bertheau [with whom S. and M. agree] take only the last 1133 in the sense of difficulty, and therefore explain "and searching out honor (or "their honor") brings difficulty;" in a simi- lar way the Vulgate " qui scrutator est majestaii^ oppriinetur a gloria"' ["he who is a searcher after dignity will be crushed by glory." The E. A'". renders "to search their own glory (is not) glory;" the assumed meaning of the noun de- mands a negative copula, such as has just been used in clause a; so Gesen.(?) Kamph. enu- merates the above and several other renderings, and pronounces all unsatisfactory. Holden and WoRDSw. retain the ordinary meaning of all the nouns, supply the usual copula, and render : "To search after their glory (their true glory) is glory." The sentiment is fine, but to attach it to clause a requires skill.] Ver. 28. (As) a city broken through without -walls (comp. 2 Chron. xxxii. 5 ; Neheui. ii. 13), is the man who hath no mastery over his own spirit, i. e., the pas- sionate man, who knows not how in anythiuo- to keep within bounds, who can put bit and bridle on none of his desires, and therefoi-e is givea up without resistance to all impressions from without, to all assaults upon his morality and freedom, etc. Let it be observed how nearly this proverb corresponds with the substance of the preceding. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. In the noble admonition to the love of enemies, in vers. 21, 22, which bears witness for the New Testament principle of a perfect love even more definitely and in fuller measure, than the dissua- sion contained in the preceding chapter against avenging one's self (xxiv. 29), we reach the cul- mination of those moral demands and precepts with which the wise compiler of the Proverbs comes in the present section before the kings and subjects of his people. Beside this, in the ex- ceedingly rich and manifold variety of etJiical material which this chapter exhibits, the admo- nitions that stand out significantly are especially those to humility and modesty (vers. 6, 7, 14), to a peaceable spirit (vers. 8, 24) to honor and con- siderate forbearance toward one's opponent in controversy (ver. 9, 10,23), to the wise reception of merited reproof and correction (ver. 12), to gentleness (ver. 15), to fidelity and sincerity (vers. 13, 18-20), to moderation in all things, in enjoyments of a sensual as well as of a spiritual kind (vers. 16, 17, 27), to moral firmness in re- sisting the seductive influences of the wicked, and in subduing the passions (vers. 26, 28). In re- gard to doctrine it is especially the delineation contained in vers. 2-5, of the godlike dignity and authority of the King, that is to be accounted one of the pre-eminently instructive portions of the chapter. The earthly king is, it is true, in this unlike to God, the King of kings, that he can fake his decisive steps only after careful consideration, examination, and conference with wise counsel- lors, and only thus issue his commands, so far forth as they are to result in the welfare of his subjects, — while with God, the being who is alike near and afar off, the all-wise and Almighty, counsel and act are always coincident. But in this again there can and should be an analogy existing between earthly rulers and the heavenly King, that their throne also is established by righteousness, that they likewise must watch with unfaltering strictness, by punishing the evil and rewarding the good, over the sacred ordinance of justice and the objective moral law (vers. 4, 5). And for this very reason there belongs to their action also something mysterious and abso- lutely irresistible ; their heart too appears un- searchable, and wholly inaccessible to common men, like the heights of heaven and the depths of the earth (ver. 3) ; in a word, they in the po- litical sphere stand in every point of view as God's representatives, as regents in God's stead and 1)y the grace of God, and even, according to the bold expression of the poetical language of the Old Testament, as in a certain sense even " gods and 220 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. children of the Most High " (Ps. Ixxxii. 6; comp. Johu X. 34 sq.). From this then there results, on the one hand, to themselves the duty of strict jus- tice, and the most conscientious conformity to God's holy will, — but on the other, for their sub- jects the duties of humble obedience (^vers. (J, 7, 13) of earnest reverence for civil laws and ordi- nances, and peaceable deportment, (vers. 8-10, 18, 23, 24, etc.); in general therefore, the/ear of God and righteousness, as the conditions of a true welfare of earth's nobles and nations, to be ful- filled on both parts, by princes as well as by the people. IIOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Homily on the entire chapter: " Love the brethren; fear God; honor the King!" (2 Pet. ii. 17); three apostolical injunctions, which Ile- zekiah's wise men already preached to the Israel of their day. — Or, the fear of God, justice and love, as the three foundation pillars of a well- founded and well organized Christian common- wealth.— Comp. Stocker; Of true honor, sucli as wisdom confers: 1) in the state (ver. 2-15 .■ glo- ria politicoruni) ; 2) in the household (vers. 10- 24: gloria oeconomicorum) ; 3) in the church (vers. 25-28: gloria ecclesiasticorum). — Berleburg Bible: Divine political maxims. — Wohlfartu : Honor and renown as wisdom's reward. Vers. 2-5. Luther (marginal comment on ver. 2) : In God's government we are not to be wise, and wish to know why, but believe everything. But in the secular kingdom a ruler should know, and ask why, and trust no man in anything! — Starke: God's counsel concerning our blessed- ness is revealed to us clearly enough in His word ; act accordingly, and in the presence of the mys- teries of divine wisdom take thy reason captive under the obedience of faith. — [.Jeremy Taylor: God's commandments were proclaimed to all the world ; but God's counsels are to Himself and to His secret ones, when they are admitted within the veil. — Bates: God saveth us by the submis- sion of faith and not by the penetration of reason. The light of faith is as much below the light of glory as it is above the light of nature. — R. Hall's Sermon on " the glory of God in concealing." 1) The Divine Being is accustomed to conceal much. 2) In this He acts in a manner worthy of Him- self, and suited to display His glory. — Lord Ba- con (on ver. 3) ; Multitude of jealousies, and lack of some predominant desire, that should marshal and put in order all the rest, maketh any man's heart hard to find or sound]. — Geier (on ver. 8) : Every one, even the greatest and mightiest, is to know that God knows his heart most per- fectly and searches it through: Ps. csxxix. 1, 2. — Cramer (on vers. 4, 5) : As well in matters of religion as in matters of justice (in the sphere of the church and in politics) the duty belongs to the ruler of removing all abuses and offences. Vers. (J sq. Geier (on ver. G): An excellent means against pride consists in looking to those who are better, more pious, more experienced, more learned than we are, rather than to esti- mate ourselves solely by those who are lower. — Starke (on vers. 9, 10): If thou hast a reason- able complaint against thy neighbor, thou shouldst not mingle foreign matters with it, nor from revenge reveal secrets which weigh heavily against thy neighbor. — Laxge (on ver. 11) ; In religious discourses heart and mouth must agree: the orator must b^^sides always examine what is best adapted to his congregation : 1 Pet. iv. 11. [Bp. Hoi'KiNs: As the amiableness of all duties consists in the right timing and placing of them, so especially of this holy and spiritual discourse]. — Hasius (on ver. 12): He who can hearken and glailly hearkens to rational reproofs, does his ears a far better service thereby, than if he adorned them with jewels of the finest gold, and with ge- nuine pearls. Vers. 13 sq. Luther (marginal comment on ver. 13): A true servant or subject is not to be paid for with gold. — Starke (on ver. 13): A chief characteristic of able teachers of the divine word is that they as stewards over the myste- ries of God (1 Cor. iv. 1, 2) seek to be found faithful. — (On ver. 14); Satan promises moun- tains of gold, but gives only smoke and empty va- por. Jesus keeps His word plenteously above all requests or understanding. — (On ver. 15): He who will everywhere put his head through the wall, will hardly succeed. But how beautiful and salutary is it to be gentle and full of love! — Zeltner (on vers. 16, 17) : Of all things, even the most charming and lovely one becomes at last weary. Therefore there is nothing better or more blessed than to strive for heaven and the eternal, where satiety is without weariness (John iv. 14), life without death (John vi. 50; Col. iii. 1, 2). Vers. 19 sq. Starke: Beside the confidence of believers in God every other hope is deceptive and unreliable as a brittle cake of ice or as a bending reed. — (On ver. 20): Even joyful music is not able to drive away cares and troubled thoughts, but an edifying song of the cross or of consolation may do it; Ps. csix. 92; Col. iii. 16. — Tubingen Bible (on vers. 21, 22) : True wis- dom teaches us by gentleness to break down the haughtiness of enemies, and even to win them to one's self by benefits: Matth. v. 44 sq. But how excellent is it not merely to know these rules of wisdom, but also to practise them! — [Trapp: Thus should a Christian punish his pursuers; no vengeance but this is heroical and fit for imita- tion.— Aknot: This is peculiarly "the grace of the Lord Jesus." When He was lifted up on the cross He gave the keynote of the Christian life : " Father, forgive them." The Gospel must come in such power as to turn the inner life up- side down ere any real progress can be made in this difficult department of social duty]. Vers. 23-28. Geier (on ver. 23) : Cultivate sincerity and honor, that thou mayest not speak evil things in his absence of one wliom thou meetest to his face with all friendliness. — [Bridges: The backbiting tongue wounds four at one stroke — the backbiter himself, the object of his attack, the hearer, and the name of God]. — Zeltner (on ver. 25) : When we hear fi-om dis- tant lands the glad news of the course of the gos- pel among the heathen, it must cause us hearty rejoicing, and urge us to thanksgiving to God (an application tlien of ver. 25 for a missionary festival sermon). — Starke (on ver. 26) : As a fountain maile foul bccimies in time pure and clear again, so likewise the stained innocence of CHAP. XXYI. l-'ZS. 221 a rigliteous man will in due time be revealed again in its purity; Ps. xxxvii. 6. — (On ver. 27) : Tl2e laborious ami diligent will never lack work, and the more vigorous and systematic he is in it, the more lionor does it bring him. — Calwer Ilandb. (on ver. 27) : Search not into things too hard. — Starke (on ver. 28) : A man who cannot govern himself cannot be usefully employed in conduct- ing public affairs. — [Bates : Satan hath an easy entrance into such men, and brings along with him a train of evils]. 2. Various Warnings, viz. : a) Against dishonorable conduct, (especially folly, sloth aiid malice^. Chap. XXVI. 1 As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor befitteth not the fooL 2 As the sparrow flitting, as the swallow flying, so the curse undeserved : it cometh not. 3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. 4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou be like him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes. 6 He cutteth off the feet, he drinketh damage, who sendeth a message by a fool. 7 Take away the legs of the lame, and the proverb in the mouth of a fool. 8 As a bag of jewels on a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honor to a fool. 9 As a thorny staff that riseth up in the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. 10 An archer that woundeth everything, and he that hireth a fool, and hireth vagrants (are alike). 11 As a dog that returneth to his vomit, so the fool (ever) repeateth his folly. 12 Seest thou a man wise in his own eyes, there is more hope of a fool than of him. — 13 The slothful saith : There is a lion in the way, a lion in the midst of the streets. 14 The door turneth on its hinges, and the slothful on his bed. 15 The slothful thrusteth his hand in the dish; he is too sluggish to bring it to his mouth again, 16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes, than seven (men) who give wise judgment. 17 He layeth hold on the ears of a dog who passing by is excited by strife that is not his. 18 As a madman who casteth fiery darts, arrows and death, 19 so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor, and saith: Am I not in sport? 20 AVhere the wood faileth the fire goeth out, and where there is no talebearer the strife ceaseth. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 21 Coal to burning coals and wood to fire ; so is a contentious man to kindle strife. 22 The words of the talebearer are as sportive (words), but they go down to the innermost part of the breast. 23 Silver dross spread over a potsherd, — (so are) glowing lips and a wicked heart. 24 With his lips the hater dissembleth, and within him he layeth up deceit. 25 When he speaketh fair believe him not; for seven abominations are in his heart. 26 Hatred is covered by deceit, (yet) his wickedness shall be exposed in the assembly. 27 He that diggeth a pit falleth into it, and he that rolleth a stone, upon himself shall it return. 28 The lying tongue hateth those that are wounded by it, and a flattering mouth Avill cause offence. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 3. [The form 1J (comp. x. 13; xix. 29) is ordinarily explained as derived from HI J the more common 1J TT -I (Lex., U) as from 1U; BoTT. (§ 493, 17) suggests that the form U is used, as in numerous similar eases the formu _ ^^ with weaker, flatter vowels are employed, to convey in their very sound the idea of the weali, the suffering, the misei-able ; 1J then, in every instance except perhaps one, is used to describe a back that is beaten or threatened. — TIOP /^ a form with the article, as is indicated not by the vocalization alone, but by the parallel D-1D 7 ; BiiTT. I., p. 403, n. 1. — A.J. Ver. 6. [n^p'D a Piel part., therefore active in its meaning, and not to be rendered by a passive, nor need it be ex- changed for the Pual (pass.) part, as Ew.\ld proposes. The emendations of D' 7j"l Hif pO in clause a which liave been proposed by recent expositors are unnecessary; e.g., Ewald'3 reading H Hi'DO " is deprived of his feet, etc'' HiTZiQ would read I"! D^fpO immediately connecting the following words ; "from the end of the feet he swallows injury (? !) who Fjnds messages by a fool." — A.]. Vc. 7. .v'7T is taken most simply as Imper. Piel from H/'l, to "lift out, draw out" (Ps. xxx. 2). [SoFueest; Gr ,en, 1 141, 1; NoRDH. g 452. Bott. g 1123, 4, and § 30O 6, makes it from 7 71- This resolution of 9 and substitution f ' for the second '7 Bott. regards as a probable sign and characteristic of the Ephraimite dialect which he is inclined to find in this section of the Book of Proverbs. Gesss., T/ies., was at first disposed to take it from 7 7n, hut in the sup- plement brought out by Rodiger appears to have changed his view, taking it as a fuller form of HI. The rendering of BiJTT., etc., would be " the legs of the lame hang useless." — A.]. Ver. 14. [310r\, illustrates Bottcher's Ftcreswh^wm, " is wont to turn," and in ver. 20 HSDn and pritJ''' his Fiens debilum : " must go out, must cease." See Lehrb. g 950, 6, and c, e. — A.]. Ver. 18. nSnSnO from riTlS or perhaps from a root T\1T\ still preserved in the Arabic. Ver. 26. [nD2)ri; the r\ of the Hithp. prefix is elsewhere not assimilated. — A.]. Ver. 2S. [fliy'? as here used Bott. regards as one of the traces of an Ephraimite dialect, the noun with this meaning being otherwi.se feminine.— V31 Gesen. derives from ITT in the active sense the form being plural with suff. and the construction ace. as object. Fuerst makes it a peculiar derivative (without sufBx) from HDT in the sense of "bowed down, humble, pious." BOtt. pointing 10T as tiie K'thibh, makes it from Ol with the suffix of the singular. See Exegetical notes for the various interpretations. — A.]. EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-3. Three proverbs against folly, sym- metrical in their structure (in each case bringing two rchited ideas into comparison). — As snow in summer and rain in harvest. According to Jkko.mk, Conim. in Am. iv. 7, rain in harve«t time is in Palestine a thing not lieard of, and even im- jjossiblc. Comp. 1 Sam. xii. 17 sq., vvliere a sudden thunderstorm at thi.s season appears as a miracle from Ood, and also the confirmatory statements of modern observers, like Robinson, P'7p.— Hitzig : "as a little stone on the beam of a balance," etc., — for he says the noun 13 mrans, according to the Arabic, the "beam of a balance," and !.'< '^ siffnifies a "bit or kernel of stone," a little stone serving to bind the balance (?). Ver. 9. A thorny staS that riseth up in the hand of a drunkard, (so is) a (wise) proverb in the mouth of a fool. If in ver. 7 a Mascbal, a maxim of wisdom, taken into the mouth of a fool was represented as something useless, desti- tute of all aim and effect, it here appears rather as something working absolute harm, wounding, injuring like thorns, and in particular like an instrument of correction heedlessly carried, stri- king in tlie wrong place, and so grossly misused. Comp. Luther's marginal note, which in the main point certainly interprets correctly : when a drunkard carries and brandishes in his hand a sweet briar, he scratches more with it than he allows the roses to be smelled ; so a fool wi,th the Scriptures or a judicial maxim oft causes more harm than profit." — Hitziq following the LXX, reads in clause b bti^O instead of 71^3, and fur- thermore takes the verb of clause a in the sense of "to shoot up," and therefore renders: Thorns shoot up by (under) the hand of the hireling (?) and tyranny by the mouth of fools." But we do not need to give to the verb here even as a secon- dary meaning the sense of growing up (as Ewald, Umbreit, Stier propose), as the simple original meaning of rising up; raising itself gives a mean- ing in every way satisfactory. [The rendering of the E. v., H., W., "as a thorn goeth up into the hand," e/c, wounding unconsciously, is less forcible every way than that of the author, with whom DeW., K., Bertheau, N., S., M., etc., agree. A.] Ver. 10. An archer that vroundeth every- thing (for this meaning comp. 3^, "an archer or dartsman," comp. Jer. 1. 29; Job xvi. 43; for the verb in this sense, Is. li. 0), and he that hireth a fool, and he that hireth vagrants ("passers by," i. e., therefore untried, unreliable persons, w-ho soon run away again) — are alike; one of the three is as foolish as another. This interpretation, which is followed by Schellinq, Ewald, Bertheau, Stier, [DeW., Kamph., and virtually S. and i\L], involves it is true a certain hardness, especially in the relation of the figure in a to the two ideas in b; it corresponds best, how- ever, Avith the simple literal meaning of the passage, Luther, Geier, Seb. Suhmid, [N., WoRDSw.] render: "A master formeth all aright," magiisler formal omnia rede; in a similar way Elster: "An able man tbrmeth all himself" (in contrast with the fool, who seeks to Lire others, and even incompetent persons of all sorts, sti'ag- glers and vagrants, etc., to transact his business). [The E. v., wliich is followed against his will by HoLDEN, interprets the "master" as God: "tlie great God," e/c.]. Umbreit and Hitzig [with another common meaning of 2"!]: '■• jVuc/i pro- duceth all," as though the meaning were similar to that in the ocrig £;{;« (h^i/aerai avTu, Malt. xiii. 11; XXV. 20. Others read 2") instead of 3'}, e.g., the Vulg., Judicium drterminat caiisas, and of re- cent expositors Ziegleu, etc. Ver. 11. As a dog that returneth to his vomit (comp. tlie New Testamoiit citation of this passage in 2 Pet. ii. 22) so the fool (ever) re- peateth his folly; lit., "so comes the fool for the second time again with his folly," comp. xvii. 9. Here is plainly meant not merely a con- stantly renewed return to foolish assertions in spite of all the rational grounds adduced against them, but a falling .ngain into foolish courses of action after brief endeavors or beginnings at im- provement (comp. Matt. xii. 46; John v. 14; Heb. vi. 4-8.) Ver. 12. Seest thou a man wise in his own eyes, i. e., who holds himself as wise, and by this very blind over-estimate of himself thoroughly and forever bars for himself the way to true wisdom (comp. xxx. 12), like the Phari- sees mentioned in John ix. 41, who gave it out that they saw, but were in truth stone-blind. — With b compare chap. xxix. 2U, where this 2d clause recurs literally. 3. Vers. 13-16. Four proverbs against sloth. — Ver. 13. Comp. the almost identical proverb iu chap. xxii. 13. — A lion is in the w^ay. hr}U a synonym of ''^X designates the lion as a roaring animal, as rugiens sive rugitor; it does not con- trast the male lion with the lioness (Vulg.), or again the young lion with the full grown, (Lu- ther). Ver. 14. Comp. vi. 10; xxiv. 33. With this figure of the door ever turning on its hinges but never moving from its place comp. the well-known words of Schiller — " dreht sick trdg und dumm wie dcs Fdrbers Gaul im Ring herum'" [turns lazy and Stupid like the dyer'^a nag round in its circle.] Ver. 15. Comp. the almost identical proverb, ch.ap. xix. 24. Ver. 16. — The sluggard is wiser in his o'wn eyes (comp. ver. 12) than seven men who give a wise answ^er. The number seven stands here not because it is the sacred number, but to express the idea of plurality in a concrete and popular way, Comp. ver. 25 ; also vi. 31 ; xxiv. 16 ; Jer. xv. 9 ; 1 Sam. ii. 5 ; Ecclcsiast. xxxvii. 14. — With this use of D^'D " taste " in the sense of " understanding, judgment," comp. 1 Sam. xxi. 14 ; xxiii. 33 ; Ps. cxix. 66 ; Job xii. 20 ; also remarks above on Prov. xi. 22, where is denoted in addition a quality of the moral life. "To give back understanding" is naturally equivalent to giving an intelligent, wise answer, as a sign of an intelligent disposition ; comp. xvii. 18. CILVr, XXVf. 1-28. 2'-r> 4. Vers. 17-19. Against deliglit in strife and wilful provocation. — He layeth hold on the ears of a dog (and so provokes tiie animal out- right to barking ami biting) -who passing by is excited by strife that is not his, lit , "over a dispute not for hiui " (cotnp. Hab. ii. G). For the use of this verb "to provoke or excite one's self," comp. the remark ou xx. 2. This "13^jirp with the Part. '^'^^ forms an alliteration or 7^0- b/ptoton which (with Stier) maybe substantially reproduced in German: "wer voriiberr/chend sic/i uhinjeheti {^sich die Guile uhcrlaufcn) lassf," etc. There is no occasion for Hitzig's assumption, that instead of "12>'rip there stood originally in the text the Dy]>*no wliich is expressed by the Syriac and Vulg. ; "he who meddleth in strife," etc. [The E. V. has taken this doubtless un- der the influence of those early versions.] Vei-s. 18, 19. As a madman w^ho casteth fiery darts, arrovys and death. The n^^i-^? which occurs only here, signifies, according to Symmaciius, tne Vers. Venet., and Aden Ezua, one beside himself or insane (ffeo-rwf, Tveipufievo^-). For the combination of the three ideas, fiery darts, arrows and death («. e. deadly missiles), comp. the similar grouping in xxv. 18 «. — So the man that deceiveth his neighbor. •TDT is to "deceive, to deal crat'tilv," not to "afflict" (TJmbreit), or "overthrow" (Van' Ess). — And (then) saith : Am I not in sport? Tiie meaning of the simple "and saith" the Vulgate paraphrases correctly when it renders: ^'et cum depreheiisus fuerit, dicit," etc. [" Quipping and flouting," says Muffet, " is counted the flower and grace of men's speech, and especially of table talk ; but the hurt that cometh by this flower is as bitter as wormwood, and the dis- grace which this grace casteth upon men is fouler than any dirt of the street." — A.] 5. Vers. 20 28. Nine proverbs against malice and deceit. — Where the vyood faileth the fire goeth out, €/c. Comp. the Arabic proverb expressing the same idea, aimed at slander (in ScHEiD, Sclecta, p. 18): "He who layeth no wood on the fire keeps it from burning." For this description of the "slanderer" comp. xvi. 28. Ver. 21. The direct opposite to the contents of the preceding verse. — Coals to burning coals ; lit., black coals to burning coals. For the "man of contentions" in clause b comp. xxi. 9; xxvii. 15. With ver. 22 compare the literally identical proverb xviii 8. Ver. 23. Silver dross spread over a pot- sherd. "Silver of dross" is impure silver not yet properly freed from the dross, and therefore partly spurious (Vulg., argcntum sordidum), and not some such thing as a glazing with the glitter of silver made of plumbago [Lithargiirus), and so imitation of silver, as manj' think, and as Luther seems to have expressed in his "Silber- tchau)7i." iy^r\, potsherd (Isa. xliv. 11), seems to be used intentionally instead of b"'n~''73 " an earthen vessel," to strengthen the impres- sion of the worthlessuess of the object named. — 15 (So are) burning lips, i. c. fiery protestations of friendship, or it may be warm kisses (which Bertheau understands to be the specific mean- ing), which in connection with a genuinely good heart on the part of the giver are a sign of true love, but with a " wicked heart" are on the con- trary repulsive demonstrations of hypocrisy, without any moral worth (comp. the kiss of Judas, Matt. xxvi. 48 so.). It is unnecessary to read with Hitzig D'pSn, "smooth lips," instead of D'p7"1, "burning" lips. Vers. 24, 25. 'With his lips the hater dis- sembleth. For the verb w hicli may not here, as in XX. 11, be translated "is recognized" (so liUTiiER, following the Chald. and Vulg.), comp. the Hithp. of "IJJ, which elsewhere expresses the idea of "dissembling," e. g. Gen. xlii. 7; 1 Kings xiv. 5, 6. — And within he prepareth deceit. Comp. Jer. ix. 7, and with HO^'p r\"i^ " to set, contrive, prepare deceit," compare the "setting or preparing snares," Ps. cxl. G. — For seven abominations are in his heart. See remarks above, en ver. Iti. and comp. the seven devils of Matt. xii. 45, which represent an in- tensified power in present moral deformity. That there is a specific reference to the six or seven abominations mentioned in chap. vi. 16-19, is an arbitrary conjecture of Abex Ezra. Ver. 26. Hatred is covered by deceit. Pi^ii/O from NC/J, "to deceive," is doubtless cor- I T - T T rectly understood by the LXX, when they ex- press the idea by cJu/lof (comp. also the fraudu- li'titcr of the Vulg.); liere it designates specifi- cally "hypocrisy, the deception of friendly lan- guage used to one's face " (Umbueit). The suf- fix in in^n refers then by an obvious constriictio ad sensum to him who conceals his hatred in this hypocritical way. The second clause gives assu- rance then of the certain occurrence of an ex- posure of this flatterer " in the assembly," /. e. before the congregation of his people assembled for judgment, who perhaps through some judi- cial process that ends unfortunately for him come to the knowledge of his villanies. Hitzig partially following the LXX (0 Kpv-Tuu ix^pav avviaTT^ac 667iov), renders: He who concealeth hatred, devising mischief (?), his vileness is ex- posed in the assembly." Ver. 27. He that diggeth a pit faileth into it. Comp. Ecclcs. x. S ; Eccleslast. xxvii. 26 ; Ps. ix. 16, and with respect to the "falling back of the stone that has been (wickedly) rolled" in clause b, comp. Ps. vii. 17; Matt. xxi. 44. Ver. 28. The lying tongue hateth those that are vyounded by it. If the reading y2'\ is correct this may be the rendering, and the "crushed" (plural of ']'\ [E. V. the op- pressed], Ps. ix. 10; X. 18; Ixxiv. 21), /. c. the bruised (or oppressed or wounded — see U.mbreit and Stier on this passage) of the lying tongue, are then those whom this tongue has bruised or wounded, the victims of its wickedness — and not those possibly whom it proposes to wound or- oppress (Umbreit, De W., Van Ess), or again those who wound, i. e. punish, it [conterentcs .«/fe castigantes ipsam — Luther, Geier, Gbsenius), 226 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Inasmuch, however, as the proposition is by no means universally and in every case true, that the lying tongue, or that detraction hates its own victims, and since besides the second clause seems to demand another sense, it might be jus- tifiable to read with Ewald and Hitzig VJIX; T ~; accordingly "the lying tongue hates ils own mas- ter,'' i. e. it hurls him into calamity, brings him to ruin — a meaning which also corresponds ad- mirably with ver. 27. [See Critical notes for the three chief explanations of the form and de- rivation of the word. The passive rendering has this advantage, that it makes the fourth in- stance correspond with the other three in which the word is used; this presumption must be de- cidedly overthrown. This we do not think is done; sotheE. V., H., N., S., M., W., Kamph., etc. — A.] For the noun rendered " offence." in clause b, comp., moreover, the cognate verb in clause a of xiv. 82. DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. It is mainly three forms of dishonorably and morally contemptible conduct, against which the condemning language of the proverbs in this section is directed; foolishness or folly in the narrower sense (vers. 1-12;) sloth (vers. 13-16); and a wicked maliciousness (vers. 17-28), which displays itself at one time as a wilful conten- tiousness and disposition to annoy (17-19), and at another as an artful calumniation and hypocri- tical slandering (20-28). Original ethical truths, such as have not appeared in previous chapters, are expressed only to a limited extent in the proverbs which relate to these vices. The novelty is found more in the peculiarly pointed and figurative form which distinguishes in an extraordinary degree the maxims of this chapter above others. Yet there are now and then es- sentially new ideas ; what is said in ver. 2 of the futility of curses that are groundless ; in vers. 4, 5 of uttering the truth staunchly to fools with- out becoming foolish one's s^lf ; in vers. 7 and 9 of the senselessness and even liarmfulness of proverbs of wisdom in the mouth of a fool; in vers. 12 of the incapability of improvement in conceited fools who tleem themselves wise; and finally in vers. 27, 28 of the self-destroying reflex power of malicious counsels formed against one's neighbor. Homily on the chapter as a whole. — Of three Ivinds of vices which the truly wise man must avoid: 1) folly; 2) sloth; 3) wicked artifice. — Stockkh: What kinds of people are worthy of no honor: 1) fi>ols; 2) sluggards or idlers; 3) lovers of contention and brawling. — Starkk: A (warning) lesson on folly, sloth and deceitful- ness. Vers. 1-6. Wlirtemherg Bible (on ver. 1): — Honor is a reward of virtue and ability; wilt thou be honored, then first become virtuous and wise ! — Mei-anththox (on ver. 2) : As a consola- tion against all calumnies and unjust detraction the assurance of the divine word serves us, — that false (groundless) curses, though they mo- mentarily harm and wound, yet in the end ap- pear in their nothingness, ^and are cast aside, iu accordance with the saying: truth may indeed be repressed for a time, but not perish (Ps. xciv. 15; 2 Cor. iv. 9). ["Truth crushed to earth shall rise again ; the eternal years of God are hers." — Lawson: The curses of such men in- stead of being prejudicial, Avill be very useful to us, if we are wise enough to imitate the conduct of David, whose meekness was approved, his prayers kindled into a flame of desires, and his hopes invigorated by them].— Geier (on ver. 3) : One may not flatter his own unruly flesh and blood, but must seek to keep it properly in check.— Starke (on vers. 4,5): Great wisdom is needful to meet the difi'erent classes of our adversaries in an appropriate way. — (On ver. B) : Important concerns one should commit to skilful and able servants. Vers. 7-12. Luther (Marginal comment on ver. 7) : Fools ought not to be wise and yet will be always affecting wisdom. — [Trapp: If thy tongue speak by the talent, but thine hands scarce work by the ounce, thou shalt pass for a Phari- see (Matt, xxiii. 3). They spake like angels, lived like devils; had heaven commonly at their tongue ends, but the world continually at their finger ends]. — Starke (on vers. 7, 9): He who will teach others in divine wisdom, must first have mastered it himself (Ecclesiast. xviii. 19); then he will not only teach with profit, but also have honor from it. — (On ver. 9): He who mis- uses God's word does himself thereby the great- est injury.— (On ver. 8) : Beware of all flattering of the ungodly; for one prepares himself thereby but a poor reward. — (On ver. 10) : As is the master so is the servant. Bad masters like bad servants. — (On vers. 11) : If all relapses in sick- ness are dangerous, so much more relapses into old sins.— (On ver. 12): Self-pleasing and self- relaxation is the prolific mother of many other follies. — WoiiLFARTii (on ver. 12) : Let no one esteem himself perfect, but let every one strive for humility and cherish it as his most sacred possession. — [Lawson (on ver. 8): But does not God Himself often give honor to fools ? Yes. He is the judge of nations who has a right to punish men by subjecting them to the power of fools. We are to regulate our conduct not by His secret but Hi.s revealed will. — Arnot (on ver.. 11): When the unrenewed heart and the pollutions of the world are, after a temporary separation, brought together again, the two in their unholy wedlock become " one flesh." Man's true need — God's sufficient cure is "Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me." — J. Edwards (on ver. 12): Those who are wise in their own eyes arc some of the least likely to get good of any in the world. — Bridges : The natural fool has only one hinderance — his own ignorance. The conceited fool has two — ignorance and self-delusion]. Vers. 13-16. Lange: That the weeds of sin are ever getting the upper hand as well in hearts as in the Church, comes from this, that men do not enough watch and pray, but only lounge, are idle and sleepy: 1 Thess. v.6. — Berhhunj Bible: The sluggard remains year in year out sitting on the heap of his self-chosen convenient Chris- tianity, reads, hears, prays, sings in the Church year after year, and makes no progress, never comes to an inner complete knowledge of truth ; CHAP. XXVII. 1-27. 227 just as the door always remains in one place, although it turns this way and that the whole year through, and swings on its hinges. This slothfulness is the mother of all the doctrines which encourage the old Adam, and in the mat- ter of sanctitication throw out the "cannot," where it is a "will not" that hides behind. — WoHLPARTH : The sluggard's wisdom. Rest is to him the sole end of life ; only in indolence does he feel happy, etc. Vers. 17-19. Starke (on ver. 17) : To mix one's self in strange matters from forwardnesss and with no call, has usually a bad issue. — Osi- ANDER (on vers. 18, 19): In the sight of God the wantonness and wickedness of the heart are not hid ; moreover He does not let them go unpun- ished.— Zeltnee: Crafty friends are much more dangerous and injurious than open enemies. — Lange : It testifies of uo small wickedness when one alleges quite innocent intentions in injuring another, and yet with all is only watching an opportunity to give him a blow. Vers. 20-28. Hasius (on vers. 20 sq.): There would not be so much dispute and strife among men if there were not so many base spirits who nourish and promote it in every way. — Starke: Slanders and contentions are to be regarded as a flame to which one should not supply wood, but rather water to quench them. — [Trapp (on ver. 23) : Counterfeit friends are nouglit on both sides]. — Von Gerlach (on ver. 2G) : Though a deceitful man may succeed in cheating individu- als, yet this is not possible before the whole Church (Acts v. 1-11).— (On ver. 27) : A hypo- critical tongue if it has injured any one follows him still further with lies to defend itself, and so it causes universal confusion. V) Against vain self-praise and presumption. Chap. XXVII. ( With, an admonition to prudence and frugality in agriculture : vers. 23-27). i Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not v.'hat a day will bring forth. 2 Let another praise thee and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips. 3 Stone is heavy and sand weighty; the fool's wrath is heavier than them both. 4 Auger is cruel and wrath is outrageous ; but who can stand before jealousy? 5 Better is open rebuke than secret love. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. 7 The satisfied soul loatheth a honeycomb ; to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. 8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest so is a man that wandereth from his home. 9 Oil and perfume rejoice the heart, but the sweetness of a friend is better than one's own counsel. 10 Thine own friend and thy father's friend forsake not ; and into thy brother's house enter not in the day of thy calamity ; better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off. 11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may know how to give an answer to him that reproacheth me, 12 The prudent man seeth the evil (and) hideth himself; the simple pass on and are punished. 13 Take his garment, for he hath become surety for a stranger, and on account of a strange woman put him under bonds ! 14 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, let it be reckoned a curse to him I 228 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. 16 He that will restrain her restraineth the wind, and his right iiand gras^^Bth after oil. 17 Iron sharpeneth inm ; so doth a man sharpen the face of his friend. 18 Whosoever watcheth the iig-tree eateth its fruit, and he that hath regard to his master is honored- 19 As in water face (answereth) to face so the heart of man to man. 20 Hell and destruction are never full, and the eyes of man are not satisfied. 21 The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but man according to his glorying. 22 Though thou braise a fool in a mortar among grain with a pestle, his folly will not depart from him. 23 Thou shalt know well the face of thy sheep ; direct thy mind to thine herds ; 24 for riches are not forever, and doth the crown endure forevermore? 25 The grass disappeareth, and the tender grass is seen, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered. 26 Lambs (ai-e) for thy clothing and the price of thy field (is) goats ; 27 and abundance of goat's milk for thy food, for the food of thine house, and subsistence for thy maidens. GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL. Ver. 4. n^^'TIDX is used here only in the Old Testament. Ver. 5. [n^lb '9 regarded by Bott. (^ 1133, 1 and n 3) as the 3d sing. fem. of the verb and not as the fern, of the adj. ; T the chief evidence being found in the participles followiug, which, according to Hebrew usage, more naturally follow a finite verb. — A.] V^er. 9. [In ?n TTT we have one of the examples found in Hebrew in connection with words in wide and frequent use, in which the suffix los'-s all distinct and specific application; corap. in modern languages Monsieur, Madonna, Mynherr, etc.; therefore otv.'s friend, a friend, and not his friend. Boi'T., J 876, c. Di*^ is regarded by Oese.v., Fuerst, Dodbrlein, Dathb, ete., as a fem. of V^ used collectively; the meaning in connection witli C/iJJ is then, "more than fragrant wood." Bott. (? 043, 5) pronounces all the examples cited in the lexicons for this use of the noun " more than doubtful ;" and, as the exegetical notes show, nearly all commentators give to HiJ,' 'ts ordinary meaning. — A.] Ver. 10. [nyT is one of three nouns whoso full and original form appears only in the stat. constr,; the K'ri therefore points as though the aftsoZ. were used ^1, while the K'thibh exhibits the form H^l- See Green, J 215, 1, c; Bott. 22 721, 8; 794, Decl. IV.— A.] Ver. 11. [n^'CNl an Intentional, or paragogic Imperf., connected to Imperatives by 1 used as a final conjunction, T T ; ; "in order that ;"' BiiiT.. g 965, B, c. And let me=that I may. — A.] Ver. 14. D'DuTIi ''" Infin. abs. used adverbially, as in Jer. xxv. 4; here on account of the pause written with ^_ in- Btoad of simple _. Ver. 15. On the question whether HinC/J is to be accented and explained as a 3d pers. Nithpael, or whether, with T T ; • KiMCHi, NoRZi, and the most recent editors and expositors, we should point the form as Milel [with penultimate accent], and accordingly regard it as perhaps a volunt.itive Iliihpael, with the PI- of motion (tliorefore "let us compare"J, con- sult Bertiieaw, Stier and IIitzio on the passage. [Oesen., RiiR. ('Oesen. Thes., p. 1370, aiM. p. 1141, Fuerst, etc.. make the form a Nitiipael ; liiJrT. (^§ 474,4, a and 1072, 9) agrees witli HiTZio in making it a simple Nii)h;il with a different transpo- sition of consonants, and argues at length for tliis view. Fuerst pronounces the form participial, in ojipositioii to nearly all lexicographers and commentators who make it 2 1 sing. fern. Gesen. and some others, f 'Mowing Chaldee analogies, ren lered, "are to be feared." llonioER (ubi supra) and most others render, "are esteemed alike," or "are alike." Conip. also lOWALD, Lehrh. g 'tZi, d; Green, (> 83, c (2).— A.] Ver. 16. X'^p^ ^= nip') according to an interchange which la common of X with H- [In clanae a we hare asingular verb following a plural participle taken distributively as in xxii. 21 ; xxv. 13, etc. — A.] Ver. 17. in' is best regarded, as Geier, BertheaU and Stier take it, as an Imperf. apoc. Hiphil from mPI = HIH " to sharpen." Ewald, Elster, etc., neeillessly take the first "^XV in clause a as a Ilophal : in' (comp. the Vulg. exacuitur) and would have only the second recognized as a Voluntative Hiphil (to be pointed '^T\'' or in')- [Bott. J 1124, /3, insists that the Masoretic forms can he regarded as nothing but the ordinary adverb " together," and that the pointing must be changed to "WW nn\ or nn\ '^^\ Green, 2 140, 1, makes it a simple Kal Imperf. FuERSl regards it an a Niphhal CHAP. XXVII. 1-27. 229 Imperf., no change of vocalization being required, although the more comm')n form would be TTT. Kod. {Thes. Gesex., Ind. pp. 6, 88) regards the form as an apoc. Hiphil. for the more common IH', "sed impersonally, " one sharpens, men sharpen." — A.] Ver. 2U. The parallel passage XV. 11 (see notes on this passage) shows that instead of 71113 >^ ('''" aijuiii instead of m^X) we should read with the K'ri JIIDX, or that we should at least assume a transition of this hittir form into Ihe former', in the way of lexical decay (as in ilJO for j'njO). [Bott. (gj 232, a; 233) notes this as a tendency in proper nouns, aided perhaps in the case before us by the following liquid. — A.] Yer. 22. ['"^y^ instead of the more regular '/J?^- mimetically sharpened in its vocalization at the end of its clause. See Bott., §? 334,6; 498, 6.— A.] Ver. 25. [m^n/ y with Uajrhesh dt>tme»w or separative, indicating the vocal nature of tLie Slieva. See, e. fir. Green* 2 24, 6 ; 216, 2, a.— A.] EXEGETICAL. 1. Ver.s. 1-6. Three pairs of proverbs, directed against self-praise, jealousy and flattery. Vers. 1, 2. Boast not thyself of to-mor- row, L e., "do not throw out with proud as- surance high-soaring schemes for the future" (Elster); do not boast of future undertakings as if they liad already succeeded and were assured. — For thou knowest not ■what a day w^ill bring forth ; i. e., what a day, whether it be to- day or to-morrow, will bring in new occurrences, is absolutely unknown to thee. Comp. .James iv. 13-15; also Hor.\ce, Od., iv. 7, 17: Quis scit an adjicidtit hodienise craslina sumiiue Tempora Di su- peri ? — '"" Who knows if (hey who all our fates control Will add a morrow to thy brief to-day?" TUEO. MaKTI.N'S TR.4.NSLATI0X.] and Senkca, Thyest. V. 619: Nemo tarn divos kabuit favi'nti's Crastinum lit possitpolliceri^No one has had the gods so favorable that he can promise himself a morrow]. — With ver. 2 comp. the German Eigenhb stinkt, and Arabic proverbs like "Not as mother says, but as the neighbors say" (Fuerst, Pei- lenschii'dre, ii. 8), or "Let thy praise come front thy friend's and kinsman's mouth, not from thine own" (Meidani. p. 467.) Vers. 3, 4. — Stone is heavy and sand weighty, lit., " weight of stone and heaviness of the sand." Hitzig fitly remarks with respect to the genitive combinations of this as well as the , succeeding verse (" Cruelty of anger, etc.") " The genitive relation holding a figure before our eye instead of developing it in a proposition, possess- es nevertheless the value of a combination of predicate and subject." [So K., W., etc., while S. and others make the relatiou directly that of subject and predicate]. — The fool's wrath, ('. e., probably not: the vexation and anger occasioned in others by the fool (Cocceius, Schultens, Bertue.vu, [S.], etc.), but the annoyance and ill- humor experienced by himself, whether it may have originated in envy, or in a chafing against some correction that he has received, etc. Such ill-temper in the fool is a burden, heavier than stone and sand, and tiiat too a burden for himself, but beyond this also for those who must besides suffer under it, whom he makes to feel in com- mon and innocently his ill-will and temper. — An- ger is cruel and wrath is outrageous, lit,, " cruelty of anger and inundation of wrath." With regard to the genitives, compare remarks above on vs. 3, a. For the expression "over- flowing of wrath " or "excess, outrageousness of wrath," comp. Is. xxx. 28, 30; Dan. ix. 27: xi. 22. — i^^^P in claused, often "envy," is plainly "jealousy," as in vi. 34, 35 which passage is here to be compared in gMteial. Vers. 5, 6. Better is open rebuke (open, undisguised censure, honorably expressing its meaning) than secret love, i. e., than love which from false consideration dissembles, and does not name to one's neighbor his faults even where it should do so. Couipare the h'/jjiiEVEiu ii> ayii-rj, Eph. iv. 15, as well as the numerous parallels in classic authors (Plautus, Trinununus, I. 2, 57; Cicero, Liel. 25; St:\ECA, Epist. 25); and Meioani, II. 64: '-Love lasts long as the censure lasts," etc. — Faithful (lit. trtie, coming iroin a true disposition) are the wounds of a friend, but dsceitful are the kisses of an enemy. rmi^^'J, from the root 1j1>'' is if tliis be identical with '^I^>', largus fuit, as is gener- ally assumed, equivalent to "plentiful" (comp. T"^^), in which case we must think of kisses "liberally bestowed but faithless," or it may be kisses "to be lightly esteemed" (so Gesen., Ujibreit, Bertheau, Stier [Fuerst, S., W.]) And yet it corresponds better with the parallel- ism, as well as with the exegetical tradition (Vulg., fraudulenta), to derive from an Arabic ^''^o'' . ; r. ' to stumble ((Tf/iaA/lEo^./aWcre, there- fore ^'a/6«6-, false — so EwALD, Elster, etc.), or it may be from . _X_£, = "^"^P in the sense of " to miss" — thus Hitzig. — both of which modes of explanation give the idea "deceptive, crafty, treacherous." With regard to the meaning com- pare, therefore, chap. xxvi. 23. 2. Vers. 7-14. Eight proverbs in praise of con- tentment, of friendship, prudence, etc. Ver. 7. A satisfied soul loatheth honey- comb. The verb literally means "tramples, treads under feet," comp. Dan. vii. 19: Judg. v. 21. — With clause b compare the German proverb "Hunger is the best cook;" and also Ecclesiast. iv. 2. Ver. 8. So is a man that roameth far from his dwelling-place. As the preceding proverb is directed against a want of contentment in the department of food and drink, so is this agtinst weariness of one's own home, against ad- venturous wandering impulses, and a restless roving without, quiet domestic tastes. Comp. Ecclesiast. xxix. 28, 29; xxxvi. 28. Ver. 9. With clause a compare Ps. civ. 15; 230 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. cxxxiii. 2. — But the sweetness of a friend is better than one's ow^u counsel. The "sweet- ness " of the friend is according to xvi. 21 doubt- less sweetness of the lips, the pleasing, agreeable discourse of the friend (lit. "of his friend;" the suffix stands indefinitely, with reference i. e. to every friend that a man really has ; here with especial reference to the possessor of the tl'pj). See also the critical notes. The rii'i'O is best taken in the sense of comparison (with Jarchi, Levi, Cocceius, Umbreit, Stier) : "better than counsel of the soul," i. e., better than one's own counsel, better than that prudence which will help itself and relies purely on its own resources (comp. xxviii. 26). Ewald, Elster (in like manner also Luther, Geier, De Wette [K., N.], etc.,) render: "The sweetness of the friend springeth from (faithful) counsel of soul," which is uuderstood as describing the genuineness and the hearty honesty of the friend's disposition. Bertheau gives a similar idea, except that he supplies in b from a the predicate with its object: "The sweetness of a friend from sincere counsel maketh glad the heart" (?); [this is very nearly the conception of the E. V., H., S., M.]. Hixzia following the Karapp/'/yvvrai St v-6 avf-iiruiiaruv i) ipiX>/ of the LXX. amends so as to read: "but the soul is rent with cares." [See critical notes for still other cxpo-sitions of the phrase.] Ver. 10. Thine o-wn friend and thy father's friend forsake not. Whetlier one read with the K'ri ^]11 or with the K'thibh the stat. conslr. of the emphatic form [or according to others the primitive form — see critical notes], in any event together with the friend of the person addressed "his father's friend " is also named, but as an identical person with the former, wlio, for that reason, has a value proportionally greater, and may so much the less be neglected, because he is as it were an heirloom of the family of long tried fidelity and goodness. — And into thy brother's house enter not in the day of thy calamity. HiTziG, who explains the three clauses of this verse as originally separate propositions, only "afterward forced together," fails to see a logi- cal connection as well between a and b as between b and c. This is in fact in the highest degree arbitrary, for the common aim of the three mem- bers: to emphasize the great value of true friend- ship and its pre-eminence in comparison with a merely external relationship of blood, comes out to view as clearly as possible. The "near" neighbor is he who keeps himself near as one dispensing counsel and help to the distressed, just as the "far ofi"" brother is he who, on ac- count of liis unloving disposition, keeps at a dis- tance from the same. [()ur commentators have in general agreed substantially with this concep- tion of the ^cnpe of the verse. — A.]. Ver. 11. Be ^vise, my son, and make my heart glad, Vii2-Comx,. Hitzig on this passage. As the words of the original Hebrew now stand, wo can supply a subject for ^^X' only the singular -|t^ (-the true prince ■')• in like manner the D in DIXDI must bo taken in the sense of nVHS "'^\^n there is at hand;" the p however mn.t'bo taken as an introduction to the concluding clause, like our " then" or "so." In all this there is indeed the difficulty remaining that the participles p;o and j;t stand side by side without a copula-an anomaly that is hardly removed by referring to chap. xxii. 4 (BEEiHiiAU). And yet the construction thus brought out is, in spite of the manifold \ \ CHAP. XXVIII. 1-28. 235 anomalies which it involves, after all better than, e. g. that of Umbreit, who takes J2) as a substautive in the sense of "right" as dependent on _j;t',— or than Hiizig's violent emendation (|'nO 'HJ^T' JusttaJ of T^X'' \2 ^y), the moaning resulting from which "but through a man of understanding cont.-ntiou ceases," does not agree very well with the context. [The E. V. takes J3 as a uoun : •• the state thereof," etc. So 11. and M. (^the scability ' ). N. without this specific rendering reaches the same result by finding fur the verb "shiiU prolong its days, or endure" the subject "it" (tlio state) suggested in clause a. S. follows Umb.»£IT. Bott. (g 'Sd'o, P) regards the verb as furuishiug an exampli of what he calls "concrete irupersouals," haviug a general subject " one," a construction not un.-oiuuioa where reference is made to public offices or fuuutious. This reaches Z s. result by a different path. — A.J Ver. 17. — [The participle pUj? Bott. prefers an account of its peculiar vocalization to regard as a mutilated Pual part., deprived of its initial I3> and would therefore point p^^i so xxv. 11, etc. See g 991, 6, 10. — A.j Ver. 18.— DOTT t^pJ^J is equivalent to D'DIT ti'pj;' 'n ver. 6. Ver. 23. — 'inX a somewhat stronger form in its vowel elements than "'int^, used here as TPX is elsewhere. EXEGETICAL. 1. Vers. 1-5. Of the general contrast between the righteous and the ungodly (unscrupulous transgressors, men of violence). — The wicked flee when no man pursueth. " Tlie wicked" (singular) is on the ground of its collective, or more exactly its distributive meaning, subject of a plural verb; compare similar constructions, Kara avveaiv: Job viii. 19; Isa. xvi. 4; and also below, ver. 4 of the present chapter ; 1 Tim. ii. 15 (yvv>) — fdc ui'ivuglv), etc. [See Ew.\lo Lehrh. \ 309, a, and other grammars]. — But the righteous are bold as a lion. nD3' is to be explained as a relative clause and referred to the preceding '' as a lion " — " which is confident, rests quietly" in the consciousness of its supe- rior strength and the security which results from it, see the same figure in Gen. xlix. 9. [This seems to be needlessly artificial ; according to a common Hebrew construction the verb may be a distributive singular after a plural, " the righteous." See e. g. Green, \ 275, 6. — A.] Ver. 2. In the rebellion of a land its princes become many. For this use of " transgression " in the sense of " rebellion, re- volt," comp. the verb employed in this sense in 2 Kings i. 1; also Ex. xxiii. 21, etc. The allu- sion is plainly to the uprising of many petty chiefs or tyrants, or many pretenders to the throne, or usurpers opposing each other, in lands which, through revolt from the lawfully reigning house, have fallen a prey to political anarchy, as e. g. the Kingdom of Israel, espe- cially in the period after Jeroboam II., — to which the author of the proverb now under considera- tion might very well have had special reference. [On account of the form of clause b we prefer, with Kamph., to understand the allusion to be to a rapid succession of half established kings, rather than to a number of competing claimants. Tho.mson, Land and Book, I., 498, cites an Arabic proverb: "May Allah multiply your sheikhs!" as embodying in its intense malediction a con- stant Oriental experience of fearful calamity. It is only incidentally illustraiive of the proverb before us. — A.] — But through wise, prudent men he (the prince) continueth long. [See Critical notes ] Ver. 3. A man -who is poor and oppress- eth the poor. We are to think of some mngis- trate who is originallj' poor, an upstart, who seeks to enrich himself rapidly by oppression of his subjects. This man is in clause b very ap- propriately described as a "rain" that floods the sowed field or the fruitful district, and thus destroys the prosperous condition of the crops. [Here again, and more appropriately, Thomson (^ubi supra) illustrates, botli from natural and po- litical experiences common in the East, the im- pressiveuess of this proverb to an Oriental mind. -A.] Ver. 4. They that forsake the law praise the wicked, i. e. for his success; comp. Ps. xlix. 12, 19; Ixsiii. 3, 10, 12— But they that keep the law (xxix. 18) contend with him; lit., "with them;" comp. remarks above on ver. 1. For this verb, "to contend or dispute," comp. Jer. 1. 24 ; Dan. xi. 10, etc. Ver. 5. Evil men (lit., "men of evil," comp. remarks on vi. 23) do not understand judg- ment; their wickedness darkens their under- standing likewise, which is especially the faculty for distinguishing between good and evil ; comp. chap. xxix. 7. In contrast with them "they who seek God understand everything," i. e. every- thing that relates to the investigation and deter- mination of right; comp. Eccles. viii. 5. 2. Vers. 6-12. Against wanton oppression of the poor by the rich. — With ver. 6 compare the quite similar proverb chap. xix. 1. — Than he that w^alketh in crooked ways; lit., "than one who is crooked in the two ways," or, "than one who is perverse in a double way" (the dual of the noun is used here as in ver. 18 [see Green, Gram, g 203, 3]), i. e. one who unskilfully and waywardly passes from one way to another, one who, with divided heart, stands midway between the right path and the bypath of immorality; comp. Ecclesiast. ii. 12; James i. 6. Ver. 7. With clause a compare x. 1 ; xxix. 3. — But the companion of profligates. For the verb n>'f, to cherish, to cultivate intercourse with some one, comp. xiii. 20. For the term " profligate or waster," comp. xxiii. 21. Ver. 8. He that increaseth his wealth by interest and usury. The "interest" and " usury" are so distinguished according to Lev. xxv. 36, 37, that the former denotes the annual revenue of a sum of money loaned out, the latter an exaction in other things, especially in natural products. The former is then faenus pecaniarium, the latter fcemis naturale sive reale. [Here again Orientals, ancient and modern, have a peculiarly deep and painful experience of the enormities of usury. — A ]— He gathereth it for one that pitieth the poor, i. e. for an heir who will at length sliow himself more liberal ami compas- sionate toward the poor; comp. xiii. 22. and also Jobxxvii. 16, 17. Mercercs, Ewald, Bertheau, 236 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. Elstek take the !3in 7 as au lufiuitive of the in- tensive form: " «(/ largiendum paaperibus" for bestowal upon the poor, to show himself merci- ful to the poor. But such an involuntary giving is a harsh idea, difficult to realize; and the meaning, "to bestow, lart/iri," Jjn has elsewhere only in the Kal conj., the participle of which corresponds best with the general context before us. Ver. 9. Comp. xv. 8; and with clause a in particular Isa. xiii. 15. Ver. 10. He that leadeth the righteous astray ill an evil way. The "evil way" is unquestionably a way of sin and ungodliness, whether the ^n be taken as a neuter substantive in the genitive (as in ver. 5; vi. 24), or. which is perhaps to be preferred here, as an adjective. With clause b compare xxvi. 27; with c, ii. 21. The "pit" in 6 is naturally the way of sin into which one betrays tlie upright, not as it is in ii.- self, but in its ruinous issues to which he is finally brought. Comp. ciiap. xi. 6, 8. Ver. 11. With a compare xxvi. Ki. — But a poor man that hath understanding search- eth him out ; i. e. he sees through him, and accordingly knows his weaknesses, and there- fore outstrips him in the struggle for true pros- perity in life. Ver. 12. When righteous men exult (tri- umph). 1* />', lit., " to rejoice," here expresses the idea of the victory of the good cause over its opposers, in which victory " all the people " (according to xxix. 2) sympathize with great exultation. Hitzig's alteration is unnecessary (V7>'3 into V7.'^3, suggested by the dca jioij&eLav of the LXX) : " when righteous men are deli- vered."— But \vhen -wicked men rise, come up, attain to power. Compare, with respect to this as well as the people's anxious "hiding themselves," ver. 28. 3. Vers. 13-18. Against the secret service of sin, hardening of tiie heart, tyranny, and thirst for blood. — With ver. 18 comp. Ps. xxxii. 1-5. Ver. 14. Happy is the man that feareth al- •ways, i. e. he who lives in a holy dread of trans- gressing the will of God by sins of any kind whatsoever; comp. 2 Cor. v. 1 1 ; Phil. ii. 12, eic. The antithesis to this man " who feareth always" is the "confident," the carnally presumptuous, hardened in the service of sin; ver. 2G and also chap. xvi. 14.— rWith b comp. Ps. xcv. 8 ; Prov. xvii. 20. Ver. 15. A roaring lion and a ravening bear. ^v^}'^ the ancient translators (LXX : dtipuv; Vulg. esuriens, etc.), already give with a substantial correctness, when they interpret it of the raging hunger or the blood-thirstiness of the bear; comp. Isa. xxix. 8; Ps. cvii 9. Not so well Bkrthkaii and Ei,stkr (following Kim- CHi, Lkvi, CoccEins, elc, [Gesen.. Fueiist, E. v., H., S., while Luther, De W., K., N., M., Rod., c/c, agree witli our author]): "a roam- ing, ranging bear," — for which rendering neither Joel ii. 9 nor Isa. xxiii. 4 can be adduced as de- cisive sujiports. Ver. in O prince poor in understanding (lit., in "discernments'") £.nd abounding in oppression. This conception of the first clause as an animated appeal to a tyrant (Ewald, Ber- THEAU, Elster, etc.), seems to correspond better with the second clause than Hitzig's view, ac- cording to which clause a is a nominative abso- lute, not to be resumed by a suffix in 6, or than Stier's still more forced translation : " A prince who lacks understanding — so much more does he practice oppression," etc. [Lutiier, E. V., De W., H., N., M. make the general relation of the clauses antithetic, each clause having its normal subject and predicate, although H., e. g., admits the want of precision in the antithesis. K. agrees with Hitzig's abrupt sundering of the clauses ; while S. makes the first a synecdochical clause, "as to a prince," etc. Our author's ren- dering if animated is certainly unusual. — A.] — He that hateth unjust gain shall prolong his days. For the generalizing plural "'NJE'. which stands here quite as appropriately as e. g. iii. 18 ; xxvii. IG, the K'ri unnecessarily calls for the singular '^i'p. [So Bott., \ 702, t]. Ver. 17. A man laden with the blood of a soul. For this participle, " burdened, loaded ' (with the sense of guilt), comp. Isa. xxxviii. 14. [The E. V. loses the passive form and force of the expression ; so Luther and H. ; while De W., K., N., S., M , W. agree with Z.— A.]— Pleeth to the pit, is restless and a fugitive (like Cain, Gen. iv. 14), even to tlie terrible destruction to- ward Avhich he is hastening by God's righteous decrees, and from which no human exertion is able to hold him back. Hence the warning ex- clamation at the end: "let no one detain him," i. e. let no one attempt the impossible, after all to recover him who is irrecoverably lost! Ver. 18 forms an antithesis to the preceding verse, cast in a' somewhat general form. — He that walketh uprightly (comp. Ps. xv. 2 ; Mic. ii. 7) shall be delivered, but he that w^alketh in crooked w^ays shall fall sud- denly. Comp. " the perverse in a double way," in ver. 6. The "suddenly, at once," points to the fact that the one or the other of the two per- verse ways which the ungodly alternately pur- sues, must bring him at last to ruin. 4. Vers. 19-28. Various warnings and cau- tions, directed mainly against avarice and vio- lence.— With ver. 19 comp. xii. 11. — .... is surfeited w^ith poverty. A stronger and more direct antithesis to a than the "is void of understanding" in xii. 11 h. Ver. 20. A faithful man aboundeth in blessings. For the "man of fid'elities," comp. the similar expression in chap xx. 6; also 2 Kings xii. 16 ; xxii. 7, etc. — But he that hast- eth to be rich, naturally, in uutaiililul, dis- honor.able ways. Comp. xx. 21: xxi. 5; and for the concluding phrase, iv. 29. Ver. 21. With « compare the somewhat n)ore complete expression, xxiv. 23. — And (yet) even for a piece of bread (many) a man w^ill transgress. The morsel of bread (1 Sam. ii. of)) probably stands here not as an example of a peculiarly insignificant bribe, but as the concrete designation of a trifie, a very slight value or advantage of any sort. Comp. A. Gel- Liiis. Noel. Att. 1., 15, where Cato says in pro- verbial phrase of the tribune Cselius, ''fruslo CHAP. XXVIII. 1-28. 237 panis conduci potest, vcl ut iaceat, vel ut loquatur^'' [with a crust of bread he can be hired either to keep silence or to speak]. Ver. 'll. He that hath a covetous eye hast- eth after riches, lit., " with an evil eye,"' and therefore the envious ; conip. xxiii. G. For the idea of h.istening after riches comp. xx. 21. — And knoweth not that ^vant shall come upon him. — Instead of Tpn " want " (comp. Job xxx. 3 and a kindred term in Eccles. i. 15) the LXX read Ipn (so likewise the Edit. Bomberg., 1525, and the Plantin., 1566). If this reading were origi- nal, then we must undoubtedly render in accord- ance with chap. xiv. 31; xxv. 10; by "shame, reproach." Yet the Masoretic reading also gives a good sense, as a comparison of vi. 11 ; xxiii. 5, and other passages that refer to the vanity and perishableness of riches teaches. Ver. 23. He that reproveth a man findeth afterward more favor, etc. — " Later, after- ward," in the general sense, and noi pos.sibly ■with Aden Ezra, J. H. iMiciiaelis, to be taken in tlie sense of '-after me, (. c, .according to my precepts." With the flattering "smoothness of the tongue" in b compare xxix. 5; Ps. v. 10; cxl. 4 ; Rom. iii. 13. Ver. 24. He that robbeth his father and Ms mother. — Comp. xix. 2(3; also Mai. i. 8; Mark vii. 11 sq.; and for the expression "com- panion of a destroyer " in clause c, chapter xviii. 9. Ver. 25. The covetous kindleth strife. — tl'iJJ 3nT is certainly not the "proud" (Vulg., LUTHBR, Ew.\LD, BeRTHE.\U, ElSTER [GeSEN., FuERST, De W., E. v., N., S., M.], etc.), but the man of large cupidity (comp. Is. v. 14; Hab. ii. 5), the avaricious and insatiable, aT7?i?]a-oc (LXX, U.UBREiT, Stier, Hitzig [K., H.]). By his co- vetous grasping and his overreaching others, he "kindles strife" (comp. xv. 18; xxix. 22), in- stead of living like the man who patiently trusts in the Lord's help in peaceful quietness and with the prosperous development of his possessions as they multiply under the Divine blessing. For the expression " shall be made fat," i. e., shall be richly rewarded, compare xi. 25 ; xiii. 4. Ver. 26. He that trusteth in his own heart — i. e., not "he who relies on his own immediate feelings " (Umbreit, Elster), but he who suffers himself to be guided solely by his own spirit (comp. ,Jer. xxx. 21), by his own inconsiderate, defiant impulse to act, and therefore follows ex- clusively his own counsel (xxvii. 9). Comp. Hitzig and Stikr on the passage. Ver. 27. He that giveth to the poor (suf- ferelh) no ■want.^For the sentiment comp. xi. 24; for the elliptical construction (the omission of the pronoun " to him " with the " no want "), chap, xxvii. 7 b. — He that covereth his eyes, i. e., turns them unsympathizingly away from such as need help, that he may not see their wretchedness; comp. Is. i. 15, as well as the si- mila? expressions, Deut. xxxi. 17; 1 John iii. 17 (^K.7.eiEiv TO, a-Aayx^''^)- — Hath abundance of curses — of imprecations from the oppressed poor; the opposite, therefore, of ver. 20. Ver. 28. Comp. 12 b. — But when they per- ish the righteous increase ; — i. e., the right- eous who were before oppressed and chased away come out to view again on all sides and form once more a numerous and strong party. Comp. xxix. 2 ; and also xi. 10, 21. DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. A peculiar " religious complexion " belongs not merely to the first half of the chapter, vers. 1-16 (as Hitzig asserts, who separates this portion from its older surroundings as a peculiar inter- polation originating after the exile), but to the whole section, as is shown with reference to the second part, particularly by vers. 18, 20, 24, 25. That which gives to the chapter its specifically religious character is, the repeated admonitions to hear and keep the Divine law (vers. 4, 7, 9), to seek Jehovah (ver. 5), to trust in Him, (ver. 25, 26), to a walking in "faithfulness " (ver. 20), and in blamelcssness or innocence (ver. 18), and therefore in a general consecration, — to fear of God's sacred anger (ver. 14) ; and also in no less degree the warnings against wanton and flatter- ing suppression of the consciousness of sin (vers. 13, 24), against a hardening in the service of sin (ver. 14), and against the betrayal of others into sin (ver. 10). Undoubtedly it is the desire to ex- hibit as the " root of all evil " and as a main ra- dical form of ungodliness and lawlessness in ge- neral, the vice which is most sharply censured and opposed, that of covetousness, or the mighty rapacity of the wicked, — and accordingly to warn against it in the most emphatic way, — that led the compiler to accumulate just in the passage before us so many thoughts with respect to the religious relation of men to God. For beside these admonitory and warning proverbs which refer directly to this relation, the substance of the chapter is made up almost exclusively of warn- ings against wicked violence on the part of rulers in their dealing with the lowly (ver. 1, 3, 12, 15, 16, 28), of rich with the poor (vers. 6, 8, 11, 24), and of the covetous and greedy of gain in their relation to the inoffensive and unsuspecting (vers. 19-22, 25, 26). A logically developed progress of thought, it is true, is wanting ; the combina- tion is mixed of many colors, in the style of the " strings of pearls " in the gnomic poetry of the East, in which it is rather external than internal contacts and analogies that determine the conca- tenation of the several proverbs or groups of proverbs. HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL. Ilomily on the entire chapter. Of avarice as the foulest stain on the conscience, or as the mother of all vicae (1 Tim. vi. 10). — Or, on walking in the fear of the Lord and a good conscience, and also on the chief dangers that threaten such a devout conscientious life. — Comp. Stocker : On the second hinderance to the attainment of true wisdom : an evil, terrified, timorous conscience ; its source and characteristics, as well as the remedies for it (in a similar style, Wohl- F.iRTIl). Vers. 1 sq. Luther (marginal comment on ver. 1) ; One's own conscience is more than a thousand witnesses. — Cramer: An evil conscience makes timid (Job xv. 21) ; but faith and a good 238 THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. conscience make the heart joyous, so that it is not terrified before death and the devil (Ps. xci. 7). — [Arnot : No man pursueth ; and yet a pursuer is on the track of the fugitive, otherwise he would not flee. AVhen they escape from man, God is the pursuer of the guilty. By conscience chiefly God apprehends us — thereby cliicfly we appre- hend God]. — Lange (on ver. 2) : When subjects are oppressed and vexed, they arc not to rebel or curse the authorities, but seek the causes of such judgments in themselves, turn and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. — Yon Geklach (on ver. 5) : To the understanding of the law tliere belongs a disposition to fear God, otherwise the clearest knowledge of the letter is of no avail; ■while men that fear God attain a sure compre- hension of all. — [Muffet: Albeit there is some light in the wicked man which is sufficient to make him inexcusable, yet he is always so blinded by natural ignorance and malice that botli Ciirist and the law to him is amystery. — Bridges: When knowledge stands in the stead of faith ; wlicn the mm reasons instead of submitting to Divine teacliing ; knowledge abused becomes a positive hinderance to a correct understanding.] Vers, fi-12. Cramer (on ver. 6) : As his riches do not help the rich man at all toward blessed- ness, so his poverty does not harm the poor in that direction. — (On ver. 8) : God often rewards even here kindness shown to the poor, though it may show itself first to the children of the bene- factors.— Wurlemherg Bible (on ver. 9) : He that ■would be heard by God in his prayer must first hear God in His word and subject himself to its direction. — [Bp. Hopkins ; God stops His ears against their prayers who stop their ears against His law. And this is but equity with God.] — Von Gerlach : Even the best that man can do becomes a sin to him when he does it with a dis- position of disobedience to the Divine word. — (On ver. 11) : Trust in outward blessings easily brings ■with it false self-confidence, and it is very natu- ral for the rich to wish to lay claim likewise to inward excellencies and advantages. The poor man standing by unconterned and simple, never- theless overlooks and searches him through, and by his very poverty has more of spiritual supe- riority.— Starke (on ver. 12) : A large propor- tiou of subjects conform to the conduct of their superiors. Blessed is the land whose rulers go- vern piously and praiseworthily I — [Trapp (on ver. 10) : Heaven is kept for the upright, and they for heaven ; how then should they miss of it?] Ver. 13-19. Melanchthon (on ver. 13): As in all conversion repentance must be the first thing, i. e., recognition of transgression and guilt, com- bined with a sore change of disposition, — so here confession of sin is r«.- " there is at last a lamentation," etc. [Holden : " shall be grieved "]. Hitzig reads HUO which is to be interpreted, like Ps. xliv. 15 (14) "a shaking of the head," or even " a wringing of the hands!" To write jHO would be more natural than this: "his end will be contention," as the Vulgate seems to have understood the expression, ■when it renders : postea scntiel cum contumacem. Ver. 22. An angry man stirreth up strife. Almost precisely like xv. 18 ; comp. xxviii. 25. — And a passionate man abouudeth in trans- gression ; for 3]1 in the sense of " great or rich in something," comp. xxviii. 20, 27. Sec chap. xxii. 24 for a phrase kindred to the "lord of passion," i. e., the passionate man. Ver. 23. With ; 66(2), rt; BoTT., ?:j25.— A.] , . , Ver. 10. riu IjnX tlie suffix is of the form aijpropriate to the singular, as is not uncommon with pluralia tantum; T ~; BStt., §886, 1, S. In nSbp' the verb has the sense of a subj. pres. in a negative or final clause; Bott., §981, 2.— A.] Vers. 15.— [The noun jin> as a sort of independent accusative, becomes virtually an Interjection. Boitcher, § 510, 5, d.—\.] Ter. 17.— [nnp'S for rinp' 7 liiis a daghesh dirimens in the p, the long Hhiriq being shortened ; Green, § 14, a ; 24, 6 ; 67, 2, (3; a ; Bott., g 399, 6, 3 ; 458,' 1, d.— A.J Ver. 25.— [D'boJ, a fern, noun construed as masculine; Green, §200, e ; Bott., §715, e,— A.] Ver. 29.— [''3J3''0, where it occurs the second time, drops the characteristic '' as superfluous ; Bott., § 171. — A.] Ver. 31.— [For IX Bott. would read IXD, the wild goat or antelope.] EXEGETICAL. 1. Preliminary Remark. If our reading and ex- plauation of the superscription in ver. 1 is cor- rect (see what is said immediately below, under No. 2), the contents of this Supplement, like that of the one following (chap. xxxi. 1-9), can be accepted neither as from Solomon, nor from Hezekiah. For aside from the fact that it i.s quite as impossible that "Agur"as that "Lemuel" in chap. xxxi. 1 is some allegorical substitute for the name of Solomon, as many of the olden com- mentators claim {e. g., Stocker, J. Lange, etc., [so Jeromk, Kasiii, etc., earlier, and Wordsw., etc., more recently]), the name Massa clearly points to a land beyond the bounds of Palestine as the dwelling-place of the author or collector. The name must belong to the Massa mentioned in Gen. XXV. 14; 1 Chron. i. 30 with Duma, as the name of a district or tribe in northern Arabia, — -which from the direction of Jerusalem (according to Is. xxi. 11) was beyond Seir, and therefore in any case south-easterly from Palestine, and which we shall be obliged to regard as an Ish- maelitish kingdom, or an Israelitish founded by members of the covenant people of the Old Tes- tament who had wandered from home. Delitzscii holds the former view (Article Spr'dche Salomons in Herzog's Real-Encyclopiidie). His reasons are, that both sections, the " words of Agur " and the '♦ words of Lemuel " contain numerous traces of an origin outside the Hebrew while yet Semitic {e.g., the insatiable "Aluka " or blood-sucker, chap. XXX. 15 ; the Divine name Hi/^; chap. xxx. 15; the expressions nnp''> xxx. 1, 17 ; JIH "enough," xxx. 15, 16;' "13 C73), xxxi. 2; 'N=|''X, xxxi. 4; '2^ 'JS, xxxi. 5, etc.) ; and be- cause the reception into the canon of the prophe- cies of Balaam, and yet more that of the dis- courses of Job, a dweller in the land of Uz, which notoriously was never inhabited by Israelites, furnish proofs sufficiently weighty of the pos- sibility of a transplanting into the soil of the sacred national literature of Israel, of the pro- ducts of a religious literature originating beyond the bounds of Israel. Tlie second of the views above mentioned Hitzig has endeavored to pre- sent as probable in his treatise on " the kingdom of Massa " (1844), already cited in ?. 12 of our Introduction, and likewise iu pp. 310 sq. of his Commentary ; and he has done it with argu- ments which we must deem more weighty than those adduced by Delitzsch, and whose decisive weight is admitted by Bertheau also. These arguments for the Israelitish character of the land of Massa, and of its rulers Agur and Lemuel, whose wise maxims are before us in our two Sup- plements, are briefly the following. 1) Agur confesses expressly in chap. xxx. 9 his faith iu Jehovah the God of Israel. 2) The introductory words in xxx. 1-6, as well as the utterances in vers. 7, 8, 14, 22, 32 of the same chapter, and in chap. xxxi. 8, 9, breathe forth that sense of justice aitd that humble subjection to the hand of God, which are peculiar to the theocratic re- verer of the law who is of Israel, and such as appear in numerous other passages of our Book of Proverbs, of the Book of Psalms, the Prophets, etc. 3) The Massa of Gen. xxv. 14; 1 Chron. i. 30, is indeed in these passages numbered among the sons of Ishmael, and therefore characterized as a district inhabited mainly by Ishmaelites ; but later Arabian and Jewish authors (especially Benjamin of Tudela in his accounts of the city of Telmas see Ritter'3 Arabia, II. 406) describe the region of Massa and the Duma which is its near neighbor, as occupied by numerous Jews, — and already among the prophecies of Isaiah from the time of Hezekiah there is found a prophecy which relates to Duma (Is. xxi. 11, 12), a "burden of Duma " which with great probability presents Hebrews as dwelling in this region. 4) The passage (1 Chron. iv. 38-43) expressly records a migration that occurred in the days of Hezekiah to Mount Seir, and so quite into the neighbor- hood of Massa and Duma, — a migration of Is- raelites of the tribe of Simeon who had settled in the region of the remnant of the Amalekites, and therefore in northern Arabia ; and moreover from Micah i. 15; ii. 8-10; Is. xxviii. 12 there may be inferred as probable a considerable ad- vanced movement of certain roving Israelites to- ward the South, as having occurred about that time. Therefore Agur and Lemuel might very probably be regarded as Arabian-lsraelitish shepherd princes, or as kings (Emirs, Captains) of a colony of Israelites of the tribes of Simcoa that had emigrated to northern Arabia. — and this Simeonite colony Massa, quite like Job's "land of Uz," should be conceived of as a district to a great extent if not chiefl\' occupied by kinsmen of tlie Old Testament peo])le of God, who were believers iu Jehovah. [Bott. iu his Lehrb., has CHAP. XXX. 1-33. 241 of course no occasion to enter into the details of this discussion. He does, however, ^29, 3(5, 37_, refer to these chapters as probably largely of Siuieouiiish origin, aad cites various words and constructions as plainly showing affinity with and the influence of the cognate Arabic and Aramaic dialects. Stuart {Comm. pp. 401-407) enters very elaborately into the examination of the arguments for and against the generally re- ceived conception aad construction, and decides strongly in favor of Hrrzio's view, whicii our aulhol- adopts. Nearly every other English and American interpreter dismisses the subject with a few linos, quietly retaining the rendering of the E. V. possibly with slight moditications. Kamph. rejects tliis part of Hitzig's theory while ao'reeing witli it in many other points. Bleek admits its possible correctness. — A.J 2. The superscription to the' discourses of Agur, ver. 1, according to the Masoreiic punctuation is literally rendered: Words of Agur, the sou of Jakeh, the divine utterance (prophetic utterance), the saying of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal." Inasmuch as of the four proper names which these words include, according to this conception of them, one at least, Ithiel, appears also in Neh. xi. 7 as an Israelitisli name of a man, and since Agur is not to be at all suspected as a Hebrew personal name, whether we interpcet the word (with IlEiiDEUaud the ma- jority) by "collector," and so regard it a col- lateral form of 1J« (ProY. x. 5),— or whether with HiTZiG, following the Arabic, we claim for it the signification "exile, the man living in a strange land," this interpretation of this diifieult passage, which was already given in the Chaldee version, and partially in the Syriac, and has been j Qthei-s are added to them, there is nothing left two nouns whose combination is pronounced un- exampled. The first he connects with xVgur, while admitting the term is elsewhere used only in strict prophecy. Tue second he regards as describing the " utterance " of " the mau," some frieud or stranger, whose words are given in vers. 1-4, while Agur himself begins to spealc in ver. [). He fails to hiid any sufficient reasou for taking H-jO as a proper rather than a commoa noun. Stuaut argues that in xxxi. 1 Xiyo must be a genitive limiting ^/O, no other construction being grammatical ; the noun must therefore be a proper noun, the name of tlie kingdom, and the noun must be presumed to be (he same here. — .\.] The allegorizing interpretations are however likewise untenable, which have been attempted in various forms, taking the four proper names as either wholly or partially appellative. This was early done by the LXX and Vulg., the former of which appears to have regulated the text in a way wholly arbitrary, while the latter follows the text more closely, and renders Agur by con- gregans, Jakeh by voinens, Ithiel by cum quo est Bnis, and Jucal by confortalus. Of modern ex- positors EwALD has taken at least the last half of tlie ver. in a similar way : Thus does the man speak to God-with-me, to God-with-me and 1-am- strong. The b^.X according to this view stands for 'iD'iii, and in combination with the appella- tive Ithiel composes a single name. Instead of DXJ however we should need to read DJ