CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:1. WISE WOMAN, or “woman’s wisdom.” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:1_ THE HOUSE BUILDER AND THE HOUSE DESTROYER I. A WOMAN’S SPECIAL SPHERE OF WORK—HER HOUSE. In this word is included all that in any way relates to the home life. Woman’s relation to it is threefold.... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:2. HE THAT WALKETH, etc., or, “He walketh in his uprightness who feareth Jehovah, and perverse in his ways is he that despiseth Him” (_Delitzsch_). _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:2_ FEARING AND DESPISING THE LORD I. A WHOLESOME FEAR. “The fear of the Lord.” When we f... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:3. ROD, or “sceptre.” Zöckler reads, “In the mouth of a fool is a rod _for_ his pride.” Stuart, “Haughtiness is a rod,” etc. PROVERBS 14:5. Miller here translates, “He who witnesses things correctly, does not lie; but of a deceived witness the very breath is lies” (See... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:4_ THE CLEAN CRIB I. AN EMPTY AND CLEAN CRIB DOES NOT FULFIL THE END FOR WHICH IT WAS MADE. It was made for use; it was made to hold food for the ox, who earns, by his labour, the means of keeping it full. When God first created this world, and saw it lie before him... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:6_ SEEKING, BUT NOT FINDING I. A CONTRADICTORY CHARACTER—A SCORNER IN QUEST OF WISDOM. It would be strange to hear a man ask advice of a physician whose opinion he held in contempt, or to ask guidance of a traveller whose judgment and ability he despised. It would be... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:8. DECEIT, or “deception.” PROVERBS 14:9. MANY translators read this verse, “The sacrifice,” or “the sin-offering, makes a sport of,” or “mocks fools.” So Zöckler, Elster, Ewald, Stuart, Wordsworth, etc. Miller translates, “Sin makes a mock at fools.” AMONG, or “to.”... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:10. Zöckler reads the latter clause, “Let no stranger,” etc. Miller renders the whole verse, “A knowing heart is a bitterness to itself; but with its joy it does not hold intercourse as an enemy.” PROVERBS 14:11. TABERNACLE, “tent.” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:10_... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:12_ WHAT SEEMS TO BE AND WHAT IS I. HUMAN NATURE NEEDS MORE LIGHT THAN IS FOUND IN THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE. The way which “seems right unto a man” may be “the way of death.” A mariner who has insufficient light to observe correctly the needle in the compass, may think h... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:13. THE HEART IS SORROWFUL, or “will be” (perchance). _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:13_ TRUE AND FALSE MIRTH This proverb, as it stands in our English version, cannot be taken as universally true. The first clause is rendered by some translators—“Even in laughter t... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:14. FILLED WITH, _i.e._, “satisfied with.” Stuart translates the latter clause, “Away from him is the good man,” _i.e._, he will keep aloof from the backslider. _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:14_ SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION I. THE POSITION AND CHARACTER OF THE B... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:16. RAGETH, “is presumptuous,” or “haughty.” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Proverbs 14:15_. REVELATIONS OF CHARACTER I. FOUR MARKS OF A FOOLISH MAN. When a piece of ground is left to itself—left in the hand of nature alone, without the intervention of the hand... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:19_ A LEVELLING LAW I. THIS LAW IS NOW MANIFEST TO THE INNER LIFE OF THE WICKED. If a wicked man has any sense of right and wrong, he is conscious of the superiority of the good man. There is an inward bowing down of the evil to the good which is as real, although i... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:21. POOR, or “suffering” (_Delitzsch_). _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:20_ AN AGGRAVATED CRIME, A QUESTIONABLE VIRTUE, AND A PRESENT BLESSING I. A FOURFOLD SIN. A man who despises or hates his neighbour sins— 1. _In the simple exercise of the feeling_. Hatred, or e... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:22_ A FATAL ERROR AND A CERTAIN GOOD I. THE MISTAKE OF DEVISERS OF EVIL. 1. _They err in relation to the success of their plans_. They think that their wicked devices will succeed, or they would not go to the labour and trouble of devising them. But they make a fata... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:23_ THE PROFIT OF LABOUR 1. _The profit of social honour_. It is both natural and right that a man should desire the respect and good-will of those around him. Nothing is more certain than that he who lives without working in some form or another, either for himself... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:24. Or, “It is a crown to the wise when they are rich, but the folly of fools remains folly” (_Delitzsch_). _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:24_ WEALTH WITH AND WITHOUT WISDOM I. BOTH A WISE MAN AND A FOOL MAY ATTAIN TO WEALTH. The intellectually wise, and the man who... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:25_ DELIVERANCE BY TRUTH I. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN A WITNESS BEARER. A witness is supposed to give light. Those who have to decide upon a matter seek for the evidence of those who are personally acquainted with the facts. They are expected to testify as to what they hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:26_ A SURE REFUGE I. WHAT IS TO BE FOUND IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD? “Strong confidence.” The confidence is in the divine character, and is based upon a knowledge of it, in contrast to a false security which has its foundation in ignorance. There is a reverence of one b... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:28. Miller translates “In a _great_ people.” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:28_ A KING’S TRUE GLORY I. HUMAN RULERS ARE DEPENDENT UPON THEIR PEOPLE FOR HONOUR. 1. _The safety of the king’s crown depends largely upon the number of his subjects_. This was certainly th... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:29_ GREAT UNDERSTANDING I. THERE ARE TIMES AND OCCASIONS WHEN WRATH IS NOT ONLY ALLOWABLE, BUT RIGHT. A man who is incapable of being angry lacks an element of perfection. Anger against wrong-doing is possible without any feeling of vindictiveness or malice towards... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:30. A SOUND HEART, “a quiet heart.” ENVY, “passion,” “perturbation.” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:30_ A SOUND HEART _The blessed effects of a contented spirit_. The “sound heart” being here placed in contrast to “envy,” shows that it means a spirit that is content... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:31_ THE OPPRESSED AND THEIR OPPRESSORS I. THOSE WHO ARE OBJECTS OF OPPRESSION—“The poor.” They are made up of three classes. 1. _Those who have never known their supplies to be equal to their positive needs—who have not only always lived from hand to mouth, but who... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:32. DRIVEN FORTH, or “thrust lower” (_Miller_). Delitzsch translates, “When misfortune befals him, the wicked is overthrown, but the righteous hath hope even in his death.” _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:32_ THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE WICKED I. THE WICKED MAN... [ Continue Reading ]
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:33_ THE HIDDEN MADE MANIFEST I. THE GOD-ORDAINED PLACE FOR MORAL WISDOM—“the heart.” The divinely ordained place for the sap of the vine is its _root_. 1. _It has its centre and spring there, that thence it may diffuse itself into every branch and leaf, and give li... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:34. The Hebrew word for _reproach_ means also “mercy.” Hence Gejer and Miller translate “Mercy for nations is the sin-offering,” the word _sin_ being often used to express the sin-offering. _MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 14:34_ NATIONAL SALVATION I. SOME STANDARD OF RIG... [ Continue Reading ]
CRITICAL NOTES.— PROVERBS 14:35. Miller reads, “The kindness of a king is a wise servant, but his wrath becomes one that bringeth shame” (See his comments). _MAIN HOMILETICS ON Proverbs 14:35_ A WISE SERVANT In this verse we adopt Miller’s translation as being the more probable meaning. See Crit... [ Continue Reading ]