_a mocker_ Rather A SCORNER, Proverbs 1:22, note. _raging_ Rather, A BRAWLER, R.V. In each case the thing is personified in its victim. The drunkard in his cups becomes impious towards God and quarrelsome towards his neighbour. _is deceived erreth_, R.V., _reeleth_, R.V. marg.... [ Continue Reading ]
is _as_ The terror inspired by a king is like that caused by the roaring of a lion in act to spring upon its prey. See 1 Peter 5:8. _soul_ i.e. LIFE, as R.V. with "Heb. _soul_," in the marg. Comp. Habakkuk 2:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_cease_ For the same sense of the English word, _refrain_or _stand aloof from_, R.V., comp. Psalms 37:8; Isaiah 1:16. _meddling_ R.V.; Rather, QUARRELLING, R.V. See Proverbs 17:14, note.... [ Continue Reading ]
_cold_ Rather, WINTER, A.V. marg. and R.V. See Genesis 8:22, where the Heb. word here used is rendered "winter," and another Heb. word is used for "cold." _beg_ This rendering, which is retained in R.V. text, gives a forcible picture of the destitution to which the slothful will be reduced: though... [ Continue Reading ]
_will draw it out_ as from a well, as the Queen of Sheba did, 1 Kings 10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_goodness_ i.e. BOUNTY, A.V. marg., or KINDNESS, R.V. Fair promises are common, but faithful performance of them is rare. Comp. 2Co 8:11; 2 Corinthians 9:4. The first clause of the verse is otherwise rendered: _Many a man will meet one that is kind to him_, R.V. marg., but, as the next clause adds,... [ Continue Reading ]
_walketh_ Rather, THAT WALKETH, R.V. ὄς ἀναστρέφεται ἄμωμος ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, μακαρίους τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ καταλείψει, LXX.... [ Continue Reading ]
_scattereth_ or _winnoweth_, R.V. marg., as the same Heb. word is rendered (as suggested by the parallelism) in Proverbs 20:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Psalms 19:12; Jeremiah 2:22; Luke 18:9-14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Divers weights_ Lit. A STONE AND A STONE, AN EPHAH AND AN EPHAH; different weights or measures to buy and to sell with, or when there is risk of detection, and when fraud is safe. Comp. Deuteronomy 25:13-14, where the explanatory words, "a great and a small," are added, as they are here by the LXX.... [ Continue Reading ]
_is known_ or, _maketh himself known_; betrays his true character, and gives presage of "his (life's) work." Comp. the familiar German proverb, "_Was ein Dörnchen werden will spitzt sich bei Zeiten_," Lange.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The hearing ear_ or, _The ear heareth, and the eye seeth_. Οὖς ἀκούει καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς ὁρᾷ, LXX. The proverb is designed to be a seed of thought and to suggest many inferences, such as: How great must the Maker of such organs be (Psalms 139:14; Wis 13:5); how exactly must their Maker take account of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Proverbs 6:9-11; Proverbs 19:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_naught_ i.e. an inferior article. Comp. 2 Kings 2:19. By decrying it he gets it cheap, and then goes his way and boasts of his cleverness. Mr Bridges, in his _Commentary on Proverbs_, quotes here from Augustine the well-known story of him who having given out that he would disclose to every man the... [ Continue Reading ]
_rubies_ The R.V. retains this word, but refers to Job 28:18, where it gives in the margin, or, _red coral_, or, _pearls_. See Proverbs 3:15, note.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take his garment_ The Law of Moses recognised and regulated distraint on clothing as security for the repayment of a loan or debt (Exodus 22:26-27; Deuteronomy 24:10-13. Comp. Matthew 5:40). The proverb represents vividly the certainty that the surety will smart for his folly. Treat him at once, it... [ Continue Reading ]
_Bread of deceit_ or _of falsehood_, R.V., i.e. bread (or whatever else that word represents) gotten by dishonest and deceitful methods. with _gravel_ Comp. Lamentations 3:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
_with good advice_ or, _by wise guidance_, R.V., _make war_. Comp. Luke 14:31-32.... [ Continue Reading ]
_flattereth_with] Rather, OPENETH WIDE, R.V.; dilatat labia sua, Vulg.; has his mouth always open as a tattling gossip. Comp. the prohibition of the Law, Leviticus 19:16, and St Paul's rebuke of "tattlers" and "busybodies," 1 Timothy 5:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_obscure darkness_ Better, THE BLACKEST DARKNESS, R.V. Lit. _the pupil_(of the eye) _of darkness_(comp. "in the pupil of night," Proverbs 7:9, and note): i.e. in the darkest part, as the pupil is of the eye, of darkness. There is a trace of this in the version here of the LXX., αἱ δὲ κόραι τῶν ὀφθαλ... [ Continue Reading ]
_hastily_ Comp. Proverbs 28:20; Proverbs 28:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Romans 12:17; Romans 12:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
See Proverbs 20:10, note.... [ Continue Reading ]
Comp. Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 10:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
who _devoureth_that which is _holy_ This rendering is retained in R.V. marg., as is also another, _rashly to utter holy_words. But it is better to render, RASHLY TO SAY, _It is_ HOLY (R.V. text), i.e. _consecrated_(comp. _Corban_, Mark 7:11). The sequence is thus preserved: _and after vows_(of conse... [ Continue Reading ]
_scattereth_ RATHER, WINNOWETH. λικμήτωρ ἀσεβῶν βασιλεὺς σοφὸς, LXX. _the wheel_ sc. of his threshing wain. Comp. Isaiah 28:27. He executes righteous judgement upon them, Psalms 62:4; Romans 13:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_spirit_ Lit. BREATH (πνοή, LXX.). The word, in this unusual sense, may probably have been chosen to recall Genesis 2:7: _the Lord God … breathed into his nostrils the breath_(the same word as here) _of life_. "The breath of the higher life, above that which he has in common with the lower animals,... [ Continue Reading ]
_the blueness of a wound_ Lit. STRIPES OF (such as to cause) A WOUND. Render, with R.V., STRIPES THAT WOUND CLEANSE AWAY EVIL: AND STROKES REACH THE INNERMOST PARTS OF THE BELLY. The expression, _the blueness of a wound_, is taken probably from the _livor vulneris_of the Vulgate, and indicates... [ Continue Reading ]