Proverbs 23 - Introduction
_A.M. 3004. B.C. 1000._... [ Continue Reading ]
_A.M. 3004. B.C. 1000._... [ Continue Reading ]
_When thou sittest to eat with a ruler_ When thou art invited to the table of a great man; _consider diligently what is before thee_ What things, what plenty and variety of meats and drinks, by which thou mayest easily be tempted to excess in partaking of them, and so mayest be induced to speak or a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Labour not_ Hebrew, אל תיגע, _Do not weary thyself_, namely, with immoderate cares and labours, as many covetous men do; _to be rich_ To raise an estate, and make thy property abundantly more than it is. Solomon does not forbid all labour, nor a provident care, which he commends in other places; bu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Eat not thou the bread of him that hath an evil eye_ Of an envious or covetous man, who secretly grudges thee the meat which is set before thee. _For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he_ Thou must not judge of him by his words, for in them he professes kindness, (as it follows,) but by the consta... [ Continue Reading ]
_Speak not in the ears of a fool_ Cast not away good counsels upon obstinate and incorrigible sinners: see Matthew 7:6. _For he will despise the wisdom of thy words_ He will scornfully reject thy wise and good admonitions.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Enter not into the fields of the fatherless_ Either to take away their goods, or rather, to possess their lands, as this phrase is used, 2 Samuel 5:6. _For their Redeemer is mighty_ Hebrew, גאלם, _their near kinsman_, to whom it belongs to avenge their wrongs, and to recover and maintain their righ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let not thy heart envy sinners_ Let not the consideration of their present impunity and prosperity excite thee either to envy them, or to approve and imitate their evil courses; _but be thou in the fear of the Lord_ Reverence the presence of the Divine Majesty, and dread his power and justice, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hear and be wise_ Rest not in hearing, but see that thou grow wiser and better by it. _And guide thy heart in the way_ Order the whole course of thine affections and actions in God's way, often termed _the way_, as has been observed before. _Be not among wine-bibbers_ Avoid their conversation and c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hearken unto thy father that begat thee_ And who, therefore, desires and seeks thy good in all his counsels; _and despise not thy mother when she is old_ When the infirmity of age is added to that of her sex, which is apt to produce contempt. _Buy the truth_ Purchase a true and saving knowledge of... [ Continue Reading ]
_My son, give me thy heart_ Receive my counsels with thy whole heart; for the heart being esteemed by the ancients the seat of the affections, Solomon may, accordingly, be properly understood as calling upon his disciples to embrace his doctrine and injunctions with the warmest affection, and to red... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a whore is a deep ditch_ In which a man is in evident danger of perdition, and out of which it is exceeding difficult to escape. See the note on Proverbs 22:14. _She lieth in wait_, &c. Watching all opportunities of insnaring young men to their destruction; _and increaseth the transgressors amo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who hath wo?_ From the sin of lewdness, he proceeds to that of drunkenness, which frequently accompanies it. As if he had said, If thou intendest to avoid such filthy practices, avoid intemperance; the lamentable effects of which are so many, that it is a hard matter to enumerate them. For _who hat... [ Continue Reading ]
_Look not thou upon the wine_ Earnestly, so as to inflame thine appetite toward it; in which sense men are forbidden _to look upon a woman, Job 31:1_; Matthew 5:28. _When it is red_ Which was the colour of the best wines in that country, which therefore are called _blood, Genesis 49:11_; Deuteronomy... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thine eyes shall behold strange women_ With evil intent: lustful, nay, adulterous desires will be excited in thee, which thou wilt neither have inclination nor power to restrain and govern; _and thy heart shall utter perverse things_ Will discover its wickedness by unseemly and perverse, perhaps, e... [ Continue Reading ]
_They have stricken me, shalt thou say_, &c. “And to complete thy misery, shouldst thou be not only mocked and abused, but beaten also, thou thyself wilt confess afterward, that it made no impression on thee: nay, shouldst thou be most lamentably bruised, thou wilt neither know who did it, nor at a... [ Continue Reading ]