Proverbs 29 - Introduction
_OBSERVATIONS ON PUBLIC GOVERNMENT, AND ON PRIVATE. OF ANGER, PRIDE, THEFT, COWARDICE, AND CORRUPTION._... [ Continue Reading ]
_OBSERVATIONS ON PUBLIC GOVERNMENT, AND ON PRIVATE. OF ANGER, PRIDE, THEFT, COWARDICE, AND CORRUPTION._... [ Continue Reading ]
HARDENETH HIS NECK— See Exodus 32:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT RECEIVETH GIFTS— i.e. _He who rigorously exacteth tribute,_ or requires rich presents to be made to him. Houbigant renders the verse, _The king who judgeth justly establisheth the land, he who exacteth gifts overturneth it._... [ Continue Reading ]
SPREADETH A NET FOR HIS FEET— Some render this _for his own feet,_ applying it to the flatterer; and so the next verse is understood, which Houbigant translates thus: _The wicked man falls himself into the snares which he lays for others; the just man shall deliver himself, and rejoice._... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A WISE MAN CONTENDETH, &C.— _A wise man, contending in judgment with a foolish man, whether he is provoked or derided, remains unmoved._—Ver. 10. _Deceitful men hold the upright in little esteem; but the just embrace him._ Houbigant. Schultens renders the last verse, _Bloody men hate the upright,... [ Continue Reading ]
IF A RULER HEARKEN TO LIES— In conformity to this aphorism, Tacitus says of Claudius, "There is no safety with that prince into whose mind all things are conveyed, as it were, by infusion and direction from others." And Comines observes, that it is better to be servant to a prince whose suspicions h... [ Continue Reading ]
THE POOR AND THE DECEITFUL MAN MEET TOGETHER— See chap. Proverbs 22:2 where the sentence appears very similar. The LXX read, _The usurer and debtor meet together; the Lord has the oversight of them both._ The Vulgate, Houbigant, Schultens, &c. read, _The poor and the rich,_ or, _The poor and his cre... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE THERE IS NO VISION, &C.— Houbigant renders this verse, _That people is dissipated, among whom there are no answers of the prophets: that people is blessed with whom the law is preserved;_ which is very similar to the Vulgate. The LXX read, _A wicked people shall have no person to explain the l... [ Continue Reading ]
A SERVANT WILL NOT BE CORRECTED BY WORDS— "A slave, and he who is of a servile nature, is not to be amended by reason or persuasion: no, nor by reproofs or threats; for though he hear, and understand too, what you say, yet he will not obey, till he be forced into it by blows." The LXX read, _A stubb... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT DELICATELY BRINGETH UP HIS SERVANT, &C.— Lord Bacon, observing that most of the aphorisms in these last Chapter s refer to princes and their affairs, remarks on this verse. That both princes and private masters should keep a mean in the dispensation of their grace and favour towards servants... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HEARETH CURSING, &C.— The LXX and Vulgate read, _He heareth him who adjureth him, but will not declare_ or _impeach._ The words may be rendered, _He is adjured, and yet makes not discovery._ See Leviticus 5:1. The sense is, that "He who will not discover a thief, when adjured or summoned upon oat... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FEAR OF MAN BRINGETH A SNARE— _He who feareth man shall be driven into a snare_ [or _shall fall_]. _He who trusteth in the Lord shall be established._ When men do not abstain from evil, but from respects and considerations merely human, they presently fall. There is no virtue, no solid piety, bu... [ Continue Reading ]