THE PROVERBS -Year from the Creation, 3004. -Year before the birth of Christ, 996. -Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 1000. -Year since the Deluge, according to Archbishop Usher and the English Bible, 1348. -Year from the destruction of Troy, 185. -Year before the first Olympiad,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:2. _TO KNOW WISDOM_] That is, this is the design of parabolical writing in _general_; and the _particular_ aim of the present work. This and the two following verses contain the interpretation of the term _parable_, and the author's design in the whole book. The first verse is the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:3. _TO RECEIVE THE INSTRUCTION_] השכל _haskel_, the deliberately _weighing_ of the points contained in the _teaching_, so as to find out their _importance_. _EQUITY_] משרים _mesharim, rectitude_. The pupil is to receive _wisdom_ and _instruction, the words of wisdom and understandi... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:4. _TO GIVE SUBTILTY TO THE SIMPLE_] The word _simple_, from _simplex_, compounded of _sine_, without, and _plica_, a fold, properly signifies _plain_ and _honest_, one that has no _by-ends_ in view, who is _what he appears to be_; and is opposed to _complex_, from _complico_, to _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:5. _A WISE_ MAN _WILL HEAR_] I shall not only give such instructions as may be suitable to the youthful and inexperienced, but also to those who have much knowledge and understanding. So said St. Paul: _We speak wisdom among them that are perfect_. This and the following verse are c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:6. _DARK SAYINGS._] חידת _chidoth_, enigmas or riddles, in which the Asiatics abounded. I believe _parables_, such as those delivered by our Lord, nearly express the meaning of the original.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:7. _THE FEAR OF THE LORD_] In the preceding verses Solomon shows the _advantage_ of acting according to the dictates of wisdom; in the following verses he shows the _danger_ of acting contrary to them. _The fear of the Lord_ signifies that _religious reverence_ which every intellig... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:8. _MY SON, HEAR_] _Father_ was the title of _preceptor_, and _son_, that of _disciple_ or _scholar_, among the Jews. But here the reference appears to be to the _children of a family_; the _father_ and the _mother_ have the principal charge, in the first instance, of their childre... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:9. _AN ORNAMENT OF GRACE UNTO THY HEAD, AND CHAINS_] That is, filial respect and obedience will be as ornamental to thee as _crowns, diadems_, and golden chains and pearls are to others. Political dignity has been distinguished in many nations by a _chain of gold about the neck_. S... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:10. _IF SINNERS ENTICE THEE, CONSENT THOU NOT._] אל תבא _al_ _tobe, WILL-not_. They can do thee no harm unless thy will join in with them. God's eternal purpose with respect to man is that his _will_ shall be _free_; or, rather, that the _will_, which is _essentially FREE_, shall ne... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:11. _IF THEY SAY, COME WITH US_] From all accounts, this is precisely the way in which the workers of iniquity form their partisans, and constitute their marauding societies to the present day. _LET US LAY WAIT FOR BLOOD_] Let us rob and murder. _LET US LURK PRIVILY_] Let us lie i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:12. _LET US SWALLOW THEM UP ALIVE_] Give them as hasty a death as if the earth were suddenly to swallow them up. This seems to refer to the destruction of a whole village. Let us destroy man, woman, and child; and then we may seize on and carry away the whole of their property, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:14. _CAST IN THY LOT_] Be a _frater conjuratus_, a sworn brother, and thou shalt have an equal share of all the spoil. Common sense must teach us that the words here used are such as must be spoken when a gang of cutthroats, pickpockets, c., are associated together.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:16. _FOR THEIR FEET RUN TO EVIL_] The whole of this verse is wanting in the _Septuagint_, and in the _Arabic_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:17. _SURELY IN VAIN THE NET IS SPREAD IN THE SIGHT OF ANY_ _BIRD._] This is a _proverb_ of which the wise man here makes a particular use; and the meaning does not seem as difficult as some imagine. The wicked are represented as _lurking privily_ for the innocent. It is in this way... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:18. _THEY LAY WAIT FOR THEIR_ OWN _BLOOD_] I believe it is the _innocent_ who are spoken of here, for whose _blood_ and _lives_ these _lay wait_ and _lurk privily_; certainly not their _own_, by any mode of construction.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:19. WHICH _TAKETH AWAY THE LIFE_] A _covetous_ man is in effect, and in the sight of God, a murderer; he wishes to get all the _gain_ that can accrue to any or all who are in the same business that he follows-no matter to him how many families starve in consequence. This is the very... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:20. _WISDOM CRIETH_] Here wisdom is again _personified_, as it is frequently, throughout this book; where nothing is meant but the _teachings_ given to man, either by _Divine revelation_ or the voice of the Holy Spirit in the heart. And this voice of _wisdom_ is opposed to the _sedu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:22. _YE SIMPLE ONES_] פתים _pethayim_, ye who have been _seduced_ and _deceived_. See on Proverbs 1:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:23. _TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF_] לתוכחתי _lethochachti_, at my _convincing mode_ of _arguing_; attend to my _demonstrations_. This is properly the meaning of the original word. _I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU_] "I wil expresse my mynde unto you;" COVERDALE. _Loo I shall bryngen to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:24. _BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED_] These and the following words appear to be spoken of the persons who are described, Proverbs 1:11, who have refused to return from their evil ways till arrested by the hand of justice; and here the wise man points out their deplorable state. They are no... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:27. _YOUR DESTRUCTION COMETH AS A WHIRLWIND_] כסופה _kesuphah_, as the all-prostrating blast. _Sense_ and _sound_ are here well expressed. _Suphah_ here is the gust of wind.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:29. _THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE_] This argues the deepest degree of intellectual and moral depravity.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:32. _FOR THE TURNING AWAY OF THE SIMPLE_] This difficult place seems to refer to such a case as we term _turning king's_ _evidence_; where an accomplice saves his own life by impeaching the rest of his gang. This is called his _turning_ or _repentance_, משובה meshubah; and he was th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Proverbs 1:33. _BUT WHOSO HEARKENETH UNTO ME SHALL DWELL SAFELY_] The man who hears the voice of wisdom in preference to the _enticements_ of the _wicked_. He shall dwell in _safety_, ישכן בטח yishcan _betach_, he shall _inhabit safety_ itself; he shall be completely safe and secure; and _shal... [ Continue Reading ]