Proverbs 16:33

The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. THE LOT IS CAST INTO THE LAP; BUT THE WHOLE DISPOSING (LITERALLY, JUDGMENT) THEREOF IS OF THE LORD. Whatever happens to man by allotment is not by chance, but by the Lord's appointment. The lots were cast into the cloak, cap, urn, or whatever else the judge or umpire bare in his lap, and then were drawn forth in order. They were used in dividing inheritances, in electing a king, and subsequently an apostle, in detecting the guilty one among a multitude, etc. (; ; ; ; .) The employment of the term...

Verse Proverbs 16:33. _THE LOT IS CAST INTO THE LAP_] On the _lot_, Numbers 26:55. How far it may be proper _now_ to put difficult matters to the lot, after earnest prayer and supplication, I cannot say. _Formerly_, it was both lawful and efficient; for after it was solemnly cast, the decision was taken as coming immediately from the Lord. It is still practiced, and its use is allowed even by writers on civil law. But those who need most to have recourse to the lot are those who have not _piety_ to _pray_ nor _faith_ to trust to God for a positive decision. The lot should never be resorted to in indifferent matters; they should be those of the greatest importance, in which it appears impossible for human prudence or foresight to determine. In such cases the lot is...

DISPOSING - Better, the judgment or sentence which depends upon the lot. The lots were thrown into the gathered folds of a robe, and then drawn out. Where everything seemed the merest chance, there the faithful Israelite teacher recognized the guidance of a higher will. Compare the case of Achan Joshua 7:18, and of Jonathan 1 Samuel 14:37. The process here described would seem to have been employed ordinarily in trials where the judges could not decide on the facts before them (compare Proverbs 18:18)....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 16:1 These are specially religions maxims, and they all contain the name Jehovah. PROVERBS 16:1 The Authorized Version makes one sentence of this verse without any contrast or antithesis. This is plainly wrong, there being intended a contrast between the thought of the heart and the well ordered speech. It is better translated, _The plans of the heart are man_'_s_:_ but the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah. _Men make plans, arrange speeches, muster arguments, in the mind; but to put these into proper, persuasive words is a gift of God. "Our sufficiency is of God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). In the case of

THE LOT IS CAST INTO THE LAP,.... Of a man's garment, or into his bosom, or into a hat, cap, urn, or whatsoever he has in his lap, and from whence it is taken out; which used to be done in choosing officers, civil or ecclesiastical; in dividing inheritances, and determining doubtful cases; and making up differences, and putting an end to strife and contentions, which otherwise could not be done: and this ought not to be used in trivial cases, or to gratify curiosity, or for the sake of gain, or rashly and superstitiously; but seriously and religiously, with prayer, and in faith, and with a view to the divine direction, and submission to it; for a lot has the nature of an oath, and is an appeal to the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent Being; BUT THE WHOLE DISPOSING THEREOF [IS] OF THE LORD; or "the judgment" u of it; the judgment that is to be made by it concerning persons or thing...

CHAPTER 16 IN THE LIGHT OF THE LORD The name Jehovah (LORD) appears eleven times in this chapter of Proverbs. The Lord has the final word, for to man belong the preparations (or plans) of the heart; but from the LORD is the answer of the tongue. It is the same thought as in our English proverb--“Man proposes--God disposes.” Man loves to justify himself, his ways are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits; He is the judge of ways and motives. Our works are to be committed (literal: rolled upon) unto the LORD, then establishment and blessing will follow. It is strange that these three verses were omitted in the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. The LORD hath made all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil Proverbs 16:4. Much error has been taught in connection with this verse. Some have taught that God made some wicked. It is not said

PROVERBS 16. The special feature is a group of aphorisms (Proverbs 16:10) relating to kings. The sentiments seem rather to reflect the picture of the ideal king than to indicate any particular period. The metaphors employed and the character depicted suggest a parallel with the ideal king of Psalms 72. PROVERBS 16:4. The lit. rendering of Proverbs 16:4 a is Yahweh has made every work for its answer_ i.e._ the nexus of cause and effect seen in the moral government of the world is His work, a kind of prearranged harmony. The supreme instance is the case of the wicked, their answer is the day of evil. We have an assertion of the righteousness of Yahweh's government rather than of their predestinati

LOT. stone. See next note. LAP. bosom (Proverbs 17:23; Proverbs 21:14). The reference is to the bag of the ephod, in which were the two stones by which Jehovah gave true judgment or decision. See notes on Exodus 28:30; Numbers 26:55. Illustrations: Haman (Esther 3:7); Jonah (Jonah 1:7); apostles (Acts 1:15). THE WHOLE DISPOSING. its every decision. disposing

_the lap_ from the folds of which it was drawn or shaken out. _disposing_ Lit. JUDGEMENT. The decision, which when appealed to as arbiter it pronounces, is not its own but Jehovah's. The religion of the O.T. incorporated into itself the use of the lot as it did many other common customs (see Joshua 7:14-18; 1 Samuel 14:42). With the gift of Pentecost, however, the religious use of it appears to have ceased. No mention is found of it in the N.T. after Acts 1:26....

DISCOURSE: 795 GOD IS THE DISPOSER OF ALL EVENTS Proverbs 16:33. _The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord_. THOUGH we would not be unnecessarily fastidious in condemning the use of any particular term, where we knew that in its popular sense it was not very exceptionable, yet we cannot altogether approve the use of such terms as ‘luck,’ and ‘chance,’ and ‘fortune:’ for though we know, that the persons who adopt those kind of expressions do not intend to deny _the doctrine_ of a superintending Divine Providence, yet we cannot but think that such language tends exceedingly to weaken _a sense_ of God’s Providence upon the soul, inasmuch as it excludes his agency from the affairs of men, and regards them as left to mere and absolute contingency. With the Scriptures in our hands, we are perfectly assured, that all things, howe