Proverbs 17:11

An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. AN EVIL (MAN) SEEKETH ONLY REBELLION - so the Septuagint and Arabic. But the Chaldaic and Syriac take "rebellion" as the abstract for the concrete, and make it nominative. 'A rebel seeketh only evil,' notwithstanding a "hundred stripes" being inflicted on him (). THEREFORE A CRUEL MESSENGER SHALL BE SENT AGAINST HIM - the executioner of the king's wrath. So the King of kings "casts upon" rebels against him "the fierceness of His anger ... by sending evil angels among them" ()....

The proverb expresses the reverence of the East for the supreme authority of the king. The “cruel messenger” is probably the king’s officer despatched to subdue and punish. The Septuagint renders it: “The Lord will send a pitiless Angel.”...

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 17:1 (Comp, Proverbs 15:16, Proverbs 15:17; Proverbs 16:8.) BETTER (sweeter) IS A DRY MORSEL, AND QUIETNESS THEREWITH. Dry bread was soaked in wine or water before it was eaten. Thus Boaz bid Ruth "dip her morsel in the vinegar" (Ruth 2:14); thus Jesus gave the sop to Judas when he had dipped it (John 13:26). The Septuagint is pleonastic, "Better is a morsel with joy in peace." Ab

AN EVIL [MAN] SEEKETH ONLY REBELLION,.... For he seeks nothing but what is evil; and all sin is rebellion against God, a contempt of his laws, and a transgression of them; a trampling upon his legislative power and authority; an act of hostility against him, and a casting off allegiance to him. Or rather the words may be rendered, "rebellion", that is, "the rebellious man", so the Targum, the abstract for the concrete, "verily" or "only seeketh evil" m; a man that is rebellious against his prince, that is of a rebellious disposition, is continually seeking to do mischief in the commonwealth; he is continually plotting and contriving destructive schemes, and stirring up sedition, and causing trouble; and so a rebel against God is always seeking that which is sinful, which is evil in its own nature, and contrary to the law and will of God; and in the issue brings the evil of punishment on...

CHAPTER 17 DIVERSE PROVERBS Of the twenty-eight proverbs found in this chapter we point out but a few. “The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold; but the LORD trieth the hearts” (Proverbs 17:3). Man may try silver and gold, but God only the hearts. And He tries the hearts by the refining process, trials and afflictions, the process which rests in His own hands. (See Psalms 66:10; Malachi 3:3; 1 Peter 1:7 .) “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love, but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends” (Proverbs 17:9). To

PROVERBS 17. Fresh points are the rise of the able and clever slave to a place in the family (Proverbs 17:2), the practice of bribes (Proverbs 17:8; Proverbs 17:23), the value of adversity as a test of friendship (Proverbs 17:17): also the subject of suretyship, dealt with in Proverbs 6:1, is resumed (Proverbs 17:18). PROVERBS 17:1. For the connexion betwee

EVIL. evil worker. Same word as "wicked", Proverbs 17:4....

_rebellion_ This, in its highest reference, is an anticipation of the divine philosophy of St John, "sin is lawlessness" (ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία). "Sin is lawlessness. Sin and lawlessness are convertible terms. Sin is not an arbitrary conception; it is the assertion of the selfish will against a paramount authority. He who sins breaks, not only by accident or in an isolated detail, but essentially, the law which he was created to fulfil," Westcott on 1 John 3:4. _a cruel messenger_ The stern, implacable minister of the rebel's doom. Comp., for illustration, 1 Kings 2:25; 1 Kings 2:34. The LXX. refer the sending of the merciless messenger, whether human or angelic, to Jehovah, against whom ultimately all rebellion is aim

AN EVIL MAN, &C.— Houbigant renders it, _A cruel man will seek only for evil; and therefore a most cruel messenger shall be sent to him._...

TEXT Proverbs 17:11-19 11. An evil man seeketh only rebellion; Therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. 12. Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, Rather than a fool in his folly. 13. Whoso rewardeth evil for good, Evil shall not depart from his house. 14. The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: Therefore leave off contention, before there is quarrelling. 15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah. 16. Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, Seeing he hath no understanding? 17. A friend loveth at all times; And brother is born for adversity. 18. A man void of understanding striketh hands, And becomet