Proverbs 17:21

He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. HE THAT BEGETTETH A FOOL (DOETH IT) TO HIS SORROW - findeth afterward that what he had regarded as a joy is but a "sorrow," when the son betrays his foolishness. Hence, infer that we should be anxious not so much for a numerous, as for a godly offspring (T. Cartwright)....

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

HE THAT BEGETTETH A FOOL [DOTH IT] TO HIS SORROW,.... As it proves in the issue; though it was joy to him when a man child was born, and took delight in him while in infancy and childhood, and promised himself much happiness in him when at years of discretion; but, instead of that, he departs from his education principles, despises all parental counsels and advice, and goes into all the extravagance of sin and folly; which is an heartbreaking to his godly and religious parents; for this is to be understood; not of an idiot, but of a wicked son, taking bad courses; AND THE FATHER OF A FOOL HATH NO JOY; in his son, but sorrow, and has scarce any joy or pleasure in anything else in all his enjoyments; the trouble he is filled with on his account embitters all he has, that he can take no satisfaction, or have any comfort of life; the concern for his son is uppermost in his thoughts, and hin...

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

FOOL. Hebrew. _nabal,_ as in Proverbs 17:1....

_a fool … a fool_ The Heb. word so rendered is not the same in the two clauses of the verse. The first word in the first clause describes the fool as _dull_or _senseless_, or as some think _obstinate_. The second word points him out as _shameless_, like Nabal, whose name (the Heb. word here) was descriptive of his character (1 Samuel 25:25). There is a third Heb. word, used more commonly than either of these in this Book, which regards a fool as one who is _perverse_, or as some render, _weak_....

TEXT Proverbs 17:20-28 20. He that hath a wayward heart findeth no good; And he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. 21. He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow; And the father of a fool hath no joy. 22. A cheerful heart is a good medicine; But a broken spirit drieth up the bones. 23. A wicked man receiveth a bribe out of the bosom, To pervert the ways of justice. 24. Wisdom is before the face of him that hath understanding; But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. 25. A foolish son is a grief to his father, And bitterness to her that bare him. 26. Also to punish the righteous is not good, Nor to smite the noble for their uprightness. 27. He that spareth his words hath knowledge; And he that is of a cool

17:21 [man] (g-17) _ Nabal_ . see Note l, ver. 7....

1. Lit. 'the sacrifices of strife.' There would be no pleasure in the festal meal which followed a sacrifice (Proverbs 7:14) if it was accompanied with a quarrel. 'A little with quiet is the only diet.'...