Proverbs 20:24

Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way? MAN'S (HEBREW, gaaber (H1397 ): A MIGHTY MAN'S) GOINGS (ARE) OF THE LORD. Whatever success attends mighty warriors, as Julius Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, etc., is entirely due to the Lord. HOW CAN A MAN ( 'aadaam (H120 ): MAN IN GENERAL) THEN UNDERSTAND HIS OWN WAY? As the former clause attributes to the Lord exclusively the ordering of great men's goings, in order to attain success; so this clause attributes to Him, to the exclusion of man, the prescient understanding of man's course. God directs natural actions by ordinary providence, spiritual actions by His special providence, which foreordains from eternity,...

Verse Proverbs 20:24. _MAN'S GOINGS_ ARE _OF THE LORD_] He, by his providence, governs all the great concerns of the world. Man often traverses these operations; but he does it to his own damage. An old writer quaintly says: "They who will carve for themselves shall cut their fingers....

The order of a man’s life is a mystery even to himself. He knows not where he is going, or for what God is educating him....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 20:1 WINE IS A MOCKER; or, scorner, the word (_luts_) being taken up from the last chapter. The liquor is, as it were, personified, as doing what men do under its influence. Thus inebriated persons scoff at what is holy, reject reproof, ridicule all that is serious. Septuagint, Ἀκόλαστον οἶνος, "Wine is an undisciplined thing;" Vulgate, _Luxuriosa res, vinum. _STRONG DRINK IS RAGING; a brawler, Revised Version. _Shekar, _σίκερα (Luke 1:15), is most frequently employed of any intoxicating drink not made from grapes, _e.g. _palm wine, mead, etc. The inordinate use of this renders men noisy and boisterous, no longer masters of themselves or restrained by the laws of morality or decency. Septu

MAN'S GOINGS [ARE] OF THE LORD,.... In a natural and literal sense, the instruments of going are of the Lord; the act of motion from place to place is not without the concourse of his providence; as in him we live, and move, and have our being, so "in and by him we move"; he preserves our going out and coming in; and as the preservation, so the success and prosperity of journeying are owing to his providence, and the whole is under his care and direction: and so likewise, in a civil sense, all the civil concerns, business, and actions of life, are guided by his providence; there is a time for every purpose under heaven, and the success of all depends on a divine blessing; and things are with every man in civil life according to the providence of God, and as it is his pleasure they should be; and it is by him they are directed to take this and the other step, the issue of which is accordi...

CHAPTER 20 PROVERBS AS TO PERSONAL CONDUCT Proverbs of warning and instructions as to personal conduct are found mostly in this chapter; a number of them are of special interest if applied to Solomon. The first one is concerning wine and strong drink. As the use of wine among the people of Israel was legitimate the warning is against intemperance Deuteronomy 14:26). The Bible gives many illustrations of the truth of this proverb-warning. We may think of Noah, Lot, Nabal, Ben-hadad, Belshazzar and others. From all the good things we select the following. In Proverbs 20:3 is instruction which makes for peace. It is the fool who meddles and thus produces strife, but it is an honor for man to cease from strife. In...

PROVERBS 20. We have still further traces in Proverbs 20:9; Proverbs 20:24 of the sceptical spirit and the obstinate questionings of self characteristic of the later Greek period of Jewish thought. PROVERBS 20:6 A. RV is strained and the Heb. is difficult. Read (_cf._ Syr. and Lat.) Many a man is called kind. Proverbs 20:8. winnoweth (_mg._) is more literal than RV, and conveys better the idea of personal scrutiny (_cf._ the ideal king in Psalms 72 and Isaiah 11). Proverbs 20:9. For the growi

MAN'S. A strong man's. Hebrew. _geber._ App-14. MAN. an ordinary man. Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14....

Comp. Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 10:23....

TEXT Proverbs 20:21-30 21. An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; But the end thereof shall not be blessed. 22. Say not thou, I will recompense evil: Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee. 23. Diverse weights are an abomination to Jehovah; And a false balance is not good. 24. A man's goings are of Jehovah; How then can man understand his way? 25. It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy, And after vows to make inquiry. 26. A wise king winnoweth the wicked, And bringeth the threshingwheel over them. 27. The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah, Searching all his innermost parts. 28. Kindness and truth preserve the king; And his throne is upholden by kindness. 29. The glory of young men is their streng