Proverbs 21:18

The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright. THE WICKED (SHALL BE) A RANSOM FOR THE RIGHTEOUS, AND THE TRANSGRESSOR FOR THE UPRIGHT. The righteous are saved from impending destruction, and the wicked come in their room (; )....

Verse Proverbs 21:18. _THE WICKED_ SHALL BE _A RANSOM FOR THE RIGHTEOUS_] God often in his judgments cuts off the _wicked_, in order to prevent them from destroying the _righteous_. And in general, we find that the wicked fall into the traps and pits they have digged for the righteous....

Compare the marginal reference. Evil doers seem to draw down the wrath of God upon their heads, and so become, as it were, the scapegoats of the comparatively righteous....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 21:1 THE KING'S HEART IS IN THE HAND OF THE LORD, AS THE RIVERS OF WATER. We are to think of the little channels used for irrigation. As these are altogether under the gardener's control, so the heart of the king, who might seem to have no superior, is directed by God. HE TURNETH IT WHITHERSOEVER HE WILL. By hidden influences and providential arrangements God disposes the monarch to order his government so as to carry out his designs, to spread around joy and plenty. The system of irrigation signified in this passage is still to be seen in Eastern lands. "Flower beds and gardens of herbs are always made at a little lower level than the surrounding ground, and are divided into small squares, a slight edging of earth banking the whole round on each side. Water is then let in, and floods the entire sur

THE WICKED [SHALL BE] A RANSOM FOR THE RIGHTEOUS,.... Not to make satisfaction for them, as Christ is a ransom for his people; but as a ransom is in the room of another, so the wicked cometh in the stead of the righteous, and into the trouble he is delivered from; as Haman for Mordecai, which instance Jarchi mentions; see Proverbs 11:8; or when a body of people are threatened with divine vengeance; and this falls upon the wicked, whose sins caused it, and the righteous are delivered from it; as in the case of Achan, and the seven sons of Saul, Joshua 7:26. And sometimes God turns the wrath of the princes of the earth from his own people, and causes it to fall upon the wicked, and so they are a ransom for them; as Sennacherib intended the destruction of the Jews, but was called off in providence to fall upon th

CHAPTER 21 PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS AS TO LIFE AND CONDUCT In the proverbs of this chapter the Lord is mentioned five times. “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” Proverbs 21:1). The rivers of water are “water-courses,” the irrigation system known to the ancients, opening and shutting sluices directed the flow of the waters. Thus the Lord governs the king's heart as He directs the affairs of men. The Lord pondereth the hearts Proverbs 21:2). The same truth is stated in Proverbs 16:2; self-justification suits the natural man but the Lord testeth all hearts. How well it is to remember in all our conduct, that truth, so comforting to the believer, expr

PROVERBS 21:1. WATERCOURSES: not the natural brooks and wadys of Palestine, but the artificial irrigation canals of Egypt or Babylonia, which could be diverted in any direction at will. Proverbs 21:4. Apparently two unconnected lines belonging to different couplets. A connexion can be established only by forced exegesis. The Heb. is lit. lofty of look and arrogant of heart, the tillage of the wicked is sin. RV lamp for tillage depends on a different pointing, but does not improve the sense. Proverbs 21:6. Lit. The getting of treasures by a lying tongue (is) a driven breath, seekers of death. RV clearly inserts more than the text warrants to make sense of...

THE RIGHTEOUS. a righteous one. TRANSGRESSOR. traitor....

_a ransom_ Comp. "I have given Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee … I will give men for thee and peoples for thy life," Isaiah 43:3-4. Egypt was, so to speak, the price paid for the deliverance of Israel (Exodus 10:7; Exodus 12:29; Exodus 14:30). The second member of the verse is better rendered, with R.V., AND THE TREACHEROUS _cometh_ IN THE STEAD OF THE UPRIGHT. Comp. Proverbs 11:8....

TEXT Proverbs 21:11-20 11. When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise; And when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. 12. The righteous man considereth the house of the wicked, How the wicked are overthrown to their ruin. 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, He also shall cry, but shall not be heard. 14. A gift in secret pacifieth anger; And a present in the bosom, strong wrath. 15. It is joy to the righteous to do justice; But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity. 16. The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding Shall rest in the assembly of the dead. 17. He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. 18. The wicked is a ransom for the righteo