Proverbs 22:11

He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. HE THAT LOVETH PURENESS OF HEART (FOR) THE GRACE OF HIS LIPS (OR AS MARGIN, AND WHO HATH GRACE IN HIS LIPS; OR, WHOSE LIPS ARE GRACE; I:E., GRACIOUS ( ; ), THE KING (SHALL BE) HIS FRIEND. Pureness of heart, free from the foreign admixture of hypocrisy and self-seeking, is the only solid foundation for grace in the lips. DeDieu takes the second clause as part of the predicate, 'Whosoever loveth pureness of heart, his lips are gracious, and the king shall be his friend.' "The king" - namely, he who is a king according to the true ideal of kingship, especially the King of kings. The Vulgate supports the English version....

Verse Proverbs 22:11. _HE THAT LOVETH PURENESS OF HEART_] Who aims to be what God would have him to be - _the King_ of kings _shall be his Friend_. There is no class of men that value _uprightness_ more than _kings_; as none stand so much in need of it in their _servants_....

More literally, “He that loveth pureness of heart, his lips are gracious, the king is his friend.”...

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 22:1 A GOOD NAME IS RATHER TO BE CHOSEN THAN GREAT RICHES. It will be observed that "good" in the Authorized Version is in italics, showing that the epithet is not expressed in the Hebrew, which is simply שֵׁם (_shem_)_, _"name." But this word carried with it the notion of good repute, as in Ecclesiastes 7:1; for being well known implied honour and reputation, while being nameless (Job 30:8) signified not only obscurity, but ignominy and discredit. Hence the versions have ὄνομα καλόν_, nomen bonum, _and Ecclesiasticus 41:12, "Have regard to thy name (περὶ ὀνόματος)_, _for that shall continue with thee above a thousan

HE THAT LOVETH PURENESS OF HEART,.... Though man's heart is naturally impure, and all that is in it, the thoughts, affections, mind, conscience, understanding, and will; yet there is such a thing as pureness of heart; as where the grace of God is; where there it pure love to God, Christ, and to holy and heavenly things and persons; where there is pure and unfeigned faith in Christ, and a purifying hope of eternal life by him; where the Holy Spirit dwells as a sanctifier, and Christ dwells by faith; where there is sincerity and integrity; and where the heart is sprinkled by the blood of Christ from an evil conscience: and, though none are entirely free from impurity of flesh and spirit, yet every good man hates the impurity that is in him, and loves purity, and is desirous of it, and makes use of all means for it; and he loves a man of a pure heart, as Aben Ezra interprets it; he loves pu...

CHAPTER 22 INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUED Better than great riches, better than silver and gold is a name and loving favor. If a person has riches and a bad name and is not well thought of, he is less honorable than the poor man who has a name and good reputation. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says: “A good name is better than precious ointment” Ecclesiastes 7:11). The third verse has a wise message: “The prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.” The Lord has revealed in His Word the evil which is in store for the sinner and the impenitent. He also has prepared a hiding place, an ark of safety, in His Son, our Lord. The prudent believeth the Word and flees to the refuge; the simple, the unbelieving, pass on and suffer for it when the evil comes. Humility and the fear of the Lord has a reward, while thorns and snares are in the way of the

PROVERBS 22:6. IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO puts more into the Heb. than it contains. It is lit. train up a child in proportion to his way_ i.e._ train him suitably. The moral implication is absent. The stress is on the effect of training. Proverbs 22:11. RV hides disorder of MT. Read, probably, The king loves the pure in heart, grace of lips is his good pleasure. Proverbs 22:12 a is difficult. RV will not pass. The lit. Heb. is the eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge. The abstract knowledge in Heb. cannot mean its possessors; the eyes of Yahweh are nowhere said to guard anybody, and no Hebrew would say that the eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge in the sense of possessing it, nor does it give any

HE THAT, &C. Aramaean, Septuagint, and Syriac, read "Jehovah". PURENESS OF HEART. one pure of heart....

for _the grace of_ If this rendering be retained, with both A.V. and R.V. text, it will mean that purity of heart, honest and good motives, will produce such winning speech as, by contrast with the empty and hollow flattery of the courtier, will conciliate the favour of the king. Comp. Proverbs 16:13, and Ecclesiastes 10:12: "the words of the wise are gracious." We may render, however, with R.V. marg., "that _hath grace in his lips_," and then the meaning will be that if he who has pure motives (_loveth pureness of heart_) has also a happy gift of expressing himself (_grace in his lips_), he will be sure to make the king his friend....

HE THAT LOVETH PURENESS OF HEART— The LXX and Arabic read, _The Lord loveth pure hearts, and all those who are free from sin are acceptable to him._ They who insist upon the Hebrew reading as perfect, must imagine the sense to be, "The Lord loveth purity of heart: the king is a friend to the grace of the lips;" i.e. Purity of heart is that alone which gives favour in the sight of God: though eloquence of speech and gracefulness of address may be sufficient to recommend a man to the favour of his prince. Houbigant renders it, _If any one loveth purity of heart, he shall feed the king with the grace of his lips: i.e_. says he, "If any one has a sincere and honest heart, he, far removed from all falsehood and flattery, shall feed with the truth kings, from whom truth in the general is banished." Bishop Patrick paraphrases it, "He who loves sincerity above all things, and is able to deliver...