Proverbs 24:32

Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. THEN I SAW, AND CONSIDERED IT WELL (APPLIED MY MIND TO IT) ... AND RECEIVED INSTRUCTION - (cf. margin.) I took no superficial view, but considered well what was the cause of the desolate state of the field, and so I received instruction to avoid the culpable sloth of its owner, as I should wish to escape his fate. Though fools will not learn from the wise, the wise may learn much from fools....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 24:1 We return here to the more usual form, the tetrastich. BE NOT THOU ENVIOUS AGAINST EVIL MEN (see on Proverbs 23:17, where a similar warning is given, and comp. Proverbs 23:19 below). "Men of wickedness," wholly given over to evil. NEITHER DESIRE TO BE WITH THEM. Their company is pollution, and association with them makes you a partner in their sinful doings. The Septuagint prefaces the paragraph with the personal address, υἱέ_ _"son." PROVERBS 24:2 For their heart studie

THEN I SAW, [AND] CONSIDERED IT WELL,.... Or, "when I saw, I considered it well"; or "set my heart it" z; when he saw as he passed along the field and the vineyard, he, considered who was the owner and proprietor of them; what a sluggish and foolish man he was, and what a ruinous condition his field and vineyard were in. I LOOKED UPON [IT, AND] RECEIVED INSTRUCTION; looked at it again, and took a thorough view of it, and learned something from it; so great and wise a man as Solomon received instruction from the field and vineyard of the slothful and foolish man; learned to be wiser, and to be more diligent in cultivating his own field, and dressing his own vineyard: so from the view and consideration of the slothfulness and folly of unregenerate man, and of the state and condition of his soul, many lessons of instruction may be learned; as that there is no free will and wisdom in men wi...

CHAPTER 24 INSTRUCTIONS CONTINUED In the final instructions of this chapter we find first a description of the evil men. Their heart studieth destruction; their lips talk mischief. This theme is repeatedly referred to in this chapter. In Proverbs 24:15 the evil man is addressed not to lay wait for the righteous and not to spoil his resting place. The Lord takes care of the righteous; he may be overcome by misfortunes seven times, yet will he rise again. Different it is with the wicked when he falls into mischief. Yet there must be no rejoicing over the fall of the enemy, nor gladness when he stumbled. This displeaseth the Lord. Still higher is the command of the New Testament, “Love your enemies; ... recompense no man evil for evil; ... overcome evil with good.” There is to be no fretting because of evil men nor envy ...

SECOND DIVISION, PROVERBS 24:23. This section constitutes the second division of the Sayings of the Wise, as Proverbs 24:23 a indicates. It contains a short collection of sayings varying in form and character, resembling in the main those of Proverbs 22:17 to Proverbs 24:22. The greater part (Proverbs 24:30) is a vivid description of the effects of slothfulness, which may be compared with the passage on the drunkard in Proverbs 23:29

SAW. gazed. CONSIDERED IT WELL. set my heart upon it....

The Sluggard's Vineyard. Comp. Proverbs 6:6-11, and notes....

DISCOURSE: 808 THE SLUGGARD’S VINEYARD Proverbs 24:30. _I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding: and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man_. IF we have an observant eye, and a mind open to receive instruction, there is not any thing in the creation which may not afford us some useful lessons. We may learn as much from what we see, as what we hear: and as much from what is evil, as from what is good. Indeed it is a mark of true wisdom to exact a tribute, as it were, from every thing which comes wit

TEXT Proverbs 24:23-34 23. These also are sayings of the wise. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good. 24. He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous, Peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him; 25. But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, And a good blessing shall come upon them. 26. He kisseth the lips Who giveth a right answer. 27. Prepare thy work without, And make it ready for thee in the field; And afterwards build thy house. 28. Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause; And deceive not with thy lips. 29. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me; I will render to the man according to his work. 30. I went by the field of the sluggard, And by the vineyard of the man void of unders

5. Read, 'A wise man is better than a warrior, and a man of knowledge than a man of strength.'...