Proverbs 25:13

As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters. AS ... SNOW IN ... HARVEST, (SO IS) A FAITHFUL MESSENGER ... FOR HE REFRESHETH THE SOUL OF HIS MASTERS. As drink cooled with snow refreshes the thirsty in harvest heat, so a messenger that has faithfully executed his commission relieves of anxiety the mind of the master that has sent him (contrast )....

Verse Proverbs 25:13. _AS THE COLD OF SNOW_] That _snow_ was frequent in _Judea_, is well known; and that in the East they have _snow-houses_-places dug under ground, where they lay up snow for _summer_ use - is also a fact. By means of the mass of snow deposited in them the icy temperature is kept up, so that the snow is easily preserved. The _common method of cooling their wine_, which is as _easy_ as it is _effectual_, is by dipping a cloth in _water_, wrapping it round the _bottle_, and then hanging the bottle in the _heat of the sun_. The strong _evaporation_ carries off the _caloric_ from the wine, and the repetition of the wet cloth in the same exposure, makes the wine almost as cold as _ice_. How agreeable this must be in a burning climate, may be easily conceived. Perhaps it is this to which

A picture of the growing luxury of the Solomonic period. The “snow in harvest” is not a shower of snow or hail, which would be terrifying and harmful rather than refreshing (compare 1 Samuel 12:17); but, rather, the snow of Lebanon or Hermon put into wine or other drink to make it more refreshing in the scorching heat of May or June at the king’s summer palace on Lebanon (1 Kings 9:19, note; Song of Solomon 7:4, note). More reviving even than the iced wine cup was the faithful messenger. Contrast Proverbs 10:26....

EXPOSITION VERSE 1-29:27 PART VI. SECOND GREAT COLLECTION OF SOLOMONIC PROVERBS, gathered by "the men of Hezekiah," in which wisdom is set forth as the greatest blessing to the king and his subjects. PROVERBS 25:1 _The_ _superscription: _THESE ARE ALSO PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, WHICH THE MEN OF HEZEKIAH KING OF JUDAH COPIED OUT. The word "also" implies that a previous collection was known to the compiler of the present book—probably the one which we have in Pr 10-22:16, of which nine proverbs are inserted here. But there was still a large number of proverbial sayings attributed to Solomon, and preserved partly by oral tradition and partly in writing, which it was advisable to colle

AS THE COLD OF SNOW IN THE TIME OF HARVEST,.... As water as cold as snow; or as a breeze of air, such as in a time of snow; and so Jarchi, "as the cold of the days of snow, which a man desires in summer, and not snow simply, for snow itself is not good in the time of harvest;'' see Proverbs 24:1. Or rather "as a shield" or "covering of snow" h, as the word signifies: perhaps, as Gussetius i thanks, a vessel in such a form, in which snow was kept in summer, is meant; and the same word, the two first radical letters being doubled, is used for the pot, or urn, in which the manna was kept, Exodus 16:33. As snow, that in those hot countries used to be kept in vessels, in places underground, to cool their drink with in summertime; just as ice is kept with us, in like places, for the same

IV. THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON COLLECTED BY THE MEN OF HEZEKIAH CHAPTER 25 Here begin the proverbs which the good king Hezekiah, under the guidance of the Spirit of God, added to this book. “This title is interesting as affording a proof that a revival of literary activity accompanied the revival of religion and of national prosperity which marked the reign of Hezekiah. The men of Hezekiah were doubtless a body of scribes engaged under the direction of the king in literary labors.” Very fittingly the opening verses of this collected portion of proverbs relate to the king. While it is the glory of God to conceal a thing, the glory of kings is to search out a matter. God has many things concealed as to Himself, the great universe, creation and His ways in providence; but kings should inquire diligently into the matters brought before them and search them out in their administration of justi...

FIRST DIVISION. In general character this division shows a resemblance to the Sayings of the Wise, containing a number of quatrains and synthetic couplets, and but few antithetic couplets. PROVERBS 25:2 B. A series of three quatrains relating to kings. Proverbs 25:4 b. Very obscure. Refining silver does not produce a vessel, and the parallelism with Proverbs 25:5 b is unsatisfactory. LXX it will be wholly purified probably represents the original text. Proverbs 25:6 f. _cf._ Luke 14:8....

IN THE TIME OF HARVEST: i.e. most unusual. Compare Proverbs 26:1. The emphasis is on "cold" as being refreshing....

_the cold of snow_ Rosenmuller, quoted and approved by Maurer, explains this, not of snow falling in harvest, which would be rather an emblem of disaster (Proverbs 26:1), but of snow mixed with wine or other beverage to cool it. He refers to Xenophon (_Mem_. ii. 1. 30), and Pliny (_H. N_. 19. 4) in proof that this method of cooling was practised by the ancients. It is possible that such luxury may have been enjoyed by Solomon in his summer palace of Lebanon; but _the cold of snow_may simply be instanced as the greatest conceivable refreshment in the sultry harvest-field. In Proverbs 10:26 we have a companion proverb by way of contrast....

AS THE COLD OF SNOW— It was customary in the east to cool their liquors with snow; to which Solomon here most probably refers; for we cannot conceive that he could speak of a fall of snow in the time of harvest; that must have been incommoding, instead of pleasurable and refreshing, which the proverb here supposes it to be. But, though the gratefulness of liquors cooled by snow is, I apprehend, referred to; yet I very much question whether the supposition of those commentators be just, who imagine that those liquors were drank by the reapers: all that Solomon teaches us is, that the coolness given by snow to liquids was extremely grateful in the time of harvest; i.e. in the summer: but as to the reapers themselves, _vinegar,_ mentioned in the book of Ruth as part of the provision for them, seems to be a much more suitable thing for persons heated with such strong exercise, than liquors c...