Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. WHERE (THERE IS) NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH. Where there is no setting forth of the will of God, whether by special revelation, as in old times (Psalms 74:9; Lamentations 2:9; Ezekiel 7:26), or by the ordinary ministrations of God's ministers and God's Word, as now, "the people perish." The Hebrew verb [ yipaara` (H6544)] means 'are dissipated;' also 'revolt,' 'become unbridled,' and so perish. To this unbridled, and consequently ruinous state, is opposed in the parallel clause, "happy;" as "the law" stands in...

Verse Proverbs 29:18. _WHERE_ THERE IS _NO VISION_] My old MS. Bible, following the _Vulgate_, translates: _Whan prophecye schal failen, the peple_ _schal ben to scatered_. Where Divine revelation, and the faithful preaching of the sacred testimonies, are neither reverenced nor attended, the ruin of that land is at no great distance. _BUT HE THAT KEEPETH THE LAW, HAPPY_ IS _HE._] Go how it may with others, _he_ shall be safe. So our Lord: "Blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it....

VISION - The word commonly used of the revelation of God’s will made to prophets. Compare Isaiah 1:1; Nahum 1:1. When prophetic vision fails, obedience to the Law is the best or only substitute for it, both being forms through which divine wisdom is revealed. Very striking in the midst of ethical precepts is this recognition of the need of a yet higher teaching, without which morality passes into worldly prudence or degenerates into casuistry. The “wise man,” the son of David, has seen in the prophets and in their work the condition of true national blessedness. The darkest time in the history of Israel had been when there “was no open vision 1 Samuel 3:1; at such a time th

EXPOSITION This chapter reinforces many precept given previously. PROVERBS 29:1 HE THAT BEING OFTEN REPROVED HARDENETH HIS NECK; literally, _a man of reproofs—_one_ _who has had a long experience of rebukes and warnings. Compare "a man of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3). The hardening of the neck is a metaphor derived from obstinate draught animals who will not submit to the yoke (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 2:20; Jeremiah 27:8). Christ calls his yoke easy, and bids his followers

WHERE [THERE IS] NO VISION, THE PEOPLE PERISH,.... That is, "no prophecy", as the Vulgate Latin version renders it; and which is often the sense of the word, as the vision of Isaiah is the prophecy of Isaiah; and, in the New Testament, prophesying is often put for preaching; and here vision, or prophecy, signifies the public ministering of the word and ordinances, and want of persons to administer them; no expounder, as the Septuagint version; or interpreter, as the Arabic. This was the case in the latter end of Eli's life, 1 Samuel 3:1; in Asa's times, and before, 2 Chronicles 15:3; in the Babylonish captivity, Ezekiel 7:26; in the times of Antiochus,...

CHAPTER 29 THE FINAL INSTRUCTIONS These final instructions given in proverbs cover the similar ground as those in the previous Chapter s. Wisdom shines out in each, and the contents of every proverb shows that the author is not Solomon but He who is perfect in knowledge. “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Scripture abounds with examples of cases of hardening the neck and the heart, like Pharaoh, Ahab and others. This proverb will be finally proven to be the truth when an ungodly age will end with judgment for those who were often reproved and continue in sin. Once more the sin of flattery is mentioned. “A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet” Proverbs 29:5. Flattery is akin to lying and can never be right, but is always a mistake, which results in the gravest consequences. More servants

PROVERBS 29:2. _cf._ Proverbs 11:10 f., Proverbs 28:12. Proverbs 29:4. he that exacteth gifts: lit. a man of presents. Proverbs 29:9 b. Who is the subject? If it is the wise man, the meaning is that however he treats his opponent, seriously or lightly, he cannot end the matter. If it is the fool, the thought will be that he shows no decorum of manner. The proverb seems directed against a wise man's going to law with a fool....

NO VISION, &C. Illustration: Israel (1Sa 3:1. 1 Kings 12:28; 1 Kings 14:14). THE. a. HAPPY, &C. See note on Proverbs 3:13. Illustrations: Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29); Josiah(Pro 34:33. Pro 35:18. Jeremiah 22:16)....

_vision … law_ "The vision is the actual contact between God and the human spirit, which is the necessary condition of any direct revelation; the law is the recorded result of such a revelation, either passed from mouth to mouth by tradition or written permanently in a book. We may then a little amplify the proverb for the sake of exposition: -Where there is no living revelation, no perceived contact between man and God, there the bonds which hold society together are relaxed and broken; but he that holds by the revelation that has been given, obeying the law, so far as it has been presented to him, happy is he." " Horton. It was this _keeping the law_, as they had received it, which was enjoined upon the Jews by the last of their prophets, in view of the coming centuries during which there should be no _vision_. Malachi 4:4. _perish_ Rather, BREAK LOOSE, as the

DISCOURSE: 821 THE IMPORTANCE OF GOSPEL MINISTRATIONS Proverbs 29:18. _Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the Law, happy is he_ [Note: This brief sketch is given as an useful subject for a Mission Sermon. The contrast between Heathens in an ignorant and in a converted state would be very striking.]. THROUGHOUT the whole Scriptures, we have one unvaried testimony respecting man. We see, in every part, I. The deplorable state of those who know not the Gospel— Revelations to the prophets were often made in visions: and hence the subject-matter of the revelation was called their “vision.” Now, where no revelation is, or where, though given, it is not attended to, “the people perish”— [This is the unhappy state of _the heathen world_, who are constantly represented as dead in trespasses and sins, and as under the dominion o