PROVERBS. 30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. 32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools [B.C. 1000 shall destroy them. dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of 33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall evil. 18 Or, ease of the simple. PROVERBS. It has never been disputed that Solomon was, in the general sense, the author of this Book: but from variations of style, frequent repetitions of the same sentence, and other circumstances, many conceive that it is not necessary to suppose every sentence it contains proceeded from him; but that when the collection was formed, some proverbs were introduced, which had been delivered by wise men and prophets, whose sayings were not thought unworthy of being preserved in the same collection with those of the wise king. We are indeed expressly told that the thirtieth chapter contains "the words of Agur, the son of Jakeh;" while the thirty-first offers "the words of Lemuel," whose identity with Solomon, although generally admitted, has been questioned by some commentators. We are told in 1 Kings iv. 13, that Solomon "spake three thousand proverbs," but it is not intimated that he wrote any, or formed any collection of those which he seems, in the first instance, to have orally delivered: much stress is not indeed to be laid on this; but there seems sufficient probability in the opinion, that the collection of such of his proverbs as have been preserved, was formed by different persons; and it is expressly intimated, that the chapters xxv.-xxix. consist of proverbs collected very long after the death of Solomon by "the men of Hezekiah." But on this point some further observations will be found in a note to chap. xxv. The Jews believe that Solomon wrote the Canticles, or song bearing his name, in his youth, the Proverbs in his riper years, and Ecclesiastes in his old age. "This work," says Bishop Lowth, "consists of two parts. The first, serving as a proem or exordium, includes the nine first chapters; and is varied, elegant, sublime, and truly poetical; the order of the subject is in general excellently preserved, and the parts are very aptly connected among themselves. It is embellished with many beautiful descriptions and personifications; the diction is polished, and abounds with all the ornaments of poetry; insomuch that it scarcely yields in elegance and splendour to any of the sacred writings. The second part, which extends from the beginning of the tenth chapter to the end of the book, consists almost entirely of detached parables or maxims, which have but little in them of the sublime or poetical, except in a certain energetic and concise form of expression." This latter portion is susceptible of certain distinct subdivisions which we shall point out as we proceed. The first portion on which we now enter, "is chiefly confined to the conduct of juvenescence, or early life, before a permanent condition is made choice of...and all the most formidable dangers to which this season of life is exposed, and the sins which most easily beset it, are painted with the hand of a master. vice are exhibited under a variety of the most striking delineations and metaphors in their utmost deformity and horror, all the beauties of language, and all the force of eloquence, are poured forth to win the ingenuous youth to virtue and And while the progress and issues of piety, and to fix him in the steady pursuit of his duties towards God and towards man." Dr. J. M. Good, in the Memoir of his Life,' by Dr. Gregory; see also Horne's Introduction,' vol. i. p. 119, &c. Verse 20. "Wisdom crieth without."-The accumulation of phrases implying publicity-the streets, the chief place of concourse, the openings of the gates, the city-probably refer to the custom in the East, particularly among the Arabians, for people to hold discussions and conversations in religion and morals in the open air, and especially in the more public parts of the town, to which the inhabitants resort for the sake of society. It is not unusual indeed for a man, respected for his eloquence, learning, or reputed sanctity, to collect in such places, a congregation, which listens with attention and interest to the address he delivers. Thus such wisdom as they possess may be said to "cry in the streets;" and as the people read very little, if at all, a very large part of the information and mental cultivation which they possess is derived from the discussions, conversations, recitations, and lectures on various subjects which they hear in the streets and public places. CHAPTER II. = 1 Wisdom promiseth godliness to her children, 10 and safety from evil company, 20 and direction in good ways. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understand righteous he is a buckler to them that walk preserveth the way of his saints. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteous- 10 When wisdom entereth into thine ing Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy 3 and 'liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 1 Heb. givest thy voice. soul; 11 Discretion shall preserve thee, under- 12 To deliver thee from the way of the 13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, 2 Matt. 13. 44. 31 Kings 3. 9. James 1.5. 14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: 16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. 4 Chap. 5. 3, and 7. 5. 5 Psal. 37. 29. 19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. 20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. 22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be 'rooted out of it. Job 18. 17. Psal. 104. 35. 7 Or, plucked up. Verse 4. "Seckest her as silver."-Probably the allusion is to the extraction of silver with labour and difficulty from the mine. Of"hid treasures we shall have another occasion to speak. 16. "The strange woman...the stranger."-These expressions are elsewhere applied to women of bad character: and as it was usual for such women to withdraw from their own country and live among strangers, that their families might not be disgraced by their conduct, we are probably to understand the expression in the literal sense, as denoting a foreigner, or at least, one not a native of, or connected by any natural tie with, the place in which she resided. CHAPTER III. 1 An exhortation to obedience, 5 to faith, 7 to mortification, 9 to devotion, 11 to patience. 13 The happy gain of wisdom. 19 The power, 21 and the benefits of wisdom. 27 An exhortation to charitableness, 30 peaceableness, 31 and contented ness. 33 The cursed state of the wicked. My son, forget not my law; 'but let thine heart keep my commandments: 2 For length of days, and 'long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: "bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4 'So shalt thou find favour and 'good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 'In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 ¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and 'marrow to thy bones. 9 10Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 11 My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction : 12 For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. 14 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. 16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her. 19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he "established the heavens. 20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. 21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: 22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. 23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. 24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. 25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. 26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, Deut. 6. 8. Psal. 111. 10. 1 Deut. 8. 1, and 30. 16. 7 Rom. 12. 16. 8 Heb. medicine. 9 Heb. watering, or, moistening 11 Deut. 28. 8. 12 Job 5. 17. Heb. 12. 5. Revel. 3. 19. 14 Job 28. 15, &c. Psal. 19. 10. Chap. 8. 11, 19, and 16. 16. and shall keep thy foot from being taken. 31 "Envy thou not "the oppressor, and 32 For the froward is abomination to 27 ¶ Withhold not good from "them to of the LORD: power whom it is due, when it is in the righteous. thine hand to do it. 28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. 29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. 30 ¶ Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. 17 Heb, the owners thereof. 18 Or, practise no evil. 33 "The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. 34 23Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. 35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame 24shall be the promotion of fools. 19 Psal. 37. 1. 20 Heb a man of violence. 21 Psal. 25. 14. 22 Mal. 2.2. Verse 8. "Health to thy navel."-Chardin thinks that this expression is derived from the habit, in the Oriental villages, of applying, for the cure of most diseases, plasters, ointments, oils, and frictions, externally, to the stomach and belly; the knowledge of, and the art of preparing internal medicines, being very little known. Roberts, however, after truly observing that the navel of an infant is often clumsily managed in the East, so that it is no uncommon thing to see that part greatly enlarged and diseased; states that such a reference as the present to the navel, as being connected with earthly prosperity, is still common in India; where, for instance, it will be said of a person who has risen from poverty to affluence, "His navel has grown much larger." CHAPTER IV. 1 Solomon, to persuade obedience, 3 sheweth what in- 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3 For I was my father's son, 'tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 'He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head 'an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. 10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings: and the years of thy life shall be many. 11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. 12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. 13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. 14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. 20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and 'health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee 'a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and "let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to | the left: remove thy foot from evil. 3 Chap. 1. 9. 4 Or, she shall compass 5 Psal. 91. 11, 12. thee with a crown of glory. Heb. frowardness of mouth, and perverseness of lips. 11 Deut. 5. 32. 671 Verse 18. "That shineth more and more unto the perfect day."-This beautiful metaphor is derived from the light of the sun, which from the appearance of its first faint radiance in the East, nothing can retard or prevent from rising to the glory of perfect day. 23. "Out of it are the issues of life."-The word rendered "the issues," is, literally, "the goings forth." There is most probably a latent metaphor alluding to the heart as the fountain from which the blood is diffused in streams to the different parts of the body. This is also corroborated by the fact that the blood" is metaphorically called "the life" in the Hebrew, as in Gen. ix. 4. "Flesh with the blood thereof, which is the life thereof, shall ye not eat." CHAPTER V. 1 Solomon exhorteth to the study of wisdom. 3 He sheweth the mischief of whoredom and riot. 15 He exhorteth to contentedness, liberality, and chastity. 22 The wicked are overtaken with their own sins. My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3 'For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her 'mouth is smoother than oil; Chap. 2. 16, and 6. 24. 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children. and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel : 2 Heb. palate. 3 Chap. 7.27 CHAP. VI.] PROVERBS. 10 Lest strangers be filled with "thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; 11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 15¶Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. 16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. 17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. 4 Heb. thy strength. 18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts 'satisfy thee at all times; and 'be thou ravished always with her love. 20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. 22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his "sins. 23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. 5 Heb. water thee. Heb. err thou always in her love. Verse 4. "Wormwood."-The word, laanah, cer tainly denotes an extremely disagreeable and bitter plant: and that it was wormwood is a well supported and probable interpretation. We therefore give a cut of the artemisia absinthium. It must be confessed, however, that the Scripture seems to attribute to the laanah stronger effects than the wormwood of Europe will produce. We may therefore perhaps understand that some more hurtful species is intended; unless, as suggested by Gesenius, in the strong passages which seem to call for such an explanation, the name of the plant is employed figuratively to express poison. 19. "The loving hind and pleasant roe."-A reference to these animals, or at least to the latter, which we have supposed to be the gazelle, is still employed in the East to express whatever is graceful and beautiful in woman. We see in the Scriptures, that when a comparison drawn from it is applied to man, it is with reference to its agility and speed; but when to woman, the comparison regards its graceful form, timidity, and gentleness. This is precisely the same among the modern Orientals, with whom, in fact, the gazelle and the monkey represent the extremes of beauty and ugliness. It is rare to find a piece of amatory poetry in which the lady is not compared to the gazelle, or her eyes to the soft and lustrous ones of that most elegant creature. This has been well observed by D'Arvieux: "The Arabs express a woman's beauty by saying, she has the eyes of the gazelle. The burden of their love-songs is the gazelle's eyes; and it is to this creature they invariably compare their mistresses when they wish to give, in one word, the idea of a perfect beauty. These gazelles are indeed very pretty creatures; and there is especially a certain innocent fear about them, that may well be compared to the modesty and bashfulness of a young girl.” 7 Job 31, 4, and 34. 21. Chap. 15. 3. Jer. 16. 17, and 32. 19. Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. 3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, 'and make sure thy friend. 4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. 'Or, so shalt thou prevail with thy friend. 673 |