Imatges de pàgina
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so that what they have to utter is well considered, and is profita- | under false professions; of sorrow, e. g., for a slander, which he ble to others and themselves. helps to spread more widely, by telling all how much he laments it.

By treasuring up what they know (first member) may possibly be meant, that they are not eager to exhibit it on every occasion. Compare ch. 12 : 23.

V.15. Wealth furnishes means of protection against many of the calamities of life; while for want of it, the needy sink under them, and perish.

V. 16. The wages of the righteous (what he earns by his industry) is life; because it is acquired by a course of uprightness, to which life is promised. LIFE here means all that is comprehended in the favor of God (in his favor is life, Ps. 30:5). On the contrary, the gain of the wicked is sin. It is gained by wickedness, and is a sinful possession; the acquiring and the holding it is a sin.

V. 17. Only he who himself heeds correction is a safe guide to others; and in this sense he is to them a way of life, his example and precepts being a way which they may safely follow.

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V. 20. Compare ch. 8:19. The parallelism of the second member is by contrast; and on the principle, that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”

V. 21. Many are fed (with instruction and knowledge) from the lips of the righteous man; but fools, so far from helping others, perish themselves for want of understanding.

V. 23. To execute counsel; that is, to act upon a well conhe acts. He accounts this a mockery, a thing to be scoffed at ; sidered plan. He never counsels (with himself, or others) before but to the man of understanding, it is the part of wisdom.

V. 25. The wicked is suddenly swept away, as by a whirlwind; but the righteous is a foundation that can not be moved.

V. 26. As vinegar only sets the teeth on edge, and as smoke only blinds and offends the eye, so a sluggish messenger serves

V. 18. He that covers, etc. He that cloaks his secret enmity only to annoy and vex his employer.

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he is pleased with, and will accept. They are able to utter it, from the dictation of a heart that is right with God; and hence, by a happy figure, are said to know it.

V. 28. The hope of the righteous is gladness. There is gladness | *V. 32. What is acceptable: in the sight of God, is meant; what in his hope; a joyful confidence that all shall be well, for he knows in whom he trusts. The wicked also has his expectation; but it is full of trembling and uncertainty (for he knows he has no sure ground of confidence), and will fail him in the end.

V. 29. The way of Jehovah is his way of acting; the course which he takes, in the government of the world. This is a stronghold (a perfect security) for uprightness, for all who walk uprightly; but a destruction to evildoers.

V. 30. Forever. It shall never be otherwise, is the meaning; this is the perpetual and unchanging law of the divine government. Shall not be moved: he shall remain firm and unshaken, on a secure and immovable foundation. Compare v. 25.

Shall not inhabit the land. The form of expression is taken from the promises and threatenings made to those who occupied the land of Canaan, and to whom these words were first addressed. See, for example, Ex. 20: 12; Lev. 20: 22; Deut. 11:8, 9; 25 : 15; Ps. 37 : 29. The principle, however, is universal in its application, and is intended for all.

Ch. XI.—V. 1. A false balance; compare Lev. 19:35, 36; Deut. 25 : 13–15.

V. 2. Compare ch. 16:18, and 29 : 23.

V. 3. A just man's integrity is a sure and faithful guide, and will never mislead him into the difficulties and perplexities in which the transgressor is involved by his perverseness, and which sooner or later will end in total ruin.

V. 4. Day of wrath; of any manifestation of God's anger against sin, as the Flood, the final Judgment. Comp. ch. 10: 2. V. 5. Will make plain his way; will make for him a level and even way, without obstruction, where there shall be no danger of a fall, to which the wicked is continually exposed. Perfect: ch. 2:21. V. 8. Came into his place; was himself overtaken by the calamity, which he had prepared for the righteous. Compare Ps. 9:15; 57: 6.

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By the mouth the impure destroys his fellow;
but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
When it is well with the righteous, the city rejoices;
and when the wicked perish, there is a shout of joy.
By the blessing of the upright the city is raised up;
but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

He that despises his neighbor is lacking in understanding;
but a man of intelligence holds his peace.

He that goes talebearing is a revealer of secrets;

but one of trusty spirit conceals a matter.

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V. 9. The impure (the godless man), by "evil communication," | history of every nation. The lesson is especially important for spreads his infecting poison, to the destruction of those around all those, to whom Divine Providence has committed the choice of their own rulers and public counselors.

him. But true knowledge is an effectual antidote; and by this the righteous escape the contagion.

V. 16. The qualities of mind and person, which render a wo

V. 12. That despises his neighbor: with a vain conceit of his man lovely, will secure honor to their possessor. They are her own superiority.

Holds his peace. Whatever weakness he may detect in another, he gives no indication of conscious superiority, by which the vainglorious is so apt to betray his own emptiness.

V. 13. Compare Lev. 19: 16 (properly, thou shalt not go talebearing among thy people). Such a character is a revealer of secrets, and therefore not to be confided in. A man of trusty spirit will carefully guard what is committed to him.

V. 14. What calamities are brought upon a people, where there is no wise direction of public affairs, may be seen in the

strength, and her means of influence; and these gentle weapons are as sure of conquest, as the physical force and energy of will which are the strength of man.

V. 21. Hand to hand: that is, linked together for mutual support. In themselves or their offspring (Ps. 37 : 28), or in both, they shall receive due punishment. But the righteous shall be blessed in his seed, as well as in himself (Ps. 69: 36; 102: 28). Some translate as in the margin; but the text gives the true meaning.

V. 23. What the righteous desires is bestowed as a good, with

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Ps. 1: 3.

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out any admixture of evil from the hand of God; and hence it Shall flourish as the leaf means, shall be as the green leaf. “only good.” The expectation of the wicked (what he expects) | This is a common emblem of prosperity; compare Jer. 17:8; is granted in just anger; and hence it is wrath, the expression of the divine displeasure. “I will curse your blessings" (Mal. 2 : 2) is the key to the dealings of a righteous God with the wicked.

V. 29. That troubles his own house: that afflicts, distresses his own household, by neglecting or mismanaging his worldly affairs, so as not to make suitable provision for them (1 Tim. 5:8); or by involving them in the consequences of his criminal love of gain (15:27). Shall inherit wind: shall have nothing else to live on; a common expression for what is unsubstantial and

V. 26. He that withholds corn: that is, who hoards it up for the purpose of increasing the price, without adding to the value. This is very questionable morality, in regard to any article of commerce. He who has not added to the value of a thing, has no moral right to demand a price for what he has not rendered. | valueless (Hos. 12:1; Eccl. 5:16). It is robbery. He, especially, who deals thus with breadstuffs Second member :-The consequence of such folly is subjection and other necessaries of life, enriches himself on the necessities and sufferings of the poor, and is the cause of untold miseryuntold but to the eye and ear of God, the judge of both.

That sells grain: that is, takes the current price for it; which, without monopolies and other means of controlling the market, is always an expression of the true value of a thing.

V. 27. Him that seeks good. The meaning of this will be seen by comparing Ps. 122:9 (I will seek thy good), Neh. 2: 10 (properly, to seek the good of, etc.). Such an one favor will seek; he will be an object of favor. He that seeks evil: compare 1 Sam. 25:26 (that seek evil to my lord).

to the superior judgment and forecast of another. He who neglects his business, or conducts it unwisely, becomes servant to the more diligent and skillful manager of his affairs.

V. 30. The fruit of the righteous (his wise counsels and holy example) is a tree of life; a healthful influence, imparting life to all who partake of it.

The influence of such a man wins the soul; it reaches and sways the intellectual and moral nature. He who can do this is wise. This language may properly be applied to all, who, in any manner, win men from error to the truth.

V. 31. If the righteous shall be so dealt with, how much more

V. 28. This verse teaches, that the righteous is not one whose the wicked and the sinner! Compare Jer. 25:29; 1 Peter trust is in his riches.

4:17, 18.

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Ch. XII.—V. 5. Even the thoughts of the righteous, what he plans in his secret soul, are uprightness; he has no covert ends to gain in the directions he gives to others. On the contrary, the guidance of the wicked (the counsels he gives) is deceit; and is intended to mislead others for his own advantage.

V. 6. The words of the wicked are often intended (as said in v. 5) to misguide others to their ruin; from which the mouth of the upright (their sincere and honest counsels) will rescue

them.

Will deliver them: namely, those exposed to the lying in wait of the wicked. Lying in wait necessarily implies an intended victim, or victims; and a pronoun in Hebrew often refers to a subject not expressed, but merely implied in the preceding words.

V. 9. The man of low condition, who subsists by his own industry, will not lack bread (compare v. 11); while he who makes a mere show of wealth, or prides himself on his birth and connections, may pine in want.

Margin that has a servant (according to an ancient manner of reading of the Heb. text); namely, to aid him in earning his subsistence. But this is a far less happy expression of what is obviously the writer's thought; and the version in the text is believed to be the true sense of the Hebrew. And is his own

servant: in the same sense as above given. So the Genevan version: He that is despised, and is his own servant, is better than he that boasteth himselfe and lacketh bread.

V. 10. For the life of his beast: for all the wants of its animal life. For this he makes careful provision, so as to minister to its enjoyment, and prevent needless suffering.

and trifling pursuits, with no earnest and well-directed purpose; V. 11. Vanities: what is empty and unsubstantial; frivolous or empty theories, unsubstantiated by observation and experience.

V. 12. In striking contrast with the chance gains of the wicked, is here shown the sure and natural increase of the righteous. The former is likened to a net, stealthily spread for the prey, that natural and certain growth from the root, planted in the earth, may take little or much, or perchance nothing; the latter is the that will not fail to bear fruit.

V. 13. 'The transgression of the lips' (the utterance of an envious or malicious tongue) proves a 'snare,' to its author often, as well as to its intended victim; but the innocent will escape out of it. Such is certainly the general law; and its exceptions only show what is incident to the imperfect moral condition of the

race,

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