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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Proverbs, Introduction].</TITLE>
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"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+3>Proverbs</FONT></P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="8%">
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</TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15%">
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20001.HTM">Chapter 1</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20002.HTM">Chapter 2</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20003.HTM">Chapter 3</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20004.HTM">Chapter 4</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20005.HTM">Chapter 5</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20006.HTM">Chapter 6</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20007.HTM">Chapter 7</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20008.HTM">Chapter 8</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20009.HTM">Chapter 9</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20010.HTM">Chapter 10</A>
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</TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15%">
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20011.HTM">Chapter 11</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20012.HTM">Chapter 12</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20013.HTM">Chapter 13</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20014.HTM">Chapter 14</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20015.HTM">Chapter 15</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20016.HTM">Chapter 16</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20017.HTM">Chapter 17</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20018.HTM">Chapter 18</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20019.HTM">Chapter 19</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20020.HTM">Chapter 20</A>
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</TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="15%">
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20021.HTM">Chapter 21</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20022.HTM">Chapter 22</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20023.HTM">Chapter 23</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20024.HTM">Chapter 24</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20025.HTM">Chapter 25</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20026.HTM">Chapter 26</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20027.HTM">Chapter 27</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20028.HTM">Chapter 28</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20029.HTM">Chapter 29</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20030.HTM">Chapter 30</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC20031.HTM">Chapter 31</A>
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<A NAME="Page789"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<P><B>AN</B></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+2>EXPOSITION,</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+1>W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N S,</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=-1>OF THE</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P R O V E R B S.</B></FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=150>
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</P></CENTER>
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<P>
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We have now before us,
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I. A new author, or penman rather, or pen (if you will) made use of by
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the Holy Ghost for making known the mind of God to us, writing as moved
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by the <I>finger of God</I> (so the Spirit of God is called), and that
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is Solomon; through his hand came this book of Scripture and the two
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that follow it, Ecclesiastes and Canticles, a sermon and a song. Some
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think he wrote Canticles when he was very young, Proverbs in the midst
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of his days, and Ecclesiastes when he was old. In the title of his song
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he only writes himself <I>Solomon,</I> perhaps because he wrote it
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before his accession to the throne, being filled with the Holy Ghost
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when he was young. In the title of his Proverbs he writes himself
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<I>the son of David, king of Israel,</I> for then he ruled over all
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Israel. In the title of his Ecclesiastes he writes himself <I>the son
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of David, king of Jerusalem,</I> because then perhaps his influence had
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grown less upon the distant tribes, and he confined himself very much
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in Jerusalem. Concerning this author we may observe,
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1. That he was a king, and a king's son. The penmen of scripture,
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hitherto, were most of them men of the first rank in the world, as
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Moses and Joshua, Samuel and David, and now Solomon; but, after him,
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the inspired writers were generally poor prophets, men of no figure in
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the world, because that dispensation was approaching in the which God
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would choose the <I>weak and foolish things of the world to confound
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the wise and mighty</I> and the poor should be employed to evangelize.
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Solomon was a very rich king, and his dominions were very large, a king
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of the first magnitude, and yet he addicted himself to the study of
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divine things, and was a prophet and a prophet's son. It is no
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disparagement to the greatest princes and potentates in the world to
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instruct those about them in religion and the laws of it.
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2. That he was one whom God endued with extraordinary measures of
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wisdom and knowledge, in answer to his prayers at his accession to the
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throne. His prayer was exemplary: <I>Give me a wise and an
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understanding heart;</I> the answer to it was encouraging: he had what
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he desired and <I>all other things were added to him.</I> Now here we
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find what good use he made of the wisdom God gave him; he not only
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governed himself and his kingdom with it, but he gave rules of wisdom
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to others also, and transmitted them to posterity. Thus must we trade
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with the talents with which we are entrusted, according as they are.
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3. That he was one who had his faults, and in his latter end turned
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aside from those good ways of God which in this book he had directed
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others in. We have the story of it
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+11:1-43">1 Kings xi.</A>,
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and a sad story it is, that the penman of such a book as this should
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apostatize as he did. <I>Tell it not in Gath.</I> But let those who
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are most eminently useful take warning by this not to be proud or
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secure; and let us all learn not to think the worse of good
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instructions though we have them from those who do not themselves
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altogether live up to them.</P>
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<P>
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II. A new way of writing, in which divine wisdom is taught us by
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Proverbs, or short sentences, which contain their whole design within
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themselves and are not connected with one another. We have had divine
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<I>laws, histories,</I> and <I>songs,</I> and how divine
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<I>proverbs;</I> such various methods has Infinite Wisdom used for our
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instruction, that, no stone being left unturned to do us good, we may
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be inexcusable if we perish in our folly. Teaching by proverbs was,
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1. An ancient way of teaching. It was the most ancient way among the
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Greeks; each of the seven wise men of Greece had some one saying that
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he valued himself upon, and that made him famous. These sentences were
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inscribed on pillars, and had in great veneration as that which was
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said to come down from heaven. <I>A cœlo descendit,</I> <B><I>Gnothi
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seauton</I></B>--<I>Know thyself is a precept which came down from
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heaven.</I>
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2. It was a plain and easy way of teaching, which cost neither the
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teachers nor the learners much pains, nor put their understandings nor
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their memories to the stretch. Long periods, and arguments far-fetched,
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must be laboured both by him that frames them and by him that would
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understand them, while a proverb, which carries both its sense and its
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evidence in a little compass, is quickly apprehended and subscribed to,
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and is easily retained. Both David's devotions and Solomon's
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instructions are sententious, which may recommend that way of
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expression to those who minister about holy things, both in praying and
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preaching.
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3. It was a very profitable way of teaching, and served admirably well
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to answer the end. The word <I>Mashal,</I> here used for a proverb,
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comes from a word that signifies <I>to rule</I> or <I>have
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dominion,</I> because of the commanding power and influence which wise
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and weighty sayings have upon the children of men; he that teaches by
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them <I>dominatur in concionibus--rules his auditory.</I> It is easy to
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observe how the world is governed by proverbs. <I>As saith the proverb
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of the ancients</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+24:13">1 Sam. xxiv. 13</A>),
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or (as we commonly express it) <I>As the old saying is,</I> goes very
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far with most men in forming their notions and fixing their resolves.
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Much of the wisdom of the ancients has been handed down to posterity by
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proverbs; and some think we may judge of the temper and character of a
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nation by the complexion of its vulgar proverbs. Proverbs in
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conversation are like axioms in philosophy, maxims in law, and
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postulata in the mathematics, which nobody disputes, but every one
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endeavours to expound so as to have them on his side. Yet there are
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many corrupt proverbs, which tend to debauch men's minds and harden
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them in sin. The devil has his proverbs, and the world and the flesh
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have their proverbs, which reflect reproach on God and religion (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+12:22,18:2">Ezek. xii. 22; xviii. 2</A>),
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to guard us against the corrupt influences of which God has his
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proverbs, which are all wise and good, and tend to make us so. These
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proverbs of Solomon were not merely a collection of the wise sayings
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that had been formerly delivered, as some have imagined, but were the
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dictates of the Spirit of God in Solomon. The very first of them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:7"><I>ch.</I> i. 7</A>)
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agrees with what God said to man in the beginning
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+28:28">Job xxviii. 28</A>,
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<I>Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom</I>); so that though
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Solomon was great, and his name may serve as much as any man's to
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recommend his writings, yet, behold, <I>a greater than Solomon is
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here.</I> It is God, by Solomon, that here speaks to us: I say, to
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<I>us;</I> for these proverbs were <I>written for our learning,</I>
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and, when Solomon speaks to his son, the exhortation is said <I>to
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speak to us as unto children,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:5">Heb. xii. 5</A>.
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And, as we have no book so useful to us in our devotions as David's
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psalms, so have we none so serviceable to us, for the right ordering of
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our conversations, as Solomon's proverbs, which as David says of the
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commandments, are <I>exceedingly broad,</I> containing, in a little
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compass, a complete body of divine ethics, politics, and economics,
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exposing every vice, recommending every virtue, and suggesting rules
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for the government of ourselves in every relation and condition, and
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every turn of the conversation. The learned bishop Hall has drawn up a
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system of moral philosophy out of Solomon's Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
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The
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:1-32">first nine chapters</A>
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of this book are reckoned as a preface, by way of exhortation to the
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study and practice of wisdom's rules, and caution against those things
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that would hinder therein. We have then the first volume of Solomon's
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proverbs
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+10:1-24:34"><I>ch.</I> x.-xxiv.</A>);
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after that a second volume
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+25:1-29:27"><I>ch.</I> xxv.-xxix.</A>);
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and then Agur's prophecy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:1-33"><I>ch.</I> xxx.</A>),
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and Lemuel's
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:1-31"><I>ch.</I> xxxi.</A>).
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The scope of all is one and the same, to direct us so to order our
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conversation aright as that in the end we may see the salvation of the
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Lord. The best comment on these rules is to be ruled by them.</P>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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