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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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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><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P R O V E R B S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Falsehood and Oppression Reproved.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<A NAME="Pr17_1"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Better <I>is</I> a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an
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house full of sacrifices <I>with</I> strife.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These words recommend family-love and peace, as conducing very much to
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the comfort of human life.
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1. Those that live in unity and quietness, not only free from
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jealousies and animosities, but vying in mutual endearments, and
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obliging to one another, live very comfortably, though they are low in
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the world, work hard and fare hard, though they have but each of them
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<I>a morsel,</I> and that <I>a dry morsel.</I> There may be peace and
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quietness where there are not three meals a day, provided there by a
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joint satisfaction in God's providence and a mutual satisfaction in
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each other's prudence. Holy love may be found in a cottage.
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2. Those that live in contention, that are always jarring and brawling,
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and reflecting upon one another, though they have plenty of dainties,
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<I>a house full of sacrifices,</I> live uncomfortably; they cannot
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expect the blessing of God upon them and what they have, nor can they
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have any true relish of their enjoyments, much less any peace in their
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own consciences. Love will sweeten a <I>dry morsel,</I> but strife will
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sour and embitter <I>a house full of sacrifices.</I> A little of the
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leaven of malice will leaven all the enjoyments.</P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_2"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>2 A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame,
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and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Note,
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1. True merit does not go by dignity. All agree that the son in the
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family is more worthy than the servant
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+8:35">John viii. 35</A>),
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and yet sometimes it so happens that the servant is wise, and a
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blessing and credit to the family, when the son is a fool, and a burden
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and shame to the family. Eliezer of Damascus, though Abram could not
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bear to think that he should be his heir, was a stay to the family,
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when he obtained a wife for Isaac; whereas Ishmael, a son, was a shame
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to it, when he mocked Isaac.
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2. True dignity will go by merit. If a servant be wise, and manage
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things well, he shall be further trusted, and not only <I>have rule</I>
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with, but <I>rule over a son that causes shame;</I> for God and nature
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have designed that <I>the fool shall be servant to the wise in
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heart.</I> Nay, a prudent servant may perhaps come to have such an
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interest in his master as to be taken in for a child's share of the
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estate and to <I>have part of the inheritance among the
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brethren.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_3"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>3 The fining pot <I>is</I> for silver, and the furnace for gold: but
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> trieth the hearts.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Note,
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1. The hearts of the children of men are subject, not only to God's
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view, but to his judgment: As <I>the fining-pot is for silver,</I> both
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to prove it and to improve it so <I>the Lord tries the hearts;</I> he
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searches whether they are standard or no, and those that are he refines
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and makes purer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:10">Jer. xvii. 10</A>.
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God tries the heart by affliction
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:10,11">Ps. lxvi. 10, 11</A>),
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and often chooses his people in that furnace
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+48:10">Isa. xlviii. 10</A>)
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and makes them choice.
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2. It is God only that <I>tries the hearts.</I> Men may try their
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<I>silver</I> and <I>gold</I> with <I>the fining-pot and the
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furnace,</I> but they have no such way of trying one another's hearts;
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God only does that, who is both the searcher and the sovereign of the
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heart.</P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_4"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; <I>and</I> a liar giveth
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ear to a naughty tongue.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Note,
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1. Those that design to do ill support themselves by falsehood and
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lying: <I>A wicked doer gives</I> ear, with a great deal of pleasure,
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<I>to false lips,</I> that will justify him in the ill he does, to
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those that aim to make public disturbances, catch greedily at libels,
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and false stories, that defame the government and the administration.
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2. Those that take the liberty to tell lies take a pleasure in hearing
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them told: <I>A liar gives</I> heed to a malicious backbiting tongue,
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that he may have something to graft his lies upon, and with which to
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give them some colour of truth and so to support them. Sinners will
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strengthen one another's hands; and those show that they are bad
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themselves who court the acquaintance and need the assistance of those
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that are bad.</P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_5"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: <I>and</I> he that
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is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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See here,
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1. What a great sin those are guilty of who trample upon the poor, who
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ridicule their wants and the meanness of their appearance, upbraid them
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with their poverty, and take advantage from their weakness to be
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abusive and injurious to them. They <I>reproach their Maker,</I> put a
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great contempt and affront upon him, who allotted the poor to the
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condition they are in, owns them, and takes care of them, and can, when
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he pleases, reduce us to that condition. Let those that thus reproach
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their Maker know that they shall be called to an account for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+25:40,41,Pr+14:31">Matt. xxv. 40, 41; Prov. xiv. 31</A>.
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2. What great danger those are in of falling into trouble themselves
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who are pleased to see and hear of the troubles of others: <I>He that
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is glad at calamities,</I> that he may be built up upon the ruins of
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others, and regales himself with the judgments of God when they are
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abroad, let him know that he <I>shall not go unpunished;</I> the cup
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shall be put into his hand,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+25:6,7">Ezek. xxv. 6, 7</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Common Truths.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<A NAME="Pr17_6"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 Children's children <I>are</I> the crown of old men; and the glory
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of children <I>are</I> their fathers.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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They are so, that is, they should be so, and, if they conduct
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themselves worthily, they are so.
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1. It is an honour to parents when they are old to leave children, and
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<I>children's children,</I> growing up, that tread in the steps of
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their virtues, and are likely to maintain and advance the reputation of
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their families. It is an honour to a man to live so long as to see his
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children's children
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+128:6,Ge+50:23">Ps. cxxviii. 6; Gen. l. 23</A>),
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to see his house built up in them, and to see them likely to serve
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their generation according to the will of God. This crowns and
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completes their comfort in this world.
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2. It is an honour to children to have wise and godly parents, and to
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have them continued to them even after they have themselves grown up
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and settled in the world. Those are unnatural children who reckon their
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aged parents a burden to them, and think they live too long; whereas,
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if the children be wise and good, it is as much their honour as can be
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that thereby they are comforts to their parents in the unpleasant days
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of their old age.</P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_7"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>7 Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips
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a prince.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Two things are here represented as very absurd:
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1. That men of no repute should be dictators. What can be more
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unbecoming than for fools, who are known to have little sense and
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discretion, to pretend to that which is above them and which they were
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never cut out for? A fool, in Solomon's proverbs, signifies a wicked
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man, whom <I>excellent speech</I> does not become, because his
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conversation gives the lie to his excellent speech. What have those to
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do to declare God's statutes who <I>hate instruction?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:16">Ps. l. 16</A>.
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Christ would not suffer the unclean spirits to say that they knew him
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to be the Son of God. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+16:17,18">Acts xvi. 17, 18</A>.
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2. That men of great repute should be deceivers. If it is unbecoming a
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despicable man to presume to speak as a philosopher or politician, and
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nobody heeds him, being prejudiced against his character, much more
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unbecoming is it for a prince, for a man of honour, to take advantage
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from his character and the confidence that is put in him to lie, and
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dissemble, and make no conscience of breaking his word. Lying ill
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becomes any man, but worst a prince, so corrupt is the modern policy,
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which insinuates that princes ought not to make themselves slaves to
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their words further than is for their interest, and <I>Qui nescit
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dissimulare nescit regnare--He who knows not how to dissemble knows not
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how to reign.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_8"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 A gift <I>is as</I> a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath
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it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The design of this observation is to show,
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1. That those who have money in their hand think they can do any thing
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with it. Rich men value a little money as if it were a <I>precious
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stone,</I> and value themselves on it as if it gave them not only
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ornament, but power, and every one were bound to be at their beck, even
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justice itself. Whithersoever they turn this sparkling diamond they
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expect it should dazzle the eyes of all, and make them do just what
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they would have them do in hopes of it. The deepest bag will carry the
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cause. Fee high, and you may have what you will.
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2. That those who have money in their eye, and set their hearts upon
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it, will do any thing for it: <I>A bribe is as a precious stone in the
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eyes of him that takes it;</I> it has a great influence upon him, and
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he will be sure to go the way that it leads him, hither and thither,
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though contrary to justice and not consistent with himself.</P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_9"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that
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repeateth a matter separateth <I>very</I> friends.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Note,
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1. The way to preserve peace among relations and neighbours is to make
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the best of every thing, not to tell others what has been said or done
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against them when it is not at all necessary to their safety, nor to
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take notice of what has been said or done against them when it is not
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at all necessary to their safety, nor to take notice of what has been
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said or done against ourselves, but to excuse both, and put the best
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construction upon them. "It was an oversight; therefore overlook it. It
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was done through forgetfulness; therefore forget it. It perhaps made
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nothing of you; do you make nothing of it."
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2. The ripping up of faults is the ripping out of love, and nothing
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tends more to the separating of friends, and setting them at variance,
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than the <I>repeating of matters</I> that have been in variance; for
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they commonly lose nothing in the repetition, but the things themselves
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are aggravated and the passions about them revived and exasperated. The
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best method of peace is by an amnesty or act of oblivion.</P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_10"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>10 A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred
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stripes into a fool.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Note,
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1. A word is enough to the wise. A gentle reproof will enter not only
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into the head, but into the heart of a wise man, so as to have a strong
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influence upon him; for, if but a hint be given to conscience, let it
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alone to carry it on and prosecute it.
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2. Stripes are not enough for a fool, to make him sensible of his
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errors, that he may repent of them, and be more cautious for the
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future. He that is sottish and wilful is very rarely benefited by
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severity. David is softened with, <I>Thou art the man;</I> but Pharaoh
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remains hard under all the plagues of Egypt.</P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_11"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 An evil <I>man</I> seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel
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messenger shall be sent against him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is the sin and punishment of an evil man.
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1. His sin. He is an evil man indeed that seeks all occasions to rebel
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against God, and the government God has set over him, and to contradict
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and quarrel with those about him. <I>Quærit jurgia--He picks
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quarrels;</I> so some. There are some that are actuated by a spirit of
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opposition, that will contradict for contradiction-sake, that will go
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on frowardly in their wicked ways in spite of all restraint and check.
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<I>A rebellious man seeks mischief</I> (so some read it), watches all
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opportunities to disturb the public peace.
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2. His punishment. Because he will not be reclaimed by mild and gentle
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methods, <I>a cruel messenger shall be sent against him,</I> some
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dreadful judgment or other, as a messenger from God. Angels, God's
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messengers, shall be employed as ministers of his justice against him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:49">Ps. lxxviii. 49</A>.
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Satan, the angel of death, shall be let loose upon him, and the
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<I>messengers</I> of Satan. His prince shall send a sergeant to arrest
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him, an executioner to cut him off. He that <I>kicks against the
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pricks</I> is <I>waited for of the sword.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Weighty Sayings.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
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<A NAME="Pr17_12"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a
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fool in his folly.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Note,
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1. A passionate man is a brutish man. However at other times he may
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have some wisdom, take him in his passion ungoverned, and he is a
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<I>fool in his folly;</I> those are fools in whose bosom anger rests
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and in whose countenance anger rages. He has put off man, and is become
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like a bear, a raging bear, <I>a bear robbed of her whelps;</I> he is
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as fond of the gratifications of his lusts and passions as a bear of
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her whelps (which, though ugly, are her own), as eager in the pursuit
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of them as she is in quest of her whelps when they are missing, and as
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full of indignation if crossed in the pursuit.
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2. He is a dangerous man, falls foul of every one that stands in his
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way, though innocent, though his friend, as a bear robbed of her whelps
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sets upon the first man she meets as the robber. <I>Ira furor brevis
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est--Anger is temporary madness.</I> One may more easily stop, escape,
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or guard against an enraged bear, than an outrageous angry man. Let us
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therefore watch over our own passions (lest they get head and do
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|
mischief) and so consult our own honour; and let us avoid the company
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of furious men, and get out of their way when they are in their fury,
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and so consult our own safety. <I>Currenti cede furori--Give place unto
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wrath.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Pr17_13"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>13 Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from
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his house.
|
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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A malicious mischievous man is here represented,
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1. As ungrateful to his friends. He oftentimes is so absurd and
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|
insensible of kindnesses done him that he renders <I>evil for good.</I>
|
|
David met with those that were his adversaries for his love,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+109:4">Ps. cix. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
To render evil for evil is brutish, but to render evil for good is
|
|
devilish. He is an ill-natured man who, because he is resolved not to
|
|
return a kindness, will revenge it.
|
|
|
|
2. As therein unkind to his family, for he entails a curse upon it.
|
|
This is a crime so heinous that it shall be punished, not only in his
|
|
person, but in his posterity, for whom he thus treasures up wrath.
|
|
<I>The sword shall not depart from</I> David's <I>house</I> because he
|
|
rewarded Uriah with evil for his good services. The Jews stoned Christ
|
|
for his good works; therefore is his blood upon them and upon their
|
|
children.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_14"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 The beginning of strife <I>is as</I> when one letteth out water:
|
|
therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
1. The danger that there is in <I>the beginning of strife.</I> One hot
|
|
word, one peevish reflection, one angry demand, one spiteful
|
|
contradiction, begets another, and that a third, and so on, till it
|
|
proves like the cutting of a dam; when the water has got a little
|
|
passage it does itself widen the breach, bears down all before it, and
|
|
there is then no stopping it, no reducing it.
|
|
|
|
2. A good caution inferred thence, to take heed of the first spark of
|
|
contention and to put it out as soon as ever it appears. Dread the
|
|
breaking of the ice, for, if once broken, it will break further;
|
|
<I>therefore leave it off,</I> not only when you see the worst of it,
|
|
for then it may be too late, but when you see the first of it. <I>Obsta
|
|
principiis--Resist its earliest display.</I> Leave it off even
|
|
<I>before it be meddled with;</I> leave it off, if it were possible,
|
|
before you begin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_15"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the
|
|
just, even they both <I>are</I> abomination to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This shows what an offence it is to God,
|
|
|
|
1. When those that are entrusted with the administration of public
|
|
justice, judges, juries, witnesses, prosecutors, counsel, do either
|
|
acquit the guilty or condemn those that are not guilty, or in the least
|
|
contribute to either; this defeats the end of government, which is to
|
|
protect the good and punish the bad,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:3,4">Rom. xiii. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is equally provoking to God to <I>justify the wicked,</I> though it
|
|
be in pity and <I>in favorem vitæ--to safe life,</I> as to
|
|
<I>condemn the just.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. When any private persons plead for sin and sinners, palliate and
|
|
excuse wickedness, or argue against virtue and piety, and so <I>pervert
|
|
the right ways of the Lord</I> and confound the eternal distinctions
|
|
between good and evil.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_16"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 Wherefore <I>is there</I> a price in the hand of a fool to get
|
|
wisdom, seeing <I>he hath</I> no heart <I>to it?</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Two things are here spoken of with astonishment:--
|
|
|
|
1. God's great goodness to foolish man, in putting <I>a price into his
|
|
hand to get wisdom,</I> to get knowledge and grace to fit him for both
|
|
worlds. We have rational souls, the means of grace, the strivings of
|
|
the Spirit, access to God by prayer; we have time and opportunity. He
|
|
that has a good estate (so some understand it) has advantages thereby
|
|
of getting wisdom by purchasing instruction. Good parents, relations,
|
|
ministers, friends, are helps to get wisdom. It is <I>a price,</I>
|
|
therefore of value, a talent. It is <I>a price in the hand,</I> in
|
|
possession; <I>the word is nigh thee.</I> It is a price for getting; it
|
|
is for our own advantage; it is for getting wisdom, the very thing
|
|
which, being fools, we have most need of. We have reason to wonder that
|
|
God should so consider our necessity, and should entrust us with such
|
|
advantages, though he foresaw we should not make a right improvement of
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
2. Man's great wickedness, his neglect of God's favour and his own
|
|
interest, which is very absurd and unaccountable: <I>He has no heart to
|
|
it,</I> not to the wisdom that is to be got, nor to the price in the
|
|
use of which it may be got. <I>He has no heart,</I> no skill, nor will,
|
|
nor courage, to improve his advantages. He has set his heart upon other
|
|
things, so that he has no heart to his duty or the great concerns of
|
|
his soul. Wherefore should a price be thrown away and lost upon one so
|
|
undeserving of it?</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>True Friendship.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for
|
|
adversity.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This intimates the strength of those bonds by which we are bound to
|
|
each other and which we ought to be sensible of.
|
|
|
|
1. Friends must be constant to each other <I>at all times.</I> That is
|
|
not true friendship which is not constant; it will be so if it be
|
|
sincere, and actuated by a good principle. Those that are fanciful or
|
|
selfish in their friendship will love no longer than their humour is
|
|
pleased and their interest served, and therefore their affections turn
|
|
with the wind and change with the weather. Swallow-friends, that fly
|
|
to you in summer, but are gone in winter; such friends there is no loss
|
|
of. But if the friendship be prudent, generous, and cordial, if I love
|
|
my friend because he is wise, and virtuous, and good, as long as he
|
|
continues so, though he fall into poverty and disgrace, still I shall
|
|
love him. Christ is a friend that loves at all times
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+13:1">John xiii. 1</A>)
|
|
|
|
and we must so love him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:35">Rom. viii. 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. Relations must in a special manner be careful and tender of one
|
|
another in affliction: <I>A brother is born</I> to succour a brother or
|
|
sister in distress, to whom he is joined so closely by nature that he
|
|
may the more sensibly feel from their burdens, and be the more strongly
|
|
inclined and engaged, as it were by instinct, to help them. We must
|
|
often consider what we were <I>born for,</I> not only as men, but as in
|
|
such a station and relation. <I>Who knows but we came</I> into such a
|
|
family <I>for such a time as this?</I> We do not answer the end of our
|
|
relations if we do not do the duty of them. Some take it thus: <I>A
|
|
friend that loves at all times is born</I> (that is, becomes) <I>a
|
|
brother in adversity,</I> and is so to be valued.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_18"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 A man void of understanding striketh hands, <I>and</I> becometh
|
|
surety in the presence of his friend.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Though Solomon had commended friendship in adversity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+17:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet let not any, under pretence of being generous to their friends, be
|
|
unjust to their families and wrong them; one part of our duty must be
|
|
made to consist with another. Note,
|
|
|
|
1. It is a piece of wisdom to keep out of debt as much as may be,
|
|
especially to dread suretiship. There may be a just occasion for a man
|
|
to pass his word for his friend in his absence, till he come to engage
|
|
himself; but to be <I>surety in the presence of his friend,</I> when he
|
|
is upon the spot, supposes that his own word will not be taken, he
|
|
being deemed insolvent or dishonest, and then who can with safety pass
|
|
his word for him?
|
|
|
|
2. Those that are <I>void of understanding</I> are commonly taken in
|
|
this snare, to the prejudice of their families, and therefore ought not
|
|
to be trusted too far with their own affairs, but to be under
|
|
direction.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_19"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>19 He loveth transgression that loveth strife: <I>and</I> he that
|
|
exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
1. Those that are quarrelsome involve themselves in a great deal of
|
|
guilt: <I>He that loves strife,</I> that in his worldly business loves
|
|
to go to law, in religion loves controversies, and in common
|
|
conversation loves to thwart and fall out, that is never well but when
|
|
he is in the fire, <I>he loves transgression;</I> for a great deal of
|
|
sin attends that sin, and the way of it is down-hill. He pretends to
|
|
stand up for truth, and for his honour and right, but really he loves
|
|
sin, which God hates.
|
|
|
|
2. Those that are ambitious and aspiring expose themselves to a great
|
|
deal of trouble, such as often ends in their ruin: <I>He that exalts
|
|
his gate,</I> builds a stately house, at least a fine frontispiece,
|
|
that he may overtop and outshine his neighbours, seeks his own
|
|
destruction and takes a deal of pains to ruin himself; he makes his
|
|
gate so large that his house and estate go out at it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Folly and Wickedness.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that
|
|
hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
1. Framing ill designs will be of no advantage to us; there is nothing
|
|
got by them: <I>He that has a froward heart,</I> that sows discord and
|
|
is full of resentment, cannot promise himself to get by it sufficient
|
|
to counterbalance the loss of his repose and reputation, nor can he
|
|
take any rational satisfaction in it; he <I>finds no good.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. Giving ill language will be a great disadvantage to us: <I>He that
|
|
has a perverse tongue,</I> spiteful and abusive, scurrilous or
|
|
backbiting, <I>falls into</I> one <I>mischief</I> or other, loses his
|
|
friends, provokes his enemies, and pulls trouble upon his own head.
|
|
Many a one has paid dearly for an unbridled tongue.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 He that begetteth a fool <I>doeth it</I> to his sorrow: and the
|
|
father of a fool hath no joy.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This expresses that very emphatically which many wise and good men feel
|
|
very sensibly, what a grievous vexatious thing it is to have a foolish
|
|
wicked child. See here,
|
|
|
|
1. How uncertain all our creature-comforts are, so that we are often
|
|
not only disappointed in them, but that proves the greatest cross in
|
|
which we promised ourselves most satisfaction. There was <I>joy when a
|
|
man-child was born into the world,</I> and yet, if he prove vicious,
|
|
his own father will wish he had never been born. The name of Absalom
|
|
signifies his <I>father's peace,</I> but he was his greatest trouble.
|
|
It should moderate the desire of having children, and the delights of
|
|
their parents in them, that they may prove a grief to them; yet it
|
|
should silence the murmurings of the afflicted father in that case that
|
|
if his son be a fool he is a fool of his own begetting, and therefore
|
|
he must make the best of him, and take it up as his cross, the rather
|
|
because Adam begets a son in his own likeness.
|
|
|
|
2. How unwise we are in suffering one affliction (and that of an
|
|
untoward child as likely as any other) to drown the sense of a thousand
|
|
mercies: <I>The father of a fool</I> lays that so much to heart that he
|
|
<I>has no joy</I> of any thing else. For this he may thank himself;
|
|
there are joys sufficient to counterbalance even that sorrow.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 A merry heart doeth good <I>like</I> a medicine: but a broken
|
|
spirit drieth the bones.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
1. It is healthful to be cheerful. The Lord is for the body, and has
|
|
provided for it, not only meat, but medicine, and has here told us that
|
|
the best medicine is <I>a merry heart,</I> not a heart addicted to
|
|
vain, carnal, sensual mirth; Solomon himself said of that mirth, It is
|
|
not medicine, but madness; it is not food, but poison; <I>what doth
|
|
it?</I> But he means a heart rejoicing in God, and serving him with
|
|
gladness, and then taking the comfort of outward enjoyments and
|
|
particularly that of pleasant conversation. It is a great mercy that
|
|
God gives us leave to be cheerful and cause to be cheerful, especially
|
|
if by his grace he gives us hearts to be cheerful. This <I>does good to
|
|
a medicine</I> (so some read it); it will make physic more efficient.
|
|
Or <I>it does good as a medicine</I> to the body, making it easy and
|
|
fit for business. But, if mirth be a medicine (understand it of
|
|
diversion and recreation), it must be used sparingly, only when there
|
|
is occasion, not turned into food, and it must be used medicinally,
|
|
<I>sub regimine--as a prescribed regimen,</I> and by rule.
|
|
|
|
2. The sorrows of the mind often contribute very much to the sickliness
|
|
of the body: <I>A broken spirit,</I> sunk by the burden of afflictions,
|
|
and especially a conscience wounded with the sense of guilt and fear of
|
|
wrath, <I>dries the bones,</I> wastes the radical moisture, exhausts
|
|
the very marrow, and makes the body a mere skeleton. We should
|
|
therefore watch and pray against all melancholy dispositions, for they
|
|
lead us into trouble as well as into temptation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>23 A wicked <I>man</I> taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the
|
|
ways of judgment.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
See here,
|
|
|
|
1. What an evil thing bribery is: He is <I>a wicked man</I> that will
|
|
<I>take a gift</I> to engage him to give a false testimony, verdict, or
|
|
judgment; when he does it he is ashamed of it, for he takes it, with
|
|
all the secresy imaginable, <I>out of the bosom</I> where he knows it
|
|
is laid ready for him; it is industriously concealed, and so slyly
|
|
that, if he could, he would hide it from his own conscience. <I>A gift
|
|
is taken out of the bosom of a wicked man</I> (so some read it); for he
|
|
is a bad man that gives bribes, as well as he that takes them.
|
|
|
|
2. What a powerful thing it is. It is of such force that it <I>perverts
|
|
the ways of judgment.</I> The course of justice is not only obstructed,
|
|
but turned into injustice; and the greatest wrongs are done under
|
|
colour of doing right.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>24 Wisdom <I>is</I> before him that hath understanding; but the eyes
|
|
of a fool <I>are</I> in the ends of the earth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
1. He is to be reckoned an intelligent man that not only has wisdom,
|
|
but has it ready when he has occasion for it. He lays his <I>wisdom
|
|
before him,</I> as his card and compass which he steers by, has his eye
|
|
always upon it, as he that writes has on his copy; and then he has it
|
|
<I>before him;</I> it is not to seek, but still at hand.
|
|
|
|
2. He that has a giddy head, a roving rambling fancy, will never be
|
|
fit for any solid business. He is a fool, and good for nothing, whose
|
|
<I>eyes are in the ends of the earth,</I> here, and there and every
|
|
where, any where but where they should be, who cannot fix his thoughts
|
|
to one subject nor pursue any one purpose with any thing of steadiness.
|
|
When his mind should be applied to his study and business it is filled
|
|
with a thousand things foreign and impertinent.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>25 A foolish son <I>is</I> a grief to his father, and bitterness to
|
|
her that bare him.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Wicked children are an affliction to both their parents. They are
|
|
an occasion of <I>anger</I> to the father (so the word signifies),
|
|
because they contemn his authority, but of sorrow and <I>bitterness</I>
|
|
to the mother, because they abuse her tenderness. The parents, being
|
|
joint-sufferers, should therefore bring mutual comfort to bear them up
|
|
under it, and strive to make it as easy as they can, the mother to
|
|
mollify the father's anger, the father to alleviate the mother's grief.
|
|
|
|
2. That Solomon often repeats this remark, probably because it was his
|
|
own case; however, it is a common case.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>26 Also to punish the just <I>is</I> not good, <I>nor</I> to strike
|
|
princes for equity.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In differences that happen between magistrates and subjects, and such
|
|
differences often arise,
|
|
|
|
1. Let magistrates see to it that they never <I>punish the just,</I>
|
|
that they be in no case a <I>terror to good works,</I> for that is to
|
|
abuse their power and betray that great trust which is reposed in them.
|
|
It is <I>not good,</I> that is, it is a very evil thing, and will end
|
|
ill, whatever end they may aim at in it. When princes become tyrants
|
|
and persecutors their thrones will be neither easy nor firm.
|
|
|
|
2. Let subjects see to it that they do not find fault with the
|
|
government for doing its duty, for it is a wicked thing <I>to strike
|
|
princes for equity,</I> by defaming their administration or by any
|
|
secret attempts against them to strike at them, as the ten tribes that
|
|
revolted reflected upon Solomon for imposing necessary taxes. Some read
|
|
it, <I>Nor to strike the ingenuous for equity.</I> Magistrates must
|
|
take heed that none suffer under them for well doing; nor must parents
|
|
<I>provoke their children to wrath</I> by unjust rebukes.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Pr17_28"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>27 He that hath knowledge spareth his words: <I>and</I> a man of
|
|
understanding is of an excellent spirit.
|
|
28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise:
|
|
<I>and</I> he that shutteth his lips <I>is esteemed</I> a man of
|
|
understanding.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Two ways a man may show himself to be a wise man:--
|
|
|
|
1. By the good temper, the sweetness and the sedateness, of his mind:
|
|
<I>A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit,</I> a <I>precious
|
|
spirit</I> (so the word is); he is one that looks well to his spirit,
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that it be as it should be, and so keeps it in an even frame, easy to
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himself and pleasant to others. A gracious spirit is a precious spirit,
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and renders a man amiable and <I>more excellent than his neighbour.</I>
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He is of a <I>cool spirit</I> (so some read it), not heated with
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passion, nor put into any tumult or disorder by the <I>impetus</I> of
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any corrupt affection, but even and stayed. A cool head with a warm
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heart is an admirable composition.
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2. By the good government of his tongue.
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(1.) A wise man will be <I>of few words,</I> as being afraid of
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speaking amiss: <I>He that has knowledge,</I> and aims to do good with
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it, is careful, when he does speak to speak to the purpose, and says
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little in order that he may take time to deliberate. He <I>spares his
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words,</I> because they are better spared than ill-spent.
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(2.) This is generally taken for such a sure indication of wisdom that
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a fool may gain the reputation of being a wise man if he have but wit
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enough to hold his tongue, to hear, and see, and say little. If a fool
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hold his peace, men of candour will think him wise, because nothing
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appears to the contrary, and because it will be thought that he is
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making observations on what others say, and gaining experience, and is
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consulting with himself what he shall say, that he may speak
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pertinently. See how easy it is to gain men's good opinion and to
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impose upon them. But when a <I>fool holds his peace</I> God knows his
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heart, and the folly that is bound up there; thoughts are words to him,
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and therefore he cannot be deceived in his judgment of men.</P>
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