Proverbs 22:20

Have not I written to thee excellent things,.... In the Scriptures.

Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge.

Excellent things; or, princely things, as they are called, , the great things of God’ s law, as . In counsels and knowledge; consisting of counsels to direct thy practice, and knowledge to inform and enrich thy mind. Or by that known figure hendiadis, in counsels of knowledge, i.e. in good counsels, which proceed from sound knowledge, and make a man knowing and wise, which are opposed to the counsels of the wicked, , which are without knowledge.

Proverbs 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,Ver. 20. Have not I written to thee excellent things?] Heb., Princely things; principles for princes, rare and royal sentences. The word signifies, say some, the third man in the kingdom for authority and dignity. Others read the words thus: Have not I three times written for thee concerning counsels and knowledge, - meaning his three books, proverbial, penitential, nuptial. The Canticles were penned perhaps in his younger years, saith one, when his affections were more warm, active, and lively in spirituals; the Proverbs in his manly, ripe age, when his prudence and parts were at highest, most grave, solid, settled; Ecclesiastes in his old age, &c. Key of the Bible, by Mr Roberts.

20. excellent things] The word has been thought to denote the chief of the three persons who formed the complement of an ancient war-chariot, and so to mean principal or excellent. In Proverbs 8:6 “excellent things” are literally princely things or words. The LXX. and Vulg., however, render the word literally, “thrice,” or “in threefold form,” τρισσῶς, tripliciter, possibly with the idea of reiteration to impress the lesson. Comp. Acts 10:16. Another reading is heretofore, or long ago. If this be adopted, the reference may be either to the earlier sections of this Book, or to the fact that what is now promulgated had been committed to writing long ago, and was therefore no hasty utterance. This passage has borne a prominent part in the history of Biblical exegesis. By it, understood (with the LXX. and Vulg. quoted above) of “threefold” teaching, or teaching “in triple form,” Origen supported his doctrine of the threefold meaning of Holy Scripture. “By Solomon in the Proverbs,” he writes, “we find some such rule as this enjoined respecting the divine doctrines of Scripture: ‘And do thou portray them in a threefold manner, in counsel and knowledge, to answer words of truth to them who propose them to thee.’ ” And so, he adds, comparing the threefold sense of Scripture to the tripartite division of man into body, soul and spirit, the simple will be edified, “by the flesh,” or obvious sense of Scripture, and the more advanced by its “soul,” while the perfect (1 Corinthians 2:6-7) may attain to the spiritual law itself, De Princip. Bk. iv. ch. 1.

Excellent things - A meaning of the word derived from “the third,” i. e., “the chief of three warriors in a chariot” (compare Exodus 14:7 note).

19, 20. Made known… excellent things — The latter verse should probably read: Have I not written to thee heretofore concerning counsel and knowledge?