Proverbs 25

Chap. XXV. Ver. 1—28. Proverbs collected by the scribes of Hezekiah.—Solomon, we are told, spake 3000 proverbs, lit- Scriptures; and these were probably gathered from the mi- | the language, mutually set off each other. nutes of learned and pious men, at different times, and inserte The imagery of verse 20 is more difficult; we understand it in the first four parts of this general collection. Those in this | as follows: As he that taketh away a garment in cold wea-and the four chapters following, appear not to have been added | ther” chills the feelings; or, ‘‘as he that pours vinegar upon before the time of Hezekiah. whose scribes and learned men natron” creates a fermentation: so he that singeth (merry) (among whom the seers an prophets are to be reckoned) ap- | songs to a heavy heart, either chills the feelings of the mind, pear to have taken pains to collect the genuine remains of Da-| as cold does the body, or exasperates it, as vinegar ferments vid and Solomon, and to insert them in the books of Psalms | natron.

(See note on ver. 20.) and Proverbs: for neither all of one, nor of the other, were col- Chap. XXVI. Ver. 1—28. Sundry observations upon fools, lected at the same time, or by the same persons. The obser- | and sluggards, and busy bodies.—The first is easy of exposivations contained in this chapter, are chiefly political and civil, | tion. ‘ Snow in summer, and rain in harvest,” are unexpecte addressed to princes and rulers; and some of them are clothed and injurious; so is “ honour” conferred upon a fool. The in very beautiful figures: as, for instance, the following: “A | next is more difficult: we conceive it to mean—as the sparrow word fitly spoken,” or a parable or figure well wrought up, is made to wander, and the swallow (or dove) to fly, so is it (alluding to the manufacture of pottery on the wheels,) is com- | the nature of a malediction to fall upon the head at which it is pared to * apples (or citrons) of gold, in basket (or net) work | aimed: but as neither can the sparrow, nor any other bird, either fly or fall without our heavenly Father’s knowledge, ((Matthew 10:29-31).) so neither can the curse of an enemy alight upon us, without his permission. The 4th and 5th verses have been supposed contradictory, but are only enigmatical. To ‘answer a fool] according to his folly,” is, in the first instance, to give a foolish answer, and make ourselves like him; but, in the second case proposed, to answer a fool according to his folly, is to give such an answer as his question deserves, in order to convict him of folly, and prevent his being ‘ wise in his own conceit.” In the subsequent parts of the chapter occur several pithy remarks on the conduct of the fool, the idler, and the sluggard; characters very nearly allied, and almost equally detestable. The slothful, in particular, stays away from his work under the pretence of some imaginary danger, and turns from side to side, like a door upon its hinges, without resolution to rise.

When he is up, his first concern is to eat: yet when he dips his hand into the dish, so idle is he, that it grieves (or wearies) him to put it to his mouth. (See (Proverbs 19:24).) Yet so opinionated is he, that he fancies himself “ wiser than seven men that can render a reason:’”’ and when he is enraged, he acts the madman, and ‘‘ throws about firebrands, arrows, and death,” in pretended sport.:

Notes on the verses

Chap. XXIV. Ver. 5. A wise man is strong.—|His wisdom enables him to construct a great variety of machines, by which, under his own influence, he can do the [labour of a hundred or even a thousand men. Hence the maxim of Lord Bacon, “‘ knowledge is power.” From wisdom comes all mathematical learning and mechanical knowledge, and originally the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, the pulley in all its multiplications, and the lever in all its combinations and varieties, by which prodigies of power are produced, far surpassing all animal or muscular power and energy. ]— Bagster. Ver. 10. Thy strength is small.—Hebrew, ‘‘ Narrow,” or contracted. Ver. 11. Drawn.—Holden, “ Hurried away.” f Cc. PRES 13, My son eat thou.—Rather.

“ thou eatest” honey, &c. Ver. 16. Fall into mischief.—Holden, ‘* Are overwhelmed with evil.” Ver. 19. Fret not thyself because of—See margin. But Drs. Hodgson and Boothroyd adhere to the sense of our translators; the former reading, “ Re- Dine not,’’ and the latter, *‘ Vex not thyself,’ &c. Ver. 21. Given to change.—Hebrew, “ Changers.” Ver. 27. Prepare thy work.—That is, fit the timbers together, before thou raise them. CuHap. XXV. Ver. 1. Which the men of Hezekiah copied out.—Mercier (a celebrated Hebrean of the 16th century) has cited a curious tradition from the Talmud, that Hezekiah and his scribes wrote, i. e. ‘‘ copied out,” the books expressed by the mystic word JiMShoK; viz. Isaiah, Proverbs, Canticles, and Ecclesiastes.

Ver. 3. Is unsearchable.—Meaning, that the thoughts of a king’s heart are as inaccessible as the heights of heaven, or the foundations of the earth. Ver. 4. For (or “ to”) the finer.—To be made into any form he pleases Ver. 5. Take away, &c.—Removing the wicked from before the king, is compared to taking away the dross from silver. Ver. 7. For better, &c.—{Be humble; affect not high things; keep thyself quiet; and thou shalt live at ease, in safety, and in peace. ‘* Why was it,” says Ovid, a wise heathen, on this subject, ‘‘ that Dedalus winged his way safely, while Icarus his son fell, and gave name to the Icarian sea? Was it not because the son flew aloft, and the father skimmed the ground?

For both were furnished with the same kind of wings. Believe me, that he who lives privately, lives safely; and every one should live within his own income. Envy no man; pray for a quiet life, though it should not be dignified; seek a friend, and associate with thine equals.”]—Bagster. Ver. 8. Lest, &c.—That is, lest thou be conquered. Ver. 9. A secret.—Rather, * The secret;”” namely, the cause of debate. Ver. 10. A word fitly spoken.—Hebrew, “A word spoken upon the wheels;” alluding to the manufactory of pottery, (Jeremiah 18:3).—Apples—Or citrons. See Sol. Song, ii. 3——In pictures.—Bishop Lowth, “ Net-work;” Dr. Hodgson and Holden, ‘* Baskets” of silver. [Rather, “is like golden apples in baskets of silver.”

A word spoken with propriety, opportunely, and suitably to the occasion, is as much in its place, and as conspicuously beautiful, as the golden fruit which appears through the apertures of an exquisitely wrought silver basket.\—Bagster., Ver. 13. As the cold of snow.—Harmer says, the Hebrews and other Orientals use snow to cool their wines In summer. Instead of ‘* cold of snow,” Dr. Hunt and others read, “ a vessel of snow.” i Ver. 16. Eat so much.—So much only. Boothroyd, “ Only what is sufficient.”——Lest thou be filled.—Bishop Lowth, “ Lest thou be satiated therewith, and nauseate it.”; ark & Ver. 20. As vinegar upon nitre.—(The original does not signify what is now commonly called nitre, or saltpetre, but a fixed alkali known among chemists as the natron of the ancients, and carbonate of soda; found native in Syria and India, and used for the purposes of washing.

If vinegar be poured on it, says Dr. Skate, a strong fermentation immediately takes place, which illustrates what Solomon says here.|—Bagster. Ver. 23. Driveth away rain.—See margin. [Monconys says, that when travelling on the second of January, 1648, from Tripoli in Syria, between Lebanon and the sea, it rained without ceasing, while the north wind blew directly in his face.|—Bagster. If we admit the marginal reading of this clause, so must we of the next, which is, “So doth a backbiting (or secret) tongue an angry countenance;” which gives an easy and consistent sense, and is better than falling into immorality, grieves his friends, and disgraces his character, just as dirt and rubbish, thrown into a fountain, defile and render it useless.

Ver. 28. Is like a coit A broken down:—That is, he is thrown off his guard, and exposed to danger.