Proverbs 2
DOYLYProverbs 2:18
- — her house inclineth unto death, &c.] Various plagues and miseries of this world attend upon this sin, which promises pleasure at a distance, but in reality ensnares men into an abyss of endless evils. Dr. Hammond.
Proverbs 2:22
- But the wicked &c.] The proper portion of the wicked is, to be cut off and extirpated, either by the hand of human justice, or by the curse of God, which invisibly pursues them till they be rooted out. Dr. Hammond.
The happiness of good and bad men in this world has this signal and important difference: that of the righteous is chiefly internal; less visible, perhaps, but more perfect: the other is only external; more dazzling and conspicuous, but never lasting nor sincere. When the good man dies, he passes to a state of most consummate felicity: when the wicked man departs, all his prosperity dies with him; he exchanges a mere empty shew of happiness for real and eternal misery. So that his end, whenever it comes, is indeed “a cutting off from the earth,” earth being the only ground in which his happiness can grow; his end is indeed a “rooting out.” Wogan.
Chap. III. ver. 2. For length of days, &c.] I can give thee all assurance from God, Solomon says, that, besides the endless advantage of another world, thou shalt thus obtain the blessings of this life, the prolonging of thy days here in peace and prosperity: not that the pious faithful servant of God will be exempt from afflictions in this world; but that, in the general course of things,
such a person will, by God’s special blessing, and by the very temper of Christian virtues, have a security of much greater real worldly happiness, than those who use unlawful arts to obtain the riches and honours of the world. Dr. Hammond.