Proverbs 30

[a. This chapter contains a new collection of pithy sayings, which some fancy to be Solomon’s; and therefore translate the two first words thus: the words of the collector, or gatherer. But why Solomon should call himself by this name, and also, instead of the son of David, style himself the son of Jakeh, seems to me unaccountable. And therefore it is most reasonable to follow our translation (unto which the wisest of those that adhere.to the Vulgar are forced to consent, as most literal), and to look upon this chapter as a fragment of some wise sentences, delivered by one whose name was Agur, and his father’s name Jakeh: unless we mil conceive that this son of Jakeh (whosoever he was) had gotten the name of collector, because, though he was a very wise man, yet he composed nothing himself; but only gathered out of other wise men’s works such instructions as he thought most profitable, and comprised, in a few words, a great deal of sense.., [b] Which conjecture, if it be admitted, nothing can better explain his disclaiming the title of a wise man, (ver, 2.) which he would not assume to himself, because he was only a collector from other authors, and did not pretend to have discovered or invented any thing himself. But take it how we will, some of his observations are here annexed to the Proverbs of Solomon, after the manner.of other writings of this nature. In which (as Melancthon notes) the greater part of a book belonging to one author, some notable speeches of others have been inserted: as some of the Sibylline verses, they say, were into the poem of Phocilides. [c] And these words of Agnr are called massa, which we translate prophecy, either to denote the weightiness of the sentences, or that they were culled and selected out of some work of his, then remaining in their records, as fit (in the judgment of the men of Hezekiah, who perhaps extracted them) to accompany the Proverbs of Solomon. And they seem to me to be answers to several questions propounded to him by his scholars, Ithiel (who was the principal) and Ucal: who came to him, as if he had been an oracle, to be resolved in some hard doubts; asking him in the first place, just as they did Apollo of old (as Aben Ezra conjectures), IVJio was the wisest man? To which he replies, (ver. 2.) He that is sensible of his own ignorance. Much like the saying of Socrates, This only I know, that I know nothing: and of Pythagoras, who also refused the name of wise; which made much for the reputation of his wisdom. > [d] Upon this subject Agur enlarges, ver. 3, 4. wishing his scholats, especially Ithiel (who, I suppose, asked the question in the name of the rest), to be sensible how imperfect all human knowledge is; by considering how little or nothing we know of the works of God, which none can understand (though they be perpetually before our eyes) but he alono that made them.. And therefore advises him to make it his principal study to understand what belonged to his own duty (which is the best part of knowledge), ver. 5. and herein also to be content with what God hath revealed, and not pretend to be wiser than he hath made us, (ver. 6.) [e] After which, he gives answers, as I take it, unto other questions, which Ithiel propounded to him. And, first, about prayer. For Agur, having repressed their busy humour of inquiry into all manner of things, had raised, we may suppose, some devotion ihhis scholars’ hearts,:. which made them desire to be directed in it And he gives them most wise advice, ver. 7, 8. to be very can-. tious what they prayed for; justtis in Plato (Alcibiad. 2.) we find Socrates giving Alcibiades instructions about this, as a principal part of virtue; in the practice of which, he tells him, there had need to be the greatest care, lest we imprudently ask those things that are not good for us. But he could not give Alcibiades such. directions about this matter, as Agur here gives Ithiel and the rest of his scholars, whom he informs, that the true knowledge of God is the chiefest good, and therefore to be desired in the first place, above all other goods; and then (according to our Saviour’s rule, in aftertimes), having first sought the things that belong.to’religion, he directs them tt> beg of God moderate desires of all earthly things; believing that we are safer in a mediocrity, or middle estate, than either in fulness or in want. To which purpose Melancthon and others have gathered together many sayings out of other writers. But none have given such reasons for this choice of & middle state as this wise man, (ver. 9.) % [/] After which, he seems to answer a question, which Ithiel propounded, about moral virtue: which having been largely treated of by Solomon, he only gives him. one caution against hard-heartedness to slaves and seryants, (ver. 10.) of which the Hebrew nation were generally very guilty, and thereby unmeet for that favour which they begged of God in their prayers, which’ought to have disposed them to be favourable unto others. * [g] And then he gives the character of four sorts of men who are execrable unto God, and therefore* ought to be avoided by all those that would be good, (ver. 11—14.) which I must pass by without any farther account of them but what I have given in the Paraphrase: because the fifteenth verse hath much difficulty in it, and therefor^ requires some time to be spent in opening it. Bochartu^ thinks to solve someof the difficulty by giving a new signification of the word aluka. But all interpreters, in a manner, taking it for that thick worm in waterish places, which we call a horse-leech, I do hot think fit to forsake our translation: nor to refer the beginning of the verse to that immediately foregoing, (as some do in this manner: Detractors can no more leave off evil-speaking, than the horse-leech leave off sticking, &c.) but rather to those words immediately following in this same Verse, which, notwithstanding, I take to have some connexion with all the four foregoing, as I havo expressed it in the Paraphrase. For it seems to me to be an answer to some ■ such question as this which the disciples had propounded’ to, their master Agur, (after the manner of enigmatical discourses or riddles), What is most insatiable? which he chooses to give an account of in this place, the better.•to represent the nature of those wicked men he had spoken* of before: /specially of the two last; the proud, and the tyrannical or extortioner, whose d6sircs aire a gulf that •..can uevor be. filled.., / And at the first he seems to have thought but Of two thirigs, tiiz. the gt’avd and the barren womb; which might be called the daughters of the horse-leech, because they are so perfectly of the like nature, in regard of their insatiablericss. But ho presently adds another; nay, a fourth camd into his mind as no less greedy: viz. the thirsty earth (which in those hot countries sucks up all - the rain as fast as it falls, though nevef so much), and the fire, which devours all the fuel that is laid upon it. Aiid this he expresses after the manner of the Hebrews; “.who, intending to mention four things or more, separate them at first, and begih tfith a lesser nufnber, and proceed, theft to all that they designed. There afe many examples of it in Amos i. 3. 5. D, &c. and here in this book of Proverbs, Vi. 1G. and below in this chapter, ver. 18. 21, &c. Indeed there is no example like this, where the sentence begins with two, and then says three, and then four; but that might b6 usual, of which* we ha^e no exact example; and therefore I do not look upon this as a sufficient objection against this way of explaining this verse. Which the LXX. have taken in the Roman edition, which runs thus: Tlie horse-leech hath three beloved daughters, and these three are never satisfied: and there is it fourth that saithnot, Jt snfiiceth. There are those w r ho compare certain vices with these fenr /. insatiable things, and not inaptly: the desire offevehge, to the grave; libidinous desires,. to the barren womb; T covetousness (or rather dmnkennes$) i to the thirsty earth; and. ambition; to the devouring fire. And it is easy to / shew, how fitly all these are resembled to the horseleech: it being the vulgar saying, That harlots (for in- - * stance) are the horse-leeches of young men, sucking all • their ihoney from them, and exhausting their bodies too.. And.thc servant in Plautus, when he was about to rob the chests of the two old men, says, " Jam ego me vertam / in hirudinem,” &c; now I will turn myself into <i horser leech, and suck out their very blood. But I forbear such things, because there are others more necessary, to be added for the understanding the rest of’ the chapter. [A] And that which next follows, ver* 17. is a reflection rupon the first generation of wicked men, (mentioned ver. * 11.) who sinned against the First commandment of tho /’ second table, (as we speak), and for their rebellion against, their parents were adjudged to death by thelkw of Moses, (Exod.:xxi.l5. 17. Lev. xx. 9. Deut. xxi.18.) And’ to t make them more detestable, their carcasses, perhaps, were thrown into some loathsome place, called the valley of •i carcasses, or dead bodies, (Jer. xxxi. 40.) and thevalley of ( crows (as Bochartus conjectures), or ravens: whom the,’ wise man here speaks of. And besides this, they who abuse, their parents, being of a villanous nature, were likely to turn rogues, and to commit robberies, murders, t treasons, or such-like horrid crimes: which would bring them to thfe gallows (as we speak), or some such infamous death. The Jews, indeed, might not suffer the bbdy i of oiic that was hanged, af^cr he had been put to death, to remain upon the gibbet, beyond the evening of that i.. day wherein haAvas..executed. But they were not forbidden to let him lie unburied, in some polluted place, when he was taken down: and in some cases, w f e find, they did let dead bodies hang a long time, as we read 2 Sam. xxi. And therefore PauluS Fagius (upon Exod. xx. 12.) expounds these words of Agur after this manner: " Disobedient children shall come to an ignominious death, and end their days by a. halter, or other punish-.flient; and so become crows’ meat." But there is no necessity of this explication. For we may conceive such a wicked pdrson to be drowned by the just judgment Of God upon him; and his body to* lie floating on " the water; or to be cast on shore, where tho ravens (who frequent the waters) come and pick out his eyes, * at which they are observed to fly, sooner than any other part. lie might perish cilsO in other countries, where the infamous punishment of the gibbet was in use; or be slain in battle; and left there to be a prey to beasts Tmd trirds. Among which the raven is tho rather mentioned, some think, becauso the young ones are so impious (as Vossitfs speaks, lib. iii. dc Idol. cap. 85.) as to fall upon the old ones and kill them,- when they are hungry (which is affirmed by 42Iiah and others), arid therefore more fitly employed to pick out the eyes of undutiful children. But I look- Upon this as having more/of faricythan solidity in it: for others, for the quite contrary reason, make the eagles here named, because they are a bird full of piety; as hath bedn observed out of Abcn Ezra, by our learned Dr. Castell, whose discourse in his speech (in Schol. Thebl; p. 31.) I shall here sbt down for the explication of one word in this versfc; wherein he differs from all others: which is Jinp 1 * This word the Hebrews interpret doctrina, and understand the verse thus: The eye that despiseth the doctrine or the lesson of his thother, &c. But there is no known root in their language from whence to derive this signification of it: and there- Tore that doctor, out of the’ neighbouring* languages, translates it Tather senium, old age: which is.most agreeable to the sense of the place. For that which is. de* spised by the eye is some corporal defect (as* crookedness, wrinkles, shaking of the head, &c. and such-like things which attend old age), not any thing “belonging to the mind. And besides (saith he) it better agrees with what follows of the eagle’s young ones picking out such an oye: for they are observed to bear a regard to their ancients, aud to have a kind of piety in them. [i] In the next words,’ (ver. 18 — 20.) he resolves another fiddle they put to him, which was this: What things are most obscure and unaccountable; though’ ordinary and common? of which I have given the best explication I could in the Paraphrase; but cannot farther explain here, without making this preface (which must necessarily be longer than ordinary, unless 1 should give no account of several things in the following verses which require explication) a great deal too’much exceed the proportion which belongs to it ■ [1c] Next to these four itiscrutable things, he subjoins four more, which are very grievous, or rather intolerable, because of their great indignity: (ver. 21 — 23.) the two first belong to. men, and the disturbance of tho commonwealth; the two last to women, and the disturbance of private families.* And there are reasons peculiar > to each: ex.gr., a. slave is intolerable when he gets’the.sceptre.into his hand (as they have done sometimes), partly because such persons, being ill-bred, generally have base principles, and arc accustomed to vile things; and grow insolent by their good fortune: partly because they are full of fears and suspicions, especially that they. are. despised and contemned; and, therefore, believing they are not loved, they will be feared, and care not what cruelties they exercise tokeep men under. Part of which •the Jews object to themselves in Schebet Judah; where they bring in a philosopher laying this to their charge, That they affecting dominion in the city of Toledo, proceeded to such boldness and sauciness, that they would openly strike Christians: which fulfilled, saith he, that of Solomon, xxx. 22. [t] The like might be said of the other three; but I shall only observe concerning the last, that there being another way of explaining it, besides that which is most obvious, I have not omitted it: because the LXX. go that way, who thus render it, Wlien a servant-maid casts her mistress out of doors. And there is a third way, which I have not mentioned, because it is not so agreeable to the words; when the mistress is not expelled, but the maid also is taken to wife and preferred in the husband’s love: as N. de Lyra takes it: examples of which we have in history, that have proved very fatal to families. But this preface, as I said, would be too long if I should name them; therefore I pass to the next. [m] Which seems to be an answer to this question, <’ Quid est magnum in minimo?” Wliat is great in little? or rather in the least? vcr. 24, fee., where he teaches us se- - veral things: first, not to admire merely bodily bulk, strength, or beauty; but rather wisdom, diligence, and sagacity, to understand and pursue our own. interest: secondly, to admire the wisdom and power of God in the smallest things: and, thirdly (as Mclancthon adds), to • reflect upon our own degenerate state, who neglect our own greatest good; nay, mind not self-preservation, but rather destroy ourselves by vice and wickedness: and,. lastly, not to refuse admonition from the brutes. Among. which, saith he, the ants teach us industry and forecast; the rabbits not to attempt any thing above our strength; ^ * the locusts, to preserve society hy industry, and not to break it by sedition and disturbance of the public’order;. and the spider, to endeavour to excel in some art or other. All of them teach us not to rely merely on strength, but to use counsel and prudence. The first and second of which reflections I find in St. Chrysostom, who discourses admirably (Horn. xii. ad pop. Antioch. p. 109.) of the wondcrfulncss of the Divine artifice, which in so small a body as that of the ant hath contrived such a perpetual desire of labour. To which, if we attend, we cannot but receive this instruction, jo) leaTaiiaXatctZtaSat, firj^l fytvyuv (Sowra kclI ttovovq* not to affect softness and delicacy, nor fly from sweat and labours. t And when the wise man sends us, saith he, to learn of,. these little creatures, he docs just as we are wont to do in families; when the greater and the better* sort have offended in any thing, we endeavour to shame them, by pointing to the little children^ saying, BX£?re tov fiitcporcpov aov, 7rwc ifrri <x7rovSa7oc ml Sizyriytpnivoc* Behold, one (fiat is a great deal less than thou, how towardly, how attentive and ready he is to do as he is bidden. vol. m. [?i]-But that word which we translate conies, ver.,26. (which are not so small a creature as Solomon here speaks of, nor.make their holes in rocks) Bochartus hath evidently proved signifies a mouse in those countries (whose hinder legs are longer than their fore legs), called by the Arabians in their language aljarbuo; whose craft I have briefly expressed in the Paraphrase. [o] In what is said of the locusts also, ver. 27. 1 have’ followed him: who observes, that to go forth, is a Scripture phrase for making war. In which the general was wont to divide the prey among the soldiers, after a victory: but the locusts, having no settled constant commander, divide among themselves. Yet I have not neglected our translation. [p] Which in the twenty-eighth verse hath forsaken the. ancient interpreters, who take semaniith not for a spider, but for a small sort of lizard; from its spots called stellio; which is accounted by all authors a very crafty creature: and to which the characters here given by Solomon do most properly belong. As the same Bochartus hath shewn at large, lib. iv. cap. 7. de Sacr. Animal. par. i. But if any have a list to understand hereby some sort of spider, they may read Coelius Secundus’s little book called Araneus: in which he represents the wonderful wisdom of God, in the structure of this small creature;’ together with its admirable agility, and cunning; both in weaving its webs and nets; and in hunting for its prey (particularly for young lizards), and in preserving itself’; and its foresensc of dangers, andofbpportunities’to catch its prey: for instance, against rainy weather; when other little creatures grow dull in their motion and in their sight. In short, he observes, that as there is nothing in appearance so mean,’ so abjeet, so small, in which the Creator of all is not to be adored, and whose usefulness is not very great; so there arc five things which are admirable in that sort of spider, which he describes: the exhausted matter which it spins out of so small a body; the wisdom of its contrivances; strength in fighting; knowledge of the future; and usefulness for medicine. [pp] And from all these four, some have noted, that an abridgment may be made of all that is necessary for the conversation of a kingdom in good estate: where, first, care must be taken for provision of food, which we learn from (he pismire; then for secure and commodious dwelling, which wc learn from the second sort of creature; and then that there be concord and agreement among domestics and citizens, which wc learn from the third; and lastly, that labour, industry/and ingenious’arts be encouraged and advanced, which we learn from the fourth. [q\ After the consideration of these four little creatures, of small strength and contemptible aspect, lie places four other which arc great, stately, and undaunted,*(ver. 29, &c.) In which there arc two considerable difficulties; one about that word in vcr. 31. which we translate a greyhound (the Vulgar a cock; though Maldonate ingeniously conjectures the true reading in St. Jerome w r as " gallicus amis, which afterward came to be corrupted into gallus), but I take rather for a horse (as our margin hath it), being a far braver and more stately creature than either of those; especially when he prances, and is managed by a rider. 2Y The other is about the last words of the same verse: which are the character he gives of a king, (who perhaps is immediately placed after the he-goat, because that creature in Scripture is an emblem of majesty, Dan. viii. 5. 21. Isa. xiv. 9. Jer. 1. 8, &e.) alkum immd, which Bochartus translates, against xvliom none of his subjects ought to rise. For though many do, yet it is so contrary to their duty, and so dangerous, that he therefore calls him Alkum, against whom none arises. So Pallas was called by the Phoenicians, Ela A Ikuina, the goddess against whom none made insurrection. And the city in Bceotia that was sacred to her (she being reputed to be bora there) was called Alaleomenas: for though it was small and built in a plain, yet it always remained untouched and inviolated, because, out of reverence to the goddess, •xavrtQ cnrdxovro 7ra<njc j3?ac (as Strabo speaks), all mm abstained from all force and violence to it. Thus he discourses in his Epist. quae Besp. ad tres Quest, p. 43. And I find he had said it before in his Phaleg. second part, lib.i. cap. 1G. where he translates melee Alcum, rex invictus, an invincible king. But there is another conjecture of a very learned man of our own, Mr. Poeoek, (Not. ad Greg. Abulfarai. p. 203.) which is so pat, that I could not omit it in my Paraphrase. For, according to the Arabic use of the word alkum (out of which language both rabbins and Christians take the liberty to expound the Hebrew words of the iBible, when they are singular), the sense is still more pregnant, and sounds thus: A king with whom his people is, or whom his people follow. For as, when there is such a happy agreement between king and people, there is nothing more comely; so then he appears with the greatest and most awful majesty, and strikes terror into all his enemies. [r] The two last verses, if we take them severed from the • foregoing, are an advice how to be happy: which Jhe whole chapter shews in effect is, to endeavour to be innocent. But because no man can be so wise as never to do a foolish thing; he seems, in conclusion, to tell what is next to that, viz. when we have miscarried any way, not to justify it; but to appease those whom we have offended, by silence: taking shame to ourselves, and not defending what we have done amiss, much less making complaints of others, &e. For (as I have expressed it in the Paraphrase, ver. last) by insisting upon our innocence, or charging others, or exaggerating faults, very great mischiefs may ensue.. But these two verses may be connected with that which precedes (though I have not been bold to do it, because interpreters go the other way); and ver. 32. may be an advice to subjects if they have offended their prince any way, and been so foolish as to oppose him, not to persist in their error; much less to defend it, and clamour upon. the government, &e. but sit down in silence, bewailing the guilt, and imploring a pardon. And then ver. 33. maybe looked upon as advice to princes, not to oppress their subjects; and thereby provoke them lo rebel against them. The Vulgar Latin seems to refer both to princes: for thus runs the sense of ver. 32. according to that translation (which I cannot indeed reconcile well with the Hebrew), It sometimes happens, that he who is advanced on high (to a throne suppose) appears to be afoot: who if he lutd understood (viz. his danger, or his folly, or what had been best for him) would have put his hand upon his mouth: that is, never have desired that dignity which, perhaps, he earnestly sought. And, though I know not how to justify this translation, it agrees well with what follows, which may well be applied unto princes, that.’ it is great folly to strain things too far. Either the laws,which if extended to the utmost rigour will, by such hard construction, become the bane of human society; or their taxes and exactions beyond what the people can bear. For by squeezing them too much, most dangerous seditions and rebellions have’ happened under excellent princes. And thus Melanethon understands the beginning of this verse, (ver. 33.) that empires and governments ought to be moderate; according to two excellent sayings of Plato and Solon; which he alleges: and then concludes that anger also ought to be repressed (according to the admonition in the lastw T ords), lest public discords arise which draw after.them vast Tuins: and ofttimes arise from light causes; which ought to have been mollified and cured by some moderation, and not exasperated into a flame. power to make it cease and blow again as he pleaseth. AncLto come lower yet, who but he hath tied up the waves of the sea,, that they should not exceed their bounds? Or, who hath fixed, the. earth (on which thou dwellest, and therefore art better acquainted withal) within such limits, as it never breaks? By what name is he called that can explain these things? or, if thou knowest, tell me the name of his son, or of his family; that, if he be dead, we may inquire of them. that falls upon it, and still thirsts for more: and the fire, which devours all the fnel that is thrown into it, and never ceases to burn, as long as there is any thing to feed it. Vcr. 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.] I will not end this; till I have pronounced the doom of the first sort of wicked men, now mentioned, (vcr. 11.) who are so ungrateful to their parents, as not only to disobey their commands, but to scorn, nay, and deride their persons; and mock at the infirmities of their old age: whose villanics shall bring them to an infamous end, and expose their dead bodies for a prey to the ravens (which frequent the brooks that run in the valleys) and to the young eagles; who shall pick out those eyes, in which their scorn and derision of their parents were wont to appear. See Arg. [K]

Proverbs 30:1

JL HE words of Agur the son ofJakeh, even the" propltecy:.the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal. Here now follow some memorable sayings of Agur, who was the son of Jakeh; out of whose works these weighty sentences were collected, which he uttered like a prophetical teacher to Ithiel, one of his most eminent scholars, and to Ucal, another of them, but especially to the former. See Arg. [a] [c]

Proverbs 30:2

Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man. Who admiring his wisdom, and desiring to be resolved in many difficulties, Agur modestly and humbly said, Do not call me wise: for I am so far from that acuteness which is natural to him who excels in wisdom, that I am stupid, in comparison with such a person; nay, I cannot arrogate to myself the understanding of a common man. See Arg. [b] [c]

Proverbs 30:3

I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. And as for improvements, which are made by the help of knowing persons, I have not had the advantages of many other men: for I was never brought up in the schools of the prophets, where I might have learned some wisdom, much less have I received the knowledge of such sacred mysteries as thou inquirest after; the most I can pretend unto is, only to know what belongs to a pious life. See Arg. [d]

Proverbs 30:4

Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound tJte waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?] But had I a greater reach, or beeu better bred, it would have been impossible for me to give an account of the works of God; much less of God himself. For where is he among all the vise men that ever went up into heaven, and camo down again to tell us the order and motion of the stars; and all the rest that is done there? Nay, who is it, that can so much as give us the least account of the wind/ but God alone? who hath it perfectly in his

Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that pi ■ their trust in him.* The most th^t any man can do for thy satisfaction, is this; to send thee to the book of God, and bid thee be content with what he hath there revealed of himself, and of his will; which in every part of it is so sincere, and free from all mixture of deceit, that thou jnayest safely rely upon it; and take his word, that he will protect and defend all those who, in obedience to his commands, trust him for what he hath promised. Ver. G. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar J] Let this suffice thee; and dp not pretend to greater acquaintance with his will, than really thou hast; by adding any thing of thy own to God’s word, and vouching it for his; which may bring thee into great danger of the severest punishments from him; for being guilty of the worst of forgeries, in counterfeiting Divine inspiration.

Proverbs 30:7

Two things have J required of thee; deny me them not before I die. And in answer to the question about prayer, (what things thou shouldest ask of God?) I have not much to say neither; for I would not have thee multiply words, but say, as I am wont to do: I humbly beg only two things of thee, O God; which I most earnestly beseech thee, I may not want, as long as I stay in this world.

Proverbs 30:8

Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me. The first is for my mind; that I may be perfectly secured from being deceived myselfby false opinions, especially concerning thee and religion; and from being any ways guilty of deceiving other men: and then, for the supply of my bodily necessities, I desire thou wouldest neither give me scarcity nor superfluity; but, if I may choose, a middle between both: making me such a competent allowance as may be sufficient to maintain me decently, in that state and condition of life wherein thou hast placed me. See Arg. [e]

Proverbs 30:9

Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. For I am sensible how great danger there is, either in having abundance of wealth, which may tempt me to be so profane and irreligious, as not only to forget the Donor of all good things, but atheistically to contemn thy worship and service; nay, insolently to profess, that I know no such thing as the Lord, nor have any thing to do with him: or in a beggarly condition, which may press me, first to be injurious unto others for my own relief; and then to run into the fearful crime of perjury, to purge myself from the charge of theft, (Exod. xxii. 8. 11.)

Proverbs 30:10

Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty. As for rules of behaviour towards others, they are generally well known;; and therefore I only admonish thee to avoid one thing (to which our nation is too prone); that is, not to abuse any poor slave, whose condition is wretched enough; and therefore, for instance, rather excuse than aggravate his fault to his master,.who perhaps is too rigorous,: and be sure never to load hyn with unjust accusations, lest, being wronged by thee, and not knowing how to right himself, he appeal to the Lord, and pray him to punish thee; and thou, being found guilty, feel the heavy effects of his vengeance. See Arg. [/]

Proverbs 30:11

There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth?tot bless their mother.* And now, to answer your inquiry, What company you should keep? there are four sorts t of men, I would have you set a mark upon, and cautiously shun. First, they that are foully ungrateful to them from whom they have received many benefits: for such a sort of men there is, who have no sense of obligations, no, not to their parents, to whom they have the greatest; but rail upon their father, nay, wish him dead; and cannot speak a good word of their mother. ^

Proverbs 30:12

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. Next to these are a sort of hypocrites; who have a great opinion of their own purity, and would be thought by others very virtuous: but hide the greatest filthiness, both in their minds and lives (which either they do not see, or will not take care to purge away), under this outward garb of holiness.

Proverbs 30:13

There is a generation, O hotv loftij are, their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted zip. There is a third sort, whose pride and arrogance is. so lofty, that it appear^ in their very countenance; and makes them superciliously overlook all other men, as if they were not worthy of the least respect from them.

Proverbs 30:14

TJiere is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. But the fourth and last sort is most mischievous, whose ravenous cruelty hath no example; unless you conceive a lion or.wolf, that hath teeth; both small and great, as sharp as swords or knives, coming with open mouth to devour every creature thatis w T eaker than themselves: such is the savage oppression of tyrants, extortioners, calumniators, &c. who have no mercy upon the poor and needy; but make their condition (which moves compassion in other men) so insufferable, that they are weary of living any longer in the world.

Proverbs 30:15

TJie horse-leech hath • two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough. And here I will satisfy one of your other questions, WJiat creature is most insatiable? I answer, the horse-leech; which sucks the blood of other creatures till it bursts: as those wicked men do the livelihood of the poor, till they ruin themselves. And in this perpetual craving more and more, without any end, there are two things so like the horse-leech, that they may be called her daughters: nay, there are three that are never satisfied; or rather four, whose desires cannot be filled. See Arg. [g]

Proverbs 30:16

The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough. They are these: death, or the grave; which having consumed so many past generations, will as greedily swallow up and consume all that are yet to come: the barren womb; which is wont to be desirous of children boyoud measure: the earth, which drinks up all the rain 2Y2

Proverbs 30:18

There be three things ivhich are too wonderful for me, yea, four, ivhich J know’ not. To your next question, my answer is, that there are three things, whose motions arc beyond my reach: nay a fourth, which is the most unaccountable of all the rest. See Arg. [i] " *

Proverbs 30:19

The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the tvay of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the tvay of a man with a maid. First, the wonderful swiftness of an eagle’s flight into the air, quite out of our sight: (xxiii.5.) secondly, the manner of a serpent’s speedy creeping, without any feet, to the top of a slippery rock: thirdly, the way that a ship makes in the sea, though it seems sometime to sink to the bottom of the water, and to mount up into the air: but above all, the slipperincss of youth, (which is more inconstant than the air, &c.) and especially the impatience and restless tossing of a young man’s mind, his ennning and sleights when he goes a wooing; and the wonderful arts he hath to slide into the heart of a maid, and win her love. Vcr. 20. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and sdith, I have done no wickedness.] And yet the subtilty of an adulterous woman is equal to this; both in crafty contrivances of secret ways to enjoy her filthy pleasures, and in casting a mist before her husband’s eyes to conceal them, when she is in danger to be discovered. For having defiled his bed, she not only looks modestly and demurely, but professes the greatest innocency; and behaves herself “as if she were the honestcst woman, and the kindest wife too, in the world; like one that having eaten some forbidden meat, wipes her mouth, and says, she has not so much as tasted it; but abhors to let it come within her lips. Vcr. 21. For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four ivhich it cannot bear.’] And to satisfy your other question, What things are most intolerable? my answer is, that three things make such a disturbance, that men groan under the load of them: nay, there arc four, which arc an insupportable grievance unto those that arc oppressed by them. See Arg. Ik]

Proverbs 30:20

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. Secondly, the mountain mice are a feeble sort of creatures also; but they have a leader to give them notice of any danger; and arc so cunning, that they provide for their safety in high rocks: into which they have several entrances and outlets; that if they be assaulted in one port, they may escape at another. See Arg. [«] Vcr. 27. The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.] Next, the locusts, which herein indeed differ from the former, that they have no king to govern them: yet go forth’ like soldiers to battle/ in good order; and whenthey frill upon the’spoil, divide it among themselves without any quarrel or contention. - See Arg. [o]

Proverbs 30:22

For a servant when he reigneth, and a fool when he is filled with meat. First, the insolent cruelty of a vile slave, when ho is advanced to a throne: secondly, the petulant rudeness of a fortunate fool; especially when he grows debauched, and is in one of his drunken fits:

Proverbs 30:23

For an odious woman when she is married, and a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. And, thirdly, a woman, whose morosencss, pride, aid passion, and suchlike ill qualities, make her hated by every body, when she gets a husband: and, lastly, a poor maid-servant, when she is puffed up by an estate, left her by her mistress; or, which is worse, that having supplanted her mistress, and thrust her, first out of her husband’s affections, and then out of doors, succeeds in her place, and becomes his wife. Sec Arg. [I] Vcr. 24. There be four things ivhich are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.] To these four intolerable things, of which all complain, 1 will add four more, that are very contemptible, but much admired: for though they have no bodily bulk, their wisdom is exceeding great, and very elaborate. Sec Arg. [m] [pp]

Proverbs 30:25

The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. First, the ants: who are a creature so infirm, that one crush of our foot kills multitudes of them, and yet so provident, as well as industrious, that they prepare granaries under ground, with wonderful art, to receive their food: which they gather and lay up in harvest-time; and secure it too, that it may serve for all the year. (See vi. 8.)

Proverbs 30:28

The spider taketliliold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces. Lastly (the spider, which weaves a curious web, or rather) the little spotted lizard, which takes fast hold even on the flat cicling of houses; and there goes (with its body hanging down into the air) in pursuit of its prey: which as it nimbly catches, so it intrudes itself to hunt for it even in kings’ palaces. See Arg. [_pj Vcr. 29. There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going.] And here, after the consideration of these four contemptible things, it will be fit to answer your last question, What things are most stately? and there arc three, or rather four things, whose motion is majestic, and go after a goodly manner. Vcr. 30. A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not aivay for any.] First the lion, when he is come to his full growth; who is the mostheroicfd and undaunted of all creatures; never turning his back for fear of tlie greatest multitude of hunters, or dogs, that set upon him.

Proverbs 30:31

A greyhound; a he-goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up. Next to him a strong and generous horse; especially when lie is girt and equipped (as we speak) for the battle: and then the he-goat, with his long beard; when he walks in pompous state before the flock: and, lastly, a prosperous king, of invincible courage; especially when he reigns in the hearts of his people, and marches at the head of an unanimous, victorious army, whom none dare rise up to oppose. See Arg. [q] j