22 The blessing of Jehovah, it maketh rich; And he addeth no sorrow therewith.
And Jehovah hath blessed my master greatly. And he is become great. And he hath given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and men-servants and maid-servants, and camels and asses.
He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; And he suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
An inheritance `may be' gotten hastily at the beginning; But the end thereof shall not be blessed.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, And lifteth up the needy from the dunghill; That he may set him with princes, Even with the princes of his people.
and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make they name great; and be thou a blessing;
Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and that ladeth himself with pledges! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booty unto them? Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city and to all that dwell therein. Woe to him that getteth an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil! Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity!
Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your treasure in the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived delicately on the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.
I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
For what is the hope of the godless, though he get him gain, When God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry, When trouble cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the Almighty, And call upon God at all times? I will teach you concerning the hand of God; That which is with the Almighty will I not conceal. Behold, all ye yourselves have seen it; Why then are ye become altogether vain? This is the portion of a wicked man with God, And the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty: If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread. Those that remain of him shall be buried in death, And his widows shall make no lamentation. Though he heap up silver as the dust, And prepare raiment as the clay; He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, And the innocent shall divide the silver. He buildeth his house as the moth, And as a booth which the keeper maketh. He lieth down rich, but he shall not be gathered `to his fathers'; He openeth his eyes, and he is not. Terrors overtake him like waters; A tempest stealeth him away in the night. The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth; And it sweepeth him out of his place. For `God' shall hurl at him, and not spare: He would fain flee out of his hand. Men shall clap their hands at him, And shall hiss him out of his place.
And he said unto him, Went not my heart `with thee', when the man turned from his chariot to meet thee? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and men-servants and maid-servants? The leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee, and unto thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence a leper `as white' as snow.
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Hast thou killed and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
Jehovah maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, he also lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, He lifteth up the needy from the dunghill, To make them sit with princes, And inherit the throne of glory: For the pillars of the earth are Jehovah's, And he hath set the world upon them.
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted thing; for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the devoted thing: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the children of Israel. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el, and spake unto them, saying, Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him, Let not all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people to toil thither; for they are but few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men: and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men; and they chased them `from' before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them at the descent; and the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of Jehovah until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord Jehovah, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over the Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? would that we had been content and dwelt beyond the Jordan! Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will compass us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do for thy great name? And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face? Israel hath sinned; yea, they have even transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: yea, they have even taken of the devoted thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also; and they have even put it among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies; they turn their backs before their enemies, because they are become accursed: I will not be with you any more, except ye destroy the devoted thing from among you. Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, There is a devoted thing in the midst of thee, O Israel; thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the devoted thing from among you. In the morning therefore ye shall be brought near by your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which Jehovah taketh shall come near by families; and the family which Jehovah shall take shall come near by households; and the household which Jehovah shall take shall come near man by man. And it shall be, that he that is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath; because he hath transgressed the covenant of Jehovah, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel near by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken: and he brought near the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zerahites: and he brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man; and Zabdi was taken: and he brought near his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to Jehovah, the God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Of a truth I have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: when I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonish mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it. And they took them from the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel; and they laid them down before Jehovah. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them up unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? Jehovah shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones; and they burned them with fire, and stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones, unto this day; and Jehovah turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so would ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.
that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
and `lest' thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as at this day.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Proverbs 10
Commentary on Proverbs 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Pr 10:1-32. Here begins the second part of the book, Pr 10:1-22:16, which, with the third, Pr 22:16-25:28, contains series of proverbs whose sense is complete in one or two verses, and which, having no logical connection, admit of no analysis. The parallelisms of Pr 10:1-15:33 are mostly antithetic; and those of Pr 16:1-22:16, synthetic. The evidences of art in the structure are very clear, and indicate, probably, a purpose of facilitating the labor of memorizing.
1. wise [and] foolish—as they follow or reject the precepts of wisdom.
maketh … father—or, "gladdens a father."
heaviness—or, "grief."
2. Treasures … nothing—that is, Ill-gotten gains give no true happiness (compare Pr 4:17; Mt 6:19).
righteousness—especially beneficence (Ps 112:9).
death—the greatest of all evils.
3. (Compare Ps 37:16-20). The last clause is better: "He will repel the greedy desires of the wicked."
4. slack—literally, "deceitful," failing of its purpose (compare Ho 7:16).
maketh rich—(compare Pr 10:22).
5. son—as Pr 1:8, 10, and often.
sleepeth—in indolence, and not for rest.
causeth shame—literally, "is base" (compare Pr 14:35; 17:2).
6. Blessings—literally, "Praises." The last clause is better: "The mouth of the wicked covereth (or concealeth) violence (or mischievous devices)" to be executed in due time (Ps 5:9; 10:7; Ro 3:14), and hence has no praises (compare Pr 10:11).
7. blessed—literally, "for a blessing," or praise.
shall rot—literally, "be worm-eaten," useless and disgusting.
8. wise, &c.—(compare Pr 9:8, 9, 16), opposed to
prating fool—or, "fool of lips of wicked language."
fall—headlong, suddenly.
9. perverteth his ways—acts deceitfully.
known—discovered and punished.
10. Two vices contrasted; hypocrisy, or insinuating evil against one (Pr 6:13; Ps 35:19), and rashness of speech. In each case, the results are on the evildoers.
11. a well—or, "source" of good to himself and others (Joh 7:37, 38). On last clause, see on Pr 10:6.
12. strifes—or, "litigations."
covereth—by forgiveness and forbearance.
13. In the lips … found—hence, not beaten, as the wicked-speaking fool.
void of understanding—(Pr 6:32; 7:7).
14. lay up knowledge—that is, as treasures for good use.
mouth … destruction—or, "as to the mouth," &c., destruction is near; they expose themselves to evil by prating.
15. Both by trusting in "uncertain riches" (1Ti 6:17), or by the evils of poverty (Pr 30:9), men, not fearing God, fall into dangers.
16. The industry of the righteous is alone truly successful, while the earnings of the wicked tempt and lead to sin.
17. keepeth—observes (Pr 3:18; 4:22).
refuseth—or, "turns from reproof," which might direct him aright.
18. Both vices must one day be known and punished, and hence their folly.
19. Much speech involves risk of sin; hence the wisdom of restraining the tongue (Ps 39:1; Jas 1:26).
20. Right speech is the fruit of a good heart, but the wicked show theirs to be useless.
21. Fools not only fail to benefit others, as do the righteous, but procure their own ruin (compare Pr 10:11, 17; Ho 4:6).
22. it maketh, &c.—"it" is emphatic. Riches from God are without the sorrow of ill-gotten wealth (compare Ec 2:21-23; 1Ti 6:9, 10, 17).
23. Sin is the pleasure of the wicked; wisdom that of the good.
24. it—the very thing. The wicked get dreaded evil; the righteous, desired good.
25. (Compare Ps 1:4; 37:9, 10, 36).
righteous … foundation—well laid and firm (Mt 7:24, 25).
26. that is, causes vexation.
27. (Compare Pr 9:11; Ps 55:23).
28. gladness—in confidence of realizing it.
expectation … perish—in disappointment.
29. The way, &c.—that is, God's providence sustains the righteous and overthrows the wicked (Ho 14:9).
30. (Compare Pr 12:3; Ps 37:9-11; 102:28).
earth—or, "land of promise."
31. bringeth forth—literally, "germinates" as a plant.
froward—(Compare Pr 2:12, 14).
cut off—as an unproductive plant.
32. know—regard and provide for (Ps 1:6).
frowardness—all kinds of deceit and ill-nature. The word is plural.