How, what, when, to whom to speak, is a matter of great wisdom. Yet this consideration of acceptableness must involve no sacrifice of principle. Let it be a considerate accommodation of mode to the diversities of tastes; a forbearance with lesser prejudices and constitutional infirmities; avoiding not all offences (which faithfulness to our Divine Master forbids), but all needless offences, all uncalled-for occasions of design and irritation. “The meekness of wisdom” should be clearly manifested in Christian faithfulness (Jas. iii. 13). Thus Gideon melted the frowardness of the men of Ephraim (Judg. viii. 2, 3). Abigail restrained David’s hands from blood (1 Sam. xxv. 23, 33). Daniel stood fearless before the mighty monarch of Babylon (Dan. iv. 27). Their lips knew what was acceptable, and their God honoured them.—Bridges.
Homily on the entire Chapter. The pious and ungodly compared in respect—1. To their earthly good; 2. To their worth in the eyes of men; 3. To their outward demeanour in intercourse with others; 4. To their disposition of heart as this appears in their mien, their words, their acts; 5. To their diverse fruits, that which they produce in their moral influence upon others; 6. To their different fates as awarded to them at last in the retribution of eternity.—Lange’s Commentary.
CHAPTER XI.
Critical Notes.—1. Just weight, literally, “a stone of completeness, a full stone.” Stone was a very ancient material for weight; not rusting, it was not changeable. 2. Literally, “there hath come pride, there will come shame.” Stuart reads, “Does pride come, then shame will come.” 3. Guide, “lead” “as a shepherd his sheep, and therefore in the path of safety and peace” (Stuart). Perverseness, “slipperiness,” “falseness.” Destroy. An intensive word in the Hebrew, “to lay hold of them with violent force” (Stuart). 5. Direct, “make smooth or even.” 6. Naughtiness, “cravings,” “desires,” “covetousness.” 7. His and men are not in the original, and the verse is variously rendered. Stuart reads, “When the wicked die, all the hopes perish; and when they are afflicted, their expectation of recovery or alleviation will be frustrated.” Zöckler—“With the death of the wicked hope cometh to nought, and the unjust expectation has perished.” Miller—“By the death of a wicked man hope is lost, and the expectation of sorrowing ones is lost already.” 9. Zöckler here reads, “The hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour, but by the knowledge of the righteous shall they (the neighbours) be delivered.” 12. Void of wisdom, literally, “of heart.” Zöckler inverts the phrase, “He that speaks contemptuously of his neighbour lacketh wisdom.” 13. “He who goeth about as a slanderer.” 14. Counsel, literally, “pilotage,” “steersmanship.” 15. Suretyship, literally “striking hands.” See notes and Illustrations on chap. [vi. 1]. Stuart translates this verse, “An evil man showeth himself as evil when he giveth pledge to a stranger,” i.e., by hastily pledging himself and then not redeeming his pledge. 16. Last clause “as strong men retain,” or “grasp at riches.” 17. Or, “He who doeth good to himself is a merciful man, but he who troubleth his own flesh is cruel.” So Stuart and Miller, Zöckler and Delitzsch read as the Authorised Version. 18. “The wicked gaineth a deceptive result, but he that soweth righteousness a sure reward” (Zöckler). 21. The Hebrew here is simply “hand to hand, the wicked,” etc. Zöckler and Delitzsch understand it as a formula of strong asservation derived from the custom of becoming surety by clasping hands, and hence equivalent to “assuredly,” “verily,” “I pledge it.” Stuart says, “Different meanings have been assigned. 1. Hand against hand, i.e., the injurious man. 2. From one hand to another, i.e., from one generation to another. 3. Joining hands in way of assurance—“verily.” All these are little better than guesses. The phrase is evidently proverbial and doubtless abridged. The most simple interpretation is that of Michael, “Hand joined to hand will not protect the guilty. Let the evil man struggle with all his might he will not escape.” 23. Wrath, i.e., God’s wrath (Zöckler). 25. Liberal soul, “the soul of blessing,” i.e., “the soul that blesses others.” 27. Procureth, rather “seeketh.” Favour, i.e., God’s favour. So it is generally understood. But Delitzsch reads “He who striveth after good, seeketh that which is pleasing,” i.e., that which pleaseth or doeth good to others. 28. Branch, rather, “a green leaf.” 30. Or, “the wise man winneth” or “taketh” souls. 31. Miller transposes this verse and reads, “Behold the righteous on earth shall be recompensed,” etc. On earth may be placed either with “the righteous,” or with “recompensed.”
main homiletics of verse 1.
Just Weight.
The judgment on a false weight is a two-fold revelation.
I. It reveals the existence of a true standard. We only know what is false by knowing what is true. If a mason looks at a stone and declares that it is uneven, he declares at the same time that there is such a thing as an even stone, or that there is a possibility of making a stone perfectly level and square. He reveals his knowledge of what is even by passing judgment upon what is uneven. When a judge declares that a man has not fulfilled the requirements of the law, he thereby proclaims the existence of a law which ought to have been, and might have been obeyed. As Paul tells us, “Sin is not imputed where there is no law” (Rom. v. 13). And if a weight is condemned as false, the condemnation implies that there is a certain standard of weight which ought to have been reached. God, who here tells men that He abominates a false balance, declared by His condemnation of it that there is such a thing as a true weight: that there is that which He recognises as justice between man and man. And much that men call “a full stone,” a “fair day’s wages,” is not so regarded by God. It is not dealing truly with a man to give him the smallest possible amount for the work he does—to take advantage of his poverty or ignorance to beat him down to the lowest sum for which his need will induce him to give his labour, and thereby condemn him to all the evils of insufficient means. “Behold!” says Carlyle, “supply and demand is not the one law of Nature; cash payment is not the sole nexus of man with man,—how far from it! Deep, far deeper than supply and demand are laws, obligations sacred as man’s life itself!” This is the law of the Divine kingdom: “All things whatsoever ye would that man should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matt. vii. 12). Less than this is a “false balance,” this is the “full stone,” which is God’s “delight.”
II. It reveals the character of God. If a man declares that certain actions are displeasing to him, the declaration reveals his character: if the actions that he hates are wicked in themselves and hurtful to men, his hatred of them proclaims his own righteousness and benevolence. That God is a hater of false weights and measures in every sense and of every kind proclaims Him to be a God of mercy and truth, a Ruler who will Himself “not pervert judgment,” who “will not lay upon man more than right,” but who will “give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings” (Job xxxiv. 12, 13; Jer. xxxii. 19). And the text likewise proclaims God’s notice of what men sometimes call little things. The farthing kept back from the child, and the ounce taken from the pound, are as much marked by Him as the short wages given to the man, the unjust sentence passed upon the prisoner. Dr. Guthrie says “God sees the water in the milk, and the sand in the sugar.” There are no great and small transactions in a moral sense, one action contains the sin as much as another.