outlines and suggestive comments.
From life being said to be in the way of righteousness, I should urge the lesson from the deeds of the hand have a reflex influence upon the state of the heart. There is life in spiritual-mindedness, and it serves to aliment this life to walk in the way of obedience.—Chalmers.
And life, in any sense, is a sweet mercy, a precious indulgence. Life natural is but a little spot of time between the two eternities, before and after, but it is of great consequence, and given us for this purpose, that glory may be begun in grace, and we have a further and further entrance into the kingdom of heaven here, as Peter saith (2 Peter i. 2). Christ hath unstinged the first death, and made of a postern to let out eternal life, a street-door to let in eternal life. Surely the bitterness of this death is past to the righteous; there is no gall in it; nay, there is honey in it, as once there was in the corpse of Samson’s dead lion. And for the second death there is no danger, for they shall pass from the jaws of death to the joys of heaven. Yet, though hell had closed her mouth upon a child of God, it would as little hold him as the whale could Jonah; it must, perforce, regurgitate such a morsel.—Trapp.
“Righteousness,” which is the very path of the righteous man, is itself eternal life. All men have a “way,” and this implies that all men have an “end.” The Psalmist had before announced (Psa. i. 6) that “the way of the ungodly shall perish;” that is, not only shall they not reach their end, but their very way shall die down and perish. They shall cease to take an interest in it. But this passage goes deeper. It says the path of righteousness is life itself, and then, contrasting them with the wicked, it says, “their way is a path,” i.e., it leads somewhere; and then implies that all other ways are “a death.” These are striking truths. Immortality is a path. It travels the ages. It begins among believers. It is itself its destiny. Impenitence is “a death.” It travels no where. The very mind of the impenitent can announce no terminus for his way-worn tread.—Miller.
Note.—It will be seen from the foregoing remarks that Miller translates the latter clause of this verse, “The way is a path, not a death.”
homily on the entire chapter.
On the true wisdom of the children of God as it ought to appear (1) In the home, under the forms of good discipline, diligence, and contentment (vers. 1–11); (2) In the State, or in the intercourse of citizens, under the forms of truthfulness, justice, and unfeigned benevolence (vers. 12–22); (3) In the Church, or in the religious life, as a progressive knowledge of God, a diligent devotion to prayer, and striving after eternal life (vers. 23–28).—Lange’s Commentary.
CHAPTER XIII.
Critical Notes.—1. Instruction, or “correction.” The Hebrew is literally, “a wise son is his father’s correction,” i.e., is the product of his father’s correction; or “heareth” may be supplied to correspond to the verb in the second clause. 2. Shall eat, in the second clause is, supplied by the English translation. Many commentaries render this clause “the delight of the ungodly is violence.” So Zöckler and Delitzsch. Mill translates the verse, “Out of the fair earnings of the mouth of a man a good man will get his foot; but the appetite of the faithless out of robbery.” 4. Fat, i.e., abundantly satisfied. 5. Lying, rather “deceit.” Stuart renders it “a false report.” Zöckler translates the latter clause of this verse, “the ungodly acts basely and shamefully.” The translations of Stuart and Delitzsch are nearly the same. Miller reads the whole verse, “A deceiving business hates the righteous man, but also shames and disgraces the wicked.” 6. Sinner, literally “sin,” hence Miller reads “wickedness subverts the sin-offering,” and Zöckler “wickedness plungeth into sin.” 7. Maketh, or “showeth.” 8. The latter clause of this is very obscure, but rebuke is generally translated “threatening,” and is understood to mean that no threatening can gain anything from the poor as they have nothing to lose. Stuart understands it that “notwithstanding the obvious advantage of wealth, yet the poor man will not listen to those who rebuke him for sloth and wastefulness which have made him poor. The supposition on this ground is that the man is poor by his own fault.” 9. Rejoiceth, “burns brightly.” The words light and lamp are regarded by most modern commentators as synonymous. 10. This may read “Only by pride cometh contention,” or “by pride cometh only (nothing but) contention.” 11. Vanity, rather “fraud.” By labour, literally, “by the hand,” or “handful after handful.” 12. Latter clause, “a desire accomplished is a tree of life.” 13. Shall be destroyed, rather “is bound,” or “is in bonds to it.” Rewarded, “be at peace.” 14. Law, rather “doctrine,” “instruction.” 15. Good understanding, rather “discretion.” Hard, “stony,” “uncultivated.” This is the generally received rendering, but the word often signifies “perpetual.” Miller says “We find it in thirteen places, and in every one of them it means perpetual.” “Strong or perpetual is thy dwelling-place” (Num. xxiv. 21). “Mighty rivers” are perpetual, or perennial rivers (Psa. lxxiv. 17). “Mighty nation” (Jer. v. 15) corresponds with the next expression, “ancient nation,” and is to be rendered “perpetual” (or permanent). Umbreit translates it “a standing bog” or “marsh.” 16. Dealing with knowledge, i.e., acteth with foresight. Layeth open, rather “spreadeth abroad.” Delitzsch says, “There lies in the word something derisive; as the merchant unrolls and spreads out his wares in order to commend them, so the fool deals with his folly.” 19. Literally “quickened desire,” “a desire that has come to be.” Zöckler and Miller say this cannot be designed to express “appeased desire,” but Delitzsch renders it “satisfied desire,” and Stuart agrees with him. The latter connects the second clause of the verse with the former, thus, “Yet it is an abomination for fools to depart from evil, therefore, they cannot be satisfied”; while Delitzsch understands it to mean, “Because satisfied desire is sweet to the fool and his desires are evil, therefore he will not depart from evil.” 23. “Tillage,” rather “fallow ground” or “a new field,” land which requires hard labour.