CHAPTER XXIV.
Critical Notes.—5. A man of knowledge, rather “a man of understanding,” increaseth strength, literally “maketh power strong.” Miller translates the entire verse thus:—“A strong man, if wise, is as a power indeed; and a man of knowledge makes strength really strong.” 7. Wisdom is too high, etc. Delitzsch here reads, Wisdom seems to the fool to be an ornamental commodity, and thinks “the comparison lies in the rarity, costliness, and unattainableness of wisdom.” “The word,” says Miller, “occurs but three times in the Bible; once in Job xxviii. 18, translated coral; once in Ezekiel xxvii. 16, translated coral and agate; and once in this passage, where it ought to be translated coral again.” Some, from this rendering, understand the verse to signify that a fool uses wisdom like a precious stone, only for ornament. 8. Mischievous person, literally a master or lord of mischief. 9. The thought, etc., rather, “the device or undertaking.” 10. If thou faint, etc., rather “If thou hast been straitened in the day of straitness, strait is thy strength.” 11. Literally, “Deliver them who are dragged forth unto death, and them that totter to the slaughter, oh, rescue them.” 12. He that pondereth, literally, the Weigher of hearts. He that keepeth, rather “watcheth.” 14. There shall be a reward, rather, “there is a future,” as in chap. xxiii. 18. 16. The wicked shall fall. Delitzsch reads, “the wicked are overthrown when calamity falls on them,” i.e., they do not rise again and again as the just man does. 20. Reward. The same word used in verse 14, and in chap. xxiii. 18. Its literal meaning is “a hereafter.” Zöckler translates it end in the first two instances, but in this case he reads future. Delitzsch and Miller render it hereafter or future in every verse. 21. Given to change, literally otherwise disposed, or, according to Miller, repeaters, turners back. 22. The ruin of them both, etc. This phrase is variously rendered, and different meanings are also attached to the same rendering. Delitzsch follows the Syriac version, and reads, “the end of their years, who knoweth it?” But Zöckler adapts the reading of the Authorised Version, which is supported by the Vulgate, by Luther, Ewald, Elster, and others. Some understand the word both to refer to those who rebel against God, and those who rebel against the king (so Zöckler), while others apply it to God and the king, and the ruin foretold as that proceeding from them. Here begins a short appendix to the third main division of the book of Proverbs, the first clause of verse 33 being its superscription, which is almost in the same words as that which introduces the division itself. (See chap. xxii. 17.) It extends only to the end of the chapter, and consists of maxims which have no apparent connection with each other. 23. These things also belong to the wise. Rather “These (the proverbs which follow) are also from wise men.” The word also connects this introduction with that in chap. xxii. 17. 25. To them that rebuke, etc. The word him is not in the original, and spoils the sense. If this rendering of the verb is accepted, iniquity must be understood to be the subject of rebuke. Delitzsch however reads, “To them who rightly decide,” and Miller renders, “To them that set the thing right.” 26. A right answer, i.e., a faithful, straightforward answer. “The word comes,” says Miller, “from a verb meaning to be in front.” “The mention of the lips,” Zöckler remarks, “is to be explained simply by the remembrance of the question to which the upright and truthful answer corresponds.” 27. House. This word may mean here as it does in Exod. i. 21, Ruth iv. 11, 2 Sam. vii. 27, etc., the family—the household interests.
main homiletics of the paragraph.—Verses 1–6.
House Building.
I. An undertaking founded upon wickedness lacks the first element of stability. A house built upon a sandy foundation, we all know, does not possess the first requisite of safety. It is useless to erect any building for fine weather purposes only—if it is not able to stand a storm all the labour expended upon it is lost. Those places are very few where the tempest does not come sometimes, and even if we could find so favoured a spot, a sandy foundation would not be a permanent one. The ordinary play of the elements and the changes of the seasons would be ever at work upon the loose and shifting soil, and in time the house must fall. So it is with any work undertaken with an evil purpose or from wicked motives. There are laws at work in God’s universe which will forbid such a building to remain long in existence. It is very easy work to lay the stones in the sand—much more easy than to hew out a place for them in the solid rock—and the apparently rapid success of evil men and evil deeds tempts many an unwise builder to work after their method. But the experience of the Psalmist is repeated in every age and must be to the end of time: “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not; yea, I sought him, but he could not be found” (Psalm xxxvii. 35, 36).
II. True wisdom consists in patient continuance in well-doing. In this passage, as throughout the entire Book of Proverbs, wisdom is set up as the rival of evil, and sin is accounted as the height of folly. The wise man accounts everything foolishness which is against the moral law of the universe, and the good man in his estimation the only wise man. That this is a just and true estimate is apparent to all who look a little beneath the surface of things—to all who realise that it is one thing to seem and another thing to be. The mansion upon the sand-bank appears to be a more desirable dwelling place than the cottage upon the rock, but time will prove which is the safer of the two. But permanence or safety are not the only recommendations to the home of wisdom. There is a satisfaction and a positive joy to be found in doing the right to which the evil-doer is a stranger. To be on the right side of the good is to be on the side of God and of conscience, to know from experience that all the moral powers of the soul grow stronger with use, and such experimental knowledge fills the chambers of the soul “with all precious and pleasant riches” (verse 4). These considerations ought to make it easy to obey Solomon’s precept: “Be not envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.” The mariner on even a stormy sea would not envy the dweller in the lighthouse if he knew that the waves were rapidly undermining its foundation and rendering its speedy fall certain, and to envy a man a short-lived prosperity which must have a sad end is as contrary to the dictates of reason and self-love. A consideration of their “end” (Psalm lxxiii. 17) is a good preservative against such an envy, and has been tried by many men since the days of Asaph with the same success. But without bringing the future into the present, envy of the wicked may be effectually prevented if we can realise their present loss. The inhabitant of the dwelling filled with materials to satisfy his bodily and mental appetites and wants does not envy him whose house is destitute of such comforts. Yet that would be more reasonable than for him who has the opportunity of rearing for himself a well-furnished house of wisdom—of building a character which shall be in itself a source of satisfaction and joy to his better nature—to desire the empty and unsatisfying portion of evil doers.
For Homiletics on verse 6 considered by itself see on chap. [xi. 14], page 214, and on chap. [xx. 18], page 590.
outlines and suggestive comments.
Verse 1. Sin is like sound, and it finds the moral nature of fallen man, like the atmosphere, a good conducting medium. The word or deed of evil does not terminate where it is produced. It radiates all round; and beside the direct propagation from a centre by diverging lines, it further reduplicates itself by rebounding like an echo from every object upon which it falls. Human beings may well stand in awe when they consider the self-propagating power of sin, and the facilities which their own corruption affords it. Different persons are affected in different ways. One is shaken by the example of wickedness in its first out-go, another by its rebounding blow. One is carried away in the stream, another hurts himself by his violent efforts to resist it. Some imitate the sin. Others fret against the sinner. Both classes do evil and suffer injury. Whether you be impatiently “envious against evil men,” or weakly “desirous to be with them,” you have sustained damage by the contact.—Arnot.