11 By the blessing of the upright man the town is made great, but it is overturned by the mouth of the evil-doer.
Men of pride are the cause of violent acts in a town, but by wise men wrath is turned away.
By righteousness a nation is lifted up, but sin is a cause of shame to the peoples.
Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God? And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Seeing that God has made all this clear to you, there is no other man of such wisdom and good sense as you: You, then, are to be over my house, and all my people will be ruled by your word: only as king will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he had him clothed with the best linen, and put a chain of gold round his neck;
So now it was not you who sent me here, but God: and he has made me as a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Now by chance there was present a good-for-nothing person named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he, sounding the horn, said, We have no part in David, or any interest in the son of Jesse: let every man go to his tent, O Israel.
And Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, made prayer because of this, crying out to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel who put to death all the men of war and the chiefs and the captains in the army of the king of Assyria. So he went back to his country in shame. And when he came into the house of his god, his sons, the offspring of his body, put him to death there with the sword. So the Lord gave Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem salvation from the power of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and from all others, giving them rest on every side.
And Haman said to King Ahasuerus, There is a certain nation living here and there in small groups among the people in all the divisions of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of any other nation, and they do not keep the king's laws: for this reason it is not right for the king to let them be. If it is the king's pleasure, let a statement ordering their destruction be put in writing: and I will give to those responsible for the king's business, ten thousand talents of silver for the king's store-house. And the king took his ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the hater of the Jews. And the king said to Haman, The money is yours, and the people, to do with them whatever seems right to you. Then on the thirteenth day of the first month, the king's scribes were sent for, and they put in writing Haman's orders to all the king's captains and the rulers of every division of his kingdom and the chiefs of every people: for every division of the kingdom in the writing commonly used there, and to every people in the language which was theirs; it was signed in the name of King Ahasuerus and stamped with the king's ring. And letters were sent by the runners into every division of the kingdom ordering the death and destruction of all Jews, young and old, little children and women, on the same day, even the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar, and the taking of all their goods by force. A copy of the writing, to be made public in every part of the kingdom, was sent out to all the peoples, so that they might be ready when that day came. The runners went out quickly by the king's order, and a public statement was made in Shushan: and the king and Haman took wine together: but the town of Shushan was troubled.
Now on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, when the time came for the king's order to be put into effect, on the very day when the haters of the Jews had been hoping to have rule over them; though the opposite had come about, and the Jews had rule over their haters; On that day, the Jews came together in their towns through all the divisions of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, for the purpose of attacking all those who were attempting evil against them: and everyone had to give way before them, for the fear of them had come on all the peoples. And all the chiefs and the captains and the rulers and those who did the king's business gave support to the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai had come on them. For Mordecai was great in the king's house, and word of him went out through every part of the kingdom: for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. So the Jews overcame all their attackers with the sword and with death and destruction, and did to their haters whatever they had a desire to do. And in Shushan the Jews put to death five hundred men. They put to death Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the hater of the Jews; but they put not a hand on any of their goods. On that day the number of those who had been put to death in the town of Shushan was given to the king. And the king said to Esther the queen, The Jews have put five hundred men to death in Shushan, as well as the ten sons of Haman: what then have they done in the rest of the kingdom! Now what is your prayer? for it will be given to you; what other request have you? and it will be done. Then Esther said, If it is the king's pleasure, let authority be given to the Jews in Shushan to do tomorrow as has been done today, and let orders be given for the hanging of Haman's ten sons. And the king said that this was to be done, and the order was given out in Shushan, and the hanging of Haman's ten sons was effected. For the Jews who were in Shushan came together again on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and put to death three hundred men in Shushan; but they put not a hand on their goods. And the other Jews in every division of the kingdom came together, fighting for their lives, and got salvation from their haters and put seventy-five thousand of them to death; but they did not put a hand on their goods.
Now there was in the town a poor, wise man, and he, by his wisdom, kept the town safe. But no one had any memory of that same poor man.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 11
Commentary on Proverbs 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
Pro 11:1
As religion towards God is a branch of universal righteousness (he is not an honest man that is not devout), so righteousness towards men is a branch of true religion, for he is not a godly man that is not honest, nor can he expect that his devotion should be accepted; for,
Pro 11:2
Observe,
Pro 11:3
It is not only promised that God will guide the upright, and threatened that he will destroy the transgressors, but, that we may be the more fully assured of both, it is here represented as if the nature of the thing were such on both sides that it would do it itself.
Pro 11:4
Note,
Pro 11:5-6
These two verses are, in effect, the same, and both to the same purport with v. 3. For the truths are here of such certainty and weight that they cannot be too often inculcated. Let us govern ourselves by these principles.
The ways of wickedness are dangerous and destructive: The wicked shall fail into misery and ruin by their own wickedness, and be taken in their own naughtiness as in a snare. O Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself. Their sin will be their punishment; that very thing by which they contrived to shelter themselves will make against them.
Pro 11:7
Note,
Pro 11:8
As always in death, so sometimes in life, the righteous are remarkably favoured and the wicked crossed.
Pro 11:9
Here is,
Pro 11:10-11
It is here observed,
Pro 11:12-13
Pro 11:14
Here is,
Pro 11:15
Here we are taught,
Pro 11:16
Here,
Pro 11:17
It is a common principle, Every one for himself. Proximus egomet mihi-None so near to me as myself. Now, if this be rightly understood, it will be a reason for the cherishing of gracious dispositions in ourselves and the crucifying of corrupt ones. We are friends or enemies to ourselves, even in respect of present comfort, according as we are or are not governed by religious principles.
Pro 11:18
Note,
Pro 11:19
It is here shown that righteousness, not only by the divine judgment, will end in life, and wickedness in death, but that righteousness, in its own nature, has a direct tendency to life and wickedness to death.
Pro 11:20
It concerns us to know what God hates and what he loves, that we may govern ourselves accordingly, may avoid his displeasure and recommend ourselves to his favour. Now here we are told,
Pro 11:21
Observe,
Pro 11:22
By discretion here we must understand religion and grace, a true taste and relish (so the word signifies) of the honours and pleasures that attend an unspotted virtue; so that a woman without discretion is a woman of a loose and dissolute conversation; and then observe,
Pro 11:23
This tells us what the desire and expectation of the righteous and of the wicked are and how they will prove, what they would have and what they shall have.
Pro 11:24
Note,
Pro 11:25
So backward we are to works of charity, and so ready to think that giving undoes us, that we need to have it very much pressed upon us how much it is for our own advantage to do good to others, as before, v. 17.
Pro 11:26
See here,
Pro 11:27
Observe,
Pro 11:28
Observe,
Pro 11:29
Two extremes in the management of family-affairs are here condemned and the ill consequences of them foretold:-
Pro 11:30
This shows what great blessings good men are, especially those that are eminently wise, to the places where they live, and therefore how much to be valued.
Pro 11:31
This, I think, is the only one of Solomon's proverbs that has that note of attention prefixed to it, Behold! which intimates that it contains not only an evident truth, which may be beheld, but an eminent truth, which must be considered.