24 There is H3426 that scattereth, H6340 and yet increaseth; H3254 and there is that withholdeth H2820 more than is meet, H3476 but it tendeth to poverty. H4270
25 The liberal H1293 soul H5315 shall be made fat: H1878 and he that watereth H7301 shall be watered H3384 also himself.
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.