3 Jehovah causeth not the soul of the righteous to hunger, And the desire of the wicked He thrusteth away.
Young I have been, I have also become old, And I have not seen the righteous forsaken, And his seed seeking bread.
Fear Jehovah, ye His holy ones, For there is no lack to those fearing Him. Young lions have lacked and been hungry, And those seeking Jehovah lack not any good,
`And if the herb of the field, that to-day is, and to-morrow is cast to the furnace, God doth so clothe -- not much more you, O ye of little faith? therefore ye may not be anxious, saying, What may we eat? or, What may we drink? or, What may we put round? for all these do the nations seek for, for your heavenly Father doth know that ye have need of all these; but seek ye first the reign of God and His righteousness, and all these shall be added to you.
In his wickedness is the wicked driven away, And trustful in his death `is' the righteous.
Without covetousness the behaviour, being content with the things present, for He hath said, `No, I will not leave, no, nor forsake thee,' so that we do boldly say, `The Lord `is' to me a helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.'
And he said unto his disciples, `Because of this, to you I say, Be not anxious for your life, what ye may eat; nor for the body, what ye may put on; the life is more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing. `Consider the ravens, that they sow not, nor reap, to which there is no barn nor storehouse, and God doth nourish them; how much better are ye than the fowls?
Even their silver, even their gold, Is not able to deliver them in a day of the wrath of Jehovah, And in the fire of His jealousy consumed is the whole land, For only a hastened end doth He make Of all the inhabitants of the land!
Do not these -- all of them -- against him a simile taken up, And a moral of acute sayings for him, And say, Wo `to' him who is multiplying `what is' not his? Till when also is he multiplying to himself heavy pledges? Do not thy usurers instantly rise up, And those shaking thee awake up, And thou hast been for a spoil to them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, Spoil thee do all the remnant of the peoples, Because of man's blood, and of violence `to' the land, `To' the city, and `to' all dwelling in it.
He high places doth inhabit, Strongholds of rock `are' his high tower, His bread hath been given, his waters stedfast.
In famine He hath redeemed thee from death, And in battle from the hands of the sword.
They are not ashamed in a time of evil, And in days of famine they are satisfied.
Trust in Jehovah, and do good, Dwell `in' the land, and enjoy faithfulness,
Thou hast seen, For Thou perverseness and anger beholdest; By giving into Thy hand, On Thee doth the afflicted leave `it', Of the fatherless Thou hast been an helper.
Remove doth the increase of his house, Poured forth in a day of His anger.
That the singing of the wicked `is' short, And the joy of the profane for a moment, Though his excellency go up to the heavens, And his head against a cloud he strike -- As his own dung for ever he doth perish, His beholders say: `Where `is' he?' As a dream he fleeth, and they find him not, And he is driven away as a vision of the night,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Proverbs 10
Commentary on Proverbs 10 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 10
Pr 10:1-32. Here begins the second part of the book, Pr 10:1-22:16, which, with the third, Pr 22:16-25:28, contains series of proverbs whose sense is complete in one or two verses, and which, having no logical connection, admit of no analysis. The parallelisms of Pr 10:1-15:33 are mostly antithetic; and those of Pr 16:1-22:16, synthetic. The evidences of art in the structure are very clear, and indicate, probably, a purpose of facilitating the labor of memorizing.
1. wise [and] foolish—as they follow or reject the precepts of wisdom.
maketh … father—or, "gladdens a father."
heaviness—or, "grief."
2. Treasures … nothing—that is, Ill-gotten gains give no true happiness (compare Pr 4:17; Mt 6:19).
righteousness—especially beneficence (Ps 112:9).
death—the greatest of all evils.
3. (Compare Ps 37:16-20). The last clause is better: "He will repel the greedy desires of the wicked."
4. slack—literally, "deceitful," failing of its purpose (compare Ho 7:16).
maketh rich—(compare Pr 10:22).
5. son—as Pr 1:8, 10, and often.
sleepeth—in indolence, and not for rest.
causeth shame—literally, "is base" (compare Pr 14:35; 17:2).
6. Blessings—literally, "Praises." The last clause is better: "The mouth of the wicked covereth (or concealeth) violence (or mischievous devices)" to be executed in due time (Ps 5:9; 10:7; Ro 3:14), and hence has no praises (compare Pr 10:11).
7. blessed—literally, "for a blessing," or praise.
shall rot—literally, "be worm-eaten," useless and disgusting.
8. wise, &c.—(compare Pr 9:8, 9, 16), opposed to
prating fool—or, "fool of lips of wicked language."
fall—headlong, suddenly.
9. perverteth his ways—acts deceitfully.
known—discovered and punished.
10. Two vices contrasted; hypocrisy, or insinuating evil against one (Pr 6:13; Ps 35:19), and rashness of speech. In each case, the results are on the evildoers.
11. a well—or, "source" of good to himself and others (Joh 7:37, 38). On last clause, see on Pr 10:6.
12. strifes—or, "litigations."
covereth—by forgiveness and forbearance.
13. In the lips … found—hence, not beaten, as the wicked-speaking fool.
void of understanding—(Pr 6:32; 7:7).
14. lay up knowledge—that is, as treasures for good use.
mouth … destruction—or, "as to the mouth," &c., destruction is near; they expose themselves to evil by prating.
15. Both by trusting in "uncertain riches" (1Ti 6:17), or by the evils of poverty (Pr 30:9), men, not fearing God, fall into dangers.
16. The industry of the righteous is alone truly successful, while the earnings of the wicked tempt and lead to sin.
17. keepeth—observes (Pr 3:18; 4:22).
refuseth—or, "turns from reproof," which might direct him aright.
18. Both vices must one day be known and punished, and hence their folly.
19. Much speech involves risk of sin; hence the wisdom of restraining the tongue (Ps 39:1; Jas 1:26).
20. Right speech is the fruit of a good heart, but the wicked show theirs to be useless.
21. Fools not only fail to benefit others, as do the righteous, but procure their own ruin (compare Pr 10:11, 17; Ho 4:6).
22. it maketh, &c.—"it" is emphatic. Riches from God are without the sorrow of ill-gotten wealth (compare Ec 2:21-23; 1Ti 6:9, 10, 17).
23. Sin is the pleasure of the wicked; wisdom that of the good.
24. it—the very thing. The wicked get dreaded evil; the righteous, desired good.
25. (Compare Ps 1:4; 37:9, 10, 36).
righteous … foundation—well laid and firm (Mt 7:24, 25).
26. that is, causes vexation.
27. (Compare Pr 9:11; Ps 55:23).
28. gladness—in confidence of realizing it.
expectation … perish—in disappointment.
29. The way, &c.—that is, God's providence sustains the righteous and overthrows the wicked (Ho 14:9).
30. (Compare Pr 12:3; Ps 37:9-11; 102:28).
earth—or, "land of promise."
31. bringeth forth—literally, "germinates" as a plant.
froward—(Compare Pr 2:12, 14).
cut off—as an unproductive plant.
32. know—regard and provide for (Ps 1:6).
frowardness—all kinds of deceit and ill-nature. The word is plural.