10 Chastisement `is' grievous to him who is forsaking the path, Whoso is hating reproof dieth.
And hast said, `How have I hated instruction, And reproof hath my heart despised,
Whoso is loving instruction, is loving knowledge, And whoso is hating reproof `is' brutish.
And Ahab saith unto Elijah, `Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?' and he saith, `I have found -- because of thy selling thyself to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah;
And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, `Yet -- one man to seek Jehovah by him, and I have hated him, for he doth not prophesy concerning me good, but evil -- Micaiah son of Imlah;' and Jehoshaphat saith, `Let not the king say so.'
A traveller to life `is' he who is keeping instruction, And whoso is forsaking rebuke is erring.
A wise son -- the instruction of a father, And a scorner -- he hath not heard rebuke.
Wherefore are ye stricken any more? Ye do add apostacy! Every head is become diseased, and every heart `is' sick. From the sole of the foot -- unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.
In thine uncleanness `is' wickedness, Because I have cleansed thee, And thou hast not been cleansed, From thine uncleanness thou art not cleansed again, Till I have caused My fury to rest on thee. I, Jehovah, hath spoken, It hath come, and I have done `it', I do not free, nor do I spare, nor do I repent, According to thy ways, and according to thine acts, they have judged thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 15
Commentary on Proverbs 15 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
We take these verses together as forming a group which begins with a proverb regarding the good and evil which flows from the tongue, and closes with a proverb regarding the treasure in which blessing is found, and that in which no blessing is found.
Proverbs 15:1
1 A soft answer turneth away wrath,
And a bitter word stirreth up anger.
In the second line, the common word for anger ( אף , from the breathing with the nostrils, Proverbs 14:17) is purposely placed, but in the first, that which denotes anger in the highest degree ( חמה from יחם , cogn. חמם , Arab. hamiya , to glow, like שׁנה from ישׁן ): a mild, gentle word turns away the heat of anger ( excandescentiam ), puts it back, cf. Proverbs 25:15. The Dagesh in רּך follows the rule of the דחיק , i.e. , of the close connection of a word terminating with the accented eh, aah, ah with the following word ( Michlol 63b). The same is the meaning of the Latin proverb:
Frangitur ira gravis
Quando est responsio suavis