{"collection":"Bible & Christianity","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bib/cmt/kad/pro021.htm","path":"bib/cmt/kad/pro021.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bib/cmt/kad/pro021.htm","text":"Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsh, [1857-78]\nThe group, like the preceding one, now closes with a proverb of the king.\nA king's heart in Jahve's hand is like brooks of water;\nHe turneth it whithersoever He will.\nBrook and canal (the Quinta: \u1f51\u03b4\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03bf\u03af) are both called \u05e4\u05bc\u05dc\u05d2, or \u05e4\u05bc\u05dc\u05d2, Job 20:17, Arab. falaj (from \u05e4\u05bc\u05dc\u05d2, to divide, according to which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c1\u03ad\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2; Venet. \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03af; Jerome, divisiones); Jkt has the explanation of the word: \"falaj is the name given to flowing water, particularly the brook from a spring, and every canal which is led from a spring out over flat ground.\" Such brooks of water are the heart of a king, i.e., it is compared to such, in Jahve's hand. The second line contains the point of comparison: He inclines it, gives to it the direction (\u05d4\u05d8\u05bc\u05d4, causat. of \u05e0\u05d8\u05d4, Num 21:15) toward whatever He will (\u05d7\u05e4\u05e5 denotes willing, as a bending and inclining, viz., of the will; vid., at Pro 18:2). Rightly Hitzig finds it not accidental that just the expression \"brooks of water\" is chosen as the figure for tractableness and subjection to government. In Isa 32:2, the princes of Judah are compared to \"rivers of water in a dry place\" with reference to the exhaustion of the land during the oppression of the Assyrian invasion; the proverb has specially in view evidences of kindness proceeding from the heart, as at Pro 16:15 the favour of the king is compared to clouds of latter rain emptying themselves in beneficent showers, and at Pro 19:12 to the dew refreshing the plants. But the speciality of the comparison here is, that the heart of the king, however highly exalted above his subjects, and so removed from their knowledge he may be, has yet One above it by whom it is moved by hidden influences, e.g., the prayer of the oppressed; for man is indeed free, yet he acts under the influence of divinely-directed circumstances and divine operations; and though he reject the guidance of God, yet from his conduct nothing results which the Omniscient, who is surprised by nothing, does not make subservient to His will in the world-plan of redemption. Rightly the Midrash: God gives to the world good or bad kings, according as He seeks to bless it or to visit it with punishment; all decisions that go forth from the king's mouth come \u05dc\u05db\u05ea\u05d7\u05dc\u05d4, i.e., in their first commencement and their last reason they come from the Holy One.\nThe next group extends from Pro 21:2 to Pro 21:8, where it closes as it began.\n2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes;\nBut a weigher of hearts is Jahve.\nA proverb similar to Pro 16:2 (where \u05d3\u05bc\u05e8\u05db\u05d9, for \u05d3\u05bc\u05e8\u05da, \u05d6\u05da for \u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05e8, \u05e8\u05d5\u05bc\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea for \u05dc\u05d1\u05bc\u05d5\u05ea). God is also, Pro 17:3, called a trier, \u05d1\u05bc\u05d7\u05df, of hearts, as He is here called a weigher, \u05ea\u05bc\u05db\u05df. The proverb indirectly admonishes us of the duty of constant self-examination, according to the objective norm of the revealed will of God, and warns us against the self-complacency of the fool, of whom Pro 12:15 says (as Trimberg in \"Renner\"): \"all fools live in the pleasant feeling that their life is the best,\" and against the self-deception which walks in the way of death and dreams of walking in the way of life, Pro 14:12 (Pro 16:25).\n3 To practice justice and right\nHath with Jahve the pre-eminence above sacrifice.\nWe have already (vol. i. p. 42) shown how greatly this depreciation of the works of the ceremonial cultus, as compared with the duties of moral obedience, is in the spirit of the Chokma; cf. also at Pro 15:8. Prophecy also gives its testimony, e.g., Hos 6:7, according to which also here (cf. Pro 20:8 with Isa 9:8) the practising of \u05e6\u05d3\u05e7\u05d4 \u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05e9\u05c1\u05e4\u05bc\u05d8 (sequence of words as at Gen 18:19; Psa 33:5, elsewhere \u05e6\u05d3\u05e7 \u05d5\u05de\u05e9\u05c1\u05e4\u05d8, and yet more commonly \u05de\u05e9\u05c1\u05e4\u05d8 \u05d5\u05e6\u05d3\u05e7\u05d4) does not denote legal rigour, but the practising of the justum et aequum, or much rather the aequum et bonum, thus in its foundation conduct proceeding from the principle of love. The inf. \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d4 (like \u05e7\u05e0\u05d4, Pro 16:16) occurs three times (here and at Gen 50:20; Psa 101:3); once \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d5 is written (Gen 31:18), as also in the infin. absol. the form \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d4 mro and \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d5 interchange (vid., Norzi at Jer 22:4); once \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d4\u05d5\u05bc for \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d5\u05ea\u05d5 (Exo 18:18) occurs in the status conjunctus.\n4 Loftiness of eyes and swelling of heart -\nThe husbandry of the godless is sin.\nIf \u05e0\u05e8, in the sense of light, gives a satisfactory meaning, then one might appeal to Kg1 11:36 (cf. Sa2 21:17), where \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8 appears to signify lamp, in which meaning it is once (Sa2 22:29) written \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8 (like \u05d7\u05d9\u05e7); or since \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8 = \u05e0\u05e8 (ground-form, nawir, lightening) is as yet certainly established neither in the Heb. nor Syr., one might punctuate \u05e0\u05e8 instead of \u05e0\u05e8, according to which the Greeks, Aram., and Luther, with Jerome, translate. But of the lamp of the godless we read at Pro 13:9 and elsewhere, that it goeth out. We must here understand by \u05e0\u05e8 the brilliant prosperity (Bertheau and others) of the wicked, or their \"proud spirit flaming and flaring like a bright light\" (Zckler), which is contrary to the use of the metaphor as found elsewhere, which does not extend to a prosperous condition. We must then try another meaning for \u05e0\u05e8; but not that of yoke, for this is not Heb., but Aram.-Arab., and the interpretation thence derived by Lagarde: \"Haughtiness and pride; but the godless for all that bear their yoke, viz., sin,\" seeks in vain to hide behind the \"for all that\" the breaking asunder of the two lines of the verse. In Heb. \u05e0\u05e8 means that which lightens (burning) = lamp, \u05e0\u05d5\u05bc\u05e8, the shining (that which burns) = fire, and \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8, Pro 13:23, from \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8, to plough up (Targ. Sa1 8:12, \u05dc\u05de\u05e0\u05e8 = \u05dc\u05d7\u05e8\u05e9\u05c1) the fresh land, i.e., the breaking up of the fallow land; according to which the Venet. as Kimchi: \u03bd\u03ad\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1 \u1f00\u03c3\u03b5\u03b2\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f01\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03c4\u03af\u03b1, which as Ewald and Elster explain: \"where a disposition of wicked haughtiness, of unbridled pride, prevails, there will also sin be the first-fruit on the field of action; \u05e0\u05e8, novale, the field turned up for the first time, denotes here the first-fruits of sin.\" But why just the first-fruits, and not the fruit in general? We are better to abide by the field itself, which is here styled \u05e0\u05e8, not \u05e9\u05c2\u05d3\u05d4 (or as once in Jer 39:10, \u05d9\u05d2\u05d1); because with this word, more even than with \u05e9\u05c2\u05d3\u05d4, is connected the idea of agricultural work, of arable land gained by the digging up or the breaking up of one or more years' fallow ground (cf. Pea ii. 1, \u05e0\u05d9\u05e8, Arab. si\u1e33\u00e2\u1e33, opp. \u05d1\u05d5\u05e8, Arab. b\u00fbr, Menachoth 85a, \u05e9\u05c2\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea \u05de\u05e0\u05d9\u05bc\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea, a fresh broken-up field, Erachin 29b, \u05e0\u05e8 ,, opp. \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05e8, to let lie fallow), so that \u05e0\u05e8 \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2\u05d9\u05dd may mean the cultivation of the fields, and generally the husbandry, i.e., the whole conduct and life of the godless. \u05e0\u05e8 is here ethically metaph., but not like Hos 10:12; Jer 4:3, where it means a new moral commencement of life; but like \u05d7\u05e8\u05e9\u05c1, arare, Job 4:8; Hos 10:13; cf. Pro 3:29. \u05e8\u05d7\u05d1 is not adj. like Pro 28:25, Psa 101:5, but infin. like \u05d7\u05e1\u05e8, Pro 10:21; and accordingly also \u05e8\u05d5\u05bc\u05dd is not adj. like \u05d7\u05d5\u05bc\u05dd, or past like \u05e1\u05d5\u05bc\u05d2, but infin. like Isa 10:12. And \u05d7\u05d8\u05bc\u05d0\u05ea is the pred. of the complex subject, which consists of \u05e8\u05d5\u05bc\u05dd \u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd, a haughty looking down with the eyes, \u05e8\u05d7\u05d1\u05be\u05dc\u05d1, breadth of heart, i.e., excess of self-consciousness, and \u05e0\u05e8 \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2\u05d9\u05dd taken as an asyndeton summativum: pride of look, and making oneself large of heart, in short, the whole husbandry of the godless, or the whole of the field cultivated by them, with all that grows thereon, is sin.\n5 The striving of the diligent is only to advantage.\nAnd hastening all [excessive haste] only to loss;\nor in other words, and agreeably to the Heb. construction:\nThe thoughts of the industrious are (reach) only to gain,\nAnd every one who hastens - it (this his hastening) is only to loss.\nVid., at Pro 17:21. At Pro 10:4, Luther translates \"the hand of the diligent,\" here \"the plans of an expert [endelichen],\" i.e., of one actively striving (Pro 22:29, endelich = \u05de\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8) to the end. The \u05d0\u05e5, hastening overmuch, is contrasted with the diligent: Luther well: but he who is altogether too precipitant. Everywhere else in the Proverbs \u05d0\u05e5 has a closer definition with it, wherefore Hitzig reads \u05d0\u05e6\u05e8, which must mean: he who collects together; but \u05d0\u05e5 along with \u05d7\u05e8\u05d5\u05e5 is perfectly distinct. The thought is the same as our \"eile mit Weile\" [= festina lente], and Goethe's\nWie das Gestirn ohne Hast,\nAber ohne Rast\nDrehe sich jeder\nUm die eigne Last.\n\"Like the stars, without haste but without rest, let every one carry about his own burden,\" viz., of his calling that lies upon him. The fundamental meaning of \u05d0\u05d5\u05e5 is to throng, to urge (Exo 5:13), here of impatient and inconsiderate rashness. While on the side of the diligent there is nothing but gain, such haste brings only loss; over-exertion does injury, and the work will want care, circumspection, and thoroughness. In the Book of Proverbs, the contrasts \"gain\" and \"loss\" frequently occur, Pro 11:24; Pro 14:23; Pro 22:16 : profit (the increase of capital by interest), opp. loss (of capital, or of part thereof), as commercial terms.\n6 The gaining of treasures by a lying tongue\nIs a fleeting breath of such as seek death.\nOne may, at any rate, after the free manner of gnomic resemblances and comparisons, regard \"fleeting breath\" and \"such as seek death\" as two separated predicates: such gain is fleeting breath, so those who gain are seeking death (Caspari's Beitrge zu Jes. p. 53). But it is also syntactically admissible to interpret the words rendered \"seekers of death\" as gen.; for such interruptions of the st. constr., as here by \u05e0\u05d3\u05bc\u05e3 [fleeting], frequently occur, e.g., Isa 28:1; Isa 32:13; Ch1 9:13; and that an idea, in spite of such interruption, may be thought of as gen., is seen from the Arab.\n(Note: Vid., Friedr. Philippi's Status constructus, p. 17, Anm. 3; and cf. therewith such constructions as (Arab.) m\u00e2n'u fa\u1e0dlah \u00e2lmanht\u00e2ji, i.e., a refuser of the needy, his beneficence = one who denies to the needy his beneficence.)\nBut the text is unsettled. Symmachus, Syr., Targ., the Venet., and Luther render the phrase \u05de\u05d1\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9 [seekers]; but the lxx and Jerome read \u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9 [snares] (cf. Ti1 6:9); this word Rashi also had before him (vid., Norzi), and Kennicott found it in several Codd. Bertheau prefers it, for he translates: ...is fleeting breath, snares of death; Ewald and Hitzig go further, for, after the lxx, they change the whole proverb into: \u05de\u05d5\u05ea (\u05d1\u05bc\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9) \u05d4\u05d1\u05dc \u05e8\u05d3\u05e3 \u05d0\u05dc\u05be\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9, with \u05e4\u05bc\u05e2\u05dc in the first line. But \u03b4\u03b9\u03ce\u03ba\u03b5\u03b9 of the lxx is an incorrect rendering of \u05e0\u05d3\u05e3, which the smuggling in of the \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 (\u03c0\u03b1\u03b3\u03af\u03b4\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b8\u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5) drew after it, without our concluding therefrom that \u05d0\u05dc\u05be\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9, or \u05dc\u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9 (Lagarde), lay before the translators; on the contrary, the word which (Cappellus) lay before them, \u05de\u05d5\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9, certainly deserves to be preferred to \u05de\u05d1\u05e7\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9: the possession is first, in view of him who has gotten it, compared to a fleeting (\u05e0\u05d3\u05bc\u05e3, as Isa 42:2) breath (cf. e.g., smoke, Psa 68:3), and then, in view of the inheritance itself and its consequences, is compared to the snares of death (Pro 13:14; Pro 14:27); for in \u05e4\u05bc\u05e2\u05dc (here equivalent to \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d5\u05ea, acquisitio, Gen 31:1; Deu 8:17) lie together the ideas of him who procures and of the thing that is procured or effected (vid., at Pro 20:11).\n7 The violence of the godless teareth them away,\nFor they have refused to do what is right.\nThe destruction which they prepare for others teareth or draggeth them away to destruction, by which wicked conduct brings punishment on itself; their own conduct is its own executioner (cf. Pro 1:19); for refusing to practise what is right, they have pronounced judgment against themselves, and fallen under condemnation. Rightly Jerome, detrahent, with Aquila, \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03c0\u03ac\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9 = j'gurrem (as Hab 1:15), from \u05d2\u05bc\u05e8\u05e8; on the contrary, the lxx incorrectly, \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03be\u03b5\u03bd\u03c9\u03b8\u03ae\u03c3\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9, from \u05d2\u05d5\u05bc\u05e8, to dwell, to live as a guest; and the Venet., as Luther, in opposition to the usus loq.: \u03b4\u03b5\u03b4\u03af\u03be\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 (fut. of \u03b4\u03b5\u03b4\u03af\u03c3\u03c3\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9, to terrify), from \u05d2\u05d5\u05bc\u05e8, to dread, fear, which also remains intrans., with the accus. following, Deu 32:27. The Syr. and the Targ. freely: robbery (Targ. \u05e8\u05d1\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc\u05e0\u05d0, perhaps in the sense of usury) will seize them, viz., in the way of punishment. In Arab. jarr (jariyratn) means directly to commit a crime; not, as Schultens explains, admittere crimen paenam trahens, but attrahere (arripere), like (Arab.) jany (jin\u00e2ytn), contrahere crimen; for there the crime is thought of as violent usurpation, here as wicked accumulation.\n8 Winding is the way of a man laden with guilt;\nBut the pure - his conduct is right.\nRightly the accentuation places together \"the way of a man\" as subject, and \"winding\" as predicate: if the poet had wished to say (Schultens, Bertheau) \"one crooked in his way\" (quoad viam), he would have contented himself with the phrase \u05e0\u05d7\u05e4\u05bc\u05da \u05d3\u05bc\u05e8\u05da. But, on the other hand, the accentuation is scarcely correct (the second Munach is a transformed Mugrash), for it interprets \u05d5\u05d6\u05e8 as a second pred.; but \u05d5\u05d6\u05e8 is adj. to \u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1. As \u05d4\u05e4\u05db\u05e4\u05bc\u05da (synon. \u05e4\u05bc\u05ea\u05dc\u05ea\u05bc\u05dc, \u05e2\u05e7\u05dc\u05e7\u05dc) is a hapax leg., so also vazar, which is equivalent to (Arab.) mawzwr, crimine onustus, from wazria, crimen committere, properly to charge oneself with a crime. The ancient interpreters have, indeed, no apprehension of this meaning before them; the lxx obtain from the proverb a thought reminding us of Psa 18:27, in which vazar does not at all appear; the Syr. and Targ. translate as if the vav of vazar introduces the conclusion: he is a barbarian (nuchrojo); Luther: he is crooked; Jerome also sets aside the syntax: perversa via viri aliena est; but, syntactically admissible, the Venet. and Kimchi, as the Jewish interpreters generally, \u03b4\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03c6\u03c9\u03c4\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7 \u1f41\u03b4\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f00\u03bd\u03b4\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f00\u03bb\u03bb\u03cc\u03ba\u03bf\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2. Fleischer here even renounces the help of the Arab., for he translates: Tortuosa est via viri criminibus onusti, qui autem sancte vivit, is recte facit; but he adds thereto the remark that \"vazar thus explained, with Cappellus, Schultens, and Gesenius, would, it is true, corresponding to the Arab. wazar, have first the abstract meaning of a verbal noun from wazira;\n(Note: The n. act formed from wazara is wazr, wizr, wizat. These three forms would correspond to the Heb. v\u011bz\u011br, v\u0113z\u011br, and z\u011br\u011bth (z'r\u0101h, cf. r\u011bd\u011bth, r'dah, Gen 46:3).)\nthe old explanation is therefore perhaps better: tortuosa est via viri et deflectens (scil. a recta linea, thus devia est), when the 'viri' is to be taken in the general sense of 'many, this and that one;' the closer definition is reflected from the \u05d6\u05da of the second clause.\" But (1) \u05d6\u05e8 as an adj. signifies peregrinus; one ought thus rather to expect \u05e1\u05e8, degenerated, corrupt, although that also does not rightly accord; (2) the verbal noun also, e.g., 'all, passes over into a subst. and adj. signification (the latter without distinction of number and gender); (3) \u05d5\u05d6\u05e8, after its adj. signification, is related to (Arab.) wazyr, as \u05d7\u05db\u05dd is to \u1e25akym, \u05e8\u05d6\u05d1 to rahyb; it is of the same form as \u05e2\u05e0\u05d5, with which it has in common its derivation from a root of similar meaning, and its ethical signification. In 8b, \u05d5\u05d6\u05da is rightly accented as subj. of the complex pred. \u05d6\u05da is the pure in heart and of a good conscience. The laden with guilt (guilty) strikes out all kinds of crooked ways; but the pure needs not stealthy ways, he does not stand under the pressure of the bondage of sin, the ban of the guilt of sin; his conduct is straightforward, directed by the will of God, and not by cunning policy. Schultens: Integer vitae scelerisque purus non habet cur vacillet, cur titubet, cur sese contorqueat. The choice of the designation \u05d5\u05d6\u05da [and the pure] may be occasioned by \u05d5\u05d6\u05e8 (Hitzig); the expression 8b reminds us of Pro 20:11.\nThe group now following extends to Pro 21:18, where a new one begins with a variation of its initial verse.\n9 Better to sit on the pinnacle of a house-roof,\nThan a contentious wife and a house in common.\nWe have neither to supplement the second line: than with a contentious wife... (Symmachus, Theodotion, Jerome, Luther), nor: than that one have a contentious...; but the meaning is, that sitting on the roof-top better befits one, does better than a quarrelsome wife and a common house (rightly the Targ. and Venet.), i.e., in a common house; for the connecting together of the wife and the house by vav is a Semitic hendiadys, a juxtaposition of two ideas which our language would place in a relation of subordination (Fleischer). This hendiadys would, indeed, be scarcely possible if the idea of the married wife were attached to \u05d0\u05d5\u05e9\u05c1\u05ea; for that such an one has with her husband a \"house of companionship, i.e., a common house,\" is self-evident. But may it not with equal right be understood of the imperious positive mother-in-law of a widower, a splenetic shrewish aunt, a sickly female neighbour disputing with all the world, and the like? A man must live together with his wife in so far as he does not divorce her; he must then escape from her; but a man may also be constrained by circumstances to live in a house with a quarrelsome mother-in-law, and such an one may, even during the life of his wife, and in spite of her affection, make his life so bitter that he would rather, in order that he might have rest, sit on the pinnacle or ridge of a house-roof. \u05e4\u05bc\u05e0\u05bc\u05d4\u05bc is the battlement (Zep 1:16) of the roof, the edge of the roof, or its summit; he who sits there does so not without danger, and is exposed to the storm, but that in contrast with the alternative is even to be preferred; he sits alone. Regarding the Cheth\u0131\u0302b \u05de\u05d3\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd, Ker\u0131\u0302 \u05de\u05d3\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd, vid., at Pro 6:14; and cf. the figures of the \"continual dropping\" for the continual scolding of such a wife, embittering the life of her husband, Pro 19:13.\n10 The soul of the godless hath its desire after evil;\nHis neighbour findeth no mercy in his eyes.\nThe interchange of perf. and fut. cannot be without intention. Lwenstein renders the former as perf. hypotheticum: if the soul of the wicked desires anything evil...; but the \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2 wishes evil not merely now and then, but that is in general his nature and tendency. The perf. expresses that which is actually the case: the soul of the wicked has its desire directed (write \u05d0\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea\u05d4 with Munach, after Codd. and old Ed., not with Makkeph) toward evil, and the fut. expresses that which proceeds from this: he who stands near him is not spared. \u05d9\u05d7\u05df is, as at Isa 26:10, Hoph. of \u05d7\u05e0\u05df, to incline, viz., oneself, compassionately toward any one, or to bend to him. But in what sense is \u05d1\u05bc\u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05d5 added? It does not mean, as frequently, e.g., Pro 21:2, according to his judgment, nor, as at Pro 20:8; Pro 6:13 : with his eyes, but is to be understood after the phrase \u05de\u05e6\u05d0 \u05d7\u05df \u05d1\u05bc\u05e2\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9: his neighbour finds no mercy in his eyes, so that in these words the sympathy ruling within him expresses itself: \"his eyes will not spare his friends,\" vid., Isa 13:18.\n11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise;\nAnd when insight is imparted to a wise man, he receives knowledge.\nThe thought is the same as at Pro 19:25. The mocker at religion and virtue is incorrigible, punishment avails him nothing, but yet it is not lost; for as a warning example it teaches the simple, who might otherwise be easily drawn into the same frivolity. On the other hand, the wise man needs no punishment, but only strengthening and furtherance: if \"instruction\" is imparted to him, he embraces it, makes it his own \u05d3\u05bc\u05e2\u05ea; for, being accessible to better insight, he gains more and more knowledge. De Dieu, Bertheau, and Zckler make \"the simple\" the subject also in 11b: and if a wise man prospers, he (the simple) gains knowledge. But \u05d4\u05e9\u05c2\u05db\u05bc\u05d9\u05dc \u05dc, used thus impersonally, is unheard of; wherefore Hitzig erases the \u05dc before \u05d7\u05db\u05dd erofeb \u05dc eh: if a wise man has prosperity. But \u05d4\u05e9\u05c2\u05db\u05d9\u05dc does not properly mean to have prosperity, but only mediately: to act with insight, and on that account with success. The thought that the simple, on the one side, by the merited punishment of the mocker; on the other, by the intelligent prosperous conduct of the wise, comes to reflection, to reason, may indeed be entertained, but the traditional form of the proverb does not need any correction. \u05d4\u05e9\u05c2\u05db\u05bc\u05d9\u05dc may be used not only transitively: to gain insight, Gen 3:6; Psa 2:10, and elsewhere, but also causatively: to make intelligent, with the accus. following, Pro 16:23; Psa 32:8, or: to offer, present insight, as here with the dat.-obj. following (cf. Pro 17:26). Instead of \u05d1\u05bc\u05e2\u05e0\u05e9\u05c1\u05be, the Kametz of which is false, Codd. and good Edd. have, rightly, \u05d1\u05bc\u05e2\u05e0\u05e9\u05c1\u05be. Hitzig, making \"the wise\" the subject to \u05d1\u05d4\u05e9\u05c2\u05db\u05d9\u05dc (and accordingly \"the scorner\" would be the subject in 11a), as a correct consequence reads \u05d1\u05bc\u05e2\u05e0\u05e9\u05c1 = \u05d1\u05bc\u05d4\u05e2\u05e0\u05e9\u05c1. For us, with that first correction, this second one also fails. \"Both infinitivi constr.,\" Fleischer remarks, \"are to be taken passively; for the Semitic infin., even of transitive form, as it has no designation of gender, time, and person, is an indeterminate modus, even in regard to the generis verbi (Act. and Pass.).\"\n(Note: The Arab. National Grammarians, it is true, view the matter otherwise. When \u1e33atlu zydn, the putting to death of Zeid, is used in the sense of Zeid's becoming dead, according to their view the f\u00e2'l (the gen. subjecti) is omitted; the full expression would be \u1e33atlu 'amrn zaydn\u00e2. Since now 'amrn is omitted, zaydn has in the gen. form taken the place of the f\u00e2'l, but this gen. is the representative of the acc. objecti. Without thus going round about, we say: it is the gen. objecti.)\nTo this proverb with u-behaskil there is connected the one that follows, beginning with maskil.\n12 A righteous One marketh the house of the godless;\nHe hurleth the godless to destruction.\nIf we understand by the word \u05e6\u05d3\u05bc\u05d9\u05e7 a righteous man, then 12a would introduce the warning which he gives, and the unexpressed subject of 12b must be God (Umbreit). But after such an introitus, \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d4 ought not to be wanting. If in 12a \"the righteous man\" is the subject, then it presents itself as such also for the second parallel part. But the thought that the righteous, when he takes notice of the house of the godless, shows attention which of itself hurls the godless into destruction (Lwenstein), would require the sing. \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2 in the conclusion; also, instead of \u05de\u05e1\u05dc\u05bc\u05e3 the fut. \u05d9\u05e1\u05dc\u05bc\u05e3 would have been found; and besides, the judicial \u05e1\u05dc\u05bc\u05e3 (vid., regarding this word at Pro 11:3; Pro 19:3) would not be a suitable word for this confirmation in evil. Thus by \u05e6\u05d3\u05d9\u05e7 the proverb means God, and \u05de\u05e1\u05dc\u05e3 has, as at Pro 22:12, Job 12:19, this word as its subject. \"A righteous One\" refers to the All-righteous, who is called, Job 34:17, \"the All-just One,\" and by Rashi, under the passage before us, \u05e6\u05d3\u05bc\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5 \u05e9\u05c1\u05dc\u05be\u05e2\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd. Only do not translate with Bertheau and Zckler: the Righteous One (All-righteous), for (1) this would require \u05d4\u05e6\u05bc\u05d3\u05bc\u05d9\u05e7, and (2) \u05d4\u05e6\u05d3\u05d9\u05e7 is never by itself used as an attributive designation of God. Rightly, Fleischer and Ewald: a Righteous One, viz., God. It is the indetermination which seeks to present the idea of the great and dreadful: a Righteous One, and such a Righteous One!\n(Note: The Arabs call this indetermination \u00e2lnkrt lalt'\u1e93ym wallthwyl. Vid., under Psa 2:12.)\n\u05d4\u05e9\u05c2\u05db\u05d9\u05dc with \u05e2\u05dc, Pro 16:20, or \u05d0\u05dc, Psa 41:2; Neh 8:13, here with \u05dc, signifies to give attention to anything, to look attentively on it. The two participles stand in the same line: animum advertit ... evertit. Hitzig changes \u05dc\u05d1\u05bc\u05d9\u05ea \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2 into \u05dc\u05d1\u05bc\u05d9\u05ea\u05d5, and makes \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2 the subject of 12b; but the proverb as it lies before us is far more intelligible.\n13 He that stoppeth his ear at the cry of the poor\nhe also calls and is not heard.\nOnly the merciful find mercy, Mat 5:7; the unmerciful rich man, who has no ear for the cry of the \u05d3\u05dc, i.e., of him who is without support and means of subsistence, thus of one who is needing support, will also remain unheard when he himself, in the time of need, calls upon God for help. Cf. the parable of the unmerciful servant of the merciful king, Mat 18:23. \u05de\u05df in \u05de\u05d6\u05bc\u05e2\u05e7\u05ea, as Isa 23:15; Gen 4:13; Gen 27:1; no preposition of our [German] language [nor English] expresses, as Fleischer here remarks, such a fulness of meaning as this \u05de\u05df does, to which, after a verb of shutting up such as \u05d0\u05d8\u05dd (cf. Pro 17:28), the Arab. 'n would correspond, e.g., \u00e2'my 'n \u00e2ltry\u1e33: blind, so that he does not see the way.\n14 A gift in secret turneth away anger;\nAnd a bribe into the bosom violent wrath.\nHitzig reads with Symmachus, the Targ., and Jerome, \u05d9\u05db\u05d1\u05bc\u05d4, and translates: \"extinguishes anger;\" but it does not follow that they did read \u05d9\u05db\u05d1\u05d4; for the Talm. Heb. \u05db\u05bc\u05e4\u05d4 signifies to cover by turning over, e.g., of a vessel, Sanhedrin 77a, which, when it is done to a candle or a fire, may mean its extinction. But \u05db\u05e4\u05d4 of the post-bibl. Heb. also means to bend, and thence to force out (Aram. \u05db\u05bc\u05e4\u05d0, \u05db\u05bc\u05e4\u05d9), according to which Kimchi hesitates whether to explain: overturns = smothers, or: bends = forces down anger. The Venet. follows the latter signification: \u03ba\u03ac\u03bc\u03c8\u03b5\u03b9 (for Villoison's \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03cd\u03c8\u03b5\u03b9 rests on a false reading of the MS). But there is yet possible another derivation from the primary signification, curvare, flectere, vertere, according to which the lxx translates \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03ad\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9, for which \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03c4\u03c1\u03ad\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9 would be yet better: \u05db\u05e4\u05d4, to bend away, to turn off, \u1f00\u03c1\u03ba\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd, arcere, altogether like the Arab. (compared by Schultens) kf\u00e2, and kfy, \u1f00\u03c1\u03ba\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd, to prevent, whence, e.g., ikf\u0131\u0302ni hada: hold that away from me, or: spare me that (Fleischer); with the words haf\u0131\u0302ka sharran (Lat. defendaris semper a malo) princes were anciently saluted; kfy signifies \"to suffice,\" because enough is there, where there is a keeping off of want. Accordingly we translate: Donum clam acceptum avertit iram, which also the Syr. meant by mephadka (\u05de\u05e4\u05e8\u05e7). This verb is naturally to be supplied to 14b, which the lxx has recognised (it translates: but he who spares gifts, excites violent anger). Regarding \u05e9\u05c2\u05d7\u05d3, vid., at Pro 17:8; and regarding \u05d1\u05bc\u05d7\u05e7, at Pro 17:23. Also here \u05d7\u05e7 (\u05d7\u05d9\u05e7 = \u05d7\u05d9\u05e7), like Arab. jayb, 'ubb, \u05d7\u05d1, denotes the bosom of the garment; on the contrary (Arab.) hijr, hi\u1e0dn, \u05d7\u05e6\u05df, is more used of that of the body, or that formed by the drawing together of the body (e.g., of the arm in carrying a child). A present is meant which one brings with him concealed in his bosom; perhaps 13b called to mind the judge that took gifts, Exo 23:8 (Hitzig).\n15 It is a joy to the just to do justice,\nAnd a terror for them that work iniquity.\nTo act according to the law of rectitude is to these as unto death; injustice has become to them a second nature, so that their heart strives against rectitude of conduct; it also enters to little into their plan of life, and their economy, that they are afraid of ruining themselves thereby. So we believe, with Hitzig, Elster, Zckler, and Luther, this must be explained in accordance with our interpretation of Pro 10:29. Fleischer and others supplement the second parallel member from the first: \u05d5\u05bc\u05e4\u05e2\u05dc \u05d0\u05d5\u05df \u05de\u05d7\u05ea\u05bc\u05d4 \u05dc\u05e4\u05e2\u05dc\u05d9 \u05d0\u05d9\u05df; others render 15b as an independent sentence: ruin falls on those who act wickedly. But that ellipsis is hard and scarcely possible; but in general \u05de\u05d7\u05ea\u05d4, as contrasted correlate to \u05e9\u05c2\u05de\u05d7\u05d4, can scarcely have the pure objective sense of ruin or destruction. It must mean a revolution in the heart. Right-doing is to the righteous a pleasure (cf. Pro 10:23); and for those who have \u05d0\u05d5\u05df, and are devoid of moral worth, and thus simply immoral as to the aim and sphere of their conduct, right-doing is something which alarms them: when they act in conformity with what is right, they do so after an external impulse only against their will, as if it were death to them.\n16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding,\nShall dwell in the assembly of the dead.\nRegarding \u05d4\u05e9\u05c2\u05db\u05bc\u05dc, vid., Pro 1:3; and regarding \u05e8\u05e4\u05d0\u05d9\u05dd, Pro 2:18. The verb \u05e0\u05d5\u05bc\u05d7 means to repose, to take rest, Job 3:13, and to dwell anywhere, Pro 14:33; but originally like (Arab.) n\u00e2kh and hadd, to lay oneself down anywhere, and there to come to rest; and that is the idea which is here connected with \u05d9\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc\u05d7, for the figurative description of \u05d9\u05d0\u05d1\u05d3 or \u05d9\u05de\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea is formed after the designation of the subject, 16a: he who, forsaking the way of understanding, walks in the way of error, at length comes to the assembly of the dead; for every motion has an end, and every journey a goal, whether it be one that is self-appointed or which is appointed for him. Here also it is intimated that the way of the soul which loves wisdom and follows her goes in another direction than earthwards down into hades; hades and death, its background appear here as punishments, and it is true that as such one may escape them.\n17 He who loveth pleasure becometh a man of want;\nHe who loveth wine and oil doth not become rich.\nIn Arab. samh denotes the joyful action of the \"cheerful giver,\" Co2 9:7; in Heb. the joyful affection; here, like farah, pleasure, delight, festival of joy. Jerome: qui diligit epulas. For feasting is specially thought of, where wine was drunk, and oil and other fragrant essences were poured (cf. Pro 27:9; Amo 6:6) on the head and the clothes. He who loves such festivals, and is commonly found there, becomes a man of want, or suffers want (cf. Jdg 12:2, \u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1 \u05e8\u05d9\u05d1, a man of strife); such an one does not become rich (\u05d4\u05e2\u05e9\u05c1\u05d9\u05e8, like Pro 10:4, = \u05e2\u05e9\u05c2\u05d4 \u05e2\u05e9\u05c1\u05e8, Jer 17:11); he does not advance, and thus goes backwards.\n18 The godless becometh a ransom for the righteous;\nAnd the faithless cometh into the place of the upright.\nThe thought is the same as at Pro 11:8. An example of this is, that the same world-commotion which brought the nations round Babylon for its destruction, put an end to Israel's exile: Cyrus, the instrument in God's hands for inflicting punishment on many heathen nations, was Israel's liberator, Isa 43:3. Another example is in the exchange of places by Haman and Mordecai, to which Rashi refers. \u05db\u05bc\u05e4\u05e8 is equivalent to \u03bb\u03cd\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd, ransom; but it properly signifies price of atonement, and generally, means of reconciliation, which covers or atones for the guilt of any one; the poll-tax and \"oblations\" also, Exo 30:15., Num 31:50, are placed under this point of view, as blotting out guilt: if the righteousness of God obtains satisfaction, it makes its demand against the godless, and lets the righteous go free; or, as the substantival clause 18b expresses, the faithless steps into the place of the upright, for the wrath passes by the latter and falls upon the former. Regarding \u05d1\u05bc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d3, vid., Pro 2:22. Thus, in contrast to the \u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05e8, he is designated, who keeps faith neither with God nor man, and with evil intention enters on deceitful ways - the faithless, the malicious, the assassin.\nWith this verse, a doublet to Pro 21:9 (Pro 25:24), the collector makes a new addition; in Pro 21:29 he reaches a proverb which resembles the closing proverb of the preceding group, in its placing in contrast the \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2 and \u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05e8; -\nIt is better to dwell in a waste land,\nThan a contentious wife and vexation.\nThe corner of the roof, Hitzig remarks, has been made use of, and the author must look further out for a lonely seat. But this is as piquant as it is devoid of thought; for have both proverbs the same author, and if so, were they coined at the same time? Here also it is unnecessary to regard \u05de\u05d0\u05e9\u05c1\u05ea as an abbreviation for \u05de\u05e9\u05bc\u05c1\u05d1\u05ea \u05e2\u05dd \u05d0\u05e9\u05c1\u05ea. Hitzig supplies \u05e9\u05c1\u05db\u05df, by which \u05d0\u05e9\u05c1\u05ea, as the accus.-obj., is governed; but it is not to be supplied, for the proverb places as opposite to one another dwelling in a waste land (read \u05e9\u05c1\u05d1\u05ea \u05d1\u05bc\u05d0\u05e8\u05e5\u05be\u05de\u05d3\u05d1\u05bc\u05e8, with Codd. and correct Ed.) and a contentious wife (Cheth\u0131\u0302b, \u05de\u05d3\u05d5\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd, Ker\u0131\u0302, \u05de\u05d3\u05d9\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd) and vexation, and says the former is better than the latter. For \u05d5\u05db\u05e2\u05e1 [and vexation] is not, as translated by the ancients, and generally received, a second governed genitive to \u05d0\u05e9\u05c1\u05ea, but dependent on \u05de\u05df, follows \"contentious woman\" (cf. 9b): better that than a quarrelsome wife, and at the same time vexation.\n20 Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the wise;\nAnd a fool of a man squanders it.\nThe wise spares, the fool squanders; and if the latter enters on the inheritance which the former with trouble and care collected, it is soon devoured. The combination \u05d0\u05d5\u05e6\u05e8 \u05e0\u05d7\u05de\u05d3 \u05d5\u05e9\u05c1\u05de\u05df [desirable treasure and oil] has something inconcinnate, wherefore the accentuation places \u05d0\u05d5\u05e6\u05e8 by itself by Mehuppach Legarmeh; but it is not to be translated \"a treasure of that which is precious, and oil,\" since it is punctuated \u05d0\u05d5\u05e6\u05e8, and not \u05d0\u05d5\u05e6\u05e8; and besides, in that case \u05de\u05d7\u05de\u05d3\u05bc\u05d9\u05dd would have been used instead of \u05e0\u05d7\u05de\u05d3. Thus by \u05d0\u05d5\u05e6\u05e8 \u05e0\u05d7\u05de\u05d3, a desirable and splendid capital in gold and things of value (Isa 23:18; Psa 19:11); and by \u05e9\u05c1\u05de\u05df, mentioned by way of example, stores in kitchen and cellar are to be thought of, which serve him who lives luxuriously, and afford noble hospitality, - a fool of a man (\u05db\u05bc\u05e1\u05d9\u05dc \u05d0\u05d3\u05dd, as at Pro 15:20), who finds this, devours it, i.e., quickly goes through it, makes, in short, a tabula rasa of it; cf. \u05d1\u05bc\u05dc\u05e2, Isa 28:4, with \u05d1\u05bc\u05dc\u05bc\u05e2, Sa2 20:26, and Pro 19:28. The suffix of \u05d9\u05d1\u05dc\u05bc\u05e2\u05e0\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc refers back to \u05d0\u05d5\u05e6\u05e8 as the main idea, or distributively also both to the treasure and the oil. The lxx (\u03b8\u03b7\u03c3\u03b1\u03c5\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03b8\u03c5\u03bc\u03b7\u03c4\u1f78\u03c2) \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03c0\u03b1\u03cd\u03c3\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 \u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u1fe6, i.e., \u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05db\u05df \u05d1\u05e4\u05d4 \u05d7\u05db\u05dd, according to which Hitzig corrects; but the fool, he who swallows down \"the precious treasure with a wise mouth,\" is a being we can scarcely conceive of. His taste is not at all bad; why then a fool? Is it perhaps because he takes more in than he can at one time digest? The reading of the lxx is corrected by 20b.\n21 He that followeth after righteousness and kindness\nWill obtain life, righteousness, and honour.\nHow we are to render \u05e6\u05d3\u05e7\u05d4 \u05d5\u05d7\u05e1\u05d3 is seen from the connection of Pro 21:3 and Hos 6:7 : tsedakah is conduct proceeding from the principle of self-denying and compassionate love, which is the essence of the law, Mic 6:8; and hesed is conduct proceeding from sympathy, which, placing itself in the room of another, perceives what will benefit him, and sets about doing it (cf. e.g., Job 6:14 : to him who is inwardly melted disheartened \u05d7\u05e1\u05d3 is due from his neighbour). The reward which one who strives thus to act obtains, is designated 21b by \u05d7\u05d9\u05bc\u05d9\u05dd and \u05db\u05bc\u05d1\u05d5\u05d3. Honour and life stand together, Pro 22:4, when \u05e2\u05e9\u05c1\u05e8 precedes, and here \u05e6\u05d3\u05e7\u05d4 stands between, which, Pro 8:18, Psa 24:5, is thought of as that which is distributed as a gift of heaven, Isa 45:8, which has glory in its train, Isa 58:8; as Paul also says, \"Whom He justified, them He also glorified.\" The lxx has omitted tsedakah, because it can easily appear as erroneously repeated from 21a. But in reality there are three good things which are promised to those who are zealous in the works of love: a prosperous life, enduring righteousness, true honour. Life as it proceeds from God, the Living One, righteousness as it avails the righteous and those doing righteously before God, honour or glory (Psa 29:3) as it is given (Psa 84:12) by the God of glory. Cf. with \u05d7\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd \u05e6\u05d3\u05e7\u05d4, Pro 10:2, and with \u05e6\u05d3\u05e7\u05d4, especially Jam 2:13, \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03ba\u03b1\u03c5\u03c7\u1fb6\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u1f14\u03bb\u03b5\u03bf\u03c2 \u03ba\u03c1\u03af\u03c3\u03b5\u03c9\u03c2.\n22 A wise man scaleth a city of the mighty;\nAnd casteth down the fortress in which they trusted.\nEcc 9:14. is a side-piece to this, according to which a single wise man, although poor, may become the deliverer of a city besieged by a great army, and destitute of the means of defence. \u05e2\u05dc\u05d4, seq. acc., means to climb up, Joe 2:7; here, of the scaling of a fortified town, viz., its fortress. \u05e2\u05d6 is that which makes it \u05e2\u05d9\u05e8 \u05e2\u05d6, Isa 26:1 : its armour of protection, which is designated by the genit. \u05de\u05d1\u05d8\u05d7\u05d4, as the object and ground of their confidence. The vocalization \u05de\u05d1\u05d8\u05d7\u05d4, for mibtachcha (cf. Jer 48:13 with Job 18:14), follows the rule Gesen. 27, Anm. 2b. The suff., as in \u05dc\u05d0\u05ea\u05e0\u05e0\u05bc\u05d4, Isa 23:17, is lightened, because if its mappik, Michlol 30b; vid., regarding the various grounds of these formae raphatae pro mappicatis, Bttcher, 418. If a city is defended by ever so many valiant men, the wise man knows the point where it may be overcome, and knows how to organize the assault so as to destroy the proud fortress. With \u05d5\u05d9\u05bc\u05e8\u05d3, he brings to ruin, cf. \u05e2\u05d3 \u05e8\u05d3\u05ea\u05bc\u05d4\u05bc, Deu 20:20.\n23 He that guardeth his mouth and his tongue,\nKeepeth his soul from troubles.\nPro 13:3 resembles this. He guardeth his mouth who does not speak when he does better to be silent; and he guardeth his tongue who says no more than is right and fitting. The troubles comprehend both external and internal evils, hurtful incidents and (\u05e0\u05e4\u05e9\u05c1) \u05e6\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05dc\u05d1\u05d1, Psa 25:17; Psa 31:8, i.e., distress of conscience, self-accusation, sorrow on account of the irreparable evil which one occasions.\n24 A proud and arrogant man is called mocker (free-spirit);\nOne who acteth in superfluity of haughtiness.\nWe have thus translated (vol. i. p. 39): the proverb defines almost in a formal way an idea current from the time of Solomon: \u05dc\u05e5 (properly, the distorter, vid., Pro 1:7) is an old word; but as with us in the west since the last century, the names of free-thinkers and esprits forts (cf. Isa 46:12) have become current for such as subject the faith of the Church to destructive criticism, so then they were called \u05dc\u05e6\u05d9\u05dd, who mockingly, as men of full age, set themselves above revealed religion and prophecy (Isa 28:9); and the above proverb gives the meaning of this name, for it describes in his moral character such a man. Thus we call one \u05d6\u05d3, haughty, and \u05d6\u05d3 \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8 dna ,, i.e., destroying himself, and thus thoughtlessly haughty, who \u05d1\u05bc\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05ea \u05d6\u05d3\u05d5\u05df acts in superfluity or arrogance (vid., at Pro 11:23) of haughtiness; for not only does he inwardly raise himself above all that is worthy of recognition as true, of faith as certain, of respect as holy; but acting as well as judging frivolously, he shows reverence for nothing, scornfully passing sentence against everything. Abulwald (vid., Gesen. Thes.) takes \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8 in the sense of obstinate; for he compares the Arab. jahr (jahar), which is equivalent to lij\u00e2j, constancy, stubbornness. But in the Targ. and Talm. (vid., at Hab 2:5, Levy's Chald. Wrterb. under \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8) \u05d9\u05d4\u05e8 in all its offshoots and derivations has the sense of pride; we have then rather to compare the Arab. istaihara, to be insane (= dhahb 'a\u1e33lh, mens ejus alienata est), perhaps also to hajjir, mutahawwir, being overthrown, praeceps, so that \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8 denotes one who by his \u1f51\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd is carried beyond all \u03c3\u03c9\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd (vid., Rom 12:3), one who is altogether mad from pride. The Syr. madocho (Targ. \u05de\u05e8\u05d9\u05d7\u05d0), by which \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8 (Targ. \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05e8) is rendered here and at Hab 2:5, is its synonym; this word also combines in itself the ideas foolhardy, and of one acting in a presumptuous, mad way; in a word, of one who is arrogant. Schultens is in the right way; but when he translates by tumidus mole cava ruens, he puts, as it is his custom to do, too much into the word; tumidus, puffed up, presents an idea which, etymologically at least, does not lie in it. The Venet.: \u1f00\u03ba\u03c1\u03b1\u03c4\u1f74\u03c2 \u03b8\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u1f7a\u03c2 \u03b2\u03c9\u03bc\u03bf\u03bb\u03cc\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1f54\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03ac \u03bf\u1f31, which may be translated: an untractable reckless person we call a fool [homo ineptus], is not bad.\n25 The desire of the slothful killeth him;\nFor his hands refuse to be active.\nThe desire of the \u05e2\u05e6\u05dc, Hitzig remarks, goes out first after meat and drink; and when it takes this direction, as hunger, it kills him indeed. But in this case it is not the desire that kills him, but the impossibility of satisfying it. The meaning is simply: the inordinate desire after rest and pleasure kills the slothful; for this always seeking only enjoyment and idleness brings him at last to ruin. \u05ea\u05bc\u05d0\u05d5\u05d4 means here, as in Kibroth ha-tava, Num 11:34, inordinate longing after enjoyments. The proverb is connected by almost all interpreters (also Ewald, Bertheau, Hitzig, Elster, Zckler) as a tetrastich with Pro 21:25 : he (the slothful) always eagerly desires, but the righteous giveth and spareth not. But (1) although \u05e6\u05d3\u05bc\u05d9\u05e7, since it designates one who is faithful to duty, might be used particularly of the industrious (cf. Pro 15:19), yet would there be wanting in 26a \u05d5\u05d0\u05d9\u05df, Pro 13:4, cf. Pro 20:4, necessary for the formation of the contrast; (2) this older Book of Proverbs consists of pure distichs; the only tristich, Pro 19:7, appears as the consequence of a mutilation from the lxx. Thus the pretended tetrastich before us is only apparently such.\n26 One always desireth eagerly;\nBut the righteous giveth and holdeth not back.\nOtherwise Fleischer: per totum diem avet avidus, i.e., avarus; but that in \u05d4\u05ea\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc\u05d4 \u05ea\u05bc\u05d0\u05d5\u05d4 the verb is connected with its inner obj. is manifest from Num 11:4; it is the mode of expression which is called in the Greek syntax schema etymologicum, and which is also possible without an adj. joined to the obj., as in the \u1f55\u03b2\u03c1\u03b9\u03bd \u03b8 \u0313 \u1f51\u03b2\u03c1\u03af\u03b6\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 (Eurip. Herc. fur. 706), the Arab. m\u00e2r\u00e2hu miryatn: he had a strife with him. Euchel impossibly: necessities will continually be appeased, which would have required \u05ea\u05bc\u05ea\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc\u05d4 or \u05de\u05ea\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc\u05d4. The explanation also cannot be: each day presents its special demand, for \u05db\u05bc\u05dc\u05be\u05d4\u05d9\u05bc\u05d5\u05dd does not mean each day, but the whole day, i.e., continually. Thus we render \u05d4\u05ea\u05d0\u05d5\u05d4 with the most general subject (in which case the national grammarians supply \u05d4\u05de\u05bc\u05ea\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc\u05d4): continually one longs longing, i.e., there are demands, solicitations, wishes, importunate petitions; but still the righteous is not embarrassed in his generosity, he gives as unceasingly (cf. Isa 14:6; Isa 58:1) as one asks. Thus the perf. is explained, which is related hypothetically to the fut. following: though one, etc.\n27 The sacrifice of the godless is an abomination;\nHow much more if it is brought for evil!\nLine first = Pro 15:8. Regarding the syllogistic \u05d0\u05e3 \u05db\u05bc\u05d9, vid., 12:31; Pro 15:11; regarding \u05d6\u05de\u05bc\u05d4, crime, particularly the sin of lewdness (from \u05d6\u05de\u05dd, to press together, to collect the thoughts upon something, to contrive, cf. raffinement de la volupt), at Pro 10:23. \u05d1\u05bc\u05d6\u05de\u05bc\u05d4 is too vaguely rendered in the lxx by \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03c9\u03c2, falsely by Jerome, ex scelere (cf. \u1f10\u03be \u1f00\u03b4\u03af\u03ba\u03bf\u03c5, Sir. 31:18, with Mal 1:13). The \u05d1 is not meant, as at Eze 22:11, of the way and manner; for that the condition of life of the \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2 is not a pure one, is not to be supposed. It is as Hitzig, rightly, that of price: for a transgression, i.e., to atone for it; one is hereby reminded, that he who had intercourse with a betrothed bondmaid had to present an ascham [trespass-offering], Lev 19:20-22. But frequently enough would it occur that rich sensualists brought trespass-offerings, and other offerings, in order thereby to recompense for their transgressions, and to purchase for themselves the connivance of God for their dissolute life. Such offerings of the godless, the proverb means, are to God a twofold and a threefold abomination; for in this case not only does the godless fail in respect of repentance and a desire after salvation, which are the conditions of all sacrifices acceptable to God, but he makes God directly a minister of sin.\n28 A false witness shall perish;\nBut he who heareth shall always speak truth.\nThe lxx translate 28b by \u1f00\u03bd\u1f74\u03c1 \u03b4\u1f72 \u03c6\u03c5\u03bb\u03b1\u03c3\u03c3\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bb\u03b1\u03bb\u03ae\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9. Cappellus supposes that they read \u05dc\u05e0\u05e6\u05e8 for \u05dc\u05e0\u05e6\u05d4, which, however, cannot mean \"taking care.\" Hitzig further imagines \u05e9\u05c2\u05de\u05d7 for \u05e9\u05c1\u05de\u05e2, and brings out the meaning: \"the man that rejoiceth to deliver shall speak.\" But where in all the world does \u05e0\u05e6\u05e8 mean \"to deliver\"? It means, \"to guard, preserve;\" and to reach the meaning of \"to deliver,\" a clause must be added with \u05de\u05df, as \u05de\u05e8\u05e2. When one who speaks lies (\u05e2\u05d3 \u05db\u05bc\u05d6\u05d1\u05d9\u05dd), and a man who hears (\u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1 \u05e9\u05bc\u05c1\u05d5\u05de\u05e2, plene, and with the orthophonic Dagesh), are contrasted, the former is one who fancifully or malevolently falsifies the fact, and the latter is one who before he speaks hears in order that he may say nothing that he has not surely heard. As \u05dc\u05d1 \u05e9\u05c1\u05de\u05e2, Kg1 3:9, means an obedient heart, so here \u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1 \u05e9\u05bc\u05c1\u05d5\u05de\u05e2 means a man who attentively hears, carefully proves. Such an one will speak \u05dc\u05e0\u05e6\u05d7, i.e., not: according to the truth, and not: for victory (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u03bd\u1fd6\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2), i.e., so that accomplishes it (Oetinger); for the Heb. \u05e0\u05e6\u05d7 has neither that Arab. nor this Aram. signification; but, with the transference of the root meaning of radiating or streaming over, to time, continuous existence (vid., Orelli, Synonyma der Zeit und Ewigkeit, pp. 96-97), thus: he will speak for continuance, i.e., either: without ever requiring to be silent, or, which we prefer: so that what he says stands; on the contrary, he who testifies mere fictions, i.e., avers that they are truth, is destroyed (28a = Pro 19:9, cf. 5): he himself comes to nothing, since his testimonies are referred to their groundlessness and falsity; for \u05e9\u05c1\u05e7\u05e8 \u05d0\u05d9\u05df \u05dc\u05d5 \u05e8\u05d2\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd, the lie has no feet on which it can stand, it comes to nothing sooner or later.\nAnother proverb with \u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1: -\nA godless man showeth boldness in his mien;\nBut one that is upright-he proveth his way.\nThe Cheth\u0131\u0302b has \u05d9\u05db\u05d9\u05df; but that the upright directeth, dirigit, his way, i.e., gives to it the right direction (cf. Ch2 27:6), is not a good contrast to the boldness of the godless; the Ker\u0131\u0302, \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05df \u05d3\u05bc\u05e8\u05db\u05bc\u05d5, deserves the preference. Aquila, Symmachus, the Syr., Targ., and Venet. adhere to the Cheth\u0131\u0302b, which would be suitable if it could be translated, with Jerome, by corrigit; Luther also reads the verb with \u05db, but as if it were \u05d9\u05db\u05bc\u05d5\u05df (whoever is pious, his way will stand) - only the lxx render the Ker\u0131\u0302 (\u03c3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b9\u03b5\u1fd6); as for the rest, the ancients waver between the Cheth\u0131\u0302b \u05d3\u05bc\u05e8\u05db\u05d9\u05d5 and the Ker\u0131\u0302 \u05d3\u05bc\u05e8\u05db\u05bc\u05d5: the former refers to manner of life in general; the latter (as at Pro 3:31 and elsewhere) to the conduct in separate cases; thus the one is just as appropriate as the other. In the circumstantial designation \u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1 \u05e8\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2 (cf. Pro 11:7) we have the stamp of the distinction of different classes of men peculiar to the Book of Proverbs. \u05d4\u05e2\u05d6 (to make firm, defiant) had, Pro 7:13, \u05e4\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd as accus.; the \u05d1\u05bc here is not that used in metaphoristic expressions instead of the accus. obj., which we have spoken of at Pro 15:4; Pro 20:30, but that of the means; for the face is thought of, not as the object of the action, but, after Gesen. 138, 1, as the means of its accomplishment: the godless makes (shows) firmness, i.e., defiance, accessibility to no admonition, which is countenance; but the upright considers, i.e., proves (Pro 14:8), his way. \u05d1\u05bc\u05d9\u05df (\u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05df) means a perceiving of the object in its specific peculiarity, an understanding of its constituent parts and essential marks; it denotes knowing an event analytically, as \u05d4\u05e9\u05c2\u05db\u05bc\u05d9\u05dc, as well as synthetically (cf. Arab. shakl), and is thus used as the expression of a perception, which apprehends the object not merely immediately, but closely examines into its circumstances.\nIf we further seek for the boundaries, the proverbs regarding the rich and the poor, Pro 22:2, Pro 22:7, Pro 22:16, present themselves as such, and this the more surely as Pro 22:16 is without contradiction the terminus. Thus we take first together 21:30-22:2.\n30 No wisdom and no understanding,\nAnd no counsel is there against Jahve.\nThe expression might also be '\u05dc\u05e4\u05e0\u05d9 \u05d4; but the predominating sense would then be, that no wisdom appears to God as such, that He values none as such. With \u05dc\u05e0\u05d2\u05d3 the proverb is more objective: there is no wisdom which, compared with His, can be regarded as such (cf. Co1 3:19), none which can boast itself against Him, or can at all avail against Him (\u05dc\u05e0\u05d2\u05d3, as Dan 10:12; Neh. 3:37); whence it follows (as Job 28:28) that the wisdom of man consists in the fear of God the Alone-wise, or, which is the same thing, the All-wise. Immanuel interprets \u05d7\u05db\u05de\u05d4 of theology, \u05ea\u05bc\u05d1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e0\u05d4 of worldly science, \u05e2\u05e6\u05d4 of politics; but \u05d7\u05db\u05de\u05d4 is used of the knowledge of truth, i.e., of that which truly is and continues; \u05ea\u05d1\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4 of criticism, and \u05e2\u05e6\u05d4 of system and method; vid., at Pro 1:2; Pro 8:14, from which latter passage the lxx has substituted here \u05d2\u05d1\u05d5\u05e8\u05d4 instead of \u05ea\u05d1\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4. Instead of '\u05dc\u05e0\u05d2\u05d3 \u05d4 it translates \u03c0\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f78\u03bd \u1f00\u03c3\u03b5\u03b2\u1fc6, i.e., for that which is '\u05e0\u05d2\u05d3 \u05d4 against Jahve.\n31 The horse is harnessed for the day of battle;\nBut with Jahve is the victory,\ni.e., it remains with Him to give the victory or not, for the horse is a vain means of victory, Isa 33:17; the battle is the Lord's, Sa1 17:47, i.e., it depends on Him how the battle shall issue; and king and people who have taken up arms in defence of their rights have thus to trust nothing in the multitude of their war-horses (\u05e1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e1, horses, including their riders), and generally in their preparations for the battle, but in the Lord (cf. Psa 20:8, and, on the contrary, Isa 31:1). The lxx translates \u05d4\u05ea\u05bc\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e2\u05d4 by \u1f21 \u03b2\u03bf\u03ae\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1, as if the Arab. name of victory, na\u1e63r, proceeding from this fundamental meaning, stood in the text; \u05ea\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05e2\u05d4 (from \u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05e2, Arab. ws', to be wide, to have free space for motion) signifies properly prosperity, as the contrast of distress, oppression, slavery, and victory (cf. e.g., Psa 144:10, and \u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e2\u05d4, Sa1 14:45). The post-bibl. Heb. uses \u05e0\u05e6\u05d7 (\u05e0\u05e6\u05bc\u05d7\u05d5\u05df) for victory; but the O.T. Heb. has no word more fully covering this idea than \u05ea\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05e2\u05d4 (\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05e2\u05d4).\n(Note: In the old High German, the word for war is urlag (urlac), fate, because the issue is the divine determination, and nt (as in \"der Nibelunge Not\"), as binding, confining, restraint; this nt is the correlate to \u05ea\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05e2\u05d4, victory; \u05de\u05dc\u05d7\u05de\u05d4 corresponds most to the French guerre, which is not of Romanic, but of German origin: the Werre, i.e., the Gewirre [complication, confusion], for \u05e0\u05dc\u05d7\u05dd signifies to press against one another, to be engaged in close conflict; cf. the Homeric \u03ba\u03bb\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 of the turmoil of battle.)","title":"Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch: Proverbs: Proverbs Chapter 21","type":"page"}