Text -- Proverbs 16:1-21 (NET)

16:1 The intentions of the heart belong to a man, but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord. 16:2 All a person’s ways seem right in his own opinion, but the Lord evaluates the motives. 16:3 Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established. 16:4 The Lord works everything for its own ends– even the wicked for the day of disaster. 16:5 The Lord abhors every arrogant person; rest assured that they will not go unpunished. 16:6 Through loyal love and truth iniquity is appeased; through fearing the Lord one avoids evil. 16:7 When a person’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he even reconciles his enemies to himself. 16:8 Better to have a little with righteousness than to have abundant income without justice. 16:9 A person plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps. 16:10 The divine verdict is in the words of the king, his pronouncements must not act treacherously against justice. 16:11 Honest scales and balances are from the Lord; all the weights in the bag are his handiwork. 16:12 Doing wickedness is an abomination to kings, because a throne is established in righteousness. 16:13 The delight of kings is righteous counsel, and they love the one who speaks uprightly. 16:14 A king’s wrath is like a messenger of death, but a wise person appeases it. 16:15 In the light of the king’s face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds of the spring rain. 16:16 How much better it is to acquire wisdom than gold; to acquire understanding is more desirable than silver. 16:17 The highway of the upright is to turn away from evil; the one who guards his way safeguards his life. 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 16:19 It is better to be lowly in spirit with the afflicted than to share the spoils with the proud. 16:20 The one who deals wisely in a matter will find success, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. 16:21 The one who is wise in heart is called discerning, and kind speech increases persuasiveness.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Pro 16:1

Men can neither think nor speak wisely and well without Divine assistance.

Wesley: Pro 16:2

Exactly knows as men do the things which they weigh.

Wesley: Pro 16:2

The hearts of men.

Wesley: Pro 16:3

Refer all thy actions and concerns to God, as the end of them, and depend upon God's providence for success.

Wesley: Pro 16:3

Thy designs shall be brought to an happy issue.

Wesley: Pro 16:4

He orders or disposes.

Wesley: Pro 16:4

For his own glory; for the discovery of his wisdom, power, goodness, truth, justice.

Wesley: Pro 16:4

Wilful and impenitent sinners. Men make themselves wicked, and God therefore makes them miserable.

Wesley: Pro 16:6

By a merciful and just and faithful frame of heart and course of life.

Wesley: Pro 16:6

As they qualify a man to offer up acceptable prayers to God for the pardon of his sins.

Wesley: Pro 16:6

By a filial reverence unto God.

Wesley: Pro 16:6

They are kept from abusing pardoning mercy, and from returning to folly or wickedness.

Wesley: Pro 16:9

Proposes what he will do.

Wesley: Pro 16:9

Over - rules and disposes all his designs and actions.

Wesley: Pro 16:10

Great sagacity and piercing judgment.

Wesley: Pro 16:10

Of wise kings; who only are worthy of that name and office.

Wesley: Pro 16:11

Are made by his direction and appointment, so that no man can alter them without violating God's rights and authority.

Wesley: Pro 16:15

As acceptable as those clouds which bring the latter rain, whereby the fruits are filled and ripened a little before the harvest.

Wesley: Pro 16:17

way - Their common road, in which they walk, tho' through frailty or temptation they slip into the bypath of sin.

Wesley: Pro 16:17

From the evil of sin, and consequently from the evil of punishment.

Wesley: Pro 16:17

That takes heed to walk in that high - way.

Wesley: Pro 16:20

He who orders his affairs with discretion.

Wesley: Pro 16:21

He who is truly wise, shall be so accounted by others.

Wesley: Pro 16:21

Eloquence added to wisdom.

Wesley: Pro 16:21

Both in himself, for while a man teaches others, he improves himself; and others, who by this means are induced to hear and receive his instructions.

JFB: Pro 16:1

(Pro. 16:1-33)

JFB: Pro 16:1

Schemes.

JFB: Pro 16:1

Or literally, "to man," belonging, or pertaining to him.

JFB: Pro 16:1

The efficient ordering is from God: "Man proposes; God disposes."

JFB: Pro 16:2

Or, "faultless."

JFB: Pro 16:2

Or, "tries," "judges," implying that they are faulty (Pro 21:2; Pro 24:12).

JFB: Pro 16:3

(Compare Margin). Rely on God for success to your lawful purposes.

JFB: Pro 16:4

"for its answer," or "purpose," that is, according to God's plan; the wicked are for the day of evil (Psa 49:5; Jer 17:18); sinning and suffering answer to each other, are indissolubly united.

JFB: Pro 16:5

(Compare Pro 3:32).

JFB: Pro 16:6

That is, God's (Psa 85:10); He effects the atonement, or covering of sin; and the principles of true piety incline men to depart from evil; or, "mercy" and "truth" may be man's, indicative of the gracious tempers which work instrumentally in procuring pardon.

JFB: Pro 16:6

Expiated (as in Lev 16:33; Isa 27:9, Hebrew).

JFB: Pro 16:7

Persecutions, of course, excepted.

JFB: Pro 16:8

(Compare Pro 15:6, Pro 15:16-17).

JFB: Pro 16:9

(Compare Pro 16:3).

JFB: Pro 16:9

Establisheth.

JFB: Pro 16:10

The last clause depends on the first, expressing the importance of equity in decisions, so authoritative.

JFB: Pro 16:11

That is, what He has ordered, and hence should be observed by men.

JFB: Pro 16:12

Rulers are rightly expected, by their position, to hate evil; for their power is sustained by righteousness.

JFB: Pro 16:13

A specification of the general sentiment of Pro 16:12.

JFB: Pro 16:14

This wrath, so terrible and certain, like messengers of death (1Ki 2:25), can be appeased by the wise.

JFB: Pro 16:15

Favor (Psa 4:6).

JFB: Pro 16:15

Preserves it, or gives blessings which make it valuable.

JFB: Pro 16:15

Fell just before harvest and matured the crop; hence specially valuable (Deu 11:14).

JFB: Pro 16:16

(Compare Pro 3:16; Pro 4:5).

JFB: Pro 16:17

A common, plain road represents the habitual course of the righteous in departing from evil.

JFB: Pro 16:17

Observes.

JFB: Pro 16:18-19

(Compare Pro 15:33). Haughtiness and pride imply self-confidence which produces carelessness, and hence

JFB: Pro 16:18-19

Literally, "sliding."

JFB: Pro 16:19

That is, conquer. Avoid the society of the proud (Jam 4:6).

JFB: Pro 16:20

Wisely considers "the word," that is, of God (compare Pro 13:13).

JFB: Pro 16:20

(Compare Psa 2:12; Psa 118:8-9).

JFB: Pro 16:21

Who rightly consider duty.

JFB: Pro 16:21

Eloquent discourse, persuades and instructs others.

Clarke: Pro 16:1

The preparations of the heart in man - The Hebrew is לאדם מערכי לב leadam maarchey leb , which is, literally, "To man are the dispositions of the heart; but from the Lord is the answer of the tongue."Man proposes his wishes; but God answers as he thinks proper. The former is the free offspring of the heart of man; the latter, the free volition of God. Man may think as he pleases, and ask as he lists; but God will give, or not give, as he thinks proper. This I believe to be the meaning of this shamefully tortured passage, so often vexed by critics, their doubts, and indecisions. God help them! for they seldom have the faculty of making any subject plainer! The text does not say that the "preparations,"rather dispositions or arrangements, מערכי maarchey "of the heart,"as well as "the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord;"though it is generally understood so; but it states that the dispositions or schemes of the heart (are) man’ s; but the answer of the tongue (is) the Lord’ s. And so the principal versions have understood it

Hominis est animam preparare; et Domini gubernare linguam - Vulgate. "It is the part of man to prepare his soul: it is the prerogative of the Lord to govern the tongue.

מן בר נש תרעיתא דלבא ומן יי ממללא דלישנא min bar nash taritha delibba ; umin yeya mamlala delishana - Chaldee. "From the son of man is the counsel of the heart; and from the Lord is the word of the tongue.

The Syriac is the same. καρδια ανδρος λογζεσθω δικαια, Ἱνα ὑπο του θεου διορθωθῃ τα διαβηματα αυτῃ - Septuagint. "The heart of man deviseth righteous things, that its goings may be directed by God.

The Arabic takes great latitude: "All the works of an humble man are clean before the Lord; and the wicked shall perish in an evil day." Of a man fit to maken redy the inwitt: and of the Lorde to governe the tunge. - Old MS. Bible

"A man maye well purpose a thinge in his harte: but the answere of the tonge cometh of the Lorde. - Coverdale

Matthew’ s Bible, 1549, and Becke’ s Bible of the same date, and Cardmarden’ s of 1566, follow Coverdale. The Bible printed by R. Barker, at Cambridge, 4th., 1615, commonly called the Breeches Bible, reads the text thus: - "The preparations of the hart are in man; but the answere of the tongue is of the Lord."So that it appears that our first, and all our ancient versions, understood the text in the same way; and this, independently of critical torture, is the genuine meaning of the Hebrew text. That very valuable version published in Italian, at Geneva, fol. 1562, translates thus: Le dispositioni del cuore sono de l’ huomo, ma la risposta del la lingua e dal Signore. "The dispositions of the heart are of man; but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

The modern European versions, as far as I have seen, are the same. And when the word dispositions, arrangements, schemes, is understood to be the proper meaning of the Hebrew term, as shown above, the sense is perfectly sound; for there may be a thousand schemes and arrangements made in the heart of man which he may earnestly wish God to bring to full effect, that are neither for his good nor God’ s glory; and therefore it is his interest that God has the answer in his own power. At the same time, there is no intimation here that man can prepare his own heart to wait upon, or pray unto the Lord; or that from the human heart any thing good can come, without Divine influence; but simply that he may have many schemes and projects which he may beg God to accomplish, that are not of God, but from himself. Hence our own proverb: "Man proposes, but God disposes."I have entered the more particularly into the consideration of this text, because some are very strenuous in the support of our vicious reading, from a supposition that the other defends the heterodox opinion of man’ s sufficiency to think any thing as of himself. But while they deserve due credit for their orthodox caution, they will see that no such imputation can fairly lie against the plain grammatical translation of the Hebrew text.

Clarke: Pro 16:3

Commit thy works unto the Lord - See that what thou doest is commanded; and then begin, continue, and end all in his name. And thy thoughts shall be established - these schemes or arrangements, though formed in the heart, are agreeable to the Divine will, and therefore shall be established. His thoughts - his meditations - are right; and he begins and ends his work in the Lord; and therefore all issues well.

Clarke: Pro 16:4

The Lord hath made all things for himself - He has so framed and executed every part of his creation, that it manifests his wisdom, power, goodness, and truth

Clarke: Pro 16:4

Even the wicked for the day of evil - וגם רשע ליום רעה vegam rasha leyom raah . The whole verse is translated by the Chaldee thus: "All the works of the Lord are for those who obey him; and the wicked is reserved for the evil day."As רעה raah literally signifies to feed, it has been conjectured that the clause might be read, yea, even the wicked he feeds by the day, or daily

If we take the words as they stand in our present version, they mean no more than what is expressed by the Chaldee and Spriac: and as far as we can learn from their present confused state, by the Septuagint and Arabic, that "the wicked are reserved for the day of punishment."Coverdale has given, as he generally does, a good sense: "The Lorde dotll all thinges for his owne sake; yea, and when he kepeth the ungodly for the daye of wrath."He does not make the wicked or ungodly man; but when man has made himself such, even then God bears with him. But if he repent not, when the measure of his iniquity is filled up, he shall fall under the wrath of God his Maker.

Clarke: Pro 16:5

Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished - The day of wrath shall come on the wicked, whatever means he may take to avoid it. See Pro 11:21.

Clarke: Pro 16:6

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged - This may be misunderstood, as if a man, by showing mercy and acting according to truth, could atone for his own iniquity. The Hebrew text is not ambiguous: בחסד ואמת יכפר עון bechesed veemeth yechapper avon ; "By mercy and truth he shall atone for iniquity."He - God, by his mercy, in sending his son Jesus into the world, - "shall make an atonement for iniquity"according to his truth - the word which he declared by his holy prophets since the world began. Or, if we retain the present version, and follow the points in יכפר yecuppar , reading "iniquity is purged"or "atoned for,"the sense is unexceptionable, as we refer the mercy and the truth to God. But what an awful comment is that of Don Calmet, in which he expresses, not only his own opinion, but the staple doctrine of his own Church, the Romish! The reader shall have his own words: "‘ L’ iniquite se rachete par la misericorde et la verite.’ On expie ses pechez par des oeuvres de misericorde envers le prochein; par la clemence, par la douceur, par compassion, par les aumones: et par la verite-par la fidelity, la bonne foi, la droiture, requite dans le commerce . Voyez Pro 3:3, Pro 14:22, Pro 20:28.""‘ Iniquity is redeemed by mercy and truth.’ We expiate our sins by works of mercy towards our neighbor; by clemency, by kindness, by compassion, and by alms: and by truth - by fidelity, by trustworthiness, by uprightness, by equity in commerce."If this be so, why was Jesus incarnated? Why his agony and bloody sweat, his cross and passion, his death and burial, his resurrection and ascension? Was it only to supply a sufficient portion of merit for those who had neglected to make a fund for themselves? Is the guilt of sin so small in the sight of Divine justice, that a man can atone for it by manifesting good dispositions towards his neighbors, by giving some alms, and not doing those things for which he might be hanged? Why then did God make such a mighty matter of the redemption of the world? Why send his Son at all? An angel would have been more than sufficient; yea, even a sinner who had been converted by his own compassion, alms-deeds, etc., would have been sufficient. And is not this the very doctrine of this most awfully fallen and corrupt Church? Has she not provided a fund of merit in her saints, of what was more than requisite for themselves that it might be given, or sold out, to those who had not enough of their own? Now such is the doctrine of the Romish Church - grossly absurd, and destructively iniquitous! And because men cannot believe this, cannot believe these monstrosities, that Church will burn them to ashes. Ruthless Church! degenerated, fallen, corrupt, and corrupting! once a praise now a curse, in the earth. Thank the blessed God, whose blood alone can expiate sin, that he has a Church upon the earth; and that the Romish is not the Catholic Church; and that it has not that political power by which it would subdue all things to itself.

Clarke: Pro 16:7

When a man’ s ways please the Lord - God is the guardian and defense of all that fear and love him; and it is truly astonishing to see how wondrously God works in their behalf, raising them up friends, and turning their enemies into friends.

Clarke: Pro 16:9

A man’ s heart deviseth his way - This is precisely the same sentiment as that contained in the first verse, on the true meaning of which so much has been already said.

Clarke: Pro 16:10

A divine sentence - קסם kesem , "divination,"as the margin has it. Is the meaning as follows? Though divination were applied to a righteous king’ s lips, to induce him to punish the innocent and spare the guilty, yet would not his lips transgress in judgment; so firmly attached is he to God, and so much is he under the Divine care and influence. Whatever judgment such a one pronounces, it may be considered as a decision from God.

Clarke: Pro 16:11

All the weights of the bag are his - Alluding, probably, to the standard weights laid up in a bag in the sanctuary, and to which all weights in common use in the land were to be referred, in order to ascertain whether they were just: but some think the allusion is to the weights carried about by merchants in their girdles, by which they weigh the money, silver and gold, that they take in exchange for their merchandise. As the Chinese take no coin but gold and silver by weight, they carry about with them a sort of small steelyard, by which they weigh those metals taken in exchange.

Clarke: Pro 16:12

It is an abomination to kings, etc. - In all these verses the wise man refers to monarchical government rightly administered. And the proverbs on this subject are all plain.

Clarke: Pro 16:16

How much better - to get wisdom than gold? - Who believes this, though spoken by the wisest of men, under Divine inspiration?

Clarke: Pro 16:17

The highway of the upright - The upright man is ever departing from evil; this is his common road: and by keeping on in this way, his soul is preserved.

Clarke: Pro 16:18

Pride goeth before destruction - Here pride is personified: it walks along, and has destruction in its train

Clarke: Pro 16:18

And a haughty spirit before a fall - Another personification. A haughty spirit marches on, and ruin comes after

In this verse we find the following Masoretic note in most Hebrew Bibles. חצי הספר chatsi hassepher : "the middle of the book."This verse is the middle verse; and the first clause makes the middle of the words of the book of Proverbs.

Defender: Pro 16:4

This is the best answer that can be given to the age-long question regarding God's purpose in creation. There is even a purpose in His ordaining a day of judgment for which the wicked were made, thereby eliciting yet greater love and thanksgiving in the hearts of the redeemed."

Defender: Pro 16:18

Pride was the primeval sin of Satan before his fall (1Ti 3:6; 1Co 10:12)."

TSK: Pro 16:1

preparations : or, disposings, Pro 16:9, Pro 19:21, Pro 20:24, Pro 21:1; 2Ch 18:31; Ezr 7:27; Neh 1:11; Psa 10:17, Psa 119:36; Jer 10:23, Jer 32:39, Jer 32:40; Eze 36:26, Eze 36:27; 2Co 8:16; Phi 2:13; Jam 1:16-18

and : Exo 4:11, Exo 4:12, Exo 4:15; Jer 1:7-9; Mat 10:19, Mat 10:20; Luk 12:11, Luk 12:12, Luk 21:14, Luk 21:15

TSK: Pro 16:2

the ways : Pro 16:25, Pro 21:2, Pro 30:12; 1Sa 15:13, 1Sa 15:14; Psa 36:2; Jer 2:22, Jer 2:23; Luk 18:9-11; Rom 7:7-9

but : Pro 5:21, Pro 24:12; 1Sa 16:7; Isa 26:7; Jer 17:10; Dan 5:27; Luk 16:15; Rev 2:18, Rev 2:23

TSK: Pro 16:3

Commit : Heb. Roll

thy works : Job 5:8; Psa 37:4, Psa 37:5, Psa 55:22; Mat 6:25-34; Luk 12:22; Phi 4:6; 1Pe 5:7

thy thoughts : Job 22:28; Isa 7:5-7

TSK: Pro 16:4

Lord : Isa 43:7, Isa 43:21; Rom 11:36; Rev 4:11

yea : Job 21:30; Rom 9:22; 1Pe 2:8; 2Pe 2:3, 2Pe 2:9

TSK: Pro 16:5

that : Pro 6:16, Pro 6:17, Pro 8:13; Job 40:12; Jam 4:6

though : Pro 11:21

unpunished : Heb. held innocent, Exo 20:7; Isa 3:11; Rom 2:8, Rom 2:9

TSK: Pro 16:6

mercy : Pro 20:28; Psa 85:10; Dan 4:27; Mic 7:18-20; Luk 11:41; Joh 15:2; Act 15:9; 1Pe 1:22

by the : Pro 8:13, Pro 14:16, Pro 14:27; Gen 20:11; Neh 5:9, Neh 5:15; Job 1:1-8, Job 28:28; 2Co 7:1; Eph 5:21

TSK: Pro 16:7

please : Psa 69:31; Rom 8:31; Phi 4:18; Col 1:10, Col 3:20; Heb 13:21; 1Jo 3:22

he : Gen 27:41, Gen 32:6, Gen 32:7, Gen 32:28, Gen 33:4; Jer 15:11; Act 9:1, Act 9:2, Act 9:19, Act 9:20

TSK: Pro 16:8

is : Pro 15:16; Psa 37:16; 1Ti 6:6-9

great : Pro 21:6, Pro 21:7; Jer 17:11; Mic 6:10

TSK: Pro 16:9

Pro 16:1, Pro 19:21, Pro 20:24, Pro 21:30; Psa 37:23; Isa 46:10; Jer 10:23

TSK: Pro 16:10

A divine sentence : Heb. Divination, Pro 16:12, Pro 16:13; Gen 44:5, Gen 44:15; Deu 17:18-20; 2Sa 23:3, 2Sa 23:4; Psa 45:6, Psa 45:7, Psa 72:1-4; Psa 99:4; Isa 32:1, Isa 32:2; Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6

transgresseth : Hos 10:4; Amo 5:7, Amo 6:12

TSK: Pro 16:11

just : Pro 11:1, Pro 20:10, Pro 20:23; Lev 19:35, Lev 19:36; Deu 25:13-15; Eze 45:10; Hos 12:7; Amo 8:5; Mic 6:11

weight : Heb. stones

TSK: Pro 16:12

an : Pro 28:9; Deu 25:16; Luk 12:48

for : Pro 20:18, Pro 25:5, Pro 29:14; Psa 99:4; Rev 19:11

TSK: Pro 16:13

Pro 14:35, Pro 22:11; Psa 101:5-7

TSK: Pro 16:14

wrath : Pro 19:12, Pro 20:2; Dan 3:13-25; Luk 12:4, Luk 12:5

messengers : Pro 17:11; 2Ki 6:31-33; Mar 6:27

but : Ecc 10:4; Act 12:20; 2Co 5:20

TSK: Pro 16:15

the light : Pro 19:12; Job 29:23, Job 29:24; Psa 4:6, Psa 21:6; Act 2:28

his : Job 29:23; Psa 30:5, Psa 72:6; Hos 6:3; Zec 10:1

TSK: Pro 16:16

Pro 3:15-18, Pro 4:7, Pro 8:10, Pro 8:11, Pro 8:19; Job 28:13-28; Psa 119:127; Ecc 7:12; Mat 16:26; Luk 12:21

TSK: Pro 16:17

highway : Pro 4:24-27; Isa 35:8; Act 10:35, Act 24:16; Tit 2:10-14

he : Pro 10:9, Pro 19:16; Mat 24:13; Heb 10:39; Jud 1:21, Jud 1:24; Rev 3:10

TSK: Pro 16:18

Pro 11:2, Pro 17:19, Pro 18:12, Pro 29:23; Est 3:5, Est 6:6, Est 7:10; Isa 2:11, Isa 2:12; Isa 37:10-13, Isa 37:38; Dan 4:30-37, Dan 5:22, Dan 5:24; Oba 1:3, Oba 1:4; Mat 26:33-35, Mat 26:74; Rom 11:20; 1Ti 3:6

TSK: Pro 16:19

to be : Psa 34:18, Psa 138:6; Isa 57:15; Mat 5:3; Luk 1:51-53, Luk 18:13, Luk 18:14

than : Exo 15:9; Isa 9:3, Isa 10:6, Isa 10:13-15, Isa 53:12

TSK: Pro 16:20

handleth : or, understandeth, Pro 8:35, Pro 13:15, Pro 17:2, Pro 19:8, Pro 24:3-5; Gen 41:38-40; Dan 1:19-21; Mat 10:16

whoso : Pro 22:19, Pro 22:20; 1Ch 5:20; Psa 2:12, Psa 34:8, Psa 125:1, Psa 146:5; Isa 26:3, Isa 26:4, Isa 30:18; Jer 17:7, Jer 17:8; Dan 3:28, Dan 6:23; Eph 1:12, Eph 1:13

TSK: Pro 16:21

wise : Pro 16:23, Pro 10:8, Pro 23:15; 1Ki 3:12; Rom 16:19; Jam 3:17

the sweetness : Pro 16:24, Pro 15:7, Pro 27:9; Psa 45:2; Ecc 12:10; Isa 50:4; Luk 4:22; Joh 7:46

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Pro 16:1

The proverbs in Pro 16:1-7 have, more than any other group, an especially religious character impressed upon them. The name of Yahweh as Giver, Guide, Ruler, or Judge, meets us in each of them.

Pro 16:1

Better, The plans of the heart belong to man, but the utterance of the tongue is from Yahweh. Thoughts come and go, as it were, spontaneously; but true, well ordered speech is the gift of God. Compare Pro 16:9.

Barnes: Pro 16:2

We are blind to our own faults, do not see ourselves as others see us. There is One who tries not the "ways"only, but the "spirits"Heb 4:12 : this is the true remedy against self-deceit.

Barnes: Pro 16:3

Commit - literally, as in the margin, as a man transfers a burden from his own back to one stronger and better able to bear it. Compare the margin reference.

Thy thoughts - i. e., The plans or counsels out of which the works spring.

Barnes: Pro 16:4

For himself - Better, The Lord has done everything for its own end; and this includes the appointment of an "evil day"for "the wicked"who deserve it.

Barnes: Pro 16:5

See the marginal reference note.

Barnes: Pro 16:6

Compare Pro 15:8. "By mercy and truth,"not by sacrifices and burnt-offerings, "iniquity is purged, atoned for, expiated."The teaching is the same as that of the prophets.

Barnes: Pro 16:7

Goodness has power to charm and win even enemies to itself.

Barnes: Pro 16:9

Deviseth his way - i. e., Thinks it out with anxious care; yet it is the Lord and He only who directs the steps. Compare Pro 16:1.

Barnes: Pro 16:10

A divine sentence - See the margin, i. e., "soothsaying"in its darker aspect as contrasted with prophecy. The true oracle is to be sought, not from soothsayers and diviners, but "at the lips of the king,"who is ideally the representative, the προφήτης prophētēs of Yahweh, in His government of mankind.

Barnes: Pro 16:11

See Pro 11:1 note. People are not to think that trade lies outside the divine law. God has commanded there also all that belongs to truth and right.

Barnes: Pro 16:14

While Pro 16:13 depicts the king as he ought to be, this verse reminds us of the terrible rapidity with which, in the despotic monarchies of the East, punishment, even death, follows royal displeasure.

Barnes: Pro 16:15

The "latter rain"is that which falls in March or April just before the harvest. The "cloud"which brings it, immediately screening people from the scorching sun, and bringing plenty and blessing, is a fit type of the highest favor.

Barnes: Pro 16:20

Good as it is to "handle a matter wisely,"it is far better to "trust in the Lord."The former is really impossible except through the latter.

Barnes: Pro 16:21

The words point to the conditions of all true growth in wisdom; and he who has the gift of uttering it in winning speech increases it in himself and others.

Poole: Pro 16:1

The preparations or dispositions, or orderings of the heart are in or from a man ; (i.e. a man may consider and contrive in his own thoughts what he wills or designs to speak; which is spoken by way of concession, yet not excluding man’ s dependence upon God therein, which is evident both from many plain texts of Scripture, and from undeniable reason;) but the

answer or speech (as this word is oft used)

of the tongue is from the Lord Men cannot express their own thoughts without God’ s leave and help, and their tongues are oft overruled by God to speak what was besides and above their own thoughts, as he did Balaam, Nu 23 , and Caiaphas, Joh 11:49-51 .

Poole: Pro 16:2

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes many men can easily flatter and deceive themselves into a good opinion of themselves, and of their own actions, though they be sinful. See below, Pro 16:25 , and compare 1Co 4:4 .

The Lord weigheth i.e. exactly knoweth, as men do the things which they weigh and examine, the spirits; the hearts of men, from which both men’ s actions, and the goodness and badness of them, in a great measure, proceed; their ends and intentions, their dispositions and affections, which are hid not only from others, but ofttimes from a man’ s self; whereby he is unfit to judge in his own cause, and easily mistaken, if he do not use great diligence and fidelity. In this last clause he intimates the reason why men deceive themselves in judging of their state and actions, because they do not search their own hearts.

Poole: Pro 16:3

Commit thy works unto the Lord Heb. Roll , &c., as a man rolls a burden to another, which is too heavy for himself, imploring his help. Refer all thy actions and concerns to God, and to his glory, as the end of them, and in the discharge of thy own duty depend upon God’ s providence for assistance and success.

Thy thoughts shall be established thy honest desires and designs shall be brought to a happy issue one way or other.

Poole: Pro 16:4

Hath made or, hath wrought or doth work ; for the Hebrews express the present as well as the past thee by this tense: he ordereth or disposeth; for this may be understood either of the works of creation or of providence.

All things and especially all men, for himself; for his own service and glory; for the discovery and illustration of his own wisdom, power, goodness, truth, justice, and his other most glorious perfections.

The wicked wilful and impenitent sinners,

for the day of evil for the thee of punishment, as this phrase is used, Psa 49:5 Jer 17:18 , and elsewhere; of which the Scripture frequently speaks, both to warn sinners of their danger, and to satisfy the minds of them which are amazed and disquieted with the consideration of the present impunity and felicity of wicked men. Men make themselves wicked, and God therefore makes them miserable.

Poole: Pro 16:5

That is proud in heart though he dissemble it in his outward carriage and countenance, as Psa 10:4 . In whose heart pride rules.

Though hand join in hand though they have many friends and assistants. See the same phrase Pro 11:21 .

Poole: Pro 16:6

By mercy and truth either,

1. By God’ s mercy or grace, and by his truth in performing his promises made to sinners in Christ. Or,

2. By men’ s mercy and truth, as those very words are jointly used, Pro 3:3 20:28 , and elsewhere; and as, in the following clause, the fear of the Lord is a grace or disposition in men; by a merciful, and just, and faithful frame of heart and course of life; which are here opposed to sacrifices, as mercy is, Hos 6:6 , by which the hypocritical Jews expected to obtain the expiation of their sins.

Iniquity is purged not meritoriously, but instrumentally, as they qualify a man to offer up acceptable prayers to God for the pardon of his sins, and to receive and apply to himself that pardon which Christ by his blood hath purchased for all sincere believers, who are filled with mercy, and truth, and other graces.

By the fear of the Lord by a filial reverence or respect unto God, and by a holy fear of offending God, and by a dread of God’ s judgments;

men depart from evil they are kept from abusing pardoning mercy, and from returning to folly or wickedness. So he showeth that justification and sanctification are constant and inseparable companions.

Poole: Pro 16:7

By disposing their hearts to kindness towards him.

Poole: Pro 16:8

This was in effect said before, Pro 15:16 , and is here repeated, partly because of the great importance and usefulness of this truth, and partly because men are very hardly brought to a serious belief of it.

Poole: Pro 16:9

Deviseth his way considers and proposeth to himself what he will do.

Directeth his steps overruleth and disposeth all their designs and actions as he pleaseth, and not as they list.

Poole: Pro 16:10

A divine sentence Heb. divination , which is sometimes taken in a good sense for prudence, as it is Isa 3:2 . A great sagacity and piercing judgment to discern dubious and difficult cases.

Is or, should be ; for the verb is wanting in the Hebrew, and this may be supplied as well as is . And he seems not so much to speak of the matter of fact, as if it were thus in all kings, which is notoriously and confessedly untrue, as of the duty of kings, in whom wisdom is a necessary qualification. For thus the two following proverbs concerning kings, Pro 16:12,13 , must be understood, otherwise they are repugnant to common experience.

Of the king either,

1. Of wise kings, who only are worthy of that name and office; king being here put for a wise king , as a name is put for a good name, and a woman for a good woman, Ecc 7:28 ; and then this is true in fact, as it was in David. 2Sa 14:17 , and in Solomon, 1Ki 3:28 . Or,

2. Of kings in general, in the sense before given; for seeing the word is generally expressed without any limitation, both here and Pro 16:12,13 , it may seem presumption to confine it to those few kings which are or were wise and good.

Transgresseth not or, shall or should not transgress , or go beyond the bounds of religion and justice.

Poole: Pro 16:11

Are the Lord’ s are God’ s work, as it follows; made by his direction and appointment, so as no man can corrupt or alter them without violating God’ s rights and authority, and incurring his displeasure.

The weights Heb. the stones , which they then used as weights. See Poole "Pro 11:1" .

Poole: Pro 16:12

It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness they should not only abstain from all wicked practices, but abhor them both in their own persons, and in all their servants and subjects. It is too plain that he speaks not of the common practice, but of the duty of kings, as on Pro 16:10 . And such affirmative expressions are oft used in Scripture to express men’ s duty only, as 1Co 6:19 , your body is (i.e. should be) the temple , &c.; and 1Co 7:32 , careth , &c. i.e. ought to care.

The throne is established by righteousness and (which is implied) weakened, and sometimes overthrown by unrighteousness; and therefore this is necessary for their own security and happiness.

Poole: Pro 16:13

All wise and good kings do, and all kings should, delight in employing such counsellors, judges, and officers under them, as are just and faithful in their counsels, and sentences, and actions, because such bring great honour and advantage to them.

Poole: Pro 16:14

Is as messengers of death is as terrible as if many messengers were sent to denounce the sentence of death, and to execute it.

Will pacify it will use all prudent and lawful means to pacify it.

Poole: Pro 16:15

In the light of the king’ s countenance is life his favour and smiling countenance is most sweet and refreshing, especially to him that was under a sentence of death, Pro 16:14 .

His favour is as a cloud of the latter rain as acceptable as those clouds which bring the latter rain, whereby the fruits are filled and ripened a little before the harvest; of which see Deu 11:14 Job 29:23 Jam 5:7 .

Poole: Pro 16:16

How much better! it is inexpressibly and unconceivably better, as this phrase implies, Psa 31:19 36:7 92:5 , &c.

Is it to get wisdom than gold because it brings a man more certain, and complete, and lasting comfort and advantage.

Poole: Pro 16:17

The highway of the upright their common road, in which they constantly purpose, and desire, and customarily use to walk, although sometimes through frailty or temptation they slip into the by-paths of sin, is to depart from evil; from the evil of sin, and consequently from the evil of punishment.

He that keepeth his way that takes heed to walk in that highway, preserveth his soul from that mischief which befalls those that walk in the crooked paths of wickedness.

Poole: Pro 16:18

Pride goeth before destruction it is commonly a forerunner and cause of men’ s ruin, because it highly provokes both God and men.

Poole: Pro 16:19

Who will spoil and rob others to maintain their own pomp and luxury.

Poole: Pro 16:20

He that handleth a matter wisely he who orders his affairs with discretion. Or, as others, both ancient and later interpreters, take it, he that understandeth or attendeth to the word , to wit, the word of God, which is called absolutely the word , Pro 13:13 , and elsewhere, making that the rule of his actions.

Shall find good shall obtain happy success.

Who so trusteth in the Lord who doth not trust to his prudence or diligence, but to God’ s providence and blessings. Or, who mixeth God’ s word with faith, as the phrase is, Heb 4:2 .

Happy is he he shall not only find some good, but shall certainly attain to true happiness.

Poole: Pro 16:21

The wise in heart shall be called prudent: the sense is either,

1. He who hath wisdom or sound knowledge in his heart, will show it by his prudence in ordering his actions. Or rather,

2. He who is truly wise, or prudent, or intelligent (all which words most commonly signify one and the same thing, both in this and in other books of Scripture) shall be so called or accounted by others.

The sweetness of the lips eloquence added to wisdom; the faculty of expressing a man’ s mind fitly, and freely, and acceptably.

Increaseth learning both in himself, for whilst a man teacheth others he improveth himself; and especially in others, who by this means are induced to hear and receive his good instructions. Wisdom gets a man repute with others, but this faculty of right speaking makes a wise man more instrumental to do good to others.

Haydock: Pro 16:1

Lord. So the apostles had recourse to them, (Acts i. 26.) as the Cophts[Copts?] and Nestorians still do when there is a dispute about the election of a patriarch. (Renaudot iv. Perpet. i. 7. and 9.) ---

This mode may settle disputes, chap. xviii. 18. But we must not have recourse to it, except where the Church permits, lest we become the dupes of an idle curiosity. (Calmet) ---

Nothing happens by chance. (St. Augustine, City of God v. 9.) ---

Septuagint, "all things come into the breast of the unjust; but all just things proceed from the Lord." (Haydock)

Haydock: Pro 16:1

It is the part of man, &c. That is, a man should prepare in his heart and soul what he is to say; but after all, it must be the Lord that must govern his tongue, to speak to the purpose. Not that we can think any thing of good without God's grace: but after that we have (with God's grace) thought and prepared within our souls what we would speak; if God does not govern our tongue, we shall not succeed in what we speak. (Challoner) ---

He well put into our mouths what we have to say to persecutors, Luke xxi. 14. He often causes us to utter the reverse of what we intended,, as Balaam did, Numbers xxiii. (Menochius) ---

The fairest prospects miscarry without God's blessing. The enemies of grace would infer from this text, that the beginning of salvation depends on free-will. But St. Augustine (con. 2. epist. Pelag. ii. 8.) has solidly refuted them, and Solomon does not mean that man acts alone, chap. viii. 35., (Septuagint) John xv. 5., and 2 Corinthians iii. 5. "Man," says St. Augustine, "does no good things, which God does not cause him to perform." (Calmet) ---

The Scripture cannot contradict itself. A fresh grace is requisite to execute what God has enabled us to devise, ver. 9. (Worthington)

Haydock: Pro 16:2

Open. Or approved. (Menochius) ---

Hebrew, "pure in his own eyes." He sees not his own defects, chap. xxi. 2., and Job xxviii. 23. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 16:3

Open. Hebrew, "roll on," and refer all to God's glory. (Menochius) (Psalm xxxvi. 5.)

Haydock: Pro 16:4

Day. His obduracy is of his own choice, and must serve to set the divine justice in the clearest light, Ecclesiasticus xxxii. 14., and Exodus ix. 16. Others hence infer that predestination is gratuitous, and reprobation in consequence of sin. It seems rather that temporal goods and evils are here meant. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 16:5

Hand. And he seems to be very quiet, chap. xi. 21. Septuagint, "but he who putteth his hand in hands unjustly, to make a contract, is," &c. ---

The, &c., is taken from the Roman Septuagint and occurs before, chap. xv. 27.

Haydock: Pro 16:6

Mercy to the distressed, chap. iii. 3., and xiv. 22.

Haydock: Pro 16:7

Peace. Thus Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, &c., were admired by their former enemies.

Haydock: Pro 16:10

Judgment. Or "let it not err," as people look upon the decisions of kings as so many oracles. We ought to act in this manner, as long as they are not visibly unjust. God gave a principal spirit (Psalm l. 14.) to Saul, David, Solomon, and to the judges whom he appointed, 1 Kings x. 9., Deuteronomy xxxiv. 9., and Judges iii. 10. (Calmet) ---

Solomon was thus enabled to decide difficult cases. (Menochius) (Job xxix. 7.)

Haydock: Pro 16:11

Bag. Many read sæculi, "of the world." So Ven. Bede, &c. All God's appointments are perfectly just, chap. xi. 21. It was the custom for people to carry balances to weigh money, before it was coined. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 16:13

Loved. Yet none are more exposed to flattery and deceit than kings. (Seneca, ep. xxi.)

Haydock: Pro 16:15

Life. A mild government resembles a serene sky. (Sen.) (Clem.) (Job xxix. 23.)

Haydock: Pro 16:16

Get. Septuagint, "the nests of wisdom....and the nests of prudence;" or Churches of Christ, or places of education, may be intended. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 16:18

Fall. Our first parents had given way to pride, before they sinned publicly. (St. Augustine, City of God xiv. 13.)

Haydock: Pro 16:21

Shall. Hebrew, "adds learning," both to himself and to others. Those who are wise and eloquent, must be preferred before those who have only the former qualification. (Calmet)

Gill: Pro 16:1

The preparations of the heart in man,.... The sense of these words, according to our version, depends upon the next clause, and the meaning of the whole is, that a man can neither think nor speak without God: the "orderings" or "marshallings of the heart" ^a, as it may be rendered; that is, of the thoughts of the heart, which are generally irregular and confused; the ranging them in order, as an army in battle array, or as things regularly placed on a well furnished table; the fixing them on any particular subject, though about things civil and natural, so as closely to attend to them, and proceed in a regular manner in the consideration of them, are not without the concurrence of divine Providence: and whereas the thoughts of men's hearts are evil, and that continually, and nothing but evil thoughts naturally proceed from thence; the ordering and marshalling of them, and fixing them to the attention and consideration of divine and spiritual things, are not without the supernatural grace of God; for we cannot think a good thought of ourselves, nor indeed anything of ourselves in a spiritual manner, 2Co 3:5; all preparations for religious service and duty, whether it be to pray unto God, or to preach in his name, are from the Lord; it is he that works in men both "to will and to do"; that gives them the willing mind, or a suitable frame for service, as well as ability to perform it; that pours out the Spirit of grace and supplication on them, and disposes and directs their minds to proper petitions, and furnishes his ministering servants in their studies with agreeable matter for their ministrations, Psa 10:17;

and the answer of the tongue is from the Lord; who made man's mouth, and teaches him what to say, both before God and man; what he shall say in prayer to him, or in preaching to others; for the "door of utterance" in either service is from him, as well as the preparation for it: most versions and interpreters make these clauses distinct, the one as belonging to men, the other to God; thus, "to men belong the preparations of the heart, but from the Lord is the answer" or " speech of the tongue"; the former is said by way of concession, and according to the opinion of men; and the sense may be, be it so, that man has the marshalling and ordering of his own thoughts, and that he can lay things together in his mind, and think pertinently and properly on a subject, and is capable of preparing matter for a discourse; yet it is as easy to observe, that men can better form ideas of things in their minds, the they can express their sense and meaning; and though they may be ever so well prepared to speak, yet they are not able to do it, unless the Lord gives them utterance, and assists their memories; they lose what they had prepared, or deliver it in a disorderly and confused manner, and sometimes think to say one thing, and say another; their tongues are overruled by the Lord to say what they never intended, as in the cases of Balaam and Caiaphas. The Targum is,

"from man is the counsel of the heart, and from the Lord is the speech of the tongue.''

Gill: Pro 16:2

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes,.... All right and well, not only some, but all, having a high opinion of himself; for this is to be understood of a self-righteous man, who is pure in his own eyes, though not cleansed from his filthiness, and so fancies every way he walks in, and everything he does, is pure; this is owing to want of knowledge of the impurity of his nature; was he sensible of this, he would see that his best righteousness is as filthy rags and to his ignorance of the spirituality of the law, which, was he acquainted with, he would find, on comparing himself with it, that he and all he did was polluted and unclean: some read the words, "all the ways of a pure man are before his eyes": the eyes of the Lord, he sees them, and approves of them; so Aben Ezra; and to this agrees the Septuagint version, "all the works of an humble man are manifest with God"; and the Arabic version, "all the works of an humble man are clean before God"; but the former reading and sense seem best;

but the Lord weigheth the spirits; searches and tries the hearts; he sees, knows, and observes the principles of all actions, and can as exactly adjust the nature and quality of them, as a man, with a pair of scales in his hands, can tell precisely the weight of anything put into them; the Lord weighs the spirits, or hearts, from whence all actions flow, by his omniscience, and accordingly judges of them by that, and not by the outward appearance; and he weighs all actions by his law, in the balance of the sanctuary, where they are found wanting, and come greatly short of that purity and perfection pharisaical persons imagine there is in them.

Gill: Pro 16:3

Commit thy works unto the Lord,.... Natural, civil, or religious; seek to him for strength and assistance in all, and leave the success of all with him: or "roll thy works on" or "unto the Lord" ^b; devolve all upon him, cast all care upon him and his providence for supply, support, and sustenance in life; and commit the business of the salvation of thy soul, and the important affairs of it, wholly to him, who is able, willing, and faithful, to keep what is committed to him; and, having so done, may sit down easy and satisfied, as one that is rid of a burden by casting it on another, better able to bear it, or more equal to the work committed to him: the Targum is, "reveal thy works to God"; and so the Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions, "reveal thy works to the Lord"; thy case, condition, and circumstances; thy wants and necessities; seek and ask for a supply of him, make known thy requests to him; for though he is not ignorant of the affairs of his people, yet he will be sought unto to do the things for them he intends to do, and they stand in need of;

and thy thoughts shall be established; when a man has, by faith and in prayer, committed himself, his case, his ways and works, to the Lord, his mind is made easy, his thoughts are composed and settled, and he quietly waits the issues of things; he says, the will of the Lord be done; he knows that he causes all things to work together for good; and whatever is for his good and God's glory shall be brought to pass; and this makes him calm, sedate, and easy; and he is in a fair way of having his designs, desires, and endeavours accomplished; see Psa 37:5.

Gill: Pro 16:4

The Lord hath made all things for himself,.... This is true of the Lord with respect to the creation of all things by him. All things are made by him, the heaven, earth, and sea; and all that are in them, angels, men, beasts, birds, fishes, and all creatures: and these are made for himself, and not another; not for the pure or good men, as Aben Ezra, though all things are for the elect's sake; but for God himself, besides whom there was no other before the creation, nor is there any other God but him, who is the first cause and last end of all things: nor were those all things made for him, through any want he had of them, being God all sufficient and blessed for evermore, but to show his greatness, and communicate his goodness; they are made for his service, which all creatures are obliged unto, and whom all in their way obey, and for his honour and glory. It is also true of his works of providence, and of his ordering and disposing of all things in the course of that, to answer ends of his own glory; his kingdom of providence rules over all; there is a general providence, which respects all creatures and things; and there is a particular providence attending the Lord's own people; and in all the glory of his wisdom, justice, truth, and goodness, is conspicuous: but this is chiefly, if not solely, to be understood of God's decrees and purposes; and of his ordering and appointing all things to bring about his own glory. Every thing is appointed of God; he has foreordained whatever comes to pass; there is a purpose for everything under the heavens, and a time fixed for the execution of it. Junius restrains it to "all men"; but it is true of all creatures and things, though especially men: all things are appointed by the Lord, respecting the temporal estate of men; their birth, and the time of it, with all the circumstances attending it; the place of their abode, their calling, station of life, and usefulness; all adverse and prosperous dispensations; their death, with all the events leading to it: and so likewise all things respecting their spiritual and eternal estate; the choice of them to salvation; their redemption by Christ; the time of his coming, sufferings, and death, and the circumstances thereof; the conversion of God's elect, the time, place, and means; these are all according to the purpose of God; as are also all their times of affliction, temptation, desertion, and of joy and comfort. In a word, the final state of all men, good and bad, is fixed by the Lord; and all this is "for himself", which some render, "to answer to himself" ^c; all creatures are made to answer to his original design in making them, to the laws of their creation, and to answer his ends and purposes; and which is ultimately his own glory: or for his praise, as Jarchi; for his will and pleasure, as R. Isaac; for the thing in which he is well pleased, as R. Jonah or for his own sake, as Kimchi; and all which agree, as with the sense of the words, so with Rev 4:11. The Targum and Syriac version very wrongly render them,

"all the works of God, or the Lord, are for them that obey him;''

yea, even the wicked for the day of evil; this is added to illustrate the general proposition in the preceding clause, and to obviate an objection, that might be taken from the destruction of the wicked, against all things being for the glory of God; for even the destruction of the wicked, which is under a divine appointment, is for his glory. It is not the sense of this text, nor of any other passage of Scripture, that God made man to damn him; nor is this to be inferred from the doctrine of predestination: God made man, neither to damn him, nor to save him, but for his own glory; and that is secured, whether in his salvation or damnation; nor did or does God make men wicked; he made man upright, and he has made himself wicked; and, being so, God may justly appoint him to damnation for his wickedness, in doing which he glorifies his justice. "The day of evil", or "evil day", is the day of wrath and ruin, unto which wicked men are reserved by the appointment of God, agreeably to the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions. This is true of wicked angels, wicked men, and particularly of that wicked one, the man of sin and son of perdition, antichrist; the word here used is in the singular number.

Gill: Pro 16:5

Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord,.... Though he may dissemble his pride, and not discover it in his looks, by his words and gestures; yet the Lord sees and knows the heart, the naughtiness of it, and the pride that is in it: and only a proud look, but a proud heart, is abominable to him: everyone that is so arrogant as to arraign the decrees of God, and quarrel with him about them, to whom the apostle says, "Nay, but, O man", O proud vain man, "who art thou, that repliest against God?" Rom 9:19; every proud Pharisee, that trusts in himself that he is righteous, and despises others, that justifies himself before men, is an abomination in the sight of God, Luk 18:9; particularly antichrist, who has not only a proud look, a look more stout than his fellows, but a proud heart; exalts himself above all that is called God; and not only speaks big words against the most High, but has it in his heart to change times and laws; and proudly imagines he shall always continue in his grandeur and prosperity, Dan 7:25;

though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished; though he endeavours with both hands, with all his might and main, to secure himself and prevent his ruin, he shall not be able to do it; though he enters into confederacy with, and calls in the kings of the earth to his assistance, it will be of no avail, both he and they shall be destroyed; or out of hand, immediately, his destruction will come upon him, Rev 16:14; See Gill on Pro 11:21; The Targum is,

"from evil he shall not be cleared;''

and the Syriac version,

"he that stretcheth out his hand against his neighbour shall not be cleared from evil.''

Gill: Pro 16:6

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged,.... Or "expiated" ^d, and atoned for: not by the mercy and truth of men; not by alms deeds or showing mercy to the poor; nor by speaking truth and keeping promises, and doing justice between man and man; for, though these are duties to be performed, they will not atone for sin; and may be done by persons destitute of the grace of God, and whose iniquities are not purged or pardoned: but by the mercy and truth of God; through his "mercy", in sending Christ to be the propitiation for sin; and through his "truth", in fulfilling his promises concerning Christ; and particularly concerning pardon on the foot of his sacrifice and satisfaction, where mercy and truth have met together: or through the grace and truth come by Jesus Christ; or through his atoning sacrifice, by which he has finished transgression, made an end of sin, and made reconciliation for iniquity; in which there is a rich display of his own and of his father's grace and mercy, truth and faithfulness;

and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil; having that put into their hearts, and excited and influenced by the grace and goodness of God, men are engaged to abstain from evil, and the appearance of it; it teaches them to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly and godly in this world.

Gill: Pro 16:7

When a man's ways please the Lord,.... As they do when a man walks according to the rule of his word; when he walks as he has Christ for an example; when he walks after the Spirit, and not after the flesh; when he walks by faith, and does all he does in faith; without which it is impossible to please God, Heb 11:6; and when all his ways and actions are directed to the glory of God;

he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him; as Abimelech with Isaac, Esau with Jacob; and the enemies of the church and people of God with then, in the latter day, Rev 3:9.

Gill: Pro 16:8

Better is a little with righteousness,.... Gotten in a righteous way, held by a righteous claim, used in a righteous manner, attended with a life of righteousness and holiness; and also along with an interest in the righteousness of Christ, which renders acceptable unto God, yields peace and comfort, and entitles to eternal glory and happiness. A truly righteous man may have but little of this world's goods; but his small pittance is better

than great revenues without right; obtained in an unjust way; detained from the right owner of them, and used in an unrighteous manner, in a course of sin and wickedness: or, "without judgment" ^e; how to make use of them aright, and without a righteousness that will justify them at the day of judgment; See Gill on Pro 15:16. A little the true church of Christ enjoys in the wilderness; having Christ and his grace, Christ and his righteousness, is better than all the revenues of the church of Rome gotten by the unlawful methods they are; and which, in one hour will come to nought, Rev 18:17.

Gill: Pro 16:9

A man's heart deviseth his way,.... This is to be understood, not of a wicked man, in whose heart is frowardness, and who devises mischief and evil imaginations continually, Pro 6:14; for such are an abomination to the Lord; nor will he direct their goings, or prosper and succeed them in their ways: but of a good man, or righteous man, as Aben Ezra; who thinks of the way in which he should go, and desires to walk in a right way, as Jarchi; and who is influenced by the Spirit and grace of God to think and act in this manner; for otherwise the way of man is not in himself; it is not of his own devising and finding out; nor is his disposition to walk in it of himself; and it is only such a man, a good man, whose steps are ordered by the Lord, as follows; see Jer 10:23;

but the Lord directeth his steps: to go right on, and not turn to the right hand or the left; and to walk safely and surely, through a variety of troubles and difficulties, to his kingdom and glory.

Gill: Pro 16:10

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king,.... Or "divination" ^f, as the word signifies; or what is like to divination, as Aben Ezra and Gersom interpret it ^g. What be says is as an oracle, and should be strictly true. Some understand it of the sagacity and penetration of kings, as was in Solomon, and appeared in his judging the two harlots; but such is not to be found in kings in common: rather therefore this expresses and designs what should be, and not what is, in kings. These, as the kings of Israel, ought to have the book of God before them, and read in it, and judge and pronounce sentence in every case according to it; they should speak as the oracles of God; and, when they do, a divine sentence may be said to be in their lips. But it is best to understand this of the King of kings, of the King Messiah; into whose lips grace is poured, and from whence none but words of wisdom, grace, and truth, flow; who taught the way of God in truth; who had the word of God in his heart and in his month continually; and on whom the Spirit of wisdom without measure dwelt; and is the wisdom and word of God, as well as the power of God;

his mouth transgresseth not in judgment; this cannot be said of any earthly king; they ought not indeed to transgress in judgment with their mouths, but it is notorious that they too often do: could this be applied to kings in common, they would have a better claim to infallibility than the pope of Rome has. But this is true of Christ, the King of saints; who is a King that reigns in righteousness, and decrees judgment; sits upon his throne, to order and establish it with judgment: nor does his mouth ever transgress in judgment, or ever say, or he do, a wrong thing; his sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness.

Gill: Pro 16:11

A just weight and balance are the Lord's,.... These are of his devising; what he has put into the heart, of men to contrive and make use of, for the benefit of mankind, for the keeping and maintaining truth and justice in commercial affairs; these are of his appointing, commanding, and approving, Lev 19:35;

all the weights of the bag are his work; or, "all the stones" ^h; greater or smaller, which were formerly used in weighing, and were kept in a bag for that purpose; these are by the Lord's appointment and order. This may be applied to the Scriptures of truth, which are of God; are the balance of the sanctuary, in which every doctrine is to be weighed and tried; what agrees with them is to be received, and what is found wanting is to be rejected. The Targum is,

"his works, all of them, are weights of truth.''

Gill: Pro 16:12

It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness,.... The Targum is,

"the abomination of kings are they that work wickedness.''

It should be an abomination to kings to commit wickedness themselves, and those that do it should be abhorred by them, or they should show their resentment at it by removing them from their presence, or by punishing them: and though there have been such kings as David, Psa 101:4; yet there are but few such; this is not true of kings in common; and therefore rather expresses what they should be than what they are; but is perfectly applicable to Christ, who loves righteousness and hates iniquity, Psa 45:7;

for the throne is established by righteousness; this is the support, strength, and security of every kingdom, and of the thrones of kings; and it is with judgment and righteousness that the throne of Christ is established; yea, justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne, Isa 9:7.

Gill: Pro 16:13

Righteous lips are the delight of kings,.... Such that speak truth and righteousness, and advise to the administration of justice and judgment, and to do that which is most for their own true honour and the people's good, are, or ought to be, highly valued and esteemed by kings: but the contrary is too often the case; kings hearken to those that speak lies, that flatter them, and gratify their pride, ambition, and love of power, to the hurt of their subjects;

and they love him that speaketh right: agreeably to right reason; which makes for the honour of kings, and the good of those over whom they rule. Christ loves and delights in those that deliver out his doctrines in the taught words of the Holy Ghost, without any mixture or corruption; that explain, inculcate, and enforce his laws and commands; and faithfully declare the whole counsel of God, both with respect to faith and practice; all which is for his glory, as King of saints, and to the profit and advantage of those who submit to the sceptre of his kingdom.

Gill: Pro 16:14

The wrath of a king is as messengers of death,.... Or, "angels of death", as the Targum. As the wrath of Ahasuerus was to Haman; when it is either discovered in the countenance of a king, or expressed by his words, or signified by a messenger; it sometimes has been immediate death to a person, and often as terrible as if a messenger brought the sentence of death; yea, it is as if one messenger after another was sent on such an errand, and therefore the word is in the plural number. How terrible is the wrath of the King of kings; and even to kings themselves, who are represented as flying to rocks and mountains to hide them from it! Rev 6:15;

but a wise man will pacify it; by a proper acknowledgment of the offence committed; or by a prudent representation of his case, or the case of his friends; by soft answers and strong arguments, as Jonathan pacified the wrath of King Saul his father against David. He is a wise man that believes in Christ, and pleads his propitiatory sacrifice for the expiation of his sin, at the same time frankly acknowledging it.

Gill: Pro 16:15

In the light of the king's countenance is life,.... When he looks with a pleasant smiling countenance on a person that has been under his displeasure, and especially if under a sentence of death, it is as life from the dead: so the light of the countenance of God, the King of kings; the discoveries of his love, the manifestations of himself, his gracious presence, communion with him, the comforts of his Spirit, the joys of his salvation, are life unto his people, invigorate their graces, quicken their souls, and make them cheerful; see Psa 30:5. And how delightful and pleasant is the countenance of Christ; which is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars; and is as the sun when it shineth in its strength; and who himself is the sun of righteousness, that arises on his people with healing in his wings! How reviving his love! how comfortable fellowship with him! his absence is as death, his presence gives life;

and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain: which falling a little before harvest, as was usual in Judea, revived the corn and filled it: and such is the favour of God in Christ, which is free, distinguishing, and undeserved, as rain is; the objects of it are very unworthy; and it is given often unasked for, as well as undeserved, in great abundance, and causes great cheerfulness and fruitfulness: and such is the layout of Christ, in coming into the world in the last days to save sinners his coming is said to be as the former and the latter rain, Hos 6:3. He came from heaven, as that does; is the free gift of God, as that is; is in consequence of a decree, as that; and came suddenly, and with great acceptance to those, who knew him and waited for him; and his spiritual coming unto his people, and the discoveries of his love and free favour to them, are very reviving, cheering, and refreshing; see Psa 72:6.

Gill: Pro 16:16

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold?.... To obtain and possess Christ, the fountain of wisdom, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, which treasures are infinitely preferable to thousands of gold and silver; to gain the knowledge of him, and of God in him, with which eternal life is connected, and in comparison of which all things are loss and dung; to have wisdom in the hidden part, or grace in the heart, which is much more precious than gold that perisheth; to have a spiritual experimental knowledge of the Gospel, and the truths of it, which are more to be desired than gold, yea, than fine gold; all which are to be got by diligent search and inquiry, by prayer and asking for, and to be had or bought without money and without price; and the getting of them is above all other gettings; such wisdom is more valuable in itself, has a greater intrinsic worth in it than gold; it is more profitable and useful, more solid and satisfying; it is not only better, but it is abundantly better, it is inexpressibly so; it cannot be well said how much better it is, and therefore it is put by way of question and admiration; see Pro 3:13;

and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver? the same thing is designed as before, expressed in different words; a spiritual understanding of Christ and the Gospel, and an experience of the grace of God; though some, as Gersom, think that wisdom is something better than understanding, as gold, to which it is preferred, is better than silver. The Septuagint render it,

"nests of wisdom, and nests of understanding;''

and the Arabic version,

"buds of wisdom, and buds of understanding.''

Gill: Pro 16:17

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil,.... Upright persons, such who are upright in heart, and walk uprightly; these walk in the highway of holiness, in which men, though fools, shall not err; in the King's highway, the highway of the King of kings; in the plain beaten path of God's commandments; and so shun the bypaths of sin, and abstain from all appearance of it: this is their common constant course of life; they are studiously concerned to walk herein, and take delight in so doing; whereby they escape many evils others fall into;

he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul, that keeps on in his way, the way in which the upright walk; whose eyes look right on, and his eyelids straight before him; who ponders the path of his feet, and turns neither to the right hand nor the left; who walks circumspectly and carefully; observes the road he is in, to keep in it, and not go out of it; such a man preserves his soul from many snares and temptations, troubles, dangers, and evils, which he would be otherwise liable to. Here the Masorites put the word חצי, signifying that this is the half or middle of the book.

Gill: Pro 16:18

Pride goeth before destruction,.... As it did in the angels that sinned, who, through pride, fell into condemnation, not being able to bear the thought that the human nature, in the person of the Son of God, should be advanced above theirs; and as it did in our first parents, who, not content with their present state and circumstances, and ambitious of being as gods, knowing good and evil, ruined themselves and all their posterity; and as it has done in many of their sons, as in Haman, Nebuchadnezzar, and others;

and a haughty spirit before a fall; or, "a high spirit", or "height of spirit" ⁱ; a man that carries his head high; looks upwards, and not to his goings, sees not at what he may stumble, and so falls: moreover, the bigger a person or thing is, the greater is the fall; and very often when a man has got to the height of his riches and honour, and is swelling with pride and vanity on account of it, he is on the precipice of ruin, and his fall is immediate; which was the case of Nebuchadnezzar, who while he was expressing himself in the haughtiness of his spirit, being in the height of his glory, his kingdom departed from him, Dan 4:30; and this will be the case of the man of sin, or antichrist, Rev 18:7.

Gill: Pro 16:19

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly,.... The followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, whose spirits are humbled under a sense of sin; have mean thoughts of themselves and their own righteousness, and submit to the righteousness of the Son of God, and wholly trust in him for salvation; and ascribe all they have and are to the free grace of God; humble themselves under the mighty hand of God; are resigned to his will, and patiently bear all afflictions without murmuring, and think better of others than themselves: these are not in so much danger of falling as the proud and haughty, and are more grateful to men, and acceptable to God; with these he vouchsafes to dwell; to these he gives more grace, and they shall inherit the earth. Wherefore it is better to be of such a spirit, and be ranked among and keep company with the meek and lowly,

than to divide the spoil with the proud; the spoils of the poor with proud oppressors; or spoils gotten in war with proud and ambitious princes; or the spoils of kingdoms and states with antichrist, divided by him among his proud followers: it is better to be the followers of Christ, and have but little, than to be his, and have ever so much.

Gill: Pro 16:20

He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good,.... That frames and composes his discourse well on any subject he takes in hand; or manages his affairs prudently and discreetly, in which he is concerned; or that wisely attends to the affair of humility, as Aben Ezra: or rather to the word, that is, to the word of God; is not a careless, negligent, unconcerned hearer of the word, but a diligent and attentive one; whose heart is opened by the Spirit of God to attend to what is spoken in it; who lays it up in his heart, and makes it the rule of his conduct in life: such a man finds good things; things which are for his profit, edification, and instruction; good truths, good doctrines, good counsel and advice, good directions and instructions; promises of good things, things for his present comfort and future happiness;

and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he; not to his own wisdom; nor in his own strength; nor in his riches, nor righteousness; nor in the favour of men, no, not of princes; but in the Lord, and in his Word; he shall want no good thing, he is kept in perfect peace; he is in the utmost safety, is like Mount Zion, that can never be removed, Jer 17:7.

Gill: Pro 16:21

The wise in heart shall be called prudent,.... He that has true wisdom in the inward part; who knows his heart and the haughtiness of it; who has the fear of God in it, which is the beginning of wisdom; who is wise unto salvation, not only knows the scheme of it, but is experimentally acquainted with it; who has not head knowledge and wisdom only, but heart knowledge and wisdom, and behaves wisely in his life and conversation; who is so wise and endued with knowledge, as, out of a good conversation, to show his works with meekness of wisdom; such a man is called, reckoned, accounted, and spoken well of, as a prudent man among all wise and knowing persons;

and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning; who, besides a wise heart and a knowing head, have the gift of elocution; can deliver themselves in a flowing easy style; can clothe their thoughts with proper words, and convey their ideas in clear expressions, in a very edifying and instructive manner: these communicate knowledge to others, and increase it in themselves: for, while they are improving others, they improve themselves and learning also, whether it be divine or human; these are such who are "apt to teach", 1Ti 3:2; and if they have proper hearers to attend them, they will "increase in learning", as a just man does, Pro 9:9.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Pro 16:1

¹ tn Heb “plans of the heart” (so ASV, NASB, NIV). The phrase מַעַרְכֵי־לֵב (ma’arkhe-lev) means “the arrangements of the mind.”

sn Humans may set things in order, plan out what they are going to say, but God sovereignly enables them to put their thoughts into words.

² tn Heb “[are] to a man.”

³ tn Here “the tongue” is a metonymy of cause in which the instrument of speech is put for what is said: the answer expressed.

⁴ sn The contrasting prepositions enhance the contrasting ideas – the ideas belong to people, but the words come from the Lord.

⁵ sn There are two ways this statement can be taken: (1) what one intends to say and what one actually says are the same, or (2) what one actually says differs from what the person intended to say. The second view fits the contrast better. The proverb then is giving a glimpse of how God even confounds the wise. When someone is trying to speak [“answer” in the book seems to refer to a verbal answer] before others, the Lord directs the words according to his sovereign will.

NET Notes: Pro 16:2

¹ tn Heb “ways of a man.”

² sn The Hebrew term translated “right” (z~E) means “innocent” (NIV) or “pure” (NAB, NRSV, NLT). It is used in the Bible for pure oils or undiluted liquids; here it means unmixed actions. Therefore on the one hand people rather naively conclude that their actions are fine.

³ tn Heb “in his eyes.”

⁴ tn The figure (a hypocatastasis) of “weighing” signifies “evaluation” (e.g., Exod 5:8; 1 Sam 2:3; 16:7; Prov 21:2; 24:12). There may be an allusion to the Egyptian belief of weighing the heart after death to determine righteousness. But in Hebrew thought it is an ongoing evaluation as well, not merely an evaluation after death.

⁵ tn Heb “spirits” (so KJV, ASV). This is a metonymy for the motives, the intentions of the heart (e.g., 21:2 and 24:2).

sn Humans deceive themselves rather easily and so appear righteous in their own eyes; but the proverb says that God evaluates motives and so he alone can determine if the person’s ways are innocent.

NET Notes: Pro 16:3

¹ tc The MT reads גֹּל (gol, “commit”) from the root גָּלַל (galal, “to roll”). The LXX and Tg. Prov 16:3 have “reveal” as if the root were גָּלָה (galah, “to reveal”).

tn Heb “roll.” The verb גֹּל (“to commit”) is from the root גָּלַל (“to roll”). The figure of rolling (an implied comparison or hypocatastasis), as in rolling one’s burdens on the Lord, is found also in Pss 22:8 [9]; 37:5; and 55:22. It portrays complete dependence on the Lord. This would be accomplished with a spirit of humility and by means of diligent prayer, but the plan must also have God’s approval.

² tn The suffix on the plural noun would be a subjective genitive: “the works you are doing,” or here, “the works that you want to do.”

³ tn The syntax of the second clause shows that there is subordination: The vav on וְיִכֹּנוּ (vÿyikonu) coming after the imperative of the first clause expresses that this clause is the purpose or result. People should commit their works in order that the Lord may establish them. J. H. Greenstone says, “True faith relieves much anxiety and smoothens many perplexities” (Proverbs, 172).

NET Notes: Pro 16:4

¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “works” (פָּעַל, pa’al) means “to work out; to bring about; to accomplish.” It is used of God’s sovereign control of life (e.g., Num 23:23; Isa 26:12).

² tn Heb “for its answer.” The term לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lamma’anehu) has been taken to mean either “for his purpose” or “for its answer.” The Hebrew word is מַעֲנֶה (ma’aneh, “answer”) and not לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “purpose”). So the suffix likely refers to “everything” (כֹּל, kol). God ensures that everyone’s actions and the consequences of those actions correspond – certainly the wicked for the day of calamity. In God’s order there is just retribution for every act.

³ sn This is an example of synthetic parallelism (“A, what’s more B”). The A-line affirms a truth, and the B-line expands on it with a specific application about the wicked – whatever disaster comes their way is an appropriate correspondent for their life.

NET Notes: Pro 16:5

¹ tn Heb “an abomination of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) is a subjective genitive: “the Lord abhors.”

² tn Heb “every proud of heart”; NIV “all the proud of heart.” “Heart” is the genitive of specification; the phrase is talking about people who have proud hearts, whose ideas are arrogant. These are people who set themselves presumptuously against God (e.g., 2 Chr 26:16; Ps 131:1; Prov 18:12).

³ tn Heb “hand to hand.” This idiom means “you can be assured” (e.g., Prov 11:21).

⁴ tc The LXX has inserted two couplets here: “The beginning of a good way is to do justly, // and it is more acceptable with God than to do sacrifices; // he who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness, // and they who rightly seek him will find peace.” C. H. Toy reminds the reader that there were many proverbs in existence that sounded similar to those in the book of Proverbs; these lines are in the Greek OT as well as in Sirach (Proverbs [ICC], 321-22).

tn The B-line continues the A-line, but explains what it means that they are an abomination to the Lord – he will punish them. “Will not go unpunished” is an understatement (tapeinosis) to stress first that they will certainly be punished; those who humble themselves before God in faith will not be punished.

NET Notes: Pro 16:6

¹ sn These two words are often found together to form a nominal hendiadys: “faithful loyal love.” The couplet often characterize the Lord, but here in parallel to the fear of the Lord it refers to the faithfulness of the believer. Such faith and faithfulness bring atonement for sin.

² tn Heb “is atoned”; KJV “is purged”; NAB “is expiated.” The verb is from I כָּפַר (kafar, “to atone; to expiate; to pacify; to appease”; HALOT 493-94 s.v. I כפר). This root should not be confused with the identically spelled Homonym II כָּפַר (kafar, “to cover over”; HALOT 494 s.v. II *כפר). Atonement in the OT expiated sins, it did not merely cover them over (cf. NLT). C. H. Toy explains the meaning by saying it affirms that the divine anger against sin is turned away and man’s relation to God is as though he had not sinned (Proverbs [ICC], 322). Genuine repentance, demonstrated by loyalty and truthfulness, appeases the anger of God against one’s sin.

³ tn Heb “fear of the Lord.” The term יְהוָה (yÿhvah, “the Lord”) functions as an objective genitive: “fearing the Lord.”

⁴ tn Heb “turns away from”; NASB “keeps away from.”

⁵ sn The Hebrew word translated “evil” (רַע, ra’) can in some contexts mean “calamity” or “disaster,” but here it seems more likely to mean “evil” in the sense of sin. Faithfulness to the Lord brings freedom from sin. The verse uses synonymous parallelism with a variant: One half speaks of atonement for sin because of the life of faith, and the other of avoidance of sin because of the fear of the Lord.

NET Notes: Pro 16:7

¹ tn Heb “ways of a man.”

² tn The first line uses an infinitive in a temporal clause, followed by its subject in the genitive case: “in the taking pleasure of the Lord” = “when the Lord is pleased with.” So the condition set down for the second colon is a lifestyle that is pleasing to God.

³ tn The referent of the verb in the second colon is unclear. The straightforward answer is that it refers to the person whose ways please the Lord – it is his lifestyle that disarms his enemies. W. McKane comments that the righteous have the power to mend relationships (Proverbs [OTL], 491); see, e.g., 10:13; 14:9; 15:1; 25:21-22). The life that is pleasing to God will be above reproach and find favor with others. Some would interpret this to mean that God makes his enemies to be at peace with him (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). This is workable, but in this passage it would seem God would do this through the pleasing life of the believer (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).

⁴ tn Heb “even his enemies he makes to be at peace with him.”

NET Notes: Pro 16:8

¹ sn The lines contrast the modest income with the abundant income; but the real contrast is between righteousness and the lack of justice (or injustice). “Justice” is used for both legal justice and ethical conduct. It is contrasted with righteousness in 12:5 and 21:7; it describes ethical behavior in 21:3. Here the point is that unethical behavior tarnishes the great gain and will be judged by God.

² sn This is another “better” saying; between these two things, the first is better. There are other options – such as righteousness with wealth – but the proverb is not concerned with that. A similar saying appears in Amenemope 8:19-20 (ANET 422).

NET Notes: Pro 16:9

¹ tn Heb “the heart of a man.” This stresses that it is within the heart that plans are made. Only those plans that are approved by God will succeed.

² tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).

³ tn The verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish; to confirm”) with צַעַד (tsa’ad, “step”) means “to direct” (e.g., Ps 119:133; Jer 10:23). This contrasts what people plan and what actually happens – God determines the latter.

⁴ sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.

NET Notes: Pro 16:10

¹ tn Heb “oracle” (so NAB, NIV) or “decision”; TEV “the king speaks with divine authority.” The term קֶסֶם (qesem) is used in the sense of “oracle; decision; verdict” (HALOT 1115-16 s.v.). The pronouncements of a king form an oracular sentence, as if he speaks for God; they are divine decisions (e.g., Num 22:7; 23:23; 2 Sam 14:20).

² tn Heb “on the lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause referring to what the king says – no doubt what he says officially.

³ tn Heb “his mouth.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what the king says: his pronouncements and legal decisions.

⁴ sn The second line gives the effect of the first: If the king delivers such oracular sayings (קֶסֶם, qesem, translated “divine verdict”), then he must be careful in the decisions he makes. The imperfect tense then requires a modal nuance to stress the obligation of the king not to act treacherously against justice. It would also be possible to translate the verb as a jussive: Let the king not act treacherously against justice. For duties of the king, e.g., Psalm 72 and Isaiah 11. For a comparison with Ezekiel 21:23-26, see E. W. Davies, “The Meaning of qesem in Prov 16:10,” Bib 61 (1980): 554-56.

NET Notes: Pro 16:11

¹ tn Heb “a scale and balances of justice.” This is an attributive genitive, meaning “just scales and balances.” The law required that scales and measures be accurate and fair (Lev 19:36; Deut 25:13). Shrewd dishonest people kept light and heavy weights to make unfair transactions.

² tn Heb “stones.”

NET Notes: Pro 16:12

¹ sn The “wickedness” mentioned here (רֶשַׁע, resha’) might better be understood as a criminal act, for the related word “wicked” can also mean the guilty criminal. If a king is trying to have a righteous administration, he will detest any criminal acts.

² tn The “throne” represents the administration, or the decisions made from the throne by the king, and so the word is a metonymy of adjunct (cf. NLT “his rule”).

NET Notes: Pro 16:13

¹ tn The MT has the plural, even though the verb “loves” is masculine singular. The ancient versions and two Hebrew mss read “a king.”

² tn Heb “lips of righteousness”; cf. NAB, NIV “honest lips.” The genitive “righteousness” functions as an attributive adjective. The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause for what is said: “righteous speech” or “righteous counsel.”

³ tn The MT has the singular participle followed by the plural adjective (which is here a substantive). The editors of BHS wish to follow the ancient versions in making the participle plural, “those who speak uprightly.”

⁴ sn The verse is talking about righteous kings, of course – they love righteousness and not flattery. In this proverb “righteous” and “upright” referring to what is said means “what is right and straight,” i.e., the truth (cf. NCV).

NET Notes: Pro 16:14

¹ sn This proverb introduces the danger of becoming a victim of the king’s wrath (cf. CEV “if the king becomes angry, someone may die”). A wise person knows how to pacify the unexpected and irrational behavior of a king. The proverb makes the statement, and then gives the response to the subject.

² tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

³ tn The expression uses an implied comparison, comparing “wrath” to a messenger because it will send a message. The qualification is “death,” an objective genitive, meaning the messenger will bring death, or the message will be about death. E.g., 1 Kgs 2:25, 29-34 and 46. Some have suggested a comparison with the two messengers of Baal to the god Mot (“Death”) in the Ugaritic tablets (H. L. Ginsberg, “Baal’s Two Messengers,” BASOR 95 [1944]: 25-30). If there is an allusion, it is a very slight one. The verse simply says that the king’s wrath threatens death.

⁴ tn The verb is כָּפַּר (kapar), which means “to pacify; to appease” and “to atone; to expiate” in Levitical passages. It would take a wise person to know how to calm or pacify the wrath of a king – especially in the ancient Near East.

NET Notes: Pro 16:15

¹ tn Heb “the light of the face of the king.” This expression is a way of describing the king’s brightened face, his delight in what is taking place. This would mean life for those around him.

sn The proverb is the antithesis of 16:14.

² tn Heb “cloud.”

³ tn Heb “latter rain” (so KJV, ASV). The favor that this expression represents is now compared to the cloud of rain that comes with the “latter” rain or harvest rain. The point is that the rain cloud was necessary for the successful harvest; likewise the king’s pleasure will ensure the success and the productivity of the people under him. E.g., also Psalm 72:15-17; the prosperity of the land is portrayed as a blessing on account of the ideal king.

NET Notes: Pro 16:16

¹ tn The form קְנֹה (qÿnoh) is an infinitive; the Greek version apparently took it as a participle, and the Latin as an imperative – both working with an unpointed קנה, the letter ה (he) being unexpected in the form if it is an infinitive construct (the parallel clause has קְנוֹת [qÿnot] for the infinitive, but the ancient versions also translate that as either a participle or an imperative).

² tn The form is a Niphal participle, masculine singular. If it is modifying “understanding” it should be a feminine form. If it is to be translated, it would have to be rendered “and to acquire understanding is to be chosen more than silver” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). Many commentaries consider it superfluous. NIV and NCV simply have “to choose understanding rather than silver!”

NET Notes: Pro 16:17

¹ sn The point of righteous living is made with the image of a highway, a raised and well-graded road (a hypocatastasis, implying a comparison between a highway and the right way of living).

² tn The form סוּר (sur) is a Qal infinitive; it indicates that a purpose of the righteous life is to turn away from evil. “Evil” here has the sense of sinful living. So the first line asserts that the well-cared-for life avoids sin.

³ sn The second half of the verse uses two different words for “guard”; this one is נֹצֵר (notser) “the one who guards his way,” and the first is שֹׁמֵר (shomer) “the one who guards his life” (the order of the words is reversed in the translation). The second colon then explains further the first (synthetic parallelism), because to guard one’s way preserves life.

⁴ tc The LXX adds three lines after 17a and one after 17b: “The paths of life turn aside from evils, and the ways of righteousness are length of life; he who receives instruction will be prosperous, and he who regards reproofs will be made wise; he who guards his ways preserves his soul, and he who loves his life will spare his mouth.”

NET Notes: Pro 16:18

¹ sn The two lines of this proverb are synonymous parallelism, and so there are parasynonyms. “Pride” is paired with “haughty spirit” (“spirit” being a genitive of specification); and “destruction” is matched with “a tottering, falling.”

² tn Heb “[is] before destruction.”

³ sn Many proverbs have been written in a similar way to warn against the inevitable disintegration and downfall of pride. W. McKane records an Arabic proverb: “The nose is in the heavens, the seat is in the mire” (Proverbs [OTL], 490).

NET Notes: Pro 16:19

¹ tn Heb “low of spirit”; KJV “of an humble spirit.” This expression describes the person who is humble and submissive before the Lord and therefore inoffensive. It is always necessary to have a humble spirit, whether there is wealth or not.

² tn Heb “than to divide plunder.” The word “plunder” implies that the wealth taken by the proud was taken violently and wrongfully – spoils are usually taken in warfare. R. N. Whybray translates it with “loot” (Proverbs [CBC], 95). The proud are in rebellion against God, overbearing and oppressive. One should never share the “loot” with them.

NET Notes: Pro 16:20

¹ tn Heb “he who is prudent” or “he who deals wisely” (cf. KJV). The proverb seems to be referring to wise business concerns and the reward for the righteous. One who deals wisely in a matter will find good results. R. N. Whybray sees a contrast here: “The shrewd man of business will succeed well, but the happy man is he who trusts the Lord” (Proverbs [CBC], 92). Synonymous parallelism is more appropriate.

² tn Or “he who gives heed to a word,” that is, “who listens to instruction” (cf. NIV, NLT).

³ tn Heb “good” (so KJV, ASV).

⁴ tn Although traditionally this word is translated “happy” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NRSV, NLT), such a translation can be misleading because the word means far more than that. It describes the heavenly bliss that comes from knowing one is right with God and following God’s precepts. The “blessed” could be at odds with the world (Ps 1:1-3).

⁵ tn Heb “and the one who trusts in the Lord – blessed is he.”

NET Notes: Pro 16:21

¹ tn Heb “wise of heart” (so NRSV).

² tn Heb “to the wise of heart it will be called discerning.” This means that the wise of heart, those who make wise decisions (“heart” being the metonymy), will gain a reputation of being the discerning ones.

³ tn Heb “sweetness of lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what is said. It is a genitive of specification. The idea of “sweetness” must be gracious and friendly words. The teaching will be well-received because it is both delightful and persuasive (cf. NIV “pleasant words promote instruction”).

⁴ tn Heb “teaching” or “receptivity”; KJV “learning”; NIV “instruction.”

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:1

The ^{( a )} preparations of the heart belong to man, and the answer of the tongue, [are] from the LORD.

^{( a )} He derides the presumption of man, who dares to attribute anything to himself, as to prepare his heart or such like, seeing that he is not able to speak a word unless God gives it to him.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:2

All the ways of a man [are] ^{( b )} clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

^{( b )} He shows by it that man flatters himself in his doings, calling that virtue, which God terms vice.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:4

The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of ^{( c )} evil.

^{( c )} So that the justice of God will appear to his glory, even in the destruction of the wicked.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:6

By ^{( d )} mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD [men] depart from evil.

^{( d )} Their upright and repenting life will be a token that their sins are forgiven.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:9

A ^{( e )} man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

^{( e )} He shows the folly of man who thinks that his ways are in his own hand, and yet is not able to move one foot unless God gives force.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:11

A just weight and balance [are] the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag [are] his ^{( f )} work.

^{( f )} If they are true and just, they are God's work, and he delights in it, but otherwise if they are false, they are the work of the devil, and to their condemnation that use them.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:12

[It is] an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established ^{( g )} by righteousness.

^{( g )} They are appointed by God to rule according to equity and justice.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:14

The wrath of a king [is as] ^{( h )} messengers of death: but a wise man will pacify it.

^{( h )} That is, he finds many ways to execute his wrath.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:15

In the light of a king's countenance [is] life; and his favour [is] ^{( i )} as a cloud of the latter rain.

^{( i )} Which is most comfortable to the dry ground.

Geneva Bible: Pro 16:21

The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the ^{( k )} sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.

^{( k )} The sweet words of consolation which come from a godly heart.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

Maclaren: Pro 16:2

What I Think Of Myself And What God Thinks Of Me

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.'--Proverbs 16:2.

ALL the ways of a man'--then there is no such thing as being conscious of having gone wrong, and having got into miry and foul ways? Of course there is; and equally of course a broad statement such as this of my text is not to be pressed into literal accuracy, but is a simple, general assertion of what we all know to be true, that we have a strange power of blinding ourselves as to what is wrong in ourselves and in our actions. Part of the cure for that lies in the thought in the second clause of the text--But the Lord weigheth the spirits.' He weighs them in a balance, or as a man might take up something and poise it on his palm, moving his hand up and down till his muscles by their resistance gave him some inkling of its weight. But what is it that God weighs? The spirits.' We too often content ourselves with looking at our ways; God looks at ourselves. He takes the inner man into account, estimates actions by motives, and so very often differs from our judgment of ourselves and of one another.

Now so far the verse of my text carries me, and as a rule we have to keep ourselves within the limits of each verse in reading this Book of Proverbs, for two adjoining verses have very seldom anything to do with each other. But in the present case they have, for here is what follows:' Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts' (about thyself and everything else) shall be established.' That is to say, since we make such terrible blunders about the moral character of our own works, and since side by side with these erroneous estimates there is God's absolutely correct and all-penetrating one, common sense says: Put yourself into His hands, and then it will be all right.' So we consider now these very well-worn and familiar thoughts as to our strange blunders about ourselves, as to the contemporaneous divine estimate, which is absolutely correct, and as to the practical issues that come from two facts.

I. Our Strange Power Of Blinding Ourselves.

It is difficult to make so threadbare a commonplace at all impressive. But yet if we would only take this thought, All the ways of a man'--that is me--are right in his own eyes'--that is, my eyes--and apply it directly to our own personal experience and thoughts of ourselves, we should find that, like every other commonplace of morality and religion, the apparently toothless generality has sharp enough teeth, and that the trite truth flashes up into strange beauty, and has power to purify and guide our lives. Some one says that recognised truths lie bedridden in the dormitory of the soul, side by side with exploded errors.' And I am afraid that that is true of this thought, that we cannot truly estimate ourselves.

All the ways of a man are right in his own eyes.' For to begin with, we all know that there is nothing that we so habitually neglect as the bringing of conscience to bear right through all our lives. Sometimes it is because there is a temptation that appeals very strongly, perhaps to sense, perhaps to some strong inclination which has been strengthened by indulgence. And when the craving arises, that is no time to begin asking, Is it right, or is it wrong to yield?' That question stands small chance of being wisely considered at a moment when, under the goading of roused desire, a man is like a mad bull when it charges. It drops its head and shuts its eyes, and goes right forward, and no matter whether it smashes its horns against an iron gate, and damages them and itself, or not, on it will go. So when great temptations rise--and we all know such times in our lives--we are in no condition to discuss that question with ourselves. Sometimes the craving is so vehement that if we could not get this thing that we want without putting our hands through the sulphurous smoke of the bottomless pit, we should thrust them out to grasp it. But in regard to the smaller commonplace matters of daily life, too, we all know that there are whole regions of our lives which seem to us to be so small that it is hardly worth while summoning the august thought of right or wrong?' to decide them. Yes, and a thousand smugglers that go across a frontier, each with a little package of contraband goods that does not pay any duty, make a large aggregate at the year's end. It is the trifles of life that shape life, and it is to them that we so frequently fail in applying, honestly and rigidly, the test, Is this right or wrong?' He that is faithful in that which is least,' and conscientious down to the smallest things, is faithful also in much.' The legal maxim has it,' The law does not care about the very smallest matters.' What that precisely means, as a legal maxim, I do not profess to know, but it is rank heresy in regard to conduct and morality. Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves. Get the habit of bringing conscience to bear on little things, or you will never be able to bring it to bear when great temptations come and the crises emerge in your lives. Thus, by reason of that deficiency in the habitual application of conscience to our lives, we slide through, and take for granted that all our ways are right in our eyes.

Then there is another thing: we not only neglect the rigid application of conscience to all our lives, but we have a double standard, and the notion of right and wrong which we apply to our neighbours is very different from that which we apply to ourselves. No wonder that the criminal is acquitted, and goes away from the tribunal without a stain on his character,' when he is his own judge and jury. All the ways of a man are right in his own eyes,' but the very same ways' that you allow to pass muster and condone in yourselves, you visit with sharp and unfailing censure in others. That strange self-complacency which we have, which is perfectly undisturbed by the most general confessions of sinfulness, and only shies when it is brought up to particular details of faults, we all know is very deep in ourselves.

Then there is another thing to be remembered, and that is--the enormous and the tragical influence of habit in dulling the mirror of our souls, on which our deeds are reflected in their true image. There are places in Europe where the peasantry have become so accustomed to minute and constantly repeated doses of arsenic that it is actually a minister of health to them, and what would poison you is food for them. We all know that we may sit in a hall like this, packed full and steaming, while the condensed breath is running down the windows, and never be aware of the foulness of the odours and the air. But when we go out and feel the sweet, pure breath of the unpolluted atmosphere, then we know how habit has dulled the lungs. And so habit dulls the conscience. According to the old saying, the man that began by carrying a calf can carry an ox at the end, and feel no burden. What we are accustomed to do we scarcely ever recognise to be wrong, and it is these things which pass because they are habitual that do more to wreck lives than occasional outbursts of far worse evils, according to the world's estimate of them. Habit dulls the eye.

Yes; and more than that, the conscience needs educating just as much as any other faculty. A man says, My conscience acquits me'; then the question is, And what sort of a conscience have you got, if it acquits you?' All that your conscience says is, It is right to do what is right, it is wrong to do what is wrong.' But for the explanation of what is wrong and what is right you have to go somewhere else than to your consciences. You have to go to your reason, and your judgment, and your common sense, and a hundred other sources. And then, when you have found out what is right and what is wrong, you will hear the voice saying, Do that, and do not do this.' Every one of us has faults that we know nothing about, and that we bring up to the tribunal of our consciences, and wipe our mouths and say, We have done no harm.' I thought within myself that I verily ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.' They think that they do God service.' Many things that seem to us virtues are vices.

And as for the individual so for the community. The perception of what is right and what is wrong needs long educating. When I was a boy the whole Christian Church of America, with one voice, declared that slavery was a patriarchal institution appointed by God.' The Christian Church of to-day has not awakened either to the sin of war or of drink. And I have not the smallest doubt that there are hosts of things which public opinion, and Christian public opinion, regards to-day as perfectly allowable and innocent, and, perhaps, even praiseworthy, and over which it will ask God's blessing, at which, in a hundred years our descendants will hold up their hands in wonder, and say, How did good people--and good people they no doubt were--tolerate such a condition of things for a moment?' All a man's ways are right in his own eyes,' and he needs a great deal of teaching before he comes to understand what, according to God's will, really is right and what is wrong.

Now let me turn for a moment to the contrasted picture, with which I can only deal in a sentence or two,

II. The Divine Estimate.

I have already pointed out the two emphatic thoughts that lie in that clause, God weigheth,' and weigheth the spirits.' I need not repeat what I said, in the introduction to these remarks, upon this subject. Just let us take with us these two thoughts, that the same actions which we sometimes test, in our very defective and loaded balances, have also to go into the infallible scales, and that the actions go with their interpretation in their motive. God weighs the spirits.' He reads what we do by His knowledge of what we are. We reveal to one another what we are by what we do, and, as is a commonplace, none of us can penetrate, except very superficially and often inaccurately, to the motives that actuate. But the motive is three-fourths of the action. God does not go from without, as it were, inwards; from our actions to estimate our characters; but He starts with the character and the motive--the habitual character and the occasional motive--and by these He reads the deed. He weighs, ponders, penetrates to the heart of the thing, and He weighs the spirits.

So on the one hand, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief,' and many a deed which the world would condemn, and in which we onlookers would see evil, God does not wholly condemn, because He, being the In looker as well as the Onlooker, sees the albeit mistaken yet pure motives that underlay it. So it is conceivable that the inquisitor, and the heretic that he sent to the stake, may stand side by side in God's estimate; the one if he were actuated by pure zeal for the truth, the other because he was actuated by self-sacrifice in loyalty to his Lord. And, on the other hand, many a deed that goes flaunting through the world in purple and fine linen' will be stripped of its gauds, and stand naked and ugly before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.' He weighs the spirits.'

Lastly, a word about--

III. The Practical Issues Of These Thoughts.

Commit thy works unto the Lord'--that is to say, do not be too sure that you are right because you do not think you are wrong. We should be very distrustful of our own judgments of ourselves, especially wheel that judgment permits us to do certain things. I know nothing against myself,' said the Apostle, yet am I not hereby justified.' And again, still more emphatically, he lays down the principle that I would have liked to have enlarged upon if I had had time. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in the things which he alloweth.' You may have made the glove too easy by stretching. It is possible that you may think that something is permissible and right which a wiser and more rigid and Christlike judgment of yourself would have taught you was wrong. Look under the stones for the reptiles, and remember the prayer, Cleanse thou me from secret faults,' and distrust a permitting and easy conscience.

Then, again, let us seek the divine strengthening and illumination. We have to seek that in some very plain ways. Seek it by prayer. There is nothing so powerful in stripping off from our besetting sins their disguises and masks as to go to God with the honest petition: Search me, and try me, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' Brethren! if we will do that, we shall get answers that will startle us, that will humble us, but that will be blessed beyond all other blessedness, and will bring to light the hidden things of darkness.' Then, after they are brought to light and cast out, , then shall every man have praise of God.'

We ought to keep ourselves in very close union with Jesus Christ, because if we cling to Him in simple faith, He will come into our hearts, and we shall be saved from walking in darkness, and have the light of life shining down upon our deeds. Christ is the conscience of the Christian man's conscience, who, by His voice in the hearts that wait upon Him, says, Do this,' and they do it. It is when He is in our spirits that our estimate of ourselves is set right, and that we hear the voice saying, This is the way, walk ye in it'; and not merely do we hear the voice, but we get help to our feet in running in the way of His commandments, with enlarged and confirmed hearts. Brethren! for the discovery of our faults, which we ought all to long for, and for the conquest of these discovered faults, which, if we are Christians, we do long for, our confidence is in Him. And if you trust Him, the blood of Christ will cleanse'--because it comes into our life's blood--from all sin.'

And the last thing that I would say is this. We must punctiliously obey every dictate that speaks in our own consciences, especially when it urges us to unwelcome duties or restrains us from too welcome sins. To him that hath shall be given'--and the sure way to condemn ourselves to utter blindness as to our true selves is to pay no attention to the glimmers of light that we have, whilst, on the other hand, the sure way to be led into fuller illumination is to follow faithfully whatsoever sparkles of light may shine upon our hearts. Do the duty that lies nearest thee.' Put thy trust in Jesus Christ. Distrust thine own approbation or condonation of thine actions, and ever turn to Him and say,' Show me what to do, and make me willing and fit to do it.' Then there will be little contrariety between your estimate of your ways and God's judgments of your spirits.

MHCC: Pro 16:1

The renewing grace of God alone prepares the heart for every good work. This teaches us that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think or speak any thing wise and good.

MHCC: Pro 16:2

Ignorance, pride, and self-flattery render us partial judges respecting our own conduct.

MHCC: Pro 16:3

Roll the burden of thy care upon God, and leave it with him, by faith and dependence on him.

MHCC: Pro 16:4

God makes use of the wicked to execute righteous vengeance on each other; and he will be glorified by their destruction at last.

MHCC: Pro 16:5

Though sinners strengthen themselves and one another, they shall not escape God's judgments.

MHCC: Pro 16:6

By the mercy and truth of God in Christ Jesus, the sins of believers are taken away, and the power of sin is broken.

MHCC: Pro 16:7

He that has all hearts in his hand, can make a man's enemies to be at peace with him.

MHCC: Pro 16:8

A small estate, honestly come by, will turn to better account than a great estate ill-gotten.

MHCC: Pro 16:9

If men make God's glory their end, and his will their rule, he will direct their steps by his Spirit and grace.

MHCC: Pro 16:10

Let kings and judges of the earth be just, and rule in the fear of God.

MHCC: Pro 16:11

To observe justice in dealings between man and man is God's appointment.

MHCC: Pro 16:12

The ruler that uses his power aright, will find that to be his best security.

MHCC: Pro 16:13

Put those in power who know how to speak to the purpose.

MHCC: Pro 16:14-15

Those are fools, who, to obtain the favour of an earthly prince, throw themselves out of God's favour.

MHCC: Pro 16:16

There is joy and satisfaction of spirit, only in getting wisdom.

MHCC: Pro 16:17

A sincerely religious man keeps at a distance from every appearance of evil. Happy is the man that walks in Christ, and is led by the Spirit of Christ.

MHCC: Pro 16:18

When men defy God's judgments, and think themselves far from them, it is a sign they are at the door. Let us not fear the pride of others, but fear pride in ourselves.

MHCC: Pro 16:19

Humility, though it exposes to contempt in the world, is much better than high-spiritedness, which makes God an enemy. He that understands God's word shall find good.

MHCC: Pro 16:21

The man whose wisdom dwells in his heart, will be found more truly prudent than many who possess shining talents.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:1

As we read this, it teaches us a great truth, that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think or speak any thing of ourselves that is wise and good, but that all our sufficiency is of God, who is with the heart and with the mouth, and works in us both to will and to do, Phi 2:13; Psa 10:17. But most read it otherwise: The preparation of the heart is in man (he may contrive and design this and the other) but the answer of the tongue, not only the delivering of what he designed to speak, but the issue and success of what he designed to do, is of the Lord. That is, in short, 1. Man purposes. He has a freedom of thought and a freedom of will permitted him; let him form his projects, and lay his schemes, as he thinks best: but, after all, 1. God disposes. Man cannot go on with his business without the assistance and blessing of God, who made man's mouth and teaches us what we shall say. Nay, God easily can, and often does, cross men's purposes, and break their measures. It was a curse that was prepared in Balaam's heart, but the answer of the tongue was a blessing.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:2

Note, 1. We are all apt to be partial in judging of ourselves: All the ways of a man, all his designs, all his doings, are clean in his own eyes, and he sees nothing amiss in them, nothing for which to condemn himself, or which should make his projects prove otherwise than well; and therefore he is confident of success, and that the answer of the tongue shall be according to the expectations of the heart; but there is a great deal of pollution cleaving to our ways, which we are not aware of, or do not think so ill of as we ought. 2. The judgment of God concerning us, we are sure, is according to truth: He weighs the spirits in a just and unerring balance, knows what is in us, and passes a judgment upon us accordingly, writing Tekel upon that which passed our scale with approbation - weighed in the balance and found wanting; and by his judgment we must stand or fall. He not only sees men's ways but tries their spirits, and we are as our spirits are.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:3

Note, 1. It is a very desirable thing to have our thoughts established, and not tossed, and put into a hurry, by disquieting cares and fears, - to go on in an even steady course of honesty and piety, not disturbed, or put out of frame, by any event or change, - to be satisfied that all shall work for good and issue well at last, and therefore to be always easy and sedate. 2. The only way to have our thoughts established is to commit our works to the Lord. The great concerns of our souls must be committed to the grace of God, with a dependence upon and submission to the conduct of that grace (2Ti 1:12); all our outward concerns must be committed to the providence of God, and to the sovereign, wise, and gracious disposal of that providence. Roll thy works upon the Lord (so the word is); roll the burden of thy care from thyself upon God. Lay the matter before him by prayer. Make known thy works unto the Lord (so some read it), not only the works of thy hand, but the workings of thy heart; and then leave it with him, by faith and dependence upon him, submission and resignation to him. The will of the Lord be done. We may then be easy when we resolve that whatever pleases God shall please us.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:4

Note, 1. That God is the first cause. He is the former of all things and all persons, the fountain of being; he gave every creature the being it has and appointed it its place. Even the wicked are his creatures, though they are rebels; he gave them those powers with which they fight against him, which aggravates their wickedness, that they will not let him that made them rule them, and therefore, though he made them, he will not save them. 2. That God is the last end. All is of him and from him, and therefore all is to him and for him. He made all according to his will and for his praise; he designed to serve his own purposes by all his creatures, and he will not fail of his designs; all are his servants. The wicked he is not glorified by, but he will be glorified upon. He makes no man wicked, but he made those who he foresaw would be wicked: yet he made them (Gen 6:6), because he knew how to get himself honour upon them. See Rom 9:22. Or (as some understand it) he made the wicked to be employed by him as the instruments of his wrath in the day of evil, when he brings judgments on the world. He makes some use even of wicked men, as of other things, to be his sword, his hand (Psa 17:13, Psa 17:14), flagellum Dei - the scourge of God. The king of Babylon is called his servant.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:5

Note, 1. The pride of sinners sets God against them. He that, being high in estate is proud in heart, whose spirit is elevated with his condition, so that he becomes insolent in his conduct towards God and man, let him know that though he admires himself, and others caress him, yet he is an abomination to the Lord. The great God despises him; the holy God detest him. 2. The power of sinners cannot secure them against God, though they strengthen themselves with body hands. Though they may strengthen one another with their confederacies and combinations, joining forces against God, they shall not escape his righteous judgment. Woe unto him that strives with his Maker, Pro 11:21; Isa 45:9.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:6

See here, 1. How the guilt of sin is taken away from us - by the mercy and truth of God, mercy in promising, truth in performing, the mercy and truth which kiss each other in Jesus Christ the Mediator - by the covenant of grace, in which mercy and truth shine so brightly - by our mercy and truth, as the condition of the pardon and a necessary qualification for it - by these, and not by the legal sacrifices, Mic 6:7, Mic 6:8. 2. How the power of sin is broken in us. By the principles of mercy and truth commanding in us the corrupt inclinations are purged out (so we may take the former part); however, by the fear of the Lord, and the influence of that fear, men depart from evil; those will not dare to sin against God who keep up in their minds a holy dread and reverence of him.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:7

Note, 1. God can turn foes into friends when he pleases. He that has all hearts in his hand has access to men's spirits and power over them, working insensibly, but irresistibly upon them, can make a man's enemies to be at peace with him, can change their minds, or force them into a feigned submission. He can slay all enemies, and bring those together that were at the greatest distance from each other. 2. He will do it for us when we please him. If we make it our care to be reconciled to God, and to keep ourselves in his love, he will incline those that have been envious towards us, and vexatious to us, to entertain a good opinion of us and to become our friends. God made Esau to be at peace with Jacob, Abimelech with Isaac, and David's enemies to court his favour and desire a league with Israel. The image of God appearing upon the righteous, and his particular lovingkindness to them, are enough to recommend them to the respect of all, even of those that have been most prejudiced against them.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:8

Here, 1. It is supposed that an honest good man may have but a little of the wealth of this world (all the righteous are not rich), - that a man may have but little, and yet may be honest (though poverty is a temptation to dishonesty, Pro 30:9, yet not an invincible one), - and that a man may grow rich, for a while, by fraud and oppression, may have great revenues, and those got and kept without right, may have no good title to them nor make any good use of them. 2. It is maintained that a small estate, honestly come by, which a man is content with, enjoys comfortably, serves God with cheerfully, and puts to a right use, is much better and more valuable than a great estate ill-got, and then ill-kept or ill-spent. It carries with it more inward satisfaction, a better reputation with all that are wise and good; it will last longer, and will turn to a better account in the great day, when men will be judged, not according to what they had, but what they did.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:9

Man is here represented to us, 1. As a reasonable creature, that has the faculty of contriving for himself: His heart devises his way, designs an end, and projects ways and means leading to that end, which the inferior creatures, who are governed by sense and natural instinct, cannot do. The more shame for him if he do not devise the way how to please God and provide for his everlasting state. 2. But as a depending creature, that is subject to the direction and dominion of his Maker. If men devise their way, so as to make God's glory their end and his will their rule, they may expect that he will direct their steps by his Spirit and grace, so that they shall not miss their way nor come short of their end. But let men devise their worldly affairs ever so politely, and with ever so great a probability of success, yet God has the ordering of the event, and sometimes directs their steps to that which they least intended. The design of this is to teach us to say, If the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that (Jam 4:14, Jam 4:15), and to have our eye to God, not only in the great turns of our lives, but in every step we take. Lord, direct my way, 1Th 3:11.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:10

We wish this were always true as a proposition, and we ought to make it our prayer for kings, and all in authority, that a divine sentence may be in their lips, both in giving orders, that they may do that in wisdom, and in giving sentence, that they may do that in equity, both which are included in judgment, and that in neither their mouth may transgress, 1Ti 2:1. But it is often otherwise; and therefore, 1. it may be read as a precept to the kings and judges of the earth to be wise and instructed. Let them be just, and rule in the fear of God; let them act with such wisdom and conscience that there may appear a holy divination in all they say or do, and that they are guided by principles supernatural: let not their mouths transgress in judgment, for the judgment is God's. 2. It may be taken as a promise to all good kings, that if they sincerely aim at God's glory, and seek direction from him, he will qualify them with wisdom and grace above others, in proportion to the eminency of their station and the trusts lodged in their hands. When Saul himself was made king God gave him another spirit. 3. It was true concerning Solomon who wrote this; he had extraordinary wisdom, pursuant to the promise God made him, See 1Ki 3:28.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:11

Note, 1. The administration of public justice by the magistrate is an ordinance of God; in it the scales are held, and ought to be held by a steady and impartial hand; and we ought to submit to it, for the Lord's sake, and to see his authority in that of the magistrate, Rom 13:1; 1Pe 2:13. 2. The observance of justice in commerce between man and man is likewise a divine appointment. He taught men discretion to make scales and weights for the adjusting of right exactly between buyer and seller, that neither may be wronged; and all other useful inventions for the preserving of right are from him. He has also appointed by his law that they be just. It is therefore a great affront to him, and to his government, to falsify, and so to do wrong under colour and pretence of doing right, which is wickedness in the place of judgment.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:12

Here is, 1. The character of a good king, which Solomon intended not for his own praise, but for instruction to his successors, his neighbours, and the viceroys under him. A good king not only does justice, but it is an abomination to him to do otherwise. He hates the thought of doing wrong and perverting justice; he not only abhors the wickedness done by others, but abhors the wickedness done by others, but abhors to do any himself, though, having power, he might easily and safety do it. 2. The comfort of a good king: His throne is established by righteousness. He that makes conscience of using his power aright shall find that to be the best security of his government, both as it will oblige people, make them easy, and keep them in the interest of it, and as it will obtain the blessing of God, which will be a firm basis to the throne and a strong guard about it.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:13

Here is a further character of good kings, that they love and delight in those that speak right. 1. They hate parasites and those that flatter them, and are very willing that all about them should deal faithfully with them and tell them that which is true, whether it be pleasing or displeasing, both concerning persons and things, that every thing should be set in a true light and nothing disguised, Pro 29:12. 2. They not only do righteousness themselves, but take care to employ those under them that do righteousness too, which is of great consequence to the people, who must be subject not only to the king as supreme, but to the governors sent by him, 1Pe 2:14. A good king will therefore put those in power who are conscientious, and will say that which is righteous and discreet, and know how to speak aright and to the purpose.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:14-15

These two verses show the power of kings, which is every where great, but was especially so in those eastern countries, where they were absolute and arbitrary. Whom they would they slew and whom they would they kept alive. Their will was a law. We have reason to bless God for the happy constitution of the government we live under, which maintains the prerogative of the prince without any injury to the liberty of the subject. But here it is intimated, 1. How formidable the wrath of a king is: It is as messengers of death; the wrath of Ahasuerus was so to Haman. An angry word from an incensed prince has been to many a messenger of death, and has struck so great a terror upon some as if a sentence of death had been pronounced upon them. He must be a very wise man that knows how to pacify the wrath of a king with a word fitly spoken, as Jonathan once pacified his father's rage against David, 1Sa 19:6. A prudent subject may sometimes suggest that to an angry prince which will cool his resentments. 2. How valuable and desirable the king's favour is to those that have incurred his displeasure; it is life from the dead if the king be reconciled to them. To others it is as a cloud of the latter rain, very refreshing to the ground. Solomon put his subjects in mind of this, that they might not do any thing to incur his wrath, but be careful to recommend themselves to his favour. We ought by it to be put in mind how much we are concerned to escape the wrath and obtain the favour of the King of kings. His frowns are worse than death, and his favour is better than life; and therefore those are fools who to escape the wrath, and obtain the favour, of an earthly prince, will throw themselves out of God's favour, and make themselves obnoxious to his wrath.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:16

Solomon here not only asserts that it is better to get wisdom than gold (Pro 3:14, Pro 8:19), but he speaks it with assurance, that it is much better, better beyond expression - with admiration ( How much better! ) as one amazed at the disproportion - with an appeal to men's consciences ("Judge in yourselves how much better it is") - and with an addition to the same purport, that understanding is rather to be chosen than silver and all the treasures of kings and their favourites. Note, 1. Heavenly wisdom is better than worldly wealth, and to be preferred before it. Grace is more valuable than gold. Grace is the gift of God's peculiar favour; gold only of common providence. Grace is for ourselves; gold for others. Grace is for the soul and eternity; gold only for the body and time. Grace will stand us in stead in a dying hour, when gold will do us no good. 2. The getting of this heavenly wisdom is better than the getting of worldly wealth. Many take care and pains to get wealth, and yet come short of it; but grace was never denied to any that sincerely sought it. There is vanity and vexation of spirit in getting wealth, but joy and satisfaction of spirit in getting wisdom. Great peace have those that love it.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:17

Note, 1. It is the way of the upright to avoid sin, and every thing that looks like it and leads towards it; and this is a highway marked out by authority, tracked by many that have gone before us, and in which we meet with many that keep company with us; it is easy to find and safe to be travelled in, like a highway, Isa 35:8. To depart from evil is understanding. 2. It is the care of the upright to preserve their own souls, that they be not polluted with sin, and that by the troubles of the world they may not be put out of the possession of them, especially that they may not perish for ever, Mat 16:26. And it is therefore their care to keep their way, and not turn aside out of it, on either hand, but to press towards perfection. Those that adhere to their duty secure their felicity. Keep thy way and God will keep thee.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:18

Note, 1. Pride will have a fall. Those that are of a haughty spirit, that think of themselves above what is meet, and look with contempt upon others, that with their pride affront God and disquiet others, will be brought down, either by repentance or by ruin. It is the honour of God to humble the proud, Job 40:11, Job 40:12. It is the act of justice that those who have lifted up themselves should be laid low. Pharaoh, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, were instances of this. Men cannot punish pride, but either admire it or fear it, and therefore God will take the punishing of it into his own hands. Let him alone to deal with proud men. 2. Proud men are frequently most proud, and insolent, and haughty, just before their destruction, so that it is a certain presage that they are upon the brink of it. When proud men set God's judgments at defiance, and think themselves at the greatest distance from them, it is a sign that they are at the door; witness the case of Benhadad and Herod. While the word was in the king's mouth, Dan 4:31. Therefore let us not fear the pride of others, but greatly fear pride in ourselves.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:19

This is a paradox which the children of this world cannot understand and will not subscribe to, that it is better to be poor and humble than to be rich and proud. 1. Those that divide the spoil are commonly proud; they value themselves and despise others, and their mind rises with their condition; those therefore that are rich in this world have need to be charged that they be not high-minded, 1Ti 6:17. Those that are proud and will put forth themselves, that thrust, and shove, and scramble, for preferment, are the men that commonly divide the spoil and share it among them; they have the world at will and the ball at their foot. 2. It is upon all accounts better to take our lot with those whose condition is low, and their minds brought to it, than to covet and aim to make a figure and a bustle in the world. Humility, though it should expose us to contempt in the world, yet while it recommends us to the favour of God, qualifies us for his gracious visits, prepares us for his glory, secures us from many temptations, and preserves the quiet and repose of our own souls, is much better than that high-spiritedness which, though it carry away the honour and wealth of the world, makes God a man's enemy and the devil his master.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:20

Note, 1. Prudence gains men respect and success: He that handles a matter wisely (that is master of his trade and makes it to appear he understands what he undertakes, that is considerate in his affairs, and, when he speaks or writes on any subject, does it pertinently) shall find good, shall come into good repute, and perhaps may make a good hand of it. 2. But it is piety only that will secure men's true happiness: Those that handle a matter wisely, if they are proud and lean to their own understanding, though they may find some good, yet they will have no great satisfaction in it; but he that trusts in the Lord, and not in his own wisdom, happy is he, and shall speed better at last. Some read the former part of the verse so as to expound it of piety, which is indeed true wisdom: He that attends to the word (the word of God, Pro 13:13) shall find good in it and good by it. And whoso trusts in the Lord, in his word which he attends to, is happy.

Matthew Henry: Pro 16:21

Note, 1. Those that have solid wisdom will have the credit of it; it will gain them reputation, and they shall be called prudent grave men, and a deference will be paid to their judgment. Do that which is wise and good and thou shalt have the praise of the same. 2. Those that with their wisdom have a happy elocution, that deliver their sentiments easily and with a good grace, are communicative of their wisdom and have words at will, and good language as well as good sense, increase learning; they diffuse and propagate knowledge to others, and do good work with it, and by that means increase their own stock. They add doctrine, improve sciences, and do service to the commonwealth of learning. To him that has, and uses what he has, more shall be given.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:1

Four proverbs of God, the disposer of all things:

1 Man's are the counsels of the heart;

But the answer of the tongue cometh from Jahve.

Gesen., Ewald, and Bertheau incorrectly understand 1b of hearing, i.e. , of a favourable response to what the tongue wishes; 1a speaks not of wishes, and the gen. after מענה (answer) is, as at Pro 15:23; Mic 3:7, and also here, by virtue of the parallelism, the gen. subjecti Pro 15:23 leads to the right sense, according to which a good answer is joy to him to whom it refers: it does not always happen to one to find the fitting and effective expression for that which he has in his mind; it is, as this cog. proverb expresses it, a gift from above ( δοθήσεται , Mat 10:19). But now, since מענה neither means answering, nor yet in general an expression (Euchel) or report (Löwenstein), and the meaning of the word at 4a is not here in question, one has to think of him whom the proverb has in view as one who has to give a reason, to give information, or generally - since ענה , like ἀμείβεσθαι , is not confined to the interchange of words - to solve a problem, and that such an one as requires reflection. The scheme (project, premeditation) which he in his heart contrives, is here described as מערכי־לב , from ערך , to arrange, to place together, metaphorically of the reflection, i.e. , the consideration analyzing and putting a matter in order. These reflections, seeking at one time in one direction, and at another in another, the solution of the question, the unfolding of the problem, are the business of men; but the answer which finally the tongue gives, and which here, in conformity with the pregnant sense of מעՀ ה ( vid ., at Pro 15:23, Pro 15:28), will be regarded as right, appropriate, effective, thus generally the satisfying reply to the demand placed before him, is from God. It is a matter of experience which the preacher, the public speaker, the author, and every man to whom his calling or circumstances present a weighty, difficult theme, can attest. As the thoughts pursue one another in the mind, attempts are made, and again abandoned; the state of the heart is somewhat like that of chaos before the creation. But when, finally, the right thought and the right utterance for it are found, that which is found appears to us, not as if self-discovered, but as a gift; we regard it with the feeling that a higher power has influenced our thoughts and imaginings; the confession by us, ἡ ἱκανότης ἡμῶν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ (2Co 3:5), in so far as we believe in a living God, is inevitable.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:2

2 Every way of a man is pure in his own eyes;

But a weigher of the spirits is Jahve.

Variations of this verse are Pro 21:2, where ישׁר for זך (according to the root-meaning: pricking in the eyes, i.e. , shining clear, then: without spot, pure, vid ., Fleischer in Levy's Chald. Wörterbuch , i. 424), לבּות for רוּחות , and כּל־דּרך for כּל־דּרכי , whereupon here without synallage (for כל means the totality), the singular of the pred. follows, as Isa 64:10; Eze 31:15. For the rest, cf. with 2a, Pro 14:12, where, instead of the subj. בּעיני , is used לפני , and with 2b, Pro 24:12, where God is described by תּכן לבּות . The verb תּכן is a secondary formation from כּוּן ( vid ., Hupfeld on Psa 5:7), like תּכן from Arab. tyaḳn (to be fast, sure), the former through the medium of the reflex. התכּונן , the latter of the reflex. Arab. âitḳn ; תּכן means to regulate (from regula , a rule), to measure off, to weigh, here not to bring into a condition right according to rule (Theodotion, ἑδράζων , stabiliens , Syr. Targ. מתקּן , Venet . καταρτίζει ; Luther, "but the Lord maketh the heart sure"), but to measure or weigh, and therefore to estimate rightly, to know accurately (Jerome, spiritum ponderator est Dominus ). The judgment of a man regarding the cause of life, which it is good for him to enter upon, lies exposed to great and subtle self-deception; but God has the measure and weight, i.e. , the means of proving, so as to value the spirits according to their true moral worth; his investigation goes to the root (cf. κριτικός , Heb 4:12), his judgment rests on the knowledge of the true state of the matter, and excludes all deception, so that thus a man can escape the danger of delusion by no other means than by placing his way, i.e. , his external and internal life, in the light of the word of God, and desiring for himself the all-penetrating test of the Searcher of hearts (Psa 139:23.), and the self-knowledge corresponding to the result of this test.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:3

3 Roll on Jahve thy works,

So thy thoughts shall prosper.

The proverbs Pro 16:1-3 are wanting in the lxx; their absence is compensated for by three others, but only externally, not according to their worth. Instead of גּל , the Syr., Targ., and Jerome read גּל , revela , with which the על , Psa 37:5, cf. Psa 55:23, interchanging with אל (here and at Psa 22:9), does not agree; rightly Theodotion, κύλισον ἐπὶ κύριον , and Luther, "commend to the Lord thy works."The works are here, not those that are executed, Exo 23:16, but those to be executed, as Psa 90:17, where כּונן , here the active to ויכּונוּ , which at Pro 4:26 as jussive meant to be placed right, here with ו of the consequence in the apodosis imperativi : to be brought about, and to have continuance, or briefly: to stand (cf. Pro 12:3) as the contrast of disappointment or ruin. We should roll on God all matters which, as obligations, burden us, and on account of their weight and difficulty cause us great anxiety, for nothing is too heavy or too hard for Him who can overcome all difficulties and dissolve all perplexities; then will our thoughts, viz., those about the future of our duty and our life-course, be happy, nothing will remain entangled and be a failure, but will be accomplished, and the end and aim be realized.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:4

4 Jahve hath made everything for its contemplated end;

And also the wicked for the day of evil.

Everywhere else מענה means answer ( Venet . πρὸς ἀπόκρισιν αὐτοῦ ), which is not suitable here, especially with the absoluteness of the כּל ; the Syr. and Targ. translate, obedientibus ei , which the words do not warrant; but also propter semet ipsum (Jerome, Theodotion, Luther) give to 4b no right parallelism, and, besides, would demand למענו or למענהוּ . The punctuation למּענהוּ , which is an anomaly (cf. כּגּברתּהּ , Isa 24:2, and בּערינוּ , Ezr 10:14), shows (Ewald) that here we have, not the prepositional למען , but ל with the subst. מענה , which in derivation and meaning is one with the form מעז abbreviated from it (cf. מעל , מער ), similar in meaning to the Arab. ma'anyn , aim, intention, object, and end, and mind, from 'atay , to place opposite to oneself a matter, to make it the object of effort. Hitzig prefers למענה , but why not rather למענהוּ , for the proverb is not intended to express that all that God has made serve a purpose (by which one is reminded of the arguments for the existence of God from final causes, which are often prosecuted too far), but that all is made by God for its purpose, i.e. , a purpose premeditated by Him, that the world of things and of events stands under the law of a plan, which has in God its ground and its end, and that also the wickedness of free agents is comprehended in this plan, and made subordinate to it. God has not indeed made the wicked as such, but He has made the being which is capable of wickedness, and which has decided for it, viz., in view of the "day of adversity"(Ecc 7:14), which God will cause to come upon him, thus making His holiness manifest in the merited punishment, and thus also making wickedness the means of manifesting His glory. It is the same thought which is expressed in Exo 9:16 with reference to Pharaoh. A praedestinatio ad malum , and that in the supralapsarian sense, cannot be here taught, for this horrible dogma ( horribile quidem decretrum, fateor , says Calvin himself) makes God the author of evil, and a ruler according to His sovereign caprice, and thus destroys all pure conceptions of God. What Paul, Rom 9, with reference to Exo 9:16, wishes to say is this, that it was not Pharaoh's conduct that determined the will of God, but that the will of God is always the antecedens : nothing happens to God through the obstinacy and rebellion of man which determines Him to an action not already embraced in the eternal plan, but also such an one must against his will be subservient to the display of God's glory. The apostle adds Rom 9:22, and shows that he recognised the factor of human self-determination, but also as one comprehended in God's plan. The free actions of men create no situation by which God would be surprised and compelled to something which was not originally intended by Himself. That is what the above proverb says: the wicked also has his place in God's order of the world. Whoever frustrates the designs of grace must serve God in this, ἐνδείζασθαι τὴν ὀργὴν καὶ γνωρίσαι τὸ δυνατὸν αὐτοῦ (Rom 9:22).

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:5

Here follow three proverbs of divine punishment, expiatio [steplang7 Versühnung ] and reconciliatio [steplang7 Versöhnung ].

5 An abomination of Jahve is every one who is haughty;

The hand for it [assuredly] he remains not unpunished.

Proverbs thus commencing we already had at Pro 15:9, Pro 15:26. גּבהּ is a metaplastic connecting form of גּבהּ ; on the contrary, גּבהּ , 1Sa 16:7; Psa 103:11, means being high, as גּבהּ , height; the form underlying גּבהּ is not גּבהּ (as Gesen. and Olshausen write it), but גּבהּ . In 5b, Pro 11:21 is repeated. The translators are perplexed in their rendering of יד ליד . Fleischer: ab aetate in aetatem non ( i.e. , nullo unquam tempore futuro ) impunis erit .

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:6

6 By love and truth is iniquity expiated,

And through the fear of Jahve one escapes from evil -

literally, there comes (as the effect of it) the escaping of evil ( סוּר , n. actionis , as Pro 13:19), or rather, since the evil here comes into view as to its consequences (Pro 14:27; Pro 15:24), this, that one escapes evil. By חסד ואמת are here meant, not the χάρις καὶ ἀλήθεια of God (Bertheau), but, like Pro 20:28, Isa 39:8, love and faithfulness in the relation of men to one another. The ב is both times that of the mediating cause. Or is it said neither by what means one may attain the expiation of his sins, nor how he may attain to the escaping from evil, but much rather wherein the true reverence for Jahve, and wherein the right expiation of sin, consist? Thus von Hofmann, Schriftbew . i. 595. But the ב of בחסד is not different from that of בּזאת , Isa 27:9. It is true that the article of justification is falsified if good works enter as causa meritoria into the act of justification, but we of the evangelical school teach that the fides quâ justificat is indeed inoperative, but not the fides quae justificat , and we cannot expect of the O.T. that it should everywhere distinguish with Pauline precision what even James will not or cannot distinguish. As the law of sacrifice designates the victim united with the blood in the most definite manner, but sometimes also the whole transaction in the offering of sacrifice even to the priestly feast as serving לכפּר , Lev 10:17, so it also happens in the general region of ethics: the objective ground of reconciliation is the decree of God, to which the blood in the typical offering points, and man is a partaker of this reconciliation, when he accepts, in penitence and in faith, the offered mercy of God; but this acceptance would be a self-deception, if it meant that the blotting out of the guilt of sin could be obtained in the way of imputation without the immediate following thereupon of a blotting of it out in the way of sanctification; and therefore the Scriptures also ascribe to good works a share in the expiation of sin in a wider sense - namely, as the proofs of thankful (Luk 7:47) and compassionate love ( vid ., at Pro 10:2), as this proverb of love and truth, herein according with the words of the prophets, as Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8. He who is conscious of this, that he is a sinner, deeply guilty before God, who cannot stand before Him if He did not deal with him in mercy instead of justice, according to the purpose of His grace, cannot trust to this mercy if he is not zealous, in his relations to his fellow-men, to practise love and truth; and in view of the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer, and of the parable of the unmerciful steward rightly understood, it may be said that the love which covers the sins, Pro 10:12, of a neighbour, has, in regard to our own sins, a covering or atoning influence, of "blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."That "love and truth"are meant of virtues practised from religious motives, 6b shows; for, according to this line, by the fear of Jahve one escapes evil. The fear of Jahve is subjection to the God of revelation, and a falling in with the revealed plan of salvation.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:7

7 If Jahve has pleasure in the ways of a man,

He reconciles even his enemies to him -

properly (for השׁלים is here the causative of the transitive, Jos 10:1): He brings it about that they conclude peace with him. If God has pleasure in the ways of a man, i.e. , in the designs which he prosecutes, and in the means which he employs, he shows, by the great consequences which flow from his endeavours, that, even as his enemies also acknowledge, God is with him ( e.g. , Gen 26:27.), so that they, vanquished in heart ( e.g. , 2Sa 19:9.), abandon their hostile position, and become his friends. For if it is manifest that God makes Himself known, bestowing blessings on a man, there lies in this a power of conviction which disarms his most bitter opponents, excepting only those who have in selfishness hardened themselves.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:8

Five proverbs of the king, together with three of righteousness in action and conduct:

8 Better is a little with righteousness,

Than rich revenues with unrighteousness.

The cogn. proverb Pro 15:16 commences similarly. Of רב תּבוּאות , multitude or greatness of income, vid ., Pro 14:4 : "unrighteous wealth profits not."The possessor of it is not truly happy, for sin cleaves to it, which troubles the heart (conscience), and because the enjoyment which it affords is troubled by the curses of those who are injured, and by the sighs of the oppressed. Above all other gains rises ἡ εὐσέβεια μετ ̓ αὐταρκείας (1Ti 6:6).

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:9

9 The heart of man deviseth his way;

But Jahve directeth his steps.

Similar to this is the German proverb: "steplang7 Der Mensch denkt, Gott lenkt "[= our "man proposes, God disposes"], and the Arabic el -‛abd ( העבד = man) judebbir wallah juḳaddir ; Latin, homo proponit, Deus disponit ; for, as Hitzig rightly remarks, 9b means, not that God maketh his steps firm ( Venet ., Luther, Umbreit, Bertheau, Elster), but that He gives direction to him (Jerome, dirigere ). Man deliberates here and there ( חשּׁב , intens. of חשׁב , to calculate, reflect) how he will begin and carry on this or that; but his short-sightedness leaves much out of view which God sees; his calculation does not comprehend many contingencies which God disposes of and man cannot foresee. The result and issue are thus of God, and the best is, that in all his deliberations one should give himself up without self-confidence and arrogance to the guidance of God, that one should do his duty and leave the rest, with humility and confidence, to God.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:10

10 Oracular decision (belongeth) to the lips of the king;

In the judgment his mouth should not err.

The first line is a noun clause: קסם , as subject, thus needs a distinctive accent, and that is here, after the rule of the sequence of accents, and manuscript authority ( vid ., Torath Emeth , p. 49), not Mehuppach legarme , as in our printed copies, but Dechi ( קסם ). Jerome's translation: Divinatio in labiis regis, in judicio non errabit os ejus , and yet more Luther's: "his mouth fails not in judgment,"makes it appear as if the proverb meant that the king, in his official duties, was infallible; and Hitzig (Zöckler agreeing), indeed, finds here expressed the infallibility of the theocratic king, and that as an actual testimony to be believed, not only is a mere political fiction, like the phrase, "the king can do no wrong."But while this political fiction is not strange even to the Israelitish law, according to which the king could not be brought before the judgment, that testimony is only a pure imagination. For as little as the N.T. teaches that the Pope, as the legitimate vicarius of Christ, is infallible, cum ex cathedra docet , so little does the O.T. that the theocratic king, who indeed was the legitimate vicarius Dei , was infallible in judicio ferendo . Yet Ewald maintains that the proverb teaches that the word of the king, when on the seat of justice, is an infallible oracle; but it dates from the first bright period of the strong uncorrupted kingdom in Israel. One may not forget, says Dächsel also, with von Gerlach, that these proverbs belong to the time of Solomon, before it had given to the throne sons of David who did evil before the Lord. Then it would fare ill for the truth of the proverb - the course of history would falsify it. But in fact this was never maintained in Israel. Of the idolizing flattering language in which, at the present day, rulers in the East are addressed, not a trace is found in the O.T. The kings were restrained by objective law and the recognised rights of the people. David showed, not merely to those who were about him, but also to the people at large, so many human weaknesses, that he certainly appeared by no means infallible; and Solomon distinguished himself, it is true, by rare kingly wisdom, but when he surrounded himself with the glory of an oriental potentate, and when Rehoboam began to assume the tone of a despot, there arose an unhallowed breach between the theocratic kingdom and the greatest portion of the people. The proverb, as Hitzig translates and expounds it: "a divine utterance rests on the lips of the king; in giving judgment his mouth deceives not,"is both historically and dogmatically impossible. The choice of the word קסם (from קסם , R. קש קם , to make fast, to take an oath, to confirm by an oath, incantare , vid ., at Isa 3:2), which does not mean prediction (Luther), but speaking the truth, shows that 10a expresses, not what falls from the lips of the king in itself, but according to the judgment of the people: the people are wont to regard the utterances of the king as oracular, as they shouted in the circus at Caesarea of King Agrippa, designating his words as θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπων (Act 12:22). Hence 10b supplies an earnest warning to the king, viz., that his mouth should not offend against righteousness, nor withhold it. לא ימעל is meant as warning (Umbreit, Bertheau), like לא תבא , Pro 22:24, and ב in מעל is here, as always, that of the object; at least this is more probable than that מעל stands without object, which is possible, and that ב designates the situation.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:11

11 The scale and balances of a right kind are Jahve's;

His work are the weights of the bag.

Regarding פּלס , statera , a level or steelyard (from פּלס , to make even), vid ., Pro 4:26; מאזנים (from אזן , to weigh), libra , is another form of the balance: the shop-balance furnished with two scales. אבני are here the stones that serve for weights, and כּים , which at Pro 1:14 properly means the money-bag, money-purse (cf. Pro 7:20), is here, as at Mic 6:11, the bag in which the merchant carries the weights. The genit. משׁפּט belongs also to פּלס , which, in our edition, is pointed with the disjunctive Mehuppach legarme , is rightly accented in Cod. 1294 ( vid ., Torath Emeth , p. 50) with the conjunctive Mehuppach . משׁפט , as 11b shows, is not like מרמה , the word with the principal tone; 11a says that the balance thus, or thus constructed, which weighs accurately and justly, is Jahve's, or His arrangement, and the object of His inspection, and 11b, that all the weight-stones of the bag, and generally the means of weighing and measuring, rest upon divine ordinance, that in the transaction and conduct of men honesty and certainty might rule. This is the declared will of God, the lawgiver; for among the few direct determinations of His law with reference to trade this stands prominent, that just weights and just measures shall be used, Lev 19:36; Deu 25:13-16. The expression of the poet here frames itself after this law; yet ' ה is not exclusively the God of positive revelation, but, as agriculture in Isa 28:29, cf. Sirach 7:15, so here the invention of normative and normal means of commercial intercourse is referred to the direction and institution of God.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:12

12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness,

For by righteousness the throne is established.

As 10b uttered a warning to the king, grounded on the fact of 10a, so 12a indirectly contains a warning, which is confirmed by the fact 12b. It is a fact that the throne is established by righteousness ( יכּון as expressive of a rule, like הוּכן , Isa 16:5, as expressive of an event); on this account it is an abomination to kings immediately or mediately to commit wickedness, i.e. , to place themselves in despotic self-will above the law. Such wicked conduct shall be, and ought to be, an abhorrence to them, because they know that they thereby endanger the stability of their throne. This is generally the case, but especially was it so in Israel, where the royal power was never absolutistic; where the king as well as the people were placed under God's law; where the existence of the community was based on the understood equality of right; and the word of the people, as well as the word of the prophets, was free. Another condition of the stability of the throne is, after Pro 25:5, the removal of godless men from nearness to the king. Rehoboam lost the greater part of his kingdom by this, that he listened to the counsel of the young men who were hated by the people.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:13

History is full of such warning examples, and therefore this proverb continues to hold up the mirror to princes.

Well-pleasing to kings are righteous lips,

And whoever speaketh uprightly is loved.

Rightly the lxx ἀγαπᾶ , individ. plur., instead of the plur. of genus, מלכים ; on the contrary, Jerome and Luther give to the sing. the most general subject (one lives), in which case it must be distinctly said, that that preference of the king for the people who speak out the truth, and just what they think, is shared in by every one. צדק , as the property of the שׂפתי , accords with the Arab. ṣidḳ , truth as the property of the lasân (the tongue or speech). ישׁרים , from ישׁר , means recta , as נגידים , principalia , Pro 8:6, and ריקים , inania , Pro 12:11. ישׁרים , Dan 11:10, neut. So neut. וישׁר , Psa 111:8; but is rather, with Hitzig and Riehm, to be read וישׁר . What the proverb ways cannot be meant of all kings, for even the house of David had murderers of prophets, like Manasseh and Joiakim; but in general it is nevertheless true that noble candour, united with true loyalty and pure love to the king and the people, is with kings more highly prized than mean flattery, seeking only its own advantage, and that, though this (flattery) may for a time prevail, yet, at last, fidelity to duty, and respect for truth, gain the victory.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:14

14 The wrath of the king is like messengers of death;

But a wise man appeaseth him.

The clause: the wrath of the king is many messengers of death, can be regarded as the attribution of the effect, but it falls under the point of view of likeness, instead of comparison: if the king is angry, it is as if a troop of messengers or angels of death went forth to visit with death him against whom the anger is kindled; the plur. serves for the strengthening of the figure: not one messenger of death, but at the same time several, the wrinkled brow, the flaming eye, the threatening voice of the king sends forth (Fleischer). But if he against whom the wrath of the king has thus broken forth is a wise man, or one near the king who knows that ὀργὴ ἀνδρὸς δικαιοσύνην Θεοῦ οὐ κατεργάζεται (Jam 1:20), he will seek to discover the means (and not without success) to cover or to propitiate, i.e. , to mitigate and appease, the king's anger. The Scripture never uses כּפּר , so that God is the object ( expiare Deum ), because, as is shown in the Comm. zum Hebräerbrief , that were to say, contrary to the decorum divinum , that God's holiness or wrath is covered, or its energy bound, by the offering up of sacrifices or of things in which there is no inherent virtue of atonement, and which are made the means of reconciliation only by the accommodative arrangement of God. On the contrary, כּפּר is used here and at Gen 32:21 of covering = reconciling (propitiating) the wrath of a man.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:15

15 In the light on the king's countenance there is life,

And his favour is as a cloud of the latter rains.

Hitzig regards אור as the inf . (cf. Pro 4:18), but one says substantively אור פּני , Job 29:24, etc., and in a similar sense מאור עינים , Pro 15:30; light is the condition of life, and the exhilaration of life, wherefore אור החיּים , Ps. 56:14, Job 33:30, is equivalent to a fresh, joyous life; in the light of the king's countenance is life, means that life goes forth from the cheerful approbation of the king, which shows itself in his face, viz., in the showing of favour, which cheers the heart and beautifies the life. To speak of liberality as a shower is so common to the Semitic, that it has in Arab. the general name of nadnâ , rain. 15b conforms itself to this. מלקושׁ (cf. Job 29:23) is the latter rain, which, falling about the spring equinox, brings to maturity the barley-harvest; on the contrary, מורה ( יורה ) is the early rain, which comes at the time of ploughing and sowing; the former is thus the harvest rain, and the latter the spring rain. Like a cloud which discharges the rain that mollifies the earth and refreshes the growing corn, is the king's favour. The noun עב , thus in the st. constr., retains its Kametz . Michlol 191b. This proverb is the contrast to Pro 16:14. Pro 20:2 has also the anger of the king as its theme. In Pro 19:12 the figures of the darkness and the light stand together as parts of one proverb. The proverbs relating to the king are now at an end. Pro 16:10 contains a direct warning for the king; Pro 16:12 an indirect warning, as a conclusion arising from 12b (cf. Pro 20:28, where יצּרוּ is not to be translated tueantur ; the proverb has, however, the value of a nota bene ). Pro 16:13 in like manner presents an indirect warning, less to the king than to those who have intercourse with him (cf. Pro 25:5), and Pro 16:14 and Pro 16:15 show what power of good and evil, of wrath and of blessing, is given to a king, whence so much the greater responsibility arises to him, but, at the same time also, the duty of all to repress the lust to evil that may be in him, and to awaken and foster in him the desire for good.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:16

Five proverbs regarding wisdom, righteousness, humility, and trust in God, forming, as it were, a succession of steps, for humility is the virtue of virtues, and trust in God the condition of all salvation. Three of these proverbs have the word טוב in common.

16 To gain wisdom, how much better is it than gold;

And to attain understanding to be preferred to silver.

Commendation of the striving after wisdom (understanding) with which all wisdom begins, for one gains an intellectual possession not by inheritance, but by acquisition, Pro 4:7. A similar "parallel-comparative clause"(Fl.), with the interchange of טוב and נבחר , is Pro 22:1, but yet more so is Pro 21:3, where נבחר , as here, is neut. pred. (not, as at Pro 8:10 and elsewhere, adj.), and עשׂה , such an anomalous form of the inf . constr . as here קנה , Gesen. §§75, Anm. 2; in both instances it could also be regarded as the inf . absol . (cf. Pro 25:27) ( Lehrgebäude , §109, Anm. 2); yet the language uses, as in the case before us, the form גּלה only with the force of an abl . of the gerund, as עשׂו occurs Gen 31:38; the inf . of verbs ' ה ' ל as nom . (as here), genit . (Gen 50:20), and accus . (Psa 101:3), is always either גּלות or גּלה . The meaning is not that to gain wisdom is more valuable than gold, but that the gaining of wisdom exceeds the gaining of gold and silver, the common comparatio decurtata (cf. Job 28:18). Regarding חרוּץ , vid ., at Pro 3:14.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:17

17 The path of the righteous is the avoiding of evil,

And he preserveth his soul who giveth heed to his way.

The meaning of מסלּה , occurring only here in the Proverbs, is to be learned from Pro 15:19. The attribution denotes that wherein the way they take consists, or by which it is formed; it is one, a straight and an open way, i.e. , unimpeded, leading them on, because they avoid the evil which entices them aside to the right and the left. Whoever then gives heed to his way, preserveth his soul ( שׁמר נפשׁו , as Pro 13:3, on the contrary Pro 25:5, subj.), that it suffer not injury and fall under death, for סוּר מרע and סור ממוקשׁי מות , Pro 14:27, are essentially the same. Instead of this distich, the lxx has three distichs; the thoughts presented in the four superfluous lines are all already expressed in one distich. Ewald and Hitzig find in this addition of the lxx a component part of the original text.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:18

18 Pride goeth before destruction,

And haughtiness cometh before a fall.

The contrast is לפני כבוד ענוה , Pro 15:33, according to which the "haughtiness comes before a fall"in Pro 18:22 is expanded into the antithetic distich. שׁבר means the fracture of the limbs, destruction of the person. A Latin proverb says, "Magna cadunt, inflata crepant, tumefacta premuntur ."

(Note: An expression of similar meaning is אחרי דרגא תביר = after Darga (to rise up) comes tebı̂r (breaking = destruction); cf. Zunz, in Geiger's Zeitschrift , vi. 315ff.)

Here being dashed in pieces and overthrown correspond. שׁבר means neither bursting (Hitzig) nor shipwreck (Ewald). כשּׁלון (like בּטּחון , זכּרון , etc.), from כּשׁל or נכשׁל , to totter, and hence, as a consequence, to come to ruin, is a ἅπαχ λεγ . This proverb, which stands in the very centre of the Book of Proverbs, is followed by another in praise of humility.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:19

19 Better in humility to dwell among sufferers,

Than to divide spoil among the proud.

The form שׁפל is here not adj . as Pro 29:23 (from שׁפל , like חסר , Pro 6:32, from חסר ), but inf . (like Ecc 12:14, and חסר , defectio , 10:21). There existed here also no proper reason for changing עניּים (Chethı̂b ) into ענוים ; Hitzig is right in saying that עני may also be taken in the sense of ענו [the idea "sufferer"is that which mediates], and that here the inward fact of humility and the outward of dividing spoil, stand opposed to one another. It is better to live lowly, i.e. , with a mind devoid of earthly pride ( Demut [humility] comes from dëo with the deep e , diu , servant), among men who have experience of the vanity of earthly joys, than, intoxicated with pride, to enjoy oneself amid worldly wealth and greatness (cf. Isa 9:2).

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:20

20 He that giveth heed to the word will find prosperity;

And he that trusteth in Jahve, blessed is he!

The "word"here is the word κατ ̓ ἐξ ., the divine word, for משׂכּיל על־דּבר is the contrast of בּז לדבר , Pro 13:13, cf. Neh 8:13. טוב is meant, as in Pro 17:20, cf. Pro 13:21, Psa 23:6; to give heed to God's word is the way to true prosperity. But at last all depends on this, that one stand in personal fellowship with God by means of faith, which here, as at Pro 28:25; Pro 29:25, is designated after its specific mark as fiducia . The Mashal conclusion אשׁריו occurs, besides here, only at Pro 14:21; Pro 29:18.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 16:21

Four proverbs of wisdom with eloquence:

21 The wise in heart is called prudent,

And grace of the lips increaseth learning.

Elsewhere (Pro 1:5; Pro 9:9) הוסיף לקח means more than to gain learning, i.e. , erudition in the ethico-practical sense, for sweetness of the lips ( dulcedo orationis of Cicero) is, as to learning, without significance, but of so much the greater value for reaching; for grace of expression, and of exposition, particularly if it be not merely rhetorical, but, according to the saying pectus disertos facit , coming out of the heart, is full of mind, it imparts force to the instruction, and makes it acceptable. Whoever is wise of heart, i.e. , of mind or spirit ( לב = the N.T. νοῦς or πνεῦμα ), is called, and is truly, נבון [learned, intelligent] (Fleischer compares to this the expression frequent in Isaiah, "to be named"= to be and appear to be, the Arab. du'ay lah ); but there is a gift which highly increases the worth of this understanding or intelligence, for it makes it fruitful of good to others, and that is grace of the lips. On the lips (Pro 10:13) of the intelligent wisdom is found; but the form also, and the whole manner and way in which he gives expression to this wisdom, is pleasing, proceeding from a deep and tender feeling for the suitable and the beneficial, and thus he produces effects so much the more surely, and beneficently, and richly.

Constable: Pro 10:1--22:17

II. COUPLETS EXPRESSING WISDOM 10:1--22:16

Chapters 1-9, as we have seen, contain discourses that Solomon evidently wrote urging his sons to choose the way of wisdom for their lives.⁹² At 10:1 we begin the part of the book that sets forth what the wise way is in a variety of life situations.

"Until now the book of Proverbs has been identifying the truly wise man. Form this point on, it will describe how such a man should conduct his life from day to day. This logical topical order appears in many New Testament epistles, where the saved person is first identified, and then the daily life he should live is described [e.g., Rom. 1-5 and 6-8; Eph. 1-3 and 4-6]."⁹³

There are 184 maxims in chapters 10-15 and 191 in chapters 16-22 for a total of 375.⁹⁴ This represents only a few of the 3,000 proverbs Solomon wrote (1 Kings 4:32). Most of the proverbs in this section are one verse long and contain two lines each; they are couplets. The second line contrasts, compares, or completes the idea expressed in the first line. In chapters 10-15 most couplets contain antithetic parallelism. The key word is "but." In chapters 16-22 there are more synonymous parallelisms marked by the conjunction "and." There are also continuous sentences in which the second line continues the thought of the first line (e.g., 14:26). Some couplets contain comparisons in which the relative value of two things is set forth (e.g., 11:31). Some contain a statement in the first line followed by an explanation in the second line (e.g., 20:2).⁹⁵

Is there any logic to the arrangement of these seemingly unrelated proverbs? In some places there is a general association of ideas, and in some places there is a recurring key word (e.g., "king" in 16:12-15, and "Yahweh" in 16:1-7). However many of these couplets have no logical connection with what immediately precedes or follows in the context. This anthology style is typical of other ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature.

"The absence of a systematic arrangement is due to the traditional character of the contents. There is no need of a closely knit argument; striking images, incisive wording are all that is required to give a fresh appeal to the truth of familiar viewpoints."⁹⁶

"It is also surprising to find lofty precepts mixed with more trivial' apothegms. Of course, this is a misconception based on the modern-day viewpoint of life. From the sages' perspective each proverb is an expression of wisdom,' which is . . . the fixed order of reality. Viewed from this perspective no sentence is trivial . . ."⁹⁷

Why did the Holy Spirit not arrange these proverbs topically so we could study all of them that deal with one subject together? Probably He did so because the method He chose is "a course of education in the life of wisdom."⁹⁸

"As we read Proverbs chapter by chapter, the Spirit of God has the freedom to teach us about many subjects, and we never know from day to day which topic we'll need the most. Just as the Bible itself isn't arranged like a systematic theology, neither is Proverbs. What Solomon wrote is more like a kaleidoscope than a stained-glass window: We never know what the next pattern will be."⁹⁹

In the notes that follow (on 10:1-22:16) I have commented only on those proverbs that appear to me to need clarification in the NASB.

Constable: Pro 16:1-33

1. Trusting God ch. 16

There is a shift in emphasis in Solomon's anthology here. Pleasing God (cf. Col. 1:10; 1 John 3:22) becomes a greater factor in the proverbs that follow whereas those in chapters 10-15 had living successfully more in view. Nevertheless this is only a change in proportion of emphasis. Both ends are present in both sections of the book (chs. 10-15 and 16:1-22:16).

In this section there is also a slight change in the form of the proverbs. Solomon expressed the earlier proverbs (chs. 10-15) mainly in antithetical parallelisms, but the proverbs in this section are mainly synonymous and synthetic parallelisms. Instead of the key word being "but" it now becomes "and."

16:1 The meaning of this proverb is similar to that of 16:9. Even though man has freedom to plan, in the end he only fulfills the will of God by what he says. Man plans his words, but what really comes out takes place because God sovereignly controls. "Man proposes, God disposes," is a common equivalent.

". . . when someone is trying to speak before others, the Lord directs the words according to his sovereign will."¹²⁹

16:3 When we cast (lit. roll) our cares on God (1 Pet. 5:7), He will arrange our plans. The AV and RV have "thoughts" for "plans," but the idea is the same. This proverb stresses the importance of depending on the Lord.

16:6 We do not atone for our own iniquity by being loving and truthful. This proverb is not a denial of our need for God's atonement. However, we can and should cover (atone for) the mistakes of others lovingly and truthfully (1 Pet. 4:8) as God covers our sins. What will keep us all away from evil is the fear of Yahweh.

"The fear of Jahve is subjection to the God of revelation, and a falling in with the revealed plan of salvation."¹³⁰

16:10 A king's edict becomes law for his people.¹³¹ His ordinances are the will of God for them (unless he commands contrary to God's revealed will; cf. Acts 4:19-20). Consequently it is very important that the ruler not err in his judgment.¹³²

16:22 Understanding (good sense) is a source of life for a wise person, but folly is a source of discipline for a fool. Thus a person's wisdom or lack of it determines his or her prospects in life. Proverbs has little that is positive to say about a fool.

"It is highly unlikely that Solomon would accept the idea that all men are created equal and thus deserve education at government expense."¹³³

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: Pro 16:4

PROVERBS 16:4 —Does God make people to be doomed?

PROBLEM: On the one hand, the Bible speaks of human beings as having free choice ( Matt. 23:37 ; 2 Peter 3:9 ) and being responsible for their own destiny (cf. Ezek. 18:20 ; John 3:36 ). On the other hand, Solomon declares here that “the Lord made … even the wicked for the day of doom.” Indeed, Paul speaks of some people being “vessels of wrath” ( Rom. 9:22 ). How can we justify God making people in order to destroy them?

SOLUTION: God does not create people in order to destroy them. God loves “the world” ( John 3:16 ), and Christ died “for the whole world” ( 1 John 2:2 ). Indeed, Christ’s blood “bought” even those who deny Him ( 2 Peter 2:1 ). And God “is not willing that any should perish” ( 2 Peter 3:9 ). There is a hell, but it was not prepared for human beings. Jesus said it was “prepared for the devil and his angels” ( Matt. 25:41 ).

How then can we explain the fact that God made the wicked for the day of doom? The word “made” ( asah ) has broad usage in Hebrew. It can mean “appoint” or “institute” or even “administer.” God is in sovereign control of the entire universe. Even when humans intend something for evil, God can mean it for good ( Gen. 50:20 ). In this sense, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise You” ( Ps. 76:10 ). For “in all things God works for the good” ( Rom. 8:28 , NIV ). So even the “day of doom” is “for” God in the sense that He is in control of it and it will ultimately redound to His glory. For God’s love is magnified in heaven, and His justice is manifest in hell.

Of course, it is not God’s directive will that anyone be judged, but in His sovereign will He has appointed (“made”) that even judgment on sin will magnify Him. Nonetheless, God “desires all men come to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” ( 1 Tim. 2:4 ). Even the “vessels of wrath” were only “prepared for destruction” ( Rom. 9:22 ) because they refused to repent, since God patiently “endured [them] with much longsuffering,” waiting for them to repent (cf. 2 Peter 3:9 ).

In brief, God’sprescriptive will is that all be saved. His permissive will is that some be lost (those who refuse to repent). And God’sprovidential will is that He will bring ultimate good, even out of evil. In this sense, all things are made for (i.e., appointed by) Him.   

Evidence: Pro 16:2

This is never so evident as when you ask a guilty sinner if he thinks he is a good person (see Pro 21:2 ; Luk 16:15 ). When the Law is used properly, it strips a man of self-righteousness. See Luk 18:18-23 .

Evidence: Pro 16:5

God resists those who are proud. Grace is only for the humble . Biblical evangelism is " Law to the proud; grace to the humble." With the Law, we break the hard heart. With the gospel, we heal the broken heart.

Evidence: Pro 16:6

Men will not let go of their beloved sins unless the fear of the Lord grips their sin-loving hearts . Sinners are like a child whose eyes sparkle with delight as he holds a stick of lighted dynamite. He will not let go of it unless he is convinced that he is in terrible danger. The Law of God coupled with future punishment is the convincing agent that God has chosen to awaken the sinner. He must be told that God (who has the power to cast his soul into hell) will judge the world (on Judgment Day) in righteousness (by the perfect and righteous standard of His Law).

Evidence: Pro 16:10

QUESTIONS & OBJECTIONS

" I have broken the Ten Commandments, but I do good things for people."

Many people do similar things. They may steal from their employer or cheat on their taxes, then give to a charity or spend Thanksgiving helping at a soup kitchen. They think they are balancing the scales: they have done bad, and now they are doing good. However, the Bible reveals that the motive of guilty sinners is one of guilt (see Heb 9:14 ). They are attempting to bribe the Judge of the Universe. However, the Judge in this case will not be corrupted. He must punish all sinners. Good works cannot earn mercy; it comes purely by the grace of God. He will dismiss our iniquity only on the grounds of our faith in Jesus.

Evidence: Pro 16:15

" Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?" Abraham Lincoln

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

THE NATURE AND USE OF PROVERBS.--A proverb is a pithy sentence, concisely expressing some well-established truth susceptible of various illustrations and applications. The word is of Latin derivation, literally meaning for a word, speech, or discourse; that is, one expression for many. The Hebrew word for "proverb" (mashal) means a "comparison." Many suppose it was used, because the form or matter of the proverb, or both, involved the idea of comparison. Most of the proverbs are in couplets or triplets, or some modifications of them, the members of which correspond in structure and length, as if arranged to be compared one with another. They illustrate the varieties of parallelism, a distinguishing feature of Hebrew poetry. Compare Introduction to Poetical Books. Many also clearly involve the idea of comparison in the sentiments expressed (compare Pro 12:1-10; Pro 25:10-15; Pro 26:1-9). Sometimes, however, the designed omission of one member of the comparison, exercising the reader's sagacity or study for its supply, presents the proverb as a "riddle" or "dark saying" (compare Pro. 30:15-33; Pro 1:6; Psa 49:4). The sententious form of expression, which thus became a marked feature of the proverbial style, was also adopted for continuous discourse, even when not always preserving traces of comparison, either in form or matter (compare Pro. 1:1-9:18). In Eze 17:1; Eze 24:3, we find the same word properly translated "parable," to designate an illustrative discourse. Then the Greek translators have used a word, parabola ("parable"), which the gospel writers (except John) employ for our Lord's discourses of the same character, and which also seems to involve the idea of comparison, though that may not be its primary meaning. It might seem, therefore, that the proverbial and parabolic styles of writing were originally and essentially the same. The proverb is a "concentrated parable, and the parable an extension of the proverb by a full illustration." The proverb is thus the moral or theme of a parable, which sometimes precedes it, as in Mat 19:30 (compare Pro 20:1); or succeeds it, as in Mat. 22:1-16; Luk 15:1-10. The style being poetical, and adapted to the expression of a high order of poetical sentiment, such as prophecy, we find the same term used to designate such compositions (compare Num 23:7; Mic 2:4; Hab 2:6).

Though the Hebrews used the same term for proverb and parable, the Greek employs two, though the sacred writers have not always appeared to recognize a distinction. The term for proverb is, paroimia, which the Greek translators employ for the title of this book, evidently with special reference to the later definition of a proverb, as a trite, sententious form of speech, which appears to be the best meaning of the term. John uses the same term to designate our Saviour's instructions, in view of their characteristic obscurity (compare Pro 16:25-29, Greek), and even for his illustrative discourses (Pro 10:6), whose sense was not at once obvious to all his hearers. This form of instruction was well adapted to aid the learner. The parallel structure of sentences, the repetition, contrast, or comparison of thought, were all calculated to facilitate the efforts of memory; and precepts of practical wisdom which, extended into logical discourses, might have failed to make abiding impressions by reason of their length or complicated character, were thus compressed into pithy, and, for the most part, very plain statements. Such a mode of instruction has distinguished the written or traditional literature of all nations, and was, and still is, peculiarly current in the East.

In this book, however, we are supplied with a proverbial wisdom commended by the seal of divine inspiration. God has condescended to become our teacher on the practical affairs belonging to all the relations of life. He has adapted His instruction to the plain and unlettered, and presented, in this striking and impressive method, the great principles of duty to Him and to our fellow men. To the prime motive of all right conduct, the fear of God, are added all lawful and subordinate incentives, such as honor, interest, love, fear, and natural affection. Besides the terror excited by an apprehension of God's justly provoked judgments, we are warned against evil-doing by the exhibition of the inevitable temporal results of impiety, injustice, profligacy, idleness, laziness, indolence, drunkenness, and debauchery. To the rewards of true piety which follow in eternity, are promised the peace, security, love, and approbation of the good, and the comforts of a clear conscience, which render this life truly happy.

INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP.--With no important exception, Jewish and Christian writers have received this book as the inspired production of Solomon. It is the first book of the Bible prefaced by the name of the author. The New Testament abounds with citations from the Proverbs. Its intrinsic excellence commends it to us as the production of a higher authority than the apocryphal writings, such as Wisdom or Ecclesiasticus. Solomon lived five hundred years before the "seven wise men" of Greece, and seven hundred before the age of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It is thus very evident, whatever theory of his sources of knowledge be adopted, that he did not draw upon any heathen repositories with which we are acquainted. It is far more probable, that by the various migrations, captivities, and dispersions of the Jews, heathen philosophers drew from this inspired fountain many of those streams which continue to refresh mankind amid the otherwise barren and parched deserts of profane literature.

As, however, the Psalms are ascribed to David, because he was the leading author, so the ascription of this book to Solomon is entirely consistent with the titles of the thirtieth and thirty-first chapters, which assign those chapters to Agur and Lemuel respectively. Of these persons we know nothing. This is not the place for discussing the various speculations respecting them. By a slight change of reading some propose to translate Pro 30:1 : "The words of Agur, the son of her who was obeyed Massa," that is, "the queen of Massa"; and Pro 31:1 : "The words of Lemuel, king of Massa"; but to this the earliest versions are contradictory, and nothing other than the strongest exegetical necessity ought to be allowed to justify a departure from a well-established reading and version when nothing useful to our knowledge is gained. It is better to confess ignorance than indulge in useless conjectures.

It is probable that out of the "three thousand proverbs" (1Ki 4:32) which Solomon spoke, he selected and edited Pro. 1:1-24:34 during his life. Pro. 25:1-29:27 were also of his production, and copied out in the days of Hezekiah, by his "men," perhaps the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah. Such a work was evidently in the spirit of this pious monarch, who set his heart so fully on a reformation of God's worship. Learned men have endeavored to establish the theory that Solomon himself was only a collector; or that the other parts of the book, as these chapters, were also selections by later hands; but the reasons adduced to maintain these views have never appeared so satisfactory as to change the usual opinions on the subject, which have the sanction of the most ancient and reliable authorities.

DIVISIONS OF THE BOOK.--Such a work is, of course, not susceptible of any logical analysis. There are, however, some well-defined marks of division, so that very generally the book is divided into five or six parts.

1. The first contains nine chapters, in which are discussed and enforced by illustration, admonition, and encouragement the principles and blessings of wisdom, and the pernicious schemes and practices of sinful persons. These chapters are introductory. With few specimens of the proper proverb, they are distinguished by its conciseness and terseness. The sentences follow very strictly the form of parallelism, and generally of the synonymous species, only forty of the synthetic and four (Pro 3:32-35) of the antithetic appearing. The style is ornate, the figures bolder and fuller, and the illustrations more striking and extended.

2. The antithetic and synthetic parallelism to the exclusion of the synonymous distinguish Pro. 10:1-22:16, and the verses are entirely unconnected, each containing a complete sense in itself.

3. Pro. 22:16-24:34 present a series of admonitions as if addressed to a pupil, and generally each topic occupies two or more verses.

4. Pro. 25:1-29:27 are entitled to be regarded as a distinct portion, for the reason given above as to its origin. The style is very much mixed; of the peculiarities, compare parts two and three.

5. Pro. 30:1-33 is peculiar not only for its authorship, but as a specimen of the kind of proverb which has been described as "dark sayings" or "riddles."

6. To a few pregnant but concise admonitions, suitable for a king, is added a most inimitable portraiture of female character. In both parts five and six the distinctive peculiarity of the original proverbial style gives place to the modifications already mentioned as marking a later composition, though both retain the concise and nervous method of stating truth, equally valuable for its deep impression and permanent retention by the memory.

TSK: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

The wisdom of all ages, from the highest antiquity, has chosen to compress and communicate its lessons in short, compendious sentences, and in poetic language, which were readily conceived and easily retained, and circulated in society as useful principles, to be unfolded as occasion required. Indeed, such short maxims, comprehending much instruction in a few words, and carrying their own evidence with them, are admirably adapted to direct the conduct, without overburdening the memory, or perplexing the mind with abstract reasonings; and hence there are, in all countries and in all languages, old proverbs, or common sayings, which have great authority and influence on the opinions and actions of mankind. Such maxims, however, want their proper basis, the sanction of a Divine Original; and being generally the mere result of worldly prudence, are often calculated to impose on the judgment, and to mislead those who are directed by them. But the proverbs in this book not only are far more ancient than any others extant in the world, and infinitely surpass all the ethical sayings of the ancient sages; but have also received a Divine imprimatur, and are infallible rules to direct our conduct in every circumstance of human life. They are so justly founded on the principles of human nature, and so adapted to the permanent interests of man, that they agree with the manners of every age; and are adapted to every period, condition, or rank in life, however varied in its complexion or diversified by circumstance. Kings and subjects, rich and poor, wise and foolish, old and young, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, masters and servants, may here learn their respective duties, and read lessons of instruction for the regulation of their conduct in their various circumstances; while the most powerful motives, derived from honour, interest, love, fear, natural affection, and piety, are exhibited to inspire an ardent love of wisdom and virtue, and the greatest detestation of ignorance and vice. These maxims are laid down so clearly, copiously, impressively, and in such variety, that every man who wishes to be instructed may take what he chooses, and, among multitudes, those which he likes best. " He is wise," say St. Basil, " not only who hath arrived at a complete habit of wisdom, but who hath made some progress towards it; nay, who doth as yet but love it, or desire it, and listen to it. Such as these, by reading this book, shall be made wiser; for they shall be instructed in much divine, and in no less human learning....It bridles the injurious tongue, corrects the wanton eye, and ties the unjust hand in chains. It persecutes sloth, chastises all absurd desires, teaches prudence, raises man’s courage, and represents temperance and chastity after such a fashion that one cannot but have them in veneration."

TSK: Proverbs 16 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Poole: Proverbs 16 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 16

Men can neither think nor speak wisely and well of themselves, or without Divine assistance. Or, as many others, both ancient and modern interpreters, render the verse,

MHCC: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

The subject of this book may be thus stated by an enlargement on the opening verses. 1. The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. 2. Which treat of the knowledge of wisdom, of piety towards God, of instruction and moral discipline, of the understanding wise and prudent counsels. 3. Which treat of the attainment of instruction in wisdom, which wisdom is to be shown in the conduct of life, and consists in righteousness with regard to our fellow-creatures. 4. Which treat of the giving to the simple sagacity to discover what is right, by supplying them with just principles, and correct views of virtue and vice; and to the young man knowledge, so that he need not err through ignorance; and discretion, so that by pondering well these precepts, he may not err through obstinacy. Take the proverbs of other nations, and we shall find great numbers founded upon selfishness, cunning, pride, injustice, national contempt, and animosities. The principles of the Proverbs of Solomon are piety, charity, justice, benevolence, and true prudence. Their universal purity proves that they are the word of God.

Matthew Henry: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of The Proverbs

We have now before us, I. A new author, or penman rather, or pen (if you will) made use of by the Holy Ghost for making known the mind of God to us, writing as moved by the finger of God (so the Spirit of God is called), and that is Solomon; through his hand came this book of Scripture and the two that follow it, Ecclesiastes and Canticles, a sermon and a song. Some think he wrote Canticles when he was very young, Proverbs in the midst of his days, and Ecclesiastes when he was old. In the title of his song he only writes himself Solomon, perhaps because he wrote it before his accession to the throne, being filled with the Holy Ghost when he was young. In the title of his Proverbs he writes himself the son of David, king of Israel, for then he ruled over all Israel. In the title of his Ecclesiastes he writes himself the son of David, king of Jerusalem, because then perhaps his influence had grown less upon the distant tribes, and he confined himself very much in Jerusalem. Concerning this author we may observe, 1. That he was a king, and a king's son. The penmen of scripture, hitherto, were most of them men of the first rank in the world, as Moses and Joshua, Samuel and David, and now Solomon; but, after him, the inspired writers were generally poor prophets, men of no figure in the world, because that dispensation was approaching in the which God would choose the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty and the poor should be employed to evangelize. Solomon was a very rich king, and his dominions were very large, a king of the first magnitude, and yet he addicted himself to the study of divine things, and was a prophet and a prophet's son. It is no disparagement to the greatest princes and potentates in the world to instruct those about them in religion and the laws of it. 2. That he was one whom God endued with extraordinary measures of wisdom and knowledge, in answer to his prayers at his accession to the throne. His prayer was exemplary: Give me a wise and an understanding heart; the answer to it was encouraging: he had what he desired and all other things were added to him. Now here we find what good use he made of the wisdom God gave him; he not only governed himself and his kingdom with it, but he gave rules of wisdom to others also, and transmitted them to posterity. Thus must we trade with the talents with which we are entrusted, according as they are. 3. That he was one who had his faults, and in his latter end turned aside from those good ways of God which in this book he had directed others in. We have the story of it 1 Kings 11, and a sad story it is, that the penman of such a book as this should apostatize as he did. Tell it not in Gath. But let those who are most eminently useful take warning by this not to be proud or secure; and let us all learn not to think the worse of good instructions though we have them from those who do not themselves altogether live up to them.

II. A new way of writing, in which divine wisdom is taught us by Proverbs, or short sentences, which contain their whole design within themselves and are not connected with one another. We have had divine laws, histories, and songs, and how divine proverbs; such various methods has Infinite Wisdom used for our instruction, that, no stone being left unturned to do us good, we may be inexcusable if we perish in our folly. Teaching by proverbs was, 1. An ancient way of teaching. It was the most ancient way among the Greeks; each of the seven wise men of Greece had some one saying that he valued himself upon, and that made him famous. These sentences were inscribed on pillars, and had in great veneration as that which was said to come down from heaven. A coelo descendit, Gnōthi seauton - Know thyself is a precept which came down from heaven. 2. It was a plain and easy way of teaching, which cost neither the teachers nor the learners much pains, nor put their understandings nor their memories to the stretch. Long periods, and arguments far-fetched, must be laboured both by him that frames them and by him that would understand them, while a proverb, which carries both its sense and its evidence in a little compass, is quickly apprehended and subscribed to, and is easily retained. Both David's devotions and Solomon's instructions are sententious, which may recommend that way of expression to those who minister about holy things, both in praying and preaching. 3. It was a very profitable way of teaching, and served admirably well to answer the end. The word Mashal, here used for a proverb, comes from a word that signifies to rule or have dominion, because of the commanding power and influence which wise and weighty sayings have upon the children of men; he that teaches by them dominatur in concionibus - rules his auditory. It is easy to observe how the world is governed by proverbs. As saith the proverb of the ancients (1Sa 24:13), or (as we commonly express it) As the old saying is, goes very far with most men in forming their notions and fixing their resolves. Much of the wisdom of the ancients has been handed down to posterity by proverbs; and some think we may judge of the temper and character of a nation by the complexion of its vulgar proverbs. Proverbs in conversation are like axious in philosophy, maxims in law, and postulata in the mathematics, which nobody disputes, but every one endeavours to expound so as to have them on his side. Yet there are many corrupt proverbs, which tend to debauch men's minds and harden them in sin. The devil has his proverbs, and the world and the flesh have their proverbs, which reflect reproach on God and religion (as Eze 12:22; Eze 18:2), to guard us against the corrupt influences of which God has his proverbs, which are all wise and good, and tend to make us so. These proverbs of Solomon were not merely a collection of the wise sayings that had been formerly delivered, as some have imagined, but were the dictates of the Spirit of God in Solomon. The very first of them (Pro 1:7) agrees with what God said to man in the beginning (Job 28:28, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ); so that though Solomon was great, and his name may serve as much as any man's to recommend his writings, yet, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. It is God, by Solomon, that here speaks to us: I say, to us; for these proverbs were written for our learning, and, when Solomon speaks to his son, the exhortation is said to speak to us as unto children, Heb 12:5. And, as we have no book so useful to us in our devotions as David's psalms, so have we none so serviceable to us, for the right ordering of our conversations, as Solomon's proverbs, which as David says of the commandments, are exceedingly broad, containing, in a little compass, a complete body of divine ethics, politics, and economics, exposing every vice, recommending every virtue, and suggesting rules for the government of ourselves in every relation and condition, and every turn of the conversation. The learned bishop Hall has drawn up a system of moral philosophy out of Solomon's Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The first nine chapters of this book are reckoned as a preface, by way of exhortation to the study and practice of wisdom's rules, and caution against those things that would hinder therein. We have then the first volume of Solomon's proverbs (ch. 10-24); after that a second volume (ch. 25-29); and then Agur's prophecy (ch. 30), and Lemuel's (ch. 31). The scope of all is one and the same, to direct us so to order our conversation aright as that in the end we may see the salvation of the Lord. The best comment on these rules is to be ruled by them.

Topical Index of Proverbs

Twenty chapters of the book of Proverbs (beginning with ch. 10 and ending with ch. 29), consisting mostly of entire sentences in each verse, could not well be reduced to proper heads, and the contents of them gathered; I have therefore here put the contents of all these chapters together, which perhaps may be of some use to those who desire to see at once all that is said of any one head in these chapters. Some of the verses, perhaps, I have not put under the same heads that another would have put them under, but the most of them fall (I hope) naturally enough to the places I have assigned them.

1. Of the comfort, or grief, parents have in their children, according as they are wise or foolish, godly or ungodly, Pro 10:1; Pro 15:20; Pro 17:21, Pro 17:25; Pro 19:13, Pro 19:26; Pro 23:15, Pro 23:16, Pro 23:24, Pro 23:25; Pro 27:11; Pro 29:3

2. Of the world's insufficiency, and religion's sufficiency, to make us happy (Pro 10:2, Pro 10:3; Pro 11:4) and the preference to be therefore given to the gains of virtue above those of this world, Pro 15:16, Pro 15:17; Pro 16:8, Pro 16:16; Pro 17:1; Pro 19:1; Pro 28:6, Pro 28:11

3. Of slothfulness and diligence, Pro 10:4, Pro 10:26; Pro 12:11, Pro 12:24, Pro 12:27; Pro 13:4, Pro 13:23; Pro 15:19; Pro 16:26; Pro 18:9; Pro 19:15, Pro 19:24; Pro 20:4, Pro 20:13; Pro 21:5, Pro 21:25, Pro 21:26; Pro 22:13, Pro 22:29; Pro 24:30-34; Pro 26:13-16; Pro 27:18, Pro 27:23, Pro 27:27; Pro 28:19. Particularly the improving or neglecting opportunities, Pro 6:6; Pro 10:5

4. The happiness of the righteous, and the misery of the wicked, Pro 10:6, Pro 10:9, Pro 10:16, Pro 10:24, Pro 10:25, Pro 10:27-30; Pro 11:3, Pro 11:5-8, Pro 11:18-21, Pro 11:31; Pro 12:2, Pro 12:3, Pro 12:7, Pro 12:13, Pro 12:14, Pro 12:21, Pro 12:26, Pro 12:28; Pro 13:6, Pro 13:9, Pro 13:14 15, 21, 22, 25; Pro 14:11, Pro 14:14, Pro 14:19, Pro 14:32; Pro 15:6, Pro 15:8, Pro 15:9, Pro 15:24, Pro 15:26, Pro 15:29; Pro 20:7; Pro 21:12, Pro 21:15, Pro 21:16, Pro 21:18, Pro 21:21; Pro 22:12; Pro 28:10, Pro 28:18; Pro 29:6

5. Of honour and dishonour, Pro 10:7; Pro 12:8, Pro 12:9; Pro 18:3; Pro 26:1; Pro 27:21. And of vain-glory, Pro 25:14, Pro 25:27; Pro 27:2

6. The wisdom of obedience, and folly of disobedience, Pro 10:8, Pro 10:17; Pro 12:1, Pro 12:15; Pro 13:1, Pro 13:13, Pro 13:18; Pro 15:5, Pro 15:10, Pro 15:12, Pro 15:31, Pro 15:32; Pro 19:16; Pro 28:4, Pro 28:7, Pro 28:9

7. Of mischievousness and usefulness, Pro 10:10, Pro 10:23; Pro 11:9-11, Pro 11:23, Pro 11:27; Pro 12:5, Pro 12:6, Pro 12:12, Pro 12:18, Pro 12:20; Pro 13:2; Pro 14:22; Pro 16:29, Pro 16:30; Pro 17:11; Pro 21:10; Pro 24:8; Pro 26:23, Pro 26:27

8. The praise of wise and good discourse, and the hurt and shame of an ungoverned tongue, Pro 10:11, Pro 10:13, Pro 10:14, Pro 10:20, Pro 10:21, Pro 10:31, Pro 10:32; Pro 11:30; Pro 14:3; Pro 15:2, Pro 15:4, Pro 15:7, Pro 15:23, Pro 15:28; Pro 16:20, Pro 16:23, Pro 16:24; Pro 17:7; Pro 18:4, Pro 18:7, Pro 18:20, Pro 18:21; Pro 20:15; Pro 21:23; Pro 23:9; Pro 24:26; Pro 25:11

9. Of love and hatred, peaceableness and contention, Pro 10:12; Pro 15:17; Pro 17:1, Pro 17:9, Pro 17:14, Pro 17:19; Pro 18:6, Pro 18:17-19; Pro 20:3; Pro 25:8; Pro 26:17, Pro 26:21; Pro 29:9

10. Of the rich and poor, Pro 10:5, Pro 10:22; Pro 11:28; Pro 13:7, Pro 13:8; Pro 14:20, Pro 14:24; Pro 18:11, Pro 18:23; Pro 19:1, Pro 19:4, Pro 19:7, Pro 19:22; Pro 22:2, Pro 22:7; Pro 28:6, Pro 28:11; Pro 29:13

11. Of lying, fraud, and dissimulation, and of truth and sincerity, Pro 10:18; Pro 12:17, Pro 12:19, Pro 12:22; Pro 13:5; Pro 17:4; Pro 20:14, Pro 20:17; Pro 26:18, Pro 26:19, Pro 26:24-26, Pro 26:28

12. Of slandering, Pro 10:18; Pro 16:27; Pro 25:23

13. Of talkativeness and silence, Pro 10:19; Pro 11:12; Pro 12:23; Pro 13:3; Pro 17:27, Pro 17:28; Pro 29:11, Pro 29:20

14. Of justice and injustice, Pro 11:1; Pro 13:16; Pro 16:8, Pro 16:11; Pro 17:15, Pro 17:26; Pro 18:5; Pro 20:10, Pro 20:23; Pro 22:28; Pro 23:10, Pro 23:11; Pro 29:24

15. Of pride and humility, Pro 11:2; Pro 13:10; Pro 15:25, Pro 15:33; Pro 16:5, Pro 16:18, Pro 16:19; Pro 18:12; Pro 21:4; Pro 25:6, Pro 25:7; Pro 28:25; Pro 29:23

16. Of despising and respecting others, Pro 11:12; Pro 14:21

17. Of tale-bearing, Pro 11:13; Pro 16:28; Pro 18:8; Pro 20:19; Pro 26:20, Pro 26:22

18. Of rashness and deliberation, Pro 11:14; Pro 15:22; Pro 18:13; Pro 19:2; Pro 20:5, Pro 20:18; Pro 21:29; Pro 22:3; Pro 25:8-10

19. Of suretiship, Pro 11:15; Pro 17:18; Pro 20:16; Pro 22:26, Pro 22:27; Pro 27:13

20. Of good and bad women, or wives, Pro 11:16, Pro 11:22; Pro 12:4; Pro 14:1; Pro 18:22; Pro 19:13, Pro 19:14; Pro 21:9, Pro 21:19; Pro 25:24; Pro 27:15, Pro 27:16

21. Of mercifulness and unmercifulness, Pro 11:17; Pro 12:10; Pro 14:21; Pro 19:17; Pro 21:13

22. Of charity to the poor, and uncharitableness, Pro 11:24-26; Pro 14:31; Pro 17:5; Pro 22:9, Pro 22:16, Pro 22:22, Pro 22:23; Pro 28:27; Pro 29:7

23. Of covetousness and contentment, Pro 11:29; Pro 15:16, Pro 15:17, Pro 15:27; Pro 23:4, Pro 23:5

24. Of anger and meekness, Pro 12:16; Pro 14:17, Pro 14:29; Pro 15:1, Pro 15:18; Pro 16:32; Pro 17:12, Pro 17:26; Pro 19:11, Pro 19:19; Pro 22:24, Pro 22:25; Pro 25:15, Pro 25:28; Pro 26:21; Pro 29:22

25. Of melancholy and cheerfulness, Pro 12:25; Pro 14:10, Pro 14:13; Pro 15:13, Pro 15:15; Pro 17:22; Pro 18:14; Pro 25:20, Pro 25:25

26. Of hope and expectation, Pro 13:12, Pro 13:19

27. Of prudence and foolishness, Pro 13:16; Pro 14:8, Pro 14:18, Pro 14:33; Pro 15:14, Pro 15:21; Pro 16:21, Pro 16:22; Pro 17:24; Pro 18:2, Pro 18:15; Pro 24:3-7; Pro 7:27; Pro 26:6-11; Pro 28:5

28. Of treachery and fidelity, Pro 13:17; Pro 25:13, Pro 25:19

29. Of good and bad company, Pro 13:20; Pro 14:7; Pro 28:7; Pro 29:3

30. Of the education of children, Pro 13:24; Pro 19:18; Pro 20:11; Pro 22:6, Pro 22:15; Pro 23:12; Pro 14:14; Pro 29:15, Pro 29:17

31. Of the fear of the Lord, Pro 14:2, Pro 14:26, Pro 14:27; Pro 15:16, Pro 15:33; Pro 16:6; Pro 19:23; Pro 22:4; Pro 23:17, Pro 23:18

32. Of true and false witness-bearing, Pro 14:5, Pro 14:25; Pro 19:5, Pro 19:9, Pro 19:28; Pro 21:28; Pro 24:28; Pro 25:18

33. Of scorners, Pro 14:6, Pro 14:9; Pro 21:24; Pro 22:10; Pro 24:9; Pro 29:9

34. Of credulity and caution, Pro 14:15, Pro 14:16; Pro 27:12

35. Of kings and their subjects, Pro 14:28, Pro 14:34, Pro 14:35; Pro 16:10, Pro 16:12-15; Pro 19:6, Pro 19:12; Pro 20:2, Pro 20:8, Pro 20:26, Pro 20:28; Pro 22:11; Pro 24:23-25; Pro 30:2-5; Pro 28:2, Pro 28:3, Pro 28:15, Pro 28:16; Pro 29:5, Pro 29:12, Pro 29:14, Pro 29:26

36. Of envy, especially envying sinners, Pro 14:30; Pro 23:17, Pro 23:18; Pro 24:1, Pro 24:2, Pro 24:19, Pro 24:20; Pro 27:4

37. Of God's omniscience, and his universal providence, Pro 15:3, Pro 15:11; Pro 16:1, Pro 16:4, Pro 16:9, Pro 16:33; Pro 17:3; Pro 19:21; Pro 20:12, Pro 20:24; Pro 21:1, Pro 21:30, Pro 21:31; Pro 29:26

38. Of a good and ill name, Pro 15:30; Pro 22:1

39. Of men's good opinion of themselves, Pro 14:12; Pro 16:2, Pro 16:25; Pro 20:6; Pro 21:2; Pro 26:12; Pro 28:26

40. Of devotion towards God, and dependence on him, Pro 16:3; Pro 18:10; Pro 23:26; Pro 27:1; Pro 28:25; Pro 29:25

41. Of the happiness of God's favour, Pro 16:7; Pro 29:26

42. Excitements to get wisdom, Pro 16:16; Pro 18:1; Pro 19:8, Pro 19:20; Pro 22:17-21; Pro 23:15, Pro 23:16, Pro 23:22-25; Pro 24:13, Pro 24:14; Pro 27:11

43. Cautions against temptations, Pro 16:17; Pro 29:27

44. Of old age and youth, Pro 16:31; Pro 17:6; Pro 20:29

45. Of servants, Pro 17:2; Pro 19:10; Pro 29:19, Pro 29:21

46. Of bribery, Pro 17:8, Pro 17:23; Pro 18:16; Pro 21:14; Pro 28:21

47. Of reproof and correction, Pro 17:10; Pro 19:25, Pro 19:29; Pro 20:30; Pro 21:11; Pro 25:12; Pro 26:3; Pro 27:5, Pro 27:6, Pro 27:22; Pro 28:23; Pro 29:1

48. Of ingratitude, Pro 17:13

49. Of friendship, Pro 17:17; Pro 18:24; Pro 27:9, Pro 27:10, Pro 27:14, Pro 27:17

50. Of sensual pleasures, Pro 21:17; Pro 23:1-3, Pro 23:6-8, Pro 23:19-21; Pro 27:7

51. Of drunkenness, Pro 20:1; Pro 23:23, Pro 23:29-35

52. Of the universal corruption of nature, Pro 20:9

53. Of flattery, Pro 20:19; Pro 26:28; Pro 28:23; Pro 29:5

54. Of undutiful children, Pro 20:20; Pro 28:24

55. Of the short continuance of what is ill-gotten, Pro 20:21; Pro 21:6, Pro 21:7; Pro 22:8; Pro 28:8

56. Of revenge, Pro 20:22; Pro 24:17, Pro 24:18, Pro 24:29

57. Of sacrilege, Pro 20:25

58. Of conscience, Pro 20:27; Pro 27:19

59. Of the preference of moral duties before ceremonial, Pro 15:8; Pro 21:3, Pro 21:27

60. Of prodigality and wastefulness, Pro 21:20

61. The triumphs of wisdom and godliness, Pro 21:22; Pro 24:15, Pro 24:16

62. Of frowardness and tractableness, Pro 22:5

63. Of uncleanness, Pro 22:14; Pro 23:27, Pro 23:28

64. Of fainting in affliction, Pro 24:10

65. Of helping the distressed, Pro 14:11, Pro 14:12

66. Of loyalty to the government, Pro 24:21, Pro 24:22

67. Of forgiving enemies, Pro 25:21, Pro 25:22

68. Of causeless curse, Pro 26:2

69. Of answering fools, Pro 26:4, Pro 26:5

70. Of unsettledness and unsatisfiedness, Pro 27:8, Pro 27:20

71. Of cowardliness and courage, Pro 28:1

72. The people's interest in the character of their rulers, Pro 28:12, Pro 28:28; Pro 29:2, Pro 29:16; Pro 11:10, Pro 11:11

73. The benefit of repentance and holy fear, Pro 28:13, Pro 28:14

74. The punishment of murder, Pro 28:17

75. Of hastening to be rich, Pro 28:20, Pro 28:22

76. The enmity of the wicked against the godly, Pro 29:10, Pro 29:27

77. The necessity of the means of grace, Pro 29:18

Constable: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible is "The Proverbs of Solomon, the Son of David, King in Israel" (cf. 1:1). The Greek Septuagint called this book "Proverbs of Solomon." The Latin Vulgate named it "The Book of Proverbs."

There is some debate about whether 1:1 is the title of the whole book or just the title of the first section (chs. 1-9). The first view has in its favor the fact that the Hebrew Bible took the verse as the title of the book. According to this view the references to Solomon in 1:1 are an indication that he was the primary author of the proverbs in the book.¹

The second view is that 1:1 simply introduces the first major section of the book. The support for this view is that some succeeding sections begin with a similar caption (cf. 10:1; 24:23; 25:1; 30:1; 31:1).²

In either case the book got its title from the proverbs it contains. The whole book is a book of proverbs so the title is appropriate.

"To read straight through a few chapters of Proverbs is like trying to have a conversation with someone who always replies with a one-liner."³

Writer

Proverbs claims to be a compendium of the wise sayings of several different individuals.⁴ Solomon originated some of them (10:1-22:16 and chs. 25-29 definitely, and probably chs. 1-9 as well).⁵ Unnamed wise men (sages) wrote other parts (22:17-24:34 definitely, and possibly chs. 1-9). Hezekiah's men copied some of Solomon's proverbs and added them to this collection (chs. 25-29). Agur and King Lemuel produced chapters 30 and 31 respectively.

We do not know who the sages were who wrote 22:17-24:34 nor do we know the names of the men whom King Hezekiah instructed to compile some of Solomon's sayings. Agur and Lemuel are unknown to us also, though Lemuel seems to have been a non-Israelite monarch.⁶

Some of the proverbs appear to have been copied from, or at least influenced by, earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian books of wisdom.⁷

". . . whatever the Spirit of God inspired the ancient writers to include became a part of the Word of the Lord. Such inclusions then took on a new and greater meaning when they formed part of Scripture; in a word, they became authoritative and binding, part of the communication of the divine will."⁸

Date

Solomon reigned from 971 to 931 B.C. and Hezekiah from 715 to 686 B.C.⁹ We do not know when the sages, Agur, or Lemuel lived.

The earliest the Book of Proverbs could have been in its final form was in Hezekiah's day, but it may have reached this stage later than that. We have no way to tell.

The contents of the book could have been in existence in Solomon's lifetime though not assembled into the collection we know as the Book of Proverbs.

Message¹⁰

The Book of Proverbs contains no history. It is purely didactic. It is a book of explicit instruction. Like the other Old Testament wisdom books, Job and Ecclesiastes, it does not contain references to Israel's laws, rituals, sacrifices, or ceremonies. It deals with philosophy primarily. A philosopher is by definition a lover of wisdom. Proverbs is a book that focuses primarily on wisdom, as do Job and Ecclesiastes. In this sense these books are philosophical.

There is a fundamental difference between the philosophy we find in these books and all other philosophy. Other philosophies begin with a question. Hebrew philosophy begins with an affirmation. Its basic affirmation is that God exists. Therefore we can know ultimate truth only by divine revelation.

To many people the Book of Proverbs seems to be a grab bag of wise sayings that lacks any system or order. Nevertheless in a sense this is the most carefully organized of all the books of the Old Testament.

The first verse is its title page. Verses 2-7 are its preface that contains an explanation of the purpose of the book, the method of the Author, and the fundamental affirmation of the book (in v. 7). Then follow three parts of the body of the book. First, there are discourses in defense and application of the fundamental affirmation (1:8--ch. 9). Then we have proverbs Solomon collected and arranged to provide wisdom (chs. 10-24). Next there are additional wise words from Solomon that other people collected after Solomon died (chs. 25-29). An appendix that contains specific words of wisdom by two other sages, Agur and Lemuel, concludes the book (chs. 30-31).

Proverbs is one of the most timeless Old Testament books. The reader needs very little knowledge of ancient Hebrew life and culture to understand and appreciate it. We can understand the contents fairly easily and can apply them directly to modern life.

Let's look first at the fundamental affirmation and then observe how the application of that declaration unfolds in the chapters that follow.

The fundamental affirmation is the deepest insight in Hebrew philosophy (1:7).

There is a presupposition in this statement. It is that God is all wise. We can only find wisdom in God ultimately. This presupposition underlies all of what we read in Job and Ecclesiastes as well as in Proverbs. Furthermore the Hebrews assumed that God expressed His wisdom in all His works and in all His ways. They believed that all natural phenomena revealed God's wisdom. Wherever they looked, they saw God: on land, at sea, in the earth, or in the sky. We can see that viewpoint clearly in Genesis 1:1 (cf. John 14:6).

This fundamental affirmation also contains an inevitable deduction: if wisdom is perfect in God, then wisdom in man consists in the fear of God. A person is wise to the extent that he or she apprehends and fears God. The "fear" of God does not mean a dread that results in hiding from God. It is rather an emotional recognition of God. It is not fear that He may hurt me but fear that I may hurt Him. That is the kind of fear that produces holy character and righteous conduct. Intellectual apprehension of God precedes this emotional recognition, and volitional submission to God's will follows it. When a person comes to this emotional recognition of God he or she comes to the condition for being wise, not that in so doing he or she becomes wise (1:7). We can begin to be wise only when we come into proper relation to God as ultimate Wisdom.

Beginning with 1:8 and continuing to the end of the book, what we have is the application of that affirmation to the various situations and circumstances of life.

I would like to consider what God revealed here in the three spheres of life dealt with in the book: the home, friendship, and the world. In the home, the child must learn wisdom. In friendship, the youth must apply wisdom. In the world, the adult must demonstrate wisdom.

The first sphere is that of the home (1:8-9). God did not teach the responsibility of the father and mother here but took for granted that they would instruct their children. The child needs to hear parental instruction to live in the fear of the Lord. Young children cannot grasp abstract concepts. For them God is incarnate in father and mother. Fathers and mothers reflect the image of God to their children. Both parents are necessary to reveal God to the child fully. Children see some of God's character in the mother's attitudes and actions (cf. Matt. 23:37). They see other aspects of God's character in the father. You do not have to try to teach your young child systematic theology. Just live in the fear of God yourself, and your child will learn what he or she needs to learn about God, for that stage in life, just by observing you. I do not mean to exclude verbal instruction. My point is that young children learn wisdom by observing their parents as well as by listening to them.

The second sphere of life is friendship (1:10-19). The day must come when the child, in the natural process of development, moves out into a wider circle of experience.

Personally I believe the Bible presents two duties that children have to their parents.

When the child's sphere of life is his home, he is to obey his parents. However, that duty does not continue forever. When he moves into the larger sphere of life outside the home, his duty is to honor his parents. This duty does continue forever.

When a child enters this second sphere of life, guided at first by parental council but then finally on its own, wisdom gives important instruction (1:10). He should avoid certain friendships. He should beware of people who seek to make friends with him because they have selfish interests and unscrupulous methods. We have many warnings in Proverbs against people who are not true friends. There is no more important stage in a young person's development than when he or she begins to choose companions. Then, and from then on, he or she must follow the wisdom that comes from the fear of the Lord. The youth must submit to the Lord's wisdom, having learned that in the sphere of the home, to succeed in the larger arenas of life. The choice of a mate is one of these companion decisions.

The third sphere of life is the world, symbolized in Proverbs by the street, the gates, and the city (1:20-33; cf. chs. 2-9).

The first word of warning to the youth who leaves home to enter the world on his own is this. Beware of the evil way of those who do not fear the Lord (1:20-32). There is also a gracious promise (1:33). Wisdom does not say withdraw from the world. Wisdom says remember the fate of those who forget God. Wisdom promises that those who live in the fear of the Lord will be quiet and safe even in the turmoil of the world. Do you see how important preparation for living in this sphere of life is? Children must learn to take God into account in the home, and then in their friendships, before they launch out into the world. This instruction is what really prepares them for life.

The series of discourses beginning, "My son," represents the voice of home sounding in the youth's ears who has left home and is living in the world (chs. 2-7). The father tells his son how his father instructed him in wisdom and how this enabled him to live successfully in the world. Then specific warnings follow concerning impurity, laziness, bad companions, and adultery. As the young man climbs toward a higher position in life, wisdom comes to him again with instruction concerning how he can avoid the pitfalls of that stage of his life (ch. 8). The discourses close with a contrast in which Solomon personified wisdom and folly as two women (ch. 9). One is a woman of virtue and beauty, and the other is a woman of vice and ugliness. Solomon contrasted the value and victory of wisdom with the disaster and defeat of folly. He contrasted the wisdom of fearing God with the folly of forgetting God.

I would summarize the message of Proverbs this way. The person who learns the fear of God (an emotional recognition of God) in every sphere of life will be successful, but those who forget God will fail. By an emotional recognition of God I mean taking God into account, being aware of His reality and presence, making decisions in view of His existence and revelation. This is what fearing God means.

The precepts urging a life of wisdom center on 3:1-10. This passage concentrates on that subject. Proverbs 3:5-6 is some of the best advice anyone ever gave.

The practice of wisdom centers on 8:32-36.

The power for living a life of wisdom centers on 1:8 (cf. James 1:5; 3:37; Col. 2:3).

Constable: Proverbs (Outline)

Outline

I. Discourses on wisdom chs. 1-9

A. Introduction to the book 1:1-7

1. The title of the book 1:1

2. The purpose of the book 1:2-6

3. The thesis of the book 1:7

B. Instruction for young people 1:8-7:27

1. Warning against consorting with sinners 1:8-19

2. Wisdom's appeal 1:20-33

3. Wisdom as a treasure chs. 2-3

4. Encouragements to obey these instructions ch. 4

5. Warnings against unfaithfulness in marriage ch. 5

6. Other dangerous temptations 6:1-19

7. Further warnings against adultery 6:20-7:27

C. The value of wisdom and wise conduct chs. 8-9

1. The function of wisdom ch. 8

2. Wisdom and folly contrasted ch. 9

II. Couplets expressing wisdom 10:1-22:16

A. The marks of wise living chs. 10-15

1. Things that produce profit 10:1-14

2. Things of true value 10:15-32

3. Wise living in various contexts 11:1-15

4. Wise investments 11:16-31

5. The value of righteousness 12:1-12

6. Avoiding trouble 12:13-28

7. Fruits of wise living ch. 13

8. Further advice for wise living chs. 14-15

B. How to please God 16:1-22:16

1. Trusting God ch. 16

2. Peacemakers and troublemakers ch. 17

3. Friendship and folly ch. 18

4. Further advice for pleasing God 19:1-22:16

III. Wise sayings 22:17-24:34

A. Thirty sayings of the wise 22:17-24:22

1. The first group 22:17-23:11

2. The second group 23:12-24:22

B. Six more sayings of the wise 24:23-34

IV. Maxims expressing wisdom chs. 25-29

A. Instructive analogies 25:1-27:22

1. Wise and foolish conduct ch. 25

2. Fools and folly ch. 26

3. Virtues and vices 27:1-22

B. A discourse on prudence 27:23-27

C. Instructive contrasts chs. 28-29

V. Two discourses by other wise men chs. 30-31

A. The wisdom of Agur ch. 30

1. The introduction of Agur 30:1

2. Wisdom about God 30:2-9

3. Wisdom about life 30:10-33

B. The wisdom of Lemuel ch. 31

1. The introduction of Lemuel 31:1

2. The wise king 31:2-9

3. The wise woman 31:10-31

Constable: Proverbs

Proverbs

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.

INTRODUCTION.

This book is so called, because it consists of wise and weighty sentences, regulating the morals of men; and directing them to wisdom and virtue. And these sentences are also called Parables, because great truths are often couched in them under certain figures and similitudes. (Challoner) --- Wisdom is introduced speaking in the nine first chapters. Then to chap. xxv. more particular precepts are given. (Worthington) --- Ezechias caused to be collected (Haydock) what comes in the five next chapters, and in the two last. Some other, or rather Solomon himself, under (Worthington) different titles, gives us Agur's and his mother's instructions, and his own commendations of a valiant woman, (Haydock) which is prophetical of the Catholic Church. He also wrote the two next works, besides many other things, which have been lost. This is the first of those five, which are called "sapiential," giving instructions how to direct our lives, by the dictates of sound reason. (Worthington) --- It is the most important of Solomon's works, though collected by different authors. (Calmet) --- T. Paine treats Solomon as a witty jester. But his jests are of a very serious nature, and no one had before heard of his wit. (Watson)

Gill: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS

This book is called, in some printed Hebrew copies, "Sepher Mishle", the Book of Proverbs; the title of it in the Vulgate Latin version is,

"the Book of Proverbs, which the Hebrews call "Misle":''

in the Septuagint version it has the name of the writer, the Proverbs of Solomon; and so in the Syriac version, with the addition of his titles,

"the son of David, king of Israel.''

This and Ecclesiastes are both of them by the Jews ^a called Books of Wisdom: and it is common with the ancient Christian writers ^b to call the book of Proverbs by the names of "Wisdom" and "Panaretos"; names they give also to the apocryphal books of Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon; and therefore this is to be carefully distinguished from them. The author of this book was King Solomon, as the "first" verse, which contains the inscription of it, shows; for he was not a collector of these proverbs, as Grotius is of opinion, but the author of them, at least of the far greater part; and not only the author, but the writer of them: the Jews ^c say that Hezekiah and this men wrote them; it is true indeed the men of Hezekiah copied some, Pro 25:1; but even those were written by Solomon. R. Gedaliah ^d would have it that Isaiah the prophet wrote this book; but without any foundation. At what time it was written is not certain; the Jewish writers generally say ^e it was written by Solomon, as were the books of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs, in his old age, when near the time of his death; though some think it was written before his fall: and it may be it was not written all at once, but at certain times, when these proverbs occurred unto him and were spoken by him, and as occasion served: however, it is not to he doubted but that they were written under the inspiration of God. The Jews once thought to have made this book of Proverbs an apocryphal one, because of some seeming contradictions in it; but finding that these were capable of a reconciliation, changed their minds, as became them ^f. Among Christians, Theodore of Mopsuest, in the sixth century, denied the divine authority of this book, and attributed it merely to human wisdom; which opinion of his was condemned in the second council at Constantinople: and in later times it has been treated with contempt by the Socinians, and particularly by Father Simon and Le Clerc; but the authority of it is confirmed by the writers of the New Testament, who have cited passages out of it; see Rom 12:20 from Pro 25:21. The book consists of "five" parts; "first", a preface or introduction, which takes up the first "nine" chapters; the "second", the proverbs of Solomon, put together by himself, beginning at the tenth chapter to the twenty-fifth; the "third", the proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah, beginning at the twenty-fifth chapter to the thirtieth; the "fourth", the words of Agur, the thirtieth chapter, the "fifth", the instruction of Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, the thirty-first chapter.