Text -- Proverbs 30:23-33 (NET)

30:23 under an unloved woman who is married, and under a female servant who dispossesses her mistress. 30:24 There are four things on earth that are small, but they are exceedingly wise: 30:25 ants are creatures with little strength, but they prepare their food in the summer; 30:26 rock badgers are creatures with little power, but they make their homes in the crags; 30:27 locusts have no king, but they all go forward by ranks; 30:28 a lizard you can catch with the hand, but it gets into the palaces of the king. 30:29 There are three things that are magnificent in their step, four things that move about magnificently: 30:30 a lion, mightiest of the beasts, who does not retreat from anything; 30:31 a strutting rooster, a male goat, and a king with his army around him. 30:32 If you have done foolishly by exalting yourself or if you have planned evil, put your hand over your mouth! 30:33 For as the churning of milk produces butter and as punching the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Pro 30:23

Proud, and perverse.

Wesley: Pro 30:23

For then she displays all those ill humours, which before, she concealed.

Wesley: Pro 30:23

Which great and sudden change transports her beside herself, and makes her insufferably proud and scornful.

Wesley: Pro 30:27

Several companies, in exact order.

Wesley: Pro 30:28

With her legs, which he calls hands, because they serve her for the same use, to do her work, to weave her web, and to catch gnats or flies.

Wesley: Pro 30:28

Is not only in poor cottages, but many times in palaces also.

Wesley: Pro 30:31

goat - Which marches in the head of the flock in a grave and stately manner, conducting them with great courage and resolution, and being ready to fight for them, either with beasts or men that oppose him.

Wesley: Pro 30:31

Heb. a king and his people with him, a king when he hath the hearts and hands of his people going along with him in his undertakings.

Wesley: Pro 30:32

Designed any injury against thy neighbour.

Wesley: Pro 30:32

Do not open thy mouth to excuse it, but repent of it, and do so no more.

Wesley: Pro 30:33

The stirring up of wrath, either in a man's self towards others, by giving way to passion; or in others by reproaches, or any other provocations.

Wesley: Pro 30:33

Is the cause of many quarrels.

JFB: Pro 30:21-23

Pride and cruelty, the undue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those vices which disquiet society (compare Pro 19:10; Pro 28:3).

JFB: Pro 30:23

That is, takes her place as a wife (Gen 16:4).

JFB: Pro 30:24-31

These verses provide two classes of apt illustrations of various aspects of the moral world, which the reader is left to apply. By the first (Pro 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pro 30:30-31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or comely, uniting efficiency with gracefulness.

JFB: Pro 30:26

Mountain mice, or rabbits.

JFB: Pro 30:28

Tolerated, even in palaces, to destroy flies.

JFB: Pro 30:28

Or, uses with activity the limbs provided for taking prey.

JFB: Pro 30:32

As none can hope, successfully, to resist such a king, suppress even the thought of an attempt.

JFB: Pro 30:32

"lay" is well supplied (Jdg 18:19; Job 29:9; Job 40:4).

JFB: Pro 30:33

Or other ills, as surely arise from devising evil as natural effects from natural causes.

Clarke: Pro 30:24

There be four things - Of which it is said, they are very little but very wise. 1. The ants. 2. The rabbits. 3. The locusts. 4. The spider

1.    The ants show their wisdom by preparing their meat in the summer, seeking for it and storing it when it may be had; not for winter consumption, for they sleep all that time; but for autumn and spring. See the note on Pro 6:6 (note). The ants are a people; they have their houses, towns, cities, public roads, etc. I have seen several of these, both of the brown and large black ant

2.    The rabbits act curiously enough in the construction of their burrows; but the word שפן shaphan probably does not here mean the animal we call coney or rabbit. It is most likely that this is what Dr. Shaw calls the Daman - Israel; a creature very like a rabbit, but never burrowing in the ground, but dwelling in clefts and holes of rocks

3.    The locusts. These surprising animals we have already met with and described. Though they have no leader, yet they go forth by troops, some miles in circumference, when they take wing

4.    The spider. This is a singularly curious animal, both in the manner of constructing her house, her nets, and taking her prey. But the habits, etc., of these and such like must be sought in works on natural history.

Clarke: Pro 30:29

There be three things which go well - Here is another set of emblems; four things which walk beautifully and with majesty. 1. The lion. 2. The greyhound. 3. The he-goat. And, 4. A king

1.    Nothing can be more majestic than the walk of the lion. It is deliberate, equal, firm, and in every respect becoming the king of the forest

2.    The greyhound. זרזיר מתנים zarzir mothnayim , the girt in the loins; but what this beast is we do not distinctly know. It is most likely that this was the greyhound, which in the East are remarkably fine, and very fleet. Scarcely any thing can be conceived to go with greater fleetness, in full chase, than a greyhound with its prey in view: it seems to swim over the earth

3.    The goat, תיש tayish . This is generally allowed to be the he-goat; and how he walks, and what state he assumes, in the presence of his part of the flock, every one knows, who has at all noticed this animal. The ram also, which some suppose to be intended, is both fierce and majestic at the head of the sheep

4.    And a king, against whom there is no risi,nv up. That is, a king whose court, counsels, and troops, are so firmly united to him, as to render all hopes of successful conspiracy against him utterly vain. He walks boldly and majestically about, being safe in the affections of his people. But the Hebrew is singular; it makes but two words; and these are they, ומלך אלקום umelech Alkum , "and King Alkum."It is a doubt whether this may not be a proper name, as Agur abounds in them; see Ithiel, Ucal, and probably Alukah, Pro 30:15. But it is said, "We know nothing of a king named Alkum."True; nor do we know any thing of Agur, Ithiel, Ucal, to say nothing of Alukah. And this might have been some remarkable chieftain, who carried his victories wherever he went, and was remarkably fortunate. If, however, we separate the word into אל al , "not,"and קום kum , "he arose,"we may make the interpretation above given.

Clarke: Pro 30:32

If thou hast done foolishly - And who has not, at one time or other of his life

Clarke: Pro 30:32

Lay thine hand upon thy mouth - Like the leper; and cry to God, Unclean! unclean! and keep silence to all besides. God will blot out thy offense, and neither the world nor the Church ever know it, for he is merciful; and man is rarely able to pass by a sin committed by his fellows, especially if it be one to which himself is by nature not liable or inclined.

Clarke: Pro 30:33

And the wringing - Who hugeli snytith drawith out blood. - Old MS. Bible. This is well expressed in homely phrase. The Septuagint have, "draw the milk, and you may have butter; if you press the nostrils you may bring out blood; and if you draw out your discourse to a great length, you may have strife and contention."Avoid, therefore, all strong excitements and irritations. Coverdale’ s translation of this verse is very simple: "Whoso chyrneth mylck maketh butter; he that rubbeth his nose maketh it blede; and he that causeth wrath bryngeth forth strife."

Defender: Pro 30:25

Agur, in Pro 30:24-31, draws spiritual lessons for man from the instincts of animals created by God, specifically referring to ants, conies, locusts, spiders, lions, greyhounds, and goats - seven animals representing all animals (Job 12:7-9)."

TSK: Pro 30:23

an odious : Pro 19:13, Pro 21:9, Pro 21:19, Pro 27:15

an handmaid : Pro 29:21

TSK: Pro 30:24

little : Job 12:7

exceeding wise : Heb. wise, made wise

TSK: Pro 30:25

The ants may truly be called a people, as they have houses, towns, public roads, etc.; and shew their wisdom and prudence by preparing their meat in due season.

Pro 6:6-8

TSK: Pro 30:26

Lev 11:5; Psa 104:18

TSK: Pro 30:27

The locusts : Exo 10:4-6, Exo 10:13-15; Psa 105:34; Joe 1:4, Joe 1:6, Joe 1:7, Joe 2:7-11, Joe 2:25; Rev 9:3-11

by bands : Heb. gathered together

TSK: Pro 30:30

Num 23:24; Jdg 14:18

TSK: Pro 30:31

greyhound : or, horse, Heb. girt in the lions

against : Pro 16:14, Pro 20:2; Dan 3:15-18

TSK: Pro 30:32

thou hast done : Pro 26:12; Ecc 8:3

lay : Pro 17:28; Job 21:5, Job 40:4; Ecc 8:4; Mic 7:16, Mic 7:17; Rom 3:19

TSK: Pro 30:33

so : Pro 15:18, Pro 16:28, Pro 17:14, Pro 26:21, Pro 28:25, Pro 29:22

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Pro 30:23

Odious woman - One in whom there is nothing loveable. Marriage, which to most women is the state in which they find scope for their highest qualities, becomes to her only a sphere in which to make herself and others miserable.

Barnes: Pro 30:24

Exceeding wise - Some prefer the reading of the Septuagint and Vulgate: "wiser than the wise."The thought, in either case, turns upon the marvels of instinct, which, in their own province, transcend the more elaborate results of human wisdom.

Barnes: Pro 30:25

See the marginal reference note. Note the word "people"applied here to ants, as to locusts in Joe 1:6. The marvel lies in their collective, and, as it were, organized action.

Barnes: Pro 30:26

Conies - See the marginal reference note.

Barnes: Pro 30:27

Compare Joe 2:7-8; the most striking fact in the flight of the locust-swarms was their apparent order and discipline, sweeping over the land like the invasion of a great army.

Barnes: Pro 30:28

Spider - Rather, the Gecko (or Stellio), a genus of the lizard tribe, many species of which haunt houses, make their way through crevices in the walls, and with feet that secrete a venomous exudation catch the spiders or the flies they find there.

Barnes: Pro 30:31

A greyhound - The Hebrew word occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. The literal meaning is: "one with loins girded;"and some have referred this to the stripes of the zebra, others to the "war-horse"(compare Job 39:19, Job 39:25), as he is represented in the sculptures of Persepolis, with rich and stately trappings.

A king, against whom there is no rising up - i. e., A king irresistible. Others prefer, "a king in the midst of his people,"and the sense, as giving a more vivid picture, is certainly more satisfactory.

Barnes: Pro 30:32

Lay thine hand upon thy mouth - The act expresses the silence of humiliation and repentance after the sin has been committed, and that of self-restraint, which checks the haughty or malignant thought before it has passed even into words.

Barnes: Pro 30:33

Churning ... wringing ... forcing - In the Hebrew text it is one and the same word. "The pressure of milk produces curds, the pressure of the nose produces blood, the pressure of wrath (i. e., brooding over and, as it were, condensing it) produces strife."

Poole: Pro 30:23

Odious proud, and perverse, and full of hateful and offensive qualities.

When she is married for then she displayeth and exerciseth all those ill humours, which before for her own ends she concealed; then she is puffed up, and imperious, and becomes intolerable to her own family, and to her relations and neighbours.

That is heir to her mistress that possesseth her estate, either by the gift of her mistress, into whose favour she had insinuated herself by her cunning and officious carriage; or rather by the marriage of her master, which great and sudden change transports her beside herself, and makes her insufferably proud, and scornful, and injurious to all that converse with her.

Poole: Pro 30:24

Comparatively to other brute creatures. They act very wisely and providently, not from any reason which they have, but by the direction of Divine Providence, which secretly guides them to do those things for their own preservation which are most agreeable to the rules of wisdom. The design of this observation is either,

1. To commend wisdom to us, and to teach us to imitate the providence of these creatures, as we are provoked to imitate their diligence, Pro 6:6 . Or,

2. To keep us from being proudly conceited of our own wisdom, because we are either equalled or exceeded therein by the unreasonable creatures in the wise conduct of their affairs. Or,

3. To direct us to whom to resort for wisdom when we want and desire it, even to that God who is able to inspire wisdom even into the brute creatures.

Poole: Pro 30:25

People which title is oft given to the unreasonable creatures, both in Scripture, as Joe 1:6 2:2 , and in Homer, and Virgil, and divers other authors.

They prepare their meat in the summer of which See Poole "Pro 30:6" , See Poole "Pro 30:7" , See Poole "Pro 30:8" .

Poole: Pro 30:26

In rocky ground, or in the holes of rocks, for their safety against their too potent enemies.

Poole: Pro 30:27

Have no king to rule and order them.

By bands in great numbers, and in several companies, and in exact order, as is observed in Scripture, as Jud 6:5 7:12 Joe 1:6 2:7 , and by other writers.

Poole: Pro 30:28

The spider taketh hold of the thread which she spins out of her own bowels with her hands; with her legs, which he calls hands, because they serve her for the same purpose, to do her work, to weave her web, and to catch gnats or flies, &c.

Is in kings’ palaces is not only in poor cottages, but many times in palaces also, where she makes a shift to keep her abode, notwithstanding all the care and pains which is taken to sweep and cleanse it.

Poole: Pro 30:29

That walk decently, and with great alacrity and courage; which are here commended to us to imitate in the management of our affairs.

Poole: Pro 30:30

He doth not flee from his pursuers, whether men or beasts, but walketh away with a slow and majestic pace, as is observed by Aristotle, and many others.

Poole: Pro 30:31

A greyhound called in Hebrew, girt in the lions ; either because its loins are slender, and as it were girt up into a little compass, and tight or well trussed up: or because of its great agility and swiftness; for the girding of the loins was used for expedition in going or working. Or, as it is rendered by others a horse , to wit, a war-horse, having his armour girt about him, and marching to the battle, which he doth with great majesty and courage, as God himself observes at large, Job 39:19 , &c.

An he-goat which marcheth in the head of the flock in grave and stately manner, conducting them with great courage and resolution, and being ready to fight for them, either with beasts or men that oppose him; whence great captains are oft compared to he-goats, as Isa 14:9 Jer 1 8 Da 8:5,21 Zec 10:3 .

A king, against whom there is no rising up a mighty and victorious king, whose power none can withstand, who therefore goeth hither and thither, and proceedeth in his affairs with invincible courage and majesty. But this place, with the variation of one Hebrew point, reading ammo for immo , may be rendered, as a very learned man observes, a king, and his people with him; a king when he hath the hearts and hands of his people going along with him in his undertakings.

Poole: Pro 30:32

In lifting up thyself either,

1. By rebellion or sedition against the king last mentioned. Or,

2. By anger or wrath, of which he speaks in the next verse. But this verse hath no necessary dependence either upon the foregoing or following verse. Or,

3. Through thy pride, which makes men carry themselves very foolishly, and scornfully, and injuriously, and is the root of contention, as was observed, Pro 13:10 .

Thought evil i.e. designed any mischief or injury against thy neighbour.

Lay thine hand upon thy mouth to wit, to shut it. Be silent, as this phrase is used, Job 21:5 29:9 . Restrain thyself, do not speak one word, much less do any thing tending to the accomplishment of it; do not open thy mouth to justify or excuse it, but silently and seriously consider the evil of it, and repent of it, and do so no more.

Poole: Pro 30:33

The forcing of wrath the stirring up of wrath, either,

1. In a man’ s self towards others, by giving way to passion, or by fixing his thoughts upon those things which may inflame it. Or,

2. In others by reproaches, injuries, or any other provocations.

Bringeth forth strife is the cause of many quarrels, and much mischief among men.

Haydock: Pro 30:23

Mistress, and is married to her master. She will generally prove insolent; like slaves on the throne, Regnabit sanguine multo ad regnum quisquis venit ab exilio. (Suetonius, Tib. 59.) (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 30:27

Bands, like an army. When one rises or falls, all do the like. They are so numerous in the East, as to darken the sun and spread destruction, Joel i., and ii. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 30:28

The stellio. A kind of house lizard, marked with spots like stars, from whence it has its name. (Challoner) ---

Hebrew semamith. (Haydock) ---

It probably provides food against the stormy season, like ants. (Bochart) (Calmet) ---

Others understand "the spider," (Kimchi) or "monkey." (Vatable, &c.)

Haydock: Pro 30:30

Meeteth. If he retreat, he looks back with disdain, till the woods conceal the turpitude of his flight. (Pliny, [Natural History?] viii. 16.)

Haydock: Pro 30:31

Loins. It rules, and is even terrible to lions. (Pliny x. 21.) ---

The terms of the original are found nowhere else, and some understand the horse, the bee, and a soldier in arms. (Calmet) ---

Whom. Hebrew, "and Alkum with him." (Montanus) ---

But we know no animal or king of this name;; and it may imply, "in the midst of his court," or "assembly." (Chaldean) Some Latin copies read, Et Rex, nec est qui resistat ei, (Sixtus V.) which is more conformable to the Hebrew, (Calmet) and is here translated, though the Vulgate read, Nec est rex qui, &c. These four emblems (Haydock) denote fortitude, chastity, order, and justice.

Haydock: Pro 30:32

Mouth. Fools ought not to govern. (Worthington) ---

Many might have been deemed wise, if they had continued in a lower station. (Calmet) ---

Hebrew, "If thou hast acted foolishly in raising thyself, and if thou hast entertained evil thoughts, put thy hand to thy mouth." (Haydock) ---

Chaldean, "put not thy," &c. Give not way to pride, or to insolent language. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 30:33

And. Hebrew, "For he who presseth milk." (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "Surely the churning of milk bringeth for butter," &c. (Haydock) ---

Strife. Moderation is necessary, (Calmet) in all actions. (Worthington)

Gill: Pro 30:23

For an odious woman, when she is married,.... Odious for her person, her ugliness, and the deformity of her body; or rather for the ill qualities of her mind, which, while single, she endeavours to conceal, but, being married, hides them no longer; but becomes imperious, proud, scornful, and malicious, and behaves in an ill natured way to her husband and all about her, to such a degree, that there is no bearing the place where she is;

and an handmaid, that is heir to her mistress; that has got so much into her affections that she leaves all she has to her when she dies, which makes her insufferably proud and vain; or she marries her master after the death of her mistress, and so coming into her place enjoys all she had, but only her wisdom and humility; which being wanting, she behaves in such a manner as to make the whole family uneasy. This might be exemplified in the case of Hagar, the bondmaid of Sarah, a type of those that are under the law of works, and seek the inheritance by it; and who trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise others, Gen 16:4.

Gill: Pro 30:24

There be four things which are little upon the earth,.... Small in bulk, that have little bodies, are the lesser sort of animals;

but they are exceeding wise; show a great deal of art and wisdom in what they do; or "but they are wise, made wise" ^e by the instinct of nature, by the direction of Providence, by which they do things that are surprising. Some versions, that have no regard to the points, read the words, "but their are wiser than the wise" ^f; than even wise men; wise men may learn much from the least of creatures; see Job 12:7.

Gill: Pro 30:25

The ants are a people not strong,.... Far from it; what is weaker than an ant? a multitude of them may be destroyed at once, with the crush of a foot. Pliny calls it "minimum animal", the least animal; and the Arabians use it as a proverb, to call a weak man one weaker than an ant: and there is one sort of ants called "dsar", so small that one hundred of them will not weigh more than a barley corn ^g: they are called a people, because they associate together in great numbers; though small in bulk, and weak as to power and strength; and which is a figure elsewhere used in the sacred Scriptures; see Joe 1:6; and by profane writers, as Homer and Virgil, who speak of bees as a people and nation ^h; and of nations of flies, and of flying birds, geese, cranes, and swans ⁱ;

yet their prepare their meat in the summer; build granaries with great art and wisdom, carry in grains of corn with great labour and industry, in the summer season, when only to be got, and lay them up against winter. Phocylides ^k the poet says much the same things of them; he calls them a tribe or nation, small but laborious, and says, they gather and carry in their food in summer for the winter, which is a proof of their wisdom. Cicero ^l says, the ant has not only sense, but mind, reason, and memory. Aelianus ^m ascribes unspeakable wisdom to it; and Pliny ⁿ discourse and conversation; See Gill on Pro 6:6; see Gill on Pro 6:7; See Gill on Pro 6:8. It is a pattern of industry and diligence both as to temporal and spiritual things, Ecc 9:10.

Gill: Pro 30:26

The coneys are but a feeble folk,.... Or "rabbits"; though some think these creatures are not intended, because they are not so little as those with which they are ranked, the ant, the locust, and spider; and because of the places in which they burrow and make their houses, which though in holes and caverns of the earth, yet not in rocky but sandy places; rather therefore it is thought that the mountain mouse, or bear mouse ^o, as Jerom calls it, is meant; of which, he says ^p, there were great numbers in Palestine, and which had their habitations in the holes of rocks; though if Spain has its name from שפן, as some say, because of the multitudes of coneys in it; and hence that part of Spain called Celtiberia is called by Catullus ^q Cuniculosa; the coney may be thought to be meant by this word, and so it is translated in Lev 11:5; the only places where it is elsewhere used; and the word may be derived either from ספן, to "cover", by a change of the letters ש and ס; or from שוף, which has the signification both of breaking, and of hiding and covering, Gen 3:15; and this creature breaks the earth and hides itself in it ^r;

yet make they their houses in the rocks; it is usual with other writers to call the receptacles of any creatures, beasts, birds, or insects, their houses so we read of the house of the ant, and of the tortoise and snail ^s; and which, because it carries its house era its back, it is called by Cicero ^t "domiporta"; see Psa 104:17; the coneys make theirs in the rocks, to cure themselves from their more potent enemies; and thus what they want in strength is made up in sagacity, and by their wise conduct they provide for their safety and protection. These are an emblem of the people of God, who are a weak and feeble people, unable of themselves to perform spiritual duties, to exercise grace, to withstand the corruptions of their nature, resist the temptations of Satan, bear up under afflictive providences, and grapple with spiritual enemies, or defend themselves from them: but such heavenly wisdom is given them, as to betake themselves for refuge and shelter to Christ, the Rock of Israel; the Rock of salvation, the Rock that is higher than they; a strong one, on which the church is built, and against which the gates of hell cannot prevail: and here they are safe from the storms of divine wrath, and the avenging justice of God; from the rage and fury of men, and the fiery darts of Satan; here they dwell safely and delightfully, and have all manner of provision at hand for them; they are the inhabitants of that Rock, who have reason to sing indeed! see Isa 33:16.

Gill: Pro 30:27

The locusts have no king,.... These are small creatures also, yet very devouring ones; and consume the fruits of the earth, wherever they come and light; see Exo 10:13; they are very numerous, and move in large bodies, and yet with great regularity and order; which shows the wisdom there is in them by natural instinct, though they have no king to command, guide, and direct them: in this the mystical locusts differ from them, who have a king, whose name is Abaddon, Rev 9:11;

yet they go forth all of them by bands; the Targum is,

"they are all gathered together as one.''

They get together in one place; they associate and join themselves in bands, and keep together, though they have no ruler over them; an emblem of unity, concord, and harmony, let the form of government be what it will, as the best security to a people: and these creatures, when they move from place to place, they move in a body, in a very regular manner; "in precise order" ^u, as the words may be rendered, with great exactness, everyone in his proper place, all in rank and file; and though they have no general to marshal them, yet are in, and march in as good order as the most regular army does. So the Arabic version,

"yet in their army, their affairs and manner are in a beautiful disposition;''

indeed they are God's army, as they are called, Joe 2:25; and it is he that gives them their wisdom, instructions, directions, and commission. It is rendered by some, "everyone cutting"; that is, as Kimchi ^w interprets it, cutting the green grass and trees; or, "every one dividing" ^x; that is, to himself, the prey or spoils, as kings do; see Isa 33:4.

Gill: Pro 30:28

The spider taketh hold with her hands,.... On the thread she spins, or on the flies and bees she catches in her web. This is a small creature, yet very wise; what a curious thread does she spin! what a fine web does she weave! with what exactness and proportion is it framed! as if she understood the rules of mathematics and architecture;

and is in kings' palaces; as well as in the houses of poor people, and in temples also; we read ^y of one in the temple of Ceres, which drew its web over the face of the image: and though her webs are oftentimes destroyed, especially in kings' palaces; yet such is her constancy and assiduity, and her unwearied application to business, that, as fast as they are destroyed, she attempts to restore them. This creature is an emblem of diligence in things temporal and spiritual; which those that use in the former sense shall stand before kings, and not before mean men; and in the latter sense shall have the presence of the King of kings, and dwell in his palace here and hereafter: also of worldly minded men, who labour to be rich; spend their time, and take a great deal of pains for mere trifles; weave curious webs, and, after all, only catch flies; and those they cannot hold, uncertain riches, which make themselves wings and fly away. Likewise this creature may resemble hypocrites, whose hope and trust are as the spider's web, built upon their own righteousness, spun out of their own hearts; a fine, thin, slender thread, which cannot bear one stroke of the besom of divine justice; such as these are in the palaces of Christ the King, are in his churches, hypocrites in Zion; see Job 8:13. Aben Ezra interprets it of the ape: the same David de Pomis ^z observes, and Mr. Weemse ^a, who seems to incline to this sense; and this creature King Solomon, no doubt, had in his palace, since his navy brought many of these, every three years, from those parts to which it was sent, 1Ki 10:22; and to these hands more properly belong than to spiders, and are taken into king's palaces for their pleasure and diversion; but to these there is one objection, that this creature is not a little one. Others understand it of the "lizard", that sort which is called "stellio"; but it is a question whether this is to be found in king's palaces. Bellonius ^b makes mention of a kind of lizard, which creeps into walls and catches flies, and is called by the Greeks "samiamiton", a name very near the Hebrew word here used: and Pliny ^c speaks of the "stellio", or lizard, as being in doors, windows, and chambers; and as a very fraudulent and deceitful creature to men, none more so; and also as poisonous, as this creature in the text by its name seems to be: and Austin ^d makes mention of the lizard as a domestic animal; which catches flies as the spider, with whom he joins it. The Targum, Jarchi, and Gersom, take it to be the spider, as we do; which may be thought most likely, since the creature here meant seems to have its name from the Arabic word "sam", which signifies poison ^e; though it is affirmed ^f the spider is not poisonous; as is well known by persons who have frequently swallowed them, without any more harm than happens to hens, robin red breasts, and other birds, who make them their daily food; and so men have been bit by them, without any ill consequence: wherefore it is still thought by some that the lizard is more probably meant; since some sorts of them are poisonous ^g, though not all, for some are eatable; See Gill on Lev 11:30.

Gill: Pro 30:29

There be three things which go well,.... In a very orderly and composed manner; with constancy and cheerfulness, with great stateliness and majesty, intrepidly, and without fear;

yea, four are comely in going; very beautiful and lovely to look at as they walk.

Gill: Pro 30:30

A lion, which is strongest among beasts,.... For what is stronger than a lion, or more courageous and undaunted? it walks with great majesty, very slowly, step by step, the left foot first; shaking its shoulders as it goes, as the philosopher ^h describes its going, and as here intended, and this without fear;

and turneth not away for any; it does not go out of its way for any creature it meets with; nor does it hasten its pace when pursued, nor show the lest sign of fear; nor does it turn its back to any; which is observed and confirmed by Aristotle ⁱ, Aelianus ^k, Pliny ^l, and other naturalists; particularly what Homer ^m and Virgil ⁿ say of this animal agrees with this account of Solomon. This creature is an emblem of Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is stronger than the strong man armed; who never turned his back to any of his enemies; nor turned aside from the way of his duty, or the work of his office, on account of any; not Herod the fox, who threatened to kill him; nor Satan, the roaring lion, when he knew he was on the march to meet him; nor any of those, who, though they had a band of soldiers, that came to take him; see Luk 13:31; and also it is an emblem of righteous men, who are as bold as a lion; and cannot be moved from their duty by anything they meet with, but remain steadfast and constant in it; see Pro 28:1.

Gill: Pro 30:31

A greyhound,.... So Gersom interprets the word; but Jarchi owns he does not know what is meant; and Aben Ezra only says, it is the name of a living creature, but does not say what; but observes, that some interpret it of the "bee", and others of the "eagle". The words of the original text only describe something "girt about the loins" ^o: and Kimchi ^p observes, that some say it is a hunting dog so called, because it is thin about the loins, as if it was bound and girt; and Aristotle ^q describes hunting dogs as well girded about their loins: but others, as Kimchi in the same place observes, interpret it of the leopard, which is small, and strong in its loins; and others of a bird called the starling; but he owns he cannot understand the meaning of its loins being girt: David de Pomis ^r interprets it of a cock; others, he says, interpret it a hunting dog; others, a leopard; and some, a species of an unclean bird; perhaps he means the starling, as before; and so the word is used for that bird in the Talmud ^s, and in the Arabic language ^t. Most likely the "horse" is meant; which is a very stately and majestic creature in its going, and is very comely when it has its harness girt on; and especially a war horse, with all its warlike accoutrements, when it proceeds to battle, and stalks on in it; this creature, one should think, could not be omitted among the four, which is described in so magnificent a manner in Job 39:19; and is called the goodly horse in the battle, Zec 10:3; unless a fine slender bodied race horse should be meant: the horse bids fairer than any other creature named to be what is designed. The third creature follows, which goes well, and is comely in going:

an he goat also; which with its long beard walks very gravely, and in a stately manner, before the flock; and the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions add, "going before the flock"; see Jer 50:8. This stately walk of the goat is very particularly taken notice of by, Aelian ^u; he observes, that the she goat disdains to be last in a flock of sheep, but declares by her walk that she ought to be first; he adds, that the he goat goes before the she goats, glorying in his beard; and, by a kind of wonderful instinct in nature, judges the male is to be preferred to the female ^w. Kings, rulers, and governors, are compared to this creature; as Alexander the great is in Dan 8:5; see Zec 10:3; especially such resemble it who rule well, and set good examples to their subjects: and to such, ministers of the Gospel are like; who go before their flocks, guide and direct them, and are examples to them: and likewise all believers; who strive to go before others in good works, and who then are comely in their going. The fourth is,

and a king, against whom there is no rising up; no insurrection, no opposition; who is not to be resisted or withstood; a lawful king, in the lawful administration of government, who rules in the fear of God, and according to his word, and the good and wholesome laws of a nation, ought not to be resisted, Rom 13:1; and a powerful, successful, and victorious king cannot be resisted, withstood, and prevailed over; he drives all before him, and subdues all under him, as David, Cyrus, Alexander, and others. But to none can this better be applied than to Christ, the King of kings; against whom there is no rising, before whom none can stand, against whom the gates of hell can never prevail; who, even in his state of humiliation, conquered and subdued all his and our enemies; destroyed the tyrant, sin; spoiled Satan, and his principalities and powers; overcame the world; abolished death, the last enemy; and delivered his people out of the hands of all, and made them more than conquerors: and who went forth in the ministry of the Gospel, into the Gentile world, conquering and to conquer; bearing down all opposition before him, and subduing the people under him; and who, in the latter day, will engage with his antichristian enemies, the beast, false prophet, and kings of the earth, and shall overcome them, and clear the world of them. And this is King who is comely in his going; as he was in his goings of old from everlasting; when he drew nigh to his divine. Father, and became the surety of his people; and in his coming into this world, by the assumption of our nature, to save lost perishing sinners: and so he is in his spiritual visits to his saints; in his goings in the sanctuary, and walks he takes amidst the golden candlesticks, his churches; as he will be also when he comes a second time in the clouds of heaven: it will be a glorious appearing; he will come with all the saints, and be attended with his mighty angels; he will come in their glory, in his own, and in the glory of his Father; and will be comely in his going indeed it will be with great stateliness and majesty. The learned Dr. Pococke ^x, from the use of the word "alkum" in the Arabic language, renders the words thus, "and a king with whom the people is"; who agree together; the one rules well, and the other obey cheerfully; such a king walking with majesty is comely to his people, and terrible to his enemies. The Targum is,

"and a king, who stands and speaks in the house of his people.''

Gill: Pro 30:32

If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself,.... Against a king, against whom there is no rising up; by speaking evil of him, or rebelling against him; which is acting a foolish part, since it brings a man into troubles and difficulties inextricable; or by self-commendation, which is the height of folly, and the fruit of pride; or carried it in such a haughty and overbearing manner to others, as to provoke to wrath and anger;

or if thou hast thought evil; purposed and designed it, and contrived the scheme of doing it, though not yet put in execution; though folly is not actually committed, yet since the thought of it is rain, care should be taken to prevent it;

lay thine hand upon thy mouth: think again before the thing resolved on is done; as studious and thoughtful men put their hand to their mouth, when they are deeply considering any affair before them: or put a stop to the design, let it go no further; what has been thought of in the mind, let it never come out of the mouth, nor be carried into execution; stifle it in the first motion: or if this respects a foolish action done, as it also may, since it stands connected with both clauses, then the sense is, be silent; do not pretend to deny the action, nor to excuse it; nor to say one word in the defence of it; nor to lay the blame upon others; and much less to calumniate and reproach such who faithfully reprove for it; take shame to thyself in silence, and repent of the iniquity done. Aben Ezra thinks these words are said to Ithiel and Ucal; but rather, to any and everyone, to all that should hear and read these proverbs. The Targum is,

"do not lift up thyself, lest thou be foolish; and do not stretch out thine hand to thy mouth.''

Gill: Pro 30:33

Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,.... Or the pressing of it. This is a thing well known and certain, that of milk, when pressed out of the udder, and put into a churn, and there is shook together, by a constant violent agitation or motion, called churning, butter is produced; and cheese is sometimes called pressed milk ^y, and is pressed with the runnet, and by the hand also ^z;

and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: a too violent compression of it, or forcible blowing of it, in order to purge it from any impurity in it; instead of doing which it may break the tender skin, and bring forth blood, which may be of bad consequence;

so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife; irritating the passions of men, and provoking them by scurrilous and reproachful words to wrath and anger, produce contentions, feuds, and lawsuits, which are not soon and easily ended; and therefore such a conduct should be carefully avoided. The same word is used in the three clauses, and signifies pressing, squeezing, forcing.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Pro 30:23

¹ tn The Hebrew term means “hated,” from שָׂנֵא (sane’), a feminine passive participle. The text does not say why she is hated; some have speculated that she might be odious (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB) or unattractive, but perhaps she is married to someone incapable of showing love (e.g., Gen 29:31, 33; Deut 21:15; Isa 60:5). Perhaps the strange situation of Jacob was in the mind of the sage, for Leah was described as “hated” (Gen 29:31).

² tn The verb יָרַשׁ (yarash) means either (1) “to possess; to inherit” or (2) “to dispossess.” Often the process of possessing meant the dispossessing of those already there (e.g., Hagar and Sarah in Gen 16:5; 21:10); another example is the Israelites’ wars against the Canaanites.

NET Notes: Pro 30:24

¹ tn Heb “Four are the small things of the earth.” TEV has “four animals,” though in the list of four that follows, two are insects and one is a reptile.

² tn The construction uses the Pual participle with the plural adjective as an intensive; these four creatures are the very embodiment of wisdom (BDB 314 s.v. חָכַם Pu).

NET Notes: Pro 30:25

¹ sn The wisdom of the ants is found in their diligent preparation (כּוּן, kun) of food supplies in the summer for times in the winter when food is scarce. See S. P. Toperoff, “The Ant in the Bible and Midrash,” Dor le Dor 13 (1985): 179-83. According to this, being prepared ahead of time is a mark of true wisdom.

NET Notes: Pro 30:26

¹ tn Or “hyraxes.” This is the Syrian Hyrax, also known as the rock badger. KJV, ASV has “conies” (alternately spelled “coneys” by NIV), a term usually associated with the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) but which can also refer to the pika or the hyrax. Scholars today generally agree that the Hebrew term used here refers to a type of hyrax, a small ungulate mammal of the family Procaviidae native to Africa and the Middle East which has a thick body, short legs and ears and a rudimentary tail. The simple “badger” (so NASB, NRSV, CEV) could lead to confusion with the badger, an entirely unrelated species of burrowing mammal related to weasels.

sn Modern scholars identify this creature with the rock badger (the Syrian hyrax), a small mammal that lives in the crevices of the rock. Its wisdom consists in its ingenuity to find a place of security.

NET Notes: Pro 30:27

¹ sn The Hebrew term means “divided”; they go forward in orderly divisions, or ranks (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 535). Joel 1:4 describes their order and uses it as a picture of a coming invasion (e.g., Joel 2:7, 8). Therefore the wisdom of the locust is in their order and cooperation.

NET Notes: Pro 30:28

¹ tn The KJV, agreeing with Tg. Prov 30:28, translated this term as “spider.” But almost all modern English versions and commentators, following the Greek and the Latin versions, have “lizard.”

sn The point of this saying is that a weak creature like a lizard, that is so easily caught, cannot be prevented from getting into the most significant places.

² tn Although the Hebrew noun translated “king” is singular here, it is traditionally translated as plural: “kings’ palaces” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

NET Notes: Pro 30:29

¹ tn The form מֵיטִיבֵי (metibe) is the Hiphil participle, plural construct. It has the idea of “doing good [in] their step.” They move about well, i.e., magnificently. The genitive would be a genitive of specification.

² tn The construction uses the Hiphil participle again (as in the previous line) followed by the infinitive construct of הָלַךְ (halakh). This forms a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the participle before it the adverb.

NET Notes: Pro 30:30

¹ tn Heb “mighty among the beasts,” but referring to a superlative degree (“mightiest”).

NET Notes: Pro 30:31

¹ tn The Hebrew term זַרְזִיר (zarzir) means “girt”; it occurs only here with “loins” in the Bible: “that which is girt in the loins” (BDB 267 s.v.). Some have interpreted this to be the “greyhound” because it is narrow in the flanks (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 327); so KJV, ASV. Others have suggested the warhorse, zebra, raven, or starling. Tg. Prov 30:31 has it as the large fighting cock that struts around among the hens. There is no clear referent that is convincing, although most modern English versions use “strutting rooster” or something similar (cf. CEV “proud roosters”).

² tc This last line has inspired many suggestions. The MT has “with his army around him” (אַלְקוּם עִמּוֹ, ’alqum ’immo); so NIV. This has been emended to read “against whom there is no rising up” (so KJV, ASV) or “standing over his people.” The LXX has “a king haranguing his people.” Tg. Prov 30:31 has, “a king who stands up before his people and addresses them.” Some have attempted to identify this with Alcimus, the high priest who aspired to kingship (1 Macc 7:5-22), but such a suggestion is quite remote. Another interpretation sees the word for “God” in the line: “a king with whom God is.” Furthermore, C. H. Toy thinks the text is corrupt and must have at one time referred to some majestic animal (Proverbs [ICC], 537). While all these suggestions are fascinating, they have not improved or corrected the Hebrew text. At least one can say the focus is on the stately appearance of the king at some auspicious moment. The word occurs only here; but if it is interpreted with its Arabic cognate in mind, then it refers to a band of soldiers (BDB 39 s.v. אַלְקוּם).

NET Notes: Pro 30:32

¹ tn The construction has the בְּ (bet) preposition with the Hitpael infinitive construct, forming a temporal clause. This clause explains the way in which the person has acted foolishly.

² tn Heb “hand to mouth.” This express means “put your hand to your mouth” (e.g., Job 40:4, 5); cf. NIV “clap your hand over.”

NET Notes: Pro 30:33

¹ tn This line provides the explanation for the instruction to keep silent in the previous verse. It uses two images to make the point, and in so doing repeats two words throughout. The first is the word מִיץ (mits), which is translated (in sequence) “churning,” “punching,” and “stirring up.” The form is a noun, and BDB 568 s.v. suggests translating it as “squeezing” in all three places, even in the last where it describes the pressure or the insistence on strife. This noun occurs only here. The second repeated word, the verb יוֹצִיא (yotsir), also occurs three times; it is the Hiphil imperfect, meaning “produces” (i.e., causes to go out).

² sn There is a subtle wordplay here with the word for anger: It is related to the word for nose in the preceding colon.

³ sn The analogy indicates that continuously pressing certain things will yield results, some good, some bad. So pressing anger produces strife. The proverb advises people to strive for peace and harmony through humility and righteousness. To do that will require “letting up” on anger.

Geneva Bible: Pro 30:23

For an odious [woman] when she is married; and an handmaid that is ^{( m )} heir to her mistress.

^{( m )} Who is married to her master after the death of her mistress.

Geneva Bible: Pro 30:24

There are four [things which are] little upon the earth, but they [are] very ^{( n )} wise:

^{( n )} They contain great doctrine and wisdom.

Geneva Bible: Pro 30:28

The spider taketh hold ^{( o )} with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.

^{( o )} If man is not able to compass these common things by his wisdom, we cannot attribute wisdom to man, but folly.

Geneva Bible: Pro 30:32

If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, [lay] thy hand ^{( p )} upon thy mouth.

^{( p )} Make a stay and continue not in doing evil.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Pro 30:1-33

1 Agur's confession of his faith.

7 The two points of his prayer.

10 The meanest are not to be wronged.

11 Four wicked generations.

15 Four things insatiable.

17 Parents are not to be despised.

18 Four things hard to be known.

21 Four things intolerable.

24 Four things exceeding wise.

29 Four things stately.

32 Wrath is to be prevented.

MHCC: Pro 30:21-23

Four sorts of persons are very troublesome. Men of low origin and base spirit, who, getting authority, become tyrants. Foolish and violent men indulging in excesses. A woman of a contentious spirit and vicious habits. A servant who has obtained undue influence. Let those whom Providence has advanced from low beginnings, carefully watch against that sin which most easily besets them.

MHCC: Pro 30:24-28

Four things that are little, are yet to be admired. There are those who are poor in the world, and of small account, yet wise for their souls and another world.

MHCC: Pro 30:29-33

We may learn from animals to go well; also to keep our temper under all provocations. We must keep the evil thought in our minds from breaking out into evil speeches. We must not stir up the passions of others. Let nothing be said or done with violence, but every thing with softness and calmness. Alas, how often have we done foolishly in rising up against the Lord our King! Let us humble ourselves before him. And having found peace with Him, let us follow peace with all men.

Matthew Henry: Pro 30:18-23

Here is, I. An account of four things that are unsearchable, too wonderful to be fully known. And here,

1. The first three are natural things, and are only designed as comparisons for the illustration of the last. We cannot trace, (1.) An eagle in the air. Which way she has flown cannot be discovered either by the footstep or by the scent, as the way of a beast may upon ground; nor can we account for the wonderful swiftness of her flight, how soon she has gone beyond our ken. (2.) A serpent upon a rock. The way of a serpent in the sand we may find by the track, but not of a serpent upon the hard rock; nor can we describe how a serpent will, without feet, in a little time creep to the top of a rock. (3.) A ship in the midst of the sea. The leviathan indeed makes a path to shine after him, one would think the deep to be hoary (Job 41:32), but a ship leaves no mark behind it, and sometimes it is so tossed upon the waves that one would wonder how it lives at sea and gains its point. The kingdom of nature is full of wonders, marvellous things which the God of nature does, past finding out.

2. The fourth is a mystery of iniquity, more unaccountable than any of these; it belongs to the depths of Satan, that deceitfulness and that desperate wickedness of the heart which none can know, Jer 17:9. It is twofold: - (1.) The cursed arts which a vile adulterer has to debauch a maid, and to persuade her to yield to his wicked and abominable lust. This is what a wanton poet wrote a whole book of, long since, De arte amandi - On the art of love. By what pretensions and protestations of love, and all its powerful charms, promises of marriage, assurances of secresy and reward, is many an unwary virgin brought to sell her virtue, and honour, and peace, and soul, and all to a base traitor; for so all sinful lust is in the kingdom of love. The more artfully the temptation is managed the more watchful and resolute ought every pure heart to be against it. (2.) The cursed arts which a vile adulteress has to conceal her wickedness, especially from her husband, from whom she treacherously departs; so close are her intrigues with her lewd companions, and so craftily disguised, that it is as impossible to discover her as to track an eagle in the air. She eats the forbidden fruit, after the similitude of Adam's transgression, and then wipes her mouth, that it may not betray itself, and with a bold and impudent face says, I have done no wickedness. [1.] To the world she denies the fact, and is ready to swear it that she is as chaste and modest as any woman, and never did the wickedness she is suspected of. Those are the works of darkness which are industriously kept from coming to the light. [2.] To her own conscience (if she have any left) she denies the fault, and will not own that that great wickedness is any wickedness at all, but an innocent entertainment. See Hos 12:7, Hos 12:8. Thus multitudes ruin their souls by calling evil good and out-facing their convictions with a self-justification.

II. An account of four things that are intolerable, that is, four sorts of persons that are very troublesome to the places where they live and the relations and companies they are in; the earth is disquieted for them, and groans under them as a burden it cannot bear, and they are all much alike: - 1. A servant when he is advanced, and entrusted with power, who is, of all others, most insolent and imperious; witness Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, Neh 2:10. 2. A fool, a silly, rude, boisterous, vicious man, who when he has grown rich, and is partaking of the pleasures of the table, will disturb all the company with his extravagant talk and the affronts he will put upon those about him. 3. An ill-natured, cross-grained, woman, when she gets a husband, one who, having made herself odious by her pride and sourness, so that one would not have thought any body would ever love her, yet, if at last she be married, that honourable estate makes her more intolerably scornful and spiteful than ever. It is a pity that that which should sweeten the disposition should have a contrary effect. A gracious woman, when she is married, will be yet more obliging. 4. An old maid-servant that has prevailed with her mistress, by humouring her, and, as we say, getting the length of her foot, to leave her what she has, or is as dear to her as if she was to be her heir, such a one likewise will be intolerably proud and malicious, and think all too little that her mistress gives her, and herself wronged if any thing be left from her. Let those therefore whom Providence has advanced to honour from mean beginnings carefully watch against that sin which will most easily beset them, pride and haughtiness, which will in them, of all others, be most insufferable and inexcusable; and let them humble themselves with the remembrance of the rock out of which they were hewn.

Matthew Henry: Pro 30:24-28

I. Agur, having specified four things that seem great and yet are really contemptible, here specifies four things that are little and yet are very admirable, great in miniature, in which, as bishop Patrick observes, he teaches us several good lessons; as, 1. Not to admire bodily bulk, or beauty, or strength, nor to value persons or think the better of them for such advantages, but to judge of men by their wisdom and conduct, their industry and application to business, which are characters that deserve respect. 2. To admire the wisdom and power of the Creator in the smallest and most despicable animals, in an ant as much as in an elephant. 3. To blame ourselves who do not act so much for our own true interest as the meanest creatures do for theirs. 4. Not to despise the weak things of the world; there are those that are little upon the earth, poor in the world and of small account, and yet are exceedingly wise, wise for their souls and another world, and those are exceedingly wise, wiser than their neighbours. Margin, They are wise, made wise by the special instinct of nature. All that are wise to salvation are made wise by the grace of God.

II. Those he specifies are, 1. The ants, minute animals and very weak, and yet they are very industrious in gathering proper food, and have a strange sagacity to do it in the summer, the proper time. This is so great a piece of wisdom that we may learn of them to be wise for futurity, Pro 6:6. When the ravening lions lack, and suffer hunger, the laborious ants have plenty, and know no want. 2. The conies, or, as some rather understand it, the Arabian mice, field mice, weak creatures, and very timorous, yet they have so much wisdom as to make their houses in the rocks, where they are well guarded, and their feebleness makes them take shelter in those natural fastnesses and fortifications. Sense of our own indigence and weakness should drive us to him that is a rock higher than we for shelter and support; there let us make our habitation. 3. The locusts; they are little also, and have no king, as the bees have, but they go forth all of them by bands, like an army in battle-array; and, observing such good order among themselves, it is not any inconvenience to them that they have no king. They are called God's great army (Joe 2:25); for, when he pleases, he musters, he marshals them, and wages war by them, as he did upon Egypt. They go forth all of them gathered together (so the margin); sense of weakness should engage us to keep together, that we may strengthen the hands of one another. 4. The spider, an insect, but as great an instance of industry in our houses as the ants are in the field. Spiders are very ingenious in weaving their webs with a fineness and exactness such as no art can pretend to come near: They take hold with their hands, and spin a fine thread out of their own bowels, with a great deal of art; and they are not only in poor men's cottages, but in kings' palaces, notwithstanding all the care that is there taken to destroy them. Providence wonderfully keeps up those kinds of creatures, not only which men provide not for, but which every man's hand is against and seeks the destruction of. Those that will mind their business, and take hold of it with their hands, shall be in kings' palaces; sooner or later, they will get preferment, and may go on with it, notwithstanding the difficulties and discouragements they meet with. If one well-spun web be swept away, it is but making another.

Matthew Henry: Pro 30:29-33

Here is, I. An enumeration of four things which are majestic and stately in their going, which look great: - 1. A lion, the king of beasts, because strongest among beasts. Among beasts it is strength that gives the pre-eminence, but it is a pity that it should do so among men, whose wisdom is their honour, not their strength and force. The lion turns not away, nor alters his pace, for fear of any pursuers, since he knows he is too hard for them. Herein the righteous are bold as a lion, that they turn not away from their duty for fear of any difficulty they meet with in it. 2. A greyhound that is girt in the loins and fit for running; or (as the margin reads it) a horse, which ought not to be omitted among the creatures that are comely in going, for so he is, especially when he is dressed up in his harness or trappings. 3. A he-goat, the comeliness of whose going is when he goes first and leads the flock. It is the comeliness of a Christian's going to go first in a good work and to lead others in the right way. 4. A king, who, when he appears in his majesty, is looked upon with reverence and awe, and all agree that there is no rising up against him; none can vie with him, none can contend with him, whoever does it, it is at his peril. And, if there is no rising up against an earthly prince, woe to him then that strives with his Maker. It is intended that we should learn courage and fortitude in all virtuous actions from the lion and not to turn away for any difficulty we meet with; from the greyhound we may learn quickness and despatch, from the he-goat the care of our family and those under our charge, and from a king to have our children in subjection with all gravity, and from them all to go well, and to order the steps of our conversation so as that we may not only be safe, but comely, in going.

II. A caution to us to keep our temper at all times and under all provocations, and to take heed of carrying our resentments too far upon any occasion, especially when there is a king in the case, against whom there is no rising up, when it is a ruler, or one much our superior, that is offended; nay, the rule is always the same.

1. We must bridle and suppress our own passion, and take shame to ourselves, whenever we are justly charged with a fault, and not insist upon our own innocency: If we have lifted up ourselves, either in a proud conceit of ourselves or a peevish opposition to those that are over us, if we have transgressed the laws of our place and station, we have therein done foolishly. Those that magnify themselves over others or against others, that are haughty and insolent, do but shame themselves and betray their own weakness. Nay, if we have but thought evil, if we are conscious to ourselves that we have harboured an ill design in our minds, or it has been suggested to us, we must lay our hand upon our mouth, that is, (1.) We must humble ourselves for what we have done amiss, and even lie in the dust before God, in sorrow for it, as Job did, when he repented of what he had said foolishly (Job 40:4, I will lay my hand upon my mouth ), and as the convicted leper, who put a covering upon his upper lip. If we have done foolishly, we must not stand to it before men, but by silence own our guilt, which will be the best way of appeasing those we have offended. 2. We must keep the evil thought we have conceived in our minds from breaking out in any evil speeches. Do not give the evil thought an imprimatur - a license; allow it not to be published; but lay thy hand upon thy mouth; use a holy violence with thyself, if need be, and enjoin thyself silence; as Christ suffered not the evil spirits to speak. It is bad to think ill, but it is much worse to speak it, for that implies a consent to the evil thought and a willingness to infect others with it.

2. We must not irritate the passions of others. Some are so very provoking in their words and conduct that they even force wrath, they make those about them angry whether they will or no, and put those into a passion who are not only not inclined to it, but resolved against it. Now this forcing of wrath brings forth strife, and where that is there is confusion and every evil work. As the violent agitation of the cream fetches all the good out of the milk, and the hard wringing of the nose will extort blood from it, so this forcing of wrath wastes both the body and spirits of a man, and robs him of all the good that is in him. Or, as it is in the churning of milk and the wringing of the nose, that is done by force which otherwise would not be done, so the spirit is heated by degrees with strong passions; one angry word begets another, and that a third; one passionate debate makes work for another, and so it goes on till it ends at length in irreconcilable feuds. Let nothing therefore be said or done with violence, but every thing with softness and calmness.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 30:21-23

It is now not at all necessary to rack one's brains over the grounds or the reasons of the arrangement of the following proverb ( vid ., Hitzig). There are, up to this point, two numerical proverbs which begin with שׁתּים , Pro 30:7, and שׁתּי , Pro 30:15; after the cipher 2 there then, Pro 30:18, followed the cipher 3, which is now here continued:

21 Under three things doth the earth tremble,

And under four can it not stand:

22 Under a servant when he becomes king,

And a profligate when he has bread enough;

23 Under an unloved woman when she is married,

And a maid-servant when she becomes heiress to her mistress.

We cannot say here that the 4 falls into 3 + 1; but the four consists of four ones standing beside one another. ארץ is here without pausal change, although the Athnach here, as at Pro 30:24, where the modification of sound occurs, divides the verse into two; מארץ , 14b (cf. Psa 35:2), remains, on the other hand, correctly unchanged. The "earth"stands here, as frequently, instead of the inhabitants of the earth. It trembles when one of the four persons named above comes and gains free space for acting; it feels itself oppressed as by an insufferable burden (an expression similar to Amo 7:10); - the arrangement of society is shattered; an oppressive closeness of the air, as it were, settles over all minds. The first case is already designated, Pro 19:10, as improper: under a slave, when he comes to reign ( quum rex fit ); for suppose that such an one has reached the place of government, not by the murder of the king and by the robbery of the crown, but, as is possible in an elective monarchy, by means of the dominant party of the people, he will, as a rule, seek to indemnify himself in his present highness for his former lowliness, and in the measure of his rule show himself unable to rise above his servile habits, and to pass out of the limited circle of his earlier state. The second case is this: a נבל , one whose mind is perverted and whose conduct is profligate - in short, a low man ( vid ., Pro 17:17) - ישׂבּע־לחם (cf. Metheg - Setzung , §28), i.e. , has enough to eat (cf. to the expression Pro 28:19; Jer 44:17); for this undeserved living without care and without want makes him only so much the more arrogant, and troublesome, and dangerous. The שׂנוּאה , in the second case, is not thought of as a spouse, and that, as in supposed polygamy, Gen 29:31; Deu 21:15-17, as fallen into disfavour, but who again comes to favour and honour (Dathe, Rosenmüller); for she can be שׂנואה without her own fault, and as such she is yet no גּרוּשׁה ; and it is not to be perceived why the re-assumption of such an one should shatter social order. Rightly Hitzig, and, after his example, Zöckler: an unmarried lady, an old spinster, is meant, whom no one desired because she had nothing attractive, and was only repulsive (cf. Grimm, under Sir. 7:26b). If such an one, as כּי תבעל says, at length, however, finds her husband and enters into the married relation, then she carries her head so much the higher; for she gives vent to ill-humour, strengthened by long restraint, against her subordinates; then she richly requites her earlier and happily married companions for their depreciation of her, among whom she had to suffer, as able to find no one who would love her. In the last case it is asked whether כּי־תירשׁ is meant of inheriting as an heiress (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Targ., Jerome, the Venet ., and Luther), or supplanting (Euchel, Gesenius, Hitzig), i.e. , an entering into the inheritance of the dead, or an entering into the place of a living mistress. Since ירשׁ , with the accus. of the person, Gen 15:3-4, signifies to be the heir of one, and only with the accus. of peoples and lands signifies, "to take into possession (to seize) by supplanting,"the former is to be preferred; the lxx (Syr.), ὅταν ἐκβάλῃ , appear to have read כּי־תגרשׁ . This גּרשׁ would certainly be, after Gen 21:10, a piece of the world turned upside down; but also the entering, as heiress, into the inheritance, makes the maid-servant the reverse of that which she was before, and brings with it the danger that the heiress, notwithstanding her want of culture and dignity, demean herself also as heiress of the rank. Although the old Israelitish law knew only intestate succession to an inheritance, yet there also the case might arise, that where there were no natural or legal heirs, the bequest of a wife of rank passed over to her servants and nurses.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 30:24-28

Another proverb with the cipher 4, its first line terminating in ארץ :

24 Four are the little things of the earth,

And yet they are quick of wit - wise:

25 The ants - a people not strong,

And yet they prepare in summer their food;

26 Conies - a people not mighty,

And yet set their dwelling on the rocks;

27 No king have the locusts,

And yet they go forth in rank and file, all of them together;

28 The lizard thou canst catch with the hands,

And yet it is in the king's palaces.

By the disjunctive accent, ארבּעה , in spite of the following word toned on the beginning, retains its ultima -toning, 18a; but here, by the conjunctive accent, the tone retrogrades to the penult ., which does not elsewhere occur with this word. The connection קטנּי־ארץ is not superlat. (for it is impossible that the author could reckon the שׁפנים , conies, among the smallest of beasts), but, as in the expression נכבּדּי־ארץ , the honoured of the earth, Isa 23:8. In 24b, the lxx, Syr., Jerome, and Luther see in מ the comparative: σοφώτερα τῶν σοφῶν ( מחכמים ), but in this connection of words it could only be partitive (wise, reckoning among the wise); the part. Pual מחכּמים (Theodotion, the Venet . σεσοφισμένα ) was in use after Psa 88:6, and signified, like בּשׁל מבשּׁל , Exo 12:9, boiled well; thus חכמים מחכמים , taught wit, wise, cunning, prudent (cf. Psa 64:7, a planned plan = a cunningly wrought out plan; Isa 28:16, and Vitringa thereto: grounded = firm, grounding), Ewald, §313c. The reckoning moves in the contrasts of littleness to power, and of greatness to prudence. The unfolding of the ארבעה [four] begins with the הנּמלים [the ants] and שׁפנּים [conies], subject conceptions with apposit. joined; 26a, at least in the indetermination of the subject, cannot be a declaration. Regarding the fut. consec . as the expression, not of a causal, but of a contrasted connection, vid ., Ewald, §342, 1a. The ants are called עם , and they deserve this name, for they truly form communities with well-ordered economy; but, besides, the ancients took delight in speaking of the various classes of animals as peoples and states.

(Note: Vid ., Walter von der Vogelweide , edited by Lachmann, p. 8f.)

That which is said, 25b, as also Pro 6:8, is not to be understood of stores laid up for the winter. For the ants are torpid for the most part in winter; but certainly the summer is their time for labour, when the labourers gather together food, and feed in a truly motherly way the helpless. שׁפן , translated arbitrarily in the Venet . by ἐχῖνοι , in the lxx by χοιρογρύλλιοι , by the Syr. and Targ. here and at Ps 104 by חגס , and by Jerome by lepusculus (cf. λαγίδιον ), both of which names, here to be understood after a prevailing Jewish opinion, denote the Caninichen

(Note: The steplang7 kaninchen as well as the steplang7 klippdachs [cliff-badgers] may be meant, Lev 11:5 (Deu 14:7); neither of these belong to the bisulca , nor yet, it is true, to the ruminants, though to the ancients (as was the case also with hares) they seemed to do. The steplang7 klippdach is still, in Egypt and Syria, regarded as unclean.)

(Luther), Latin cuniculus ( κόνικλος ), is not the steplang7 kaninchen [rabbit], nor the marmot, χοιρογρύλλιος (C. B. Michaelis, Ziegler, and others); this is called in Arab. yarbuw' ; but שׁפן is the wabr , which in South Arab. is called thufun , or rather thafan , viz., the steplang7 klippdachs ( hyrax syriacus ), like the marmot, which lives in societies and dwells in the clefts of the mountains, e.g. , at the Kedron, the Dead Sea, and at Sinai ( vid ., Knobel on Lev 11:5; cf. Brehm's Thierleben , ii. p. 721ff., the Illustrirte Zeitung , 1868, Nr. 1290). The steplang7 klippdachs are a weak little people, and yet with their weakness they unite the wisdom that they establish themselves among the rocks. The ants show their wisdom in the organization of labour, here in the arranging of inaccessible dwellings.

Pro 30:27

Thirdly, the locusts belong to the class of the wise little folk: these have no king, but notwithstanding that, there is not wanting to them guidance; by the power and foresight of one sovereign will they march out as a body, חצץ , dividing, viz., themselves, not the booty (Schultens); thus: dividing themselves into companies, ordine dispositae , from חצץ , to divide, to fall into two (cogn. חצה , e.g. , Gen 32:7) or more parts; Mühlau, p. 59-64, has thoroughly investigated this whole wide range of roots. What this חצץ denotes is described in Joe 2:7 : "Like mighty men they hunt; like men of war they climb the walls; they march forward every one on his appointed way, and change not their paths."Jerome narrates from his own observation: tanto ordine ex dispositione jubentis (lxx at this passage before us: ἀφ ̓ ἑνὸς κελεύσματος εὐτάκτως ) volitant, ut instar tesserularum, quae in pavimentis artificis figuntur manu, suum locum teneant et ne puncto quidem et ut ita dicam ungue transverso declinent ad alterum . Aben Ezra and others find in חצץ the idea of gathering together in a body, and in troops, according to which also the Syr., Targ., Jerome, and Luther translate; Kimchi and Meîri gloss חצץ by חותך and כורת , and understand it of the cutting off, i.e. , the eating up, of plants and trees, which the Venet . renders by ἐκτέμνουσα .

Pro 30:28

In this verse the expression wavers in a way that is with difficulty determinable between שׂממית and שׁממית . The Edd. of Opitz Jablonski and Van der Hooght have ' שׂם , but the most, from the Venetian 1521 to Nissel, have ' שׁם ( vid ., Mühlau, p. 69). The Codd. also differ as to the reading of the word; thus the Codd. Erfurt 2 and 3 have ' שׂם , but Cod. 1294 has ' שׁם . Isaak Tschelebi and Moses Algazi, in their writings regarding words with שׁ and שׂ (Constant. 1723 and 1799), prefer ' שׂם , and so also do Mordecai Nathan in his Concordance (1563-4), David de Pomis (1587), and Norzi. An important evidence is the writing סממית , Schabbath 77b, but it is as little decisive as סריון [coat of mail], used by Jer 44:4, is decisive against the older expression שׁריון . But what kind of a beast is meant here is a question. The swallow is at once to be set aside, as the Venet . translates ( χελιδών ) after Kimchi, who explains after Abulwalîd, but not without including himself, that the Heb. word for (Arab.) khuttaf (which is still the name given to the swallow from its quickness of motion), according to Haja's testimony, is much rather סנוּנית , a name for the swallow; which also the Arab. (Freytag, ii. p. 368) and the modern Syriac confirm; besides, in old Heb. it has the name of סוּס or סיס (from Arab. shash , to fly confusedly hither and thither). In like manner the ape (Aben Ezra, Meîri, Immanuel) is to be set aside, for this is called קוף (Indian kapi , kap , kamp , to move inconstantly and quickly up and down),

(Note: Vid ., A Weber's Indische Studien , i. pp. 217, 343.)

and appears here admissible only on the ground that from בידים תתפשׂ they read that the beast had a resemblance to man. There remains now only the lizard (lxx, Jerome) and the spider (Luther) to be considered. The Talmud, Schabbath 77b, reckons five instances in which fear of the weaker pursues the stronger: one of these instances is אימת סנוניתעל הנשׁר , another אימת סממית על העקרב . The swallow, thus Rashi explains, creeps under the wings of the eagle and hinders it from spreading them out in its flight; and the spider ( araigne ) creeps into the ear of the scorpion; or also: a bruised spider applied heals the scorpion's sting. A second time the word occurs, Sanhedrin 103b, where it is said of King Amon that he burnt the Tôra , and that over the altar came a שממית (here with ש ), which Rashi explains of the spider (a spider's web). But Aruch testifies that in these two places of the Talmud the explanation is divided between ragnatelo (spider) and (Ital.) lucêrta (lizard). For the latter, he refers to Lev 11:30, where לטאה (also explained by Rashi by lézard ) in the Jerus. Targ. is rendered

(Note: The Samaritan has, Lev 11:30, שממית for אנקה , and the Syr. translates the latter word by אמקתא , which is used in the passage before us (cf. Geiger's Urschrift , p. 68f.) for שממית ; omakto (Targ. akmetha ) appears there to mean, not a spider, but a lizard.)

by שממיתא (the writing here also varies between שׁ and שׂ or ס ). Accordingly, and after the lxx and Jerome, it may be regarded as a confirmed tradition that שממית means not the spider, for which the name עכּבישׁ is coined, but the lizard, and particularly the stellion (spotted lizard). Thus the later language used it as a word still living (plur. סממיּות , Sifre , under Deu 33:19). The Arab. also confirms this name as applicable to the lizard.

(Note: Perhaps also the modern Greek, σαμιάμινθος ( σαμιάμιδος , σαμιαμίδιον ), which Grotius compares.)

"To this day in Syria and in the Desert it is called samawiyyat , probably not from poison, but from samawah = שׁממה , the wilderness, because the beast is found only in the stony heaps of the Kharab "(Mühlau after Wetzstein). If this derivation is correct, then שׁממית is to be regarded as an original Heb. expression; but the lizard's name, samm , which, without doubt, designates the animal as poisonous (cf. סם , samam , samm , vapour, poisonous breath, poison), favours Schultens' view: שממית = (Arab.) samamyyat , afflatu interficiens , or generally venenosa . In the expression בּידים תּתפּשׂ , Schultens, Gesenius, Ewald, Hitzig, Geier, and others, understand ידים of the two fore-feet of the lizard: "the lizard feels (or: seizes) with its two hands;"but granting that ידים is used of the fifteen feet of the stellio, or of the climbing feet of any other animal (lxx καλαβώτης = ἀσκαλαβώτης ), yet it is opposed by this explanation, that in line first of this fourth distich an expression regarding the smallness of the weakness of the beast is to be expected, as at 25a, 26a, and 27a. And since, besides, תפשׂ with ביד or בכף always means "to catch"or "seize"(Eze 21:16; Eze 29:7; Jer 38:23), so the sense according to that explanation is: the lizard thou canst catch with the hand, and yet it is in kings' palaces, i.e. , it is a little beast, which one can grasp with his hand, and yet it knows how to gain an entrance into palaces, by which in its nimbleness and cunning this is to be thought of, that it can scale the walls even to the summit (Aristoph. Nubes 170). To read תּתּפשׂ with Mühlau, after Böttcher, recommends itself by this, that in תּהפּשׂ one misses the suff. pointing back ( תּתפּשׂנּה ); also why the intensive of תפשׂ is used, is not rightly comprehended. Besides, the address makes the expression more animated; cf. Isa 7:25, תבוא . In the lxx as it lies before us, the two explanations spoken of are mingled together: καὶ καλαβώτης (= ἀσκαλαβώτης ) χερσὶν ἐπειδόμενος καὶ εὐάλωτος ὢν ... This εὐάλωτος ὢν (Symmachus, χερσὶν ἐλλαμβανόμενος ) hits the sense of 28a. In היכלי מלך , מלך is not the genit. of possession, as at Psa 45:9, but of description (Hitzig), as at Amo 7:13.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 30:29-31

Another numerical proverb with the cipher 4 = 3 + 1:

29 Three things are of stately walk,

And four of stately going:

30 The lion, the hero among beasts,

And that turneth back before nothing;

31 The swift-loined, also the goat;

And a king with whom is the calling out of the host.

Regarding היטיב with inf . following (the segolated n. actionis צעד is of equal force with an inf .), vid ., under Pro 15:2.

(Note: In 29a, after Norzi, מיטיבי , and in 29b, מיטבי , is to be written, and this is required by the little Masora to 1Sa 25:31, the great, to Eze 33:33, and also the Erfurt little Masora to the passage before us.)

The relation of the members of the sentence in 30a is like that in 25a and 26a: subj. and apposit., which there, as here, is continued in a verbal clause which appears to us as relative. It deserves to be here remarked that לישׁ , as the name for a lion, occurs only here and at Job 4:11, and in the description of the Sinai wilderness, Isa 30:6; in Arab. it is layth , Aram. לית , and belongs to the Arameo-Arab. dialect of this language; the lxx and Syr. translate it "the young lion;"the Venet . excellently, by the epic λῖς . בּבּהמה has the article only to denote the genus, viz., of the beasts, and particularly the four-footed beasts. What is said in 30b (cf. with the expression, Job 39:22) is described in Isa 30:4. The two other beasts which distinguish themselves by their stately going are in 31a only briefly named. But we are not in the condition of the readers of this Book of Proverbs, who needed only to hear the designation זרזיר מתנים at once to know what beast was meant. Certainly זרזיר , as the name for a beast, is not altogether unknown in the post-bibl. Heb. "In the days of Rabbi Chija (the great teacher who came from Babylon to the Academy of Sepphoris), as is narrated in Bereschith rabba , sect. 65, a zarzir flew to the land of Israel, and it was brought to him with the question whether it were eatable. Go, said he, place it on the roof! Then came an Egyptian raven and lighted down beside it. See, said Chija, it is unclean, for it belongs to the genus of the ravens, which is unclean (Lev 11:15). From this circumstance there arose the proverb: The raven goes to the zarzir because it belongs to his own tribe."

(Note: This "like draws to like"in the form: "not in vain goes the raven to the zarzir , it belongs just to its own tribe,"came to be often employed, Chullin 65a, Baba Kamma 92b. Plantavitius has it, Tendlau more at large, Sprichwörter, u.s.w ., Nr. 577.)

Also the Jer. Rosch ha-schane , Halacha 3: "It is the manner of the world that one seeks to assist his zarzir , and another his zarzir , to obtain the victory;"and Midrash Echa v. 1, according to which it is the custom of the world, that one who has a large and a little zarzir in his house, is wont to treat the little one sparingly, so that in the case of the large one being killed, he might not need to buy another. According to this, the zarzir is a pugnacious animal, which also the proverb Bereschith rabba , c. 75, confirms: two zarzir do not sleep on one board; and one makes use of his for contests like cock-fights. According to this, the זרזיר is a bird, and that of the species of the raven; after Rashi, the étourneau , the starling, which is confirmed by the Arab. zurzur (vulgar Arab. zarzur ), the common name of starlings (cf. Syr. zarzizo , under zrz of Castelli). But for the passage before us, we cannot regard this as important, for why is the starling fully named זרזיר מתנים ? To this question Kimchi has already remarked that he knows no answer for it. Only, perhaps, the grave magpie ( corvus pica ), strutting with upraised tail, might be called succinctus lumbos , if מתנים can at all be used here of a bird. At the earliest, this might possibly be used of a cock, which the later Heb. named directly גּבר , because of its manly demeanour; most old translators so understand it. The lxx translates, omitting the loins, by ἀλέκτωρ ἐμπεριπατῶν θηλείαις εὔψυχος , according to which the Syr. and Targ.: like the cock which struts about proudly among the hens;

(Note: Regarding the Targum Text, vid ., Levy under אבּכא and זרכּל . The expression דּמזדּרז (who is girded, and shows himself as such) is not unsuitable.)

Aquila and Theodotion: ἀλέκτωρ ( ἀλεκτρυὼν ) νώτου ; The Quinta: ἀλέκτωρ ὀσφύος ; Jezome: gallus succinctus lumbos . Ṣarṣar (not ṣirṣir , as Hitzig vocalizes) is in Arab. a name for a cock, from ṣarṣara , to crow, an onomatopoeia. But the Heb. זרזיר , as the name of a bird, signifies, as the Talmud proves on the ground of that history, not a cock, but a bird of the raven order, whether a starling, a crow, or a magpie. And if this name of a corvinus is formed from the onomatopoeia זרזר , the weaker form of that (Arab.) ṣarṣar , then מתנים , which, for זרזיר , requires the verbal root זרז , to girdle, is not wholly appropriate; and how strangely would the three animals be mingled together, if between לישׁ and תישׁ , the two four-footed animals, a bird were placed! If, as is to be expected, the "steplang7 Lendenumgürtete "[the one girded about the loins = זרזיר מתנים ] be a four-footed animal, then it lies near, with C. B. Michaelis and Ziegler, after Ludolf's

(Note: Ludolf gave, in his Hist. Aethiop . i. 10, and Commentarius , p. 150, only a description of the Zecora , without combining therewith זרזיר ; but vid ., Joh. Dietr. Winckler's Theol. u. Philol. Abhand . i. (1755) p. 33ff.: "A nearer explanation of what is to be understood by זרזיר מתנים , Pro 30:31, along with a statement from a hitherto unpublished correspondence between the learned philologists Hiob Ludolf and Matthai Leydecker, a Reformed preacher in Batavia."With Ludolf, Joh. Simonis also, in the Arcanum Formarum (1735), p. 687f., decides in favour of the zebra.)

example, to think of the zebra, the South African wild ass. But this animal lay beyond the sphere of the author's observation, and perhaps also of his knowledge, and at the same time of that of the Israelitish readers of this Book of Proverbs; and the dark-brown cross stripes on a white ground, by which the zebra is distinguished, extend not merely to its limbs, but over the whole body, and particularly over the front of the body. It would be more tenable to think of the leopard, with its black round spots, or the tiger, with dark stripes; but the name זרזיר מתנים scarcely refers to the colour of the hair, since one has to understand it after the Aram. זרז חרציהּ = שׁנּס מתניו , 1Ki 18:46, or אחר חלציו , Job 38:3, and thus of an activity, i.e. , strength and swiftness, depending on the condition of the loins. Those who, with Kimchi, think that the נמר [leopard] is thus named, ground their view, not on this, that it has rings or stripes round its legs, but on this, that it דק מתנים וחזק במתניו . But this beast has certainly its definite name; but a fundamental supposition entering into every attempt at an explanation is this, that זרזיר מתנים , as well as לישׁ and תישׁ , is the proper name of a beast, not a descriptive attribute. Therefore the opinion of Rosse, which Bochart has skilfully established in the Hierozoicon , does not recommend itself, for he only suggests, for choice, to understand the name, "the girded about the loins,"in the proper sense of straps and clasps around and on the loins (thus e.g. , Gesenius, Fleischer, Hitzig), or of strength, in the sense of the Arab. habuwk , the firmly-bound = compact, or ṣamm alṣlab , the girded loin (thus e.g. , Muntinghe). Schultens connects together both references: Utrumque jungas licet . That the by-name fits the horse, particularly the war-horse, is undeniable; one would have to refer it, with Mühlau, to the slender structure, the thin flanks, which are reckoned among the requisites of a beautiful horse.

(Note: Vid ., Ahlwardt, Chalef elahmar's Qasside (1859), and the interpretation of the description of the horse contained therein, p. 210ff.)

But if succinctus lumbos were a by-name of a horse, why did not the author at once say סוס זרזיר מתנים ? We shall give the preference to the opinion, according to which the expression, "girt about the loins"= "with strong loins,"or "with slender limbs,"is not the by-name, but the proper name of the animal. This may be said of the hunting-hound, lévrier (according to which the Venet ., incorrectly translating מתנים : λαγῳοκύων ψοιῶν ),

(Note: Thus reads Schleusner, Opusc. Crit . p. 318, and refers it to the horse: nam solebant equos figuris quibusdam notare et quasi sigillare .)

which Kimchi ranks in the first place. Luther, by his translation, steplang7 Ein Wind = steplang7 Windhund [greyhound], of good limbs, has given the right direction to this opinion. Melanchton, Lavater, Mercier, Geier, and others, follow him; and, among the moderns, so also do Ewald and Böttcher (also Bertheau and Stuart), which latter supposes that before זרזיר מתנים there originally stood כבל , which afterwards disappeared. But why should the greyhound not at once be called זרזיר מתנים ? We call the smaller variety of this dog the steplang7 Windspiel [greyhound]; and by this name we think on a hound, without saying steplang7 Windspielhund . The name זרזיר מתנים (Symmachus excellently: περιεσφιγμένος , not περιεσφραγισμένος, τὴν ὀσφύν , i.e. , strongly bound in the limbs) is fitted at once to suggest to us this almost restless, slender animal, with its high, thin, nimble limbs. The verbal stem זרר (Arab.) zarr , signifies to press together, to knit together; the reduplicative form זרזר , to bind firmly together, whence זרזיר , firmly bound together, referred to the limbs as designating a natural property (Ewald, §158a): of straight and easily-moveable legs.

(Note: The Aram. זרז is shortened from זרזר , as כּרך from כּרכּר ; the particip. adj. זריז signifies nimble, swift, eager, e.g. , Pesachim 4a: "the zealous obey the commandment - as soon as possible hasten to fulfil it.")

The hunting-hound ( salâki or salûki , i.e. , coming from Seleucia) is celebrated by the Arab. poets as much as the hunting-horse.

(Note: Vid ., Ahlwardt, Chalef elahmar's Qasside , p. 205f.)

The name כּלב , though not superfluous, the author ought certainly to have avoided, because it does not sound well in the Heb. collocation of words.

There now follows תישׁ , a goat, and that not the ram (Jerome, Luther), which is called איל , but the he-goat, which bears this name, as Schultens has already recognised, from its pushing, as it is also called עתּוּד , as paratus ad pugnam ; the two names appear to be only provincially different; שׂעיר , on the contrary, is the old he-goat, as shaggy; and צפיר also perhaps denotes it, as Schultens supposes, with twisted, i.e. , curled hair ( tortipilus ). In Arab. tays denotes the he-goat as well as the roebuck and the gazelle, and that at full growth. The lxx (the Syr. and Targ., which is to be emended after the Syr.) is certainly right, for it understands the leading goat: καὶ τράγος ἡγούμενος αἰπολίου . The text, however, has not ותישׁ , but או תישׁ , ἢ τράγος (Aquila, Theodotion, Quinta, and the Venet .). Böttcher is astonished that Hitzig did not take hold of this או , and conjectures תּאו־תישׁ , which should mean a "gazelle-goat"(Mühlau: dorcas mas ). But it is too bold to introduce here תּאו ( תּוא ), which is only twice named in the O.T., and תאו־תישׁ for תּאו זכר is not the Heb. style; and besides, the setting aside of או has a harsh asyndeton for its consequence, which bears evidence to the appearance that תאו and תישׁ are two different animals. And is the או then so objectionable? More wonderful still must Son 2:9 appear to us. If the author enumerated the four of stately going on his fingers, he would certainly have said ותישׁ . By או he communicates to the hearer, setting before him another figure, how there in the Song Sulamith's fancy passed from one object to another.

To the lion, the king of the animal world, the king אלקוּם עמּו corresponds. This אלקום Hitzig regards as mutilated from אלהים (which was both written and pronounced as אלקום by the Jews, so as to conceal the true sound of the name of God) - which is untenable, for this reason, that this religious conclusion ["A king with whom God is"] accords badly with the secular character of this proverb. Geiger ( Urschrift , p. 62ff.) translates: "and King Alkimos corresponding to it (the lustful and daring goat)"- he makes the harmless proverb into a ludibrium from the time of the Maccabeo-Syrian war. The lxx, which the Syr. and Targ. follow, translates καὶ βασιλεὺς δημηγορῶν ἐν ἔθνει ; it appears to have changed אלקום עמו into קם אל עמו (standing with his people and haranguing them), like the Quinta: καὶ βας. ἀναστὰς ( ὃς ἀνέστη ) ἐν τῷ λαῷ αὐτοῦ . Ziegler and Böttcher also, reading עמּו and אל without any transposition, get ומלך אל־קוּם עמּו t , which the former translates: "a king with the presence of his people;"the latter, "a king with the setting up of his people,"- not accordant with the thought, for the king should be brought forward as מיטיב לכת . For the same reason, Kimchi's explanation is not suitable: a king with whom is no resistance, i.e. , against whom no one can rank himself (thus e.g. , also Immanuel); or more specially, but not better: who has no successor of his race (according to which the Venet . ἀδιάδεκτος ξὺν ἑαυτῷ ). Rather this explanation commends itself: a king with whom ( i.e. , in war with whom) is no resistance. Thus Jerome and Luther: against whom no one dare place himself; thus Rashi, Aben Ezra, Ralbag ( שׁאין תקומה עמו ), Ahron b. Josef ( קום = ἀντίστασις ), Arama, and others; thus also Schultens, Fleischer ( adversus quem nemo consistere audet ), Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, Stuart, and others. But this connection of אל with the infin. is not Heb.; and if the Chokma , xii. 28, has coined the expression אל־מות for the idea of "immortality,"then certainly it does not express the idea of resistlessness by so bold a quasi compositum . But this boldness is also there mitigated, for יהי is supplied after אל , which is not here practicable with קוּם , which is not a subst. like מות . Pocock in the Spec. historiae Arabum , and Castellus in the Lex. Heptaglotton (not Castellio, as the word is printed by Zöckler), have recognised in אלקום the Arab. âlkawm ; Schultens gives the lxx the honour of this recognition, for he regards their translation as a paraphrase of ὁ δῆμος μετ ̓ αὐτοῦ . Bertheau thinks that it ought to be in Arab. kawmuhu , but אלקום עמו = âlkawhu ma'ahu is perfectly correct, âlkawhu is the summons or the steplang7 Heerbann = arriere-ban ;

(Note: Wetzstein's Ausgewählte Inschriften , p. 355: "The word ḳawm signifies people, not in the sense of populus , but in the sense of the Heb. קים (Job 24:7) = muḳawim abrajul , he who breaks with or against any one."Incorrect in Gesenius-Dietrich's Heb. Wörterbuch .)

in North Africa they speak in their language in the same sense of the Gums . This explanation of אלקום , from the Arab. Dachselt ( rex cum satellitio suo ), Diedrichs in his Arab.-Syr. Spicilegium (1777), Umbreit, Gesenius, and Vaihinger, have recognised, and Mühlau has anew confirmed it at length. Hitzig, on the contrary, remarks that if Agur wrote on Arab. territory, we could be contented with the Arab. appellative, but not with the article, which in words like אלגּבישׁ and אלמגּים is no longer of force as an art., but is an integ. component part of the word. We think that it is with אלקום exactly as with other words descriptive of lordship, and the many similar that have passed over into the Spanish language; the word is taken over along with the article, without requiring the Heb. listener to take the art. as such, although he certainly felt it better than we do, when we say "steplang7 das Alkoran "[the Alcoran], "steplang7 das Alcohol ,"and the like. Blau also, in his Gesch. der Arab. Substantiv-Determ .,

(Note: In the "Alt-arab. Sprachstudien," Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitschr . xxv. 539f.)

regards it as certain that Agur borrowed this אלקום from the idiom of the Arabians, among whom he lived, and heard it constantly spoken. By this explanation we first reach a correspondence between what is announced in lines first and second and line sixth. A king as such is certainly not "comely in going;"he can sit upon his throne, and especially as δημηγορῶν will he sit (Act 12:21) and not stand. But the majesty of his going shows itself when he marches at the head of those who have risen up at his summons to war. Then he is for the army what the תישׁ he-goat is for the flock. The או , preferred to ו , draws close together the רישׁ e and the king (cf. e.g. , Isa 14:9).

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 30:32-33

Another proverb, the last of Agur's "Words"which exhorts to thoughtful, discreet demeanour, here follows the proverb of self-conscious, grave deportment:

32 If thou art foolish in that thou exaltest thyself,

Or in devising, - put thy hand to thy mouth!

33 For the pressure on milk bringeth forth butter,

And pressure on the nose bringeth forth blood,

And pressure on sensibility bringeth forth altercation.

Löwenstein translates Pro 30:32 :

Art thou despicable, it is by boasting;

Art thou prudent, then hold thy hand on thy mouth.

But if זמם denotes reflection and deliberation, then נבל , as its opposite, denotes unreflecting, foolish conduct. Then בּהתנשּׂא ne by boasting is not to be regarded as a consequent (thus it happens by lifting thyself up; or: it is connected with boasting); by this construction also, אם־נבלתּ must be accented with Dechi , not with Tarcha . Otherwise Euchel:

Hast thou become offensive through pride,

Or seems it so to thee, - lay thy hand to thy mouth.

The thought is appropriate,

(Note: Yet the Talmud, Nidda 27a, derives another moral rule from this proverb, for it interprets זמם in the sense of זמם = חסם , to tie up, to bridle, to shut up, but אם נבלת in the sense of "if thou hast made thyself despicable,"as Löwenstein has done.)

but נבלתּ for נבּלתּ is more than improbable; נבל , thus absolutely taken in an ethical connection, is certainly related to נבל , as כּסל , Jer 10:8, to כּסיל . The prevailing mode of explanation is adopted by Fleischer: si stulta arrogantia elatus fueris et si quid durius ( in alios ) mente conceperis, manum ori impone ; i.e. , if thou arrogantly, and with offensive words, wilt strive with others, then keep thyself back, and say not what thou hast in thy mind. But while מזמּה and מזמּות denote intrigues, Pro 14:17, as well as plans and considerations, זמם has never by itself alone the sense of meditari mala ; at Psa 37:12, also with ל of the object at which the evil devices aim. Then for ואם ... אם (Arab. ân ... wân ) there is the supposition of a correlative relation, as e.g. , 1Ki 20:18; Ecc 11:3, by which at the same time זמּות is obviously thought of as a contrast to נבלתּ . This contrast excludes

(Note: The Arab. signification, to become proud, is a nüance of the primary signification, to hold erect - viz. the head - as when the rider draws up the head of a camel by means of the halter (Arab. zamam ).)

for זמות not only the sense of mala moliri (thus e.g. , also Mühlau), but also the sense of the Arab. zamm , superbire (Schultens). Hitzig has the right determination of the relation of the members of the sentence and the ideas: if thou art irrational in ebullition of temper and in thought - thy hand to thy mouth! But התנשּׂא has neither here nor elsewhere the meaning of התעבּר (to be out of oneself with anger); it signifies everywhere to elevate or exalt oneself, i.e. , rightly or wrongly to make much of oneself. There are cases where a man, who raises himself above others, appears as a fool, and indeed acts foolishly; but there are also other cases, when the despised has a reason and an object for vindicating his superiority, his repute, his just claim: when, as we say, he places himself in his right position, and assumes importance; the poet here recommends, to the one as well as to the other, silence. The rule that silence is gold has its exceptions, but here also it is held valid as a rule. Luther and others interpret the perfecta as looking back: "hast thou become a fool and ascended too high and intended evil, then lay thy hand on thy mouth."But the reason in Pro 30:33 does not accord with this rendering, for when that has been done, the occasion for hatred is already given; but the proverb designs to warn against the stirring up of hatred by the reclaiming of personal pretensions. The perfecta , therefore, are to be interpreted as at Deu 32:29; Job 9:15, as the expression of the abstract present; or better, as at Job 9:16, as the expression of the fut. exactum : if thou wouldest have acted foolishly, since thou walkest proudly, or if thou hadst (before) thought of it (Aquila, Theodotion: καὶ ἐὰν ἐννοηθῇς ) - the hand on thy mouth, i.e. , let it alone, be silent rather (expression as Pro 11:24; Jdg 18:19; Job 40:4). The Venet . best: εἴπερ ἐμώρανας ἐν τῷ ἐπαίρεσθαι καὶ εἴπερ ἐλογίσω, χεὶρ τῷ στόματι . When we have now interpreted התנשׂא , not of the rising up of anger, we do not also, with Hitzig, interpret the dual of the two snorting noses - viz. of the double anger, that of him who provokes to anger, and that of him who is made angry - but אפּים denotes the two nostrils of one and the same person, and, figuratively, snorting or anger. Pressure against the nose is designated ומיץ־אף , ἐκμύζησις ( ἐκπίεσις ) μυκτῆρος (write ומיץ־אף , with Metheg , with the long tone, after Metheg - Setzung , §11, 9, 12), and מיץ אפּים , ἐκμύζησις θυμοῦ (Theodotion), with reference to the proper meaning of אפים , pressure to anger, i.e. , to the stirring up and strengthening of anger. The nose of him who raises himself up comes into view, in so far as, with such self-estimation, sneering, snuffling scorn ( μυκτηρίζειν ) easily connects itself; but this view of מתנשׂא is not here spoken of.

Constable: Pro 30:1--31:31

V. TWO DISCOURSES BY OTHER WISE MEN chs. 30--31

Chapters 30 and 31 form a distinct section in Proverbs because neither Solomon (1:1-22:16; chs. 25-29) nor the unnamed sages (22:17-24:34) wrote them. Two other wise men whose names the text records did. Some expositors speculate that because these men's discourses occur at the end of the book the writers probably lived later than the men of Hezekiah.¹⁹⁷ Nevertheless who Agur and Lemuel were, as well as when and where they lived, remain mysteries.

Constable: Pro 30:1-33

A. The Wisdom of Agur ch. 30

The most distinctive features of Agur's proverbs are his numerical style of grouping similar items, his picturesque speech, and a unique phrase he used. This phrase, "There are three things . . . even four," occurs with minor changes five times (vv. 15, 18, 21, 24, 29; cf. vv. 11-14).

"The purpose of such a device may be simply to indicate that the list is not exhaustive, though specific (see Amos 1:3, 6). Or the purpose may be to emphasize the fourth item on the list."¹⁹⁸

Constable: Pro 30:10-33

3. Wisdom about life 30:10-33

Though his view of and awareness of God are very much behind what Agur said in the rest of this chapter, his counsel deals primarily with practical prudence from this point on.

30:10 It is unwise to meddle in the domestic affairs of other people. The case in point in this couplet is falsely accusing a slave to his master. Probably "he" (v. 10b) refers to the master. The slave might never discover that someone had slandered him. It is more likely that the master would investigate the charge and discover it false.

30:11-14 Agur sketched four verbal pictures and simply placed them side by side in these verses to illustrate the folly of arrogance. He had demonstrated humility himself (vv. 2-4, 7-9). Each thing listed begins with dor ("generation") meaning a class or group of people (cf. Matt. 11:16).²⁰²

30:15-16 Here the warning is against greediness.

"Give! Give!' [v. 15] can be taken as the names--with more pointed wit than as the cries--of these identical twins, who are made of the same stuff as their mother--other people's blood."²⁰³

Greediness is not just silly (v. 15), it is dangerous ("Sheol" and "fire," v. 16) and pathetic (being childless and parched, v. 16).

30:17 Disrespect for one's parents is as bad as arrogance and greed. Agur's graphic descriptions visualize the terrible consequences of this folly. Whereas we should obey our parents as long as we live under their authority, we should honor them all our lives. We should do so simply because they have given us physical life if for no other reason. This proverb warns that severe punishment awaits those who disrespect their parents.

30:18-19 These four "ways" (Heb. derek) have several things in common that make each of them remarkable. All are mysterious (inexplicable), non-traceable, effective in their element, and aggressive. "The way of a man with a maid" refers to the courting process. The point of these four snapshots seems to be that in view of remarkable phenomena such as these arrogance is absurd and humility only reasonable (cf. Job 38-41).

30:20 The mention of the woman in verse 19 seems to have triggered this pigtail comment about another unexplainable phenomenon. That is how some women can commit adultery as easily as and without any more remorse than they can eat a meal. The sage could have said the same of some men.

30:21-23 These are four more pictures of arrogant folly. One writer saw Adolf Hitler as an example of the kind of servant who became a king that the writer envisioned (v. 22a).²⁰⁴

30:24-28 In contrast to the arrogant, here are four examples of humble creatures functioning as God created them to, each remarkably effective and successful. Animals (vv. 24-28) are sometimes wiser than humans (vv. 21-23). The small are often more effective than the large. The basic contrast, however, is between humility and arrogance.

30:29-31 To keep us from concluding that little is always better than big (in view of vv. 24-28) Agur produced four more illustrations of stately noble behavior. He showed the balance between groundless pride (cf. vv. 21-23) and false humility (cf. vv. 24-28). These stately things demonstrate that proper bearing in life comes neither from exalting nor from depreciating oneself. It comes from functioning as God created one to function (i.e., to be oneself, sincere).

30:32-33 These verses call for personal application of this counsel if necessary. Peaceable behavior manifests humility, the key virtue in this chapter.

". . . the intent of this concluding advice is to strive for peace and harmony through humility and righteousness."²⁰⁵

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: Pro 30:30

PROVERBS 30:30 —If the fear of man is on all beasts, why do lions not fear humans?

PROBLEM: God told Noah that “the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth” ( Gen. 9:2 ). However, this is not the case, for even Proverbs 30:30 admits that the lion “does not turn away from any.”

SOLUTION: Several things help us to understand this problem. First, “the turn away” may refer to other beasts, not to humans. Second, unless they are desperately hungry or defending their young or turf, beasts do try to steer clear of human beings. Third, whatever exceptions there may be only serve to establish the rule that the presence of human beings tends to intimidate lower forms of life.   

Evidence: Pro 30:25-28

Here are four virtues needed to be an effective witness: initiative ( 1Co 15:58 ); wisdom ( Mat 7:24 ); unity ( Phi 1:27 ); and persistence ( Act 4:18-20 ).

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 30 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Pro 30:1, Agur’s confession of his faith; Pro 30:7, The two points of his prayer; Pro 30:10, The meanest are not to be wronged; Pro 30:11, Four wicked generations; Pro 30:15, Four things insatiable; Pro 30:17, Parents are not to be despised; Pro 30:18, Four things hard to be known; Pro 30:21, Four things intolerable; Pro 30:24, Four things exceeding wise; Pro 30:29, Four things stately; Pro 30:32, Wrath is to be prevented.

Poole: Proverbs 30 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 30

Agur’ s prophecy, Pro 30:1 ; wherein he acknowledgeth his own ignorance, Pro 30:2,3 . The purity of God’ s word, with the happiness of them that trust in him, Pro 30:5 . He dehorts from adding to the Scriptures, by the danger of it, Pro 30:6 . The two points of his prayer, with their reason, Pro 30:7-9 . Four wicked generations, Pro 30:10-14 . Four things insatiable, Pro 30:15,16 . Parents not to be despised, Pro 30:17 . Four things hard to be known, Pro 30:18,19 . The way of an adulterous woman, Pro 30:20 . Four things intolerable, Pro 30:21-23 . Four things little, but wise, Pro 30:24-28 . Four things stately, Pro 30:29-31 .

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

Matthew Henry: Proverbs 30 (Chapter Introduction)

This and the following chapter are an appendix to Solomon's proverbs; but they are both expressly called prophecies in the first verses of both, by which it appears that the penmen of them, whoever they were, were divinely inspired. This chapter was penned by one that bears the name of " Agur Ben Jakeh." What tribe he was of, or when he lived, we are not told; what he wrote, being indited by the Holy Ghost, is here kept upon record. We have here, I. His confession of faith (Pro 30:1-6). II. His prayer (Pro 30:7-9). III. A caution against wronging servants (Pro 30:10). IV. Four wicked generations (Pro 30:11-14). V. Four things insatiable (Pro 30:15, Pro 30:16), to which is added fair warning to undutiful children (Pro 30:17). VI. Four things unsearchable (Pro 30:18-20). VII. Four things intolerable (Pro 30:21-23). VIII. Four things little and wise (Pro 30:24-28). IX. Four things stately (Pro 30:29 to the end).

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.