'Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof
is brutish. 2. A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord: but a man of
wicked devices will he condemn. 3. A man shall not be established by
wickedness; but the root of the righteous shall not be moved. 4. A
virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed
is as rottenness in his bones. 5. The thoughts of the righteous are
right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit. 6. The words of the
wicked are to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright
shall deliver them. 7. The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the
house of the righteous shall stand. 8. A man shall be commended
according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be
despised. 9. He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than
he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread. 10. A righteous man
regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked
are cruel. 11. He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread:
but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. 12. The
wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous
yieldeth fruit. 13. The wicked is snared by the transgression of his
lips: but the just shall come out of trouble. 14. A man shall be
satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth; and the recompence of a
man's hands shall be rendered unto him. 15. The way of a fool is right
in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is
wise.'--PROVERBS xii. 1-15.
The verses of the present passage are a specimen of the main body of
the Book of Proverbs. They are not a building, but a heap. The stones
seldom have any mortar between them, and connection or progress is for
the most part sought in vain. But one great antithesis runs through
the whole--the contrast of wisdom or righteousness with folly or
wickedness. The compiler or author is never weary of setting out that
opposition in all possible lights. It is, in his view, the one
difference worth noting between men, and it determines their whole
character and fortunes. The book traverses with keen observation all
the realm of life, and everywhere finds confirmation of its great
principle that goodness is wisdom and sin folly.
There is something extremely impressive in this continual reiteration
of that contrast. As we read, we feel as if, after all, there were
nothing in the world but it and its results. That profound sense of
the existence and far-reaching scope of the division of men into two
classes is not the least of the benefits which a thoughtful study of
Proverbs brings to us. In this lesson it is useless to attempt to
classify the verses. Slight traces of grouping appear here and there;
but, on the whole, we have a set of miscellaneous aphorisms turning on
the great contrast, and setting in various lights the characters and
fates of the righteous and the wicked.
The first mark of difference is the opposite feeling about discipline.
If a man is wise, he will love 'knowledge'; and if he loves knowledge,
he will love the means to it, and therefore will not kick against
correction. That is another view of trials from the one which
inculcates devout submission to a Father. It regards only the benefits
to ourselves. If we want to be taught anything, we shall not flinch
from the rod. There must be pains undergone in order to win knowledge
of any sort, and the man who rebels against these shows that he had
rather be comfortable and ignorant than wise. A pupil who will not
stand having his exercises corrected will not learn his faults. On the
other hand, hating reproof is 'brutish' in the most literal sense; for
it is the characteristic of animals that they do not understand the
purpose of pain, and never advance because they do not. Men can grow
because they can submit to discipline; beasts cannot improve because,
except partially and in a few cases, they cannot accept correction.
The first proverb deals with wisdom or goodness in its inner source;
namely, a docile disposition. The two next deal with its consequences.
It secures God's favour, while its opposite is condemned; and then, as
a consequence of this, the good man is established and the wicked
swept away. The manifestations of God's favour and its opposite are
not to be thrown forward to a future life. Continuously the sunshine
of divine love falls on the one man, and already the other is
condemned. It needs some strength of faith to look through the shows
of prosperity often attending plain wickedness, and believe that it is
always a blunder to do wrong.
But a moderate experience of life will supply many instances of
prosperous villainy in trade and politics which melted away like mist.
The shore is strewn with wrecks, dashed to pieces because
righteousness did not steer. Every exchange gives examples in plenty.
How many seemingly solid structures built on wrong every man has seen
in his lifetime crumble like the cloud masses which the wind piles in
the sky and then dissipates! The root of the righteous is in God, and
therefore he is firm. The contrast is like that of Psalm i.--between
the tree with strong roots and waving greenery, and the chaff,
rootless, and therefore whirled out of the threshing-floor.
The universal contrast is next applied to women; and in accordance
with the subordinate position they held in old days, the bearing of
her goodness is principally regarded as affecting her husband. That
does not cover the whole ground, of course. But wherever there is a
true marriage, the wife will not think that woman's rights are
infringed because one chief issue of her beauty of virtue is the
honour and joy it reflects upon him who has her heart. 'A virtuous
woman' is not only one who possesses the one virtue to which the
phrase has been so miserably confined, but who is 'a woman of
strength'--no doll or plaything, but
'A perfect woman, nobly planned
To warn, to comfort, and command.'
The gnawing misery of being fastened like two dogs in a leash to one
who 'causes shame' is vividly portrayed by that strong figure, that
she is like 'rottenness in his bones,' eating away strength, and
inflicting disfigurement and torture.
Then come a pair of verses describing the inward and outward work of
the two kinds of men as these affect others. The former verses dealt
with their effects on the actors; the present, with their bearing on
others. Inwardly, the good man has thoughts which scrupulously keep
the balance true and are just to his fellows, while the wicked plans
to deceive for his own profit. When thoughts are translated into
speech, deceit bears fruit in words which are like ambushes of
murderers, laying traps to destroy, while the righteous man's words
are like angels of deliverance to the unsuspecting who are ready to
fall into the snare. Selfishness, which is the root of wickedness,
will be cruelty and injustice when necessary for its ends. The man who
is wise because God is his centre and aim will be merciful and
helpful. The basis of philanthropy is religion. The solemn importance
attached to speech is observable. Words can slay as truly as swords.
Now that the press has multiplied the power of speech, and the world
is buzzing with the clatter of tongues, we all need to lay to heart
the responsibilities and magic power of spoken and printed words, and
'to set a watch on the door of our lips.'
Then follow a couple of verses dealing with the consequences to men
themselves of their contrasted characters. The first of these (verse
7) recurs to the thought of verse 3, but with a difference. Not only
the righteous himself, but his house, shall be established. The
solidarity of the family and the entail of goodness are strongly
insisted on in the Old Testament, though limitations are fully
recognised. If a good man's son continues his father's character, he
will prolong his father's blessings; and in normal conditions, a
parent's wisdom passes on to his children. Something is wrong when, as
is so often the case, it does not; and it is not always the children's
fault.
The overthrow of the wicked is set in striking contrast with their
plots to overthrow others. Their mischief comes back, like an
Australian boomerang, to the hand that flings it; and contrariwise,
delivering others is a sure way of establishing one's self. Exceptions
there are, for the world-scheme is too complicated to be condensed
into a formula; but all proverbs speak of the average usual results of
virtue and vice, and those of this book do the same. Verse 8 asserts
that, on the whole, honour attends goodness, and contempt wickedness.
Of course, companions in dissipation extol each other's vices, and
launch the old threadbare sneers at goodness. But if wisdom were not
set uppermost in men's secret judgment, there would be no hypocrites,
and their existence proves the truth of the proverb.
Verse 9 seems suggested by 'despised' in verse 8. There are two kinds
of contempt--one which brands sin deservedly, one which vulgarly
despises everybody who is not rich. A man need not mind, though his
modest household is treated with contempt, if quiet righteousness
reigns in it. It is better to be contented with little, and humble in
a lowly place, than to be proud and hungry, as many were in the
writer's time and since. A foolish world set on wealth may despise,
but its contempt breaks no bones. Self-conceit is poor diet.
This seems to be the first of a little cluster of proverbs bearing on
domestic life. It prefers modest mediocrity of station, such as Agur
desired. Its successor shows how the contrasted qualities come out in
the two men's relation to their domestic animals. Goodness sweeps a
wide circle touching the throne of God and the stall of the cattle. It
was not Coleridge who found out that 'He prayeth best who loveth best'
but this old proverb-maker; and he could speak the thought without the
poet's exaggeration, which robs his expression of it of half its
value. The original says 'knoweth the soul' which may indeed mean,
'regardeth the life' but rather seems to suggest sympathetic interest
in leading to an understanding of the dumb creature, which must
precede all wise care for its well-being. It is a part of religion to
try to enter into the mysterious feelings of our humble dependants in
farmyard and stable. On the other hand, for want of such sympathetic
interest, even when the 'wicked' means to be kind, he does harm; or
the word rendered 'tender mercies' may here mean the feelings
(literally, 'bowels') which, in their intense selfishness, are cruel
even to animals.
Verse 11 has no connection with the preceding, unless the link is
common reference to home life and business. It contrasts the sure
results of honest industry with the folly of speculation. The Revised
Version margin 'vain things' is better than the text 'vain persons,'
which would give no antithesis to the patient tilling of the first
clause. That verse would make an admirable motto to be stretched
across the Stock Exchange, and like places on both sides of the
Atlantic. How many ruined homes and heart-broken wives witness in
America and England to its truth! The vulgar English proverb, 'What
comes over the Devil's back goes under his belly,' says the same
thing. The only way to get honest wealth is to work for it. Gambling
in all its forms is rank folly.
So the next proverb (verse 12) continues the same thought, and puts it
in a somewhat difficult phrase. It goes a little deeper than the
former, showing that the covetousness which follows after vain things,
is really wicked lusting for unrighteous gain. 'The net of evildoers'
is better taken as in the margin (Rev. Ver.) 'prey' or 'spoil,' and
the meaning seems to be as just stated. Such hankering for riches, no
matter how obtained, or such envying of the booty which admittedly has
been won by roguery, is a mark of the wicked. How many professing
church members have known that feeling in thinking of the millions of
some railway king! Would they like the proverb to be applied to them?
The contrast to this is 'the root of the righteous yields fruit,' or
'shoots forth,' We have heard (verse 3) that it shall never be moved,
being fixed in God; now we are told that it will produce all that is
needful. A life rooted in God will unfold into all necessary good,
which will be better than the spoil of the wicked. There are two ways
of getting on--to struggle and fight and trample down rivals; one, to
keep near God and wait for him. 'Ye fight and war; ye have not,
because ye ask not.'
The next two proverbs have in common a reference to the effect of
speech upon the speaker. 'In the transgression of the lips is an evil
snare'; that is, sinful words ensnare their utterer, and whoever else
he harms, he himself is harmed most. The reflex influence on character
of our utterances is not present to us, as it should be. They leave
stains on lips and heart. Thoughts expressed are more definite and
permanent thereby. A vicious thought clothed in speech has new power
over the speaker. If we would escape from that danger, we must
_be_ righteous, and _speak_ righteousness; and then the same
cause will deepen our convictions of 'whatsoever things are lovely and
of good report.'
Verse 14 insists on this opposite side of the truth. Good words will
bring forth fruit, which will satisfy the speaker, because, whatever
effects his words may have on others, they will leave strengthened
goodness and love of it in himself. 'If the house be worthy, your
peace shall rest upon it; if not, it shall return to you again.' That
reaction of words on oneself is but one case of the universal law of
consequences coming back on us. We are the architects of our own
destinies. Every deed has an immortal life, and returns, either like a
raven or a dove, to the man who sent it out on its flight. It comes
back either croaking with blood on its beak, or cooing with an olive
branch in its mouth. All life is at once sowing and reaping. A harvest
comes in which retribution will be even more entire and accurate.
The last proverb of the passage gives a familiar antithesis, and
partially returns to the thought of verse 1. The fool has no standard
of conduct but his own notions, and is absurdly complacent as to all
his doings. The wise seeks better guidance than his own, and is
docile, because he is not so ridiculously sure of his infallibility.
No type of weak wickedness is more abominable to the proverbialist
than that of pert self-conceit, which knows so little that it thinks
it knows everything, and is 'as untameable as a fly.' But in the
wisest sense, it is true that a mark of folly is
self-opinionativeness; that a man who has himself for teacher has a
fool for scholar; that the test of wisdom is willingness to be taught;
and, especially, that to bring a docile, humble spirit to the Source
of all wisdom, and to ask counsel of God, is the beginning of true
insight, and that the self-sufficiency which is the essence of sin, is
never more fatal than when it is ignorant of guilt, and therefore
spurns a Saviour.