CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. With+ a stranger, rather, "for" a stranger.
+3. When thou art come,+ rather, "for thou hast come." +Humble
thyself,+ literally "let thyself be trodden under foot." +Make sure,+
"importune," "urge." +11. One that travelleth,+ "a highwayman," "a
footpad." +Armed man,+ literally, "a man of the shield." +12. A
naughty person,+ "a worthless man." +13. Teacheth,+ "motions."
+14. Frowardness,+ "perverseness." +16.+ Six, yea, seven. "A peculiar
proverbial form, for which Arabic and Persian gnomic literature
supply numerous illustrations." Elster probably gives the simplest
and most correct explanation, deriving it "purely from the exigencies
of parallelism." "The form of parallelism could not, on account of
harmony, be sacrificed in any verse. But how should a parallel be
found for a number? Since it was not any definite number that was the
important thing, relief was found by taking one of the next adjacent
numbers as the parallel to that which was chiefly in mind" (_Lange's
Commentary_). +17. A proud look,+ literally, "haughty eyes."
+21. Continually,+ "for evermore." +22.+ _Lange's Commentary_
translates into the imperative form, "+let+ it lead thee," etc.
+24. Evil woman,+ literally "the woman of evil." +26.+ Last clause
means "an adulteress allures to that which may cost a man his life"
(_Stuart_). +30. Despise.+ Some translators render this word "scorn,"
others "disregard." Stuart, Wordsworth, and others adopt the former
and understand the words to mean "men do not despise the thief, they
do despise the adulterer." Noyse and others, adopting the latter
rendering, take the sentence to mean "men punish even a thief, how
much more an adulterer." +32.+ Last clause, literally "Whoso will
destroy his life, he does it." +34. Jealousy,+ _i.e._, of the injured
husband.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-5.
SELF-IMPOSED BONDAGE.
+I. Man's highest glory may become the chief instrument of his
trouble.+ The human tongue, or rather the power of speech, is a gift
that stands preeminent among the good gifts of God to His creatures.
It is man's most potent instrument of good or evil. The tongue of the
statesman, when used wisely, may bring blessings on millions, but
when it is made the tool of ambition it may entail misery upon
generations. The tongue of a Christian, when used wisely, may be the
means of bringing others into the way of life, but his unguarded
words may be a stumbling-block in the way of many. The warning of the
text reminds us that when the tongue is not kept in check by reason
and consideration the glory becomes the means of ensnaring the whole
man. The horse is a most useful servant to man, but the creature must
be under proper control or he may be the means of inflicting the most
serious injury upon his rider. If the rudder of a vessel is left to
the guidance of the waves, the vessel is very likely to find herself
upon the rocks. So with the tongue of man, it must be under the
control of reason or it may bring its owner into danger and disgrace.
When a man binds himself by solemn promises to a stranger of whose
character he must be ignorant, he is very likely to involve himself
and those dependent on him in much trouble, and perhaps in dishonour.
A promise hastily made without due consideration of the consequences
has often entailed upon a man years of suffering.
+II. The same instrument which, thoughtlessly used, brings a man into
a snare, may, when rightly guided, be the means of his deliverance.+
The promise made by Herod to Herodias (Matt. xiv. 7) was one which
ought never to have been made. The king was ensnared by allowing his
tongue to utter rash words, of which even _he_ upon reflection
repented. In his case, without doubt, it would have been a much less
sin to have broken his promise than to keep it. But in the case
before us, the advice given by Solomon to his pupil is, not to break
his word, but to use the same instrument by which he bound himself,
to obtain, if possible, a release. This he is to do--1. _By means
purely moral._ There are other means which a man might try. He might
use threatening; he might employ falsehood; but these would be
sinful. The only lawful means are those here implied, viz., words of
persuasion and entreaty. 2. _Without delay._ He must endeavour to
rectify his error at once; every day that passes over his head may be
bringing nearer the day when he may be called upon to redeem his
promise, and so he is to give "no sleep to his eyes nor slumber to
his eyelids."
+III. This advice is to be followed as a matter of duty.+ The man who
has acted imprudently is bound to endeavour to deliver himself by
lawful means. He is not to allow pride to hinder him (ver. 3). He is
bound to try and prevent his life from being marred in the
future--perhaps to its very close. For a man who is fettered by a
promise which ought never to have been made, is like a creature born
to enjoy freedom who has been taken captive by the hunter or the
fowler. And as it is more than lawful for the roe or the bird (ver.
5) to try to regain its freedom, so is it the duty of man to use all
right means to the same end.
_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 1.
The custom of striking hands at the conclusion of a bargain has
maintained its ground among the customs of civilised nations down to
the present time. To strike hands with another was the emblem of
agreement among the Greeks under the walls of Troy, for Nestor
complains, in a public assembly of the chiefs, that the Trojans had
violated the engagements which they had sanctioned by libations of
wine and by giving their right hands. (Iliad, Book II. i. 341, see
also Book IV. i. 139). The Roman faith was plighted in the same way;
for in Virgil, when Dido marked from her watchtowers the Trojan fleet
setting forward with balanced sails, she exclaimed, "Is this the
honour, the faith, _En dextra fidesque?_" Another striking instance
is quoted by Calmet from Ockley's _History of the Saracens._ Telha,
just before he died, asked one of Ali's men if he belonged to the
Emperor of the Faithful, and being informed that he did, "Give me,
then," said he, "your hand, that I may put mine into it, and by this
action renew the oath of fidelity I have already made to him."
(Calmet, vol. iii). See also Job xvii. 3; 2 Kings x. 15.--_Paxton's
Illustrations of Scripture._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 1. The two characters are carefully distinguished. 1. The
companion, on whose behalf the young man pledges himself. 2. The
stranger, probably the Phœnician money-lender, to whom he makes
himself responsible.--_Plumptre._
God graciously directs our temporal affairs by His providence, and
condescends, in His word, to give us instructions concerning them. If
we regard not these, we need not be surprised though His providence
convince us, by dear-bought experience, of our folly and
sin.--_Lawson._
The son has just been warned against the deadly wound of a stranger.
He is now cautioned against a hurt from in imprudent friend. . . .
Our God, while he warns against _suretyship,_ has taken it upon
Himself. He has given His word, His bond--yea, His blood--for
sinners: a security that no powers of hell can shake.--_Bridges._
Solomon, on different occasions, condemns the practice of suretyship.
This condemnation is general. It does not follow, however, that what
he says is to be taken as an unqualified prohibition, to which there
are no circumstances that can constitute an exception. . . . There
are cases in which it is unavoidable; and there are cases in which
the law requires it; and there are cases in which it is not only in
consistence with law, but required by all the claims of prudence,
justice, and charity. These, however, are rare. And it may be laid
down as a maxim regarding the transactions of business, and all the
mutual dealings of man with man, that _the less of it the better_. In
such cases as the following, it is manifestly inadmissible, and may
even, in some instances, involve a large amount of moral turpitude.
+I. It is wrong for a man to come under engagements that are beyond
his actually existing means.+ Such a course is not merely of
imprudence, but there is in it a _threefold injustice._ First, to the
creditor for whom he becomes surety. Secondly, to his family, if he
has one, to whom the requisition of payment must bring distress and
ruin. Thirdly, to those who give him credit in his own transactions,
with the risks of his own trade. +II. The same observations are
applicable to the making of engagements with inconsideration and
rashness.+ The case here supposed is evidently that of suretyship
_for_ a friend _to_ a _stranger._ And the rashness may be viewed
either in relation to the _person_ or to the _case._--_Wardlaw._
It may at first excite surprise that Solomon should have thought it
needful to dwell so much as he does in the Proverbs on the evil of
suretyship (xi. 15; xvii. 18; xx. 16; xxii. 26; xxvii. 13), and that
in his lessons of moral prudence he should assign the first place to
cautions against it. The reason is probably to be found in the
peculiar circumstances under which the Proverbs were written, and the
special design of the author in writing them; although, doubtless,
Solomon had a general and universal purpose in composing them, and
the Holy Spirit, who employed his instrumentality in the work, looked
far beyond Solomon and his times, and extended his view to all ages
and nations of the world. . . . But the occasion which gave rise to
the writing of the Proverbs was a personal and national one. Many
strangers resorted to Jerusalem in the days of Solomon from all parts
of the civilised world, for the purpose of commerce and trade.
Borrowing and lending money was much in vogue; and many shrewd and
crafty adventurers speculated on the credulity of rich capitalists.
Solomon addresses his _son_ Rehoboam (ver. 3). He was born before his
father's accession to the throne, and Solomon reigned forty years. We
hear nothing of him until his ripe maturity, and then we are told of
an act of egregious folly. It was evident he was just the person to
be the dupe of licentious spendthrifts and griping usurers. The
courtly parasite who desired to find means for paying his own debts,
or indulging his own vices, and the avaricious money-lender, would
find a victim in the princely heir to the throne, whom they would
flatter with eulogies on his generosity, and would puff up with proud
notions of the exhaustless wealth to which he was the
aspirant.--_Wordsworth._
Verse 2. In the passage before us the warning is not so much against
suretyship in general as merely against the imprudent assumption of
such obligations, leaving out of account the moral unreliableness of
the man involved; and the counsel is to the quickest possible release
from every obligation of this kind that may have been hastily
assumed. With the admonitions of our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount,
to be ready at all times for the lending and giving away of one's
property, even in cases where one cannot hope for the recovery of
what has been given out (Luke vi. 30-36: comp. with 1 Cor. vi. 7),
this demand is not in conflict. For Christ also plainly demands no
such readiness to suffer loss on account of our neighbour, as would
deprive us of personal liberty, and rob us of all means of further
beneficence.--_Lange's Commentary._
For bills and obligations do mancipate the most free and ingenuous
spirit, and so put a man out of aim that he can neither serve God
without distraction nor do good to others, nor set his own state in
any good order, but lives and dies entangled and puzzled with cares
and snares; and after a tedious and labourious life passed in a
circle of fretting thoughts, he leaves at last, instead of better
patrimony, a world of intricate troubles to his posterity, who are
also taken "with the words of his mouth."--_Trapp._
Verse 3. This appeal is not, obviously, to the bond-giver, who has
seduced us to endorse him, and is as helpless as we to get anybody
off; but the bond-holder, for a securityship is to beg off in the
most unspeakable abjectness, and to press and to urge the credit to
release our name. Now, I say, this is not _simpliciter_, the gist of
the inspiration. But if we introduce the Gospel; if we see in this a
great picture of our guilt; if we see in the bond-holder the Friend
to whom we are to appeal; if we see in the bond-giver sin in all the
seductive forms in which it has come down to us from the original
transgressor; if the grip of the suretyship is the law, and the form
of the law is the broken covenant; if the act of our "striking hands"
is the way we have accepted the curse of Adam, and the way we have
volunteered under this _stranger's_ burdens, then the whole passage
becomes complete, and we are ready for the appeal, "Go, humble
thyself," &c. That is the very Gospel.--_Miller._
St. Gregory, Bede, and other ancient expositors, apply these
injunctions in a spiritual sense. "To be a surety for a friend is to
take upon thee the charge of looking to another's soul," says St.
Gregory, who also, reading the latter clause of the verse in the
sense of _"urging"_ and _"importuning"_ (see Critical Notes),
explains it thus: "Whosoever is set before others for an example of
their living is admonished, not only to watch himself, but to rouse
up his friend: for it sufficeth not that he doth watch well, if he do
not rouse him also over whom he is set from the drowsiness of sin."
Verse 4. Has this precept any connection with our spiritual
interests? It has. It is a part of the eighth commandment, and though
men regard it rather as a loss than as a sin to endanger their
outward estate, it is both a sin and a temptation. Men who once
seemed upright in their dealings have brought reproach upon religion
by living and dying in other men's debt, and by having recourse to
unjustifiable methods, suggested by distress, to relieve themselves.
The effect of suretyship, even with the most upright men, has often
proved hurtful to their souls, embittering their days, and unfitting
them for the cheerful service of religion. We are the servants of
Christ, and must not disqualify ourselves for His service by making
ourselves needlessly the servants of men.--_Lawson._
Verse 5. It is evident, however, that the language implies, If, with
all your efforts, you are unsuccessful in obtaining your discharge
you must stand to your engagement. Treachery would be a much greater
loss in character.--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 6-11.
INDUSTRY AND INDOLENCE.
A contrast. +I. The industrious insect.+ 1. _Nature is intended to be
a moral teacher to man._ The most saintly natures of ancient and
modern times have regarded God's works in this light, and God Himself
has led the van in so often pointing man to animate and inanimate
Nature for instruction and comfort. He first announced this truth
when He said to Noah, "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be
a token of a covenant between Me and the earth" (Gen. ix. 13). This
is the first record of the enlistment of Nature as a helper to the
human soul, the first recorded instance of God's pointing out to man
what He intended all natural objects to become to his spiritual
nature. Here the son of Solomon is exhorted to gain instruction--to
be stirred up to a sense of duty--from a study of one of God's
inferior creatures. _2. Nature becomes the instructor of those only
who consider her ways._ The existence, within a man's reach, of the
most beautiful painting in the world will be of no advantage to him
unless he studies it. It is only as he _considers_ it that it will
convey to him the thought of the painter. The works of God are within
the reach of men, but they must be looked at and _considered_ if they
are to be to him what God intended them to be. God placed the bow in
the cloud and the tiny ant upon the ground to be subjects of
meditation. The Psalmist _considered_ the heavens before he was moved
with a sense of his own littleness and God's majesty (Psalm viii.).
Solomon's precept is, "Consider the ant." 3. _The lessons which are
to be learned from the study of the ant._ Industry, improvement of
opportunities, and individual action. The amount of work done by this
insignificant insect ought to be enough to shame an indolent man into
activity. Her care in embracing present opportunities is a loud
rebuke to those who would put off until to-morrow what, perhaps, can
only be done to-day. She says, by her diligent use of present hours,
"I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night
cometh, when no man can work" (John ix. 4). Especially her individual
effort is held up as worthy of imitation (ver. 7). While some men
wait for another to take the initiative, to clear the path for them,
she puts forth her own individual effort without guide, overseer, or
ruler. Each man must do his own work in the world, each one has
responsibilities of his own which will not admit of being discharged
by proxy. He must find out his individual duty, and not try to shift
the burden upon the shoulders of another, or wait for another to go
before him in the way.
+II. The indolent man.+ 1. _He does the right thing at the wrong
time, or indulges to excess in a gift of God which is intended to be
used in moderation._ Sleep is one of God's most precious gifts to man
in his present condition. It is a necessity of human nature. The
prophet Elijah had an angel of God to watch over him while he slept.
God saw that it was the medicine he most needed in that hour of
bodily fatigue and mental depression. But if he had been sleeping at
the hour of evening sacrifice, when the nation had to choose between
God and Baal on Mount Carmel, he would have been guilty of a great
sin against himself, his nation, and his God. Israel was promised the
land of rest after they had fought their way through the desert. Rest
is the reward of labour and not to be substituted for it. And
although intervals of rest are necessary and right, life is meant for
work, and the motto of every man ought to be that of the famous
coadjutor of the great William of Orange, St. Aldegonde, "Repos
ailleurs" (rest elsewhere). The sin of the sluggard is the abuse of a
great blessing, the doing of a right thing at the wrong time. 2. _The
consequence of such conduct._ This can be abundantly illustrated from
human experience. If the farmer rests when, regardless of cold and
storm, he ought to be ploughing or sowing, poverty will be coming
upon him when his barns ought to be filled with plenty. The man who
lets slip his spiritual opportunities through soul-indolence, will
find himself in a state of soul-poverty at the end of life. When he
ought to be reaping an abundant harvest of soul-satisfaction from a
life whose energies have been used to bless himself and others, he
will find himself in a state of soul-destitution. The rich man said
to his soul, "Take thine ease," when he ought to have aroused it to
prepare for the future which was coming up to meet him. But for the
neglect of this God branded him as a "fool" (Luke xii. 20).
_ILLUSTRATIONS OF VERSES_ 6-8.
When I began to employ workmen in this country, nothing annoyed me
more than the necessity to hire also an _overseer,_ or to fulfil this
office myself. But I soon found this was universal, and strictly
necessary. Without an overseer very little work would be done, and
nothing as it should be. The workmen will not work at all unless kept
to it and directed in it by an overseer who is himself a perfect
specimen of laziness. He does absolutely nothing but smoke his pipe,
order this, scold that one, discuss the how and the why with the men
themselves, or with idle passers-by. This overseeing often costs more
than the work overseen. Now the ants manage far better. Every one
attends to his own business and does it well. In another respect
these provident creatures read a very necessary lesson to Orientals.
In all warm climates there is a ruinous want of calculation and
forecast. Having enough for the current day, men are reckless as to
the future. . . . Now the ant "provideth her meat in summer." All
summer long, and especially in harvest, every denizen of their
populous habitation is busy. As we ride or walk over the grassy
plains, we notice paths leading to their subterranean granaries; at
first broad, clean and smooth, like roads near a city, but constantly
branching off into smaller and less distinct, until they disappear in
the herbage of the plain. Along these converging paths hurry
thousands of ants, thickening inward until it becomes an unbroken
column of busy beings going in search of or returning with their
food. I read lately, in a work of some pretension, that ants do not
carry away wheat or barley. This was by way of comment on Prov.
vi. 8. Tell it to these farmers, and they will laugh at you. Ants are
the greatest robbers in the land. Leave a bushel of wheat in the
vicinity of one of their subterranean cities, and in a surprisingly
short time the whole commonwealth will be summoned to plunder. A
broad, black column stretches from the wheat to the hole, and, as if
by magic, every grain seems to be accommodated with legs, and walks
off in a hurry along the moving column.--_Thompson's Land and the
Book._
Solomon's lesson to the sluggard has been generally adduced as a
strong confirmation of the ancient opinion, that ants have a magazine
of provisions for winter; it can, however, only relate to the species
of a warm climate, the habits of which are probably different from
those of a cold one; so that his words, as commonly interpreted, may
be perfectly correct and consistent with Nature, and yet be not at
all applicable to the species that are indigenous to Europe. But
Solomon does not affirm that the ant laid up in her cell stores of
grain, but that she gathers her food when it is most plentiful, and
thus shows her wisdom and prudence. The words thus interpreted will
apply to the species among us, as well as to those that are not
indigenous.--_Kirby and Spence's Entomology._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 6. We may _infer_ Rehoboam's character from such exhortations
as these. And these and following precepts derive much interest from
what we have reason to believe was his character. His position bore
some resemblance to that of our own Charles II., at the voluptuous
court of Versailles, before his accession to the throne, and the
character of the one was in some respects similar to that of the
other. The unhappy example of his own father Solomon, in his old age,
was more potent for evil than the precepts of the Proverbs were for
good. At the age of forty-one Rehoboam was a feeble libertine. The
warnings of the _Icón Basiliké_ fell flat on the ears of the royal
author's own son, and Rehoboam derived little benefit from the book
of Proverbs.--_Wordsworth._
Verses 6 to 8. Our whole present life is the time for action; the
future for retribution, which shall be ushered in by the judgment:
the latter is the harvest (Matt. xxv. 3, 4).--_Fausset._
How is man degenerated from the nobility of his creation, that an
insect must be a pattern unto him. He that goes well without a guide
is fit to be a guide, he that does well without an overseer is fit to
be an overseer, he that orders himself well without a ruler is fit to
be a ruler. Let the ant, therefore, be a guide unto the sluggard, and
teach him to guide himself, who guides herself so carefully. Let the
ant be his overseer, which he sees to overgo himself so much in pains
and labour. Let the ant be his ruler, and by her example command him
to work which rules herself so well in working.--_Jermin._
First, as the ant in summer gathereth whereupon to live in winter, so
every Christian in a time of quietness should gather out of God's
word, that in trouble and adversity he may have wherewith to live
spiritually. Secondly, we ought to labour by the example of the ant,
that we get the fruit of good works, in the harvest of this present
life, so sedulously and diligently, that in the time of winter and
judgment we perish not with hunger.--_St. Augustine._
These precepts have a spiritual meaning and are to be applied to the
soil of the heart and mind. As Bede says here, "The present life is
compared to summer and harvest, because now, in the heat of trials,
we must reap and lay up for the future, and the day of death and
judgment is the winter for which we must prepare, and when there is
no more any time for preparation."--_Wordsworth._
Man, that was once the captain of God's school, is now, for his
truantliness, turned down into the lowest form, as it were to learn
his A B C again; yea to be taught by these meanest creatures. . . .
Let no man here object that word of our Saviour, "Take no thought for
the morrow." There is a care of _diligence,_ and a care of
_diffidence;_ a care of the head and a care of the heart; the former
is needful, the latter sinful.--_Trapp._
Verse 9. Much more loudly would we call to the spiritual
sluggard--thou that art sleeping away the opportunities of grace; not
"striving to enter in at the strait gate" (Luke xiii. 24); taking thy
salvation for granted; hoping that thou shalt "reap where thou has
not sown, and gather where thou hast not strawed" (Matt. xxv. 26);
improve, after this pattern, the summer and harvest season--the time
of youth, the present, perhaps the only moment. _The ant hath no
guide._ How many guides have you?--conscience, the Bible, ministers!
_She has no overseer._ You are living before Him "whose eyes are a
flame of fire." _She has no ruler_ calling her to account. "Every one
of us must give account of himself to God."--_Bridges._
Epaminondas, finding one of his sentinels asleep, thrust him through
with his sword; and, being chidden for so great severity, replied, "I
left him but as I found him." It must be our care that death serve us
not in like sort, that we be not taken napping. . . . Our Saviour was
up and at prayer "a great while before day" (Mark i. 45). The holy
angels are styled "watchers" (Dan. iv. 10), and they are three times
pronounced happy that _watch_ (Luke xii. 37, 38, 43).--_Trapp._
Verse 11. Two things are denoted in this imagery. 1. That idleness
will _quickly_ bring poverty. 2. That it will come as a
_destroyer._--_Stuart._
I look upon indolence as a sort of suicide, for the man is
effectually destroyed, though the appetite of the brute may
survive.--_Lord Chesterfield._
God will not support thee without work, but by work, that is His holy
ordinance (Gen. iii. 19): Do thy part, and God will do His.--_Egard._
A most dreadful simile! One who has waited for a fight knows how
slowly the armed men seem to come up. They may be hours passing the
intervening space. There is no sound of them. They are not on the
roads, or on the air, either in sight or echo; and yet they are
_coming on!_ The intervening time is the sluggard's sleeping time;
and it seems an age. But his want will come. . . . All slothfulness
is, no doubt, rebuked; but especially that which has all heaven for
its garnered stores; all hell for its experience of want; all time
for its season of neglect; and all eternity to break upon its
sleep.--_Miller._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 12-19.
A STUDENT OF INIQUITY.
+I.+ We have in these words a picture of a man so wicked that he
makes it his study how to commit sin. The sin of many men, perhaps of
most men, arises from thoughtlessness, weakness, or slothfulness (see
verses 9, 10), but there are others who make sin their business, and
apply themselves to it with as much diligence as the merchant gives
to his trade, or the man of letters to his pursuit of knowledge. "He
deviseth mischief" (verse 14), "his heart deviseth wicked
imaginations" (verse 18). 1. _Those who wish to compass any
particular end must think upon the means by which they can accomplish
it._ Progression in iniquity is not always accomplished without
thought, and wicked men have to plan much and think deeply sometimes
before their malicious devices are ripe for execution. The thief has
to study his profession before he can become an accomplished burglar.
The sharper must spend much time in acquiring the skill by which he
preys upon less experienced gamblers. The murderer must ponder deeply
how he is to do his bloody deed without detection. It cost Haman a
good deal of thinking before he could devise a scheme likely to
injure Mordecai. The chief priests and scribes held many
consultations before they compass the death of Christ (Mark xi. 18,
xiv. 1-55, etc.). The wicked man of the text is a student of ways and
means. 2. _He is constant in his studies._ If a man professes to make
any branch of knowledge his particular study and only applies himself
to it by fits and starts, we know he is not much in earnest about it,
but if he is constant in his application, he demonstrates by his
perseverance that he intends, if possible, to excel. The wicked man
here pictured by Solomon has made up his mind not to fail through
lack of continuous application, "he deviseth mischief _continually_"
(ver. 14). If one plan fails, he begins to form another; when one
scheme has brought the desired end, he at once sets to work at a
fresh one; as a natural consequence--3. _He makes progress,_ "he
walks with a froward mouth" (ver. 12), his feet become "swift in
running to mischief" (ver. 18). The man who is always in the practice
of any art can hardly stand still in it. He can hardly fail to become
more and more of an adept. He sees where he might have done better
yesterday and supplies the deficiency next time. And this is true of
the work of wickedness as of any other work, "practice makes
perfect." There are men, for instance, who from constant practice
"lie like truth." The more the man studies how to injure his
fellow-creatures, the more easily he can plan; the oftener he plans,
the easier he finds it. 4. _In order to carry out his designs he
invents an original language_ (ver. 13) There is no member of the
body which cannot become a medium to convey thought. The eye is very
eloquent in this work, the hand, the lip, the finger, the whole body
may do this to some extent, and are sometimes blessedly so employed
when affliction has shut out our fellow-man from hearing the human
voice, but this man of wickedness makes his whole body a medium for
the conveyance of his evil plans and desires. He yields his "members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin" (Rom. vi. 13). The common
every-day language of outspoken honest men will not do to convey his
thoughts, because his thoughts are against the welfare of his fellow
creatures. This compels him to use a language which is comprehended
only by those who are like himself. The eye can be used in this way
as a more safe and swift instrument than the tongue. A look may
embody a thought that would need many words to express. The glance of
one wicked man to another has often been the sentence of death to
many. And so, in a less degree, perhaps, with the foot and the hand,
as Matthew Henry says, "Those whom he makes use of as the tools of
his wickedness understand the ill meaning of a wink of his eye, a
stamp of his feet, the least motion of his fingers. He gives orders
for evil-doing, and yet would not be thought to do so, but has ways
of concealing what he does, so that he may not be suspected."
+II. The end of such a man.+ (Verse 15.) 1. _His very success will
bring his ruin._ The man who makes it the business of his life to lay
plans against the comfort of his fellow-creatures may succeed for a
time, but by-and-by he will find himself so famous, or infamous, that
a reward may be offered for his person, and his very success in
deceiving others in the past will possibly so throw him off his guard
as to make him an easy prey to those who now lie in wait to bring him
to justice. But if he escape the messenger of human retribution, he
is sure of the Divine Nemesis. God's law and the universe are against
him. In sowing discord in the world, he has sowed destruction for
himself, and he must reap it. However cleverly he may have outwitted
his fellow-men, he has not deceived God, and _His_ law is that
"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Ephes. vi. 7).
2. _The punishment will come when least expected._ "Suddenly shall he
be broken" (verse 15). The thief makes it his study to find an
entrance into his victim's house when he least expects him, and he
finds himself one day repaid in his own coin. When he is enjoying his
fancied security an officer of justice visits him, and suddenly he is
summoned to answer for his crimes. This we find is generally the case
with retribution; it not only comes certainly, but at a time when it
is least looked for. 3. _His ruin will be complete._ "He shall be
broken without remedy" (verse 15). The crime of murder is regarded by
our code of law as one which deserves the extremest penalty which man
can inflict upon man. The murderer, as a rule, is visited with a
punishment which, so far as his earthly existence goes, cuts off all
hope for the future. The man who is pictured to us in these verses is
one who appears to have completed his character as a sinner. The
number seven is often used in Scripture to denote
perfection--completion; and this student of iniquity appears to have
succeeded so well in his studies that there is no vice which is not
found in one of the seven things which go to make up his character.
His pride leads him to refuse God's yoke, and to carve out for
himself a way without reference to the will of Him in whom he lives
and moves. But his lying tongue betrays a sense of weakness. He fears
that his plans, though so skilfully laid, may not succeed, and
therefore he has recourse to deception to help him out with them. And
so cruel is he that he shrinks from no misery that he may bring upon
others in the furtherance of his own designs; neither the character
nor the life of his victims is spared. He is "a false witness that
speaketh lies and soweth discord," his "hands shed innocent blood."
For so diseased a member of the body politic there seems nothing left
but amputation. So complete a sinner must suffer a complete ruin.
_Finally,_ that such a character should be an abomination to the Lord
(verse 16) is most natural, if we consider how entirely it is at
variance with what God is Himself. Like seeks and loves like. The
musical soul seeks and delights in those who love music. The
courageous Jonathan delights in the courageous David. God is humble.
He makes a right estimate of Himself and others. This is true
humility. "Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,
who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in
the earth"? (Psa. cxiii. 5, 6). How great a contrast is He in this
respect to the man of "proud look"? God is a "God of truth" (Psa.
xxxi. 5), it is a blessed impossibility with Him to lie (Titus i. 2).
How can He do other than abominate a "lying tongue"? He is the
Saviour of men (1 Tim. iv. 10); this sinner seeks to destroy them. He
is the Author of peace and the lover of concord; this man's aim has
been to "sow discord" even "among brethren."
_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 13.
It should be remembered that, in the East, when people are in the
house they do not wear sandals, consequently their feet and toes are
exposed. When guests wish to speak so as not to be observed by the
host, they convey their meaning by the feet and toes. Does a person
wish to leave the room in company with another? he lifts up one of
his feet; and should the other refuse, he also lifts up a foot and
suddenly puts it down again. When merchants wish to make a bargain
with others without making known their terms, they sit on the ground,
have a piece of cloth thrown over the lap, and then put a hand under,
and thus speak with their fingers. When the Brahmins convey religious
mysteries to their disciples, they teach with their fingers, having
the hands concealed in the folds of their robe.--_Roberts, in
Biblical Treasury._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 12. He who is nobody in deeds is often strong in words. He
whose hands are idle has a tongue anything but idle; and he tries by
words suited to men's humours to win that favour which he cannot by
deeds.--_Cartwright._
"Walketh" implies _progress_ in _evil,_ as the tendency of all sin is
to grow more and more inveterate.--_Fausset._
Every idle man is a "naughty" man; _is_, or ere long, _will be_, for
by doing nothing men learn to do evil. And "thou wicked and slothful
servant," saith our Saviour (Matt. xxv. 26). He putteth no difference
between the idle person and the wicked person. The devil will not
long suffer such an one to be idle, but will soon set him to work.
Idleness is the hour of temptation.--_Trapp._
Verse 13. He conveys his meanings, and carries on his scheme, and
promotes his ends, in every sly, covert, unexpected way.--_Wardlaw._
Not speech only, but all other means by which man holds intercourse
with man, are turned to instruments of fraud and falsehood. The wink
which tells the accomplice that the victim is already snared, the
gestures with foot and hand, half of deceit, half of mockery--these
would betray him to anyone who was not blind.--_Plumptre._
Verse 14. The wise man had showed before the outward rivulets, now he
shows the inward fountain, a corrupt heart. This is added lest we
should think that only outward signs and gestures are evil. If
neither by outward signs nor gestures a wicked man dare express
himself, yet his heart is evil.--_Francis Taylor._
As the agriculturist applies himself wholly to the ploughing and
sowing of his land, so the froward gives himself wholly to iniquity,
seeking his harvest of gain, or of enjoyment of malignity, in
traducing or lying, or in praising with words whilst all the time
traducing by signs.--_Fausset._
Where frowardness soweth the field, what can grow but contentions
only? But these are first sown in the heart by mischievous devices,
and their being come to a ripeness, then are they gathered, and are
again sown in the outward actions of discord, one harvest serving to
bring on another until they bring the seedsman to the harvest of
destruction. The force of the verse is, that when wickedness is
silent outwardly, it is devising mischief inwardly, that it may
practice it the more abundantly.--_Jermin._
Verse 15. _Therefore_, if a thing be so ruinous; if it be a fountain
of sin; if it be sending forth corruption in such a manner as to
increase the mass of it, and never diminish it; if it be putting
forth causes of quarrel both with God and man, then that thing must
be crushed. We would expect a sharp, clean end. If it be a root, it
must be threaded to its very eye, and all the life of it must be
traced and crushed quite out of it in the soil.--_Miller._
The word "suddenly" shows the vanity of the sinner's hope that he
shall have the time or the gift of repentance (Job. xxi. 17, 18; Psa.
lxiii. 19).--_Fausset._
It were pity such a villain should go without his reward. The wise
man, therefore, doth not leave him without his judgment denounced,
and it is a grievous one. For he that spendeth time to devise
mischief shall not have time at last to devise help for the
preventing of his own sudden mischief. He that by plots maketh the
breaches of strife, shall at length be broken suddenly into pieces,
without hope of piecing himself together again. . . . Of Satan it is
said that he fell like lightning from heaven, the fall whereof is
most sudden, and so that it never riseth again. And so cometh the
calamity of malicious, froward hearts: such is the breaking fall of
their destruction.--_Jermin._
Verse 16. This, curtly, is a restatement of the picture just passed;
not exactly, but ripened a little, and advanced into a more mature
expression.--_Miller._
It is an evidence of the good-will God bears to mankind, that those
sins are in a special manner provoking to Him which are prejudicial
to the comfort of human life and society.--_Henry._
The things which God hateth are the things which the devil maketh. He
cannot be the author and hater of the same thing. And therefore it is
not man, but the wicked things in man, which God abhorreth, and
which, did not man love, God would still love man, although He hateth
them.--_Jermin._
Verse 17. A proud look or "lofty eyes" might seem to have little to
do with a "worthless man" (see Critical Notes on verse 12), but a man
is a man of emptiness solely because he is depending, in divers ways,
upon himself. Humility is the very first lesson towards salvation. A
man could not live a whole long life taking "a little more sleep" if
he was not arrogantly depending upon something within himself. "Hands
that shed innocent blood:" The movements of such a man are all
deadly. The amiable may be fairly stung by such rude speech, but the
wise man intends to imply that a deceived impenitence deceives and
festers all about it. The worldly father that misguides his son sheds
his blood. It is astonishing how much there is in the Bible of this
cruel language (Psa. v. 9; Isa. i. 21, &c.).--_Miller._
Verse 18. The heart underlies the seven vices which are an
abomination to God, and in the midst, because it is the fountain from
which evil flows in all directions.--_Starke._
Verse 19. If the heavenly "dew descends upon the brethren that dwell
together in unity" (Psa. cxxxiii.), a withering blast will fall on
those who, mistaking prejudice for principle, "cause divisions" for
their own selfish ends (Rom. xvi. 17, 18). If we cannot attain unity
of opinion, "perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the
same judgment" (1 Cor. i. 10), at least let us cultivate unity of
Spirit (Phil. iii. 16).--_Bridges._
Verses 12-19. As respects the arrangement in which the seven
manifestations of treacherous dealing are enumerated in verses 16-19,
it does not perfectly correspond with the order observed in verses
12-14. There the series is--mouth, eyes, feet, fingers, heart,
devising evil counsels, stirring up strifes; here it is eyes, tongue,
hands, heart, feet, speaking lies, instigating strife. With reference
to the organs which are named as the instruments in the first five
forms of treacherous wickedness, in the second enumeration an order
is adopted involving a regular descent; the base disposition to stir
up strife, or to let loose controversy in both cases ends the
series. . . . The six or seven vices, twice enumerated in different
order and form of expression, are, at the same time, all of them
manifestations of hatred against one's neighbour, or sins against the
second table of the Decalogue; yet it is not so much a general
unkindness as rather an unkindness consisting and displaying itself
in falseness and malice that is emphasised as their common element.
And only on account of the peculiarly mischievous and ruinous
character of just these sins of hatred to one's neighbour, is he who
is subject to them represented as an object of especially intense
abhorrence on the part of a holy God, and as threatened with the
strongest manifestations of His anger in penalties.--_Dr. Zöckler, in
Lange's Commentary._
Verses 16-19. There is one parallel well worthy of notice between the
seven cursed things here and the seven blessed things in the fifth
chapter of Matthew. In the Old Testament the things are set down in
the sterner form of what the Lord hates, like the "Thou shalt not" of
the Decalogue. In the New Testament the form is in accordance with
the gentleness of Christ. There we learn the good things that are
blessed, and are left to gather thence the opposite evils that are
cursed. But, making allowance for the difference in form, the first
and the last of the seven are identical in the two lists. "The Lord
hates a proud look" is precisely equivalent to "Blessed are the poor
in spirit;" and "He that soweth discord among brethren" is the exact
converse of the "peacemaker." The coincidence must be designed. When
Jesus was teaching His disciples on the Mount He seems to have had in
view the similar instructions that Solomon had formerly delivered,
and, while the teaching is substantially new, there is as much of
allusion to the ancient Scripture as to make it manifest that the
Great Teacher kept His eye upon the prophets, and sanctioned all
their testimony.--_Arnot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 20-23.
_On verses 20 and 21, see Homiletics on_ chap. i. 7-9, _and_ iv. 1-4.
THE LAW OF GOD'S WORD.
+I. The Divine law as a lamp.+ 1. _It is like a lamp because it is
portable._ A light that cannot be carried from place to place will be
useless to a man who has to find his way home in the dark on an
uneven road. Life is such a journey, and the commandment of the Lord
can be carried in man's memory and heart: "Thy Word have I hid in
mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psa. cxix. 11).
2. _Its existence declares that men need light from a source outside
themselves._ A man's eyes on a dark night are not sufficient to
enable him to find the right road. If he depends simply upon them he
will find that the "light within him is darkness" (Luke xi. 35). He
must have external help. The existence of God's revelation in the
world proves that man has not enough light within him to guide his
feet into the way of peace. His own spiritual perception will not
enable him to find his way through the night to eternal day. 3. _It
is in constant requisition._ The position and relation of our globe
to the sun makes it certain that night will constantly succeed the
day. And while the night continues to follow day the lamp will be
needed to illumine the darkness. The Divine lamp will never be out of
use while temptation, and doubt, and sin, and ignorance beset the
path of man, as certainly as the revolution of the globe brings the
night.
+II. The commandment as a guide.+ "When thou goest, it shall lead
thee" (verse 22). Where leading is promised ignorance is implied. The
man who trusts to another to guide him acknowledges by the act that
the guide knows more than he does. Scripture takes for granted that
man is ignorant. Its existence implies that man needs information and
direction concerning his life.
+III. The commandment as a guard.+ "When thou sleepest, it shall keep
thee." A keeper, or guard, implies danger in general, and in this
instance in particular. There is a general danger in times of
pestilence, and there is a special danger in some places and under
some circumstances. There is a danger common to all vessels when
sailing the ocean, but there are some parts which are especially
dangerous. So it is with men in relation to sin. There is the general
liability to fall into sin common to all men, but there are dangers
which more especially beset youth and inexperience, and there is one
sin above all others which is terrible in its effects and ruinous to
the whole man. The text applies to a general keeping from the common
danger and to a special keeping from this special danger (verse 24).
+IV. The commandment is a keeper, a guide, and a lamp to those only
who keep it.+ A man binds his sandal upon his foot and it keeps his
foot, because it has itself been kept in its right place. There is a
mutual keeping. There can be no keeping _by_ the word unless there is
a keeping _of_ the word. A greater than Solomon has told us this
truth. Our Lord, in His parable of the sower, reminds us of those
wayside hearers who, not keeping the word, were not kept by it, and
of those who, like the rocky or thorny ground, kept it only for a
while and were only kept by it until the time of temptation scorched
them, and their profession withered away (Matt. xiii. 1-7). And our
Lord Himself used the commandment in the hour of His temptation to
keep Him. To all the advances of the tempter he replied, "It is
written."
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 20. The first feature that arrests attention in this picture
is, that effects are attributed to the law of a mother which only
God's law can produce. The inference is obvious and sure. It is
assumed that the law which a mother instils is the Word of God
dwelling richly in her own heart, and that she acts as a channel to
convey that Word to the heart of her children. To assume it as
actually done is the most impressive method of enjoining it. Parents
are, by the constitution of things, in an important sense mediators
between God and their children for a time. . . . Your children are,
by grace, let into you, so as to drink in what you contain. The only
safety is, that you be by grace let into Christ, so that what they
get from you shall be, not what springs within you, but what flows
into you from the Springhead of holiness. To the children it is the
law of their mother, and therefore they receive it; but in substance
it is the truth from Jesus, and to receive it is life.--_Arnot._
We have already noticed (ch. i. 8) the fifth commandment as
comprehending the first five; just as the tenth commandment
comprehends the latter five. They ought to be painted so in churches.
Handed down so, we verily believe, to Moses, each table must have
carried five commandments. Honouring our father, in all the broad
meaning of that term, is the first commandment "_in,_" not "_with_"
(as in Eng. version), "promise" (Eph. vi. 2).--_Miller._
Verse 21. "Bind them continually" signifieth such a care of firm
binding as when one, to be sure of binding strong, doth as it were
always hold the strings in his hands, and is continually pulling
them. And surely we had need so to bind continually God's
commandments and law to our hearts and necks, for they are but loose
knots which the best of us make, and they are ever and anon slipping
back, unless our diligence be still pulling hard to keep them close.
To bind that to our hearts which bindeth us to godliness, is to loose
ourselves; to tie that about our necks which ties us to religion, is
to free ourselves. A good father's commandment, a good mother's law,
doth tie us in observance unto God's law; if, therefore, we shall
bind the one upon our hearts continually, if we shall tie the other
about our necks, this will give us the freedom of true sons, both
with God and man. This hearty binding, and willing tying of
ourselves, taketh away all burdensome feeling of any tie or binding
for us.--_Jermin._
Bind them upon thine heart "for ever," because through all eternity
these commandments will be the very highest objects of affection.
Holiness will be the greatest treasure of the blessed. And, second,
"tie them about thy neck" for a still higher reason Holiness is a
bright ornament. It is precious on its own account. It is worthy, not
on account of what it does, or of what it seems, but of what it is.
That is, if we neither had joy in it or won profit by it, it would be
glorious like a necklace upon the blind, intrinsically, and on its
own account.--_Miller._
Verse 22. No such guide to God as the Word, which, while a man holds
to, he may safely say, "Lord, if I be deceived, Thou hast deceived
me; if I be out of the way, Thy Word has misled me." If thou sleep
with some good meditation in thy mind it shall keep thee from foolish
and sinful dreams and fancies, and set thy heart in a holy frame when
thou awakest. He that raketh up his fire at night shall find fire in
the morning. "How precious are Thy thoughts unto me, O God" (Psa.
cxxxix. 17). What follows? "When I awake, I am still with Thee"
(verse 18).--_Trapp._
+I. The thing to be done.+ The Word of God is to talk with us. A
man's character is obviously much influenced by his habitual talk.
Sentiments received in conversation powerfully affect the mind. . . .
The idea of dealing with the Holy Scripture as a conversible
companion is implied in the very name, "The Word of God," and in the
statement that "God, who in sundry times, and in divers manners,
_spoke_ to the Fathers, by the prophets, has _spoken_ to us by His
son" (Heb. i. 1). 1. _The Word of God will talk to us instructively._
No part is addressed to mere speculation or curiosity. It has always
in view the object of furnishing the mind with that which shall be
useful in the highest sense, and for the longest duration. 2. _It
will talk without flattery._ Our best friends seldom dare to tell us
all that is thought of us. But the Word of God tells us what we
actually are, and where our faults and danger lie. 3. _It will talk
with us affectionately._ "Faithful are the wounds of a friend," yet
they may be "wounds" after all, to minds too susceptible. But there
is a depth of love even in the sternest rebukes of the Word of God.
+II. The particular time when the Word of God may talk with us.+
"When thou wakest." 1. _To forewarn us._ Every day is a little life,
and who can say what the coming hour may bring forth. 2. _To fore-arm
us._ There is not an hour in which some temptation may not present
itself, or some principle be severely tried. A spiritual armour is
therefore necessary, while a part of that armour, which is
indispensable, is "the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God" (Eph.
vi. 17). 3. _To pre-occupy us._ "How is it," said a friend to a
learned physician, "that amidst such employment and continual
exercise of mind you preserve such unruffled tranquillity?" "It is,"
said he, "because I give the first hour of every morning to the Holy
Scriptures and to prayer." Much benefit may well be expected from a
pre-occupation of the mind and heart, so entirely consonant to the
whole tenor of man's relations to his Maker and perpetual
benefactor.--_Bullar._
Observe three benefits of keeping instruction, and in each the fit
time and the act. A man walking, needs a guide; sleeping, needs a
watchman; awaking, needs a friend to talk with him.--_Francis Taylor._
Verse 23. The reproofs of the law may alarm and terrify, but they are
not to be less valued on that account. The threatenings of hell guard
the way to heaven, and strongly urge us to keep the King's highway,
the only way of safety.--_Lawson._
The parallelism with Psalm cxix. 105, deserves special notice. The
alliteration, "the law is light," like the Vulgate, "lex, lux,"
reproduces a corresponding _paronomasia_ in the Hebrew.--_Plumptre._
He that hath the word of Christ richly dwelling in him, may lay his
hand upon his heart and say, as dying Ecolampadius did: "Here is
plenty of light." Under the law all was in riddles; Moses was veiled;
and yet that saying was then verified. There was light enough to lead
men to Christ "the end of the law" (Rom. x. 4). "Reproofs of
instruction," or "corrections of instruction." A lesson set on with a
whipping is best remembered.--_Trapp._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 24-35.
A SPECIAL SIN AND ITS PENALTIES FROM WHICH HE WHO KEEPS GOD'S LAW
WILL BE KEPT.
+I. From the huntress of souls.+ The animals of tropical jungles are
compelled at intervals to forsake their safe retreats and come down
to the brink of the river to quench their thirst. This necessity of
their life involves them in danger. The instinct of the lion tells
him that the antelope will be compelled, by the cravings of his
nature, to come to the place of water, and therefore he lies in wait
there to make him an easy prey. And the hunter, being fully aware of
the same fact, crouches by the river-side and takes both the lion and
his prey. Thus the natural bodily instincts are used as means by
which the lives of the creatures are destroyed. The danger of which
the young man is here warned arises out of the existence of a
God-given and, therefore, lawful desire. The huntress of souls--as
she is well named in verse 26--takes advantage of this lawful
propensity and uses it as a means of the destruction of her victim.
She knows that the young man, from the strength of his lawful
desires, is, comparatively, an easy prey to the seducer, hence it is
to him that she points her weapons. These weapons are: 1. _Flattery._
Fair words cost nothing. A score of base coin can be purchased for a
copper, and are worth exchanging for one golden piece. The dogs lick
the hand of the vendor of their meat, but this not out of any
affection for him. They do not use their tongue out of any affection
for _him_, but for _what he has._ So the adulteress, and so indeed
all flatterers. They give the base coin only in the hope of getting
gold in return--fair words for real benefits. They will lick the back
of the hand in order to get something out of the palm. 2. _Her
beauty._ The beauty of a woman is a powerful weapon, and, if rightly
used, may be a means of greatly blessing others. But, alas, how often
has it been debased to the vilest purposes, how many times have
strong men been cast down by it, how many sons of the mighty has it
brought low, even to the dust! The keeping in the heart of the law of
God's word will teach the young man to estimate flattering words and
mere external beauty at their real worth.
+II. From the inevitable marks left upon both constitution and
character by unlawful intercourse+ (vers. 27, 28). A man's raiment
cannot be kindled into a flame without its retaining the marks after
the fire has been extinguished. The scar of the burn will remain even
after the wound is healed. So those who yield to the solicitations of
the "strange woman" will find that soul and body will suffer from the
effects of the sin long after the action has been committed.
+III. From the deserved contempt of all the pure-minded+ (vers. 30,
31). It is a sin compared with which a theft is a light crime in the
eyes of God, and therefore in the eyes of the best men. A thief may
make restitution for his crime, but this sin cannot be atoned for by
an after act. Gold may be repaid fourfold, but dishonour brought upon
a husband by a wife's infidelity is a blot which cannot be effaced.
The loss of the poor man's ewe-lamb might be atoned for, but David
could not have restored to Uriah an innocent wife. (See 2 Sam.
xii. 1-6). Hence the much heavier punishment under the Mosaic law for
adultery than for theft. (See Exod. xxii. 1-4; Lev. xx. 10.)
+IV. From the fury of a lawful jealousy+ (ver. 34). Where there is
true love there is a jealousy for the honour and reputation of the
object loved. The man who is not jealous for the honour of his
country is not a patriot. The father who is not jealous for the
reputation of his family is not worthy of the name. And so the
husband who is not jealous of his own and his wife's honour is a
stranger to real love. There is a right and lawful jealousy. God
calls Himself "a jealous God" (Exod. xx. 5). There are rights which
belong to Him alone, and He is justly displeased if they are given to
any other being. Paul tells the Corinthian Church that he was
"jealous over them with a godly jealousy" (2 Cor. xi. 2). He was
their father in Christ, and he felt that his honour as well as theirs
was staked upon their living holy lives. And the righteous jealousy
of the injured husband spoken of in the text is to be dreaded,
because _it is righteous_--because it has just grounds for its
existence, and because God will see to it that the wrong is avenged.
_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 25.
This probably refers to the care with which women in the East paint
their eyelids, in a great measure in order to captivate the men, who,
from the manner in which they are muffled up, can often see no more
of their persons than their eyes--which may, indeed, be one reason
why so much pains are taken to set them off.
_ILLUSTRATION OF VERSE_ 28.
The image would hardly occur to us, who never go barefoot, and are
never or rarely exposed to any liability of _treading_ upon burning
coals. If we decided to expose the same sentiment by a similar image,
we should say, "Can one _handle_ hot coals and not be burned?" But in
the East travelling parties kindle fires in the open air for cooking
and for warmth, and a passenger might easily burn his naked foot by
treading inadvertently upon the hot but not glowing place of one of
their recently quitted fires.--_Kitto._
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 24. Bound and kept in the heart as a friend, that law will
prevail to keep the youth "from the strange woman." Observing a great
swelling wave rolling forward to devour him, this faithful teacher
imparts to the young voyager on life's troubled sea a principle which
will bear him buoyant over it. A slender vessel floats alone upon the
ocean, contending with the storm. A huge wave approaches, towering
high above her hull. All depends upon how the ship shall take it. If
she go under it she will never rise again: if she is so trimmed that
her bows rise with the first approaches, she springs lightly over it,
and gets no harm. The threatening billow passes beneath her, and
breaks with a growl behind her, but the ship is safe. The law and
love of the Lord, taught by his mother in childhood, and maintaining
its place yet as the friend of his bosom and the ruler of his
conscience, will give the youth a spring upward proportionate to the
magnitude of the temptation coming on.--_Arnot._
That which is said of Jael is true of the strange woman. She brought
forth soft words, but a hard nail; in her mouth was a gentle hammer,
but in her hand a heavy one. Open force is more easily resisted, but
that which is hid in the beginning with fair words in the end
stingeth most cruelly.--_Jermin._
"_Flattery._" That constitutes the risk. If impenitence would tell
the truth, or even if we would allow the truth, there would be no
danger. But hers is an alien tongue in this,--that though we
deliberately admit it is a cheat, we accept its flattery.--_Miller._
Verse 26. A famine of bread followeth the gluttony of lust, and it is
life itself that is destroyed by it. He that is thus brought to a
morsel of bread on earth, shall be brought to a drop of water in
hell, if repentance do not in time beg a gracious pardon for him.
That man's life is precious, the devil himself affirmeth, who seeketh
to make it vile; he saith, who laboureth to destroy it, that "Skin
for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life" (Job ii. 4).
How unworthy valuers are they therefore of their own lives who esteem
them less than the devil does, and who makes them a prey to the
adulteress, who as a lion hunteth after them.--_Jermin._
Nothing is so bewitching as womanly enchantment. Nothing _in esse,_
when it is base, is so contemptible. Nothing sweeps a man with such a
perfect storm of influence. Nothing leaves him so perfectly defrauded
and unpaid.--_Miller._
Verses 27 and 28. "_Fire_" is a favourite emblem for wickedness.
"Wickedness burneth as the fire" (Isa. ix. 18, see also Isa. lxv. 5).
The (1) _pain,_ the (2) _waste,_ the (3) _growth,_ and the (4) _small
beginnings_ of sin are all instanced in the fire. "Bosom." Here is
just where sin is taken. Sin is not only the inward but the outward
enemy, not only the coals in our bosom but the coals (or fierce
tempting occasions) in the midst of which we walk.--_Miller._
Sin and punishment are linked together by a chain of adamant. "The
fire of lust kindles the fire of hell," says Henry. He cannot
afterwards plead the strength of the temptation. Why did he not avoid
it? Who that knows how much tinder he carries about with him would
wilfully light-up the sparks?--_Bridges._
Perhaps such an one may think to tread upon coals, thereby to tread
them out, but he will first tread the fire into his own feet: perhaps
such an one may think to walk in the ways of lust, thereby to walk
them out, but he will first walk out the strength of his body and
means. The affections are the feet of man's soul, and if they walk
upon this fire they will be inflamed suddenly.--_Jermin._
Verse 29. Though the plea of a sleepy conscience be _not guilty,_ the
sentence of God is, _not innocent._ It was for this wickedness that
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; it was for it He brought the deluge
of waters upon the world, and as it is observed, for no other sin do
we read, that God is said to have repented to have made man, but for
this.--_Jermin._
Verse 30. Compared with an adulterer, a thief is not treated with so
much ignominy. The laws of modern society have reversed the maxims of
Solomon; and, to the dishonour of Christian nations, an adulterer,
who steals what is most precious to a man, and what is irretrievable,
is treated by the law with more lenity than a thief, who robs him of
what is comparatively of little value and may be easily
replaced.--_Wordsworth._
Adultery is worse than theft. It is before us in the commandments as
the greater sin (Exod. xx. 14, 15). 1. It is a far greater theft.
2. The provocation to theft is greater. What drives the one,
wantonness draws the other. One may preserve his bodily life by his
sin, the other destroys it. Hunger is a great provocation to evil
(ch. xxx. 9). Necessity is a sore weapon.--_Francis Taylor._
Verse 33. The three things here mentioned may be referred to three
causes. The wound to the devil, the enemy of mankind, the dishonour
to God, dishonoured by the adulterer, the reproach to sin, which is
the true object of reproach. The devil woundeth out of malice, God
dishonoureth in justice, sin reproacheth by nature; and where nature
hath fastened the reproach or stain it is not any art that can take
it out or wipe it away. He that giveth this good counsel was himself
an example of what he writeth. As Jerome saith, Solomon, the sun of
men, the treasure of God's delights, the peculiar house of wisdom,
blurred with the thick ink of dishonour, lost the light of his soul,
the glory of his house, the sweet perfume of his name, by the love of
a woman.--_Jermin._
What an indelible blot is the matter of Uriah upon David
still.--_Trapp._
Verse 34. Howbeit he may not kill the adulterer, but if no law will
relieve a man, yet let him know that he shall do himself no
disservice by making God his chancellor.--_Trapp._
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