CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Agur.+ There have been many conjectures about
this person. Many consider that it is a figurative name, and some
have adopted the old Jewish tradition that it is an allegorical
designation of Solomon. "The name," says Delitzsch, "means _'the
gathered'_" (see chap. vi. 3, x. 5), also _"the collector,"_ or the
word might mean, perhaps "industrious in collecting." +The son of
Jakeh,+ etc. Stuart and Zöckler adopt here the reading of Hitzig and
others, and read _"The son of her who was obeyed in Massa (or the
princess of Massa): I have toiled for, or carried myself about, God,
and have ceased."_ For their reasons the student is referred to their
commentaries, where the subject is discussed at great length. Ithiel
and Ucal signify respectively _"God with me,"_ and _"the son of the
mighty,"_ and the common opinion is that they were Agur's disciples.
From the great differences between the language and style of the last
two chapters of the book, and those which have preceded them, most
scholars believe that they were written outside the land of
Palestine. Zöckler thinks that "Agur and Lemuel might very properly
be regarded as Arabian-Israelitish shepherd-princes or kings of a
colony of Israelites of the tribe of Simeon that had emigrated to
northern Arabia." (See 1 Chron. lv. 38-43; Micah i. 15, ii. 8, 10.)
Delitzsch suggests that they were "Ishmaelites who had raised
themselves above the religion of Abraham, and recognised the religion
of Israel as its completion." +2. Brutish,+ _i.e.,_ without reason.
+10.+ Stuart and Zöckler here read "Cause not a servant to slander
his master." Delitzsch agrees with the English version.
+15. Horseleach,+ or "_vampire,_ an imaginary spectre or ghost,
supposed to suck the blood of children." _(Stuart.)_ +15+ and
+16.+ On these verses, Dr. Aiken, the American translator of the
Proverbs for Lange's Commentary, remarks, "As compared with the
numerical proverbs which follow, the complexity and the more
artificial character of the one before us at once arrests attention.
They all have this in common, that whatever moral lesson they have to
convey is less obvious, being hinted rather than stated. . . . In the
one now under consideration, insatiable desire and the importance of
its regulation seem to be the remote object. In the development,
instead of the 'three things' and 'four things' which repeatedly
appear afterwards, we have the 'leech,' its two daughters, the three
and the four. Some have regarded the two daughters as representing
physical characteristics of the bloodsucker, others as expressing by
an Orientalism a doubly intense craving. Parallelism suggests making
the first two of the four the two daughters; other allusions of the
Scripture to the greediness of the world of the dead justify the
first, while the second alone belong to human nature." +23. Odious,+
_or unloved._ +26. Conies.+ A gregarious animal of the class
Pachydermata, which is found in Palestine living in the caves or
clefts of the rocks. Its scientific name is _Hyrax Syriacus_. . . .
It is like the Alpine marmot, scarcely the size of a domestic cat,
having long hair, a very short tail, and round ears _(Smith's
Biblical Dictionary)._ +28. Spider.+ Most commentators translate
_"lizard."_ Delitzsch reads, _"The lizard thou canst catch with the
hands, and yet it is in the king's palaces."_ +29. Go well,+ rather,
"are of stately walk." +31.+ Delitzsch renders the last clause of
this verse:--_"A king with whom is calling out of the host."_
NOTE.--The following is Miller's unique translation of the first four
verses of this chapter with his reasons for the same, and the
teaching which he sees in the passage. "It struck us that we would
take the simple Hebrew and inquire its meaning. We would accept
nothing as a proper name till we found it destitute of sense; and,
following no intricate conceits, we would fail of a directer meaning
before we went into anything more difficult. It is astonishing how
facile the result. We believe that all was the work of Solomon. We
believe there was no such man as _Agur,_ except that great man Jesus
Christ. We believe there was no such king as _Lemuel._ We believe
everything is the work of Solomon as much as any other proverb. If it
appear Arabic or extra-Hebraic no matter. Solomon gathered his
materials over a wide surface. We believe it is distinctly what it
says, _The prophecy._ We count it as all finished in the four first
verses, and _Jakeh_ and _Ithiel,_ and _Ucal_ and _Muel_ in the next
chapter (verse i. 4). We would be quite willing to read it that way,
if, like _Lo-ammi_ in the prophet, or _Lo-ruhamah,_ words confessedly
significant (Hosea i. 8, 9), it were thought euphonious or wise to
give them without a translation. But what the Hebrews saw why not our
people see? Certain it is that the words to a Hebrew were about as
follow:--
"1. Words of I-fear, Son of the Godly: The prophecy:--
The Strong Man speaks to God-with-me, to God-with-me
and to I-am-able.
2. Forasmuch as I am more brutish as to myself, than a
man of the better sort,
and have not the intelligence of a common man.
3. and have not been taught wisdom and yet know the
knowledge of holy things.
4. who has gone up to heaven and come down?
who has gathered the winds in his fists?
who has bound the waters in a garment?
who has set firm all the extremities of the earth?
what is his name, and what is his son's name?
Because, Thou knowest.
"Let us examine, first, the language, and then the result as to the
sense. _I-fear._ This is the very simplest Hebrew. It actually occurs
in Deuteronomy (chap. xxxii. 27). The verb is the familiar one בדּ ך,
which means primarily _to turn out of the way._ And this _turning out
of the way_ for danger is a prudent and innocent character of _fear.
Agur_ therefore, or _I-fear,_ with the light we get afterward, marks
himself as the _Strong Man_ of the next clause; the _Son of the
Godly,_ because descended out of the loins of the Church (see Rev.
xii. 5); and the _Man_--just as _Muel_ (chap. xxxi. 1) is God and
man--contemplating the low humanity of Christ, which is about to
express its wonder at its amazing knowledge. _Godly;_ from a root
meaning to venerate: _Jakeh_ is in the singular, and means the _pious
one;_ which keeps in view what is too often forgotten, that Christ
was not the son of the abandoned, but, as His mother expresses it
(chap. xxxi. 2), the _son of my vows. The Prophecy;_ not needfully
_prediction,_ as in the present case, but an _oracle, vision,_ or
_inspired elation_ of any kind. The words that follow constitute _the
prophecy_ for though the speech of the _Man_-Christ does not begin
till the second verse, the very names in the next clause are
predictive; and the most vitally so of the whole of the vision. _The
Strong Man;_ strong, though weak; strong because he sees in himself
such wonderful conditions. The word _strong_ is implied in the noun
that is selected. _Speaks;_ oracularly. It is the solemn, poetic, and
in fact, rare expression. _To-God-with-me._ That the Man-Christ
should address the Deity has innumerable precedents. If it were
necessary, we could imagine the Human Nature as addressing the Divine
Nature; for that really occurs in high Eastern vision, in the Book of
Zechariah (chap. iii. 4, 6, 7, 8). In lofty texts, like this, it is
perfectly admissible. Christ speaks of His Divine Nature (John
iii. 13); and speaks of it as being where the Man Christ Jesus was
not, viz., in Heaven. But the fourth verse of this chapter mentions
both Father and Son; and therefore in this, which is so near it, it
is not necessary to distinguish. _The Strong Man_ speaks to the _God_
which was _with_ (Him), and calls Him _Ucal,_ which means
_I-am-able._ There was a powerful Divinity in Christ, and that He was
wondering about. His mother repeats the wonder in the after case
(chap. xxxi. 2). The whole is a grand _Prophecy_ of Christ in the
form of a grand inquiry. _Agur_ makes it of _Ithiel._ That is, the
_Man, I-fear,_ goes searching into the _God-with-me._ There is an
_I-fear_ part and an _I-am-able_ part, of His one Grand Person; and
these parts speak even in the New Testament with the humility (John
v. 19) and with the splendour (John viii. 58) that belong to each.
_Forasmuch as;_ the simple particle _because. I am more brutish, i.e._
more the mere untaught animal. _As to Myself, i.e._ as to my human
self; for it is the _Strong Man_ that speaks. The emphasis is laid by
the mere expression of the pronoun. _Than a man of the better sort;_
than an educated, refined man, which Christ was not. _And have not
the intelligence of a common man._ That is, he had not the education
usually given to the more lowly. The _commonness_ of the humanity is
expressed again by the noun. _And have not been taught wisdom._ Here
the emphasis is on _taught. And yet know the knowledge of holy
things._ The meaning of the whole is, that he has singular light. He
confronted the doctors in the temple, and, as a little child, was a
miracle. Whence came this? This is what the prophecy represents as a
surprise. _Who has gone up to Heaven and come down?_ Somebody has.
_The Strong Man_ addresses this appeal to the _God-with-me;_ and ends
it significantly;--Who is it? _Because Thou knowest._ One word back
in the third verse:--_know the knowledge._ We have not altered this,
nor said _have the knowledge,_ which would be better English, because
this seems the intentional form. The words that Christ gave to His
disciples, God gave to Him; and Christ, in saying so, would include
all senses; the outer word; the inner word; the outward blessed
revelation, and the inner teaching. _He knew the knowledge; i.e.,_ He
discerned in perfect ways what the Spirit without measure was there
to impart. _Going up to heaven, gathering the wind, binding the
waters, and setting firm the extremities of the earth,_ were the work
of a Divinity. Some Divinity had been at work upon Him. He applies to
the _Able One,_ to the _God with Him,_ to explain a low man's
wonderful knowledge, and then adds, as significant of the reply,
_Because Thou knowest._"
The extract is given here, not because we agree with Miller's view of
the passage, but as affording a specimen of the mode of
interpretation which he adopts throughout the book.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-9.
THE SOURCE OF TRUE HUMILITY.
+I. In proportion as men know God they confess they know Him not.+ A
child looks above his head at the midnight sky and he concludes that
the stars that he sees are only so many shining points which have no
use beyond that of beautifying the heavens and giving a little light
to our world. He does not think that there is any more to know about
the stars, but this conclusion of his is based upon complete
ignorance. How different is the attitude of the astronomer in
relation to the stars. He has good reason to believe that each one is
a sun like unto that which makes the centre of our own system of
planets, and this enlarged knowledge enables him to form some idea of
how much he has to learn about them, and so draws from him such a
confession of ignorance as a child would never utter. He realises
that what he knows is nothing in comparison with what there is to
know, and it is his increased knowledge which makes him feel thus. So
men who never reflect upon the nature or character of God have no
conception of the height and depth of the knowledge of the Infinite,
and hence have no conception of their ignorance concerning Him. It is
only the man who has in some degree apprehended the greatness of his
Maker that has any idea of how far he is from comprehending Him, and
his consciousness of ignorance increases with his growth in the
knowledge of God. Agur, who here declares that he has no "knowledge
of the Holy," and is "without understanding" on the highest and
deepest subjects, was evidently a man who had endeavoured by
searching to find out God, and his confession is the result of his
knowledge and not of his ignorance. But what he knew only served to
show him how much remained unknown.
+II. Therefore humility is the great sign of high attainments in
Divine knowledge, and those who know most will be the most able and
willing to be taught more.+ Humility is the effect of the most
thorough acquaintance with any subject, and of the most profound
meditation upon it. When men utter their opinions in the spirit of
self-conceit, and are lifted up by their acquirements, we must
ascribe it to their ignorance and not to their knowledge. Those who
have learned most are the most teachable scholars and the first to
welcome instruction from whatever source it may come. If we were to
tell a savage of the wonderful capabilities of electricity he would
most likely look upon us with contempt, and refuse to believe our
statements; but if we were to speak to an experienced electrician
about some new theory or discovery in relation to it he would not
turn from us in disdain simply because he was unacquainted with it,
but would gladly welcome any new light upon the subject. This is
pre-eminently the case in the knowledge of all that relates to the
Divine Being. When He becomes the object and subject of study and
contemplation--when a creature who had no existence a few years ago
seeks to know Him who is God _from everlasting to everlasting_ he
finds himself embarked upon an ocean without a shore, and is
compelled to exclaim: _"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is
high, I cannot attain unto it"_ (Psa. cxxxix. 6). His humble
reverence will always be in proportion to the progress that he has
made. He who knew as much about God and His dealings as any man who
ever lived, gave, as the result of his researches, that _"His ways
are past finding out,"_ and was led by it to ascribe to Him _"glory
for ever"_ (Rom. xi. 33-36); and all who have trodden the same path,
either before or after him, have arrived at the same conclusion, and
have acquired the same spirit of humility. And this is the spirit
which makes a man willing and therefore able to receive a higher and
deeper revelation. Because he knows that he has not "already
attained"--that there is no comparison between what he knows and what
there is to know--his mind is ever open to receive new instruction,
and he welcomes any means by which he can advance a step nearer to
that _"light which no man can approach unto,"_ and catch a fresh
glimpse of Him _"whom no man hath seen or can see"_ (1 Tim. vi. 16).
+III. The unsearchableness of God is no hindrance to practical
godliness.+ If Agur could not know all that he desired about God, he
knew enough to trust Him, and enough to make him desire to serve Him.
He could from experience testify that God had spoken to men, and that
His word was to be depended on, and that there was a reward to those
who kept it. If God is unknowable in some aspects of His nature,
godly men in all ages have found him a shield in danger, and a rock
of certainty, upon which it is safe to rest. Although Agur could not
ascend into heaven and read the secrets of the other world, he felt
that he could strive to walk with God in this world, and the effect
of a real conviction of the greatness and majesty of God is not to
drive men from Him but to draw them near in holy living as well as in
humble adoration.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 2. This was true humility, that like true balm ever sinks to
the bottom, when hypocritical, as oil, swims on the top. . . . He
that looks intently on the sun hath his eyes dazzled; so he that
beholds the infinite excellencies of God, considers the distance,
cannot but be sensible of his own naughtiness, nothingness. It is fit
the foundation should be laid deep, where the building is so high!
Agur's humility was not more low than his aims lofty: "Who hath
ascended up to heaven?" It is a high pitch that he flies, for he knew
well that godliness, as it begins in a right knowledge of ourselves,
so it ends in a right knowledge of God.--_Trapp._
Verse 4. The discourse is philosophically accurate, as well as
religiously devout. It is through the mutual relations of air, earth,
and water, that the Supreme Ruler gives or withholds the food of man
(verse 8). These three, each in its own place and proportion, are
alike necessary to the growth of grain, and consequently to the
sustenance of life. . . . The earth is the basis of the whole
operation. . . . Alike in its creation and its arrangement, its
material and its form, the final cause of the earth has obviously
been the growth of vegetation and the support of life. But the earth
could not bear fruit at any portion of its surface without the
concurrence of water; and how shall the supply of this necessary
element be obtained? "Who hath bound the waters in a garment?" Again
the clouds and showers, the springs and streams, with one voice
answer, "God." So wide is the dry land, and so low lies the water in
its ocean storehouse, that we could not even conceive how the two
could be made to meet, unless we had seen the cosmical hydraulics in
actual operation from day to day and from year to year. Here lies the
earth, rising into mountains and stretching away in valleys, but
absolutely incapable, by itself, of producing food for any living
thing. There lies the sea, held by its own gravity helpless in its
place, heaving and beating on the walls of its prison-house, but
unable to rise and go to the help of a barren land. . . . In this
strait--when the land could not come to the water and the water could
not come to the land--a Mediator was found, perfectly qualified for
the task. "Who hath gathered the wind in His fists?" The air goes
between the two, and brings them together for beneficent ends. The
atmosphere softly leans on the bosom of the deep, and silently sucks
itself full. The portion so charged then moves away with its precious
burden, and pours it out partly on the plains but chiefly on the
vertebral mountain ranges. Thus the continents are watered from their
centres to the sea.--_Arnot._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 5 _and_ 6.
THE WORD OF GOD.
+I. God has given man a knowledge of His Character and Will.+
Although, as we have just seen from the preceding verses, God is so
great and incomprehensible in His nature, there is a knowledge of Him
which is possible to man and which he possesses. This seems
reasonable before experience. If a man built a vessel which he
intended to send his son to navigate across an unknown sea, we should
conclude beforehand that he would put a compass in the vessel. And we
should likewise conclude before experience that a just God would not
build a world, and call into existence a creature like man to dwell
in it, without furnishing him with a compass by which to guide his
life--a revelation and a law by obedience to which he can be blest
and saved. And what might have been expected has come to pass. God
has spoken, and has thus met human expectation and human need. Agur
recognised this fact in the days of old, and we, to whom in these
last days God has spoken by His Son (Heb. i. 1), have a clearer
revelation. In answer to Agur's question, _"Who hath ascended up into
heaven, or descended,"_ we can bring the words of Christ, _"No man
hath ascended up to heaven but He that came down from heaven, even
the Son of Man which is in heaven"_ (John iii. 13), and in the record
of His life and death obtain the fullest and clearest revelation of
God that it is possible for Him to give and for us to receive.
+II. The Word of God is what of necessity it must be.+ The sun is in
its nature light, and therefore rays of light must proceed from it.
That which flows from it must of necessity be of the same nature as
the sun whence it comes, and the fountain of natural light being pure
the streams which flow from it must be pure also. When human words
are a reflection of the human soul, and _"out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh"_ (Matt. xii. 34), the spoken word must be
of the same nature and character as the inward feelings. The purity
of the outward word will be in proportion to the purity of the inner
life. God is moral light--_"In Him is no darkness at all"_ (1 John
i. 5)--therefore, rays of moral light must flow from Him; all that
proceeds from Him must be, like Himself, perfectly free from all
shadow of moral imperfection.
+III. Because the Word of God is what it is, it must be carefully
preserved from human additions.+ It is manifest that nothing that man
can add to what God has said can make His Word more fitted to a
man's needs, any more than any intervention of man can make the sun
more perfectly adapted to human vision. It is therefore a criminal
act for any creature to add to the Divine Word by putting his own
ideas on an equality with the revealed thoughts of God, and most
foolish for him to expect them to have the same power on the heart
and conscience as Divine words have. _"The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul"_ (Psa. xix. 7), and man must not tamper
with its perfection. _"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works"_ (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17). The
fact that it comes from God is a guarantee that blessing will come
from seeking to understand and obey it, and condemnation by seeking
to improve it by human addition.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
It is the saying of Tertullian, "This is the first thing which we
believe, that there is nothing beside God's word to be
believed.". . . At least it must not be taught or received, _as added
to His words,_ either as of equal authority with them, or as
supposing any defect in them. . . . He therefore that addeth to God's
words, shall add unto his own words the just and sharp reproof of God
upon them; and whatsoever any may think to find by the doing of it,
he shall himself therefore be found a liar. Search them thou mayest
to find the depth of them, explain them thou mayest that others may
be able to find the meaning of them: but in searching, in explaining,
let nothing be added that is contrary to them. . . . For what can he
be but a liar that opposeth truth itself?--_Jermin._
The learner is far in advance of his starting-point now. He set out
in quest of knowledge to gratify a curious intellect; he ends it by
finding rest for a troubled soul. He addressed himself successively
to the air, and the water, and the earth; but they were all dumb.
They sent back to him only the echo of his own cry. Turning next to
the Scriptures, he finds what he sought and more. His darkness
vanishes, and his danger too. No sooner has he learned that the Word
is pure than he learns that the Speaker is gracious.--_Arnot._
There is, perhaps, in the expression here a more immediate reference
to the _unmingled truth_ of God's Word. This suits the connection
with what follows:--"He is _a shield_ unto them that put their trust
in Him." _Scepticism_ and _infidelity_ unsettle the mind. They leave
it without confidence and without security. The mind under their
influence is like a vessel that has drifted from its moorings, and
has been left to drive out to sea, without rudder and without
anchor,--unmanned, and at the mercy of the winds and waves and
currents:--or, to keep nearer to the allusion in the verse under
comment, it is like a soldier in the thick and peril of the battle
_without a shield,_ in danger from every arrow that flies, and every
sword that is raised against him. They make their unhappy subject the
sport and the victim of every delusive theory and every temptation of
Satan. Hence such expressions as that of Paul to the
Ephesians:--"Over all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." God is the
"SHIELD" of all who trust in Him. And it is the _trust,_--it is the
firm _faith in God,_--that imparts the feeling of security. So, what
is here said of God himself is said of His _truth_ or
_faithfulness:_--"His _truth_ shall be thy _shield_ and _buckler._"
God could not be "a shield," though His power be almighty, unless He
were _faithful._ It is His faithfulness that renders Him the object
of _trust._ And when this view of God's faithfulness is such as to
impart _perfect trust_--the spirit, calm and tranquil, feels as if it
were under the protection of an all-covering shield.--_Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF VERSES_ 7-9.
THE MIDDLE WAY.
+I. A desire that our circumstances should be favourable to our
godliness reveals a soul alive to the meaning of existence.+ The man
who values his health more than his raiment, and is more anxious to
keep his body in a fit condition to work than to clothe it in purple
and fine linen, reveals that he rightly estimates the comparative
value of the two, and values most that which is worth most. But no
man attains to a right estimate of the comparative worth of all that
belongs to him until he values his character more than all things
else, and is willing to suffer the loss of all his other possessions
in order to preserve that. He is a wise man who, in the choice of
clothes, considers first what will conduce to health; but the highest
wisdom is that which leads a man in choosing--so far as he is
able--his position in life, to consider first of all what will be
favourable to his soul's welfare. Such a man reveals that he has made
the all-important discovery that the chief end of man is to glorify
God, and that he can do this only by a holy life. He therefore makes
it the aim of his life to say in deed as well as in word "Hallowed be
thy name;" for he has learned the lesson of the text, that anything
less than perfect dependence upon God is a denial of Him, and any act
of doubtful integrity is "taking His name in vain."
+II. A prayer that our circumstances may be thus favourable, reveals
a soul conscious of its own weakness.+ There can be no doubt that a
man's confidence in God ought to be so strong as to remain unshaken
in the most adverse circumstances, and his spirituality ought to be
deep enough to remain uninjured in the greatest temporal prosperity,
but this is but seldom the case. All sincere and humble servants of
God acknowledge their proneness to yield to temptation, and the more
vital their godliness, the more earnestly do they put up the
petition, _"Lead me not into temptation."_ Paul could say without
boastfulness, _"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to
abound. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"_
(Phil. iv. 12, 13), but there have been but few men who would say
this with truth, and those who have been most like him in spirit have
been the most ready to acknowledge the danger of being exposed to
either extreme. A very robust man can keep in perfect health either
in the arctic regions or in the torrid zone, but there is most safety
in living in a region between these two extremes, and the wisest men
acknowledge this, and unless duty calls them, prefer the latter to
either of the former. So a man of God, although he hopes that he
might be found faithful in any circumstances, reveals a right spirit
of humility when he puts up the prayer of Agur. For he knows that the
tempter of men is most skilful in using our circumstances against our
godliness, and that both great wealth and extreme poverty are weapons
which he can use with great skill.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Verse 7. Agur re-enforces his request. It was honest, else he would
never have begun it; but being so, he is resolved to follow it. So
Jacob would have a blessing, and therefore wrestles with might and
slight; and this he doth in the night and alone, and when God was
leaving him, and upon one leg. . . . When poor men ask us two things
we think we deal well if we grant the one. Few are Naamans that when
you beg one talent will force you to take two. But God heaps mercies
on his suppliants, and blames them for their modesty in
asking.--_Trapp._
Verse 8. We are not only to pray for the removal of sin, but for the
removal of it at a great distance from us. As God removes it far away
in pardon, the soul that abhors sin desires to have it far removed
from the heart and life. Our Lord reaches us not only to pray against
sin, but against temptation; for there is a strong inclination in the
hearts of men to comply with temptations when they are presented to
the soul. If a man has a bag of powder in his hands, he will
certainly wish to keep at a distance from the fire.--_Lawson._
Food convenient is obviously not a fixed measure. It implies, not a
bare sufficiency for natural life, but a provision varying according
to the calling in which God has placed us. "If Agur be the master of
a family, then that is his competency, which is sufficient to
maintain his wife, children, and household. If Agur be a public
person, a prince or a ruler of the people; then that is Agur's
sufficiency, which will conveniently maintain him in that condition."
Jacob when "he had become two bands," evidently required more than
when in his earlier life "with his staff he had passed over Jordan"
(Gen. xxxii. 10). What was sufficient for himself alone, would not
have been sufficient for the many that were then dependent upon him.
The immense provisions for Solomon's table, considering the vast
multitude of his dependents, might be only a competency for the
demand (1 Kings iv. 22). The distribution of the manna was _food
convenient_--nothing too much, but no deficiency--"He that gathered
much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack"
(Exod. xvi. 18). And thus, in the daily dispensation of Providence, a
little may be a sufficiency to one, while an overflowing plenty is no
superfluity to another. Only let Christian self-denial, not depraved
appetite, be the standard of competency.--_Bridges._
Verse 9. Many in their low estate could serve God, but now resemble
the moon, which never suffers eclipse but at her full, and that is by
the earth's interposition between the sun and herself.--_Trapp._
For Homiletics on the subject of verse 10 see on chap. xxiv. 28, 29,
page 689.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 11-17.
FOUR MANIFESTATIONS OF UNGODLINESS.
+I. Children without natural affection.+ Parents that have the
disposition and character which God intends them to possess are the
best reflection of God that a child can look upon in a fallen world.
A son or daughter can by no other means so well come to understand
the fatherhood of God as by considering the tenderness and
self-sacrifice of good human parents, and hence the Saviour in His
most beautiful parable (Luke xv.) uses this relationship to set forth
the depth and strength of Divine love to sinful men. He who treats
such love lightly, therefore, despises the love of Him who instituted
the relationship of parent and child to minister to human happiness
and to elevate human character. The man or woman who is guilty of
this crime reveals a heart incapable of worthy emotion, and a
conscience dead to all the claims of duty. Such an unnatural being
must fail in all his other relationships--he cannot be a good husband
or faithful friend, or worthily fulfil any of the more public duties
of life. A man who was found wanting here, was, in the Hebrew
commonwealth, regarded as rotten at the very core of his moral
nature, and condemned to suffer the extreme penalty of the law (Deut.
xxi. 18-21). Thus God puts the rebellious child on a level with the
murderer and blasphemer, and the terrible threatening passed here
upon one who disregards the fifth commandment is another proof of the
greatness of the sin in the eyes of God. In verse 17 such a sentence
is passed upon an undutiful child as is scarcely paralleled in
Scripture. Even the body which was the home of so unnatural a soul
shall be exposed to ignominy and contempt.
+II. Self-deceivers.+ This is a manifestation of ungodliness, which
is in some degree common to all men whose inner vision has not been
set right by Divine grace. All unrenewed men are more or less like
the ancient Laodiceans, who thought they had need of nothing, but who
were in reality so spiritually blind that they could not see their
spiritual nakedness (Rev. iii. 15). It is those who are "not washed
from their filthiness" that are "pure in their own eyes," for they
are in the condition of spirit described by the apostle John--they
_"walk in darkness,"_ and _"that darkness hath blinded their eyes"_
(1 John ii. 11). But it is their own fault if they remain in this
condition of blindness. A man may be born into this world with weak
or impaired vision, but there may be means within his reach whereby
the defect may be remedied and he become capable of seeing things as
they are. By coming under the influence of those who can see well
themselves and who can help him to sight also, he may be brought from
a state of comparative darkness to one of light, and if with these
opportunities within his reach he become worse instead of better, and
at last totally blind, his blindness is a crime and not a misfortune.
So, although it is true that we all come into this world with our
spiritual perceptions defective and impaired, we are blameworthy in
the highest degree if we do not put ourselves in contact with the
moral light which God has placed within our reach, and we shall in
time come to the condition of the Jewish nation in the days of the
prophet and in the time of Christ (Isa. vi. 9; Matt. xiii. 14),
_"seeing, we shall see, and shall not perceive."_ For _"the light
which lighteneth every man"_ (John i. 9) has come into the world; and
when His Word is allowed free access to man's heart and conscience it
opens his spiritual eyes as the morning sun playing upon the bodily
eyes of the sleeper arouses him to life and consciousness.
Self-deception, therefore, is a _sin,_ and a sin inseparable from
ungodliness.
+III. The proud.+ This sin is the natural outcome of the one just
mentioned. If a man has no sense of his state before God, he will
have no right conception of his position in relation to his
fellow-creatures. The eyes that cannot discern their own moral
defilement will certainly look disdainfully upon others. He who thus
dishonours his God will certainly despise his brother, and the less a
man has to be proud of, the prouder he will be. (On the subject of
pride see on chap. xi. 2, and xiii. 10, pages 192 and 305.)
+IV. The cruel and covetous.+ Man's rapacity and selfishness are set
forth in verses 15 to 17 in very strong terms. His greediness and
cruelty are compared to that of a creature the sole end of whose
existence is to gorge itself with blood; to the ever open grave; to
swords and knives, etc. We know too well that this picture is not
overdrawn. Nothing that man can imagine in the form of cruelty can
surpass what man has been guilty of, and such ingenuity has he
sometimes displayed in this direction that one is constrained to
believe that he has been inspired by a supernatural power of evil,
for his deeds of darkness have seemed too black for man of himself to
conceive. Some of the cruelty of man towards man may not be the
offspring of covetousness, but doubtless much of it is. Men often
care not who suffers, or how much they suffer, so that they satisfy
their own selfish desires, and all this unnatural conduct is an
evidence that there is a schism in the human race which calls for
some remedy such as that of the Gospel, whereby such savage natures
may be transformed, and _"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,"_ etc. (Isa. xi. 6).
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
In Scripture, the word _"generations"_ is repeatedly used to signify
particular _classes_ or _descriptions_ of men; for two reasons, or
points of analogy:--_first,_ that as generation follows generation,
so surely, in every generation, a _succession_ of such characters is
to be found;--and _secondly,_ that they very often communicate the
character to one another, and thus keep up their respective
kinds,--are successive propagators of their species.--_Wardlaw._
Verse 11. Here a new thought begins, but probably one from the same
teacher. As he had uttered what he most desired, so now he tells us
what he most abhorred, and in true harmony with the teaching of the
Ten Commandments places in the foremost rank those who rise against
the Fifth.--_Plumptre._
Solon, when asked why he had made no law against parricides, replied,
that he could not conceive of anyone so impious and cruel. The Divine
lawgiver knew His creature better, that his heart was capable of
wickedness beyond conception (Jer. xvii. 9).--_Bridges._
Verse 14. Yet withal, these cruel oppressors are marked by pitiful
cowardice. They vent their wantonness only where there is little or
no power of resistance. It is not the wolf with the wolf, but with
the defenceless lamb; _devouring the poor and needy from off the
earth,_--"eating up my people"--not like an occasional indulgence,
but "as they eat bread" their daily meal, without intermission (Ps.
xiv. 4).--_Bridges._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 18-20.
DEPTHS OF WICKEDNESS.
+I. There are deeds of iniquity which leave no outward immediate
trace.+ The path which the eagle opens by her wings when she soars
aloft cannot be traced by the human eye. The air closes behind her as
she moves, and she leaves nothing to show that she has passed that
way. The vessel ploughs its way through the deep, and leaves a wake
behind her for a short time. But the sea, like the air, soon resumes
its former condition, and the keel leaves no lasting indication upon
the water whereby the course of the mariner can be seen. So the
serpent glides over the rock, and for a moment its shining scales are
reflected in the sun, and then it is hidden from sight and the rock
bears no footprint upon its surface. No human skill could, in any of
these instances, find any evidence by which to establish the fact
that either the thing without life or the living creatures had been
there. So the sin to which all these comparisons are linked is one
which may be concealed from the eyes of all except those concerned in
it, not only at the time of its committal, but also in the immediate
future. Those who come in contact with the guilty parties may see no
more trace of the sin than they would do of an eagle's course, or, to
use the other metaphor, of bread that had been eaten by one who has
wiped his mouth after the meal.
+II. Sin is so in opposition to the voice of the human conscience
that even those who love it must seek to hide it.+ The adulteress has
sunk as low in the moral scale as it is possible for a human creature
to sink, and yet she seeks to hide her shame. Men of evil deeds love
darkness rather than light, and so give evidence that there is that
within them that condemns their unholy deeds. The very denial of the
crime is a condemnation of it. There are many crimes which are not
amenable to human law which men, notwithstanding, try to hide from
human eyes, and their efforts to do this are witnesses against them
and in favour of the law which they have broken.
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 21-23.
BURDENS GRIEVOUS TO BE BORNE.
+I. It is sometimes dangerous to the peace of a community to raise a
person from a low to a high position.+ To place a man who has never
before crossed a horse, upon a high-spirited charger, is to create a
source of danger both to himself and others. There is a strong
probability that the unskilful rider will be thrown from his
unaccustomed elevation, and so injure himself. And it is also
probable that he will be the means of mischief to other travellers
upon the road, whom he will overthrow in his unskilful efforts to
keep his seat. It is generally as dangerous an experiment to lift a
man at once from the position of a servant to that of a ruler.
Although faithfulness "over a few things" is, according to the
highest authority, the best qualification for rulership "over many
things" (Matt. xxv. 21), it is not always hands used only to service
are fit to hold the reins of government, either in a small or a large
society. On this subject see also on chap. xix. 10, page 569.
+II. Some human creatures cannot safely be trusted with even a
sufficiency of this world's goods.+ They are not only unfit to rule
others, but so unfit to rule themselves that they cannot be "filled
with meat" without becoming a centre of disturbance. Even enough of
the necessaries of life suffices to make them injurious to themselves
and insolent to their betters. This is especially true of men who are
slaves to their bodily appetites. There are men in the world who,
although peaceable and even useful citizens when they are kept in a
state of comparative want and hardship, indulge in excess and
immorality as soon as the restraint is removed. They will sometimes
know this to be true, and yet they are so wanting in moral courage
and strength as not to struggle after a higher condition of being.
Such men are fools indeed.
+III. The change of disposition which change of circumstance
sometimes seems to work may be the result of deliberate purpose.+
When a servant becomes a ruler he may be the occasion of trouble
simply from intellectual inability, and the fool who cannot safely be
filled with meat may be only morally weak; but the woman here
represented as developing into a curse after marriage suggests a
person who has deliberately hidden her real character for a time in
order to gain a position in which she can have more opportunities of
indulging her evil propensities. This is a step farther in
wickedness, and this domestic burden is often the most grievous of
all burdens. On this subject see on chap. xxi. 9 and 19, page 613.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
Judge, then, how horrible it is that men should set the devil, or his
two angels the world and the flesh, in the throne, whiles they place
God in the footstool; or that in this commonwealth of man, reason,
which is the queen or princess over the better powers and graces of
the soul, should stoop to so base a slave as sensual lust.--_T.
Adams._
And now, just notice the comprehensiveness, in regard to the
happiness of human life, of the _four things_ thus enumerated. They
begin, observe, at _the throne,_ and come down to the _domestic
servant._ They embrace four great sources of the social unhappiness
of mankind. They are--_incompetent rule, preposterous and besotted
folly, conjugal alienation and strife with its domestic miseries,_
and the _unnatural inversion of social order.--Wardlaw._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 24-28.
LOWLY TEACHERS.
+I. Men can learn from creatures far beneath him.+ Herein he gives
evidence both of his greatness and of his imperfection. He is often
so faulty in many respects that some of the most insignificant
creatures around him read him lessons of wisdom, and yet his
capability of receiving instruction from them shows how superior he
is to them. For creatures below man, although their actions are often
marked by something that seems very nearly akin to reason, are not
capable of receiving moral instruction, either from those above or
beneath them, and so give proof that they lack a capacity which man
possesses.
+II. The lessons taught him by each of these creatures.+ 1. _From the
ant industry and forethought._ On this subject see on chap. vi. 6-11,
page 78. 2. _From the coney_ (see Critical Notes) _a prudent
acknowledgement of weakness._ It is one of the marks of a wise man
that he knows his weakness as well as his strength, and this seems to
be the lesson conveyed by the feeble folk who, conscious of their
feebleness, make their abodes in the rocks. Foolhardiness may ruin a
man as surely as cowardice, and it is quite a different thing from
courage, though it is sometimes mistaken for it. 3. _From the locust
the need of unity and co-operation._ The locust is in itself a small
and weak insect, yet it is well known what mighty and terrible work
can be accomplished by them when they unite. They stand as an example
of the wonderful effect of perfect combination and unanimity in
action. (See Joel ii. 2-11.) They seem animated by a single purpose,
and the myriads of individuals seem to become one great and
irresistible monster, and thus show us what great things can be
accomplished in any community when men are of one heart and mind on
any subject, and are willing to lay aside personal preferences and
individual interests in order to achieve a common purpose. 4. _From
the lizard_ (see Critical Notes) _the results of perseverance._ This
little creature is constantly found in Eastern houses, and doubtless
in the palace as well as in more lowly dwellings. Although hardly so
good an example of perseverance as the spider, yet it owes its
presence in the house to its own energy in overcoming obstacles, and
its pertinacity in seeking out some means of entrance, and may
therefore be regarded as worthy of man's imitation when some task is
set before him which calls for continuous and watchful effort.
_OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS._
It has been remarked by some, that the four emblems express all that
is requisite for the conservation and well-being of a STATE or
KINGDOM. There is _supply of food;--commodious and secure dwelling
places;--subordination, concord, and united exertion;_--and the
_prevalence and encouragement of the ingenious and useful arts._
These are things that governors and kings should look to. And we may
apply the emblematic lessons to _domestic_ life. Before a man can
prudently marry, and have a family, he should have some suitable
provision made, and something like a fair prospect of being able to
support them. Next is to be found a suitable dwelling, adapted to the
circumstances and convenience. Then, when settled, there must be
harmony, union, co-operation, in all departments of the household.
And lastly, there must be the diligent, constant, persevering
application of his skill and labour to his worldly
calling.--_Wardlaw._
The ants prepare their meat in the summer, that they may not starve
in the rigours of the winter months. How despicable, compared with
these insects, are the rational creatures, who suffer the thoughts of
an endless duration to be pushed out of their minds by threescore and
ten years? The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, and the
rocks for the conies; and has God provided no refuge for our souls?
God himself is our refuge and our strength, and those that make Him
their habitation shall be secured from the fear of evil.--_Lawson._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 29-31.
KINGLY QUALITIES.
These words seem to set forth animal qualifications needed by human
leaders.
+I. They must be men of courage.+ A cowardly man in any position in
society will, at some time or other, be found wanting, but what is
needed in everyday life and by men in ordinary positions, is
indispensable in him who has to lead others. A king in the days of
Solomon was expected to be at the head of his army in the day of
battle, and if he was not then an example to all beneath him in this
respect, he brought disgrace and ruin upon himself and them. A king
in all ages, and under all circumstances should be to his subjects
what the lion is to the other beasts of the forest--a pattern of
dignity and courage.
+II. They must be active and watchful.+ Both the greyhound and the
war-horse--whichever may be here meant--are characterised by
swiftness of foot and great sagacity. They are ready at any moment to
set forth on any errand, and are always on the alert when danger is
near. The goat, also, is agile in its movements, and as sure-footed
as it is fleet. All these animal qualities are symbolic of mental
qualifications which must be possessed by those who aspire to lead
and rule their fellow-men successfully. They must not be behindhand
when called to action, but they must at the same time take heed to
the dangers which may lie in wait for them. They must be ever ready
at the call of duty, but they must not be rash and hasty, and so
endanger much more than their own personal safety.
On the subject of verses 32 and 33, see on chap. xvii. 14, page 513.
_REMARKS ON THE CHAPTER AS A WHOLE._
While it appears at the first view that the flowers and fruits from
the cornucopia of Agur's wisdom, original and in part so rarely
fashioned, are heaped up wholly without order, yet they all agree in
this, that they depict the glory and all sufficiency of the Word of
God, dissuade from adding to it by any human supplement, and most
urgently commend the fulfilling and following it by a pious life.
There is hardly a single commandment of the Decalogue that is not
directly or indirectly repeated and emphasised in these maxims.
Observe the relation of the prayer for the hallowing of God's name
(verses 7-9) to the first and third commandments; the references
contained in verse 11, and again in verse 17 to the fifth
commandment; the warnings against the transgression of the sixth
commandment in verse 14 as well as in verses 32-33; the reproving and
warning aim of verses 18-20, and 23, in their bearing upon the
seventh; the allusion to the eighth in verse 9, and to the ninth in
verse 10; and finally the reference, reminding us of the tenth in
verses 15 and 16. . . . No one of these proverbs is wholly without an
ethical value; not even the two numerical proverbs (verses 24-28, and
29-31), which at the first view stand apart as incidental reflections
on merely natural truths, but in reality hide under their ingenious
physical drapery decided moral aims. For in verses 24-28 four chief
virtues of one's social and political avocation are specified through
an allusion to a like number of examples from the animal world, and
verses 29-31 run into a delineation of the high dignity and glory of
a king by the grace of God in contrast with the insufferable tyranny
of base upstarts (verses 21-23).--_Lange's Commentary._
* * * * * *