mean, love veils or palliates all sins; does not like to dwell upon them and exaggerate them, as envious and malicious people do. St. James says, (Ep. v. 20,) “he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins;" that is, he shall cause the sins of the converted person to be forgiven; he shall be the instrument of the sinner's forgiveness.-(See Wolfii Cura, Rosenmuller, and Macknight.) St. Peter likewise says, that “ charity shall cover a multitude of sins," (1 Ep. iv. 8,) namely, love, ŋ ayanη, covers the sins of others, "preventing them by patience, not taking notice of them when committed, and concealing them from others," as Whitby paraphrases the apostolic language. But see ; see Schroeder, Obser. ad Schleusneri Lex. καλυπτω. Orig. Heb. c. 2, § 16, p. 26. 13. But a rod, &c.]-The common corporeal punishment of the Mosaic Law was stripes.-(Lev. xix. 20; Deut. xxii. 18, xxv. 2. See Michælis, Comment. Art. 239.) Dathe's version gives the sense, "Verberibus castigandus est stultus." 14. But destruction is near, &c.]-Let Solomon be his own interpreter: "A fool's mouth," says he, "is his de struction; and his lips are the snare of his soul."-Ch, xviii. 7. See ch. xii. 13, xxi. 23; Eccles. x. 12. See Bauer, Critica Sacra, vol. ii. p. 275. 15. The rich man's wealth, &c.]-From the parallel place, ch. xviii. 11, it may be inferred, that this aphorism describes the effects of wealth upon the possessor. He places his confidence in it, as the inhabitants confide in a city defended with walls and bulwarks. But poverty is "the destruction of the poor;" it too often proves an effectual bar against the exertion of their talents and their virtues: "Haud facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat G As it is imitated by Dr. Johnson, with inimitable force and beauty: "This mournful truth is every where confess'd, Slow rises worth by poverty depress'd." And in some lamentable instances, though, it is to be hoped, they are but few, the poor have been suffered to perish through want. This aphorism is not to be regarded as an universal truth, but, like some others in the book of Proverbs, as an observation respecting what frequently happens in human life. Wealth is sometimes possessed along with genuine humility and firm trust in God, unmingled with arrogance or pride; and merit, though surrounded with the rags of indigence, sometimes forces itself to eminence and fame. It must be understood with this limitation, or it would contradict other passages, in which it is declared, that "he that trusteth in his riches shall fall;" (ch. xi. 28;) that "riches profit not in the day of wrath;" (ch. xi. 4;) that "better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich."-Ch. xix. 1, xxviii. 6. Compare ch. xviii. 11, and note. But the destruction]-Аs ллn means to be dismayed, terrified, as well as destruction, this hemistich may be rendered, "The poverty of the poor is their dread." So Vulgate and one of the Hexaplar versions. 16. But the produce]-The profits or gains arising from the schemes and labours of the wicked. to destruction]—The primary sense of son is aberrare a scopo.-(See ch. viii. 36.) The gains of the wicked tend, Пon, to aberration from their object, i. e. they will deviate from or miss life and happiness, and their career will terminate in destruction. The antithesis requires this exposition. 17. He is in the way, and may be supplied by &c.]-The expression is elliptical, before now, i. e. the way of life belongs to him who keeps, &c.; or by 777, i. e. he walketh in the way of life who, &c. Durell's version is, "The way of life keepeth instruction; but that which rejecteth reproof causeth to err;" and it is partly supported by the LXX, Syriac, Targ. nevertheless, the authorized version, which I have followed, seems correct, and yields a good sense. 18. hath lying lips]-E. T. and others render it," with lying lips," that is, both he that concealeth hatred, and he that uttereth slander, are alike fools: but, I think, the meaning of the first hemistich is, "He that concealeth hatred hath lying lips;" he must dissemble: he "hath the lips of hypocrisy," Hodgson. The LXX, Syriac, and Vulg., by a violation of grammar, make " lips" the nominative to the verb. 19. In the multitude, &c.]-As a multitude of words is not necessarily sinful, the observation must be restricted to that woλvλoyia, much speaking, which proceeds from levity and folly. Such loquacity is seldom harmless; it leads to detraction, to falsehood, to the encouragement of impure and profane ideas. No useful speech is here condemned, nor that flow of decent language which takes place in the hilarity of social intercourse; but that only which our Saviour stigmatizes under the terms wav pnμa apyov, (Matt. xii. 36,) “every pernicious word," as Campbell very properly renders it, and of which an account must be given in the day of judgment. -Compare Ephes. iv. 29. 21. instruct many]—', literally, "feed many;" in a spiritual sense, teach or instruct; "erudiunt," Vulg. The lips of the righteous supply many with spiritual food, with intellectual nourishment. Teaching is often expressed in Scripture by the term feeding; Jer. iii. 15, xxiii. 4; Ezek. xxxiv. 8, 14, 23; John, xxi. 15; Acts, xx. 28; Ephes. iv. 11; 1 Pet. v. 2, 3. 22. The blessing, &c.]-The blessing of God maketh rich, in the best sense of the word, rich in comfort and in the possession of spiritual delights. The blessing of Jehovah is the nominative absolute.—Robertson's Gram. p. 311; Schroeder, Reg. 33; Glass, p. 67. 23. So is]-Vau is here a particle of comparison.-Glassii Phil. Sac. p. 603; Noldius, 61. 25. When the tempest beats, &c.]-When the day of calamity arrives, and the storm of God's wrath rages abroad, the wicked soon come to an end. This is beautifully described in Job, xx. 4, et seq. Calamity is represented under the image of a tempest, Job, ix. 17; Ps. l. 3, lxxxiii. 16, Heb.; Isaiah, liv. 11; Jer. xxiii. 19, xxv. 32, xxx. 23; Ezek. xiii. 11, &c.; and our Saviour employs the same imagery Matt. vii. 24, et seq. But the righteous have an everlasting foundation; their hope, faith, and confidence are built upon the Rock of ages, and they remain unmoved amid the storms and tempests by which the vicious are overwhelmed. "As some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midways leaves the storm, 26. As vinegar, &c.]-As acid substances often affect the teeth in a disagreeable manner, and as smoke is noxious to the eyes; so is an idle, loitering messenger vexatious to those that send him. See Bochart, Hieroz. par. 1, lib. ii. cap. 7. 28. The hope of the righteous, &c.]-This proverb may be true in the most general sense; but it seems to refer more particularly to long life and happiness, which are wished for equally by the virtuous and wicked. The hopes which the former entertain of possessing them are pleasant and consolatory, but the expectations of the latter end in disappointment and regret. The hope and desire of the wicked is often said to perish, ch. xi. 7; Job, viii. 13, xi. 20, xviii. 14; Ps. cxii. 10; that is, instead of gaining the object of their hopes, they meet with disappointment. 29. The way of Jehovah, &c.]—The way of Jehovah may be taken in an active sense, for the operation or working of Jehovah; i. e. God, in his wise operations or proceedings, gives strength to and establishes the upright, and destroys the wicked: or in a passive sense, for the way which Jehovah appoints, namely, religion, or the law of God, which confers great blessings to them that embrace it, but destruction to them that wilfully reject it. I prefer the former explication, as the same expression denotes the working or operation of God ch. viii. 22; but, as the text is not quite free from ambiguity, I have not ventured to alter the received version. -See Poli Synop. 31. The mouth of the righteous, &c.]-" Allegoria sumitur a vite vel arbore, cujus sicut propagines lætæ efflorescunt, ita loquelæ quasi fructus, dicta sapientia, succum habent et vigorem at pravorum lingua excinditur, ut solet in arbore sterili et noxia, vel vite quam ars agricolarum ferro amputans coercet, ne silvescat sarmentis et in omnes partes nimia fundatur, ut ait Cicero Cat. maj. 15.”—Doederleinii Scholia. 32. love what is acceptable]— to love, to regard.-(See ch. v. 6, note.) acceptableness, put for that which is agreeable and acceptable: "ea norunt loqui, quæ suavia sint audita et gratiam ipsi concilient."-Michalis, Not. Uber. Compare ch. xv. 26, xvi. 13; Ps. xix. 15; Col. iv. 6. |