"In every affliction there is profit;" a remark analogous to Eccles. vii. 2, 3. 24. The crown of the wise, &c.]-Riches constitute a crown, an honour, and ornament to the wise, because they make a proper use of them; but the opulence of fools only administers to their folly. ns must, I think, mean opulence, not only by reason of the antithesis, but likewise because, in its usual acceptation, it yields no very apposite sense. Schultens refers to the Arabic J, med. waw. crassus vel spissus fuit, (see Indices ad Prov. et Job, and Willmet, Lex. Arab.,) and he shows that wayvç in Greek means dives, opulentus, as well as crassus vel spissus. His interpretation is followed by Parkhurst, Dathe, Schulz, in Cocc. Lex. It must, however, be acknowledged, that this sense of ♫ is not supported by the ancient versions, nor by any other passage in Scripture; and therefore, if the received version be retained, i. e. “ the foolishness of fools is folly," the sense may be, that the "foolishness of fools," however it may be surrounded with riches, still remains "folly," nothing better, neither useful nor ornamental.-See Le Clerc, and Michalis, Not. Uber. 26. And his children]―i. e. the children of him who has this confidence. The pronominal affix sometimes refers to an antecedent not expressly mentioned, but implied by the scope of the discourse.-Schroeder, Inst. ad Fund. Ling. Heb. reg. 39; Glassii Phil. Sac. p. 158. 28. In the multitude, &c.]-It is a truth acknowledged by the wisest statesmen in all ages, that the chief glory of a king is the abundance of happy and virtuous subjects. "The decay of population," says Dr. Paley, "is the greatest evil that a state can suffer; and the improvement of it the object which ought, in all countries, to be aimed at, in preference to every other political purpose whatsoever."-(Moral and Polit. Phil. lib. vi. cap. 11.) "To increase the number of the citizens, as far as it is possible or convenient, is one of the first objects that claim the attentive care of the state or its conductor," &c.-(Vattel on the Law of Nations, lib. i. cap. 14.) Yet, while we assert, that the highest honour of a prince, and the chief glory of a nation, is a "multitude of people," we must assent to the doctrine of Malthus, (Essay on the Principle of Population,) that, from the tendency of population to press upon the limits of subsistence, a great deal of vice and misery is occasioned in the world; and that the most serious evils arise from a redundancy of population. Nevertheless, the principle of population, though it necessarily must occasion some evils, is, on the whole, productive of very beneficial effects, and wisely adapted to a state of discipline and trial.-See Sumner's Records of the Creation. the prince]—, in the sense of prince, occurs nowhere else in the singular, though often in the plural for princes or counsellors: but the parallelism and the ancient versions confirm this sense. Some refer it to , and render it, wasting destruction."-Poli Synop. Schult. Parkh. Dathe, &c. 66 a 29. exalteth folly]-That is, makes his folly manifest to all. See verse 17, and ch. iii. 35. 30. A sound heart, &c.]—Ease and content, the due regulation of the passions, and a tranquil state of mind, conduce to the wellbeing of the bodily constitution. Some derive * from п remisit, i. e. a gentle heart; others, more properly, from D7 sanavit, a heart of healing, i. e. either a heart that wishes every good to others, a benevolent heart; or one that is sound and healthy in itself. I prefer the more general expression, a sound heart;" because a sound heart is necessarily a kind and benevolent one. Grotius and Le Clerc quote some appropriate passages from the classics. 32. hath hope in his death]—What can this hope be but the expectation of an hereafter? Therefore, the righteous do not despair in death, like the wicked. A clear intimation of a future state!(See Dathe's note; Jarchi; Graves on the Pent. vol. ii. p. 253.) But Warburton expounds it of the righteous having hope that he shall be delivered from the most imminent dangers.-Div. Leg. lib. vi. sect. 3. 33. But that which is, &c.]-The LXX, Syriac, and Arabic read this hemistich with a negative particle: "But it (wisdom) is not known in the heart of fools." As such an alteration of the text, though approved by Capellus, (Crit. Sac. p. 838, ed. Vogel,) is not confirmed by adequate authority, Buxtorf and Durell propose to read it interrogatively: "But is it known in the midst of fools?" which renders the antithesis complete. חסד .2 34. But sin is a reproach]-This hemistich is rendered "Beneficence is a sinoffering or expiation for nations," or "The beneficence of nations is a sinoffering or expiation," by Grotius, Castalio, Vatablus, Geier, Schultens, Le Clerc, Parkhurst. My reasons for adhering to the received version are, 1. It is scarcely justifiable to call beneficence a sinoffering for nations, even in a metaphorical sense. means to reproach, to put to shame, ch. xxv. 10, and in all languages these are words which bear quite opposite senses, of which examples are given in Pococke, Notæ ad Porta Mosis, cap. 2, p. 136, ed. Twells; Glassii Phil. Sac. p. 897, ed. Dathe. 3. Ton denotes reproach in Syriac and Chaldee. 4. This sense is supported by Symmachus, and, probably, by LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate; certainly they do not countenance the former interpretation. 5. It yields an excellent meaning, and renders the antithesis perfect.-See ch. xxv. 10, note. CHAPTER XV. 1. A soft answer, &c.]—This is opposed to a 27, literally, "a word of grief or anger;" i. e. words which irritate and give pain. 4. The healing medicine, &c.]-Kind and tender discourse is elegantly styled "the healing medicine of the tongue;” and its power to heal the sorrowing mind may aptly be compared to the tree of life in the garden of Eden. 6. is much treasure]-The sense is, that temporal prosperity attends the righteous, but trouble the wicked. Though ¡on often means strength, yet it denotes treasure Ezek. xxii. 25, (compare Isa. xxiii. 18,) and ch. xxvii. 24; which proves that it cannot mean secure or durable treasures, as some imagine. 7. doeth not so]-1 may be a noun, denoting right, rectum, i. e. "the heart of fools disseminates that which is not right." So Doederlein, Dathe, Schultens. It is taken for a verb by Durell, who renders it, "doth not establish it." 8. The sacrifice, &c.]—For illustration of this verse, compare ch. xxi. 27; 1 Sam. xv. 22; Ps. li. 17, et seq.; Isa. i. 11, lxi. 8, lxvi. 3; Jer. vi. 20; Amos, v. 22; Mal. i. 10. Homer, Iliad, lib. i. I. 218, says, OCKE OEOLÇ ETITHOONTAL, μαλα τ' εκλυον αυτού. Seneca excellently observes, "Nec in victimis, licet opimæ sint, auroque præfulgeant, deorum est honos; sed piâ et rectâ voluntate venerantium; itaque boni etiam farre ac fictili religiosi sunt; mali rursus non effugiunt impietatem, quamvis aram sanguine multo cruentaverint."-See Poli Synop. 10. the way]-That is, the way of righteousness; "viam vitæ," Houbigant. 11. Hades and the seats of destruction, &c.]—A fine description of the omnipresence and omniscience of God. Even the mansions of departed souls are open to his inspection and cognizance; how much more, then, does his eye search the secret recesses of the soul ! The word as occurs in four other places, Job, xxviii. 22, xxxi. 12, from which nothing can be inferred; but the two following texts are important: Job, xxvi. 6, "Hades is naked before him; and the seats of destruction (1728) have no covering." The word clearly means a place here, and the Targum paraphrases it by "house of perdition."-(See Le Clerc and Rosenmuller.) It occurs also in Ps. lxxxviii. 12, Heb., which Bishop Horsley thus translates: ,בית אברנא "Shall thy tender love be published in the grave, Thy faithfulness in the seats of destruction?" The Targum on the place renders it, "in the house of perdition." From these passages we may conclude, that s means the place of perdition, "interritus seu perditionis locus," Castell. As it is joined with "Hades," a term including the regions of departed spirits, whether good or bad, it probably means the mansions where the spirits of the wicked are confined. I do not mean to insist upon this; for it may be doubted, whether it be consistent with the notions which the ancient Jews entertained concerning the state of departed spirits. It must, however, be understood as denoting a place, and if it be not taken for the mansions of wicked spirits, yet it must be considered as equivalent to Sheol, or Hades. ¬¬¬8, Prov. xxvii. 20, has the same signification; but 1728, Esther, viii. 6, ix. 5, means destruction. The belief of a future state does not constitute the express object of the Mosaic revelation; yet that it was made known, though obscurely, by the Law of Moses, and other books in the Old Testament, cannot reasonably be called in question. Nevertheless, it is, perhaps, impossible to ascertain the |