require this version, though the ancient versions do not admit. it: 66 eam stabilit," Dathe.

28. The heart of the righteous, &c.]" Non temere effutit quicquid in buccam venit. Nil loquitur nisi diu meditatum: itaque recta et bona respondere solet. Loquitur quæ sunt ad utilitatem."-Poli Synop.

30. As the light of the eyes, &c.]-As the pleasures derived through the eye gratify the heart; so does an honest fame exhilarate a man. In this exposition, "the light of the eyes" means the pleasures which we receive through the eyes; and ovn, literally, "fatteneth the bones," are metaphorical expressions, to denote the making a man cheerful and contented; i. e. a good name cheers and exhilarates "reficit et lætificat hominem," Michalis, (Not. Uber.) Other interpretations may be found in Schultens and Poli Synop.

a man;

31. that regardeth] — yow means, 1. To perceive by the ear, to listen. 2. To perceive, to discern, to understand. 3. To mind, to regard, to obey. According to Johnson, the same senses belong to the word "hear;" yet row may often be more forcibly, and more perspicuously, translated by some of the words by which it is explained above.

-the reproof of life]-i. e. salutary reproof.

33. The fear of Jehovah, &c.]-The fear of Jehovah constitues the fundamental principle inculcated by Wisdom; and is, therefore, properly called the beginning, the excellence, or principal part of religion.-(Ch. i. 7.) The latter hemistich recalls to mind the eulogies on humility in the New Testament, James, iv. 6; Luke, xiv. 11; Rom. xii. 16, &c. Compare ch. xviii. 12.

CHAPTER XVI.

1. The deliberations, &c.]—We are indebted to God for all we possess; for the power of reason, and the faculty of speech; for every thing we enjoy mentally and corporeally; in short, in him we live, and move, and have our being. Such, I think, is the meaning of this very difficult verse, in the exposition of which there are so many discordant opinions. But we must examine it critically whether it will bear this explication.

in man] often means in: (Noldius, 18:) INS may, then, be rendered" in man;" or, perhaps with equal propriety," with respect to man."-Noldius,, 30.

The deliberations]—y, from

ordinavit, dis

posuit, means the arrangements of the mind, i. e. the counsels, schemes, deliberations.

and the utterance] does not here mean the answer, but the power of answering, utterance; “ eloquendi facultas," Mercer. The context requires this meaning; for what can the assertion mean, that "the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah," but that the power or faculty of speech is derived from him? Thus my version seems to be critically established. To distinguish the two hemistichs antithetically, as in the Vulgate, Syriac, Targum, and several moderns, viz. "The counsels of the heart are man's; but the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah," is unjustifiable; for the schemes of the heart are as much from Jehovah as the answer of the tongue : in both he gives the power; the use belongs to the free-will of man.

2. All the ways of a man]-That is, the course of life which he pursues, his actions and proceedings. However just they may appear in his own eyes, and self-love often renders a man

blind to his own faults; yet "Jehovah weigheth the spirits," he forms a perfectly just estimate of men's hearts and minds.

may be right]-7 clean, pure; metaphorically, just, right. Ch. xxi. 2.

3. Commit thy works, &c.In all thy doings, seek the approbation of God; execute his will; confide in his superintending care; and he will give success to thy designs, as far as is expedient for thee.-Compare Ps. xxxvii. 5, lv. 22; 1 Pet. v. 7.

4. Jehovah had made, &c.]-The Almighty, through his own good pleasure, created all things; and is even so merciful, that he daily feeds and sustains the wicked. "The mercy of the Lord is everlasting;" (Ps. c. 5;) and "he endureth with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction." (Rom. ix. 22.) The Bible translation favours the Supralapsarian doctrine; but God forbid that we should ever maintain, that it can be consistent with his ever-wakeful mercy to "create the wicked for the day of evil," to call millions of human beings into existence, who, at the same time, are doomed, by an irreversible decree, to eternal perdition. The horrible doctrine of Reprobation is now, I hope, generally renounced by modern Calvinists, though they hold others, which, by just and necessary consequence, lead to it. But as their tenets have no authority in Scripture, grammatically and critically expounded; so it is very certain that they have no support from the passage before us.

According to the translation which I have given of this verse, it is a description of the benevolence of the Almighty,, in daily bearing with and sustaining the wicked. But, should the received translation be deemed correct," the day of evil" would be considered, by a Jew of the age of Solomon, to mean the day of trouble and affliction; in other words, the

time of temporal punishment. The sense, then, will be, "Jehovah hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked, who are reserved, or who subject themselves, to the day of evil, i. e. the day of punishment." "Non fecit Deus impium; sed facit ut, quisquis talis est, sit ad diem malum, sit obnoxius poenæ necessario et absque omni dubio secuturæ." -(Reiske.) Bishop Tomline's interpretation is nearly similar: "The true meaning of the passage is, that God made all things to display his own glorious attributes; and that even wicked men, whose existence and frequent prosperity may seem scarcely reconcilable with the divine perfections, will, in the end, be found to furnish the strongest proof of his long-suffering in bearing with their iniquities, and of his power and justice in punishing their incorrigible depravity: upon such men the day of evil' will ultimately come: the wicked is reserved for the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.' Job, xxi. 30."-Refut. of Calvinism, cap. 4.

Some, to avoid the blasphemy of attributing affliction or punishment as the object of God in creating any rational beings, explain "the day of evil" thus; That God made the wicked to inflict evil or punishment upon others.-(Parkhurst,

.) Others give a different turn to the verse, by taking for a noun; i. e. "facit secundum responsum suum; id est, facit ut respondeat voluntati suæ, et sumat finem non quem ipse vult, sed quem Deus intendit."-(Noldius, Annot. 1404.) So, with some variation, it is understood by Glass, Gousset, Schultens, &c. Desvoeux (Essay on Eccles. p. 462) renders the verse, "The Lord hath made all things to be evidence of himself, nay, the wicked to be so in the day of adversity."

daily]— I understand in the sense of every day, day by day, daily, as Exod. xxix. 36, 38; Numb. xxviii. 3, 24; Jer. xxxvii. 21; Ezek. iv. 10. The punctuation,

NN

indeed, is different in these places, but we are no longer in bondage to the Masora. "Dies malus vel mali, hic est, dies poenæ sive calamitatis: ut phrasis sumitur, Gen. xlvii. 9; Ps. xxvii. 5, xlix. 6; Jer. xvii. 18, &c."-Poli Synop.

sustains]—ñ¬ I take for a verb to feed, to sustain: "Impium quoque quotidie alit,” as rendered by Dathe, who, after Doederlein, observes, that лr, being feminine, cannot properly agree with ", which is masculine, and ought, therefore, to be construed as a verb: but every Hebrew scholar must see, that this criticism is not entitled to much weight.

5. Though hand join in hand]-See ch. xi. 21, note.

6. Through mercy, &c.]—It is owing to God's mercy that iniquity can be atoned for. Through his great goodness, God has appointed the expiations for sin in the Levitical law; and through the reverence which all his mercies demand, men are induced to depart from evil, and avoid it.

9. A man's heart, &c.]-Man deliberates concerning his affairs and proceedings; but the event of them is in the allwise disposal of God. Perhaps this verse may be rendered more perspicuously by a greater deviation from the letter:

"A man's mind deliberates concerning his proceedings; But Jehovah directeth the issue of them."

The meaning may be illustrated by ch. xx. 24; Ps. xxxvii. 23, and particularly Jer. x. 23: " O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." This is the authorized version, which is supported by the LXX, Vulgate, and Targum; but Dr. Blaney, after the Syriac and Durell, adopts, in my judgment, a less correct translation; viz.

"I know Jehovah, that his way is not like that of men,

Not like a human being doth he proceed and order his going."