the case in excessive grief.-(But see Rosenmuller in loc.) So in the passage before us, "he who devoureth," swalloweth down," that which is holy," i. e. he who rashly brings himself under a sacred obligation.-(See Taylor's Concordance.) The root has this meaning in Syriac and Chaldee. The abovecited are all the texts where it occurs. Whoever wishes to see an useless display of Arabic learning, let him consult Schultens in loc. and on Job, vi. 3.

26. A wise king, &c.]-A wise monarch separates the wicked from the good, and inflicts due punishment upon them, as the corn is separated from the straw, which is bruised in the threshing. See verse 8, and note.

-the wheel]-Though the punishment of the wheel prevailed in Greece, (Suicer, Thesaurus rpoxos,) there is no evidence of its existence among the ancient Hebrews. The image is taken from one of the methods of threshing corn in the East, by a wain which had iron teeth, or edges like a saw.— Lowth on Isa. xxviii. 28; Burder's Oriental Customs, No. 716.

27. The spirit of man]—now the spirit or soul of man. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, ("n now the living principle,) and man became a living soul.”—(Gen. ii. 7.) Thus "the vital spark of heavenly flame" is kindled by the Almighty. Others consider this as a description of conscience, which God has implanted in man, to investigate and examine the inmost recesses of the heart. As the apostle speaks, "what man knoweth the things of a man, (i. e. his concealed thoughts and designs, Macknight,) save the spirit of a man which is in him?"-1 Cor. ii. 11.

30. The bruises, &c.]—In this version I have mainly followed Parkhurst, though others preceded him in the same

RR

explication. (See Poli Synop. and Schultens.) Geier, Dathe, Schulz, &c. expound the meaning to be, that the correction of vice is as painful as livid wounds and stripes inflicted on the body. This is a very true remark; but ¬ occurs ch. xviii. 8, xx. 27, xxvi. 22, in a metaphorical sense for the inner man, or the mind, and why should we give it a different signification here, when the one authorized by the preceding citations is quite suitable? According to this view, the meaning is, that chastisement is the only means of cleansing the wicked, and stripes, properly inflicted, purify the heart. nan vibex, the mark of a wound, as most Lexicons explain it; but it seems rather to mean bruises, Exod. xxi. 25; Ps. xxxviii. 5; Isa. i. 6, liii. 5.

חבורה

a cleanser]—p is applied to the scouring or cleansing of vessels Levit. vi. 28, and to the furbishing of metals 2 Chron. iv. 16; Jer. xlvi. 4: hence, figuratively, to the cleansing of the mind.

CHAPTER XXI.

1. The king's heart, &c.]—The hearts of kings are in God's rule and governance, and he influences them whichever way he will, as easily as small streams are directed by the husbandman. The image is taken from the practice common among gardeners and husbandmen, of directing the course of brooks into small channels and rivulets, for the purpose of irrigating the soil. In the opinion of Grotius, this apophthegm refers to the extraordinary providence of God, an opinion which certainly accords with the sentiments of a Jew under the Theocracy; yet it is equally true of the ordinary providence of God, and by what authority shall we limit the maxims and expressions of the inspired writers, when they are true in the most extensive sense?

properly פלגי מים

denote waters distributed into artificial canals, Ps. i. 3; Isa. xxxii. 2.—See Bishop Lowth's note on Isaiah, i. 30.

4. And the lamp, &c.]—This is a very obscure verse; the sense of which, I think, is, that the loftiness, the pride, and splendour, and all the prosperity of the wicked, are sinful; for, their hearts being corrupt, they abuse the good gifts of God. is rendered by our translators and others "the plowing," but all the ancient versions render it "a lamp," which I have adopted, in obedience to their authority; understanding by "lamp" a state of prosperity, as ch. xiii. 9, where see note. See other expositions in Schultens.

is sin]-nson may, perhaps, mean a fall, lapsatio; (see ch. x. 16;) that is, the prosperity of the wicked is transitory, falls away, and ends in pain and vexation.Schultens, Parkhurst, son, 2, Dathe.

5. that is hasty]-i. e. every one that too eagerly longs to be rich to confine himself to the slow gains of industry, but uses vicious means of procuring wealth, (ch. xx. 21, xxviii. 20, 22,) opposed to "the diligent," the honest, industrious man, in the former hemistich.

6. The getting, &c.]-The procuring of treasures by deceit. and falsehood is a vanity committed only by those who seek death, eventually, not intentionally, as Geier expresses it. There is not sufficient authority for altering the text, and reading 77 for "He that gets treasures by a lying tongue, pursuing vanity, falls into the snares of death;" though this emendation is supported by Houbigant, Dimock, Hodgson, Durell, Dathe.

,נדף ,thus ; מבקשי for במקשי and

7. Destruction shall seize, &c.]-This verse admits very different translations: I have chosen that which appears to me the most probable, as it seems to be supported by LXX,

Syriac, Targ. Aq., and is adopted by Dathe, Cocceius, &c.

,traxit גור from ,גורים I take to be put for יגורם

8. The way, &c.]-This is the authorized version, plain, grammatical, and agreeable to the usual signification of the words. The propriety of the sentiment, likewise, will appear, if w's be taken for "a wicked man," and its opposition to

the pure, proves that it is to be so understood. It is asserted, that w's is never put for a bad man, and I have not found any example; therefore Capellus, Le Clerc, Durell, Hodgson, Reiske, read ʼn w's a depraved man, following the Vulgate, Syriac, and Targum in omitting the Vau: i. e. "The way of the depraved man is perverse." One MS. of Kennicott omits the Vau, and one of De Rossi originally did; but this is too slight authority for its omission. Schultens, who is dissatisfied with the clearest expositions, unless his favourite Arabic is introduced, proposes to refer to the Arabic, portavit onus; hence, figuratively, onustus fuit crimine. According to this, the sense would be, He who is perverse in his way is oppressed with a heavy burthen; or is burthened with criminality. No such root occurs elsewhere in Hebrew, whereas the meaning of is indubitable; it is, therefore, strange that this far-fetched criticism should be approved by Doederlein, Dathe, Schulz, Simonis, Parkhurst, (in ) and Dindorf (in r.)

9. a common house]-Literally, as in English margin, a house of society." It was usual with the Eastern people for a number of families to live together in one house, (Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 278; Parkhurst, 727,) and Solomon asserts, that it is better to live in solitude, in a small arbour on the roof of the house, than in large apartments in a common house, with a brawling woman, who will excite continual strife and contention.-See ch. xix. 13, and note.

i. e.

11. When a scorner, &c.]-This verse is similar to ch. xix. 25, i.e. when a scorner is punished the simple man, the scorner himself, is made wise.

12. The Just One, &c.]-" Locus perobscurus," says Mercer. It becomes very perspicuous, if py be considered as referring to God, who is often called pry in the Old, and dikatos in the New Testament. One objection, however, must not be concealed, that the word, in every other place of the Proverbs, denotes a righteous person. If this should appear to others sufficient to overturn the proposed exposition, though it does not to myself, I would adopt, next to it, that of Le Clerc, &c.: "Cum instituit innocens domum nocentis, pervertit nocentes, ita ut in malum incidant:" i. e. Hoc omnino velle videtur Salomon: eum qui revocet ad bonos mores familiam mali viri, a quo non auditur; eam deteriorem reddere, ita ut in malum incidat.”

14. pacifieth]

66

occurs nowhere else, but the context sufficiently establishes its meaning: besides, all the ancient versions give it the sense of averting or extinguishing, while the Arabic means avertit, and in Syriac and Chaldee the root means nearly the same.

16. shall remain]" Hoc de constanti mansione intelligendum est potius, quam de placida mortis quiete, quæ pie defunctis convenit, Isa. lvii. 2; Job, iii. 17; Dan. xii. 13.”– Michælis, Not. Uber.

17. He that loveth, &c.]-Wine and oil constituted an essential part of feasts; hence they are put for all those delicacies in which they indulge who are addicted to a voluptuous kind of life. The general sense is, that luxury and extravagance lead to poverty. "Quid autem? Annon fas est lætari, ridere, epulum agere? Est sane: sed hæc amare, illis animum adjicere, eis quotidie incumbere, in eis multum temporis ponere, fas esse pernego.”—Cartwright.