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18. The wicked, &c.]-God has so providentially ordered it, that, by a just retribution, the mischief which the wicked design against the righteous, often falls upon their own head; and in public calamities the just frequently escape when the wicked perish.

is cut off]—Literally, " shall be a ransom;" but as the wicked cannot, in the proper sense of the word, be a ransom for the righteous, the meaning must be, that the wicked come into the situation which they intended for the good, and may be said to be a ransom for the good, as suffering in their stead.

instead of is here taken for vice, loco, in the stead of, (Noldius, 41,) as is evident from its corresponding with лn in the second hemistich. So Vulgate, Syriac, Targum.

19. woman]-i. e. a wife, and so verse 9th.

20. Desirable treasure, &c.]—Plenty and abundance attend the wise, in consequence of their industry and good conduct; but fools dissipate their substance through indolence and imprudence. 1, participle passive, which answers to the Latin participial adjectives in bilis, i. e. desiderabilis; so 3D laudabilis, Ps. xviii. 4; п mirabile, Ps. xl. 6;

contemtibilis; was abominabilis.—Storrii Observat. in Syntax et Anal. p. 135; Rosenmuller in Ps. xlvi. 2.

22. A wise man, &c.]—The value of wisdom is here demonstrated by it efficacy in the capture of strong forts and cities; in Eccles. ix. 14, et seq. by its power in preserving them when assaulted. The sum is, that wisdom is preferable to strength.

in which they confide]-Then in лon is the pronominal affix, referring to ", literally, "the strength of its confidence," i. e. the strength of the city in which the mighty confide; ε' W ETITоideσay, LXX. Schultens says, п is "He feminine," not the affix, because it wants the Mappik; but

this is sometimes the case, (Altingii Fundam. Punct. p. 197,) and we are now emancipated from a state of bondage to the Masoretic points.

24. and haughty]- only occurs here and Hab. ii. 5, neither of which places absolutely determine its meaning, though the sense of pride is applicable to both. In Chaldee, however, it means superbus; (Buxt. Lex. Talm. ;) and if it be derived from л to be big with child, hence a mountain, it may mean," looking big, haughty, proud."-(Parkhurst.) In this sense it is rendered by LXX, Vulgate, and Targum, in both places. It is in vain to appeal to the Arabic, as there are several roots to which it may be referred: for instance, A conturbavit, attonitum fecit;, in conjugation 10, dementatus est; (Michalis, Supplem. No. 970;) corruit. These, indeed, are cognate roots, and in some degree allied in signification; yet it must be evident, that nothing can, with certainty, be deduced from them; though Schultens pleads with some plausibility in favour of the sense above contended for, as deducible from the Arabic.

26. He coveteth, &c.]-That is, "the slothful man” mentioned in the preceding verse. But some understand man as the abstract for the concrete, and render it " avarus :" "The covetous man desireth all the day long; but," &c. ασεβης επιθυμεί, LXX.

28. A false witness, &c.]—The false witness shall be punished; but the witness who only speaks what he has heard, neither adding thereto nor diminishing aught from it, shall speak to victory, (ny,) that is, convincingly: "loquetur victoriam," Vulgate; es viкos πopεvσetai, Aq. Sym. Theod., probably in the same sense. For this luminous explication I am indebted to Bate and Parkhurst. But Schultens, who is followed by Simonis, Michalis, Schulz, Taylor, maintains

that the primitive meaning of п] is purus, sincerus fuit, like the Arabic. According to this, the sense would be, "He who hath heard speaks according to truth," or sincerely, without falsehood or disguise. To this I object, 1st. That it is not supported by biblical usage. 2dly. Nor by the versions. 3dly. As to the authority of the dialects, П in Syriac and Chaldee means victory, and though in Arabic it has the sense of purus fuit, it has likewise the sense of monuit, monitum dedit.-(See Golius.) The evidence, therefore, is clearly in favour of the received signification.

29. hardeneth his face]—Compare ch. vii. 13.

31. But safety]-Some render пwn “victory," as it sometimes signifies. Either way translated the sentiment is pious and excellent.

CHAPTER XXII.

1. A good name]- is put for a good name, as it is rendered in the Vulgate, LXX, and Targum.-See ch. xviii. 22, note.

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And favour]-Namely, the kindness and affection of friends and neighbours.

2. The rich and poor, &c.]-The rich and poor necessarily live together, and have mutual need of each other; which circumstance, as well as their being both of them the creatures of God, should induce them to exercise mutual kindness and benevolence. This seems to be the sense of this passage, and likewise of ch. xxix. 13. A very pertinent illustration may be seen in Hermas, lib. iii. Similitudo. 2. See also Clemens Rom. Ep. § 27.

3. and avoids it]-Literally, "hides himself," i. e. the prudent see the impending evil, and avoid it, or hide themselves

from it; but the simple, being blind to it, pass on, and consequently are punished. The same sentiment, with some small verbal variations, occurs ch. xxvii. 12.

4. The reward]-apy, literally, "the end,” i. e. the reward, as the word signifies Ps. xix. 12, xl. 16. So rɛλog is sometimes used.-Schleusner in voc. See Simonis, Lex. Heb. ed. Eichhorn.

5. Thorns, &c.]-Thorns and snares are metaphorical expressions for pains, and troubles, and afflictions, which "he that keepeth his soul," i. e. the righteous, shall escape.

6. Train up, &c.]-I am unwilling to alter the received version of a passage so well known, and so frequently quoted by moralists and divines; yet not oftener cited than its importance requires, nor so much regarded as its valuable admonition deserves. But it may be more literally rendered, “Initiate a child according to his way;

And when he is old he will not depart from it." 'secundum, according to.-(Noldius, 1.) 1977 his way, either the manner of life he is destined to lead, or the manner of life he ought to lead. According to the first, the meaning will be, Train a child up according to the manner of life he is designed to lead; give him an education suitable to his rank and avocation in life.-(See Le Clerc.) According to the second, Initiate him in the way wherein he ought to go, in the way of wisdom and religion. Taylor, in his Concordance, understands "at the mouth or entrance of his way," i. e. begin to train him in early life. So Schultens.

8. He that soweth, &c.]-He that is devoted to vice shall suffer merited punishment; and the anger which he unjustly and tyrannically exercises towards others shall cease; he shall either have no opportunity of venting it, or it shall be attended

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with no harm.-Compare Hosea, viii. 7; Joel, iii. 13; Job, iv. 8 (where see Schultens and Good.)

And the rod]-The latter hemistich appearing not to correspond with the former, Houbigant, Doederlein, and Dathe would read, with the LXX, лy, instead of iny, i. e. "baculus consummabit laborem;" but this emendation is not authorized by MSS., and the Vulgate, Syriac, Targum, follow the textual reading, which affords a very apposite meaning. "Rod" often denotes punishment or correction : (Job, ix. 34, xxi. 9; Isaiah, ix. 4; 1 Cor. iv. 21:) "the rod of his anger," therefore, means the vengeance which he, in his anger, tyrannically inflicts.

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shall be broken]-Literally, shall fail or consume away," but, in order to preserve the propriety of the metaphor, I have ventured to translate it " shall be broken." Hodgson renders it," And the sceptre of his tyranny shall be broken."

9. He that hath a bountiful eye]-That is, the liberal, humane, and charitable man; o ελεwv πтwXOν, LXX; “ qui pronus est ad misericordiam." As the eye is the most expressive of all the features, and seldom fails to indicate the passions of the heart, it is sometimes figuratively used for the passions and affections themselves: thus," an evil eye” denotes envy and malignity ch. xxiii. 6, xxviii. 22; Deut. xv. 9, xxiii. 54, 56.-Compare Matt. xx. 15; Mark, vii. 22. See Parkhurst's Greek Lex. and Suiceri Thesaurus in οφθαλμος.

11. He that loveth, &c.]-The conversation of him who loves purity of heart will be agreeable and virtuous; and he will be esteemed by the ruling powers. Jarchi refers it to the King of kings, "the blessed God loves and embraces him:" and as this is an undeniable truth, it is most likely included

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