Instruction, Speech, Desire, Wealth, and the Way of the Wise

Pro 13:6 6 Righteousness protecteth an upright walk, And godlessness bringeth sinners to destruction. The double thought is closely like that of Pro 11:5, but is peculiarly and almost enigmatically expressed. As there, צדקה and רשׁעה are meant of a twofold inner relation to God, which consists of a ruling influence over man’s conduct and a determination of his walk.

But instead of naming the persons of the תּמימי דּרך and חטּאים as the objects of this influence, the proverb uses the abstract expression, but with personal reference, תּם־דּרך and חטּאת dna תּם, and designates in two words the connection of this twofold character with the principles of their conduct. What is meant by תּצּר and תּסלּף proceeds from the contrasted relationship of the two (cf.

Pro 22:12). נצר signifies observare , which is not suitable here, but also tueri (τηρεῖν), to which סלּף ( vid . , at Pro 11:3, and in Gesen. Thesaurus ), not so much in the sense of “to turn upside down,” pervertere (as Pro 11:3; Pro 23:8), as in the sense of “to overthrow,” evertere (as e. g. , Pro 21:12), forms a fitting contrast. He who walks forth with an unfeigned and untroubled pure mind stands under the shield and the protection of righteousness (cf.

with this prosopopoeia Psa 25:21), from which such a walk proceeds, and at the same time under the protection of God, to whom righteousness appertains, is well-pleasing. but he who in his conduct permits himself to be determined by sin, godlessness (cf. Zec 5:8) from which such a love for sin springs forth, brings to destruction; in other words: God, from whom the רשע, those of a perverse disposition, tear themselves away, makes the sin their snare by virtue of the inner connection established by Him between the רשׁעה and the destruction (Isa 9:17).

In the lxx this 6th verse was originally wanting; the translation in the version of Aquila, in the Complut. and elsewhere, which the Syr. follows, falsely makes חטאת the subj. : τοὺς δὲ ἀσεβεῖς φαύλους ποιεῖ ἁμαρτία.

Pro 13:7 Two proverbs of riches and poverty: - There is one who maketh himself rich and hath nothing; There is another who representeth himself poor amid great riches. A sentence which includes in itself the judgment which Pro 12:9 expresses. To the Hithpa . התכּבּד (to make oneself of importance) there are associated here two others, in the meaning to make oneself something, without anything after it, thus to place oneself so or so, Ewald, §124a. To the clauses with ו there is supplied a self-intelligible לּו.

Pro 13:8 8 A ransom for a man’s life are his riches; But the poor heareth no threatening. Bertheau falls into error when he understands גּערה of warning; the contrast points to threatening with the loss of life. The wealth of the rich before the judgment is not here to be thought of; for apart from this, that the Torâ only in a single case permits, or rather ordains (Exo 21:29.)

, ransom from the punishment of death, and declares it in all other cases inadmissible, Num 35:31. (one might indeed think of an administration of justice not strictly in accordance with the Mosaic law, or altogether accessible to bribery), 8b does not accord therewith, since the poor in such cases would fare ill, because one would lay hold on his person. But one may think e.

g. , on waylayers as those introduced as speaking Pro 1:11-14. The poor has no room to fear that such will threateningly point their swords against his breast, for there is nothing to be got from him: he has nothing, one sees it in him and he is known as such. But the rich is a valuable prize for them, and he has to congratulate himself if he is permitted to escape with his life.

Also in the times of war and commotion it may be seen that riches endanger the life of their possessor, and that in fortunate cases they are given as a ransom for his life, while his poverty places the poor man in safety. To לא שׁמע Hitzig fittingly compares Job 3:18; Job 39:7 : he does not hear, he has no need to hear. Michaelis, Umbreit, Löwenstein (who calls to remembrance the state of things under despotic governments, especially in the East) also explain 8b correctly; and Fleischer remarks: pauper minas hostiles non audit , i.

e. , non minatur ei hostis . Ewald’s syntactic refinement: “Yet he became poor who never heard an accusation,” presents a thought not in harmony with 8a.

Pro 13:9 The three following proverbs in Pro 13:9-11 have at least this in common, that the two concluding words of each correspond with one another almost rhythmically. 9 The light of the righteous burneth joyously, And the lamp of the godless goeth out. The second line = Pro 24:20, cf. Pro 20:20. In the Book of Job 18:5. , אור רשׁעים ידעך and נרו עליו ידעך (cf.

Pro 21:17) stand together, and there is spoken of (Pro 29:3) a divine נר as well as a divine אור which enlightens the righteous; however, one must say that the poet, as he, Pro 6:3, deliberately calls the Torâ אור, and the commandment, as derived from it and separated, נר, so also here designedly calls the righteous אור, viz. , אור היום (Pro 4:18, cf. 2Pe 1:19), and the godless נר, viz.

, נר דלוק - the former imparts the sunny daylight, the latter the light of tapers set in darkness. The authentic punctuation is אור־צדיקים, Ben-Naphtali’s is 'אור צ' si s'i without Makkeph . To ישׂמח Hitzig compares the “laughing tongue of the taper” of Meidâni, iii. 475; Kimchi also the “laughing, i. e. , amply measured span, טפח שׂוהק,” of the Talmud; for the light laughs when it brightly shines, and increases rather than decreases; in Arab.

samuḥa has in it the idea of joy directly related to that of liberality. The lxx translates ישׂמח incorrectly by διαπαντός, and has a distich following Pro 13:9, the first line of which is ψυχαὶ δόλιαι (נפשׁ רמיּה?) πλανῶνται ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, and the second line is from Psa 37:21.

Pro 13:10 10 Nothing comes by pride but contention; But wisdom is with those who receive counsel. The restrictive רק (only) does not, according to the sense, belong to בּזדון (by pride), but to מצּה, vid . , under Psa 32:6 and Job 2:10. Of יתּן = there is, vid . , under Pro 10:24. Bertheau’s “one causes” is not exact, for “one” [ man ] is the most general personal subject, but יתן is in such cases to be regarded as impersonal: by pride is always a something which causes nothing but quarrel and strife, for the root of pride is egoism.

Line second is a variant to Pro 11:2. Bescheidenheit (modesty) is in our old [German] language exactly equivalent to Klugheit (prudence). But here the צנועים are more exactly designated as permitting themselves to be advised; the elsewhere reciprocal נועץ has here once a tolerative signification, although the reciprocal is also allowable: with such as reciprocally advise themselves, and thus without positiveness supplement each his own knowledge by means of that of another.

Most interpreters regard 10b as a substantival clause, but why should not יתן be carried forward? With such as permit themselves to be advised, or are not too proud to sustain with others the relation of giving and receiving, there is wisdom, since instead of hatred comes wisdom - the peaceful fruit resulting from an interchange of views.

Pro 13:11 11 Wealth by means of fraud always becomes less; But he that increaseth it by labour gains always more. We punctuate הון־מהבל (with Makkeph , as in Ven. 1521, Antw. 1582, Frank. -on-the-Oder 1595, Gen. 1618, Leyden 1662), not הון מהבל (as other editions, and e. g. , also Löwenstein); for the meaning is not that the wealth becomes less by הבל (Targ.

, but not the Syr.) , or that it is less than הבל (Umbreit), but הון־מהבל is one idea: wealth proceeding from הבל; but הבל tub ;הב, properly a breath (Theod. ἀπὸ ἀτμοῦ or ἀτμίδος), then appearance without reality (Aquila, ἀπὸ ματαιότητος), covers itself here by that which we call swindle, i. e. , by morally unrestrained fraudulent and deceitful speculation in contrast to solid and real gain.

The translations: ἐπισπουδαζομένη μετὰ ἀνομίας (lxx), ὑπερσπουδαζομένη (Symmachus, Quinta ), festinata (Jerome), do not necessarily suppose the phrase מהבּל = מבהל, Pro 20:21 Kerı̂, for wealth which comes מהבל is obtained in a windy (unsubstantial) manner and as if by storm, of which the proverb holds good: “ so gewonnen so zerronnen ” (= quickly come, quickly go). מהבל needs neither to be changed into that unhebraic מהבּל (Hitzig) nor into the cognate מבהל (Ewald), but yet inferior to מהבל in the content of its idea.

The contrast of one who by fraud and deception quickly arrives at wealth is one who brings it together in his hand, ἐπὶ χειρός ( Venet .) , i. e. , always as often as he can bear it in his hand and bring it forth (Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, and Lagarde), or according to the measure of the hand, κατὰ χεῖρα (which means “according to external ability”), so that על, which is applied to the formation of adverbs, e.

g. , Psa 31:24 (Hitzig) - by both explanations על־יד has the meaning of “gradually,” - is used as in the post-bibl. Hebr. על יד על יד = מעט מעט, e. g. , Schabbath 156a ( vid . , Aruch under על) (distinguish from ביד = with thought, intentionally, Berachoth 52b). There is scarcely a word having more significations that יד. Connected with על, it means at one time side or place, at another mediation or direction; that which is characteristic here is the omission of the pronoun (על־ידו, על־ידיו).

The lxx translates על יד with the unrestrained freedom which it allows to itself by μετ ̓ εὐσεβείας, and has following πληθυνθήσεται another line, δίκαιος οἰκτείρει καὶ κιχρᾷ (from Psa 37:26).

Pro 13:12 The figures of paradise in Pro 13:12 and Pro 13:14 require us to take along with them the intermediate verse (Pro 13:13). 12 Deferred waiting maketh the heart sick, And a tree of life is a wish accomplished. Singularly the lxx Κρείσσων ἐναρχόμενος βοηθῶν καρδίᾳ, followed by the Syr. (which the Targ. Transcribes): Better is he who begins to help than he who remains in hesitating expectation, by which תחלת is doubled, and is derived once from הוחיל, to wait, and the second time from החל, to begin.

If the lxx, with its imitators, deteriorates to such a degree proverbs so clear, beautiful, and inviolable, what may one expect from it in the case of those not easily understood! משּׁך signifies also, Isa 18:2, to be widely extended (cf. Arab. meshaḳ), here in the sense of time, as נמשׁך, to prolong, Isa 13:22, and post-bibl. משׁך הזּמן, the course of time.

Regarding תּוחלת, vid . , at Pro 10:28, where as Pro 11:27 תּקות, here תּאוה, as also Psa 78:29 of the object of the wish, and with בוא in the sense of being fulfilled (cf. Jos 21:43), as there with הביא in the sense of accomplishing or performing. Extended waiting makes the heart sick, causes heart-woe (מחלה, part. fem . Hiph . of חלה, to be slack, feeble, sick; R.

חל, to loosen, to make loose); on the contrary, a wish that has been fulfilled is a tree of life (cf. p. 23), of a quickening and strengthening influence, like that tree of paradise which was destined to renew and extend the life of man.

Pro 13:13 13 Whoever despiseth the word is in bonds to it, And he that feareth the commandment is rewarded. The word is thought of as ordering, and thus in the sense of the commandment, e. g. , 1Sa 17:19; Dan 9:23, Dan 9:25. That which is here said is always true where the will of a man has subordinated itself to the authoritative will of a superior, but principally the proverb has in view the word of God, the מצוה κατ ̓ ἐξ.

as the expression of the divine will, which (Pro 6:3) appears as the secondary, with the תורה, the general record of the divine will. Regarding בּוּז ל of contemptuous, despiteful opposition, vid . , at Pro 6:30, cf. Pro 11:12. Joël records the prevailing tradition, for he translates: “Whoever despises advice rushes into destruction; whoever holds the commandment in honour is perfect.

” But that ישׁלּם is to be understood neither of perfection nor of peace (lxx and Jerome), but means compensabitur (here not in the sense of punishment, but of reward), we know from Pro 11:31. The translation also of יחבל לו by “he rushes into destruction” (lxx καταφθαρήσεται, which the Syr. -Hexap. repeats; Luther, “he destroys himself;” the Venet . οἰχησεταί οἱ, periet sibi ) fails, for one does not see what should have determined the poet to choose just this word, and, instead of the ambiguous dat.

ethicus , not rather to say יחבּל נפשׁו. So also this יחבל is not with Gesenius to be connected with חבל = Arab. khabl, corrumpere , but with חבל = Arab. ḥabl, ligare, obligare . Whoever places himself contemptuously against a word which binds him to obedience will nevertheless not be free from that word, but is under pledge until he redeem the pledge by the performance of the obedience refused, or till that higher will enforce payment of the debt withheld by visiting with punishment.

Jerome came near the right interpretation: ipse se in futurum obligat ; Abulwalîd refers to Exo 22:25; and Parchon, Rashi, and others paraphrase: משׁכּן יתמשׁכּן עליו, he is confiscated as by mortgage. Schultens has, with the correct reference of the לו not to the contemner, but to the word, well established and illustrated this explanation: he is pledged by the word, Arab.

marhwan (rahyn), viz. , pigneratus paenae (Livius, xxix. 36). Ewald translates correctly: he is pledged to it; and Hitzig gives the right explanation: “A חבלה [a pledge, cf. Pro 20:16] is handed over to the offended law with the חבוּלה [the bad conduct] by the despiser himself, which lapses when he has exhausted the forbearance, so that the punishment is inflicted.

” The lxx has another proverb following Pro 13:13 regarding υἱὸς δόλιος and οἰκέτης σοφός; the Syr. has adopted it; Jerome has here the proverb of the animae dolosae ( vid . , at Pro 13:9).

Pro 13:14 14 The doctrine of the wise man is a fountain of life, To escape the snares of death. An integral distich, vid . , p. 8 of the Introduction. Essentially like 14a, Pro 10:11 says, “a fountain of life is the mouth of the righteous. ” The figure of the fountain of life with the teleological 'לסור וגו (the ל of the end and consequence of the action) is repeated Pro 14:27.

The common non-biblical figure of the laquei mortis leads also to the idea of death as יקוּשׁ a fowler, Psa 91:3. If it is not here a mere formula for the dangers of death (Hitzig), then the proverb is designed to state that the life which springs from the doctrine of the wise man as from a fountain of health, for the disciple who will receive it, communicates to him knowledge and strength, to know where the snares of destruction lie, and to hasten with vigorous steps away when they threaten to entangle him.

Pro 13:15 Four proverbs follow, whose connection appears to have been occasioned by the sound of their words (שׂכל ... כל, בדעת ... ברע, רשׁע ... רישׁ). 15 Fine prudence produceth favour; But the way of the malicious is uncultivated. Regarding שׂכל טוב (thus to be punctuated, without Makkeph with Munach , after Codd. and old editions), vid . , p. 84; for the most part it corresponds with that which in a deep ethical sense we call fine culture.

Regarding יתּן, vid . , at Pro 10:10 : it is not used here, as there, impersonally, but has a personal subject: he brings forth, causes. Fine culture, which shows men how to take the right side and in all circumstances to strike the right key, exercises a kindly heart-winning influence, not merely, as would be expressed by ימצא חן, to the benefit of its possessor, but, as is expressed by יתּן חן, such as removes generally a partition wall and brings men closer to one another.

The איתן [ perennis ], touching it both for the eye and the ear, forms the contrast to יתן חן. This word, an elative formation from יתן = Arab. wtn, denotes that which stretches itself far, and that with reference to time: that which remains the same during the course of time. “That which does not change in time, continuing the same, according to its nature, strong, firm, and thus איתן becomes the designation of the enduring and the solid, whose quality remains always the same.

” Thus Orelli, Die hebr. Synonyme der Zeit u. Ewigkeit , 1871. But that in the passage before us it denotes the way of the בגדים as “endlessly going forward,” the explanation of Orelli, after Böttcher ( Collectanea , p. 135), is withdrawn by the latter in the new Aehrenlese (where he reads ריב איתן, “constant strife”). And נחל איתן (Deu 21:4) does not mean “a brook, the existence of which is not dependent on the weather and the season of the year,” at least not in accordance with the traditional meaning which is given Sota ix.

5 (cf. the Gemara), but a stony valley; for the Mishna says: איתן כמשׁמעו קשׁה, i. e. , איתן is here, according to its verbal meaning, equivalent to קשׁה (hard). We are of the opinion that here, in the midst of the discussion of the law of the עגלה ערופה (the ritual for the atonement of a murder perpetrated by an unknown hand), the same meaning of the איתן is certified which is to be adopted in the passage before us.

Maimuni (in Sota and Hilchoth Rozeach ix. 2) indeed, with the Mishna and Gemara, thinks the meaning of a “strong rushing wâdy” to be compatible; but קשׁה is a word which more naturally denotes the property of the ground than of a river, and the description, Deu 21:4 : in a נחל איתן, in which there is no tillage and sowing, demands for נחל here the idea of the valley, and not primarily that of the valley-brook.

According to this tradition, the Targum places a תּקּיפא in the Peshito translation of 15b, and the Venet . translates, after Kimchi, ὁδὸς δὲ ἀνταρτῶν (of ἀνταρτής from ἀνταίρειν) ἰσχυρά. The fundamental idea of remaining like itself, continuing, passes over into the idea of the firm, the hard, so that איתן is a word that interchanges with סלע, Num 24:21, and serves as a figurative designation of the rocky mountains, Jer 49:19, and the rocky framework of the earth, Mic 6:2.

Thus the meaning of hardness (πετρῶδες, Mat 13:5) connects itself with the word, and at the same time, according to Deu 21:4, of the uncultivable and the uncultivated. The way of the בּגדים, the treacherous, i. e. , the manner in which they transact with men, is stiff, as hard as stone, and repulsive; they follow selfish views, never placing themselves in sympathy with the condition of their neighbour; they are without the tenderness which is connected with fine culture; they remain destitute of feeling in things which, as we say, would soften a stone.

It is unnecessary to give a catalogue of the different meanings of this איתן, such as vorago (Jerome), a standing bog (Umbreit), and ever trodden way (Bertheau), etc. ; Schultens offers, as frequently, the relatively best: at via perfidorum pertinacissime tensum ; but יתן does not mean to strain, but to extend. The lxx has between 15a and 15b the interpolation: τὸ δὲ γνῶναι νόμον διανοίας ἐστὶν ἀγαθῆς.

Pro 13:16 16 Every prudent man acteth with understanding; But a fool spreadeth abroad folly. Hitzig reads, with the Syr. (but not the Targ.) and Jerome, כּל ( omnia agit ), but contrary to the Hebr. syntax. The כּל־ is not feeble and useless, but means that he always acts בּדּעת, mit Bedacht [with judgment] ( opp . בּבלי דעת, inconsulto , Deu 4:42; Deu 19:4), while on the contrary the fool displays folly.

Pro 12:23 and Pro 15:2 serve to explain both members of the verse. Bedächtigkeit [judgment] is just knowledge directed to a definite practical end, a clear thought concentrated on a definite point. יקרא, he calls out, and יבּיע, he sputters out, are parallels to יפרשׂ. Fleischer: פּרשׂ, expandit ( opp . Arab. ṭawy, intra animum cohibuit ), as a cloth or paper folded or rolled together, cf.

Schiller’s (Note: “ Er breitet es heiter und glänzend aus, Das zusammengewickelte Leben . ”) - “He spreads out brightly and splendidly The enveloped life. ” There lies in the word something derisive: as the merchant unrolls and spreads out his wares in order to commend them, so the fool does with his foolery, which he had enveloped, i. e. , had the greatest interest to keep concealed within himself - he is puffed up therewith.

Pro 13:17 17 A godless messenger falls into trouble; But a faithful messenger is a cordial. The traditional text, which the translations also give (except Jerome, nuntius impii , and leaving out of view the lxx, which makes of Pro 13:17 a history of a foolhardy king and a wise messenger), has not מלאך, but מלאך; the Masora places the word along with המלאך, Gen 48:16.

And יפל is likewise testified to by all translators; they all read it as Kal , as the traditional text punctuates it; Luther alone departs from this and translates the Hiph . : “a godless messenger bringeth misfortune. ” Indeed, this conj. יפּל presses itself forward; and even though one read יפּל, the sense intended by virtue of the parallelism could be no other than that a godless messenger, because no blessing rests on his godlessness, stumbles into disaster, and draws him who gave the commission along with him.

The connection מלאך רשׁע is like אדם רשׁע, Pro 11:7 (cf. the fem. of this adj. , Eze 3:18). Instead of בּרע is בּרעה, Pro 17:20; Pro 28:14, parallels (cf. also Pro 11:5) which the punctuators may have had in view in giving the preference to Kal . With מלאך, from לאך, R. לך, to make to go = to send, is interchanged ציר, from צוּר, to turn, whence to journey (cf.

Arab. ṣar, to become, to be, as the vulg. “to be to Dresden = to journey” is used). The connection ציר אמוּנים (cf. the more simple ציר נאמן, Pro 25:13) is like Pro 14:15, עד אמונים; the pluralet . means faithfulness in the full extent of the idea. Regarding מרפּא, the means of healing, here to strength, refreshment, vid . , Pro 4:22; Pro 12:18.

Pro 13:18 18 Poverty and shame (to him) who rejecteth correction; But he who regardeth reproof is honoured. We are neither to supply אישׁ before רישׁ קלונו (or more correctly, abstr. pro concr . , as רמיּה, Pro 1:27), nor ל before פורע, as Gesenius ( Lehrgeb . §227a) does; nor has the part . פּורע the value of a hypothetical clause like Pro 18:13, Job 41:18, although it may certainly be changed into such without destroying the meaning (Ewald, Hitzig); but “poverty and shame is he who is without correction,” is equivalent to, poverty and shame is the conclusion or lot of him who is without correction; it is left to the hearer to find out the reference of the predicate to the subject in the sense of the quality, the consequence, or the lot (cf.

e. g. , Pro 10:17; Pro 13:1; Pro 14:35). Regarding פרע, vid . , p. 73. The Latin expression corresponding is: qui detrectat disciplinam . He who rejects the admonition and correction of his parents, his pastor, or his friend, and refuses every counsel to duty as a burdensome moralizing, such an one must at last gather wisdom by means of injury if he is at all wise: he grows poorer in consequence of missing the right rule of life, and has in addition thereto to be subject to disgrace through his own fault.

On the contrary, to him who has the disgrace to deserve reproof, but who willingly receives it, and gives it effect, the disgrace becomes an honour, for not to reject reproof shows self-knowledge, humility, and good-will; and these properties in the judgment of others bring men to honour, and have the effect of raising them in their position in life and in their calling.

Pro 13:19 Two pairs of proverbs regarding fools and wise men, ranged together by catchwords. 19 Quickened desire is sweet to the soul, And it is an abomination to fools to avoid evil. A synthetic distich, the first line of which, viewed by itself, is only a feebler expression of that which is said in Pro 13:12, for תּאוה נהיה is essentially of the same meaning as תאוה באה, not the desire that has just arisen and is not yet appeased (Umbreit, Hitzig, Zöckler), which when expressed by a part .

of the same verb would be הוה (= אשׁר היתה), but the desire that is appeased (Jerome, Luther, also Venet . ἔφεσις γενομένη, i. e. , after Kimchi: in the fulfilling of past desire; on the contrary, the Syr. , Targ. render the phrase נאוה of becoming desire). The Niph . נהיה denotes not the passing into a state of being, but the being carried out into historical reality, e.

g. , Eze 21:12; Eze 39:8, where it is connected with באה; it is always the expression of the completed fact to which there is a looking back, e. g. , Jdg 20:3; and this sense of the Niph . stands so fast, that it even means to be done, finished (brought to an end), to be out, to be done with anything, e. g. , Dan 2:1. The sentence, that fulfilled desire does good to the soul, appears commonplace (Hitzig); but it is comprehensive enough on the ground of Heb 11 to cheer even a dying person, and conceals the ethically significant truth that the blessedness of vision is measured by the degree of the longing of faith.

But the application of the clause in its pairing with 19b acquires another aspect. On this account, because the desire of the soul is pleasant in its fulfilment, fools abhor the renouncing of evil, for their desire is directed to that which is morally worthless and blameworthy, and the endeavour, which they closely and constantly adhere to, is to reach the attainment of this desire.

This subordinate proposition of the conclusion is unexpressed. The pairing of the two lines of the proverb may have been occasioned by the resemblance in sound of תועבת and תּאוה. סוּר is n. actionis , like Pro 16:17, cf. 6. Besides, it in to be observed that the proverb speaks of fools and not of the godless. Folly is that which causes that men do not break free from evil, for it is the deceit of sinful lust which binds them fast thereto.

Pro 13:20 20 Whoever goes with wise men, becomes wise; And whoever has intercourse with fools, becomes base. Regarding the significance of this proverb in the history of the religion and worship of Israel, vid . , p. 39. We have translated 20a after the Kerı̂; the translation according to the Chethı̂b is: “go with wise men and become wise” (cf. Pro 8:33), not הלוך, for the connection of the (meant imperatively) infin .

absol . with an imper. (meant conclusively) is not tenable; but הלוך is an imper. form established by הלכוּ, Jer 51:50 (cf. הלוך = לכת, Num 22:14), and appears to have been used with such shades of conception as here as intercourse and companionship for לך. Regarding ירוע gnid, vid . , at Pro 11:15; there it meant malo afficietur , here it means malus ( pejor ) fiet .

The Venet . (contrary to Kimchi, who explains by frangetur ) rightly has κακωθήσεται. There is here a play upon words; רעה means to tend (a flock), also in general to be considerate about anything (Pro 15:14; 44:20), to take care of anything with the accusative of the person (Pro 28:7; Pro 29:3), to hold intercourse with any one: he who by preference seeks the society of fools, himself becomes such (Jerome, similis efficietur ), or rather, as ירוע expresses, he comes always morally lower down.

“A wicked companion leads his associate into hell. ”

Pro 13:21 21 Evil pursueth sinners, And the righteous is repaid with good. To תּרדּף of the punishment which follows after sinners at their heels, cf. Nah 1:8. Greek art gives wings to Nemesis in this sense. To translate 21b, with Löwenstein, “The pious, the good rewards them,” is untenable, for טוב, the good ( e. g. , Pro 11:27), never appears personified, only טוב, goodness, Psa 23:6, according to which the lxx τοὺς δὲ δικαίους καταλήψεται (ישׂיג) ἀγαθά.

Still less is טוב meant personally, as the Venet . τὰ δὲ δίκαια ἀποδώσει χρηστός, which probably means: righteous conduct will a good one, viz. , God, reward. טוב . dr is an attribute of God, but never the name of God. So the verb שׁלּם, after the manner of verbs of educating and leading (גמל, עשׂה, עבד), is connected with a double accusative. The Syr. , Targum, and Jerome translate passively, and so also do we; for while we must think of God in the retribuet , yet the proverb does not name Him any more than at Pro 12:14, cf.

Pro 10:24; it is designedly constructed, placing Him in the background, with vague generality: the righteous will one, will they, reward with good - this expression, with the most general personal subject, almost coincides with one altogether passive.

Pro 13:22 22 The good man leaveth behind him for his children’s children, And the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. As a commencing word, טוב signifies in the Mishle for the most part bonum ( prae ); but here, as at Pro 12:2, cf. Pro 22:9; Pro 14:4, it signifies bonus . As the expression that God is טוב (Psa 25:8, etc.) of the O. T. is equivalent to the N.

T. that He is ἀγάπη, so that man who in his relation to others is determined by unselfish love is טוב for the good man [ der Gütige ], i. e. , the man who is willing to communicate all good is truly good, because the essence of צדקה, righteousness of life, is love. Such an one suffers no loss by his liberality, but, according to the law, Pro 11:25, by which a dispenser of blessings is at the same time also a recipient of blessings, he has only gain, so that he makes his children’s children to inherit, i.

e. , leaves behind him an inheritance extending even to his grandchildren ( vid . , regarding הנחיל, p. 182; here trans. as containing its object in itself, as at Deu 32:8 : to make to inherit, to place in possession of an inheritance). The sinner, on the contrary (חוטא sing. to חטּאים, ἁμαρτωλοί), loses his wealth, it is already destined to pass over to the righteous who is worthy of it, and makes use (cf.

Job 27:17) of that which he possesses in accordance with the will and appointment of God - a revelation of justice appertaining to time, the exceptions to which the old limited doctrine of requital takes no notice of. חיל, strength, then like our “ Vermögen ” (cf. opes, facultates ), that by means of which one is placed in circumstances to accomplish much (Fl.)

; cf. regarding the fundamental idea contorquere, compingere , p. 226, also regarding צפן, properly condensare , then condere , p. 61.

Pro 13:23 Connected with Pro 13:22 there now follow two proverbs regarding sustenance, with one intervening regarding education. 23 The poor man’s fresh land gives food in abundance, And many are destroyed by iniquity. The Targ. and Theodotion (μέγας) translate רב, but the Masora has רב־ with short Kametz , as Pro 20:6; Ecc 1:8 (cf. Kimchi under רבב). The rendering: multitudo cibi est ager pauperum , makes the produce the property of the field (= frugum fertilis ).

ניר .) s is the new field ( novale or novalis , viz. , ager ), from ניר, to make arable, fruitful; properly to raise up, viz. , by grubbing and freeing of stones (סקּל). But why, asks Hitzig, just the new field? As if no answer could be given to this question, he changes ניר into ניב, and finds in 23a the description of a rentier , “a great man who consumes the income of his capital.

” But how much more intelligible is the new field of the poor man than these capitals (ראשׁים) with their per cents (ניב)! A new field represents to us severe labour, and as belonging to a poor man, a moderate field, of which it is here said, that notwithstanding its freshly broken up fallow, it yet yields a rich produce, viz. , by virtue of the divine blessing, for the proverb supposes the ora et labora .

Regarding ראשׁים = רשׁים, vid . , at Pro 10:4. Jerome’s translation, patrum (properly, heads), follows a false Jewish tradition. In the antithesis, 23b, one is tempted to interpret ישׁ in the sense of Pro 8:21 [substance, wealth], as Schultens, opulentia ipsa raditur quum non est moderamen , and Euchel: that which is essentially good, badly managed, goes to ruin.

But ישׁ and וישׁ at the beginning of a proverb, or of a line of a proverb, in every case means est qui . That a wealthy person is meant, the contrast shows. נספּה, which denotes anything taken away or gathered up, has the same meaning here as at 1Sa 27:1 : est qui (Fl. quod , but the parallel does not demand this) abripiatur , i. e. , quasi turbine auferatur et perdatur ; the word reminds us of סופה, whirlwind, but in itself it means only something smooth and altogether carried off.

The בּ is here as at Gen 19:15; elsewhere בּלא משׁפּט means with injustice (properly, not-right), Pro 16:8, Jer 22:13; Eze 22:29; here it is not the ב of the means, but of the mediate cause. While the (industrious and God-fearing) poor man is richly nourished from the piece of ground which he cultivates, many a one who has incomparably more than he comes by his unrighteousness down to a state of beggary, or even lower: he is not only in poverty, but along with this his honour, his freedom, and the very life of his person perish.

Pro 13:24 24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son, And he who loveth him visits him early with correction. The paedagogic rule of God, Pro 3:12, avails also for men, Pro 23:13. , Pro 29:15. The rod represents here the means of punishment, the patria potestas . He who spareth or avoideth this, and who does this even from love, has yet no true right love for his son; he who loveth him correcteth him early.

With ἐπιμελῶς παιδεύει of the lxx (cf. Sir. 30:1, ἐνδελεχήσει μάστιγας) the thought is in general indicated, but the expression is not explained. Many erroneously regard the suffix of שׁחרו as referring to the object immediately following (de Dieu, Ewald, Bertheau, Zöckler); Hitzig, on the contrary, rightly remarks, that in this case we should expect the words to be, after Pro 5:22 (cf.

Exo 2:6), את־המּוּסר. He himself, without any necessity, takes שׁחר in the sense of the Arab. skhar, compescere . Hofmann ( Schriftbew . ii. 2. 402) is right in saying that “שׁחר is connected with a double accusative as elsewhere קדּם occurs; and the meaning is, that one ought much more to anticipate correction than restrain it where it is necessary. ” שׁחר means to go out early to anything, according to which a Greek rendering is ὀρθρίζει ( Venet .

ὀρθριεῖ) αὐτῷ παιδείαν: maturat ei castigationem = mature eum castigat (Fl.) שׁחר does not denote the early morning of the day (as Rashi, לבקרים), but the morning of life (as Euchel, בשׁחר ימיו). “The earlier the fruit, the better the training. ” A father who truly wishes well to his son keeps him betimes under strict discipline, to give him while he is yet capable of being influenced the right direction, and to allow no errors to root themselves in him; but he who is indulgent toward his child when he ought to be strict, acts as if he really wished his ruin.

Pro 13:25 25 The righteous has to eat to the satisfying of his soul; But the body of the godless must suffer want. Jerome translates תחסר freely by insaturabilis (he has want = has never enough), but in that case we would have expected תחסר תּמיד; also in 25a עד־שׂבע would have been used. We have thus before us no commendation of temperance and moderation in contrast to gluttony, but a statement regarding the diversity of fortune of the righteous and the godless - another way of clothing the idea of Pro 10:3.

שׂבע is a segolate form, thus an infin. formation, formally different from the similar שׂבע, Pro 3:10. Regarding בּטן, vid . , Psychol . p. 265f. ; it is a nobler word than “ Bauch ” [belly], for it denotes not the external arch, but, like κοιλία (R. בט, concavus ), the inner body, here like Pro 18:20, as that which receives the nourishment and changes it in succum et sanguinem .

That God richly nourishes the righteous, and on the contrary brings the godless to want and misery, is indeed a rule with many exceptions, but understood in the light of the N. T. , it has deep inward everlasting truth.

Pro 14:1 1 The wisdom of the woman buildeth her house, And folly teareth it down with its own hands. Were it חכמות נשׁים, after Jdg 5:29, cf. Isa 19:11, then the meaning would be: the wise among women, each of them buildeth her house. But why then not just אשּׁה חכמה, as 2Sa 14:2, cf. Exo 35:25? The Syr. , Targum, and Jerome write sapiens mulier . And if the whole class must be spoken of, why again immediately the individualizing in בּנתה?

The lxx obliterates that by its ᾠκοδόμησαν. And does not אוּלת [folly] in the contrasted proverb (1b) lead us to conclude on a similar abstract in 1a? The translators conceal this, for they translate אולת personally. Thus also the Venet . and Luther; אוּלת is, says Kimchi, an adj. like עוּרת, caeca . But the linguistic usage does not point אויל with אוילי to any אוּל.

It is true that a fem. of אויל does not occur; there is, however, also no place in which אולת may certainly present itself as such. Thus also חכמות must be an abstr. ; we have shown at Pro 1:20 how חכמות, as neut. plur. , might have an abstr. meaning. But since it is not to be perceived why the poet should express himself so singularly, the punctuation חכמות is to be understood as proceeding from a false supposition, and is to be read חכמות, as at Pro 9:1 (especially since this passage rests on the one before us).

Fleischer says: “to build the house is figuratively equivalent to, to regulate well the affairs of a house, and to keep them in a good condition; the contrary, to tear down the house, is the same contrast as the Arab. 'amârat âlbyt and kharab albyt. Thus e. g. , in Burckhardt’s Sprüchw . 217, harrt ṣabrt bythâ 'amârat, a good woman ( ein braves Weib ) has patience (with her husband), and thereby she builds up her house (at the same time an example of the use of the preterite in like general sentences for individualizing); also No.

430 of the same work: 'amârat âlbyt wla kharâbt, it is becoming to build the house, not to destroy it; cf. in the Thousand and One Nights, where a woman who had compelled her husband to separate from her says: âna âlty 'amalt hadhâ barwḥy wâkhrnt byty bnfsy. Burckhardt there makes the remark: 'amârat âlbyt denotes the family placed in good circumstances - father, mother, and children all living together happily and peacefully.

” This conditional relation of the wife to the house expresses itself in her being named as house-wife (cf. Hausehre [= honour of a house] used by Luther, Psa 68:13), to which the Talmudic דּביתי (= uxor mea ) answers; the wife is noted for this, and hence is called עיקר הבית, the root and foundation of the house; vid . , Buxtorf’s Lex . col. 301. In truth, the oneness of the house is more dependent on the mother than on the father.

A wise mother can, if her husband be dead or neglectful of his duty, always keep the house together; but if the house-wife has neither understanding nor good-will for her calling, then the best will of the house-father cannot hinder the dissolution of the house, prudence and patience only conceal and mitigate the process of dissolution - folly, viz. , of the house-wife, always becomes more and more, according to the degree in which this is a caricature of her calling, the ruin of the house.

Pro 14:2 2 He walketh in his uprightness who feareth Jahve, And perverse in his ways is he that despiseth Him. That which syntactically lies nearest is also that which is intended; the ideas standing in the first place are the predicates. Wherein it shows itself, and whereby it is recognised, that a man fears God, or stands in a relation to Him of indifference instead of one of fear and reverence, shall be declared: the former walketh in his uprightness, i.

e. , so far as the consciousness of duty which animates him prescribes; the latter in his conduct follows no higher rule than his own lust, which drives him sometimes hither and sometimes thither. הולך בּישׁרו . rehtih (cf. ישׁר הולך, Mic 2:7) is of kindred meaning with הולך בּתמּו, Pro 28:6 (הולך בּתּום, Pro 10:9), and הולך נכחו, Isa 57:2. The connection of נלוז דּרכיו follows the scheme of 2Ki 18:37, and not 2Sa 15:32, Ewald, §288c.

If the second word, which particularizes the idea of the first, has the reflexive suff. as here, then the accusative connection, or, as Pro 2:15, the prepositional, is more usual than the genitive. Regarding לוּז, flectere, inclinare (a word common to the author of chap. 1-9), vid . , at Pro 2:15. With בּוזהוּ, cf. 1Sa 2:30; the suffix without doubt refers to God, for בוזהו is the word that stands in parallel contrast to 'ירא ה.

Pro 14:3 3 In the mouth of the fool is a switch of pride; But the lips of the wise preserve them. The noun חטר (Aram. חוּטרא, Arab. khiṭr), which besides here occurs only at Isa 11:1, meaning properly a brandishing (from חטר = Arab. khatr, to brandish, to move up and down or hither and thither, whence âlkhṭtâr, the brandisher, poet. the spear), concretely, the young elastic twig, the switch, i.

e. , the slender flexible shoot. Luther translates, “fools speak tyrannically,” which is the briefer rendering of his earlier translation, “in the mouth of the fool is the sceptre of pride;” but although the Targum uses חוטרא of the king’s sceptre and also of the prince’s staff, yet here for this the usual Hebr. שׁבט were to be expected. In view of Isa 11:1, the nearest idea is, that pride which has its roots in the heart of the fool, grows up to his mouth.

But yet it is not thus explained why the representation of this proceeding from within stops with חטר cf. Pro 11:30). The βακτηρία ὕβρεως (lxx, and similarly the other Greek versions) is either meant as the rod of correction of his own pride (as e. g. , Abulwalîd, and, among the moderns, Bertheau and Zöckler) or as chastisement for others (Syr. , Targum: the staff of reviling).

Hitzig is in favour of the former idea, and thinks himself warranted in translating: a rod for his back; but while גּוה is found for גּאוה, we do not (cf. under Job 41:7 : a pride are the, etc.) find גאוה for גוה, the body, or גּו, the back. But in general it is to be assumed, that if the poet had meant חטר as the means of correction, he would have written גּאותו.

Rightly Fleischer: “The tongue is often compared to a staff, a sword, etc. , in so far as their effects are ascribed to it; we have here the figure which in Rev 1:16 passes over into plastic reality. ” Self-exaltation (R. גא, to strive to be above) to the delusion of greatness is characteristic of the fool, the אויל [godless], not the כּסיל [stupid, dull] - Hitzig altogether confounds these two conceptions.

With such self-exaltation, in which the mind, morally if not pathologically diseased, says, like Nineveh and Babylon in the prophets, I am alone, and there is no one with me, there is always united the scourge of pride and of disgrace; and the meaning of 3b may now be that the lips of the wise protect those who are exposed to this injury (Ewald), or that they protect the wise themselves against such assaults (thus most interpreters). But this reference of the eos to others lies much more remote than at Pro 12:6; and that the protection of the wise against injury inflicted on them by words is due to their own lips is unsatisfactory, as in this case, instead of Bewahrung [ custodia ], we would rather expect Vertheidigung [ defensio ], Dämpfung [damping, extinguishing], Niederduckung [stooping down, accommodating oneself to circumstances].

But also it cannot be meant that the lips of the wise preserve them from the pride of fools, for the thought that the mouth preserves the wise from the sins of the mouth is without meaning and truth (cf. the contrary, Pro 13:3). Therefore Arama interprets the verb as jussive: the lips = words of the wise mayest thou keep i. e. , take to heart. And the Venet .

translates: χείλη δὲ σοφῶν φυλάξεις αὐτά, which perhaps means: the lips of the wise mayest thou consider, and that not as a prayer, which is foreign to the gnome, but as an address to the hearer, which e. g. , Pro 20:19 shows to be admissible. but although in a certain degree of similar contents, yet 3a and 3b clash. Therefore it appears to us more probable that the subject of 3b is the חכמה contained in חכמים; in Pro 6:22 wisdom is also the subject to תשׁמר עליך without its being named.

Thus: while hurtful pride grows up to the throat of the fool, that, viz. , wisdom, keeps the lips of the wise, so that no word of self-reflection, especially none that can wound a neighbour, escapes from them. The form תּשׁמוּרם is much more peculiar than ישׁפּוּטוּ, Exo 18:26, and תעבוּרי, Rth 2:8, for the latter are obscured forms of ישׁפּטוּ and תעברי, while on the contrary the former arises from תּשׁמרם.

If, according to the usual interpretation, we make שׂפתי the subject, then the construction follows the rule, Gesen. §146, 2. The lxx transfers it into Greek: χείλη δὲ σοφῶν φυλάσσει αὐτούς. The probable conjecture, that תשׁמורם is an error in transcription for תּשׁמרוּם = תּשׁמרנה אתם (this is found also in Luzzatto’s Gramm . §776; and Hitzig adduces as other examples of such transpositions of the ו Jer 2:25; Jer 17:23; Job 26:12, and Jos 2:4, ותצפנו for ותצפון), we do not acknowledge, because it makes the lips the subject with an exclusiveness the justification of which is doubtful to us.

Pro 14:4 The switch and the preserving, Pro 14:3, may have given occasion to the collector, amid the store of proverbs before him, now to present the agricultural figure: Without oxen the crib is empty; But rich increase is by the strength of the plough-ox. This is a commendation of the breeding of cattle, but standing here certainly not merely as useful knowledge, but as an admonition to the treatment in a careful, gentle manner, and with thankful recompense of the ox (Pro 12:10), which God has subjected to man to help him in his labour, and more generally, in so far as one seeks to gain an object, to the considerate adoption of the right means for gaining it.

אלפים (from אלף, to cling to) are the cattle giving themselves willingly to the service of men (poet. equivalent to בּקרים). שׁור (תּור, Arab. thwr), Ved. sthûras, is the Aryan-Semitic name of the plough-ox. The noun אבוּס (= אבוּס like אטוּן, אמוּן) denotes the fodder-trough, from אבס, to feed, and thus perhaps as to its root-meaning related to φάτνη (πάτνη), and may thus also designate the receptacle for grain where the corn for the provender or feeding of the cattle is preserved - מאבוּס, Jer 50:26, at least has this wider signification of the granary; but there exists no reason to depart here from the nearest signification of the word: if a husbandman is not thoughtful about the care and support of the cattle by which he is assisted in his labour, then the crib is empty - he has nothing to heap up; he needs not only fodder, but has also nothing.

בּר (in pause בּר), clean (synon. נקי, cf. at Pro 11:26), corresponds with our baar [bare] = bloss [ nudus ]. Its derivation is obscure. The בּ, 4b, is that of the mediating cause: by the strength of the plough-ox there is a fulness of grain gathered into the barn (תּבוּאות, from בּוא, to gather in, anything gathered in). רב־ is the inverted בּר. Striking if also accidental is the frequency of the א and ב in Pro 14:4.

This is continued in Pro 14:5, where the collector gives two proverbs, the first of which commences with a word beginning with א, and the second with one beginning with ב: