Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.
The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.
Parallel Translations
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Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.
The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.
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Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.
Show all 3 translations
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Blessings are upon the head of the righteous; but the mouth of the wicked concealeth violence.
The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing; but the name of the wicked shall rot.
The wise in heart will receive commandments; but a prating fool shall fall.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (34)
- Psalms 112:6 (v7) For he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever.
- Luke 1:48 (v7) for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed.
- Mark 14:9 (v7) Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be…
- Deuteronomy 28:2 (v6) All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice.
- Psalms 109:13 (v7) Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
Show all 34 cross-references
- Matthew 7:24-25 (v8) “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain…
- 2 Chronicles 24:16 (v7) They buried him in David’s city among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
- Proverbs 28:20 (v6) A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
- Proverbs 12:1 (v8) Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
- James 3:13 (v8) Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.
- Job 29:13 (v6) the blessing of him who was ready to perish came on me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
- Psalms 109:15 (v7) Let them be before Yahweh continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
- Psalms 119:34 (v8) Give me understanding, and I will keep your law. Yes, I will obey it with my whole heart.
- Proverbs 9:9 (v8) Instruct a wise person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning.
- Proverbs 10:11 (v6) The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
- Proverbs 24:25 (v6) but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.
- Esther 7:8 (v6) Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was.…
- Job 18:17 (v7) His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.
- Psalms 9:5-6 (v7) You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy is overtaken by…
- Psalms 107:42 (v6) The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths.
- Proverbs 1:5 (v8) that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:
- Proverbs 11:26 (v6) People curse someone who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.
- Proverbs 13:3 (v8) He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
- Proverbs 18:6-7 (v8) A fool’s lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Ecclesiastes 10:12 (v8) The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but a fool is swallowed by his own lips.
- Romans 3:19 (v6) Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world…
- 2 Timothy 1:16-18 (v6) May the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome,…
- 1 Kings 11:36 (v7) I will give one tribe to his son, that David my servant may have a lamp always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for…
- 2 Kings 19:34 (v7) ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’ ”
- Proverbs 10:10 (v8) One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall.
- Proverbs 12:13 (v8) An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.
- Proverbs 14:8 (v8) The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way, but the folly of fools is deceit.
- Proverbs 14:23 (v8) In all hard work there is profit, but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty.
- Ecclesiastes 8:10 (v7) So I saw the wicked buried. Indeed they came also from holiness. They went and were forgotten in the city where they did this. This also is…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv6–8 When their wickedness shall be discovered, they shall be…
When their wickedness shall be discovered, they shall be as dumb, and not know what to say.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Pro 10:6 Blessings [are] upon the head of the…
Pro 10:6 Blessings [are] upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Ver. 6. Blessings are upon the head.] Plentifully and conspicuously; they shall abound with blessings. {Pro 28:20} As the fear of the Lord is not only in them, but upon them, {2Ch 19:7} so blessings of all sorts, a confluence of all spiritual and temporal comforts and contentments, shall be not only with them, but upon them, so that nothing shall hinder it. See Gal 6:16. They are blessed, and they shall be blessed, {Gen 27:33} neither shall any roaring or repining Esau be able to reverse it.
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But violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.] They shall be certainly shamed, condemned, executed, as Haman, whose face they covered, {Est 7:8} and shortly after strangled; and as Sir Gervaise Ellowayes, lieutenant of the Tower, hanged on Tower Hill for poisoning Sir Thomas Overbury, his prisoner. This Sir Gervaise being on the gallows, freely confessed that he had oft, in his playing at cards and dice, wished that he might be hanged if it were not so and so, and therefore confessed it was just upon him.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Blessings are upon the head of the just; all…
Blessings are upon the head of the just; all sorts of blessings are wished to them by men, and conferred upon them by God. He saith, upon their head, either to show that these blessings come from above; and that openly, in the sight of the world, so that he can confidently speak of them to God’s praise, and to his own comfort and honour; or because blessings were commonly pronounced by men with this ceremony, by laying their hands upon the head of the party blessed.
Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked; violence (either,
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1. Their own violence or injustice, which may be here put for the fruit or punishment of it, as iniquity is oft put for the punishment of iniquity. Or,
2. Violence, or the violent, and injurious, and mischievous practices of others against them, deserved by their own violence committed against others, and inflicted upon them by the curse and righteous judgment of God) shall cover the mouth of the wicked, i.e. shall fall upon them. This phrase of covering their mouth is used, either,
1. With allusion to the ancient custom of covering the mouths and faces of condemned malefactors; of which see Est 7:8; Job 9:24. Or,
2. To signify that the curse and judgment of God upon them should be so manifestly just, that their mouths should be stopped, and they not be able to speak a word against God, or for themselves. Or,
3. To intimate that God’s judgment upon them should be public and evident to all that behold them, as any covering put upon a man’s mouth or face is, as for the same reason the blessings of the just were said to be upon their heads. And the mouth may be put for the face or countenance, by a synecdoche. But this clause is otherwise rendered by divers learned interpreters, the mouth of the wicked covereth (i.e. concealeth or smothereth within itself, and doth not utter that) violence or injury, which he meditateth in his heart, and designeth to do to others, and therefore shall be accursed and miserable. But this suits not so well with the former clause, wherein the blessings of the just are not meant actively, of those blessings which they wish or give to others, but passively, of those blessings which others wish or give to them; and consequently this violence is not understood of that which they do to others, but of that which is done to them by others.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Here is, 1. The head of the just crowned…
Here is, 1. The head of the just crowned with blessings, with the blessings both of God and man. Variety of blessings, abundance of blessings, shall descend from above, and visibly abide on the head of good men, real blessings; they shall not only be spoken well of, but done well to. Blessings shall be on their head as a coronet to adorn and dignify them and as a helmet to protect and secure them. 2. The mouth of the wicked covered with violence. Their mouths shall be stopped with shame for the violence which they have done; they shall not have a word to say in excuse for themselves (Job 5:16); their breath shall be stopped with the violence that shall be done to them, when their violent dealings shall return on their heads, shall be returned to their teeth.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Blessings are upon the head of the just,.... That…
Blessings are upon the head of the just,.... That seeks for righteousness, not by the works of the law, but by faith; that lives by faith upon the righteousness of Christ, and is justified by it, made, accounted, and reckoned just through it; and, in consequence of his faith, does justly, and lives soberly, righteously, and godly: upon his "head", who is Christ, blessings are; for he is "the head of every such man", Co1 11:3; not the pope of Rome, but Christ, is head of the church; he is the representative and federal head of all the elect, both in eternity and time; he is a political head to them, as a king is to his subjects; an economical one, as the husband is the head of the wife, a father the head of his family, and a master the head of his servants; and he is in such sense a head to them as a natural head is to its body; he is of the same nature with them, superior to them, a perfect, only, everliving, and everlasting head. Upon him all the blessings of grace and goodness are; his people are blessed with them in him, their head, Eph 1:3; and from him they descend to them, the members of his body, just as the oil on Aaron's head ran down his beard to the skirts of his garments. So in an ancient writing of the Jews (y), this passage being mentioned, it is asked, Who is the head of the righteous? The answer is, the middle pillar; by whom they seem to mean a middle person, the Mediator, the Messiah. Or else, a part being put for the whole, the meaning is, that blessings are upon the persons of righteous ones, as the word is used in Pro 11:26; the Targum renders it,
"the heads of the righteous.''
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All covenant blessings, spiritual ones, such as are blessings indeed, solid and substantial, irreversible, and for ever; particularly a justifying righteousness, from whence they are denominated just; pardon of sin, peace of soul, every sanctifying grace, the blessing of adoption, and a right to eternal life: these being said to be on the "head" of them, may denote that they come from above, and descend in a way of grace upon them; that they are visible and manifest; that they reside, continue, and remain upon them; that they are as an ornament and crown unto them; and that they are a security of them that no wrath and vengeance can fall upon them. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, read, "the blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the just"; and such are all the blessings before mentioned;
but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked; that is, either his violent dealings are open and manifest, and are a scandal to him, as well as entail a curse on him; or rather the fruit and effect of his violence and oppression, the punishment due thereunto, is so righteously inflicted on him, that his mouth is stopped, and he has not one word to say against the just judgments of God upon him, for his violent usage of men, whether here or hereafter; see Psa 107:42. Some render the words, "the mouth of the wicked covereth violence" (z); palliates and excuses it, and calls it by another name; or hides and conceals that which is in the heart, and does not utter it; see Pro 10:18. The Targum is,
"in the mouth of the wicked rapine is covered;''
as a sweet morsel under their tongue, though in the end bitterness.
(y) Tikkune Zohar. Correct. 47. fol. 87. 2. (z) "os impiorum operiet injuriam", Montanus, Baynus; "operit iniquitem", Vatablus, Mercerus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 Violence - Their own violence or injustice. This may…
Violence - Their own violence or injustice. This may be an allusion to the ancient custom of covering the mouths and faces of condemned malefactors.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Verse 6. Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.]…
Verse 6. Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.] As blessings shall be on the head of the just, so the violence of the wicked shall cover their face with shame and confusion. Their own violent dealings shall be visited upon them. The mouth forsoth of unpitious men wickidnesse covereth. - Old MS. Bible. "The forehead of the ungodly is past shame, and presumptuous."-Coverdale.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 Pro 10:6. Blessings are upon the head of the…
Pro 10:6. Blessings are upon the head of the just — All sorts of blessings are wished to them by men, and conferred upon them by God. But violence — Either, 1st, The fruit or punishment of their own violence: or, 2d, The violent, injurious, and mischievous practices of others against them, deserved by their own violence committed against others, and inflicted upon them by the righteous judgment of God; covereth the mouth of the wicked — That is, shall fall upon them. This phrase of covering the mouth, may be an allusion to the ancient custom of covering the faces of condemned malefactors.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 Covereth ... - The meaning is perhaps, the violence…
Covereth ... - The meaning is perhaps, the violence which the wicked has done is as a bandage over his mouth, reducing him to a silence and shame, like that of the leper Lev 13:45; Mic 3:7 or the condemned criminal Est 7:8, whose “face is covered.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 Is not affliction the lot of the just? (Joh…
Is not affliction the lot of the just? (Joh 16:33 . Act 14:22 . 2Ti 3:12 .) Yet how abundantly is it compensated by the blessings that are upon his head (Pro 28:20 . Gen 49:26 ) — blessings temporal (Deu 28:1-6 . 1Ti 4:8 ) and spiritual (Isa 32:17 ); from man (Pro 16:7 . Job 29:11-13 ) and from God. (Psa 3:8 ; Psa 5:12 . Isa 64:4, 5. Mat 5:3-12 .) His very memory is a blessing to his family and to the Church. (Psa 112:6 .) Fragrant is the "good report of the elders" immortalized in the Apostolic Book of Martyrs. (Heb 11:2 .) Truly blessed is the memory of a godly parent (Pro 31:28 ); of a faithful minister (Heb 13:7 ); of a righteous king (2Ch 35:24-25 ); of a public benefactor (2Ch 24:6 ); of a self-denying Christian.†1
No such honour belongs to the wicked. Often some outward stroke of violence covers their mouth (Psa 107:42 ), and marks them for condemnation (Est 7:8 . Job 9:24 ), as they will all be so marked at the day of retribution. (Rom 3:19 .) And even now their memory rots in corruption. (Job 18:17 . Psa 49:11-12 ; Psa 109:13 . Ecc 8:10 . Isa 65:15 . Jer 22:18-19 ; Jer 29:22-23 .) Contrast the memory of the "man after God’s heart," with that of "Jeroboam the son of Nebat" (1Ki 11:26 ; 1Ki 14:14-16 . 2Ki 14:3 ); or in later times, Ridley and Latimer with the name of their wicked persecutors. Such is the blessing and curse of God, long after the men had passed into eternity. ’Thou mayest choose’ — said godly Bishop Pilkington — ’whether thou wilt be remembered to thy praise or to thy shame.’†2
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Footnotes:
†1 Mar 14:9. ’No spices can so embalm a man; no monument can so preserve his name and memory, as a pious conversation, whereby God hath been honoured, and man benefited. The fame of such a person is, in the best judgments, far more precious and truly glorious, than is the fame of those, who have excelled in any other deeds or qualities.’ — Barrow’s Sermons.
†2 Works, Parker Society, p. 366.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Wicked. Or, as the Hebrew seems to indicate, "the…
Wicked. Or, as the Hebrew seems to indicate, "the wicked covereth iniquity, by an hypocritical exterior," (Calmet) or, "the injury" (Mont.[Montanus?]) done to another, (chamas.; Haydock) "unseasonable, or infinite mourning," Greek: penthos auron. (Septuagint)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Blessings--literally, "Praises." The last clause is better: "The mouth…
Blessings--literally, "Praises." The last clause is better: "The mouth of the wicked covereth (or concealeth) violence (or mischievous devices)" to be executed in due time (Psa 5:9; Psa 10:7; Rom 3:14), and hence has no praises (compare Pro 10:11).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv6–8 6. Blessings — ברכות, (berakhoth,) the plural of intensity,…
6. Blessings — ברכות, (berakhoth,) the plural of intensity, abundant blessings, blessings from God and man.
But violence covereth the mouth of the wicked — By “violence” is probably meant the effect of the man’s own violence; which shall return upon him in curses; in parallelism with the “blessings” of the first number. “Mouth” is possibly put by metonymy for face. There is some difficulty in adjusting the parallelism. Stuart renders, The mouth of the wicked concealeth injury; that is, the injury he meditates. The form of the words would allow this; but it does not make a good counterpart to the preceding member. The Septuagint has for חמס, (hhamas,) violence, πενθος αωπον, penthos aoron, an untimely mourning; but seems, like Stuart and others, to have taken hhamas in the predicate. Taken in the subject, it makes a good antithesis. Translation: Benediction (shall be) on the head of the just; but an untimely mourning (or burial) shall cover the mouth (face) of the wicked. Comp. Pro_10:11; also, on latter clause, Lev_13:45; Psa_44:15; Psa_107:42; Mic_7:10; Est_7:8. Covering of the face, as in the case of Haman, was a sign of being devoted to death.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 6. violence covereth &c.] This, which is the rendering…
6. violence covereth &c.] This, which is the rendering both of A.V. and R.V. text, is to be preferred to the rendering of R.V. marg., “the mouth of the wicked covereth violence,” i.e. in what he says there is a covert purpose of violence, which he endeavours to conceal.
So rendered it may mean either (a) the violence of the wicked man himself covers his mouth—he never opens it without pouring forth violence; and then perhaps we are to complete the parallelism by supplying from the first clause, “you may judge therefore what comes upon his head”; or (b) in more obvious parallelism, instead of the blessings which all men pour upon the head of the just, the mouth of the wicked they cover with violence, with reproaches, and it may be with blows (Act_23:2). To this, however, it is objected that the Heb. word always connotes wrongful treatment.
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The idea of covering the mouth as a sign of condemnation is farfetched, and it is not borne out by the passages cited in support of it (Est_7:8; Lev_13:45; Eze_24:17; Mic_3:7), in all of which it is the “lip” or the “face,” and not the “mouth” which is covered.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 (6) Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.—Curses and…
(6) Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.—Curses and deeds of violence have proceeded from his mouth, but God frustrates them, they “return unto him void” (Isa_55:11), and, as it were, stop his mouth, reducing him to silence.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. So Ver.…
Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. So Ver. 11. This is usually explained to mean either that the consciousness of his own iniquity silences the sinner when he would speak against the righteous, or his violence and injustice, returning on his own head, are like a bandage over his mouth, (Lev_13:45 Mic_3:7) reducing him to shame and silence. Others, again, consider the signification to be in default of the good, honest words which should proceed from a man"s mouth, the sinner pours forth injustice and wickedness. But it is best (as in Ver. 14) to take "mouth" as the subject: "The mouth of the wicked concealeth violence," that he may wait for the opportunity of practising it. The contrast is between the manifest blessedness of the righteous and the secret sinister proceedings of the evil. The Vulgate and Septuagint give, "the blessing of the Lord." For "violence" the Septuagint has penyov awron , "untimely grief;" the Hebrew word chamas bearing also the sense of "misery."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv7–8 The memory of the just is blessed: but the…
Pro_10:7
The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
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The remembrance of good and forgetting of bad men
I. How great a concern men naturally have to leave an honourable memory behind them. This idea is implied in the text, not expressed. All men in all ages have desired and endeavoured that others should entertain a good opinion of them, and if possible a great one. To this pursuit, multitudes have sacrificed their ease, their interest, the dearest of their other passions, and their lives themselves. They who know they have forfeited their title to a good character labour hard, by concealing and palliating matters, to retain as much as they can of it. A truly good person will always, in the first place, seek the honour which cometh from God only. But still, desire of being esteemed by our fellow-creatures is a natural, and therefore an innocent passion, prompts us to what is right, and supports us in it. And we have also earnest desire of being remembered, as much to our advantage as possible, after we are gone. Though we shall not be within reach of hearing what is said of us, nor shall we be benefited by praise or hurt by reproach. Therefore some treat all concern far posthumous praise and fame as a mere absurdity. But as virtuous and beneficent actions are by far the most certain way of procuring any durable esteem from mankind, so planting in us a desire of such esteem as may endure when we are gone is providing no small security for our good behaviour here. And so this desire becomes an important blessing to us. A good life hath but a few days; but a good name endureth for ever (Son of Sirach)
.
All this must be cautiously understood of such reputation only as is truly good; sought from proper motives, and pursued by proper means. If people affect to be admired for excellences, which they have not, their attempt at cheating mankind will probably be as vain as it is certainly unjust. Scripture not only stigmatises those whose glory is in their shame, but warns against so excessive an admiration, even of things in themselves valuable, as interferes with the superior regard we owe to real piety and virtue.
II. What care the goodness and justice of God have taken that by worthy conduct we shall obtain our desire and by a criminal one fail of it entirely. There is a particular providence causing the memory of the just and good to flourish out of their ashes, and blasting that of the wicked. Worthy men would be pleased to have present respect paid to their characters, as well as future to their memories. And it is paid in good measure, though the deficiencies in this respect are great: due often to imperfections or eccentricities in the goodness, often to party zeal and to envy. It would probably not be to the advantage of good persons, but far from it, to have all the debt which mankind owes them paid immediately. It might endanger their humility, lead them to an uncharitable contempt of others, and a hazardous confidence in themselves. When once good men are removed to another state, all the reasons which made it unsafe for them to receive praise in this are over; and most of the reasons that made others unwilling to bestow it are over too. Generally speaking, they who deserve well have at length due acknowledgments paid to their memory. The undeserved regard of the ungodly in this life seldom outlasts them any considerable time; the name of the wicked soon rots.
III. In what manner may we best contribute to the due payment of those very different regards which belong to the memory of the bad and the good. Vehemence and bitterness in speaking of those whom we dislike, either when they are living or when dead, is opposed to the spirit of our religion. Yet we are not prevented from forming and expressing just judgments at suitable times. For the most part the name of the wicked, if let alone, will rot of itself; and all that we shall need to do is, not to undertake the nauseous and fruitless office of embalming it. The regards due to the just are briefly these: that we believe them, on good evidence, to be the good persons they were in reality; that we consider their virtues with due esteem, and their imperfections with due candour; that we vindicate their names from unjust imputations, and make honourable mention of them whenever a fit opportunity offers; that we warn and arm ourselves against the temptations, both of prosperity and adversity, by observing how they have gone through each; that we incite ourselves to aim at more perfection in all Christian graces, by seeing in them what heights of piety and goodness are attainable; that we learn watchfulness from their falls; and that we thank God, in our retirements, for the instructions which His providence hath vouchsafed to us in their good lives. (T. Seeker.)
The memory of the just
So far as this world is concerned, every one of us will soon cease to be a man, and be no more than a memory. Every man leaves behind him some kind of a memory; and it depends entirely on what the man has been as to what the memory shall be. There are memories that do rot; those that dwell on them, and take a delight in them, are poisoned by the contact, and all whose feelings are healthy and pure keep at a distance, and feel as if in the presence of something that was corrupt and evil. But however short life may be, it is long enough for a man to do something that will leave a memory in the world which, when he is gone, shall be a blessing to other men.
I. The memory of the just is blessed as an example of holy living. We never can see the force of precept fully if we never see precept embodied in action. You can never give a man a clear notion of what the image of God is unless you give him an opportunity of watching for years the life of a man who has walked with God. The memory of such s man acts as a restraint, both upon the unconverted and upon the child of God, when he is pressed by temptation. The memory of such a man acts as an encouragement. We are apt to think that the law of God is too high for us, that we cannot expect to be thoroughly consistent Christians. And yet, why not? We think those men that we see so good must be different in nature from us. But the grace that made them so holy is as free for us as it was for them. The memory is not only an encouragement, it is also a stimulus. When we hear what the good have done we feel a reproach that we have not done more. That memory is blessed which comes acting upon the spirits of men after a man is gone, and impelling them to follow him in the ways of usefulness and goodness. Such a memory is a stimulus to early consecration to God; to full and laborious consecration to God.
II. The memory of the just is blessed as an example of holy dying. Even those who do not care about living well would like to die well. Others look upon a happy death only in the light of s suitable close of a good life. There is something blessed in seeing the last days of good men.
III. The memory of the just is blessed as a tie to another world. Are there not many of us to whom God has given ties of this kind to that better lend? The blessing in this way counteracts the curse; the curse strikes right and left with the stroke of death, and we see our dearest objects falling before our eyes. But then the blessing comes; they are redeemed; their spirits are in heaven; and our affections turn to the same objects as before. But now those affections, instead of being a tie to earth, are a tie to heaven, where those we love have gone. (William Arthur, M.A.)
The remembrance of a noble name
Who would not preserve a noble name? The recollection of such a name is a continual inspiration. From that recollection many things may be shed that are mere matters of detail, but the substance and the honour, the real quality and worth, abide with us evermore. Who need be ashamed to own that he had a just father and a virtuous mother? No man blushes when he cites the name of a conqueror who worked heroically and succeeded perfectly in the great warfare of life. Just memories are flowers we cannot allow to fade; we water them with our tears; by them we enrich and ennoble our prayers, and by them we animate ourselves as by a sacred stimulus. Blessed are they who have a noble past, a yesterday crowded with memories of things beautiful end lovable; they can never be lonely, they can never be sad; they walk in the company of the just and true, and the silence of the communion does not diminish its music. Here is a fame which is possible to every man. It is not possible for us all to win renown in fields of battle, in walks of literature, in lives of adventure, or in regions of discovery and enterprise--that kind of renown must be left to the few, the elect who are created to lead the worlds civilisation; but the renown of goodness, the fame of purity, the reputation of excellence--these lie within the power of the poorest man that lives. (J. Parker, D.D.)
The memory of the just
The mind often goes back in review of the past human world. On this great field there are presented all the grand varieties of character. They come to view in great divisions and assemblages--in mass, as it were--bearing the broad distinctions of their respective ages, nations, and religions. Here and there individuals stand up conspicuously to view--of extraordinary and pre-eminent character and action. What an odious and horrid character rests upon some. They seem to bear eternal curses on their heads. And these have gone in that same character, unaltered, into another world, and that a state of retribution. But there has been a multitude that no man can number, bearing on earth and bearing away from it the true image of their Father in heaven. The saints of God in the past time are presented as a general comprehensive object to our memory. And we have many of the just retained in memory as individuals. They abide in memory, and ever will, kept alive, as it were, the images, the examples, the personifications of what we approve, admire, and feel that we ought to love and to be. Now, their memory is blessed, self-evidently so, for the mind blesses it, reverts to it with complacency mingled with solemnity. It is blessed when we consider them as practical illustrations, verifying examples of the excellence of genuine religion. Their memory is blessed while we regard them as diminishing to our view the repulsiveness and horror of death, and as associated with the most blessed things through all time. (J. Foster.)
The two memories
It is a trite saying that the present is the only period of time we can call our own; but it is a saying not less true than trite. Now is the moment of action. By our acts in this living present we shall become a power as a memory. In our footsteps our successors will trace our characters as the geologist traces those of the beasts end birds of antediluvian fame.
I. What does the text assert of the name and memory of the wicked?
1. A wicked mans memory lives in his children. Sometimes as a beacon to warn of danger.
2. In their sins the wicked perpetuate their memory. Those who are not content to be in the road to hell themselves, but must inveigle others into the same accursed paths, surely fasten their memories on the souls of their victims. What putrid animal matter is to our physical senses the memory of the wicked shall be to our moral sensibilities when they are gone.
II. The memory of the righteous is blessed. True, as a rule, in the case of the children of the good men. Exceptions prove the rule. Let our children find us faithful to our principles, to our professions, to our Saviour, and when we are gone our memory shall be blessed. The memory of the just shall be blessed in their actions--their acts live long after they are gone, in their effects. Illustrate by the memories of the martyrs end reformers. And there are martyrs in humble life. We have, then, a work to do, that our memories may be a blessing and not a curse, that we may leave footprints behind for others to walk in. (W. Morris.)
Blessed memories
I. The memory of the just is blessed in their inherent worth. Contrast Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Paul, Luther, etc., with Pharaoh, Voltaire, Paine, etc. Of the former, the mention of their names is as ointment poured forth, beautiful, fragrant, and costly; while the latter are only regarded with pity and regretted as a waste.
II. The memory of the just is blessed in their influential words. Their words are blessed--
1. In Christian conversation.
2. In the public mention of them.
3. In quiet meditation.
And they are influential, as is evident--
(1) In the history of the Christian Church.
(2) In the annals of profane history.
(3) In the efforts of human progress.
III. The memory of the just is blessed in their important works.
1. In the books they have written.
2. In the inspiration they have given.
3. In the effects they have produced.
Application: What sort of memory are we weaving for ourselves? One to be blessed, and that will remain unforgotten in the world? or one that will decay, rot, and around which there will cling no loving and permanent memories of Divine or human blessedness? (T. Colclough.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_10:6-7; Pro_10:11
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_10:6-7; Pro_10:11
THE WAY TO PRESENT BLESSEDNESS AND FUTURE FAME
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We connect the first and last of these verses, because the latter clause in both is the same.
I. Opposite characters revealed by a great contrast in speech (Pro_10:11). When a righteous man opens his mouth, it is as if the cover was removed from a pure, clear well of water. He has no evil intentions to conceal: his words are an index to his heart. By them men may read his thoughts with the same ease as they can see what is at the bottom of a clear spring of water. There is medicinal virtue in them—they heal as well as refresh the spirits of men. What a well of life have the words of Christ been for centuries to millions of the human race. But a wicked man cannot let all the thoughts of his heart be laid open to the light of day. His “mouth conceals injury” (see Critical Notes). He has plans which are not devised for the good of his fellow-creatures, and he must use his words not to reveal, but to hide what is in his mind. And if he lets his tongue loose, and permits his thoughts to flow out into words, they do not bless his hearers, but are like a poisonous stream, carrying moral death wherever they flow.
II. Character yields a present blessing or a present curse. “Blessings are upon the head of the righteous,” etc. A man’s present comfort within himself, and the inheritance of good-will he now receives from his fellow-men, as well as the favour of God, are all dependent upon what he is in his character. The kingdom of heaven is now inherited by him. All the beatitudes uttered by our Lord speak of a present blessedness. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” etc. The opposite truth is not expressed, but it is implied. Curses, not blessings, are the present inheritance of the man whose “mouth is covered by violence.”
III. Character determines the nature of our future fame (Pro_10:7).
1. The memory of the righteous is blessed, because what they did upon the earth is the means of bringing blessings upon others after they are gone. Many a son has received kindness for the sake of the righteousness of his father. God blesses the children for the father’s sake. “I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes” (1Ki_11:34). “Fear not,” said God to Isaac, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake (Gen_26:24). Cyrus was raised up to deliver Israel for Jacob’s sake (Isa_45:4). Men can but bless the memory of those whose past godliness is the means of bringing blessings upon them in the present.
2. The just man’s memory is blessed because he leaves behind him reproductions of his own character. All life will reproduce itself. After a tree has decayed and gone to dust, others will be in full life and vigour that were seedlings of the old tree. Intellectual life is reproductive. The man of mighty genius leaves disciples to carry out his ideas after he is gone. Good men are the parents of good children, or make other men good by their words and lives. “They that dwell under his shadow shall return,” and “they shall grow as the vine” (Hos_14:7). The good must be held in blessed remembrance so long as there are those upon earth who are the reproductions of their character.
3. The memory of some is blessed because they did deeds which never can be reproduced by others—which have left a fragrance behind them which can never be repeated. The one act of Abraham, when he prepared to offer up Isaac at God’s command, can never be repeated; but is the one which, above all his other acts of faith, causes him to be held in everlasting remembrance. And so it has been with many of the leaders of the Church in all ages. They have performed acts of godly heroism which we cannot imitate, but of which we reap the reward, and for which we bless their memory. Especially is this true of Him who is pre-eminently the Holy One and the Just, whose glorious “name is blessed for ever” (Psa_72:19), because “He endured the cross and despised the shame.” But the converse of all this is the lot of the wicked. We can but remember them when we are brought face to face with the evil they have left behind them; but we turn from the remembrance as we turn from some offensive putrid object, while the memory of the just is as a sweet savour. Contrast the feelings with which Christendom now regards the emperors of Rome and the fishermen of Galilee.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_10:6. Not one, but many blessings are on the head of the righteous: the blessing of peace, the blessing of plenty, the blessing of health, and the blessing of grace, shall be upon them. The precious ointment of the Lord’s favour or blessing shall so be poured upon their heads as that it shall not here stay, but run down to the rest of the members of their bodies, and enter into their very hearts.—Muffet.
“Blessings:” not simply good things, but good things bestowed by another; not simply good things bestowed by another, but divinely bestowed as sacred benedictions. “Blessings” are for the righteous exclusively; that is, for no one else. “For the head;” not the mouth, not the hand; because often without either’s agency. “On his head;” because unconsciously, and sometimes even when asleep.—Miller.
Pro_10:7. The memory of the just is blessed
(1) because of his winning friendship;
(2) because of his unfeigned piety;
(3) because of his steadfast patience;
(4) because of his noble, public-spirited activity.—Ziegler, from Lange’s Commentary.
And what signifies an empty name? It brings honour to God, and prolongs the influence of his good example who has left it. His good works not only follow him, but live behind him. As Jeroboam made Israel to sin after he was dead, so the good man helps to make others holy whilst he is lying in the grave. Should it so happen that his character is mistaken in the world, or should his name die out among men, it shall yet be had in everlasting remembrance before God; for never shall those names be erased from the Lamb’s book of life, which were written in it from the foundation of the world.—Lawson.
Not what he remembers, but what is remembered of him. He blesses after he is dead. So does the wicked, but, like most other growths in nature, by his decay. “Name;” that which is known of a man. The “name of God” is that which may be known of God. “The memory of the righteous,” viz., of the Church of God, is that which propagates her, and causes her to hand down her strength. Our walk about Zion, our telling her towers, our marking her bulwarks, is for this grand aim, among the rest, that we may tell to the generation following (Psa_48:12-13).—Miller.
I. The memory of the just is blessed, self-evidently so, for the mind blesses it and reverts to it with complacency, mingled with solemnity,—returns to it with delight from the sight of the living evil in the world, sometimes even prefers this silent society to the living good. They show in a most evident and pleasing manner the gracious connection which God has constantly maintained with a sinful world. His uninterrupted connection with it by justice and sovereign power has been manifest in mighty evidence: but His saints have been the peculiar illustration of His grace, His mercy, acting on this world. II. It is so, when we consider them as practical illustrations, verifying examples of the exellence of genuine religion; that it is a noble thing in human nature, and makes, and alone makes, that nature noble;—that, whatever scoffers may say, or the vain world pretend to disbelieve, here is what has made such men as nothing else, under heaven, could or can. III. Their memory is blessed while we regard them as diminishing to our view the repulsiveness and horror of death. Our Lord’s dying was the fact that threw out the mightiest agency to this effect. But, in their measure, His faithful disciples have done the same. When we contemplate them as having prepared for it with a calm resolution—as having approached it—multitudes with a calm resignation and fortitude, and very many with an animated exultation;—as having passed it, and emerged in brightness beyond its gloom—they seem to shine back through the gloom, and make the shade less thick. IV. It is blessed, also, as combined with the whole progress of God upon the earth,—with its living agency throughout every stage. He has never, and nowhere, had a visible cause in the world, without putting men in trust with it.… Think of what men have been employed and empowered to do in the propagation of truth, in the incessant warfare against evil, in the exemplification of all the virtues by which he could be honoured.—John Foster.
Pro_10:11. A Church is but a body of righteous men. What would the world do without the Church? The influences of a Church, and that a land is ruined without a Church, and that one generation hands on the worship of God to another, all are illustrations on a grand scale of how the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life. A good man will constantly be doing good to others. But “wrong covers the mouth of the wicked,” so that he can give no blessing; so keeps him from any possible usefulness, that he cannot utter good, or make his mouth, as the righteous can, “a fountain of life” to all about him.—Miller.
In a hot summer’s day I was sailing with a friend in a tiny boat on a miniature lake, enclosed like a cup within a circle of steep, bare Scottish hills. On the shoulders of the brown, sun-burnt mountain, and full in sight, was a well, with a crystal stream trickling over its lip, and making its way down towards the lake. Around the well’s mouth, and along the course of the rivulet, a belt of green stood out in strong contrast with the iron surface of the rock all around. “What do you make of that?” said my friend, who had both an open eye to read the book of Nature and a heart all aglow with its lessons of love. We soon agreed as to what should be made of it. It did not need us to make it into anything. There it was, a legend clearly printed by the finger of God on the side of these silent hills, teaching the passer-by how needful a good man is, and how useful he may be in a desert world.… The Lord looks down, and men look up, expecting to see a fringe of living green around the lip of a Christian’s life-course.—Arnot.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv6–8 v. 6. Blessings are upon the head of the…
v. 6. Blessings are upon the head of the just, as a merciful reward of God’s bounty and in acknowledgment of his righteous conduct in life; but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked; although he hides the violence of his heart by keeping silence, he cannot escape its curse; the fact that he covers in himself ruin for others turns the blessing away from him.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 8 are upon the head
are upon the head
The "head" represents the whole person. AT: "are given to" (See: Idiom and Synecdoche)
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mouth of the wicked
The "mouth" represents what a person says. AT: "words the wicked speak" (See: Metonymy)
covers up
hides the truth
name
The word "name" represents a person's reputation. AT: "memory" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
gift
God
head
evil
name
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v7 10:7 the name of a wicked person rots away:…
10:7 the name of a wicked person rots away: In ancient Israel, as is still true today in the Middle East, honor and shame were powerful motivators.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.