When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.
Parallel Translations
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When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.
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When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
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When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Proverbs 11:2 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 29:23 A man’s pride brings him low, but one of lowly spirit gains honor.
- Proverbs 16:18-19 Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the plunder with the proud.
- Proverbs 15:33 The fear of Yahweh teaches wisdom. Before honor is humility.
- Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.
- Proverbs 3:34-35 Surely he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble. The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of fools.
- 1 Corinthians 8:1-2 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. But if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know.
- Luke 14:8-11 “When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
- Daniel 4:30-32 The king spoke and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from the sky, saying, “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: ‘The kingdom has departed from you. You shall be driven from men; and your dwelling shall be with the animals of the field. You shall be made to eat grass as oxen. Seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he will.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain When man so getteth himself, and thinketh to be…
When man so getteth himself, and thinketh to be exalted above his vocation, then God bringeth him to confusion.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 11:2 [When] pride cometh, then cometh shame: but…
Pro 11:2 [When] pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly [is] wisdom.
Ver. 2. When pride cometh.] Where pride is in the saddle, shame is on the crupper, tanquam Nemesis a tergo. He is a "proud fool," saith our English proverb. Proud persons, while they leave their standing and would rise above the top of their places, fail of their footing, and fall to the bottom.
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But with the lowly is wisdom.] Which maketh the face to shine. Pride proceeds from folly, and procures contempt. But "God gives grace to the humble"; {Jas 4:6} that is, as some sense it, good repute and report among men. Who am I? saith Moses; and yet who fitter than he to go to Pharaoh? He refused to be Pharaoh’s daughter’s son; he was afterwards called to be Pharaoh’s god. {Exo 7:1} Aben Ezra observes, that the word here rendered "lowly," signifies "bashful," "shame faced," Qui prae verecundia sese abdunt, that thrust not themselves into observation. The hmnble man, were it not that the fragrant smell of his many virtues betrays him to the world, would choose to live and die in his self-contenting secrecy. Hence humility is by Bernard compared to the violet, which grows low to the ground, and hangs the head downward, and, besides, hides itself with its own leaves.
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 When pride cometh, then cometh shame; pride, as it…
When pride cometh, then cometh shame; pride, as it is the effect of folly, so it bringeth a man to contempt and destruction, such persons being commonly hated both by God and by all men.
With the lowly is wisdom; whereby they are kept from those foolish and wicked actions which expose men to shame.
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 Observe, 1. How he that exalts himself is here…
Observe, 1. How he that exalts himself is here abased, and contempt put upon him. When pride comes then comes shame. Pride is a sin which men have reason to be themselves ashamed of; it is a shame to a man who springs out of the earth, who lives upon alms, depends upon God, and has forfeited all he has, to be proud. It is a sin which others cry out shame on and look upon with disdain; he that is haughty makes himself contemptible; it is a sin for which God often brings men down, as he did Nebuchadnezzar and Herod, whose ignominy immediately attended their vain-glory; for God resists the proud, contradicts them, and counterworks them, in the thing they are proud of, Isa 2:11, etc. 2. How he that humbles himself is here exalted, and a high character is given him. As with the proud there is folly, and will be shame, so with the lowly there is wisdom, and will be honour, for a man's wisdom gains him respect and makes his face to shine before men; or, if any be so base as to trample upon the humble, God will give them grace which will be their glory. Considering how safe, and quiet, and easy, those are that are of a humble spirit, what communion they have with God and comfort in themselves, we will say, With the lowly is wisdom.
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 When pride cometh, then cometh shame,.... The one follows…
When pride cometh, then cometh shame,.... The one follows the other, or rather keep pace together; as soon as one comes, the other comes; as in the case of the angels that sinned, Adam and Eve, Haman, Nebuchadnezzar, and others; and will be the case of the Romish antichrist, who, while vaunting and priding himself in his glory and grandeur, will fall into shame, disgrace, and destruction, Rev 18:7;
but with the lowly is wisdom; or wisdom shall come, as Jarchi: the consequence of which is honour and glory; as with Christ, who is meek and lowly, are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; so with his humble followers, who reckon themselves the least of saints, and chief of sinners, and own that it is by the grace of God they are what they are, is true wisdom; they are wise unto salvation, and in the way to honour and glory; such humble souls shall be exalted, Luk 14:11.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 2. When pride cometh] The proud man thinks…
Verse 2. When pride cometh] The proud man thinks much more of himself than any other can do; and, expecting to be treated according to his own supposed worth, which treatment he seldom meets with, he is repeatedly mortified, ashamed, confounded, and rendered indignant.
With the lowly] צנועים tsenuim, ταπεινων, the humble, the modest, as opposed to the proud, referred to in the first clause. The humble man looks for nothing but justice; has the meanest opinion of himself; expects nothing in the way of commendation or praise; and can never be disappointed but in receiving praise, which he neither expects nor desires.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 11:2-3. When pride cometh, then cometh shame —…
Pro 11:2-3. When pride cometh, then cometh shame — Pride, as it is the effect of folly, so it bringeth a man to contempt and destruction, such persons being under the displeasure of God, and disliked by all men. But with the lowly is wisdom — Whereby they are kept from those foolish and wicked actions which expose men to shame. The integrity of the upright, &c. — Their sincere obedience to God’s laws; shall guide them — Shall keep them from crooked and dangerous courses, and lead them in a right and safe way. But the perverseness of transgressors — Those wicked devices by which they design and expect to secure themselves; shall destroy them — Shall be the very causes of their destruction.
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 A rabbinic paraphrase of the second clause is: “Lowly…
A rabbinic paraphrase of the second clause is: “Lowly souls become full of wisdom as the low place becomes full of water.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain Pride was the principle of the fall (Gen 3:5…
Pride was the principle of the fall (Gen 3:5 ), and therefore the native principle of fallen man. (Mar 7:22 .) When pride had stripped us of our honour, then — not till then — cometh shame.(Gen 3:7, with Gen 2:25 .) This is the wise discipline of our God to scourge the one by the other. The Babel-builders (Gen 11:4 ); Miriam (Num 12:2, Num 12:10 ); Uzziah (2Ch 26:16-21 ); Haman (Est 5:11 ; Est 7:10 ); Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 4:29-32 ); Herod (Act 12:22-23 ); all are instances of shame, treading upon the heals of pride. Even in common life, a man will never attempt to raise himself above his own level — but then cometh shame (Luk 14:11 ) — the most revolting recompense. And thus our God puts to shame the man, who knows not his bounds, and who refuses to stand on the low ground, on which he has placed him. "Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased." (Luk 18:14 . Isa 2:17 .)
Such is the folly of pride. With the lowly is wisdom. What a splendour of wisdom shone in the lowly child, "sitting at the doctors’ feet, astonishing them at his understanding and his answers!" (Luk 2:47 .) And will not this spirit be to us the path of wisdom? For the Divine Teacher "reveals to the babes, what he hides from the wise and prudent." (Luk 10:21 .) There is no greater proof of proud folly, than believing only what we understand. Faith is thus grounded on knowledge, not on testimony: as if the word of God could not be implicitly received, except as corroborated by other witnesses. Happy is that lowliness of spirit, that comes to God’s revelation, as it were without any will or mind of our own; humbly receiving what he is pleased to give; but willing — yea thankful — to be ignorant, when he forbids us to intrude! (Col 2:18 .)
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 Wisdom. God resists the proud, chap. xvi. 18., and…
Wisdom. God resists the proud, chap. xvi. 18., and xviii. 12., and James iv. 6.
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 Self-conceit is unteachable; the humble grow wise (compare Pro…
Self-conceit is unteachable; the humble grow wise (compare Pro 16:18; Pro 18:12).
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 2. When pride cometh — The Hebrew is abrupt…
2. When pride cometh — The Hebrew is abrupt and forcible: “Pride comes, then comes contempt.” The proud man is contemptible in the eyes of those who see him boiling over (this is the Hebrew idea) with self-conceit, arrogance, or vanity.
Lowly — צנועים, (tsenu’him.) This is a rare word, and is well expressed by our term modest. How often is this proverb illustrated in life. A vain braggart brings on himself contempt; while a modest man, who pretends to no more than he knows, commands respect. Hence the wisdom of modest behaviour. Compare Dan_4:30; Luk_14:8; Luk_18:14; Pro_3:16; Pro_8:18; Pro_15:33; Pro_16:18; Pro_18:12.
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 2. wisdom] We should rather have expected honour, as…
2. wisdom] We should rather have expected honour, as a parallel to shame in the first clause. But wisdom is the root of honour. Comp. Pro_15:33, Pro_18:12.
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 (2) Then cometh shame.—For they have not the grace…
(2) Then cometh shame.—For they have not the grace of God to keep them from falling. (See above on Pro_6:17.)
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 Then cometh shame; (Pro_16:18:18:12) literally, cometh pride, cometh also…
Then cometh shame; (Pro_16:18:18:12) literally, cometh pride, cometh also shame. Pride shall have a fall; self-assertion and self-confidence shall meet with mortification and disgrace in the end. "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased"; (Luk_14:11) "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall". (1Co_10:12) Septuagint, "Where violence (obriv ) entereth, there also dishonor." But with the lowly is wisdom. "Mysteries are revealed unto the meek". (Ecc_3:19, Complutensian; Psa_25:9, Psa_25:14) The humble are already rewarded with wisdom because their disposition fits them to receive grace and God"s gifts. (comp. Pro_15:33) Septuagint, "The mouth of the humble meditateth wisdom.
The shame of pride and the wisdom of humility.
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I THE SHAME OF PRIDE. Pride claims honour, and thinks itself secure of obtaining it. It would dread disgrace above all things, would rather starve and perish than suffer from contempt. Yet a true insight into life shows that pride is the direct precursor of shame, of the very thing it would most wish to keep off. Thus, like ambition, pride "o"erleaps itself.
1. Pride claims too high a place. The proud man, thinking highly of himself, thrusts himself into positions where he is unable to meet what is required of him. If he took the lower place, no one would think ill of him; he might then be respected. But he makes himself ridiculous by aiming too high. The greatest of men have found out the folly of this ambition of pride. Others besides Shakespeare"s Wolsey can say"I have ventured, Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, This many summers in a sea of glory; But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride At length broke under me; and now has left me, Weary, and old with service, to the mercy Of a rude stream, that must forever hide me.
2. Pride refuses to receive correction. It will not stoop to confess itself in error. Satisfied with its own condition, it will not listen to advice, nor try for any improvement. Thus it remains stationary. The flecks and flaws of character which a humble man would allow his neighbour to point out and help him to remove become stereotyped in the proud man. Thus faults which would be forgiven and forgotten if they were only transitory in the growth of character bring disgrace by becoming permanent and characteristic.
3. Pride provokes criticism. No man is wise in being proud until he knows he is without reproach. For the very attitude of pride challenges attacks. It offends the pride of others, and in sheer self-defence they will set to work to discover the faults which charity or a happy indifference would otherwise leave undisturbed.
II THE WISDOM OF HUMILITY. Humility is not only right and beautiful; it is also wise. Both the Old and the New Testaments insist upon this truth. It was the mistake of Stoicism the highest effort of secular morality that it failed to see this. Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius in other respects so near to the Christian ideal are here severed from it by an impassable chasm. They were both Pharisees. The shame which pride brings, of course, suggests the wisdom of its opposite. But this wisdom has its positive recommendations. Humility, choosing lowly places, finds refuge in safe ones; admitting imperfection, confessing sin, it is ready to repent, and therefore capable of beginning a better life and of rising to perfection. Winning the hearts of men by its unassuming character, it escapes jealous criticism, and finds that faults are covered by love. Humility need not be the confession of unworthiness. Christ the Sinless One, Christ the Son of God, was the humblest and meekest of men. The Christian is called to walk in the steps of his Master, and to seek his joy in renouncing himself. Ultimately he will find his honour in the same course. "For every one that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
See homily on Pro_16:18 C.
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 When pride cometh, then cometh shame.
Pro_11:2
When pride cometh, then cometh shame.
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Pride
I shall first describe to you the several kinds of pride among mankind, and show you their folly and wickedness; and, secondly, point out to you the beauty and advantage of their opposite virtue, humility.
I. The vice of pride puts on a great variety of appearances, and is found in every rank and condition of human life. Pride of station claims our first notice. Man being in authority, is too apt to be proud at heart; to be puffed up with this distinction; to consider himself as a being of a higher order than the rest of his fellow sinners; and to look upon those with disdain who are lower in the scale of society than himself. But what do the Scriptures say to such a vain and foolish mortal as this? They tell him that man will not long abide in honour, seeing he may be compared to the beast that perisheth. They tell him that men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
2. Nor is the pride of birth less unreasonable than that of rank. Even a heathen in ancient times could see its absurdity, and say, for as to family and ancestors, and what we have not done ourselves, we can scarcely call those things ours.
3. Of the same wicked and foolish character is pride of riches. Reason tells us that riches cannot give dignity of character, superiority of intellect, vigour of body, endowments of mind, peace of conscience, cheerfulness of heart, or any one of those advantages which form the chief blessings of life; and, therefore, are a very insufficient foundation for pride of heart.
4. Pride of talent, and pride of learning, also ill become man that is born of a woman. A disease, an accident, a sudden terror, may overset the mind, and turn all our light into utter darkness. Of the pride of beauty, in order to show its folly, it need only be said, in the language of inspiration, surely all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field; the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth.
5. The pride of judgment, also, which is too often the pride of the young and ignorant, is of the like foolish description, and is equally rebuked by the Holy Scriptures. It is a common and a true observation, that those who know least generally imagine that they know most, and know best.
6. But, of all kinds of pride, spiritual pride, or the conceit and boast of being holier than others, is the worst description of this bad passion: most hateful to God, and most dangerous to our souls.
II. Opposite, however, as the mid-day sun to utter darkness, is the character given in cripture of lowliness or humility: and the view of the blessings which are promised upon those in whom it is found. When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. When we consider the nature of man, fallen and far gone from original righteousness, one might well think that men should of their own accord see the propriety, the necessity, of the grace of humility in their character. Our Lord has bound meekness and poverty of spirit upon our consciences by His injunctions, and encouraged our obedience to His injunctions by assuring us that the meek and the poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. He has declared to us that those who humble themselves shall be exalted; and finally, to give the greatest possible weight and effect to what He said, He left us, in His own practice, the most perfect example of the graces which He enjoined to His followers: for He made Himself of no reputation, etc. (R. Warner.)
The advent and evil of pride
I. The advent of pride. Pride is inordinate self-appreciation. This feeling comes to a soul; it is not born in it. Infancy and childhood are free from it. How does it come?
1. By associating only with inferiors.
2. By practically ignoring the true standards of character. When we lose sight of the eternal law of rectitude, and judge ourselves only by the imperfect standards around us, pride is likely to come.
3. By a practical disregard to the majesty of God. The conscious presence of God humbles.
II. The evil of pride. Then cometh shame. The man who has formed a false and exaggerated estimate of self must be disappointed one day. Man must always find his level; he must come to realities.
1. Shame of folly. The soul bursts with a sense of its own foolish estimate.
2. Shame of guilt. Pride is a wrong state of mind, and hence shame follows it. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
The shame of pride
The haughty and overbearing conduct of Cardinal Wolsey created him many secret enemies, and it was his ostentation and love of power which caused him to lose the favour of his sovereign. Proud of his talents, his wealth, his position, his sole aim was to raise himself still higher, all his actions being directed to his own aggrandisements; and this eagerness lay at the root of his downfall, it being impossible for him to please Henry in the matter of the divorce without losing all hope of the popedom. He felt severely the shame of his first disgrace, and offered to surrender both office and wealth to avert the kings displeasure; but, being allowed to retire to his archbishopric, he again excited the envy of his political rivals by his pride and love of show, and, being arrested for high treason, the whilom leader of the State died broken-hearted on his journey to London.
Pride
Among all the vices against which Solomon has cautioned us (and he has scarce left one untouched), there is none upon which he animadverts with more severity, or to which he more frequently recalls our attention, than the vice of pride; for which there may be many reasons assigned, but, more particularly, two seem to deserve our consideration.
1. The first is the extensiveness of the sin. Other vices tyrannise over particular ages, and triumph in particular countries. Rage is the failing of youth, and avarice of age; revenge is the predominant passion of one country, and inconstancy the charasteristic of another; but pride is the native of every country, infects every climate, and corrupts every nation.
2. The second reason may be drawn from the circumstances of the preacher. Pride was probably a crime to which Solomon himself was most violently tempted, since he was placed in every circumstance that could expose him to it. He was a king absolute and independent, and by consequence surrounded with sycophants ready to second the first motions of self-love, to comply with every proposal, and flatter every failing. But Solomon had not only the pride of royalty to suppress, but the pride of prosperity, of knowledge, and of wealth.
I. The nature of pride, with its attendants and consequences. Pride, simply considered, is an immoderate degree of self-esteem, or an over-value set upon a man by himself, and, like most other vices, is founded originally on an intellectual falsehood. But this definition sets this vice in the fairest light, and separates it from all its consequences, by considering man without relation to society, and independent of all outward circumstances. Pride, thus defined, is only the seed of that complicated sin against which we are cautioned in the text. In speculation pride may be considered as ending where it began, and exerting no influences beyond the bosom in which it dwells; but in real life pride will always be attended with kindred passions, and produce effects equally injurious to others, and destructive to itself.
1. He that overvalues himself will undervalue others, and he that undervalues others will oppress them. Pride has been able to harden the heart against compassion, and stop the ears against the cries of misery. It makes masters cruel and imperious, and magistrates insolent and partial. It produces contempt and injuries, and dissolves the bond of society. Nor is this species of pride more hurtful to the world than destructive to itself. The oppressor unites heaven and earth against him.
2. He that sets too high a value upon his own merits will, of course, think them ill-rewarded with his present condition. He will endeavour to exalt his fortune and his rank above others, in proportion as his deserts are superior to theirs. Once fired with these notions, he will attempt to increase his fortune and enlarge his sphere; and how few there are that prosecute such attempts with innocence, a very transient observation will sufficiently inform us. To pride, therefore, must be ascribed most of the fraud, injustice, violence, and extortion, by which wealth is frequently acquired.
3. Another concomitant of pride is envy, or the desire of debasing others. A proud man is uneasy and dissatisfied, while any of those applauses are bestowed on another, which he is desirous of himself.
4. Another consequence of immoderate self-esteem is an insatiable desire of propagating in others the favourable opinion he entertains of himself. He therefore tortures his invention for means to make himself conspicuous, and to draw the eyes of the world upon him. But for the most part it is ordered by Providence that the schemes of the ambitious are disappointed, so that still when pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom.
II. Some of the usual motives to pride, and how little they can be pleaded in excuse of it. A superior being that should look down upon the disorder and corruption of our world, that should observe the shortness of our lives, the weakness of our bodies, the continual accidents, or injuries, to which we are subject; the violence of our passions, the irregularity of our conduct, and the transitory state of everything about us, would hardly believe there could be among us such vice as pride. Yet so it is, that however weak or wicked we may be, we fix our eyes on some other that is represented by our self-love to be weaker, or more wicked, than ourselves, and grow proud upon the comparison. Another common motive to pride is knowledge, a motive equally weak, vain, and idle, with the former. Learning indeed, imperfect as it is, may contribute to many great and noble ends, and may be called in to the assistance of religion. But how little reason have we to boast of our knowledge, when we only gaze and wonder at the surface of things? When the wisest and most arrogant philosopher knows not how a grain of corn is generated, or why a stone falls to the ground? But were our knowledge far greater than it is, let us yet remember that goodness, not knowledge, is the happiness of man! There is another more dangerous species of pride, arising from a consciousness of virtue; so watchful is the enemy of our souls, and so deceitful are our own hearts, that too often a victory over one sinful inclination exposes us to be conquered by another. This kind of pride is generally accompanied with great uncharitableness, and severe censures of others, and may obstruct the great duty of repentance.
III. The amiableness and excellence of humility. To evince beyond opposition the excellence of this virtue, we may observe that the life of our Lord was one continued exercise of humility. (John Taylor, LL.D.)
Pride leading to shame
Tirmond, one of the Czars ablest surgeons, and to whom he was much attached, having died, his widow married a young barber from Dantzic, who was somewhat more expert in gallantry than in surgery; as he became very wealthy by this marriage, he made a great figure at Moscow. Being one day sent for by the Czar, he went to court in a magnificent dress, and in one of his elegant carriages. Peter examined him, and roughly told him he was a blockhead, and immediately sailed in a troop of valets and peasants, whom he ordered him instantly to shave. The gentleman barber was under the necessity of obeying, to the great amusement of the whole court, and with the same parade in which he had arrived, he was then permitted to return. (Christian Weekly.)
Proud and lowly
Pride consists in an immoderate self-esteem, and places its happiness in esteem and honour from others. No sin is more foolish than this, it springs from ignorance of God, of ourselves and other men, and by the very means which it uses for the accomplishments of its ends, ensures disappointment. In seeking glory it finds disgrace. Pride made Nebuchadnezzar a brute. It destroyed Herod with worms. It turned Lucifer into Beelzebub. By other sins, man rebels against God; by pride he usurps His crown and dignity. No wonder, then, that God looks up all those that are proud, and abaseth them. Humble men think of themselves as they ought to think. They desire that God may be honoured, even at the expense of their own honour. (G. Lawson.)
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 Pro_11:2. Literally, “there hath come pride, there will come…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_11:2. Literally, “there hath come pride, there will come shame.” Stuart reads, “Does pride come, then shame will come.”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_11:2
PRIDE AND HUMILITY
I. Pride comes to the human spirit. “When pride cometh.” There are certain weeds that come at certain seasons of the year without being sent for or desired. They tarry not for the will of man, but appear in the most wellkept garden and in the most carefully tilled field. The only will that the proprietor has in the matter is whether they shall be allowed to stay. If they stay, they will assuredly spread and increase in strength. Self-sown plants are the first to spring up in the ground, and will be the last to disappear. Nothing will kill them but uprooting and consuming the entire plant by fire. So pride will spring up in the human heart. The seeds are there, and the soul is congenial to their germination and growth. According to the highest authority upon the subject, pride is its natural outgrowth. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts.… pride” etc. (Mar_7:21-22). The question for every man to settle when pride comes up in the blade, is whether it shall be allowed to go on to the full ear—whether the feeling shall be allowed to remain until it is manifested in action, or whether the fire of the Holy Ghost shall be called in to consume the very root. “Pride,” says Adams, “is like the heart, the first thing that lives and the last thing that dies in us.”
II. When pride is permitted to remain, shame will follow,
1. Because it tends to ingratitude. If a man permits a wrong estimate of himself to grow up and strengthen within him, growing daily in a sense of his own importance and his own deserts, he will soon be ungrateful to men for their acts of goodwill, and to God for the position in which He has placed him in the world. Ingratitude is a high road to shame before God and before men, because it prevents men from taking advantage of present opportunities.
2. Because it keeps men ignorant. There is a shame arising from ignorance, when men have had no opportunities of acquiring knowledge. Even when it is not their own fault, men feel ashamed of their ignorance. But pride leads men to refuse instruction when it is offered to them, and thus it leads to wilful ignorance, which, being wilful, is doubly shameful.
3. Because it makes men useless. If a man has received many gifts from the Divine hand and yet lacks that spiritual-mindedness and humility which is the salt to season them and make them acceptable to the hearts and consciences of mankind, he will be to them like a fountain of beautiful and polished marble without any water, and will only vex the thirsty traveller by reflecting the rays of light from the basin which he hoped to find filled with water. He is a cloud without water, lovely to the eye, but not refreshing to the thirsty land. And men will turn from and despise gifts without graces, especially the grace ef humility.
III. Lowly men are wise men, and are in the way of becoming wiser.
1. This we know from the Divine promise. “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit” (Isa_57:15.) From the nature of things, those who are alike in character will seek to dwell together. The good and the bad each go “to their own company” in this world, and must do so in every world. There is no pride in the Divine character: “He humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth” (Psa_113:6). Because He can rightly estimate everything and every person, pride cannot dwell with Him. Therefore He dwells with those who are like Himself, and the man with whom God dwells, and who is “taught of the Lord” (Isa_54:13), must be ever increasing in Wisdom
2. This we know from experience. The wisest men in the world, the men who are most able to teach others, are those who have been willing first to stoop to learn: those who have been willing to own their ignorance and need, and so have been willing to sit at the feet of those who knew more than they did. Wise men are always lowly in estimating their present acquirements, whether of intellect or character, and this keeps them in the way of ever becoming wiser.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Trite as the words now are, the appearance in many languages of the same maxim points to the delight with which men have in all ages welcomed this statement of a fact of general experience, in which they saw also a proof of a Divine government. A Rabbinic paraphrase of the latter clause is worth quoting: “Lowly souls become full of wisdom as the low place becomes full of water.”—Plumptre.
Where pride is in the saddle, shame is on the crupper. He is a “proud fool” saith our English proverb. But “God gives grace to the humble” (Jas_4:6); that is, as some sense it, good repute and report among men. Who am I? saith Moses; and yet who fitter than he to go to Pharaoh? He refused to be called Pharaoh’s daughter’s son; he was afterwards called to be Pharaoh’s god. (Exo_7:1.)—Trapp.
When Nebuchadnezzar was bragging of his Babel which he had built for his glory, he was banished from all habitation, not having so much as a cottage, and like a beast made to lie among the beasts of the field, with ignominy. When Haman thought to ride on horseback and to be waited on like a king, he was driven to lackey on foot, and to wait attendance like a page, and purposing to hang Mordecai on high to honour himself, he prepared a high gallows to be hanged on himself. When Herod thought himself good enough to take on him the state and honour of a god, the Lord declared him to be bad enough to be devoured of contemptible vermin.… Whereas the humble are always in the way of preferment, either to come to honour in a great place, or for honour to come to them in a mean place.—Dod.
It is the prayer of David, Let not the foot of pride come against me, or unto me: for pride and shame ride in one chariot, they come both together; he that entertaineth the one, must entertain the other. And howbeit pride set open her bravery, and shame awhile be masked, yet shame at length shall open itself, and pride shall not be seen. For how can shame choose but be joined with pride, which, says St. Ambrose, knows not how to stand, and when it is fallen, is ignorant how to rise. On the other side, although lowliness goes on foot, yet wisdom is her companion, which not only preserveth the lowly from shame, but highly advanceth them in the esteem of God and man. And indeed what greater wisdom is there than humility, which, says St. Ambrose again, by desiring nothing, obtaineth all that is despised by it.—Jermin.
The folly and wickedness of pride—
1. Of station. “Man will not long abide in honour, seeing he may be compared to the beast that perisheth” (Psa_49:12). In the sight of God, the greatest and proudest of men are but dust and ashes.
2. Of birth. Even an ancient heathen could see its absurdity and say, “As to family and ancestors, and what we have not done ourselves, can scarcely be called ours.” We certainly had no hand in producing these distinctions.
3. Of riches. They cannot give dignity of character, superiority of intellect, vigour of body, peace of conscience, or any one of those advantages which form the chief blessings of life.
4. Of talent or learning. A disease, an accident, may overset the mind, and turn all our light into utter darkness, and even should our abilities and learning continue with us till the end of our days here below, they must then vanish and be extinguished. It was the consciousness of their uncertain and transient endurance, as well as of their imperfection, that made the wise Agur say, “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man and;” which drew from Solomon the confession, “In much wisdom there is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow” (Ecc_1:18).
4. Of beauty. “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.”
5. Of spiritual pride. Of all description of guilt this appears to be the most odious to God and unbecoming to man, and as such is denounced throughout the Scriptures. Everlasting shame is made the portion of every one “that exalteth himself.”—Warner.
Gabriel is the prince he is solely from the Spirit. It is because God gave him the Spirit that he remained in grace; and it was because God took the Spirit that Satan fell into apostasy. Pride, therefore, is a mad vanity. If “false balances” are an abomination to God, He would not be apt to let “pride” flourish. And yet pride does flourish in worldly things. The “shame” here must mean that spiritual contempt which looks to the whole eternity. It is only
(1) out of contempt for him that God lets a man be proud; and it is only
(2) contempt and shame that can follow upon the proud thought. Pride itself is an evidence of God’s contempt. And being “humble” not only
(1) invites “Wisdom,” and makes her feel at home; not only
(2) flows from Wisdom because she is at home, but
(3) actually “is Wisdom.” It would not do to say, Has humility entered? There also enters Wisdom; for humility is wisdom, and could not exist unless Wisdom had entered already.—Miller.
Perhaps the reference in the words before us may especially be to the influence of pride in our intercourse with men. In this view of them they are verified in different ways. For example—the manifestation of pride,—of supercilious loftiness and self-sufficiency—strongly tempts others to spy out defects, and to bring down the haughty man from his imaginary elevation. Everyone takes a pleasure in plucking at him, and leaving the laurel-wreath which he has twined for his own brow as bare of leaves as possible; and thus to cover him with “shame.” Another way in which it tends to “shame” is, that it leads him who is the subject of it to undertake, in the plenitude of his confident self-sufficiency, to fill stations for which he is incompetent; by which means he, ere long, exposes himself to the derision or the pity of his fellows. He shortly finds himself in the position of those described in our Lord’s parable, who “choose for themselves the highest seats,” but in the end, abashed and crest-fallen, “begin with shame to take the lowest rooms.” That parable (Luk_14:7-11) is a graphic commentary on the words before us.—Wardlaw.
Pride was the principle of the fall (Gen_3:5), and, therefore, the native principle of fallen man (Mar_7:22). When pride had stripped us of our honour, then—not till then—cometh shame (Gen_3:7, with Gen_2:25). This is the wise discipline of our God to scourge the one by the other.… What a splendour of wisdom shone in the lowly child “sitting at the doctors’ feet, astonishing them at His understanding and His answers” (Luk_2:47). And will not this Spirit be to us the path of Wisdom? For the Divine Teacher “reveals to the babes what He hides from the wise and prudent.—Bridges.
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 v. 2. When pride cometh, that is, when a…
v. 2. When pride cometh, that is, when a person becomes self-conceited and arrogant, then cometh shame, for such a person is beyond teaching and is bound finally to make a fool of himself; but with the lowly is wisdom, they are not beyond learning, and therefore grow wise.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 11:2 Pride is dishonest self-promotion, whereas humility is an…
11:2 Pride is dishonest self-promotion, whereas humility is an honest assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.