Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.
Parallel Translations
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Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard.
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Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.
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Good understanding giveth grace; but the way of the faithless is harsh.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Proverbs 13:15 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 2:19 “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backsliding will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
- Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over.
- Proverbs 15:10 There is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way: whoever hates reproof shall die.
- Romans 6:21 What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
- Psalms 95:9-11 when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work. Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”
- Psalms 111:10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. All those who do his work have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
- Proverbs 3:4 So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
- Acts 7:10 and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He made him governor over Egypt and all his house.
- 1 Samuel 18:14-16 David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Yahweh was with him. When Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.
- Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
- Proverbs 14:35 The king’s favor is toward a servant who deals wisely, but his wrath is toward one who causes shame.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way…
Pro 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors [is] hard.
Ver. 15. Good understanding giveth favour.] See this exemplified in Joseph, David, Daniel, Paul. {Act 27:43; Act 28:2} God oft speaketh for such in the hearts of their enemies, who cannot but admire their piety and patience, and spend more thoughts about them than the world is aware of; as Darius did about Daniel when cast into the den. Natural conscience cannot but do homage to the image of God stamped upon the natures and works of the godly: when they see in them that which is above the ordinary nature of men, or their expectation, they are afraid of the name of God, whereby they are called, {Deu 28:9-10} and are forced to say, "Surely this is a wise and understanding nation"; {Deu 4:6} "God is in this people of a truth"; {1Co 14:25} "Certainly this was a righteous man." {Luk 23:47}
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But the way of transgressors is hard.] Or, Rough and rugged. Satan is a rough, harsh spirit; hence devils are called Shegnirim, hairy ones, {Lev 17:7} satyrs. {Isa 34:14} So are all his; ανημεροι, fierce, "heady, highminded"; {2Ti 3:3-4} "Living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." {Tit 3:3} Such were Ishmael, Esau, Saul, Antiochus (that little Antichrist), the Pope, that Aντικειμενος, and our Richard III; who, well knowing it was no good policy to play the devil by half deal, resolved to leave never a rub to lie in the way that might hinder the running of his bowl; and hence was he so infinitely hated of all.
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 Good understanding; discovering itself by a man’s holy and…
Good understanding; discovering itself by a man’s holy and righteous practices and ways, as appears from the opposition of
the way of transgressors to it; and as words of understanding in this and other books of Scripture commonly include practice.
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Giveth favour; maketh a man acceptable both to God and men.
The way; the carriage or manner of conversation.
Is hard; or, rough, as this very word is used, Deu 21:4; offensive and hateful to God and men, as rough ways are to a traveller; fierce, and intractable, and incorrigible.
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 If we compare not only the end, but the…
If we compare not only the end, but the way, we shall find that religion has the advantage; for, 1. The way of saints is pleasant and agreeable: Good understanding gains favour with God and man; our Saviour grew in that favour when he increased in wisdom. Those that conduct themselves prudently, and order their conversation aright in every thing, that serve Christ in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, are accepted of God and approved of men, Rom 14:17, Rom 14:18. And how comfortably will that man pass through the world who is well understood and is therefore well accepted! 2. The way of sinners is rough and uneasy, and, for this reason, unpleasant to themselves, because unacceptable to others. It is hard, hard upon others, who complain of it, hard to the sinner himself, who can have little enjoyment of himself while he is doing that which is disobliging to all mankind. The service of sin is perfect slavery, and the road to hell is strewed with the thorns and thistles that are the products of the curse. Sinners labour in the very fire.
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 Good understanding giveth favour,.... A good understanding in things…
Good understanding giveth favour,.... A good understanding in things natural and civil gives favour among men; and so a good understanding in divine and spiritual things gives a man favour among religious people, makes him taken notice of by them, and acceptable to them: and such an understanding no man has, unless it be given him; and such appear to have one that do the commandments of God, Psa 111:10. The Israelites, for having and keeping the statutes of the Lord, were accounted by others a wise and an understanding people; and Christ, as man, when he increased in wisdom, grew in favour with God and men. It may be rendered, "good doctrine", as the Vulgate Latin version, or "right doctrine", as the Arabic version, "gives grace" (o); is the means of conveying grace into the hearts of men, and of increasing it. What if it should be rendered, "grace gives a good understanding" (p)? since it is certain, that an understanding to know God and Christ is a gift of grace, Jo1 5:20;
but the way of transgressors is hard; ungrateful and unpleasant to themselves and others; it is a rough and rugged way, in which they stumble and fall; and cannot walk with pleasure themselves, when their consciences are awakened, and they are loaded with guilt, and filled with terror; and must be very disagreeable to those who have seen the evil of them.
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(o) "gratiam", Pagninus, Montanus. Vatablus. Mercerus. Drusius, Michaelis, Schultens. (p) "Successum bonum dat gratia", Junius & Tremellius.
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 Giveth - Makes a man acceptable to God. Rough…
Giveth - Makes a man acceptable to God. Rough - Offensive and hateful to God and men, as rough ways are to a traveler.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 15. The way of transgressors is hard.] Never…
Verse 15. The way of transgressors is hard.] Never was a truer saying; most sinners have more pain and difficulty to get their souls damned, than the righteous have, with all their cross-bearings, to get to the kingdom of heaven.
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 13:15. Good understanding — Discovering itself by a…
Pro 13:15. Good understanding — Discovering itself by a man’s holy and righteous practices; giveth favour — Maketh a man acceptable both to God and men; but the way of transgressors — Their conduct, or manner of conversation — is hard; Hebrew, איתן, rough, as this very word is rendered Deu 21:4; it is offensive to God and men, as rough ways are to travellers; fierce, intractable, and incorrigible. Bishop Patrick interprets the verse thus: “If a man have understanding enough to be thoroughly good, he will find things favourable to his honest desires; but they that take evil courses meet with great difficulties, and are forced to go backward and forward, and wind and turn every way, to bring about their ends, or save themselves perhaps from ruin.”
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 Hard - The primary meaning of the original word…
Hard - The primary meaning of the original word is permanence (compare Deu 21:4; Mic 6:2). This may be applied as here to the hard dry rock, to running streams, or to stagnant pools. In either case, the idea is that of the barren dry soil, or the impassable marsh, in contrast with the fountain of life, carrying joy and refreshment with it.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain Hence the value of that "good thing, bearing the…
Hence the value of that "good thing, bearing the yoke in the youth." (Lam 3:27 .) The exercise in this yoke, under Divine grace, hardens the character to all manly virtues and practical godliness. This is a good understanding (Psa 111:10 ) — not a cold and dry apprehension, but the glow of heavenly light and love in all the discipline of Christian habits. Natural conviction is often constrained to do homage to it, as the image of God stamped upon his servants. Joseph in this exercise acquired many of those valuable rules, which gave him favour, and were of essential service to him in his various and important responsibilities. (Genesis 39.-41.) And well was it for himself, for his people, and for the whole Church of God, that he had been trained in this school of understanding. The histories of Samuel (1Sa 2:6 ), David (1Sa 18:14-16 ), attest the same point. Good understanding — the effect of early discipline gave Daniel favour, even when past his ninetieth year, the premier of the largest empire of the world.†1 Our blessed Lord, as "he increased in wisdom, increased also in favour both with God and man." (Luk 2:52 .) Thus the way of wisdom, with all its crosses, is cheered with sunshine. ’Wisdom exalteth her children.’ (Sir 4:11 .)
Can we say this of the way of transgressors? They dream of a flowery path; but they make to themselves a hard way; perhaps pleasing at first, as the spell to fasten them to the end. ’Wicked men live under a hard task-master.’†2 ’I was held before conversion’ — said Augustine — ’not with an iron chain, but with the obstinacy of my own will.’ The philosophical infidel bears the same testimony — ’I begin to fancy myself in a most deplorable condition, environed with the deepest darkness on every side.’ (Essays, i. 458.) Voltaire, judging of course from his own heart, pronounces — ’In man is more wretchedness than in all other animals put together. Man loves life, yet knows he must die.’ ’I wish’ — concludes this wretched witness for his Master — ’I had never been born.’ The worldly infidel adds his seal to the record. Col. Gardiner declared, that in his course of wickendess, he had often envied the existence of a dog. Wretch indeed must he be, who cannot endure to commune with himself, and to whose peace it is necessary that he should rid himself of every thought of God and his soul!
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In every shape and form, the service of this merciless tyrant is a hard way.†3 Men fight their way to hell, as they do to heaven (Act 14:22 ) — "through much tribulation." The native perverseness of the will (Num 22:32 ); the continual warfare with conscience;†4 the absence of peace (Isa 57:20-21 ; Isa 59:8 ); the sting of sin (Pro 23:29-32 . Jer 2:17-19 ); the certainty of destruction (Isa 59:7 ) — all prove a way of thorns.†5
Which then is the way of my choice? Lord, do thou choose for me. Help me under thy guidance, to choose the safe and pleasant path of wisdom (Pro 3:17 ), the rich portion of godliness for both worlds. (1Ti 4:8 .) The way of transgressors is hard. The end of that way is death. (Rom 6:21 .) The task-master will have his full "tale" of work. The paymaster will pay down his well-earned wages to the utmost farthing — Death eternal. (Rom 6:23 .)
Footnotes:
†1 Dan 1:9, Dan 1:19-20 ; Dan 6:1-3, Dan 6:28 . See also Abraham, Gen 23:10-11 . Paul, Act 27:43 ; Act 28:2 . Compare Rom 14:18 .
†2 Caryl on Job 15:20 .
†3 Isa 5:18; Isa 47:13 ; Isa 57:10 . Jer 9:5 .
†4 Act 9:5. See a fine passage in Aristotle’s Ethics, B. ix. c. iii; also Shakespeare’s King John; —
’Hostility and civil discord reign
Betwixt my conscience,’ &c.
†5 ’The pain of wickedness is grievous, and, apart from all other consequences, the most painful.’ — Cicer. De Leg. ii. § (section) 17. ’Nothing makes a man so wretched as impiety and crime.’ — Ib. De Finib. lib. iv. § (section) 24. ’His own iniquity and inward dread, remorse, and agitation of conscience — these are the untiring and domestic furies of the guilty mind.’ — Ib. Pro. Rosc. Amer. The philosopher, utterly ignorant of the spiritual character of sin, probably only intended an application to heinous crimes. But the admission of the principle is important, that the path of sin is present misery.
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 Grace. God assists those who strive to be well…
Grace. God assists those who strive to be well instructed. (Calmet)
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 Right perception and action secure good will, while evil…
Right perception and action secure good will, while evil ways are difficult as a stony road. The wicked left of God find punishment of sin in sinning.
hard--or, "harsh" (compare Hebrew: Deu 21:4; Jer 5:15).
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 15. Good understanding — Intelligence accompanied with kindness; kindly…
15. Good understanding — Intelligence accompanied with kindness; kindly wisdom.
Way of transgressors — Their conduct; frequently denoted as “a way.”
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Is hard — Difficult, rough, perhaps hard to bear; Zockler renders: “desolate.” The primary idea of the word seems to be that of perpetuity, as an ever-trodden way, hence hard and desolate, destitute of verdure, etc. This word, rendered hard, has been a hard word for the critics.
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 15. transgressors] Rather, the treacherous, R.V.
15. transgressors] Rather, the treacherous, R.V.
hard] rugged, R.V., i.e. harsh and forbidding, like a desert or rocky place (Deu_21:4) in contrast to the “favour” which “good understanding” “giveth,” or “getteth.” The LXX. render, is in destruction.
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 (15) Good understanding giveth favour.—Comp. the union of “wisdom”…
(15) Good understanding giveth favour.—Comp. the union of “wisdom” and “favour with God and man” (Luk_2:52).
The way of transgressors is hard.—Rough and barren as the valley described in Deu_21:4, in contrast to the green “pastures” and “waters of comfort” of Psa_23:2.
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 Good understanding giveth favour; (Pro_3:4) makes one acceptable to…
Good understanding giveth favour; (Pro_3:4) makes one acceptable to God and man. We are told of Christ that "he increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man". (Luk_2:52) As a good and wise man uses his gifts and graces properly, he wins higher favour from God, and kindles the love and respect of his fellow men. Alter this clause the Septuagint introduces that which occurs also in Pro_9:10, "It belongs to a good understanding (dianoiav ) to know the Law." The way of transgressors is hard; rough and rugged, leading to desolation, not to waters of comfort. Ecc 21:10, "The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell." Vulgate, "In the way of scorners is an abyss;" Septuagint, "The ways of scorners end in destruction."
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 Good understanding giveth favour.
Pro_13:15
Good understanding giveth favour.
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A sound intellect
I. The nature of a sound intellect. A good understanding must include four things.
1. Enlightenment. The soul without knowledge is not good. A good understanding is that which is well informed, not merely in general knowledge, but in the science of duty and of God.
2. Impartiality. A good intellect should hold the balance of thought with a steady hand.
3. Religiousness. It must be inspired with a deep sense of its allegiance to heaven.
4. Practicalness. It should be strong and bold enough to carry all its decisions into actual life. A good understanding have all they that do His commandments. Thus it appears a good understanding is tantamount to practical godliness.
II. The usefulness of a sound intellect. The greatest benefactor is the man of a good understanding. The thoughts of such men as these are the seeds of the worlds best institutions, and most useful arts and inventions. The man of good understanding is the most useful in the family, in the neighbourhood, in the market, in the press, in the senate, in the pulpit, everywhere.
1. No favours so valuable as mental favours. He who really helps the mind to think with accuracy, freedom, and force, to love with purity, and to hope with reason, helps the man in the entirety of his being.
2. No one can confer mental favours who has not a good understanding. An ignorant man has no favour to bestow on souls. Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge the wing with which we fly to heaven (Shakespeare). Let us, therefore, cultivate a sound intellect. I make not my head a grave, says Sir T. Browne, in his quaint way, but a treasury of knowledge; I intend no monopoly, but a community in learning; I study not for my own sake only, but for theirs that study not for themselves; I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less. I instruct no man as an exercise of my knowledge, or with an intent rather to nourish and keep it alive in mine own head than beget and propagate it in his; and, in the midst of all my endeavours, there is but one thought that dejects me--that my acquired parts must perish with myself, nor can be legacied among my honoured friends. (Homilist.)
But the way of transgressors is hard.--
The course, act, and punishment of sin
I. The course of sin.
1. A disposition to regard life as a matter of circumstances. Personal freedom is, however, never nullified, personal responsibility never suspended. The track and trend of a mans life is largely within his own determination.
2. The text speaks of a way, i.e., a trodden path. It refers to a course that is chosen, and persisted in. It is the habit of the sinners life--a much-frequented track.
3. Sin indulged in soon becomes sin confirmed. How soon a track is made across the soft earth. The dearest idol was once a plaything, a diversion.
4. This is the sure and certain tendency of sin. Wild oats mean a harvest of thorns. It is a cruel thing that is done, when men speak lightly of what is wrong.
II. The act of sin.
1. Sin is one: a great, awful unit. But sin is viewed under various aspects. Here the idea is that of one who deals treacherously, one who deceives, or deceives himself.
2. This is the quality of sin committed in Christian lands. Sin against light and love. This is sin which makes pity impossible, save with God, and with such as the Godlike.
III. The punishment of sin. All sin is visited with punishment. The pleasures of sin are but for a season. The punishment comes. The present punishment of sin is here emphasised; if that is not enough to drive you from the way of the transgressor, what of the death-bed, of the judgment-seat, of the never-dying worm? Where, then, is salvation? Look at what is suggested by one and another.
1. Retirement; a life of seclusion and penitence.
2. A firm stand against the encroaching sin.
3. Altered associations. These are the proposals of policy, or human calculations. Gods proposal for salvation is an absolute and unconditional forsaking. (George Lester.)
The hardship of sin
But who believes this? None who set their opinion against the testimony of revelation.
I. What is to be understood by the way of transgressors? Transgressor is but another name for sinner. Transgression supposeth either something done that was forbidden or something omitted that was commanded.
II. The doctrine of the text respecting this way. It is not rendered harder than it ought to be, through undue severity in God.
1. The kindness of God renders it difficult either to shun or to resist the light.
2. It is sometimes necessary for the Divine Being to carry Himself with some severity against daring and obdurate sinners, for a warning to others.
3. Jehovahs efforts to save render those who finally abuse His goodness singularly criminal. Improvements:
(1) How much sinners are deceived in this way of the transgressors!
(2) What madness will it be for any to continue in it!
(3) It will be impossible for any to be saved who will not quit it.
(4) What a mercy that we may yet do so!
(5) While we are in the way with the Lord, let us humble ourselves before Him, let us return to Him, and sue for His salvation. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
The way of transgressors hard
In regard to a large class of sins, retribution follows in the present life. Sin never pays. It means sorrow, distress, pain, whether that pain follows immediately or after a while. The point of the text is, that retribution follows now, in this present world. The earliest steps of vice seem pleasant; if it were not so, it would offer no temptation. To yield to lower appetites and passions is so easy, so natural, so inviting. But the wilful do not go far without being brought to a very different conclusion. The way of transgressors turns out to be rough and hard. I might endeavour to deter you from evil courses by telling you of the judgment to come; but what I wish to impress is that there is a day of reckoning even here. Look at the misery which intemperance brings; which licentiousness brings; which gambling brings; which fraudulent dealing brings. Then let this be the hour of your final, and ever-to-be-remembered decision for God and righteousness. (J. T. Davidson, D.D.)
Warning against transgressors ways
Four losses, caused by transgression, which help to make the way hard.
1. The loss of a good conscience.
2. The loss of character.
3. The loss of usefulness.
4. The loss of the soul.
When we go into the way of transgressors, we do not know that we shall ever have an opportunity of repenting and believing in Jesus. And no matter what part of the transgressors ways we may have walked in, we shall find it a hard way, because it will be sure to bring the loss of heaven to us. (R. Newton, D. D.)
The hard way of sin
I. The way of the sinner is a hard way, because it is unprofitable--hard work and poor pay--the devil is a hard lord and a mean paymaster.
II. It is a hard way, because in the end it is usually a failure. Most men see only the present, and when summer is here one feels it must never end; but winter comes on at last.
III. It is a hard way, because opposed to all the stronger principles that prevail in life and destiny. The transgressor braves the mighty current of that eternal river which has swept on its bosom every being borne down to the shoreless sea of the judgment of God. Examples: Absalom, Judas, Pharaoh. No use fighting against God.
IV. It is a hard way, because it is an unhappy way. Conscience and all the better self rebel--opposed to all ones highest associates and surroundings.
V. A hard way, because it ends in eternal ruin--no opportunity to repair the damage. A hard life here, and hereafter eternal ruin!
VI. The only easy way is the way of obedience--the life that now is and the life that is to come. Turn from your hard master and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. (C. G. Wright.)
The rough road
I. What do we mean by a transgressor? One who breaks a law or violates a command.
II. The painful path. The R.V. says, But the way of the treacherous is rugged. The way of wickedness is difficult and dangerous to travel as a rugged road. How true; young people may not think so; but old men will tell you the prophet knew what he was saying when he uttered the words, They weary themselves to commit iniquity. Chrysostom says, Virtue is easier than vice. Mr. H. W. Beecher used to tell of a man in America who had the habit of stealing all his firewood. He would get up on cold nights and go and take it from his neighbours woodpiles. It was ascertained that he spent more time and worked harder to get his fuel than he would have been obliged to if he had earned it in an honest way, and at ordinary wages. And this is a type of thousands of men who work a great deal harder to please the devil than they would have to work to please God. It is easier to be sober than intemperate, honest than dishonest, etc.
III. The way is hard; for it is frequently a path of sorrow and suffering. As certain serpents before they strike their prey fix their eyes upon it and fascinate it, and then at last devour it, so does sin fascinate the foolish sons of Adam--they are charmed with it, and perish for it. Woe unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil to themselves.
IV. The way is hard; for it is the way of bitter recollections. (J. E. Whydale.)
Personal responsibility
I. Man is constituted to avoid transgression. This is taught by--
1. Physical science.
2. Moral consciousness.
3. Common experience.
II. Man is punished for each transgression.
1. Each sinful act increases sinful desire.
2. Each sinful act weakens spiritual strength. As the sinful desire weakens, the power of resistance diminishes. A reed that has been overcome by the rushing torrent finds it more difficult to stand erect before the next.
3. Each single act is living in the memory.
III. Man is punished by an eternal law which condemns transgression.
1. This is a law additional to, but in harmony with, his constitution.
2. This is a law to be satisfied only by atonement. (The Congregational Pulpit.)
The way of transgressors is hard
A murderers last words are seldom very edifying, as it often happens that they are merely the expression of conviction that the speaker, in spite of his crimes, is going straight from the scaffold to heaven. The dying words of James Tracy, executed in Chicago, are, however, an exception to the rule. They deserve the careful attention of young people who think that it is a fine thing to see life, by which they generally mean vicious life. Tracy said, I do not believe any man who has known a life of virtue can ever be contented with a life of vice. The farmer who has spent his life on his farm, never seeing more of the world than the road to market, or more of society than the village congregation, is happier than the sporting man who gets his money easily but questionably, and sees society in its wildest dissipation. I hope that my fate may prove a warning to young men who are cheating themselves with the idea that there can be any peace, happiness, or prosperity in a crooked life. Perhaps the readers of immoral novels and young people attracted by the pleasures of vice will heed the solemn statement of a man who was qualified to speak with authority, even though they despise the same warning given in the Bible.
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_13:15. Good understanding, rather “discretion.” Hard, “stony,” “uncultivated.” This…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_13:15. Good understanding, rather “discretion.” Hard, “stony,” “uncultivated.” This is the generally received rendering, but the word often signifies “perpetual.” Miller says “We find it in thirteen places, and in every one of them it means perpetual. “Strong or perpetual is thy dwelling-place” (Num_24:21). “Mighty rivers” are perpetual, or perennial rivers (Psa_74:17). “Mighty nation” (Jer_5:15) corresponds with next expression “ancient nation,” and is to be rendered “perpetual” (or permanent). Umbreit translates it “a standing bog” or “marsh.”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_13:15
A BAD WAY AND A GOOD UNDERSTANDING
I. Favour is here spoken of as a thing to be desired. It is desirable to have the favour of any man if thereby we can do him any good. It was desirable that Joseph should have Pharaoh’s favour, as he was thereby enabled to gain his ear and help him in his perplexity. The favour which Daniel obtained from Nebuchadnezzar enabled him to be a great blessing to that monarch. A man who his regarded by his fellow creatures with favour possesses a powerful instrument which he may use to do them good. On this account the favour of men is to be desired. It is also desirable to have the favour of good men as thereby we may get good. Good men are the only living representatives of God in the world, and next to the blessedness of having the favour of the parent is the blessedness of having that of His children. Therefore the favour of men is to be desired both for their sakes and for our own.
II. The instrument of obtaining favour. “Good understanding” or “good intelligence.” Man’s highest and truest intelligence springs from moral relation and sympathy with God. All intellectual intelligence is derived from Him, and this intelligence alone will often gain for men a large share of human favour. There are many men of great mental intelligence, who do not acknowledge the existence of God, who have won high places in the esteem of men. But these words refer to those who have been enlightened by the teaching of the Divine spirit, and are in sympathy with God and with His moral laws. Such men are not less intelligent concerning other matters, but more so. Other things being equal, a godly man’s purely intellectual powers are quickened by his godliness. If an ungodly man becomes a true servant of God, all the powers of his mind are thereby strengthened. Observation confirms this, and it is impossible that it should be otherwise. If a man cannot come into communion with a wiser man, without gaining in intelligence, how can he come into communion with the Fountain of all wisdom without becoming a more intelligent man in every sense of the word? What a capable man of business Joseph was. When quite a youth, and without any previous training, he became controller of the household of an Egyptian nobleman; and when only thirty was not only the first lord of Egypt, but showed himself fully equal to all the exigencies of his position. Whence did his “good understanding” proceed? Was it not from his moral relationship with the God of his fathers? “Can we find such an one as this is?” said the heathen king,—“a man in whom the spirit of God is” (Gen_41:38). The possession of this “good understanding” in temporal and secular matters gives a man favour in the eyes of other men. The possession of spiritual intelligence gives him favour in the eyes of all the good. There is a relationship among all true members of the family of God, which is stronger and deeper than any merely human relationship. And this spiritual intelligence gives a man a moral power among all his fellow-men. They cannot withhold the testimony of their consciences, unless they are altogether hardened they must secretly, if not openly, give him their esteem and confidence. “Natural conscience,” says Trapp, “cannot but do homage to the image of God stamped upon the nature and works of the godly.”
III. The way of those who are destitute of this spiritual intelligence. All such men are “transgressors.” Their spiritual nature is dormant—they are without spiritual discernment. In scriptural phrase they are “blind” (Rev_3:17) and “dead” (Eph_2:1). Their way is hard, however we use the word. (See Critical Notes.)
1. It is hard in the sense of being a well-trodden way. It has become hard by being much frequented—by being perpetually used. It has several elements of attraction.
1. Antiquity is on its side. It is an old way—it has been in use for ages. “No man,” says our Lord, “having drunk old wine, straightway desireth new” (Luk_5:39). Men are naturally conservative—naturally inclined to go as their fathers went. True it is that there is an older way—the way of the good (see Homiletics on chap. Pro_4:14-19, page 58), but still the way of the transgressor is very ancient.
2. Men’s natural inclination leads into that way. Men are led by their inclination, unless there is a stronger principle within them. We are born with a tendency to evil rather than to good—to walk after the devices of our own heart rather than according to the will of God. In most men “inclination is as strong as will,” and leads them to tread the “way of the transgressor.”
3. It is attractive because of the numbers who tread it. “Many there be which go in thereat” (Mat_7:13). Many men make that fact a city of refuge wherein to shelter themselves from the admonitions of conscience. “I only do as others do” is regarded by many men as an impregnable citadel wherein they can securely await the righteous judgments of God (See Homiletics on page 8, 2nd head).
2. It is hard and therefore desolate, unfruitful. The common highway that is trodden down by many feet is not the place in which to look for a golden harvest. The stony rock is not a soil whence flowers spring. Men do not expect to gather choice fruit on the desolate moorland. Neither can the way of the transgressor yield the flowers or the pleasant fruits of life. Thorns and nettles are there, but no golden harvest. The favour neither of God nor man is his portion. He can only reap as he has sown (See Homiletics on chap. Pro_11:18-20, page 223).
3. It is a hard way in the sense that it is a miserable way. Every act carries with it a present judgment. Every action has its reaction of pleasure or of pain. Every step, therefore, in the way of transgression has its accompanying reproach of conscience. Then the way of sin is a way of self-deception. What is more painful than to be the subject of constant deception? We have just dwelt upon the heart-sickness of hope deferred (Pro_13:12); the sinner is a constant victim of this malady. Nothing can be a more bitter experience than to stake our all upon a promise, and when the time comes for its fulfilment, to find that it was made only to be broken. Yet this is the experience of a transgressor of God’s law, not once or twice, but all through his life. It is his lot not only to deceive but to be deceived (2Ti_3:13). He is ever promising himself, and is ever being promised by the master whom he serves, satisfaction as the result of his deeds, but he is always finding that the performance falls as far short of the promise as it did when the devil led our first parents into sin, by the promise “ye shall be as gods,” and performed it by making them slaves to himself. This is another ingredient in the hardness of the way. He is a slave to him who has deceived him. Many a man is fully alive to the deceptive nature of sin—to its utter powerlessness to give him real pleasure—and yet he goes on it. Why is this? He is bound by a chain which he finds it well nigh impossible to break. Evil habits, as well as good ones, grow stronger by exercise. Slavery is hard under any master, excepting under Him whose service is perfect freedom. How bitter, then, is slavery to one who has deceived us. Yet this is not the hardest part of the hard way. None who are thus victims of the great deceiver—none whom he has made his bond slaves but feel that they are so by their own consent. Each evil thought unchecked, each evil thought indulged, has forged a link in the chain. Their condition has been likened, by an old writer, to that of a man who has been busily at work in carrying stick after stick to make a pile of wood, and then finds that he has only been heaping up materials for a fire upon which he is to be burned.
IV. But though the way of transgressors is hard, it is not too hard. Its very hardness is intended to lead them to leave it. Because the end will be worse than the way, it is the tenderest mercy to make the way hard. It only tells him that he has taken the wrong road. The pain that he suffers is only the voice of God, saying, “Do thyself no harm.” When a mountain pass becomes so blocked with fallen rocks that every step is a misery, does it not admonish the traveller to turn back before he makes a fatal slip? When in the regions of eternal snow a man feels intense pain from the biting cold, and encounters at every step the corpse of one who has been frozen to death by persistently disregarding the voice of nature, is it not suicide to continue? Can he say he received no admonition? Is not all pain a warning that some good law has been transgressed? Is it not a sentinel with a drawn sword to turn back the unwary from the precipice? Even so is the hardness of the way of the transgressor.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
For the most part the word translated “good understanding” corresponds with that which, in a deep ethical sense, we call fine culture, which shows men how to take the right side, and in all circumstances to take the right key, exercise a kindly, heart-winning influence, not merely to the benefit of its possessor, but such as removes a partition wall, and brings men closer to each other. The word translated “hard” denotes that which stretches itself far, and with reference to time, that which remains the same during the course of time. That which does not change in time, continuing the same, according to its nature, strong, firm, thus becomes the designation of the enduring and the solid, whose quality remains always the same. The fundamental idea of remaining like itself, continuing, passes over into the idea of the firm, the hard, and, at the same time, of the uncultivated and the uncultivatible. The way of transgressors, or of the treacherous, i.e., the manner in which they transact with men, is stiff, as hard as stone, repulsive; they follow selfish views, never placing themselves in sympathy with the condition of their neighbour; they are without the tenderness which is connected with fine culture; they remain destitute of feeling in things which, as we say, would soften a stone,—Delitzsch.
Many seek favour as the gift of others which it is in their own power to give themselves. For, get a good understanding, whereby to understand well what thou goest about, and how to go about it. It is true, as Tertullian speaketh, now and then it falls out, that in a great tempest wherein sea and heaven are confounded, the haven is attained by a happy error; and now and then, in darkness, the way of entrance and going out is found by a blind happiness. But this is a favour which has no holdfast—it is a good understanding that giveth favour.—Jermin.
Is not the way of transgressors pleasant in prospect, although it ends in death? No; sin barters away future safety but does not secure present peace in return. Things are not always what they seem. The pleasures of sin are not only limited in their duration, they are lies even while they last.… The race is torture and the goal perdition.… But the right way is not a soft and silky path for the foot of man to tread upon; and, if one thing happens to all in the journey of life, what advantage have the good? Much every way, and specifically thus: The hardness which disciples experience in following their Lora is righteousness rubbing on their remaining lusts, and so wasting their deformities away; whereas the hardness of a transgressor’s way is a carnal mind in its impotent enmity dashing itself against the bosses of the Almighty’s buckler.… As the pains of cure differ from the pains of killing, so differs the salutary straitness which presses the entrance at the gates of life, from the hardness which hurts transgressors as they flee from God.—Arnot.
Sin, as of its nature, sinks always lower under bond (Pro_13:13), and must, therefore, de jure, be “perpetual” (see Miller’s rendering, in Critical Notes). For, strange enough, the man without “good intelligence,” i.e., the best kind of knowledge, neglects to act on what knowledge he has. The worst man has knowledge enough to save him—that is (to expound an averment which is only in one sense true), God’s goodness is such that if a man would use the light he had, he would start from that point, and be helped into the kingdom.—Miller.
Different senses have been affixed to these words—
1. “Good understanding showeth favour to others”—i.e., is mild and conciliatory, while the “way of transgressors is hard, unyielding, stern.
2. “Ingenuous manners procure favour; but rugged is the path of the artful”—i.e., exposing him to incessant difficulties, while open dealing makes a man’s way plain before him.
3. More probably the meaning in both parts of the verse terminates on the person’s self. Intelligent and sound judgment, by fitting a man to be a wise and useful counsellor, procures him favour. On the contrary, the “way of transgressors,” like “By-path Meadow” in the Pilgrim’s Progress, presents at its entrance all that is tempting to allure into it, but supplies no real enjoyment to the traveller in it at last.—Wardlaw.
Wicked men live under a hard taskmaster. “I was held before conversion,” said Augustine, “not with an iron chain, but with the obstinacy of my own will.” The philosophical infidel bears the same testimony. “I begin to fancy myself in a most deplorable condition, environed with the deepest darkness on every side” (Essays, I. 458). Voltaire, judging of course from his own heart, pronounces, “In man is more wretchedness than in all other animals put together. Man loves life, yet knows he must die.” “I wish,” continues this wretched witness for his master, “I had never been born.” The worldly infidel adds his seal to the record. Colonel Gardiner declared, that in his course of wickedness he had often envied the existence of a dog.—Bridges.
The hardness of the transgressor’s way.
I. A truth to be confirmed. It is hard to themselves—to others, to their families, their friends, to society.
II. A dispensation to be approved. It illustrates the mingled justice and mercy of God, who has made the way to hell difficult. The hardness of the way of sin is often the means of stopping sinners in their course. The sufferings of the wicked operate as a check and preservative to the righteous.
III. A warning to be enforced. Take care how you take the first step. Be anxious, if you have entered the road, to retrace your step. Remember that the hardness of the way is nothing to the bitterness of the end—S. Thodey.
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. 15. Good understanding giveth favor, that is, proper…
v. 15. Good understanding giveth favor, that is, proper prudence, true culture, causes men to have a high and kindly regard for those who possess it; but the way of transgressors is hard, the selfishness of the ungodly and malicious causes them to be hard, utterly lacking in sympathy, and therefore also desolate and unfruitful.
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 but the way of the treacherous is never-ending
but the way of the treacherous is never-ending
Here a person's behavior or conduct is spoken of as if it were a way or path that a person walks. A person being ruined by their own treachery is spoken of as if they are on a way or path that never ends. AT: "but the behavior of the treacherous will cause their own destruction" (See: Metaphor)
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the treacherous
This nominal adjective can be stated as an adjective. AT: "the treacherous person" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
a fool parades his folly
To "parade" means to display in front of everyone. AT: "a fool displays his foolishness to everyone" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
favor
know
fool
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.