My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious;
Parallel Translations
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My son, fear Yahweh and the king. Don’t join those who are rebellious;
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My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:
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My son, fear thou the LORD and the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change;
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Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Proverbs 24:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 13:1-7 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God. Therefore he who resists the authority withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the authority, for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil. Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing. Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
- 1 Peter 2:13-17 Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
- 1 Kings 12:16 When all Israel saw that the king didn’t listen to them, the people answered the king, saying, “What portion have we in David? We don’t have an inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, Israel! Now see to your own house, David.” So Israel departed to their tents.
- Titus 3:1 Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
- Exodus 14:31 Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh and in his servant Moses.
- 1 Samuel 12:12-19 “When you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us;’ when Yahweh your God was your king. Now therefore see the king whom you have chosen, and whom you have asked for. Behold, Yahweh has set a king over you. If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then both you and also the king who reigns over you are followers of Yahweh your God. But if you will not listen to Yahweh’s voice, but rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then Yahweh’s hand will be against you, as it was against your fathers. “Now therefore stand still and see this great thing, which Yahweh will do before your eyes. Isn’t it wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh, that he may send thunder and rain; and you will know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in Yahweh’s sight, in asking for a king.” So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel. All the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to Yahweh your God, that we not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king.”
- Matthew 22:21 They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
- Numbers 16:1-3 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men. They rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”
- 1 Samuel 8:5-7 They said to him, “Behold, you are old, and your sons don’t walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- Ecclesiastes 8:2-5 I say, “Keep the king’s command!” because of the oath to God. Don’t be hasty to go out of his presence. Don’t persist in an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him, for the king’s word is supreme. Who can say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever keeps the commandment shall not come to harm, and his wise heart will know the time and procedure.
- 1 Samuel 24:6 He said to his men, “Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is Yahweh’s anointed.”
- 2 Samuel 15:13-37 A messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.” David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise! Let’s flee; or else none of us will escape from Absalom. Hurry to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” The king’s servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king chooses.” The king went out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. The king went out, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak. All his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a foreigner, and also an exile. Return to your own place. Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. Mercy and truth be with you.” Ittai answered the king, and said, “As Yahweh lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in what place my lord the king is, whether for death or for life, your servant will be there also.” David said to Ittai, “Go and pass over.” Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him. All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness. Behold, Zadok also came, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down God’s ark; and Abiathar went up, until all the people finished passing out of the city. The king said to Zadok, “Carry God’s ark back into the city. If I find favor in Yahweh’s eyes, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation; but if he says, ‘I have no delight in you;’ behold, here I am. Let him do to me as seems good to him.” The king said also to Zadok the priest, “Aren’t you a seer? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. Behold, I will stay at the fords of the wilderness, until word comes from you to inform me.” Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried God’s ark to Jerusalem again; and they stayed there. David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered, and went barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” When David had come to the top, where God was worshiped, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his tunic torn, and earth on his head. David said to him, “If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me; but if you return to the city, and tell Absalom, ‘I will be your servant, O king. As I have been your father’s servant in time past, so I will now be your servant; then will you defeat for me the counsel of Ahithophel.’ Don’t you have Zadok and Abiathar the priests there with you? Therefore whatever you hear out of the king’s house, tell it to Zadok and Abiathar the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son. Send to me everything that you shall hear by them.” So Hushai, David’s friend, came into the city; and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 24:21 My son, fear thou the LORD and…
Pro 24:21 My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: [and] meddle not with them that are given to change:
Ver. 21. My son, fear the Lord and the king.] "Who would not fear thee, O king of nations? for unto thee doth it appertain." {Jer 10:7} God is the prime and proper object of fear. {Psa 76:11} Whence, by an appellative proper, he is called "fear" by the Psalmist. The Greeks call him Yεος quasi Lεος, as some think, from the fear that is due to him. Princes also must be feared and honoured, {1Pe 2:17} as those that are invested with God’s authority, and intrusted with the administration of his kingdom upon earth, by the exercise of vindictive and remunerative justice. And while they be just, ruling in the fear of God, {2Sa 23:3} and commanding things consonant to the word and will of God, they must be obeyed for conscience sake, {Rom 13:5} otherwise not. {See Trapp on "Act 4:19"}
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And meddle not with them that are given to change,] i.e., With seditious spirits that affect and effect alterations; lawless persons, as St Paul calls them; malcontents, {a} to whom αει το παρον βαρυ, the present government is ever grievous, as Thucydides notes. Such were Korah and his complices; Absalom; Sheba; the ten tribes that cried, Alleys iugum, Ease our yoke; and before them, those in Samuel’s time that cried, "Nay, but we will have a king." Novatus hath still too many followers, of whom St Cyprian, under whom he lived, thus testifieth: Novatus rerum novarum semper cupidus, arrogantia inflatus, that he was an arrogant innovator. These turbulent spirits prove oft the pests and boutefeaus of the state they live in; and it is dangerous having to deal with them.
{a} Mεμψιμοιροι.
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 Fear thou the Lord and the king; honour and…
Fear thou the Lord and the king; honour and obey both God and the king, and all in authority. He puts God before the king, because God is to be served in the first place, and our obedience is to be giver, to kings only in subordination to God, and not in those things which are contrary to the will and command of God, as is manifest both from plain Scripture, as Act 5:29, and from the judgment and practice of wise and sober heathens.
Meddle not with them, Heb. mix not thyself with them, either in their counsels and practices, or in familiar conversation, that are given to change; that love or use changes; that are unstable in their obedience to God or to the king, and are prone to rebellion against either of them. Those men that wickedly forsake God, and break his laws, are said to change their God, Jer 2:11, and to
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change God’s judgments and ordinances, Isa 24:5; Eze 5:6.
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 Note, 1. Religion and loyalty must go together. As…
Note, 1. Religion and loyalty must go together. As men, it is our duty to honour our Creator, to worship and reverence him, and to be always in his fear; as members of a community, incorporated for mutual benefit, it is our duty to be faithful and dutiful to the government God has set over us, Rom 13:1, Rom 13:2. Those that are truly religious will be loyal, in conscience towards God; the godly in the land will be the quite in the land; and those are not truly loyal, or will be so no longer than is for their interest, that are not religious. How should he be true to his prince that is false to his God? And, if they come in competition, it is an adjudged case, we must obey God rather than men. 2. Innovations in both are to be dreaded. Have nothing to do, he does not say, with those that change, for there may be cause to change for the better, but those that are given to change, that affect change for change-sake, out of a peevish discontent with that which is and a fondness for novelty, or a desire to fish in troubled waters: Meddle not with those that are given to change either in religion or in a civil government; come not into their secret; join not with them in their cabals, nor enter into the mystery of their iniquity. 3. Those that are of restless, factious, turbulent spirits, commonly pull mischief upon their own heads ere they are aware: Their calamity shall rise suddenly. Though they carry on their designs with the utmost secresy, they will be discovered, and brought to condign punishment, when they little think of it. Who knows the time and manner of the ruin which both God and the king will bring on their contemners, both on them and those that meddle with them?
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 For their calamity shall rise suddenly,.... And come upon…
For their calamity shall rise suddenly,.... And come upon those that fear not God, and rebel against the king and the state, and innovate in matters of religion; and especially that bring in damnable heresies, and, while they cry Peace, peace, and are pleasing themselves with their new schemes and prosperous success, swift and sudden destruction comes upon them, Pe2 2:1;
and who knoweth the ruin of them both? of those that fear not the Lord, nor the king; or of those who are given to change, and innovate in things civil and religious; and of those who meddle with them and join themselves to them: the ruin of themselves and families, in a civil sense, is great and inexpressible, who rebel against their prince, and endeavour to change and subvert the present government; and the ruin of the souls of men, both of the deceivers and the deceived, is beyond all conception and expression.
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 To change - That are unstable in their obedience…
To change - That are unstable in their obedience to God or to the king.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. My son, fear thou the Lord and…
Verse 21. My son, fear thou the Lord and the king] Pay to each the homage due: to the LORD, Divine honour and adoration; to the king, civil respect, civil honour, and political obedience.
Meddle not with them that are given to change] עם שונים אל תתערב im shonim al titharab: "And with the changelings mingle not thyself." The innovators; those who are always for making experiments on modes of government, forms of religion, &c. The most dangerous spirit that can infect the human mind.
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 24:21-22. My son, fear thou the Lord and…
Pro 24:21-22. My son, fear thou the Lord and the king — Honour and obey both God and the king, and all in authority. He properly puts God before the king, because God is to be served in the first place, and our obedience is to be paid to kings only in subordination to God, and not in those things which are contrary to God’s will and command; and meddle not with them that are given to change — Hebrew, שׁונים אל תתערב
עם, literally, mix not thyself with changers, or changeable persons, that is, join not in the counsels, practices, or familiar conversation of those that love changes; that are unstable in their obedience to God, or to the king, and are prone to rebel against either of them. For their calamity shall rise suddenly — An unexpected and dreadful evil shall unavoidably and violently seize on them. And who knoweth the ruin of them both — Who can conceive how sudden and sore the destruction will be, both of them that fear not God, and of them that fear not the king! For they have two potent and terrible enemies; whom, if they will not obey out of conscience, as their duty enjoins them, yet they ought to obey, at least, for their own sakes, and for fear of those severe punishments which will certainly be inflicted on all rebels and disobedient persons.
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 Them that are given to change - Those that…
Them that are given to change - Those that seek to set aside the worship of the true God, or the authority of the true king, who represents Him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain (Pro 24:21 quoted in the NT: 1Pe 2:17 )
(Pro 24:21 quoted in the NT: 1Pe 2:17 )
We have another affectionate exhortation to the fear of God. (Pro 23:17 .) And what wonder? Is it not the substance of our holiness and our happiness? Oh! reverence his majesty. Acknowledge thy dependence upon him. Be as careful in "walking before him" in thy secret thoughts, as in thy outward conduct. No more allow the indulgence of a sinful motive, than a gross sin. If there be no rod of outward shame, will not the thought keenly pierce thy heart — how unkindly does this defilement requite such unspeakable love!
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The connection between the fear of God and the King is not local or accidental. Our Lord and his Apostles have thus linked together the throne of his supremacy in heaven, and the throne of his majesty on earth.†1 The one principle indeed is the spring of the other. Disloyalty has often been a libel upon godliness. But the Christian is loyal, because he is godly. (1Sa 24:6 .) "Subjection to the powers that be" is repeatedly inculcated,†2 and revolt is visited with the most heavy condemnation.†3 Yet there is no interference with the primary obligation. Solomon ’puts God before the king, because God is to be served in the first place, and our obedience is to be given to the king only in subordination to God, and not in those things, which are contrary to the will of God.’†4
Man’s independence however naturally kicks against submission. The popular cry is for the voice and sovereignty of the people; a plain proof, that "there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecc 1:9 ); since the picture of those demagogues has been drawn to the life nearly two thousand years ago — "walking after the flesh, despising government, presumptuous, self-willed, not afraid to speak evil of dignities."†5 Such men love change for the sake of change. To become leaders of a party, they disturb the public peace by proposing changes, without any promise of solid advantage.†6 They would prefer a storm which would bring them into note, to a calm in which they were already quietly secure. They are more eager to fish for a name in troubled waters, than to cultivate those quiet and social virtues, which, if generally cultivated, would restrain the commotion. "O my soul, come not thou into their secret." (Gen 49:6 .) It is dangerous to meddle with them. To oppose all change, indeed, is to set up a plea of perfection. Every improvement (and where is there not room for improvement?) is a change. But public evils are not to be mended by railing. To be given to change; to undo all that has been done; to alter for the sake of altering; to be weary of the old, and captivated with the new, however untried; to make experiments upon modes of government — is a fearful hazard. It is losing the substance of real good in the dream of imaginary improvements; as if we must undo everything, rather than be idle. This waywardness we see in Korah’s sin;†7 in Absalom’s rebellion;†8 in the continual struggle for royalty in the Israelitish kings.†9 How suddenly did their calamity rise, even when they seemed to be within the grasp of their object!†10 Who knoweth the ruin, which both the Lord and the king†11 may inflict on the despisers of their authority;†12 often fearful beyond precedent, without remedy?
Footnotes:
†1 Mat 22:21 . 1Pe 2:17 .
†2 Mat 17:24-27. Rom 13:1-7 . Tit 3:1 . 1Pe 2:13-17 .
†3 Rom 13:2. See two valuable sermons by Bishops Horne and Horsley on this text. Agricola’s testimony to the submissive obedience of our uncivilized ancestors is interesting. See Tacitus’ Life of Agricola.
†4 Poole in loco. Compare 1Sa 22:17-18 . Dan 3:16-18 . Act 4:18-19 ; Act 5:27-29 .
†5 2Pe 2:10 . Jud 1:8 . Compare 1Sa 10:27 .
†6 ’He that goeth about,’ saith our judicious Hooker — ’to persuade men that they are not so well governed as they ought to be, shall never want attention and favorable hearers.’ Ibid. Book i. Sallust admirably remarks of these turbulent innovators, that ’they thought the very disturbance of the established order of things a sufficient bribe to set them at work. That which is wanted in the aptness of their speech is supplied by the aptness of men’s minds to accept and believe it.’ See the whole paragraph opening Hooker’s great work, Eccl. Polit.
†7 Num 16:1-13.
†8 2Sa 15:10-13 .
†9 1Ki 16:8-22 .
†10 2Sa 15:13 ; 2Sa 18:9-16 .
†11 French and Skinner. The best critics (Geier, Dathe, Lavater, &c.) most naturally apply the distinctive term (them both) to the separate persons. The ruin foreboded is thus connected with the persons, who had been described separately as the objects of fear. ’Do not disobey either of them, who knoweth their vengeance?’ — LXX.
†12 2Sa 18:7-8 ; 2Sa 20:1-2, 2Sa 20:22 . 2Ki 17:21, 2Ki 17:23 . Ecc 8:2-5 . Act 5:36-37 .
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 Detractors. Or those who speak ill of God or…
Detractors. Or those who speak ill of God or the king. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "that are given to change," (Haydock) and relapses.
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 A warning against impiety and resistance to lawful rule…
A warning against impiety and resistance to lawful rule (Rom 13:1-7; Pe1 2:17).
meddle . . . change--(Compare Margin), literally, "mingle not yourself," avoid the society of restless persons.
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 21. Meddle not — Mingle not, associate not, with…
21. Meddle not — Mingle not, associate not, with them that are given to change — revolters, revolutionists, innovators, reckless agitators; disorganizers, disturbers of the peace, whether in Church or State; “men that are seditious.” — Geneva Bible. The precept is a general one, and as such subject to exceptions and limitations. It is here, no doubt, specially directed against those who would set aside the service of the true God and of the true king, who was supposed to represent him. Comp. Pro_16:14.
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 21. given to change] i.e. are of a revolutionary…
21. given to change] i.e. are of a revolutionary and subversive spirit, whether in religion or in politics.
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 (21) Them that are given to change.—Perhaps rather, those…
(21) Them that are given to change.—Perhaps rather, those who think differently.
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 Vers. 21, 22. An injunction urging loyalty to God…
Vers. 21, 22. An injunction urging loyalty to God and the king.
Fear thou the Lord and the king. The king is God"s vicegerent and representative, and therefore to be honoured and obeyed. (see Ecc_8:2 Ecc_10:20 1Pe_2:17) Meddle not with them that are given to change. There is some doubt about the interpretation of the last word (shonim), which may mean those who change, innovators (in which transitive sense the verb does not elsewhere occur), or those who think differently, dissidents, who respect neither God nor the king. The verb hnv signifies transitively "to repeat," and intransitively "to be changed;" so it may be most accurately translated here, with Delitzsch, "those who are otherwise disposed," who have not the proper sentiments of fear and honour for God and the king. St. Jerome has, Et cum detractoribus non commiscearis, by which word he probably means what we call revolutionists, persons who disparage and despise all authority. Septuagint, "Fear God and the king, and disobey neither of them." The verse has been largely used as a text by preachers who desired to recommend loyalty and to censure disaffection and rebellion. It has been a favourite motto for discourses on the Gunpowder Treason and the execution of Charles I.
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 My son, fear thou the Lord and the king.
Pro_24:21
My son, fear thou the Lord and the king.
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Duty to God and the king
I. A double duty laid down. Or rather, a single duty, one included and comprehended in the other. Fear here is a comprehensive notion to contain in it all those duties which we owe to God principally, and to the king subordinately.
1. To fear God is to have awful apprehensions of Him in our thoughts, and to walk carefully before Him in our actions. This fear is the bottom of all true spiritual wisdom; the security against all other fears; a preservative against all sin and wilful offence; and a good preparative for the peace and welfare of society, by restraining peoples minds within the due limits of their subjection, that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty.
2. To fear the king we stand obliged both in conscience to God and out of interest to ourselves, seeing that he is the public guardian, upon whose well-doing the welfare of the whole community depends.
3. The sum of all religion is to be as pure in holiness, so peaceable in righteousness, when we order ourselves piously to God and obediently to the magistrate. The interests of religion and policy are so nearly twisted and woven together that they cannot be severed from one another without the utmost hazard to both. Rebellion and schism are wont to go hand in hand together.
II. The caution.
1. As an expedient for the duty. The way to keep in the fear of God and the king is to forbear the company of these restless folk, to keep at a distance from them, and have nothing to do with them.
2. As a consequent of this duty. He that hath any fear of God and the king will keep himself within compass. A pious soul, a loyal heart, will admit of nothing that may shake or call in question its fidelity.
As to these changers--
1. Inquire who they are. Iterantes, men who go over things again and never have done. Variantes, who vary their course through all points of the compass. Detractors, that speak evil of dignities, both temporal and spiritual. Declinantes, stragglers, who go out of Gods and the kings highway.
2. What is it not to meddle with them? It is to mark these men, and observe the dangerous mixture of their fine parts and foul designs. Consider well the tendency and drift of such principles as theirs.
3. The reasons why such men are not to be meddled with. There is no knowing how far they may lead you. Though you may be innocent, you may get wrapped up in others guilt. If you escape now, you will suffer one day, in the peace of thy conscience. And thou dost endanger the eternal safety of thy soul. Since it is so, let us take heed to ourselves, and establish our spirits in the fear of the Lord and the king, and as we wish well to our own persons and to our posterity after us, let us have nothing to do with these changers. (Adam Littleton, D.D.)
Our duty to God and man
Civil government is the great comprehensive worldly blessing; for it is the foundation of peace and quiet, the spring and fountain of all those inestimable advantages which adorn and felicitate human societies.
I. The duties which we owe to God and the king. The fear of God is oftentimes put for the whole sum of religion. We are also to fear the king, and though there is not an equal reason, yet there is a sufficient one for this fear. The king is Gods vicegerent and representative. And there must be something to work upon mens fears as well as to convince their understandings, before they will learn or practise the duty of subjection. Religion and loyalty have a close dependence on each other, and a strict connection with each other. No man can be truly religious who is not a good subject. No man can be steadily and immovably loyal who is not truly and sincerely religious.
II. A proper means prescribed for securing and preserving us in our duty. Beware of those who are given to changes, e.g., the atheist, the restless, the rebellious. (William Stainforth.)
Religion in national life
I. The perfections which render God the object of our fear.
II. The fear of God and the king is the best preservative against the disturbers of the peace and quiet of all government. It is the foundation of all those virtues from which the peace and happiness of governments must arise, and the most effectual restraint upon the vicious appetites and passions of men. Those in whom this principle rules cannot help looking upon others as the servants of one Sovereign Master, and this consideration must dispose them to have the tenderest regard for their welfare, and tie them together by the strictest bands of fraternal love and friendship. And this principle must naturally contribute to the regulating and composing those disorderly affections and passions which are the great enemies and disturbers of the peace of mankind. Religion fixes that levity and weakness of mind which is so natural to man; it unites his actions and resolutions to one great end, and makes them consistent and regular; and is the best cure of that restlessness of mind which closely adheres to our very natures, and renders us dissatisfied with what we are, or what we at present possess or enjoy; and too often disposes us wantonly to desire changes for the very sake of changing. (John Wilcox, D.D.)
Religious loyalty
The possession of power is one thing; guidance how to use it is another. The sacred writings contemplated your present as well as your future. The present, what is it but the future begun? The future, what is it but the present completed? He will most enjoy the glories of the future whose life of practical holiness best attests the work of grace within him now. The whole power of this verse consists in its unity. It is not, My son, fear thou the Lord, and then, My son, fear thou the king; but, My son, fear thou the Lord and the king.
I. The remarkable command. There is much force in that word, fear thou. Be unmoved by any motives, or influences, or examples, which may press you to do otherwise than thus. If all around you are wrong, fear thou. Multitudes do not prove a matter to be right. Act for yourself, and do not fear to stand alone. The command here is, fear both God and the king. You must do the latter if the former be regarded. The fear of God brings with it a principle of obedience, which will influence your conduct in all things. The two things are united morally, and so a true Christian must be a good subject.
II. The danger of forgetting this command. The antithesis is very striking. Meddle not with them that are given to change. But change must not be confused with progress and improvement. Change means things that imperil primary principles of righteousness.
III. The results of neglecting this command. Their calamity shall come suddenly. Apply--To serve your generation by the will of God is one of the duties and privileges of your present state. You will do it if you fear both God and the king. (George Venables.)
Advice and penalty
I. The advice. The commendation My son stands first. This is such a counsel as a father would give a son. And that it is no evil one we may be sure. There is in this counsel a single act--fear--and a double object--God and the king. The main drift of the advice is, a resentive against meddling with certain persons. It consists of two counter points. Do this and eschew that. Follow one, fly the other.
II. The penalty. It is punishment enough for a man not to follow good counsel when it is given him. Yet God hath so ordered, as there goeth ever some further evil with the contempt of good counsel. The penalty is no less than destruction and ruin; a sudden destruction, an unknown ruin. Solomon sits here as a counsellor and as a judge--a counsellor to advise, a judge to pronounce. Hear his counsel, then; if not, hear your sentence. Choose which verse you will be in. In one of them we must be. In the verse of counsel, Fear God and the king, or in the verse of penalty, For their destruction, etc. (Bp. Lancelot Andrewes.)
Fear God and king
The word fear expresses the general idea of reverence, or of holding in awe. God is to be feared according to the nature and authority of His government, kings according to the nature and authority of theirs; God supremely, kings subordinately; God as the source of all power, kings as holding theirs of God, and responsible to Him for the use they make of it. God for His character; kings simply as the representatives of power. God with a fear ever associated with the love of complacency; kings with as much love as their personal character admits of. (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)
Loyalty of the Christian spirit
Dr. Buchsel, speaking of the conventicles in Germany, early in the century, in which evangelical piety, which had no voice in the Churches, found refuge, says: I noticed that all of this way of thinking, however much they suspected regularly ordained ministers and Church authorities, yet appeared to place heartfelt confidence in the king. They were universally persuaded that his majesty personally was well inclined towards them. The king was invariably prayed for with the utmost affection. (J. F. B. Tinling, B.A.)
And meddle not with them that are given to change.
Given to change
Harmony and order preserve societies, when all men that are in a subordinate state do readily yield to him who is the supreme according to Gods law. Maximus Tyrius, the Platonist, speaks of three sorts of government--monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. One end of religion is to be serviceable even to the political and civil interests of mankind; and because there can be no temporal felicity without peace, nor peace without loyal and dutiful submission, the text calls on all such as would be truly happy to fear God and the king.
I. An affirmative command. That we express that humble and universal fear which is due to Gods majesty, and that becoming reverence which is due to the kings majesty for Gods sake. (This subject not now treated fully.)
II. A negative precept. That we have nothing to do with those who, when things are well, under pretence of mending would fain mar all, and alter everything, whether it be religion, or laws, or government, that lieth in their way. Some render the verse thus, Meddle not with them that act their iniquities over again; them that are disobedient and disloyal afresh; them that repeat their old sins against the king and his regalities; them that are for a change, but not of their own principles and courses. Solomons own experience led him to warn his son against intractable and ungrateful men. Other expositors do not so restrain the sense of the text, but interpret it generally of all that are given to change, though some of them for a considerable time may have kept touch with the government: Meddle not with them that change their good principles; with them that warp their obedience; with them that are unsteady and inconsistent with themselves, and observe the pulse of the times. Men should be quiet and dutiful, and contented with their lot when things are well and in their right channel, and not abet the practices of those who cannot be at ease until the mire be stirred, and the wheel be turned upside down. Reasons for this advice of the text:
1. A retinue of the most mischievous concomitants and effects, as war, bloodshed, confusion, rapine, the subversion of laws, and ruin of families, follow upon these restless changes, these evils of innovation.
2. Change of government is rarely attempted but under some cleanly disguise and popular pretence. Popular states have been erected by the popular tricks of men.
Recommend three practical things--
1. The fear of the Lord. No confidence can be placed but in men who act upon the right principles of religion and honesty.
2. The fear of the king is coercive of obedience.
3. Avoid the company of restless spirits; have no fellowship with them. (Edward Pelling.)
The fewer changes the better
Mans power of adapting himself to new spheres and work is placed within such strict limitations, that the fewer changes he makes in life the better. There is a law of limitation for animals and men. And the facts respecting the limited range enjoyed by some animals are not more noteworthy than are those respecting the limited range of some men. There are some persons who do well enough in the dull dreary region of a cold official life, whose existence is unendurable in the midst of the associations of wit and romance. The red-tape species die if brought away from the frigid regions of officialism and formality; and there are many poor men who live honest, useful lives in the scenes of indigence who, when fortune unexpectedly transports them into the luxuriant scenes of opulence and gaiety, die from some one or other of the results of the change for which they were not constituted. Many attempts have been made to remove very good men from one position to another, and the result has been a termination of their usefulness, and often of their life. The notion that men can adapt themselves to anything is an error arising from want of observation. There is a sphere for every man; and, as a rule, the removal of him when he is fairly acclimatised either renders him useless altogether, or makes it necessary that he should be sustained by artificial inventions, and in that case he cannot lead that natural life which is necessary in the full development of his powers. It will also be found that these difficulties in adapting men to great changes of position increase with their age. (R. J. Graves, F.R.S.)
Improvement justifies change
To oppose all changes is to set up a plea of perfection. Every improvement (and where is there not need for improvement?) is a change. But public evils are not to be mended by railing. To be given to change; to alter for the sake of altering; to be weary of the old and captivated with the new, however untried; to make experiments upon modes of government, is a fearful hazard. It is losing the substance of real good in the dream of imaginary improvements; as if we must undo everything rather than be idle. (G. Bridges, M.A.)
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_24:21. Given to change, literally otherwise disposed, or, according…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_24:21. Given to change, literally otherwise disposed, or, according to Miller, repeaters, turners back.
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Pro_24:22. The ruin of them both, etc. This phrase is variously rendered, and different meanings are also attached to the same rendering. Delitzsch follows the Syriac version, and reads, “the end of their years, who knoweth it?” But Zöckler adopts the reading of the Authorised version, which is supported by the Vulgate, by Luther, Ewald, Elster, and others. Some understand the word both to refer to those who rebel against God, and those who rebel against the king (so Zöckler), while others apply it to God and the king, and the ruin foretold as that proceeding from them. Here begins a short appendix to the third main division of the book of Proverbs, the first clause of Pro_24:33 being its superscription, which is almost in the same words as that which introduces the division itself. (See chap. Pro_22:17.) It extends only to the end of the chapter, and consists of maxims which have no apparent connection with each other.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_24:21-22
RULE AND REVERENCE
I. The rule of some men and the subjection of others is a Divine ordination. God, by creating men with such different gifts and with powers of mind and body so unequal, evidently intends that society should not be on a dead level, but that in all communities there should be some recognised head. And the tendency of men in all ages to unite under some leader whom they deem worthy to be their head points to an instinct in human nature which we must refer to a Divine origin. The law of subjection and dominion has its place in the natural world. The entire solar system is held together by the subjection of the lesser bodies to one which is greater than all, and as the planets move in their orbits around the sun they seem like so many obedient subjects doing homage to their monarch, while their attendant satellites are in their turn subject to them. And the constant operation of this material law is productive of the most beneficial results. In like manner the observation of some such law among free and intelligent creatures is necessary to the order and consequent peace of society.
II. But the deference of the subject to his earthly ruler must be always subordinate to the will of the Divine ruler of both. There are cases in which to “fear the king,” in the sense of obeying him, would be to dishonour God, and times when he who demands obedience refuses to comply with the Divine demands upon himself. It is obvious therefore that the fear of the earthly king can only be carried so far as is consistent with loyal obedience to the “King of all the kings of the earth.” The first precept of the wise man in this verse admits of no limitation, but the second must be limited by the first. But those who have been the most faithful servants of God have ever been most ready to render “honour to whom honour is due” (Rom_13:7); and when duty has compelled them to disobey their commands they have done so with all due respect for their lawful authority. That fear of God which compels them to disobey unrighteous laws makes them obedient subjects to lawful rule, and constrains them, so far as is possible, to live as peaceable citizens.
III. Therefore the peace of a kingdom and the stability of a throne will be in proportion to the reverence of king and people for the Divine will. The fear of God is the great adjusting power in all relations of life. When it governs in the family the parents are loved and honoured by the children, and the children’s welfare is the constant care of the parents. It is this fear of God alone that can solve the vexed problem of the relations between masters and servants, between capital and labour, and between monarchs and people. Where it is wanting there will be a weak rule on the one hand, and a niggardly service and a halfhearted obedience on the other, and both are responsible for those outbursts of disorder which involve both in a common calamity.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
The connection of the two fears in the passage before us is evidently intended to impress the one by the other:—If you fear God, fear the king. God, whom you are bound supremely to fear, and whose fear should produce obedience to His will, has enjoined the fear of earthly rulers: so that a failure in the fear due to them, becomes a violation of the fear due to Him.
I need hardly say, that by the king we are to understand the government of the country. It may be monarchical, or it may not. We are by no means to look upon such expressions as this, in Scripture, as attaching the authority of inspiration to one form of government more than to another. Respecting the comparative merits of different forms, the word of God should not be regarded as giving any decision, whether for the kingly, the aristocratical, the popular, or the mixed. The respect, or fear, is due to the legislative and executive powers, of whichsoever description these may be.—Wardlaw.
Submission of heart and life to the King Eternal overrides and controls, yet does not injure a citizen’s allegiance to an earthly ruler.… The fear of the Lord must go first, but the fear of the king may follow. The supreme does not crush, it protects the subordinate. Although the heart is full of piety, there is plenty of room for patriotism. Nay, more, patriotism nowhere gets full scope except in a heart that is already pervaded by piety. These elements are like the two chief constituent gases of the atmosphere. The space which envelopes the globe is full of one gas—it is also full of the other. To discharge the nitrogen would not make the space capable of containing more of the oxygen. The absence of the one constituent destroys the quality but does not enlarge the quantity of the other. Take away godliness, and your loyalty, without being increased in amount, is seriously deteriorated in kind. Take away loyalty, and you run great risk of spoiling the purity of the remanent godliness. God’s works are all good—His combinations are all beneficial. If we attempt to mend, we shall certainly mar them.… Go forward in your allegiance to “the powers that be,” not until you think you have gone far enough, but until you come upon the law of God, claiming the space in front for Himself, and absolutely forbidding your advance. Go forward with the fear of the king, unless and until the fear of the Lord cross your path like a wall.… No feasible rule can be laid down except what the Scriptures contain. Let any man try to write down a scale showing when and where private persons may lawfully resist public authority, and he will soon be convinced that the case is hopeless. Every attempt to define the liberty of rebellion will be found to open a door to anarchy. In point of fact, very little of the liberty that now exists in the world has been achieved by violent resistance to governments because of oppression in temporal things.—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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Psa 19:9")
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 21. My son, fear thou the Lord and…
v. 21. My son, fear thou the Lord and the king, the government established by Jehovah, 1Pe 2:17; Rom 13:1, and meddle not with them that are given to change, those who are always dissatisfied with the government and therefore are always planning revolutions;
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 General Information:
General Information:
These verses continue the "thirty sayings" (Proverbs 22:20).
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Fear
a deep respect and awe for a person in authority
who knows the extent of the destruction that will come from both of them?
The writer asks this question to emphasize the disaster. AT: "no one knows the extent of the destruction that will come from both of them." (See: Rhetorical Question)
both of them
these words refer to Yahweh and the king
translationWords
fear
Yahweh
king
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 24:21-22 Saying 30: The king is associated with the…
24:21-22 Saying 30: The king is associated with the Lord, reflecting his power and sovereignty on the earth (see 1 Sam 12; Ps 2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.