He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.
Parallel Translations
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He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.
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He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
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He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be broken, and that without remedy.
Cross-references (33)
Passages linked to Proverbs 29:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 6:15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
- 1 Samuel 2:25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him; but if a man sins against Yahweh, who will intercede for him?” Notwithstanding, they didn’t listen to the voice of their father, because Yahweh intended to kill them.
- Proverbs 1:24-31 Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention; but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you, when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me; because they hated knowledge, and didn’t choose the fear of Yahweh. They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
- Proverbs 28:18 Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.
- Zechariah 7:11-14 But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Armies. It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen,” said Yahweh of Armies; “but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
- John 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Now he spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for it was he who would betray him, being one of the twelve.
- John 13:18 I don’t speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.’
- John 13:26 Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
- 2 Chronicles 36:13 He also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God; but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart against turning to Yahweh, the God of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15-17 Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or gray-headed. He gave them all into his hand.
- Jeremiah 35:13-16 “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Will you not receive instruction to listen to my words?” says Yahweh. “The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment; but I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not listened to me. I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, ‘Every one of you must return now from his evil way, amend your doings, and don’t go after other gods to serve them, then you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers:’ but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me. The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.” ’
- Acts 1:25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.”
- 1 Kings 22:28 Micaiah said, “If you return at all in peace, Yahweh has not spoken by me.” He said, “Listen, all you people!”
- 2 Chronicles 33:10 Yahweh spoke to Manasseh, and to his people; but they didn’t listen.
- Nehemiah 9:29 and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they were arrogant, and didn’t listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances (which if a man does, he shall live in them), turned their backs, stiffened their neck, and would not hear.
- Acts 1:18 Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness, and falling headlong, his body burst open, and all his intestines gushed out.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman. Then they will in no way escape.
- 1 Samuel 2:34 This will be the sign to you that will come on your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they will both die.
- 1 Kings 17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, who was one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
- 1 Kings 18:18 He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father’s house, in that you have forsaken Yahweh’s commandments, and you have followed the Baals.
- 1 Kings 21:20-23 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight. Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin.” Yahweh also spoke of Jezebel, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel.
- 1 Kings 22:20-23 Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ One said one thing; and another said another. A spirit came out and stood before Yahweh, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ He said, ‘You will entice him, and will also prevail. Go out and do so.’ Now therefore, behold, Yahweh has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and Yahweh has spoken evil concerning you.”
- 1 Kings 20:42 He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’ ”
- 1 Kings 22:34-37 A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded.” The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!” So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
- 2 Chronicles 25:16 As he talked with him, the king said to him, “Have we made you one of the king’s counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel.”
- Isaiah 30:13-14 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant. He will break it as a potter’s vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won’t be found among the broken pieces a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
- Isaiah 48:4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow bronze;
- Jeremiah 17:23 But they didn’t listen. They didn’t turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
- Jeremiah 25:3-5 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, these twenty-three years, Yahweh’s word has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking; but you have not listened. Yahweh has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them (but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear), saying, “Return now everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and even forever more.
- Zechariah 1:3-6 Therefore tell them: Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Return to me,’ says Yahweh of Armies, ‘and I will return to you,’ says Yahweh of Armies. Don’t you be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying: Yahweh of Armies says, ‘Return now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings;’ but they didn’t hear, nor listen to me, says Yahweh. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’ ”
- Matthew 26:21-25 As they were eating, he said, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.” They were exceedingly sorrowful, and each began to ask him, “It isn’t me, is it, Lord?” He answered, “He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, answered, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You said it.”
- John 13:10-11 Jesus said to him, “Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, “You are not all clean.”
- Jeremiah 26:3-5 It may be they will listen, and every man turn from his evil way; that I may relent from the evil which I intend to do to them because of the evil of their doings.’ You shall tell them, “Yahweh says: ‘If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, to listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them, but you have not listened;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth [his]…
Pro 29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth [his] neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
Ver. 1. He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck.] As an untamed heifer, that "pulleth away the shoulder," {Zec 7:11} and detracteth the yoke; or as the creature called monoceros, the unicorn, interimi potest, capi non potest, {a} may be slain but not taken; so those that refuse to be reformed, {b} hate to be healed, will not bend, shall surely and severely be broken, certissime citissimeque confringentur, they shall certainly and suddenly be dashed in pieces as a potter’s vessel, that cannot be pieced together again. {Isa 30:13-14} Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel, {Jer 15:12} and shall not the fierce wrath of God shatter and shiver out a silly sinner that will needs stout it out with him, and yet is no more able to stand before him than a glass bottle before a cannon shot? Let Eli’s sons, and such refractories, look for ruin. The prophet fitly compares them to headstrong horses that get the bit into their mouths, run desperately upon the rocks, and so in short time break first their hoofs and then their necks. Queen Elizabeth, in talking with Marshal Biron - whom the French king sent ambassador to her, anno 1601 - sharply accused Essex (who had recently lost his head) of obstinacy, rash counsels, and wilful disdaining to ask pardon, and wished that the French king would rather use mild severity than careless clemency, and cut off the heads of treacherous persons in time, &c. This might have terrified Biron from those wicked attempts which he was even at this time plotting against his king, had not his mind been besotted. But the power of his approaching fate did so blind him, that within few months after he underwent the same death that Essex did - though nothing so piously and Christianly, as having hardened his neck against wholesome counsel. {c} Now if men harden their hearts, God will harden his hand, and hasten their destruction, and that without remedy.
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{a} Solinus.
{b} Corriptimur sed non corrigimur. - Augustine.
{c} Cambden’s Elisabeth, fol. 562.
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 Hardeneth his neck; is incorrigible, and obstinately persists in…
Hardeneth his neck; is incorrigible, and obstinately persists in those sins for which he is reproved.
Without remedy, utterly and irrecoverably.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain We must not despise correction. The prudent king. The
CHAPTER XXIX
We must not despise correction. The prudent king. The
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flatterer. The just judge. Contend not with a fool. The prince
who opens his ears to reports. The poor and the deceitful. The
pious king. The insolent servant. The humiliation of the proud.
Of the partner of a thief. The fear of man. The Lord the
righteous Judge.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIX
Verse 1. Hardeneth his neck] Becomes stubborn and obstinate.
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 29:1. He that being often reproved — Who…
Pro 29:1. He that being often reproved — Who having received frequent reproofs from wise and good men, and perhaps also chastisements from God; hardeneth his neck — Remains incorrigible, and obstinately persists in those sins for which he is reproved and corrected; shall suddenly be destroyed — Is in danger of falling, and that on a sudden, into utter and irreparable 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 Shall be destroyed - literally, “shall be broken” Pro…
Shall be destroyed - literally, “shall be broken” Pro 6:15. Stress is laid on the suddenness in such a case of the long-delayed retribution.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain THIS is indeed an awful word. The intractable ox,…
THIS is indeed an awful word. The intractable ox, hardening his neck against the yoke,†1 is but too apt a picture of the stubborn sinner, casting off the restraints of God. This was the uniform complaint against Israel,†2 a true picture of the mass of the ungodly before our eyes. Conviction follows upon conviction, chastening upon chastening. Still the rebel hardens his neck, stops his ears against the voice of God, and invites his threatened judgments.
Awfully frequent are these instances among the children of godly parents, or the hearers of a faithful minister.†3 Every means of grace is a solemn, but despised, reproof. Aggravated sin makes the judgment of a righteous God more manifest. The more enlightened the conscience the more hardened the neck. Every beating pulse is rebellion against a God of love.
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Sometimes it is more the immediate voice of God. An alarming illness, a dangerous accident, or the death of a companion in wickedness, is "the rod and reproof" intended to "give wisdom." (Pro 29:15 .) But if the "fool" continue to despise all God’s reproof, his destruction will be sudden,†4 and without remedy.†5
Such was the destruction of the old world, and of the cities of the plain, long hardened against the forbearance of God.†6 Pharaoh grew more stubborn under the rod, and rushed madly upon his sudden ruin.†7 Eli’s sons "hearkened not unto the voice of their father, and in one day died both of them."†8 Ahab, often reproved, by the godly prophet, hardened his neck, and "the bow, drawn at a venture," received its commission.†9 How must Judas have steeled his heart against his Master’s reproof!†10 Onward he rushed, "that he might go to his own place."†11 Truly Divine patience has its end. And this fearful moment once arrived, "the vessels of wrath, endured with much long-suffering," are now shewn more manifestly, as "fitted for destruction." (Rom 9:22 .) No remedy — not even the Gospel — can remedy the case. As they lived, so they die, so they stand before God — without remedy. No blood — no advocate, pleads for them. As they sink into the burning lake, every billow of fire, as it rolls over them, seems to sound — without remedy.
Sinner — Oh! that thou wouldst be wise to consider thy guilt, thy state, thy prospect, while yet "thy judgment and damnation linger"!†12 Is not "the Spirit of grace" pleading with thine heart? Would he not now save thee, wouldst thou but obey his call? Thou art standing upon mercy’s ground, betwixt heaven and hell. O thou God of almighty sovereign grace, shew "a pattern" of thy "long-suffering." (1Ti 1:16 .) Let the sinner sing thy everlasting praise, as "a brand plucked out of the fire," a monument of thine over-abounding grace. (Zec 3:2 .)
Footnotes:
†1 Jer 31:18.
†2 Exo 32:9. 2Ch 36:13-16 . Neh 9:29 . Isa 48:8 . Jer 17:23 . Zec 7:11-12 . Act 7:51 .
†3 Pro 5:12-13. 1Sa 2:12 .
†4 1Th 5:3 .
†5 Pro 1:22-30; Pro 6:15 ; Pro 28:14, Pro 28:18 . Isa 30:12-14 .
†6 Luk 17:27-29.
†7 Exo 9:27, Exo 9:34 ; Exo 10:27-28 ; Exo 14:28 .
†8 1Sa 2:25, 1Sa 2:34 ; 1Sa 4:11 .
†9 1Ki 18:18 ; 1Ki 21:20 ; 1Ki 22:28, 1Ki 22:34 .
†10 Joh 6:70; Joh 13:10-11, Joh 13:18-27 .
†11 Mat 26:14-16. Joh 13:30 . Act 1:25 .
†12 (It is not known if this quote is from a hymn, a poem, or some other source - because there is no reference or footnote in the book. One verse in Scripture that uses three key words found in the quote ("judgment", "damnation", "linger") is 2Pe 2:3, so perhaps Mr. Bridges had this in view(?). The Scripture has "lingereth not" however, whereas the quote has it positively: "linger", so if this is the verse he had in mind, it is more of an allusion to it than it is a direct quote.)
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain d) Against stubbornness and insubordination
d) Against stubbornness and insubordination
Chap. 29
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1 He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck
shall suddenly be destroyed and without remedy.
2 When the righteous increase the people rejoice,
but when a wicked man ruleth the people mourn.
3 He that loveth wisdom maketh his father glad,
but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
4 The king will establish the land by judgment,
but a man (fond) of bribes destroyeth it.
5 A man who flattereth his neighbor
spreadeth a net for his feet.
6 In the transgression of the wicked man is a snare,
but the righteous will rejoice and be glad.
7 The righteous knoweth-the cause of the poor;
the wicked doth not discern knowledge.
8 Scoffers set on fire the city,
but wise men turn back anger.
9 A wise man contendeth with the fool;
but he rageth, and laugheth, and there is no rest.
10 Men of blood hate the upright,
but the righteous seek his soul (to deliver it).
11 All his wrath doth the fool pour forth,
but the wise quieteth it afterward.
12 A ruler that giveth heed to deceitful words,
all his servants are wicked.
13 The poor man and the usurer meet together;
Jehovah giveth light to the eyes of both.
14 A king who judgeth the poor faithfully,
his throne shall be established for ever.
15 The rod and reproof impart wisdom;
but a neglected son causeth his mother shame.
16 When the wicked are multiplied transgression increaseth;
but the righteous shall see their fall.
17 Correct thy son, and he will give thee rest,
and bring delight to thy soul.
18 When there is no revelation the people are ungoverned,
but he that keepeth the law, blessed is he!
19 By words a servant will not be corrected;
for he perceiveth them but doth not conform to them.
20 Seest thou a man hasty in his words;
the fool hath more hope than he.
21 One bringeth up his servant tenderly from a child
and afterward he shall be a son.
22 An angry man stirreth up strife,
and a passionate man aboundeth in transgression.
23 A man’s pride shall bring him low,
but he that is of a lowly spirit retaineth honor.
24 He that is partner with a thief hateth his own soul;
he heareth the curse and showeth it not.
25 Fear of man bringeth a snare,
but he that trusteth Jehovah shall be preserved.
26 Many seek the favor of the ruler,
but from Jehovah cometh man’s judgment.
27 An abomination to the righteous is the unjust man,
and an abomination to the wicked is he who is upright in his way.
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL
Pro_29:5.—With מַחֲלִיק we should, according to Pro_28:23, supply לָשׁוֹן; and עַל expresses here the dative relation as אֶל usually does; Comp. Psa_36:3.
Pro_29:6.—יָרוּן stands for יָרן, illustrating a very common transition from עע roots into the עו form; Ewald, § 138, a. [Green, § 140, Proverbs 1 : Bött. § 1147, A., etc.]
Pro_29:10.—Between דָּמִים and תָּם there seems to be an assonance intended.
Pro_29:18.—[אַשְׁרֵהוּ an instance of the attachment of the suffix of the singular to form pluralia lantum; comp. אַשְׁרָיו in Pro_14:21; Pro_16:20, the only other instances in which the noun occurs with the suffix of 3d pers. sing. Bött. suggests that this may he a trace of the dialect of Ephraim; § 888, δ and n. 1; § 888, 1.—A.]
Pro_29:25.—חֶרְדַּת Bött. treats as a fem. Infin. (§ 990, 4, B and n.3), and notices the not uncommon sequence of a masculine predicate (990, 3, β.).—A.]
EXEGETICAL
1. Pro_29:1-7. Against various forms of obstinate unrighteousness, especially oppression, prodigality, flattery, etc.—He that is often reproved, being stiffnecked. A “man of corrections” or “reproofs” (for which Hitzig needlessly substitutes תוֹכֵחוֹת “punishments” [which Gesen. would render “arguments,” i.e., a man who when censured defends himself]) is one who deserves many corrections, is continually bringing them upon himself (comp. the “man of sorrows,” Isa_53:8). Here he is described as such a man, who “maketh his neck hard,” i.e., the stiffnecked man who will everywhere defiantly carry through his own will (comp. Exo_32:9; Exo_33:3; Exo_39:9; Deu_9:6; Deu_31:27, etc.; and also the “hardening of the heart” in Pro_28:14). [The E. V. which is followed by nearly all our expositors, and which we have given in the general version of the chapter, makes the obstinacy not the original cause of the many corrections, that for which the offender is in the first instance reproved, but the disposition evinced by him under all reproofs whatsoever. The final difference is not great; sudden and utter destruction will follow and end unavailing reproofs.—A.]. With b compare the literally identical second clause of Pro_6:15.
Pro_29:2. When the righteous increase. According to Pro_28:28 this is the same thing as “the wicked’s perishing.” Hitzig: “when righteous men attain to power,”—an unnecessary assimilation of the meaning of the verb to that in clause b. For the rest compare Pro_28:12.
Pro_29:3. With a compare Pro_10:1; with b, Pro_6:26; Pro_28:7.
Pro_29:4. A king will establish the land by judgment, (i.e., by the maintenance of justice). For the verb comp. 1Ki_15:4. The “man of gifts (bribes)” is then naturally the unjust ruler who “perverts justice from love of gifts” (Bertheau). Rosenmueller and Hitzig explain the phrase as meaning “a man of taxes or assessments;” in like manner Luther: “he who assesses the land excessively.” This is possible, but not demonstrable with full certainty. The conception of the Vulgate is at any rate too general: Vir avarus, and also Stier’s; “he who willingly receives presents.” [K. agrees with Hitzig, etc.; H., N., S., M., take our author’s view.]
Pro_29:5. A man who flattereth his neighbor; see Critical notes.—Spreadeth a net for his feet. “He does this even when he is not intending it; the web of enticing errors before his neighbor’s eyes, becomes, when he comes into contact with them, a net in which he is caught” (Hitzig). For the sentiment comp. Pro_26:24-25; Pro_26:28.
Pro_29:6; In the transgression of the wicked man is a snare, i.e., for himself; comp. Pro_18:7; Pro_20:25; Pro_22:25. Hitzig proposes instead of the noun the corresponding verb (in the Niphal); “In the sin of the wicked he ensnareth himself.” A change plainly as superfluous as that of Ewald, who, following the steps of some earlier expositors but clearly in violation of the order of words, combines the epithet “evil” with the “snare.”—But the righteous will rejoice and be glad, i.e., in his own happy escape from danger. For a like combination of רנן to exult, or shout for joy, and שׂמח to be glad, comp. Psa_35:27.
Pro_29:7. The righteous knoweth the cause of the poor, i.e., their judicial cause, their claims before a court. For this use of the verb “to know” comp. Pro_12:10; for the sentiment Pro_29:14; Job_29:12; Job_29:16.—The wicked doth not discern knowledge (others “know understanding”); i.e., he listens to no reason, has no sensibility for right and equity (Hitzig). Comp. Pro_28:5. [This explanation, which is also Wordsworth’s (“knowledge, which consists in piety and charity”), we prefer to the more external one given, e.g., by H., S., M.; does not acquaint himself with the poor man’s cause.—A.]
2. Pro_29:8-11. Against scoffing, contentiousness, thirst for blood and passionateness.—Mockers set on fire the city. “Men of derision” is a more select expression for the common לֵצִים “scorners,” one found likewise in Isa_28:14 [intending and meaning more than would be ordinarily suggested by the rendering of the E. V.; “scornful men.”—A.]. The “setting on fire” (lit. “blowing upon,” comp. Ezek. 21:36) the city is a fitly chosen figurative expression for the excitement of the passion and the party spirit of the people of the city; קִרְיָה stands here like πόλις in Mat_12:24 of the community of the city.—With b comp. Pro_15:1; Pro_15:18; Ecc_10:4. [The connection is not unknown in modern times of religious skepticism and rationalism, with political radicalism and a revolutionary spirit.—A.].
Pro_29:9. A wise man contendeth with a fool;—but he rageth and laugheth and there is no rest. The first clause forms, somewhat like the abl. absol. in Latin, a clause by itself, the participle of which may be resolved into “if or when the wise contendeth, etc.” The subject of the verbs in b is the fool and not the wise man (Ewald, Umbreit, Elster, Stier [De W., Muffet, N., etc., while Bertheau, K., H., S., etc., understand “the fool,” the E. V., M. and others being ambiguous]), in which case the וְאֵין נָחַת (and there is no ceasing, no rest comes, comp. 1Sa_25:9) would form quite too short a conclusion; moreover the “raging” and the “laughing” appear to be much rather characteristic signs of the fool’s conduct than of the wise man’s; comp. Pro_29:11 and Pro_12:16.
Pro_29:10. Men of blood hate the upright. “Men of blood” as in Ps. 5:7; 26:9; 55:24; 139:19.—But the righteous seek his soul, viz., to preserve and prosper it. That the “seeking the soul” here stands bono sensu, unlike its use in some other passages (e.g., Psa_40:15; 1Ki_19:10, etc.,) [on the other hand comp. דורֵשׁ לְנַפְשִׁי in Psa_142:5], appears from the contrast with clause a; Hitzig’s emendation is therefore unnecessary, substituting וְלַשְׁמִים for וִישׁרָיִם, and thus obtaining as the meaning: “and seek to separate his soul, to isolate it” (!). [Of our expositors H. prefers the common rendering of the predicate, and makes “the upright” a nom. or ace. absolute.—A.]
Pro_29:11. All his wrath doth the fool pour forth. “Spirit” is here plainly wrath, as in Pro_16:32, and not “soul” (Umbreit) or “mind” Stier, etc.; [so E. V. and some of our interpreters]).—But the wise quieteth it afterward. בְּאָחוֹר, which occurs only here, means “afterward, at length”; others explain this unusual expression by “back, retrorsum;” e.g., De W., Stier, Hitzig, Gesen., etc.: “Keepeth it back, restraining it, pressing it in as it were (?).”
3. Pro_29:12-17. Admonitions to a just and mild mode of government, and also the strict discipline of children. With Pro_29:12 comp. Sir_10:2, and also Cic. De Leg., III. 13 and the Latin proverb; Qualis rex talis grex, “like king, like people.”
Pro_29:13. The poor man and the usurer (oppressor) meet together. The “man of exactions” should be interpreted with the LXX (δανειοτὴς), Vulg. (creditor), Ewald, Hitzig, Fuerst, etc., by “usurer,” inasmuch as תְּכָכִים, as a plural from תֹּךְ (τοκος) [?] is very probably equivalent in meaning to נֶשֶׁךְ “usury;” [Röd., Bött., etc., prefer the broader meaning “oppression”]. A “man of usury, money-lender” is furthermore only a more concrete expression for a “rich man,” and this is the corresponding term in Pro_22:2.—Jehovah giveth light to the eyes of both; i.e., according to the parallels cited, Jehovah has given to them both the light of their life; from God comes to both the light of life and the joy of life; comp. Psa_13:4; Job_33:30; Ecc_11:7. [“Here is comfort to the poor in his sufferings; here is warning to the rich in his violence,” Words.]
Pro_29:14. A king who judgeth the poor faithfully. “In truth, or fidelity” is not here “conscientiously, with truth to his own convictions,” but conformably to the state of the facts, “so that he permits true judgment (Zec_7:9) to reach the poor” (Hitzig). With the sentiment comp. Pro_20:28; Pro_25:5.
Pro_29:15. With a comp. Pro_23:13; Pro_13:24; with b, Pro_10:1; Pro_17:21; Pro_28:7. The “neglected” is literally “he who is exempted from discipline, who is left to his own will.”
Pro_29:16. When the wicked are multiplied transgression increaseth, so far forth as the wicked who are found in the decided majority think that they may with impunity commit all manner of wickedness. With b comp. Psa_37:34 where the joyful beholding of the destruction of the wicked is expressed by the same phrase.
Pro_29:17. With a comp. Pro_19:18.—And give delight to thy soul. מַעֲדַנִּים not “delicacies, dainties” (Bertheau), but delights, joys in general, whose increasing variety is expressed by the plural (Stier).
4. Pro_29:18-23. Against lawlessness, insubordination, a passionate temper, and pride.—When there is no revelation the people are ungoverned. חָזוֹן here denotes prophetic prediction, the revelation of God by His חֹזִים or רֹאִיה, “seers” (1Sa_9:9), [E. V. “when there is no vision”]; the chief function of these consisted in their watching over the vigorous fulfilling of the law, or in the enforcement of the demands of the law. By the phrase “in lack of Vision” a time is described like that mentioned in 1Sa_3:1, when “the word of the Lord was precious;” or like those mentioned in Hos_3:4; Amo_8:12; 2Ch_15:3; Psa_74:9, times distinguished by poverty in prophetic testimonies and activities. In such times the people must necessarily be “undisciplined and unbridled,” (so Exo_34:25 [where the E. V. incorrectly renders “naked”]).—But he that keepeth the law blessed is he! (comp. Pro_14:21; Pro_16:20.) This benediction forms no strict antithesis to clause a. The connection of ideas seems to be this: But he who in such seasons of ascendant lawlessness nevertheless keeps God’s law, etc.” (Hitzig).
Pro_29:19. By words a servant will not be corrected; i.e., mere words do not reform a servant, who rather needs a sharper correction.—For he perceiveth them but doth not conform to them; lit. “but there is not an answer,” that is in action, by actual obedience, by ὑπακοή (2Co_10:6, etc.). Bertheau is wrong: “For he will observe it—that there is no coming to blows—and there will be no answer;” no less is Ewald incorrect: “But he becomes intelligent (gains understanding) without an answer,” and likewise Von Hofmann, Schriftbew., II. 2, Pro 377: “if he has understanding no answer follows.”
Pro_29:20. Almost exactly like Pro_26:12. Comp. also Sir_9:18, where the προπετὴς ἐν λόγῳ αὐτοῦ corresponds precisely with the “hasty in his words” of our verse.
Pro_29:21. If one bringeth up his slave tenderly from a child afterward he will be a son. The relation of the two clauses is like that in Pro_29:9, פנק “to fondle” is used here only in the O. T.; it is more common in Aramaic. מָנוֹן which according to the Rabbinic is cognate with נִין suboles, seems to be designed to distinguish “the son of the household,” the free filius familias in contrast with the house-slave; comp. Luther’s term “Junker” [a “squire”]. Others interpret the Hapaxlegom. differently, e.g. Ewald, following the Arabic: “he will be unthankful” [Fuerst, “intractable”]: Stier “his end will be (evil) development;” Von Hofmann, ubi supra: “there is at last a lamentation,” etc. [Holden: “shall be grieved”]. Hitzig reads מָנוֹד which is to be interpreted, like Psa_44:15 (14) “a shaking of the head,” or even “a wringing of the hands!” To write מָדוֹן would be more natural than this: “his end will be contention,” as the Vulgate seems to have understood the expression, when it renders: postea sentiet eum contumacem.
Pro_29:22. An angry man stirreth up strife. Almost precisely like Pro_15:18; comp. Pro_28:25.—And a passionate man aboundeth in transgression; for רַב in the sense of “great or rich in something,” comp. Pro_28:20; Pro_28:27. See Pro_22:24 for a phrase kindred to the “lord of passion,” i.e., the passionate man.
Pro_29:23. With a compare Pro_16:18; Pro_25:7; with b, Pro_16:19; Pro_11:16.
5. Pro_29:24-27. Warning against the fear of man, disposition to please men, and complicity in transgressions.—He that is partner with a thief hateth himself; i.e., inasmuch as he, as the concealer of a thief, brings upon himself the guilt and likewise the penalty of the full theft.—He heareth the curse and showeth it not; i.e., he hears the curse which according to the law (Lev_5:1 sq.) marks a theft as an offence deserving a heavy penalty, and yet does not reveal the perpetrators of the deed which is laden with such a curse, and thus brings the curse also upon himself. [The E. V. is altogether ambiguous and misleading.]
Pro_29:25. Fear of man bringeth a snare. Fear of man (for which Hitzig conjectures הֲמֹד לְאָדָם, “desiring or delighting in man”) is strictly “trembling before men;” comp. 1Sa_14:15. Such a fear of man “bringeth a snare,” because it easily betrays into a participation in the sinful actions of men. With b comp. Pro_18:10.
Pro_29:26. Many seek the face (favor) of the ruler; they wait upon him, the potentate, in person, as a token of their homage, and in order to gain his favor. Comp. Pro_19:6; 1Ki_10:24.—But from Jehovah cometh man’s judgment; i.e., God, the Supreme Ruler, allots the destinies of men most justly and equitably; with Him one obtains the desired judgment more certainly than with any human ruler whatsoever. Comp. Pro_16:33. Hitzig arbitrarily says: “judgment is here equivalent to rank, dignity.”
Pro_29:27. Comp. Pro_11:20; Pro_28:4; and for the expression “they that walk uprightly,” or are “upright in the way,” in clause b, see in particular Psa_37:14, and also Pro_2:7.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
When early expositors (Stöcker, Wohlfarth, etc., comp. also Stier) represent the chapter before us as directed especially against stiff-necked obstinacy, or against wilful disobedience and persistent refusal of correction, this conception of its main subject not only corresponds with Pro_29:1, but also with the repeated occurrence of rebukes of lawless conduct and the bad training of children, such as the following series of proverbs exhibits (Pro_29:9; Pro_29:12; Pro_29:15; Pro_29:17-19; Pro_29:21). Besides the manifold warnings against violent temper and its evil consequences fall under the same category (Pro_29:8; Pro_29:11; Pro_29:22); in like manner the dissuasions against prodigality (Pro_29:3), oppression of the poor (Pro_29:2; Pro_29:7; Pro_29:13-14), pride (Pro_29:23), flattery and bribery (Pro_29:4-5; Pro_29:12), injustice and deeds of wickedness in general (Pro_29:6; Pro_29:10; Pro_29:16; Pro_29:27). As a peculiar form of insubordination, or persistent disregard of the divine law, there is brought out prominently toward the end of the chapter the fear of man, which has not before been expressly mentioned in the Book of Proverbs. And this is done in such a way as to distinguish three degrees of this fault; the concealing of a theft, as its rudest and lowest form (Pro_29:24); the “trembling before men,” or pliability with respect to such conduct of wicked persons in general as is sinful and entices to sin (Pro_29:25); and the mere disposition to please men, or reliance on the protection and favor of powerful men, instead of on God alone (Pro_29:26).
A special adaptation to the theocratic political organization of the people of God under the Old Testament is given to the general direction which the chapter takes against wilfulness, insubordination and want of discipline, in Pro_29:18 : When there is no revelation, the people become lawless; but he that keepeth the law, blessed is he! In this remarkable testimony to the need of prophecy as the living watch and ward of the law, there is evidently brought to view that thought which is doctrinally and in respect to the history of salvation the most significant in the section. This is a thought which could develop itself, and find expression only after repeated periods had occurred in which prophecy was wholly or partially silent, and therefore only on the ground of sorrowful experiences that had accumulated in such seasons. The appearance of this thought, however, in the section before us by no means compels the assumption that this division of the book may not have originated till after Hezekiah, and this Hitzig also admits. Comp. above, the exegetical interpretation of the passage.
The great significance of prophecy for the moral life, both of the theocratic people of God and of Christian nations, has been well presented by Elster, in connection with this passage. “Where the continuity of these prophetic revelations (to which it belonged to maintain in life and to develop the fundamental revelation made in i the law) was interrupted, this was the sign of a stagnation in the theocratic life, of an incapacity to understand the voice of God that ever continued to exist in Israel. Such a condition must therefore necessarily bring with it also a moral lawlessness in the people. For when the law was a vivid reality, it must necessarily develop prophetic manifestations, because there is in the law itself a struggling toward a higher perfection, so that the faithful keeping of the law stood in the most intimate reciprocity with the flourishing of prophecy.—Naturally the relation of this proverb to the life of Christian nations is thereby not excluded, for we must then contemplate the law as first revealed in its true import in the light of the gospel, and revelation as the continued working of the Spirit in the Church.”
How far moreover in the life of Christian nations we can and must speak of an abiding cooperative work of prophecy [i.e., naturally that of the New Testament), upon its successful development, religious and moral, Von Zezschwitz has shown with peculiar force and pertinence in his three discourses on “Domestic Missions, popular education and prophecy” (Frankfort on the Main, 1864); see in particular pp. 86 sq.
HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL
Homily on the chapter as a whole: The blessing of strict discipline on the basis of the word of God, or its necessity for the prosperity whether of individual persons and households, or of entire nations and States.—Stöcker: Third hinderance to the attainment of true wisdom: obstinate disobedience or stubbornness; origin, characteristics and remedy of this evil.
Pro_29:1-7. [Trapp (on Pro_29:1): If men harden their hearts, God will harden His hand.—J. Howe: A fearful thing when the gospel itself shall not be my remedy!—Chalmers: The hardening effect of continued resistance to the application of a moral force.—S. Davies: To follow the conduct of our own folly and refuse the advantage we might receive from the wisdom of others discovers an uncreaturely pride and self-sufficiency; and the career of such a pursuit, whatever be its object, will always end in disappointment and confusion.—Hooker (on Pro_29:2): Religion unfeignedly loved perfecteth man’s abilities unto all kind of virtuous services in the common-wealth.]—Zeltner (on Pro_29:1): He that obstinately opposes the Holy Ghost and will not receive the wholesome corrections of God’s word, his heart the evil spirit hardens; he thereby plunges himself into calamity.—(On Pro_29:3): Pious parents can experience no greater joy than when they see their children walk in true wisdom and the fear of God.—(On Pro_29:5): The caress of a flatterer is much more dangerous than the hatred of an enemy.—[South (on Pro_29:5): Three Sermons on Flattery.—Bridges (on Pro_29:6): There is always a snare in the ways of sin; always a song in the ways of God.]—Lange (on Pro_29:7): Let judges and rulers take good heed lest they by their negligence in the cause of the humble be reckoned as among the ungodly.—Von Gerlach: By righteousness there is opened to man a view into all departments of life; especially may he transfer himself into the position and case of the oppressed; while to the wicked man, who looks on every thing superficially, such insight is denied, and he therefore easily comes to oppress the poor.
Pro_29:8-11. Hasius (on Pro_29:8): An unwashed mouth may easily stir up much evil; but it is a characteristic of wisdom to make the best of every thing.—Starke: A true Christian is at the same time a good citizen in the commonwealth; for he seeks to produce and preserve peace.—[Lord Bacon: Scorners weaken all the foundations of civil government; a thing the more to be attended to, because the mischief is wrought not openly, but by secret engines and intrigues.—Lawson: The holy seed are the substance and strength of a land.—Lord Bacon (on Pro_29:9): In this contest the chances are altogether unequal; seeing it is no victory to conquer, and a great disgrace to be conquered.]—Lange: One should not suffer himself to be kept from the proclamation of the truth by the opposition of foolish people, 2Ti_4:2; if one does not receive it, another does.—Von Gerlach (on Pro_29:11): Among the characteristics of folly there is always found a boisterous, ungovernable nature; to wisdom belongs self-command.
Pro_29:12-17. Melanchthon (on Pro_29:12): The example of distinguished persons, such as rulers, teachers, etc., avails and effects very much, and that in both directions, by promoting good as well as evil. Most rapidly, however, is the plague of base vices transmitted, especially in the circle of household companions, and in the daily retinue of these persons of high station.—[Muffet: He that carrieth Satan in his ear is no less blame-worthy than he which carrieth him in his tongue.]—Cramer (on Pro_29:13): The Holy Scriptures are for poor and for rich; every one findeth his own chapter therein adapted to himself. But in order that the one as well as the other may see what is needful for them, both need enlightenment and divine help.—Starke (on Pro_29:14): Not so much by strength and might as rather by faithful, kind and righteous treatment of subjects is a government preserved and confirmed.—Von Gerlach (on Pro_29:15; Pro_29:17): Mothers are wont to be most at fault in indulging their children, and must therefore bear away the chief shame of its fruits.—[Chalmers: By joining the rod with the reproof, the moral is sometimes the better enforced when there is added to it the physical appliance.]
Pro_29:18. Luther: Without God’s word man can do nothing but practise idolatry and his own will.—Melanchthon: As well princes as people must consider that pious governments, which God aids by His counsel and blessing, are more needful than all things beside; they must therefore beseech God for such a wholesome government, and not plunge themselves in sin and vice, lest God withdraw it from them as a judgment.—Stöcker (special sermon for married people, based on Pro_29:18): On the indispensable necessity of the divine word to a blessed domestic relation: a) How Christian hearts should stand related to the word of God; b) What advantage and reward they have from its right use.—Wohlfarth: Take religion from man and he sinks into the deepest barbarism.—[Flavel: The Spirit and the word of God usually come and go together.]
Pro_29:19-27. Zeltner (on Pro_29:19-21): As self-willed menials do when they are indulged, so likewise our own vile flesh and blood. If one leaves to this its own will even a little, it will quickly rule over the spirit,Gal_5:17 sq.—[Lord Bacon (on Pro_29:21): Princes and masters ought to keep a measure in conferring grace and favor on their servants.… Sudden promotion begets insolence; continual obtaining of desires begets impatience of refusal; and if there be nothing further to aspire to, there will be an absence of alacrity and industry.]—Starke (on Pro_29:24): Both the bold sinner himself and he likewise who makes himself partaker in the sins of others, brings upon himself God’s wrath and punishment.—(On Pro_29:25): It is a sinful fear of man when one from timidity acts to please others against his conscience.—A means against this fear of man is pre-eminently prayer for a joyous spirit (Psa_51:12; Psa_51:14), and faith and child-like reliance on God’s protection.—[Flavel: Men vainly “hope to find mercy with God,” but expect none from men; so the voice of conscience is drowned by the louder clamors and threats of adversaries.—Arnot: It is not a transference of fear from man to God that makes a sinner safe; the kind of affection must be changed as well as its object. Safety lies not in terror, but in trust. Hope leads to holiness.]—Von Gerlach (on Pro_29:26): Justice and favor which princes can ensure are indifferent in the presence of God’s decision.—(On Pro_29:27): It is no good sign for him who would be upright when he can be on friendly terms with the ungodly.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. Being often reproved — Literally, a man of…
1. Being often reproved — Literally, a man of reproofs; one who has often been reproved. So, generally, the critics; but not universally. Gesenius gives: “A man of arguments, who, when censured, defends himself.” Miller translates: “A man given to reproving — a sinner setting himself at ease in doctrine, so as to become a teacher.… How strong a clerical text, and how good for sermons before synods and councils of the Church!” The common consent of interpreters, however, sustains the Authorized Version, notwithstanding the analogy of similar forms in this chapter is against it.
Hardeneth his neck — A figure from the work ox, whose neck becomes callous by wearing the yoke. Applied to man, it imports that callousness of heart which results from resisting the truth.
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Shall suddenly be destroyed — Some sudden, unexpected calamity shall overtake him. The original has the force of our “shivered to pieces” — irremediable destruction. A fearful admonition to hardened hearts! The Septuagint varies here marvellously: “A reprover is better than a stiffnecked man; for when the latter is suddenly set on fire, there shall be no remedy.” Comp. Pro_6:15.
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 1. hardeneth his neck] like an obstinate and refractory…
1. hardeneth his neck] like an obstinate and refractory ox. The same phrase occurs in Deu_10:16; 2Ki_17:14. Comp. the similar phrase, stiff-necked, or hard-necked (the Heb. root being the same) Exo_32:9; Deu_9:6; Act_7:51 (σκληροτράχηλοι); and for other figurative expressions drawn from the use of oxen, Jer_31:18; Act_26:14.
destroyed] Rather, broken, R.V., as in Pro_6:15, A.V.
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 (1) Hardeneth his neck.—And will not bear the “easy…
XXIX.
(1) Hardeneth his neck.—And will not bear the “easy yoke” of God. (Comp. Mat_11:29-30.)
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Shall suddenly be destroyed.—Literally, shattered, like a potter’s vessel that cannot be mended (Jer_19:11; Isa. xxx 14).
And that without remedy.—For what more can be done for him, if he has despised God’s warnings? (Comp. Heb_6:4, sqq.)
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 This chapter reinforces many precept given previously.
This chapter reinforces many precept given previously.
He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck; literally, a man of reproofs one who has had a long experience of rebukes and warnings. Compare "a man of sorrows". (Isa_53:3) The hardening of the neck is a metaphor derived from obstinate draught animals who will not submit to the yoke. (Deu_10:16 Jer_2:20 Jer_27:8) Christ calls his yoke easy, and bids his followers to bear it bravely. (Mat_11:29, etc.) The reproofs may arise from the Holy Spirit and the conscience, from the teaching of the past, or from the counsel of friends. The LXX (as some other Jewish interpreters) takes the expression in the text actively, "A man who reproves (elegcwn ) is better than one of stiff neck." Shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. (Pro_6:15 Pro_15:10) The incorrigible and self-deluding sinners shall come to a fearful and sudden end, though retribution be delayed. (comp. Job_34:20 Psa_2:9 Jer_19:11) And there is no hope in their end; despising all correction, they can have no possibility of restoration. We may refer, as an illustration, to that terrible passage in the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Heb_6:4, etc.) and to the fate of the Jews unto the present day. Septuagint, "For when he is burning suddenly, there is no remedy.
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Hardened under reproof.
I REPROOF MAY RE REJECTED. It is not violent and compulsory correction. We have free wills, and God does not destroy our wills in order to reform our conduct, for he only delights in voluntary obedience; but he sends warnings and chastises us as his children. This treatment should lead to repentance. Still, it is addressed to our reason, our conscience, our affections. Pharaoh repeatedly rejected Divine reproofs, when he refused to let the Hebrews go after each successive plague was removed. The Israelites in the wilderness murmured and rebelled again and again, in spite of continuous mercies and numerous sharp rebukes. God is often warning his children now. The faithful preaching of his truth is a rebuke to the thoughtless and the sinful. The interior voice of conscience utters its own solemn Divine reproof. If we sin heedlessly, we do not sin unwarned. The rejection of the reproof is no sign of its weakness or insufficiency. Even the warning words of Christ failed to arrest the wilful people of Jerusalem in their headlong race to destruction. (Mat_23:37)
II REPROOF IS REJECTED BY STUBBORN SELF-WILL. The neck is hardened. The obstinate man is like a horse that will not obey the reins; like one that has taken the bit into its teeth and will rush on in its own wild course.
1. This implies determination. One who was unreproved might plead ignorance or forgetfulness. Such an excuse cannot be put forward by the man who has been often reproved. His disregarded warnings will rise up in the judgment to condemn him. Meanwhile his continuous refusal to give heed to them is a sure sign of deliberate sinfulness.
2. This also implies hardness of heart. It is the hard heart that makes the neck hard. The stiff-necked generation is a stony-hearted generation. The repeated rejection of reproof tends to harden the heart more and more. The ear grows deaf to the often-neglected alarum.
III REPROOF, WHEN REJECTED, IS FOLLOWED BY RUIN. The reproof is a warning. Its very sternness is inspired by love, because it is intended to guard the foolish soul against impending danger. But after this has been heard unheeded there can be no escape.
1. There is no excuse. The warning has been uttered. Everything possible has been done to arrest the downward career of the stubborn reprobate.
2. There is double guilt. The rejection of the reproof is an additional sin an insult to the Divine righteousness and love.
3. There can be no hope of escape. The destruction may be sudden, after its long delay, and "that without remedy.
IV REPROOF, WHEN HEEDED, LEADS TO RESTORATION.
1. It contains hope. For if there were no way of escape open the language of reproof would be wasted. In that case it would come too late, and might as well be spared. The sternest reproof is a call to repentance, and this call points to a restoration.
2. It prepares for the gospel. John the Baptist makes straight the way for Christ. After we have humbly submitted to reproof, we shall hear the joyous message of the gospel.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-7. Private morality and the public weal
I TRUTHS OF PERSONAL CONDUCT.
1. The obstinate offender and his doom. (Ver. 1) The repeated complaint against Israel was that they were a "stiff-necked people." Self-willed, haughty, persistent, defying rebuke and chastisement, is the habit described. It invites judgment. "When lesser warnings will not serve, God looks into his quiver for deadly arrows." They who will not bend before the gentle persuasions of God"s Holy Spirit must feel the rod. Men may make themselves outlaws from the kingdom of God.
2. Wisdom and virtue inseparable in conduct. (Ver. 3) So much so that the same word may occasionally do duty for either notion. Thus the French mean by one who is "sage" one who is chaste and virtuous. The effects are alike. Joy is given to parents by the sage conduct of children; and vice is seen to be folly by the waste and want it brings in its train. (comp. Pro_6:26 Pro_10:1 Pro_28:7)
3. The dishonesty of flattery. (Ver. 5) It may be designed to deceive, and is then coloured with the darkest hue of treachery. Or it may be undesigned in its effects. But in either case, the web of flattering lies becomes a snare in which the neighbour stumbles to his fall. (comp. Pro_26:24, Pro_26:25, Pro_26:28) The kiss of the flatterer is more deadly than the hate of a foe. "When we are most praised for our discernment, we are apt to act most foolishly; for praise tends to cloud the understanding and pervert the judgment.
4. Delusive and genuine joy. (Ver. 6) The serpent is concealed amidst the roses of illicit pleasures; a canker is at the core of the forbidden fruit. A "shadow darkens the ruby of the cup, and dims the splendour of the scene." But ever there is a song in the ways of God. See the example of Patti and Silas even in prison. (Act_16:25) "Always there are evil days in the world; always good days in the Lord" (Augustine, on Psalm 33).
II THE INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL GOODNESS ON SOCIAL AND PUBLIC WEAL.
1. The general happiness is dependent on the conduct of individuals. (Ver. 2; comp. Pro_28:12, Pro_28:28) For society is a collection of individuals. "It is no peculiar conceit, but a matter of sound consequence, that all duties are by so much the better performed, by how much the men are more religious from whose abilities the same proceed. For if the course of political affairs cannot in any good sort go forward without fit instruments, and that which fitteth them be their virtues, let polity acknowledge itself indebted to religion, godliness being the chiefest, top, and well-spring of all true virtue, even as God is of all good things." "Religion, unfeignedly lived, perfecteth man"s abilities unto all kinds of virtuous services in the commonwealth" (Hooker, "Eccl. Pol.," 5:1).
2. The effect of just administration and of bribery. (Ver. 4) The best laws are of no avail if badly administered. God"s throne is founded on justice. (Psa_89:14) And this only can be the foundation of national stable polity and of the common weal "We will sell justice to none," says the Magna Charta. The theocracy was overthrown in the time of Samuel by the corruption of his sons. The just administration of David "bore up the pillars" of the land. (2Sa_8:15) The greed of Jehoiakim again shook the kingdom to its foundations. (Jer_22:18-19) Righteousness alone exalteth a nation.
3. Justice to the poor. (Ver. 7) The good man enters into the feelings of others, and makes the lot of the oppressed, in sympathy and imagination, his own. The evil and hard-hearted man, looking at life only from the outside, treats the poor as dumb driven cattle, and easily becomes the tyrant and the oppressor. Peculiarly, sympathy, consideration, compassion for the lowly and the poor, have been infused into the conscience of the world, and made "current coin" by the example and spirit of the Redeemer. J.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Ver. 1. The doom of obduracy.
There are four stages which conduct to spiritual ruin.
I HUMAN DISLOYALTY. Man is found (or finds himself) at enmity with God; he does not reverence, love, honour, serve, him. He owes everything to his Maker and Preserver and generous Benefactor; but he has not paid his great debt, and now he is estranged in spirit, and his life is one of disloyalty and rebellion.
II DIVINE SUMMONS TO RETURN. God is saying, "Return unto me, and I will return unto you;" "Let the wicked forsake his way... and let him return unto the Lord." By many messengers, in many voices, God calls us to repentance and reconciliation.
III HUMAN RECUSANCY. God calls, but men will not hearken or they will not heed. They either
(1) deliberately decline to listen; or they
(2) do listen without being seriously impressed; or they
(3) are impressed without coming to any right and wise decision; they linger and delay; they continually postpone; and every new procrastination makes indecision easier and delay more dangerous.
IV DIVINE PATIENCE. God "bears long" with men. We see his merciful and wonderful patience when we look at:
1. The time during which he continues to them preservation and privilege. Through childhood and youth, through manhood and the days of decline, up to extreme old age, God continues to men his sustaining and preserving power, and all the fulness of Christian privilege; though all the while they are abusing his gift of life by retaining it for their own personal enjoyment, and his gift of opportunity by slighting, or despairing, or misusing it.
2. The various means he employs in order to reach and restore us.
(1) God invites men, through his Word, and through the Christian ministry, and by the voices of the home and of human friendship.
(2) He commands; he requires that all men should repent and believe.
(3) He warns.
(4) He reproves; he often reproves. "He that is often reproved;" and very commonly a disloyal heart is often rebuked of God. Time after time he receives the admonition of his fellows, or he suffers the penalty of his guilt. God makes him to understand that "the way of transgressors is hard;" the merciful hand of the Divine Father interposes many obstacles in the way of his children"s ruin, that they may be stopped and may be led to return on their way. But sin does its fatal work of indurating the heart, of paralyzing the conscience, of blinding the eyes of the children of men; and the man who is "often rebuked" only "hardens his neck," and then comes the end
V SUDDEN AND IRREMEDIABLE RUIN.
1. Sometimes (perhaps frequently, in the case of those who are guilty of flagrant sin) the day of probation ends with startling suddenness: "They are brought into desolation in a moment." Death comes down upon them without any warning. In the full flow of iniquity their soul is that very night required of them, and they pass from guilt to judgment.
2. Commonly, the end comes without expectation, and so without preparation. Men are going on with the engagements and the indulgences of life; and they are expecting to go on indefinitely. Then comes the serious illness, the sick chamber, the medical attendant, the anxious inquiry, the unfavourable response, the solemn communication and the distressed and agitated soul has to say, "My hour is come, and I am not ready for its coming. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck.
Pro_29:1
He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck.
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The doom of the incorrigible sinner
This proverb may be accommodated to all the affairs of life. In whatever course a man blunders on, headstrong and regardless of advice and admonition, it will ruin him at last, as far as the matter is capable of working his ruin. But here principal reference is to religion. Often reproved--this is undoubtedly our character. Reproved by men from all quarters. The Word of God has reproved us. God has reproved us by His providence in private and public calamities. God has reproved us more immediately by His Spirit. We have also been our own monitors. Conscience has often pronounced our doom. Even the irrational creatures and infernal spirits may have been our monitors. Solomon assumes that a man may be often reproved, and yet harden his neck; that is, obstinately refuse submission and reformation. Nothing but a sullen and senseless beast can represent the stupid, unreasonable conduct of that man who hardens himself in sin, against the strongest dissuasion and reproofs from God and His creatures. The stiff neck that will not bend to the yoke of obedience must be broken, and its own stiffness renders it the more easily broken. It may harden itself into insensibility under reproof, but it cannot harden itself into insensibility under Divine judgments. He shall be suddenly destroyed. Sudden ruin is aggravated because it strikes a man into a consternation. There is dreadful reason to fear that you will always continue in your present condition if you persist in being proof against all admonition. (S. Davies, M.A.)
The duty of reprovers and persons reproved
The verse may be read, He that reproveth another, and hardeneth his own neck. The Hebrew is, A man of reproofs, that hardens his own neck.
1. Such a reprover of sin does it against his office. The office of a reprover binds him to be blameless.
2. Such a reprover can never reprove to a right end. It is not because he hates sin; if he did he would put it away from himself.
3. Such a reprover can never do it in a right manner. As long as a man has a beam in his own eye he cannot rightly deal with the mote in his brothers.
4. Such a reprover is a hypocrite.
5. Such a reprover is inexcusable. His reproving another mans sin makes himself inexcusable of his own.
6. Such a reprover is an absurd and impudent person. Such a man both wrongs his own soul and dishonours God. But the verse may be read, He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck. Hebrew is, Hardens his own neck. A man of reproofs equals a man often reproved. The Lord does not destroy a man nakedly, but upon consideration of sin. What a great sin it is, what a great ill it is, for man to sin against his reproofs.
The greatness of the ill is set down in two ways.
1. By the great sinfulness of the thing. It is called the hardening of a mans own neck.
2. By the greatness of the punishment that God inflicts upon this sin. When God reproves a man of sin, the reproof primarily comes out of love. The end of reproof is to bring a man to good, to reduce him into a right way, to convert a man, and save his soul. There is no reason in the world why reproof should be taken otherwise than with all willingness and thankfulness and cheerfulness. First use of this: See here what an infinite punishment God is bringing upon a kingdom when He is taking away reprovers from them.
The second use makes against those that despise the reproof of the wise. Ye despise not men, but God. The Lord proportions punishments to mens sins.
1. Because hereby mans punishment appears to be so much the more equal and worthy.
2. Because this stops a mans mouth; it convinceth s mans conscience.
3. All the standers-by see the equity of it. Consider and see how God proportions punishments to sins in kind, quantity, quality, time, and place. (William Fenner.)
The certain doom of the impenitent
I. The true idea of reproof. Whatever is calculated in its own nature or relations to arrest the attention of the mind, and call men to see their neglect of duty, or the obligation they owe to God, involves the true idea of reproof.
II. The ways in which God administers reproof. God exercises a universal providence. By judgments God ofttimes administers reproof. The Holy Spirit reproves by convincing the sinner of his sins and producing in his mind visitations of remorse.
III. The design of reproof. To effect a reformation. He means to secure this end by forbearance. When He finds that will not do, then He uses the rod.
IV. The meaning of hardening the neck. The figure is that of a bullock working with a yoke upon his neck. The neck becomes callous with the pressure of the yoke. Men are represented as pushing against Gods providence, and thus making their necks hard. The conscience of the sinner becomes quite callous under reproof if he does not yield to it.
V. The meaning of being suddenly destroyed. Opposition and destruction will always go together. The conscience becomes so stupefied that men lose the sense of danger. The danger of men is great, just in proportion as they cease to be affected by a sense of it; when men feel the most secure, if they are living in sin, then destruction is most certain; and when it comes it will be sudden, because they do not expect it at all. This is not arbitrary on the part of God; it is a natural consequence of the sinners conduct. (C. G. Finney.)
Hardening perilous
I. A case supposed.
1. You have often been reproved by kind and judicious parents.
2. Or by some faithful friend who has seen your tendency to evil, and has stepped in to prevent the destruction which he saw was on its way.
3. A still larger class among us God has counselled and reproved by His ministering servants.
4. Many have been reproved by afflictions of various kinds.
II. The severe judgment here denounced. The threat of the text is only against those who persevere in iniquity amidst all their religious privileges, who will not be warned nor instructed, who reject all advice and admonition, all offers of grace and mercy. Reflect on the suddenness, the greatness, and the eternity of the destruction which awaits impenitent offenders. But we only preach destruction that we may make you feel your need of salvation; and then, when we have awakened your fears, how gladly do we point you to the refuge and the remedy. (S. Bridge, M.A.)
A solemn warning
I. Gods lingering long-suffering. He reproves. Why? That we may turn and live. He reproves often. Why? Because He is not willing that any should perish.
II. Mans insane infatuation. Hardeneth his neck. Too many reject the Word of the Lord.
1. How terrible the power of sin!
2. How deceitful the heart of man!
3. How inexcusable and suicidal the sinner!
III. The terrirle threatening. Gods long-suffering will not always last.
1. The sinner shall be destroyed; his destruction is certain.
2. Be destroyed; his destruction fearful.
3. Shall suddenly; we know not what a day may bring forth.
IV. The awful appendix. And that without remedy. There is a remedy here and now, however sinful we have been, but there will be none hereafter. (David Jamison, B.A.)
Often reproved
I. The character implied.
II. The reproof given. Often reproved.
III. The reproof rejected. Hardeneth his neck. Setteth himself against taking the reproof, as a stubborn ox against taking the yoke. Indifferent to it. Laughs at it. Becomes worse. Obstinate in doing evil and in resisting good. Mind your own business. I am my own master. Throws off all restraint. Becomes sceptical, perhaps atheistic; scorns at religion and religious people.
IV. The punishment threatened. Shall suddenly, etc. He shall be cut off from hope; from friends; from honour; from happiness; from all his desirable possessions--suddenly; prematurely cut off; unexpectedly: apoplexy; disaster in travelling, etc. Irretrievable; eternal. Conclusion:
1. A limit to Gods long-suffering.
2. To live against Divine reproofs is perilous.
3. Divine reproofs are Divine mercies.
4. Exhort sinners. (John Bate.)
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_29:4. He that receiveth gifts. Zöckler translates this, “a…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_29:4. He that receiveth gifts. Zöckler translates this, “a man of taxes.”
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_29:1
REPROOF AND DESTRUCTION
I. An act of benevolence which is often resented. When a child is reproved, and if need be chastised, for playing with the fire or neglecting its lessons, all reasonable people see that it is a kind act, and the child itself, when it has grown wiser, acknowledges that the reproof, even if it took the form of punishment, was an act of true benevolence, for it has saved him from bodily suffering or from intellectual loss. But it is probable that at the time the reproof was administered it was received with resentment, and the parent or friend who administered it was looked upon as an enemy. And it is so generally with men in relation to the reproofs of God, whether they come direct in the shape of providential chastisements or indirectly in the rebukes of His servants. God can have but one aim in reproving His creatures, and that is to save them from the pain which follows sin, and to increase their capabilities of happiness by bringing them under His Divine training. But this effort of God is often resisted, and man in the act of resistance is here and elsewhere likened to the ox which refuses to obey his master. He “hardens his neck” against the yoke of Divine reproof. Repentant Ephraim acknowledges that under Divine chastisement he was “as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke” (Jer_31:18); he resisted the efforts of his God to bring him into subjection to His wise rule, and into harmony with His benevolent purposes concerning him. The ox who does nothing but browse is living the lowest form of life which a brute can live—he eats, and sleeps, and fattens for the knife. But if his master leads him from his pasture, and harnesses him to the plough, he thereby makes him a co-worker with himself; the beast now helps to raise the corn which not only feeds himself, but feeds men also, and thus, by coming under the yoke, he becomes a more useful and valuable creature. But as he is only a brute, he is not to be blamed if he prefers the lower life to the higher. As it is with the ox and his master, so it is with the sinner and God. The godless man is content to live upon a level with the lowest level of brute life—to satisfy his bodily appetites, to eat and drink, and die and leave undeveloped all his capacities for spiritual growth and blessedness. But God would make him a co-worker with Himself in lifting him to a higher level and in making him a more useful and blessed creature. But men often resist this benevolent intention, and resent this check upon their self-will.
II. The resistance to many acts of benevolence bringing one act of judgment. It must at last be decided whose will is to be the law of the universe—that of rebellious men or that of the Holy God; and though the Divine longsuffering is so exceedingly great, He must, in the interests of His creatures, assert His right to their obedience. This He did in the case of His chosen people—after centuries of resisted reproof sudden and irremediable destruction came upon the nation, and those who, like the Jews, will not come under the yoke of God, must sooner or later feel His rod. If they will not be His children they must be treated as rebellious subjects. On this subject see also on chap. Pro_6:15, page 82.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Such was the destruction of the old world, and of the cities of the plain, long hardened against the forbearance of God. Pharaoh grew more stubborn under the rod, and rushed madly upon his sudden ruin. Eli’s sons “hearkened not unto the voice of their father, and in one day died both of them.” Ahab, often reproved by the godly prophet, hardened his neck, and “the bow, drawn at a venture,” received its commission. How must Judas have steeled his heart against his Master’s reproof! Onward he rushed, “that he might go to his own place.”—Bridges.
Sins repeated and reiterated are much greater than sins once committed … As in numbers, one in the first place stands but for a single one, in the second place ten, in the third place for a hundred, so here, each repetition is a great aggravation. It is one thing to fall into the water, another thing to lie there; it is the latter that drowns men.—Swinnock.
On the subject of Pro_29:2, see on chap. Pro_11:10, page 206. On Pro_29:3, see on chap. Pro_10:1, page 137, and chap. Pro_5:1-20, page 68. The subject of Pro_29:4 has been treated on page 472, in the homiletics on chap. Pro_16:10-15, and that of Pro_29:5 in the homiletics on chap. Pro_26:23-28, page 721.
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.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain I. If we did not belong to two worlds—that…
Pro 29:18
I. If we did not belong to two worlds—that is, if we had not two very distinct natures—we should of course be utterly insusceptible to the vision of a higher, purer world than this. But because the physical man enshrines an inner man, the world of spirits can just as clearly be demonstrated to us as this world is demonstrated to our senses. Whether the opening up of communication between our spirit and the spirit-world will be during our earth life remains with God. But it is a fixed law and rule with Him, in order to keep faith alive on the earth, that some in every age shall not taste death until they have seen the glory of God and the forms of the immortals.
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II. There ought never to be an age without visions. If there be no open vision, then there is no direct testimony of the existence of God, or of the soul, or of a future life. A materialistic age, an age that sees no vision, but is entirely absorbed by material thoughts and in the pursuit of material good, may be a prosperous, flourishing world-age; but souls are ignored and given over to perish.
III. Reasoning from the conduct and method of God in all ages, we are driven to the conclusion that it is most reasonable to look for visions in our own day. No new age ever did, or ever can, dawn which is not inaugurated, however privately and secretly, 6y a new communication from God to man. Therefore we may be sure that to certain men and women in our own century the heavens have been as literally opened as they ever were to an Ezekiel, a Paul, or a John. In the age of no faith, Heaven breaks silence, and "the Son of man cometh." Therefore is it that here and there in our valley of dry bones there stands a man who is announcing the new faith with majestic authority and the earnestness of realisation.
J. Pulsford, Our Deathless Hope, p. 157.
Reference: Pro 29:19-27.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 306.
Pro 29:25
This has been proved to be true: (1) in the profession of Christianity; (2) in protesting against personal and social evils; (3) in attempting service on behalf of Christ; (4) in the proposition of new lines of thought. The fear of man produces three effects upon the sufferer: (1) loss of self-control; (2) modification of emphasis; (3) deepening of selfishness.
Parker, City Temple, vol. i., p. 62.
References: Pro 29:25.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Genesis to Proverbs, p. 198; W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 366. Pro 30:1-6.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 318. Pro 30:1-9.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 379. Pro 30:4.—A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 113. Pro 30:7-9.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 247. Pro 30:7-12.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 333. Pro 30:8.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 165. Pro 30:13-20.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. iii., p. 345. Pro 30:20.—S. Cox, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. vi., p. 256. Pro 30:21-33.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, p. 354.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Kings and Fathers
Kings and Fathers
3. Cp. the prodigal son (Luke 15).
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6. His transgression is the snare which catches and ruins him.
9. If a wise man has a lawsuit with a fool the latter will exhibit the most diverse moods, but one thing he will not do, and that is to listen quietly.
10. RM 'But the upright care for his soul.'
12. They argue that truth does not pay.
13. To the poor and 'the oppressor' (RV), to all classes alike, God gives the light of life (Psa_13:3; Psa_38:10).
17. 'Better the child weep than the father.'
18. The vision of the prophet (Isa_1:1) and the instruction of the law deterred the people from 'casting off restraint' (RV). Morality requires the safeguard of religion.
19. Sir_33:24-29 recommends blows.
21. LXX has, 'He who has been luxurious from a child will become a servant, and in the end will be wretched.'
24. This does not mean a man who goes shares in the booty, but one who knows the thief, hears the adjuration to testify (Lev_5:1), and fails to respond.
27. 'Birds of a feather flock together.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain CHAPTER 29 The Final Instructions
CHAPTER 29 The Final Instructions
These final instructions given in proverbs cover the similar ground as those in the previous chapters. Wisdom shines out in each, and the contents of every proverb shows that the author is not Solomon but He who is perfect in knowledge. “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Scripture abounds with examples of cases of hardening the neck and the heart, like Pharaoh, Ahab and others. This proverb will be finally proven to be the truth when an ungodly age will end with judgment for those who were often reproved and continue in sin.
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Once more the sin of flattery is mentioned. “A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet” Pro 29:5. Flattery is akin to lying and can never be right, but is always a mistake, which results in the gravest consequences. More servants of the Lord have been spoiled by flattery than in any other manner. It is literally, as this proverb says, “spreading a net for his feet.”
In Pro 29:23 we read, “A man’s pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.” It should be connected with the proverb in Pro 26:12, “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceits? There is more hope of a fool than of him.” Pride always brings low; humility always brings up. The highest place is the lowest place. “The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” Pro 29:25. The fear of man is born of unbelief. The Christian who fears man shows clearly that he is not looking to the Lord, but to man. The fear of man surely bringeth a snare, it leads to men-pleasing and men-praising. And because one seeks the honor which comes from man and not the honor which cometh from God only, man, his approval or disapproval, is feared. The fear of man is as dangerous, as subtle and as un-christianlike as flattery, talebearing, backbiting, whispering and the other evil things mentioned in these proverbs.
This chapter concludes the proverbs of Solomon. As we have seen, the instructions which he received, first from the Lord, and the instructions which were given such which were for his conduct and life, for guidance and direction, and the proverbs which were revealed to him to give to others. We express once more the belief that every true Christian should devote more attention to these God-given instructions. How much there is in all of them for all classes of believers!
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Description of Stubbornness and Disobedience
Description of Stubbornness and Disobedience
v. 1. He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shaking off the reproofs with deliberate stubbornness, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy, for when the patience of God is exhausted, He will shut the door to repentance and bring ruin upon the offender.
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v. 2. When the righteous are in authority, when they increase in numbers, when they are in the majority, the people rejoice, for such a condition serves to further the welfare of a nation; but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn, grieving on account of the harm which is bound to strike the country under the administration of the ungodly. cf Pro 28:12.
v. 3. Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father, who will, of course, share in the reward which the application of wisdom brings, 10:1; but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance, thus bringing disgrace upon himself and upon all his relatives.
v. 4. The king by judgment, by maintaining the cause of righteousness and justice, establisheth the land, so that it is in good condition, so that safety and prosperity are assured to all its citizens; but he that receiveth gifts, is influenced in his administration by bribes which are offered him, overthroweth it, for in such a manner good government is bound to be perverted.
v. 5. A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet, for all his fine talk lacks sincerity, serving merely as a veil of hypocrisy to keep his victim from realizing the peril into which he is being led.
v. 6. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare, he is caught in his own wickedness; but the righteous doth sing and rejoice, not only for a moment, but constantly, on account of the good fortune which is the reward of virtue.
v. 7. The righteous considereth the cause of the poor, regarding them as entitled to certain rights in life; but the wicked regardeth not to know it, he refuses to listen to reason and to consider the right of the poor, he has neither compassion nor justice in his make-up.
v. 8. Scornful men bring a city into a snare, literally, "Men of mockery set on fire a city," namely, by exciting the passions and the party spirit of the people upon every occasion; but wise men turn away wrath, they work to subdue passions and to prove themselves peacemakers always.
v. 9. If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, trying to gain a point for his own cause, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest, that is, the fool will either fly into a rage or pretend to find the matter extremely funny, so that it is impossible to argue with him in a sane manner.
v. 10. The bloodthirsty hate the upright, since the conduct of the righteous is a constant reproof to them; but the just seek his soul, their aim being to uphold and preserve the upright.
v. 11. A fool uttereth all his mind, he is ready, upon the slightest occasion, to give vent to angry spite; but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards, he does not permit his angry feeling to get the better of him, but controls himself always.
v. 12. If a ruler hearken to lies, permitting his judgment to be swayed by lying flattery and exaggerated misrepresentations, all his servants are wicked, for since their master does not heed the truth, they are educated and trained in falsehood.
v. 13. The poor and the deceitful man, literally, "the usurer," the unmerciful creditor, meet together, they live side by side, as incongruous as it often seems; the Lord lighteneth both their eyes, they both owe their blessings to His kindness. Cf Mat 5:45.
v. 14. The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, with proper attention to his duty, so that he renders always a true judgment, his throne shall be established forever. cf Pro 20:28; Pro 25:5.
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 who stiffens his neck
who stiffens his neck
A person becoming stubborn is spoken of as if he stiffens his neck. AT: "who becomes stubborn" or "who refuses to listen" (See: Metaphor)
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will be broken in a moment
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God will suddenly break him" (See: Active or Passive)
beyond healing
"and no one will be able to heal him." Sickness is a metaphor for any kind of bad situation. AT: "and no one will be able to help him" (See: Metaphor)
the people sigh
The people let out long, loud breaths that show that they are weary and sad. AT: "the people will be weary and sad" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
rebuke
cure
joy
evil
rule
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.