"The poor man and the oppressor meet together; Jehovah lighteneth the eyes of them both."Cook rendered "oppressor" here as "usurer,"[19] and the last line as, "God bestows his light equally on both." This, of course, is the equivalent of, "God maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). read more
"The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, His throne shall be established forever."Proverbs 16:12 and Proverbs 25:12 are similar. Throughout Proverbs, it is taught that, "The perpetual duration of a dynasty depends not upon intellectual or physical superiority, but upon moral character."[20] read more
"The rod and reproof give wisdom; But a child left to himself causeth shame to his mother."Proverbs 13:24 and Proverbs 23:13 also deal with discipline for children. See comments under similar proverbs. In several other disciplinary instructions, the undisciplined son is said to cause shame, grief, etc. to his father; and the wise or well-disciplined son is said to bring joy to his father. See Proverbs 17:21 and Proverbs 23:24-25. Toy noted that, "The mother might have been mentioned here (1)... read more
"When the wicked are increased, transgression increaseth; But the righteous shall look upon their fall."Other proverbs in the same vein of thought are: Proverbs 11:10-11; 28:12,28; and Proverbs 29:2, above. See comments under those references. "Here the proverb carries the theme further than the other passages by its closing assurance."[22] read more
"Correct thy son, and he will give thee rest; Yea, he will give delight unto thy soul."See my discussion of discipline under Proverbs 29:15. read more
"Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; But he that keepeth the law, happy is he."Both the American Standard Version and the RSV butchered this beautiful verse, neither of them approaching the grandeur of the KJV. "Where there is no vision, the people perish."[23] read more
"A servant will not be corrected by words; For though he understand, he will not give heed.""The servant mentioned here is a slave whose obedience is reluctant."[24] Such a person will deliberately refuse to be properly instructed. read more
"Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him."This is the same as Proverbs 26:12, except there it is the man "who is wise in his own conceit" who is more hopeless than a fool. Here it is the man who is hasty in his words. read more
"He that delicately bringeth up a servant from a child Shall have him become a son at the last.""We really do not know the significance of the word rendered `a son' (or `an heir' in the margin), and so this verse is obscure."[25] read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Proverbs 29:12
"If a ruler hearkeneth to falsehood, All his servants are wicked.""If a ruler listens to lies, then all his servants will be evil."[16] "If a ruler listens to lies, then all his servants become depraved."[17] As these renditions stand, they seem to say that a king's listening to falsehoods would somehow make his servants evil. Toy commented that, "The courtiers adjust themselves to the prince."[18] We cannot find any support in any of the versions or commentators for our feeling that something... read more