Proverbs 14:13-14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 14:13

This shows the vanity of carnal mirth, and proves what Solomon said of laughter, that it is mad; for, 1. There is sadness under it. Sometimes when sinners are under convictions, or some great trouble, they dissemble their grief by a forced mirth, and put a good face on it, because they will not seem to yield: they cry not when he binds them. Nay, when men really are merry, yet at the same time there is some alloy or other to their mirth, something that casts a damp upon it, which all their... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 14:14

Note, 1. The misery of sinners will be an eternal surfeit upon their sins: The backslider in heart, who for fear of suffering, or in hope of profit or pleasure, forsakes God and his duty, shall be filled with his own ways; God will give him enough of them. They would not leave their brutish lusts and passions, and therefore they shall stick by them, to their everlasting terror and torment. He that is filthy shall be filthy still. ?Son, remember,? shall fill them with their own ways, and set... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 14:13

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful ,.... As Belshazzar's was in the midst of his feast and jollity, when he saw the writing on the wall; so sin may stare a man in the face, and guilt load his conscience and fill him with sorrow, amidst his merriment; a man may put on a merry countenance, and feign a laugh, when his heart is very sorrowful; and oftentimes this sorrow comes by sinful laughter, by mocking at sin and jesting at religion; and the end of that mirth is heaviness :... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 14:14

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways ,.... One that is a backslider at heart, whose heart departeth from the Lord; in whom there is an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; and indeed apostasy begins at the heart, and shows itself in the life and conversation: there may be a backsliding when the heart does not wickedly depart from God; but is through the infirmity of the flesh and the force of temptation; from which backslidings the Lord's people are... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 14:13

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful - Many a time is a smile forced upon the face, when the heart is in deep distress. And it is a hard task to put on the face of mirth, when a man has a heavy heart. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 14:14

The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways - Who is the backslider? סוג sug . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 14:8-19

The understanding of one's way I. THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE . ( Proverbs 14:8 .) To note, to observe, to take heed to one's way, is the characteristic of the man who is prudent for time and wise for eternity. And, on the contrary, the very principle of folly is self-deception—to be followed in turn by a terrible awakening to sobriety and recognition of the truth (comp. Psalms 7:15 ; Job 4:8 ). The right way is illustrated both positively and negatively. II. SOME PARTICULAR ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 14:10-13

Loneliness and laughter The tenth verse suggests to us the serious and solemnizing fact of— I. THE ELEMENT OF LONELINESS IN HUMAN LIFE . "The heart knoweth its own bitterness," etc. In one aspect our life path is thronged. It is becoming more and more difficult to be alone. Hours that were once sacred to solitude are now invaded by society. And yet it remains true that "in the central depths of our nature we are alone." There is a point at which, as he goes inward, our... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 14:13

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful (comp. Proverbs 14:10 ). This recalls Lucretius's lines— " Medio de fonte leporum Surgit amari aliquid, quod in ipsis fioribus angat . The text is scarcely to be taken as universally true, but either as specially applicable to those mentioned in the preceding verse, or as teaching that the outward mirth often cloaks hidden sorrow (comp. Virgil, ' AE neid,' 1.208, etc.). And the end of that joy is bitterness; it has in it no element of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 14:13

The sadness that lies behind laughter. This verse reads like one of the melancholy reflections of the pessimist preacher in Ecclesiastes. Yet there is a profound truth in it, as all thoughtful minds must recognize. Physically, intense laughter produces acute pangs. Laughter "holds his sides" with pain. Shelley sang truly— "Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught." A long laugh naturally fills the eyes with tears and dies away in a sigh of weariness. Further, a season of undue... read more

Group of Brands