Proverbs 12:1-6 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:1

We are here taught to try whether we have grace or no by enquiring how we stand affected to the means of grace. 1. Those that have grace and love it will delight in all the instructions that are given them by way of counsel; admonition, or reproof, by the word or providence of God; they will value a good education, and think it not a hardship, but a happiness, to be under a strict and prudent discipline. Those that love a faithful ministry, that value it, and sit under it with pleasure, make... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:2

Note, 1. We are really as we are with God. Those are happy, truly happy, for ever happy, that obtain favour of the Lord, though the world frown upon them, and they find little favour with men; for in God's favour is life, and that is the fountain of all good. On the other hand those are miserable whom he condemns, however men may applaud them, and cry them up; whom he condemns he condemns to the second death. 2. We are with God as we are with men, as we have our conversation in this world. Our... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:3

Note, 1. Though men may advance themselves by sinful arts, they cannot by such arts settle and secure themselves; though they may get large estates they cannot get such as will abide: A man shall not be established by wickedness; it may set him in high places, but they are slippery places, Ps. 73:18. That prosperity which is raised by sin is built on the sand, and so it will soon appear. 2. Though good men may have but little of the world, yet that little will last, and what is honestly got... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:4

Note, 1. He that is blessed with a good wife is as happy as if he were upon the throne, for she is no less than a crown to him. A virtuous woman, that is pious and prudent, ingenious and industrious, that is active for the good of her family and looks well to the ways of her household, that makes conscience of her duty in every relation, a woman of spirit, that can bear crosses without disturbance, such a one owns her husband for her head, and therefore she is a crown to him, not only a credit... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:5

Note, 1. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and judges them. We mistake if we imagine that thoughts are free. No, they are under the divine cognizance, and therefore under the divine command. 2. We ought to be observers of the thoughts and intents of our own hearts, and to judge of ourselves by them; for they are the first-born of the soul, that have most of its image undisguised. Right thoughts are a righteous man's best evidences, as nothing more... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:6

In the foregoing verse the thoughts of the wicked and righteous were compared; here their words, and those are as the abundance of the heart is. 1. Wicked people speak mischief to their neighbours; and wicked indeed those are whose words are to lie in wait for blood; their tongues are swords to those that stand in their way, to good men whom they hate and persecute. See an instance, Luke 20:20, 21. 2. Good men speak help to their neighbours: The mouth of the upright is ready to be opened in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:1

Whose loveth instruction loveth knowledge ,.... That loves the instruction of Wisdom, or Christ, Proverbs 4:13 ; the means of instruction, the Scriptures, which are profitable for instruction in righteousness, and are written for our learning; the Gospel, which instructs into the person, office, and grace of Christ; the ministers of the word, who are so many instructors in Christ; and even the rod of afflictions, by which men are taught their duty, and the will of God: and these are to be... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:2

A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord ,.... One that is made so by the grace of God, for no man is so naturally; there is none good, nor does good, no, not one, until some good thing is put into him, or the good work of grace is begun in him. And such a man obtains favour or good will from the Lord; that is, as Gersom explains it, what he himself wills, for the will of God is his will; or rather the good will of God, his grace, and layout; fresh manifestations and discoveries of which he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:3

A man shall not be established by wickedness ,.... Not any man, though he may be established in his wickedness, so as not to be rooted out of it; yet he cannot be so established by it as not to be removed from a prosperous state and condition into an unhappy and distressed one; he may seem to be in a firm and settled state of prosperity, amidst all his wickedness; be like a green bay tree, spreading itself, and seemingly immovable, when on a sudden it is blown down and rooted up, and is no... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:4

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband ,.... One that is loving and chaste, constant and faithful, obsequious and submissive to him; that is diligent in the affairs of her house, takes care of her family, brings up her children, and keeps up a good order and decorum among her servants, is an honour and credit to her husband. Such is the true church of Christ, who is compared to a woman, Revelation 12:1 ; to a woman of purity and chastity, whose members are virgins, not defiled with... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:1

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:2

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 12:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 12:4

Group of Brands