Proverbs 1:19 - Exposition

So am the ways of every one that is greedy of gain. The epiphonema or moral of the preceding address. So are the ways, or such is the lot (as Delitzsch), or such are the paths (as Zockler), i.e. so deceitful, so ruinous, are the ways. כֵּן ( chen, ) is here used as a qualitative adverb. Ways ; אָרְחוֹת ( ar'khoth ) , the plural of אֹרַח ( orakh ) , a poet. word, equivalent in the first instance to "way," i . q. דֶרֶךְ ( derekh ) , and metaphorically applied to any one's ways, his manner of life and its result, and hence lot, as in Job 8:12 , and hence the expression coven the three preceding verses. That is greedy of gain ( בֹצֵעַ בָּצַע , botsea batsa ); literally, concupiscentis concupiscentium lucri ; i.e. eagerly longing after gain; he who greedily desires riches ( avari, Vulgate). Gain ; batsa in pause, from בֶּצַע ( betsa ), which takes its meaning from the verb בָּצַע ( batsa ), "to out in pieces, to break," and hence means properly that which is cut or broken off and taken by any one for himself, and so unjust gain— anything whatever fraudulently acquired, as in Proverbs 28:16 , where it is translated "covetousness" (Authorized Version); cf. Isaiah 33:15 ; Proverbs 15:27 . The idea of greed and covetousness enters largely into the word. Which taketh away the life of the owners thereof. The pronoun "which" does not occur in the original. The nominative to "taketh away" ( יִקָּת , yikkath ) is "gain;" the "unjust gain . " ( betsa ) takes away the life of its owners, i.e. of those who are under its power. Owners thereof ( בְּעָלָיוֹ , b'alayo ) does not necessarily imply that they are in actual possession of the unjust gain, but rather refers to the influence which the lust for gain exercises over them. The expression in this second hemistich does not mean that the rapacious take the life of their comrades who possess the gain, as Rabbi Salomon; nor as the Vulgate, "the ways of the avaricious man take away the lives of those who possess them." For the phrase, "taketh away the life," as importing a violent taking away, cf. Psalms 31:13 ; 1 Kings 19:10 . The sentiment of the verse is well expressed in 1 Timothy 6:10 , "For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."