Proverbs 14:15 - Exposition

The simple believeth every word. "Simple" ( pethi ) , the credulous person, open to all influences ( Proverbs 1:22 ). The Vulgate has innocens, and the Septuagint ἄκακος ; but the word is best taken in an unfavourable sense. The credulous fool believes all that he hears without proof or examination; having no fixed principles of his own, he is at the mercy of any adviser, and is easily led astray. Ec Proverbs 19:4 , "He that is hasty to give credit is light minded, and he that sinneth (thus) shall offend against his own soul." It is often remarked how credulous are unbelievers in supernaturalism. They who refuse to credit the most assured facts of Christ's history will pin their faith on some philosophical theory or insufficiently supported opinion, and will bluster and contend in maintenance of a notion today which tomorrow will prove untenable and absurd. Many who despise the miraculous teaching of the Bible accept the follies and frauds of spiritualism (comp. John 5:43 ). Hesiod, ἔργ , 372—

πίστεις δ ἄρ τοι ὁμῶς καὶ ἀπιστίαι ὤλεσαν

"Belief and unbelief alike are fatal."

Cato, 'Dist.,' 2.20—

" Noli tu quaedam referenti credere semper;

Exigua his tribuenda fides qui multa loquuntur .'

The prudent man looketh well to his going ( Proverbs 19:8 ); Vulgate, Astutus considerat gressus suos. The prudent man considers whither the advice given will lead him, always acts with deliberation. This maxim is attributed to Pythagoras—

"Let none persuade thee by his word or deed

To say or do what is not really good;

And before action well deliberate,

Lest thou do foolishly."

( χρυς . επη , 25, sqq. )

Septuagint, "The clever man ( πανοῦργις ) cometh unto repentance [or, 'afterthought'] ( μετάνοιαν );" i.e. if he, like the simpleton, is too credulous, he will smart for it. ΄ετάνοια , so common in the New Testament, is not found elsewhere in the Greek Version of the canonical Scriptures, though it occurs in Ec 44:16; Wis. 11:23, etc. The Vulgate here introduces the Septuagint addition in Proverbs 13:13 .