Proverbs 25:20

20. As he that taketh away Rather, putteth off.

In cold weather Literally, in a day of cold.

Vinegar… nitre נתר , ( nether,) the natron or natrum of the ancients, and wholly different in its qualities from our nitre or saltpetre. It is an alkali, native in India, Syria, Tripoli, Egypt, Hungary, and other parts of the world. It is found in abundance in many parts of Asia, where the natives sweep it up from the ground, and call it soap earth. It was used in washing clothes and in baths. Compare Jeremiah 2:22. It was made into soap by mixing it with oil. It readily dissolves in water, but produces a strong fermentation with acids. It is known in our modern chemistry (or a similar alkali produced by art) as the carbonate of soda. “Vinegar” here, as elsewhere in the Bible, means sour wine. Its Hebrew form is חמצ , ( hhomets,) from the root חמצ , ( hhamats,) to be sharp, sour, or to ferment.

A heavy heart Might be rendered a bad heart, which, according to a high authority, has no relish for music:

The man that hath no music in himself

Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. Shakspeare.

So Melanchthon and others interpret the words, and make the meaning, “pertinacious sinners” are made more furious by admonitions. But the words are generally understood, as in our translation, of a heart affected with grief. Mirth, from its incongruity with his feelings, makes a sad man’s heart more sad. The Septuagint reads: “As vinegar is bad for a sore, so trouble befalling the body afflicts the heart;” and adds another: “As a moth in a garment and a worm in wood, so the grief of a man hurts the heart.”