Proverbs 3:24-35

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:27-28

Dilatoriness in the payment of just debts I. THIS DILATORINESS IN MORALLY CULPABLE , AND MOST INJURIOUS TO SOCIETY . Through thoughtlessness in some cases, through deliberate meanness in others, many people postpone the payment of their just debts as long as possible, though they have the money by them, and are perhaps turning it to account for their own advantage. Such needless delay of justice should be regarded as a moral offence. A sad laxity prevails in this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:27-28

Promptitude in good actions I. NEGATIVE UNKINDNESS . ( Proverbs 3:27 .) 1 . It consists in withholding good which it is in our power to impart. 2 . It is analogous to the refusal repay a just debt. Kindness is the "due" of our fellow men. This does not imply the giving to every beggar or borrower. No act is required which, under the show of kindness, involves no real benefit to another or actually involves an injustice to ourself or another. We must carry these precepts... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:27-32

Four valuable virtues There are some graces which, though not of the first importance, are yet far from being unimportant. Many men so fashion their lives that while, upon the whole, they are rightly reckoned among the wise and good, they are much less happy, less honoured, and less useful than they might become if they heeded a few small things. If we had regard to some of the minor moralities which we are apt to neglect, there would be less friction and more beauty in our lives than is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:27-35

6. Sixth admonitory discourse. In this discourse the teacher still carries on his object, which is to demonstrate the conditions upon which true wisdom and happiness are to be attained. The discourse differs from the preceding in consisting of detached proverbs, and may be divided into two main sections—the first ( Proverbs 3:27-30 ) enjoining benevolence, that love to one's neighbour which is the fulfilling of the Law; the second warning against emulating the oppressor and associating... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:28

The precept of this and that of the preceding verse are very closely related. The former precept enjoined the general principle of benevolence when we have the means; this carries on the idea, and is directed against the postponement of giving when we are in a position to give. In effect it says, "Do not defer till tomorrow what you can do today." This "putting off" may arise from avarice, from indolence, or from insolence and contempt. These underlying faults, which are incompatible with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:29

Devise not evil against thy neighbour. This precept is directed against abuse of confidence. Devise not evil ( al takharosh raah ). The meaning of this expression lies between "fabricating evil" and "ploughing evil." The radical meaning of kharash, from which takharosh, is "to cut into," "to inscribe" letters on a tablet, cognate with the Greek χαράσσειν , "to cut into." But it is used in the sense of "to plough" in Job 4:18 , "They that plough iniquity ( khar'shey aven ) , ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:29-31

Odious passions Let them he held up in the clear exposure of Wisdom, that their very mention may suggest their hideousness. I. MALICE AND ITS DEVICES . ( Proverbs 3:29 .) Literally, "Forge not ill against thy neighbour." 1 . Malice, like love, is all-inventive. But as the devices of the latter are the very instruments of progress and good, so those of the former are pernicious—burglar's tools, cunning instruments of torture. 2 . Directed against unsuspecting objects,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:30

The meaning of the precept in this verse is clear. We are nat to strive or quarrel with a man unless he has first given us offence. So Le Clerc, "Nisi injuria prior lacessiverit." The admonition is directed against those who, from spite, jealousy, or other reasons, "stir up strife all the day long" with those who are quiet and peaceable. Strive. The Keri here reads tariv for the Khetib taruv, but without any change of meaning. The verb ruv, from which taruv, is "to strive or contend... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:31

Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. The thought of strife in the preceding verse leads to that of oppression, and the precept is directed against fellowship with those who outrage the general law of benevolence and justice, Envy not ; i.e. as Stuart, "Do not anxiously covet the booty which men of violence acquire." Success and wealth may follow from severity and extortion, but the man who acquires prosperity by these means is not to be envied even by the victim of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:32

This verse gives the reason for the previous warning. The oppressor is here included under the more general term, "the froward." The froward; naloz, hiph. participle from luz , "to bend aside," and hence a perverted or wicked man, one who turns aside from the way of uprightness, a transgressor of the Law (cf. LXX ; παράνομος ); and so the opposite of "the righteous," y'sharim, "the upright," those who pursue the path of justness, or the straightforward. Abomination ( toevah );... read more

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