Verses 17-21
III. ADDITIONS MADE BEFORE HEZEKIAH’S TIME TO THE OLD NUCLEUS OF THE COLLECTION MADE BY SOLOMON
Proverbs 22:17 to Proverbs 24:34
First Supplement:—Various precepts concerning righteousness and practical wisdom
Proverbs 22:17 to Proverbs 24:22
a) Introductory admonition to take to heart the words of the wise man
17 Incline thine ear and hear words of the wise,
and apply thine heart to my knowledge!
18 For it is pleasant if thou keep them within thee;
let them abide together upon thy lips!
19 That thy trust may be in Jehovah,
I have taught thee this day, even thee!
20 Have not I written to thee excellent words,
with counsels and knowledge,
21 to make known to thee the certainty of the words of truth,
that thou mightest return words of truth to them that send thee?
b) Admonition to justice toward others, especially the poor
22 Rob not the poor because he is poor,
and oppress not the wretched in the gate;
23 for Jehovah will conduct their cause,
and spoil the soul of those that spoil them.
24 Have no intercourse with an angry man,
and with a furious man thou shalt not go,
25 lest thou learn his ways
and prepare a snare for thy soul.
26 Be not among them that strike hands,
who become sureties for debts;
27 if thou hast nothing to pay
why shall he take thy bed from under thee?
28 Remove not the ancient landmark
which thy fathers have set.
29 Seest thou a man that is diligent in his business—
before kings shall he stand;he shall not stand before mean men.
GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL
Proverbs 22:17. [Observe the interchange of the imperative הַט with the 2d pers. sing. of the Imperf. תָּשִׁית.—A.]
Proverbs 22:18. [In יַחְדָּו we have illustrated, as in many other instances, the final disregard of the originally strict application of the suffixes to their own person and number: let them abide in its entireness, etc.—A.]
Proverbs 22:20. [Bött. § 707, 2, explains the masc. adj. שָׁלִשִׁים of the K’ri as an example of masculines used in describing the pre-eminent and striking,—but on account of the הַיּוֹם of Proverbs 22:19 gives the preference to the K’thibh שִׁלְשׁוֹם. So Stuart and Muensch.—A.]
Proverbs 22:21. [לְשֹׁלְחֶיךָ, one of the plural participles, not uncommon in our book, to be taken distributively, as applicable to each of all possible cases. Bött. § 702, ε.—A.]
Proverbs 22:22; Proverbs 22:24; Proverbs 22:26; Proverbs 22:28. [Further examples of the Jussive with the negative adverb אַל, instead of a direct prohibition with the Imperative; comp. Latin, ne facias; Greek, μὴ γράφῃς (Kuehner, § 250, 5, Hadley, § 723, a); as though in prohibitions a sense of fitness or obligation were appealed to rather than an authority asserted.—A.]—(Proverbs 22:24). אֵת בּוֹא here, in accordance with the later usus loquendi, is equivalent to אֵת הָלַךְ; comp. Psalms 26:4.
Proverbs 22:25. [The more compact form תֶּאְלַף for תֶּאֱלַף under the influence of the preceding פֶּך; Bött. § 1059, d.—A.]
Proverbs 22:27. [An example of what is called the concrete impersonal in Hebrew is found in יִקַּח; why should he, any one do this? Bött. § 935, c.—A.]
Proverbs 22:29. [יִתְיַצֵּב; Böttcher’s Fiens licitum or debitum, rendered by the German darf: it is his privilege or prerogative.—A.]
EXEGETICAL
1. That a new division of the collection begins with Proverbs 22:17, coming from another hand than compiled the preceding main division, appears not merely from the expression “words of wise men,” which reminds us of Proverbs 1:6, but also from the characteristic style of the proverbs which are found from this point onward to the end of chap. 24. These no longer consist of verses of two clauses constructed according to the antithetic parallelism, but for the most part of longer sentences, which as a general rule comprise two verses, sometimes, however, three (e.g. Proverbs 23:1-3; Proverbs 23:6-8), or even five (thus Proverbs 23:31-35; Proverbs 24:30-34). By the side of the isolated proverbs containing an antithesis of two members, such as are here and there interspersed (e.g. Proverbs 22:28; Proverbs 23:9; Proverbs 23:12; Proverbs 23:19; Proverbs 23:22; Proverbs 24:8 sq., 23 sq.), there are found in addition several verses constructed of three clauses (Proverbs 22:29; Proverbs 23:5; Proverbs 23:7; Proverbs 23:31; Proverbs 23:35; Proverbs 24:12; Proverbs 24:31). There is prevalent everywhere the minutely hortatory or in turn admonitory style, rather than that which is descriptive and announces facts. The אַל which serves to introduce the utterance of warnings is found not less than seventeen times within the two and a half chapters before us, while in the twelve chapters of the preceding main division it occurred but twice (Proverbs 20:13; Proverbs 20:22). Many linguistic peculiarities in the section appear, moreover, to indicate a later period; whether it be the earliest period after the exile, as Hitzig proposes, may indeed be the more doubtful and uncertain, since many peculiarities of the section, especially the expression, “words of the wise” (in Proverbs 22:17), like the prevailing admonitory tone of the discourse, seem to favor the assumption of Delitzsch, that its author is identical with that of the introductory main division, chap. 1–9. Comp. Introduction, § 12, p. 29.
2.Proverbs 22:17-21. The introductory admonition to give heed to the words of the wise.
Proverbs 22:18. For it is pleasant if thou keep them within thee. “Them,” viz., “the words of the wise,” for only to these can the suffix relate, and not to “my knowledge;” so that accordingly this proposition in Proverbs 22:18 a, beginning with “for,” serves to justify only the first half and not the whole of Proverbs 22:17. With 18 b: let them abide together upon thy lips, the admonitory discourse proceeds, and in the first instance attaches itself to the substance of 17 b (comp. Proverbs 5:2). Against the common construction, which regards the verb יִֹכּנוּ as a continuation of the conditional clause, “if thou keep,” etc., [so e.g. De W., N., S., M., Muffet, etc.], we adduce the absence of a second conditional particle, or at least a copula before the Imperf., which in its present position at the beginning of a clause clearly appears to be a Jussive. Comp. Hitzig on this passage.
Proverbs 22:19. That thy trust may be in Jehovah I have taught thee this day, even thee! The perfect represents the work of teaching as already begun and now in progress, like the “I have given,” Proverbs 4:2.—אַף אַתָּה, etiam te, inquam, Germ. ja dich! yea, thee! even thee! The expression brings out strongly the idea that the present teaching is designed for the student of wisdom who is here addressed, for him and for no one else (Mercer, Geier, J. H. Michaelis, Ewald, De W., Bertheau, etc.). There is no occasion for Umbreit’s interrogative conception of the words: “but thou?”: i.e. dost thou also attend to my teaching? and the same is true of Hitzig’s attempted emendation, according to which we should read אַף אֹתָהּ, “this also, the very same.”—The first member, moreover, gives not so much the substance as the object of the teaching, and that as consisting in the development of a firm trust in God, or in the increase and establishment of faith (comp. Luke 17:5).
Proverbs 22:20. Have I not written (Z., “behold, I write) to thee excellent words? (The K’ri שָׁלִישִׁים from שָׁלִישׁ), which is equivalent to נָגִיד, “a great man, a nobleman” (comp. Keil on 2 Samuel 23:8), describes the words as of the highest, noblest worth, of pre-eminent value, as verba eximia s. principalia (comp. the similar term in Proverbs 8:6). So, and doubtless correctly, Ziegler, Ewald, Elster, etc. Comp. the early rendering, τρισμέγιστα, of the Vers. Veneta. [K. renders “expressive, or significant,” bedeutsam]. Others interpret the K’ri differently, e.g. Hitzig: bequests, Vermächtnisse (in accordance with the Rabbinic שָׁלִישׁ, depositarius); the Vulg. and some of the older expositors, “three-fold, i.e. several times, in various ways” (so Luther): or even “in three forms,” so that the reference will be to the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa, as the three chief constituents of the divine word, or again, to the three books of Solomon, etc. The K’thibh is explained ordinarily, by supplying an omitted תְּמוֹל, in the sense of “before, formerly;” thus Umbreit, e.g.; “have I not formerly written to thee?” (In a similar way Bertheau). But the ellipsis of a “yesterday” before this שִׂלְשׁוֹם would be without any linguistic analogy; and in a section which introduces subsequent admonitions a reminder of teachings formerly given seems little appropriate. For this reason the K’ri in the sense above given is unquestionably to be preferred. [S. and M. prefer the adverbial rendering; the majority of the English commentators with the E. V. the substantive.—A.]—With counsels and knowledge, so far forth, viz., as these are contained in the “princely words.”
Proverbs 22:21. To make known to thee the certainty of the words of truth. “Correctness, verity,” as e.g. in the Targ. on Jeremiah 22:13; Jeremiah 22:15; Sam. Genesis 15:6 (where it is made equivalent to צֶדֶק, “righteousness”). Comp. the Chaldee קוּשְׁטָא in the Targ. on our passage.—That thou mightest be able to return words of truth to them that send thee. “Words, truth,” a sort of apposition, describing the discourse to be conveyed as consisting of words which are “as it were themselves the truth” (Umbreit, Elster). The expression is like the “words consolations, i.e. consoling words,” in Zechariah 1:13.—The “senders” (comp. Proverbs 10:26) are here naturally the parents, who have sent their son to the teacher of wisdom, that he may bring back thence to them real culture of spirit and heart; or again, that “he may know how to bring home to them in all things true and not false or erroneous report” (Hitzig).—[Holden unnecessarily makes the suffix of the participle represent an indirect object; “them that send unto thee.” For the construction “words truth” see Green, § 253, 2.—A.]
3.Proverbs 22:22-29. Admonition to justice toward others, especially the poor and distressed.—Rob not the poor because he is poor. דָּל is the depressed, the straitened, he who is deprived of help for judicial contests and other cases of want, and who therefore needs the protection of the more powerful and the more prosperous.—And oppress not the poor in the gate, i.e. in the place where courts are held; comp. Job 5:4; Job 31:21; Psalms 127:5.—[Comp. Thomson‘s Land and Book, Proverbs 1:31; and other works illustrative of Oriental usages, passim.—A.]
Proverbs 22:23. For Jehovah will conduct their cause. The emphatic announcement of the reason for the warning in the preceding ver.; comp. Proverbs 23:11. With respect to the just punishment threatened in clause b, comp. Matthew 18:32 sq.—[God is not merely a formidable because an all-just and almighty advocate, appearing before the unjust tribunal, in behalf of the wronged; He is not merely a judge sitting in a higher court of appeal; He is the executor of the universal laws of justice to which the judges as well as the arraigned of earth are alike amenable. When Jehovah “cheats or spoils” it is in vindication and not in violation of eternal justice and right. Fuerst makes the “life” an adverbial modification, and not the object, so that it expresses the extent of his work, “even to the life.”—A.]
Proverbs 22:24-25. Warning against intercourse with men of violent temper, like Proverbs 26:21; Proverbs 29:22; comp. James 1:20.—And with a furious man thou shalt not go, lit., “go not along with him.”—And prepare a snare for thy soul; viz., the passion that would become a snare, a fatal net for thee (comp. Proverbs 20:25).—With the warning against suretyship in Proverbs 22:26-27, comp. Proverbs 6:1-4; Proverbs 11:15; Proverbs 17:18; Proverbs 20:16.
Proverbs 22:28. Warning against the violent removal of boundaries; comp. the prohibitions of the Law; Deuteronomy 19:14; Deuteronomy 27:17; and also Job 24:2; Hosea 5:10; and below, Proverbs 23:10-11.
Proverbs 22:29. Seest thou a man diligent in business. The verb, a Perf. Kal, is conditional; “if thou seest;” comp. Proverbs 6:22. מָהִיר, apt, active, expert (Luther, endelich).—Before kings shall he stand (Z. “may he set himself”), viz. to serve them, to receive their commands, comp. 1 Samuel 16:21-22.—He shall not stand before mean men. Lit., “men in the dark,” homines obscuri, ignobiles (Vulg.). The antithesis to the “kings” is naturally an idea of a somewhat general and comprehensive kind, describing those who belong to the low multitude, the plebeians. To generalize the idea of “king” in like manner, as if it here expressed something like “noble, rich,” is therefore unnecessary (in opposition to Hitzig on this passage). [Lord Bacon says: Of all the qualities which kings especially look to and require in the choice of their servants, that of despatch and energy in the transactions of business is the most acceptable, etc., etc. There is no other virtue which does not present some shadow of offence to the minds of kings. Expedition in the execution of their commands is the only one which contains nothing that is not acceptable (De Augmentis Scientiarum, Lib. VIII.)].
DOCTRINAL, ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL
There are only two main ideas with the presentation of which this section is concerned; these, however, are thoughts of no slight weight and significance. That true wisdom, which is indeed one with firm confidence in God, is to be secured and maintained above all things else, the introductory admonition (Proverbs 22:17-21) brings out with earnest emphasis. And that such wisdom as this should manifest itself in a demeanor toward one’s fellow-men just and kind in all directions,—to impress this is the single aim and end of the hortatory and admonitory addresses that follow in Proverbs 22:22-29.—For not merely the warnings against the unrighteous plundering of one’s neighbors (Proverbs 22:22-23), against passion and a ruinous familiarity with the passionate, and against a wicked removal of boundaries, have this end in view,—but also the cautions against suretyship, which are apparently brought forward merely as prudential suggestions (Proverbs 22:20; Proverbs 22:27), and against the wasting of executive talents and skill in the service of insignificant masters (Proverbs 22:29), fall under the same generalization, so far forth as both kinds of unwise conduct point to an intentional hiding of the talent received from the Lord, and to an inclination to the low and the common, which is as wilful as it is unprofitable and contemptible. He who through inconsiderate suretyship for unworthy men deprives himself of the means of a free and vigorous efficiency in life, puts his light under a bushel quite as really, and with no less guilt than he who fritters away his strength in a narrow and obscure sphere of labor, rather than by earnest striving for an influential station seeks to make the results of his activity the common property of many. Comp. Matthew 5:14-16; Matthew 25:24; John 3:20-21; John 7:4.
These two main truths,—the praise of wisdom as the source of all real confidence in God, and the subsequent admonition to righteousness in many particulars, meet in the idea of Faith, or obedient consecration to the invisible holy God, as the sum of all true wisdom (Proverbs 22:19). Put in form as the leading thought in a homiletic discussion, this fundamental idea would be expressed in some such way as this: On faith in God as the ground of all righteousness and the end of all “wisdom;—or, Faith (confidence in God) as the basis and end of all wisdom.—Stöcker (regarding the whole as a direct continuation of Proverbs 22:1-16): Admonition to seek after a good name.—Starke: Admonition to obedience to the true wisdom (17–21), to right treatment of the poor (22, 23), to the avoidance of intercourse with bad men (24–27), and to a scrupulous regard for boundaries (28, 29).
Proverbs 22:17-21. Zeltner: All the world’s pleasure is to be accounted nothing in comparison with the true, sweet pleasure which comes from the word of God. This they know who have tasted the sweetness of this word (Hebrews 6:5).—J. Lange: Where the good will to obey is wanting, there all teaching and preaching are vain. This is the reason why so many hundred sermons are heard by the majority without profit.—He who is heartily and willingly obedient to Christ finds in this no burden; in Christ’s obedience consists rather the highest joy.—R. Florey (on Proverbs 22:17-19; see Hirtenstimmen an die Gemeinde im Hause des Herrn, II., Leips., 1849): In the training of your children let your hope be directed to the Lord; for 1) the word of the Lord gives the right direction; 2) His service gives the right strength; 3) His grace gives the right power besides.—Th. Hergang (Reformationspredigt) on Proverbs 22:17-19; (see Sonntagsfeier, 1861, p. 357): What a blessed duty is it to hold in honor the memory of such men as have deserved well in the true culture of their own and succeeding times! [A. Fuller (Proverbs 22:17-18): If we study the Scriptures as Christians, the more familiar we are with them, the more we shall feel their importance; but if otherwise, our familiarity with the word will be like that of soldiers and doctors with death—it will wear away all sense of its importance from our minds.—Trapp (Proverbs 22:19): Only a Divine word can beget a Divine faith.]
Proverbs 22:22-29. Starke (on Proverbs 22:22-23): If the Lord efficiently sympathizes with those who are in outward poverty, still more does He do this for the spiritually poor, who are of broken heart and tremble at His word (Isaiah 66:2).—[Arnot (on Proverbs 22:22-23): There is a causal connection and not merely a coincidence between the spread of God’s word and the security of men’s rights in a land. As worship rises to heaven, justice radiates on earth. If faith go foremost, charity will follow.—Lawson (Proverbs 22:22): For magistrates to be guilty of the crime of oppression, is a perversion of an institution of God into an engine of abominable wickedness.—(On Proverbs 22:23): The unjust spoiler has the mercy of God against him as well as His justice.—Trapp (on Proverbs 22:23): A poor man’s livelihood is his life. God, therefore, who loves to pay oppressors home in their own coin, will have life for life.—Lord Bacon (on Proverbs 22:24): It is of the first importance for the peace and security of life to have no dealings with passionate men, or such as easily engage in disputes and quarrels; for they will perpetually involve us in strife and faction, so that we shall be compelled either to break off our friendship, or disregard our own safety.—Bridges (on Proverbs 22:26-27): In “devising liberal things” we must combine scrupulous regard to justice and truth. Else our charity will prove the scandal, instead of the glory, of our profession.]—Melanchthon (on Proverbs 22:28): The injunction (that boundaries are not to be removed) may by a simple allegory be expanded to this prohibition; that laws in general that are venerable from their age are not to be altered, except in case of the most pressing and obvious need.—Von Gerlach (On Proverbs 22:29): Peculiar facility and ability God will bring into an appropriate sphere of action.—[Trapp: A diligent man shall not long sit in a low place. Or if he do all the days of his life, yet if his diligence proceed out of conscience, “he shall stand before the King” of kings when he dies.]
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