The Proverbs
Proverbs 17
Chapter XVII · Vol. II, pp. 1099–1100
1 BETTER is aa dry morsel,1 and quietness therewith, than an house full of 2sacrifices3 with strife.
a ch.15.16,17; 16.8. Ec.4.6. 1 Ti.6.6,8. Ps.37.16.
1 Dry morsel.—'A mouldy crust.'—C.
2 Or, good cheer.
3 Sacrifices. Peace-offerings, of which the greater part was allotted to the offerer as a feast for himself and his friends, Le.7.15.—C.
2 A wise servant shall have rule over ba son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
b ch.10.5; 19.26; 29.15; 28.7,24.
4 Ad wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.4
d 1 Sa.22.7-11. 1 Ki.22.6-27. ch.29.12.
4 The envious, the deceitful, and all those who are inclined to injure others, are ever eager to hear an evil tale. It is their disposition, their nature. The second clause might be rendered, 'the deceitful man giveth ear to an evil tongue.'—P.
5 Whosoe mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker;5 and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.6
e ch.14.31. Ja.2.15,16. 1 Jn.3.17. Ob.11-16. Je.17.16. Job 31.29. Re.11.10,13.
5 See note on ch.14.31.—C.
6 Heb. held innocent.
6 Children'sg children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.7
g Ps.127.3,5; 128.3,6. Job 42.16. Ge.50.23.
7 That is, when found in the way of righteousness, as in ch.16.31.—C.
7 Excellenth speech8 becometh not a fool; much less do lying lips9 a prince.
h ch.26.7; 16.10-13; 29.12.
8 Heb. a lip of excellency.
9 Heb. a lip of lying.
8 Ai gift is as a precious stone1 in the eyes of him that hath it; whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.2
i ch.18.16; 19.6; 21.14. Ge.xxxiii. 1 Sa.xxv. 2 Sa.16.1-4.
1 Heb. a stone of grace.
2 'A present doth wonderfully please and affect him that loveth to receive. It affecteth anything for obtaining whereof it was given; for whether it be given to get an office or to find pardon for an offence, or to appease wrath, or to win favour, it hath a prosperous success' (Muffet).—P.
9 Hej that covereth a transgression seeketh3 love: kbut he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
10 Al reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.4
l Ps.141.5. ch.9.8,9; 12.1; 15.5,31,32.
4 Or, A reproof aweth more a wise man than to strike a fool a hundred times.
14 The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water; qtherefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
15 Her that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.
r Ex.23.7. ch.24.24. Is.5.23,24. Eze.13.10,16. 1 Ki.21.13.
17 At friend loveth at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.
t ch.18.24. 1 Sa.xviii.-xx.xxiii. 2 Sa.i.ix. Ru.1.16. Es.4.14.
18 Au man void of understanding5 striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.6
A.M. cir. 3029. B.C. cir. 975.
u ch.6.1-5; 11.15; 20.16; 22.26,27.
5 Heb. heart.
6 'Before the face of his friend;' that is, without consulting him as a dispassionate observer, and weighing his opinion and advice.—C.
19 Hev loveth transgression that loveth strife; xand he that exalteth his gate7 seeketh destruction.
v Ps.36.1-4. ch.10.12; 13.10. Ja.4.1; 3.6,16.
x ch.11.2; 16.18; 18.12. 1 Sa.25.36-38. Da.4.30,31.
7 He that, for the sake of vain show, enlarges his establishment beyond his station and means.—C.
20 Hey that hath a froward heart8 findeth no good; and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.
24 Wisdomd is before him that hath understanding: ebut the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
25 Ag foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.
g ch.10.1; 15.20; 19.13; ver.25. 2 Sa.xiii.-xviii.
Notes
Ver. 1. The meanest fare, enjoyed in peace with God and our neighbour, and with quietness in our own mind, is better than the most sumptuous cheer, attended with brawling, contention, and strife. 2. A pious and prudent servant ought to be preferred to a foolish and wicked child, and deserves a share of the inheritance in a family. 3. As gold and silver are tried and purified in the fire, so the Lord, who searches the hearts of all men, proves and refines his own people from their sinful dross in the furnace of affliction.—6. It is an honour to parents to have a numerous posterity walking in holiness and virtue; and it is the honour of children to have pious and prudent ancestors.—8. Presents and bribes appear so lovely and tempting, that few can refuse them, or decline gratifying the desire of the giver. 9. Overlooking of injuries, and mutual forbearance, is the best way to preserve and increase friendship and love: but repeating old faults breaks the strictest bonds of friendship, and makes an irreconcilable separation.—11. Some men are so wilful and refractory, that, shaking off all reverence to God and their superiors, they are wholly and irreclaimably bent on mischief; they must therefore be cut off by some exemplary punishment. 12. It is less dangerous to meet a bear in the heat of his rage, than a furious fool in the pursuit of his unruly passions and desires.—14. When men begin a quarrel, it gradually becomes more and more violent and extensive, till it is with difficulty made up: it is best therefore to check and stifle all contentions in the beginning. 16. In his mysterious providence, God gives to many foolish persons natural abilities, worldly substance, and opportunities of learning wisdom; and yet gives them no sense or inclination to desire it. 17. A true friend continues constant in his affection and usefulness, however our circumstances alter: and a brother, who deserves the name, is especially kind and helpful in a time of adversity. 18. He is extremely foolish whose kindness hurries him into rash suretiship for the debts of others, especially when they are suspected of knavery. 19. He certainly loves wickedness who accustoms himself to brawling and contention: and he who carries himself proudly, scornfully, and contemptuously towards others, lives above his estate, and builds sumptuous houses, hurries himself into ruin; and breakers of the public peace open wide the flood-gates to all impiety. 20. A man of wicked devices, which he resolves to accomplish by any means, shall find himself deceived in his expectations of good: and a false, deceitful, and self-inconsistent tongue will prove the ruin of its owner. 22. Nothing more conduces to health than solid quietness of conscience, and a moderate cheerfulness of spirit: but excessive sadness and grief waste the body, and dry it up to a mere skeleton. 23. Many wicked persons, who would refuse an open bribe, will willingly enough take bribes or presents secretly, in order to influence them to give counsel or judgment contrary to law and equity. 24. A pious and prudent man has his mind fixed upon the unerring oracles of God, and has his sense and wisdom at hand to guide and govern him; but a foolish one has his thoughts always wandering and roving about impertinences, and is never in any fixed or serious temper.—27. The more wise and knowing a man is, he is the less apt to be talkative, speaking only what is fit and necessary; and his wisdom renders his mind and temper humble, calm, temperate, and dispassionate. 28. So great a virtue it is to be duly silent, that if even a foolish person restrain his lips from rash and impertinent talk, he is for the time reckoned a wise and intelligent person.
Ver. 5. It is the poor man who is referred to in both clauses of this verse; consequently the second clause might be translated as follows:—'He that rejoiceth at his adversity (the adversity of the poor man) shall not be held innocent.' How often does one hear the remark made in regard to those who have fallen from affluence to poverty, 'He deserves it.' 'It is a righteous judgment upon his pride, or his folly,' &c.! It is such observations, and the spirit which prompts them, that are here condemned. P.
Ver. 7. Excellent speech becometh not a fool. Bandits often talk highly of generosity—the desert-robber deifies hospitality—gamesters speak of debts of honour—the murderous Pharisees talked scrupulously of the Sabbath—the monks of the dark ages, while they absorbed half the riches of Europe, extolled the virtue of poverty—and popes, while domineering alike over the vassal and his lord, called themselves, in high-sounding and affected humility, 'the servants of the servants of God.' Such is 'excellent speech' in the lips of 'fools,' who demonstrate their folly by affecting to admire some solitary, convenient, and advantageous virtue, while professedly immersed in open and destructive vice. C.
Ver. 14. Leave off contention in argument about vain, useless, and irrelevant matters, before strife be 'meddled with' at all; for the beginning of strife—not matter of argument, but of temper—is the breaking down of a water mound, that you may easily demolish, but may be totally unable to repair. C.
Ver. 17. The love of brother to brother is a natural feeling. Except where sin or passion interfere to overcome or deaden natural affection, a man will never see a near relative wronged without making an attempt to defend him. It is not only the duty of a kinsman to help his kinsman in trouble, but it is the inherent and natural tendency of his mind. Instinct, in fact, prompts to it. P.
Ver. 25. The sorrows inflicted upon fathers and mothers by foolish children are not here (and in ver. 21) enumerated as evils in which the parents have no share; but as warnings against the neglect of a wise and godly education, and against the infusion of vanity, self-conceit, and pride into the hearts of children, whereby so many parents literally convert them into fools. C.
Ver. 27. A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. And being of an 'excellent spirit,' he is contented to listen to what he hears; to feed upon his own thoughts, and not to intrude his opinions until love and duty absolutely require him to speak. C.