Bibelkommentare

1. Through desire] According to the rendering of A.V. this would mean: A man who is possessed by an intense desire of wisdom separates himself from all other avocations and pursuits and from the society of his fellow men, isolates himself, as we say, that he may “intermeddle with” it, give himself wholly to (but see Proverbs 17:14 note) the pursuit of it. We must, however, render with R.V.:

He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire:

He rageth against (or, quarrelleth with, marg.) all sound wisdom.

The proverb then is a condemnation of the selfish isolation of the self-seeker or the misanthrope. Mr Horton, who has an interesting chapter on this verse, writes:

“Shakespeare might have had this proverb before him in that grim delineation of Richard the Third, who boasts that he has neither pity, love, nor fear. He was, he had been told, born with teeth in his mouth,

‘And so I was,’ he exclaims, ‘which plainly signified

That I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog.’

And then he explains this terrible character in these significant lines:—

‘I have no brother, I am like no brother:

And this word Love, which greybeards call divine,

Be resident in men like one another,

And not in me; I am myself alone.’

III. K. Henry VI. Act v. Sc. 6.”

wisdom] Or, sound wisdom, R.V., as the same Heb. word is rendered in A.V. in Proverbs 2:7.

2. but that] The added word in R.V., but only that, brings out the force of the Heb.; q.d. so far from having any delight in understanding, his only delight is in blurting out his own ideas and opinions. There is perhaps, as Speaker’s Comm. suggests, an implied contrast with the “other form of egotism,” condemned in the preceding verse.

3. with ignominy reproach] Or, with ignominy cometh reproach. As shame is inseparable from wickedness, so is reproach from ignominy, i.e. ignominious character and conduct (“a shameful deed,” Gesen.; “turpi mores, turpiter facta,” Maur.).

The rendering, however, of A.V. gives a good sense: when the wicked cometh, all these evil things, contempt, ignominy and reproach, come with him.

4. a man’s mouth] The second clause of the verse limits and interprets the first. It is of a wise man’s mouth that the proverb speaks. His words are “as deep waters,” because they are no mere shallow talk, but are full of depth and meaning, “The well-spring of wisdom,” which is their source, does not soon run dry, but is “as a flowing brook,” in its full, clear, steady course. Such were Solomon’s own words to the queen of Sheba, 1 Kings 10:1; 1 Kings 10:3.

Somewhat similarly the LXX. make the first clause refer to the still unuttered word in the heart, and the second to its leaping forth thence like the stream from the spring:

“Deep water is a word in the heart of a man,

But it leaps forth as a river and a fountain of life.”

5. to overthrow] i.e. so as to, or with a view to, overthrow. See R.V. marg. Better perhaps with R.V. text, nor to turn aside.

6. enter into] The Heb. may mean either “come into,” or “come with,” “bring” (R.V. marg.).

strokes] Or, stripes, R.V., as the same Heb. word is rendered in Proverbs 19:29, the only other place in which it occurs. Some, however, take “calleth for” to mean “provokes,” “causes.” “Os ejus jurgia provocat,” Vulg.; “In causa est ut a verbis ad verbera veniatur,” Maur., which accords with “bring” contention, if that be adopted in the first clause.

8. talebearer] Rather, whisperer, R.V., secret calumniator, as in Proverbs 16:28; bilinguis, Vulg.

wounds] Rather, dainty morsels, R.V.; so greedily do men swallow down and retain them. This proverb occurs again, Proverbs 26:22.

9. a great waster] Lit. a master of laying waste, or destroying; a destroyer, R.V. Comp. for a similar sentiment, “He that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad,” Matthew 12:30.