Bible Commentaries

This proverb warns against the debauchery with which free-thinking is intimately associated.

Wine is a mocker, mead boisterous;

And no one who is overtaken thereby is wise.

The article stands with יין . Ewald maintains that in 10:1-22:6 the article occurs only here and at Proverbs 21:31, and that it is here, as the lxx shows, not original. Both statements are incorrect. The article is found, e.g., at Proverbs 19:6; Proverbs 18:18, Proverbs 18:17, and here the personification of “wine” requires it; but that it is wanting to שׁכר shows how little poetry delights in it; it stands once for twice. The effects of wine and mead ( שׁכר from שׁכר , to stop, obstruct, become stupid) are attributed to these liquors themselves as their property. Wine is a mocker, because he who is intoxicated with it readily scoffs at that which is holy; mead is boisterous (cf. הומיּה , Proverbs 7:11), because he who is inebriated in his dissolute madness breaks through the limits of morality and propriety. He is unwise who, through wine and the like, i.e., overpowered by it (cf. 2 Samuel 13:28), staggers, i.e., he gives himself up to wine to such a degree that he is no longer master of himself. At Proverbs 5:19 we read, שׁגה ב , of the intoxication of love; here, as at Isaiah 28:7, of the intoxication of wine, i.e., of the passionate slavish desire of wine or for wine. The word “ Erpicht ” [ avidissimus ], i.e., being indissolubly bound to a thing, corresponds at least in some degree to the idea. Fleischer compares the French: être fou de quelque chose . Isaiah 28:7, however, shows that one has to think on actual staggering, being overtaken in wine.

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2 A roaring as of a lion is the terror of the king;

And he that provoketh him forfeiteth his life.

Line first is a variation of Proverbs 19:12. The terror which a king spreads around ( מלך , gen. subjecti., as, e.g., at Job 9:34 and generally) is like the growling of a lion which threatens danger. The thought here suggested is that it is dangerous to arouse a lion. Thus מתעבּרו does not mean: he who is angry at him ( Venet.: χολούμενος αὐτῷ ), but he who provokes him (lxx, Syr., Targ., Jerome, Luther). התעבּר signifies, as we saw at Proverbs 14:16, to be in a state of excessive displeasure, extreme anger. Here the meaning must be: he who puts him into a state of anger (lxx, ὁ παροξύνων αὐτόν , in other versions with the addition of καὶ ἐπιμιγνύμενος , who conducts himself familiarly towards him = מתערבו ). But can mitharvo have this meaning? That the Hithpa. of transitive stems, e.g., התחגּן (1 Kings 8:59) and השׁתּמּר (Micah 6:16), is construed with the accus. of that which any one performs for himself (cf. Ewald's Gramm. Arab. §180), is not unusual; but can the Hithpa. of the intrans. עבר , which signifies to fall into a passion, “express with the accusative the passion of another excited thereby” (Ewald, §282a)? There is no evidence for this; and Hitzig's conjecture, מתעבּרו ( Tiphel of the Targ. תּעבור = עברה ), is thus not without occasion. But one might suppose that התעבּר , as the reflexive of a Piel or Hiphil which meant to be put into a state of anger, may mean to draw forth the anger of any one, as in Arab., the VIIIth form ( Hithpa.) of ḥaḍr , to be present, with the accus. as reflexive of the IVth form, may mean: sibi aliquid praesens sistere . Not so difficult is חטא with the accus. of that which is missing, vid., Proverbs 8:36 and Habakkuk 2:10.

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3 It is an honour to a man to remain far from strife;

But every fool showeth his teeth.

Or better: whoever is a fool quisquis amens , for the emphasis does not lie on this, that every fool, i.e., every single one of this sort, contends to the uttermost; but that whoever is only always a fool finds pleasure in such strife. Regarding התגּלּע , vid., Proverbs 17:14; Proverbs 18:1. On the contrary, it is an honour to a man to be peaceable, or, as it is here expressed, to remain far from strife. The phrase may be translated: to desist from strife; but in this case the word would be pointed שׁבת , which Hitzig prefers; for שׁבת from שׁבת means, 2 Samuel 23:7, annihilation (the termination of existence); also Exodus 21:19, שׁבתּו does not mean to be keeping holy day; but to be sitting, viz., at home, in a state of incapability for work. Rightly Fleischer: “ ישׁב מן , like Arab. ḳ'ad ṣan , to remain sitting quiet, and thus to hold oneself removed from any kind of activity.” He who is prudent, and cares for his honour, not only breaks off strife when it threatens to become passionate, but does not at all enter into it, keeps himself far removed from it.

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4 At the beginning of the harvest the sluggard plougheth not;

And so when he cometh to the reaping-time there is nothing.

Many translators (Symmachus, Jerome, Luther) and interpreters ( e.g., Rashi, Zצckler) explain: propter frigus ; but חרף is, according to its verbal import, not a synon. of קר and צנּה , but means gathering = the time of gathering (synon. אסיף ), from חרף , carpere ,

(Note: Vid., Fleischer in Levy's Chald. Wörterbuch, i. 426.)

as harvest, the time of the καρπίζειν , the plucking off of the fruit; but the harvest is the beginning of the old Eastern agricultural year, for in Palestine and Syria the time of ploughing and sowing with the harvest or early rains ( חריף = יורה , Nehemiah 7:24; Ezra 2:18) followed the fruit harvest from October to December. The מן is thus not that of cause but of time. Thus rendered, it may mean the beginning of an event and onwards ( e.g., 1 Samuel 30:25), as well as its termination and onwards (Leviticus 27:17): here of the harvest and its ingathering and onwards. In 4b, the Chethı̂b and Kerı̂ vary as at Proverbs 18:17. The fut. ישׁאל would denote what stands before the sluggard; the perf. שׁאלו places him in the midst of this, and besides has this in its favour, that, interpreted as perf. hypotheticum, it makes the absence of an object to שׁאל more tenable. The Chethı̂b , ושׁאל , is not to be read after Psalms 109:10: he will beg in harvest - in vain (Jerome, Luther), to which Hitzig well remarks: Why in vain? Amid the joy of harvest people dispense most liberally; and the right time for begging comes later. Hitzig conjecturally arrives at the translation:

“A pannier the sluggard provideth not;

Seeketh to borrow in harvest, and nothing cometh of it.”

But leaving out of view the “pannier,” the meaning “to obtain something as a loan,” which שׁאל from the connection may bear, is here altogether imaginary. Let one imagine to himself an indolent owner of land, who does not trouble himself about the filling and sowing of his fields at the right time and with diligence, but leaves this to his people, who do only as much as is commanded them: such an one asks, when now the harvest-time has come, about the ingathering; but he receives the answer, that the land has lain unploughed, because he had not commanded it to be ploughed. When he asks, there is nothing, he asks in vain ( ואין , as at Proverbs 14:6; Proverbs 13:4). Meîri rightly explains מחרף by מתחלת זמן החרישׁה , and 4b by: “so then, when he asks at harvest time, he will find nothing;” on the other hand, the lxx and Aram. think on חרף , carpere conviciis , as also in Codd. here and there is found the meaningless מחרף .

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5 The purpose in the heart of a man is deep water;

But a man of understanding draweth it out.

“Still waters are deep.” Like such deep waters (Proverbs 18:4) is that which a man hath secretly (Isaiah 29:15) planned in his heart. He keeps it secret, conceals it carefully, craftily misleads those who seek to draw it out; but the man of תּבוּנה , i.e., one who possesses the right criteria for distinguishing between good and bad, true and false, and at the same time has the capacity to look through men and things, draws out (the Venet. well, ἀνέλξει ) the secret עצה , for he penetrates to the bottom of the deep water. Such an one does not deceive himself with men, he knows how to estimate their conduct according to its last underlying motive and aim; and if the purpose is one that is pernicious to him, he meets it in the process of realization. What is here said is applicable not only to the subtle statesman and the general, but also the pragmatical historian and the expositor, as, e.g., of a poem such as the book of Job, the idea of which lies like a pearl at the bottom of deep water.

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6 Almost every one meeteth a man who is gracious to him;

But a man who standeth the test, who findeth such a one?

As ציר אמונים , Proverbs 13:17, signifies a messenger in whom there is confidence, and עד אמונים , Proverbs 14:5, a witness who is altogether truthful, so אישׁ אמוּנים is a man who remains true to himself, and maintains fidelity toward others. Such an one it is not easy to find; but patrons who make promises and awaken expectations, finally to leave in the lurch him who depends on them - of such there are many. This contrast would proceed from 6a also, if we took קרא in the sense of to call, to call or cry out with ostentation: multi homines sunt quorum suam quisque humanitatem proclamat (Schelling, Fleischer, Ewald, Zöckler, and also, e.g., Meîri). But אישׁ חסדּו is certainly to be interpreted after Proverbs 11:17, Isaiah 57:1. Recognising this, Hitzig translates: many a man one names his dear friend; but in point of style this would be as unsuitable as possible. Must יקרא then mean vocat ? A more appropriate parallel word to מצא is קרא = קרה , according to which, with Oetinger, Heidenheim, Euchel, and Löwenstein, we explain: the greater part of men meet one who shows himself to them (to this or that man) as אישׁ חסד , a man well-affectioned and benevolent; but it is rare to find one who in his affection and its fruits proves himself to be true, and actually performs that which was hoped for from him. Luther translates, with the Syr. and Targ. after Jerome: Viel Menschen werden From gerhümbt [many men are reputed pious]; but if יקרא were equivalent to יקּרא , then אישׁ חסד ought to have been used instead of אישׁ חסדו . The lxx read רב אדם יקר אישׁ חסד , man is something great, and a compassionate man is something precious; but it costs trouble to find out a true man. The fundamental thought remains almost the same in all these interpretations and readings: love is plentiful; fidelity, rare; therefore חסד , of the right kind, after the image of God, is joined to אמת .

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7 He who in his innocence walketh as one upright,

Blessed are his children after him!

We may not take the first line as a separate clause with צדּיק , as subject (Van Dyk, Elster) or predicate (Targ.); for, thus rendered, it does not appropriately fall in as parallel to the second line, because containing nothing of promise, and the second line would then strike in at least not so unconnectedly (cf. on the contrary, Proverbs 10:9; Proverbs 14:25). We have before us a substantival clause, of which the first line is the complex subject. But Jerome, the Venet., and Luther erroneously: the just man walking in his innocence; this placing first of the adj. is in opposition to the Hebr. syntax. We must, if the whole is to be interpreted as nom., regard צדיק as permutative: one walking in his innocence, a righteous one. But, without doubt, tsedek is the accus. of the manner; in the manner of one righteous, or in apposition: as one righteous; cf. Job 31:26 with Micah 2:7. Thus Hitzig rightly also refers to these two passages, and Ewald also refers to Proverbs 22:11; Proverbs 24:15. To walk in his innocence as a righteous man, is equivalent to always to do that which is right, without laying claim to any distinction or making any boast on that account; for thereby one only follows the impulse and the direction of his heart, which shows itself and can show itself not otherwise than in unreserved devotion to God and to that which is good. The children after him are not the children after his death (Genesis 24:67); but, according to Deuteronomy 4:40, cf. Job 21:21, those who follow his example, and thus those who come after him; for already in the lifetime of such an one, the benediction begins to have its fulfilment in his children.

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The following group begins with a royal proverb, which expresses what a king does with his eyes. Two proverbs, of the seeing eye and the necessary opening of the eyes, close it.

8 A king sitting on the seat of justice,

Scattereth asunder all evil with his eyes.

Excellently the Venet. ἐπὶ θρόνου δίκης , for כּסּא־דין is the name of the seat of rectitude (the tribunal), as the “throne of grace,” Heb. 4:17, is the name of the capporeth as the seat of mercy; the seat of the judge is merely called כסא ; on the other hand, כסא־דין is the contrast of כּסּא הוּות fo , Psalms 94:20: the seat from which the decision that is in conformity with what is right (cf. e.g., Jeremiah 5:28) goes forth, and where it is sought. As little here as at Proverbs 20:26 is there need for a characterizing adj. to melek ; but the lxx hits the meaning for it, understands such to דין : ὅταν βασιλεὺς δίκαιος καθίσῃ ἐπὶ θρόνου . By the “eyes” are we then to understand those of the mind: he sifts, dignoscit , with the eyes of the mind all that is evil, i.e., distinguishes it subjectively from that which is not evil? Thus Hitzig by a comparison of Psalms 11:4; Psalms 139:3 (where Jerome has eventilasti , the Vulg. investigasti ). Scarcely correctly, for it lies nearer to think on the eyes in the king's head ( vid., Proverbs 16:15); in that case: to winnow (to sift) means to separate the good and the bad, but first mediately: to exclude the bad; finally, Proverbs 20:26 leads to the conclusion that מזרה is to be understood, not of a subjective, but of an actual scattering, or separating, or driving away. Thus the penetrating, fear-inspiring eyes of the king are meant, as Immanuel explains: בראיית עיניו מבריחם מפניו ומפזר אותם בכל פיאה . But in this explanation the personal rendering of כּל־רע is incorrect; for mezareh , meant of the driving asunder of persons, requires as its object a plur. (cf. 26a). Col - ra is understood as neut. like Proverbs 5:14. Before the look of a king to whom it belongs to execute righteousness and justice (Isaiah 16:5), nothing evil stands; criminal acts and devices seen through, and so also judged by these eyes, are broken up and scattered to all the winds, along with the danger that thereby threatened the community. It is the command: “put away the evil” (Deuteronomy 13:6 [5]), which the king carries into effect by the powerful influence of his look. With col - ra there is connected the thought that in the presence of the heavenly King no one is wholly free from sin.

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