Commentaires bibliques

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: [so doth] a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom [and] honour.

Dead flies cause the ointment, … — The Preacher had said that "one sinner destroys much good"; Ecclesiastes 9:18 here he affirms the same of "one sin"; be it but a small sin, a peccadillo, no bigger than a few "dead flies" fallen into a pot of sweet odours, it is of that stinking nature, that it stains a good man’s esteem, and blows his reputation. A great many flies may fall into a tarbox, and no hurt done. A small spot is soon seen in a swan, not so in a swine. Fine lawn is sooner and deeper stained than coarse canvas. A city upon a hill cannot be hid; the least eclipse or aberration in the heavenly bodies is quickly noted and noticed. If Jacob, a plain man, Aπλαστος . - Sept. deal deceitfully, the banks of blasphemy will be broken down in a profane Esau thereby. If his unruly sons falsify with the Shechemites, he shall have cause to complain, "Ye have made me to stink among the inhabitants of the land." Genesis 34:30 If Moses marry an Ethiopian woman, it shall be laid in his dish by his dearest friends. Numbers 12:1 If Samson go down to Timnah, the Philistines will soon have it by the end, "told" it will be "in Gath, published in the streets of Askelon." If David do otherwise than well at home, the name of God will soon stink abroad, 2 Samuel 12:14 if Josiah go up unadvisedly against Pharaohnecho, and fall by his own folly, this "shall be his derision in the land of Egypt." Hosea 7:16 The enemies of God will soon compose comedies out of the Church’s tragedies, and make themselves merry in her misery. She is said to be "fair as the moon," Song of Solomon 6:10 which, though it be a beautiful creature and full of light, yet is she not without her black spots and blemishes; (Galileo used his telescope to discover mountains on her). These the Church malignant is ever eyeing and aggravating, passing by or depraving the better practices of God’s people. As vultures they hunt after carcases, Vultures ad male olentia feruntur. - Basil. as swine they musk in the muck hill, as beetles they would live and die in horse dung. It must be our care as much as may be to maintain our reputation, to cut off all occasion of obloquy, to be "blameless and harmless," Philippians 2:15 fair to the eye and sweet to the taste as that tree in paradise; without blemish from head to foot, as Absalom was; Non aliunde noscibiles quam de emendatione vitiorum pristinorum, Tertul. Ad Scapul. as Tertullian saith of the Christians of his time, known from all others by their innocence and patience. That was a good choice, for this purpose, that he himself made, Malo miserandum quam erubescendum, Tertul. De Fuga Pers. I had rather be pitied than justly reproached. Strive we should to be as Paul was, a "good savour," 2 Corinthians 2:14 and not to go out, as they say the devil doth, in a stench.

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A wise man’s heart [is] at his right hand; but a fool’s heart at his left.

A wise man’s heart is at his right hand. — He doth his business discreetly and dexterously, he is handy and happy at it. And as he "ordereth his affairs with discretion," Psalms 112:5 so he doth his affections too, reining them in with his right hand, and not suffering them to run riot, as the fool doth oft to his utter ruin. As the wise man’s "eyes are in his head," Ecclesiastes 2:14 so his "heart is at his right hand"; he hath it at command, to think of what he will when he will; it is as a hawk brought to the falconer’s lure; or as a horse that is taught his postures. Hence he keeps his credit untainted, he retains the reputation of a wise man, he rightly owns that honour that the Italians arrogate to themselves, in that proverbial speech of theirs; Italus sapit ante factum, Hispanus in facto, Germanus post factum - i.e., The Italian is well advised before the deed done, the Spaniard in, the German after it.

But a fool’s heart at his left. — At his left side, so it may be rendered, where nature placed it; he never yet sorrowed as those Corinthians did, 2 Corinthians 7:9 to a transmentation, Eις μετανοιαν . to a thorough change both of mind and manners; his heart is yet still in the old place, he follows the course of depraved nature, he is a perfect stranger to the life of God.

Or his heart is at his left hand, — i.e., He rashly rusheth upon business without due deliberation, and doth it awkwardly, as with the left hand, and like a bungler, invita Minerva, et collachrymantibus Musis, he brings it to no good upshot. See an instance of this in Hanun and his counsellors; 2 Samuel 10:2-4 Ahab and his clawbacks; 1 Kings 22:6 Antichrist and his adherers. Bellarmine bewails it in these words: Ab eo tempore, quo per vos Papa Antichristus esse coepit, non modo non crevit eius imperium, sed semper magis ae magis decrevit (Lib. iii. de Pap. Rom.

c. 2,3): Ever since you Protestants have made the Pope to be Antichrist, his authority hath not only not increased, but still more and more decreased. Or thus, His "heart is at his left hand"; that is, he puts away reason and wisdom from himself - as, for the most part, those things which men dislike are put away with the left hand. Ut quae aversantur homines fere sinistra depelluntur. Thus Junius expounds it.

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Yea also, when he that is a fool walketh by the way, his wisdom faileth [him], and he saith to every one [that] he [is] a fool.

Yea, also when he that is a fool walketh, … — In his very gait, gestures, looks, laughings, …, he bewrays his witlessness, as Jehu did his furiousness, by the manner of his marches. 2 Kings 9:20 "He winketh with his eyes, speaketh with his feet, teacheth with his fingers, frowardness is in his heart," … Proverbs 6:13-14 See Trapp on " Proverbs 6:13 " See Trapp on " Proverbs 6:14 " Such a froward fool was Julian the apostate, as Nazianzen describes him, with his colli crebrae conversiones, oculi vagi, pedes instabiles, …, frequent turning of his neck, tossing up his head, wild eyes, wandering feet, … And such were those "haughty daughters of Sion, that walked with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, mincing and making a tinkling as they went"; Isaiah 3:16 their haughtiness and hauntiness spake them little better than harlots.

And he saith to every one that he is a fool. — Upon the matter he saith it, though he say nothing. It is said that a fool, while he holds his tongue is held a wise man; Proverbs 17:28 that is, if neither by his tongue nor any other part of his body he discover himself: but that can hardly be, since folly flows from man as excrements do from sick folk, and they feel it not, will hardly be persuaded of it. Symmachus, Jerome, and others, refer the last he in this sentence not to the fool himself, but to every one else whom he looks upon as so many fools like himself; Dicit de omnibus, stultus est. ex suo ingenio universos iudicans, judging of others according to his own disposition. For as the philosopher saith, Qualis quisque est tales existimat alios Arist. Polit., lib. iii. cap. 6. such as any one is, the same he thinks others to be, and as men muse so they use, whether it be for the better or the worse. Jacob could not imagine that his sons were so base as to make away their brother Joseph, but said, "Surely some evil beast hath devoured him." Genesis 37:32 Joshua never suspected the false Gibeonites, nor the rest of the disciples Judas, when our Saviour said, "What thou dost, do quickly"; and again when he said, "One of you shall betray me." On the other side, fools conceit the whole world to be made up of folly; as the Lacedemonians once, neminem bonum fieri publicis literis columna incisis sanxerunt, Plut. in Quaest. Graec. scored it upon their public posts that there was none good, no, not one; as Claudius and Caligula, being themselves notorious whoremongers, would not be persuaded that there was any chaste person upon earth; Dio. as the devil charged God with envy, which is his own proper disease. Genesis 3:5 The old proverb saith, The mother seeks the daughter in the oven, as having been there some time herself. I daresay, quoth Bonner, that Cranmer would recant if he might have his living, Acts and Mon. so judging of another by himself.

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If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth great offences.

If the spirit of thy ruler rise up, …, leave not thy place. — Thine office, duty, and obedience; a metaphor from military matters. A soldier must not start from his station, but keep to the place assigned him by his captain; Ne λειποπακτες audiat. so here,

“ Perdidit arma, locum virtutis descruit, … ” - Horat.

Others render it, "Do not persist in thy place," do not stand to affront anger, but go aside a little out of sight, as Jonathan, when his father had thrown a javelin at him, went forth shooting. See Trapp on " Ecclesiastes 8:3 " See Trapp on " Proverbs 15:1 "

For yielding pacifieth great offences. — Thus by yielding David pacified Saul; Abigail, David. See Proverbs 25:15 . See Trapp on " Proverbs 25:15 " Salve the wound and save thyself. The weak reed, by bending in a rough wind, receiveth no hurt, when the sturdy oak is turned up by the roots.

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There is an evil [which] I have seen under the sun, as an error [which] proceedeth from the ruler:

As an error which proceedeth from the ruler. — Or, An ignorance, as Jerome renders it; ως ακουσιον - so the Septuagint - as a thing unwillingly done. An error, an infirmity it must be called, because committed by great ones; but in true account it is a gross evil, the very pest of virtue and cause of confusion - viz., the advancement of most unworthy and incapable persons, and that for the prince’s pleasure sake, because he will seem absolute. An earl of Kildare was complained of to our Henry VIII, and when his adversary concluded his invective with, Finally, all Ireland cannot rule this earl, the king replied, Then shall this earl rule all Ireland; and so, for his jest sake, made him deputy. Heyl. Geog., p. 506.

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Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place.

Folly is set in great dignity. — Sedes prima et vita ima, Salvian. these suit not. Dignitas in indigno est ornamentum in luto. Royalty itself, without righteousness, is but eminent dishonour. When a fool is set in dignity, it is, saith one, Cartwright. as when a handful of hay is set up to give light, which with smoke and smell offendeth all that are near. When as the worthy sit in low place, it is as when a goodly candle (that on a table would give a comfortable and comely light) is put under a bushel.

And the rich in low place, — i.e., The wise, as appears by the opposition, who, in true account, are the only rich, James 2:5 "rich in faith," 1 Timothy 6:18 "rich in good works," Luke 12:21 rich to Godward, who hath highly honoured and advanced them, though vilipended and underrated by men; digni etiam qui ditentur, worthy they are also to be set in highest places, as being drained from the dregs, and sifted from the brans of the common sort of people. Dignity should wait upon desert, as it did here in England, in King Edward VI’s days, that aureum saeculum, in quo honores melioribus dabantur, as Seneca Sen. Epist., 91. hath it, that golden age in which honours were bestowed on those that best deserved them. But in case it prove otherwise, as it often doth - the golden bishopric of Carthage fell to the lot of leaden Aurelius, and little Hippo to great St Augustine; Damasus, the scholar, was advanced to the see of Rome when Jerome, his master, ended his days in his cell at Bethlehem - yet virtue is its own competent encouragement, and will rather choose to lie in the dust than to rise by wickedness. Cato said he had rather men should question why he had no statue or monument erected in honour of him, than why he had. The wise historian observed that the statues of Brutus and Cassius, eo praefulgebant quod non visebantur, Tacit. Annal. were the more glorious and illustrious, because they were not brought out with other images in a solemn procession at the funeral of Germanicus. God pleaseth himself, saith Basil, in beholding a hidden pearl in a disrespected body. Abstrusum in despecto corpore margaritum conspicatus. A rich stone is of no less worth when locked up in a wicker casket, than when it is set in a royal diadem.

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I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

I have seen servants upon horses, — i.e., Servile souls, base spirited abjects, slaves to their lusts, homines ad servitutem paratos, as Tiberius said of his Romans, natural slaves born to be so, as the Cappadocians, Muscovites are noted to be slaves by nature, destitute of all gifts to rule or govern. - Quint., lib. ix. c. 2. "brute beasts made and taken to be destroyed." 2 Peter 2:12 Hi perfricant frontem et digniores se dicunt quam Catonem, qui praetores fierent, as Vatinius did. These set a good face upon it many times, and leap into the saddle of authority, ride on strong and shining palfreys, Subita a diabolo dignitate perflati vias publicas mannisterunt. - Jerome. ride without reins in the prosecution of their ambitious ends, till, unhorsed, with Haman, they that were erst a terror become a scorn. See Trapp on " Proverbs 30:22 "

And princes walking as servants upon the earth. — In Persia at this day the difference between the gentleman and the slave is, that the slave never rides, the gentleman never goes on foot; they buy, sell, confer, fight, do all on horseback. When Doeg, Saul’s herdsman, the Edomite, and Tobiah, the servant, the Ammonite, were got on cock horse, there was no ho! with them, but they would needs ride to the devil. When Justinian II was emperor, Stephen the Persian being made Lord High Chamberlain, grew to that height of insolence that he presumed to chastise with rods the emperor’s own mother, as if she had been some base slave. In the year of grace 1522 the boors of Germany rose up against their rulers, and would lay all level, that servants might ride cheek by joul, as they say, with princes. Func. Chron. Sed miserabilis et lamentabilistandem huius stultitice exitus fuit, Lavat. in hunc. loc. saith Lavater: But these fools paid dear for their proud attempt; and after a miserable slaughter of many thousands of them, were sent home by the weeping cross, ad beatos rastros, benedictum aratrum, sanctamque stivam, Bucholc. Ind. Chron. as Bucholcerus phraseth it, to handle again (instead of guns and swords) their blessed rakes, plough staves, and horse whips. Their general, Muncer, was tortured to death, being so mated and amazed that he was not able to repeat his creed, …

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He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it. — As heedless huntsmen do. He that being of base beginning, and unmeet for government, seeks to set up himself upon better men’s ruins, and where he finds not a way to make it, shall fall from his high hopes into remediless misery; as he hath made a match with mischief, so he shall have his belly full of it. As he hath conceived with guile, so (though he grow never so big) he shall bring forth nothing but vanity, and worse. Job 15:35

And whoso breaketh an hedge. — The hedge of God’s commandments, as our first parents did, to come to the forbidden fruit. A serpent bites such, Proverbs 23:32 and the poison cannot be gotten out. Others sense it thus (and I rather incline): He that seeks to overthrow the fundamental laws and established government of a commonwealth, and to break down the fences and mounds of sovereignty and subjection, shall no less (but much more) imperil himself than he that pulls up an old hedge, wherein serpents, snakes, and adders do usually lurk and lie in wait to do mischief. Wat Tyler the rebel dared to say that all the laws of England should come out of his mouth. Speed. Stratford uttered somewhat to the like sense in Ireland. Our good laws are our hedges; so our oaths - ορκος quasi ερκος . Let us look to both, or we are lost people. Det Deus ut admonitio haec adeo sit nobis omnibus commoda quam sit accommoda.

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