Commentari biblici

Proverbs 6:1. My son, if thou be surety— This and the ten following verses contain precepts oeconomical. The wise man recommends first, not to become surety for another; and, secondly, to avoid idleness: he inculcates the first advice in various places of this book; and certainly nothing is more contrary to true oeconomy, than to expose one's own affairs to ruin from the negligence and ill-conduct of a stranger: Solomon does not forbid us to give or to lend; he exhorts, on the contrary, to do it readily, and with a good heart; but not to engage ourselves in the entangled affairs of others. The first philosophers of Greece held the same maxims; and the ancient Persians had an especial abhorrence of two things, debts and lies. Striking hands was an ancient custom among the easterns, whereby they confirmed their promises and engagements. See chap. Proverbs 17:18. The LXX render this verse, My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou wilt give thine hand to an enemy: as much as to say, "Instead of a friend you will have an enemy;" or, "You will be delivered up to your enemy; i.e. to the creditor of your friend." It may be proper just to observe, that this precept is not to be taken in its utmost rigour; since there certainly may be many cases in which suretyship may be as useful as laudable.

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Proverbs 6:3. When thou art come, &c.— The LXX render this, For thou art come into the hands of evil men upon thy friend's account; go therefore, be not careless, or remiss, but earnest and importunate with thy friend, to get thyself discharged. This, says Dr. Grey, is more agreeable to the sense, and the metre, and is confirmed by the Syriac.

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Proverbs 6:6. Go to the ant— Horace has made use of the same similitude:

———Thus the little ant (to human lore No mean example) forms her frugal store, Gather'd with mighty toils on every side, Nor ignorant, nor careless to provide For future want. Sat. I. lib. 1: The reader will also find in Virgil's AEn. 4: ver. 404 a fine simile taken from this industrious little creature. Concerning its natural history, Scheuchzer treats at large on the place. See also Spectacle de la Nature, tom. 1: and Dr. Delaney's 17th Sermon on the Social Duties.

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Proverbs 6:11. As one that travelleth— Dr. Grey would render this verse, So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want [shall overtake thee speedily] as a post, or messenger. See Jeremiah 51:31. Lord Bacon upon this proverb distinguishes between the poverty which comes as a traveller, and the want which comes as an armed man. The shipwreck of fortune falls upon prodigals, or such as are careless of their estates, by insensible degrees at the first; with soft silent paces, like a traveller, and is hardly perceived; but soon after necessity invades him like an armed man; i.e. presses upon him so hard, that he feels it plainly, and perceives that there is no resistance to be made: whereupon he gives this prudent advice,—to prevent the traveller, and to be well provided against the armed man. See his Advancement of Learning, book 8: chap. 2 parab. 5.

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Proverbs 6:12. A naughty person— In the Hebrew a man of Belial, with a froward mouth, Houbigant renders, distorting his mouth. The LXX read, Walketh in ways that are not right. A froward, or distorted mouth, signifies a speech void of truth, fidelity, and honesty.

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Proverbs 6:13. He winketh— It is a remark of St. Ambrose, that the mein and gesture of the body are an image of the mind; and he was so delicate upon this subject, that he would not ordain the son of one of his particular friends, because the young man's air and manner were by no means conformable to clerical gravity. The motion of the body is as it were the voice of the soul. Ovid says,

Verba superciliis, fine voce silentia dicant; Verba leges digitis, verba notata mero. See his Amor. 1: and Calmet.

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Proverbs 6:14. Frowardness is in his heart, &c.— Pravo corde architectatur malum, as one translation has it: he does not do mischief by chance or negligently, but deliberates how he may do it with most success; he builds it commodiously and speciously to the eye, that it may invite men to inhabit it: there is no industry nor art wanting to make it prosper, and yield a good harvest.

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Proverbs 6:25. With her eyelids— Women in the east used to be particular in painting and beautifying their eyelids; and as their motive was by that means to ensnare and captivate the men, the expression seems to be highly proper. "The eye of a harlot is the snare of her lover," says St. Ambrose. See Philostratus's Epist. γυναικι . Though the words, a man is brought, in the next verse are not in the Hebrew, yet they seem plainly to be understood, and give us a better sense than any of the other versions; which have it, The price of a whore is scarcely that of a single loaf.

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