Satisfied. 2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. The first clause of this verse should be A man of many friends will prove himself base, or is so to his own destruction, i.e., he who professes to regard everybody as his friend will, in so doing, involve himself in trouble. The married who is truly Christian knows that, even though sometimes things are badly matched, still his marriage relation is well pleasing to God as His creation and ordinance, and what he therein does or endures, passes as done or suffered for God.Luther. In this verse the thought is the advantage of its use as putting an end to contention. He runs to it, as to a strong tower. Home; Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary; Proverbs; Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary Proverbs 18. The readings and expositions of this verse are many. The wickedness of the sons of Eli made men abhor the offering of the Lord. And thus it is still. NIV. For he is commonly a fellow slothful in his work, being busy in his words, and he is indeed brother to him that is a great waster, spoiling his own estate by his slothfulness, and by the mischief which his talebearing falleth upon him; and spoiling him to whom he talketh by the ill mind which he putteth into him.Jermin. Desire is the chariot-wheel of the soul, the spring of energy and delight. Stops the argument. And as it sways the affections and takes a mans will captive, it wields the power of life and death not over the body of the man but over the man himself. But the words are the stream which the deep waters send forth. He was fully conscious of the fact that a real partner of his lifeone woman to be a help-meet for him according to the Divine intentionwould have added much more to his real welfare than the thousand counterfeits to whom it was an insult to God to give the name of wives. As surely as water will find its level, so a truly gifted man will find some outlet for his talentssome sphere large enough to use what has been bestowed upon him for the very purpose of being used. Verse 5. Actually, he's saying that by giving gifts you can open a lot of doors. How often may it be seen, that with means of a very limited and stinted amount, there is more of spiritual prosperity in one instance, than is discoverable in another, with means the most varied and abundant. Many have ruined their lives by not ruling their mouths. If we would get knowledge or grace, we must desire it, as that which we need and which will be of great advantage to us, 1 Corinthians 12:31. The man who hid the Lords talent was visited with a stern sentence as a positive transgressor (Matthew 25:25). Many men seek secular knowledge for the sole purpose of acquiring fame by the acquisition. If we have to decide between the two interpretations, one blaming and the other commending the life of isolation, the answer must be that the former is more in harmony with the broad, genial temper of the Book of Proverbs.Plumptre. They who have not gotten it do not know the worth of it, and so have no mind to look after it, or if they have the mind, they have no knowledge how to seek it. Stuart understands this in the sense of to deserve., Proverbs 18:8. For he who knows only his own side of the case is convicted of knowing little of that; his reasons may be good and no one may have been able to refute them, but if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, what rational ground has he for preferring either opinion?Jacox. Control. His soul is set free, and he enjoys his safety. That's an important proverb to me. If a young artist has a sketch given to him by his master which he is to fill up in a given time, he cannot afford to spend the moments in disputing with his fellow-pupils about their respective rights to certain brushes and colours; while he is contending the hours are going, and when the master calls for the picture he will have none to show. 1. The need of cross-examinationof another to come and search him. Questioning may not convict the first person of any mis-statement, but it may elicit other facts which give quite a different colouring to the whole. They're starting to explain their situation and we assume that, "Oh, yes, this is what they want to know," and we start giving out all these worthless information.Like the little child who came in to her mother one day and said, "Mother, where did I come from?" Solomon again and again reverts to the mighty influences for good and evil which flow from the use of the tonguethat little member upon which such great issues often depend. 1. According to Mr. Stuart Mill, it might be plausibly maintained that in almost every one of the leading controversies, past or present, in social philosophy, both sides were right in what they affirmed, though wrong in what they denied; and that if either could have been made to take the others views in addition to his own, little more would have been needed to make its doctrine correct. Nicodemus did well to start the seasonable query, Doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doth? Festus did well to protest that it was not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die before that he which was accused had the accusers face to face, and had licence to answer for himself concerning the charge laid against him. So long as a man has this no pain of body or sorrow of soul can cast him down entirely, but without it he has little power to bear manfully the burdens of life, and a sense of the absence of it would be enough to crush him utterly although he had no other burdens to bear. It is a fine adage, even for this world but when applied to our Great Brother, and to our God and King, it is one of the noblest of inspired texts. 18 m Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. He has before mentioned some of its advantages (see chap. 2 Fools care nothing for thoughtful discourse; all they do is run off at the mouth. Call upon the LORD in your troubles, and let Him rescue you ( Ps 18:1-6 ). They are often held in contempt even while living, and the reproaches of those who have been made to suffer by them are heaped upon their heads. To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Granted that it is a defence against some very real ills, who can insure to himself a continuance of his present possessions? Before destruction the heart of man is haughty ( Proverbs 18:11-12 ), That's again, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before the fall." A fool's mouth is his destruction, his lips are a snare of his soul. Whether it be a brother by race, place, or grace; those oft that loved most dearly, if once the devil cast his club between them, hate most deadly. As for brethren by profession, and that of the true religion too, among Protestants, you shall meet with many divisions, and those prosecuted with a great deal of bitterness. The selfish and morose man who will not deny himself for anothers good, or who cannot rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, cannot expect others to deny themselves for him and to sympathise with his joy and sorrow. Such enmity Solomon compares to the bars of a castle. When God gives us a moment, He does not promise us another, as if to teach us highly to value and improve it, by the consideration, for aught we know, it may be the last. There is. And when we think not only of the wounds thus inflicted, and the lives thus cut off, but of the wounded hearts and darkened lives of those who mourn them, we must allow that any means of ending contention is better than permitting it to work its deadly work. We must try to fathom the profound meaning which is hidden under this simple but striking proverb. A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men ( Proverbs 18:15-16 ). 1. It is upon them that are contentious, and will not obey the truth, (Romans 2:8)that truth being in all of them through the invisible things which are seen by the things that are made (Romans 1:20)that the apostle denounces tribulation and wrath, indignation and anguish. Not that men can save themselves, but that they would save themselves under Gods influences if they did not contend with Him; that it is rebellion that turns the scale (Psalms 68:6); that there is light enough in every man to draw him to saving light if he would only follow it; and that on this very account it is the great sorrow of the sinner that he has this spirit of upbraiding, which, in the spiritual world, no moral malady can carry.Miller. In 1969, after graduating from Talbot Theological Seminary, John came to Grace Community Church. than to o divide the spoil with the proud. h "immiscet se omni negotio", Munster; "omnibus quae sunt immiscet se", Junius & Tremellius. Even if he is an honest and able man, he may be so dependent upon the caprices of the wealthy as to have to entreat their help and patronage before he can use his powers to his own advantage. And a dispute between brethren is like iron bars, dividing those who ought to be one more truly and sadly than any prison door could separate them. A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire. It would be indeed a blessing if property was the most precious thing wasted in the contentions of men. Among all the gifts which an Almighty Father has given to His children, there is perhaps none, after his own gracious favour, which is so necessary to their welfare or is so productive of joy as this gift of friendship. While a man has wealth he is defended from many bodily ills and from many vexations of spirit. Jeroboamthe second; who died in the fifteenth year of Uzziah's forty-one years' reign.From his time forth all Israel's kings worshipped false gods: Zachariah (2 Kings 15:9), Menahem (2 Kings 15:18), Pekahiah (2 Kings 15:18- :), Pekah (2 Kings 15:28), Hoshea (2 Kings 17:2).As Israel was most flourishing externally under Jeroboam . Doubtless there is secular truth in all this The disgraced citizen is often the most reproachful.Miller. V. THE NAME JESUS IS GREEK FOR JOSHUA JEHOVAH SHUA. Wise men are often obliged to contend for truth and right, but they never seek an occasion of dispute. For their parts, all that comes in finds its way off from them as fast as it comes, and many a time faster! Suppose your eyes are good. "The Hebrew text of the O.T. They bring contempt, not to themselves only, but to the places they fill, and the societies to which they become unitedto themselves, for the unworthy manner in which they fulfil the duties of the trust they have assumed, or have had committed to them; and to their places and societies, with which their names are associated. A fool has no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. It is not enough to be active, but he must see that his actions are wisely directed, that the means are adapted to the end in view. Verse 1. Men cannot live a life of isolation and know anything of the enjoyment of life. He who offends our Brother Prince shuts a high tower (Psalms 18:2). The one when he speaketh is not understood by the ear, the other when he speaketh is not understood by the heart: the words of the one are not apprehended, the wants of the other are not apprehended; the one is heard, but not conceived; the other is conceived, but not heard. There can be no doubt that each has its peculiar temptations (see chap. That which is said of wily persons that are full of fetches, of windings, and of turnings in the world, that such will never break, is much more true of a righteous, praying Christian. What care, then, should we use to pluck from our hearts every root of bitterness, and to have them furnished with knowledge and prudence, that our discourse may be good, to the use of edifying!Lawson. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Surely then if we have any desire, we shall separate ourselves from the cloudy atmosphere around us, that we may have fellowship with these happy investigators of the Divine mysteries.Bridges. Proverbs Proverbs 1 The Beginning of Knowledge (Proverbs 9:1-12) 1These are the proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel, 2for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight, 3and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity. Verse Proverbs 18:1. Proverbs 20:27. A wood gathers wood, like all vegetable or vital growths. We should take great care . Zockler translates, "He that separateth himself seeketh his own pleasure, against all counsel doth he rush on," and the renderings of Stuart, Miller, and Delitzsch are substantially the same, except that Delitzsch translates the latter clause"against all that is . The painter that has conceived a picture in his mind, and then, seeing it upon canvas, thinks of the many eyes who will gaze upon it with interest, and of those who perchance will be elevated and instructed by it, feels a satisfaction in the thought that it owes its existence to himthat without the working of his brain and hand it would not have been. High - In the Hebrew the same word as "safe" Proverbs 18:10, and manifestly used in reference to it. Blind passion is not to make the selection at random.Fausset. He declares that the state of the inward manits rest or unrest, its gladness or its gloomdepends very much upon the use that is made of the tongue. To the one he gives the wounds of his slandering, to the other the wounds of his flattering. Our translation seems to take it as an excitement to diligence in the pursuit of wisdom. The name of the Lord That is, the Lord, as he hath revealed himself in his works, and especially in his word, by his promises, and the declarations of his infinite perfections, and of his good-will to his people; is a strong tower Is sufficient for our protection in the greatest dangers. They trusted in themselves, and in their own wisdom, despising others (Luke 18:9; Luke 16:15; Jude 1:19). There is no anguish to that of the conscience: A wounded spirit who can bear? II. In religious disputes it is a great injustice to depend for the character of a sect, or an impartial representation of their doctrines, upon one whom partiality has blinded and rendered unfit, however honest he may be, to do them justice. What doest thou here? Much is there to be inquired into and pondered. 2. In any translation, the tongue is mentioned well over a hundred times in the Bible. It actually brought me before Begin last week. Well, you're not you're not showing yourself friendly. This one thing is everything with him. A reference to the Critical Notes will show that the word translated wounds may be rendered dainties, and it is because evil reports of others are so keenly relished by an unsanctified soul that the words of a tale-bearer are able to inflict such suffering and work so much ill in the world. "[1] Hooke preferred this; "A man who wishes to separate from friends seeks excuses; but at all times he will be liable to reproach. She said, "Well, honey, you go outside and play for a little while and then come on in and Mother will tell you." The word translated wisdom in the second clause is derived from a verb that means to be or stand with some stability (see comment on chap. In my early childhood a fact regarding the relations of matter came under my observation which I now see has its analogue in the moral laws. Wherefore let reason and indifferency hear the differences that are between any, and if it can be done let them be reconciled. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. None but a cruel man will be a tale-bearer. [Note: Toy, p. The man who trusts in material wealth as his chief good, has either made too low an estimate of his own needs, or too high an estimate of the power of wealth. How canst thou intermeddle with the great wisdom of knowing thyself, if thy whole mind be full of this worlds chaff and vanity? Such a gift to a man is a gift for men. Proverbs 18:10-11. "So it's possible to answer a matter before you really know what the matter is. Saul made himself appear just in his own cause. Whereas impatiency for anything that is lost taketh away the comfort of all that remaineth, yea, the comfort of thine own self.Jermin. 10 The character of God is a tower of strength, for the lovers of God delight to run into his heart. Click to donate today! It was not the sense of outward sufferings (for mere men have borne the agonies of death undaunted) but the wrestling of Gods wrath with His spirit, that drew from Christ that complaint, able to make heaven and earth stand aghast: My soul is heavy unto death (Matthew 26:38). Neither is this sickness of conscience properly good in itself, nor any grace of God, but used by God as an instrument of good to His, as when by the spirit of bondage He brings us to adoption. The two evils censured are. Takeagainthe child of Godfeeble, distressed, assaulted. Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeks and intermeddleth with all wisdom. A pretty thing for him to cavil! This is either to be understood in a good sense, of one that has a real and hearty desire after sound wisdom and knowledge, and seeks in the use of all proper means to attain it; and in order to which he separates himself from the world and the business of it, and retires to his study, and gives up himself to reading, meditation, and prayer; or goes abroad in search of it, as Aben Ezra: or of a vain man that affects singularity; and who, through a desire of gratifying that lust, separates himself, not only from God, as Jarchi interprets it, pursuing his evil imagination and the lust of his heart; and from his friends, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; but from all men, like the Jews, who "please not God, and are contrary to all men"; so such a man sets himself to despise and contradict the sentiments and opinions of others, and to set up his own in opposition to them. But the true lover of wisdom is impelled to seek from the love of truthfrom the desire which possesses his soul to intermeddle with knowledge. When Sir Isaac Newton gave himself up to the pursuit of scientific truth, he separated himself simply from a desire to know, and without the remotest desire or expectation of his present world-wide fame. The arms of strength that defend the children of God are everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33:7). Genesis 13:11). 11 If they say, "Come along with us; let's lie in wait for innocent blood, let's ambush some harmless soul; God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him Learn more about Desiring God She said, "Oh yes, Mommy." He hath but one grand policy to secure him against all dangers, and that is, to run to God.Trapp. Wherefore, when the mighty strive, and might of reason standeth on both sides equally, being too strong for man to decide, let the Almighty by His lot decide it.Jermin. Thither their eyes look, thither their hands are stretched, thither their hearts carry them. Reference to the Critical Notes and to the Comments will show the widely different translations and expositions given to the first verse. Reciprocal: Judges 8:3 - Then 1 Samuel 25:13 - Gird ye Psalms 37:8 - Cease Proverbs 14:17 - that Proverbs 17:14 - leave Proverbs 17:27 - an excellent spirit Proverbs 18:19 . Proverbs 16:4 is . He does violence to his own understandingto those mental faculties which enable him to place things side by side and to compare them, and to sift and weigh evidence before he arrives at a conclusion. Wait till God speaks, and the case will look very differently.Miller. The tongue, according as it is used, deals forth life or death; for speech is the picture of the mind (comp. God exalts those who willingly take the lowest place (10-12).Strength of mind and spirit is more important in the battle of life than strength of body. So same concept, another proverb. Proverbs 26:22, and will bear very different renderings. And when it has unhappily succeeded in wounding us, we instantly have recourse to means for preventing the poison from getting into the mass of the blood, and pervading the system. Riches are no defence against a mans most powerful enemies. We could as rationally set out to find a sound that had expired in air, as to find a lost moment. And when we reflect what infinite results depend upon what a man does with his time, we can see the force of the proverb, because the slothful man is a waster of the most precious commodity in this world. I. This page provides a method to go directly to a commentary by a specific author. I. It will be seen from the Critical Notes that most modern critics translate the first clause of this verse very differently from the rendering in our Bibles. and be exalted on high. I. his good name. Spiritual sickness for sin befalling a reprobate soul, is final and total desperation. A man who gives judgment in a matter before he has heard all the facts of the case wrongs himself. Friends, Proverbs 18:21 as we have seen above, i a nutshell is a warning to us to be extremely careful what we store in our hearts. #1 "The tongue". And so the speech of a good man has nothing forced or artificial about it. God inflicts nothing on us but what the spirit of a man can sustain, but our greatest sufferings are owing to ourselves, and no more chargeable on the providence of God than our sins are. It is unwise to be antisocial in the schismatic sense of that word (cf. It may seem a very insignificant deed to strike a flint and steel together so as to produce a single spark, but one spark may produce a terrible and destructive fire. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit. Contention between any men is a plain proof that there is some flaw in human nature, that the relations of human creatures are not what they ought to be. Verses 1-2. He looks forwardall is terror; backwardnothing but remorse; inwardall is darkness. And so it stops the contentions. The stronghold of the man who trusts in riches. It shows an unwillingness to make the small (and sometimes large) sacrifices to get along with others. The power of words over those who hear them. If there is effort without wisdom to guide it there may be seeking without getting. Through desire a man, having separated himself The original is difficult and obscure. Self-conceitthe affectation of extraordinary acuteness. Yea, they are not only carried unto it but into it, by placing their confidence in it, and making it their safety. Men who do not seek supernatural help sometimes do it. Proverbs 16:2. True it is that there is much that is called friendship that is unworthy of the name, but as we do not reject the real coin because there are base imitations of it, so we must not permit the counterfeit of friendship to shake our confidence in the real thing. Or if this is to be understood of a vain glorious person, the sense is, "he intermeddles" or "mingles himself with all business" h, as it may be rendered; he thrusts himself into affairs that do not concern him, and will pass his judgment on things he has nothing to do with; or he monopolizes all knowledge to himself, and will not allow any other to have any share with him. There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. For as that which being whole is most strongly united, being broken is farthest from being made whole; and as a stick of hard wax, being broken, may more easily be conjoined than a stick of hard wood, so are the divisions of brethren more hardly composed than the contentions of others.Jermin. When people become too confident in their own opinions, they are liable to break away from former friends. Which has in the margin the following note: "He that loveth wisdom will separate himself from all impediments, and give himself wholly to seek it.". A man of friends is apt to be broken all to pieces. The cold-hearted, speculative professor has his flowsometimes a torrent of words, yet without a drop of profitable matter; chilling, even when doctrinally correct; without life, unction, or love.
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