Proverbs 10:24

Pro 10:24 The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

Ver. 24. The fear of the wicked shall come upon him.] "A sound of fear is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him." {Job 15:21} Pessimus in dubiis Augur Timor. {a} Thus it befell Cain, Saul, Belshazzar, Pilate (who, for fear of Caesar, delivered up Christ to be crucified, and was afterwards by the same Caesar kicked off the bench - yea, off the stage of the world), those wicked Jews that feared that the Romans would come and take away both their place and nation, {Joh 11:48} which accordingly befell them some forty years after, at which time some of them also killed themselves, lest they should be taken by the enemy. {b} The like may be said of our Richard III, {See Trapp on "Pro 10:22"} and Henry IV of France, after his revolt to Popery. He, being persuaded by the Duke of Sully not to re-admit the Jesuits, which had been banished by the parliament of Paris, answered suddenly, Give me, then, security for my life, and afterwards admitted them into his bosom, making Father Cotton his confessor, and using them ever with marvellous respect, yet was stabbed to the heart by Ravilliac, through their instigation. {c} Excellent is that of Solomon, {Pro 29:25} "The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord" - as Hezekiah did, {2Ki 18:4-5} and our King Edward VI, and that peerless Queen Elizabeth - "shall be safe."

But the desire of the righteous shall be granted.] Provided that these be the lawful desires of honest hearts. If such ask and miss, it is "because they ask amiss"; {Jas 4:3} either they fail in the matter, as Moses in his desire to enter into the promised land, or in the manner, as the Church in the Canticles, Son 5:3. Virtutem exoptant, intabescuntque relicta - they would, and they would not. There is a kind of wambling willingness, and velleity, but it boils not up to the full height of resolution for God, and utmost endeavour after the thing desired. Now affection without endeavour is like Rachel - beautiful but barren. Or, lastly, they fail in the end, either of intention, {Jas 4:3} or of duration. {Luk 18:1} They draw not near with that "true heart" {Heb 10:22} that is content either to wait or to want the thing desired, being heartily willing that God should be glorified, though themselves be not gratified. Let them but bring this "true heart," and they may have any thing. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:6"}

{a} Statius in Theibad.

{b} Hic rogo, non furor est, ne moriare, mori!

{c} Camden’s Elisab., pref.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_10:24

The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

A contrast

Scripture is a book full of the strongest contrasts. As in the work of an eminent painter, it contains light and shade.

I. Who are the wicked? We must not confine our ideas to the notoriously profligate. As long as a man is uncalled of God, and unregenerate, he is a stranger to all that is truly spiritual, and knows not the true nature of sin. Malachi describes the righteous thus, He serveth God. He describes the wicked thus, He serveth Him not. The wicked servant hid his Lords talent in the earth. In the description of the sheep and goats, there is no mark of profligacy fixed on the goats. The great besetting sin of the unregenerate man is pride. Neglect of Christ, contempt of Christ, impenitence, carnality, and worldliness, God declares to be the great condemning sin of the world. Whoever and whatever the wicked may be, they must have their fear.

II. The righteous and their desire. Who are the righteous?? They are the justified. They are the sanctified. A man trusting to his own righteousness cannot be a holy man. The very first elements of holiness are wanting in him--humiliation before God, real acquaintance with God, real desire after God. It is a great delusion to imagine that a justified soul is not also sanctified. The activity of spiritual life shows itself in spiritual desire. It wants pardon, peace, righteousness, happiness. What encouragement does the text give to these desires? There is no limit, no exception, no peradventure. It shall be granted. (J. Harrington Evans, M.A.)

The desire of the righteous granted

I. Who is the righteous man?

1. He whom God counts so.

2. He whom God makes so, by possessing him with a principle of righteousness.

3. He who is practically righteous.

II. What are the desires of the righteous man?

1. Communion with God.

2. Enjoyment of holy ordinances.

3. The personal presence of the Lord (Php_1:23).

III. What is meant by granting these desires? (Psa_145:19; Psa_37:4; Psa_21:2.) The desires of God and the righteous agree together. They are the life of all their prayers, and God delights in these. (John Bunyan.)

The desire of the righteous

Because it is a righteous desire it is safe for God to grant it. It would be neither good for the man himself, nor for society at large, that such a promise should be made to the unrighteous. Let us keep the Lords commands, and He will rightfully have respect to our desires. When righteous men are left to desire unrighteous desires, they will not be granted to them. But then these are not their real desires; they are their wanderings or blunders; and it is well that they should be refused. Their gracious desires shall come before the Lord, and He will not say them nay. Does the Lord deny us our requests for a time? Let the promise for to-day encourage us to ask again. Has He denied us altogether? We will thank Him still, for it always was our desire that He should deny us if He judged a denial to be best. As to some things, we ask very boldly. Our chief desires are for holiness, usefulness, likeness to Christ, preparedness for heaven. These are the desires of grace rather than of nature--the desires of the righteous man rather than of the mere man. God will not stint us in these things, but will do for us exceeding abundantly. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fears realised and hopes fulfilled

The difference between the righteous and the wicked lies not in the existence of these emotions of fear and hope now, but in their issue at last. In each character there are the same two emotions now; in each, at the final reckoning, one of these emotions will be realised and the other disappointed. It is not difficult to ascertain what are the chief fears and desires of a wicked man. Cleaving to his sins, he is in enmity against God. The terrors of the Lord glance from time to time like lightning in his conscience. He fears the wrath of God, and the punishment of sin. What does he desire or hope? His desire for time is the indulgence of his appetites; his desire for eternity is that there should be no God, or at least, that He should not be just to mark iniquity. What becomes of the fears of the righteous? What becomes of the darkness when the daylight shines? When Christ comes, His coming shall be morning. The saints are subject to fears. The promise to believers is not that they shall never fear; it is that the thing feared will never come upon them. Their desire is that they may be pardoned through the blood of Christ, and renewed after His image. When these are the desires of our souls, how safe we are! (W. Arnot, D. D. )

Look to the end a contrast

The wisest saying of a certain heathen philosopher was, Look to the end. God asks, What will ye do in the end? We say, All is well that ends well, which is true if it ends everlasting well. The text points to the issue, the upshot, the end, of two different classes of men--the wicked and the righteous; it indicates as well as expresses the end of the wicked--his hopes perish, his fears come upon him; the end of the righteous--his fears are dispelled, his hopes are consummated and realised. What a contrast! If the man hoped for nothing beyond success, prosperity, long life, fortune, fame, distinction, position, rank, renown, pleasure; when he has got them he hath his reward, what he sought, and what he desired. And now what has he left? Vanity of vanities, if all ends here. Often such a mans hope comes to an end with reference to this world only. They try to make hope for themselves; but self-made hopes are but vain hopes. And such a mans fears are realised and accomplished. The boldest, most hardened, most sensual men, have their fears. What is a mans fear, when at last it comes upon a man? And there is the contrast in both these respects. The fears of the righteous shall all vanish. Righteous men cannot but have fears, and they are full of fears. The reward of his fears is, that they shall not come upon him. The desires of the righteous shall be granted. They may be, because they are kept in harmony with Gods will, and the righteous stand in Gods favour. (H. Stowell, M.A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 10:24-25. The fear of the wicked — The evil which he feared, or hath cause to fear; it shall come upon him — Notwithstanding his cunning contrivances, and various efforts to prevent it. Indeed “wicked men frequently draw upon themselves what they feared, by the very means whereby they studied to avoid it; a remarkable example whereof, Bochart observes, we have in the builders of the tower of Babel: the very remedy of the evil they wished to avoid leading them directly to it.” And it may be added, a much more remarkable one we have in the Jews, who crucified Christ. For they put him to death lest the Romans should come and take away their place (their temple) and nation: see Joh 11:48-53 : and their putting him to death was the very thing which, in the just judgment of God, brought the Roman armies upon them to their utter destruction as a nation. But the desire of the righteous shall be granted — God will not only prevent the mischiefs which they fear, but will grant them the good things which they desire. As the whirlwind passeth — Which is suddenly gone, though with great noise and violence; so is the wicked no more —

His power and felicity are lost in an instant; but the righteous is — Or hath, an everlasting, &c. — His hope and happiness are built upon a sure and immoveable foundation.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_10:24

THE INHERITANCE OF FEAR AND DESIRE

These words treat of things desired and of things not desired coming to be possessed.

I. Ungodly men have fears concerning the future. These fears proceed from a consciousness of past sin and present guilt, and prove the existence within man of a moral standard of action. In the natural world, we know that certain effects invariably follow certain causes. Sunlight and genial rain produce fertility and beauty, the hurricane and the flood leave behind them desolation. There are certain particles whose action, if diffused abroad in the air, breed disease and death; there are others whose effects are most refreshing and healthful to the bodily frame. Coming into the region of human action and moral responsibility, there are certain actions of men which clothe the spirit with gladness, making the soul as a field which the Lord God hath blest, and there are acts which leave behind them a sting which brings utter desolation. There are deeds done by moral agents which are followed by the disapprobation of conscience in proportion as conscience is educated by moral light, and there are those which are well-springs of joy in the human heart. It is to conscience that we must refer the fears of the wicked in relation to the future.

II. The certainty that the fears of the wicked will be realised.

1. From the inequality of rewards and punishments in the present. There are men whose characters seem to be almost perfect who have not the reward at present which their integrity and uprightness deserve. There are many men who sit, as it were, like Lazarus, at a rich man’s gate in poverty, who are much better men than the rich man himself. The difference in the character of the man who passed the sentence of death upon Paul, and Paul himself calls for a more manifest impartiality on the part of the Divine Ruler in the eternity to come. We feel certain that elsewhere a just sentence has been passed upon Paul and Nero. The inequality in the present dealings of God with the righteous and the wicked demands that in the future the “fear of the wicked shall come upon him.”

2. From the admonition of conscience. Although the mariner’s compass is sometimes unsteady, its direction is always towards the north. And the human conscience, however it may occasionally waver, points to a future judgment. It is not an occasional occurrence but so universal as to be a prophecy of a fact.

3. From the necessity that God should fulfil His own appointment. Revelation declares that, “He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained” (Act_17:31). The Righteous Judge of all the earth must keep His own appointment, therefore every wicked man must have what he does not desire, viz., a fair and impartial trial.

III. Good men have had desires which have not been granted. The gratification of such desires would have been an injury to themselves and others. Moses desired to see God in the sense in which the Incarnate Son tells us He had seen Him. But if this desire had been granted Moses must have died, the Hebrew nation would have lost the only man who could lead them, and he would have missed the completion of the glory of his life (Exo_33:20). Peter desired that His Master should not suffer at the hands of the chief priests and scribes (Mat_16:21). But what a calamity this would have been for Peter himself and the human race.

IV. But that which a righteous man desires above all other things shall be granted.

1. For himself in the present life, he desires a holy character. This he regards as the “one thing needful” above all other personal possessions. And God desires this for him, therefore this desire shall be granted on the fulfilment of the pre-ordained conditions (1Th_4:3).

2. For the world he desires that God’s kingdom may “come” that right may in the end triumph over wrong. Now this desire also must be granted, because Christ has taught His disciples to pray for its accomplishment, and because He Himself at the right hand of God is “henceforth expecting, till His enemies be made His footstool” (Heb_10:13).

3. He desires for himself in the future a complete redemption of both soul and body from the curse of sin (2Co_5:1-4). But this desire is implanted within him by that God who can fulfil his desire, and who has already given an earnest of its fulfilment. This alone is a guarantee that it shall be granted. “Now He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the spirit” (2Co_5:5). He has also the direct promise of Him who is “the Resurrection and the Life,” the assurance of His inspired apostle that this desire of the righteous shall be granted (Joh_5:28-29; 1Co_15:49-54).

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

But if our desires be granted, and even exceeded (Gen_48:2; 1Ki_3:13; Eph_3:20), faith and patience will be tried in the very grant. Growth in grace is given by deep and humbling views of our corruption. Longings for holiness are fulfilled by painful affliction; prayers are answered by crosses. Our Father’s dispensations are not what they seem to be, but what He is pleased to make them.—Bridges.

The best way to have our wills satisfied is to be godly. For to such there is a promise made. Wherein yet these rules are to be observed: First, that our will be agreeable to God’s will, the desire must be holy, and seasoned with the Spirit; and not carnal and corrupted by the flesh. Secondly, that sometimes lawful desires are not performed in the same kind, but exchanged for better, and that which doth more good is bestowed instead of them. Moses desired to enter into the land of Canaan; he was denied that, but he entered sooner into the heavenly and blessed rest of everlasting life. Thirdly, that we tarry the Lord’s leisure, and depend on His hand, to minister, in fittest time, all those good things which our souls desire, and so we shall not fail to receive them when He seeth that they will be most expedient for us.—Dod.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is here said, and said again, to the righteous, that it shall be well with them, and to the wicked, Woe to them; and these are set the one over against the other, for their mutual illustration.

I. It shall be as ill with the wicked as they can fear, and as well with the righteous as they can desire. 1. The wicked, it is true, buoy themselves up sometimes in their wickedness with vain hopes which will deceive them, but at other times they cannot but be haunted with just fears, and those fears shall come upon them; the God they provoke will be every whit as terrible as they, when they are under their greatest damps, apprehend him to be. As is thy fear, so is thy wrath, Psa 90:11. Wicked men fear the punishment of sin, but they have not wisdom to improve their fears by making their escape, and so the thing they feared comes upon them, and their present terrors are earnests of their future torments. 2. The righteous, it is true, sometimes have their fears, but their desire is towards the favour of God and a happiness in him, and that desire shall be granted. According to their faith, not according to their fear, it shall be unto them, Psa 37:4.

II. The prosperity of the wicked shall quickly end, but the happiness of the righteous shall never end, Pro 10:25. The wicked make a great noise, hurry themselves and others, like a whirlwind, which threatens to bear down all before it; but, like a whirlwind, they are presently gone, and they pass irrecoverably; they are no more; all about them are quiet and glad when the storm is over, Psa 37:10, Psa 37:36; Job 20:5. The righteous, on the contrary, make no show; they lie hid, like a foundation, which is low and out of sight, but they are fixed in their resolution to cleave to God, established in virtue, and they shall be an everlasting foundation, immovably good. He that is holy shall be holy still and immovably happy; his hope is built on a rock, and therefore not shocked by the storm, Mat 7:24. The righteous is the pillar of the world (so some read it); the world stands for their sakes; the holy seed is the substance thereof.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

it--the very thing. The wicked get dreaded evil; the righteous, desired good.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. The fear of the wicked] The wicked is full of fears and alarms; and all that he has dreaded and more than he has dreaded, shall come upon him. The righteous is always desiring more of the salvation of God, and God will exceed even his utmost desires.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) The fear of the wicked—i.e., that of which he is afraid. (Comp. Isa_66:4; Heb_10:27.)

The desire of the righteous shall be granted.—For they submit their will to the will of God, and pray for what He sees best for them, which accordingly He grants; moreover, the Holy Spirit also aids them, making intercession for them “according to the will of God” (Rom_8:27).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him,.... What he dreads in his own mind will be his unhappy case, sooner or later it comes upon him; his fear of distresses, calamities, and judgments in this life, and of eternal wrath and vengeance hereafter; for the most profligate and abandoned wretches, the greatest atheists, who endeavour to work themselves up to a disbelief of a God and a future state, have at times their frights and fears about these things; and as are their fears of God, so will his wrath be, Psa 90:11. Jarchi illustrates this in the instance of the builders of Babel, who were afraid of being scattered upon the face of the earth, which thing feared came upon them through and for their building of the tower; and so it sometimes is, that the very thing which men fear comes upon them by the means which they take to prevent it; so the Jews were afraid that if their people believed in Jesus of Nazareth, the Romans would come and seize their city and nation, and therefore endeavoured to persuade them to reject him; for which rejection of him the thing they feared came upon them;

but the desire of the righteous shall be granted; or "he shall give" (s); that is, God shall give it; who has it in his hands or power to give it, as Jarchi's note is: what a righteous man desires from right principles, and with right views; what is for his own good and the glory of God; what he asks in faith, and with submission to the divine will, and is according to it, is sooner or later, in God's own time and way, granted unto him: particularly his desires after righteousness; after the righteousness of Christ, and to be found alone in that, living and dying; after holiness of heart and life, that he might be cleansed and kept from sin, and preserved to the coming of Christ; after more grace, an increase of it, and fresh supplies from Christ; after more communion with God and Christ, and conformity to them; after glory and happiness, and a being with them to all eternity. Some understand this of the righteous man's desire upon the wicked; that his fear might come upon him, and the glory of divine justice appear in his swift and sudden destruction; as expressed in Pro 10:25; so Aben Ezra.

(s) "dabit", Pagninus, Montanus, Baynus; "justis dat quod cupiunt", Tigurine version; "dabit Deus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis; "dat Deus", Mercerus, Gejerus.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The fear - i. e., The thing feared (compare the marginal reference).

Shall be granted - Or, He (Yahweh) giveth the desire of the righteous.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The fear; the evils which he feareth, or hath cause to fear, as fear is oft taken.

Shall be granted; God will not only prevent the mischiefs which they fear, but grant them the good things which they desire.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. The fear of the wicked — That is, that which is feared.

Shall come upon him — Usually in the present life, certainly in the life to come. There is no avoiding punishment but by avoiding sin.

Desire of the righteous shall be granted — Literally, He (Jehovah) shall grant it. On first clause compare Job_3:15; Job_15:21; Psa_34:4; Isa_66:4; Pro_11:27.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This verse is connected in thought with the preceding. The wicked, though he lightly carries on his evil practices, is troubled with the thought of the retribution which awaits him, and that which he fears shall come upon him; (Pro_1:26 Job_3:25 Isa_66:4) Septuagint, "The wicked is involved in destruction." The desire of the righteous. The righteous will desire only that which is in agreement with God"s will, and this God grants, if not in this world, certainly in the life to come. The LXX has, "The desire of the just is acceptable."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21 The lips of the righteous edify many;

But fools die through want of understanding.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The sport of the wicked: how soon is it gone! (Ecc 7:6 .) But his fear — the evil which he feared — comes upon him. The Babel builders were punished with the evil, which they had laboured to prevent. (Gen 11:4, Gen 11:8 .) Ahab’s device could not shelter him from his foreboded judgment. (1Ki 22:28-37 .) The rebellious Jews rushed into the ruin from which they fled. (Jeremiah 42. 43.) Belshazzar’s trembling was realized in his speedy destruction. (Dan 5:6, Dan 5:30 .) Thus are "the wicked" tossed, "like a troubled sea." (Isa 57:20-21 .) Do not "their hearts" in solitude "meditate terror"? (Isa 33:18 . Compare Deu 28:67 . Job 3:25 ; Job 15:21 .) Do not their consciences turn pale at the question — "Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" (1Pe 4:18 .) And will it not be the constrained confession at the great day — "According to thy fear, so is thy wrath"? (Psa 90:11 . Mal 4:1 .) Unwilling are they now to be reckoned among the righteous. Much more will they then be to be found in their sins — fear their portion — ruin their doom — without hope — without end.

But if the fear of the wicked — so also will the desire of the righteous — be fully realized. As the one cannot fear anything so bad, so the other cannot desire anything so good, as what is really in store for them. Desires bounded by the will (1Jn 5:14 ), and centered in the enjoyment, of God (Psa 4:6 ; Psa 37:4 ), will be granted to their utmost extent. (Psa 81:10 . Jer 33:3 . Joh 16:23-24 .) God did not raise them to be our torment, but our rest.

Granted they are upon the principle, that they "are only good." (Pro 11:23 .) Yet too often the desires of the righteous are not righteous. The defilement of a worldly spirit (Mar 10:37 ), or the hastiness of an impatient spirit†1 — far better that they should be denied than granted. (Psa 106:15 . Jas 4:3 .) So generally indeed are they mixed with infirmity, that their unreserved gratification might be our destruction. (Exo 33:18, Exo 33:20 .) But he is no less wise than kind: he separates the evil, and fulfils the good (Exo 33:19 ); answering, not according to our wishes, but our wants; not as in our ignorance we may have asked, but as an enlightened regard to our best interests would have led us to ask.

But ’I have desired a thousand times on my knees, and yet it has not been granted.’ Yet is it not worth being upon our knees for it a thousand times more? May not the blessing be withheld a while, till our sensibility of need be quickened (Isa 41:17 ); or to prepare us ultimately for a richer enjoyment? (Pro 13:12 .)

But if our desires be granted, and even exceeded (Gen 48:11 . 1Ki 3:13 . Eph 3:20 ); faith and patience will be tried in the very grant. Growth in grace is given by deep and humbling views of our corruption. Longings for holiness are fulfilled by painful affliction. Prayers are answered by crosses. Our Father’s dispensations are not what they seem to be, but what he is pleased to make them.†2 Yet in the darkest cloud the ground of our confidence is firm. All things needful will be given, and at the grand consummation every desire will be eternally fulfilled — "As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." (Psa 17:15 ; Psa 16:11 .)

Footnotes:

†1 Elijah, 1Ki 19:4 . Jon 4:1-4 . The disciples, Luk 9:54-56 .

†2 See a beautiful hymn in Olney Collection. — Book iii. 36.

Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

v. 24. The fear of the wicked, that which he dreads, it shall come upon him, Cf Isa 56:4; Job 3:25; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted, the good things for which they longed are given them by the Lord.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

overtake

overcome someone

The wicked are like the storm

Just as storm comes and sweeps everything away so wicked people will disappear. (See: Simile)

is a foundation that lasts forever

"Foundation" represents the base or a beginning of something that people build over. AT: "is a start for something that lasts forever" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

fear

evil

righteous

found

eternity

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

The dread of a wicked man that will befall him What he fears will befall him. The generation of the Dispersion said, “Lest we scatter” (Gen. 11:4), and their end was that it is written (ibid. 8), “And the Lord scattered them from there.”

but the desire of the righteous He will grant He Who has the power to grant it.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.