Proverbs 14:16

Pro 14:16 A wise [man] feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.

Ver. 16. A wise man feareth and departeth from evil.] He trembleth at the judgments while they hang in the threatenings, meets God with entreaties of peace, and so redeems his own sorrows. Solo auditu contremisco, saith Jerome, speaking of that terrible text, Eze 16:42 : "I tremble at the very hearing of it." So Erasmus, repeating those words, "His blood will I require at thy hands"; {Eze 3:18} these, saith he, are fulmina, non verba - not words, but thunderbolts. A good child, if but threatened only, will amend his fault; yea, if he but hear others threatened. Daniel was more troubled than Nebuchadnezzar was. {Dan 4:19} Habakkuk, when in a vision he saw the judgments of God that were to come upon the Chaldeans, it made his very heart to ache and quake within him. {Pro 3:16}

But the fool rageth and is confident.] Some render it "rangeth and is confident," transit et confidit - so the Vulgate and the original will well enough bear it - he passeth on from sin to sin like a madman, and yet persuades himself that all shall do well. Such a desperate fool was Balaam, though the angel met him with a drawn sword, yet he would needs on; and what was the issue? He died by the sword of Israel, though he seemed a friend to Israel. Not to be warned is both a just presage, and desert, of ruin.

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 14:16. A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil — He trembles at God’s judgments when they are either inflicted or threatened; and shuns sin, which is the procuring cause of all calamities; but the fool rages — Frets against God, or is enraged against his messengers who declare the threatening; or, as the Hebrew, מתעבר, should rather be translated here, transgresseth, or goeth on in sin constantly and resolutely; which is fitly opposed to departing from evil; as his being confident, in the next clause, that is, secure and insensible of danger, till God’s judgments overtake him, is opposed to fearing. Bishop Patrick’s interpretation is, “A wise man, being admonished of his error, and of his danger, is afraid of incurring the divine displeasure; and instantly starts back from that evil way into which he was entering, or wherein he was engaged: but a fool storms at those that would stop him in his course, and proceeds boldly and securely to his own ruin.”

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

Note, 1. Holy fear is an excellent guard upon every holy thing, and against every thing that is unholy. It is wisdom to depart from evil, from the evil of sin, and thereby from all other evil; and therefore it is wisdom to fear, that is, to be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy, to keep up a dread of God's wrath, to be afraid of coming near the borders of sin or dallying with the beginnings of it. A wise man, for fear of harm, keeps out of harm's way, and starts back in a fright when he finds himself entering into temptation. 2. Presumption is folly. He who, when he is warned of his danger, rages and is confident, furiously pushes on, cannot bear to be checked, bids defiance to the wrath and curse of God, and, fearless of danger, persists in his rebellion, makes bold with the occasions of sin, and plays upon the precipice, he is a fool, for he acts against his reason and his interest, and his ruin will quickly be the proof of his folly.

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

(Compare Pro 3:7; Pro 28:14).

rageth--acts proudly and conceitedly.

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 16. A wise man feareth] He can never trust in himself, though he be satisfied from himself. He knows that his suffiency is of GOD; and he has that fear that causes him to depart from evil, which is a guardian to the love he feels. Love renders him cautious; the other makes him confident. His caution leads him from sin; his confidence leads him to God.

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

(16) A wise man feareth.—(Comp. Pro_3:7.)

The fool rageth.—Gives way to passionate excitement, and “is confident” in his own wisdom; he has no “quietness and confidence” (Isa_30:15) in God.

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

16. rageth] Or, beareth himself insolently, R.V. The rendering however, rageth, or loses his temper, is borne out by Psa_78:21; Psa_78:59, where both A.V. and R.V. render the same Heb. word, was wroth.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil,.... He fears God, and is careful not to offend him; wherefore he departs from sin, stands at a distance from it, abstains from all appearance of it; being influenced by the goodness and grace of God unto him, he fears the Lord and his goodness, and therefore avoids all occasions of sinning against him: his motive is not merely fear of punishment, as Jarchi, but a sense of goodness; and now, as it is through the influence of divine fear that men depart from evil; so to do this shows a good understanding, and that such a man is a wise man, Pro 16:6;

but the fool rageth, and is confident; he fears neither God nor men, he sets his mouth against both; he "rages" in heart, if not with his mouth, against God and his law, which forbid the practice of such sins he delights in; and against all good men, that admonish him of them, rebuke him for them, or dissuade him from them: and "is confident" that no evil shall befall him; he has no concern about a future state, and is fearless of hell and damnation, though just upon the precipice of ruin; yet, as the words may be rendered, "he goes on confidently", nothing can stop him; he pushes on, regardless of the laws of God or men, of the advices and counsels of his friends, or of what will be the issue of his desperate courses in another world.

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

Feareth; trembleth at God’s judgments, when they are either inflicted or threatened.

From evil; from sin, which is the procuring cause of all calamities.

Rageth; fretteth against God, or is enraged against his messengers who bring the threatening, or disquieteth himself in vain or, transgresseth, as this verb in its simple form and first conjugation commonly signifies; or, goeth on in sin constantly and resolutely, according to the emphasis which this conjugation commonly adds to the simple verb. And this is most fitly opposed to

departing from evil; as being

confident is opposed to fearing. Is confident; secure and insensible of his danger till God’s judgments overtake him.

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

16. The fool rageth, and is confident — Or, is haughty and confident, and so presses on to the evil which the wise man avoids. This is the meaning generally given to מתעבר, rageth, or is haughty; but I see no reason why the word here should not follow the primitive sense of the root, to pass over, on, or through, only adding the intensity which belongs to the form in which it is found, thus: The wise man fears and turns aside from evil; but the fool is confident and rushes upon it. He sees nothing to fear. This brings out the antithesis, which is only implied in our version. Comp. Pro_21:24; Pro_22:3.

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

A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil. (Pro_22:3) In Pro_3:7 we had, "Fear the Lord, and depart from evil;" but here the idea is different. A wise man fears the evil that lurks in everything, and examines and ponders actions by the standard of religion, and is thus saved from many evils which arise from hastiness and inadvertence. The fool rageth, and is confident. (Pro_21:24 Pro_28:26) The fool easily falls into a rage, and has no control over himself, and is confident in his own wisdom, in contrast to the wise man, who has trust in God, and is calm and thoughtful. (Isa_30:15) Revised Version, "beareth himself insolently, and is confident;" but, as Nowack remarks, the word (mithabber), where it occurs elsewhere, means, "to be excited," "to be in a passion", (comp. Pro_21:24 Pro_26:17 Psa_78:21, Psa_78:59, Psa_78:62) and this usual signification gives a good meaning here. Vulgate, transilit, "he overleaps" all laws and restrictions. The LXX, by transposition of the letters, reads mithareh, and translates mignutai ," The fool trusting to himself mixes himself up with sinners."

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

Feareth - Trembles at God's judgments when they are either inflicted or threatened. Rageth - Frets against God; or is enraged against his messengers. Confident - Secure and insensible of his danger.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

16 The wise feareth and departeth from evil;

But the fool loseth his wits and is regardless.

Our editions have ירא with Munach, as if חכם ירא were a substantive with its adjective; but Cod. 1294 has חכם with Rebia, and thus it must be: חכם is the subject, and what follows is its complex predicate. Most interpreters translate 16b: the fool is over-confident (Zckler), or the fool rushes on (Hitzig), as also Luther: but a fool rushes wildly through, i.e., in a daring, presumptuous manner. But התעבּר denotes everywhere nothing else than to fall into extreme anger, to become heated beyond measure, Pro 26:17 (cf. Pro 20:2), Deu 3:26, etc. Thus 16a and 16b are fully contrasted. What is said of the wise will be judged after Job 1:1, cf. Psa 34:15; Psa 37:27 : the wise man has fear, viz., fear of God, or rather, since האלהים is not directly to be supplied, that careful, thoughtful, self-mistrusting reserve which flows from the reverential awe of God; the fool, on the contrary, can neither rule nor bridle his affections, and without any just occasion falls into passionate excitement. But on the other side he is self-confident, regardless, secure; while the wise man avoids the evil, i.e., carefully goes out of its way, and in N.T. phraseology "works out his own salvation with fear and trembling."

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.)

Fear is sometimes thought to be an unmanly principle. But look at the terrible extent of the evil dreaded. Without — it is vanity and disappointment.†1 Within — it is the sting of guilt.†2 Upward — we see the frown of God.†3 Downward — everlasting burnings.†4 Surely then to depart from this evil,†5 yea — to fear it worse than death,†6 is true wisdom.

The fool however, stout and stubborn in his mind, never fears till he falls. The voice of God is unheard amid the uproar of passion, like a raving tempest. Bravely independent, he sits amid the threatenings of God as unalarmed, as Solomon amid his brazen lions; ’carried by his rash will, and blind passion, without apprehending the end and issue of things.’†7 His character is here drawn to life. He rageth, and is confident. Such a fool was Rehoboam, when his self-willed confidence rejected the counsel of wisdom and experience. (1Ki 12:13-15 .) Such a fool was the raging Assyrian, blindly confident in his own might, till the God whom he despised turned him back to his destruction. (2Ki 19:28-37 .) And will not the child of God bless his Father’s painful discipline, so needful to curb his raging will, and bring down his high confidence — "Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God"? (Jer 31:18 .)

Footnotes:

†1 Rom 6:21.

†2 Pro 13:15. 1Co 15:56 .

†3 Joh 3:36.

†4 Psa 9:17. Mar 9:44 .

†5 Gen 39:9-10.

†6 Daniel 3:16-18; Dan 6:10 . Luk 12:5 .

†7 Diodati, 2Ch 25:15-20 .

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

v. 16. A wise man feareth and departeth from evil, dreading its power and preferring to keep his distance; but the fool rageth, in carnal presumption and insolence, and is confident, foolishly believing himself to be able to avoid the consequences of his sinful folly, rushing wildly into his own destruction.

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

A wise man fears retribution.

and turns away from evil From the evil.

but a fool passes vigorously He strengthens himself to pass vigorously.

and slips Heb. ובוטח, and slips and falls to the ground, as in (Jer. 12:5): “and in the peaceful you slip (בוטח),” and Jonathan renders: את מתבטח ונפיל, meaning “you slip and fall.” Others explain this as confidence. In his palace, he is confident, saying, “The evil will not befall me.”

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.