Proverbs 14:28

Pro 14:28 In the multitude of people [is] the king’s honour: but in the want of people [is] the destruction of the prince.

Ver. 28. In the multitude of the people is the king’s honour.] For that is a sign of peace, plenty, prosperity, and just government, as in Solomon’s days, when "Israel and Judah were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating, and drinking, and making merry." {1Ki 4:20} And as in Augustus’s days, when Christ, the Prince of Peace, was born into the world, cuncta atque continua totius generis humani aut pax fuit, aut pactio. {a} Ferdinand III, King of Spain, reigned full thirty-five years, in all which time, nec fames nec pestis fuit in regno suo, saith Lopez, there was neither famine nor pestilence throughout that kingdom. {b} What incredible waste of men hath war lately made in Germany, that stage of war; in Ireland; and here in this kingdom, besides what formerly! In the civil dissensions between the houses of York and Lancaster, were slain eighty princes of the blood royal, and twice as many natives of England as were lost in the two conquests of France. The dissensions between England and Scotland consumed more Christian blood, wrought more spoil and destruction to both kingdoms, and continued longer, than ever quarrel we read of did between any two people of the world. {c} "Be wise now therefore, O ye kings," &c. Tu vero, Herodes sanguinolente, time, as Beza covertly warned Charles IX, author of the French massacre. {d} Many parts of Turkey lie unpeopled, most of the poor being enforced with victuals and other necessaries to follow their great armies in their long expeditions; of whom scarce one of ten ever return home again, there by the way perishing if not by the enemy’s sword, yet by want of victuals, intemperateness of the air, or immoderate painstaking. {e} Hence the proverb, Wherever the Great Turk sets his foot, there grass grows not any more.

{a} Flor. Hist., lib. iv.

{b} Gloss. in prolog., part i.

{c} Daniel’s Hist.

{d} Camden’s Elisab., 165.

{e} Turkish Hist.

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 14:28. In the multitude of people is the king’s honour — “The honour and splendour of a king depend upon the multitude, wealth, and strength of his subjects, whom, therefore, he ought to protect and cherish: for if they be wasted by unnecessary wars, or forced into other countries by oppression and unjust exactions, it proves the ruin of his kingdom.” — Bishop Patrick.

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

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Pro_14:28. Miller translates “In a great people.”

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_14:28

A KING’S TRUE GLORY

I. Human rulers are dependent upon their people for honour.

1. The safety of the king’s crown depends largely upon the number of his subjects. This was certainly the case in the days of Solomon, and is so now to a large extent. Small kingdoms are very likely even in these days to be engulfed by more powerful states—by those who can bring into the field an overpowering number of warriors. Numbers hold the diadems on the heads of the rulers of the great nations of Europe. That Palestine was to some extent an exception to this rule was due to the especial providence of Jehovah—that it was ever overpowered by numbers was because its inhabitants forsook their covenant God. But the general rule holds good.

2. The prosperity of their land depends upon its being well populated. Other things being equal, a populous kingdom will do more business with other nations—will plant colonies and mix more with the inhabitants of other lands; and all these things extend a nation’s influence and so make its ruler’s position a more honourable one.

II. It is therefore a matter of self-interest that a ruler should govern his people righteously. This is a lesson which the potentates of the earth have been slow to learn although the page of history abounds with so many examples of the peril of disregarding it. It would be the destruction of the head if it were to say to the other members of the body, by which it is sustained in life and health, “I have no need of thee.” The existence of the one depends upon that of the other. And it is not less so with the body politic. The safety and honour of the king is bound up in the well-being of his subjects. Where the one is dependent upon the many, self-interest, as well as duty, point to his so ruling that his people may enjoy peace and prosperity and so multiply.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

There is a natural tendency in the population of a country to increase. When, therefore, population diminishes, there must be some cause counter-working nature. The subjects of a country may be wasted in destructive and depopulating wars; they may be driven by oppression to quit their native land, and to seek a refuge in more distant regions; they may be starved and reduced by measures that are injurious and ruinous to trade—measures that keep up the price of bread and depress the wages of labour.… The existence of a thriving vigorous population is a mark of freedom, of wise and impartial legislation; of paternal care—and it is the palladium of all that is desirable in the results of human rule.—Wardlaw.

A sentiment arrayed against feeble princes who nevertheless array themselves with disproportionate splendour; and this, as also Pro_14:34, is designed to call attention to the principle, that it is not external and seeming advantages, but simply and solely the inward competence and moral excellence, whether of the head or of the members of a commonwealth, that are the conditions of its temporal welfare.—Lange’s Commentary.

How great, then, is the honour of our heavenly King in the countless multitudes of His people! How overwhelmingly glorious will it appear when the completed number shall stand before His throne (Rev_7:9-10); each the medium of reflecting His glory (2Th_1:10); each with a crown to cast at His feet (Rev_4:10-11), and a song of everlasting joy to time to His praise (Rev_5:9).—Bridges.

All grades depend upon their inferiors. The poor have us in their power. To be kind to them is a dictate of common selfishness. Carried into a spiritual light, the truth becomes much wider. Half of heaven will be what we did for the poor. Solomon was familiar with this as a king; but he marks the sentence as one for all humanity. If a man wishes to be comfortable on earth, let him make his inferiors great. And, if he wishes to be rich in heaven, let him cultivate with assiduous zest the graces of the perishing.—Miller.

The occurrence of this political precept in the midst of the maxims of personal morality is striking. Still more so is its protest against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings, for the most part, have bowed down.—Plumptre.

The people are the king’s best treasury; in their scarcity he cannot be rich. Worthy was the speech of that Goth, a king of Italy, who, speaking of his subjects, saith, “Our harvest is the rest of all.”—Jermin.

NOTE.—The population of England and Wales in 1700 was about 5,475,000. At the beginning of the present century it was between eight and nine millions; it now exceeds twenty millions.

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.

14:28 The well-being and growth of the people, not wealth or military victory, are the true signs of a king’s success.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, the strength of a king standeth in many people.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Here are two maxims in politics, which carry their own evidence with them: - 1. That it is much for the honour of a king to have a populous kingdom; it is a sign that he rules well, since strangers are hereby invited to come and settle under his protection and his own subjects live comfortably; it is a sign that he and his kingdom are under the blessing of God, the effect of which is being fruitful and multiplying. It is his strength, and makes him considerable and formidable; happy is the king, the father of his country, who has his quiver full of arrows; he shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with his enemy in the gate, Psa 127:4, Psa 127:5. It is therefore the wisdom of princes, by a mild and gentle government, by encouraging trade and husbandry, and by making all easy under them, to promote the increase of their people. And let all that wish well to the kingdom of Christ, and to his honour, do what they can in their places that many may be added to his church. 2. That when the people are lessened the prince is weakened: In the want of people is the leanness of the prince (so some read it); trade lies dead, the ground lies untilled, the army wants to be recruited, the navy to be manned, and all because there are not hands sufficient. See how much the honour and safety of kings depend upon their people, which is a reason why they should rule by love, and not with rigour. Princes are corrected by those judgments which abate the number of the people, as we find, Sa2 24:13.

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

The teaching of a true political economy.

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 28. In the multitude of people] It is the interest of every state to promote marriage by every means that is just and prudent; and to discourage, disgrace, and debase celibacy; to render bachelors incapable, after a given age, of all public employments: and to banish nunneries and monasteries from all parts of their dominions;-they have ever, from their invention, contributed more to vice than virtue; and are positively point blank against the law of God.

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

(28) In the multitude of people is the king’s honour.—Not in ambitious wars. In these words speaks the “man of rest” (1Ch_22:9). (Comp. the description of Solomon’s kingdom in the days of his prosperity; 1Ki_4:20.)

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

In the multitude of people is the king's honour,.... For it is a sign of a good and wise government, of clemency and righteousness being exercised, of liberty and property being enjoyed, of peace, plenty, and prosperity; which encourage subjects to serve their king cheerfully, and to continue under his reign and government peaceably; and which invites others from different parts to come and settle there also; by which the strength and glory of a king are much increased. This is true of the King of kings, of Jesus Christ, who is King of saints; his honour and glory, as Mediator, lies in a large number of voluntary subjects, made "willing" to serve him "in the day of his power" upon them, as numerous as the drops of the morning "dew", Psa 110:3; such as he had in the first times of the Gospel, both among the Jews and among the Gentiles; and as he will have more especially in the latter day, when those prophecies shall be fulfilled in Isa 60:4; and so this is interpreted of the King Messiah, in an ancient writing (b) of the Jews;

but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince; or, "the consternation" (c) of him; if his people are destroyed in wars his ambition or cruelty has led him to; or they are driven out from his kingdom by persecution or oppression; hence follows a decay of trade, and consequently of riches; lack of cultivation of land, and so want of provision: in course of time there is such a decrease, that, as there are but few to carry on trade and till the land, so to fight for their prince, and defend his country; wherefore, when attacked by a foreign power, he is thrown into the utmost consternation, and is brought to destruction. This will be the case of the prince of darkness, the man of sin, antichrist; who, though however populous he may be, or has been, ruling over tongues, people, and nations, yet before long he will be deserted by them; one nation after another will fall off from him; they and their kings will hate him, make him bare and desolate, and burn him with fire, Rev 17:15. Some render it, "the consternation of leanness" (d); such consternation as causes leanness in a king.

(b) Zohar in Exod. fol. 67. 3, 4. (c) "formidat princeps", Tigurine version; "consternatio", Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens. (d) "Consternatio macici", Gussetius, p. 785. "consternatio tabifica", Schultens; "contritio maciei", Gejerus; "terror tenuitatis", Mercerus, Gersom.

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

A protest against the false ideal of national greatness to which Eastern kings, for the most part, have bowed down. Not conquest, or pomp, or gorgeous array, but a happy and numerous people form the true glory of a king. The word translated “prince” is of doubtful meaning; but the translation is supported by the Septuagint, Vulg, and most commentators.

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

King. Who formerly was styled "a shepherd," to remind him of the care with which he ought to seek the welfare of his subjects. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Is the king’s honour, because it is an evidence of his wise and good government. Under honour he here comprehends also strength and safety, (as appears from the opposite clause,) which depend much upon a prince’s reputation. And honour may be here put for strength, as strength is put for honour or glory, Psa 8:2; 29:1; 96:7.

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

28. Multitude of people, etc. — More vividly, with Stuart, “The glory of a king is in a multitude of people; but the lack of people is the destruction of a prince.” Compare 2Sa_24:14-17.

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

In the multitude of people is the king"s honour (glory); but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince; or, of the principality. This maxim is not in accordance with the views of Oriental conquerors and despots, who in their selfish lust of aggrandizement cared not what suffering they inflicted or what blood they shed; who made a wilderness and called it peace. The reign of Solomon, the peaceful, gave an intimation that war and conquest were not a monarch"s highest glory: that a happy and numerous people, dwelling securely and increasing in numbers, was a better honour for a king and more to be desired. (1Ki_4:20) Increase of population is not, as some political economists would teach, in itself an evil; it is rather a sign of prosperity, and is in agreement with the primeval blessing, "Increase and multiply;" and though it may be hard to maintain the exact equilibrium between production and consumers, yet wise legislation can foresee and remedy the difficulty, the abundance in one part can supply the scarcity in another, the providence of God watching over all.

Vers. 28-35. Life contrasts.

I IN PUBLIC LIFE.

1. Fulness and scantiness of population. (Ver. 28) The Hebrew had a deep sense of the value of fruitfulness in the wedded life, and of increase in the nation. The majesty of the monarch is the reflection of the greatness of his people, and the decay must represent itself in his feebleness for action. It is our duty as Christian men to study with intelligence political questions, and to support all measures which tend to freedom of commerce and abundance of food.

2. National exaltation and shame. (Ver. 34) The common ideas of national glory and shame are false. There is no glory in victory over feeble foes, no shame in seeking peace in the interests of humanity. Too often these popular ideas of glory represent the bully and the coward in the nation, rather than its wisdom and honour. There is no other real secret of a nation"s exaltation than, in the widest sense, its right dealing, and no other shame for a nation than its vices such as drunkenness, selfishness, lust for territory. Could Englishmen see the national character in the light in which it often appears to foreigners, it would be a humbling view.

3. Royal,favour or disfavour is an index of worth. (Ver. 35) Not, of course, the only or the truest index; and yet how seldom it happens that a man rises to high position in the service of his sovereign and country without eminent worth of some description or other! Here, again, moral law is exemplified. There is nothing accidental. If it be mere prudence which gains promotion, still prudence is of immense value to the state, and moral law is confirmed by its advancement.

II IN PRIVATE LIFE.

1. Patience and haste of temper. (Ver. 29) They are branded respectively with the mark of sense and of folly. "The Scripture exhorteth us to possess our souls in patience; whosoever is out of patience is out of possession of his soul.

2. The calm and the seething heart. (Ver. 30) The first member seems more correctly rendered, "life of the body is a gentle or tranquil mind." Zeal, on the other hand, or envy, is a constant ferment within the soul. Men"s minds must either feed upon their own good or others" evil. Inquisitive people are commonly envious; it is a "gadding passion," and an old proverb says that "Envy keeps no holidays." Lord Bacon says it is the vilest passion and the most depraved. Christian humility and love can only sweeten the heart, and dilute or wash away its natural bitterness

3. The violent death and the peaceful end. (Ver. 32) A sudden death was viewed as a visitation from God. (Psa_36:1-3 Psa_62:4) It was thought that the wicked could hardly come to any other end. But the righteous has confidence in his death. Considering the great silence of the Old Testament on the future life, it can hardly be honest exegesis to force the meaning of hope of a future life into this passage. Nor is it necessary. It is the consciousness that all is well, the soul being in God"s hands, that the future may be left with him who has revealed himself in the past, which sheds peace into the dying soul.

4. Silent wisdom and noisy pretence. (Ver. 33) The still and quiet wisdom of the sensible man (Pro_10:14 Pro_12:16, Pro_12:23) is contrasted with the eager and noisy utterances of what the fool supposes to be wisdom, but in reality is the exposure of his folly. "There is no decaying merchant or inward beggar hath so many tricks to uphold the credit of their wealth as those empty persons have to maintain the credit of their sufficiency." Wisdom and piety are felt and fragrant, like the violet in the hedge, from humble places and silent lives, Let us aim to be, not to seem. J.

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

28 In the multitude of the people lies the king's honour;

And when the population diminishes, it is the downfall of his glory.

The honour or the ornament (vid., regarding הדר, tumere, ampliari, the root-word of הדר and הדרה at Isa 63:1) of a king consists in this, that he rules over a great people, and that they increase and prosper; on the other hand, it is the ruin of princely greatness when the people decline in number and in wealth. Regarding מחתּה, vid., at Pro 10:14. בּאפס signifies prepositionally "without" (properly, by non-existence), e.g., Pro 26:20, or adverbially "groundless" (properly, for nothing), Isa 52:4; here it is to be understood after its contrast בּרב־: in the non-existence, but which is here equivalent to in the ruin (cf. אפס, the form of which in conjunction is אפס, Gen 47:15), lies the misfortune, decay, ruin of the princedom. The lxx ἐν δὲ ἐκλείψει λαοῦ συντριβὴ δυνάστου. Certainly רזון (from רזן, Arab. razuna, to be powerful) is to be interpreted personally, whether it be after the form בּגוד with a fixed, or after the form יקושׁ with a changeable Kametz; but it may also be an abstract like שׁלום (= Arab. selâm), and this we prefer, because in the personal signification רזן, Pro 8:15; Pro 31:4, is used. We have not here to think of רזון (from רזה), consumption (the Venet. against Kimchi, πενίας); the choice of the word also is not determined by an intended amphibology (Hitzig), for this would be meaningless.

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 Bible is a book for all. Even the King is interested in it, and was commanded to treasure it. (Deu 17:18 .) It describes him as a curse or a blessing to his people, as he is led by his own caprice (1Ki 12:13 ), or directed by Divine wisdom. (2Ch 9:8 .) ’He is not appointed for luxury or for pleasure; but that as a Head he may preside over his members; as a Shepherd, he may care for his flock; as a tree, he may nourish those who dwell under his shadow.’†1 In the multitude of people is his honour. They are the stay and strength of his kingdom.†2 In the want of people is his destruction. His revenue fails. His strength is enfeebled. His enemies take advantage of his weakness. (2Ki 13:4-7 .) His interests and his people’s are one. In promoting their happiness, the prince secures his own honour. (Psa 72:1-20 .) If he be the father of his numerous family, he will always have "a quiver full of arrows to meet his enemies in the gate." (Psa 127:1-5 .) How great then is the honour of our heavenly King in the countless multitude of his people! How overwhelmingly glorious will it appear, when the completed number shall stand before his throne (Rev 7:9-10 ); each the medium of reflecting his glory (2Th 1:10 ); each with a crown to cast at his feet (Rev 4:10-11 ), and a song of everlasting joy to tune his praise! (Rev 5:9 .)

Footnotes:

†1 Geier.

†2 1Ki 4:20 . 2Ch 17:14-19 . Yet this honour had well nigh proved the destruction of the prince in the chastisement of his pride. 2 Samuel 24.

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

v. 28. In the multitude of people is the king’s honor, it serves for his glory, for the establishment of his name, if he reigns wisely and successfully over a large nation; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince, where the people of a country are few and scattered on account of some weakness in the sovereign’s rule, such a condition brings about the downfall of the ruler, his reign will soon come to an end.

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

the great number of his people

"how many people he rules"

the prince is ruined

"the prince has nothing and his kingdom will fall"

the quick-tempered

a person who is quick to become angry

translationWords

glory

king

prince

patient

exalt

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

in a multitude of people that the people are righteous is the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He.

but...in lack of people When they do not cleave to Him.

the ruin of His Princedom It is the absence of His Princedom. So to speak, He gives of His honor to others.

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.