Proverbs 18:1

Pro 18:1 Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh [and] intermeddleth with all wisdom.

Ver. 1. Through desire a man having separated himself, &c.] Here the reading that is in margin, methinks, is the better: "He that separates himself" - either from his friend, as the old interpreter makes the sense, or from anything else that he hath formerly followed - "seeketh according to his desire" - seeketh to satisfy his own heart’s lust, and to compass what he coveteth - "and intermeddleth with every business" - stirs very busily in everything that is done, and leaves no stone unrolled, no course unattempted, whereby he may effect his design, and come off with his credit. The practice hereof we may observe in the Pharisees, those old Separatists, who slandered all that our Saviour did; and in their pertinacious malice, never left till they had slain him for a deceiver of the people. So the Donatists separated, and affirmed that there were no true churches but theirs. They were also divided among themselves, in minutula frustula, into small sucking congregations, as Augustine saith, whose arguments not being able to confute, they reproached him for his former life, when he was a Manichee. In like sort dealt the Anabaptists with Luther, whom they held more pestiferous than the pope. Muncer wrote a book against him, dedicating it to the illustrious Prince Christ, and rails at him, as one that wanted the spirit of revelation, and savoured only the things of the flesh. {a} Our Separatists, the better sort of them, have said, that the differences are so small between themselves and us, that they can for a need come to our churches, partake in the sacraments, and hold communion with us as the churches of Christ. {b} But if so, how then dare they separate, and intermeddle with every business, that they may have some spacious pretence for it? Turks wonder at English for cutting or picking their clothes, counting them little better than mad to make holes in whole cloth, which time of itself would tear too soon. Men may do pro libitu - as some render "through desire" in this text - as they will with their own; but woe he to those that cut and rend the seamless coat of Christ with causeless separations.

{a} Scultet. Annal., ii. 38.

{b} Apologet. Narrat., p. 6.

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_18:1

Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and inter-meddleth with all wisdom.

The case of diversions stated

Dull and insipid is every performance where inclination bears no part. Any one mans sense, however excellent, unless it mixes in society with that of others, always degenerates into singularity and caprice.

I. How far are social diversions allowable?

1. When there is no reason against any social pleasure there is always a reason for it, viz., that it is a pleasure. To suppose that the Deity would abridge us of any pleasure merely as such when it does not interfere with higher and nobler delights is a notion highly derogatory to His goodness.

2. Diversions are necessary to relieve the cares, sweeten the toils, and smooth the ruggedness of life. He who applies himself to his studies, or any other employment, with proper intervals of refreshment to recruit his spirits, will upon the whole do more good than he who gives unrelieved application. And diversions are necessary under afflictions. The first step towards a recovery of happiness is to steal ourselves gradually from a sense of our misery.

3. Diversions are necessary to endear us to one another. To comply with mens tastes as far as we innocently can in the little incidents of life, to bear a part in their favourite diversions--this knits mens hearts to one another and lays the foundations of friendship.

4. Diversions are requisite to enlarge the usefulness and influence of a good character. It would be worth while for the good to endear, by little compliances, their persons to the affections of mankind, that they might recommend their actions to their imitation. If it be asked, When do we exceed the bounds of reason in our diversions? it may be said if, after having made a party in some entertainments, the soul can recall her wandering thoughts and fix them, with the same life and energy as is natural to us in other cases, upon any subject worthy of a rational creature, it is plain that we have not gone too far. And things suitable enough in youth come with an ill grace in advanced years. The greatest hazard is that we should contract a habit of doing nothing to the purpose and should fool away life in an impertinent course of diversions.

II. The necessity of an early and close application to wisdom. It is necessary to habituate our minds, in our younger years, to some employment which may engage our thoughts and fill the capacity of the soul at a riper age. We outgrow the relish of childish amusements, and if we are not provided with a taste for manly satisfactions to succeed in their room we must become miserable at an age more difficult to be pleased. Nothing can be long entertaining, but what is in some measure beneficial, because nothing else will bear a calm and sedate review. There is not a greater inlet to misery and vices of all kinds than the not knowing how to pass our vacant hours. When a man has been laying out that time in the pursuit of some great and important truth which others waste in a circle of gay follies he is conscious of having acted up to the dignity of his nature, and from that consciousness there results that serene complacency which is much preferable to the pleasures of animal life. Happy that man who, unembarrassed by vulgar cares, master of himself, his time and fortune, spends his time in making himself wiser, and his fortune in making others happier.

III. Some reflections which have a connection with this subject.

1. Let us set a just value upon and make a due use of those advantages which we enjoy. Advantages of a regular method of study (as at a university). Direction in the choice of authors upon the most material subjects. A generous emulation quickens our endeavours, and the friend improves the scholar.

2. It is a sure indication of good sense to be diffident of it. We then, and not till then, are growing wise when we begin to discern how weak and unwise we are. (J. Seed, M. A.)

The stimulus of desire

A person under the strong influence of desire is like a hound in pursuit of a deer, which he keenly and steadfastly follows when he has once caught the scent of it, and continues to track it through a herd of others, and for many a weary mile until he has hunted it down, although those which he has passed by may seem easily within his reach. (G. Harris.)

Extracting knowledge

There is no kind of knowledge which, in the hands of the diligent and skilful, will not turn to account. Honey exudes from all flowers, the bitter not excepted; and the bee knows how to extract it. (Bp. Horne.)

Desire an excitement to diligence

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. We must separate ourselves from all those things which would divert or retard us in the pursuit, retire out of the noise of this worlds vanities, be willing to take pains, and try all the methods of improving ourselves, be acquainted with a variety of opinions, that we may prove all things, and hold fast that which is good. (Matthew Henry.)

The evil of isolation

There are people who shun all togetherness in their lives; they are voluntarily, deliberately separated from their kind. We are to think of one who chooses a life of solitariness in order to follow out his own desire rather than from any necessity of circumstance or disposition; we are to think of a misanthrope. There are men who separate themselves for the common welfare, such as the student and the inventor. But the misanthrope is one who has no faith in his fellows, and shrinks into himself to escape them. Every man is not only a self, a personality; he is a very complex being, made up of many relations with other men. He is a son, a brother, a friend, a father, a citizen. Stripped of these he is not a man, but a mere self, and that is his hideous condemnation. An old Greek saying declared that one who lives alone is either a god or a wild beast. The social instinct is one of two or three striking characteristics which mark us out as human. It becomes therefore a necessity to every wise human being to recognise, to maintain, and to cultivate all those wholesome relationships which make us truly human. Neighbourliness is the larger part of life. Our life is rich and true and helpful just in proportion as we are entwined with those who live around us in bonds of mutual respect and consideration, of reciprocal helpfulness and service, of intimate and intelligent friendship. The relation of Christ, as the Son of God, to the human race as a whole immediately opened up the possibility of a world-wide society in which all nations, all classes, all castes, all degrees, all individualities should be not so much merged as distinctly articulated and recognised in a complete and complex whole. The person of Christ is the link which binds all men together; the presence of Christ is the guarantee of the union; the work of Christ, which consists in the removal of sin, is the main condition of a heart union for all mankind. The Christian life must be the life of a community. (R. F. Horton, D. D.)

Seeking wisdom

Two opposite views have been taken of this verse. One makes Solomon refer to a pursuit of knowledge and wisdom that is right and commendable; the other regards him as speaking of what is wrong and censurable. Schultens describes the intended character thus: A self-conceited, hair-brained fool seeks to satisfy his fancy, and intermingleth himself with all things. Parkhurst thus: The recluse seeks his own pleasure or inclination; he laughs at or derides everything solid or wise. Another thus: A retired man pursueth the studies he delights in, and hath pleasure in each branch of science. I am disposed to think that our own translation gives the sense. Through desire--that is, the desire of knowledge--a man, having separated himself--that is, having retired and secluded himself from interruption by the intrusion of companions and the engagements of social life--seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. There is a contrast between the character in the first verse and the character in the second verse. The contrast is between the man that loves and pursues knowledge and the man who undervalues and despises it. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)

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Pro 18:1-2. Through desire, a man having separated himself, &c. — According to this translation, the sense of this controverted proverb is, Through desire of wisdom, a man, having separated himself from the company, and noise, and business of the world, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom — Uses all diligence that he may search and find out all solid knowledge and true wisdom. But this verse is otherwise rendered in the margin of our Bible, and in divers other versions, and is thus interpreted; He that separateth himself, either, 1st, From his friend, or, rather, 2d, From other men; who affects singularity, is wedded to his own opinion, and through self-conceit, despiseth the opinions and conversation of others, seeketh according to his desire, that is, seeketh to gratify his own inclinations and affections, and chooseth those opinions which most agree with them, and intermeddleth, Hebrew, יתגלע, (a word used in a bad sense, Pro 17:14, and found nowhere else except in this place,) in every business, or in every thing that is, as the words בכל תושׁיהיmay be properly rendered; namely, thrusting himself into the actions and affairs of other men. The latter interpretation is preferred by Bishop Patrick, whose paraphrase is, “He that affects singularity, inquires into all manner of things, according as his vain-glorious humour leads him; which makes him also bend himself, with all the wit he hath, to overthrow the solid reasonings of wiser men.” In consistency with this view of the verse, the bishop thus interprets the next: “For a fool will never take pleasure in true understanding, but the design of his studies is to make a vain ostentation of wisdom unto others; this is his chiefest pleasure, to hear himself discourse: that is, discover the folly that is in his heart.”

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

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Pro_18:1. Through desire, etc. The readings and expositions of this verse are many. 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 beneficial he shows his teeth.” Other readings are “A self-conceited fool seeks to gratify his fancy and intermingleth himself with all things” (Schultens); “He who has separated himself agitates questions as his desire prompts, and breaks his teeth on every hard point” (Schulz); “He seeks occasion, who desires to separate himself from his friends” (Hodgson). Others read as in the authorised version. (See Comments).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_18:1-2

Reference to the Critical Notes and to the Comments will show the widely different translations and expositions given to the first verse. We follow the authorised version.

SOLITUDE

I. Solitude is indispensable to the attainment of wisdom. If a tree is to become well-proportioned—if it is to spread out its branches on every side so that its girth is to be proportioned to its height, it must have space—a degree of separation is indispensable to its perfect development. It must be free to stretch out its roots and shoots on every side, and to appropriate to itself those elements in the earth and in the atmosphere which will make it strong and vigorous. So if a man is to be a wise man, if his mental and spiritual capabilities are to be developed as his Creator intended they should be, he must at times separate himself—a certain amount of solitude is indispensable. If he would grow wise in the mysteries of the natural world he must oftentimes shut himself away from the haunts of men, and ponder the manifold phenomena which creation presents to him, and endeavour to unravel her secrets. If he desires to become wise by acquaintance with the thoughts and deeds of the great and mighty men of past ages he must withdraw himself at certain seasons from the society of his fellow-men, and give himself up to study and reflection. And if he desire to acquire what, after all, can alone make him a truly wise man—an acquaintance with himself and with God—he must have seasons of separation in which to listen to the voice of his own heart and to the voice of His maker. A man, when he is alone, is more likely to see things as they really are; he is less under the influence of the seen and temporal than when he is in the market, or on the crowded highway, and consequently things unseen and eternal have a more powerful influence over him at such a season. No man can be wise unless he has some self-knowledge, and no man can subject himself to much inspection while in company, hence the advice of George Herbert—

“By all means use sometimes to be alone;

Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear;

Dare to look in thy chest, for ’tis thine own,

And tumble up and down what thou find’st there.

Who cannot rest till he good fellows find,

He breaks up house, turns out of doors his mind.”

and it is equally true that no man is possessed of true wisdom who has not some knowledge of God as He has revealed Himself in the written Word, and solitude is very favourable to a growth in Divine knowledge. Men can gain much, even of the highest wisdom, from intercourse with their fellow-men, but all human guides are fallible and all human teaching is imperfect—there must be seasons when a man “separates himself” from them all and stands face to face with the fountain of all truth, if he would “intermeddle” with pure wisdom.

II. Those who are truly wise seek wisdom for its own sake. Many men seek secular knowledge for the sole purpose of acquiring fame by the acquisition. Some men spend days of solitude in patient investigation for no other purpose than to make a name for themselves. Some men even profess to be seekers after true and spiritual wisdom, when they are only striving to gratify some unworthy ambition. Such a man seems to be pourtrayed in the second verse as the “fool who hath no delight in understanding but that his heart may discover itself.” (If he seeks knowledge at all, it is neither for its own sake nor for the purpose of fitting him for usefulness, but solely for the ends of self-display—Wardlaw.) (He “hath no delight” in knowledge, “but in the displaying of his own thoughts.”—Hodgson.) But the true lover of wisdom is impelled to seek from the love of truth—from 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. And if it is so with every true lover of merely intellectual wisdom, it is pre-eminently so with the man who seeks spiritual wisdom. He is impelled to the search simply by a desire which is born of his appreciation of its worth—by a knowledge of its power to bless his life.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

A certain degree of solitude seems necessary to the full growth and spread of the highest mind; and therefore must a very extensive intercourse with men stifle many a holy germ, and scare away the gods, who shun the restless tumult of noisy companies, and the discussion of petty interests. Novalis.

Desire is the chariot-wheel of the soul, the spring of energy and delight. The man of business or science is filled with his great object; and through desire he separates himself from all lets and hindrances, that he may intermeddle with its whole range. “This one thing”—saith the man of God—“I do” (Philip. Pro_3:13). This one thing is everything with him. He separates himself from all outward hindrances, vain company, trifling amusements or studies, needless engagements, that he may seek and intermeddle with all wisdom. John separated himself in the wilderness, Paul in Arabia, our blessed Lord in frequent retirement, in order to greater concentration in their momentous work. Deeply does the Christian minister feel the responsibility of this holy separation, that he may “give himself wholly to” his office (1Ti_4:15; 2Ti_2:4). Without it—Christian—thy soul can never prosper. How canst thou intermeddle with the great wisdom of knowing thyself, if thy whole mind be full of this world’s chaff and vanity? There must be a withdrawal, to “commune with thine own heart” and to ask the questions—“Where art thou? What doest thou here?” Much is there to be inquired into and pondered. Everything here calls for our deepest, closest thoughts. We must walk with God in secret, or the enemy will walk with us, and our souls will die. “Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee” (Eze_3:22). “When thou wast under the fig-tree I saw thee” (Joh_1:48). Deal much in secrecy, if thou wouldst know “the secret of the Lord.” Like thy Divine Master, thou wilt never be less alone than when alone (Ib. Pro_16:32). There is much to be wrought, gained, and enjoyed. Thy most spiritual knowledge, thy richest experience will be found here. And then, when we look around us into the infinitely extended field of the Revelation of God, what a world of heavenly wisdom is there to intermeddle with! In the hurry of this world’s atmosphere how little can we apprehend it! And yet such is the field of wonder, that the contemplation of a single point overwhelmed the Apostle with adoring astonishment. (Rom_11:33). Here are “things, which even the angels desire to look into” (1Pe_1:12). The redeemed will be employed throughout eternity in this delighted searching; exploring “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height,” until they be “filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph_3:18-19). 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.

The separated one here is the impenitent. “The aims of a man left to himself” is really a translation of but two words, meaning a separated one seeks. “At the mere dictate of desire” is but one noun with a preceding particle, meaning after, or, according to The noun means a longing. The sentence means that when a man gets separated from his place in the universe he seeks, or has a pursuit, after his present bent or longing. 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. Pro_2:7), yielding the sense the lost man sits careless to what is “stable.” He does not regard it. He strikes for what he desires. A pretty thing for him to cavil! since “against everything stable he just lets himself roll.” … The whole meaning is that the lost man is in high chase under the spur of appetite, and ruthlessly bears down everything stable.—Miller.

“Through desire” (through self-willed and self-seeking desire of wisdom)—“wisdom,” Heb. tushigyah, lit. all that is solid and stable: subsistence, essence, existence. The Pharisees were such; from the Hebrew, pharash, to separate. They trusted in themselves, and in their own wisdom, despising others (Luk_18:9; Luk_16:15; Jud_1:19). All heresy has more or less originated in the self-conceit which leads men to separate themselves from the congregation of the Lord (Eze_14:7; Hos_9:10; Heb_10:25). The two evils censured are

(1) that of those who think they are born for themselves, and that others ought to be ministers of their self-seeking desires;

(2) that of those who intermeddle with what does not concern them. The motive is through (his own) “desire” of being esteemed singularly learned, as Pro_18:2 shows, not from sincere “delight in understanding.” His aim is singularity, through self-seeking desire (Psa_10:3; Psa_112:10) of raising himself to a separate elevation from the common crowd, and of being thought versed in all that can be known: so “he intermeddleth with all wisdom.” His restless appetite for making himself peculiar and separate from others is marked by the indefinite verb “seeketh,” it not being added what he seeketh, for he hardly knows himself what.—Fausset.

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.

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.

γ) Admonition to affability, fidelity in friendship, and the other virtues of social life

Chap. 18

1     He that separateth himself seeketh his own pleasure;

against all counsel doth he rush on.

2     A fool hath no delight in understanding,

but that his heart may reveal itself.

3     When wickedness cometh then cometh contempt,

and with shameful deeds reproach.

4     Deep waters are the words of man’s mouth;

the fountain of wisdom is a flowing brook.

5     To have regard to the wicked is not good,

(nor) to oppress the righteous in judgment.

6     The lips of the fool engage in strife,

and his mouth calleth for stripes.

7     The mouth of the fool is his destruction,

and his lips are a snare to his soul.

8     The words of a slanderer are words of sport,

but they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

9     He also who is slothful in his work

is brother to the destroyer.

10     A strong tower is the name of Jehovah;

the righteous runneth to it and is safe.

11     The possessions of the rich are his strong city,

and as a high wall in his own conceit.

12     Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,

and before honor is humility.

13     He that answereth before he hath heard,

it is folly and shame to him.

14     The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity,

but a wounded spirit—who can bear?

15     An understanding heart gaineth knowledge,

and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.

16     A man’s gift maketh room for him,

and bringeth him before the great.

17     He that is first is righteous in his controversy;

then cometh his neighbor and searcheth him out.

18     The lot causeth contentions to cease,

and decideth between the mighty.

19     A brother resisteth more than a strong city,

and (such) contentions are as the bars of a palace.

20     With the fruit of a man’s mouth shall his body be satisfied;

with the revenue of his lips shall he be filled.

21     Death and life are in the power of the tongue;

he that loveth it shall eat its fruit.

22     Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing,

and shall obtain favor of Jehovah.

23     The poor shall use entreaties,

and the rich will answer roughly.

24     A man of (many) friends will prove himself base,

but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL

Pro_18:1.—It would perhaps be admissible with Hitzig (following the LXX and Vulg.) to exchange ‎‎‎‎‎‎לְתַאֲוָה for the rarer לְתֹאֲנָה (Jdg_14:4), from which we should obtain the meaning “He that separateth himself seeketh after an occasion (of strife);” Vulg.: Occasiones quærit, qui vult recedere ab amico. For the use of בָּקַשׁ with בְּ see also Job_10:6. [The E. V. in the text understands the בְּ as indicating the condition, and so supplying the motive of the seeker; the reading of the margin is “according to his desire.” H., N., S., M., etc., agree with our author in connecting it with the object desired. The views of commentators, which are very diverse, may be found in considerable number in Muenscher, in loco.—A.]

Pro_18:3.—Instead of רָשָׁע we shall be obliged, with J.D. Michaelis, Hitzig, Umbreit, etc., to point רֶשַׁע as the parallel קָלוֹן (i.e., “infamy, infamous conduct,” turpitudo) indicates.

Pro_18:6.—[A masc. verb again with the fem. noun שִׂפְתֵּי, as in Pro_18:2; Pro_10:21; Pro_10:32; Pro_15:7.—A.]

Pro_18:10.—Without any necessity Hitzig proposes to read יָרוּם instead of יָרוּץ, and to translate “by it (the name of Jehovah) riseth up high.” [Rueetschi (as above, p. 147) concurs in rejecting both Hitzig’s emendation and his conception of the proposition. He justifies by examples like 1Ki_10:26; 1Sa_25:26; Jos_23:7, etc., the use of בְּ after verbs of motion,—and suggests that the concluding participle marks the quick and sure result of the preceding act.—A.]

Pro_18:17.—The K’ri’ וּבָא; the K’thibh is perhaps more appropriately יָבֹא.

Pro_18:19.—The LXX and Vulg. appear to have read נוֹשָׁע (βοηθούμενος, adjuvatur) Instead of נִפְּשָׁע; Hitzig proposes to read by emendation אֱהֹז פֶּשַׁע, “to shut out sin is better than a strong tower,” etc.

Pro_18:24.—לְהִתְרוֹעֵעַ, which is probably to be derived from the rootרעע ,רע, and to be regarded as the reflexive of the Intensive form (comp. the Niphal form יֵרוֹעַ, Pro_11:15), must have the copula הָיָה supplied to give a full verbal sense (comp. Pro_19:8): it therefore means “is to prove himself base, serves for this, to show himself base (i.e., here specifically an unworthy comrade, a bad friend).” The alliteration which is doubtless intentional between רֵעִים and הִתְכוֹעֵעַ led even the early translators (Syr., Chald., Vulg., and also Theodot.) to derive the latter word from רעה, associare, and accordingly to explain it by “to make one’s self a friend, to cultivate friendly intercourse” (comp. Psa_65:4). So recently Hitzig: “There are companions for sociability,”—for he also reads יֵשׁ, (or אִשׁ, Mic_6:10) for אִישׁ, appealing to the Syr. and Chald., who appear to have read the text in the same way. [Bött. supports this emendation or restoration (§ 458, 2,) and proposes without asserting the derivation of the verb from רֵעַ, as a denominative (§ 1126, 2)]. But אִישׁ is proved to be original by the Vulg., Theodoret, etc.; and between clauses a and b there appears to be a proper antithesis and not merely a climax. This strictly antithetic relation is also interfered with by the method of explanation adopted by those who, like Umbreit, Elster, etc., render the verb by “ruin themselves, make themselves trouble;” (Ewald’s conception resembles this, except as it has a still more artificial double import “must be a friend to trouble”); the result follows no less from the derivation from רוּעַ, jubilare (so the Vers. Venet.: ἀνὴρ φίλων ὥστε ἀλαλάζείν, and of recent interpreters Hensler: “He that hath friends may exult”).

[Of the English commentators Holden renders “is ready to be ruined;” Noyes, “brings upon himself ruin;” Stuart, “will show himself as base;” Muenscher, “will be ruined;” Wordsworth, “for his own destruction,—his fate is not to be helped by his many friends, but to be ruined by them.” Of the Germans not cited by Z., De Wette, “hat viel Umgang za seinem Untergang;” Bertheau, “ist um sich als schlechten zu erwtisen;” Kamp., “so wird einem übel mitgespielt;” Fuerst, “muss sich als schlecht erweisen.”—A.]

EXEGETICAL

1. Pro_18:1-9. Against unsociableness, love of controversy, and other ways in which an uncharitable and foolish disposition manifests itself.—He that separateth himself seeketh after his desire, i.e. he who in an unsocial and misanthropic spirit separates himself from intercourse with others, will as a general rule hold in his eye only the satisfaction of his own pleasure and his own selfish interest.—Against all counsel (wisdom) doth he rush on, i.e. against all wise and prudent counsel (comp. Pro_3:21) he sets himself, and will hear nothing of it. In respect to the verb, comp. remarks on Pro_17:14. Hitzig in this passage as in that holds to the signification which he there assumes, and therefore translates, “Against all that is fortunate (?) he gnashes his teeth.”

Pro_18:2. Compare similar censures of the loquacity of fools, and their delight in their own discourse, as they prefer above all besides to hear themselves speak, and gladly display everywhere their imagined wisdom,—in passages like Pro_12:23; Pro_13:16; Pro_15:2, etc.

Pro_18:3. When wickedness cometh then cometh contempt. For the sentiment comp. Pro_11:2.

Pro_18:4. Deep waters are the words of man’s mouth. “Deep,” i.e. hard to fathom and exhaust (Pro_20:5; Ecc_7:24). This is true, naturally, only of the words of discreet and wise men, who, according to the parallel in clause b, are evidently alone intended here. Only they indeed can be called a “flowing brook,” i.e. a brook never drying up, one always pouring forth an abundant supply of refreshing water; compare a similar phrase in Amo_5:24. Others regard the meaning of the second clause as contrasted with the first, as they either define “deep waters” in a bad sense, of dark, obscure, enigmatical words (Döderlein, Ziegler), or, in spite of the parallel in Pro_20:5, read מֵי מַעֲמַקִּים instead of מַיִם עֲמֻקִּים, and understand “waters of excavation,” and think of the contrast between cistern waters which readily fail, and a genuine spring of water, Jer_2:13 (so Hitzig).

Pro_18:5. To have regard to the wicked is not good. The last phrase used as in Pro_17:26. The first, lit., “to lift up, to show respect to the face of some one” (LXX: θαυμάσαι πρόσωπον), as in Lev_19:15; Deu_10:17, etc. [Z. renders still more specifically “to take part, to take sides,” etc.].—With clause b comp. Pro_17:23; Isa_10:2; Amo_2:7, etc.; with the sentiment as a whole, Pro_17:15.

Pro_18:6-7 are in close connection; for the former comp. Pro_19:29; for the latter, Pro_13:3. To the idea, which occurs in the parallel passage also, of “destruction, or ruin,” there is here added by way of exemplification the figure of a “snare,” as employed by huntsmen; comp. Pro_12:13; Pro_13:14; Pro_14:27.

Pro_18:8. The words of a slanderer are as words of sport. The slanderer, or backbiter, as in Pro_16:28. The predicative epithet מִתְלַהֲמִים is here, as also in Pro_26:22, where the whole verse is literally repeated, very variously interpreted. It is most obvious to go back to a root להם assumed to be cognate with להה, “to play, to sport” (comp. remarks on Pro_26:10), and accordingly to find contrasted the design of the inconsiderate words of the backbiter, intended, as it were, sportively, and their deeply penetrating and sorely wounding power (see clause b). So C. B. Michaelis, Bertheau, Elster, etc. Others explain differently; e.g. Schultens, Umbreit (following the Arabic), as “dainty morsels” [so Gesen., De W., N., M., W.]; Ewald, “as if whispering;” Hitzig, “like soft airs;” [Fuerst, “like murmured, mysterious, oracular words;” while the rendering given in the E. V., as also by some commentators, supposes a transposition of the radical consonants (for הלם); Bertheau and Stuart agree substantially with our author. The whole matter is conjectural, the word occurring in the Hebrew Scriptures but twice, and no sure analogy existing for our guidance.—A.]—Into the innermost parts of the body, lit, “into the chambers,” etc.; comp. Pro_20:27; Pro_20:30; Pro_26:22.

Pro_18:9. He also who is slothful in his work is brother of the destroyer, lit., “of the master of destruction,”—for the participle form מַשְׁחִית is here impersonal as in Eze_5:16 : “the master of destruction”, means “the destroyer” (Pro_28:23) and here the squanderer, who wastes his possessions, the dissipans sua opera (Vulg.), and not the highway robber or the captain of banditti as Hofmann, Schriftbew. II., 2, 377, maintains.

2. Pro_18:10-16. Seven proverbs of miscellaneous import, referring especially to confidence in God, and humility as the only true wisdom.—A strong tower is Jehovah’s name; i.e. the revealed essence of God, His revelation of Himself in the history of salvation, with its blessed results, shows itself to those who confide in it, who in a childlike spirit submit themselves to its guidance, as a stronghold securely protecting them (so Psa_61:3 (4).) [Rueetschi: “The name always designates Himself, as man knows Him, as he receives Him to his knowledge and faith, and bears Him in his heart. It is precisely what man knows of God that is for him a strong tower. When man stumbles or falters it is precisely because he has not run to this refuge, has, as it were, not reminded himself where his strong tower is”].—The righteous runneth to it and is safe, lit., “and is lifted up,” i.e. gains a. high and at the same time sheltered station, where the shafts of his enemies can do him no harm. Comp. another form of the same verb in Pro_29:25.

Pro_18:11. With clause a comp. Pro_10:15.—And as a high wall in his own conceit. בְּמַשְׂכִּיתוֹ (comp. Psa_73:7) the old Vers. Venet. renders quite correctly by ἐν φαντασίᾳ αὐτοῦ, while the Vulg., the Chald., etc., read נִּמְשֻׂכָּתו, “in his enclosure,” an expression which would be superfluous with the “high wall.” [Fuerst, starting from this idea of figured or carved work, furniture, etc., understands the allusion to be to a “hall of state.” Neither the simple meaning nor the complicated construction seems admissible; “and as behind a high wall is he in his hall of state.”—A.]

Pro_18:12. With a compare Pro_16:18; with b, Pro_15:33.

Pro_18:13. Compare Sir_11:8.

Pro_18:14. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, lit., “supports his sickness.” The spirit that does this is naturally a strong, courageous spirit (comp. Num_27:18), the opposite of a “smitten” spirit, which rather needs, according to the second clause, that one sustain it. Furthermore the רוּחַ in clause a is used as a masculine, because it here appears engaged in the performance of manly action; in clause b, on the contrary, as a feminine, because it is represented as powerless and suffering.

Pro_18:15. Comp. Pro_14:33; Pro_15:14.—The ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. The ear here, comes into consideration as an organ working in the service of the heart; for it is properly only the heart that pursues the acquisition of wisdom, and which actually acquires it,—not indeed without the co-operative service of the senses (especially hearing, as the symbol and organ of obedience, Psa_40:7).

Pro_18:16. A man’s gift maketh room for him [and nowhere more than in the East; see e.g. Thomson’s Land and Book, II., 28, 369]. מַתָּן here and in Pro_19:6 undoubtedly equivalent to שֹׁהַד in Pro_17:8, and therefore used of lawful presents, and proofs of generosity, whose beneficent results are here emphasized, as also there, without any incidental censure or irony (as many of the old expositors, and also Umbreit hold). Altogether too far-fetched is Hitzig’s idea that the “gift” is hero “spiritual endowments or abilities,” and is therefore substantially like the χάρισμα of the N. T.

3. Pro_18:17-21. Against love of contention and misuse of the tongue.—He that is first is righteous in his controversy; i.e. one thinks that he is altogether and only right in a disputed matter,—then suddenly comes the other and searches him out, i.e. forces him to a new; examination of the matter at issue, and so brings the truth to light, viz. that the first was after all not right. Comp. the same verb in Pro_28:11; also Job_29:16, where however the investigator is the judge, and not one of the two contending parties.

Pro_18:18. Comp. Pro_16:33.—And decideth between the mighty, i.e. it keeps from hostile collision those who in reliance on their physical strength are specially inclined to quarrel. Comp. Heb_6:16, where a like salutary influence is claimed for the judicial oath as here for the lot.

Pro_18:19. A brother (estranged) resisteth more than a strong city. The participle נִפְּשָׁע, which, according to the accents, is predicate of the clause, is to be taken in the sense of “setting one’s self in opposition, resisting.” Now a brother who resisteth or defieth more than a strong city is necessarily an alienated or litigious brother. Furthermore the whole connection of the verse points to this closer limitation of the idea of “brother,” and especially the second clause, which aims to represent the difficulty of subduing the passion once set free, under the figure of the bars of a fortress, hard to thrust back or to burst.

Pro_18:20. Comp. Pro_12:14; Pro_13:2.

Pro_18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Comp. Jam_3:5 sq.; and also the Egyptian proverb: γλῶσσα τύχη, γλῶσσα δαίμων, (Plutarch, Is. p. 378).—He that loveth it shall eat of its fruit; i.e. he that suitably employs himself with it, employs much diligence in using it in discourse, whether it be with good or bad intent, as εὐλογῶν or κακολογῶν, blessing or cursing, (Jam_3:9; comp. 1Co_12:3), will experience in himself the effects of its use or its abuse. Against the one-sided application of this “loving the tongue” to loquacity (Hitzig), is to be adduced the double nature of the expression in the first clause, as well as the analogy of the preceding verse.—The LXX (οἱ κρατοῦντες αὐτῆς) seem to have read אֹחֲזֶיהָ (those laying hold upon it) instead of אֹהֲבֶיהָ, but this reading can hardly have been the original; comp. rather Pro_8:17, where the verb “to love” expresses essentially the same idea as here, that of a cherishing and cultivating or careful developing.

4. Pro_18:22-24. Of conjugal, neighborly and friendly affection.—Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing. It is naturally a good wife that is meant, a partner and head of the household such as she should be, a wife who really stands by her husband’s side as a “help meet for him” (Gen_2:18; Gen_2:20). The epithet “good,” which the LXX, Vulg, etc., express, is therefore superfluous (comp. also Pro_19:14; Pro_31:10), and is probably quite as little an element in the original as that which in the same version is appended to our verse: “He that putteth away a good wife putteth away happiness, and he that keepeth an adulteress is foolish and ungodly.” With clause b compare furthermore Pro_3:13; Pro_12:2; Sir_26:3. [Arnot’s view is more d defensible: The text which intimates that a prudent wife is from the Lord tells a truth, but it is one of the most obvious of truths: the text which intimates that a wife is a favor from the Lord, without expressly stipulating for her personal character, goes higher up in the history is of providence, and deeper into the wisdom of God. So substantially Muffet, Lawson and others].

Pro_18:23. The poor useth entreaties, but the rich answereth roughly, lit., “opposeth hard things” (contrasted with the supplications of clause a). Comp. the similar proverbs directed against the hardness of heart of the rich: Pro_14:21; Pro_17:5.

Pro_18:24. A man of many friends will prove himself base. The “man of friends,” of many friends, the “friend of all the world,” will show himself a bad friend,—he with whom is contrasted in clause b the instance which is indeed rare and isolated, of a true friendly love, which endures in every extremity (Pro_17:17), and even surpasses the devotion of one who is a brother by nature. See Critical notes for an exhibition of the many meanings found in the verse, etc.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL, HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL

That the chapter before us treats mainly of the virtues of social life, of sociability, affability, love of friends, compassion, etc., appears not merely from its initial and concluding sentences, the first of which is directed against misanthropic selfishness, the latter against thoughtless and inconstant universal friendship, or seeming friendship, but also from the various rebukes which it contains of a contentious, quarrelsome and partizan disposition, e.g. Pro_18:5-6; Pro_18:8; Pro_18:17-21. But in addition, most of the propositions that seem to be more remote, may be brought under this general category of love to neighbors as the living basis and sum of all social virtues; so especially the testimonies against wild, foolish talking (Pro_18:2; Pro_18:7; Pro_18:13, comp. 4 and 15); that against bold impiety, proud dispositions and hardness of heart against the poor (Pro_18:3; Pro_18:12; Pro_18:23); that against slothfulness in the duties of one’s calling, foolish confidence in earthly riches, and want of true moral courage and confidence in God (Pro_18:9-11; comp. 14). Nay, even the commendation of a large liberality as a means of gaining for one’s self favor and influence in human society (Pro_18:16), and likewise the praise of an excellent mistress of a family, are quite closely connected with this main subject of the chapter, which admonishes to love toward one’s fellow-men; they only show the many-sided completeness with which this theme is here treated.

[Chalmers:

Verse 2 is a notabile. Let me restrain the vanity or the excessive appetite for sympathy which inclines me to lay myself bare before my fellow-men.—Lawson (on Pro_18:13):—“Ministers of the word of God are instructed by this rule, not to be rash with their mouths to utter anything as the word of God in the pulpit, but to consider well what they are to say in the name of the Lord; and to use due deliberation and inquiry before they give their judgment in cases of conscience, lest they should make sins and duties which God never made, etc.”].

Therefore as a homily on the chapter as a whole:—Of love (true love for the sake of God and Christ) as the “bond of perfectness,” which must enfold all men, and unite them in one fellowship of the children of God.—Or again: On the difference between true and false friendship (with special reference to Pro_18:24.)—Stöcker:—Against division (alienation, contention) between friends. Its main causes are: 1) Within the sphere of the Church impiety (Pro_18:1-4); 2) Within the sphere of civil life, pride and injustice (Pro_18:5-10); 3) In domestic life, want of love (Pro_18:19-24).—Calwer Handbuch: Testimony against the faults which chiefly harm human society.

Pro_18:1-9. Geier (on Pro_18:1):—Love of separation (singularitatis studium) is the source of most contentions in Church and State.—(On Pro_18:4):—Eloquence is a noble thing, especially when its source is a heart hallowed by the Holy Ghost.—Berleburg Bible:—When the soul has once attained steadfastness in God, then words go forth from the mouth like deep waters, to instruct others and to help them; for it is a spring of water, inasmuch as the soul is in the Fountain.—Starke (on Pro_18:6):—Calumniators do not merely often start contentions; they themselves seldom escape unsmitten.—Von Gerlach (on Pro_18:9):—Slothfulness leads to the same end as extravagance.

Pro_18:10-16. Von Gerlach (on Pro_18:10):—The name of Jehovah (He that is) reveals to us His eternally immutable essence; in this there is given to mutable man living here in time the firmest ground of confidence, by which he may hold himself upright in trouble.—Starke (on Pro_18:11):—Money and property can, it is true, accomplish much in outward matters; but in the hour of temptation and in the day of judgment it is all merely a broken reed.—[Bridges (on Pro_18:10-11):—Every man is as his trust. A trust in God communicates a divine and lofty spirit. We feel that we are surrounded with God, and dwelling on high with Him. A vain trust brings a vain and proud heart—the immediate forerunner of ruin.—Bates (on Pro_18:10-11):—Covetousness deposes God, and places the world, the idol of men’s heads and hearts, on His throne; it deprives Him of His regalia, His royal prerogatives, etc. The rich man will trust God no further than according to visible supplies and means].—Zeltner (on Pro_18:14):—Wouldst thou have a sound body; then see to it that thou hast a joyful heart and a good courage, a heart which is assured of the grace of God and well content with His fatherly ordaining.—[T. Adams (on Pro_18:14): The pain of the body is but the body of pain; the very soul of sorrow is the sorrow of the soul.—Flavel:—No poniards are so mortal as the wounds of conscience.—Water-land:—On the misery of a dejected mind].

Pro_18:17-21. [Lord Bacon (on Pro_18:17):—In every cause the first information, if it have dwelt for a little in the judge’s mind, takes deep root, and colors and takes possession of it; insomuch that it will hardly be washed out, unless either some clear falsehood be detected, or some deceit in the statement thereof.—Arnot:—Self-love is the twist in the heart within, and self-interest is the side to which the variation from righteousness steadily tends in fallen and distorted nature.]—Starke (on Pro_18:17):—He that hath a just cause is well pleased when it is thoroughly examined; for his innocence comes out the more clearly to view.—Zeltner (on Pro_18:19):—The sweeter the wine the sharper the vinegar; accordingly the greater the love implanted by nature, the more bitter the hate where this love is violated.—[Trapp (on Pro_18:19):—No war breaks out sooner or lasts longer, than that among divines, or as that about the sacrament; a sacrament of love, a communion, and yet the occasion, by accident, of much dissension].—Tübingen Bible (on Pro_18:20-21):—Speak and be silent at the right time and in the divine order, and thou shalt be wise and blessed.

Pro_18:22. Luther (marginal note on Pro_18:22): 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.—Stöcker: Praise of an excellent wife [probæ conjugis commendatio): 1) how such a one may be found; 2) what blessing her husband has in her.—Zeltner: The great mystery of Christ and His church (Eph_5:32) must ever be to married Christians the type and model of their relation.—Von Gerlach: The great blessing of a pious wife can only be found, not won or gained by one’s own merit.

Pro_18:23-24. Starke (on Pro_18:23): If poor men must often enough knock in vain at the doors and hearts of the rich of this world, this should be to them only an impulse, to plead and to call the more on God who surely hears them. (On Pro_18:24): Pour out your heart before the Lord in every extremity; He is a friend whose friendship never dies out.—Von Gerlach (on Pro_18:24): The number of one’s friends is not the thing,—they are often false, unfaithful, and forsake us in misfortune. Let none despair for that reason; there are friends who are more closely and intimately joined to us than even brothers.—[Arnot: The brother and the friend are, through the goodness of God, with more or less of imperfection, often found among our fellows; but they are complete only in Him who is the fellow of the Almighty.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 19

THE EVIL OF ISOLATION

"He that separates himself follows after his own desire, but against all sound wisdom he shows his teeth."- Pro_18:1

FROM the value of friendship there is a natural and easy transition to the evil of isolation. We must try to fathom the profound meaning which is hidden under this simple but striking proverb. To begin with, what are we to understand by "one that separates himself"? This same word occurs in 2Sa_1:23 concerning Saul and Jonathan, that "in their death they were not separated." Theirs was a togetherness which accompanied them to the grave. On the other hand, there are people who shun all togetherness in their lives, -they are voluntarily, deliberately separated from their kind, and they seem for the first time to blend with their fellows when their undistinguished dust mixes with the dust of others in the common grave. We are to think of a person who has no ties with any of his fellow creatures, who has broken such ties as bound him to them, or is of that morbid and unnatural humor that makes all intercourse with others distasteful. We are to think more especially of one who chooses this life of solitariness in order to follow out his own desire rather than from any necessity of circumstance or disposition; one who finds his pleasure in ignoring mankind, and wishes for intercourse with them only that he may vent his spleen against them; in a word, we are to think of a misanthrope.

We must be careful in catching the precise idea because there are men who shut themselves off from their kind, rightly or wrongly, in order to seek the common welfare. A student or an inventor, sometimes even a teacher or a preacher, will find the solitude of the study or the laboratory the only condition on which he can accomplish the work to which he is called. The loss of domestic life or of social pleasures, the withdrawal from all the "kindly ways of men," may be a positive pain to him, a cross which he bears for the direct good of those whose company he forswears, or for the cause of truth, in whose service alone it is possible to permanently benefit his fellows. Such a "separation" as this-painful, difficult, unrewarded-we must exclude from the intention of our text, although possibly our text might convey a warning even to these benevolent hermits, that unless the heart is kept warm by human sympathies, unless the mind is kept in touch with the common cares and joys of our kind, the value of even intellectual work will be considerably diminished, while the worker himself must inevitably and perhaps needlessly suffer. But, on the whole, we must except these nobler instances of isolation, if we would feel the full force of the judgment which is pronounced in the text.

The misanthrope is one who has no faith in his fellows, and shrinks into himself to escape them; who pursues his own private ends, avoiding all unnecessary speech with those who are around him, living alone, dying unobserved, except for the mischief which, consciously or unconsciously, he does to those who survive him. Such a one is aptly described as showing his teeth in an angry snarl against all the approaches of a true wisdom.

Shakespeare might have had this proverb before him in that grim delineation of Richard the Third, who boasts that he has neither pity, love, nor fear. He was, he had been told, born with teeth in his mouth.

"And so I was," he exclaims "which plainly signified that I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog."

And then he explains his terrible character in these significant lines:-

"I have no brother, I am like no brother:

And this word Love, which greybeards call divine

Be resident in men like one another,

And not in me; I am myself alone."

Yes, Love can only exist among men who are like one another; and no more damning indictment can be brought against a human being than this, that he is himself alone.

The truth is that every man is not only a "self," a personality, but he is a very complex being made up of many relations with other men. He is a son, a brother, a friend, a father, a citizen. Suppose him to be stripped of all sonship, brotherhood, friendship, fatherhood, and citizenship; there is left, not a man, but a mere self, and that is his hideous condemnation. In the same way, a woman that is neither daughter, nor sister, nor wife, nor friend, nor ministrant, does not deserve the grand name of woman: she is a mere self, a point of exigent and querulous desires. The most appalling discovery in a great city is that multitudes have become mere selves- hungry, hollow, ravening, thirsty, shriveled selves. The father and mother are dead, or left far away, probably never known; no one is brother to them, they are brothers to no one. Friend has no significance to their understanding, or means only one who, from most interested motives, ministers to their craving appetites; they are not citizens of London, nor of any other city; they are not Englishmen, though they were born in England, nor have they any other nationality, -hideous, clamorous, esurient selves, nothing more. An old Greek saying declared that one who lives alone is either a god or a wild beast; while, as we have already seen, there are a few of the isolated ones who are isolated from noble and even Divine motives, the vast majority are in this condition because they have fallen from the level of humanity into the roving and predatory state of wild animals, that seek their meat by night and lurk in a lonely lair by day.

The "sound wisdom" against which the isolated rage is nothing less than the kindly law which makes us men, and ordains that we should not live to ourselves alone, but should fulfill our noble part as members one of another. The social instinct is one of two or three striking characteristics which mark us out as human: a man by himself is only an animal, and a very poor animal too; in size he is far beneath the greatest of the creatures that inhabit land and sea; he is not as swift as the winged denizens of the air; his strength in proportion to his bulk is debility compared with that of the tiniest insects. His distinction in the creation, and his excelling dignity, are derived from the social relations which make him in combination strong, in the intercourse of speech and thought, wise, and in the loving response of heart to heart, noble. If by some unhappy accident a human being wanders early from his place into the forest, is suckled by wild beasts, and grows up among them, the result is an animal inconceivably repulsive, fierce, cunning, and ugly; vulpine, but without the wolfs agile grace; bearish, but without the bears slow-pacing dignity.

The "sound wisdom" is the wisdom of the Creator, who from the beginning determined that it is not good for men to live alone, and marked His conception of the unity which should bind them together by the gift of the woman to the man, to be bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.

It becomes therefore a necessity to every wise human being to recognize, to maintain, and to cultivate all those wholesome relationships which make us truly human. "As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place." {Pro_27:8} Sometimes when a great ship is far off in mid-ocean, a tired land-bird will fall panting and exhausted upon the deck: the wings can beat no longer; the eyes glaze; and the eager wanderer fails and dies. The true bird-life is the life of the woods, of the toilsomely-woven nest, of the mate and the brood and the fledglings. In the same way on those ocean steamers-ay, and in many a weary bye-path and lonely desert of the earth-may be found men who have broken away from the ties which formed their strength and their truer being, and now fall, faint and purposeless, to languish and to die. For true human life is the life of our fellows, of the diligent laborious house building, of the home, of the young, of the rising nestlings which are to form the next link in the long chain of the generations.

Neighborliness is the larger part of life; we are not to go to our distant "brothers house in the day of our calamity, for better is a neighbor that is near than a brother far off." {Pro_27:10} Our life is rich and true and helpful just in proportion as we are entwined with those who live around us in bonds of mutual respect and consideration of reciprocal helpfulness and service, of intimate and intelligent friendship.

It is hardly necessary to say that there is neighborliness and neighborliness. Our relation to our neighbors may be that of mere busybodies, tattlers, and whisperers; it may be devoid of tact and consideration: there is need therefore of a warning to "hold back thy foot from thy neighbors house; lest he be sated with thee, and hate thee." {Pro_25:17} But this possible abuse does not affect the broad and salutary principle: we are meant to live in one another; our nature can realize itself, and accomplish its mission, only in generous and noble relations with those who are about us. The home is at the foundation of all; a good son or daughter will generally make a good man or woman, good brothers will prove good citizens, good sisters good ministrants and teachers to the poor and the ignorant; good fathers will be the best rulers in church and state. The home will be the preparation for the larger life of the town, or the social circle, or the state. And thus from the cradle to the grave no man should live alone, but everyone should be a member of a larger body, holding a definite place in a system or organism, depending on others, with others depending on him. Nerves should run through the body politic, motor nerves and sensory nerves; the joys and pains of a community should be shared, the activities of a community should be united. No one should live to himself; all should live, and rejoice to live, in the great cooperative society of the world, in which personal interests are mutual interests and the gains of each are the gains of all.

But we can hardly probe to the depths of this Proverbial Philosophy without becoming aware that we are touching on an idea which is the mainspring of Christianity on its earthly and visible side. We seem to have detected in all the preceding discussion echoes, however faint, of the Apostolic teaching which gave practical shape and body to the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The relation of Christ, as the Son of God, to the human race as a whole, immediately opened up the possibility of a world-wide society in which all nations, all classes, all castes, all degrees, all individualities, should be not so much merged as distinctly articulated and recognized in a complete and complex whole. The kingdom of heaven, while borrowing its terminology from earthly kingdoms, was unlike any one of them because it was to include them all. Into that kingdom all the peoples, nations, and languages should pass.

The Catholic Church, was the first attempt to realize this grand idea, presented for a time a certain faint and wavering reflection of the image in the heavens. The fault of seeking the unity of the race in a priesthood instead of in the people was of course a fatal one to its own ultimate success, but at least one great service was rendered to humanity; the idea became familiar of a unity, in which the narrower unities of the family, the social circle, and the nation were to find their completion. And when the intelligence and the faith of men broke with the Catholic Church, it was not a breach with the Catholic idea, but merely a transition to a nobler and a more living realization of the idea. At present the idea is daily clearing and assuming vaster proportions; humanity is seen to be one; the Great-Father presides over a family which may be sundered, but cannot be really parted; over a race which is divided, but not actually separated.

Strange and rapturous have been the emotions of men as they have entered into the realization of this idea, and the thrill of their vast fellowship has passed through their hearts. Sometimes they have turned away in bitterness of revolt from the Christian Church, which with harsh dogmatisms and fierce anathemas, with cruel exclusiveness and sectarian narrowness, seems rather to check than to further the sublime thought of the One Father, of whom all the family is named in heaven and in earth. But whatever justification there may be for complaint against the Church, we cannot afford to turn our thoughts from the Son of Man, who has redeemed the race to which we belong, and who, as the Divine Power, is alone able to carry out in effect the great conception which He has given us in thought.

And now I am going to ask you for a moment to consider how the text reads in the light of the work and the presence and the person of Jesus Christ, who has come to gather together in one those that are scattered abroad.

The person of Christ is the link which binds all men together; the presence of Christ is the guarantee of the union; the work of Christ, which consists in the removal of sin, is the main condition of a heart-unity for all mankind. When therefore you put your trust in Christ and your sinful nature is subdued, you are incorporated into a body of which He is the head, and you must pass out of the narrow self-life into the broad Christ-life; you can no longer live for yourself alone, because as the member of a body you exist only in relation to all the other members. "But," it is said, "am I not to seek my own salvation, and then to work it out with fear and trembling? am I not to withdraw from the world, and to labor hard to make my calling and election sure?" In a certain sense, the answer to that question is, Yes. But then it is only in a certain sense; for you make sure of your own salvation precisely in proportion as you are really incorporated into Christ, and are made a genuine member of the body: as St. John says, "We know that we are passed from death unto life because we love the brethren," and "if we walk in the light we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." We work out our salvation therefore only by losing the self in others; we withdraw from the world and make our calling sure, just as our thoughts become identified with Gods thoughts, and as our lives are passed in cheerful and victorious service.

If, then, on the ground of our humanity we are cautioned against separating ourselves, because by so doing we set our teeth against all sound wisdom, on the ground of our Christianity we must be warned not to separate ourselves, because that means to harden our hearts against the faith itself. When we say to ourselves, "We will live our Christian life alone," that is equivalent to saying, "We will not live the Christian life at all." We do not know what the life in heaven may be, -though from the casual glimpses we obtain of it, we should say that it is a great social gathering, at which we shall sit down with Abraham and all the saints of God, a kind of marriage festivity to celebrate the union of the Lord with His bride, -but it is plain that the Christian life, as it is revealed to us here, must be the life of a community, for it is likened to a vine, from which all dead branches are cut off, and plainly all cut-off branches are dead.

"But," say many people amongst us, "we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; we trust to Him; why should you impose any further conditions?" Do they put their faith in Him? Does not faith imply obedience? Did He not require His disciples to be united in a fellowship, and did He not give His body and His blood as a symbol of this fellowship, and command them to take the symbols in remembrance of Him until He comes? Are these isolated believers obeying Him, or are they not cutting at the root of His glorious purpose of human fellowship in the Divine Head? And if they are thus breaking His expressed commandment, has He not warned them that he will say, "I never knew you, depart from Me." although they have taught in his name, and even cast out devils and done many wonderful works?

And in thus reminding you of our Lords thought, I am not speaking only of what we call the fellowship of the Church; for there are many who are merely nominal members of the Church, and though their names are enrolled they "separate themselves" and live the life of unhallowed isolation, just as they did before they professedly entered into the Christian society. This is a larger question than that of Church membership; Church membership derives its vast importance from being a part of this larger question. Will you, therefore, let me close with a personal appeal addressed to each one of you?

You know that the Son of Man would make men one; you know that He calls His disciples into a holy family of mutual love and service, so that men may know that they are His, and may recognize Him because they love one another. Are you venturing to disregard His commandment and to frustrate His will by separating yourself for your own desire? Have you fallen out of all relations with His family, so that the sonship, the brotherhood, the friendship, the fatherhood, the citizenship, of the heavenly kingdom are as good as meaningless to you? If so, may I say in the words of the text, you are setting "your teeth against all sound wisdom?"

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

He that loveth wisdom, will separate himself from all impediments, and give himself wholly to seek it.

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

CHAPTER XVIII

The man who separates himself and seeks wisdom. The fool and

the wicked man. Deep wisdom. Contention of fools. The

talebearer and the slothful. The name of the Lord. Pride and

presumption because of riches. Hastiness of spirit. The wounded

spirit. The influence of gifts. The lot. The offended brother.

The influence of the tongue. A wife a good from God. The true

friend.

NOTES ON CHAP. XVIII

Verse 1. Through desire a man, having separated himself] The original is difficult and obscure. The Vulgate, Septuagint, and Arabic, read as follows: "He who wishes to break with his friend, and seeks occasions or pretenses, shall at all times be worthy of blame."

My old MS. Bible translates, Occasioun seeketh that wil go awei fro a freend: at al tyme he schal ben wariable.

Coverdale thus: "Who so hath pleasure to sowe discorde, piketh a quarrel in every thinge."

Bible by Barker, 1615: "Fro the desire thereof he will separate himself to seeke it, and occupie himself in all wisdome." 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."

The Hebrew: לתאוה יבקש נפרד בכל תושיה יתגלע lethaavah yebakkesh niphrad, bechol tushiyah yithgalla. The nearest translation to the words is perhaps the following: "He who is separated shall seek the desired thing, (i.e., the object of his desire,) and shall intermeddle (mingle himself) with all realities or all essential knowledge." He finds that he can make little progress in the investigation of Divine and natural things, if he have much to do with secular or trifling matters: he therefore separates himself as well from unprofitable pursuits as from frivolous company, and then enters into the spirit of his pursuit; is not satisfied with superficial observances, but examines the substance and essence, as far as possible, of those things which have been the objects of his desire. This appears to me the best meaning: the reader may judge for himself.

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

XVIII.

(1) Through desire a man, having separated himself . . .—This should probably be rendered, The separatist seeketh after his own desire, against all improvement he shows his teeth. The man of small mind is here described, who will only follow his own narrow aims, who holds himself aloof from men of wider views than his own, and will not join with them in the furtherance of philanthropic or religious plans, but rather opposes them with all his power, as he can see nothing but mischief in them. (For his temper of mind, comp. Joh_7:47-49.)

Intermeddleth.—See above on Pro_17:14.

Wisdom.—See above on Pro_2:7.

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

1. Through desire] According to the rendering of A.V. this would mean: A man who is possessed by an intense desire of wisdom separates himself from all other avocations and pursuits and from the society of his fellow men, isolates himself, as we say, that he may “intermeddle with” it, give himself wholly to (but see Pro_17:14 note) the pursuit of it. We must, however, render with R.V.:

He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire:

He rageth against (or, quarrelleth with, marg.) all sound wisdom.

The proverb then is a condemnation of the selfish isolation of the self-seeker or the misanthrope. Mr Horton, who has an interesting chapter on this verse, writes:

“Shakespeare might have had this proverb before him in that grim delineation of Richard the Third, who boasts that he has neither pity, love, nor fear. He was, he had been told, born with teeth in his mouth,

‘And so I was,’ he exclaims, ‘which plainly signified

That I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog.’

And then he explains this terrible character in these significant lines:—

‘I have no brother, I am like no brother:

And this word Love, which greybeards call divine,

Be resident in men like one another,

And not in me; I am myself alone.’

III. K. Henry VI. Act v. Sc. 6.”

wisdom] Or, sound wisdom, R.V., as the same Heb. word is rendered in A.V. in Pro_2:7.

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.

The text and the marginal readings indicate the two chief constructions of this somewhat difficult verse. Other renderings are

(1) He who separateth himself from others seeks his own desire, and rushes forward against all wise counsel: a warning against self-will and the self-assertion which exults in differing from the received customs and opinions of mankind.

(2) he who separates himself (from the foolish, unlearned multitude) seeks his own desire (that which is worthy to be desired), and mingleth himself with all wisdom. So the Jewish commentators generally.

Between (1) blaming and (2) commending the life of isolation, the decision must be that (1) is most in harmony with the temper of the Book of Proverbs; but it is not strange that Pharisaism, in its very name, separating and self-exalting, should have adopted (2).

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

Reproach. True friendship resembles charity, and bears all things, 1 Corinthians xiii. 4. Hebrew now reads Thave, "desire;" instead of Thuane, occasion, or "pretext," which must have been in the copies of the Septuagint and Vulgate. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "through desire, a man having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom." The solitary seeks heaven. (Haydock)

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).

According to this interpretation the sense is,

Through desire (of it, to wit of wisdom, which is easily understood out of the end of the verse; such ellipses being frequent in Scripture)

a man, having separated himself, ( being sequestered from the company, and noise, and business of the world, betaking himself to retirement and solitude, as men do that apply themselves to any serious study.)

seeketh and

intermeddleth with all wisdom, i.e. useth all diligence, that he may search and find out all solid knowledge and true wisdom. And this earnest desire and endeavour to get true wisdom within a man’s self is fitly opposed to the fool’s contempt of wisdom, or to his desire of it, not for use and benefit, but only for vain ostentation, which is expressed in the next verse, although coherence is little regarded by interpreters in the several verses and proverbs of this book. But this verse is otherwise rendered in the margin of our English Bible, and by divers others, He that separateth himself, (either,

1. From his friend; or rather,

2. From other men; who affects singularity, is wedded to his own opinion, and through self-conceit despiseth the opinions and conversation of others,) seeketh according to his desire, (seeketh to gratify his own inclinations and affections, and chooseth those opinions which most comply with them,) and intermeddleth (for this word is used in a bad sense, Pro 17:14; 20:3, and it is not found elsewhere, save in this place) in every business, as proud and singular persons are commonly pragmatical, delighting to find faults in others, that they may get some reputation to themselves by it. Heb. in every thing that is; thrusting themselves into the actions and affairs of other men. Or, as this last clause is and may be rendered, and contendeth (Heb. mingleth himself; for words of that signification are commonly used for contending or fighting, as Deu 2:5,9,19; Isa 36:8; Dan 11:10) with or against (for the Hebrew prefix beth oft signifies against) all reason or wisdom; whatsoever any man speaketh against his opinion and desire, though it be never so reasonable and evident, he rejecteth it, and obstinately maintains his own opinion.

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

1. Lit. 'One who separates himself seeks desire, quarrels with all wisdom.' This would mean that a solitary recluse follows his own wishes and opposes everything reasonable. But LXX suggests, 'The alienated friend seeks an occasion of quarrel, seeks by all means to stir up strife.'

2. He likes to talk about his own notions.

4. The second half of the v. shows that it is a wise man who is in view; his words are 'as deep waters,' i.e. are inexhaustible; he is ever ready to give helpful answers.

8. Wounds] RV 'dainty morsels.' Malicious gossip finds ready acceptance (Jer_15:16).

10. The name of Jehovah is Jehovah Himself as revealed to men, His manifested character (Psa_75:1). Orientals have always ascribed mysterious powers to the divine titles. Mohammedans repeat them one by one as they count the ninety-nine beads. One of the ancient Persian books declares that the recital of God's names is the best defence against all danger.

14. Bear] RM 'raise up.'

16. A superior cannot be approached in the East without a present.

17. 'Hear the other side.'

20. A man's happiness depends on the way in which he governs and uses his tongue (Mat_12:36; Mat_15:11).

22. A good wife (Sir_17:28).

24. RV 'He that maketh many friends doeth it to his own destruction; but'

'The friend thou hast, and his adoption tried,

Grapple him to thy soul with hooks of steel.

But do not dull thy palm with entertainment

Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.'

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1. Through desire a man, etc. — Wonderful are the diverse translations of this proverb, and of the senses attributed to it. The explanation of this fact is, that it contains several obscure words, of which the sense, at least in their present collocation, is uncertain.

Having separated himself —נפרד, (niphradh,) separated, or are separated, which is the subject of the sentence, though certain enough in its etymology is here uncertain in its use. It may be used to denote separation in either a good or a bad sense.

Intermeddleth — In respect to יתגלע, (yithgalla’h,) rendered, “intermeddleth,” the sense is obscure, and admits of various meanings. Thus in a bad sense Stuart gives, as the sentiment: “Selfishness is apt to become exclusive and supreme, and to break all bonds to gratify itself.”

Conant reads: “He that separates himself seeks his own pleasure; against all good counsel he is embittered.” Some prefer the good sense. Thus Dr. A. Clarke: “He who is separated shall seek the desired thing, (the object of his desire,) and shall intermeddle (mingle himself) with all realities, or all essential knowledge.”

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

This is a difficult verse, and has obtained various interpretations. The Authorized Version gives, Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom; i.e. a man who has an earnest desire for self-improvement will hold himself aloof from worldly entanglements, and, occupying himself wholly in this pursuit, will become conversant with all wisdom. This gives good sense, and offers a contrast to the fool in ver. 2, who "hath no delight in understanding." But the Hebrew does not rightly bear this interpretation. Its conciseness occasions ambiguity. Literally, For his desire a man who separates himself seeks; in (or against) all wisdom he mingles himself. There is a doubt whether the life of isolation is praised or censured in this verse. Aben Ezra and others of Pharisaic tendencies adopt the former alternative, and explain pretty much as the Authorized Version, thus: "He who out of love of wisdom divorces himself from home, country, or secular pursuits, such a man will mix with the wise and prudent, and be conversant with such." But the maxim seems rather to blame this separation, though here, again, there is a variety of interpretation. Delitzsch, Ewald, and others translate, "He that dwelleth apart seeketh pleasure, against all sound wisdom he showeth his teeth". (comp. Pro_17:14) Nowack, after Bertheau, renders, "He who separates himself goes after his own desire; with all that is useful he falls into a rage." Thus the maxim is directed against the conceited, self-willed man, who sets himself against public opinion, delights in differing from received customs, takes no counsel from others, thinks nothing of public interests, but in his mean isolation attends only to his own private ends and fancies. (comp. Heb_10:25) The Septuagint and Vulgate (followed by Hitzig) read in the first clause, for taavah, "desire," taanah, "occasion;" thus: "He who wishes to separate from a friend seeks occasions; but at all time he will be worthy of censure." The word translated "wisdom" (tushiyah) also means "substance," "existence;" hence the rendering, "at all time," omni existentia, equivalent to omni tempore.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1-9. Unsocial vices.

There is an inner connection between them all.

I MISANTHROPY. (Ver. 1) If this verse be more correctly rendered, this is the meaning yielded. From a diseased feeling the man turns aside to sullen solitude, and thus rejects wisdom. This affords a fine meaning. It is one thing to feel the need of occasional solitude, another to indulge the passion for singularity.

II OBTRUSIVENESS. (Ver. 2) Contrast ver. 4. The talkative fool is the very opposite of the misanthrope in his habits; yet the two have this in common they both unfit themselves for society. We may go out of solitude to indulge our spleen, or into society to indulge our vanity. Talking for talking"s sake, and all idle conversation, are here marked, if as minor vices, still vices.

III BASENESS. (Ver. 3) The word rendered "contempt" points rather to deeds of shame. And the meaning then will be that the evil of the heart must necessarily discover itself in the baseness of the life. As the impure state of the blood is revealed in eruptions and blotches on the skin, so is it with moral evil.

IV CONSPIRACY AND PLOTTING. (Ver. 5) The figure employed, literally, to lift up a persons face, signifies to take his part. All party spirit is wrong, because it implies that truth has not the first place in our affections. But party spirit on behalf of the wicked is an utter abomination, for it implies a positive contempt for, or unbelief in, right and truth.

V QUARRELSOMENESS. (Vers. 6, 7) "The apostle, when giving the anatomy of man"s depravity, dwells chiefly on the little member with all its accompaniments the throat, the tongue, the lips, the mouth. It is "a world of iniquity, defiling the whole body. It leads to violence. The deadly blow is prepared for and produced by the irritating taunting word. But there is a recoil upon the quarrelsome man. The tongue to which he has given so evil licence finally ensnares him and takes him prisoner. And the stones he has cast at others fall back upon himself. Thus does Divine judgment reveal itself in the common course of life.

VI SLANDEROUSNESS. (Ver. 8) The word "tale bearer" is represented more expressively in the Hebrew. It is the man that "blows in the ear." And the picture comes up before the mind of the calumnious word, whispered or jestingly uttered, which goes deep into the most sensitive places of feeling, and wounds, perhaps even unto death.

VII IDLENESS. (Ver. 9) Here we strike upon the root of all these hideous vices. It is the neglect of the man"s proper work which suffers these vile weeds to grow. What emphasis there needs to be laid on the great precept, "Do thine own work"! The idler is brother to the corrupter, or vicious man, and his kinship is certain sooner or later to betray itself. The parable of the talents may be compared here. Then, again, how close are the ideas of wickedness and sloth! J.

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

Desire - Thro' desire of wisdom, a man having separated himself from the company, and noise, and business of the world, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom, uses all diligence, that he may search and find out all solid knowledge and true wisdom.

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

This series of proverbs now turns from the fool to the separatist:

The separatist seeketh after his own pleasure;

Against all that is beneficial he showeth his teeth.

The reflexive נפרד has here the same meaning as the Rabbinical פּרשׁ מן־הצּבּוּר, to separate oneself from the congregation, Aboth ii. 5; נפרד denotes a man who separates himself, for he follows his own counsel, Arab. mnfrd (mtfrrd) brâyh, or jḥys almḥḥl (seorsum ab aliis secedens). Instead of לתּאוה, Hitzig, after Jerome, adopts the emendation לתאנה, "after an occasion" (a pretext), and by נפרד thinks of one pushed aside, who, thrown into opposition, seeks to avenge himself. But his translation of 1b, "against all that is fortunate he gnasheth his teeth," shows how much the proverb is opposed to this interpretation. נפרד denotes one who willingly (Jdg 4:11), and, indeed, obstinately withdraws himself. The construction of יבקּשׁ with ל (also Job 10:6) is explained by this, that the poet, giving prominence to the object, would set it forward: a pleasure (תאוה, as Arab. hawan, unstable and causeless direction of the mind to something, pleasure, freak, caprice), and nothing else, he goes after who has separated himself (Fl.); the effort of the separatist goes out after a pleasure, i.e., the enjoyment and realization of such; instead of seeking to conform himself to the law and ordinance of the community, he seeks to carry out a separate view, and to accomplish some darling plan: libidinem sectatur sui cerebri homo. With this 1b accords. תּוּשׁיּה (vid., at Pro 2:7) is concretely that which furthers and profits. Regarding התגּלּע, vid., at Pro 17:14. Thus putting his subjectivity in the room of the common weal, he shows his teeth, places himself in fanatical opposition against all that is useful and profitable in the principles and aims, the praxis of the community from which he separates himself. The figure is true to nature: the polemic of the schismatic and the sectary against the existing state of things, is for the most part measureless and hostile.

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.)

DESIRE is the chariot-wheel of the soul, the spring of energy and delight. The man of business or science is filled with his great object; and through desire he separates himself from all lets and hindrances, that he may intermeddle with its whole range. "This one thing" — saith man of God — "I do." (Php 3:13 .) This one thing is everything with him. He separates himself from all outward hindrances, vain company, trifling amusements or studies, needless engagements, that he may seek and intermeddle with all wisdom. John separated himself in the wilderness,†1 Paul in Arabia,†2 our blessed Lord in frequent retirement,†3 in order to greater concentration in their momentous work. Deeply does the Christian Minister feel the responsibility of this holy separation, that he may "give himself wholly to" his office. (1Ti 4:15 . 2Ti 2:4 .) Without it — Christian — thy soul can never prosper. How canst thou intermeddle with the great wisdom of knowing thyself, if thy whole mind be full of this world’s chaff and vanity? There must be a withdrawl, to "commune with thine own heart" and to ask the questions — "Where art thou? What doest thou here?" Much is there to be enquired into and pondered. Everything here calls for our deepest, closest thoughts. We must walk with God in secret, or the enemy will walk with us, and our souls will die. "Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee." (Eze 3:22 .) "When thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee." (Joh 1:48 .) Deal much in secrecy, if thou wouldst know "the secret of the Lord." Like thy Divine Master, thou wilt never be less alone than when alone. (Joh 16:32 .) There is much to be wrought, gained, and enjoyed. Thy most spiritual knowledge, thy richest experience will be found here. Men who live without retirement may be fluent talkers, and accurate preachers. But nothing comes as from a broken and contrite heart. The want of unction paralyses all spiritual impression. No intelligent, self-observant Christian but feels the immense moment of combining holy solitude with active life, as the nourishment of his faith, and with it of every Christian grace. Sir M. Hale left this testimony — ’I have endeavoured to husband this short, uncertain, important talent (time) by dedicating and setting apart some portion of it to prayer and reading of thy word; which I have constantly and peremptorily observed, whatever occasions interposed, or importunity persuaded to the contrary.’†4

And then, when we look around us into the infinitely extended field of the Revelation of God, what a world of heavenly wisdom is there to intermeddle with! In the hurry of this world’s atmosphere how little can we apprehend it! And yet such is the field of wonder, that the contemplation of a single point overwhelmed the Apostle with adoring astonishment. (Rom 11:33 .) Here are "things, which even the angels desire to look into." (1Pe 1:12 .) The redeemed will be employed throughout eternity in this delighted searching; exploring "the breadth, and length, and depth, and height," until they be "filled with all the fulness of God." (Eph 3:18-19 .) 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.

Yet the fool hath no delight in his understanding. All his desire is to pour out his own frivolity, to come abroad from public observation, that his heart may discover itself — an humiliating discovery, indeed, at once of the scantiness of his knowledge and the vanity of his mind.

Footnotes:

†1 Luk 1:80.

†2 Gal 1:17.

†3 Mar 1:35; Mar 6:31. Luk 6:12 .

†4 The Good Steward. Contemplations, pp. 238, 239.

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

CHAPTER 18 Proverbs of Personal Instruction

There is first a warning against separation produced by desire, that is for gratification and pleasure, and not for a righteous purpose. Such a one becomes an enemy of true wisdom and one who intermeddleth with all wisdom. This proverb finds a New Testament illustration in Alexander the coppersmith, as well as Hymenaeus and Philetus, and Diotrephes of whom John writes in his epistle. A fool foams out his own folly. This proverb in Pro 18:2 is illustrated by many of the critics of the Bible. They have no delight in true understanding but their own hearts are laid bare by their mad oppositions to God’s Holy Word.

The fool’s mouth, his lips, the talebearer (whisperer), and the slothful are the themes of the proverbs in Pro 18:6-9. Then we read “The Name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe” Pro 18:10). The Name (Ha-Shem, in Hebrew) stands for Jehovah Himself. He is the place of refuge, of shelter, protection and safety for all who in faith turn to Him. In Him is our peace and safety. The Hebrew meaning of “is safe” is “set on high.” Even so if we flee to Him and become His, we are exalted in Him, seated in Christ in heavenly places.

Another proverb of solemn meaning is found in Pro 18:12. “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility. Scripture abounds in illustrations of these two lines. The truth stated here is still being manifested in the lives of men and women. The only place of safety for God’s people is the place in the dust, the place of humility.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” Pro 18:21). The Epistle of James (chapter 3) speaks in the same manner of the power of the tongue and its misuse. Evil words will bring evil results. But the tongue speaking the words of life and love, as given in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a power for good, the power of life--and oh! what shall the harvest be in that day!

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

v. 1. Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom, rather, "After his own desire seeketh the odd person, against all sound counsel he setteth himself," that is, he who goes his own way out of selfish opposition to everything that is established among men seeks only his own selfish interest in life.

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

Pro 18:10-11

We have here the "strong tower" and the "strong city;" the man lifted up above danger on the battlements of the one, and the man fancying himself to be high above it (and only fancying himself) in the imaginary safety of the other.

I. Consider first the two fortresses. One need only name them side by side to feel the full force of the intended contrast. On the one hand the name of the Lord, with all its depths and glories, with its blaze of lustrous purity and infinitudes of inexhaustible power; and on the other "the rich man’s wealth." (1) The name of the Lord, of course, is the biblical expression for the whole character of God, as He has made it known to us, or, in other words, for God Himself, as He has been pleased to reveal Himself to mankind. His name proclaims Him to be self-existent, and, as self-existent, eternal; and as eternal, changeless; and as self-existent, eternal, changeless, infinite in all the qualities by which He makes Himself known. But far beyond the sweep of that great name, Jehovah, is the knowledge of God’s deepest heart and character, which we learn in Him who said, "I have declared Thy name unto My brethren, and will declare it." The name that is the strong tower is the name. "My Father!" A Father of infinite tenderness, and wisdom, and power. (2) Look at the other fortress: "The rich man’s wealth." Of course we have not to deal here only with wealth in the shape of money, but all external and material goods; the whole mass of the things seen and temporal are gathered together here in this phrase. Men use their imaginations in very strange fashion, and make, or fancy they make, for themselves out of the things of the present life a defence and a strength. Like some poor lunatic, out upon a moor, that fancies himself ensconced in a castle; like some barbarous tribes behind their stockades, or crowding at the back of a little turf wall, fancying themselves perfectly secure and defended,—so do men deal with these outward things that are given them for another purpose altogether; they make of them defences and fortresses. Of all delusions that can beset you in your course, none will work more disastrously than the notion that the summum bonum, the shield and the stay of a man, is the abundance of the things that he possesses.

II. Consider next how to get into the true refuge. How does a man make this world his defence? By trusting to it. He that says to the fine gold, "Thou art my confidence," has made it his fortress; and that is how you will make God your fortress—by trusting to Him.

III. We have, lastly, what comes of sheltering in these two refuges. (1) As to the former of them, as one of the old Puritan commentators has it, "The tower is so deep that no pioneer can undermine it, so thick that no cannon can breach it, so high that no ladder can scale it." "The righteous runneth into it and is perched up there." (2) I say little about the other side. The world can do a great deal for us. It can keep the rifle bullets from us. But, ah! when the big siege guns get into position and begin to play; when the great trials that every-life must have, sooner or later, come to open fire at us; then the defence that anything in this outer world can give comes rattling about our ears very quickly. It is like the pasteboard helmet, which looked as good as if it had been steel, and did admirably as long as no sword struck it.

A. Maclaren, A Year’s Ministry, 1st series, p. 301.

References: Pro 18:10.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix., No. 491; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 8th series, p. 118; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. xvi., p. 269. Pro 18:12.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 97.; Evening by Evening, p. 66. Pro 18:15-19.— R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 191. Pro 18:17.— W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 126. Pro 18:20-24.— R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 202.

Pro 18:21

I. The tongue is like a steed (Jas 3:3): (1) When it speaks too much; (2) when it is boasting; (3) when it is angry.

II. The tongue is like a sword (Psa 57:4): (1) Against the weak and helpless; (2) against sacred things and holy persons.

III. The tongue is like a serpent (Psa 140:3): (1) when it slanders; (2) when it flatters.

IV. The tongue is like fire (Jas 3:6). It is like fire when it speaks profane or foul words in the hearing of others; because those who hear them speak them again, and so the evil spreads and spreads.

J. Stalker, The New Song, p. 24.

References: Pro 18:22.—W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 131; W. M. Taylor, Old Testament Outlines, p. 160.

Pro 18:24

When Christian people talk of a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, there is commonly one Friend in their mind, the best Friend, the most faithful, and sympathetic, and mighty, our blessed Redeemer. But that thought was quite out of the mind of the man that wrote the verse. The writer was not thinking at all of Christ. All he names here is the fact of experience, that men have sometimes found a friend who was more constant and faithful than a brother.

I. A sorrowful alienation from those once nearest is a sad characteristic of our life as years go on. Most human beings would need a friend nearer than almost any of their blood. A characteristic of advancing years is a growing selfishness; a shrivelling up of all the real interests of life into the narrow compass of one’s own personality. The most unselfish and the kindest-hearted will need diligently to counterwork that increasing alienation, which in the latter years tends to estrange us from others, to throw us in upon ourselves, to make us quite alone. Keep as near as you will, there is still an inevitable space between, a certain distance between you and your best friends in this world. We would all need to have a friend who can keep nearer us, and understand us better, and stand by us more faithfully, and help us more effectually, than any human being.

II. And there is such a friend. If we could vividly believe that Christ is our friend, it is very easy to see how good and great a friend, (1) Think of His power—His power to help and protect, in work, in danger, in temptation. (2) Think of His sympathy—He can feel for us, He can understand us, and all we are feeling and going through. His might to help us is as of one raised like the stars above us; His understanding of us is nearer than that of one who sits by the same fireside. (3) This best Friend will never disappoint us; as those we thought our good friends here sometimes do. (4) This best Friend is always near. (5) This Friend is never estranged. (6) He will never die. There is no shadow of coming parting to hang, unspoken of, but oftentimes silently remembered, over our communion with Him.

A. K. H. B., From a Quiet Place, p. 169.

Our text speaks of a friendship which is the noblest and most enduring. It compares it with what is usually regarded as one of the most powerful and abiding relations on earth, the love of brethren. There is a friend, it tells us, that sticketh closer than a brother. Who that friend is it says not. It may refer to the fact that even in our common life we meet with friends that are better to us than even our relations; but who can doubt that, whatever its primary reference, it does emphatically describe the character of One who is pre-eminently the Friend of man, the Friend of sinners, and the Friend of saints?

I. The love of this Friend is disinterested. How could it be otherwise? What drew Him to us? Was it primarily to be blessed Himself or to bless others that He came? It was not His own happiness He came to seek when He left the world in which He is and was God over all, blessed for ever—it was ours; His joy was that of seeing others rescued, redeemed, purified, glorified.

II. The friendship of Christ is an intelligent friendship; it is a friendship which is based on knowledge, and a complete knowledge of us. Many of the friendships of this world have no such basis whatever, and it is this which often accounts for their very brief and unsatisfactory character. Christ knows what is in man. He knows, therefore, the worst of us. There is nothing that can come out to surprise Him and revolt Him. And yet He sticks closer than a brother.

III. The friendship of Christ is marked by its fidelity. He does not love us with a fondness which shrinks from admonition when admonition is needed. If He be unseen, He is still at our side, and by His providence is speaking to us now, as once He spoke in an audible voice. He will not suffer sin in us to go unreproved.

IV. His friendship is marked by its constancy. It is not like the moon with its phases, but like the sun, without variableness or the shadow of a turning. He does not break off from us because we are not all we should be to Him. He sticks to us closer than a brother.

E. Mellor, The Hem of Christ’s Garment, p. 292.

What our text says is true of human friends,—describes them, and furnishes a reason why we should value them, and do all that is right and proper to retain them. But if it applies to any, it applies to the Lord Jesus. It is most of all true of Him.

I. The text is true of Jesus in respect of His love. He loves you better than a brother does. He is the very embodiment of the love of God, and "God is love."

II. The text is true of Jesus in respect of His kindness. He is kinder to you, does more for you than a brother. Kindness is the outcome of love, the result of love, the expression of love.

III. The text is true of Jesus in respect of His patience. He bears with you more than a brother. If anything could win the hearts of children, it should be the patience and gentleness of Jesus.

IV. The text is true of Jesus in respect of His nearness. He is nearer to you than a brother. In Old Testament times the only one who could be a redeemer was the nearest of kin (Ruth iv.). That was meant to bring out the nearness of Christ’s relationship to all who are His.

V. The text is true of Jesus in respect of His steadfastness, His constancy. He never changes, never leaves you. Jesus never gives up any friend.

J. H. Wilson, The Gospel and its Fruit, p. 157.

References: Pro 18:24.—B. W. Noel, Penny Pulpit, No. 3,633; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 120; W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 116. Pro 19:1-3.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs vol. ii., p. 215.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

isolates himself

"keeps away from other people"

quarrels with all sound judgment

This speaks of a person disagreeing with sound judgment as if "sound judgment" were a person he fought with. AT: "he disagrees with all sound judgment" (See: Personification)

sound judgment

"good judgment" or "wise choices"

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but only

"A fool does not care about understanding, but only about" This means the fool considers "understanding" the opposite of pleasure. AT: "A fool detests understanding and only finds pleasure in" (See: Litotes)

but only in revealing what is in his own heart

This means that the fool only finds pleasure in telling other people what he feels and desires in his heart. AT: "but only in telling others what is in his own heart" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

what is in his own heart

The contents of a person's heart refers to the person's thoughts and feelings. AT: "what he thinks" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

fool

reveal

heart

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

He who is separated seeks lust He who is separated from the Holy One, blessed be He, not keeping His precepts, pursues the lust of his heart and his evil inclination, and finally... in all sound wisdom, he is exposed Among the wise, his disgrace will be revealed. Our Sages expounded this as referring to Lot, who separated from Abraham because of the lust of his heart, as it is stated (Gen. 13:11): “And Lot chose for himself the entire plain of the Jordan, etc.” This whole verse is stated concerning adultery. His end was that his shame was exposed in the synagogues and in the study halls, [when people read] (Deut. 23:4): “Neither an Ammonite nor a Moabite may enter [the congregation of the Lord].”

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.