Proverbs 24:17

Pro 24:17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

Ver. 17. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth.] If thou dost, it is a sure sign of devilish hatred - επιχαιρεκακια being the devil’s disease - what goodwill, innocence, or ignoscency soever thou makest show of. Job cleareth himself of this fault, {Job 31:24} and so doth David notably. {Psa 35:13-14} See his practice. {2Sa 1:11-12} Caesar wept when Pompey’s head was presented to him, and said, Victoriam volui, non vindictam. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:44"} {See Trapp on "Rom 12:19"}

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_24:17-18

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth.

Revenge

Johnson makes a distinction between vengeance and revenge. Injuries, he says, are revenged; crimes are avenged. The former is an act of passion, the latter of justice.

I. The object of revenge. Thine enemy. Men are enemies to men. Humanity is not as it came from the hand of the Great Father of mankind. Sin has made the brother a foe. If man had no enemy, he would have no revenge. In heaven no such passion burns.

II. The gratification of revenge. Let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth. The fall, the ruin of the enemy, is bliss to the revenging soul. But if unmanly, still more un-Christian. What said Christ? If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink, etc.

III. The avenger of revenge. Lest the Lord see it, and it displeaseth Him, and he turn away His wrath from him.

1. Mans revenge is displeasing to God. It is opposed to the benevolence of His nature; it is contrary to the teachings of His Word.

2. Mans revenge may cause God to interpose, and relieve its victim. He turn away His wrath from him. Coverdale renders the words thus, Lest the Lord be angry, and turn His wrath from him to thee. Thus it was with the enemies of Samson (Jdg_16:25-30). (Homilist.)

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

Pro 24:17-18. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth — Namely, into mischief or trouble, as in the former verse; please not thyself in his destruction. This plainly shows that the love of our enemies is a precept of the Old Testament, as well as of the New: see Exo 23:4-5. Lest the Lord see it, &c. — “For though nobody sees it, God does; and such affections are so displeasing to him, that they may provoke him to translate the calamity from thy enemy unto thee, and thereby damp thy sinful joy with a double sorrow.”

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

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Pro_24:20. Reward. The same word used in Pro_24:14, and in chap. Pro_23:18. Its literal meaning is “a hereafter.” Zöckler translates it end in the first two instances, but in this case he reads future. Delitzsch and Miller render it hereafter or future in every verse.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_24:17-18

THE FALL OF AN ENEMY

Joy at the overthrow of an enemy is a feeling which is natural to an unspiritual man, but it is one which is here declared to be displeasing to God. Three reasons suggest themselves why this should be so.

I. Such an emotion is inconsistent with a man’s own well-being and happiness. The nature that can be indifferent to the calamities of another, even although that other has been an enemy in the past, is a nature destitute of all generosity and nobility. But the heart that can be glad at such an event is altogether possessed with the spirit of the devil—the flames of exultation that burn upon such an altar have been set on fire of hell. And as God loves the creature whom He at first created in His own image, it displeases Him to see him give place to a feeling so unworthy of his origin, and at the same time so productive of misery to himself. For the so-called joy that arises from such a cause is not only very short-lived, but is like a fire that blazes and burns brightly for a time, and then leaves nothing but a heap of ashes behind. The exultation over the fall of an enemy soon dies out, and leaves the heart scorched and dried by the heat of the unworthy passion.

II. It is inconsistent with the spirit of brotherhood that God desires to exist among men. If there has been a break in the harmony of a family, and one member has been at enmity with another, the oneness of the parentage ought to be sufficient to erase all memory of past wrongs when the offender is overtaken by misfortune. Such would be the case where there was any real family affection. God desires all His creatures to recognise a universal brotherhood in virtue of their relation to Him, their common Father. He desires men to be ever ready to seek occasions to draw together in unity, and to avoid all that deepens an opposite feeling. If a man retains his enmity against his offending brother when that brother by reason of misfortune might be reconciled to him, he ignores entirely the law of brotherly love which God desires to rule in His human family.

III. It is inconsistent with a right recognition of our need of Divine mercy. However much our offending brother may have wronged us, the amount of the debt of his trespass against us will bear no comparison to the amount of our indebtedness to God. In sinning against us he has but wronged an erring human creature like himself, and one who has very possibly failed in his duty towards him. But when we sin against God, we sin against One whose character is altogether fitted to win us to obedience, and whose every action in relation to us has been dictated by perfect love. It is only when we fail to recognise this truth that an unforgiving spirit can possess our hearts, and it is only when such a spirit has full sway that any man can exult in the downfall of his enemy.

OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

For prevention hereof think thus with thyself: Either I am like mine enemy, or else I am better or worse than he. If like him, why may I not look for the like misery? If better, who made me to differ? If worse, what reason have I to insult? (See Oba_1:12)—Trapp.

St. Gregory saith it is only the keeping of charity that doth prove us to be the disciples of God, and that we have charity is shewn in two ways, namely, if we love our friends in God, and if we love our enemies for God.… Because another is an enemy to thee, be not thou an enemy to goodness, an enemy to thyself, For he that rejoiceth when his enemy falleth, doth himself fall much worse, and hath more cause to be grieved for his own wretchedness; he that is glad in his heart when his enemy stumbleth, stumbleth more dangerously in his own heart.—Jermin.

For Homiletics on the subjects of Pro_24:19-20 see Pro_24:1 of this chapter, page 676, and chap. Pro_13:9, page 303.

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.

Warning against a vindictive disposition, and joy over its satisfaction.

17 At the fall of thine enemy rejoice not,

And at his overthrow let not thine heart be glad;

18 That Jahve see it not, and it be displeasing to Him,

And He turns away His anger from Him.

The Chethı̂b, which in itself, as the plur. of category, אויביך, might be tolerable, has 17b against it: with right, all interpreters adhere to the Kerı̂ אויבך (with i from ē in doubled close syllable, as in the like Kerı̂, Sa1 24:5). וּבבּשׁלו, for וּבהכּשׁלו, is the syncope usual in the inf. Niph. and Hiph., which in Niph. occurs only once with the initial guttural (as בּעטף) or half guttural (לראות). רעו is not adj. here as at Sa1 25:3, but perf. with the force of a fut. (Symmachus: καὶ μὴ ἀρέσῃ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ). The proverb extends the duty of love even to an enemy; for it requires that we do good to him and not evil, and warns against rejoicing when evil befalls him. Hitzig, indeed, supposes that the noble morality which is expressed in Pro 24:17 is limited to a moderate extent by the motive assigned in 18b. Certainly the poet means to say that God could easily give a gracious turn for the better, as to the punishment of the wicked, to the decree of his anger against his enemy; but his meaning is not this, that one, from joy at the misfortune of others, ought to desist from interrupting the process of the destruction of his enemy, and let it go on to its end; but much rather, that one ought to abstain from this joy, so as not to experience the manifestation of God's displeasure thereat, but His granting grace to him against whom we rejoice to see God's anger go forth.

(Note: This proverb, according to Aboth iv. 24, was the motto of that Samuel with the surname הקטן, who formulated ברכת המינים (the interpolation in the Schemone-Esre prayer directed against the schismatics): he thus distinguished between private enemies and the enemies of the truth.)

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.)

24:17-18 Saying 28: This saying leads to Jesus’ call to love our enemies (Matt 5:43-48).

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

Here, 1. The pleasure we are apt to take in the troubles of an enemy is forbidden us. If any have done us an ill turn, or if we bear them ill-will only because they stand in our light or in our way, when any damage comes to them (suppose they fall), or any danger (suppose they stumble), our corrupt hearts are too apt to conceive a secret delight and satisfaction in it - Aha! so would we have it; they are entangled; the wilderness has shut them in - or, as Tyrus said concerning Jerusalem (Eze 26:2) I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste. "Men hope in the ruin of their enemies or rivals to wreak their revenge or to find their account; but be not thou so inhuman; rejoice not when the worst enemy thou hast falls." There may be a holy joy in the destruction of God's enemies, as it tends to the glory of God and the welfare of the church (Psa 58:10); but in the ruin of our enemies, as such, we must by no means rejoice; on the contrary, we must weep even with them when they weep (as David, Psa 35:13, Psa 35:14), and that in sincerity, not so much as letting our hearts be secretly glad at their calamities. 2. The provocation which that pleasure gives to God is assigned as the reason of that prohibition: The Lord will see it, though it be hidden in the heart only, and it will displease him, as it will displease a prudent father to see one child triumph in the correction of another, which he ought to tremble at, and take warning by, not knowing how soon it may be his own case, he having so often deserved it. Solomon adds an argument ad hominem - addressed to the individual: "Thou canst not do a greater kindness to thy enemy, when he has fallen, than to rejoice in it; for them, to cross thee and vex thee, God will turn his wrath from him; for, as the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God, so the righteousness of God was never intended to gratify the wrath of man, and humour his foolish passions; rather than seem to do that he will adjourn the execution of his wrath: nay, it is implied that when he turns his wrath from him he will turn it against thee and the cup of trembling shall be put into thy hand."

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

Yet let none rejoice over the fate of evildoers, lest God punish their wrong spirit by relieving the sufferer (compare Pro 17:5; Job 31:29).

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

Verse 17. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, (into this mischief,) and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth] When he meets with any thing that injures him; for God will not have thee to avenge thyself, or feel any disposition contrary to love; for if thou do, the Lord will be angry, and may turn away his wrath from him, and pour it out on thee.

This I believe to be the true sense of these verses: but we must return to the sixteenth, as that has been most sinfully misrepresented.

For a just man falleth seven times. - That is, say many, "the most righteous man in the world sins seven times a day on an average." Solomon does not say so: -

1. There is not a word about sin in the text.

2. The word day is not in the Hebrew text, nor in any of the versions.

3. The word יפול yippol, from נפל naphal, to fall, is never applied to sin.

4. When set in opposition to the words riseth up, it merely applies to affliction or calamity. See Mic 7:8; Am 8:4; Jer 25:27; and Ps 34:19; Ps 34:20. "The righteous falls into trouble." See above.

Mr. Holden has a very judicious note on this passage: "Injure not a righteous man; for, though he frequently falls into distress, yet, by the superintending care of Providence, 'he riseth up again,' is delivered from his distress, while the wicked are overwhelmed with their misfortunes. That this is the meaning is plain from the preceding and following verses: yet some expound it by the just man often relapsing into sin, and recovering from it; nay, it has even been adduced to prove the doctrine of the final perseverance of the elect. But נפל is never used for falling into sin, but into distress and affliction - as Pr 11:5; Pr 11:14; Pr 13:17; Pr 17:20; Pr 26:27; Pr 28:10; Pr 28:14; Pr 28:18."

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

Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him,.... Who sees all things, not only external actions, but the heart, and the inward motions of it; and though men may hide the pleasure they feel at the misery of an enemy from others, they cannot hide it from the Lord; nor is this said by way of doubt, but as a certain thing; and which the Lord not barely sees, but takes notice of, and to such a degree as to resent it, and show his displeasure at it by taking the following step;

and he turn away his wrath from him; remove the effects of it, raise him out of his fallen and distressed condition, and restore him to his former prosperous one; and not only so, but turn it upon thee, as Gersom supplies the words, and not amiss; so that there is a strange and sudden change of circumstances; thou that was pleasing thyself with the distress of thine enemy art fallen into the same, and he is delivered out of it; which must be a double affliction to such a man; so that by rejoicing at an enemy, he is doing his enemy good and himself hurt; see Pro 17:5.

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

Falleth, to wit, into mischief, as in the former verse. Please not thyself in his destruction; which plainly shows that the love of our enemies is a precept of the old law as well as of the gospel. See Exo 23:4,5.

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

17, 18. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth — The difficulty of this proverb is in the apparent lowness, not to say unworthiness, of the motive presented for abstaining from exultation over the calamity of an enemy, lest the Lord cease to punish him. But it is to be remembered, that it was Christ who first emphatically taught us to love and forgive our enemies, and that the proverb is not anti but ante-Christian. Even good men formerly thought it not wrong to hate their enemies, (Mat_5:43,) and to wish and seek to do them harm. When, therefore, such a wicked enemy fell into any calamity, it was natural for even good men to rejoice over it. But as the feeling was liable to be more of a personal and selfish one than simply one of satisfaction in retributive justice for its own sake, the proverb was designed to modify and abate the feelings natural in the circumstances.

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

Vers. 17, 18. A warning against vindictiveness, nearly approaching the great Christian maxim, "Love your enemies". (Mat_5:44)

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth. "Thou shalt love thy neighbour" was a Mosaic precept; (Lev_19:18) the addition, "and hate thine enemy," was a Pharisaic gloss, arising from a misconception concerning the extermination of the Canaanites, which, indeed, had a special cause and purpose, and was not a precedent for the treatment of all aliens. (see Pro_25:21, Pro_25:22) When he stumbleth; rather, when he is overthrown. The maxim refers to private enemies. The overthrow of public enemies was often celebrated with festal rejoicing. Thus we have the triumph of Moses at the defeat of the Amalekites, and over Pharaoh"s host at the Red Sea; of Deborah and Barak over Sisera; (Ex 15 17:15 Jud_1:5) and the psalmist, exulting over the destruction of his country"s foes, could say, "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked". (Psa_58:10) But private revenge and vindictiveness are warmly censured and repudiated. So Cato, "Distich." 4:46"Morte repentina noli gaudere malorum; Felicesobeunt quorum sine crimine vita est.

Of very different tone is the Italian proverb, "Revenge is a morsel for God;" and "Wait time and place to act thy revenge, for it is never well done in a hurry" (Trench).

Vers. 17, 18, 29. The ignobler and the nobler spirit. (See homily on Pro_20:22) There can be no question at all, for the testimony of human history is everywhere and at all times the same, as to

I OUR DISPOSITION UNDER SIN, IN VIEW OF OUR ENEMIES. These two passages indicate it. It is both passive and active.

1. A disposition to rejoice at their discomfiture; to exult in the secret places of the soul when we hear of their failure, of their defeat, or even of their suffering.

2. A disposition to inflict some injury on them by our own effort. The impulse of the man who is struck is to strike again; that of the man who is cheated is to take the next opportunity of overreaching the treacherous neighbour; the prevalent feeling, under the long reign and malignant influence of sin, is to compass, in some way or other, the humiliation, or the loss, or the anger of the man who has injured us. We rejoice when our enemy falls; we do more and worse than that we do our best, we use our ingenuity and put forth even our patient labour, to bring about his overthrow. So common, so universal, is this sentiment of revenge and retaliation, that no one is in a position so speak severely of his neighbour or to condemn him harshly. Yet we understand now

II ITS UNWORTHINESS OF OUR NATURE. It was not to cherish such thoughts as these, nor was it to act in such a way as this, that our Divine Father called us into being, and gave to us our powers.

1. We were made to love and to pity; and for us to harbour in our souls a feeling of positive delight when we witness the misery or misfortune of a brother or a sister is really inhuman; it is a perversion, under the malign power of sin, of the end and purpose of our being.

2. We were made to help and bless; and for us to expend the powers with which we are endowed to injure, to inflict suffering and loss, to send as far as we can on the downward road a human heart or human life, this is wholly unworthy of ourselves, it is a sad departure from the intention of our Creator. We see clearly

III ITS OFFENSIVENESS TO GOD. "Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him.

1. God has told us fully what is his mind respecting it. (Mat_5:43-48 Rom_12:14, Rom_12:20)

2. It is altogether unlike his own action; for he is daily and momently blessing with life and health and innumerable bounties those who have forgotten or disregarded or even denied him.

3. There are two aspects in which it must be obnoxious to him.

(1) He is the Father of our spirits, and how can he look with anything but sorrow on antagonism and hatred between his children?

(2) He is the Holy and the Loving One, and how can he see with anything but displeasure the hearts of men filled with the feelings of malevolence, the hands of men occupied in dealing bitter blows against one another? What, however, is the way by which this deep-rooted disposition can be expelled, and another and nobler spirit be planted in our souls? What is the way to

IV THE WORTHIER AND NOBLER SPIRIT. The one way to rise above vindictiveness and retaliation and to enter into the loftier and purer air of forgiveness and magnanimity is to connect ourselves most closely with our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. To surrender ourselves wholly to him, and thus to receive his Divine Spirit into our hearts. (Joh_7:38, 39 15:4 17:23)

2. To have our hearts filled with that transforming love to our Father and our Saviour which will make us to become, unconsciously and gradually, like him in spirit and behaviour.

3. To let our minds be filled with the knowledge of his will, by patient and prayerful study of his Word and of his life. C.

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

Falleth - Into mischief.

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

Yet did the chosen people of God rejoice with divine exultation in the fall of their enemies. (Exo 15:1 .) Nay — is not this joy the triumph of the righteous?†1 Is it not the adoration of heaven, as the manifested glory of God?†2 But how different is this sublime sympathy in the triumph of the Church, from the malignant joy of private revenge! A secret, if not an avowed, pleasure in the fall of an enemy, is nature’s impulse.†3 But what has grace done for us, if it has not overcome nature by an holier and happier principle? David "wept and chastened his soul" in his enemy’s affliction.†4 David’s Lord wept in the prospective ruin of the infatuated race, fraught with malignity against himself. To rejoice in the fall of an enemy, would be to fall deeper than himself; to fall not into trouble, but into sin; to break the commandment, which enjoins us to "love our enemies" (Luk 19:41-44 ), and to repay cursing with blessing and prayers. (Mat 5:44 .) This selfish cruelty is most hateful to God. (Pro 17:5 . Zec 1:15 .) It has often turned away his wrath from the criminal to the mocker at his calamity.†5 Does the glass of the word shew our character in the sin that is rebuked, or in the contrast of our compassionate Lord?

Footnotes:

†1 Pro 11:10 . Job 22:19 . Psa 58:10 .

†2 Rev 15:3-4; Rev 18:20 ; Rev 19:1-6 .

†3 Psa 35:15-16; 2Sa 16:5-7 .

†4 Psa 35:13-14. 2Sa 1:11-12 . Compare Job 31:29 .

†5 ’Lest the LORD be angry, and turn his wrath from him to thee’ — Bp. Coverdale. Compare Jdg 16:25-30 . Mic 7:10. Edom, Lam 4:21-22 . Eze 35:15 ; Eze 36:5-7 ; Oba 1:10-14 ; Tyre, Eze 26:2 ; Babylon, Psa 137:7-9 ; Isa 51:22-23 ; Lam 1:21 . Moab, Jer 48:26-27 ; Ammon, Eze 25:1-7 .

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

v. 17. Rejoice not, in malignant joy, when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth, since delight in another’s hurt is just as objectionable as outright violence,

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

General Information:

These verses continue the "thirty sayings" (Proverbs 22:20).

your enemy falls

"something bad happens to your enemy"

let not your heart be glad

This is a strong command. The word "heart" represents the person. AT: "do not allow yourself to be glad" or "stop yourself from being glad" (See: Synecdoche)

turn away his wrath from him

The words "turn away his wrath" are an idiom for no longer being angry. What Yahweh would do instead can be made explicit. AT: "stop being angry with him and be angry with you instead" (See: Idiom and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

adversary

heart

stumble

Yahweh

wrath

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