Proverbs 24:22

Pro 24:22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

Ver. 22. For their calamity shall rise suddenly.] When they think they have made all cock sure. "Had Zimri peace that killed his master?" Had Absalom; Sheba; Rodolphus, Duke of Suevia; Sanders; Story; Parry; Campian; the gunpowder plotters; Raviliac, &c.? Canute, the first Danish king, caused the false Edric’s head, that had been his agent, to be set upon the highest part of the Tower of London, therein performing his promise of advancing him above any lord in the land. {a} James I, king of Scots, was murdered in Perth by Walter, Earl of Athol, in hopes to attain the crown. Crowned indeed he was, but not as his witches and sorcerers had ambiguously insinuated, with the crown of that realm, but with a crown of red-hot iron clapt upon his head, being one of the tortures wherewith he ended at once his wicked days and desires. {b}

And who knoweth the ruin of them both?] i.e., That both God and the king will inflict upon the rebels; or "of them both" - i.e., both of the king, if a tyrant, and of those that seditiously move against him.

{a} Daniel’s Hist.

{b} Speed’s Chron.

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.

For their calamity shall rise suddenly. Though these dissidents seem to succeed for a time, yet retribution shall fall suddenly upon them. And who knoweth the ruin of them both? This seems to mean the two classes, those who dishonour God and those who dishonour the king; but no such distinction is made in the previous verse; the rebels are classed under one category. Wordsworth renders, "the stroke of vengeance from them both," i.e. from God and the king. Otherwise, we must give another signification to and, with the Syriac and many modern commentators, take it in the sense of "years," which will bear, as Job_36:11, and translate, "The destruction equivalent to "end of their years, who knoweth?" No one can tell when the crisis of their fate shall come; but it will arrive some day, and then the time of their prosperity will be at an end. Septuagint, "For they (God and the king) will suddenly punish the ungodly; and who shall know the vengeance of both (taav amfoterwn )?" After this the LXX inserts three proverbs not found now in the Hebrew, which, however, Ewald ("Jahrb. der Bibl. Wissensch.," 11:17, etc.) considers to have been translated from a Hebrew original: "A son that keepeth the commandment shall be safe from destruction, (Pro_29:27, Vulgate) and he hath fully received it (the word). Let no lie be spoken by the tongue of the king; and no he shall proceed from his tongue. The king"s tongue is a sword, and not of flesh; and whosoever shall be delivered unto it shall be destroyed; for if his anger be inflamed, he consumes men with their nerves, and devours men"s bones, and burns them up as a flame, so that they are not food for the young eagles." The allusion at the end is to animals killed by lightning. Here follows the series of proverbs (Pro_30:1-14) called in the Hebrew, "The words of Agur." The second part of "the words of Agur," and "the words of Lemuel" (Pro_30:15-33; Pro_31:1-9) follow in the Greek after Pro_24:34 of the Hebrew. Delitzsch explains the matter thus: In the copy from which the Alexandrines translated, the appendix (Pr 30-31:9) was divided into two parts, half of it standing after "the words of the wise", (Pro 22:17-24:22) and half after the supplement containing further sayings of wise men. (Pro_24:23-34)

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

Meaning, either of the wicked and seditious, as verse 19 and 21, or, of them that fear not God, nor obey their King.

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

their calamity, &c.--either what God and the king inflict, or what changers and their company suffer; better the first.

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 22. The ruin of them both?] Of them who do not fear the LORD; and of them that do not reverence the KING.

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

(22) The ruin of them both—i.e., the rebels against God and the king.

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

22. of them both] i.e. those who are given to change, whether against God or against the king (Pro_24:21); ruinam utriusque quis novit? Vulg. Others understand, the destruction inflicted by them both, sc. both God and the king. Comp. calamity from God, lit. the calamity of (inflicted by) God, Job_31:23. Another rendering, of their years, i.e. which shall bring to an end their life is noticed in R.V. margin.

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.

These things also belong to the wise,.... Both what is said before concerning fearing God and the king; these belong to the wise and unwise, rich and poor, great and small; particularly judges and civil magistrates, and all subordinate governors, who have, or ought to have, a competency of wisdom; these ought to fear God and the king, as well as private subjects; and also what follows after, especially in this verse and Pro 24:24. Some render the words, "these things also are the sayings of wise men" (u); not of Solomon, but of other wise men in his time, or who lived after him, and before the men of Hezekiah copied out the proverbs in the following chapters; see Pro 25:1; but it seems more than probable that what follows to the end of the chapter are the words of Solomon, as Pro 24:33 most clearly are, compared with Pro 6:10;

it is not good to have respect of persons in judgment; in trying causes in a court of judicature, no regard should be had to the persons of men by the judge on the bench, as the rich more than to the poor; or to a relation, a friend, an intimate acquaintance, more than to a stranger; but the justice of the cause ought to be attended to, and sentence given according to it, let it fall as it will: God does not accept persons, nor regard the rich more than the poor; nor should they that stand in his stead, and who in some sense represent him, Lev 19:15, Deu 1:17; nor should Christians in their communities act such a partial part, Jam 2:1.

(u) "haec quoqne sapientum sunt", Tigurine version; "etiam haec sapientibus profecta sunt", Piscator; "etiam haecce sapientum", Cocceius, Schultens, so Grotius.

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

Both - Those who fear not God, and those who fear not the king.

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

Who knoweth? who can conceive how sore and sudden it will be?

The ruin of them both; of them that fear not God, and of them that fear not the king, for they have two potent and terrible enemies; and therefore if they will not obey them out of conscience, as their duty binds them, yet they should do it at least for their own sakes, and for fear of those severe punishments which they will certainly inflict upon rebels.

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

22. The ruin of them both — That is, the ruin that proceeds from God and the king, who knoweth how, or how soon, it will come? So some: but others take it to be that of which these revolters — those who fear not God and those who fear not the king — are the authors. Comp. Pro_16:14.

Here commences what many commentators regard as a new section, an addendum to this part of the book.

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

Who knoweth - Who can conceive how sore and sudden will be the ruin of them that fear not God, and the king.

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

v. 22. for their calamity, the misfortune sent upon them by God, shall rise suddenly, striking them with unexpected suddenness; and who knoweth the ruin of them both? For those who rebel against the constituted and existing government thereby rebel against the Lord. —

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

and the ruin of both of them The ruin of the idol and the ruin of its worshippers.

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.