Proverbs 8:13

Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Ver. 13. The fear of the Lord.] Which is a high point of heavenly wisdom, {Pro 1:7} to the praise whereof this therefore appertaineth. There are those who make this verse an explanation of the former, thus: I find out the knowledge of witty inventions, such as are the fear of the Lord, the hatred of evil, yea, of inward evils, as pride, arrogancy, &c. Odi fastum istius Ecclesiae. I hate the pride of that Romish Church, said Basil, long since. "I hate vain thoughts; but thy law do I love." {Psa 119:113} "I hate and abhor lying." {Psa 119:163} "Yea, I hate every false way," both in myself and others. {Psa 119:104} "Thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." {Rev 2:6} God’s people partake of the Divine nature, and so have God-like both sympathies and antipathies. They not only leave sin, but loathe it, and are at deadly feud with it. They purge themselves - by this clean fear of God {Psa 19:7} - from all pollutions, not of flesh only, worldly lusts, and gross evils, but of spirit also, that lie more up in the heart of the country, as pride, arrogance, &c., so "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." {2Co 7:1} There may be some kind of pride in sincerity, and of humility in hypocrisy. But hypocrisy’s humility is followed with pride, and sincerity’s pride with humility. This latter humility is the better. And here only it is seemly for virtue to come behind vice. Hypocrisy is proud because it is humble; sincerity is humble because it is proud.

And the evil way.] That is, Custom of committing sin. Viam pro frequentatione accipiunt Hebraei. And this the godly man doth, not that he may appear to do so, sed quia aliter facere non potuit - as one {a} falsely and flatteringly said of Cato - but because having his heart seasoned with this holy fear, he can do no otherwise.

{a} Velleius.

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_8:13

The fear of the Lord to to hate evil.

Hatred of evil

A formal definition of the fear of the Lord. To dread the punishment of sin seems to be the main feature in that religion which, under many forms, springs native in the human heart. This is the mainspring which sets and keeps all the machinery of superstition going. It was a maxim of heathen antiquity, that Fear made God. To fear retribution is not to hate sin. It is a solemn suggestion that ever the religion of dark, unrenewed men is, in its essence, a love of their own sins. Instead of hating sin themselves, their grand regret is that God hates it. If they could be convinced that the Judge would regard it as lightly as the culprit, the fear would collapse like steam under cold water, and all the religious machinery which it drove would stand still. All the false religions that have ever desolated the earth are sparks from the collision of these two hard opposites--Gods hate of sin, and mans love for it. In Christ only may this sore derangement be healed. It is when sin is forgiven that a sinner can hate it. Instead of hating God for His holiness, the forgiven man instinctively loathes the evil of his own heart, and looks with longing for the day when all things in it shall be made new. Such is the blessed fruit of pardon when it comes to a sinner through the blood of Christ. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

A hidden token of the fear towards God

It is not merely in enlightenment of mind that the fear towards God has its result. By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. This departing from evil is the practical manifestation of a principle; it is habitual practice founded on a strong conviction of duty. In this text, the fear of the Lord is connected with the inward feeling of dislike for evil. Hatred, like love, is of the heart.

I. This fear must not be misunderstood as to its nature. It may be twofold. The alarm that is awakened by the threat of violence, or of immediate privation, is one kind of fear. This is the fear of dread, or terror. The other kind of fear is of respect or reverence, and this can only dwell in the heart of a friend towards a friend, or of a faithful servant towards a master worthy of esteem, or of a dutiful child towards an honoured parent. This is the fear of the Lord. What other fear should God be desirous of receiving and acknowledging at their hands?

II. If there be this fear, there will also be the hatred of evil. The Holy One cannot be so indulgent as to put no difference between godly fear and the love of sin. God hates evil as abhorrent from His holy nature. To require that we hate evil is no more than what the holiness of His own character requires from Himself. This requirement shows that God would draw us nearer to Himself. As He hates evil, He would have us hate it. (J. Rhenius, M. A.)

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

Pro 8:13. The fear of the Lord — Which he had before said to be the beginning of wisdom; is to hate evil — It consists in a careful abstinence from all sin, and that not from carnal or prudential motives, but from real hatred to it, on account of its contrariety to the divine nature and attributes, its opposition to God’s word and will, its infinite evil in itself, and its eternally destructive consequences; pride — Which he mentions first, as that which is most hateful to God, and most opposite to true wisdom, and to the genuine fear of God, which constantly produces humility; and the evil way — All wicked actions, especially sinful customs and courses; and the froward mouth, do I hate — False doctrines, and bad counsels, and deceits.

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

8:13 Those who choose wisdom, i.e., those who fear the Lord (see 1:7; 9:10), will not speak in ways that harm others or bend the truth.

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

So that he that doth not hate evil, feareth not God.

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

For such is the effect of the fear of God, by which hatred to evil preserves from it.

froward mouth--or, "speech" (Pro 2:12; Pro 6:14).

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 13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil] As it is impossible to hate evil without loving good; and as hatred to evil will lead a man to abandon the evil way; and love to goodness will lead him to do what is right in the sight of God, under the influence of that Spirit which has given the hatred to evil, and inspired the love of goodness: hence this implies the sum and substance of true religion, which is here termed the fear of the Lord.

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

(13) The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.—Because there can never be any truce between the kingdoms of light and darkness (Mat_6:24), so if we are the friend of one, we must be the enemy of the other.

Pride and arrogancy . . . do I hate.—See above on Pro_6:17.

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

13. I hate] This quiet identification of herself by Wisdom with the fear of the Lord, in the first clause of the verse, is significant. See Introd., p. 31.

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 fear of the Lord is to hate evil,.... All evil in general, evil thoughts, evil words, evil actions, evil company, evil worship, and evil doctrines; and by "the fear of the Lord", which shows itself in an hatred of evil, because of the loathsome nature of it, and being contrary to God and his will, and as it appears in the glass of the law, and especially in the glass of pardoning love, is meant not the fear of his judgments and wrath, or a distrust of his grace and goodness, much less an hypocritical fear, or a mere show of devotion; but a reverential affection for him, which is peculiar to children; a filial, godly fear, which is consistent with strong faith, great joy, and true courage; and is opposite to pride and self-confidence, and is accompanied with real holiness; it takes its rise from the grace of God, and is greatly increased and promoted by the discoveries of his love and goodness: this is brought into the account and description of wisdom, to distinguish it from carnal wisdom; to commend wisdom from its holiness; for this the beginning of wisdom, yea, wisdom itself, Job 28:28;

pride and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate; these are the particulars of evil, which Wisdom, or Christ, declares his hatred of. "Pride", which appears in men in thinking too highly of themselves, in speaking too well of themselves, in despising others, in setting up and trusting to their own righteousness for salvation, and in crying up the purity and power of human nature; this is very contrary to the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus, and must be hateful to him: "arrogancy" differs little from pride, and the two words in the Hebrew are very much the same, very little differ; it is an ascribing that to a man's self which does not belong to him, whether in things natural, civil, or spiritual; when men attribute their justification and salvation to their own works, it is arrogancy, and must be hateful to Christ; who been at so much pains and expense to bring in everlasting righteousness, and work out salvation for men: it is the height of arrogancy in a man to conceit he a power to regenerate, renew, and convert himself, and, with the haughty Arminian, Grevinchovius, to say, he has made himself to differ from others; this must be hateful to Christ, by whose Spirit and grace this only is done: and it is a piece of arrogancy when men ascribe all the good works done by them to their own power, when without Christ they can do nothing; which therefore must be displeasing to him. "The evil way", as Aben Ezra observes, is an evil custom and course of sinning; a man's own way, which he chooses and delights in, and which leads to destruction: "and the froward mouth" is the mouth that speaks perverse things; things contrary to a man's own heart, contrary to truth, to the rule of the divine word, to the Gospel, to Christ and his people, and to all men; which must be hateful and abominable to him who is truth itself.

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

The fear of the Lord; which he had before noted to be the beginning of wisdom, Pro 1:7.

Is to hate evil; it consists in a careful abstinence from all sin, and that not from carnal or prudential motives, but from a true dislike and hatred of it.

Pride; which he mentions first, as that which is most hateful to God, and most opposite to true wisdom and to the fear of God, which constantly produce humility.

The evil way; all wicked actions, especially sinful custom: and courses.

The froward mouth; false doctrines, and bad counsels and deceits.

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

13. The fear of the Lord — JEHOVAH. A phrase equivalent to our term true piety. (See Pro_1:7, and note.)

Is to hate evil — That is, true piety, or true religion, produces a hatred of all evil. This is its essence. Certain forms of evil are then specified.

Pride, and arrogancy — Lofty feelings and lofty thoughts of one’s self.

The evil way — All wicked courses of conduct.

And the froward mouth — All perverse and perverting speech. These four appellations seem to cover the feelings, thoughts, words, and actions. The man of piety, the votary of divine Wisdom, must, like her, hate all manner of evil, and consequently love and practice all manner of good. Compare Pro_1:7; Pro_1:29; Pro_2:5; Pro_3:7; Pro_9:10. On froward, compare Pro_2:12; Pro_10:31.

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

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Wisdom here enunciates the proposition which is the foundation of all her teaching, only here, as it were, on the reverse side, net as the beginning of wisdom, (Pro_1:7 Pro_9:10) but as the hatred of evil; she then proceeds to particularize the evil which the Lord hates. Taking the clause in this sense, we have no need to alter the persons and forms of the verbs to "I fear the Lord, I hate evil," as Dathe and others suggest; still less to suppress the whole paragraph as a late insertion. These violent measures are arbitrary and quite unnecessary, the present text allowing a natural and sufficient exposition. There can be no fellowship between light and darkness; he who serves the Lord must renounce the works of the devil. Pride and arrogancy, which are opposed to the sovereign virtue of humility, are the first sins which Wisdom names. These are among the things which the Lord is said to hate. (Pro_6:17, etc.) "Initium omnis peccati est superbia" (Ecc_10:15, Vet. Lat.). The evil way; i.e. sins of conduct, "way" being, as commonly, equivalent to "manner of life." The froward mouth; literally, mouth of perverseness, sins of speech; (see on Pro_2:12; and comp. Pro_10:31) Vulgate, os bilingue.

Hatred of evil.

I RELIGION INCLUDES MORALS. This is the broad lesson of the text. It should be accepted as a self-evident truism. Yet it has been often obscured by dangerous sophisms. Thus some have regarded religion as consisting in correctness of creed or in assiduity of devotion things treated by God as worthless unless accompanied by righteousness of conduct. (Isa_1:10-17) There is a common impression that religious merits may be pleaded as a set off against moral deficiencies. No assumption can be more false, nor can any be more degrading or more injurious. The reverse is true. Religiousness increases the guilt of unrighteousness of life by raising the standard up to which one is supposed to live, and also adds the sin of hypocrisy. True religion is impossible without a proportionate devotion to righteousness. because it consists in the fear of God. But God is holy; to reverence him must involve the adoration of his character the love of goodness and the corresponding detestation of its opposite.

II RELIGION INSPIRES MORALS WITH STRONG EMOTION. Morality is to obey the law. Religion goes further, and hates evil. It is not a matter of outward conduct only. It goes down to the secret springs of action. It rouses the deepest passions of the soul. We cannot accept Mr. M. Arnold"s definition of religion as "morality touched with emotion," because it ignores the foundation of religion in "the fear of the Lord," in devotion to a personal God; but the phrase may serve as an apt description of an essential characteristic of religion. The difficulty we all feel is that, while we know the better way we are often so weak as to choose the worse. A cold, bare exposition of morality will be of little use with this difficulty. What we want is a powerful impulse, and that impulse it is the function of religion to supply. It makes goodness not only visible but beautiful and attractive, and it inspires a hunger and thirst after righteousness, a passion for a God-like life in the love of God, a yearning after the likeness of Christ in devotion of heart to him. It also makes evil appear hideous, detestable, by its horrible opposition to these affections.

III AMONG RELIGIOUS EMOTIONS IS THE PASSION OF HATRED. Religion is not based upon hatred. It begins with" the fear of the Lord," with reverence for God rising up to love. No strong thing can rest on a mere negation. Neither morality nor religion starts from an attitude in regard to evil. But they lead on to this, and they are not perfect without it. The passion of hatred is natural; it has a useful, though a low, place in the array of spiritual forces. It is abused when it is spent upon persons, but it is rightly indulged against evil principles and practices. We are morally defective unless we can feel "the hate of hate, and scorn of scorn." One of the means by which we are helped to resist sin is found in this hatred of it. It is not enough that we disapprove of it. We must loathe and abhor it from the very bottom of our hearts.

IV RELIGIOUS HATRED IS DETESTATION OF EVIL ITSELF, NOT THE MERE DISLIKE OF ITS CONSEQUENCES. When Paley, in his "Moral Philosophy," described the function of religion in aiding morality as the addition of the prospect of future rewards and promises, he expressed a common sense truth, but a very low truth detached from more spiritual ideas and a very partial representation of the case. Religious morality is not simply nor chiefly the fear of God as a Judge who will punish us if we do wrong. It is reverence for a holy Father leading to hatred of all that is displeasing to him. We have no religion till we go beyond the instinctive dislike for pain that follows sin to hatred of sin itself. This is the test of true religion that we love goodness and hate evil for their own sakes. It is interesting to observe that the sin selected for special abhorrence on the part of those who are inspired by "the fear of the Lord" is pride. This is spiritual wickedness of the most fatal character, In its feeling of personal merit and self-sufficiency it excludes both repentance and faith the two fundamental conditions of spiritual religion. Therefore the spirit of the Pharisee and all pride must be hated above all things, and will be hated by those who have true reverence for the great and holy God, and true love for the lowly Christ who promised the kingdom of heaven to the "poor in spirit". (Mat_5:3)

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

Far remote is the idea that 13a is dependent on אמצא (I acquire) (Lwenstein, Bertheau). With this verse begins a new series of thoughts raising themselves on the basis of the fundamental clause 13a. Wisdom says what she hates, and why she hates it:

13 "The fear of Jahve is to hate evil;

Pride and arrogancy, and an evil way

And a deceitful mouth, do I hate."

If the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10; Pro 1:7), then wisdom, personally considered, stands before all else that is to be said of her in a relation of homage or reverence toward God corresponding to the fear of God on the part of man; and if, as the premiss 13a shows, the fear of God has as its reverse side the hatred of evil, then there arises what Wisdom says in שׂנאתי (I hate) of herself. Instead of the n. actionis שׂנאת (hatred), formed in the same way with יראת, which, admitting the article, becomes a substantive, the author uses, in order that he might designate the predicate as such (Hitzig), rather the n. actionis שׂנאת as מלאת, Jer 29:10. קראת, Jdg 8:1, is equivalent to שׂנאת like יבּשׁת, the becoming dry, יכלת, the being able; cf. (Arab.) shanat, hating, malât, well-being, ḳarât, reading (Fl.). The evil which Wisdom hates is now particularized as, Pro 6:16-19, the evil which Jahve hates. The virtue of all virtues is humility; therefore Wisdom hates, above all, self-exaltation in all its forms. The paronomasia גּאה וגאון (pride and haughtiness) expresses the idea in the whole of its contents and compass (cf. Isa 15:6; Isa 3:1, and above at Pro 1:27). גּאה (from גּאה, the nominal form), that which is lofty = pride, stands with גּאון, as Job 4:10, גבהּ, that which is high = arrogance. There follows the viam mali, representing the sins of walk, i.e., of conduct, and os fullax (vid., at Pro 2:12), the sins of the mouth. Hitzig rightly rejects the interpunctuation רע, and prefers רע. In consequence of this Dech (Tiphcha init.), וּפי תהפּכת have in Codd. and good editions the servants Asla and Illuj (vid., Baer's Torath Emeth, p. 11); Aben-Ezra and Moses Kimchi consider the Asla erroneously as disjunctive, and explain וּפי by et os = axioma meum, but Asla is conjunctive, and has after it the ת raphatum.

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.)

Such is the holiness of Divine wisdom! She dwells with prudence. But she cannot dwell with evil. Therefore, the fear of the LORD, which is her very nature, is to hate evil. (Pro 3:7 ; Pro 16:6 .) Thus of pride in all its branches — arrogancy of spirit, the evil way and the froward mouth — the Wisdom of God declares without reserve — I hate them. (Pro 6:16-19 ; Pro 16:5 . Psa 45:7 . Zec 8:17 .) How clearly did he mark his hatred in the days of his flesh by the full exhibition of the opposite grace! "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." (Mat 20:28 . Luk 22:27 .) A proud disciple of a lowly Savior! how offensive is this contradiction to our Master! What a cause of stumbling to the world!

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

fear

(See Scofield "Psa 19:9")

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Fear of the Lord is to hate evil This is the discipline that wisdom announces to the people.

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.