American Standard Version Proverbs 17

Proverbs 17:1-28
EXPOSITION
Pro_17:1
(Comp, Pro_15:16, Pro_15:17; Pro_16:8.) Better (sweeter) is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith. Dry bread was soaked in wine or water before it was eaten. Thus Boaz bid Ruth “dip her morsel in the vinegar” (Rth_2:14); thus Jesus gave the sop to Judas when he had dipped it (Joh_13:26). The Septuagint is pleonastic, “Better is a morsel with joy in peace.” Aben Ezra connects this verse with the last two of ch. 16, confining the application to the patient man; but the sentence seems rather to be independent and general. Than an house full of sacrifices with strife. Of the thank or peace offerings part only was burnt upon the altar, the rest was eaten by the offerer and his family; and as the victims were always the choicest animals, “a house full of sacrifices” would contain the materials for sumptuous feasting (see on Pro_7:4). The joyous family festival often degenerated into excess, which naturally led to quarrels and strife (see 1Sa_1:5, 1Sa_1:6, 1Sa_1:13; 1Sa_2:13, etc.). So the agapae of the early Church were desecrated by licence and selfishness (1Co_11:20, etc.). Septuagint, “than a house full of many good things and unrighteous victims with contention.” With this verse compare the Spanish proverb, “Mas vale un pedazo de pan con amor, que gallinas con dolor.”
Pro_17:2
A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame. Here is intimated the supremacy of wisdom over folly and vice. The contrast is better emphasized by translating, A servant that dealeth wisely shall have rule over a son that doeth shamefully; i.e. a son of his master. (For similar contrast between “wise” and “shameful,” comp. Pro_10:5; Pro_14:35.) Slaves were often raised to high honour, and might inherit their master’s possessions. Thus Abraham’s servant, Eliezer of Damascus, was at one time considered the patriarch’s heir (Gen_15:2, Gen_15:3); Ziba, Saul’s servant, obtained the inheritance of his lord Mephibosheth (“the Shameful,” 2Sa_16:4); Joseph was advanced to the highest post in Egypt. Ecc_10:1-20 :25, “Unto the servant that is wise shall they that are free do service; and he that is wise will not grudge when he is reformed.” Septuagint, “A wise household servant shall rule over foolish masters.” “I have seen,” says Ecclesiastes (Ecc_10:7), “servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.” Shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren; shall share on equal terms with the sons of the house. This innovation on the usual disposition of property could happen only in the case of an abnormally intelligent and trusted slave. In 1Ch_2:34, etc; mention is made of a case where a master, having no son, gave his daughter in marriage to a slave, and adopted him into the family. Delitzsch understands the clause to mean that the slave shall have the office of dividing his master’s inheritance among the heirs, shall be the executor of his deceased master’s will; but this explanation hardly seems to do justice to the merits of the “wise servant,” and takes no account of the idea involved in “shameful son.” But the Septuagint appears to countenance this view, rendering, “and among the brethren he shall divide the portions.”
Pro_17:3
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold. The word matsreph, “fining pot,” occurs also in Pro_27:21. It is not certain what is meant by it. There is no evidence that the Israelites were acquainted with the use of acids in the manipulation of impure or mixed metals; otherwise the “pot” and the “furnace” would represent the two usual modes of reduction; but it is most probable that both allude to the same method of smelting the ore in crucibles, for the purpose of separating the pure metal from the dross. That silver and gold were plentiful in Solomon’s time is abundantly evident; indeed, the amount of the precious metals collected by David and his son is almost incredible (see 1Ch_22:14; 1Ch_29:2, etc; from which and similar passages it is inferred that the sums enumerated equalled more than nine hundred millions of pounds sterling). But the Lord trieth the hearts (Pro_15:11; Pro_24:12). That which fire does for the metals, the Lord does for men’s hearts; he purifies them from dross, brings forth the good that is in them, purged from earthly infirmities. God’s process is the application of sorrow, sickness, temptation, that, duly meeting these, the soul may emerge from the trial as pure gold, fit for the Master’s use (comp. Jer_12:3; Mal_3:2; 1Pe_1:7; Rev_3:18).
Pro_17:4
A wicked doer giveth heed to false (evil) lips. A bad man delights in and hearkens to evil words; he takes pleasure in those who counsel wickedness, because they are after his own heart. Like mates with like. And a liar giveth ear to a naughty (mischievous) tongue. One who is himself mendacious listens with avidity to any tale that may injure a neighbour. however monstrous and improbable it may be. Septuagint, “A wicked man listens to the tongue of transgressors; but a just man heedeth not false lips.” The Greek adds here, or in some manuscripts, after Pro_17:6, a paragraph which is not found in the Hebrew, Syriac, or Latin: “To him who is faithful the whole world wealth belongs; but the unfaithful is not worth an obole.” On this the Fathers have frequently commented (see Corn. a Lapide, in loc.).
Pro_17:5
Whoso mocketh the poor (see Pro_14:31, which is nearly identical). He that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished (Pro_11:21; Pro_24:17, Pro_24:18). The particular calamity primarily intended seems to be that which reduces a person to poverty. Delight in others’ misfortunes, even those of enemies, is a most detestable form of selfishness and malice. Job, testifying to his own integrity, was thankful to think that he was free from this vice (Job_31:29). The Greeks had a name for it, and called it ἐπιχαιρεκακία, which is used by Aristotle (’Eth. Nic.,’ 2.6. 18). The pious author looks for retributive punishment on such spitefulness. The LXX. tries to improve the contrast by resorting a gloss, “He who rejoices at one who perishes shall not go unpunished; but he who hath compassion shall obtain mercy,” which is remarkably like Christ’s sentence, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
Pro_17:6
Children’s children are the crown of old men (comp. Psa_127:1-5; Psa_128:1-6). (For the term “crown,” comp. Pro_16:18.) Thus St. Paul calls his converts his “joy and crown” (Php_4:1; 1Th_2:19) In the East a large number of children is considered a great blessing, being a guarantee of the stability of the family. Thus writes Euripides (’Iph. Taur.,’ 57)—
Στύλοι γὰρ οἴκων παῖδες εἰσιν ἄρσενες
“Male children are the pillars of the house.”
The glory of children are their fathers. A long line of good or celebrated ancestors is the glory of their descendants, and brings a blessing on them (see 1Ki_11:13; 1Ki_15:4). Hereditary nobility, based on descent from some eminent progenitor, may be a source of not unseemly pride, and a spur to a life worthy of such excellent ancestry.
Pro_17:7
Excellent speech becometh not a fool. שְׂפַת יָתֶר; verba composita, Vulgate, i.e. studied, complicated, expressions; χείλη πιστά, “faithful lips,” Septuagint. Others translate, “arrogant,” “pretentious.” It is literally, a lip of excess or superabundance, and is best taken in the above sense, as arrogant or assuming. A nabal, a “vicious fool,” ought not to flaunt his unwisdom and his iniquities before the eyes of men, but to keep them hidden as much as possible. As such presumptuous behaviour is incongruous in the case of a fool, much less do lying lips [become] a prince; a noble person, such a one as is called in Isaiah (Isa_32:8) “liberal,” where the same word, nadib, is used. This is an illustration of the saying, “Noblesse oblige.” Thus the Greek gnome—
Ἐλευθέρου γὰρ ἀνδρὸς ἀλήθειαν λέγειν
“A free man’s part it is the truth to speak.”
To John the Good, King of France, is attributed the noble maxim which well became his chivalrous character, “Si la bonne foi etait bannie du reste du monde, il faudrait qu’on la retrouvat dans le coeur des rois” (Bonnechose, ’Hist. de France,’ 1.310). “My son,” says the rabbi in the Talmud, “avoid lying first of all; for a lie will tarnish the brightness of thy honour.” For “prince,” the Septuagint has, “a just man,” which makes the maxim a mere truism.
Pro_17:8
There is a breath of satire in this verse. A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it. “A precious stone” is literally “a stone of grace” (Pro_1:9). The gnome expresses the idea that a bribe is like a bright jewel that dazzles the sight and affects the mind of him who receives it (see on Pro_15:27; comp. Deu_16:19; 1Sa_12:3). Ovid, ’Art. Amat.,’ 3.653—
“Munera, crede mihi, capiunt hominesque deosque;
Placatur donis Jupiter ipse datis.”
It is possible that the gnome may have a more general application, and apply to gifts given to appease anger or to prove friendship (Pro_19:6; Pro_21:14). Septuagint, “A reward of graces is discipline to those who use it;” i.e. moral discipline brings an ample reward of graces to those who practise it. Whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. The Authorized Version refers these words to the gift. Delitzsch points out that the words are more properly taken of the person who receives the gift, so that they should be rendered, “Wheresoever he turneth himself he dealeth wisely.” Inflamed by sordid hopes and the love of gain, he acts with all possible skill and prudence in order to work out his wages and show that he was rightly selected to receive the present. The verse merely states a common trait among unscrupulous men, and pronounces no judgment upon it.
Pro_17:9
He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; i.e. strives to exercise, put in practice, love (comp. Zep_2:8; 1Co_14:4). Thus Nowack. One who bears patiently and silently, extenuates and conceals, something done or said against him, that man follows after charity, obeys the great law of love (comp.
Pro_10:12). Some explain the clause to mean, “procures love for himself;” but the second member certainly is not personal, therefore it is more natural to take the first in a general sense. He that repeateth (harpeth on) a matter separateth very friends (Pro_16:28). He who is always dwelling on a grievance, returning to it and bringing it forward on every occasion, alienates the greatest friends, only embitters the injury and makes it chronic. Ecclesiasticus 19:7, etc; “Rehearse not unto another that which is told unto thee, and thou shalt fare never the worse. Whether it be to friend or foe, talk not of other men’s lives; and if thou canst without offence, reveal them not. For he heard and observed thee, and when time cometh he will hate thee. If thou hast heard a word, let it die with thee; and be bold, it will not burst thee.” So the rabbis said: “Abstain from quarrels with thy neighbour; and if thou hast seen something bad of thy friend, let it not pass thy tongue as a slander” (Dukes, § 61). The Mosaic Law had led the way to this duty of forbearance: “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Le 19:18). Septuagint, “He who concealeth injuries seeketh friendship; but he who hateth to conceal them separateth friends and households.”
Pro_17:10
A reproof entereth more (deeper) into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. A deserved rebuke makes a deeper impression upon a man of understanding than the severest chastisement upon a fool. Hitzig quotes Sallust, ’Jug.,’ 11, “Verbum in pectus Jugurthae altius, quam quisquam ratus est, descendit.” Quint. Curt; 54.7, “Nobilis equus umbra quoque virgae regitur, ignavus ne calcari quidem concitari potest.” The antithesis is put more forcibly in the Septuagint, “A threat breaks the heart of a prudent man; a fool even scourged feels it not.”
Pro_17:11
An evil man seeketh only rebellion. So the Greek and Latin Versions; but, as Nowack intimates, a bad man seeks many other things which do not come directly in the category of rebellion; and it is better to take meri, “rebellion,” as the subject, regarding it as put for the concrete, thus: “A rebellious man striveth only for what is evil.” From the point of view of an Eastern potentate, this is true enough. Absolute government looks upon any rising against constituted authority, any movement in the masses, as necessarily evil, and to be repressed with a high hand. Hence the succeeding clause. Therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. The “cruel messenger” (Pro_16:14) is the executioner of the king’s wrath. He is called “cruel” because his errand is deadly, and he is pitiless in its performance. This seems to be the sense intended. The LXX. gives a different notion, derived from the ambiguous term malak, like the Greek ἄγγελος: “The Lord will send forth a pitiless angel against him.” The verse then becomes a statement concerning the retribution inflicted by God on obstinate sinners, such as Pharaoh and the Egyptians. These are delivered over to “the tormentors” (Mat_18:34), the angels that execute the wrath of God, as in Psa_78:49 and Rev_8:6, etc. As all sin is rebellion against God, it is natural to read into the passage a religious meaning, and for homiletical purposes it is legitimate to do so. But the writer’s intention is doubtless as explained above, though his language may be divinely directed to afford a further application.
Pro_17:12
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man. The Syrian bear was once common throughout Palestine; it is now found in but few localities, such as the hills of Hermon and Lebanon, and in the hills east of the Jordan, the destruction of wood and forest having deprived these animals of the shelter necessary to their existence. The ferocity of the bear when deprived of its young had become proverbial (see 2Sa_17:8; Hos_13:8; Hart, ’Animals of the Bible,’ 28, etc.). Rather than a fool in his folly; i.e. in the paroxysm of his passion. Compare Saul’s ungoverned language to Jonathan (1Sa_20:30), and Herod’s murder of the children (Mat_2:16). So we read of the people being filled with ἄνοια against Jesus (Luk_6:11). Oort supposes that this proverb arose from the riddle, “What is worse to meet than a bear?” Septuagint, “Care will fall upon a man of understanding; but fools imagine evils.” The Greek translators take “bear” as us d metaphorically for terror and anxiety, but go far astray from the Hebrew text.
Pro_17:13
Whoso rewardeth evil for good. This was David’s complaint of the churlish Nabal (1Sa_25:21). Ingratitude shall surely he punished. Evil shall not depart from his house. Terribly has the ingratitude of the Jews been visited. They cried in their madness, “His blood be on us and on our children!” and their punishment is still going on. Injunctions on this subject are frequent in the New Testament (see Mat_5:39; Rom_12:17; 1Th_5:15; 1Pe_3:9). The Talmud says, “Do not throw a stone into the well whose waters you have drunk.” The Greeks felt the sting of ingratitude. Thus Leiodes complains to Ulysses (’Od.,’ 22.319)—
Ὡς οὐκ ἔστι χάρις μετόπισθ εὐεργέων
Two sayings of Publius Syrus are quoted: “Ingratus unus omnibus miseris nocet;” “Malignos fieri maxime ingrati docent.”
Pro_17:14
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water. The small rift in the bank of a reservoir of water, if not immediately secured, is soon enlarged and gets beyond control, occasioning widespread ruin and destruction; so from small and insignificant causes, which might at first have been easily checked, arise feuds and quarrels which extend in a wide circle, and cannot be appeased. Palestine was largely dependent upon its reservoirs for the storage of water, perennial springs being of rare occurrence. The three pools of Solomon in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, which were connected by channels with Jerusalem, are still to be seen in all their massive grandeur; and, indeed, every town had its reservoir, or tank, as we find in India at the present time. These receptacles had to be kept in good repair, or disastrous consequences might ensue. On the tendency of a quarrel to grow to a dangerous extent, a Bengal proverb speaks of “going in a needle and coming out a ploughshare.” Vulgate, Qui dimittit aquam, caput est jurgiorum, which seems to mean that the man who needlessly lets the water of a cistern run to waste gives occasion to quarrels. But St. Gregory (’Moral.,’ 5.13), commenting on the passage, interprets differently: “It is well said by Solomon, ’He that letteth out water is a head of strife.’ For the water is let out when the flowing of the tongue is let loose. And he that letteth out water is made the beginning of strife, in that, by the incontinency of the lips, the commencement of discord is afforded” (Oxford transl.). Probably, however, in the Latin, as in the Hebrew, the particle of comparison is suppressed, so that the clause means, “As he who lets out water, so is he who gives occasion to strife.” Therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. The last word חַתְגַּלַּע is of doubtful interpretation. It occurs in Pro_18:1 and Pro_20:3, and is variously translated, “before it rushes forward,” “before it grows warm,” “before a man becomes wrathful.” But Hitzig, Nowaek, and others take it to signify, “before men show their teeth,” like angry dogs snarling at one another. The moralist advises men to subdue angry passions at once before they become exacerbated. The Vulgate seems to have quite mistaken the clause, translating, Antequam patiatur contumeliam, judicium deserit, which seems to mean that a patient, peace-loving man (in contrast with the irascible) avoids lawsuits before he is involved in a lasting quarrel. Septuagint, “The beginning (ἀρχὴ) of justice gives power to words; but discord and contention lead the way to want.” The Greek commentators see here an allusion to the clepsydra, the water clock which regulated the length of the speeches in a court of law; but the reference is by no means clear.
Pro_17:15
He that justifieth—in a forensic sense, declares righteous, acquits—the wicked, etc. Two forms of the perversion of justice are censured, viz. the acquittal of a guilty person and the condemnation of an innocent one (comp. Pro_24:24; Isa_5:23).
Pro_17:16
Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom? A fool thinks that there is a royal road to wisdom, and that it, like other things, is to be purchased with reentry. Vulgate, Quid prodest stulto habere divitias, cum sapientiam emere non possit? The rabbis in later time were not allowed to take fees for teaching; but it was customary to make offerings to seers and wise men, when their services were engaged or their advice was asked (see the case of Saul and Samuel, 1Sa_9:7, 1Sa_9:8). The last clause gives the reason why it is useless for a fool to try to learn wisdom even at a large expenditure on teachers. Seeing he hath no heart to it; i.e. no capability for receiving it; his mental digestion cannot assimilate it. The heart, as we have already noticed, is regarded as the seat of the understanding. Thus the LXX; “Why doth a fool have wealth? for a man without heart cannot acquire wisdom.” In the Gospel Christ calls his disciples “fools and slow of heart to believe what the prophets had written, and himself opened their mind (τὸν νοῦν), that they might understand the Scriptures” (Luk_24:25, Luk_24:45). The Septuagint and Vulgate here introduce a distich derived from portions of Pro_17:19, Pro_17:20, “He who raises his house high seeketh destruction; and he who perversely declineth from learning (ὁ δὲ σκολιάζων τοῦ μαθεῖν) shall fall into evils.”
Pro_17:17
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Some find a climax in the two clauses, and translate the last as Revised Version margin, “And is born as a brother for adversity,” the same person being meant in both members of the sentence. A real friend loves his friend in prosperity and adversity; yea, he is more than a friend in time of need—he is a brother, as affectionate and as trusty as one connected by the closest ties of relationship (comp.
Pro_18:24). Siracides gives a very cruel version of this proverb, “A friend cannot be known in prosperity; and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity. In the prosperity of a man enemies will be grieved; but in his adversity even a friend will depart” (Ecc_12:8, etc.). Cicero had a truer notion of the stability of friendship when he quoted Ennius’s dictum, “Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur” (’De Amicit.,’ 17.). Misfortune, says our maxim, is the touchstone of friendship; and one Greek gnome enjoins—
Ἰδίας νόμιζε τῶν φίλων τὰς συμφοράς
“Thy friend’s misfortunes deem to be thine own;”
while another runs—
Κρίνει φίλους ὁ καιρὸς ὥς χρυσὸν τὸ πῦρ.
“The crisis tests a friend, as fire the gold.”
Septuagint, “Have thou a friend forevery crisis, and let brethren be useful in adversities; for for this they are made.” Commenting on the expression, “is born,” Wordsworth fancifully remarks, “Adversity brings him forth. He comes, as it were, out of the womb of calamity, and seems to be born for it.”
Pro_17:18
A man void of understanding (Hebrew, heart) striketh hands; clinches the bargain which makes him responsible (see on suretyship, Pro_6:1, etc.; and note, Pro_20:16). Becometh surety in the presence of his friend; to his friend for some third party. What is here censured is the weakness which, for the sake of perhaps worthless companions, lets itself be hampered and endangered by others’ obligations. For, as our adage runs, he that is surety for another is never sure himself. The Septuagint takes the “striking of hands” to be a sign of joy (Vulgate, plaudet manibus), “The foolish man claps (ἐπικροτεῖ) and rejoices in himself, so also he who pledges himself for his friend.”
Pro_17:19
He loveth transgression that loveth strife, because strife leads to many breaches of the commandments (comp. Pro_29:22; Jas_1:20). Septuagint, “He who loveth sin rejoices in battles.” And he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. He who builds a sumptuous house and lives in the way that his magnificent surroundings demand draws ruin on himself, either because he affects a state which he is unable to support, or acts so as to provoke reprisals and injurious consequences. The entrance to a Palestinian house would usually be of humble dimensions and sparse ornamentation; any doorway of great architectural pretensions would be uncommon, and would be regarded as a token of extraordinary wealth or reprehensible pride. Aben Ezra, taking “gate” as a metaphor for “mouth,” explains the hemistich of the danger of random or excessive speech. This makes a good parallel with the first clause; but it is doubtful whether the words will bear this interpretation (see Hitzig); and the two clauses may present two forms of selfishness, captiousness and ostentation, both of which lead to quarrels and ruin (comp. Pro_16:18).
Pro_17:20
He that hath a froward heart findeth no good. (For “froward,” see on Pro_11:20; for “find good,” on Pro_16:20.) The perverse, wilful man shall not prosper, shall win no blessing in his worldly matters, much less in spiritual things. Septuagint, “He who is hard of heart meeteth not with good things.” He that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief; literally, he who turns himself about with his tongue, saying one thing at one time and something quite contrary at another. Vulgate, qui vertit linguam; Septuagint, ἀνὴρ εὐμετάβολος γλώσσῃ, “easily changed in tongue” (comp. Pro_8:13; Pro_10:31, where the word is different). “Mischief” (ra) “is trouble,” “calamity,” as in Pro_13:17. Speaking of the various aspects which words may assume, Cato (’Dist.,’ 4.20) says—
“Sermo hominum mores et celat et indicat idem.”
“Man’s words his character reveal,
But often they his mind conceal?
Pro_17:21
He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow (comp. Pro_17:25). The words for “fool” in the two clauses are different. Here it is kesil, which implies bold, self-confident folly, the worst form of the vies; in the second hemistich it is nabal, which rather denotes dulness and stupidity, a want of mental power. A conceited, offensive fool causes infinite trouble to his father, both from his need of constant correction, and the watchfulness required to repair the consequences of his foolish actions. There is also the grief at seeing instruction and warning thrown away on a worthless object. Septuagint, “The heart of a fool is a pain to him who possesseth it.” The father of a fool hath no joy. The contrast in the ease of a good son is seen in Pro_15:20 and Pro_23:24. The LXX. adds a clause from Pro_10:1, with the view of improving the parallelism, “But a prudent son rejoiceth his mother.”
Pro_17:22
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. So Aben Ezra, understanding the particle of comparison, which is not in the Hebrew. The ward translated “medicine” (gehah) occurs nowhere else, and probably means “healing” “relief.” The clause is better rendered, a cheerful heart maketh a good healing (comp. Pro_15:13; Pro_16:25). Vulgate, aetatem floridam facit; Septuagint, εὐεκτεῖν ποιεῖ, “makes one to be in good case.” A cheerful, contented disposition enables a men to resist the attacks of disease, the mind, ms every one knows, having most powerful influence over the body. Ec 30:22, “The gladness of the heart is the life of man, and the joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days.” A broken spirit drieth the bones; destroys all life and vigour (comp. Pro_3:8; Psa_22:15; Psa_32:4). We all remember the distich—
“A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a.”
So the rabbis enjoin, “Give ears no room in thine heart, for care hath killed many”. Religious gladness is a positive duty, and “low spirits,” as Isaac Williams says, “are a sin.” Asks the Greek moralist—
Ἄρ ἐστὶ συγγενές τι λύπη καὶ βίος
And Lucretius (3.473) affirms—
“Nam dolor ac morbus leti fabricator uterque est.”
“Workers of death are sorrow and disease.”
Pro_17:23
A gift out of the bosom; i.e. secretly from the fold of the garment, and not from the purse or bag wherein money was ostensibly carried. A corrupt judge “taketh,” i.e. receives a bribe conveyed to him secretly (Pro_21:14). To pervert the ways of judgment. The judges had no appointed salaries; hence the unprincipled among them were open to bribery. The strict injunctions of the Law, and the stern denunciations of the prophets, were alike ineffectual in checking corruption (see Exo_23:8; Deu_16:19; Isa_1:23; Jer_22:17; Eze_13:19; Hos_4:18, etc.). Septuagint, “The man that receiveth gifts in his bosom unjustly, his ways shall not prosper.” For, as Job avows (Job_15:34), “Fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.” The LXX. adds, “The impious turns aside from the ways of righteousness.”
Pro_17:24
Wisdom is before [the face of] him that hath understanding. The idea is that the intelligent man directs his look towards Wisdom, and therefore she beams upon him with all her light; as the Vulgate puts it, “In the face of the prudent wisdom shines.” He has one object to which he directs all his attention (Pro_15:14). The Septuagint rendering is not so satisfactory: “The countenance of a prudent man is wise;” he shows in his look and bearing the wisdom that guides him. Thus Ecc_8:1, “A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine, and the hardness of his face is changed.” The eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. A fool has no one definite object in view; he pursues a hundred different things, as they happen to come in his way, but misses the most important quest of all and fritters away the powers which might have aided him to obtain wisdom.
Pro_17:25
This verse is more or less a repetition of Pro_17:21; Pro_10:1; Pro_15:20; and comp. Pro_19:13. A grief (kaas). The Vulgate and Septuagint translate, “anger.” A foolish son provokes the wrath of his father, and is bitterness to her that bare him, “Bitterness” (memer) oesurs nowhere else; mar and marar are common enough.
Pro_17:26
Also (gam). This may be intended to connect this verso with what was said above (Pro_17:23) about the perversion of justice; or, as is more probable, it is used to emphasize what is coming, To punish the just is not good. Damnum inferre justo, Vulgate; ζημιοῦν, Septuagint; and the word has a special reference to punishment by fire. Nor to strike princes for equity; the expression, “is not good,” being understood from the former clause. “Princes” are the noble in character rather than in position only. Two forms of evil are named, viz. to punish the innocent, and to visit with contumely and injury the man of high character who cannot be induced to pervert justice. Revised Version, nor to smite the noble for their uprightness. So virtually the Vulgate, Septuagint, and Syriac. Another rendering is, “to strike the noble is against right,” which seems feeble and less suitable to the parallelism.
Pro_17:27
He that hath knowledge spareth his words; Revised Version, he that spareth his words hath knowledge; he shows his common sense, not by rash talk or saying all he knows, but by restraining his tongue (comp. Pro_10:19; Jas_1:19). ’Pirke Aboth’ (Pro_1:18), “All my days I have grown up amongst the wise, and have not found aught good for a man but silence; not learning but doing is the groundwork, and whoso multiplies words occasions sin” Say the Greek gnomes—
Ἐνίοις τὸ σιγᾷν ἐστὶ κρεῖττον τοῦ λέγειν
Κρεῖττον σιωπᾷν ἢ λαλεῖν ἂ μὴ πρέπει
And Theognis (5.815) writes—
Βοῦς μοι ἐπὶ γλώσσης κρατερῷ ποδὶ λὰξ ἐπιβαίνων
Ἴσχει κωτίλλειν καίπερ ἐπιστάμενον
“Speech for a shekel, silence for two; it is like a precious stone” (’Qoheleth Rabbah,’ 5.5). Septuagint, “He who spareth to utter a harsh speech is prudent” (ἐπιγνώμων). A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit; Revised Version, he that is of a coot spirit is a man of understanding; i.e. he who considers before he speaks, and never answers in hot haste, proves that he is wise and intelligent. Septuagint, “The long suffering man is prudent.” The above is the reading of the Khetib, followed by most interpreters. The Keri gives, “of a precious spirit” (
pretiosi spiritus, Vulgate), that is, one whose words are weighty and valuable, not lavishly thrown about, but reserved as costly jewels.
Pro_17:28
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise. Not betraying his ignorance and incapacity by words, a foolish man is credited with possessing sense (comp. Job_13:5). Proverbs to this effect are found in all languages. Thus the Greek—
Πᾶς τις ἀπαίδευτος φρονιμώτατος ἐστὶ σιωπῶν.
Cato, ’Dist.,’ 1.3—
“Virtutem primam esse puta compescere linguam;
Proximus ille Deo qui scit ratione tacere.”
Talmud, “Silence becomes the wise, much more feels.” The Dutch have appropriated this maxim, “Zweigen de dwazen zij waren wijs, …. Were fools silent, they would pass for wise.” “Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.” “Silence,” says the Sanskrit gnome, “is the ornament of the ignorant.” “Talking comes by nature,” say the Germans, “silence of understanding.” The LXX. gives a different turn to the first clause: “A foolish man inquiring of wisdom will have wisdom imputed to him;” the expressed desire of knowledge will be taken as a proof of intelligence. The second clause is coordinate with the former. He that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding; Revised Version, when he shutteth his lips, he is esteemed as prudent; Septuagint, “A man making himself dumb will seem to be prudent.” Theophrastus is said to have thus addressed a guest who was very silent at table: “If you are a fool, you act wisely; if you are wise, you act foolishly.” “Let every man,” says St. James (Jas_1:19), “be swift to hear, slow to speak.”
HOMILETICS
Pro_17:5
Mocking the poor
The terrible inequality of human lots was never more apparent than it is in the present day. England is renowned for her wealth; yet England is a haunt of hungry misery. It is nothing but selfish hypocrisy to justify this condition of affairs by quoting the words of our Lord, “The poor always ye have with you” (Joh_12:8). If they are always with us in abject need and distress, so much the worse for the condition of society. The statement of a distressing fact is no justification for it. Meanwhile, if the huge evil of pauperism cannot be abolished at once, it is our duty to lessen, not to aggravate it.
I. CONSIDER IN WHAT WAYS THE POOR ARE MOCKED.

1. When their condition is disregarded. There are thousands of people living in affluence who simply ignore the fact that they have needy brethren. Dives at his feast does not give a thought to Lazarus pining at his gate. Surely it is a mockery to the awful misery of the East End that the West End feasts and fetes itself with undisturbed complacency.
2. When their rights are neglected. This happens in many ways, even in an age and a country that boasts of its administration of justice.
   (1) The so called “sweating system” is nothing better than robbery, by means of which the strong take advantage of the necessities of the weak.
   (2) It is hard for poor people to avail themselves of the law courts; so that the cry is raised that “there is one law for the rich and another for the poor.”
   (3) Poor men have the natural rights of their manhood treated with contempt. The courtesy which is offered to the well to do is denied to them. Rough treatment is meted out to them. Common politeness is refused to a man with a threadbare coat.
3. When their deficiencies are ridiculed. The poor man is generally illiterate, his “speech bewrayeth him.” He has never learnt the manners of good society. So the classes above him put up their eyeglasses to inspect him, as though he were some strange, repulsive animal.
4. When their merits are ignored. There is honest, poverty. There are brave men fighting against adverse circumstances with the courage of heroes. Are these people to be mucked at simply because they cannot put money in their purses? The kindness of the poor to the poor is a rebuke to the cynicism of the rich. Yet how difficult it is for poor men to be duly recognized! Dr. Johnson spoke from experience when he said—
   “This mournful truth is everywhere confess’d
   Slow rises worth by poverty depressed.”
   The world mocks the poor when it judges people by the fashion of their clothes and the size of their houses, instead of looking to their character and lives.
   II. CONSIDER THE GREAT SIN OF MOCKING THE POOR. He who does this “reproacheth his Maker.” For the God who made the rich man also made the poor man. The reproach of the child is a reproach of his Father. We do more than wrong our brethren when we treat the unfortunate with contempt; we insult our God. He is the God of the poor, and he takes their wrongs as injuries to himself. This is no slight, shadowy offence. It is an awful sin in the sight of Heaven. The only reason that is suggested why Dives should be writhing in torments of fire is that he was a rich man who gave no heed to the misery of his neighbour. Here is an awful prospect for the careless comfortable classes of England! The evil is aggravated with us, because we profess that religion which preaches a gospel to the poor. In the Church of Christ rich and poor meet together. For the rich man to despise his fellow Christian, then, is for him to deny his Master, “who had not where to lay his head.” Let it be remembered that Christ, who was rich, “for our sakes became poor.” He is the Friend and Brother of the poor.
   Pro_17:10
   The wisdom of accepting a reproof
   I. IT IS DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT A REPROOF. Only the wise man will take it. Many difficulties stand in the way.
5. It is hard to believe that the reproving counsellor is a true friend. He appears to be censorious. We think he takes a pleasure in finding fault with us. We accuse him of a Pharisaic self-satisfaction in comparing his own virtue with our fault.
6. It is difficult to admit the application of the accusation to ourselves. David is indignant at Nathan’s recital of the parable of the ewe lamb. Yet he fails to see that the moral of it comes home to himself till the prophet exclaims,” Thou art the man!”
7. It is not easy to confess our own humiliation. When we see that we are accused, pride rises up to defend us. It is possible for a large amount of pride to lodge with a great quantity of folly. Indeed, the more a person is emptied of real worth the more room is there in him for self-inflation.
8. It is troublesome to yield to a reproof. To do so we must not merely admit our fault, but consent to mend our ways. We must allow the reproof to work actively in us if it is to be of any use. The drunkard is often ready to confess his sin, but he is not so eager to renounce the cause of it.
9. It is distressing to bear the reproof of God. In reading the Bible people are tempted to appropriate the promises to themselves and to leave the threatenings for their brethren. It needs a divinely inspired wisdom to help us to profit by the warnings of Scripture.
   II. IT IS WISE TO ACCEPT A REPROOF. Many as are the obstructions that stand in the way of our receiving and acting upon it, we should do well to conquer them. He is but a foolish person who despises correction. The wise man may shrink from it, but he will not reject it.
10. A true reproof is justly due. We have earned it by our own fault. It is foolish to kick against the consequences of our own conduct.
11. A reproof is a wholesome corrective. It is not a judge’s sentence, but a friend’s counsel, Its object is not condemnation, but salvation.
12. A reproof is a mild substitute for harder treatment. While we foolishly rail at its harshness, we should be thankful for the lenity of the most stern well deserved reproof. It might have been dispensed with, and we might have received condign punishment. The reproof is not so hard to bear as the “hundred stripes” that may follow if it is disregarded. It is wise to close with the earlier counsel.
13. A reproof is an element of Divine grace. Christ sends the Comforter to convict the world of sin as well as of righteousness and judgment (Joh_16:8). It is to our own cost that we receive this gracious Guest with resentful discourtesy. But, on the other hand, we plainly need Divine grace to accept a reproof in a meek and humble spirit. The wisdom to receive a reproof well is so difficult to attain that we need to seek it as an inspiration from God.
    Pro_17:14
    The beginning of strife.
    I. STRIFE MAY HAVE A SMALL BEGINNING. It is not necessary to intend great mischief if a quarrel is to be started. One word of an unfriendly character may be enough to mar the peace of brethren. A single act of unkindness may be the beginning of discord, provoking retaliation, and so originating a long continued state of war. A quarrel may arise among very insignificant persons. It may be concerned with very unimportant questions. It may appear as a very slight affair—”a tempest in a teacup.”
    II. STRIFE CROWS WINES. The small hole in the dyke through which a little water oozes is worn by the escaping stream so that it becomes larger, and the larger it is the more water pours through it; and this, in turn, will tear still greater pieces from the banks. A little rift within the lute is the commencement of the mischief that will silence all the music. A dispute between two frontier officers may lead to a war between two nations. Thus the strife between a few grows into a quarrel between many persons.
    III. STRIFE GROWS MORE INTENSE. It not only involves more persons; it also becomes aggravated in its violence. Increasing in volume, it also grows in vehemence. The flood rushes with alarming velocity. The misunderstanding becomes a war. The coldness between friends turns into the bitterness of enmity. Anger degenerates into hatred.
    IV. STRIFE BECOMES UNCONTROLLABLE. It might be arrested in its early stage. A boy pressing his knee against the small hole in the dyke could hold back the trickling stream. But if the mischief is not checked in an early stage, “all the king’s horses” cannot arrest the mad career of the escaping river. An insignificant person may start a quarrel, which many wise and strong men will fail to allay. It is easier to be a war maker than a peace maker. Events grow too strong for the moat powerful energies of man.
    V. STRIFE ISSUES IN INCALCULABLE RESULTS. The flood pours down through the valley and over the plain, uprooting trees, devastating fields, deluging homesteads, drowning men and cattle. The mischief is enormous, and the course and extent of it cannot be measured beforehand. No one can tell what harm may grow out of his meddlesome mischief making. A foolish person may mean to do no real harm, only to show a little passing spite. But he has let out the waters; the flood gates are open; the huge army of destruction is scouring the country. Amazed and aghast at the unexpected consequences of his folly, he would fain undo the reckless deed or stay its fatal consequences. But it is too late. Those consequences have passed beyond his reach. He can never tell how far the evil effects of what he has done may extend.
    VI. STRIFE SHOULD BE CHECKED IN ITS EARLIEST STAGE. It is best to avoid the very beginning of it. But if, unhappily, it has been started, it should be stayed at once. To nurse a quarrel is worse than to cherish a viper in one’s bosom. Fling it away and crush it, before it spawns a deadly brood of evil. The great human quarrel with heaven, begun in Eden, was like the letting out of waters. So is the soul’s quarrel with God. It is best to make peace at once, through repentance and contrition.
    Pro_17:17
    The true friend
    I. THE PORTRAIT OF THE TRUE FRIEND. We must study its lineaments that we may know the original. The word “friend” is used so loosely, often as a term of mere politeness, that some such inquiry is necessary if we would disentangle it from frivolous associations and affix it to its worthy object.
14. The essential note of true friendship is invariability of affection. The friend “loveth at all times.” This does not mean that he is always displaying his affection. Effusiveness is no proof of sincerity. “Still waters run deep.” Neither are we to suppose that the affection must be always shown in the same way. The manifestation of it must vary according to the moods and feelings of the friend, and also according to the circumstances and behaviour of the object of affection. There are times when friendship must be angry, when love must frown. Still the love must remain.
    (1) True friendship is independent of time. It does not wear out with years. The true friend of youth is the friend of manhood.
    (2) It is independent of circumstances. It survives the loss of social delights. It holds on through poverty
    (3) It is not shaken by slander.
    (4) It even outlives unworthy treatment.
15. The great test of true friendship is adversity.
    (1) Then the friendship is most valuable. If it will not serve then it is of little use. We want friends to whom we can go in the hour of need.
    (2) Then its quality is proved. The shallow, selfish man cuts his acquaintances in their trouble. Poverty severs the cords of pretended friendship. But real friendship is proved and comes out at its best under adverse circumstances. Then its brotherly character is revealed. The friend of prosperous days becomes the brother in days of trouble.
16. The secret of true friendship is love. Love is stronger than death, and love can survive the loss of all things. It endures through time and change, and in spite of violent strains upon its strength.
    II. THE DISCOVERY OF THE TRUE FRIEND. The portrait is ideal. Do we ever see the ideal realized? In a measure, yes, and that repeatedly. The cynical pessimism that disbelieves in any generous, unselfish friendship is false to the nature of man, and false to the noble tale of good lives. Generosity is not dead. Friendship is possible. But every human friend is imperfect. Surely the portrait of the true friend must suggest to us One who alone perfectly answers to its noble features. We discover the true Friend in Christ.
17. He gives us the note of true friendship in invariability of affection. His love to the race endures through the ages. His love to each individual of his people is ever-abiding and constant. It outlasts many provocations, frequent unfaithfulness, great unworthiness on their part. Christ did not cease to love St. Peter when the apostle denied his Master.
18. He is a Brother in affliction. The Companion of our joys, he is especially our Helper in trouble; he came expressly to save from the terrible evil of sin. He is the sympathizing Friend for all sorrow.
19. The secret of his friendship is love. It is not our claim or attractiveness, but the love of Christ, that makes him our abiding, faithful Friend. If we would measure the durability of his friendship, we must gauge the greatness of his undying love,
    Pro_17:22
    The healing effects of cheerfulness
    I. CHEERFULNESS IS COMMENDED IN SCRIPTURE. The Bible does not put a premium on sombreness. It never suggests that there is a merit in gloom. It urges the need of repentance, calls upon men to grieve for their sins, threatens the wrath of God against impenitence, and so brings up occasions for distress of soul; it also rebukes “the laughter of fools,” the empty merriment of frivolity and the riot and revelry of dissipation (Ecc_7:6). But it does not commend sorrow on its own account. On the contrary, it brings joy and encourages gladness. Christ gave his joy to his people (Joh_15:11). St. Paul emphatically reiterated his advice to his readers to rejoice (Php_4:4). God loves his children and delights in their happiness. God is blessed, therefore happy; and he desires for his children a share in his blessedness, which must involve a participation in his gladness.
    II. CHEERFULNESS EXERTS A HEALING INFLUENCE OVER THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL. Too much indulgence in sorrow induces a morbid condition. It is not healthy in itself, for man is not meant to be a perpetual incarnation of pain. The natural merriment of children is not only innocent; it is positively helpful to the sane growth of their minds. Cheerful Christians are strong Christians; for “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh_8:10). It is easier to bear disappointment when the spirit is free and buoyant. Temptation is less powerful against a contented soul than against one that is enfeebled by fretful dissatisfaction. We can do our work best when we do it gladly. In a cheerful mood we take the widest, wisest, healthiest views of truth. Sour feelings lead to false estimates of the world. Even after sin and repentance, when the sinner is pardoned, a sober, humble cheerfulness is healthier than perpetual lamentation. Therefore the fatted calf is killed, etc.
    III. CHEERFULNESS IS A SOURCE OF HEALTHY INFLUENCE FOR OTHERS. The gloomy saint cultivates his own sombre sanctity at the expense of his neighbours. He should be helping them and attracting them into the way of life. But he is repelling and hindering them. Children are best won by a cheerful presentation of religion. The indifferent are made to see that the cross of Christ does not mean perpetual distress and trouble to the Christian. The lost and fallen have hopes inspired within them when they are approached with hopes of better things. The gospel is goodness; it should be preached with a cheerful spirit; its “glad tidings of great joy” speak healing to the nations.
    IV. CHEERFULNESS IS TO BE BEST ATTAINED IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. The merry soul may be only superficially glad, or even sinfully delighted, when it should be humbled in repentance. But after repentance and pardon God gives his own deep, sure joy. This joy rests on the love of God and fellowship with him. It is confirmed by service. When one can say, “I delight to do thy will, O my God” (Psa_40:8), he has reached the true fountain of a cheerful spirit. Such a joy can master adversity and rejoice in tribulation (2Co_6:10). It was when engaged in an apostolic mission that Paul and Silas were able to sing in prison (Act_16:25).
    HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
    Pro_17:1-9
    Traits of outward dad inward happiness. Happiness depends more on the inward state than on the outward condition
    Hence—
    I. CONTENTMENT AS AN ELEMENT OF HAPPINESS. (Pro_17:1.) The dry morsel, with rest and quiet in the spirit, is better, says the preacher, than the most luxurious meal; the allusion being to slaughtered sacrificial animals as the chief constituents of a rich repast (Pro_9:2; Gen_43:16). It suggests the picture of “holy love, found in a cottage” (Matthew Henry). The secret of happiness lies rather in limiting our desires than in increasing our substance.
    II. PRUDENCE AND THRIFT. (Pro_17:2.) The prudent servant may rise, and probably not seldom did rise in ancient times, to superiority over the idle and dissipated son of the house. In this light Abraham looked upon Eliezer—that he might probably step into the place of a son in his house. How much more depends, in reference to power and influence in this world, upon sense and prudence than upon birth and every external advantage!
    III. THE TRUE HEART. (Pro_17:3.) The heart which has been tried in the scales of Jehovah, assayed by the tests of an infallible truth. We need to remind ourselves how little we know of the depths of human character. Our inquiries and our teachings are inadequate and deceptive. The search of the human heart is a royal privilege of God. Without the true, the divinely approved heart, there is no real root of good or bliss.
    IV. A SINCERE TEMPER. (Pro_17:4.) This is suggested, as often, by the hideous contrast of the wicked, inwardly corrupt heart, which willingly takes note of and inclines to lying words, to the tempter and his wishes. It takes pleasure in the “naughty words” it dares not, perhaps, utter itself; is glad to borrow words from another to fit its own evil thoughts. In contrast to this, the spirit of the candid and sincerely good man is that expressed by Bishop Hall, “If I cannot stop other men’s mouths from speaking ill, I will either open my mouth to reprove it, or else I will stop my ears from hearing it, and let him see in my face that he hath no room in my heart.”
    V. COMPASSION, PITY, AND SYMPATHY. (Pro_17:5.) Contempt of the poor is contempt of the majesty of God. The greater part of poverty is not wilful; it is in the course of the providence of God. “To pour contempt on the current coin with the king’s image on it is treason against the sovereign.” There is something worse than even this, viz. to rejoice in the calamities of others. It is a peculiarly inhuman view, and is certain to be punished in the remorse of the conscience, in the closing up of the way to God’s heart in the time of one’s own need.
    VI. FAMILY JOYS. (Pro_17:6.) To leave out these would be to leave out that which gives to life its chief fragrance and charm. As children are the pride and ornament of the parents, so the sons, on the other hand, so long as they themselves are not fathers, can only fall back upon the father. The family tree, the higher it rises and the more widely it extends, increases the honour of the race.
    VII. NOBLENESS Of SPEECH. (Pro_17:7.) The first element of this is, as so often insisted upon, truthfulness in the inward parts. The second is appropriateness, regard to what is becoming. Thus a high assuming tone ill befits the fool; much less falsity, affectation, hypocrisy, a noble mind. To recollect what is becoming in us is a great safeguard to morality and guide to conduct. In the common affairs of life we should not seek to rise above our station, nor should we fall below it. In religion there is also a just mean—the recollection of what it is to be a Christian; and the effort not to rise above the humility of that position, as not to fall below its grandeur and nobility. “If truth be banished from all the rest of the world,” said Louis IX. of France, “it ought to be found in the breast of princes.” Let us substitute the word “Christians.”
    VIII. THE VALUE OF GIFTS. (Pro_17:8.) There seems to be no reason for taking this only in the bad sense with reference to bribery. Lawful gifts and presents have their charm as well as unlawful. The power of gold to corrupt; the saying of Philip of Macedon, that there was no fortress so strong but that it might be stormed if an ass laden with gold were driven to the gate;—all this is well known. But equally true is it that honest gifts of kindness, having no impure purpose in view, are like jewels. They sparkle with the lustre of human love when turned in any light, and win friends and good will for the giver wherever he goes. It is the generous freedom to give, not necessarily of silver and gold, but of “such things as we have,” which is here commended and noted as one of the secrets of happiness. The deepest joy is, in all true gifts, to be expressing the one great gift of the heart to God.
    IX. CONCEALING AND FORGIVING LOVE. (Pro_17:9.) Let us remind ourselves that in the Law the word for forgiving or atoning is “cover.” And frequently we read of God covering the sins of the penitent. This relation is for the imitation of Christians, “followers of God as dear children.” “Love covers a multitude of sins.” Like the healing hand of Nature, which we see everywhere busy concealing unsightliness, veiling the old ruin with the beautiful ivy and other creeping plants. On the contrary, the talebearer has an eye forevery crack and seam in the structure of society; tears open and causes to bleed the wounds that might have been healed. Be true, be gentle, be generous, be God-like and Christ-like,—such are the main lessons of this section.—J.
    Pro_17:10-15
    Dark phases of human character
    We may take Pro_17:10 as an introduction to what follows. Exhortations are to be given, and the preacher would prepare us to receive them. On the sensitive mind the censure of the good makes a deeper impression than a hundred blows on the back of the fool. Sincerity, love of truth and tender sympathy, become the exhorter, and humble docility the object of his warnings or rebukes. “Let the righteous smite me, and it shall be a kindness” (Psa_141:5).
    I. THE CONTENTIOUS SPIRIT. (Pro_17:11.)
20. His temper. He seeks rebellion. In private life he may be the man who revolts from the established usages of society, delights in singularity for its own sake, in defying opinion, showing disrespect to names of authority. In public life he may become the heartless demagogue and pest of the commonwealth.
21. His doom. A cruel angel shall be sent against him by God; that is, generally, his offence will be visited upon him severely. The curse upon the contentious spirit is the counterpart of the great evangelical blessing on the peacemakers, who shall be called “the children of God.”
22. His dangerous qualities. (Pro_17:12.) Rage is the principle of his action, the motive of his life. To irritate him, to thwart him, is like bringing on one’s self the fierce attack of the bear robbed of her whelps. Rage united with intelligence is the most fearful combination of deadly force known in the world. From so dread a picture we turn with the prayer, “From hatred and malice, good Lord, deliver us!” “Oh, may we live the peaceful life!”
    II. THE UNGRATEFUL MAN. (Pro_17:13.)
23. His conduct. He requites good with evil. As there is no virtue so natural, so spontaneous, so pleasurable, as gratitude, so there is no mere negative vice so odious as ingratitude. But the positive reversal of gratitude in returning evil for good—for this there is no one word in our (nor probably in any) language. It is a wickedness indeed unutterable.
24. His doom is punishment from God. And the severity of the punishment teaches by contrast how dear is gratitude to God. As evil shall ever haunt the house of the dark rebel against light and love, so shall joy and peace attend the steps of the peaceful child of God.
    III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF MISCHIEF INCALCULABLE. (Pro_17:14.) A homely figure impresses the truth in a way not to be forgotten. Similarly, James compares the progress of mischief to the sparks which may be easily fanned into a great conflagration (Jas_3:5). How great the service that may be rendered by those who, in the interests of peace, at once trample out the sparks or seal up the avenues of the flood. These rules are good for the avoidance of strife. Consider:
25. Whether the dispute is not about. words rather than things.
26. Whether we really understand, the subject.
27. Whether it is worth disputing about.
    IV. MORAL INDIFFERENCE. (Verse 15.) To speak the bad man fair, to justify or excuse his evil, and to censure or criticize or condemn the good, from prudence or other motive,—this shows a blindness to moral distinctions, a wilful insensibility which is incompatible with religion, and incurs the deep disapproval and judgment of Jehovah. We have examples in Ezr_4:1-16; Act_24:1-9. Religion teaches us to distinguish between things that differ; if we have not learnt that lesson, we have learned nothing. If, having learned it, we disregard it, our profession of religion becomes converted into an hypocrisy and an abomination.—J.
    Pro_17:16-20
    Light in the head, love in the heart
    I. MONEY USELESS WITHOUT SENSE. (Pro_17:16.) The true view of money is that of means to ends. But if the ends are not seen, or, being seen, are not earnestly desired, of what avail the means? If our heart be set upon the right objects of life, opportunities will always present themselves. If blind to life’s meaning, no advantages wilt seem to be advantages.
    II. THE BEAUTY OF FRIENDSHIP. (Pro_17:17.)
28. In general. It is constant; it is unvarying; it is adapted to all the various states and vicissitudes of life.
29. In particular. It takes new life out of sorrow. In distress, the friend is developed into the “brother,” and is taken close to the heart. True friendship gladdens at the opportunity of self-devotion for the beloved one’s good. It is the distress of our sin which makes us acquainted with him “that sticketh closer than a brother.” But thank God for all those who are newborn to us in the freshly revealed grace and goodness of their hearts amidst the scenes of suffering.
    III. THE STRICT DUTY OF CAUTION IN REFERENCE TO RESPONSIBILITY. (Pro_17:18.) The consequences of becoming bail for a defaulter were in ancient life very terrible. Nowadays there are prudent men who will never set their hand to an acceptance. Although all moral duties are not equally amiable in their aspect, it must be remembered that the ability to do good to others rests upon strict prudence with reference to one s self. We may be maimed or destroyed by imprudence.
    IV. RESISTANCE TO THE BEGINNINGS OF EVIL. (Pro_17:19.) Contention or tempers and passion in general leads on to graver sin. Open the way to one sin, and others will immediately troop forward in its rear. Again, contentiousness and pride are in close connection; the latter is generally the spring of the former. And both are ruinous in their tendency. High towers invite the lightning; but he that does not soar too loftily will suffer the less by a fall. A modest way of life, within our means, is the only truly Christian life.
    V. THE TRUE HEART AND THE GUILELESS TONGUE. (Pro_17:20.) There is no health, no salvation for self or others, in the false heart and the tongue that flickers and wavers between opposing impulses. Old Homer has the sentiment that he who speaks one thing and thinks another in his heart is hateful as the gates of hell.
30. There is no true light in the head without love in the heart.
31. There is no dualism in our moral character.
32. There is a correspondence between our outward lot and our inward choice.—J.
    Pro_17:21-28
    Varied experiences of good and evil in life
    We may divide them into the sorrowful, the joyous, and the mixed experiences.
    I. SAD EXPERIENCES. The sorrow of thankless children. (Pro_17:21, Pro_17:25.) To name it is enough for thereto who have known it. It has its analogue in Divine places. How pathetically does the Bible speak of the grief of God over the rebellious children he has nourished and brought up! and of Christ’s lamentation as of a mother over Jerusalem! Let us remember that our innocent earthly sorrows are reflected in the bosom of our God.
    II. JOYOUS EXPERIENCES. (Pro_17:22.) The blessing of a cheerful heart, who can overprize it in relation to personal health, to social charm and helpfulness? Contrasted with the troubled spirit, like a parching fever in the bones, it is the perpetual sap of life and source of all its greenness and its fruit. A simple faith is the best known source of cheerfulness. It was a fine remark of a good friend of Dr. Johnson’s, that “he had tried to be a philosopher, but somehow always found cheerfulness creeping in.”
    III. MIXED EXPERIENCES OF HUMAN CHARACTER.
33. The briber. (Pro_17:23.) How strongly marked is this sin in the denunciations of the Bible! and yet how little the practice seems affected in a land which boasts above others of its love for the Bible! The stealth and so the shame, the evil motive, the perverse result, all are branded here. “He that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, he shall dwell on high” (Isa_33:15).
34. The quick perception of wisdom and the warning glance of folly. The one sees before him what is to be known or done at once; the other is lost in cloudy musings. The more a man gapes after vanity, the more foolish the heart becomes. In religion we see this temper in the restless roving to and fro, the constant query, “Who will show us any good?” “He is full of business at church; a stranger at home; a sceptic abroad; an observer in the street; everywhere a fool.”
35. Harshness in judges. (Pro_17:26.) Fining and flogging are mentioned. The writer had observed some such scene with the horror of a just man. Inequity or inhumanity in the judge seems an insult against the eternal throne of Jehovah.
36. The wisdom of a calm temper and economy of words. (Pro_17:27, Pro_17:28.) An anxiety to talk is the mark of a shallow mind. The knowledge of the season of silence and reserve may be compared to the wisdom of the general who knows when to keep his forces back and when to launch them at the foe. The composed spirit comes from the knowledge that truth will prevail in one way or another, and the time for our utterance will arrive. Lastly, the wisdom of silence, so often preached by great men. Even the fool may gain some credit for wisdom which he does not possess by holding his tongue; and this is an index of the reality. Our great example here is the silence of Jesus, continued for thirty years; out of that silence a voice at length proceeded that will ever vibrate through the world.—J.
    HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
    Pro_17:3
    Divine proving and purifying
    Heat, like water, is a very bad master but a very excellent servant. It proves whether our acquisition has or has not any value, whether it should be carefully preserved or be “trodden underfoot;” and it refines that which has any worth at all, separating the dross and securing for us the pure metal which we want for use or ornament. What we do with our materials God does with ourselves; but the fires through which he sends us are of a very different kind from those we kindle.
    I. THE FIRES THROUGH WHICH GOD PASSES US. These are the disciplinary experiences through which, in his holy providence and in his fatherly love, he causes us to pass. And of them we may say that their name is legion, for “they are many.” They vary as do the histories of human life. It may be
    (1) a change for the worse, sudden or gradual, permanent or transient, in our temporal conditions, affluence sinking into competence, or competence into pecuniary embarrassment, or into hard toil and scant enjoyment; or
    (2) bereavement and consequent loneliness of spirit, the loss of some near companion whose fellowship was sweet beyond expression, or whose guidance was incalculably helpful; or
    (3) disappointment, the going out of some bright hope in the light of which our path had been trodden and the extinction of which throws the future into thick darkness; or
    (4) the loss of health and strength, when we are taken away from activities which were congenial or apparently necessary to us, and are shut in to an enforced idleness, from which we long to be delivered; or
    (5) the endurance of pain; or
    (6) our failure to accomplish some good work on which we had set our heart and put our hand.
    II. HIS TRIAL OF OUR SPIRIT. God thus proves us. Theme troubles are trials; they show to our Creator and to ourselves what manner of men we are, what is “the spirit we are of.” They prove to him and to us whether we care more about our circumstances than we do about ourselves and our character; they prove whether we have a deep spirit of submission and of trustfulness, or whether our subjection to the will of God is very shallow and departs as soon as it is tested; they prove whether in the hour of need we look above us for strength and succour, or whether we have recourse only to those persons and things which are around us, or whether we descend to props and stays that are positively beneath us. They prove the quality of our Christian character; they sometimes demonstrate its actual unreality.
    III. GOD’S REFINING GOODNESS AND WISDOM. God tries our hearts, not merely that he or we may see what is in them, but that they may be purified (see Isa_48:10). Many purifying, practical lessons we learn in affliction which we are very slow to receive, and which, but for its discipline, we might never gain at all. They are these, among others.
37. The unsatisfying character of all that is earthly and human.
38. The transitoriness of the present, and the wisdom of laying up treasures in heaven.
39. The secondariness of all claims to those that are Divine, and our consequent obligation to give the first place to the will and the cause of our Redeemer.
40. Our deep need of Christ as the Lord whom we are to be faithfully serving and the Friend in whose fellowship we are to spend our days. With these great spiritual truths burnt into our souls by the refining fires, we shall have our worldliness and our selfishness expelled, and be vessels of pure gold, meet for the Master’s use.—C.
    Pro_17:6, Pro_17:21, Pro_17:25
    Fatherhood and sonship
    Certainly, some of our very greatest mercies are those that come to us in our domestic relationships.
    I. THE JOY AND CROWN OF FATHERHOOD AND OF GRANDFATHERHOOD. Our Lord speaks of the mother forgetting her anguish “for joy that a man is born into the world” (Joh_16:21). The joy of parentage is keen, and it is common; it may, indeed, be said to be universal. And it is pure and good; it elevates and enlarges the soul, taking thought and care away from self to another, and by so doing it distinctly benefits and blesses the nature. And, like all pure joys, it is lasting; it does not evaporate with time; on the other hand, it grows and deepens as the child of its affection develops and matures. Moreover, in the kind providence of God, it is renewable in another generation; for the grandfather has almost as much delight in his grandson as the father in his child (text; Gen_50:23; Psa_128:6). Fatherhood (motherhood) is:
41. A natural desire of the human heart.
42. Often the reward which God gives to patient industry and virtue in earlier days; for the setting up of a home is, in many if not in most cases, the attainment of a hope for which the young have striven and waited.
43. Sometimes a source of grievous disappointment and saddest sorrow (Pro_17:21, Pro_17:25). There is no one in the world who can pierce our souls with such bitter anguish as can our own child when he or she goes astray from wisdom and righteousness.
44. Always an entail of the most serious responsibility; for what we are in spirit and in character it is most likely that our children will become.
45. Therefore a noble opportunity; for it is in our power, by wisdom and virtue, by kindness and piety, to lead our sons into the gates of privilege and up to the gates of the kingdom of Christ.
46. And therefore usually a source of profoundest gratitude and gladness, and the means by which we can hand down our principles and our influence, through our own direct endeavours, to the second and the third generation.
    II. THE GLORY OF CHILDHOOD. “The glory of children are their fathers.”
47. It is the greatest of all earthly heritages to have parents that can be esteemed and loved. Happy is the son who, as his judgment matures, can honour his father with an undiminishing or even a growing regard and deepening joy.
48. It is a very real delight to be able to look back, through all the later years of life, and recall the memories of the beloved and revered parents who have “passed into the skies”
49. It is the duty of childhood to make the very best response it can make for the love, care, pains, patience, prayerful solicitude, its parents have expended upon it.
50. It will remain a lasting, source of thankfulness and joy that every possible filial attention was paid that could be paid; lighting and smoothing the path of the parents to the very door of heaven.—C.
    Pro_17:9
    (with Pro_16:28)
    Friendship; the silence that saves and the speech that separates it
    We may learn—
    I. THE GOODLINESS OF FRIENDSHIP. “Very friends,” or “chief friends,” points to intimate friendship. This is one of the very fairest and worthiest things under the sun. The man to whom God gives a lifelong faithful friendship is rich in a treasure which wealth cannot buy and the excellency of which it does not equal. It should be:
51. Founded on common attachment to the same great principles, and on mutual esteem.
52. Independent of the changes that occur in circumstances and conditions.
53. Strengthened by adversity.
54. Elevated by piety.
55. Lasting as life. Then it is something which, for intrinsic beauty and substantial worth, cannot be surpassed.
    II. THE SILENCE THAT MAY SAVE IT. There is a speech that saves it. Often the interposition of a few words of explanation, removing an offence which would have grown into seriousness, will save a rupture. Sometimes a kindly word of counsel or remonstrance to the imprudent or to the mistaken may have the same happy effect. But, at other times, silence will save it. We are often tempted, even strongly tempted, to say that which would come between two human hearts. To say what we know would only be to speak the truth; it would gratify the curiosity of those present; it would be a pleasant exercise of power or the use of an advantage we happen to possess. The words rise to our very lips. But no; it is not always our duty to say all that we know; it is often our duty to be silent. There are times when to “cover transgression” is an act of wisdom, of kindness, of generosity, of Christ-likeness (see
    Joh_8:1-11). Let the fact remain untold; let the hearts that have been united remain bound together; seek and secure the permanence of “love.”
    III. THE SPEECH THAT WILL SEPARATE IT. A whisperer, one that repeats a matter, does separate friends.
56. There is always some occasion for silence in every man’s life. No man is so correct in thought and speech that he could afford to have every utterance repeated to any one and every one. We all want the kindly curtain of silence to be drawn over some sentences that pass our lips.
57. There are always some thoughtless speakers—men and women who will carry injurious reports from house to house, from heart to heart; there are some who are cruelly careless what things they promulgate; there are some who consciously and guiltily enlarge and misrepresent, who form the dangerous and deadly habit of exaggeration, of false colouring, and who end in systematic falsehood. Those who idly and foolishly report what is true are, indeed, less guilty than they who enlarge and pervert. But they are far from guiltless. We are bound to speak with sufficient caution to save ourselves from the charge of circulating evil and spreading sorrow. We are responsible to God not only for the carefully prepared speech, but also for the casual interjection; that is the meaning of our Lord in his familiar words (Mat_12:36). It behoves us to remember that our brother’s reputation, usefulness, happiness, is in our charge, and one slight whisper may destroy it all. One breath of unkindness may start a long train of sad consequences which we have no power at all to stop. A very few unconsidered and unhappily uttered words may sever hearts that have been beating long in loving unison, may disunite lives that have been linked long in the bonds of happy love.—C.
    Pro_17:14
    The growth of strife
    Experience shows us that—
    I. STRIFE IS A GROWTH. It is as when one letteth out water; first it is the trickling of a few drops, then a tiny rill, then a stream, etc. So with strife; first it is a disturbing thought; then it becomes a warm or a hot feeling; then it utters itself in a strong, provoking word which leads to an energetic resentment and response; then it swells into a decided, antagonistic action; then it grows into a course of opposition, and becomes a feud, a contention, a war.
    II. THE GROWTH OF STRIFE IS A CALAMITY.
58. It is the source of untold and incalculable misery to many hearts.
59. It betrays several souls into feelings and into actions which are distinctly wrong and sinful.
60. It presents a moral spectacle which is grievous in the sight of Christ, the Lord of love.
61. It rends in twain that which should be united in one strong and happy circle—the home, the family connection, the Church, the society, the nation.
62. It arrests the progress which would otherwise be made in wisdom and in worth; for it causes numbers of men to expend on bitter controversy and contention the energy and ingenuity they would otherwise expend on rendering service and doing good.
    III. OUR DUTY, OUR WISDOM, IS TO ARREST IT AT ITS BEGINNING. You cannot extinguish the conflagration, but you can stamp out the spark; you cannot stop the flow of the river, but you can dam the rill with the palm of your hand. You cannot heal a great schism, but you can appease a personal dispute; or, what is better, you can recall the offensive word you have yourself spoken; or, what is better still, you can repress the rising thought, you can call in to your aid other thoughts which calm and soothe the soul; you can remember him who “bore such contradiction of sinners against himself,” who “as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth,” and you can maintain a magnanimous silence. When this is no longer possible, because the first inciting word has been uttered and resented, then let there be an earnest and determined effort to quell all heat in your own heart, and to pacify the one whose anger has been aroused. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” etc. (see also Mat_5:25; Rom_12:18).—C.
    Pro_17:16, Pro_17:24
    Use and neglect
    “There is everything in use,” we say. And certainly a man’s position at any time depends far less upon his bestowments and advantages than upon the use he has made of them. The wise man, in these verses, laments the fact that the price of wisdom should so often be in the hand of a man who fails to turn it to account (Pro_17:16), and that the foolish man wastes his capacities by directing them to things at a distance instead of giving his attention to that which is within his reach. The facts of human life abundantly justify the lament.
    I. THE PRESENCE OF OPPORTUNITY. The price of wisdom, and also of worth and of usefulness, is “in our hand.” It is not afar off, that we should ask—Who will ascend to the height or travel across the sea to find and fetch it? Opportunity is amongst and even “within us.” We find it in:
63. Our natural capacities; here represented by the eyes of a man (Pro_17:24). We have the power of vision, not only bodily, but mental and spiritual. God has given us the faculty of perception, of observation, of intuition; we can see what is before us—our interest, our duty, our possibilities.
64. Our various advantages; the education we receive, the friends and kindred who surround us, the literature which is at our command, the resources we inherit, the openings and facilities that are offered us as we move on into life. These are “the price” wherewith we may “buy wisdom” and happiness, usefulness and power. “The gift of God” is a valuable opportunity (see Joh_4:10).
    II. OUR FOOLISH AND GUILTY NEGLECT OF IT. Those who have the very fairest chance of attaining to wisdom and usefulness sometimes wantonly throw it away. The foolish boy, at the best school in the land, will refuse to learn, and comes out a dunce. The foolish apprentice, with the best sources of technical or professional knowledge at his command, wastes his hours in frivolity, and when his time is up is utterly unfit for the occupation of his life. Information of what is happening all over the world may now be had for a penny a day, and, what is far more precious, the knowledge of the will of God as revealed in the life and by the lips of Jesus Christ may be had for twopence; but, with “the price of wisdom” at these figures, there are those who know nothing of the hopes or struggles of mankind, and nothing of the way to eternal life. Duty, secular and sacred, is immediately before the eyes of the foolish, but their gaze is fixed upon anything and everything else; they are dreaming, by day and by night, of impossible or of hopelessly improbable fortune, and while they might be patiently and successfully building up a good estate, the chances of life are slipping through their hands. Such neglect of God-given opportunity is:
65. A most serious sin. It is the act of hiding our talent in the earth which calls forth the strong condemnation, “Thou wicked and slothful servant” (Mat_25:24-26).
66. The greatest possible folly. It is a practical renunciation of the fair heritage of life which our heavenly Father offers us; it is the act of flinging the price of wisdom “into the waste.”
    III. OUR WISE USE OF IT. The wise man is he who makes the most and the best he can make of that which is within his reach, that which is “before his face.” He does not spend time in looking and longing for that which is “at the ends of the earth;” he sets himself to cultivate the patch of ground, however small and poor, that is just outside his door. He puts out his talents, however mean they may be. He works his capital, however small it may be. He reads well his books, however limited his library may be. He tries to serve others, however narrow his sphere may be. So doing, he is in the way of constant growth and of a large reward (Mat_25:20-24).—C.
    Pro_17:17
    The friend in need
    However we read this passage (see Exposition), we have before us the subject of true and lasting friendship. As is stated in a previous homily (see on Pro_17:9), this is founded on a common attachment to the same great principles, moral and religious; and also on a mutual esteem, each heart holding the other in a real regard. When such intelligent esteem ripens into strong affection, we have a result that deserves to bear the beautiful and honourable name of friendship. The true friend is one that “loves at all times,” and he is a “brother born for adversity.” A false or a weak friendship will not bear the strain which the changeful and hard experiences of life will put upon it; it will break and perish. But a true friendship, well founded and well nourished upon Christian truth, will bear all strains, even those of—
    I. DISTANCE.
    II. CHANGE OF VIEW AND OF OCCUPATION. Friendship usually beans in youth or in the earlier years of manhood; then will come, with maturity of mind and enlargement of knowledge and change of occupation, difference of view on things personal, political, literary, social. But true friendship will endure that strain.
    III. REDUCTION. The loss of health; of property or income, and the consequent reduction in style and in resources; mental vigour with the lapse of time or from the burden of oppressive care and overwork. But faithfulness will triumph over this.
    IV. PROSPERITY. One may ascend in circumstances, in social position; may be attended and even courted by the wealthy and the powerful; may have his time much occupied by pressing duties; and the friendship begun years ago, in a much lower position, may be threatened; but it should not be sacrificed.
    V. DISHONOUR. It does occasionally happen to men that they fall into undeserved reproach. They are misunderstood or they are falsely accused; and the good name is tainted with some serious charge. Neighbours, casual acquaintances, those associated by the slighter social bonds, fall away; they “pass by on the other side.” Then is the time tot the true friend to make his faithfulness felt; then he is to show himself the man who “loves at all times,” the “brother born for adversity.” Then he will not only remember where his friend is living, but he will identify himself with him in every open way, will stand by him and walk with him, and honour him, not reluctantly and feebly, but eagerly and energetically.
    VI. DECLENSION. It may happen that one to whom we have given our heart in tender and loyal affection, between whom and ourselves there has existed a long and intimate friendship, will yield to temptation in one or other of its seductive and powerful forms. It may be that he will gradually decline; it may be that he will fall with some sad suddenness into serious wrong doing. Then will come to him compunction, humiliation, desertion, loneliness. All his ordinary companions will fall from him. It will be the extreme of adversity, the lowest deep of misery. Then let true friendship show its hand, offer its strong arm, open its door of refuge and of hope; then let the friend prove himself a “brother born for adversity.”
67. Be worthy to love the best, that you may form a true friendship.
68. Ennoble your life and yourself by unwavering fidelity in the testing hour, when your friend is most in need of your loyalty.
69. Secure the abiding love of that Friend who is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”—C.
    Pro_17:21, Pro_17:25
    (See homily on Pro_10:1.)—C.

Proverbs 17:15
These words may serve to show us that our estimate of other men is a matter of very solemn responsibility in God’s sight.
I. I will first insist on the general duty of conscientiousness in forming all our estimates of other men. We Christians are not driving on with the world, trampling down or lifting up other men as suits our purpose. We have a higher, a nobler work to do by others, even to uplift that standard of right and wrong of praise and blame, which reflects the purity and holiness of Him whom we serve. It should be our aim not to follow public opinion in such estimates, but to act for ourselves and for God.
II. “He that justifieth the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.” Unholy and unprincipled life, wherever found, ought to be protested against by the servants of God. Here is their line of demarcation, and surely it is plain enough. Yet do we not constantly see it overstepped? Is it not constantly found that men, who would make a brother an offender for a word, whatever might be his usefulness and high Christian example, will at the same time condone the grossest moral faults, and even make idols of men who are the avowed enemies of Him whom they serve?
III. “He that condemneth the just.” Here undoubtedly our fault is much more common, much more recklessly committed. We are always more prone to condemn than to justify. It is an abuse of our instinct of self-preservation to be ever ready with our hostility to other men. Notice a few ways in which we may, with God’s help, guard against this prevailing tendency of our day. (1) Look ever at the life, which is palpable, rather than at the motive of the creed, which is usually mere matter of surmise. (2) Avoid, and refuse to use, and protest against the use of, all party names. (3) Form your opinions of others, not at the prompting of the world, but as under the eye of God.
H. Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. vii., p. 67.
References: Pro_17:16-20.— R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 147. Pro_17:17.— Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv., No. 899; W. Arnot, Laws from Heaven, 2nd series, p. 116; New Manual of Sunday School Addresses, p. 240. Pro_17:21-28.— R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 158.

Proverbs 17:20
Two bad things are reproved in these words: the first is a bad spirit, and the second is a bad habit; the first is the sullen, snarling spirit of discontent, which kills all hearty, genial gaiety; the second is the vicious habit of unbridled flippant talk, which goes far to destroy all cheerful, loving fellowship.
I. Of all the faults of our time, none is more glaring than this frowardness of heart which Solomon denounces in our text. We are all critics, and all fancy we have a right to have an opinion on all things. The vice of the age is a spirit of detraction. Such a spirit, says Solomon, findeth no good.
II. The captious man is never the loving one, and the unloving man can never be like Christ. He came among us not to excite us to a restless watching for evil, but to remind us that there was redemption promised from the evil, and to work out that redemption for us.
III. Remember that, the more stupid and dull we are, the more difficulties do we find; and the more we depart from virtue, the keener is our scent for vice. The man that is always looking out for what is wrong will gradually lose his interest in that which is perfect, till all that is simply pure and gentle and true and lovely will appear to him tame and insipid. The froward heart, which is always on the watch for faults and failure, goes on to require these things as its very daily food, and at last waxes frantic when there is no fault to find.
A. Jessopp, Norwich School Sermons, p. 210.

Proverbs 17:22
I. Consider the power which the mind can exert in support of the body, so long as itself is in good case. If it be true that the spirit of man has a medicinal power, that there is a strength in his nature which endows him with such control over the body that he can give it up to the worst tortures, and yet betray no fear, then it must be quite idle to argue that he possesses no power by which to keep passions in check, and to make a bold stand against the cravings of unrighteousness. We want no better argument by which to prove to man that there is a strength in his nature for offering resistance to evil, a strength for which he shall give account at the judgment, than that which we fetch from the fact that there is a strength for sustaining infirmity.
II. Consider how, if the mind itself be disordered, it will break down the body—”A broken spirit drieth the bones.” We take the statement of Solomon to be that, though there is a strength in man through which he can bear up against physical pressure, there is comparatively none for the sustaining of mental. We will admit that under certain limitations men may endure mental pain as well as bodily. It is a fine argument for the immortality of the soul, for the certainty of her soaring above the wreck of matter, that, however she be assailed by pain, so long as the pain is unconnected with her everlasting destinies, she never fails, so to speak, as to pass beyond the hope of recovery. We believe that a truly broken spirit is that which is bruised with a sense of sin, and if this be a broken spirit, how true that “a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Yet though a man may have been forced to say with Job, “The arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit; the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me,” he will have passed speedily on to the beholding Jesus dying, “the just for the unjust,” to the viewing in Him the propitiation for sin, and the “Advocate with the Father.”
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1896.
References: Pro_17:22.—S. Cox, An Expositor’s Notebook, p. 161; H. Melvill, Voices of the Year, vol. ii., p. 321. Pro_17:26.—J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 219. Pro_18:1-8.—R. Wardlaw, Lectures on Proverbs, vol. ii., p. 169. Pro_18:9-14.—Ibid., p. 180.

Proverbs 17:1
Victims. Of which part was used for a feast, chap. 7:14 (Calmet) — Septuagint add, “of many goods, and unjust victims.” (Haydock)

Proverbs 17:2
Brethren. Partaking with them, (Abenezra; Tirinus; Menochius) or rather acting as his master’s executor; which evinces the advantages of wisdom, so as to raise a slave above those whom his station requires him to serve. Such was Joseph, who was tried.

Proverbs 17:4
Lips. They mutually deceive one another, as well as others.

Proverbs 17:6
Fathers. Whose virtues they are bound to imitate.

Proverbs 17:7
Eloquent. Septuagint, “faithful.” They cannot be expected from them.

Proverbs 17:8
Expecteth heavenly things. Septuagint, “instruction is the reward of good deeds to those who use it.”

Proverbs 17:9
Friends. Detractors cause dissensions, and even wars.

Proverbs 17:10
Fools. “A word is enough for the wise.” Nobilis equus umbra virgæ regitur, ignavus ne calcari quidem. (Q. Curtius)

Proverbs 17:11
Angel. Messenger of death, (Menochius) which is sometimes inflicted by good, at others by bad, angels of death, or satan, 2Co_12:7, and Psalm 77:49

Proverbs 17:12
Fool. Hebrew, “fool in his folly.” The danger is not greater in meeting (Calmet) a female bear, though it be the most terrible. (Aristotle, Anim. 9:1)

Proverbs 17:14
Water. It is scarcely possible to prevent the bad effects of detraction. Frequent quarrels have also risen on account of springs, Gen_26:20 — Judgment. And gives up the cause, as being much more prudent, Mat_5:25; Mat_5:40.

Proverbs 17:15
God. We ought to suspend our judgment, or incline to the more favourable side, Mat_7:1, and Rom_2:1

Proverbs 17:16
He, &c., is not here in Hebrew, though it be equivalently (ver. 19.) where the Septuagint are silent. (Calmet)

Proverbs 17:17
Distress. Like the real friend, chap. 18:24

Proverbs 17:18
Hands. Through joy, or as a mark of his consent.

Proverbs 17:19
Door. Sixtus V reads, “mouth:” as some explain the door to mean. A large door supposes that the house is elevated, and thus exposed to danger from winds, &c.

Proverbs 17:24
Earth. Wandering and insatiable, and deeming the acquisition of wisdom too difficult.

Proverbs 17:26
No good. But very criminal. See Jer_7:31

Proverbs 17:27
Precious and reserved spirit. This is a mark of wisdom. (Calmet)

Proverbs 17:1
Pro_15:17

Proverbs 17:3
Pro_27:21

Proverbs 17:5
Pro_14:31; Pro_24:17

Proverbs 17:6
Pro_13:22

Proverbs 17:7
Pro_24:7; Pro_12:22, Psa_31:18

Proverbs 17:9
Pro_16:28; Pro_18:8; Pro_20:19; Pro_26:20-22

Proverbs 17:13
Pro_13:21, Psa_35:12, 1Sa_19:4

Proverbs 17:17
Pro_18:24

Proverbs 17:21
Pro_10:1, Pro_13:1, Pro_19:23

Proverbs 17:22
Pro_15:13, Pro_14:30

Proverbs 17:25
Pro_10:1, Pro_13:1, Pro_19:23

Proverbs 17:28
(1782) Better to stay quiet and be thought the fool, then to open the mouth and remove all doubt.

Proverbs 17:1-3

Quietness, Inheritance and Refining

The contrast in Pro_17:1 , rendered in a “better… than” construction, is simple and understandable. The wise man will agree that poverty with peace is better than prosperity with strife (cf. Pro_15:16-17 ). He prefers “peace”, when there is nothing more than “a dry morsel” to satisfy hunger with, to “strife” when there is an abundance of food. The “dry morsel” is bread without anything to make it easier and more palatable to swallow (cf. Rut_2:14 ; Joh_13:26 ).

A meager meal “and quietness with it” means that those who partake of it find satisfaction in fellowship with God and with one another. As a result, the meager meal becomes a feast. This is better than “a house full of feasting” with slaughtered animals where those who partake of it are at odds with one another. As a result, the banquet is immersed in bitterness. Abundance often brings with it a deterioration of values and standards, resulting in an increase in envy and strife.

Here it seems to be about sacrificial animals brought into the temple, God’s house, as peace offerings, some of which the offeror may eat together with others (Lev_3:1-17 Lev_7:28-34 ). Having disagreements while eating the peace offering is contrary to its character. On the contrary, the peace offering is an expression of unity. Such a situation occurs in the church in Corinth. The believers feel spiritually rich, but among themselves there is division. Paul admonishes them about this (1Co_11:17-34 ).

The saying in Pro_17:2 is about “a servant who acts wisely”, a servant who makes good use of all his abilities in serving his lord. Opposed to the servant’s way of doing things is the way of that lord’s son. The son lives a wicked life. His father is ashamed of this. He disinherits his son and in his place makes the servant co-heir with the brothers, meaning he adopts him as a son. This gives the servant a place above the disinherited son, resulting in his rule over the son.

It is an encouragement to all who are faithful in their work. Faithfulness is rewarded with a position of ruling and sharing in the inheritance of the family. One who serves faithfully in humility is placed above one who has a certain position but behaves unworthily in it.

The first line of Pro_17:3 makes clear the meaning of the second line of verse. Just as in “the refining pot” and “the furnace” respectively silver and gold are heated to make those precious metals purer, so the LORD tests hearts (Mal_3:2-4 ; 1Pe_1:6-7 ; cf. Isa_48:10 ; Zec_13:9 ). God examines every thought and motive. Those examinations and trials are always to the increase of the worth of him who is being purified.

God wants to purify by the heat of trials the hearts of His own from everything that prevents Christ from becoming visible. The God-fearing also asks God Himself to do so (Psa_26:2 ). In that mind, we are able to eat the peace offering with quietness (Pro_17:1 ) and are worthy heirs (Pro_17:2 ).

Proverbs 17:4-5

Listening to Lies Leads to Mockery

“An evil-doer” and “a liar” love to listen to lies and destructive talk (Pro_17:4 ; cf. Jer_5:30-31 ). What is at issue here is that those who listen to such talk are of the same stock as those who allow such talk to be heard. The “lips” and “tongue” mean speaking; the qualifications “wicked” and “destructive” say that such speaking causes devastation.

The people who listen to gossip are as guilty of it as those who tell it. If there were no listeners, there would be no gossip. Listeners to gossip help keep the gossip going. So it is with gossip magazines. If there were no buyers, there would be no gossip magazines. The buyers of gossip magazines are just as bad gossipers as the compilers and publishers of them.

And what about us? Do we also enjoy programs in which lies and destruction are presented as entertainment and glorified that way? If we keep watching and do not turn away, that is, turn off the program, we are the same as the people who are called evildoers and liars here.

The mocking of the poor is done because an accident has befallen him, making him poor (Pro_17:5 ). This is evident from the second line of verse. Anyone who mocks a poor person despises the latter and his own Maker and will therefore be punished. After all, man was made in His image (Gen_1:26-27 ; Jas_3:9 ). The second line of verse declares that such a person “will not go unpunished”, but will be punished.

The mockery of the poor man manifests itself in gloating over the calamity that has befallen him. A person may rejoice over the misery that afflicts another. Mockery of the Maker can be seen as a derogatory remark addressed to God, with the content that He was unable to save that poor person from that calamity. In addition to God being mocked, the poor person also gets the full brunt. The mocker enjoys the fact that the poor person has fallen into misery. He rubs salt in his many wounds by telling him that he owes his poverty to himself, it is his own failure.

The Edomites gloated over the calamity that had befallen Israel. The prophet Obadiah shows that they will not be held to be innocent. God promises that He will punish the Edomites (Oba_1:12-16 ). The same is also true of Ammon (Eze_25:6-7 ). Job said he was free from such behavior (Job_31:29 ). How is our reaction to calamity striking someone, especially someone we dislike?

Proverbs 17:6

Honor the Generations

It is a man’s honor when he lives so long that he sees children and grandchildren each serving their own generation in the way God wants (Psa_128:6 ; Gen_50:23 ; cf. Act_13:36 ). When the generations appreciate and imitate each other in goodness, there is harmony. There is an emphasis on the responsibility of (grand)parents for their (grand)children. The next generation is reminded to look back to previous generations with respect.

In what is said here, the ideal situation is presented. We know that the world is full of wayward parents and unruly children who cannot look back on a happy childhood. But for each new generation lies the challenge of breaking that trend. This verse is an incentive to work on that.

Children can ensure that their children can think of them as Godly parents and their parents as Godly grandparents. The children will not be ashamed of their parents and grandparents, but rather testify gratefully that they have such a “glory”. This, in turn, may result in their children’s children walking in the way of the Lord. The line down from children and children’s children, the gender line down, is the crown of old age; the line up from parents and grandparents, the gender line up, is the glory of their children, or their descendants.

Proverbs 17:7

Two Things That Do Not Fit Together

The teaching of this verse is that just as we do not expect excellent utterances from the mouths of fools, we certainly do not expect a lie from a prince. When a fool speaks excellent things, it is like lipstick on a pig. Normally he vomits out the greatest folly and suddenly he lets out wonderful utterances. Then our ears do not know what they hear. When a cunning person comes with nice talk, he is up to something. His words are inconsistent with his character.

Conversely, lying lips do not belong to a prince, to a respectable person. With such a person do not belong words that harm another. By a prince, someone is meant who has a certain status and on whom one relies. To his status fits the code of honor of truthfulness and no false words. Lies simply are not fitting for him.

Proverbs 17:8

Bribes Bring Prosperity Everywhere

The meaning is that “a bribe” works like a magic stone by which “its owner” who uses it succeeds and prospers everywhere. “A charm” is so attractive to the one to whom its possessor presents it, that the latter cannot resist the temptation to accept the bribe and in return give what is requested. A charm emanates from it to the recipient, melting away all resistance. A bribe opens doors that would otherwise remain closed, as if a magic formula had been spoken.

The proverb demonstrates the effect of a bribe without comment. It does not recommend the use of bribes. The law clearly prohibits the taking of bribes (Exo_23:8 ). What Solomon says is reality from the point of view of one who gives the bribe: this is the way it works. It is like a stone that brings good luck, a stone that has magical properties and works like a charm. It is a ‘lucky stone’.

Proverbs 17:9

Conceal Against Repeat

This proverb deals with the contrast between “he who conceals a transgression” and “he who repeats a matter”, by passing it on to someone else. The former promotes “love” and the latter “separates intimate friends”. Friendship requires the ability to conceal a transgression, forgive it and forget it. Failure to do so is the end of intimate friendships. Dredging up the past and continuing to speak about it has destroyed many friendships and marriages.

The true friend will bury the wrong out of love rather than launch a campaign in which he passes it on to whomever will hear it. Repeating is an activity that destroys love and trust and thereby destroys what deserves to be preserved. Concealing does not mean that a transgression is silenced or ignored, but that it is not talked about with others, that it is not passed on.

“Love covers a multitude of sins” (1Pe_4:8 ). Every child of God has experienced this, because through the love of the Lord Jesus, which He demonstrated on the cross of Calvary, his sins are covered. They no longer exist before God. This does not mean that God condones them, but that He forgives and conceals them if there is repentance and conversion. The concealing of the transgression happens after confession, after which God forgives. In imitation of Him, we may act this way when someone commits a transgression against us (Eph_4:32 Eph_5:1-2 ).

Proverbs 17:10-11

If Discipline Does Not Work, Judgment Will Follow

Concealing a transgression (
Pro_17:9 ) does not mean that the transgression is not denounced. This is done by confronting the transgressor with his transgression, rebuking him for it. “One who has understanding” will benefit from the rebuke, but the fool will not (Pro_17:10 ).

This verse contrasts one who has understanding and a fool in their response to a rebuke. One who has understanding and is humiliated by a rebuke will learn from it. But on a fool, even “a hundred blows” will make no impression. Blows comes down on his back, but it does not change his heart; he remains a fool.

The difference between one who has understanding and a fool is especially evident by the way a rebuke is responded to. The rebuke Peter received, both from the Lord Jesus and Paul (Mat_16:23 ; Gal_2:11-15 ), went deeply into him. It did not produce resentment, but he learned from it. But the many and fierce plagues that came upon Egypt did not change Pharaoh’s mind (Exodus 7-12). He remained a fool and perished in his folly.

“A rebellious man” (Pro_17:11 ) is completely insensitive to discipline. He lives in rebellion against God and his neighbor. As a devoted follower of the great rebel against God, the devil, he is bent on causing unrest and uproar. Nothing but “evil” stands before him; he deliberately seeks it.

This rebellious man will be sought out by “a cruel messenger” sent specifically to him for the purpose of killing him. It is a matter of cause and effect. Insurgents have no other purpose than to seek evil. As a result, retribution is sent in the form of a merciless messenger. This expression can refer to a merciless messenger sent by the king; it can also refer to storms, a disease, or an accident as God’s messenger of retribution.

Benaiah was a messenger sent out to kill the opponents of David and Solomon (1Kg_2:13-46 ). A person who seeks only evil is not open to anything good. Therefore, he must be dealt with that way.

Proverbs 17:12-13

Warnings Against Foolishness

It is more dangerous to meet a fool engaged in folly than “a bear robbed of her cubs” (Pro_17:12 ). Man, who is supposed to be intelligent and rational, is more dangerous in his folly than the bear acting according to its instinct (2Sa_17:8 ; Hos_13:8 ). The fool is totally blind to his folly and acts in stupid blindness. The lesson is: do not come near that bear and certainly not near a fool.

We often underestimate the enormous danger of foolishness. Folly is shutting out God. It involves taking God’s warnings as a joke, as Lot’s sons-in-law did (Gen_19:14 ). This puts a person in far greater danger than any other earthly danger. From a bear you know what to expect, from a fool you often do not.

Adam is the first to whom Pro_17:13 fully applies. He has returned evil for all the goodness of God. Therefore evil came upon his house, that is, upon his entire posterity, which has not departed until today. Evil only departs when it is confessed. Then the reverse happens: God returns good for evil for everyone who believes.

The verse applies generally to every person who returns evil for good, including the believer, without saying whether God immediately returns evil on him or does so only later. David experienced that Saul returned evil for the good he did for him. Nabal has done the same toward David. But David himself also returned evil for good when he had Uriah killed while Uriah served him with full commitment. Therefore, evil did not depart from his house (2Sa_12:9-12 ).

Above all, the Jews returned evil for good to the Lord Jesus. We hear this when He says: “Thus they have repaid me evil for good and hatred for my love” (Psa_109:5 Psa_35:12 ). As a result, evil did not depart from the house of Judah. The Lord told His disciples – and thus He also tells us – that, just as He did, they should act the other way around: “Love your enemies, and do good” (Luk_6:35 ). The following exhortation applies to us in this context: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom_12:21 ).

Proverbs 17:14

Prevent Worse

Conflicts must be stopped before they get out of hand. That is what this proverb suggests to us. The picture is that of a small leak, for example in a dam, through which water slowly begins to flow. If action is not taken quickly, the leak will get bigger and become a large hole. The disaster of flooding that follows is incalculable. We can apply this to a strife that needs to be resolved, otherwise it may turn into a lawsuit. Going to court might mean a legal victory, but at the same time the strife becomes permanent and irreparable.

A quarrel often begins over a small matter. If one does not resolve it immediately and properly, it can grow into a war. The best thing to do is to stop it yourself and say nothing back. If both sides insist on being right, things will get out of hand. It is like a small spark that causes a huge fire if the spark is not quickly extinguished. At the beginning of the church, there was disagreement between two groups of widows. Before it turned into a real strife, the twelve apostles stopped this disagreement by a wise decision (Act_6:1-6 ).

Proverbs 17:15

God Hates the Distortion of Right

In the administration of justice, what matters is that justice is upheld, that is, the wicked are judged and the righteous are acquitted. If that is reversed and a judge “justifies the wicked” and “condemns the righteous”, then both the one and the other are “an abomination to the LORD” (cf. Isa_5:20 ). We see the clearest and most heinous illustration of this proverb in the ‘trial’ of the Lord Jesus. Pilate acquitted the wicked Barabbas and declared the Righteous One guilty (Mat_27:24-26 ).

The great wonder of the grace of God is that the first line of verse applies to God Himself. The letter to the Romans shows this line of verse from God’s side on the basis of Christ’s work. God acquits the wicked on the basis of righteousness. He has declared the Righteous One guilty by imputing to Him the punishment of the wicked, enabling Him to justify the wicked: “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom_4:5 ).

Proverbs 17:16

A Fool Has No Sense

A fool is a fool because he does not seek God, whereas that is first necessary to become wise. The fool has no interest in obtaining wisdom in the way it should be obtained. Money has no value in this case, it is of no value, because what is needed –a relationship with God – cannot be bought. He may want the reputation of the wise, but he cannot meet its requirements, for he lacks the mind, the spiritual mind, for it. Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit for money, was such a fool (Act_8:18-19 ).

There is surprise and indignation in the question. It basically says that it makes no sense for a fool to have money in his hands to buy wisdom because he has no brain. He would not even recognize wisdom if he saw it.

Proverbs 17:17

Real Friendship

The love of a true friend is constant. His love does not change with circumstances. He is a friend for better or worse, in good times and in times when friendship is tested. Christ shows that He is such a friend Who always loves in all circumstances (Joh_13:1 ). He calls us His “friends” (Joh_15:14-15 ). He also calls us “brothers” (Joh_20:17 ; Heb_2:11-12 ). By the way, nowhere in Scripture does it say that His followers call Him “friend” or “brother”. Therefore, we will not call Him that either. He is far above us.

Friendship involves sharing thoughts. Friends are there for one another and always help one another (Luk_11:5-8 ). A brother is a blood relative. There is a family relationship. Ruth and Naomi and also David and Jonathan show what friendship and family kinship means for practice, especially in times of distress.

It is perfectly true of the Lord Jesus, Who shares His thoughts with us as a friend, and Who is as a brother to us in heaven to assist us in our difficulties, which He knows from His own experience. That a brother is born in distress means that precisely when we are “in adversity”, we appeal to Him.

Proverbs 17:18

Only a Fool Becomes Guarantor

It is foolish to offer security for guaranty to someone who is in debt (cf. Pro_6:1-5 ). To “pledge” means that it is promised. It is like putting a signature to an agreement, confirming the promise. A person who becomes guarantor for his neighbor is “a man lacking in sense”. After all, you never know what you will face. The debt may well be so great as to be unpayable.

What the Lord Jesus did when He became guarantor Himself may seem “lacking in sense” from a human point of view, but it was not. For He knew how high the price was and He knew He could pay it. It reminds us of the statement in the letter to Philemon where the apostle Paul, as a true follower of the Lord Jesus, also offers himself as guarantor to Philemon with regard to Onesimus (Phm_1:18 ).

Proverbs 17:19-20

To Love Strife Comes From a Crooked Mind

We can “get caught in a transgression” (Gal_6:1 ) without loving that transgression. Someone else can then restore us. But “he who loves transgression” (Pro_17:19 ) possesses a depraved mind. His actions show that he loves strife. A transgression affects mutual relationships. He who loves to transgress prefers to quarrel. By his pernicious talk, he constantly puts pressure on good relationships.

The meaning of “he who raises his door” is not entirely clear. In the context in which this expression is used, the door here seems to represent “the mouth”. The meaning then may be ‘having a big mouth’ (cf. 1Sa_2:3 ; Psa_141:3 ; Mic_7:5 ). He who loves argument has a big mouth to heaven, to God, and also to his fellow man (Psa_73:8-9 ). He does not seek someone’s prosperity, but someone’s “destruction”.

Pro_17:20 shows the origin of Pro_17:19 . He who loves transgression shows that he “has a crooked mind”. He who has a crooked mind not only seeks the destruction of others, but will himself “find no good”. By “good” are meant the blessings of God that He gives to all who serve Him. He who has a crooked mind seeks what is good in his own eyes. He strives for possession at the expense of others.

He is “perverted in his language”, the words he speaks are false. He speaks falsity, which shows that he is averse to the truth. He pursues the downfall of others, but will himself fall into evil and work his own downfall. Instead of finding true good, he faces a life of calamity. The prosperity he seeks for himself ends in his fall into evil.

Proverbs 17:21

The Sorrow of a Father

It is a sorrow for a father to sire a child who turns out to be a fool. He hoped for a son who would be an asset to the family and the faith, but he only finds disappointment when his son turns out to be a fool. A God-fearing father will not rejoice over his foolish son. The father “was seeking a godly offspring” (Mal_2:15 ), but his son turns out to be of the devil. He raised his son “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph_6:4 ), that he might live to the glory of God, but he has rejected all his father’s teaching. The father will not rejoice over his son, but his foolishness will break his heart.

No one knows what kind of child he is siring. That is why it is so important to pray before a child is conceived, that God will give a child who will live to His glorification. Yet God-fearing parents can have wicked children. It remains the choice that a child, once he or she is up for that, must make for himself or herself: for or against Christ.

We cannot always blame parents for the choice children make, and parents cannot claim that their children will be God-fearing. Parents do have a responsibility to educate, to make every effort to ensure that the child learns the way of the Lord. Thereby they will show the child in their own live how to go that way. Whether the child then goes that way is the choice he will have to make for himself.

Proverbs 17:22

A Joyful Heart or a Broken Spirit

“A joyful heart” is one that rejoices in God and the things of the Lord. A joyful heart someone gets when in it dwells the peace of God. Such a heart “is good medicine” that promotes healing of the body and spirit. Someone who has “a broken spirit” experiences the opposite. There is no joy; it has disappeared because of all the sorrows and miseries under which he is burdened. This process “dries up the bones”. As mentioned earlier, bones give the body the strength to move forward. When bones are dried up, it means that health has disappeared and powerlessness has entered (cf. Eze_37:1-14 ).

This verse is not a condemnation of someone who is depressed. Its meaning is not that he should just be happy so that the depression will go away. Again, it presents what is generally true without passing judgment on the condition a person is in. Someone who is depressed does know that a joyful heart is good medicine. The problem is that he does not have a joyful heart. He will not get a joyful heart by constantly telling him to have one. Such a person needs a very different approach. What is needed most of all is understanding and patience. Let those who are dealing with this pray to the Lord for wisdom for that.

Proverbs 17:23

The Intention of a Bribe

Bribery perverts justice. He who lets himself be bribed is “a wicked man”. It seems to be about influencing a judicial decision, because it is about “perverting the ways of justice”, that is, not letting justice take its course. Justice is not only stopped, but turned into injustice, while the appearance of justice is kept up. The fact that a judge accepts this gift “from the bosom” indicates that it is done secretly. It is a secret transaction, not pure. A corruptible judge is a wicked man.

Perverting the ways of justice can also happen in work situations. A person can bribe his employee with a gift to keep quiet about a criminal offense he has committed. The same thing can happen within a family and in God’s church. The bribe does not have to be money. It can also consist of promotion or gifts or preferential treatment.

Proverbs 17:24

What Someone Is Looking at

“One who has understanding” perseveres in following the course of wisdom. He always has wisdom as his compass in mind, he lives in the presence of wisdom. He looks to that and then determines his route through life. He concentrates on wisdom because he understands the real problems of life and knows that only wisdom can guide him around or through them. One who has understanding knows what it is to have a “simple eye” (Mat_6:22 ; Luk_11:34 ), that is, to keep his eye focused on only one object, which keeps him following the straight path.

The fool lacks any serious concentration. He is unable to focus his attention firmly on anything. Because he has no understanding, his eyes roam the whole world, but they find no resting place anywhere. He is like a student who does not hear what his teacher says, because his eyes constantly roam the classroom. As a result, the teaching of the wisdom teacher eludes him.

The eyes are the window of the soul. What is perceived with the eyes affects the soul. Man has become a sinner by seeing, coveting and taking. With television and the Internet, it is possible to direct the eyes “to the ends of the earth”. This is happening en masse. People let themselves be led by what they see on these media and thus remain blind to wisdom, which is Christ, “in Whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden” (Col_2:3 ). As a result, they remain foolish and will perish in their folly unless they gain an eye to the wisdom from Above.

The one who has understanding will keep his eye unfailingly fixed “on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb_12:2 ).

Proverbs 17:25

Grief to the Father and Bitterness to the Mother

It is an intense grief to have a child who develops into a fool (Pro_17:21 ). Here the emphasis is on the son who brings this sorrow to his father and is the cause of the bitterness of his mother, who “bore him”. The joy with which the birth was announced has turned into grief. The joy of birth after the sorrow of childbirth is changed into bitterness because of the way the foolish son goes.

A foolish son not only violates his own soul, he is not only rebellious against God, but shows the utmost ingratitude toward his parents. His mother bore him with grief and then taught him. His father taught him wise lessons about life. But he rejects everything. His greatest folly is that he remains indifferent to what he does to his father and mother.

Father and mother share the pain of the path their foolish son is taking. Through this they can sense and comfort and encourage each other to go to the Lord with their distress. This prevents them from blaming each other. They can also help each other deal with this very difficult situation. The mother can help the father deal with his anger, the father can help the mother not succumb to the grief. Sometimes the reverse is also true.

Proverbs 17:26

Do Not Punish an Innocent Man

This is another proverb that deals with the evil of unfair legal practices. Everyone will agree that it is “not good to fine the righteous” with the unrighteous, because he has done nothing that justifies it. When it does happen, it shows how decayed society is. God, Who established the rule of law, is not taken into account.

Even more wicked is to “to strike the noble for [their] uprightness”. Here the law is so decayed that people who are upright are physically pained precisely because of that uprightness. The noble are people who want to stand up for justice. That would deserve appreciation, but it is punished. It is in this time that we live. Uprightness means living according to God’s Word. Those who want to do that increasingly face opposition and enmity.

For the righteous and the noble who must pay and suffer for adhering to God’s Word, they suffer for the sake of righteousness. They are called “blessed” (1Pe_3:14 ). “For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong” (1Pe_3:17 ).

Proverbs 17:27-28

The Control of the Tongue

The first line of Pro_17:27 is about keeping the tongue in check not to say thoughtless and untimely things. Literally it says that he “spares his words”. Those who do so appear to have “knowledge”. The second line of verse is about having “a cool spirit”. This is the opposite of being hot tempered. “A man of understanding” will not lose his temper or become heated during a discussion. We learn here that to have calmness, composure, self-control and restraint, we must develop knowledge and understanding.

A man of understanding has a source of knowledge within him. He has gained that knowledge because he is wise. That he now has that knowledge means that he has understanding and knows what to say and especially what not to say. He will not boast of his knowledge and be a man of few words. He is patient and waits when it is God’s time to say something.

To keep silent is a sign of wisdom (Pro_17:28 ). Even a fool seems wise and is considered wise when he is silent, that is, by those who do not know him. In any case, he hides his foolishness by keeping silent. If this is already true of the fool, how much more is it true of the wise that his silence proves that he is a wise one. Of course the fool does not become wise; he only hides his foolishness. The fool may be silent and give the impression that he is wise, but God knows his heart, and neither will the wise let himself be deceived.

Proverbs 17:1
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:1. Sacrifices, literally killings, i.e., slain beasts, not necessarily animals killed for sacrifice.

Proverbs 17:2
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:2. A son that causeth shame, rather, a degenerate son. (Delitzsch and Zöckler).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:2
THE FOOLISH SON AND THE WISE SERVANT
I. High social position is not necessarily the outcome of mental ability or moral worth. Many a man is born heir to a great estate, or even to a throne, who brings shame upon the name he bears and the place he occupies. He may be inferior in intellectual power to many of the dependents upon the house, or he may be worse in his character than they are. Or if he is not so degraded in character, or of such limited ability as to be surpassed by the majority, there may be one who serves him whose aim in life is far more lofty than his own, and who has far greater capabilities than he has.
II. A wise man will acquire influence, whatever position he fills. A servant who understands his duties, and conscientiously fulfils them, will win respect and confidence; and these will give him influence in his master’s house, and over all with whom his business brings him into contact. There are many instances, both in the history of private families and in the history of courts, in which the judicious conduct of a subordinate person has averted evils which would otherwise have followed the crimes of a son of the house, and the father of such a son can but acknowledge such services, and reward them, if he is possessed of any gratitude. But whether he does so or not, it is an ordination of God’s providence, which we see in constant operation around us, that a wise man is a fool’s master. It is a law of nature that a stronger physical body shall govern the weaker, if no other power interferes, and it is a law in the universe of mind that the stronger mind shall rule the weak, and make it serve his purpose in some way. This is the secret of many of the social changes which are always going on, in which some who were born to affluence come down to penury, and those who were born in obscurity take their places.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Eliezer will show the custom that suggests the type. He was a wise servant. Abraham thought he would have to be his heir (Gen_15:2-3). All commentators put “son” in apposition with him who causes shame; i.e., make them the same person. But to be the same person they should be in the same form grammatically, and “son” is in the construct. The causer of shame, therefore, is the father. And this is more consistent, for a wise father could uphold a son, or could give the inheritance to other brethren. In the worldly sense there could be no difficulty. In the spiritual what noted instances!—in the Israelites, who, unlike Abraham, failed to command their households (Gen_18:19), and who gave place to their bought servants, the hated Gentiles!—in Satan, who has given place to man (Psa_8:2)!—in modern men who have professed the faith, but have debauched their children till they see them hardening under their very eyes, and some far-off waif gets before them into the everlasting kingdom. Better, says the last proverb, the utmost poverty, with peace and love; better, says this proverb, the poorest hold upon the Church, if there be the humbler hold upon the service of the Most High.—Miller.
If wisdom make us free, then are we free indeed: as on the other side, he is altogether a servant that dealeth unwisely. But he that is wisdom’s freeman is not only a freeman but a master, not only a master but a son, not only a son but an heir, an heir among the brethren. So highly doth wisdom exalt. But thus it is with the Father of the world, it is not so with worldly fathers. Their foolish love doth honour their son, though his foolish life doth fill them with shame: their proud carriage despiteth their servant, though his wise carriage exalteth their estate. The son shall have all though he deserve nothing, the servant shall not have his wages though they be due unto him. But the wisdom of God bestoweth His love, the justice of God divideth His inheritance in another manner. Oftentimes, even in this life, he putteth the servant in the son’s place … Be wise, then, though thou be a servant, and thou shalt be His son who is the Father of wisdom. Be not wicked, though the son of rich parents, and, it may be, heir to a great estate, for He, the Lord of all, can quickly make thee a poor servant for thy sins, who has made thyself a servant to thy sins.—Jermin.

Proverbs 17:3
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:3
THE TRIER OF HEARTS
We have here an analogy implied between men’s hearts and gold and silver.
I. Both have an intrinsic worth. Gold and silver have not only an artificial value, but they have qualities in themselves which render them of especial worth. So the heart of man—that spiritual and immortal part of him which constitutes him a man—is of priceless worth because of its infinite capacities of good and evil, its infinite capabilities of enjoyment and of suffering.
II. Both must be separated from worthless alloy if they are to attain their real value. Gold and silver are comparatively worthless until they are separated from every other mineral; they must be unalloyed with baser metal, or nearly so, before their intrinsic excellences and capabilities become apparent and they can be put to the uses for which they are so peculiarly fitted. So the human soul cannot rise to the high destiny to which it is appointed until there is a separation made between it and sinful habits, motives, and desires.
III. Both human souls and precious metals are subjected to a testing process. The gold and the silver ores are thrown into the crucible and placed over the fire, in order that it may be made manifest how much there is of real worth in them, and the human soul is subjected to trials of various kinds by the Great Searcher of hearts, in order that both the good and the evil that is therein may be seen, and the one separated from the other. The proverb seems rather to refer to the testing, than to the purifying process.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Trying is more than simply discerning. The Lord does not need to try in order to make any discovery for Himself. He “knoweth what is in man.” But He “tries,” in order to bring to light what may lie concealed from men, and especially from the individual himself. And this He does in order to the person’s conviction and benefit; and that He may be vindicated in His final judgments He “tries,” in different respects, both the wicked and the righteous. By the dispensations of His providence He often elicits the latent evils that are in the hearts of the ungodly and the worldly. He brings out their hidden abominations. He manifests the deceitfulness, the hypocrisy, the “desperate wickedness” of their “inward parts,” their rebellions and unsubdued dispositions. He exposed the simulation of dissemblers, and of those whose religion only seems to thrive when their profession of it brings no suffering, and demands no sacrifice.… In the same manner, too, does God try and bring out to view the inward graces and virtues of His children. And while disclosing He refines and purifies them, He detects and removes the alloy—the dross and tin of self and the world, separating the “vile” from the “precious,” and so rendering the precious the more excellent.—Wardlaw.
Silver is refined by getting the silver out from among the dross. Christians are refined by putting the silver in among the dross, and refining the dross away. Men in a natural state are not an ore of silver, but are dross, and they are nothing else. He who sits to purify them (Mal_3:3) does not disengage the gold, but supplies it as He goes along. In other respects the emblem is complete. (1) The “furnace” takes out the dross. So does “Jehovah.” (2) The “furnace” burns out the dross. So does “Jehovah,” with biting flames. (3) The “furnace” is a gradual worker. So is God.—Miller.
Man trieth many things, and many things in man are tried by man. The silver of a man’s word is tried by a wise care: the gold of a man’s deeds is tried by the fruit of them: the silver of a man’s wit is tried by dangers and distresses, the gold of a man’s understanding is tried by weighty and important business; the gold of a man’s strength is tried by hard and burdensome labour; the gold of his knowledge by hard and difficult questions; the silver of a man’s diligence is tried by the haste of affairs; the gold of a man’s faithfulness by trust reposed in him: the silver of a man’s estate is tried by a careful account, the gold of his virtues by troubles and temptations. Thus there is a fining-pot for the silver, and a furnace for the gold: and the heart of man trieth other things, but the trier of the heart is the Lord alone. The fine silver, the pure gold that lie in that, can be proved by nothing but by His touch. Whoever else taketh upon him to search the secrets of the heart, layeth open his own sin and folly. The heart itself cannot try itself; God is the goldsmith for it. Or else the original will bear well this sense, that God, by troubles, trieth the heart of man. Wherefore Tertullian saith, When we are burned in the heat of persecution then are we tried in the hold-fast of our faith.… And surely if Seneca could say, “I gave thanks unto fortune because she would try how much I esteemed honesty, so great a thing ought not to stand me in a little,” then certainly the servants of God ought to thank God when He, by troubles, trieth how well they love Him.—Jermin.

Proverbs 17:4
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:4. A liar. literally, a lie, falsehood.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:4
THE EVIL SPEAKER AND THE LISTENER
I. That which men give heed to reveals their character. If a man will listen to another whom he knows to be false—if he permits him to be continually pouring into his ear that which he knows to be untrue—he is a liar himself. He could not make himself a receiver of lies if he were not of a kindred spirit with the liar. We classify animals according to the food which they eat, and we can classify men when we know upon what mental and moral food they love to feed. He who gives heed to falsehood and lying lips is a false man himself.
II. Delight in wicked speech leads to wicked actions. Those who use ungodly language never stop there. There is but a step between wicked words and wicked deeds. Neither do those who begin by giving heed to men whose speech is prompted by him who is the father of lies (Joh_8:44) stop with the mere listening. The listening, as we have seen, implies a certain degree of sympathy with the listener; this sympathy leads to imitation, and he who gives heed to false lips not only becomes himself a man of wicked speech but a “wicked doer.”
III. The liar and he who listens to him divide the responsibility of the sin between them. These two characters help to increase each other’s guilt by strengthening each other in their ungodliness. The liar is encouraged to go on in his lying by those who give heed to his lies; if there were none willing to listen to him he would soon cease to sin in this direction. So that the receiver of falsehood will have to share the punishment of him who propagates it. Then the liar increases the wickedness of the wicked doer by his false words, which help to make his heart yet more ungodly and his doings yet more wicked. Thus ungodly men exert a reciprocal influence upon each other for evil.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Wicked men have a great treasure of evil in their hearts, and yet have not enough to satisfy their own corrupt dispositions. They are like covetous men, in whom their large possessions only increase their lust of having, and therefore they carry on a trade with other wicked men, who are able to add to their store of iniquity, by flattering and counselling them in sin.—Lawson.
“A liar” is of essential use to the evil-doer. He can suborn him. He can get him to bear witness in his favour—to perjure himself to get him off, when in danger of being convicted. Such characters, too, it may be noticed, are fond of the lies of false teachers. They keep their ear greedily open to these. They are soothed, and flattered, and encouraged by them in their evil courses. They cannot but like the doctrine that allays their fears; that palliates sin; that makes light of future punishment; that tells them of a God all mercy; that assures them of ultimate universal salvation. Thus it was of old; and thus it is still (Isa_30:9-11). Wardlaw.
A man most mischievous himself yields most mischievously to the mischief of other sinners. “A lie” is the most weakly credulous. This is often noticed among the earthly. The biter is often most bitten, the tyrant most tortured. The cunning is often most caught, and what is singularly the fact, the sceptic is often the most believing. It is not a complete proverb, though, for earth, because it is not universal. It is spiritually, as with all these other texts, that the truth has no exception. The greatest harm-doer is Satan, and so the greatest harm is done to Satan. He is the father of lies, and has been the most lied to. He was more deceived in Eden than his victim, and on Calvary than the men who crucified our Lord. And all his followers take from the world equal mischief with that which they inflict upon it.—Miller.

Proverbs 17:5
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:5
A DOUBLE REVELATION
I. Revealing crime. He who mocketh the poor reveals his own character. If we find one brother of a family mocking another brother, we feel that his conduct is a revelation of the state of his heart. We feel that such a man must be destitute of all right feeling—that he has no regard for their common parent—none of that tender feeling which ought to bind members of the same family. God has made of one blood all nations of the earth, and he who mocks the poor mocks one of the same great human family as himself, and thus shows that he lacks all true humanity and all right feeling towards the common Father of both. The displeasure with which God regards such a man reveals the Divine character. If the ruler of a country identifies himself with the most defenceless and friendless of his subjects—if he exacts the severest penalties for any wrong done to them—if, in short, he reckons an offence against them as committed against himself—he reveals that he is a man of true benevolence. The displeasure with which God regards not only them who oppress the poor, but also those who mock them—and a man does this when he gives empty words but no sympathy and help—reveals the tender compassion of His nature. On this subject see also Homiletics on chap. 14, page 31.
II. An aggravated crime. “He who is glad at calamities,” etc. It is a sin both against God and human nature to mock the poor—to treat men with indifference and contempt because they are in a lowly station—because they are compelled to labour much and labour hard for the supply of their daily wants; he who is guilty of such conduct reveals a nature that is entirely opposed to the nature of God, and lays himself open to retribution. But when a man is not only indifferent to the miseries of others, but can actually find in them an occasion of gladness, he is as near to Satan in character and disposition as a man out of hell can be. He is not only ungodlike, but he is devilish. It is a prominent characteristic of the evil one that he finds a fiendish delight in the calamities of men, and a man cannot give a more convincing proof that he is of his “father the devil” (Joh_8:44) than by imitating him in this particular crime.
III. A heavy retribution. We can form some estimate of the weight of punishment which must fall upon this last offender, by remembering how God regards the first. If He convicts him who mocks the poor of casting reproach upon his Maker, how much more will he visit Him who “is glad at calamities.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
So Tyrus is threatened, because she was glad at Jerusalem’s calamities, saying, “I shall be replenished now she is laid waste” (Eze_26:2). And Edom similarly (Oba_1:12.)—Fausset.
It is a sad thing when one “potsherd of the earth,” because it happens to have got from the hand of the potter a little gilding and superficial decoration, mocks at another “potsherd of the earth” which chances to be somewhat more homely in its outward appearance, or, perhaps, formed of a little coarser material than the other; both the work of the same hands, and both alike frail, brittle, and perishable.—Wardlaw.
Why should I, for a little difference in this one particular of worldly wealth, despise my poor brother? When so many and great things unite us, shall wealth disunite us? One sun shines on us both; one blood bought us both; one heaven will receive us both, only he hath not so much of earth as I, and possibly much more of heaven.—Bishop Reynolds.
To pour contempt upon the current coin with the king’s image on it, is treason against the sovereign. No less contempt is it of the Sacred Majesty, to despise the poor, who have, no less than the rich, the king’s image upon them (Gen_9:6). This view marks the contempt of the poor as a sin of the deepest dye.—Bridges.
If God should appear in human shape, would we dare to insult him? Would not the fear of a just and dreadful vengeance deter us? And to mock the poor, amounts to the very same thing. God did actually appear in our nature, and He was then poor for our sakes; and those that despise the poor, despise them for a reason that reflects upon our Saviour Himself when He dwelt among us.—Lawson.

Proverbs 17:6
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:6
FATHERS AND CHILDREN
Two things are implied in this proberb:—First, that the fathers are good men. An aged man who is not a godly man cannot in any sense reflect any glory upon his descendants. Secondly, that the children are also godly and true, otherwise they are anything but a crown to their parents. The Wise Man is here speaking of those who are in both relations what God intended them to be. When such is the case—
I. The children bring honour to their parents. They testify that the parents have trained them in the way that they should go—that they have given them a good example as well as good advice, and every child is then like a separate mirror, reflecting the character of the godly parent by whose influence he has become what he now is. And the greater number of these mirrors there are, the more brilliant is the crown of honour which is worn by the godly ancestor whose virtues are thus reproduced in his children and in his children’s children, even long after he has left the world. Every tribute of respect that is paid to the children is another jewel placed in the crown of the godly ancestor.
II. The parents are the glory of their children. Men glory in being descended from ancestors who have been great warriors or who have left them a vast inheritance of material wealth, but an inheritance of goodness reflects as much more glory upon those who are its heirs as the glory of heaven exceeds that of earth. Goodness holds a very old patent of nobility, and when children can boast of a long line of God-fearing ancestors, they can boast of a dignity which is as old as God. To be the descendants of those who are now before the throne of God is a glory before which all earthly glory fades away.

Proverbs 17:7
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:7. Excellent speech, literally “a lip of excess or prominence, an assuming, imperious style of speech” (Zöckler). A prince, rather, a noble, a man of lofty disposition.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:7
A TWOFOLD INCONGRUITY
I. Truth from the mouth of a godless man. This is not an unknown case. A man of immoral practices may inculcate precepts of purity—a dishonest man may, for the purpose of cloaking his own character, be loud in his praises of integrity and uprightness. But the speech of such a man will fall powerless on his hearers, even if they do not know thoroughly the character of the speaker. There will be a lack of the true ring of sincerity about his words—being words only, and not convictions, they will be “as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” Suppose that a barrister, who was very ignorant of law and possessed of very limited mental capacities, having undertaken the defence of an important case, were to apply to one of his most learned and eloquent legal brethren to write his speech for him. When he got up to deliver that which was not the production of his own mind—that which he was not able thoroughly to appreciate himself—would not the listeners be struck with a sense of incongruity, would they not feel that, however good the arguments, however vivid the illustrations, however powerful the appeals, there was something lacking—that the speaker was a stripling wearing the armour of a giant? Something of this same feeling is experienced when an immoral man gives utterance to moral sentiments—he does not know the meaning of his own words, he lacks the experience necessary to give weight to what he says. He speaks what is in itself true, but he is not a true man himself, and consequently the utterance is like a “jewel of gold in a swine’s snout.”
II. Untruth from the mouth of a man of exalted station. A prince (i.e., one who holds a high place among his fellow-men) is especially bound to be a man of truth and honour. It is here implied that he is to be an embodiment of truthfulness—that whether he owes his position to wealth, to birth, or to intellectual gifts—whatever else he lacks, he ought to be a truthful man; his words ought to be excellent, and they ought to be the reflection of excellence of character.
III. The second incongruity is more mischievous than the first. “Excellent speech becometh not a fool, much less do lying lips a prince.” If a moral fool is a man who holds no position in the world, what he says will not be of so much consequence, because his influence upon others is little. He will injure himself, and those immediately connected with him, but the harm done will not be so widely spread as if he were one of the great of the land. The first man, if he puts on a garb of morality, and adopts language which does not represent his true self, is a liar, but his lying does not injure others so much as it does himself. But a “lying prince” is an instrument of wide-spread evil. To lie in a cottage is a sin against God and man, but to lie in a palace is a greater sin, because the inmate of a palace holds in his hand an immense power for good and for evil. What he says and does is felt more or less indirectly throughout his dominion, and as his responsibility is so great, the guilt of using it wrongly is great also.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
God likes not fair words from a foul mouth. Christ silenced the devil when he confessed Him to be the Son of the Most High God. The leper’s lips should be covered, according to the law.—Trapp.
Lying lips are no less unbecoming in the mouth of a prince, who ought to honour the dignity of his station by the dignity of his manners. A prince of our own is said to have frequently used this proverbial saying, “He that knows not how to dissemble knows not how to reign.” You may judge from the text before us whether he deserved to be called the Solomon of his age. It was certainly a nobler saying of one of the kings of France,—that if truth were banished from all the rest of the world it ought to be found in the breasts of princes. A man’s dignity obliges him to a behaviour worthy of it, and of him whose favour has conferred it. All Christians are advanced to spiritual honours of the most exalted kind. They are the children of God, and heirs of the eternal kingdom, and ought to resemble their heavenly Father, who is the God of truth. When a young prince desired a certain philosopher to give him a directory for his conduct, all his instructions were comprised in one sentence, “Remember that thou art a king’s son.” Let Christians remember who they are, and how they came to be what they are, and act in character.—Lawson.
Force not thyself above, degrade not thyself below thy condition.—Wohlfarth.

Proverbs 17:8
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:8. A gift. Some expositors understand this in the sense of a bribe. Delitzsch translates the whole verse—“The gift of bribery appears a jewel to its receiver, whithersoever he turneth himself he acteth prudently,” i.e., “it determines and impels him to apply all his understanding, in order that he may reach the goal for which it shall be his reward.” Zöckler understands it to refer to the gift of seasonable liberality which secures for its giver supporters and friends.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:8
THE POWER OF GIFTS
I. All men value gifts. Whether they be gifts which are of intrinsic value from their beauty or their rarity or whether they are of little worth in themselves, but are the expressions of the love and gratitude of those who offer them, there is a certain pleasure in receiving them. A free-will offering is more acceptable to a right-minded man than that which is bestowed upon him as a matter of necessity. The fact that it is a gift invests it with a value beyond that which would otherwise be attached to it—makes it as a “precious stone” to the receiver. The good-will that prompts the gift turns a pebble into a diamond.
II. All the blessing of a gift does not rest with the receiver.—As a precious stone reflects rays of light in whichever way it is held, so generous-hearted liberality blesses him who gives as well as him who takes. The giver has the gratitude and love of the recipient and experiences the truth of the words of the Lord Jesus: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Act_20:35). (For the opposite meanings which different commentators attach to the word gift, see CRITICAL NOTES.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS

1. Those that have money in their hand think they can do anything with it. Rich men, whithersoever they turn this sparkling diamond, expect it should dazzle the eyes of all, and make them do just what they would have them do in hopes of it. 2. Those who have money in their eye will do anything for it. It has great influence upon them, and they will be sure to go the way it leads them.—Henry.
   Viewed as referring to the person who confers the gift, or has it to bestow,—we may notice first, that the reference may be to the man who is known to have something to bestow which all covet. In this case, every one desires his favour, strives to oblige him, tries every means of insinuation into his good graces. A man who has any skill in manœuvering may, in this way, render what he has to confer a capital instrument for pushing forward his own prosperity; Keeping all in expectation,—cherishing hope,—making his desired and coveted gift look first one way, then another, then a third; perhaps partially bestowing, and still reserving enough to hold expectants hanging on, so as to have them available for his own ends. Secondly:—On the part of those who have gifts to bestow, uses may be made of them that are honourable and prudent,—quite consistent, not with mere self-interest, but with right principle. They may be employed to avert threatened evil, and for the more sure attainment of desired good. Such was Jacob’s gift to his brother Esau; when, in setting it apart, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward will I see his face.” Such was the gift of the same patriarch, at a later period, to “the man the lord of the country,” when he sent his sons the second time to Joseph in Egypt.—Wardlaw.

Proverbs 17:9
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:9. Repeateth a matter. Most expositors understand this repetition to refer to a revival of a past wrong, but Miller translates “He who falls back into an act,” i.e., transgresses again after forgiveness.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:9
HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AND HOW TO SEPARATE THEM
We have before noticed various ways in which love covers sin or transgression. (See Homiletics of chapter Pro_15:12, page 157.) This proverb sets forth—
I. That he who thus covers sin is a great benefactor of the human race. The great need of a fallen world is such a state of heart as will promote love among men. One of Christ’s last commands to his disciples was “Love one another as I have loved you” (Joh_16:12). And there is no more effectual way of promoting love than by freely forgiving an offence and at the same time endeavouring to turn the transgressor from the error of his way. A stream in winter may, by reason of the biting cold, be congealed into a rock-like solid mass, but when the summer sun shines upon it, it cannot long resist the influence, but melts and begins again to ripple and sparkle under its beams. So a sense of guilt and shame hardens the human heart, but a consciousness that the sin has been freely forgiven and forgotten melts it into contrition and love if it is not utterly dead to moral influences. This is the great power which binds sin-forgiven men and women to God—having been forgiven much they love much (Luk_7:47-50).
II. A man of opposite character is a curse to his race. Friendship is the greatest boon of human existence, and he whose words or deeds tend to break any such tie does his fellow-men a great wrong. There is no more effectual way of doing it than by a constant repetition of the faults of others, either by reminding the offender himself of his shortcomings or by speaking of them to a third person. Solomon may refer to either of these habits—both are bad, and show a disposition entirely opposed to that of Him who, when he forgave His ancient people, promised that He would “remember their sin no more” (Jer_31:34).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Seeketh love! A beautiful expression, much to be kept in mind! It shows a delight in the atmosphere of love—man’s highest elevation in communion with his God (1Jn_4:16). It implies not the mere exercise of love, where it is presented, but the searching and making opportunity for it. But how seldom do we rise to the high standard of this primary grace, exalted as it is pre-eminently above “the best gifts” (1Co_12:31; 1 Corinthians 13.); and illustrated and enforced by no less than the Divine example! (Eph_5:1-2.) Yet too often it sits at the door of our lips, instead of finding a home in our hearts; forgetting that the exhortation is not, that we should talk of love, but that we should “walk in it;” not stepping over it, crossing it, walking by the side, but “in it,” as our highway and course. One step of our feet is better than a hundred words of the tongue.—Bridges.
All unnecessary repetition even of real faults comes under the category of scandal, and is sinful and mischievous. You may fancy you are within the limit of blameworthiness, when you are telling no more than what is true: but, if you are telling even truth needlessly, for no good and laudable end, you are chargeable with the offence.—Wardlaw.
Alas! how many things are there to be suffered, how many things to be forgotten, bow many things, though seen, to be as it were unseen, that love may be preferred. He that covereth transgression warmeth affection, and he that seeketh the love of man shall be sure to find the love of God. The way to seek and find other things is by uncovering that which is hid; but the way to seek and find love is by covering the offence.—
Jermin.
If one has been our enemy it has been for some trespass. The best way to abate the enmity is to cover up and smother over, and thus erase from memory our act against him. He that does this “seeks love.” “He who falls back into the wrong,” i.e., iterates or doubles over his offence, drives away everything. (See CRITICAL NOTES.) … Spiritually, a man is not to complain of the alienation of his Maker, if he wilfully retain his sin. If God has given us a special way for covering sin, and we postpone it, and go tumbling back into our acts, the strife is ours.—Miller.
There are two ways of making peace and reconciling differences; the one begins with amnesty, the other with a recital of injuries, combined with apologies and excuses. Now I remember that it was the opinion of a very wise man, and a great politician, that “he who negotiates a peace without recapitulating the grounds of difference rather deludes the minds of the parties, by representing the sweetness of concord, than reconciles them by equitable adjustment.” But Solomon, a wiser man than he, is of a contrary opinion, approving of amnesty, and forbidding a recapitulation of the past. For in it are these disadvantages: it is as the chafing of a sore; it creates the risk of a new quarrel (for the parties will never agree as to the proportions of injuries on either side); and, lastly, it brings it to a matter of apologies: whereas either party would rather be thought to have forgiven an injury than to have accepted an excuse.—Lord Bacon.

Proverbs 17:10
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:10
CORRECTION MUST BE ADAPTED TO THE CHARACTER OF THE OFFENDER
I. Some men can be influenced by moral means. A man whose moral nature is developed can be brought to a sense of error by an appeal to his own sense of right and wrong. Although he has fallen into sin he does not love it, and the rebuke from without finds an echo in the monitor within his own breast. His susceptibility to reproof arises—1. From a deep sense of hit obligations to God. He knows what God has done to put away sin and its effects from the universe, and gratitude to Him opens his ear and his heart to reproof. 2. From a sense of his own true interest. A man would be counted a fool if he were to be angry with the physician who desired to free him from the dominion of a bodily disease, and a morally wise man is too keenly alive to the worth of his own soul not to listen to a wise reproof.
II. But there are men who can only be aroused to a sense of wrong-doing by physical suffering. Such men, by a long course of crime or by a constant resistance of moral influences, have sunk almost to the level of the brute. They are like the horse and mule which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle (Psa_32:9). Nothing can awaken their sleeping consciences but severe and startling judgments or bodily chastisement, and even these “stripes” may fail to bring them to a right state of mind. Let men, then, beware, lest being often reproved and hardening themselves against it (ch. Pro_29:1), they become so callous to the words of God and good men, or to the visitations of Providence, as to be “past feeling.” (Eph_4:19).
ILLUSTRATION
It was a maxim of Bishop Griswold—“when censured or accused, to correct—not to justify my error.” A certain minister, with more zeal than discretion, once became impressed with the thought that the bishop was a mere formalist in religion, and that it was his duty to go and warn him of his danger. Accordingly he called upon the bishop, very solemnly made known his errand, and forthwith entered upon his reproof. The bishop listened in silence till his visitor had closed a severely denunciatory exhortation, and then in substance replied as follows:—“My dear friend, I do not wonder that they who witness the inconsistency of my conduct, and see how poorly I adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour, should think I have no religion. I often fear for myself that such is the case, and feel very grateful to you for giving me the warning.” The reply was made with such evidently unaffected humility, and with such deep sincerity, that if an audible voice from heaven had attested the genuineness of his Christian character it could not more effectually have silenced his kindly intending but mis-judging censor, or more completely disabused him of his false impressions.—Episcopal Record.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Fools have sometimes received correction and made a good use of it, but they were fools no longer, for the rod and reproof gave them wisdom; but it is a sign that folly is deeply ingrained when an hundred rods leave men as great fools as they found them.—Lawson.
A look from Christ brake Peter’s heart and dissolved it into tears.… But Jeroboam’s withered hand works nothing upon his heart.—Trapp.
The folly of simplicity is a softness of nature; the folly of sin is a hardness of heart; the folly of conceit is a stiffness of will, and little doth a rod enter into any of them. For though the first be soft, it is hard to work upon it, although it be with hard and many strokes of the stick. The woolliness of the sheep’s skin keeps back the force of the beating rod … The rock in the wilderness first denied water to the Israelites, as, withstanding nature’s force and the first stroke of Moses, it resisted as opposing the infidelity of sin, to the second stroke it yielded as submitting to God’s power. But it is not the power of God’s rod that enters into a fool.—Jermin.
A needle pierces deeper into flesh than a sword into stone.—Bridges.
David is softened with Thou art the man; but Pharaoh remains hardened under all the plagues of Egypt.—Henry.
Even amongst the children of God themselves there are great diversities of temper; some requiring harder dealing than others to bring them down, and to reclaim them from their follies, as is the case often with children in the same family. A word, or a look, will go with melting and heartbreaking power to the very soul of one, while the severest correction, and oft-repeated, will fail to bring down the stubborn and fractious spirit of another. O for more of the spirit of Job and less of the spirit of Jonah!—for more of that truly child-like disposition which gives way before every divine admonition, which melts into penitence under the eye of an offended God, and looks up with a child’s submission at the slightest touch of His corrective rod! Wardlaw.

Proverbs 17:11-13
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:11. Many commentators translate the first clause “Rebellion,” or “a rebel” seeketh only after evil, i.e., brings retribution upon himself.
Pro_17:12. Miller translates the latter clause “but not a fool his folly.” (See his comment.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_17:11-13
PHASES OF EVIL
I. The main characteristic of a sinner is that he is a rebel against the moral order of the universe. “He seeketh only rebellion.” The planets in their courses describe their orbits in obedience to the law of gravitation, and because they do so the order of the heavens is preserved. God is the sun of the moral universe, and before sin entered it all His creatures kept the path of obedience to His will, held to their allegiance by the love and confidence which they bore to their Lawgiver. But sin snapped the bond, and the word sinner stands for one who has broken away from the moral law of God; every sinner seeketh rebellion.
II. A sinner is a restless being. He seeks rebellion. These words seem to depict the restless character of the ungodly man. When a soul has lost its centre of gravity—when the will of God is not the polestar of life—it drifts about in obedience first to one lawless passion and then another, following in the footsteps of the great leader of rebellion, the first sinner, who, by his own confession, is continually going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it (Job_1:7).
III. A sinner is an injurious man. No man can set himself in antagonism to the law of God, which tends to the happiness of his creatures, without bringing misery upon others, and the more determined his rebellion the more cruel are the effects of his sin upon them. A bear is naturally a cruel beast, but when a bear is robbed of what her instinct leads her to guard most jealously she is an object to be dreaded and avoided. Yet a wicked man is more to be feared, for there are in him capabilities of mischief beyond those possessed by the furious brute. The anger of the beast might be diverted or appeased—even a bear robbed of her whelps would forget her anger if a carcase were thrown in her path upon which she might wreak her vengeance. But the wrath of an angry man is less easily appeased. The mischief which the furious bear can do is more limited. The superior skill of man can soon put a stop to the ravages of a wild beast, but the angry folly of a single fool has often destroyed many lives and broken many hearts.
IV. A sinner is an ungrateful being. Many an ungodly man would deny this charge, but everyone who continues in a state of rebellion against God is continually rewarding evil for good. But the sin of the text doubtless refers to the ingratitude towards a fellow-man. This sin cannot be charged home upon every ungodly man—there are those who, though careless of rendering to God that which is His due, are content with rendering to their fellow-men evil for evil, and would not knowingly render evil for good. But while the heart is in a state of rebellion against its rightful sovereign, every evil tendency is continually growing stronger, and men by degrees descend to depths of evil from which they would once have recoiled with horror.
V. God will, sooner or later, call His rebellious subjects to account. Although men sometimes go on in open rebellion against God for many years, not one shall finally escape. A writ has been issued for the apprehension of each one, although the execution is in some cases deferred. “Every one of us shall give an account of himself to God” (
Rom_14:12), and the messenger that summons the ungodly man to the Divine tribunal will be “cruel” because looked at through the medium of a guilty conscience.
VI. The sinner brings evil upon his posterity. It is a truth which is illustrated by the experience of our daily life that no man stands alone in the world—that the sins of the fathers are, in some measure, visited upon the children—that “whoso rewardeth evil for good,” not only brings evil upon himself but upon “his house.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_17:11. God sometimes employs terrible messengers to chastise His own people. When David numbered his subjects, 70,000 of them were destroyed in three days by a visible messenger of severity, under the direction of an invisible minister of providence. If God takes such vengeance of the rebellions of some whom He pardons, what will the end be of them that seek only rebellion!—Lawson.
God hath forces enough at hand to fetch in His rebels.… The stones in the walls of Aphek shall sooner turn executioners than a rebellious Aramite shall escape unrevenged.—Trapp.
Many things there are which an evil man proposeth to his seeking: sometimes pleasures, sometimes profit, sometimes honour, sometimes favour, but in truth it is only rebellion against God that is sought by him. For these things are not to be found in the ways of wickedness, and therefore it is only his deceived imagination that looketh for them there. But rebellion against God is found in all his ways.—Jermin.
There are men that are summoning a cruel messenger to be sent against themselves.… They are “only the rebellious.” A door of mercy! and a ransom fixed for sin! and only one class to fail! and they spontaneously rebels! These are the men that go in search of evil, and this is the meaning of the wise man.—Miller.
Pro_17:12. Witness Jacob’s sons putting a whole city to fire and sword for the folly of one man; Saul slaying a large company of innocent priests; Nebuchadnezzar heating the furnace sevenfold; Herod murdering the children in Ramah; “Saul breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord”—was not all this the rage of a beast, not the reason of a man? Humbling, indeed, is this picture of man, once “created in the image of God” (Gen_1:27).—Bridges.
For the “fool,” what a meeting! when he has been robbed of every earthly chance! and is dead eternally! and the “folly,” that has robbed him, is shut up with him in everlasting misery!—Miller.
See Miller’s rendering of the verse in CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro_17:13. To render good for evil is Divine, good for good is human, evil for evil is brutish, evil for good is devilish.—Trapp.
The most striking illustration of this sentence, is the history of the Jewish nation. Never was such ingratitude showed to any benefactor, as they showed to the Son of God, and never was the punishment of any people so dreadful, and of so long continuance. That scattered people proclaim to every nation under heaven how dangerous the sin of ingratitude is, especially when God our Saviour is the object of it.—Lawson.

Proverbs 17:14
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:14. Meddled with, rather “pours forth.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:14
THE BEGINNING OF STRIFE
I. This moral pestilence is of great antiquity. It began with the angels who “kept not their first estate” (Jud_1:6), and from that far-distant period until now the universe has never been free from discord—good and evil have striven against each other, and strife has also reigned between those who are on the side of evil. There was strife between the first two human brothers born into this world, and since the day when Cain slew Abel because his own works were evil and his brother’s righteous, this terrible enemy of human happiness has been slaying his victims wherever men were to be found.
II. Strife is a thing of growth. There is a moment when the fire which will presently destroy a town is only a tiny spark which the breath of a child could extinguish,—the leak which at last sinks the vessel and sends a hundred brave men to a watery grave was once no larger than a pin-hole—and the breach in the dam through which a torrent of water rushes, leaving desolation behind it, begins with an opening through which not more than a few drops of water can force their way. So it is with strife. It does not attain to its full dimensions in a moment. The hatred in the heart which is the root of strife may be at first but a passing feeling, but if it is not overcome at its first appearance it grows in strength from day to day. And its outward manifestation in strife may begin with but a few angry words—an apparently trifling disagreement. But those who have indulged in it will presently find themselves in the grip of a giant—overmastered, and carried headlong by passion to crimes of which they once thought it impossible they could ever be guilty.
III. If the miserable effects of strife are to be avoided, it must be attacked in its beginnings. Seeing how disastrous are the effects of the leak in the ship, and how much desolation is caused by the ravages of fire or the bursting forth of pent-up water through its banks, it behoves all who are in any way responsible in these matters to be watchful for the first indications of mischief, and to put a stop to it before it gets beyond their power. And if a man would avoid being a party to a quarrel, he must watch narrowly the first risings of anger in his heart and take care that he never utters the first angry word. If the first remains unspoken, a second can never pass his lips; but if in an unguarded moment the angry feeling finds an outlet in angry speech, the speaker himself cannot tell where and how the mischief will end. It may go from words of strife to deeds of strife, and both will entail more misery upon their author than upon him who is the subject of them. The self-interest of every man ought to prompt him to check the beginnings of strife in himself and in others; it is so great an enemy to our social well-being that we are all as much interested in putting a stop to its ravages as we are in arresting the progress of a pestilential disease. But the children of God are specially called to this work. They are bound to be imitators of their Father in this matter, and He is “the God of peace” (Rom_15:33). All the plans and purposes of God have for their aim “peace on earth” (Luk_2:14), and His children ought to emulate His example. And they cannot do otherwise. They have been made partakers of the Divine nature (2Pe_1:4), and the nature of God is eminently peace-loving. If, therefore, a man has been born of God he must delight in social peace and harmony—he must recoil from strife and discord. It is peacemakers who shall be called “the children of God” (Mat_5:9), and “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now” (1Jn_2:9).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Man is a sociable-living creature, and should converse with man in love and tranquillity. Man should be a supporter of man; is he become an over-thrower? O apostasy, not only from religion, but also from humanity! The greatest danger that befalls man comes from where it should least come, from man himself. Lions fight not with lions; serpents spend not their venom on serpents; but man is the main suborner of mischief to his own kind.… God hath hewn us all out of one rock, tempered all our bodies of one clay, and spirited our souls of one breath. Therefore, saith Augustine, since we proceed all out of one stock, let us all be of one mind. Beasts molest not their own kind, and birds of a feather fly lovingly together. Not only the blessed angels of heaven agree in mutual harmony, but even the very devils of hell are not divided, lest they ruin their kingdom. We have one greater reason of love and unity observed than all the rest. For whereas God made not all angels of one angel, nor all beasts of the great behemoth, nor all fishes of the huge leviathan, nor all birds of the majestical eagle, yet he made all men of one man.—T. Adams.
We are but several streams issuing from one primitive source; one blood flows in all our veins; one nourishment repairs our decayed bodies; we are co-habitants of the same earth, and fellow-citizens of the same great commonwealth; and he that hates another detests his own most lively picture; he that harms another injures his own nature.… The heavenly angels, when they agree most highly to bless and to wish the greatest happiness to mankind, could not better express their sense than by saying, “Be on earth peace, and goodwill among men.”—Barrow.
It is easier to abstain from a contest than to withdraw from it.—Seneca.
Both the destructive elements—fire and water—illustrate the danger of the beginning of strife (chap. Pro_26:21). To neither element can we say, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further!” (Job_38:11).… Seldom when we have heard the first word, do we hear the last. An inundation of evil is poured in.… The bank is much more easily preserved than repaired.… For, as one strongly observed, “Man knows the beginning of sin, but who bounds the issues thereof?—Bridges.
Quietness is like a pleasant pond full of sweet fish sporting themselves up and down in it, and multiplying continually to a great increase; so in a quiet life men’s affairs do prosper, and their estate is increased to plenty and abundance, so that they bathe themselves in the comfort of it. But let the sluice be taken up, the fishes are quickly gone, the waters stay not until they be gone also, and nothing but mud and mire is left; and even so let the gap of contention be opened, all comforts flee away, and usually the estates sink lower and lower until it be dried up to beggary and misery. Make up, then, all breaches as soon as they appear, or rather keep all sound by watchfulness, so that no breach may appear. And let not the serpent get in his head, for, because the scales of his body stand the other way, it is not easy to get it out again; because the mind of thine adversary is made averse from thee, it is not easy to end a strife begun.—
Jermin.

Proverbs 17:15
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:15
I. A present inversion of moral order. There is an established law, by which things spiritual are governed as well as things material According to this law, punishment ought to come to the unrighteous and the righteous should be justified; that is, they should be declared to be righteous and treated accordingly. This law must and will prevail in the upshot and issue of things, because the Great Lawgiver of the universe is perfectly just and holy; but it does not always govern the dealings of men with men. Injustice may be meted out to a man by his fellow-man from ignorance. A human judge may pass an unjust sentence upon a prisoner, or society may condemn a man undeservedly simply because they are ignorant of all the facts of the case. We are so little capable of weighing all the motives of our fellow-creatures, that we may unwittingly sometimes justify the wicked and condemn the just. But the proverb is evidently directed against those who do it because they are themselves unrighteous—against those who are prompted by motives of self-interest or malice or by a simple hatred of good wherever it is found.
II. A future restitution of moral order. If a man has an ear for music, all discordant tones are displeasing to him; but when the law of harmony is entirely subverted, all his musical sensibilities are outraged. So when a righteous man becomes cognizant of some gross injustice his whole soul rises up in protest against it. What therefore must be the light in which the perfectly pure and just God regards such subversion of moral order? He can but regard it with repugnance. But the certainty of this fact makes another fact no less certain—viz., that there will come a period in the history of the universe when this inversion shall cease, when moral order shall be restored, and it shall be no longer possible for the wicked to be justified, or for the righteous to be condemned. Thus saith the Lord, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness.… which justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel” (Isa_5:20; Isa_5:23-24). When this sentence is completely carried out moral order and harmony will be restored to the universe.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
This verse shows that the term justify (Hebrew, matzeddik) is forensic, to pronounce just one, even though not just in himself: a keyword in the doctrinal Epistle to the Romans: the opposite of “condemn” or pronounce impious (mareshiang).—Fausset.
That “both” should be, the expression “even” seems to point to as wonderful. They are both very plain propositions; and yet neither of them, in the mind of the sinner, is free from half-conscious surprise. That God “will by no means clear the guilty” (Exo_34:7) and, therefore, that “without the shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb_9:22), when learned, is half the gospel. To learn it easily, would imply that “then hath the offence of the Cross ceased” (Gal_5:11). God will not condemn Himself in His “righteous” action, and He cannot “justify the wicked” without a mediator; and Solomon, without being able to clear all the difficulties, sets in this sentence as one of the great timbers of thought, which he looks to to defend the gospel.—Miller.
He spareth the wolf and so hurteth the lambs; He toucheth the members of Christ and the very apples of the Lord’s eye.—Muffet.
But let us place ourselves before the “Judge of all” accused by Satan, our own conscience, and the righteous law of God; convicted of every charge; yet justified. Does God then in thus “justifying the ungodly” (Rom_4:5) contravene this rule? Far from it. If He justifies the wicked, it is on account of righteousness (Ib. Pro_3:25-26). If He condemns the just, it is on the imputation of unrighteousness. Nowhere throughout the universe do the moral perfections of the Governor of the world shine so gloriously as at the cross of Calvary. The satisfaction of the holy law, and the manifestation of righteous mercy, harmonise with the justification of the condemned sinner. And this combined glory tunes the song of everlasting praise.—Bridges.
That condemning the just is a grievous crime, there is no doubt. But some will be startled at the wise man’s assertion, that justifying the wicked is a crime of the like nature and malignity. But we rebel against God by turning to the right hand, as well as by turning to the left, from that way in which we are commanded to walk. Justifying the wicked has an appearance of mercy in it, but there is cruelty to millions in unreasonable acts of mercy to individuals. It was not altogether without ground observed by a senator to the Emperor Cocceius Nerva, when his detestation of his predecessor’s cruelty seduced him into extremes of clemency,—That it was bad to live in a state where every thing was forbidden, but worse to live in a state where every thing was allowed. Historians tell us, that the provinces of the empire suffered more oppression under the administration of this mild prince, than in the bloody reign of Domitian.—Lawson.
As in the administration of justice, in the world or in the Church, so in the official declaration of doctrine and of duty, faithfulness is the first and most essential qualification. No “gift,” no bribe, no love of gain,—or, in the apostle’s words, “greed of filthy lucre,”—must ever be allowed to corrupt “the man of God,” and tempt him either to pervert or to keep back the truth—to “shun to declare” any part of “the counsel of God,” or to utter a single sentiment but what he believes to be a lesson of God’s word, a divinely authorised message. For a minister of Christ either to say what is false or to withhold what is true, from a wish to please those on whom he may feel himself dependent, is as unworthy of him as for a judge on the civil bench to pervert justice, and may be to others unspeakably more mischievous. The decisions of the latter can affect only what is temporary; the effects of the former’s unfaithful temporising may extend to eternity. The guilt of the former, therefore, may be greater than that of the latter, in the proportion of the value of the soul to the body, of eternity to time. There must be no bribery or corruption here. O to be able to say with Paul, “I am clear from the blood of all men.”—Wardlaw.
When Jacob, blessing the sons of Joseph, put his hands across, and laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh the elder, the thing displeased Joseph. But Jacob refused to have his hands removed. Now that which Jacob did in the blessing of his grandchildren, the same is the cursed doing of many who in the world are seated in the place of justice. For those whom God setteth on His right hand, they set on the left, those whom God setteth on His left hand they set on the right … And though God Himself call to them, Not so, yet they refuse to alter their sentence … And though their hands in justifying go across, yet being joined together in wickedness they are both an abomination to the Lord.—Jermin.
He that saith to the wicked, thou art righteous (1) condemneth the law of God, for that condemneth the wicked; (2) doth as much as he may to bring sin into credit, that others also should practise it without fear or reproach; (3) hardeneth the heart and hurteth the soul of the offender, debarring him from corrections, which are God’s medicines for the curing of evils. He dealeth as a murderer under the name of a physician that encourageth his patient to eat the poison freely.—Dod.

Proverbs 17:16
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:16
NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITIES
I. One of the uses which ought to be made of wealth. Men ought to use it to “get wisdom.” It is obvious that a wealthy man has more opportunities of gaining knowledge than a poor man has, and an increase of knowledge ought to make a man wiser. A rich man’s wealth gives him access to the wisdom of the great minds of past ages, and it often obtains for him the companionship of the most learned men of his own generation. It enables him to gain a knowledge of the world on which he lives and of the men who people it; by travel he can stand face to face with all the glorious works of God in nature, and he can mingle with men of various races and see human nature in all its various phases. And these experiences ought to make him a wise man. Wealth is given to men for this purpose, among others, to make them intellectually and morally better—for although spiritual blessings cannot be purchased for money, yet where the grace of God is in the heart, the “price in the hand” will increase a man’s opportunities of growing in the knowledge of God and in the practice of godliness. Those who are “rich in this world” may and ought to lay “up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1Ti_1:17-19). Their wealth ought not to be a hindrance but a help to high spiritual attainments. When we use bread rightly we get strength out of it; when we use water rightly we get refreshment out of it; when we use light rightly we get guidance out of it; and when the gift of wealth is rightly used, men get wisdom out of it.
II. Wealth bestowed, where we can give no reason for its bestowal. Wealth in the hand of a fool seems thrown away. If we saw a bundle of bank-notes in the hands of an infant we should at once say they were in the wrong hand; but many a princely fortune is at the disposal of men who are as incapable now of putting it to a good use, as they were when they were children. Neither the head nor the heart are capable of guiding the hand—there is neither moral nor intellectual capability to make the riches the means of blessing even the possessor. “
Wherefore,” then, “is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom,” especially when there are so many men in poverty who would make the best possible use of riches? We cannot answer the question. Even the wise man does not attempt to solve the problem. Men daily come face to face with facts connected with human existence which they cannot explain. In some of these they can see adaptation; although they cannot tell how it is that the thing is so, they can discern a fitness in its being so. But there are other facts in the government of God for which we can assign no reason, and the “price in the hand of a fool” is one of them. The Divine Ruler of men’s destinies fulfils His wise purposes in ways and by means which often perplex His finite creatures.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
We understand the term “a price,” as signifying whatever puts it in anyone’s power to acquire the particular object. The phraseology is borrowed from the market. Any article, we are wont to say, may be had there, if a man has but the price to pay for it. What the “price” is to the article wanted, the means of acquiring are to “wisdom.” When we wish to put any article of ordinary merchandise within a person’s power, we furnish that person with the price at which it is valued. There are cases, however, in which this may not be enough. The price may be in a man’s hand, and yet the article may not be within his reach, not, at the time, to be had. Happily, it is never so with the wisdom here spoken of. If the means are possessed of acquiring it, it may always be acquired. It is in the hand of God himself; and He is never either at a distance that we cannot repair to Him, or unwilling to bestow it upon us when we come to Him for it—bestow it, I say, for we must remember, with regard to divine wisdom, that, in a literal sense, it cannot be purchased. It must be had “without money and without price.” It is not to be “gotten for gold.” Why is it, then, that in so many cases in which “the price is in the hand to get wisdom,” the means of securing it possessed, its lessons remained unlearned, the mind ignorant, the heart unimproved?… Here is the answer—the only one that can with truth be given,—there has been “no heart to it.” The principle is of wide application, and might be largely illustrated … There is no maxim more thoroughly established by experience, than that a man cannot excel in anything to which his heart does not lie. When do men succeed best in the pursuit of any object? Is it not when they have a heart to it? What is it that keeps all men astir in the pursuit and acquisition of wealth? Is it not that they have a heart to it? How do men acquire celebrity in any of the departments of science or of art? Is it not when they have a heart to it?—some measure of enthusiastic eagerness and persevering delight in the pursuit?… I put it to your consciences,—whether there be anything else whatever, that keeps you from the knowledge and the fear of God, wherein true religion consists, than your having no heart to them? Talk not to me of inability:—your inability is entirely moral, and consists in nothing else whatever than your “having no heart” to that which is good. And is this not criminal? If not, then there is no sin nor crime on earth, in hell, in the universe; nor is the existence or the conception of such a thing as moral evil possible. The want of heart to that which is good, is the very essence of all that is sinful. You offer anything but a valid excuse for your want of religion, when you say you “have no heart to it.” You plead in excuse the very essence of your guilt. If you desired to fear God, and could not help the contrary, your inability might be something in your behalf. But the thing cannot be. To desire to fear God, and not to be able, is a contradiction in terms. The having of the desire is the having of the principle. There can be no desiring to fear without fearing, no desiring to love without loving.—Wardlaw.
No means can make a man wise who wanteth a good will to learn heavenly wisdom. Ishmael had good education, and Ahithophel had quick capacity, and the fool spoken of in the Gospel had great wealth, and none of all these attained to any grace. One of them was strong, and another witty, and another wealthy, but never a one wise and godly. Judas had as good a teacher as Peter, or any other apostle, and had as good company, and saw as many miracles; and yet they having good hearts became worthy and excellent persons, and he having a false heart became a traitor and a devil.—Dod.
Wherefore serve good natural parts, either of body or mind; or authority, opportunity, or other advantages, if they be not rightly improved and employed? Certainly they will prove no better than Uriah’s letters to those that have them; or as the sword which Hector gave to Ajax, which, so long as he used it against his enemies, served for help and defence, but after he began to abuse it, turned into his own bowels. This will be a bodkin at thy heart one day: “I might have been saved, but I woefully let slip those opportunities which God had thrust into my hand.” Trapp.

Proverbs 17:17-18
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:17. “Friend and brother are related the one as the climax of the other. The friend is developed into a brother by adversity.” (Lange’s Commentary).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:17-18, and of CHAP. Pro_18:24
TRUE FRIENDSHIP
I. A true friend loves under all conditions. 1. He loves in times of separation. The distance between our earth and the sun does not prevent the one from influencing the other—there is a power in gravitation which can make itself felt even when the objects affected by it are thousands of miles apart. So true love is quite independent of space—oceans may roll between the friends, yea, the very grave may separate them, and yet the gravitating force which first drew the heart of one man to another will make itself felt. It has been said that the dead and the absent have no friends, but this is a libel upon human nature. A friend loveth whether the object of his love is present or absent, and will, if needs be, defend his friend’s character when he is not present to speak for himself. 2. He loves even in times of temporary estrangement. Transitory differences are not incompatible with the most genuine friendship, and while human nature is in its present imperfect condition it will sometimes happen that one real and true friend will disappoint and grieve another. But if the real and true feeling is in the heart it will be as unshaken by these temporary disturbances as the root of the tree is by the storm-wind that moves its branches.
II. Friendship is especially precious in times of trial. True friends are not like the locust, which seeks only the green pastures and fruitful fields, and leaves them as soon as it has taken from them all that it could feed upon, but they are like the stars, the value of whose light is only really understood when all other lights are absent. When all is going well with a man he may underestimate the value of his friend’s regard; he may not really know how heartfelt it is; but when misfortune, or sickness, or bereavement overtake him, he realises that a “brother is born for adversity.”
III. There is a bond stronger than any tie of blood-relationship. We have abundant and melancholy proofs that the mere fact of being brothers according to the flesh does not make men one in heart. The first man who tasted death was murdered by his brother, and many sons of the same father since that day have been separated from each other by a hatred as deep and deadly as that which prompted Cain to murder Abel. In the family in which Solomon was a son there was one brother with the blood of another upon his head (2Sa_13:28-30). Something stronger and deeper than the mere tie of blood is needed to make men one in heart. The most beautiful example of friendship upon record existed between the son of Saul and the shepherd of Bethlehem where there was no relationship according to the flesh, and where the heir-apparent to the throne loved as his own soul the youth who was to supplant him. There is no friendship so firm and enduring as that which is based upon doing the will of God (Mar_3:35) no brotherhood so perfect and lasting as that which has its origin in a common discipleship to Him who is not ashamed to call them brethren (Heb_2:11), and who is Himself the “Friend above all others,” whose love can span the distance between His throne in glory and the meanest hovel upon earth, and the greater distance between Divine perfection and human sinfulness, and who was in all things “made like unto his brethren,” that having Himself “suffered being tempted, He might be able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb_2:17), and thus prove Himself to be pre-eminently the “Brother born for adversity,” and the “Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”
IV. It is an evidence of great folly to treat men as bosom-friends before we know them. There are men who will trust in a comparative stranger to such an extent as to lend their credit and their good name to him without any reasonable security. Such a man Solomon here characterises as being “void of understanding.” It is a mark of a fool to enter into any engagement without deliberation, and in nothing does lack of wisdom more plainly manifest itself than in the formation of hasty friendships, especially if the friendship involves a man in any kind of suretyship. From lack of prudence in this matter many a man has been “all his lifetime subject to bondage.” It behoves all men in the matter of friendship to follow the advice of Polonius:—
The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatched, unfledged comrade.
ILLUSTRATION OF TRUE FRIENDSHIP
Damon was sentenced to die on a certain day, and sought permission of Dionysius of Syracuse to visit his family in the interim. It was granted on condition of securing a hostage for himself. Pythias heard of it, and volunteered to stand in his friend’s place. The king visited him in prison, and conversed with him about the motive of his conduct, affirming his disbelief in the influence of friendship. Pythias expressed his wish to die, that his friend’s honour might be vindicated. He prayed the gods to delay the return of Damon till after his own execution in his stead. The fatal day arrived. Dionysius sat on a moving throne drawn by six white horses. Pythias mounted the scaffold and thus addressed the spectators, “My prayer is heard; the gods are propitious, for the winds have been contrary till yesterday. Damon could not come, he could not conquer impossibilities; he will be here to-morrow, and the blood that is shed to-day shall have ransomed the life of my friend. Could I erase from your bosoms every mean suspicion of the honour of Damon, I should go to my death as I should to my bridal.” … As he closed a voice in the distance cried, “Stop the execution!” and the cry was taken up and repeated by the whole assembly. A man rode up at full speed’ mounted the scaffold, and embraced Pythias crying, “You are safe now, my beloved friend! I have now nothing but death to suffer, and am delivered from reproaches for having endangered a life so much dearer than my own.” Pythias replied, “Fatal haste, cruel impatience! What envious powers have wrought impossibilities in your favour! But I will not be wholly disappointed. Since I cannot die to save you, I will not survive you.” The king was moved to tears, and, ascending the scaffold, cried, “Live, live, ye incomparable pair! Ye have borne unquestionable testimony to the existence of virtue, and that virtue equally evinces the existence of a God to reward it. Live happy, live renowned, and oh! form me by your precepts, as ye have invited me by your example, to be worthy of the participation of so sacred a friendship.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro_17:17. “The Friend.” We are to notice the article. It does not impair the proverb for its secular use. We have such an idiom: “the friend,” i.e., the true friend. Even a worldly friend, to be worth anything, must be for all times; and what is a brother born for, but for distress? But spiritually, the article is just in its place. There is but One Only “Friend,” and a “Brother” who would not have been “born” at all, but for the distress and straitness of His house.—Miller.
Friendship contracted with the wicked decreases from hour to hour, like the early shadow of the morning; but friendship formed with the virtuous will increase like the shadow of evening, till the sun of life shall set.—Herder.
Extremity distinguisheth friends. Worldly pleasures, like physicians, give us over, when once we lie a-dying; and yet the death-bed hath most need of comforts. Christ Jesus standeth by His in the pangs of death, and after death at the bar of judgment; not leaving them either in their bed or grave. I will use them, therefore, to my best advantage; not trust them. But for Thee, O my Lord, which in mercy and truth canst not fail me, whom I have found ever faithful and present in all extremities, kill me, yet will I trust in Thee.—Bp. Hall.
A friend shares my sorrow and makes it but a moiety; but He swells my joy and makes it double. For so two channels divide the river and lessen it into rivulets and make it fordable, and apt to drink up at the first revels of the Syrian star; but two torches do not divide, but increase the flame. And though my tears are the sooner dried up when they run on my friend’s cheek in furrows of compassion; yet when my flame has kindled his lamp, we unite the glories, and make them radiant, like the golden candlesticks that burn before the throne of God; because they shine by numbers, by unions, and confederations of light and joy.—Jeremy Taylor.
When a man blind from his birth was asked what he thought the sun was like, he replied, “Like friendship.” He could not conceive of anything as more fitting as a similitude for what he had been taught to regard as the most glorious of material objects, and whose quickening and exhilarating influences he had rejoiced to feel.—Morris.
A brother for adversity is one who will act the brother in a season of adversity. Of such an one it is said, he must or shall be born, possibly, he is born. I do not understand this last clause unless the assertion is, that none but such as are born brethren, i.e., kindred by blood, will cleave to us in distress. Yet this is true only in a qualified sense. But another shade of meaning may be assigned to the passage, which is, that such a man as a friend in adversity is yet to be born, i.e., none such are now to be found; thus making it substantially equivalent in sense to the expression: “How few and rare are such faithful friends.”—Stuart.
As in the natural, so in the spiritual brotherhood, misery breeds unity. Ridley and Hooper, that when they were bishops, differed so much about ceremonies, could agree well enough, and be mutual comforts one to another when they were both prisoners. Esther concealed her kindred in hard times, but God’s people cannot; Moses must rescue his beaten brother out of the hand of the Egyptian, though he rescue his life by it.—Trapp.
Man in his weakness needs a steady friend, and God in His wisdom has provided one in the constitution of nature. Not entrusting all to acquired friendship, He has given us some as a birthright inheritance. For the day of adversity a brother is born to many who would not have been able to win one. It is at once a glory to God in the highest, and a sweet solace to afflicted men, when a brother or a sister, under the secret and steady impulses of nature, bears and does for the distressed what no other friend, however loving, could be expected to bear or do. How foolish for themselves are those who lightly snap those bonds asunder, or touch them oft with the corrosive drops of contention! One who is born your brother is best fitted to be your friend in trouble, if unnatural strife has not rent asunder those whom their Maker intended to be one in spirit.… “There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” He must be a fast friend indeed, for a brother, if nature’s affections have been cherished, lies close in, and keeps a steady hold.… Oh, when hindering things are taken out of the way of God’s work, a brother lies very close to a brother. He who comes closer must be no common friend.… It is the idea of a friendship more perfect, fitting more kindly into our necessities, and bearing more patiently with our weaknesses, than the instinctive love of a brother by birth. From God’s hand-work in nature a very tender and a very strong friendship proceeds: from His covenant of mercy comes a friendship tenderer and stronger still. Now, although the conception is embodied in the communion of saints, its full realisation is only found in the love wherewith Christ loves His own.… The precious germ which Solomon’s words unfold, bore its ripened fruit only when He who is bone of our bone gave Himself the just for the unjust. Thus by a surer process than verbal criticism, we are conducted to the man Christ Jesus, as at once the Brother born for adversity, and the friend that sticketh closer than a brother.… In the day of your deepest adversity even a born brother must let go his hold. That extremity is the opportunity of your best friend.—Arnot.
Pro_17:18. It is good to try him whom we intend for a bosom friend before we trust him; as men prove their vessels with water before they fill them with wine. Many complain of the treachery of their friends, and say, with Queen Elizabeth, that in trust they have found treason; but most of these have greatest cause, if all things be duly weighed, to complain of themselves for making no better choice.—Swinnock.
Seeing he hath not understanding to keep himself from hurt, it were good if he had not power in his hand to do himself hurt.… Surely such a fool may quickly wring his hands together in sorrow, who before did clap his hands in joy, and may strike himself in anger with the same hand, wherewith in the foolish kindness of surety he struck the hand of another.… For often this over-kind part of a friend is the breaking of friendship if it bring no further mischief.—Jermin.
The evil effects of strife and pride, which form the subject of Pro_17:19, have been treated before. See on Pro_17:14, and on chaps. Pro_11:2, and Pro_16:18. Some expositors attach a slight difference to the meaning of the latter clause. See below.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
“Sets high (exalteth) his gate;” a figure that is probably misunderstood. It probably means belligerence. A moat over which issued armed bands, with banners and mounted spearmen, required high space to let them go forth. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates,” etc. The soul that fixes itself that way against the Almighty, ready to march out upon Him on any occasion of quarrel, “seeks” ruin.—Miller.
The slothful man exposes himself to misery; but he waits for it till it comes upon him like a traveller. The aspiring man, that cannot be happy without a stately dwelling, and a splendid manner of living beyond what his estate will bear, seeks for destruction, and sends a coach and six to bring it to him.—Lawson.
“And he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.” Some take this for a comparison:—As surely as he that exalteth his gate (enlarging it out of due proportion) seeketh destruction to his house, by thus weakening its structure,—so surely does he that loveth strife generate transgression. The phrase “exalteth his gate,” however, instead of being thus understood literally, may, with more propriety, be interpreted of a man’s ambitiously affecting a style of living beyond his income—disproportionate to the amount of his means of maintaining it. The general character is described by one particular manifestation of it—the high style of the exterior of his mansion. The “exalting of the gate” applies to the entire style of his household establishment—not to his dwelling merely, but to his equipage, his table, his servants, his dress, and everything else. He who does this “seeks destruction:” he courts his own downfall, as effectually as if it were his direct object to ruin himself. Matthew Henry, in his own quaint and pithy way, says—“He makes his gate so large, that his house and estate go out at it.”—Wardlaw.
There is none that loveth strife more than he that exalteth his gate, either the gate of his ears to hear the tales of others, and the praises of himself, or else the gates of his eyes overlooking others with scorn and disdain, and his own worth by many degrees, or else the gate of his mouth, which is properly the gate of man, with big and swelling words, with high and lofty terms which usually are the sparks that kindle contention. But what doth such an one do, but even seek for destruction, which at his lifted-up gate, findeth easy passage to run in upon him.—Jermin.
For Homiletics on the subjects of Pro_17:20-21, see on chapter Pro_10:1; Pro_10:13-14, etc., and on Pro_17:24.

Proverbs 17:20
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:20. A froward heart, rather a false heart.

Proverbs 17:22
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:22. A broken spirit. Miller renders “an upraiding spirit,” i.e., spirit which cavils at God’s providential dealings.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:22
THE MERRY HEART
I. The mind acts upon the body. It is a fact which no observant man would deny, that there is an intimate connection between sorrow of soul and sickness of body, and that cheerfulness of spirit tends to physical health. A physician always tries to keep his patient in good spirits, and when he discerns that he is weighed down by some mental burden, he wisely seeks to lighten that as well as to administer remedies to the body. And when a man is in health cheerfulness of disposition tends to keep him so; while a depressed condition of mind makes him a more easy prey to disease. That “a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones,” is a convincing proof of the mysterious sympathy that exists between the
man and his earthly dwelling-place.
II. What will conduce to cheerfulness of spirit—to what Solomon here calls “a merry heart?” 1. A heart at peace with God. Some poisons taken into the system produce for a time a calming and quieting influence upon the body, but it is a quiet and a calm which comes from deadening the capabilities of feeling. Opium may send a man to sleep, but it is a sleep which gives neither refreshment nor strength. A quiet conscience is the first and indispensable element of heart-cheerfulness, and there are other methods of getting free for a time from pain of conscience beside “that peace with God which comes from being justified by faith” (Rom_5:1). But all other quiet of soul comes from opiates whose power is but for a time, while this peace comes from the consciousness of reconciliation with God—from a sense of standing in a right relation to all that is right and true in the universe. 2. A vivid realization of unseen realities. Though a state of reconciliation with God will give freedom from the sense of guilt, it does not always give that active state of cheerfulness which can be called “a merry heart.” A river sometimes glides along between its banks in a state of undisturbed calmness; but there are times when the volume of water is so great that it overflows its channels. Peace is like a calm river, but joy is like one whose waters cannot contain themselves within its boundaries, but must pour forth on the right hand and on the left. Peace has been defined as “love resting,” and joy as “love exulting.” The one is a passive state of mind, while the other is active. But it is the latter, rather than the former, which makes that cheerful spirit which “doeth good like a medicine,” and it is the fruit only of a vivid sense of “things not seen” (Heb_11:1). Those who live on high lands and breathe the pure mountain air, are conscious of an exuberance of animal life, of which even perfectly healthy people who live in the valleys know nothing. So, men who live in the higher regions of spiritual life know a “joy in God”—are sensible of an uplifting of spirit—to which ordinary and every-day Christians are strangers. They are not only believers, but they are filled with “all joy and peace in believing;” they not only have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” but they “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom_5:1-2). 3. A life of active love. A selfish man can never be a cheerful man—he who lives for himself alone can never know the healing power of “a merry heart.” There can be no abiding cheerfulness of heart without joy in God, and there can be no abiding joy in God without love to man. “There is nothing,” says Dr. Maclaren, “more evanescent in its nature than the emotion of religious joy, faith, or the like, unless it be turned into a spring of action for God. Such emotions, like photographs, vanish from the heart unless they be fixed. Work for God is the way to fix them. Joy in God is the strength of work for God, but work for God is the perpetuation of joy in God.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Mirth is short and transient, cheerfulness fixed and permanent. Those are often raised into the greatest transports of mirth who are subject to the greatest depressions of melancholy. On the contrary, cheerfulness, though it does not give the mind such an exquisite gladness, prevents us from falling into any depths of sorrow. Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind.… Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health. Repinings and secret murmurs of heart give imperceptible strokes to those delicate fibres of which the vital parts are composed, and wear out the machine insensibly; not to mention those violent ferments which they stir up in the blood, and those irregular disturbed motions which they raise in the animal spirits. I scarce remember, in my own observation, to have met with many old men, or with such who (to use our English phrase) wear well, that had not at least a certain indolence in their humour, if not a more than ordinary gaiety and cheerfulness of heart. The truth is, health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other.—Addison.
The verb means, to cure, and, as far as we can fix it, the noun means, not a medicine, but a final “cure.” In the world at large cheerfulness is an immense gift; but in religion the wise man wishes to say that hopefulness is strength (Neh_8:10); that it is better to look cheerfully upon God, than with complaints; that if we are to be cured at all, a glad heart will help it.—Miller.
All true mirth is from rectitude of the mind, from a right frame of soul. When faith hath once healed the conscience, and grace hath hushed the affections, and composed all within, so that there is a sabbath of the spirit, and a blessed tranquillity lodged in the soul, then the body also is vigorous and vigetous, for most part in very good plight and healthful constitution, which makes man’s life very comfortable.… They that in the use of lawful means wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength (Isa_40:31).—Trapp.

Proverbs 17:23
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:23. A gift, i.e., a bribe, judgment. i.e., justice.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:23
BRIBERY
I. Its nature. An act of bribery may be committed without any monetary transaction taking place. It is not necessary that gold should pass from hand to hand to make a man guilty of bribery. It is not even necessary that there should be a distinct promise of any good either in the present or the future. A man bribes another if he merely implies by word or deed that he can make him suffer for speaking what he knows is the truth, and for acting according to the dictates of his conscience. And a man is guilty of accepting a bribe it he abstains from such speech or action from a fear of loss or from a hope of gain, although no distinct promise or threatening has been made by those whom he wishes to propitiate.
II. Its cause. Want of integrity on the part of both the man who offers the bribe and him who accepts it. There are some men in the world to whom even a man who held their lives in his hand would not think of offering a bribe of any kind. He knows it would be as useless to attempt to make such men swerve from the path of right as to try to alter the course of the earth round the sun. There are many, we know, in this country, notwithstanding its many timeservers and place-hunters who, like Samuel of old can say, “Whose ox have I taken, or whose ass have I taken, or whom have I defrauded, whom have I oppressed, or of whose hands have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? (1Sa_12:3). Only one thing is needed to destroy bribery—in its most impalpable and shadowy forms as well as in its more glaring and shameless manifestations—and that is universal honesty of character. When every man loves truth and right more than he loves material gain then bribery will cease, but not before. Men may be restrained by shame from being guilty of it openly, and will call it by some less obnoxious name, but the spirit of bribery will be at work so long as there are men upon the earth who love gain more than godliness.
III. The universal testimony of the human conscience against it. “The wicked man taketh a gift out of his bosom”—it is a transaction of secrecy—there is a shame connected with the act which proves that conscience condemns it. The man who offers the bribe does not do it openly, which shows that he is fully conscious that he is transgressing the law of right; and the man who accepts it does not boast openly that he has done so for the same reason. Bribery is a sin which is repeatedly denounced by God (Isa_1:23-24; Eze_22:13), but men who have not possessed the light of revelation have denounced bribery as a crime.
IV. Its effect. It “perverts the ways of justice.” Its effect is to bring about that abomination mentioned in Pro_17:15—the justification of the wicked and the condemnation of the just. (See Homiletics on that verse.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
An honest man would rather lose his cause, however just, than gain it by such a base thing as a bribe. It must have been a great bondage for Paul to have been confined in a prison, when he loved the pulpit so well, had not his will been sunk in the will of God; yet he would not offer the least bribe to his covetous judge, who detained him in prison, expecting that money would be offered for his freedom (Act_24:6).—Lawson.
Is not the child of God often pressed with this temptation? Does the influence of a gift, the sense of obligation, never repress the bold consistency of godliness? Does no bias of friendship, no plausible advantage, entice into a crooked path.—Bridges.
There is a gift of thankfulness, there is a gift of reconciliation, there is a gift of goodwill, all these are lawful. Besides these there is a gift of corruption; this is unlawful.—Muffet.
Bribery is an officious fellow, and a special bidder to the fatal banquet. (Pro_9:17-18.) He invites both forward and froward: the forward and yielding by promises of good cheer, secunda dies, that they shall have a fair day of it; the backward, honest man, by terrors and menaces that his cause shall else go westward (indeed, it goes to Westminster!). Yea, with pretence of commiseration and pity, as if the conscience of their right did animate him to their cause. Thus with a show of sanctimony they get a saint’s money; but indeed, argentum fæcundum, argumentum facundum,—there is no persuasion more pathetical than the purse’s. Bribery stands at the stairfoot in the robes of an officer, and helps up injury to the place of audience; thus Judas’s bag is drawn with two strings, made of silk and silver, favour and reward. All officers belong not to one court; their conditions alter with their places. There are some that seem so good that they lament the vices, whereupon they yet inflict but pecuniary punishments. Some of them are like the Israelites, with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other, with the motto of that old emblem,
In utrumque paratus; as the one daubs up justice, so the other cuts breaches of division. They mourn for truth and equity, as the sons of Jacob for Joseph, when themselves sold it; they exclaim against penal transgressions.… If the party be innocent, let his cause be sentenced for his innocence’s sake; if guilty, let not gold buy out his punishment. If the cause be doubtful, the judge shall see it worse when he hath blinded his eyes with bribes. But the will of the giver doth transfer right of the gift to the receiver. No; for it is not a voluntary will. But as a man is willing to give his purse to the thief rather than venture life or limb, so the poor man gives his bribes rather than hazard his cause. Thou sayest the thief has no right to the purse so given; God saith, Nor thou to the bribe … Far be from our souls this wickedness, that the ear which should be open to complaints is thus stopped with the ear-wax of partiality. Alas! poor Truth, that she must now be put to the charges of a golden ear-pick, or she cannot be heard.—T. Adams.

Proverbs 17:24
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:24. Many explain this verse to mean that the wise find wisdom everywhere while the fool seeks it everywhere but in the right place. Delitzsch and others understand the proverb to mean that wisdom is the aim of the man of understanding while the fool has no definite aim in life.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:24 IN CONNECTION WITH THE FIRST CLAUSE OF Pro_17:22
THE EYES OF A FOOL AND THOSE OF A WISE MAN
I. Even a fool is conscious that there is good to be found. If we meet a traveller in search of a certain city, even although he is journeying in the very opposite direction to that in which the city lies, yet the fact that he is journeying at all shows that he is conscious of its existence. His eyes may be turned away from it instead of towards it, his feet may be carrying him every moment farther from it, yet he would not be seeking it in any direction if he had not a persuasion that it was in existence. A man may be digging for gold in a soil in which gold has never been found, nor ever will be, but the fact that he is digging anywhere proves that he is alive to the fact that there is gold in the world. So the fool is here represented as seeking—which shows that he is persuaded that there is a certain good and desirable thing which is attainable. Most men are seeking—“There be many which say, Who will show us any good?” (Psa_4:6). They are in one direction and another looking for that which will satisfy and ennoble them, and this universal quest proves a universal sense of the existence of some desirable good.
II. But the fool looks afar for what he needs while it is close at hand. An idle, unpractical man of business spends his time in fancies that he could make his fortune if he were in some far-off land, and all the time misses the opportunities of doing so which are within his reach at home. The idle youth dreams of the great things he would do if he were a man, and neglects to do that which would ennoble and bless his present life. It is a very common characteristic of moral fools to imagine that they would be blest if they possessed something which is entirely beyond their reach, whereas means of obtaining the only real and lasting good are scattered around them so abundantly that they trample them every day under their feet. Every sinful man feels that it would be good for him to stand in a different relation to God, but he does not always seek that good in the direction in which it is to be found. He feels his need of a different disposition and character, but he does not go in quest of them where they may be found. In Pro_17:22 the wise man traces this habit of the moral fool to its source. He finds “no good” because he “is froward in heart.” The fruitlessness of his search is due to nothing else but to his own perversity. He would rather demand external evidence for the truth of revelation than test it by compliance with its precepts. He excuses his neglect of the plain commands of God, by dwelling upon mysteries connected with His gospel, which finite minds cannot solve. Israel of old was warned against this error. “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it (Deu_30:11-14). And Paul convicts them of the same sin after the coming of the Messiah. The Scribes and Pharisees in the days of Christ perversely looked everywhere for light, except to the moral sun which was shining in their midst.
III. The man whose understanding is enlightened not only knows what he needs, but he knows where to find it. It is a mark of practical sagacity in human affairs to know what is wanted, and to know also where to look for a supply of the want. A traveller ought not only to know the name of the city which he wants to find, but he ought to know upon which road to travel to find it. The physician ought not only to know what his patient needs, but he ought to know where to find the remedy. The statesman ought to be able to detect the nation’s needs, and he ought also to know where to look for a supply of the need. And so in every department of social life. A man’s life will be a failure if he can only discern that something is wanting in himself, in his family, or in his business, but does not know where to turn to supply the want. So is it in spiritual things. But he who is morally wise knows what is the real good to be aimed at, and knows where to seek it. He knows that “happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding,” that “the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold” (chap. Pro_3:13-14). And he knows that it is “before him”—that the “fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job_28:28); and that he need not go “to the ends of the earth” in quest of this, but that it is within the reach of every sincere and earnest seeker. (Many expositors give this verse a different rendering. See CRITICAL NOTES. It would then express a truth similar to that contained in Homiletics on chap. Pro_13:14, page 313).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Heaven is able to know so much more plainly than hell. The very thing which is the best enlightener, the minds of hell will be entirely without. “The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not in me. Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.” Hell, therefore, will always cavil. If saints judge better than sinners, how much better God than saints. “Wisdom is before (His) very face,” while the “eyes,” not of the “stupid” only, but of Gabriel himself, must be in the respect of the contrast, “at the end of the earth.” “At the end,” not in the middle, where the thing can be best judged, but at the dark extremity.—Miller.
The countenance is the glass of the mind, and the star of the countenance is the eye. “In the face of the prudent wisdom is present.” In the whole countenance of the discreet person, and in every part thereof, there is a wise moderation; for in his brows he carrieth calmness, in his eyes modesty, in his cheeks cheerfulness, in his lips comeliness, in his whole face a certain grace and staidness. “But the eyes of the fool are in the ends of the earth.” On the contrary, he who is simple or vain governeth not his very eyes aright, but letteth loose unto them the bridle in such sort as that they roll or rove after every vanity, or pry into every corner.—Muffet.
We must not only learn wisdom, but keep it in our eyes, that it may be a light to our feet; for a man that has wisdom in his mind, and forgets to use it, is like one that has money in his chest, but forgets to carry some of it with him when he is going a long journey, to bear his necessary expenses. He will be at a great loss, on many occasions, that has money in his house, but none in his pocket.—Lawson.
“But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.” He has no fixed and steady principle or rule; nothing on which he fixes his eye for his guidance. His thoughts are incessantly wandering after matters he has nothing to do with,—anything and everything but that which he should at the time be minding;—roving after every vanity, and keeping steadily to no pursuit. It is specially true of “things pertaining to salvation.” Wisdom, in this matter above all others, is “before him that hath understanding.” He looks to one point. He sees one thing to be needful. He sees the wisdom of God providing for it. There he fixes. And this is wisdom. It is ever before him. One end—one means. Whereas “the fool’s eyes are in the ends of the earth.” He has examined nothing. He roves at random, with no determinate ideas about the most interesting, by infinite degrees, of all concerns. Ask him how he hopes to be saved, and you immediately discover his thoughtless unsettledness. He is in “the ends of the earth.” His answer is to seek. It is here, it is there, it is nowhere. He hesitates, he supposes, he guesses, he is at a stand—he cannot tell.… There is another character that may here be meant, namely, the schemer, the visionary projector. The truly intelligent man applies the plain and obvious dictates of common sense to the attainment of his end; but the scheming visionary fool is ever after out-of-the-way plans, new and farfetched expedients.—Wardlaw.
Wisdom is full in the sight of the man of understanding, he beholdeth the beauty and perfection of it, he looketh into the worth and happiness of it. He sets it before him as a pattern, by which he frameth and ordereth all his ways, all his doings. His eye is never from it. It is the glass by which he espieth out the blemishes and defects of his life, and if he see in it a true resemblance of himself, it is not the glass that must be said to be true for that cannot be false, but it is himself that is a man of true worth; the glass approving his goodness, not he the goodness of the glass. But a fool beholds wisdom as a thing afar from him; he discerneth not what it is, nor what is the glory and excellency of it: he perceiveth nothing whereby either to take direction from it, or liking to it. He thinketh that he must go to the ends of the earth to get it, and if ever, it is in the end of his life, that he hath any sight of it.… Or else we may understand the latter part of the verse thus: That a fool’s eyes are in the ends of the earth, because in any trouble or distress he looketh all up and down the earth, from one end of it to the other for help and succour, and in the end as a fool remaineth helpless. But wisdom is before him that hath understanding, and stopping his eyes from looking too much that way, turneth them and directeth them up to heaven, where help ought to be sought and is sure to be found.—
Jermin.
Pro_17:25 is a repetition of the thought in Pro_17:21. For Homiletics and Comments see on chap. Pro_10:1.

Proverbs 17:26
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:26. Also, rather, even. It emphasizes the verb immediately following, viz., to punish, i.e., to inflict a pecuniary fine. Zockler renders the verse. “Also to punish the righteous is not good, to smile the noble contrary to justice,” and explains the meaning thus, “The fine as a comparatively light penalty which may easily at one time or another fall with a certain justice even on a just man, stands contrasted with the much severer punishment with stripes; and as these two verbal ideas are related, so are also the predicates ‘not good’ and ‘contrary to right’ (above desert, beyond all proportion to the just and reasonable) in the relation of a climax.” Delitzsch reads, “Also to inflict punishment on the righteous is not good; this, that one overthrows the noble on account of his righteousness,” i.e., it is not good when a ruler makes his power to punish to be felt by the innocent as well as by the guilty. Miller translates, “Even deserved punishment to the righteous does not seem good, when designed to chasten the willing with a view to holiness,” and explains his translation of the word generally translated princes, or the noble, by a reference to the Hebrew root from which it is derived and which may be rendered willing or generous.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:26
SMITING THE JUST
This verse has been variously rendered and explained. (See CRITICAL NOTES and the comments of different expositors). It suggests, however—
I. That punishment in itself is sometimes necessary and desirable. When the laws of the family are wise and good, it is a great misfortune for the children, and a great sin against them, not to visit their transgressions with a suitable punishment. And it is absolutely essential to the existence of a well-ordered state, that there should be punishment for those who rebel against righteous laws. Civil rule is of Divine ordination—“the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom_13:1). When, therefore, there is no just cause for civil rebellion, it is a sin not only against the state but against the Ruler of all the kingdoms of the earth, to break the established laws. Punishment forms a necessary part of the government of the universe. God has, both by example and precept, shown its necessity. When there was rebellion in heaven against a perfect government, punishment followed, which was proportioned to the greatness of the transgression—the sentence passed upon the first rebel in the universe and upon those who were confederate with him was a terrible one, but it was only commensurate to the exceeding magnitude of the offence. If rebellion against such a government had been allowed to go unpunished, it would have made way for universal anarchy. And a community of any kind without punishment for transgressors, is lacking in a most essential element of its peace and stability.
II. But those whose moral character fits them to be the awarders of punishment are often the victims of it. The natural and right order of things in this respect is often exactly the reverse of what it ought to be, and just and noble men are treated as transgressors and suffer the punishment which ought to fall upon their persecutors. Might is very far from being right in this world, and even in this country Richard Baxter stood at the bar while Judge Jeffries sat upon the bench. The apostles of the Lord suffered scourging at the hands of the council at Jerusalem (Act_5:40); Paul was condemned to death by Nero, and Incarnate Righteousness was crucified between two thieves at the instigation of some of the worst men that the world has ever seen. In all these cases, and in ten thousand others, the just were smitten, and as a rule they have suffered, not merely although they were righteous, but because they were so—it was their integrity that aroused the enmity of their persecutors—these moral “princes” were “stricken for equity.”
III. Such an abuse of power will in its turn be visited with punishment. Those who have thus unjustly condemned the righteous, have found in their own personal experience that “to punish the just is not good”—“not good” for their own peace of mind—not good for their future reputation—not good for the nation who instigated them or permitted them to do the deed. Haman found that it was not good for him to aim a blow at the upright Mordecai when he was himself hanged upon his own gallows; the Persian princes found it was not good to strike a prince for equity when they were themselves cast into the den of lions; Judge Jeffries found it out when he lay face to face with death in the Tower. And among all the nations whose history has confirmed the truth of the text, none stands out so prominently as that one whose king was the author of the proverb. The punishment of the just—the striking of moral princes for equity—was one of the most prominent of their national crimes, and He whose death at their hands filled up the measure of their iniquity, declared that it was the great cause of their national ruin. “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say if we had been in the days of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves that ye are the children of them that killed the prophets … Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and Scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” (Mat_23:29-35). The Jewish nation has been for nearly nineteen centuries a witness that “to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.”
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Even deserved punishment to the righteous does not seem good when designed to chasten the willing with a view to holiness. “Even.” This seems to have been treated as a word de trop. King James’ men make it also; as though Solomon grew tired of sameness, and broke the monotone by a new opening vocable. But with the above rendering it takes its usual sense. “Righteous.” This word and “punishment” bear the weight of the word “even.” Even the righteous, who ought to know better; and “even punishment,” which the righteous, at least, ought to be willing to bear.—Miller.
Often is the wise man’s meaning much beyond his words. To punish the just not only is not good, but it is “the abomination” (Pro_17:15)—“an evident token of perdition” (Philip. Pro_1:28). If rulers are “a terror to good works,” they are ministers of God in authority, but ministers of Satan in administration. And how will such injustice “abide the day of His coming,” when He shall “lay judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet!”—Bridges.
The word prince signifies noble, and is differently understood. It may be applied to the nobility of station, or to that of mind. Some give preference to the latter; and by interpreting it of the noble-minded, and the “just” in the former clause, of the righteous or the people of God, make the two clauses thus to correspond, and to have much the same import. It seems, however, both more natural and more comprehensive to consider two ideas as expressed; the one relating to the duty of the ruler, and the other to that of the ruled. It is the incumbent duty of the ruler, on the one part, to administer justice with strict impartiality. It is the duty, on the other part, of subjects to countenance, encourage, and support the ruler in the equitable administration of his trust. To “strike” is evidently to be understood, not literally alone of actual striking, but of “smiting with the tongue” as well as with the fist or the rod,—of all kinds of vituperation and abuse, and attempts to bring the throne into disrepute and odium, and unsettle its stability, by shaking the confidence and attachment of the community. There are many occasions in which a man may be tempted to this. He may, in particular cases, have his mind biassed by pride, by self-interest, by partiality towards a friend, by political predilections; so that even when all has been done with impartial investigation, and the judgment pronounced according to the legitimate rules of evidence and demands of equity, there may be unfair, unreasonable and angry dissatisfaction; and the prince may be smitten for justice. Every man ought to be on his guard against this. The higher the responsibility,—the more burdensome and difficult the trust,—and the more serious the results of bringing authorities and the laws into disesteem, and unsettling public confidence in them,—ought to be the amount of our reluctant caution in pronouncing censure. Another remark may be ventured. One of the great difficulties with which governments of great nations have to contend, arises from the variety of crossing and contending interests with which they have to deal. How anxious soever they may honestly be, to allow no undue bias to draw them from the line of impartial justice, yet there is hardly a measure they can adopt that does not affect differently different classes of the community; so that, from their various predisposing circumstances, that shall appear to one class—to those in one particular department of trade or commerce—the very essence of injustice, which by another is lauded as a most unexceptionable exemplification of impartial equity. This ought surely to have the effect—I do not by any means say of forbidding the most vigilant observance and the freest and most searching scrutiny and discussion of every measure, and the exposure of its evil or questionable character and tendency—but assuredly of procuring some allowance for the difficulty of the task of pleasing all parties, and some moderation in the tone of censure even where to us the grounds for it are clear and palpable. No man who knows himself will affirm, in almost any case, that, placed, in other circumstances, he might not see with other eyes. I speak in general. There are cases in which the interests of a suffering country are, to a vast extent, involved, in which it becomes every man’s paramount duty to speak out and to speak plainly, and to make the ears of the rulers to tingle with the outcry of humanity and justice. I would further apply the spirit of this verse to the case of
arbitrators. We have ourselves, it may be, consented to submit a litigated point to arbitration. We do so with a full persuasion of our being in the right—of our claim being the just one. But the arbiters unite in giving it against us. It would be most unreasonable on our part to retain a grudge, especially at the one appointed by ourselves, on this account. Our reference implied confidence in his impartiality and honour, and implied a pledge of cheerful acquiescence. To grumble, to censure, and to withdraw our friendship, would be indeed to “strike him for equity.” He would have proved himself unworthy of his trust, if his disposition to please and serve us had been too strong for principle, conscience, and oath. There is one government, in which “the just” are never “punished”—all whose laws and all whose sanctions are the perfection of equity. But alas! it is under that very government that the spirit expressed by the phrase “striking princes for equity” is most fearfully manifested. All the murmurings of sinners against either the law of God or its revealed and threatened penalty, are the very essence, in its deepest malignity, of this spirit.—Wardlaw.
Righteous men are princes in all lands (Psa_45:16); yea, they are kings in righteousness as Melchisedec. Indeed they are somewhat obscure kings as he was, but kings they appear to be, by comparing Mat_13:17 with Luk_10:24; “many righteous,” saith Matthew, “many kings,” saith Luke. Now, to strike a king is high treason; and although princes have put up blows, as when one struck our Henry VI., he only said, “Forsooth, you do wrong yourself more than me, to strike the Lord’s anointed.”—Trapp.

Proverbs 17:27-28
CRITICAL NOTES
Pro_17:27. Excellent, rather a cool spirit.
The homiletic teaching of Pro_17:1 is the same as that of chap. Pro_15:17. (See pages 421, 422.)
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_17:27-28
TWO BADGES OF A WISE MAN
I. Reticence of speech. This subject has been dwelt on before. See on chap. Pro_10:19-21. The verses before us suggest further that a man who is sparing of words is not necessarily a man of abundant wisdom, for even a fool may hold his peace sometimes. Solomon elsewhere tells us that “a fool uttereth all his mind” (Pro_29:11); but the fool of this text is not so foolish as to do that. It has been remarked that “by silence a fool abates something of his senselessness, and since he gets the opportunity to collect himself and to reflect, a beginning of wisdom is developed in him” (Von Gerlach). It argues some amount of wisdom in a man if he is silent when he has nothing to say which is worth the saying. But the false conclusion must not be drawn, that every man who is not given to much speech is a man of great understanding and of vast mental resources. It is much better that the stone should remain upon the mouth of a well of impure water, but it must not be taken for granted, because the well is kept closed, that there is a supply of life-giving water within.
II. Calmness of temper. It is a mark of wisdom to strive after a “cool” (excellent) “spirit.” 1. It makes life more pleasant. A man who allows himself to be vexed and irritated by all the annoyances of every-day life has no enjoyment of his existence. A fretful and hasty temper makes every bitter draught more bitter, and takes the sweetness out of the cup that would otherwise be a pleasant one. 2. It makes a man more respected and more useful. A man who cannot curb his temper is a despicable object, and will certainly be despised. A passionate man may be pitied and excused, but he cannot be respected. Hence he cannot have much influence for good upon others. This subject also has been treated before. See Homiletics on chap. Pro_14:17; Pro_14:29, pages 363 and 386.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
“He that restrains his words knows knowledge.” The words are precise. It is the fact that he “knows knowledge” that impels a man to restrain his words. If he did not “know knowledge,” if he had not light, and did not know it when he saw it; if he did not see light in God, and know it when he has seen it, and really see enough of it to convince him that “God is light,” he could not stand the darkness. The unfortunates in hell have no light to enable them to endure the dark. But the saint, knowing knowledge, and seeing that it exists in God, is balanced enough against the mysteries to enable him to restrain his words.… The wise man asserts that this silence is a chief mark of piety.… If a man do shut his lips he is wise.… The fool is a wise man when he is silent, and when, in meek submission, he bows to what he cannot understand.—Miller.
He cannot be known for a fool who says nothing. He is a fool, not who hath unwise thoughts, but who utters them. Even concealed folly is wisdom.—Bp. Hall.
He that hath knowledge hath not many words: the fulness of the one causeth in him a scarcity of the other. And there is nothing that he spendeth idly more unwillingly than his words. But yet, having knowledge, he knoweth both when to spare and when to spend.… The original words here are knowing knowledge, for many know much, but it is not knowledge that they know. Some labour hard and waste their time to know needless vanities, which, being better unknown, have not true knowledge in them.… Right knowledge is the knowledge of the Lord, and he that knoweth this spareth his words to spend them to God’s glory. And as it is in many the penury of their knowledge that causeth the superfluity of their words, so chiefly it is the lack of this knowledge. For by this knowledge we learn that an account must be given for every idle word.… Silence being so rare a virtue, where wisdom doth command it, it is accounted a virtue where folly doth impose it. He that fails of this first help, and is so far gone in folly as that his tongue outgoes his understanding, yet hath a second help, and that is to stop, and shut his lips before they go too far, which, though not the first, yet is a second praise; and he hath the repute of some understanding who either seeth, or is thought to see, his want of understanding.—Jermin.
It has been safely enough alleged that of two men equally successful in the business of life, the man who is silent will be generally deemed to have more in him than the man who talks: the latter “shows his hand;” everybody can tell the exact length of his tether; he has trotted himself out so often that all his points and paces are a matter of notoriety. But of the taciturn man, little or nothing is known. “The shallow murmur but the deep are dumb.” Friends and acquaintances shake their heads knowingly, and exclaim with an air of authority, that “So and so” has a great deal more in him than people imagine. They are as often wrong as right, but what need that signify to the silent man?… To follow out one of the Caxtonian essayist’s illustrations,—When we see a dumb strong-box, with its lid braced down by iron clasps and secured by a jealous padlock, involuntarily we suppose that its contents must be infinitely more precious than the gauds and nicknacks which are unguardedly scattered about a lady’s drawing-room. “Who could believe that a box so rigidly locked had nothing in it but odds and ends, which would be just as safe in a bandbox?”—Jacox.

Proverbs 17:1
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
The maker and breaker of a family’s peace
Truth sweetens the relations of life; falsehood eats like rust into their core. When they live in love, men meet each other softly and kindly, as the eyelids meet. Envy casts grains of sand between the two, and under each. Every movement then sends a shooting pain through all the body, and makes the salt tears flow. So good are peace and love for human kind, that with them a family will be happy, though they have nothing else in the world; and without them miserable, although they have the whole world at their command. A dinner of herbs and a stalled ox indicate the two extremes—humble poverty on the one side and pampered luxury on the other. When love leaves the family circle, it is no longer a piece of God’s own handiwork, and there is no security for safety in any of its motions. Love is the element in which all its relations are set, for softness and safety; and when it has evaporated, nothing remains but that each member of the house should be occupied in mounting a miserable guard over his own interests, and against the anticipated contact of the rest. In that dislocated house, each dreads all, and all dread each. Some rich families live in love, and doubly enjoy their abundance: some poor families quarrel over their herbs. Riches cannot secure happiness, and poverty cannot destroy it. Whether it be husband or wife, parent or child, master or servant, the disturber of a house must answer to its almighty Protector for abusing His gifts, and thwarting His gracious designs. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Proverbs 17:3
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.
God’s fining pot and furnace
The text is a parabolical description of God’s almighty power and wisdom, for the discovery and reformation of the closest, and subtlest, and perfectest thing in the world, which is the heart of man.
I. The proposition. First part of the verse. The metals mentioned are silver and gold. The instruments are the fining pot and the furnace. Good men are like gold and silver in sundry regards.

1. From the solidity and substantialness of their principles.
2. From the purity and sincerity of their conversation.
3. From the splendour of their example.
   Their hearts are like gold and silver, but it is like gold and silver in the ore, which has a great deal of dross mixed with it, and must be separated from it by God’s instruments of purification. The “fining pot” represents the Word of God, the “furnace” represents the rod of God, or affliction. The furnace is not for the hurt of the gold, but for its advantage. Labour to be bettered by every hand of God upon us, that so therein we may close with His gracious ends.
   II. The reddition. “But the Lord trieth the hearts.” This adversative particle hath a threefold emphasis in it.
4. An emphasis of proportion. Taking “but” for “so.” The Lord is no less able or careful to try the hearts of the sons of men than the goldsmith is his silver and gold. God tries the heart either in a way of discovery or of purification. He tries them so as to discern them, and make known what they are. This kind of trial has two seasons, this present time and the world to come. He tries them to purge them, and remove their corruptions from them. This He does out of love to themselves, that He may make them vessels of honour. In reference to their works, that they may bring forth more fruit. For the sake of others.
5. An emphasis of exception. As restraining the skill of the refiner in this particular. He may be able to refine his metals, but he cannot try the heart.
6. An emphasis of appropriation. “The Lord trieth the hearts,” i.e., the Lord alone does it. This is His prerogative. None other can try the heart thus authoritatively, and none can try it so effectually. (T. Horton, D. D.)

Heart tests
The chemical analyst has different tests for different poisons. If he suspect the presence of arsenic, he will use one thing to detect that; if he is looking for antimony, he will take another to discover that; if he is trying for strychnine, he will employ quite another to bring that to light. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Religious lessons from metallurgy
To get the dross out of us, this is the sovereign aim of our training in this world. In education the main purpose is to free the mental faculties of the dross of sloth and prejudice. In active life the great success is in confirming the fibre of energy and character. In higher relations the object of the Almighty is to burn out the dross of the spirit and make us noble and pure. What is dross in human character? Suppose you are inclined to avarice, the excessive love of money. If you think of your own character as strengthened, made better, do you think of that quality of avarice as untouched? Do you think of it as stronger than it is now? Or do you think of it as weaker, as melted down in part, and poured off from your soul like scum? Now consider profanity, levity, intemperance, lust, moral sluggishness, vanity, haughtiness, insolence of words or manners, irreverence, rebellion in feeling against Providence—translate these into natural language, into the language of metals and the crucible, what are they?—valuable elements or foul ones, dross or gold? But take the converse qualities—reverence, purity, zeal for good, aspiration, generous use of money, the spirit of sacrifice, charity, devotion to the will of God—how do you represent these in your imagination? You say at once these are the precious elements of human nature and human life. These are the pure silver and gold of the moral world. Now, God is seeking to bring out these qualities into greater concentration and prominence by His moral government. Left to ourselves, to the wandering, undirected impulses of our constitution, mentally and morally, we should always be in the ore state. The hardships of life, the tough conditions that surround the attainment of truth and the training of character, are God’s reducing and refining processes. I do not mean to maintain here that all the hard conditions of life can be explained by this figure, or by any figure or theory of man’s device. But a world without hardships to such beings as we are would be a far worse, a far more disastrous world than the present. What would a ton of ore, taken out in one slab, be likely to say if it could be conscious, when carried to the batteries of the mill, and then washed for gold, and roasted to drive off sulphur, and pounded again, and mixed with quicksilver, and heated once more to drive off the mercury, and melted again into a mixed bar, and assayed, and still once more melted and granulated into cold water, and then gnawed by nitric acid, to take up the silver and leave the gold as sediment, and then precipitated from the acid as pure silver powder, and washed, and packed into cakes by hydraulic presses to squeeze the water out of it, and melted again in bars, and run through rollers, and punched, and milled, and stamped—thus becoming fit to serve the daily necessities of civilisation? Suppose it should be told, half-way in the process, that all this was good for it, was part of a great plan, supremely wise, for its permanent benefit I Would it not be likely to say, “Why did you not leave me in my sluggish content in the darkness of the mine? I was happy there. I had no dream there of a higher and better lot. I should have never known these terrible buffets and scourgings and bitings and pressures if I had been left there. Oh, for that gloom and calm again!” In its silver-bar state, afterwards in its coin-state, will it say so? It can look back then on the trials and pains, and see their meaning and read their bitter but splendid benevolence. We see enough now to show that the best qualities of human nature are brought out and tested by difficulty and suffering. To the choice characters of the world God can say now, as the Spirit said through Isaiah, “I have refined thee, but not with silver: I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” And if this world is designed not as the final state for the enjoyment of God, but as the state in which we get the preparation of quality within for the true knowledge and enjoyment of Him, we find the whole secret of life—of its terrors and its hidden mercy—when we follow the ore from its cave to its appearance as the clean silver and the flaming gold. Do not fail either to receive the searching lesson as to judgment hidden in this analogy. The ore is tested thoroughly at the final process of its history. The assayer, by balance and fire, determines exactly what its quality is and its worth. And the processes of God’s government are taking us to judgment. It is to be known and seen one day just what we are. To the great judgment of truth you and I, and all the millions living, are moving with every heart-beat, and nothing can save us from its severity and its rewards. “The fining-pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold; but the Lord trieth the hearts.”

1. If we pass now to consider sectarian divisions and strifes in the Christian Church, we can gain some help in a right estimate of them and for a wise charity, from analogies in the science of metallurgy. The great object of the New Testament and of Christianity is to increase religious qualities practically in the world, to add pure working forces to life, so that men will be nobler and happier in themselves and in their relations to each other. God has made different kinds of ores, and equally rich in different kinds. For some kinds of mineral one process is admirable; for other kinds a very different treatment is essential. And human nature is analogous. Evils are thrown off from men, and good is practically brought out, by a variety of spiritual methods; and that Church or system of training is the best for a soul which fits its temperament and quickens its will. In some men the good is quickly and easily appealed to and developed. A simple faith and administration will reach and awaken it. Others have the sulphurets in the soul. They are obstinate. Common batteries and cool washings do not do the work. They need heat, fire, the treatment of the element of fear; that takes hold of them. Calvinism is the process that reduces their stubborn self-will and makes them agents of good. Give the proper temperaments to each Church: let the Episcopalians take those that can be best reached by their methods, and the Methodists take their natural material, and the Swedenborgians and the Quakers and the Calvinists theirs, and the Unitarians theirs, and great good will be done. The world of character will be richer. The work of the Spirit will be variously and properly performed. “There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.” In science men appeal to the facts. If you put in a ton of ore and take out a pound of gold, you may say that there ought to be two pounds, but you can’t say that the process does not produce any gold. And if a system of Christian administration produces honesty, integrity, principle, charity, interest in worship, interest in good ideas and good government and liberty and order, quiet and elevated homes, readiness to serve others and to hold gifts and treasures partly in trust for others—are these qualities to be denied to be good because the process which produces them is different from the ordinary customs? The melter and assayer does not make coin; society does not allow him to put his stamp on money and say, “All gold is spurious which is not poured from my crucibles.” It is his office to produce gold. The Government coins and issues it, and allows that great office to no private hands. So the business of Churches is to produce purity, reverence integrity, charity, readiness to do good in all forms. God rates and stamps the products, and His judgment is the final and the only one as to the honesty or spuriousness of the products of the sanctuaries. There is one other point upon which I wish to make our subject bear in illustration.
2. There is a great discussion now about the Bible, especially the Old Testament, and its religious value. Is it a verbally inspired, completely accurate, and authoritative revelation? The Old Testament is a very wonderful book, and its value in the religious and providential training of the world cannot readily be stated. But it is not a continuous revelation. It does not offer you concentrated spiritual truth in all its pages, the pure silver and gold of the Spirit. The Old Testament is a great lode, or precious mineral vein, upheaved and winding through the strata of a national history. There are different kinds and qualities of ore in it, some easy, some difficult of reduction to the pure standard of moral truth. The Old Testament, compared with all other ancient national literatures, is a religious gold and silver vein immensely, incalculably, divinely rich. That is its distinction in the world, and will be its distinction for ever. And by the statement and authority of Jesus Himself, we get its concentrated value in the laws of love to God and our neighbour. If you understand little of commentaries and theological discussion and council lore, and have these, you have what Jesus Christ called the essentials. Knowledge of mining is good, but its practical value is in furnishing the silver for human use. This spirit of love is the silver into which the inspiration collected from the ore of the Bible is finally reduced. If you do not possess this spirit, your Biblical learning is only intellectual wisdom, your soundness of faith is only correct thinking; and though you may be baptized every day in the name and forms of the most orthodox creed, you advance not by a step towards the kingdom of heaven. (T. Starr King.)

Proverbs 17:4
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
The conversational likings of bad men
Men’s characters may be known by the conversations they most relish. The text enables us to see the kind of conversation that bad men like.
I. They like flattery. “A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips.” The flatterer is a man of false lips. The more corrupt men are, the more blindly credulous to everything that makes them appear better than they are. He who compliments them palliates their offences, gives them credit for virtues they possess not, is their favourite companion, and they ever “give heed” to his lips. One of the best things recorded of George
III. is, that one of his first acts after his ascension to the throne was to issue an order prohibiting any of the clergy who should be called to preach before him from paying him any compliment in their discourses. His Majesty was led to this from the fulsome adulation which Dr. Thomas Wilson, Prebendary of Westminster, thought proper to deliver in the Chapel Royal, and for which, instead of thanks, he received from his royal auditor a pointed reprimand, his Majesty observing that he came to chapel to hear the praise of God, not his own.
II. They like calumny. The liar is also the “wicked doer.” The “naughty tongue,” whilst it speaks flatteries and falsehoods of all kinds, speaks calumnies also. And the worse the man is the more welcome to his depraved heart are the reports of bad things concerning others.

1. Calumny gratifies the pride of evil men. It helps them to cherish the thought that they are not worse than others, perhaps better.
2. Calumny gratifies the malignity of evil men. The worse a man is the more malevolence he has in him; the more gratified he is at hearing bad things concerning other men. “If,” said Bishop Hall, “I cannot stop other men’s mouths from speaking ill, I will either open my mouth to reprove it or else I will stop mine ears from hearing it, and let him see in my face that he hath no room in my heart.” (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Proverbs 17:10
A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.
Moral and corporeal chastisement
I. The one in its sphere is as legitimate as the other. Look at the sphere of each.

1. The sphere of the moral. It is for the wise. The “reproof” is for men open to reason and impression—men whose natures are susceptible to moral arguments and appeals.
2. The sphere of the corporeal. It is for “fools.” Of what service is an argument to an ox, or a whip to a soul?
   II. The one in its sphere is more thorough than the other. “A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.”
3. The one is more painful than the other. What is pain arising from a few lashes on the body compared to the pain arising in the soul from a conviction of moral wrong? What pain did reproof give David! (Psa_51:1-19.). What agony did the reproving look of Christ give Peter!
4. The one is more corrective than the other. Corporeal chastisement will never do the fool any moral good. You cannot whip the moral devil out of men (Pro_27:22). But moral chastisements correct the wrongs of the soul. The fires of moral conviction separate the gold from the dross. (Homilist.)

Proverbs 17:12
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
The cruelty of fools
The rage of wild beasts is short-lived, and their power is circumscribed within narrow limits. Man has more cause to dread his brother than all the beasts of the forest. Ambition, jealousy, and superstition are sad sources of cruelty. We all abhor the deeds of cruelty which the “fool in his folly” so frequently commits; but alas! we have not all an adequate estimate of the guilt attaching to the man at the moment, and in the act of entering into his folly. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Proverbs 17:14
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
Strife and contention
Here contention seems to differ from strife, the former being more general, the latter more particular. Strife is by implication wholly forbidden, as being most mischievous; contention is regulated and ordered to be left off, in due time, before it be meddled with. Contending by reason and argument is frequently a duty recommended and practised by the best of men. But so soon as the contending parties refuse to hear reason, and proceed with heat and passion, then arises strife. Then every method made use of to carry a cause tends to widen the breach and inflame the adversaries. If the matter of the strife should only be unseasonable it may nevertheless prove mischievous and fatal by drawing men off from attending to things of the greatest importance to the public welfare, and by souring their temper, make union and concord impracticable. For the manner alone in which strife is usually carried on renders it impossible to be kept in due bounds. Even the end itself, for which the strife was at first begun, is neglected or forgotten. The parties engaged go on from skirmishes to battles, from the provoking of wrath to the drawing of blood. Would you avoid strife, and the mischiefs which naturally follow from it? Then leave off contention in due season: “before it be meddled with,” i.e., before the contention be too much diffused or blended with passion; or the parties proceed to open rupture and hostilities; or other persons mix themselves in the quarrel. Compare “It is an honour for a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling.” The advice is so excellent and so necessary that one cannot but wish means might be found to put it in practice. When men of birth, education, and fortune are governed in all questions by the dictates of reason and divest themselves of all prejudice and passion, they soon reduce all their differences to an inconsiderable quantity, and settle in such a manner as candour and equity can approve. Let every one, then, in his sphere and station, endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: to quench every spark of discord or strife. To bring this happy work to effect there is but one certain and never-failing method, which is this, to regulate our whole conduct by the Word of God, from whence we are instructed to practise every duty recommended by right, reason, and the best policy. (John Newcombe, D. D.)

The beginning of strife
The history of the French port of St. Valery, where William I embarked for the conquest of England in 1066, may well illustrate the truth that the beginning of strife is as the letting out of water. The success of the Norman enterprise did not prevent but occasioned the return of the tide of war after an interval of two centuries. Then during the Hundred Years War it was first burnt by the English, and then by Charles the Bad of Navarre. After that it was destroyed by Louis XI to keep it out of our hands, and in later years it was sacked by Leaguers, Royalists, and Spaniards, so that the historian of Abbeville says that “history has failed to keep count of its disasters.” (J. F. B. Tinling, B. A.)

Strife
Crabb makes a difference between discord and strife. He says, “Discord evinces itself in various ways—by looks, words, or actions; strife displays itself in words, or acts of violence. Discord is fatal to the happiness of families; strife is the greatest enemy to peace between neighbours; discord arose between the goddesses on the apple being thrown into one assembly. Homer commences his poem with the strife that took place between Agamemnon and Achilles.” The passages suggests three ideas concerning strife.
I. It is an evil of terrific progress. This strife spreads. One angry word leads to another, one act of resentment, will kindle a fire that may set a whole neighbourhood or a nation into conflagration. A drop of strife soon becomes a river, and the river a torrent.
II. It is an evil that should be checked. “Therefore leave off contention.” Every lover of his race and his God should suppress it. It is a desolating thing, it makes sad havoc in families, neighbourhoods, churches, nations.

1. Be inspired with the spirit of peace.
2. Maintain the character of peace.
3. Use the argument of peace. Thus he will check the spirit of strife.
   III. It is an evil which can be easily checked at the beginning. You may mend the embankment with tolerable ease at the stage when it emits only a few oozing drops. The mightiest and most furious beasts of prey you can easily destroy at their birth; the most majestic and resistless river you can stop at its spring head. So it is with strife, in its incipient state you may easily crush it. Crush the upas in the germ, tread out the conflagration in the spark. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Proverbs 17:15
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.
Our estimate of other men
We may regard such an estimate from three points of view: in its effect on those thus estimated, on society in general, and on ourselves. Did we ever question with ourselves, “On what is my estimate of others usually founded”? If we did we should surely be dissatisfied with our present practice. It would be unnatural and absurd to pretend that no influence should be exerted over our estimate of men by the organs of public opinion; equally unreasonable to decry them as perfectly unreliable in the matter. But there may be very much untruthfulness, short of what is utter and absolute; very much which is utter and absolute, and yet escapes detection. What is the duty of Christians with regard to the blame and praise of others? Insist first on the general duty of conscientiousness in forming all our estimates of other men. It should be our aim as Christians, not obsequiously to follow public opinion, but to act for ourselves and for God. There is a timidity, even amounting to cowardice, among us in forming and expressing our opinion of other men. The body of Christian men among us seems to have abjured the duty of conscientiousness; and this abjuration is one of the most fearful symptoms of our times. The duty of estimating others as in the sight of God is not by any means a light one, but a most solemn one. Unholy and unprincipled life, wherever found, ought to be protested against by the servants of God. There is a sad tendency among us to overlook those faults which fall in with the practice of the day, which consist in the neglect of unwelcome duties, or the committal of lightly-esteemed sins. The second person who is said to be an abomination to the Lord is “he that condemneth the just.” We are always more prone to condemn than to justify. It is an abuse of our instinct of self-preservation to be ever ready with our hostility to other men. The general propensity to depress others renders it very easy, in any case, to condemn. Point out a few ways by which we may guard ourselves against this tendency to condemn the just. The first caution is this—look ever at the life which is palpable rather than at the motive or the creed, which are usually mere matters of surmise. A second caution is, avoid and refuse to use, and protest against the use of, all party names. Another caution is this—form your opinions of others, not at the prompting of the world, but as under the eye of God. For all our most secret judgments of men and things we are accountable to Him. (H. Alford, B. D.)

Just estimates
It was a saying of Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, that a republic walks upon two feet; one being just punishment for the unworthy, the other due reward for the worthy. If it fail in either of these, it necessarily goes lame. How if it fail in both?

Proverbs 17:16
Wherefore is there a price in the hand of fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
Opportunities of youth
The term “fool” is not used in the modern sense of a man without reason; but rather in the sense of an unreasoning man. The term is applied much as we apply the term “wicked man.” The figure in the text is one drawn from commerce. It represents a man who has been given a sum which he is to invest. He spends part of it in dissipation, part in unwise and unprofitable commodities, and some part in shadows and cheats and pretences; and when he has expended that sum he is a bankrupt. Wicked or foolish men have committed to them a price or a capital, and what is the use if they have no heart to use it right? What good does it do them if they do not employ it as they should? The idea that men are sent into this world for a purpose, and that they are equipped for the accomplishment of that purpose, is given in both the Testaments. Men comprehensively have committed to them, in bodily organs, and in their mental equipment, a power singularly complex, but wise and efficient, and as compared with the agencies of nature in its adaptations to the work of life, surpassing the human frame itself. Natural laws are the great agencies of nature that are being used or fructified by the volition of man. Each man stands at the centre of a sphere of possibilities where he, through knowledge, may come to control natural law and work in his limited sphere as God works in the infinite sphere. Then there is the good name and fame which descends to many of us from our parents. There is a presumption that stock and blood will tell, and that a good father will have good children. It is invaluable to a young man beginning life to have the kindly expectation, the generous sympathy and goodwill of those to whom he comes. What a price is put into the hands of the young in our time in the matter of education; if a man has a heart for knowledge, if he has an ambition to acquire it, and if he is quick to discern, the eye, the ear, every sense becomes the minister of education. Alas! that there should be so many who care nothing for it! Closely connected with this is the capital of bodily health. Good health is a wonderful help to morality, to nobility of character, and to calmness and decision of judgment and action. Next is the capacity of industry. I believe fervently in enterprise, but I also believe fervently in the good old-fashioned notions about patient industry. Every person has that in him by which he can win a moderate success in life by simply doing, day by day, the right things, however humble a sphere he may be in. To many have also been given the invaluable qualities of integrity, honour, and fidelity. These are very valuable from a commercial point of view. A man who is honest, and truthful, and full of integrity, when he has finally been proved, has everybody engineering for him. Then look upon life as a very solemn thing. God has given you one life, and has put capital into your hands, and sent you into this world to buy immortality. Do not squander that price. Listen to the voice of wisdom. (H. Ward Beecher.)

Means and abilities to get wisdom
We may define wisdom to be a right apprehension of those things that are best for us, and a diligent pursuit of them by such means as are agreeable to the laws of piety and virtue. Men have sometimes abilities and opportunities to act wisely for themselves, but neglect them, and have no heart to make their just advantages of them.

1. A man of good natural faculties and endowments of mind may be said to have the price of wisdom in his hand, when he hath no heart to it.
2. This price may be understood of the schools of good education and learning. Those who are brought up in such places often act the part of fools.
3. Riches are in many respects the price of wisdom, in that they enable their owners to buy books, to hire teachers, and to be at leisure to spend their time in the study of useful learning.
4. Men of great power and authority have the price of wisdom in their hands.
5. We have a noble price put into our hands to get wisdom, in the ordinances of religion and means of grace we enjoy. These advantages are the portion of every Christian. But these opportunities are sadly often in the hands of those who have no heart to make use of them. This appears—
   (1) From the want of zeal in attending public worship; and—
   (2) From the errors and vices of our common conversation.
   We often condemn our own mismanagement of the talents which God has given us, and look back with much regret upon those opportunities which have slipped through our hands. But the power is often given without the will, so that we suffer many opportunities to pass away and be lost without improving them to any good purpose. (W. Reading, M. A.)

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
The unrivalled Friend
Few men enjoy from others the highest and truest form of friendship. There is, however, a higher friendship among men of principle, among men of virtue. Where godliness builds her house, true friendship finds a rest. Take this text and refer it to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. The endurance of the love of Jesus Christ. He loved before time began. He loved you when time began with you. Since that day this Friend has loved us at all times. Consider the reality of Christ’s love at all times. His love has never been a thing of mere words and pretensions. Consider the nature of the love of Christ, as accounting for its endurance and reality. His love sprang from the purest possible motives. Christ’s love was a wise love, not blind as ours often is. He loved us knowing exactly what we were whom He loved. His love is associated continually with an infinite degree of patience and pity. He is so constant in His love, because He sees us as what we are to be. He is described as “born for adversity,” the adversity of the fall, and of tribulation.
II. Refer the text to the Christian. You have found Jesus Christ to be a true brother and a blessed friend; now let the same be true of you. If Christ be such a friend to us, what manner of people ought we to be towards Him? We should be friends that love Christ at all times. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

A brother born for adversity
I. Adversity is the common lot of brotherhood. It comes sooner or later to all of us. It is a necessity of our nature. It is a wise appointment of God.
II. The ties of brotherhood are formed for adversity. We are united in families for purposes of mutual succour.
III. adversity tends to sanctify the intercourse of the brotherhood. Some of the most valuable of our lessons are taught us in our intercourse with one another.
IV. In adversity we are led to know, in an especial manner, the presence of the elder brother with the brotherhood. Jesus became a brother in adversity. His sufferings and sorrows enabled Him to sympathise with us in all our struggles and troubles.
V. It is by adversity that the whole brotherhood are gathered at last into our Father’s house above. (Anon.)

Men’s friendship and Christ’s
Friendship is no fiction; all history bears record to its reality. There are many relationships in this world dignified by the name of friendship which really do not deserve it, as, for example, acquaintanceship, the freedom to interchange visits of courtesy, and association in business. These pass for friendship; but they are only its shadows. The perfect friendship is a very exacting relation.

1. The first value of friendship is that it will give support in weakness, understanding amid evil reports, consolation in sorrow, and help in the bearing of burdens; and that is no friendship which breaks down under such demands. Trouble is a splendid thing for any man if it only sifts his friends; it saves him a deal of trouble in other ways. There is an admirable compensation about our existence.
2. The second service of a friend is that he is one to whom all our thoughts may be uttered, one to whom we may be absolutely sincere. Ordinarily, a man is only honest when he is alone; let another man come in, and hypocrisy begins. Our words are a kind of clothes to hide our real selves. But with a friend we are absolutely open; we do all our thinking aloud, we stand erect before him, and find in his mind a true picture of what we are. Such a friend is a masterpiece of nature.
3. A third service is that it affords us the possession of one soul to whom we may be tender without shame. See the tenderness between David and Jonathan, and between Achilles and Patroclus. When one man becomes dear to another they have both reached the goal of fortune. By a tender friendship the Divine part in us finds exercise.
4. The fourth service which friendship renders is that it helps us to know ourselves and to know God. When you enjoy friendship most it is in contrast to solitude, and you seek solitude again, in order to know what you have gained from your friend. You cannot reckon up a profit and loss account while you are in his company; you have to retire to your own soul’s communion in order to ascertain your gain and loss thereby. Thus you have a compensation for intercourse with another soul by introspection of your own. Further, as the power that keeps the atoms together in one body is of God, the tie between your friend’s heart and your own is of God, and you cannot let your consciousness of friendship deepen without deepening at the same time your consciousness of God. (H. H. Snell.)

Friendship in adversity
Love, while it remains essentially the same, appears tenfold more loving when its object has fallen from prosperity into poverty; as a lamp burning in daylight shines much more brightly in the darkness. Many will court you while you have much to give; when you need to receive, the number of your friends will be diminished, but their quality will be improved. Your misfortune, like a blast of wind upon the thrashed corn, will drive the chaff away, but the wheat will remain where it was. How very sweet sometimes is the human friendship that remains when sore adversity has sifted it! (W. Arnot, D. D.)

Friendship
The more we understand the world the better we comprehend the Bible. The Spirit that overshadowed its writers knew all the ins and outs of human hearts, all the mysteries of human guilt and grief.
I. The ideal of friendship. Every man cannot be a friend. Friendships cannot be willed, they must be made. They grow; they want resemblances. Earthly friendships have often some element of weakness in them. No man can know more of his brother without knowing the worst as well as the best of him. Friendship with Christ alone satisfies. Here is—

1. The test of friendship. “At all times.” True only of Christ.
2. The preciousness of friendship.
3. The future of friendship.
   II. The ideal of brotherhood. “A brother is born for adversity.”
4. This is a unique fact.
5. It is a designed fact.
6. It is an adapted fact.
   To be a true brother, Christ must take account of the world as it is, and what word is there more expressive of life than this, “adverse things”—things that turn against us! (W. M. Statham.)

Constancy in friendship
That is not true friendship which is not constant; it will be so if it be sincere and actuated by a good principle. Those that are fanciful and selfish in their friendship will love no longer than their humour is pleased and their interest served, and therefore their affections turn with the wind, and change with the weather. Swallow-friends, that fly to you in summer, but are gone in winter; such friends there is no loss of. But if the friendship be prudent, generous, and cordial, if I love my friend because he is wise, and virtuous, and good, so long as he continues so, though he fall into poverty and disgrace, still I shall love him. (Matthew Henry.)

Proverbs 17:22
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Mental and bodily influence
The connection between the mind and the body, though not to be explained, is so striking as to force itself upon the notice of the least observant. There is such a sympathy between the two that the one cannot suffer and the other be unaffected. But the mind will often claim such independence of the body as the body can never assert over the mind. When the torture is of the mind alone, there will be comparatively little bodily capacity to bear up under the pressure. Solomon says here that a “merry heart,” a cheerful mind, a spirit contented and well at ease, will administer support and strength for endurance. But Solomon treats also the case of a mind assailed and out of joint, and says that, in this case, the body as well as the mind will be utterly prostrated.
I. The power which the mind can exert in support of the body so long as itself is in good condition. Where there is no aid drawn from the resources of religion, there may be firmness the most unflinching in the endurance of pain. The records of savage life prove the existence of a sustaining principle in man. There is a power in man’s spirit to sustain his infirmity. The truth that men have no power of renewing their nature must not be interpreted as implying that men have no power of reforming their lives. The doctrine of human degeneracy, preached in an unguarded and overwrought strain, makes men imagine that they can do nothing unless they feel themselves acted on by a supernatural machinery, and that, until they have experienced inward revelation, it is idle to set about outward reformation. We would always hold that a great deal lies in the unconverted man’s power. We can never believe, whilst there is the spectacle on earth of mind wielding a thorough sovereignty over matter, a sovereignty so perfect that the body is set before us as literally the vassal of the spirit, we at all exaggerate his abilities when we urge him, as a candidate for the prizes of eternity, to improve the life, and break away from habits and associations of unrighteousness.
II. A man’s total incapacity to bear a wounded spirit. We are not accustomed to admit up to the full a matter of fact—the physical destructiveness, so to speak, of an overwrought mind. The greatest wear and tear is from mental labour. Mental disquietude tells on the health with corroding and devastating power. It is the gracious appointment of God that a wound in the spirit begins to close so soon as made; so that where there is the wish there is not the power of keeping it long open. If it be true that the endurance of grief cannot be referred to indwelling energy, but rather to that soothing action of time which comes into play on the first moment of affliction, then there is no witness from the experience of mankind against the truth of the text. It cannot be assumed that a spirit is broken until stricken by that Word of God which is “quick and powerful.” Conviction of sin is the unbearable thing, and an awakened conscience an irresistible tormentor. A truly broken spirit is that which is bruised by a sense of sin. It is impossible that man should long sustain the anguish of conviction of sin. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

A cheerful spirit
I. The value of a cheerful spirit.

1. It helps bodily health.
2. It is a clarifier and invigorator of the mind.
3. It lubricates the wearing machinery of business and daily care.
   II. How attain this spirit?
4. Look at your mercies with both eyes; your troubles with only one eye.
5. Learn Paul’s secret: “In whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”
6. Be useful. Light somebody’s torch, and your own will burn brighter.
7. Make God your trustee. Believe in His care of your welfare. (Homiletic Review.)

Bodily health depending on mental moods
So closely connected is the soul with the body, that physical health is ever, to a great extent, dependent on mental states. A dark thought has power to work disease and death into the corporeal frame. This is a fact—

1. Recognised by medical science. A wise physician avails himself of this fact, and is ever anxious not only to dispel all sad thought from the mind of the patient, but to awaken the most pleasurable thoughts and emotions. It is a fact—
2. Attested by general experience.
   I. The responsibility of man for his physical health. Man is responsible for his mental disposition, whether cheerful or gloomy, and his disposition greatly determines his health.
   II. The duty of the guardians of childhood and youth.
   III. The sanitary influence of Christianity. The design of Christianity is to fill the human heart with joy. “These things have I spoken unto you that your joy may be full.” Christianity is the best physician to the body. He who promotes Christinity is the wise philanthropist. Some people are always trying to keep the body well, and neglect entirely the condition of the soul. (
   D. Thomas, D. D.)

The effects of cheerfulness and of despondency
I. The meaning of the verbs.

1. By “a merry heart” is meant a heart which has been taught by the Spirit of God to seek its happiness in Divine and heavenly objects, which is disposed to look at the bright side of things under the influence of contentment and hope. Such a heart has the best reason for cheerfulness. Faith keeps it from suspicion and distrust, hope from despair, and charity from that envy which is a rottenness of the bones. The love of God shed abroad in the heart makes it form the most favourable idea of every dispensation, and Christ dwelling there brightens all around by His presence.
2. By the “broken spirit” is meant a heart crushed by affliction, and which refuses to be comforted. Such is his spirit who, seeing his affairs ruined by his own folly, or the knavery of others, or by misfortunes which he could neither foresee nor prevent, sinks into utter despondence, and becomes incapable of the least effort to better his circumstances. Such is his spirit who, seeing the desire of his eyes taken away with a stroke, imagines he has nought now to live for. Such also is the spirit of the man wounded by remorse, or shattered by the influence of indulged melancholy, jealousies, suspicions, and fears.
   II. Illustrate this view here given of the result of cheerfulness and depression.
3. Let us consider their influence on the body. The influence of a suitable medicine on the body is wonderful. Disease is checked or alleviated by it when first received; the continued use of it removes it entirely, and strengthens the constitution to resist its further attacks. Such is the power of holy joy over the health. On the other hand a broken spirit dries up the bones, and the finest constitution sinks under its influence.
4. Consider their influence on prosperity and adversity. All the comforts of prosperity are heightened by a cheerful spirit. So amiable does prosperity appear when thus enjoyed, that every heart wishes its continuance; but the broken spirit is a stranger to all the satisfactions as well as the homage of gratitude. On such a heart all its delights are lavished in vain. The cheerful heart can triumph in adversity. But how different is the case with the broken spirit! Every temporal disaster is the supposed prelude to their ruin, etc.
5. Consider the influence of cheerfulness and of depression on the soul. Cheerfulness quickens all the powers of the soul in their exercise; the imagination forms the most pleasing ideas of scenes and objects; memory calls up the most joyous recollections; hope paints the future blissful as the present; and the understanding, rejoicing in the truth, pursues its inquiries with unwearied ardour. On the other hand, when the spirit is broken, the imagination calls up only scenes of woe; memory brings nought to remembrance but what tends to disquiet and torment us; despair clothes the heavens with blackness; and the understanding doth nought but write bitter things, and form the most dreadful conclusions against itself.
6. Consider the influence of cheerfulness and depression on the duties and the pursuits of life. When the heart is cheerful the duties of a man’s calling are a pleasure to him. How ingenious is the cheerful heart in finding the means of enjoyment and in extending these! On the other hand, when the spirit is broken the duties of a man’s profession are a burden him.
7. Consider their influence on the connections of life. The man of a merry heart is the happiness of his family and friends. How different is the case with the broken spirit! The indications of joy in his presence such a man is apt to regard as an insult to his wretchedness.
   Conclusion:
8. How strongly does the broken spirit claim our pity and our prayers! It is impossible to conceive on this side the grave a condition more dreary.
9. Let us carefully guard against the first symptoms of despondence in ourselves and in others. Let us seek out those remedies which the gospel contains for raising the bowed down.
10. Let me address those who are blessing themselves in a false mirth. I know not whether the despairing mourner or the jovial sinner is the greatest object of pity. The jovial sinner’s mirth is like the laughter of the maniac, or like the singing of a patient whose brain a fever hath disordered. The broken spirit may lead to that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation, but the audacious mirth of the sinner is most likely to end in weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. (H. Belfrage, D. D.)

Proverbs 17:24
Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
The nearness of life’s interest and work
“Far fowls have fine feathers”—that is our modern rendering of the Hebrew proverb. Both proverbs are directed against a common weakness of human nature, our English proverb hitting it off with a good-natured smile, the Hebrew proverb rebuking it with the bluntness of a moral censor. To make little of what is at our door, and to magnify what is distant, is a familiar way in which the weakness of human nature shows itself. It is a weakness to which most of us must plead guilty, and it is a weakness which proves itself a formidable enemy of spiritual life. There is no chance of our achieving anything great in the spiritual life while we hug the delusion that greatness is to be found far off in space or in time, and that its only congenial surroundings are far different from those in which we find ourselves. The wise man knows where to look for the interest and grandeur of life; he knows they are to be found near at hand, even at his own door. Two directions in which this lesson is needed.
I. We may look for the interest of life in the wrong place. It is difficult to see the spiritual in what is commonplace, the great in what is near, the sacred in what is ordinary. Men go to far-off lands seeking beauty which can be found almost at their doors. The romance of life has often been sought far afield, while all the time a nobler romance was to be found around the door. The wisest delineators of human life have found its romance near home. One reason of the popularity of George Eliot’s novels lies just here, that she has taken up the lives of ordinary people, and shown, with fine sympathy, how rich in interest is the common life of the common people. It is of supreme importance for the living of a Christian life that we should have our interest kept fresh and rightly directed. It is not only the flesh that wars against the spirit, but listlessness; not only positive sins, but the deadening weight of the conviction that we are set down in the midst of dull commonplace. Our enthusiasm needs to be aroused, and the rousing of our enthusiasm must spring from the conviction that there is something within our reach worth being enthusiastic about. That conviction often fails us just because we commit the folly which our proverb reproves. Immanuel Kant was never more than a few miles from his native Konigsberg. He found in the human mind a field of study exhaustless in its scope and interest. If the life of our town is dull it is because our own souls are dull. The insipidity and commonplaceness of which we complain belong to our own vision.
II. We may look for the work of life in the wrong place. The one error is linked with the other. From false views of life there spring erroneous conceptions of the work we may accomplish. It is not circumstances that make a man spiritually great, but the way in which he handles the circumstances. Spiritual greatness springs not from without, but from within. It matters little what may be the rough material put into our hands. The spiritual product we turn out depends upon the spirit in which we work. Our work is not far off in the ends of the earth; it is close beside us. These are no tame, prosaic days in which we live. They may be days of trouble, and unrest, and upheaval, but the Spirit of God is moving as of old upon the face of the waters. We need not sigh for the opportunity of playing our part in the movements of other days. The movements of to-day are enough for our faith, and energy, and devotion. (D. M. Ross, M. A.)

Contrast between a wise man and a fool
I. That the one has a meaning, the other an unmeaning face. One translator renders the words “In the countenance of a wise man wisdom appeareth, but the fool’s eyes roll to and fro.” God has so formed man that his face is the index to his soul; it is the dial-plate of the mental clock. A wise man’s face looks wisdom—calm, devout, reflective. The fool’s face looks folly. As the translucent lake reflects the passing clouds and rolling lights of sky, so does the human countenance mirror the soul.
II. That the one has an occupied the other a vacant mind. The meaning of Solomon perhaps may be wisdom as before, that is, present, with the man that hath understanding. The principles of wisdom are in his mind, are ever before his eye. Wisdom is “before” his mind in every circumstance and condition. Its rule, the Word of God, is before him. Its principle, the love of God, is before him. Thus he has an occupied mind. But the mind of the fool is vacant. His “eyes are in the ends of the earth.” He has nothing before him, nothing true, or wise, or good. He looks at emptiness. Alas! how vacant the mind of a morally unwise man! It is a vessel without ballast, at the mercy of the winds and waves. His thoughts are unsubstantial, his hopes are illusory, the sphere of his conscious life a mirage.
III. That the one has a settled, the other an unsettled heart. The morally wise man is fixed, wisdom is before him and his heart is on it. He is rooted and grounded in the faith. He is not used by circumstances, but he makes circumstances serve him. But the fool is unsettled, his “eyes are in the ends of the earth.” His mind, like the evil spirit, walks to and fro through the earth, seeking rest and finding none. (
Homilist.)

Common follies
If the eyes are in the ends of the earth, they cannot be here, where, probably, the work and duty lie. The man will stumble over obstacles which he would see if his eyes were where they should be, and he wilt lose his way. This is a common kind of folly, and appears under different aspects.
I. The folly of discontent. A man’s eyes may be said to be in the ends of the earth if he thinks his happiness lies in a different sphere from that which Providence has allotted to him. The grumbling spirit is widespread, and is not confined to any class of the community. Sometimes the round man is put into the square hole. God does not invariably wish a man to stay for ever in the place where he has been dropped. The mistake is when we so allow these feelings to work in us that they make us disheartened where we are. Some time the tide of opportunity rises to every man’s feet, and happy is he if he is ready to take it when his hour comes. But if it does not come, what then? Why, then we must surely conclude that God needs us where we are.
II. The folly of the scorner. A person’s eyes are in the ends of the earth if the objects of his admiration are all people he has never seen, and if he has nothing but contempt for those among whom he lives. If the only causes that can awaken your enthusiasm are causes belonging to past centuries, if all your heroes are men who are dead, and you have no living heroes, your eyes are in the ends of the earth. Some go to romance and poetry for the objects of their admiration. But it is one thing to pity the poor in a book, and quite a different thing to pity them in the flesh.
III. The folly of the busybody. A person’s eyes are in the ends of the earth when he occupies his eyes with the affairs of other people and neglects his own. The gossip; the loud-mouthed politician; the satirist who lashes the iniquities of the times, and who himself is the slave of the same vices. A wise man said that ours is an age when every man wants to reform the world and no one is willing to reform himself.
IV. The folly of the procrastinator. A man’s eyes are in the ends of the earth if he is looking forward to the proper use of future time and not making proper use of present time. We all do it. How easy and pleasant is the duty which is going to be done to-morrow! Some are committing this folly in regard to the most important of all concerns—the concern of the soul and eternity. This is a threefold folly.

1. The future opportunity may never come.
2. If it does come, can you be sure that you will then be anxious about eternity?
3. You can only have a mean and selfish conception of religion if you defer it to some future time. You are going to spend your life on yourself, going to give it to the devil, and at last going to creep to Christ and get Him to take you into heaven and save you from the consequences of your sin. Can you hold your face up to a conception of religion like that? Christ wants your life—wants to make it year by year more and more useful and noble. (James Stalker, D. D.)

Proverbs 17:26
Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.
Striking princes
The spirit of lawlessness, which sought a remedy for real or imaginary ills by striking at princes, was not a strange thing in the times of Solomon. The simple negative in Scripture is often stronger and more significant than the first blush of the expression suggests. It is “not good” to strike princes for equity means that it is absolutely bad. It is “not good” morally, for it is a heinous crime; it is “not good” socially, for it fosters a spirit of restlessness and insecurity; it is “not good” politically, for it fails to establish the peace and prosperity of a nation; it is “not good” spiritually, for in the eyes of the Eternal Judge it is an odious sin. Morally, socially, politically, and spiritually it is a gigantic error, a colossal folly, an abominable iniquity, to strike at princes. The expression is capable of three interpretations.

1. It may mean a dogged defiance of their authority—a fixed determination not to obey their laws.
2. It may mean an effort to supplant a prince, a secret or overt attempt to alienate the affections and confidence of the subjects, and transfer the same to another person; a concerted method for placing in the post of honour a rival candidate for popular favour.
3. It may mean assassination, a cruel and cowardly attempt on the life of the sovereign, an execrable conspiracy to hurry into the unseen world the occupant of the national throne. This is a most diabolical and detestable way of attempting to settle real or imaginary grievances; a sin which is sternly condemned by God, and denounced by all right-thinking men. (J. Hiles Hitchens, D. D.)

A discourse against rebellion
Treason and rebellion are such horrid and loathsome crimes that if they should appear in their native visage and genuine deformity they could never form a party nor allure men to divorce their allegiance. They always, therefore, insinuate into the affections of the unwary or easily deceived multitude under the specious pretences of piety and purity. Some render the second clause of this verse “princes striking for equity” instead of “striking princes for equity.” But this cannot be the true sense in this place. It is against the natural order of the words. The proverb has a double aspect; the one respects princes, forbidding them to punish their righteous subjects; the other respects the people, forbidding them to rebel against their princes for equity’s sake. Dealing with this second part, consider—
I. The doom and censure. “It is not good.” It speaks only dislike, but means detestation. It implies that it is a crime most impious in itself, and most odious and abominable to God.
II. The action condemned. “To strike princes.”

1. We must not strike princes with the tongue, in their fame and reputation.
2. We must not strike princes in their authority, nor the exercise of it over us. This may be done by refusing to be subject to their laws, or by deposing them from their dominion.
3. It is sacrilege to strike them in their persons, and to offer violence to their liberty or life.
   III. The cause, motive, or provocation to this abominable action. That is equity. Either the prince’s equity or the subject’s equity. To strike for either is here censured as a heinous crime.
4. It may he understood of resisting and rebelling against them for their own equity and the execution of that justice which is committed to them.
5. It may be understood of striking them for their subject’s equity. That is, it is a great injustice to strike princes upon any pretences of equity and justice in so doing. Never yet was there any insurrection against the lawful magistrate but what was prefaced with glorious pretences, the honour of God, the liberty of the subject, a due freedom for tender consciences, etc. These are all excellent things, and we can never too much prosecute them while we do it in a lawful and allowed manner. But a good purpose can never justify a wicked action, and God abhors that our sins should be made the means of His glory. (E. Hopkins, D. D.)

Proverbs 17:27-28
He that hath knowledge spareth his words.
Signs of a wise man
Two ways a man may show himself to be a wise man.

1. By the good temper, the sweetness and the sedateness of his mind. “A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit,” i.e., a precious spirit. He is one that looks well to his spirit, that it be as it should be, and so keeps it in an even frame, easy to himself, and pleasant to others. A gracious spirit is a precious spirit, and renders a man amiable and more excellent than his neighbour. He is of a cool spirit (so some read it), not heated with passion nor put into any tumult or disorder by the impetus of any corrupt affection, but even and stayed. A cool head with a warm heart is an admirable composition.
2. By the good government of his tongue. A wise man will be of few words, as being afraid of speaking amiss; he that has knowledge, and aims to do good with it, is careful, when he does speak, to speak to the purpose, and says little, in order that he may take time to deliberate. He spares his words, because they are better spared than ill-spent. This is generally taken for such a sure indication of wisdom that a fool may gain the reputation of being a wise man if he have but wit enough to hold his tongue, to hear, and see, and say little. If a fool hold his peace, men of candour will think him wise, because nothing appears to the contrary, and because it will be thought that he is making observations on what others say and gaining experience, and is consulting with himself what he shall say that he may speak pertinently. See how easy it is to gain men’s good opinion and to impose upon them. But when a fool holds his peace God knows his heart, and the folly that is bound up there; thoughts are words to Him, and therefore He cannot be deceived in His judgment of men. (Matthew Henry.)

The empire of silence
Looking round at the noisy inanity of the world, words with little meaning, actions with little worth, one loves to reflect on the great empire of silence. The noble silent men gathered here and there, each in his department, silently thinking, silently working, whom no morning newspaper makes mention of, they are the salt of the earth. A country that has none or few of these is in a bad way. Like a forest which has no roots, which has all turned into leaves and boughs, which must soon wither and be no forest. Woe to us if we had nothing but what we can show or speak. Silence, the great empire of silence, higher than the stars; deeper than the kingdoms of death! It alone is great; all else is small. (Thomas Carlyle.)

Silence and thought
Bees will not work except in darkness; thought will not work except in silence; neither will virtue work except in silence. Let not thy right hand know what thy left hand doeth. (Thomas Carlyle.)

Proverbs 17:1
sacrifices with strife] Lit. sacrifices of strife, but better rendered, good cheer with strife, A.V. marg.; or, feasting with strife, R.V. text. This rendering, however, may be arrived at in either of two ways, (1) We may suppose that the ordinance of feasting on part of a sacrifice Lev_7:16; Lev_19:6-8) appealed so to the popular mind, that the restriction to “the place which the Lord their God should choose” (Deu_12:4-14) came to be neglected, and as is too commonly the case, with Christmas, for example, in our own day, the word which should have denoted a religious act before God, sank down to mean a mere worldly feast at home. (2) But it may be doubted whether the Heb. for sacrifice is not used here in the sense of animals slain or killed for eating, as in Deu_12:15; 1Sa_28:24; 1Ki_19:21; and Eze_39:17, compared with Rev_19:17, where θυσία of the LXX. becomes δεῖπνον. See also Mat_22:4.

Proverbs 17:2
a wise servant] or, a servant that dealeth wisely, R.V., in contrast with a son who causeth shame, or dealeth shamefully. Comp.
“Free men shall minister unto a wise servant.”
Sir_10:25, R.V.
The proverb is exemplified in Eliezer of Damascus (Gen_15:2), and Ziba (2Sa_16:4 with 1Ch_2:34-35), and in Jeroboam, Solomon’s “servant” (1Ki_11:26), who, being “industrious,” shared the inheritance with Rehoboam, “a son that dealt shamefully.”

Proverbs 17:3
trieth the hearts] q.d. man can try the precious metals, but only God the hearts (Jer_17:9-10). The thought that He tries them to refine them, which is suggested here by the parallelism, is elsewhere expressed clearly. (Psa_66:10-12; Mal_3:3-4; 1Pe_1:7. Comp. Sir_2:5.)

Proverbs 17:4
false] Rather, wicked, R.V., in a wider sense.

Proverbs 17:5
his Maker] Comp. Pro_14:31.
glad at calamities] “It belonged to the Greek mind in its fertility of combination, to express it (the temper here spoken of) by the single word ἐπιχαιρεκακία (Arist. Eth. Nicom. ii. 6), well rendered by the German ‘schadenfreude’.” Dean Plumptre, Speaker’s Comm.
The connecting link of thought between the two clauses of the verse is that poverty and calamity proceed alike from God, so that to mock at the one, or be glad at the other, is to reproach Him and to incur His displeasure.

Proverbs 17:6
“A beautiful family picture of linked and mutually blessed “generations.” Horton.

Proverbs 17:7
Excellent] Or, arrogant, R.V. marg.

Proverbs 17:8
him that hath it] Lit. its lord or possessor. This may mean either the giver, or the receiver of it. The former sense seems preferable. He who has a gift to bestow counts himself the possessor of that with which he can secure success in any direction he pleases, as though he turned in this direction or in that a precious gem or talisman to attract and conciliate the beholder. Maurer quotes the familiar lines of Ovid (de art. am. 3. 653),
“Munera, crede mihi, capiunt hominesque deosque;
Placatur donis Jupiter ipse datis.”
Comp. Pro_18:16.

Proverbs 17:9
repeateth] i.e. brings it up again and again, harpeth on it, as R.V. happily renders. Comp. Pro_26:11, “a fool repeateth his folly,” R.V.; “Heb. iterateth his folly,” A.V. marg.
very friends] Rather, chief friends, as the word is rendered, Pro_16:28.

Proverbs 17:10
more] Rather, deeper, R.V.; as we say, makes a deeper impression. See Pro_18:8, Pro_26:22. Maurer compares “altius in pectus descendit” (Sall. Jug. 11), “curam in animos descensuram” (Liv. 2. 52); and for the sentiment, “nobilis equus umbra quoque virgæ regitur, ignavus ne calcari quidem concitari potest” (Curt. 7. 4): “a noble steed is ruled even by the shadow of the whip; a sluggish one cannot be roused even by the spur.”

Proverbs 17:11
rebellion] This, in its highest reference, is an anticipation of the divine philosophy of St John, “sin is lawlessness” (ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀνομία). “Sin is lawlessness. Sin and lawlessness are convertible terms. Sin is not an arbitrary conception; it is the assertion of the selfish will against a paramount authority. He who sins breaks, not only by accident or in an isolated detail, but essentially, the law which he was created to fulfil,” Westcott on 1Jn_3:4.
a cruel messenger] The stern, implacable minister of the rebel’s doom. Comp., for illustration, 1Ki_2:25; 1Ki_2:34. The LXX. refer the sending of the merciless messenger, whether human or angelic, to Jehovah, against whom ultimately all rebellion is aimed: ὁ δὲ κύριος ἄγγελον ἀνελεήμονα ἐκπέμψει αὐτῷ.

Proverbs 17:12
a bear &c.] “The Syrian bear is fiercer than the brown bears to which we are accustomed. It attacks flocks (1Sa_17:34), and even oxen (Plin. viii. 64). The fierceness of the she-bear, bereaved of her whelps, became a proverb (2Sa_17:8).” Pusey on Hos_13:8.
rather than] Lit. and not.

Proverbs 17:14
letteth out water] by making ever so small a hole or fissure in a dam, or in the bank of a reservoir, such as Solomon himself constructed (Ecc_2:6).
“aggeribus ruptis cum spumeus amnis
Exiit, oppositasque evicit gurgite moles,
Fertur in arva furens cumulo, camposque per omnes
Cum stabulis armenta trahit.”—Virg. Aen. ii. 496–499.
be meddled with] The Heb. word occurs only here and in Pro_18:1, Pro_20:3, in which places the rendering of A.V. is: be meddled with, intermeddleth with, will be meddling. We must, however, render, there be quarrelling, R.V. or, it waxeth warm, Gesen.

Proverbs 17:15
Comp. Isa_5:23.

Proverbs 17:16
heart] i.e. understanding, R.V.; see Pro_15:32, note. We might almost render, capacity. Wisdom cannot be bought for a price: it can only be assimilated by a wise, or wisdom-loving heart. Its words are φωνᾶντα συνετοῖσι; its teachers teach, πνευματικοῖς πνευματικὰ συγκρίνοντες, “interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men” (as some translate 1Co_2:13). So was Incarnate Wisdom wont to cry, “Who hath ears to hear let him hear” (Mat_13:9 ff.; comp. Rev_2:11; Rev_2:17; Rev_2:29; Rev_3:6; Rev_3:13; Rev_3:22).

Proverbs 17:17
a brother is born] Or (making a friend the subject clauses) is born as a brother, R.V. marg. A friend love friend’s love always, but with the love of a born brother in adversity. So was it with Jonathan and David (1 Samuel 18-20.); but the proverb admits of the highest application. See Introd. p. 30.

Proverbs 17:18
understanding] Lit. heart, as in Pro_17:16.
surety] See Pro_6:1 note.

Proverbs 17:19
exalteth] Or, raiseth high, R.V. Comp. Pro_16:18. See for illustrations of such “raising high the gate” and of the “destruction” that follows it, Jer_22:13-19, and the case of Haman in the Book of Esther.
The relation of pride to strife (Pro_13:10) supplies a connecting link between the two clauses of this verse.

Proverbs 17:21
a fool … a fool] The Heb. word so rendered is not the same in the two clauses of the verse. The first word in the first clause describes the fool as dull or senseless, or as some think obstinate. The second word points him out as shameless, like Nabal, whose name (the Heb. word here) was descriptive of his character (1Sa_25:25). There is a third Heb. word, used more commonly than either of these in this Book, which regards a fool as one who is perverse, or as some render, weak.

Proverbs 17:22
doeth good like a medicine] Rather, is a good medicine, R.V. “Heb. causeth good healing,” R.V. marg.; giveth a happy healing, Gesen.; εὐεκτεῖν ποιεῖ, LXX.

Proverbs 17:23
out of the bosom] i.e. the fold of the garment in which it had been concealed; denoting the stealthy action either of the suitor who proffers, or more probably of the judge who receives the bribe. Comp. Pro_21:14.

Proverbs 17:24
before] More literally and forcibly, before the face of, R.V., as the object of his stedfast contemplation and pursuit, whereas “the eyes of a fool” seek the world over and find not. Comp. Pro_4:25.

Proverbs 17:26
Also] beside other things that are “not good”; as “also” is used in Pro_19:2.
punish] Lit. mulct, or (as R.V. marg.) fine.
strike] i.e. inflict the severer punishment of scourging. Deu_25:1-3.
princes] Rather, the noble, R.V. The Heb. word properly denotes character, liberal, free-handed (Gesen. Lex. s.v.), and so comes to be applied to rank or office. See Pro_19:6, where the same word is rendered the prince, A.V., but, in keeping with the parallelism, the liberal man, R.V. text. For illustration of the proverb comp. Joh_18:23.

Proverbs 17:27
excellent] Rather, cool, A.V. marg. and R.V.; μακρόθυμος ἀνὴρ, LXX.
It is better with LXX. and R.V. to invert the order of subject and predicate in this verse and render:
He that spareth his words hath knowledge:
And he that is of a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

Proverbs 17:28
he that shutteth &c.] Or, with R.V. text, when he (i.e. the fool of the former clause of the verse) shutteth … he is esteemed as prudent. Mr Horton (Book of Proverbs, p. 177) quotes the old Norse proverb,
“An unwise man when he comes among the people
Had best be silent: no one knows
That he nothing knows, unless he talks too much.”

Proverbs 17:1-28
The following commentary covers Chapters 10 through 31.
In chapter 10 begin the details which teach those who give ear how to avoid the snares into which the simple might fall, the path to be followed in many cases, and the consequences of men’s actions: in short, that which characterises wisdom in detail, what may be prudence for man, divine discretion for the children of God; and also, the result of God’s government, whatever appearances may be for awhile. It is well to observe, that there is no question of redemption or propitiation in this book; it proposes a walk according to the wisdom of God’s government.
In the final chapter we have the character of a king according to wisdom, and that of the woman in her own house-the king who does not allow himself that which, by darkening his moral discernment through the indulgence of his lusts, would make him unfit to govern. In the woman we see the persevering and devoted industry which fills the house with riches, brings honour to its inhabitants, and removes all the cares and anxieties produced by sloth. The typical application of these two specific characters is too evident to need explanation. The example of the woman is very useful, as to the spirit of the thing, to one who labours in the assembly.
Although in this book the wisdom produced by the fear of Jehovah is only applied to this world, it is on that very account of great use to the Christian, who, in view of his heavenly privileges, might, more or less, forget the continual government of God. It is very important for the Christian to remember the fear of the Lord, and the effect of God’s presence on the details of his conduct; and I repeat that which I said at the beginning, that it is great grace which deigns to apply divine wisdom to all the details of the life of man in the midst of the confusion brought in by sin. Occupied with heavenly things, the Christian is less in the way of discovering, by his own experience, the clue to the labyrinth of evil through which he is passing. God has considered this, and He has laid down this first principle, “wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” Thus the Christian may be ignorant of evil (if a worldling were so, he would fall into it), and yet avoid it through his knowledge of good. The wisdom of God gives him the latter; the government of God provides for all the rest. Now, in the Proverbs, we have these things in principle and in detail. I have not dwelt on the figurative character of the forms of evil. They are rather principles than figures. But the violent man of the last days is continually found in the Psalms; and Babylon is the full accomplishment of the woman who takes the simple in her snares and leads them down to death; just as Christ is the perfect wisdom of God which leads to life. But these two things which manifest evil proceed from the heart of man at all times since the fall: only we have seen that there is an active development of the wiles of the evil woman, who has her own house and her own arrangements. It is not simply the principle of corruption, but an organised system, as is that of sovereign wisdom.

Proverbs 17:1-28
Proverbs 17 – Wisdom, Justice, and Family
Pro_17:1
Better is a dry morsel with quietness,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.
a. Better is a dry morsel with quietness: There is nothing appealing about a dry morsel. Yet the blessing of quietness and peace is so great, that it can make a dry morsel seem better than the alternative presented.
i. “Peace and contentment, and especially domestic peace, are beyond all other blessings.” (Clarke)
ii. “Ponder every thought that may disturb contentment. If you have fewer comforts than you used to have, or fewer comforts than other people have, or fewer comforts than you desire, do you not still have more than you deserve?” (Bridges)
b. Than a house full of feasting with strife: A home full of feasting would be wonderful; but not with constant strife. Peace and quietness in the home are so valuable that they make up for many other comforts denied.
i. “Its precise antithetic parallels contrasts a dinner party consisting of a dry bite of bread that had not been dipped into a dish of savory sauce of oil, vinegar or the like (cf. Pro_19:24), but nevertheless enjoyed in security, with an unlimited royal banquets but plagued with strife.” (Waltke)
ii. “Abundance often brings a deterioration of moral and ethical standards as well as an increase in envy and strife.” (Ross)
Pro_17:2
A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame,
And will share an inheritance among the brothers.
a. A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame: It is natural that a son should rule; the trust one has in family is often greater than the trust one has servants. Yet, should a son cause shame, God knows how to replace that son with a wise servant. The son has his natural place, but God does not see that natural place as giving absolute right to lead and may give leadership to a wise servant instead.
b. And will share an inheritance among the brothers: Should the son prove to cause shame and if it is in God’s will, God is able to even lift up a wise servant to a place of leadership and inheritance among the brothers.
i. “Contrary to judicial law and custom, one’s virtue, not the privilege of birth, ultimately counts for more in social and economic standing.” (Waltke)
Pro_17:3
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
But the Lord tests the hearts.
a. The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold: There are appropriate places where things are tested and purified. Silver and gold each have their place of refining and purification.
b. The Lord tests the hearts: The most appropriate place for the human heart to be tested and purified is with the Lord Himself. His word and His truth give a wise, loving standard that will both examine and refine the inner man or woman.
i. “Two important thoughts are suggested by this proverb. First, that the heart will yield to no force other than that of God. Dross in metal may be discovered and expurged by fire, but evil in the heart can be discovered and dealt with only by God. Second, Jehovah does try the heart.” (Morgan)
ii. “He therefore tries us, that he may make us know what is in us, what dross, what pure metal; and that all may see that we are such as, for a need, can ‘glorify him in the very fires,’ [Isa_24:15].” (Trapp)
Pro_17:4
An evildoer gives heed to false lips;
A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.
a. An evildoer gives heed to false lips: When it comes to lies spoken by false lips, evil people not only spread them, they also receive them. They seem to love to embrace a lie.
i. “It is an ill sign of a vicious nature to be apt to believe scandalous reports of godly men. If men loved not lies, they would not listen to them.” (Trapp)
ii. “An evil heart is disposed and ever ready to receive evil; and liars delight in lies.” (Clarke)
iii. “Evil words die without a welcome; and the welcome gives us away.” (Kidner)
b. A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue: Those who lie love to listen to lies as well as speak them. It should concern us if we love to hear lies and gossip about others.
i. “This proverb contains a comparison between an evil-doer and an evil-speaker, and showeth their agreement in the same sinful practice of being greedy to hear false and wicked speeches.” (Poole)
ii. “Both the liar and his willing audience have no taste for truth.” (Waltke)
iii. “Taking gossip seriously is itself a form of malice practiced by those who have no respect for the truth.” (Garrett)
Pro_17:5
He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker;
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
a. He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker: Some people find it easy to mock the poor. They love to think of themselves as better than those who have less than they do. Such people should understand that when they mock the poor, they despise (reproach) the One who made both the poor and themselves. The fact that both the poor and the well-off have the same Maker should give the richer person greater sympathy and greater sense.
i. “The first part of this proverb does not teach, as is so often stated, that poverty is from God. Rather, it recognizes the inherent rights of every man in God, notwithstanding his poverty.” (Morgan)
b. He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished: To be glad at anyone’s calamity shows an unloving, unsympathetic heart. Anyone who despises their fellow man this way should expect God to answer and defend the weaker one.
i. “He who is pleased to hear of the misfortune of another will, in the course of God”s just government, have his own multiplied.” (Clarke)
ii. John Trapp relates in his commentary how cruelly some take joy in the persecution, suffering, and death of innocent people – and how certainly judgment will come upon such.
Pro_17:6
Children’s children are the crown of old men,
And the glory of children is their father.
a. Children’s children are the crown of old men: Grandchildren are like a crown of glory for a grandparent. They can give an almost indescribable sense of pleasure and satisfaction.
i. “The proverb pictures them gathered around the aged parent like a crowning diadem.” (Waltke)
b. The glory of children is their father: This is true both as a fact and as an aspiration. It is natural for children to glory in their father, and fathers should live and parent in such a way that would cause their children to glory in them.
i. “Behind this apparently innocuous proverb is a profound assertion of the psychological interdependence of the generations. Elders derive a sense of pride from their descendants, and children get their self-worth from parents. On the other hand, one generation can cause shame and a sense of worthlessness in another.” (Garrett)
ii. “These fine family fruits need cultivating and protecting. A neglected crop, riddled with mutual antipathy, is seen in Isa_3:5; Mic_7:6; 2Ti_3:2-4.” (Kidner)
Pro_17:7
Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool,
Much less lying lips to a prince.
a. Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool: It isn’t that excellent speech is not desired from the fool, but that it is such an unexpected surprise. Since people usually express their wisdom or folly by what they say, it seems strange and almost inappropriate if a fool should say something wise and eloquent.
i. “God likes not fair words from a foul mouth. Christ silenced the devil when he confessed him to be the Son of the most high God.” (Trapp)
b. Much less lying lips to a prince: Any leader (a prince) should be so known for truthfulness that it is regarded as a strange surprise that they would lie. This is a lofty and rarely reached standard among leaders, especially political leaders.
i. “A dishonest leader is worse than an arrogant fool. A comparison shows which of two things is worse.” (Ross)
Pro_17:8
A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.
a. A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor: It is human nature to regard a present as something precious. In this context the present may be a bribe, because the same Hebrew word is used. This proverb may simply state the fact that a bribe usually works.
i. “The proverb is expressing this reality from the viewpoint of the one giving the bribe—it works.” (Ross)
b. Wherever he turns, he prospers: The gain one receives from a gift (or bribe) so delights them that it accomplishes the purpose of the gift.
i. “In the latter clause there is an evident allusion to cut stones. Whithersoever you turn them, they reflect the light, are brilliant and beautiful.” (Clarke)
Pro_17:9
He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates friends.
a. He who covers a transgression seeks love: There is a time and a place for the exposure of sin (Eph_5:11), but often the sins of others should be tactfully and lovingly covered. The exposure of all belongs to God, not man (Luk_12:3).
b. He who repeats a matter separates friends: To uncover someone’s sin by repeated it to others will ruin relationships and divide friendships.
i. Repeats“…may indicate either tale-telling or…harping on a matter.” (Kidner)
Pro_17:10
Rebuke is more effective for a wise man
Than a hundred blows on a fool.
a. Rebuke is more effective for a wise man: Because a wise man or woman will respond to rebuke and learn from it, it can be truly effective for him or her.
b. Than a hundred blows on a fool: Correction may be administered deeply and repeatedly to the fool, yet they will not receive it. The problem is not in the correction itself (though the fool will likely blame it); the problem is in the fool.
i. “The finer the disposition, the less is needed to correct it.” (Morgan)
Pro_17:11
An evil man seeks only rebellion;
Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
a. An evil man seeks only rebellion: The instinctive response of rebellion belongs to the evil, not to the wise. Those who seek only rebellion can offer nothing wise and good to replace that which they rebel against.
b. A cruel messenger will be sent against him: Repeated
rebellion invites cruel retaliation. The evil man should not be surprised when it comes.
i. “This expression could refer to a pitiless messenger that the king would send; but it also could refer to storms, pestilence, or any misfortune that was God’s messenger of retribution.” (Ross)
Pro_17:12
Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.
a. Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs: A mother bear is notoriously angry and dangerous when she is robbed of her cubs. No sensible person would want to meet a mother bear under such conditions.
b. Rather than a fool in his folly: A foolish man in the midst of his foolish actions can be more dangerous than a mother bear who lost her cubs. The wise man or woman will stay away from such a fool in his folly.
i. “The human, who is supposed to be intelligent and rational, in such folly becomes more dangerous than the beast that in this case acts with good reason.” (Ross)
Pro_17:13
Whoever rewards evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.
a. Whoever rewards evil for good: It is plainly wrong to give evil to those who deserve good. It discourages those who do good and encourages those who do not. It upsets God’s moral order to have good punished.
i. “To render good for evil is divine, good for good is human, evil for evil is brutish, evil for good is devilish.” (Trapp)
b. Evil will not depart from his house: God sees when His moral order is offended and will answer it. The one who gives evil to the good can expect their own home to be troubled by evil.
i. “As many persons are guilty of the sin of ingratitude, and of paying kindness with unkindness, and good with evil, it is no wonder we find so much wretchedness among men; for God”s word cannot fail; evil shall not depart from the houses and families of such persons.” (Clarke)
ii. “This proverb was very near the bone: both parents of Solomon had so repaid the devoted Uriah, and had duly received the sentence of line 2: see 2Sa_12:10 ff.” (Kidner)
Pro_17:14
The beginning of strife is like releasing water;
Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.
a. The beginning of strife is like releasing water: The nature of liquid water makes it difficult to restrain. Once it is released it will go in unexpected and uncontrolled ways. This is like the beginning of strife. Once an argument or battle has begun, it is difficult to control its course, and like uncontrolled water, it can cause great damage.
i. “The verse likens the beginning of a bitter conflict involving the pent up arrogance and anger of a fool to a person who digs a hole in a dam or opens a sluice. The seepage starts from a small aperture, but under built up pressure it quickly bursts open and the small leak turns into a raging, uncontrolled cataclysm that gets out of hand and does irreparable damage.” (Waltke)
ii. “Opening such a sluice lets loose more than one can predict, control or retrieve.” (Kidner)
b. Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts: Because strife and contention are difficult to control and cause great damage, wisdom sees that it is much better to stop contention before it ever starts.
i. “Do therefore here as the Dutchmen do by their banks; they keep them with little cost and trouble, because they look narrowly to them, and make them up in time. If there be but the least breach, they stop it presently, otherwise the sea would soon flood them.” (Trapp)
Pro_17:15
He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.
a. He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just: This is the same kind of upset of God’s moral order as mentioned previously in Pro_17:13. Justice requires the opposite outcome – that the wicked are condemned and that the just are justified.
b. Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord: God sees the violation of justice on both sides. God never thinks that all should be equally condemned or justified; but that the appropriate answer be given to both the wicked and the just.
i. “A self-evident statement, and yet one that needs to be made, for in every age there have been those who fall into both forms of wrong.” (Morgan)
ii. “The proverb corrects the popular misconception that it is better to set free ten guilty persons than to condemn one innocent person. Both are an abomination to the Lord.” (Waltke)
Pro_17:16
Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom,
Since he has no heart for it?
a. Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom: Wisdom has a price, and Solomon imagined a fool who was ready to pay that price. We might say that the price of wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. The price of wisdom also involves humility and willingness to receive correction.
i. “The fool has no interest in obtaining wisdom in the way that it must be obtained.” (Ross)
b. Since he has no heart for it: It would be strange to find the price of wisdom in the hand of a fool, because then that person would no longer be a fool. The nature of the fool requires that they have no heart to pay the price of wisdom.
Pro_17:17
A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.
a. A friend loves at all times: A true friend will not only love when it is easy, but at all times. What used to be called fair-weather friends – those who are friends only when the weather is pleasant and fair – are not true friends at all.
i. “Ahithophel has deserted David, and Judas has sold his Lord. The greatest of kings who have been fawned upon by their courtiers while in power, have been treated as if they were but dogs in the time of their extremity.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “That eminent servant of God, Jonathan Edwards, when he was at his last, said, ‘Where is Jesus of Nazareth, my old and faithful friend? I know he will be with me now that I need his help,’ and so he was, for that faithful servant died triumphant.” (Spurgeon)
b. A brother is born for adversity: A true brother (here used in a sense beyond the literal blood relation) will show himself in a time of adversity.
i. Morgan on the principle of this proverb: “Let it be applied. Then two startling questions will arise. First, a question as to whether I am really a friend to anyone; and second, a question as to how many real friends I have.”
ii. Charles Bridges had an even better application: “We must look to our Lord for the best example in this matter. We see the Son of God taking on our nature so that he might be our friend and brother (Heb_2:14). The mystery of this friendship is beyond our imagination.”
iii. “The ancient Jews applied this proverb to Christ, adducing it as a testimony that the divine Messiah would by his incarnation become the Brother of man.” (Bridges)
Pro_17:18
A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge,
And becomes surety for his friend.
a. A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge: Wisdom guards us against foolish partnerships.
b. And becomes surety for his friend: It is responsibility enough to honor our own debts. Wisdom warns us against taking responsibility for the debts of others.
Pro_17:19
He who loves transgression loves strife,
And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
a. He who loves transgression loves strife: There are those who love both transgression and strife. They love it when God’s laws are sinfully transgressed and when there is conflict.
b. He who exalts his gate seeks destruction: Those who exalt the leadership of those who love transgression and strife are promoting destruction. Such people should never sit in the gate of respect, leadership, and authority.
i. “The man who builds a high gate exalts himself above his neighbor and assumes a lifestyle beyond his rank.” (Bridges)
ii. “Possibly gate is here taken for the mouth; and the exalting of the gate may mean proud boasting and arrogant speaking, such as has a tendency to kindle and maintain strife. And this interpretation seems to agree better with the scope of the context.” (Clarke)
Pro_17:20
He who has a deceitful heart finds no good,
And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.
a. He who has a deceitful heart finds no good: The one filled with deceit will only find corruption and deceit in others.
b. He who has a perverse tongue falls into evil: Wicked and foolish words not only display the evil of someone’s heart, they also lead them into greater evil.
Pro_17:21
He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.
a. He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow: To be the parent of a foolish scoffer (one who foolishly doubts and rejects the truth) is to have sorrow. Parents should do all they can to not raise scoffers, beginning with believing and living out the truth themselves.
b. The father of a fool has no joy: There is no pleasure in seeing that your child is a fool. There is both the pain of the consequences of the child’s folly and the regret of wondering if one parented effectively.
i. “No more than William the Conqueror had in his ungracious children, or Henry II, who, finding that his sons had conspired against him with the king of France, fell into a grievous passion, cursing both his sons, and the day wherein himself was born; and in that distemperature departed the world, which himself had so oft distempered.” (Trapp)
Pro_17:22
A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones.
a. A merry heart does good, like medicine: It has been said – no doubt based on this proverb – that laughter is the best medicine. Truly, a cheerful and merry heart is good for more than the personality; it is good for the body.
b. A broken spirit dries the bones: Those who are defeated and broken in spirit will see the effect in their health and experience of life. It will feel to them that their life has withered and dried up. This was the feeling David described in Psa_32:1-4.
i. “‘Bones’ figuratively represents the body (encased in the bony frame): fat bones means a healthy body (
Pro_3:8; Pro_15:30; Pro_16:24), but dry bones signify unhealthiness and lifelessness (cf. Eze_37:1-14).” (Ross)
ii. “A broken spirit in an evangelical sense is God’s precious gift. It is stamped with his special honor. But here a crushed spirit describes a brooding spirit of despondency that always looks on the dark side of things. If this is linked to religion, it flows from a narrow and perverted view and a spurious humility centered on the self. It has the effect of drying up the bones.” (Bridges)
Pro_17:23
A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back
To pervert the ways of justice.
a. A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back: It is wrong to receive a bribe, an illegal and unjust payment to get around normal laws and procedures and to buy favor from officials. This shows a fundamental corruption and lack of integrity.
i. “The corrupt official defies God who has placed him over the community to protect the poor. He shows he is conscious of his guilt by accepting the sly bribe, which is concealed from public scrutiny and opprobrium, but it is not concealed from God.” (Waltke)
b. To pervert the ways of justice: When favor and a desired outcome depends on bribe money and not fairness and righteousness, justice is perverted. Then, no one can or should have confidence in the system of laws and ways of justice.
Pro_17:24
Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
a. Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding: The sense seems to be that the wise see things in the light of their wisdom. Their wisdom makes everything else clearer and able to be understood.
b. The eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth: The fool doesn’t see things with the eyes of wisdom. They have their eyes everywhere (the ends of the earth) except where they should be.
i. “Wisdom is within the sight and reach at every man: but he whose desires are scattered abroad, who is always aiming at impossible things, or is of an unsteady disposition, is not likely to find it.” (Clarke)
ii. “The contrast here is between ‘before the face of him’ and ‘the ends of the earth.’ While it is a sure sign of weakness to see only the things that are near, it is a yet surer sign of folly to be forever looking at far-off things, to the neglect of those close at hand.” (Morgan)
iii. “As a student who is hearing nothing of what his teacher says might let his eyes rove to every corner of the classroom, so the fool who is inattentive to the instruction of Wisdom is said to have his eyes on the ends of the earth.” (McKane, cited in Ross)
iv. “His eyes are on the ends of the earth, rolling and wandering from one object to another. His thoughts are scattered. He has no definite objective, no certain way of life. Talent, cultivation of mind, and improvement of opportunity are all frittered away. He cares about those things that are furthest from him and with which he has the least concern.” (Bridges)
v. “This diversion is a great friend to the enemy. Our enemy’s great object is to turn the mind away from what is immediate to what is indefinite, from what is plain and important to what is unsearchable, from what is personal to what is irrelevant. Many trifles take the place of the one thing that is needful.” (Bridges)
Pro_17:25
A foolish son is a grief to his father,
And bitterness to her who bore him.
a. A foolish son is a grief to his father: The thought in this proverb is similar to that in Pro_17:21. Parents may find great grief in the foolish character of their children.
b. And bitterness to her who bore him: Because of the maternal instinct and bond, there is a special pain and bitterness that belongs to the mother of a foolish son or daughter.
Pro_17:26
Also, to punish the righteous is not good,
Nor to strike princes for their uprightness.
a. To punish the righteous is not good: God’s moral order insists that the righteous be rewarded and the wicked be punished. To upset this or reverse it is not good.
b. Nor to strike princes for their uprightness: If a leader is upright, he should never be punished – especially by striking. Uprightness should be rewarded and honored, not punished.
Pro_17:27
He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
a. He who has knowledge spares his words: Both wisdom and folly are often revealed by one’s words. Yet, in the case of wisdom, it may be revealed by the knowledge of when to keep quiet. We should never think that the wise man or woman reveals their wisdom by talking a lot.
b. A man of understanding is of a calm spirit: The peace and contentment that properly come to the wise is described here as a calm spirit. To be constantly agitated and upset is a mark of folly, not wisdom.
Pro_17:28
Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.
a. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace: This continues the idea from the previous proverb. There is a wonderful way that even a fool can be considered wise – to not speak.
i. Is counted wise: “The dry advice of 28 is not purely ironical: the fool who takes it is no longer a complete fool.” (Kidner)
b. When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive: If the fool cared about being considered perceptive, this gives an easy way for it to happen.
i. One is reminded of Abraham Lincoln’s witty saying: “It is better to keep your mouth shut and let them think you a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”

Proverbs 17:1-2
Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
Whether it was the intention of God the Holy Ghost in this account of a wise servant to lead to Jesus, I must not presume to determine; but when I call to mind that God the Father hath put Jesus at the head of all offices, and characters, that in all things he might have the preeminence; I confess that in reading the account here given, I find my heart instinctively as it were prompted to contemplate under this character the ever-blessed Jesus. Col_1:18, For was not Christ Jehovah’s servant? Nay, did not the gracious Lord himself stoop to become the servant of all, and take upon him the form of a servant? I am among you (said Christ) as him that serveth. Luk_22:27. And who so wise as Jesus? Who so zealous in his Father’s service? Who so diligent in the accomplishment of our salvation, and in doing the work which his Father gave him to do? and hath he not rule over every son, every adopted son whose rebellion and departures from God our Father hath caused shame? Reader! hath not your unworthiness and mine caused shame? And is it not your glory now, that Jehovah’s wise servant hath rule over you? Do you not delight to bow the knee to Jesus, and to confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father? And hath not Jesus part in the inheritance which he himself hath purchased and recovered among the brethren? Oh! the blessedness of the thought, he is not ashamed to call them brethren: and in all that concerns them he takes part. Precious Jesus! may I delight to contemplate thee under this as well as every other tender office and character, into which thou hast condescended to put thyself. And I will say of thee as the church said, Oh! that thou wert as my brother that sucked the breasts of my mother, when I should find thee without I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me. I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. Son_8:1-2.

Proverbs 17:3-17
The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts. A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished. Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince. A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth. He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD. Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
I am constrained again to pause over this verse, in which methinks I see a volume that might be made of it concerning Jesus. He is indeed both the friend and the brother. For verily (saith an apostle) he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Heb_2:16. As such therefore, he both belongs to our nature and is a true descendant indeed of Abraham. Hadst thou, blessed Jesus, when thou camest to redeem us come only as an angel, and in an angel’s nature; though that would have been according to our view of things, staying nearer at home in point of dignity; yet in this case, though thy people still must have loved thee for thy works sake in redeeming us, if redemption could have been accomplished that way; yet surely we should not have known thee as we now know thee; neither have felt our hearts drawn as we now feel them into the sweetest of all loves, in beholding thee as our brother. Neither, dear Lord! could thy people have felt the confidence which they now feel, in coming to thee under all their multiplied wants, and the ten thousand times ten thousand occasions, which they find for thy love, and grace, and mercy, to be displayed, upon them, and thy endearing manifestations towards them. Oh! what a source of inexpressible joy doth my poor heart this moment find in this one view of Jesus, the friend that loveth at all times, and the brother born for adversity.

Proverbs 17:18-28
A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity. He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
It is very sweet to remark in these Proverbs what a striking contrast the wise man is perpetually drawing, between the wisdom which is from above, and the folly which is from beneath. And by thus putting both in their different shades of colouring, surely he hath adopted the most effectual method of answering the plan of teaching, by such a way as a proverb is calculated to accomplish in carrying conviction to the mind of the blessedness of the one and the sure ruin of the other; and as he saith elsewhere, while the wise shall inherit glory, shame must be the promotion of fools. Pro_3:35.

Proverbs 17:28
REFLECTIONS
I PASS by, for the Reader’s own improvement, the consideration of every other passage contained in this chapter, to dwell upon that heavenly character of Jesus suggested in this view of him, the friend that loveth at all times, and the brother born for adversity. Jesus was indeed peculiarly born for adversity. For had not our ruined circumstances been what they are, never surely had the Son of God any need to have been born in our nature, or have come into such an alliance with us, as a brother. But it was because our situation was desperate, because we were exposed, justly exposed to the wrath of Almighty God, as helpless as we were miserable, and beyond all the possibility, in ourselves, of doing anything towards our own recovery; it was on these accounts that Jesus stood forth as our helper. So that he was indeed born for adversity. And if he will engage for us in this high character of a Redeemer; he must (justice so requiring) put himself in our very place and circumstances; and as such he must become our brother. This therefore he hath done. And Reader! do observe how all along he hath shewn himself to be the brother eminently born for adversity. He stood in our stead, paid our whole debt, crossed the book which was full of our outstanding debts, with marks to intimate the complete payment in the red letters of his own blood; and not only purchased our lost inheritance but purchased our persons, and hath put his poor indigent brethren, of whom he is not ashamed, into such a state of affluence in his fulness, by giving them a right to all he hath, and commanding them to draw upon him for all they need. And what is it now? – but the brother and the friend still. Having loved his own that are in the world, he loveth them unto the end. Though to heaven he is returned, to take possession of his kingdom; yet he saith himself, that this is also but for them and in their name. He will come again and receive them to himself, that where he is there they shall be also. In the mean time he assures them of his spiritual presence, his watching over them for good, with his whole heart and his whole soul. Lo! (he saith) I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Hail! thou almighty friend at all times, thou brother born for adversity. Never, blessed Jesus, let my soul for a moment lose sight of thee under those endearing characters. Though I have slighted thee, forgotten thee days without number; and requited all thy love with baseness and ingratitude; still compassionate brother! do thou continue thy grace and tenderness, and overcome my unworthiness with thy love. Thou knowest my frame, thou rememberest that I am but dust. And do thou cause me by thy sweet Spirit amidst all my undeservings to be still hanging upon thee, and cleaving to thee and, like another Peter, under the siftings of Satan, and the deceitfulness of my poor sinful heart, still may I always like him be enabled to appeal to thy knowledge in testimony of my adherence to Jesus, and say as he did; Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.