12 One that is righteous wisely considereth the house of the wicked: he overthroweth the wicked to [their] ruin.
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading like a green tree in its native soil: but he passed away, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, but he was not found.
Righteousness preserveth him that is perfect in the way; but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
For if God spared not [the] angels who had sinned, but having cast them down to the deepest pit of gloom has delivered them to chains of darkness [to be] kept for judgment; and spared not [the] old world, but preserved Noe, [the] eighth, a preacher of righteousness, having brought in [the] flood upon [the] world of [the] ungodly; and having reduced [the] cities of Sodom and Gomorrha to ashes, condemned [them] with an overthrow, setting [them as] an example to those that should [afterwards] live an ungodly life; and saved righteous Lot, distressed with the abandoned conversation of the godless, (for the righteous man through seeing and hearing, dwelling among them, tormented [his] righteous soul day after day with [their] lawless works,) [the] Lord knows [how] to deliver the godly out of trial, and to keep [the] unjust to [the] day of judgment [to be] punished;
yet God was not pleased with the most of them, for they were strewed in the desert.
Woe to him that getteth iniquitous gain to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the grasp of evil! Thou hast devised shame to thy house, by cutting off many peoples, and hast sinned against thine own soul. For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by unrighteousness!
I have overthrown among you, like God's overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith Jehovah.
Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? intelligent, and he shall know them? For the ways of Jehovah are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall therein.
The house of the wicked shall be overthrown; but the tent of the upright shall flourish.
And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
The integrity of the upright guideth them; but the crookedness of the unfaithful destroyeth them. Wealth profiteth not in the day of wrath; but righteousness delivereth from death. The righteousness of the perfect maketh plain his way; but the wicked falleth by his own wickedness.
Whoso is wise, let him observe these things, and let them understand the loving-kindnesses of Jehovah.
ùGod shall likewise destroy thee for ever; he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of [thy] tent, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
This is the portion of the wicked man with ùGod, and the heritage of the violent, which they receive from the Almighty: -- If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword, and his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread; Those that remain of him shall be buried by death, and his widows shall not weep. Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare clothing as the clay; He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on; and the innocent shall divide the silver. He buildeth his house as the moth, and as a booth that a keeper maketh. He lieth down rich, but will do so no more; he openeth his eyes, and he is not. Terrors overtake him like waters; a whirlwind stealeth him away in the night. The east wind carrieth him away and he is gone; and as a storm it hurleth him out of his place. And [God] shall cast upon him and not spare: he would fain flee out of his hand. [Men] shall clap their hands at him, and shall hiss him out of his place.
For ye say, Where is the house of the noble? and where the tent of the dwellings of the wicked? Have ye not asked the wayfarers? and do ye not regard their tokens: That the wicked is reserved for the day of calamity? They are led forth to the day of wrath.
His confidence shall be rooted out of his tent, and it shall lead him away to the king of terrors: They who are none of his shall dwell in his tent; brimstone shall be showered upon his habitation: His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off; His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall have no name on the pasture-grounds. He is driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world. He hath neither son nor grandson among his people, nor any remaining in the places of his sojourn. They that come after shall be astonished at his day, as they that went before [them] were affrighted. Surely, such are the dwellings of the unrighteous man, and such the place of him that knoweth not ùGod.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Proverbs 21
Commentary on Proverbs 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
Pr 21:1-31.
1. rivers—irrigating channels (Ps 1:3), whose course was easily turned (compare De 11:10). God disposes even kings as He pleases (Pr 16:9; Ps 33:15).
2. (Compare Pr 14:2; 16:2-25).
3. (Compare Ps 50:7-15; Isa 1:11, 17).
4. high look—(Compare Margin; Ps 131:1).
proud heart—or, "heart of breadth," one that is swollen (compare Ps 101:5).
ploughing—better "lamp," a frequent figure for prosperity (Pr 20:20); hence joy or delight.
5. The contrast is between steady industry and rashness (compare Pr 19:2).
6. The getting—or, "what is obtained" (compare Job 7:2; Jer 22:13, Hebrew).
vanity … to and fro—as fleeting as chaff or stubble in the wind (compare Pr 20:17-21; Ps 62:10). Such gettings are unsatisfactory.
them … death—act as if they did (Pr 8:36; 17:19).
7. robbery—or, "destruction," especially oppression, of which they are authors.
shall destroy—literally, "cut with a saw" (1Ki 7:9), that is, utterly ruin them. Their sins shall be visited on them in kind.
to do judgment—what is just and right.
8. of man—any one; his way is opposed to truth, and also estranged from it. The pure proves himself such by his right conduct.
9. corner—a turret or arbor on the roof.
brawling—or contentious.
wide house—literally, "house of fellowship," large enough for several families.
10. So strongly does he desire to do evil (Ps 10:3; Ec 8:11), that he will not even spare his friend if in his way.
11. (Compare Pr 19:25). That which the simple learn by the terrors of punishment, the wise learn by teaching.
12. (Compare Ps 37:35-38; 73:17, 20).
house—family or interests.
overthroweth—either supply "God" (compare Pr 10:24), or the word is used impersonally.
13. The principles of retribution, often taught (compare Ps 18:26; Mt 7:1-12).
14. The effect of bribery (Pr 17:23) is enhanced by secrecy, as the bribed person does not wish his motives made known.
15. But the just love right and need no bribes. The wicked at last meet destruction, though for a time happy in concealing corruption.
16. the way of understanding—(Compare Pr 12:26; 14:22).
remain—that is, rest as at a journey's end; death will be his unchanging home.
17. Costly luxuries impoverish.
18. (Compare Pr 11:8). By suffering what they had devised for the righteous, or brought on them, the wicked became their ransom, in the usual sense of substitutes (compare Jos 7:26; Es 7:9).
19. (Compare Pr 21:9).
wilderness—pasture, though uninhabitable ground (Ps 65:12).
20. The wise, by diligence and care, lay up and increase wealth, while fools
spend—literally, "swallow it up," greedily.
21. He who tries to act justly and kindly (Ps 34:14) will prosper and obtain justice and honor.
22. "Wisdom is better than strength" (Ec 7:19; 9:15).
strength … thereof—that in which they confide.
23. (Compare Pr 13:2, 3; Jas 3:6-10).
24. The reproachful name is deserved by those who treat others with anger and contempt.
25. desire—that is, of ease and idleness brings him to starvation.
26. The sin of covetousness marks the sluggard, as the virtue of benevolence the righteous.
27. God regards the heart, and hypocrisy is more odious than open inconsistency.
wicked mind—or, "design" (Pr 1:4).
28. (Compare Pr 19:5).
that heareth—or heeds instruction, and so grows wise.
speaketh constantly—or sincerely (compare Hab 1:5), and hence is believed (Pr 12:19; Jas 1:19).
29. hardeneth his face—is obstinate.
directeth … way—considers it, and acts advisedly.
30, 31. Men's best devices and reliances are vain compared with God's, or without His aid (Pr 19:21; Ps 20:7; 33:17).