Pro 8:3-29 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 3. She crieth at the gates ] This might be well applied to the preaching of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and their faithful successors in the Christian ministry. He went to the temple , and proclaimed the righteousness of the Most High: he did the same in the synagogues , on the mountains , by the sea-side , in the villages , in the streets of the cities , and in private houses. His disciples followed his track: in the same way , and in the same spirit , they proclaimed the unsearchable riches of Christ. God's wisdom in the hearts of his true ministers directs them to go and to seek sinners. There are, it is true, temples, synagogues, churches, chapels, &c.; but hundreds of thousands never frequent them, and therefore do not hear the voice of truth: wisdom , therefore, must go to them , if she wishes them to receive her instructions. Hence the zealous ministers of Christ go still to the highways and hedges , to the mountains and plains , to the ships and the cottages , to persuade sinners to turn from the error of their ways, and accept that redemption which was procured by the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ.

‏ Proverbs 8:3-29

Verse 3. She crieth at the gates] This might be well applied to the preaching of Jesus Christ and his apostles, and their faithful successors in the Christian ministry. He went to the temple, and proclaimed the righteousness of the Most High: he did the same in the synagogues, on the mountains, by the sea-side, in the villages, in the streets of the cities, and in private houses. His disciples followed his track: in the same way, and in the same spirit, they proclaimed the unsearchable riches of Christ. God's wisdom in the hearts of his true ministers directs them to go and to seek sinners. There are, it is true, temples, synagogues, churches, chapels, &c.; but hundreds of thousands never frequent them, and therefore do not hear the voice of truth: wisdom, therefore, must go to them, if she wishes them to receive her instructions. Hence the zealous ministers of Christ go still to the highways and hedges, to the mountains and plains, to the ships and the cottages, to persuade sinners to turn from the error of their ways, and accept that redemption which was procured by the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ.

Verse 4. Unto you, O men] ishim, men of wealth and power, will I call; and not to you alone, for my voice is al beney Adam, "to all the descendants of Adam;" to the whole human race. As Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, so the Gospel proclaims salvation to all: to YOU-to every individual, my voice is addressed. Thou hast sinned; and thou must perish, if not saved by grace.

Verse 5. O ye simple] pethaim, ye that are deceived, and with flattering words and fair speeches deluded and drawn away.

Ye fools] kesilim, ye stupid, stiffnecked, senseless people. That preaching is never likely to do much good, that is not pointed; specifying and describing vices, and charging them home on the consciences of transgressors. Where this is not done, the congregation is unconcerned; no man supposes he has any thing to do in the business, especially if the preacher takes care to tell them, "These were the crimes of Jews, Romans, Greeks, of the people at Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Laodicea, and of heathens in general; but I hope better things of you, who have been born in a Christian land, and baptized in the Christian faith." Thus he arms their consciences in double brass against the good effects of his own teaching.

Verse 6. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things]

negidim, things which are pre-eminent, and manifestly superior to all others. The teaching is not trifling, though addressed to triflers.

The opening of my lips shall be right things.]

meysharim, things which are calculated to correct your false notions, and set straight your crooked ways. Hence she declares,

Verse 7. My mouth shall speak truth] TRUTH, without falsity, or any mixture of error, shall be the whole matter of my discourse.

Verse 8. All the words-are in righteousness] betsedek, in justice and equity, testifying what man owes to his God, to his neighbour, and to himself; giving to each his due. This is the true import of tsadak.

There is nothing froward] niphtal, tortuous, involved, or difficult.

Or perverse] ikkesh, distorted, leading to obstinacy. On the contrary,

Verse 9. They are all plain] nechochim, straight forward, over against every man, level to every capacity. This is true of all that concerns the salvation of the soul.

To them that find knowledge.] When a man gets the knowledge of himself, then he sees all the threatenings of God to be right. When he obtains the knowledge of GOD in Christ, then he finds that all the promises of God are right-yea and amen.

Verse 10. Receive my instruction, and not silver] A Hebrew idiom; receive my instruction in preference to silver.

Verse 11. Wisdom is better than rubies] See on Pr 3:15.

Verse 12. I wisdom dwell with prudence] Prudence is defined, wisdom applied to practice; so wherever true wisdom is, it will lead to action, and its activity will be always in reference to the accomplishment of the best ends by the use of the most appropriate means. Hence comes what is here called knowledge of witty inventions, daath mezimmoth emtsa, "I have found out knowledge and contrivance." The farther wisdom proceeds in man, the more practical knowledge it gains; and finding out the nature and properties of things, and the general course of providence, it can contrive by new combinations to produce new results.

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

Verse 14. Counsel is mine] Direction how to act in all circumstances and on all occasions must come from wisdom: the foolish man can give no counsel, cannot show another how he is to act in the various changes and chances of life. The wise man alone can give this counsel; and he can give it only as continually receiving instruction from God: for this Divine wisdom can say, TUSHIYAH, substance, reality, essence, all belong to me: I am the Fountain whence all are derived. Man may be wise, and good, and prudent, and ingenious; but these he derives from me, and they are dependently in him. But in me all these are independently and essentially inherent.

And sound wisdom] See above. This is a totally false translation: tushiyah means essence, substance, reality; the source and substance of good. How ridiculous the support derived by certain authors from this translation in behalf of their system! See the writers on and quoters of Prov viii.

I have strength.] Speaking still of wisdom, as communicating rays of its light to man, it enables him to bring every thing to his aid; to construct machines by which one man can do the work of hundreds. From it comes all mathematical learning, all mechanical knowledge; from it originally came the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, the pulley, in all its multiplications; and the lever, in all its combinations and varieties, came from this wisdom. And as all these can produce prodigies of power, far surpassing all kinds of animal energy, and all the effects of the utmost efforts of muscular force; hence the maxim of Lord Bacon, "Knowledge is power," built on the maxim of the tushiyah itself; li geburah, MINE IS STRENGTH.

Verse 15. By me kings reign] Every wise and prudent king is such through the influence of Divine wisdom. And just laws and their righteous administration come from this source. In this and the following verse five degrees of civil power and authority are mentioned. 1. melachim, KINGS. 2. rozenim, CONSULS. 3. sarim, PRINCES, CHIEFS of the people. 4. nedibim, NOBLES. And 5. shophetim, JUDGES or CIVIL MAGISTRATES. All orders of government are from God. Instead of shophetey arets,"judges of the earth," shophetey tsedek, "righteous judges," or "judges of righteousness," is the reading of one hundred and sixty-two of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., both in the text and in the margin, and of several ancient editions. And this is the reading of the Vulgate, the Chaldee, and the Syriac, and should undoubtedly supersede the other.

Verse 17. I love them that love me] Wisdom shows itself; teaches man the knowledge of himself; shows him also the will of God concerning him; manifests the snares and dangers of life, the allurements and unsatisfactory nature of all sensual and sinful pleasures, the blessedness of true religion, and the solid happiness which an upright soul derives from the peace and approbation of its Maker. If, then, the heart embraces this wisdom, follows this Divine teaching, and gives itself to God, his love will be shed abroad in it by the influence of the Holy Spirit. Thus we love God because he hath first loved us and the more we love him, the more we shall feel of his love, which will enable us to love him yet more and more; and thus we may go on increasing to eternity. Blessed be God!

And those that seek me early shall find me.] Not merely betimes in the morning, though he who does so shall find it greatly to his advantage; (see on Ps 4:1-8;) but early in life-in youth, and as near as possible to the first dawn of reason. To the young this gracious promise is particularly made: if they seek, they shall find. Others, who are old, may seek and find; but never to such advantage as they would have done, had they sought early. Youth is the time of advantage in every respect: it is the time of learning, the time of discipline; the time of improvement, the time of acquiring useful, solid, and gracious habits. As the first-fruits always belong to God, it is God's time; the time in which he is peculiarly gracious; and in which, to sincere youthful seekers, he pours out his benefits with great profusion. "They that seek me early shall find me."

Hear, ye young, and ye little ones! God offers himself now to you, with all his treasures of grace and glory. Thank him for his ineffable mercy, and embrace it without delay.

Verse 18. Riches and honour are with me] Often the wise, prudent, and discreet man arrives literally to riches and honour; but this is not always the case. But there are other riches of which he never fails; and these seem to be what Solomon has particularly in view, durable riches and righteousness; the treasure deposited by God in earthen vessels.

Verse 20. I lead in the way of righteousness] Nothing but the teaching that comes from God by his word and Spirit can do this.

Verse 22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way] Wisdom is not acquired by the Divine Being; man, and even angels, learn it by slow and progressive degrees; but in God it is as eternally inherent as any other essential attribute of his nature. The Targum makes this wisdom a creature, by thus translating the passage: Elaha barani bereish biriteiah, "God created me in the beginning of his creatures." The Syriac is the same. This is as absurd and heretical as some modern glosses on the same passage.

Verse 23. I was set up from everlasting] nissachti, "I was diffused or poured out," from nasach, "to diffuse, pour abroad, as a spirit or disposition," Isa 29:10. See Parkhurst. Or from sach, "to cover, overspread, smear over, as with oil;" to be anointed king. Hence some have translated it, principatum habui, I had the principality, or was a ruler, governor, and director, from eternity. All the schemes, plans, and circumstances, relative to creation, government, providence, and to all being, material, animal, and intellectual, were conceived in the Divine mind, by the Divine wisdom, from eternity, or ever the earth was. There was no fortuitous creation, no jumbling concourse of original atoms, that entered into the composition of created beings; all was the effect of the plans before conceived, laid down, and at last acted upon by God's eternal wisdom.

Verse 24. When there were no depths] tehomoth, before the original chaotic mass was formed. See Ge 1:2.

I was brought forth] cholalti, "I was produced as by labouring throes." Mr. Parkhurst thinks that the heathen poets derived their idea of Minerva's (wisdom's) being born of Jupiter's brain, from some such high poetic personification as that in the text.

Verse 26. The highest part of the dust of the world] rosh aphroth tebel, "the first particle of matter." The prima materia, the primitive atom. All these verses (Pr 8:3-29) are a periphrasis for I existed before creation; consequently before time was. I dwelt in God as a principle which might be communicated in its influences to intellectual beings when formed.

Verse 27. When he prepared the heavens, I was there] For there is no part of the creation of God in which wisdom, skill, contrivance, are more manifest, than in the construction of the visible heavens.

When he set a compass upon the face of the depth] Does not this refer to the establishment of the law of gravitation? by which all the particles of matter, tending to a common centre, would produce in all bodies the orbicular form, which we see them have; so that even the waters are not only retained within their boundaries, but are subjected to the circular form, in their great aggregate of seas, as other parts of matter are. This is called here making a compass, bechukko chug, sweeping a circle; and even this on the face of the deep, to bring the chaotic mass into form, regularity, and order.

Verse 28. The clouds above] shechakim, "the ethereal regions," taking in the whole of the atmosphere, with all its meteors, clouds, vapours, &c.

Verse 29. When he gave to the sea his decree] When he assigned its limits, adjusted its saltness, and proportioned the extent of the surface to the quantity of vapours to be raised from it, for the irrigation of the terrene surface.

The foundations of the earth] Those irreversible laws by which all its motions are governed; its annual and diurnal rotation, and particularly its centrifugal and centripetal forces; by the former of which it has its annual motion round the sun like all other planets; and by the latter all its particles are prevented from flying off, notwithstanding the great velocity of its motion round its own axis, which causes one thousand and forty-two miles of its equator to pass under any given point in the heavens in the course of a single hour! These are, properly speaking, the foundations of the earth; the principles on which it is constructed, and the laws by which it is governed.