Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Proverbs · Chapter 24
CHAP. XXIV. Verſ. 1. Be not thou envious againſt evil men.]
HEbr. Men of evil, ſuch as are ſet upon ſin, as are like Caracalla, qui nihil cogitabat boni, qui id non didicerat; quod ipſe fatebatur, ſaith Dio; who never thought of any good, &c. Envie not ſuch an one his pomp, any more than we doe a dead corps his flowers, and gayity. See chap. 23.17.
Neither deſire to be with them] That is, to be in their eſtate, ſo thou mighteſt be at their ſtay. This hath been the folly of ſome of Gods people, as David noteth, Pſal. 73.10. For the which they have afterwards befooled and be-beaſted themſelves, as he did, verſ. 22.
Verſ. 2. For their heart ſtudieth deſtruction] Great ſtudents they are, wittily wicked: but they conſult ſhame and confuſion to them and theirs.
And their lips talk of miſchief] The miſchief that they machinate, budgeth and bliſtereth out at their tongues ends. They are even bigge with it, and not well, till delivered.
Verſ. 3. Through wiſdome is an houſe builded] q. d. Ile ſhew thee a better project; wouldeſt thou thrive and grow great? Exerciſe godlineſs, wiſh not wickedneſs. See the Notes on chap. 3.16, 17.
Verſ. 4. With all precious and pleaſant riches] Riches imply, 1 Plenty of that which is precious and pleaſant. 2 Propriety; they muſt be good things that are our own: And hereunto oeconomical prudence much conduceth. God beſtoweth abundance on the wicked ex largitate, only out of a general providence: but upon his people that are good husbands, ex promiſſo, by vertue of this and the like promiſes.
Verſ. 5. A wiſe man is ſtrong] See the Note on Chap. 21.22.
Verſ. 6. For by wiſe counſel] See the Note upon chap. 20.18. This Saluſt delivers, as the ſentence of the wiſeſt Sages. But Salomon ſaid it long before.
Verſ. 7. Wiſdome is too hard for a fool] Hebr. Too high; his pericranium comprehends it not, neither indeed can doe, 1 Cor. 2.14. He puts off the ſtudy of it, pretending the impoſſibility of reaching to it.
He openeth not his mouth in the gate] Hee were two fools if hee ſhould, for whiles he holds his tongue, he is held wiſe.
foreign.Verſ. 8. Shall be called a miſchievous perſon] Hebr. A maſter of ſinful muſings, an Artiſt at any evil. Joſephus ſaith of Antipater, that his courſe of life might fitly be called, a Myſtery of miſchief, quae altiſſimas egerat radices, &c.
Verſ. 9. The thought of fooliſhneſſe is ſin] The Schools doe well obſerve, that outward ſins are majoris infamiae, of greater infamy: but inward heart-ſins are majoris reatus, of greater guilt, as wee ſee in Devils. See the Note on Chap. 14.22.
And the ſcorner is an abomination to men] Witneſſe Julian, Lucian, Porphiry, Julius Scaliger, that proud Hypercritick (qui neminem praeſe duxit hominem) Laurentius Valla, who jeared at other Logicians, and extolled his own Logick as the only beſt, calling it, Logicam Laurentiuam.
Trithem.Jupiter hunc coeli dignatus honore fuiſſe…,
Cenſorem linguae ſed timet ipſe ſuae.
But what an odious ſcorner was Quintinus the Libertine, of whom Calvin complains, that he ſcoffed at every one of the holy Apoſtles? Paul he called a broken Veſſel, John a fooliſh Youth, Peter a Denyer of God, Matthew an Uſurer.Calv. Inſt. Adverſ. Libert. cap. 9. En quomodo ille foetoris gurges putido ore ſuo blaſphemare audebat! ſaith Calvin. See how this ſtinking elf duſt bark and blaſpheme the Saints. The baſeſt can mock; as the abjects did David, Pſal. 35.15. and Tobiah the ſervant did Nehemiah, Chap. 2.10. Scorners are the moſt baſe ſpirits. The Septuagint call them Peſts, Pſal. 1.1. incorrigible, Prov. 20.1. proud perſons, chap. 3.34. naught, Prov. 9.12, &c.
Verſ. 10. If thou faint in the day of adverſity] Afflictions try what ſap wee have: as hard weather tries what health. Withered leaves fall off in a wind: rotten boughs break when weight is laid on them, ſo doe earthen veſſels when ſet empty to the fire. As is the man, ſo is his ſtrength, ſaid they to Gideon, Joſephs bow abode in ſtrength (though the Archers ſorely grieved him, and ſhot at him, and hated him) and the arms of his hand were made ſtrong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, &c. Gen. 49.23, 24.
Verſ. 11. If thou forbear to deliver them, &c.] That is, that are wrongfully butchered. Here, not to ſave a man (if it be in our power) is to deſtroy him, Mark 3.4. Job brake the jawes of the wicked, and plucked the prey out of his teeth. The people reſcued Jonathan, and Ebedmelech Jeremy. Chap. 29. Act. and Mon. fol. 1899.Henry 8. delivered his Queen Katherine; and King Philip with his Spaniards kept the Lady Elizabeth from the cruel mercies of Stephen Gardiner, who had deſigned them deſtruction; Sir George Blage, (one of King Henry the Eighths Privie-chamber) being condemned for an Heretick, was yet pardoned by the King. He coming afterwards to the Kings preſence, Ah my Pig, Act. and Mon. fol. 1135. Ibid. 1862.ſaith the King (for ſo hee was wont to call him) Yea, ſaid he, if your Majesty had not been better to mee than your Biſhops were, your Pig had been roaſted ere this time. But what a bloudy mind bore Harpsfield, Arch-Deacon of Canterbury, who being at London when Queen Mary lay a dying, made all poſt-haſte home to diſpatch thoſe whom he had then in cruel cuſtody.
Verſ. 12. If thou ſayeſt, behold we knew it not, &c.] As no wool is ſo coarſe, but will take ſome colour; ſo there is no ſin ſo foul but will admit of ſome excuſe. Ignorance is commonly pleaded; wee know not this mans Caſe, the Juſtice of his Cauſe, the means of his Reſcue, &c. But be not deceived, God is not mocked. They that would mock him impoſturum faciunt & patientur, cozen themſelves, as the Emperour ſaid of him that ſold glaſſe for Pearl.Iſidor. Pſal. 11.4. Deo obſcura clarent, muta reſpondent, ſilentinm confitetur. Gods eyes behold, his eye-lids try the children of men. The former points out his knowledge, the latten his critical deſcant.
Doth not he that pondereth the heart conſider?] No man needs a window in his breſt (as the Heathen Momus wiſhed) for God to look in at; for every man before God is all window, Job 34.22. and his eyes are as a flaming fire, Revel. 1.14. that need no outward light, that ſee extra mittendo by ſending out a ray &c. that ſee thorow that tranſparent body, the world, called a ſea of glaſs. Revel. 4.6.
Verſ. 13. My ſon, eat thou honey becauſe it is good] Profitable and pleaſant, wholſome and toothſome. So, and much more than ſo is divine knowledge. Plutarch tells of Eudoxus, that he would be willing to be burnt up by the Sun preſently, ſo he might be admitted to come ſo near it, as to learn the nature of it. How ſweet muſt it needs be then to know Chriſt and him crucified? &c. ſweeter it was to David, than Live-honey dropping from the combe, Pſal. 19.10. and 119.103. The beleeving Hebrews knew within themſelves, that there ſhould be a reward, and that their expectation ſhould not be cut off, Heb. 10.34. They drew the circumference of Gods promiſes to the center of their hearts, and ſo living by faith, they had the ſweet-meats of the feaſt of a good Conſcience, as Maſter Latimer hath it: they taſted of that honey, the ſweetneſs whereof none can finde by any diſcourſe (how elegant ſoever) ſo well as by eating of it, as Auguſtine ſpeaketh.
Verſ. 15. Lay not wait, O wicked man, &c.] foreign,Plut. foreign. as that Heathen ſaid. God dwells with the righteous, moleſt him not therefore, beat not up his quarters. The Scythians (ſaith he in Plutarch) though they have no Muſick or Vines amongſt them, yet they have Gods. So whatever the Saints want, they want not Gods gracious preſence with them. And if wicked men had but ſo much knowledge of God, as Pilates Wife had in a Dream, they would take heed of having any thing to doe with theſe juſt men.
Verſ. 16. For a juſt man falleth ſeven times] i. e. often. Seven times a day, as the Vulgar and many of the Fathers read it, who alſo underſtand this text of falling into ſinne, and riſing again by repentance. But the oppoſition carrys it to the other ſenſe, of falling into trouble. And the next verſe ſpeaks as much, Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth, &c. Gods Saints are bound to rejoyce when they fall into divers temptations, Jam. 1.2. What though they fall into them? not go in ſtep by ſtep, but be precipitated, plunged over head and ears. Say they fall not into one but many croſſes,Jam. 1.2. (as they ſeldome come ſingle, but like Jobs meſſengers one at the heels of another) yet be exceeding glad, (ſaith the Apoſtle) as a Merchant is to ſee his ſhips come laden in. For though yee fall, ye ſhall ariſe, and though yee ſit in darkneſſe, the Lord ſhall give you light, Mic. 7.8.
But the wicked ſhall fall into miſchief] i. e. into remedileſs miſery. Non ſurget hic afflictio, Nahum 1.9. As they ſhall have an evill, an only evill without mixture of mercy, Ezek. 7.5. ſo they ſhall totally and finally be conſumed at once. If Mordecai be of the ſeed of the Jews, before whom Hamon hath begun to fall, he ſhall fall to ſome purpoſe, Eſth. 6.13. A Jew may fall before a Perſian, and get up and prevail. But if a Perſian or other Perſecutour begin to fall before a Jew, he can neither ſtay nor riſe. There is an inviſible hand of Omnipotency that ſtrikes in for his own, and confounds their oppoſites.
Verſ 17. Rejoyce not when thine enemy falleth] If thou doſt, it is a ſure ſign of deviliſh hatred, (foreign being the devils diſeaſe) what good will, innocency, or ignoſcency ſoever thou makeſt ſhew off. Job cleareth himſelf of this fault, Job 31.24. and ſo doth David notably, Pſal. 35.13, 14. See his practice, 2 Sam. 1.11, 12. Caeſar wept when Pompey's head was preſented to him, and ſaid, Victoriam volui, non vindictam. See the Notes on Mat. 5.44. and on Rom. 12.19.
Verſ. 18. Leſt the Lord ſee it] viz. Thy pride and cruelty, as he will, for he is foreign All-eye, and foreign, if he ſee, he will kindle and turn the wheel upon thee, as he threatned to do upon Edom, for looking with liking upon Iſraels calamity. For prevention hereof, think thus with thy ſelf; Either I am like mine enemy, or elſe I am better or worſe than he. If like him,Ezek. Obad. 12. why may not I look for the like miſery? If better, who made me to differ? If worſe, what reaſon then have I to inſult?
Verſ. 19. Fret not thy ſelf becauſe of evill men] We are wondrous apt to be ſick of the Fret; hence ſo many precepts to this purpoſe. See chap. 23.17. and 24.1.
Verſ. 20. For there ſhall be no reward] He ſhall ſuffer both pain of loſs, and pain of ſenſe, which whether is the more grievous, is hard to determine. Sure it is, that the tears of hell are not ſufficient to bewail the loſs of heaven: their worm of grief gnaws as painfully as their fire burns. Depart from mee yee curſed, ſounds as harſh in their ears, as that which follows, into everlaſting flames.
Verſ. 21. My ſonne, fear the Lord and the King] Who would not fear thee O King of Nations?Pſal. 76.11. for unto thee doth it appertain, Jer. 10.7. God is the prime and proper object of fear. Whence by an Appelative proper, he is called Fear by the Pſalmiſt. The Greeks call him foreign (as ſome think) from the fear that is due to him. Princes alſo muſt be feared and honoured, 1 Pet. 2.17. as thoſe that are inveſted with Gods Authority, and intruſted with the adminiſtration of his Kingdome upon earth, by the exerciſe of vindictive and remunerative Juſtice. And whiles they be juſt, ruling in the fear of God, 2 Sam. 23.3. and commanding things conſonant to the word and will of God, they muſt be obeyed for conſcience ſake, Rom. 13.3. otherwiſe not. See the note on Acts 4.19.
And meddle not with them that are given to change] i. e. with ſeditious ſpirits, that affect and effect alterations, law leſſe perſons (as Saint Paul calls them) Male-contents,foreign. to whom foreign the preſent government is ever grievous, as Thucydides noteth. Such were Kore and his complices; Abſolom, Sheba, the ten tribes that cried, Alleva jugum, Eaſe our yoke; and before them, thoſe in Samuels time that cried, Nay but we will have a King. Novatus hath ſtill too many followers, of whom Saint Cyprian, under whom he lived, thus teſtifieth, Novatus rerum novarum ſemper cupidus, arrogantia inflatus, that he was an arrogant innovatour. Theſe turbulent ſpirits prove oft the peſts and boutefeaus of the ſtate they live in: and it is dangerous having to deal with them.
Verſ. 22. For their calamity ſhall riſe ſuddenly] When they think they have made all cock-ſure: Had Zimri-peace that killed his maſter? Had Abſolom, Sheba, Rhodolphus Duke of Suevia, Sanders, Story, Parry, Campian, Daniels Hiſt.the powder-plotters, Raviliac, &c. Knute the firſt Danique King cauſed the falſe Edrics head (that had been his Agent) to be ſet upon the higheſt part of the tower of London: therein performing his promiſe of advancing him above any Lord in the Land. James the firſt, King of Scots, was murdered in Perth by Walter Earl of Athol, in hope to attain the Crown. Crowned indeed he was, but not as his witches and ſorcerers had ambiguouſly inſinuated, with the Crown of that Realm, but with a Crown of red hot Iron, clapt upon his head,Speed. Chron. being one of the tortures wherewith he ended at once his wicked days and deſires.
And who knoweth the ruine of them both?] i. e. That both God and the King will inflict upon the Rebels; Or of them both, i. e. both of the King if a Tyrant, and of thoſe that ſeditiouſly move againſt him.
Verſ. 23. Theſe things alſo belong to the wiſe] As ſubjects muſt know their duties, ſo Magiſtrates theirs: neither may they hold themſelves too wiſe to learn. God can ſend even a Salomon to School to the Raven, to the Piſmire, yea to the Lillies of the Field; as being able to teach the wiſeſt man by the weakeſt Creature.
It is not good to have reſpect of Perſons] Hebr. to know faces, to regard not ſo much the matter as the man, to hear Perſons ſpeak and not Cauſes, to judge not according to truth and equity, but according to opinion and appearance, to fear or favour. This cannot be good, lawful, or ſafe, Job 13.13. Hee will ſurely (or thorowly) reprove you, (not verbally only, but penally too) if you ſecretly accept Perſons. Of Trajan it is ſaid, that he neither feared nor hated any man; but that he heard the Cauſes of his Subjects without praejudicate impiety, judiciouſly examined them without ſiniſter obliquity, and ſincerely judged them without unjuſt partiality.
Verſ. 24. Him ſhall the people curſe] Hebr. They ſhall run him thorow, with their evil wiſhes for his evil ſentence: he ſhall be generally hated, and ſet againſt, as was Herod, Pilate, Feſtus, Ferres, &c.
Verſ. 25. But to them that rebuke him ſhall be delight] Thoſe Judges that reprove and puniſh the wicked ſhall (beſides the Euge of a good Conſcience, which is farre better than the worlds Plaudite) delight themſelves in the Lord, and reign in the affections of all good men, who ſhall eftſoons alſo ſay, Gods bleſſing be on ſuch a good Judges heart, for he ſaveth the innocent, and puniſheth the wicked, &c. As he hath done worthily in Ephrata, ſo he ſhall be famous in Bethlehem, Ruth 4.11. See Job 29.11, 12.
Verſ. 26. Every man ſhall kiſſe his lips] That is, ſhall doe him honour, as Gen. 41.40. All the people ſhall kiſſe at thy mouth, ſaith Pharaoh to Joſeph: and Samuel kiſſed Saul when hee annoynted him King, 1 Sam. 10.1. and, Kiſſe the Son, ſaith David, Pſal. 2.11. That is, give unto him the honour due unto his name.
Verſ. 27. Prepare thy work without, &c.] God would have all his to be not good men only, but good husbands too; to order their affairs with diſcretion,Lib. 18. cap. 1 and to take their fitteſt opportunities for diſpatch of houſhold buſineſſes. Pliny hath a ſaying to like ſenſe with this, Aedificandum, ſaith he, conſito agro, & tunc quoque cunctanter, Let building alone till thy field be tilled, vined, planted, &c.
Verſ. 28. Be not a witneſſe againſt thy neighbour without cauſe] That is, Without calling, being not thereunto required: for this would ſpeak thee ſpightful, raſh, and revengeful, as in the next verſe.
And deceive not with thy lips] When called to be a Witneſſe, ſpeak thy mind ſimply and plainly,foreign. without preface or paſſion, without varniſh of fine words, whereby to miſlead the Judge, or deceive the Jurors, to bolſter out a bad cauſe, or out-face a good.
Verſ. 29. Say not, I will doe ſo to him, as he hath done to me] Nothing is more natural than revenge of wrongs: and the world approves it as right temper, true touch: As, to put up wrongs is held towardiſe, and unmanlineſs. But we have not ſo learned Chriſt. Nay, thoſe that never heard of Chriſt, have ſpoken much againſt this vindictive diſpoſition. See the Note on chap. 20.22. and on Mat. 5.39. Rom. 12.17.
I will render to the man according to his works] But is not that Gods Office? And will you needs leap into his Chair, wring the Sword out of his hand? or at leaſt, will you be a Pope in your own cauſe, depoſe the Magiſtrate, or appeal from him to yourſelf? What Luciferian pride is this? Nemo te impunè laceſſit? Is not God the God of recompences?
Verſ. 30. I went by the field of the ſlothful] Not purpoſely to ſpy faults (for Nemo curioſus quin malevolus) but my buſineſs lay that way, and I was willing to make the beſt of every thing that came before me.
By the vineyard of the man voyd of underſtanding] Hebr. That had no heart, that is, that made no uſe of it, that was not Egregie cordatus homo, as one deſcribes a wiſe man.
Verſ. 31. And loe it was all grown over with thorns] So is the Spiritual ſluggards ſoul with luſts and ſins, under the which lurketh that old Serpent.
Verſ. 32. Then I ſaw and conſidered it well] I made my beſt uſe of it for mine own inſtruction. A Bee can ſuck honey out of a flower, which a Fly cannot doe. So a ſpiritual mind can extract good out of every object and occurrence, even out of other mens faults and follies; he can gather grapes of thorns, and figgs of thiſtles, as here. Well therefore may grace be called the Divine Nature, 2 Pet. 1.4. for as God draws light out of darkneſs, good out of evil, &c. ſo doth grace, by an heavenly kind of Alchymy, as I may ſo ſay.
And received inſtruction] Exemplo alterius qui ſapit, ille ſapit. The worſe others are, the better ſhould we be; getting as farre off from the wicked as wee can, in our daily practice, and ſaving our ſelves from this untoward generation.
Verſ. 33. Yet a little ſleep] Mercer makes this to be the leſſon that the Wiſeman both learnt himſelf, and alſo layes before others, viz. to be content with a little ſleep, to be up and at it betimes, &c. that the begger catch us not. But I rather incline to thoſe that think, that he here brings in the ſluggard pleading for his ſloth: and by an elegant Mimeſis imitates and perſonates him, ſaying as he uſed to doe, yet a little more ſleep, a little more ſlumber, &c. A little, and yet ſleeps, in the plural. A little he would have, but a little will not ſerve his turn. See the Note on chap. 6.9, &c.
Verſ. 34. So ſhall thy poverty come] Swiftly and irreſiſtably. Seneca calls Sloth the Nurſe of beggery, the Mother of miſery.