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ST. JOHN THE AUTHOR OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL.
By Professor C. E. LUTHARDT,
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By C. R. GREGORY, Leipzig.
Chap. I. Tradition. II. St. John's Authorship disputed. III. The Testimony of the Church. IV. Testimony outside of the Church. V. St. John's Residence at Ephesus. VL The Passover Controversy. VII. The Testi- mony of the Gospel itself. VIII. St. John's Gospel and the Second Century, IX. St. John's Gospel and the Synoptlsts. X. St. John's Gos- pel and the Revelation. XI. St. John's Christology psychologically possible. Appendix. — Literature of the disputed Origin of the Fourth Gospel, from 1792 to the present.
' A work which must be regarded as a very able and almost exhaustive summary of the arguments in favour of the catholic tradition on this subject — exhaustive, that is to say, in the present state of the question, and until new evidence shall have been dis- covered. Nothing can be more lucid or effective than the author's method of arranging and presenting his arguments.'' — Scotsman.
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THE
MIRACLES OF OUR LORD
IN RELATION TO MODERN CRITICISM.
BY
F. L. STEINMEYER, D.D.,
ORDINARY PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN.
TKANSLATED, WITH THE PEKMISSION OF THE AUTHOR, FROM THE GERMAN BY
L. A. WHEAT LEY.
Introduction.— 1. The Problem. 2. Method of Solving it. 3. Value of the
Solution. Jesus as a Worker of Miracles. First Group. — Miracles considered as Signs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Second Group. — Miracles considered as Symbols.
Third Group. — Miracles as Witnesses of the Power of the Kingdom of Heaven. Fourth Group.— Miracles as Prophecies.
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BIBLICAL COMMENTARY
PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.
BY
FRANZ DELITZSCH, D.D.,
PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY.
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY
M. G. EASTON, D.D.
VOL. II.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
THE OLDER BOOK OF PROVERBS, I.-XXIV. {continued).
PAGE
First Collection of Solomonic Proverbs, x.-xxii. 16 (continued). Chapter xviii. Exhortations to Fidelity and other Social Virtues, 1
Chapter xix. Exhortation to Humility and Gentleness, . . 18
Chapter xix. 26. Beginning of the Fourth Principal Part of the
Solomonic Collection, . . . . .36
Chapter xx. Exhortations against Drunkenness, Slothfulness,
Quarrelsomeness, etc., . . . .39
Chapter xxi. Exhortations to the Exercise of Justice, Patience,
and Submission to God, . . . .62
Chapter xxii. 1-16. Admonitions as to the Obtaining and Pre- serving of a Good Name, . . . .83
First Appendix to the First Collection of Solomonic Proverbs,
xxii. 17-xxiv. 22, . . . . 95-140
Chapter xxii. 17-21. Admonition to lay to heart the " AN^ords
of the Wise," ...... 95
Chapter xxii. 22-29. Proverbs regarding the Treatment of the
Poor, ....... 99
Chapter xxiii. Warnings against Avarice, Intemperance, and
Licentiousness, ..... 103
Chapter xxiv. 1-22. Warnings against Fellowship with the
Wicked and Foolish, . . . . .125
Second Appendix to the First Solomonic Collection, xxiv.
23-34, 140-148
Chapter xxiv. 23-29. Admonition to Right Conduct toward
others, ....... 141
Chapter xxiv. 30-34. Warning against Slothfulness — a Mashal
Ode, 146
VI CONTENTS.
SECOND COLLECTION OF SOLOMONIC PROVERBS (which the Men of Hezekiah collected), XXY.-XXIX.
PAGE
Chapter xxv. Admonition to Kings and their Subjects as to the
Fear of God and the Practice of Righteousness, . 149
Chapter xxvi. Warnings against Folly, Indolence, and Malice, . 173 Chapter xxvii. 1-8. Warnings against unseemly Boasting and
Anger, 198
Chapter xxvii. 9. Proverbs of the Value of Friendship, . . 204
Chapter xxvii. 14. The Contentious Woman, . . . 210
Chapter xxvii. 17. The Influence of Mutual Intercourse, . 212
Chapter xxvii. 23-27. Exhortation to Rural Industry — a Mashal
Ode, 218
Chapter xxviii. Warnings against Unscrupulous, Unlawful
Dealings, ...... 221
Chapter xxix. Divers Ethical Proverbs : Warnings against
Stubbornness, Flattery, Wrath, etc., . . . 240
First Appendix to the Second Solomonic Collection of
Proverbs, xxx., ..... 260
Chapter xxx. 1-6. The " Words of Agiir " — his Confession of a
Fruitless Search for Wisdom, .... 260 Chapter xxx. 7-9. A Mashal Ode — a Prayer for a Middle State
between Poverty and Riches, .... 280
Chapter xxx. 11-14. A Priamel— a Wicked Generation, . . 284
Chapter xxx. 15, 1 6. Four Insatiable Things, . . . 287
Chapter xxx. 17. The Eye that mocketh, . . . 293
Chapter xxx. 18-20. Four Incomprehensible Things, . . 295
Chapter xxx. 21-23. Four Intolerable Things, . . . 299
Chapter xxx. 24-28. Four Things that are Small and yet Wise, . 301
Chapter xxx. 29-31. Four Creatures that are stately in going, . 305
Second Appendix to the Second Solomonic Collection of
Proverbs, xxxi. 1-9, . . . . .314
Chapter xxxi. 1-9. The " Words of Lemuel"— his Mother's
Counsel for Kings, . . . . .314
Third Appendix to the Second Solomonic Collection of
Proverbs, xxxi. 10-31, .... 325
An Alphabetical Poem (" A Golden A B C for Women ") in
praise of a Virtuous Matron, .... 326
Note.— The Proverbs peculiar to the Alexandrine Translation, . 342
ABBREVIATIONS.
[The usual abbreviations of words and phrases are adopted throughout this work, and will readily be understood by the reader. The mark of abbreviation in Hebrew words is a stroke like an acute accent after a letter, as e.g. 'in for nionn, xxix. 4; and in Hebrew sentences, 'iJ1 for i??iJl et complens = etc., as e.g. at xxx. 4.]
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
FIRST COLLECTION OF SOLOMONIC PROVERBS.— CHAP. X.-XXII. 16. (Continued.)
HAP. XVIII. 1. This series of proverbs now turns from the fool to the separatist : The separatist seeketh after his own pleasure ; Against all that is beneficial he showeth his teeth.
The reflexive T]33 has here the same meaning as the Rab- binical "i^25fn-}p t^'ns, to separate oneself from the congregation, Abothi\.5; T^S^ denotes a man who separates himself, for he follows his own counsel, Arab, mnfrd {intfrrd) brät/h, or jhys ahn/iJil {seorsum ah aliis secedens). Instead of >^]^})?, Hitzig, after Jerome, adopts the emendation "^J^J^p, "after an occa- sion " (a pretext), and by *nS3 thinks of one pushed aside, who, thrown into opposition, seeks to avenge himself. But his trans- lation of lb, " against all that is fortunate he gnasheth his teeth," shows how much the proverb is opposed to this inter- pretation. "T^sa denotes one who willingly (Judg. iv. 11), and, indeed, obstinately withdraws himself. The construction of C'ijjn'i with ^ (also Job x. 6) is explained by this, that the poet, giving prominence to the object, would set it forward : a plea- sure (^1^?n, as Arab, haivan, unstable and causeless direction of the mind to something, pleasure, freak, caprice), and nothing else, he goes after who has separated himself (Fl.) ; the effort of the sepai'atist goes out after a pleasure, i.e. the enjoyment and realization of such ; instead of seeking to conform himself to the law and ordinance of the community, he seeks to carry out a separate view, and to accomplish some darling plan : libidinem sectatur sui cerebri homo. With this lb accords.
VOL. II. A
2 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
n^B'in (^vid. at ii. 7) Is concretely that which furthers and profits. Eegarding V^^T}^, vid. at xvii. 14. Thus putting his subjectivity in the room of the common weal, he shows his teeth, places himself in fanatical opposition against all that is useful and profitable in the principles and aims, the praxis of the community from which he separates himself. The figure is true to nature : the polemic of the schismatic and the sectary against the existing state of things, is for the most part measure- less and hostile.
Ver. 2 The fool hath no delight in understanding ;
But only that his heart may reveal itself therein. The verb XPJ} forms the f ut. J'?'?.'', as well as Tan;; : first the latter from r?05 ^^^^^ ^^^ primary meaning, to bow, to bend down ; then both forms as intransitive, to bend oneself to something, to be inclined to something, Arab. Hf. (FL). n:i3n is here the intelligence which consists in the understanding of one's own deficiency, and of that which is necessary to meet it. The inclination of the fool goes not out after such intelligence, but (-nx "'S ; according to Ben-Naphtali, QS-'G) only that his heart, i.e. the understanding which he thinks that he already possesses, may reveal itself, show itself publicly. He thinks thereby to show himself in his true greatness, and to render a weighty service to the world. This loquacity of the fool, proceeding from self-satisfaction, without self-knowledge, has already, xii. 23, and often, been reprimanded.
The group beginning with ver. 3 terminates in two pro- verbs (vers. 6 and 7), related to the concluding verse of the foregoing :
Ver. 3 If a godless man cometh, then cometh also contempt ; And together with disgrace, shame. J. D. Michaelis, and the most of modern critics, read S?K't ; then, contempt etc., are to be thought of as the consequences that follow godlessness ; for that p?!^ means (Hitzig) disgrace- fulness, i.e. disgraceful conduct, is destitute of proof; \b\> always means disgrace as an experience. But not only does the Masoretic text punctuate J?^"!, but also all the old translators, the Greek, Aramaic, and Latin, have done so. And is it on this account, because a coming naturally seems to be spoken of a person? The "pride cometh, then cometh shame," xi. 2,
CHAP. XVIII. 4. ö
was in their recollection not less firmly, perhaps, than in ours. They read V^l, because Tia does not fittingly designate the first of that which godlessness effects, but perhaps the first of that which proceeds from it. Therefore we adhere to the opinion, that the proverb names the fiends which appear in the company of the godless wherever he goes, viz. first TH, con- tempt (Ps. xxxi. 19), which places itself haughtily above all due subordination, and reverence, and forbearance; and then, with the disgrace [turjnüido], }1^p, which attaches itself to those who meddle with him (Isa. xxii. 18), there is united the shame, nann (Ps. xxxix. 9), which he has to suffer from him who has only always expected something better from him. Fleischer understands all the three words in the passive sense, and remarks, " nsin ]'hp'QV, a more artificial expression for nsnm ])bp, in the Turkish quite common for the copula ivcJw, e.g. swylh thrdh, earth and water, \ortylh dr, the man and the woman." But then the expression would be tautological ; we understand Tin and nsnn of that which the godless does to others by his words, and '{hp of that which he does to them by his conduct. By this interpretation, ÜV is more than the representative of the copula.
Ver. 4 Deep waters are the words from a man's mouth, A bubbling brook, a fountain of wisdom. Earlier, we added to hominis the supplement sc. sapientis, but then an unnecessary word would be used, and that which is necessary omitted. Eather it might be said that C'"'X is meant in an ideal sense ; but thus meant, ^^H, like "132, denotes the valiant man, but not man as he ought to be, or the man of honour ; and besides, a man may be a man of honour without there being said of him what this proverb expresses. Ewald comes nearer the case when he translates, " deep waters are the heart-words of many." Heart-words — what an unbiblical ex- pression ! The EXX., which translates \0709 iu KapZla^ has not read :h nni, but nb nm (as XX. 5, "3^ nvy). But that " of many" is certainly not a right translation, yet right in so far as &\^ (as at xii. 14) is thought of as made prominent : the proverb expresses, in accordance with the form of narrative proverbs which present an example, what occurs in actual life, and is observed. Three different things are said of the words
4 THE BOOK OF PROVEEBS.
from a man's mouth : they are deep waters, for their meaning does not lie on the surface, but can be perceived only by pene- trating into the secret motives and aims of him who speaks ; they are a bubbling brook, which freshly and powerfully gushes forth to him who feels this flow of words, for in this brook there never fails an always new gush of living water ; it is a fountain or well of wisdom, from which wisdom flows forth, and whence wisdom is to be drawn. Hitzig supposes that the distich is antithetic ; D''i?öy Ci^^, or rather ^''ipoyQ "•», " waters of the deep," are cistern waters ; on the contrary, " a welling brook is a fountain of wisdom." But y>W means deep, not deepened, and deep water is the contrast of shallow water ; a cistern also may be deep (cf. xxii. 14), but deep water is such as is deep, whether it be in the ocean or in- a ditch. 4.b also does not suggest a cistern, for thereby it would be indicated that the description, tJ'''{<"''3 '^121, is not here continued; the "fountain of wisdom" does not form a proper parallel or an antithesis to this subject, since this much rather would require the placing in contrast of deep and shallow, of exhausted (drained out) and perennial. And : the fountain is a brook, the well a stream — who would thus express himself ! We have thus neither an antithetic nor a synonymous (LXX. after the phrase ävaTrrjScüv, Jerome, Venet., Luth.), but an integral distich (yid. vol. i. p. 8) before us ; and this leads us to consider what depths of thought, what riches of contents, what power of spiritual and moral advancement, may lie in the words of a man.
Yer. 5 To favour the person of the godless is not good, And to oppress the righteous in judgment. As ver. 4 has one subject, so ver. 5 has one predicate. The form is the same as xvii. 26. \JQ nxb> (cf. xxiv. 23), irpoaco- 7r6\7]-\\r[a, accepiio personce, is this, that one accepts the ''JS, i.e. the personal appearance of any one (7rp6aco7ro.v\a/j,ßdvei), i.e. regards it as acceptable, respectable, agreeable, which is a thing in itself not wrong ; but in a judge who ought to determine according to the facts of the case and the law, it becomes sinful partiality. nitsn, in a forensic sense, with the accus, of the person, may be regarded in a twofold way : either as a turning aside, T'^P, Isa. X. 2, from following and attaining unto the right, or as an oppressing, for the phrase lOSC'O n;2n [to pervert justice] (cf.
CHAP. XVIII. 6-8. 5
xvH. 23) is transferred to the person who experiences the op- pression = perversion of the law ; and this idea perhaps always underlies the expression, wherever, as e.g. Mai. iii. 5, no addition brings with it the other. Under xvii. 15 is a fuller explanation of y[\2-vh.
Ver. 6 The lips of the fool engage in strife, And his mouth calleth for stripes.
We may translate : the lips of the fool cause strife, for 3 sn^ to come with anything, e.g. Ps. ixvi. 13, is equivalent to bring it (to bring forward), as also : they engage in strife ; as one says D''?'"J-? ^^■^' to be engaged in bloodshed, 1 Sam. xxv. 26. We prefer this intrant {ingerunt se), with Schultens and Fleischer. ^5<n^ for '"^J^^^?, a Synallage generis, to which, by means of a "self-deception of the language" (Fl.), the ap- parent masculine ending of such duals may have contributed. The stripes which the fool calleth for (p ^^"^1^, like ii. 3) are such as he himself carries off, for it comes a verbis ad verhera. The LXX. : his bold mouth calleth for death (Nnp^ niD n?pnn vs) ;
nio^nnp has, in codd. and old editions, the Mem raphatum, as also at xix. 29 ; the sing, is thus Dl^np, like ^lyJO to V^yjD, for the Mem dagessatum is to be expected in the inflected ö^niOj by the passing over of the ö into it.
Ver. 7 The mouth of the fool is to him destruction, And his lips are a snare to his soul. As ver. 6 corresponds to xvii. 27 of the foregoing group, so this ver. 7 corresponds to xvii. 28. Regarding iPTirinp^ rid. xiii. 3. Instead of ?''PP^ "'S, is to be written ?"'D3"''Q, accord- ing to Toraili JEmeth, p. 40, Cod. 1294, and old editions. A pair of proverbs regarding the flatterer and the slothful :
Ver. 8 The words of the flatterer are as dainty morsels, And they glide down into the innermost parts. An " analogy, with an epexegesis in the second member " (FL), which is repeated in xxvi. 22. Ewald, Bertheau, Plitzig, and others, are constrained to interpret Dni as introducing a con- trast, and in this sense they give to DVpnpno all kinds of un- warrantable meanings. Ewald translates : as burning (Dnb, cogn.nn^), and offers next : as whispering (Qn!?, cogn. ny^, DHJ) ; Cli. B. Michaelis, Bertheau, and others: as sporting (DH^, cogn. 7]?h) ; Hitzig : like soft airs (onfj, cogn. Arab, hillanij flaccus,
6 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
laxus). All these interpretations are without support. The word DO? has none of all these significations; it means, as the Arab, lahima warrants, deglutire. But Böttcher's explana- tion also : " as swallowed down, because spoken with reserve," proceeds, like those others, from the supposed syntactically fine yet false supposition, that 86 is an antithetic ^^ dennoch^' [tame7i]. In that case the poet would have written Q''"i"i^ Dni (cf. Nim, as the beginning of a conditional clause, iii. 29, xxiii. 3). But Nini, Dm, with the finite following, introduces neither here nor at Deut. xxxiii. 3, Judg. xx. 34, Ps. xcv. 10, cf. Gen. xliii. 23, a conditional clause. Thus 8b continues the clause 8a by one standing on the same line ; and thus we do not need to invent a meaning for D''0npn03, which forms a contrast to the penetrating into the innermost parts. The relation of the parts of the proverb is rightly given by Luther :
The words of the slanderer are stripes,
And they go through the heart of one.
He interprets DH? as transposed from DPn (Rashi and others); but stripes cannot be called D'^on^no — they are called, 66, mopno. This interpretation of the word has always more support than that of Symmachus : &>? uKepaioi, ; Jerome ; quasi simplicia ; Aquila, xxvi. 22 : <yorirLKoi\ which last, as also that of Capellus, Clericus, and Schultens : quasi numine quodam afflata^ seems to support itself on the Arab, ahm iv. inspirare. But in reality ahm does not mean afflare ; it means deglutire, and nothing else. The Jewish lexicographers offer nothing worth considering; Kimchi's D'^pi'n, according to which the Venet. translates fjuaX- VaKL^o/xevoL, is fanciful ; for the Talm. DPh^ striking = hitting, suitable, standing well, furnishes no transition to "smooth" and "soft." Immanuel compares a/im = j;73; and Schultens, who is followed by Gesenius and others, has already, with perfect correctness, explained : tanquam qiice avidissime in- glutiantur. Thus also Fleischer: things which offer themselves to be eagerly gulped down, or which let themselves be thus swallowed. But in this way can one be truly just to the Hithpa.? The Arab, althm (stronger form, ältkm, according to which van Dyk translates jnihl ukam hlvjt, like sweet morsels) means to swallow into oneself, which is not here appro-
CHAP. XVIII. 9. 7
priate. The Hitlipa. will thus have here a passive signification : things which are greedily swallowed. Regarding }3"13 from l?"), vid. at xvi. 28. Dni refers to the words of the flatterer, and is emphatic, equivalent to ceque ilia, etiam ilia, or ilia ipsa. T]!^ is here connected with the obj. accus, (cf. i. 12) instead of with ^N, vii. 27. '''V.^, penetralia, we had already at vii. 27; the root-word is (Arab.) Ichdr, to seclude, to conceal, different from Mr, demittere, and hJchr (cogn. nrn), to finish, circumire. 1^| is the inner part of the body with reference to the organs lying there, which mediate not only the life of the body, but also that of the mind, — in general, the internal part of the per- sonality. The LXX. does not translate this proverb, but has in its stead xix. 15, in a different version, however, from that it gives there ; the Syr. and the Targ. have thereby been drawn away from the Hebr. text.
Ver. 9 He also who showeth himself slothful in his business, Is a brother to him who proceedeth to destroy. The Hithpa. ns^nn signifies here, as at xxiv. 10, to show one- self slack, lazy, negligent, naspp is properly a commission for another, as a king has a messenger, ambassador, commissioner to execute it ; here, any business, whether an undertaking in commission from another, or a matter one engages in for him- self. He wdio shows himself slack therein, produces in his way, viz. by negligence, destruction, as truly as the fr'ntyp bv'2, who does it directly by his conduct. Thus one is named, who is called, or who has his own delight in it, to destroy or overthrow. Jerome, incorrectly limiting : sua opera dissipantis. Hitzig well compares Matt. xii. 30. In the variation, xxviii. 246, the destroyer is called HTlt^'D B^''X, the connection of the words being adject. ; on the contrary, the connection of riTi^i'D 7j;n is genit. (cf. xxii. 24, xxiii. 2, etc.), for n"'nK'0 as frequently means that which destroys = destruction. Von Hofmann (Schriftbew. ii. 2, 403) understands 'ö \y''H of the street robber, 'd ^yi of the captain of robbers ; but the designation for the latter must be 'ö "iB^, though at 1 Kings xi. 24 he is called by the name "ib> nna. The form of the word in the proverb here is more original than at xxviii. 24. There "isn [companion] is used, here nx [brother], a general Semitic name of him who, or of that which, is in any way related to another, cf. Job xxx. 29, Fleischer com-
S THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
pares tlie Arab, proverb : dlshhlit dkht alkhhjdt^ scepticism is the sister of sin.
Two proverbs, of the fortress of faith, and of the fortress of presumption:
Yer, 10 A strong tower is the name of Jahve :
The righteous runneth into it, and is high. The name of Jahve is the "Revelation of God, and the God of Revelation Himself, the creative and historical Revelation, and who is always continually revealing Himself; His name is His nature representing itself, and therefore capable of being described and named, before all the Tetragramm, as the Ä7ia- gramm of the overruling and inworking historical being of God, as the Chiffre of His free and all-powerful government in grace and truth, as the self-naming of God the Saviour. This name, which is afterwards interwoven in the name Jesus, is t'yv"üiO (Ps. Ixi. 4), a strong high tower bidding defiance to every hostile assault. Into this the righteous runneth, to hide himself behind its walls, and is thus lifted {perf. consec.) high above all danger (cf. ajp, xxix. 25). ?« P"i means. Job xv. 26, to run against anything, pi, seq. ace, to invest, blockade anything, 3 pi^ to hasten within ; Hitzig's conjecture, D11^ [riseth up high], instead of P"i^, is a freak. | P"> is speedily 3 t^n^ the idea the same as Ps. xxvii. 5, xxxi. 21.
Ver. 11 The possession of the righ_tepus is his strong fort, And is Hke a high wall in his imagination. Line first = x. 15a. ri^sb^o from nab', Chald. X3tp (whence after Megilla 14a, n3D^, she who looks), R. yy, cogn. "JT, to pierce, to fix, means the image as a medal, and thus also intellectually : image (conception, and particularly the imagination) of the heart (Ps. Ixxiii. 7), here the fancy, conceit ; Fleischer com- pares (Arab.) tswivr, to imagine something to oneself, French se ßgurer. Translators from the LXX. to Luther incorrectly think on IDb' (l^D), to entertain ; only the Venet. is correct in the rendering: iv ^avraai'a avTov; better than Kimchi, who, after Ezra viii. 12, thinks on the chamber where the riches delighted in are treasured, and where he fancies himself in the midst of his treasures as if surrounded by an inaccessible wall.
We place together vers. 12-19, in which the figure of a secure fortress returns :
CHAP. XVIII. 12-14. 9
Ver. 12. This proverb is connected with the preceding of the rich man who trusts in his mammon.
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty ; And humility goeth before honour.
Line first is a variation of xvi. 18a, and line second is simiLir to XV. odb.
Ver. 13 If one giveth an answer before he heareth, It is to him as folly and shame. The part stands here differently from what it does at xlii. 18, where it is subj., and at xvii. 14, where it is pred. of a simple sentence ; it is also here, along with what appertains to it in accordance with the Semitic idiom, subj. to Idb (one who answers ... is one to whom this . . .) ; but, in accordance with our idiom, it becomes a hypothetical antecedent (cf. vol. i. p. 282). For " to answer " one also uses 3^*^n without addition ; but the original full expression is "inT n^E'n, reddere verhum, referre dictum (cf. 131 n^y, Jer. xliv. 20, absol. in the cogn., xv. 28a) ; nm one may not understand of the word to which, but of the word with which, the reply is made, i^ i<^'^ comprehends the mean- ing: it avails to him {ducitur ei), as well as it reaches to him (est ei). In Agricola's Fünfhundert Sprüchen this proverb is given thus: Wer -antivortet ehe er höret^ der zaiget an sein torhait vnd toirdt ze schänden [he wiio answers before he hears shows his folly, and it is to him a shame]. But that would require the word to be C'n^, pudefiet ; (^h X\n) nab means that it becomes to him a ground of merited disgrace. " ne^3, properly wounding, i.e. shame (like atteinte a son honneur), from D^3 (cogn. D^n), to strike, hit, wound" (Fl.). Sirach (xi. 8) warns against such rash talking, as well as against the rudeness of interrupting others.
Ver. 14 The spirit of a man beareth his sickness ; But a broken spirit, who can bear it? The breath of the Creator imparting life to man is spoken of as spiritus^ spirans, nn (D^^n nn), and as spiritus spiratus, ^'?.5 (pV^ t^'D3) ; the spirit (animus) is the primary, and the soul (anhna) the secondary principle of life ; the double gender of nn is accounted for thus: when it is thought of as the primary, and thus in a certain degree (vid. Psychol, p. 103 ff.) the manly principle, it is mas. (Gen. vi. 3; Ps. li. 12, etc.). Here the
10 THE BOOK OF PKO VERBS.
change of gender is in the highest degree characteristic, and 5^^^? also is intentionally used (cf. 1 Sam. xxvi. 15) instead of OHii^ 16a: the courageous spirit of a man which sustains or endures (/^?^, E. 72, co7iipre/ienderej prehendere ; Luther, " who knows how to contain himself in his sufferings;" cf. Ps. li. 12, "may the free Spirit hold me ") the sickness \_SiechtJniin\ (we understand here '•' siecW^ in the old meaning = sich) with self-control, is generis masculini ; while, on the contrary, the HN^: nn (as xv. IS.xvii. 22), brought down from its manliness and superiority to disheartened passivity, is genere feminino (cf. Ps. li. 12 wäth ver. 19). Fleischer compares the Arab, proverb, thhdt ahifs hälglidhä Mat alrivh halghnd, the soul has firmness by nourishment, the spirit by music.-^ The question nastj'^ "ip is like Mark ix. 50 : if the salt becomes .tasteless, wherewith shall one season it? There is no seasoning for the spice that has become insipid. And for the spirit which is destined to bear the life and fortune of the person, if it is cast down by sufferings, there is no one to lift it up and sustain it. But is not God the Most High the lifter up and the bearer of the human spirit that has been crushed and broken? The answer is, that the manly spirit, 14a, is represented as strong in God ; the discouraged, 14^», as not drawing from God the strength and support he ought to do. But passages such as Isa. Ixvi. 2 do not bring it near that we think of the nK33 nn as alienated from God. The spirit is t^b'J, the bearer of the personal and natural life with its functions, activities, and experiences. If the spirit is borne down to powerless and helpless passivity, then within the sphere of the human personality there is no other sustaining power that can supply its place.
Ver. 15 The heart of a man of understanding gaineth knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeketh after knowledge.
Ji33 may be also interpreted as an adj., but we translate it here as at xiv. 33, because thus it corresponds with the parallelism; cf. p'''nv np, xv. 28, and D3ri 27, xvi. 23, where the adject, inter- pretation is excluded. The gaining of wisdom is, after xvii. 16,
^ In the Arab, language, influenced by philosophy, -r- jjj, the anima vitalis, and ju^ij, the anima rationalis, are inverted; vid. Baudissin's Trans- lationis antiquse Arab, lihri Johi quse supersunt (1870), p. 31.
CHAP. XVIII. IC, 17. 11
referred to the heart : a heart vigorous in embracing and re- ceiving it is above all necessary, and just such an one possesses the |U3, which knows how to value the worth and usefulness of such knowledge. The wise, who are already in posses- sion of such knowledge, are yet at the same time constantly striving to increase this knowledge : their ear seeks knowledge, eagerly asking where it is to be found, and attentively listening when the opportunity is given of Nii'a, obtaining it.
Ver. 16 The gift of a man maketh room for him, And bringeth him before the great.
That irio may signify intellectual endowments. Hitzig supposes, but without any proof for such an opinion. Intellectual ability as the means of advancement is otherwise designated, xxii. 29. But Hitzig is right in this, that one mistakes the meaning of the proverb if he interprets |nD in the sense of inb* {yid. at xvii. 8) : |no is an indifferent idea, and the proverb means that a man makes free space, a free path for himself, by a gift, i.e. by this, that he shows himself to be agreeable, pleasing where it avails, not niggardly but liberal. As a proverb expresses it :
Mit dem Hut in der Hand Kommt man durclis ganze Land
[with hat in hand one goes through the whole land], so it is said here that such liberality brings before the great, i.e. not : furnishes with introductions to them ; but helps to a place of honour near the great, i.e. those in a lofty position (cf. V3^, xxii. 29; UV, Ps. cxiii. 8). It is an important part of practical wisdom, that by right liberality, i.e. by liberal giving where duty demands it, and prudence commends it, one does not lose but gains, does not descend but rises ; it helps a man over the difficulties of limited, narrow circumstances, gains for him affection, and helps him up from step to step. The a of t^Jip is, in a singular way (cf. njno, ri^no), treated as unchangeable.
Ver. 17 He that is first in his controversy is right ;
But there cometh another and searcheth him thoroughly —
an exhortation to be cautious in a lawsuit, and not to justify without more ado him who first brings forward his cause, and supports it by reasons, since, if the second party afterwards search into the reasons of the first, they show themselves un-
12 THE BOOK OF PKO VERBS.
tenable. b^*i3 jiK^Nnn are to be taken together; the words are equivalent to njiji'xna nnn NT IC^'N : qui prior cum causa sua venit, i.e. earn ad judicem defert (FI.), p^i'snn may, however, also of itself alone be qui prior venit ; and ia''"i3 will be taken with pnV: Justus qui pi'ior venit in causa sua (ess'e videtur). The accentuation rightly leaves, the relation undecided. Instead of Nn"" (^^!)) the Keri has ^?31, as it elsewhere, at one time, changes the fut. into the perf. with 1 {e.g. xx. 4, Jer. vi. 21) ; and, at another time, the perf. with 1 into the fut. (e.g. Ps, x. 10, Isa. v. 29). But here, where the perf. consec. is not so admis- sible, as vi. 11, XX. 4, the fut. ought to remain unchanged. 'inyn is the other part, synon. with "nan pT hv^, Sanhedvin lb, where the pTn''^? mnrx (admonition for the court of justice) is derived from Deut. i. 16, to hear the accused at the same time with the accuser, that nothing of the latter maybe adopted beforehand. This proverb is just such an audiatur et altera pars. The status controversice is only brought fairly into the light by the hearing of the altera pars : then comes the other and examines him (the first) to the very bottom, "li^n^ else- where with the accus, of the thing, e.g. ^''"i, thoroughly to search into a strife. Job xxIk. 16, is here, as at xxviii. 11, connected with the accus, of the person : to examine or lay bare any one thoroughly; here, so that the misrepresentations of the state of the matter might come out to view alons; with the reasons assigned by the accuser.
Ver. 18 The lot allayeth contentions,
And separateth between tbe mighty, i.e. erects a partition wall between them — those contending (r?*l'^?7, as at 2 Kings ii. 11, cf. Arab, frk hpi) ; D^mvy are not opponents Avho maintain their cause with weighty arguments (niJD5;yj Isa. xli. 21), qui argumentis pollent {vid. Raslii), for then must the truth appear in the pro et contra ; but mighty opponents, wlio, if the lot did not afford a seasonable means of reconciliation, would make good their demands by blows and by the sword (FL). Here it is the lot which, as the judg- ment of God, brings about peace, instead of the ultima ratio of physical force. The proverb refers to the lot what the Epistle to the Hebrews, vi. 16, refers to the oath, vid. at xvi. 33. Regarding D"?)"]» and its altered forms, vid. vol. i. p. 145.
CHAP. XVIir. 19. 13
Yer. 19 A brother toward whom it has been acted perfidiously resists more than a strong tower ; And contentions are like the bar of a palace. Luther rightly regarded the word V^'Si, according to which the LXX., Vulg., and Syr. translated f rater qui adjuvatur a fratre, as an incorrect reading; one would rather expect ytyio nx, " a brother who stands by," as Luther earlier trans- lated ; and besides, V^S^ does not properly mean adjuvari, but salvari. His translation —
Ein verletzt Bruder helt herter denn eine feste Stad, Und Zanck helt herter, denn rigel am Palast [a brother wounded resisteth more than a strong city, and strife resisteth more than bolts in the palacej, is one of his most happy renderings. tiJ"ri;!"}i5?p in itself only means irrrep TToXiv 6-)(vpdv (Venet.) ; the noun-adjective (cf. Isa. x. 10) to be supplied is to be understood to Ty : ^^n tVor Xin T\€'p^ (Kimchi). The Niph. yc^'QJ occurs only here. If one reads J?^'??, then it means one who is treated falsely = i3 J^'f Si, like the frequently occurring "'Pi^, my rising up ones = vp D''?pi5^ those that rise up against me ; but Codd. (also Baer's Cod. jaman.) and old editions have V^^^, which, as we have above translated, gives an impersonal attributive clause ; the former : frater perfidiose tractatus (FI. : mala fide offensus) ; the latter : perfide actu7n est, seil, in in eum = in quern perfide actum, nx is, after xvii. 17, a friend in the highest sense of the word ; V^Si means to break off, to break free, with 3 or pV of him on whom the action terminates. That the WB is to be thought of as nx of the V'^'B^ nx is obvious ; the translation, " brothers who break with one another " (Gesen.), is incorrect : nx is not col- lective, and still less is yti'SJ a o^eciprocum. The relation of nj^ is the same as that of ^^h>^, xvi. 28. The Targum (improv- ing the Peshito) translates ''ins )p \1.Vn'?'! ^^^i which does not mean : a brother who renounces (Hitzig), but who is treated wickedly on the part of, his brother. That is correct ; on the contrary, Ewald's " a brother resists more than . . ." proceeds from a meaning of V^B which it has not; and Bertheau gives, with Schultens, an untenable^ reflexive meaning to the
1 Among the whole Heb. synon. for sinning, there exists no reflexive Niph. ; and also the Arab, fsk has no ethical signification. ?3DJ only, in the sense of fool, is found.
14 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
NipJi. (winch as denom. might mean " covered with crime," Venet. ifk7]ii[jbe\.7]6e[<i), and, moreover, one that is too weak, for he translates, " a brother is more obstinate than . . ." Hitzig corrects J?t^'S TiiN, to shut up sin = to hold it fettered ; but that is not correct Heb. It ought to be ivy, cb3, or niTi. Li 19a the force of the substantival clause lies in the iP (more than, i.e. harder = more difficult to be gained), and in 196 in the 3 ; cf. Mic. vii. 4, where they are interchanged. The parallel- ism is synonymous : strifes and lawsuits between those who had been friends form as insurmountable a hindrance to their reconciliation, are as difficult to be raised, as the great bars at the gate of a castle (Fl.). The point of comparison is not only the weight of the cross-beam (from mn, crosswise, across, to go across the fidd), but also the shutting up of the access. Strife forms a partition wall between such as once stood near each other, and so much thicker the closer they once stood.
With ver. 19, the series of proverbs which began with that of the flatterer closes. The catchword nx, which occurred at its commencement, 96, is repeated at its close, and serves also as a landmark of the group following 20-24. The proverb of the breach of friendship and of contentions is followed by one of the reaction of the use of the tongue on the man himself.
Ver. 20 Of the fruit which a man's mouth briugeth is his heart satisfied ;
By the revenue of his lips is he filled. He will taste in rich measure of the consequences not merely of the good (xii. 14, cf. xiii. 2), but of whatever he has spoken. This is an oxymoron like Matt. xv. 11, that not that which goeth into the mouth, but that which cometh out of it, defileth a man. As at John iv. 34 the conduct of a man, so here his words are called his ßpco/ia. Not merely the conduct (i. 31, Isa. iii. 10), but also the words are fruit-bringing; and not only do others taste of the fruit of the w-ords as of the actions of a man, vrhether they be good or bad, but above all he himself does so, both in this life and in that which is to come.
Ver. 21 Death and life are in the poAver of the tongue ;
And whoever loveth it shall eat its fruit.
The hand, 1J, is so common a metaphor for power, that as here a
hand is attributed to the tongue, so e.g. Isa. xlvii. 14 to the flame,
and Ps. xlix. 16 to Hades. Death and Hfe is the great alternative
CHAP. XVIII, 22. 15
which is placed, Deut. xxx. 15, before man. According as lie uses his ton^ue, he falls under the power of death or attains to life. All interpreters attribute, 21i, y}^^'?}^] to the tongue: qui earn (Ungiiam) amanf. vescentur (^^N'', distrib. sing., as iii. 18, 35, etc.) fructu ejus. But " to love the tongue " is a strange and obscure expression. He loves the tongue, says Hitzig, who loves to babble. Euchel : he who guards it carefully, or : he who takes care of it, i.e. who applies himself to right discourse. Combining both, Zöckler: who uses it much, as evXoycov or KUKoXoycbv. The LXX. translates, ol Se Kparovvre^ avrrj^, i.e. 'T'^^y^'i but rnx means prehendere and teuere., not coliihere, and the tongue kept in restraint brings forth indeed no bad fruit, but it brings no fruit at all. Why thus? Does the suffix of n''anxi, perhaps like viii. 17, Chethtb, refer to wisdom, which, it is true, is not named, but which lies everywhere before the poet's mind ? At xiv. 3 we ventured to make noDn the subject of ob. Then 21b would be as a miniature of viii. 17-21. Or is rT'nnxi a mutila- tion of nin) 2nx"i : and he who loves Jahve (Ps. xcvii. 10) enjoys its (the tongue's) fruit?
Ver. 22 Whoso hath found a wife hath found a good thhig, And hath obtained favour from Jahve. As n-anxi, 21b, reminds us of viii. 17, so here not only 22^, but also 22a harmonizes with viii. 35 (cf. xii. 2). A wife is such as she ought to be, as ver. 14, tJ'^X, a man is such as he ought to be ; the LXX., Syr., Targ., and Vulgate supply bonam, but " gnomic brevity and force disdains such enervating adjectives, and cautious limitations of the idea" (FL). Besides, naiD ii'^'X in old Hebr. would mean a well-favoured rather than a good- dispositioned wife, which later idea is otherwise expressed, xix. 14, xxxi. 10. The Venet. rightly has lyvvacKa, and Luther ein EhefraiUy for it is a married woman that is meant. The first N^D is perf. Jiypotheticum, Gesen. § 126, Anm. 1. On the other hand, Eccles. vii. 26, " I found, ''?fr5 X'^iö, more bitter than death the woman," etc. ; wherefore, when in Palestine one married a wife, the question was wont to be asked: NVO N!i10 IX, has he married happily (after NVO of the book of Pro- verbs) or unhappily (after Ni'lD of Ecclesiastes) {Jehamoth 63/^)?^
^ Cf.Tendlau's Spricliwörter u. Redensarten deulscIi-jüdisclierVorzeit (1860), p. 235.
IG THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
The LXX. adds a distich to ver. 22, " He that putteth away a good wife putteth away happiness; and he that keepeth an adulteress, is foohsh and uno;odly." He who constructed this proverb [added by the LXX.] has been guided by NVD to ii'>)i\'0 (Ezra X. 3) ; elsewhere eKßdWeLv (<yvvalKa), Gal. iv. 30, Sir. xxviii. 15, is the translation of ^'}}.. The Syr. has adopted the half of that distich, and Jerome the whole of it. On the other hand, vers. 23, 24, and xix. 1, 2, are wanting in the LXX. . The translation which is found in some Codd. is that of Theodotion (vid. Lagarde).
Ver, 23 The poor uttereth suppliant entreaties ; And the rich answereth rudenesses. The oriental proverbial poetry furnishes many parallels to this. It delights in the description of the contrast between a suppliant poor man and the proud and avaricious rich man ; vid. e.g. Samachschari's Goldene Halsbänder, No. 58. '^''^^^Qj!}, according to its meaning, refers to the Hithpa. i^nnn^ misericordiam aliciijus pro se imploravit ; cf. the old vulgar " barmen" i.e. to seek to move others to Erbarmen [compassion] (D'^om). niiy, dura, from TJ? (synon. >^^'\^), hard, fast, of bodies, and figuratively of an un- bending, hard, haughty disposition, and thence of w^ords of such a nature (Fl.). Both nouns are accus, of the object, as Job xl. 27, D'^JI^nn with the parallel nis"}. The proverb expresses a fact of experience as a consolation to the poor to whom, if a rich man insults him, nothing unusual occurs, and as a warning to the rich that he may not permit himself to be divested of humanity by mammon. A hard wedge to a hard clod; but whoever, as the Scripture saith, grindeth the poor by hard stubborn-hearted conduct, and grindeth his bashful face (Isa. iii. 15), challenges unmerciful judgment against himself; for tlie merciful, only they shall obtain mercy, avrol iXerjO/j- Govrai (Matt. v. 7).
Ver. 24 A man of many friends cometh off a loser ;
But there is a friend more faithful than a brother. Jerome translates the commencing word by vir, but the Syr., Targ. by JT^X, which is adopted by Hitzig, Böttcher, and others. But will a German poet use in one line " itzt" [same SiS jetzt = now], and in the next "jetzt"? and could the Hebrew poet prefer to ^^, its rarer, and here especially not altogether unam-
CHAP. XVIII. 24. 17
biguous form ti'^frs (cf. to the contrary, Eccles, vli. 15)? We write ^''i^, because the Masora compreliends this passage, witli 2 Sam. xiv. 19, Mic. vi. 10, as the C.: |n^2D 'j, i.e. as the tliree, where one ought to expect &, and is thus exposed to the danger of falling into error in writing and reading; but errone- ously ti'X is found in all these three places in the Masora magna of the Venetian Bible of 1526; elsewhere the Masora has the defectiva scriptio with like meaning only in those two other passages. While ^^i? = ti^l, or properly ^\, with equal possibility as ^'ii} and it makes no material difference in the meaning of 24a whether we explain : there are friends who serve to bring one to loss : or a man of many friends comes to loss, — the inf. with f' is used in substantival clauses as the expression of the most manifold relations, Gesen. § 132, Anm. 1 (cf. at Hab. i. 17), here in both cases it denotes the end, as e.g. Ps. xcii. 8, to which it hastens with many friends, or with the man of many friends. It is true that ti'^X (like pV"^) is almost always con- nected only with genitives of things ; but as one says D\'i^X C'^K : a man belongs to God, so may one also say D''i?"?. ^'''N : a man belongs to many friends ; the common language of the people may thus have named a man, to whom, because he has no definite and decided character, the rule that one knows a man by his friends is not applicable, a so-called every-man's-friend, or all-the-world's-friend. Theodotion translates avrjp eraiptccv Tov kraipevaaaOaL; and thus also the Syr., Targ., and Jerome render (and among the moderns. Hitzig) J^P'inn as reflexive in the sense of to cherish social intercourse; but this reflexive is •^1';'?'?, xxii. 24. That ypnnn is either Hithpa. of Vr\, to exult, Ps.' Ix. 10, Ixv. 14, according to which the Venet. translates (contrary to Kimchi) wo-re aXaXd^ecv : such an one can exult, but which is not true, since, according to 245, a true friend outweighs the many; or it '\& Hitlipa. of VV"]-, to be wicked, sinful (Fl.: sibi per- niciem paratnrus est) ; or, which we prefer, warranted by Isa. xxiv. 19, of Wl, to become brittle (Böttcher and others) — which not only gives a good sense, but also a similar alliteration with D^J''], as iii. 29, xiii. 20. In contradistinction to J?"], which is a general,
^ One sees from this interchange how softly the '' was uttered; cf. "Well- hausen's Text der Bb. Samuel (1871) (Preface). Kimchi remarks that we say ^'ü\>ii for yL2|?^^, because we would otherwise confound it with ^bp\
VOL. II. B
18 THE BOOK OF PROVERDS.
and, according to tlie usage of the language (e.g. lib), a familiar idea, the true friend is called, in the antithetical parallel mem- ber, 3nN* (xxvii. 6); and after xvii. 17, nx?o pn'^, one who remains true in misfortune. To have such an one is better than to have many of the so-called friends; and, as appears from the contrast, to him who ig so fortunate as to have one such friend, there comes a blessing and safety. Immanuel has given the right explana- tion : " A man who sets himself to gain many friends comes finally to be a loser (l?5i'np 1S1D), for he squanders his means, and is impoverished in favour of others." And Schultens: At est amicus agglutinatus prce fratre. Rarum et carum esse genns insinuatur, ac proinde intimam illam amicitiam^ qiice conglutinet compingatque corda, non per midtos spargendam, sed circumspecte et ferine cum uno tantum ineundam. Thus closes this group of proverbs with the praise of friendship deepened into spiritual brotherhood, as the preceding, ver. 19, with a warning against the destruction of such a relation by a breach of trust not to be made good again.
Chap. xix. The plur. D'y"], xviii. 24, is emphatic and equiva- lent to ü''?"] Ci''j;n. The group 1-4 closes with a proverb which contains this catchword. The first proverb of the group comes by VJnsb' into contact with xviii. 20, the first proverb of the preceding group.
Ver. 1 Better a poor man walking in his innocence, Than one with perverse lips, and so a fool.
The contrast, xxviii. 6, is much clearer. But to correct this pro- verb in conformity with that, as Hitzig does, is unwarrantable. The Syr., indeed, translates here as there; but the Chald. assimilates this translation to the Heb. text, which Theodotion, and after him the Syro-IIexapl., renders by virep arpeßXöxei-'^op ä^pova. But does la form a contrast to lb? Fleischer re- marks : " From the contrast it appears that he who is designated in 15 must be thought of as ~i""J'y " [rich] ; and Ewald, " Thus early the ideas of a rich man and of a fool, or a despiserof God, are connected together." Saadia understands Sdd [a fool], after ,Tob xxxi. 24, of one who makes riches his ?p3 [confidence]. Euchel accordingly translates: the false man, although he builds liimself greatly up, viz. on his riches. But yü^ designates the intellectually slothful, in whom the flesh overweighs the mind.
CHAP. XIX. 2 19
And the representation of the rich, which, for Ih certainly arises out of la, does not amalgamate with ?''DD, but with Vnab' ti'i^iy. Aramais on the right track, for he translates: the rich who dis- torts his mouth (cf. vol. i. p. 143), for he gives to the poor sup- pliant a rude refusal. Better Zöckler: a proud man of perverse lips and haughty demeanour. If one with haughty, scornful lips is opposed to the poor, then it is manifestly one not poor who thinks to raise himself above the poor, and haughtily looks down on him. And if it is said that, in spite of this proud demeanour, he is a fool, then this presents the figure of one proud of his wealth, who, in spite of his emptiness and nequitia^ imagines that he possesses a greatness of knowledge, culture, and worth corresponding to the greatness of his riches. How much better is a poor man than such an one who walketh {yid. on Dh, vol. i. p. 79) in his innocence and simplicity, with his pure mind wholly devoted to God and to that which is good ! — his poverty keeps him in humility which is capable of no malicious conduct ; and this pious blameless life is of more worth than the pride of wisdom of the distinguished fool. There is in contrast to n^^i'i'py a simplicity, aTrXor???, of high moral worth; but, on the other side, there is also a simplicity which is worthless. This is the connecting thought which introduces the next verse. Ver. 2 The not-knowing of the soul is also not good,
And he who hasteneth with the legs after it goeth astray. Fleischer renders 5^'S3 as the subj. and niü'Ni? as neut. pred. : in and of itself sensual desire is not good, but yet more so if it is without foresight and reflection. With this explanation the words must be otherwise accentuated. Hitzig, in conformity with the accentuation, before us : if desire is without reflec- tion, it is also without success. But where C'SJ denotes de- sire or sensuality, it is always shown by the connection, as e.g. xxiii. 2; here T\T[, referring to the soul as knowing (cf. Ps. exxxix. 14), excludes this meaning. But C'SJ is certainly gen. suhjeeti ; Luzzatto's " self-knowledge " is untenable, for this would require it^'SJ nyi ; Meiri rightly glosses C'DJ DVl by b^^. After this Zöckler puts Hitzig's translation right in the following manner : where there is no consideration of the soul, there is no prosperity. But that also is incorrect, for it would require 31D"p^^ ; nit^^kS^ is always pred., not a substantival clause.
20 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Thus the proverb states that C'33 nyT^^'n is not good, and that is equivalent to ti'Si n^Ti^^a ni'^n (for the subject to ^[Q-iS is frequently, as e.g. xvii. 26, xviii. 5, an infinitive); or also: nyTK?^ C'D3 is a virtual noun in the sense of the not-knowing of the soul; for to say nj?TX^ was syntactically inadmissible, but the expression is nyTN^n, not nyn 73 (V??), because this is used in the sense unintentionally or unexpectedly. The Da which begins the proverb is diflicult. If we lay the principal accent in the translation given above on " not good," then the placing of Di first is a hyperhaton similar to that in xvii. 26, xx. 11; cf. T]X, xvii. 11; PI, xiii. 10, as if the words were: if the soul is with- out knowledge, then also {eo ipso) it is destitute of anything good. But if we lay the principal accent on the "also," then the meaning of the poet is, that ignorance of the soul is, like many other things, not good ; or (which we prefer without on that account maintaining^ the original connection of ver. 1 and ver. 2), that as on the one side the pride of wisdom, so on the other ignorance is not good. In this case Q3 belongs more to the subject than to the predicate, but in reality to the whole sen- tence at the beginning of which it stands. To hasten with the legs (J*i<, as xxviii. 20) means now in this connection to set the body in violent agitation, without direction and guidance pro- ceeding from the knowledge possessed by the soul. He who thus hastens after it without being intellectually or morally clear as to the goal and the way, makes a false step, goes astray, fails (vid. viii. 36, where ''J^^h is the contrast to '''^^'b). Ver. 3 The foolishness of a man overturneth his way, And his heart is angry against Jahve. Regarding ^bö, vid. at xi. 3 ; also the Arab, signification "to go before" proceeds from the root conception pervertere, for first a letting precede, or preceding (e.g. of the paying before the delivery of that which is paid for : salof^ a pre-numbering, and then also : advanced money), consisting in the reversal of the ^ The old interpreters and also the best Jewish interpreters mar the understanding and interpretation of the text, on the one side, by distinguish- ing between a nearest and a deeper meaning of Scripture (n7J3 "pi and "inD3 I"!*!) ; on the other by this, that they suppose an inward connection of all the proverbs, and expend useless ingenuity in searching after the connection. The former is the method especially adopted by Immanuel and Meiri, the latter has most of all been used by Arama.
CIIAP. XIX. 4, 5. 21
natural order, is meant. The way is here the way of life, the walking : the folly of a man overturns, i.e. destroys, his life's- course ; but although he is himself the fabricator of his own ruin, yet the ill-humour (^IVT, cestuare, vid. at Ps. xi. 6) of his lieart turns itself against God, and he blames (LXX. essentially correct : alrMrai) God instead of himself, viz. his own madness, whereby he has turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, cast to the winds the instruction which lay in His providences, and frustrated the will of God desiring his good. A beautiful paraphrase of this parable is found at Sir. xv. 11-20; cf. Lam. iii. 39.
Ver. 4 "Wealth bringeth many friends ;
But the reduced — his friend separateth himself.
The very same contrast, though otherwise expressed, we had at xiv. 20. Kegarding pn, vid. vol. i. p. 63. ?'] is the tottering, or he who has fallen into a tottering condition, who has no resources, possesses no means. The accentuation gives Mugrash to the word (according to which the Targ. translates), for it is not the subject of "1^3"; : the reduced is separated (pass. Niph.) by his misfortunes, or must separate himself (reflex. Niph.) from his friend ('inj;']^, as Eccles. iv. 4, prcB socio sua); but subject of the virtual pred. T^.S^ ^'^V"!^ : the reduced — his friend (inyio, as ver. 7) separates himself, i.e. (according to the nature of the Semitic substantival clause) he is such (of such a fate) that his friend sets himself free, whereby ^üöp may be omitted as self- obvious ; TJ3^ means one who separates himself, xviii. 1. If we make y] the subject of the separatur, then the initiative of the separation from the friend is not expressed.
In vers. 5 and 9 we have the introductory proverb of two groups, the former of which, in its close as well as its begin- ning, cannot be mistaken.
Ver. 5 A lying witness remaineth not unpunished ; And he who breathes out Hes escapeth not.
Eegarding n''?»!;, vid. vol. i. p. 148: as here we read it of false witness at vi. 19, xiv. 5, 25. ^^^\ N? occurs four times before, the last of which is at xvii. 5. The LXX. elsewhere translates D''2D rT'S'' by eKKaieiv -ylrevSj], to kindle lies ; but here by d Se ijKaXüv aZlK(t)<i^ and at ver. 9 by 09 S' av iKKavay KaKiav, both
22 THE BOOK OF PKOVERDS.
times changing only because ■\jr€vS^<; goes before, and instead of -yfrevhi], the choice of a different rendering commended itself.
Ver. 6 Jlany stroke the cheeks of the noble ;
And the mass of friends belougeth to him who gives. The phrase "?3 V.? ^^?0 signifies to stroke the face of any one, from the fundamental meaning of the verb npn^ to rub, to stroke, Arab, khala, with which the Heb., meaning to be sick, weak (viribus attritum esse), and the Arabic : to be sweet (pro- perly Icüvem et poUtum, glahrum esse, or palatum demulcere, leniter stringere, contrast asperum esse ad gustum)jaYe connected (FI.). The object of such insinuating, humble suing for favour is the S"'']^ (from 2'^3, instigare), the noble, he who is easily incited to noble actions, particularly to noble-mindedness in bestowing gifts and in doing good, or who feels himself naturally impelled thereto, and spontaneously practises those things ; cf. the Arab. krym, noUlis and liheralis (Fl.), and at Job xxi. 28; parall. ti^'''X JJ^O, a man who gives willingly, as non &^^ xv. 18, one who is easily kindled into anger. Many (Q''?l, as Job xi. 19) stroke the face of the liberal (Lat. caput mulcent or demulcent); and to him who gives willingly and richly belongs V"}^'^^, the mass (the totality) of good friends, cf. xv. 17 ; there the art. of J^"]^^ according to the manner of expression of the Arab, gram- marians, stood for " the exhaustion of the characteristic pro- perties of the genus" : the friend who corresponds to the nature (the idea) of such an one; here it stands for " the comprehen- sion of the individuals of the genus ;" all that is only always friend. It lies near with Ewald and Hitzig to read J?"}. n>3^^ (and every one is friend . . .) (n^3=fe, as Jer. viii. 10, etc.); but why could not V'}J^'^^ be used as well as Dixn-pa, perhaps with the sarcastic appearance which the above translation seeks to express ? The LXX. also had ynn 731 in view, which it incorrectly translates Tra? Se 6 KaK6<i, whereby the Syr. and the Targ. are led into error ; but ]l^^ is not one and the same with inb', vid. xviii. 6. On the contrary, there certainly lies before lis in ver. 7 a mutilated text. The tristich is, as we have shown, vol. i. p. 15, open to suspicion; and the violence which its interpretation needs in order to comprehend it, as a formal part of lab, places it beyond a doubt, and the LXX. confirms it that 7c is the remainder of a distich, the half of which is lost.
CHAP. XIX. 7. 23
Ver. 7ah. We thus first confine our attention to tlicse two lines, —
All the brethren of the poor hate him ;
How much more do his friends withdraw themselves from him ? Kegarding '•3 fjX, quanto magis, vid, at xi. 31, xv. 11, xvii. 7. In a similar connection xiv. 20 spake of hatred, i.e. the cooling of love, and the manifesting of this coldness. The brethren who thus show themselves here, unlike the friend who has become a brother, according to xvii. 17, are brothers-german, including kindred by blood relation. ?3 has MercJia, and is thus without the Makkeph, as at Ps. xxxv. 10 (vid. the Masora in Baer's Liber Psalmorum, 1861, p. 133). Kimchi (Michlol 205a), Norzi, and others think that cäl (with nm Y^P) is to be read as at Isa. xl. 12, where ?y\, is a verb. But that is incor- rect. The case is the same as with riX, iii. 12 ; Ps. xlvii. 5, Ix. 2. As here e with Merclia remains, so ö with Mercha in that twice occurring ^Sl. ; that which is exceptional is this, that the accentuated ^3 is written thus twice, not as the usual ^b, but as ?3 with the Makkeph. The ground of the exception lies, as with other peculiarities, in the special character of metrical accentuation ; the AlercJia represents the place of the Makkeph, and — thus remains in the unchanged force of a Kametz- Chatuph. The plur. ^pnn does not stamp ^nyin as the defec- tively written plur. ; the suffix ehu is always sing., and the sing, is thus, like y^n, 6&, meant collectively, or better : generally (in the sense of kind), Avhich is the linguistic usage of these two words, 1 Sam. xxx. 26; Job xlii. 10. But it is worthy of notice that the Masoretic form here is not ^nyno^ but ^-"lynp, with Sheva. The Masora adds to it the remark D"'?, and accordingly the word is thus written with Sheva by Kimchi {Michlol 202a and Lex. under the word nyi), in Codd., and older editions. The Venet., translating by «tto tov <^i\ov avrov, has not noticed that. But how % Does the punctuation inyio mean that the word is here to be derived from T}^i maleficus ? Thus understood, it does not harmonize with the line of thought. From this it is much more seen that the punctuation of the inflected V'yo, amicus, fluctuates. Tliis word Vy^ is a formation so difficult of comprehension, that one might almost, with Olshausen, § 210; Böttcher, § 794; and Lagarde, regard the D as the partitive p, like the French
24 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
cles amis (cf. Eurip. 3Ied. 560 : irivrjTa ^evyec 7ra<i tl<; eKiroBoov ^tXo9), or : something of friend, a piece of friend, while Ewald and others regard it as possible that yiD is abbreviated from njJ'ip. The punctuation, since it treats the Tsere in inj;-iJD, 4^*^ and elsewhere, as unchangeable, and here in inyiD as changeable, affords proof that in it also the manner of the formation of the word was incomprehensible.
Ver. 7c Seeking after words wliicli are vain. If now this line belongs to this proverb, then Rl}"]» must be used of the poor, and nsn-NP^ or '"I?2n"i7 (vid. regarding the 15 KeriSy '"b for vb, at Ps. c. 3), must be the attributively nearer designation of the D''1DX. The meaning of the Keri would be : he (the poor man) hunts after mere words, which — but no actions correspond- ing to them — are j"or a portion to him. This is doubtful, for the principal matter, that which is not a portion to him, remains vmexpressed, and the Hörri? [to him they belong] affords only the service of guarding one against understanding by the Dn»X the proper words of the poor. This service is not in the same way afforded by t^'^'^, ^ [they are not] ; but this expression charac- terizes the words as vain, so that it is to be interpreted accord- ing to such parallels as Hos. xii. 2 : words which are not, i.e. which have nothing in reality corresponding to them, verha nihilij i.e. the empty assurances and promises of his brethren and friends (FL). The old translators alP read üb, and the Syr. and Targ. translate not badly : "i''"}^' N? ""ipO; Symmachus, py]creaiv avv7rdpKrot<;. The expression is not to be rejected : N? HM sometimes means to come to N7, i.e. to nothing, Job vi. 21, Ezek. xxi. 32, cf. Isa. xv. 6; and Xin n^, he is not = has no reality, Jer. V. 12, nnrrx? D"'"iOi<, may thus mean words which are nothing (vain). But how can it be said of the poor whom everything forsakes, that one dismisses him with words behind which there is nothing, and now also that he pursues such words? The former supposes always a sympathy, though it be a feigned one,
^ In vol. i. p. 266, we have acknowledged inyiO, from yiö, friend, only for xix. 7 ; but at xix. 4 we have also found amicus ejus more probable than ab amlco suo (=injj"l Jo).
* Lagarde erroneously calls Theodotion's /s^o-s/j ovx. cti/ru a translation of the Keri; oi/x. is, however, üb, and instead of xürä the expression avruu, •which is the translation of riDH, is also found.
CHAP. XIX. 8. 25
which is excluded by ^^^^}^ [they hate him] and ipHT [with- draw themselves] ; and the latter, spoken of the poor, would be unnatural, for his purposed endeavour goes not out after empty talk, but after real assistance. So 7c ; pursuing after words which (are) nothing, although in itself not falling under critical suspicion, yet only of necessity is connected with this proverb regarding the poor. The LXX., however, has not merely one, but even four lines, and thus two proverbs following 7b. The former of these distichs is : "Evvoia uyaßy TOi? elSoaiu avrrjv iyyieij avrjp he (f)povif^o<; evpyjaei avTtjv ; it is translated from the Hebr. {evvota äyaöy], v. 2 = ni?3i?p), but it Jias a meaning complete in itself, and thus has nothing to do with the fragment 7c. The second distich is : 'O TroWa kuko- TToioov reXecrcoupyel KUKiav, 09 Se ipedl^eo \o<yov<; ov crcoO/jaeTai. This 09 Be ipeOi^ec Xoyov^ is, without doubt, a translation of ^ITID D''"ix:n (7c) ; Xoyov; is probably a corruption of \6yoc9 (thus the Complut.), not, he who pursueth words, but he who incites by words, as Homer (II. iv. 5f.) uses the expression ipedtl^efiev iirieaaL. The concluding words, ov acoOija-erai, are a repetition of the Heb. 13^0' i6 (cf. LXX. xix. 5 with xxviii. 26), perhaps only a conjectural emendation of the unintelligible non ah. Thus we have before us in that 6 iroXka KaKoiroiwv, k.t.X., the line lost from the Heb. text ; but it is difficult to restore it to the Heb. We have attempted it, vol. i. p. 15. Supposing that the LXX. had before them nion ah, then the proverb is —
" He that bath many friends is rewarded with evil, Hunting after words which are nothing;"
i.e. since this his courting the friendship of as many as possible is a hunting after words which have nothing after them and come to nothing.
Ver. 8 He that getteth understanding loveth his soul,
And he that values reasonableness will acquire good ;
or, more closely, since this would be the translation of ji£2 ^-f -? xvi. 20, xvii. 20 : so it happens, or it comes to this, that he acquires good (=ii':im iTn^ ; the inf. with 7 is here, as at xviii. 24, the expression of a fut. periphrasticum, as in the Lat. con- secutiirus est. Eegarding ^r^^^^j vid. xv. 32, and HJ^nn ncb^, vol. i. p. 119. That the deportment of men is either care for
26 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the soul, or the contrary of that, is a thought which runs through the Book of Proverbs.
The group of proverbs (vers. 9-16) now following begins and closes in the same way as the preceding.
Ver. 9 A lying witness doth not remain unpunished, And one who breathes out lies perisheth, or goeth to ruin, for 1?5:>i (R. ^I3, to divide, separate) signifies to lose oneself in the place of the separated, the dead (Arab, in the infinite). In ver. 5, instead of this äiroXelTai (LXX.), the neo-ative ov awdrjaeTac is used, or as the LXX. there more accurately renders it, ov Stacpev^erai,.
Ver. 10 lAixury becometh not a fool ;
How much less a servant to rule over princes. Thus also with-niS3 ^b (3 p. Pll. non decet, cf. the adj. xxvi. 1) xvii. 7 begins. "'S H^ rises here, as at ver. 7, a minori ad majus : how much more is it unbecoming = how much less is it seemly. The contrast in the last case is, however, more rugged, and the expression harsher. " A fool cannot bear luxury : he becomes by it yet more foolish ; one who was previously a humble slave, but who has attained by good fortune a place of prominence and power, from being something good, becomes at once something bad: an insolent sceleratus" (Fl.). Agur, xxx. 22 f., describes such a homo novus as an unbearable calamity ; and the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes, written in the time of the Persian domination, speaks, x. 7, of such. The LXX. translates, Koi iav ot/cer??? äp^rjrat fieO' vßp€(o<i hvvacneveiv^ rendering the phrase Q''!^? by /xeö' vßpewi, but all other translators had D"'nb3 before them.
Ver. 11 The discretion of a man maketh him long-suffering,
And it is a glory for him to be forbearing toward transgression. The Syr., Targum, Aqulla, and Theodotlon translate IDS y^^T[ by ixaKpodvfila, and thus read "i]''15<n ; but Pashi, KimchI, and others remark that T1?:?f! is here only another vocalization for ^"'')^'l, which is impossible. The Venet. also translates : NoO? dvöpcoTTov ii7)KVvei TOP dv/jiov eavTov ; the correct word would be avTov : the discretion (intellectus or intelligentia ; vid. regarding 795?', iii. 4) of a man extends his anger, i.e. brings it about that it continues long before it breaks out {vid. xiv. 29). One does not stumble at the perf. in view of ver. 7, xvili. 8, xvi. 26, and
CHAP. XIX. 12, 13. 27
tlie like ; In tlie proverbial style the f ut. or tlie particip. is more common. In the synonymous parallel member, i^li:??^ points to man as such : it is an honour to him to pass by a transgression (particularly that Avhich affects himself), to let it go aside, i.e. to forbear revenge or punishment (cf. Arab, tjdwz \ilij) ; thus also the divine Trapeaiq (Rom. iii. 25) is designated by Mic. vii. 18 ; and in Amos vii. 8, viii. 2, ibV stands absol. for the divine remission or passing by, i.e. unavenging of sin.
Ver. 12 A murmuring as of a lion is the wrath of the king, And as dew on plants is his favour. Line 1 is a variation of xx. 2a; line 2a of xvi. lob. ^yt is not the being irritated against another, but generally ill-liumour, fretfulness, bad humour ; the murmuring or growling in which this state of mind expresses itself is compared to that of a lion which, growling, prepares and sets itself to fall upon its prey (vid. Isa. v, 29, cf. Amos iii. 4). Opposed to the f\V1 stands the beneficial effect of the li^*^, i.e. of the pleasure, the delight, the satisfaction, tlie disposition which shows kindness (LXX. to iXapov avTov). In the former case all are afraid ; in the latter, everything lives, as when the refreshing dew falls upon the herbs of the field. The proverb presents a fact, but that the king may mirror himself in it.
Ver. 13 A foolish son is destruction for his father,
And a continual dropjiing are the contentions of a wife. Regarding riin, vid. at xvii. 4, cf. x. 3. Line 2a is expanded, xxvii. 15, into a distich. The dropping is T]b, properly strik- ing (cf. Arab, tij^ad, from tarad iii., hostile assault) when it pours itself forth, stroke (drop) after stroke — constantly, or with unbroken continuity. Lightning-flashes are called (Jer Berachoth, p. 114, Shitomir's ed.) pilD, opp. pp'^DSJ^, when tiiey do not follow in intervals, but constantly flash ; and b. Bechoroth 44a; niynn, weeping eyes, ni3^n, dropping eyes, and nmiD, eyes always flowing, are distinguished. An old interpreter (vid. R. Ascher in Pesachim ii.'No. 21) explains T?b ^hl by: "which drops, and drops, and always drops." An Arab proverb which I once heard from Wetzstein, says that there are three things which make our house intolerable : altakk (= dldJialf), the trickling through of rain ; dlnakk, the contention of the wife ; and ulbahh, buiis.
28 THE BOOK OF PEOVEKBS.
Vcr. 14 House and riches are a paternal inheritance, But from Jalive cometh a prudent wife.
House and riches (opidentia), which in themselves do not make men happy, one may receive according to the law of inhei-it- ance; but a prudent wife is God's gracious £jift, xviii. 22. There is not a more suitable word than n?3fO (fem. of 7"'3C'») to characterize a wife as a divine gift, making her husband happy. ^yy (•'^b'n) is the property which says : " I am named modesty, which wears the crown of all virtues." ^
Yer. 15 Slothfulness sinketh into deep sleep, And an idle soul must Lunger. Regarding n^^']'!' and its root-word D"l"i, viJ. at x. 5. ^'sn, to befall, to make to get, is to be understood after Gen. iii. 21 ; the obj. D1Kn"5i?, viz. ^^'J^i], is naturally to be supplied. In 15^ the fut. denotes that wdiich will certainly happen, the inevi- table. In both of its members the proverb is perfectly clear ; Hitzig, however, corrects 15a, and brings out of it the mean- ing, " slothfulness gives tasteless herbs to eat." The LXX. has two translations of this proverb, here and at xviii. 8. That it should translate n''D-| by uv8p6yvvo<; was necessary, as Lagarde remarks, for the exposition of the " works of a Hebrew Sotades." But the Hebrew literature never sunk to such works, wallowing in the mire of sensuality, and ävSp6yuvo<; is not at all thus enig- matical; the Gi*eek word was also used of an effeminate man, a man devoid of manliness, a weakling, and was, as the LXX. shows, more current in the Alexandrine Greek than elsewhere.
Ver. 16 He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul ; He that taketh no heed to his ways dies. As at vi. 23, cf. Eccles. viii. 5, nj>'p is here the commandment of God, and thus obligatory, which directs man in every case to do that which is right, and warns him against that which is wrong. And VDni nns (according to the Masora with Tsere, as in Codd. and old editions, not nnn) is the antithesis of i3~iT "iVb, xvi. 17. To despise one's own way is equivalent to, to regard it as worth no consideration, as no question of conscience whether one should enter upon this way or that. Hitzig's
^ The LXX. translates : -Trctpx. oi xvplov üpfiö^irxi yvy/j dvhoi. Here as often (^vid. my Jesurmi) the Arab, usus loquendi makes itself felt in the idiom of the LXX., for slmkl means ü.pj/,6^iiu.
CHAP. XIX. 17, 18. 29
reading, "ij.is, "lie that scatteretli lils ways," lets himself be drawn by the manifold objects of sensuality sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another, is supported by Jer. iii. 13, according to wlilch it must be l^??? ; the conj. is not in the style of the Book of Proverbs, and besides is superfluous. The LXX., which is fond of a quidpro quo — it makes, Idb, a courtesan offer- ing a sacrifice she had vowed of the wages of sin. of the quarrel- some woman — has here, as the Heb. text : 6 Karacppovcov tmv iavTou oScov aTToXetrai. Thus after the Ken riO^^ as also the Targ., Syro-Hexap., and Luther ; on the contrary, the Syr,, Jerome, the Veiiet. adopt tlie ChetMb nov : he will become dead, i.e. dies no natural death. The Keri is more in the spirit and style of the Book of Proverbs (xv. 10, xxiii. 13, x. 21).
Vers. 17-21. These verses we take together. But we have no other reason for making a pause at ver. 21, than that ver. 22 is analogous to ver. 17, and thus presents itself to us as an initial verse.
Ver. 17 He lendeth to Jahve wbo is compassionate to the lowly, And his bounty He requites to him. As at xiv. 31, pin is part. Kal. The Masoretically exact form of the word is l^.in (as Ptisi, xx. 14) with MercJia on the first syllable, on which the tone is thrown back, and the mayn on the second. The Roman legal phrase, miitui datione contrahitiir obligatio, serves to explain the fundamental conception of ni7, niiduo accipere, and >^}?^, nmtiium dare (vid. xxii. 7). The construction, Ex. xxii. 24, " to make any one bound as a debtor, obligare,''^ lies at the foundation of the genitive connection 'n nvö (not m^a). With 176 cf. xii. 14, where the subject of n^'^ {Kerf) remains in the background, v^^ (not 1?0J) is here his work done in the sense of good exhibited. " Love," Hedinger once said, " is an imperishable capital, which always bears interest." And the Archbishop Walther : nam Deo dat qui dat inopibusj ipse Dens est in pauperibus. Dr. Jonas, as Dächsei relates, once gave to a poor man, and said, " Who knows when God restores it !" There Luther interposed : " As if God had not long ago given it beforehand ! " This answer of Luther meets the abuse of this beautiful proverb by the covetous.
Ver. 18. This proverb brings to view once more the peda- gogic character of this Older Book of Proverbs :
oü THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Correct thy son, for yet there is hope; But go not too far to kill him.
That "'S is meant relatively, as at xi. 15, is seen from Job xi, 18, xiv. 7 ; Jer. xxxi. 16 f. ; ''ijipj'ji ^T''^ is the usual expression for etenim spes est. Though a son show obstinacy, and manifest a bad disposition, yet there is hope in the training of the youth of being able to break his self-will, and to wean him from his bad disposition ; therefore his education should be carried forward with rigorous exactness, but in such a way that wisdom and love regulate the measure and limits of correction : ad eum interficien- dum animam ne tollas (animum ne inducas). ^??'?? is not the subject, for in that case the word would have been ^^^i^'^il (2 Kings xiv. 10). It is the object: To raise the soul to something is equivalent to, to direct his desire to it, to take delight in it. The teacher should not seek correction as the object, but only as the means ; he who has a desire after it, to put the child to death in the case of his guilt, changes correction into revenge, permits himself to be driven by passion from the proper end of correction, and to be pushed beyond its limits. The LXX. translates freely eU he vßpiv, for vßpt<i is unrestrained abuse, "•inx "iDIQ as Immanuel glosses. Besides, all the ancients and also the Venet. translate IJT'On as the inf. of JT'On. But Oetin- ger (for he translates : lift not thy soul to his cry, for which Euchel : let not his complaining move thy compassion) follows the derivation from HDrt suggested by Kimchi, Meiri, and Im- manuel, and preferred by Ealbag, so that invpn after the form fT'azi is equivalent to ^^\^^. But leaving out of view that Hon means 5i!r^j;grö, not lamentari, and that 1C'S3 Nb'3 means attention, not desire, xxiii. 13 points out to us a better interpretation. Ver. 19. Another proverb with t^b*: :
A man of excessive wrath must suffer punishment ;
For if thou layest hold of it, hindering it, thou makest it only worse.
The LXX., Syr., and Targ. translate as if the words were nan naa (as non bv^, xxix. 22). Theodotion, the Venet, and Luther render the Keri "?"13 ; Jerome's impatiens is colourless. The ChetJiib 7~\i gives no appropriate meaning. The Arab. jaril means lajjidosus (vdience ?"]i2, cf. Aram. ^<E3 = •\^?}<^09), and Schultens translates accordingly aspere scruposiLS iracundice, which is altogether after the manner of his own heavy style.
CHAP. XIX. 20. 31
Ewald translates ?"]3 as derived from tlie Arab jazyl, largus^ grandis ; but the possibility of the passing over of ~\ into T, as maintained by Ewald and also by Hitzig, or the reverse, is physiologically undemonstrable, and is confirmed by no example worthy of mention. Rather it may be possible that the Heb. had an adj. ?^a or b'}l in the sense of stony, gravel-like, hard as gravel, but tow rather than gravel would be appropi'iate to '^'^'^,. Hitzig corrects non ?'di^ ''who acts in anger;" but he says n?on D^*^, to recompense anger, Isa. lix. 18; non büJ is without support. This correction, however, is incomparably more feasible than Böttcher's, "moderate inheritance bears expiation;" nnn = nson must mean not only thick [curdled] milk, but also moderation, and Böttcher finds this " sound." From all these instances one sees that ?"ij is an error in transcription; the Keri nnri'pna rightly improves it, a man is thus designated whose peculiarity it is to fall into a high degree of passionate anger (py\'^^ HDn, Dan. xi. 44) : such an one has to bear tioy^ a fine, i.e. to compensate, for he has to pay compensation or smart- money for the injury suffered, as e.g. he who in strife with another pushes against a woman with child, so that injury be- falls her, Ex. xxi. 22. If we compare this passage with 2 Sam. xiv. 6, there appears for ?''V^ the meaning of taking away of the object (whether a person or a thing) against which the passionate hothead directs himself. Therewith the meanino- of Plpin nij;"! accords. The meaning is not that, y^^, once is not enough, but much rather must be repeated, and yet is without effect; but that one only increases and heightens the non thereby. It is in vain to seek to spare such a violent person the punish- ment into which he obstinately runs ; much more advisable is it to let him rage till he ceases ; violent opposition only makes the evil the greater. With Dt< ''3, " denn wenn " [for then], cf. ii. 3, "ja wenn" [yea if], and with lij)"! in the conclusion, Job xiv. 7 (a parallelism syntactically more appropriate than Ps. cxxxix. lb). Ver. 20 Hearken to counsel, and receive instruction, That thou mayest become wise afterwards. The rule of morals, xii. 15b, receives here the parssnetic tone which is the keynote of the introduction i.-ix. Löwenstein translates : that thou mayest finally become wise. But ^Jl'^'inxs corresponds rather to our " hinfort " \_posthac^ than to " end-
32 THE BOOK OF PEOVERBS.
Zi'c/t" [finally]. He to whom the warning is directed must break with the self-willed, undisciplined JT'tJ'wS"! [beginning] of his life, and for the future (rov eiriXoiirov iv aapKt '^(povov, 1 Pet. iv. 2) become wise. The relative contrast between the two periods of life is the same as at Job viii. 7.
Yer. 21 Many are the thoughts in a man's heart ; But Jahve's counsel, that stands. In C^pn lies, as at Isa. xl. 8, both : that the counsel of God (His plan of the w^orld and of salvation) is accomplished and comes into actual fact, and that it continues. This counsel is the true reality elevated above the checkered manifoldness of human purposes, aims, and subjectivities, which penetrates and works itself out in history. The thoughts of a man thus gain unity, substance, endurance, only in so far as he subjects him- self to this counsel, and makes his thoughts and actions con- formable and subordinate to this counsel.
Ver. 22. The series makes a new departure with a proverb regarding the poor (cf. ver. 17) :
A man's delight is his beneficence ;
And better is a poor man than a liar. The right interpretation will be that which presses upon Ti'^n no strange meaning, and which places the two parts of the verse in an inner mutual relation ethically right. In any case it lies nearer to interpret nixn, in relation to man, actively than pas- sively : that which makes man worthy of desire (Rashi), adorns and distinguishes him (Kimchi, Aben-Ezra); or, that which is desired by man, is above all things sought for (Luzzatto); and, in like manner, the Heb. meaning for npn lies nearer than the Aram. {vid. xiv. 34): the pleasure of a man is his disgrace (Ral- bag). Thus Bertheau's translation : the desire of a man is his charitas, must mean: that which brings to a man true joy is to act amiably. But is that, thus generally expressed, true *? And if this were the thought, how much more correctly and distinctly would it be expressed by ^pn nm_ Dls^ nniDC^ (cf. xxi. 15) ! Hitzig is rightly reminded by non of the Pharisee who thanks God that he is not as other men ; the word ought to have been Hon to remove every trace of self-satisfaction. Hitzig therefore pro- poses from the LXX. and the Vulgate the text-correction nxuriOj and translates, " from the revenue of a man is his kind
en AP. XIX. 23. 33
gift;" and Ewald, who is satisfied with nx^nn, "the gain of a man is his pious love." The latter is more judicious : ion (love) distributed is in reality gain (according to ver. 17) ; but 22b corresponds rather with the former : " better is he who from want does not give nxinn, than he who could give and says he has nothing." But was there then need for that Kapiro^ of the LXX. ? If a poor man is better than a lord given to lying, — for tr''N with ^1 is a man of means and position, — i.e. a poor man who would give willingly, but has nothing, than that man w^ho will not give, and therefore lies, saying that he has nothing; then 22a means that the will of a man (cf. mxn, xi. 23) is his doing good (viel, regarding "ipn, at iii. 3), i.e. is its soul and very essence. Euchel, who accordingly translates : the philanthropy of a man consists properly in his goodwill, rightly compares the Rabbinical proverb, '^2b2^ ü^yDön nnxi nm»n nns lll^lT-jy, i.e. one may give more or less, it all depends on the intention, the disposition.
Ver. 23 The fear of Jahve tendeth to life ;
Satisfied, one spendeth the night, not visited by evil.
The first line is a variation of xiv. 27a. How the fear of God thus reacheth to life, i.e. helps to a life that is enduring, free from care and happy, 235 says : the promises are fulfilled to the God-fearing, Deut. xi. 15 and Lev. xxvi. 6; he does not go hungry to bed, and needs fear no awakening in terror out of his soft slumber (iii. 24). With 1 explic, 23a is explained. j;nlv 17 means to spend the night (the long night) hungry, as Cl"iy lY, Job xxiv. 7, to pass the night in nakedness (cold). ni^23j of visitation of punishment, we read also at Isa. xxix. (3, and instead of yjs, as it might be according to this passage, we have here the accus, of the manner placing the meaning of the Niph. beyond a doubt (cf. xi. 15, J^l, in an evil manner). All is in harmony with the matter, and is good Heb. ; on the con- trary, Hitzig's ingenuity introduces, instead of J??'^*'!, an unheard of word, Vi^^ " and he stretches himself." One of the Greeks excellently translates : koX ifi7rXr]a06l<i avXcaO/jcrerat, avev iirccr- «■07r/}<? irovripä'i. The LXX., which instead of y"), jv(üo-t<if translates thus, V"^,, discredits itself. The Midrash — Lagarde says of its translation — varies in colour like an opal. Li other VOL. II. C
34 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
words, it handles the text like wax, and forms it accordinrr to Its own taste, like the Midrash with its '' read not so, but so."
Ver. 24 The slothful hath thrust his hand into the dish ; He bringeth it not again to his mouth. This proverb is repeated in a different form, xxvi. 15. The figure appears, thus understood, an hyperbole, on which account the LXX. understand by nn^V the bosom or lap, koXttov ; Aquila and Symmachus understand by it the arm-pit, fiaaxaXrjv or fxaXriv, and the Jewish interpreters gloss it by pTi (Kimchi) or pibnn J?np, the slit (Ital. fenditura) of the shirt. But the domestic figure, 2 Kings xxi. 13, places before us a dish which, when it is empty, is wiped and turned upside down;^ and that the slothful when he eats appears too slothful to bring his hand, e.g. with the rice or the piece of bread he has taken out of the dish, again to his mouth, is true to nature : we say of such a man that he almost sleeps when he eats. The fut. after the perf. here denotes that which is not done after the former thing, i.e. that which is scarcely and only with difficulty done ; i!? . . . Ca may have the meaning of " yet not," as at Ps. cxxix. 2 ; but the sense of '' not once " = we . . . quidem, lies here nearer Deut. xxiii. 3.
Ver. 25 The scorner thou smitest, and the simple is prudent ;
And if one reprove the man of understanding, he gaineth knowledge Hitzig translates in a way that is syntactically inexact : smite the scorner, so the simple becomes prudent ; that would have required at least the word Diy;|l : fut. and fut. connected by 1 is one of many modes of expression for the simultaneous, discussed by me at Hab. iii. 10. The meaning of the proverb has a complete commentary at xxi. 11, where its two parts are otherwise expressed with perfect identity of thought. In regard to the Y^, with whom denunciation and threatening bear no fruit (xiii. 1, xv. 12), and perhaps even produce the con- trary effect to that intended (ix. 7), there remains nothing
^ "While nnSV, -^ahfat, in the sense of dish, is etymologically clear, for nnH% neither salah (to be good for), nor salakli (to be deaf, mangy), offers an appropriate verbal meaning. The Arab, zululi (large dishes) stands under zalali (to taste, of the tasting of food), but is scarcely a derivative from it. Only n^X, which in the meaning of good for, proceeding from the idea of penetrating through, has retained the root-meaning of cleft, furnishes for nn^V and HTliW a root-word in some measure useful.
CHAP. XIX. 24. 35
else than to vindicate the injured trutlis by means of the private justice of corporal punishment. Such words, if spoken to the right man, in the right spirit, at the right time, may affect him with wholesome terrors ; but even though he is not made better thereby, yet the simple, who listens to the mockeries of such not without injury, will thereby become prudent (gain ^^IV'l = '^?"^V> prudence, as at xv. 5), i.e. either arrive at the knowledge that the mockery of religion is wicked, or guard himself against incurring the same repressive measures. In 256 n^im is neither inf. (Umbreit), which after xxi. 116 must be n?in2i, nor impr. (Targ., Ewald), which according to rule is n^iHj but the hypothetic perf. (Syr.) with the most general subject (Merc, Hitzig) : if one impart instruction to the (dat. obj. as ix. 7, xv. 2) man of understanding (yid. xvi. 21), then he acquires knowledge, i.e. gains an insight into the nature and value of that which one wishes to bring him to the know- ledge of (nv"n \''2r]^ as xxix. 7 ; cf. viii. 5). That which the deterring lesson of exemplary punishment approximately effects with the wavering, is, in the case of the man of understanding, perfectly attained by an instructive word.
"We have now reached the close of the third chief section of the older Book of Proverbs. All the three sections beo-in with D^n 13, X. 1, xiii. 1, XV. 20. The Introduction, i.-ix., dedicates this collection of Solomonic proverbs to youth, and the three beginnings accordingly relate to the relative duties of a son to his father and mother. We are now no longer far from the end, for xxii. 17 resumes the tone of the Introduction. The third principal part would be disproportionately large if it extended from xv. 1 to xxii. 15. But there does not again occur a proverb beginning with the words " son of man." We can therefore scarcely go wrong if we take xix. 26 as the com- mencement of a fourth principal part. The Masora divides the whole Mishle into eight sedarim, which exhibit so little know- ledge of the true division, that the paras/ias (sections) x. 1, xxii. 17 do not at all find their right place.^ The MSS., how-
^ The 915 verses of the BfisMe, according to the Jfasora, fall into eight sedarim, beginning as follows : i. 1, v. 18, ix. 12, xiv. 4, xviii. 10, xxii. 22, XXV. 13. xxyiii. 16.
36 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
ever, contain evidences that this Hagiograph was also anciently divided into parashas, which were designated partly by spaces between the lines (sethumoth) and partly by breaks in the lines (phethucoth). In Baer's Cod. Jamanensis^ after vi. 19, there is the letter 3 written on the margin as the mark of such a break. With vi. 20 {vid. I.e.) there indeed commences a new part of the introductory Mashal discourses. But, besides, we only seldom meet with^ coincidences with the division and grouping which have commended themselves to us. In the MS. of the Grcecus Venetus, xix. 11, 16, and 19 have their initial letters coloured red ; but why only these verses, is not manifest. A comparison of the series of proverbs distinguished by such initials with the Cod. Jaman. and Cod. ii. of the Leipzig City Library, makes it more than probable that it gives a traditional division of the MisJde, which may perhaps yet be discovered by a comparison of MSS.^ But this much is clear, that a historico- literary reconstruction of the Mislile, and of its several parts, can derive no help from this comparison.
With xix. 26 there thus begins the fourth principal part of the Solomonic collection of proverbs introduced by i.-ix.
He that doeth violence to his father and chaseth his mother, Is a son that bringeth shame and disgrace. The right name is given in the second line to him who acts as is described in the first. TH^ means properly to barricade [ohstruere]., and then in general to do violence to, here: to ruin one both as to life and property. The part., which has the force of an attributive clause, is continued in the finite : qui matreiii fugat ; this is the rule of the Heb. style, which is not (^ikajjie- Toxo<i, Gesen. § 134, Anm. 2. Regarding 5r''30, vid. at x. 5 ; regarding the placing together of "T'Sn^l. ^'^\}, vid. xiii. 5, where for ^''^\}j to make shame, to be scandalous, the word t^"''??'?? which is radically different, meaning to bring into bad odour, is used. The putting to shame is in C'ia (kindred with Arab.
^ Vid. the Prefatio to the Masoretico-Critical Edition of Isaiah by Baer and myself ; Leipzig, 1872.
2 There are spaces within the lines after i. 7, 9, 83, ii. 22, iii. 18, 35, V. 17, 23, vi. 4, 11, 15, 19 (here a a), 35, viii. 21, 31, 35, ix. 18, xvii. 25, xviii. 9, xxii. 19, 27, xxiii. 14, xxiv. 22, 33, xxvi. 21, xxviii. 10, 16, xxix. 17, 27, XXX. 6, 9, 14, 17, 20, 23, 28, 33, xsxi. 9.
» Vid. Gebhardt's Prolegomena to his new edition of the Versio Veneta.
CHAP XIX. 27, 28. 37
hath) thought of as disturhatio (cf. crvyxvcrc^) (cf. at Ps. vi. 11), in "i2n (khfr) as opertio (cf. Cicero's Cluenf. 20 : infamia et dedecore opertus), not, as I formerly thought, with Fürst, as reddening, blushing {yid. Ps. xxxiv. 6). Putting to shame ■would in this connection be too weak a meaning for "'''Sno. The pedagogic stamp which ver. 26 impresses on this fourth principal part is made yet further distinct in the verse that now follows.
Ver. 27 Cease, my son, to hear instruction,
To depart from the words of knowledge. Oetinger coiTectly : cease from hearing instruction if thou wilt make no other use of it than to depart, etc., i.e. cease to learn wisdom and afterwards to misuse it. The proverb is, as Ewald says, as " bloody irony ;" but it is a dissuasive from hypocrisy, a warning against the self-deception of which Jas. i. 22-24 speaks, against heightening one's own condemnation, which is the case of that servant who knows his lord's will and does it not, Luke xii. 47. P^n, in the meaning to leave off doing some- thing further, is more frequently construed with h seq. infin. than with p (cf. e.g. Gen. xi. 8 with 1 Kings xv. 21) ; but if we mean the omission of a thing which has not yet been begun, then the construction is with ?, Num. ix. 13. Instead of riiac^p, there might have been also used nia'Li'pp (omit rather . . . than . . .), and niJ^ \V'ob would be more distinct ; but as the pro- verb is expressed, niiü'i' is not to be mistaken as the subord. infin. of purpose. The LXX., Syr., Targ., and Jerome do violence to the proverb. Luther, after the example of older interpreters : instruction, that which leads away from prudent learning ; but musar always means either discipline weaning from evil, or education leading to good.
Ver. 28 A worthless witness scoffeth at right ;
And the mouth of the godless swalloweth up mischief. The Mosaic law does not know the oath of witnesses ; but the adjuring of witnesses to speak the truth. Lev. iv. 1, places a false statement almost in the rank of perjury. The '^QK'b, wdiich legally and morally binds witnesses, is just their duty to state the matter in accordance with truth, and without deceit- ful and malicious reservation ; but a worthless witness {vid. regarding H'*??, vi. 12) despiseth what is right (P?) with accus.-
38 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
obj. like xiv. 9), i.e. scornfully disregards this duty. Under 2S& Hitzig remarks that y?^ only in Kal means to devour, but in Fiel, on the contrary, to absorb = annihilate ; therefore he reads with the LXX. and Syr. H [justice] instead of ])^ [mischief]: the mouth of the wicked murders that which is right, properly, swallows down his feeling of right. But V?? interchanges with J?^3 in the sense of swallowing only, without the connected idea of annihilation ; cf. Vp^S for the continuance [duration] of a gulp = for a moment, Num. iv. 20 with Job vii. 29 ; and one can thus understand 28b without any alteration of the text after Job XV. 16 ; cf. XX. 12-15, as well as with the text altered after Isa. iii. 12, by no means so that one makes px the sub- ject : mischief swallows up, i.e. destroys, the mouth of the wicked (Rashi); for when "mouth" and "to swallow" stand connected, the mouth is naturally that which swallows, not that which is swallowed (cf. Eccles. x. 12 : the mouth of the fool swallows, i.e. destroys, him). Thus 285 means that wickedness, i.e. that which is morally perverse, is a delicious morsel for the mouth of the godless, which he eagerly devours ; to practise evil is for him, as we say, " ein loahrer Gemiss " [a true enjoyment]. Ver. 29 Judgments are prepared for scorners, And stripes for the backs of fools. D"'jpDB' never means punishment which a court of justice inflicts, but is always used of the judgments of God, even although they are inflicted by human instrumentality {vid. 2 Chron. xxiv. 24) ; the sinc^ular, which nowhere occurs, is the segolate n. act. tiSü' = DiDt^, 2 Chron. xx. 9, plur. D''£p'i3'^'. Hitzig's remark : " the judgment may, after ver. 25, consist in stripes," is misleading ; the stroke, ni3n, there is such as when, e.g., a stroke on the ear is applied to one who despises that which is holy, which, under the circumstances, may be salutary ; but it does not fall under the category of shepliuthirn, nor properly under that of niopna. The- former are providential chastisements with which history itself, or God in history, visits the despiser of religion ; the latter are strokes which are laid on the backs of fooiß by one who is instructing them, in order, if possible, to bring them to thought and understanding. P^, here inflected as Niph., is used, as Job XV. 23, as meaning to be placed in readiness, and thus to be surely imminent. Regarding mahalumoth, vid. at xviii. 6.
CHAP. XX. 1, 2. 39
Chap. XX. 1. This proverb warns against the debauchery with which free-thinking is intimately associated.
Wine is a mocker, mead boisterous ;
And no one who is overtaken thereby is wise. The article stands with V\ Ewald maintains that in x.-xxii. 6 the article occurs only here and at xxi. 31, and that it is here, as the LXX. shows, not original. Both statements are incor- rect. The article is found, e.g., at xix. 6, xviii. 18, 17, and here the personification of " wine " requires it; but that it is wanting to l^B' shows how little poetry delights in it ; it stands once for twice. The effects of wine and mead ("I3tl' from "i?*^, to stop, obstruct, become stupid) are attributed to these liquors themselves as their property. Wine is a mocker, because he who is intoxi- cated with it readily scoffs at that which is holy ; mead is boisterous (cf. '"'*pi'"', vii. 11), because he who is inebriated in his dissolute madness breaks through the limits of morality and propriety. He is unwise who, through wine and the like, i.e. overpowered by it (cf. 2 Sam. xiii. 28), staggers, i.e. he gives himself up to wine to such a degree that he is no longer master of himself. At v. 19 we read, 2 nr^^ of the intoxication of love ; here, as at Isa. xxvili. 7, of the intoxication of wine, i.e. of the passionate slavish desire of wine or for wine. The word " Erpicht " \avidissimus\., i.e. being indissolubly bound to a thing, corresponds at least in some degree to the idea. Fleischer compares the French : etrefou de quelque chose. Isa. xxviii. 7, however, shows that one has to think on actual stag- gering, being overtaken in wine.
Ver. 2 A roaring as of a lion is the terror of the king ; And he that provoketh him forfeiteth his life. Line first is a variation of xix. 12. The terror which a king spreads around (^^^, gen. suhjecti., as, e.g., at Job ix. 34 and generally) is like the growling of a lion which threatens danger. The thought here suggested is that it is dangerous to arouse a lion. Thus iis^rip does not mean : he who is angry at him ( Ve7iet. : ')(pkoviJ,evo<i avTu>), but he who provokes him (LXX., Syr., Targ., Jerome, Luther). "iSV^n signifies, as we saw at xiv. 16, to be in a state of excessive displeasure, extreme anger. Here the meaning must be : he who puts him into a state of anger (LXX., 6 irapo^vvcov avrov, in other versions with the
40 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
addition of koX eTrijuiyvv/xevo';, who conducts himself famllLarly towards him = n'iyntD). But can mitharvo have this meaning? That the Hithpa. of transitive steins, e.g. l.^nnn (1 Kings viii. 59) and ""2rlt^'^ (Mic. vi. 16), is construed with the accus, of that which any one performs for himself (cf. Ewald's Gramm. Arab. § 180), is not unusual ; but can the Hithpa. of the intrans. "iny, which signifies to fall into a passion, " express with the accusative the passion of another excited thereby " (Ewald, § 282a)? There is no evidence for this; and Hitzig's conjecture, inaV"» (Tiphel of the Targ. "i^^rn = nnsy), is thus not without occasion. But one might suppose that "i^ynn^ as the reflexive of a Piel or Hipldl which meant to be put into a state of anger, may mean to draw forth the anger of any one, as in Arab., the viTrth form (Hithpa.) of hadr^ to be present, with the accus, as reflexive of the ivth form, may mean : sihi aliquid prcesens sistere. Not so difficult is i<90 ^^*^ ^^^ accus, of that which is missing, vid. viii. 36 and Hab. ii. 10.
Yer. 3 It is an honour to a man to remain far from strife ; But every fool slioweth his teeth. Or better : whoever is a fool qnisquis amens, for the emphasis does not lie on this, that every fool, i.e. every single one of this sort, contends to the uttermost ; but that whoever is only always a fool finds pleasure in such strife. Regarding Vp3nn^ vid. xvii. 14, xviii. 1. On the contrary, it is an honour to a man to be peaceable, or, as it is here expressed, to remain far from strife. The phrase may be translated : to desist from strife ; but in this case the word would be pointed ^'^^, which Hitzig prefers; for riT^ from T\2f means, 2 Sam. xxiii. 7, annihilation (the termination of existence) ; also Ex. xxi. 19, W2^ does not mean to be keeping holy day ; but to be sitting, viz. at home, in a state of incapability for work. Rightly Fleischer: "I^ ^'^'l, like Arab, k'ad saii, to remain sitting quiet, and thus to hold oneself removed from any kind of activity." He who is prudent, and cares for his honour, not only breaks off strife when it threatens to become passionate, but does not at all enter into it, keeps himself far removed from it. Ver. 4 At the beginning of the harvest the sluggard plougheth not ; And so when he cometh to the reaping-time there is nothing. Many translators (Symmachus, Jerome, Luther) and inter-
CHAP. XX. 4 41
preters {e.g. Raslii, Zöckler) explain: propter frigus ; but ^"^h is, according to its verbal import, not a synon. of "ip and nsy^ but means gathering = the time of gathering (synon. ^''?^), from ^■^n, carpere^ as harvest, the time of tlie Kapirl^ecv, the plucking off of the fruit ; but the harvest is the beginning of the old Eastern agricultural year, for in Palestine and Syria the time of ploughing and sowing with the harvest or early rains (TIC — '^"'•^^ Neh. vii. 24; Ezra ii. 18) followed the fruit harvest from October to December. The }p is thus not that of cause but of time. Thus rendered, it may mean the beginning of an event and onwards (e.g. 1 Sam. xxx. 25), as well as its termination and onwards (Lev. xxvii. 17) : here of the harvest and its ingather- ing and onwards. In 4b, the Chetlah and Keri vary as at xviii. 17. The/t«/!. ''i^P'1 would denote what stands before the sluggard ; the perf. ?xn places him in the midst of this, and besides has this in its favour, that, interpreted as perf. hypo- thedcum, it makes the absence of an object to bü^ more tenable. The Chellnb, ^^f], is not to be read after Ps. cix. 10 : he will beg in harvest — in vain (Jerome, Luther), to which Hitzig well remarks : Why in vain ? Amid the joy of harvest people dispense most liberally ; and the right time for begging comes later. Hitzig conjecturally arrives at the translation :
" A pannier the sluggard provideth not ; Seeketh to borrow in harvest, and nothing cometh of it."
But leaving out of view the " pannier," the meaning " to obtain something as a loan," which 7X5^" from the connection may bear, is here altogether imaginary. Let one imagine to himself an indolent owner of land, who does not trouble himself about the tilling and sowing of his fields at the right time and with diligence, but leaves this to his people, who do only as much as is commanded them : such an one asks, when now the harvest- time has come, about the ingathering; but he receives the answer, that the land has lain unploughed, because he had not commanded it to be ploughed. When he asks, there is nothing, he asks in vain (HNI, as at xiv. 6, xiii. 4). Meiri rightly ex- plains «i™ by ntrnnn ;or n^nno, and Ab by: "so then, when he asks at harvest time, he will find nothing;" on the other ^ Vid. Fleischer in Levy's CJiald. Wörterbuch, i. 426.
42 THE BOOK OF PKOVEEBS,
hand, the LXX. and Aram, think on «inn, carpere convicUs, as also in Codd. here and there is found the meaningless ^"^nip.
Ver. 5 The purpose ia the heart of a man is deep water ; But a man of understanding draweth it out. " Still waters are deep." Like such deep waters (xviii. 4) is that which a man hath secretly (Isa. xxix. 15) planned in his heart. He keeps it secret, conceals it carefully, craftily mis- leads those who seek to draw it out ; but the man of ^^'^^^, i.e. one who possesses the right criteria for distinguishing between good and bad, true and false, and at the same time has the capacity to look through men and things, draws out (the Venet. well, dveX^et) the secret nvy, for he penetrates to the bottom of the deep water. Such an one does not deceive himself with men, he knows how to estimate their conduct according to its last underlying motive and aim ; and if the purpose is one that is pernicious to him, he meets it in the process of realization. What is here said is applicable not only to the subtle statesman and the general, but also to the pragmatical historian and the expositor, as, e.g.., of a poem such as the book of Job, the idea of which lies like a pearl at the bottom of deep water.
Ver. 6 Almost every one meeteth a man who is gracious to him ;
But a man who standeth the test, who findeth such an one ? As D''31DS T'y, xiii. 17, signifies a messenger in whom there is confidence, and n'':iDK ny, xiv. 5, a witness who is altogether truthful, so ^^^^^i\ 5J'"'{< is a man who remains true to himself, and maintains fidelity toward others. Such an one it is not easy to find ; but patrons who make promises and awaken ex- pectations, finally to leave in the lurch him who depends on them — of such there are many. This contrast would proceed from Ga also, if we took ^"1(5 in the sense of to call, to call or cry out with ostentation : multi homines sunt quorum suam quisque humanitatem jjrQclamat (Schelling, Fleischer, Ewald, Zöckler, and also, e.g., Meiri). But i'^on c'^N is certainly to be interpreted after xi. 17, Isa. Ivii. 1. Recognising this, Hitzig translates : many a man one names his dear friend ; but in point of style this would be as unsuitable as possible. Must iX^\>\ then mean vocat f A more appropriate parallel word to N^'ö is Nnj? = n"ji5, according to which, with Oetinger, Heiden- heim, Euchel, and Löwenstein, we explain : the greater part of
CHAP. XX. 7. 4a
men meet one who shows liimself to them (to this or that man) as ion ^"^iij a man well-affectioned and benevolent ; but it is .rare to find one who in his affection and its fruits proves him- self to be true, and actually performs that which was hoped for from him. Luther translates, with the Syr. and Targ. after Jerome : Viel Menschen werden From gerhihnht [many men are reputed pious] ; but if ^']\>\ were equivalent to X^I?';, then ion c"X ought to have been used instead of inon ti'^X. The LXX. read ion tr"'S "ip'' mx nn, man is something great, and a compassionate man is something precious ; but it costs trouble to find out a true man. The fundamental thought remains almost the same in all these interpretations and readi-ngs : love is plentiful ; fidelity, rare ; therefore IDD, of the right kind, after the image of God, is joined to nöN.
Ver. 7 He who in his innocence walketh as one upright, Blessed are his children after him ! "VYe may not take the first line as a separate clause with P''^V, as subject (Van Dyk, Elster) or predicate (Targ.) ; for, thus rendered, it does not appropriately fall in as parallel to the second line, because containing nothing of promise, and the second line would then strike in at least not so unconnectedly (cf. on the contrary, x. 9, xiv. 25). We have before us a sub- stantival clause, of which the first line is the complex subject. But Jerome, the Venet., and Luther erroneously : the just man walking in his innocence ; this placing first of the adj. is in opposition to the Hebr. syntax. We must, if the whole is to be interpreted as nom., regard pn^ as permutative : one walking in his innocence, a righteous one. But, without doubt, tsedek is the accus, of the manner ; in the manner of one righteous, or in apposition: as one righteous; cf. Job xxxi. 26 with Mic. ii. 7. Thus Hitzig rightly also refers to these two passages, and Ewald also refers to xxii. 11, xxiv. 15. To walk in his innocence as a righteous man, is equivalent to always to do that which is right, without laying claim to any distinction or making any boast on that account ; for thereby one only follows the impulse and the direction of his heart, which shows itself and can show itself not otherwise than in unreserved devotion to God and to that which is good. The children after him are not the children after his death (Gen. xxiv. 67) ; but, according
44 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
to Dent. iv. 40, cf. Job xxi. 21, those who follow his example, and thus those who come after him ; for already in the life- time of such an one, the benediction begins to have its fulfil- ment in his children.
The following group begins with a royal proverb, which expresses what a king does with his eyes. Two proverbs, of the seeing eye and the necessary opening of the eyes, close it.
Ver. 8 A king sitting on the seat of justice,
Scattereth asunder all evil with his eyes. Excellently the Venet. i-jrl 6p6vov SZ/ct^?, for H'^?? is the name of the seat of rectitude (the tribunal), as the " throne of grace," Heb. iv. 17, is the name of the capporeth as the seat of mercy ; the seat of the judge is merely called &?DD ; on the other hand, ;n-ND3 is the -contrast of ni^n ND3, Ps. xciv. 20 : the seat from which the decision that is in conformity with what is right (cf., e.g., Jer. v. 28) goes forth, and where it is sought. As little here as at ver. 26 is there need for a characterizing adj. to melek ; but the LXX. hits the meaning for it, understands such to pi: orav ßaaiX€v<} SlKaio<; KaOlcrrj irrl 6p6vov. By the " eyes " are we then to understand those of the mind : he sifts, dignoscif, with the eyes of the mind all that is evil, i.e. distin- guishes it subjectively from that which is not evil? Thus Hitzig by a comparison of Ps. xi. 4, cxxxix. 3 (where Jerome has eventilasti, the Vulg. investigasti). Scarcely correctly, for it lies nearer to think on the eyes in the king's head {vid. xvi. 15) ; in that case : to winnow (to sift) means to separate the good and the bad, but first mediately: to exclude the bad; finally, ver. 26 leads to the conclusion that niTD is to be understood, not of a subjective, but of an actual scattering, or separating, or driving away. Thus the penetrating, fear-inspiring eyes of the king are meant, as Immanuel explains : VJDö Dnnnn vry rT'^i^nn nx''D ^533 anix nrsiDI. But in this explanation the personal ren- dering of V'l'p'^ is incorrect ; for mezareh, meant of the driving asunder of persons, requires as its object a plur. (cf. 26a). Col-ra is understood as neut. like v. 14. Before the look of a king to whom it belongs to execute righteousness and justice (Isa. xvi. 5), nothing evil stands ; criminal acts and devices seen through, and so also judged by these eyes, are broken up and scattered to all the winds, along with the danger that thereby threatened
CHAP. XX. 9, 10. 45
tlie communitv. It is the command : " put away the evil" (Deut. xiii. 6 [5]), which the king carries into effect by the powerful influence of his look. With col-ra there is connected the thought that in the presence of the heavenly King no one is wholly free from sin.
Ver. 9 Who can say I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sins ? It it the same thought that Solomon expresses in his prayer at the consecration of the temple, 1 Kings viii. 46 : there is no man who sinneth not. To cleanse his heart (as Ps. Ixxiii. 13), is equivalent to to empty it, by self-examination and earnest effort after holiness, of all impure motives and inclinations ; vid. regarding n^T, to be piercing, shining brightly, cloudlessly pure, Fleischer in Levy's Chald. Wörterbuch, i. 424. The conse- quence of rii3T is, becoming pure ; and the consequence of ni? ni2Tj i.e. of the purifying of the heart, the being pure from sinful conduct : I have become pure from my sins, i.e. from such as I might fall into by not resisting temptations ; the sufHx is not understood as actual, but as potential, like Ps. xviii. 24. No one can boast of this, for man's knowledge of himself and of his sins remains always limited (Jer. xvii. 9 f. ; Ps. xix. 13) ; and sin is so deeply rooted in iiis nature (Job xiv. 4, XV. 14-16), that the remains of a sinful tendency always still conceal themselves in the folds of his heart, sinful thoughts still cross his soul, sinful inclinations still sometimes by their natural force overcome the moral resistance that opposes them, and stains of all kinds still defile even his best actions.
Ver. 10. This proverb passes sentence of condemnation against gross sins in action and life.
Diverse stones, diverse measures — An abomination to Jahve are they both. The stones are, as at xi. 1, xvi. 11, those used as weights. Stone and stone, ephah and ephah, means that they are of diverse kinds, one large and one small (the LXX., in which the sequence of the proverbs from ver. 10 is different, has ^e<ya koI fXLKpov), so that one may be able deceitfully to substitute the one for the other. HD'^x (from nax, to bake) may originally have been used to designate such a quantity of meal as supplied a family of moderate wants ; it corresponds to the hath (Ezek.
46 THE BOOK OF PROVERDS.
xlv. 11) as a measure for fluids, and stands here synecdochi- cally instead of all the measures, including, e.g., the cor^ of which the ephah was a tenth part, and the seali^ which was a third part of it. 106 = xvii. 5, an echo of Lev. xix. 36 ; Dent. xxv. 13-16. Just and equal measure is the demand of a holy God ; the contrary is to Him an abhorrence.
Ver. 11 Even a child maketh himself known by his conduct,
Whether his disposition be pure and whether it be right. If ^iVJ^ rnay be here understood after the use of ^?iy, to play, to pass the time with anything, then D3 refers thereto : even by his play (Ewald). But granting that ^T^VO [children], synon. with ly:, had occasioned the choice of the word bhvo (vid. Fleischer on Tsa. iii. 4), yet this word never means anything else than work, an undertaking of something, and accomplishing it ; wherefore Böttcher proposes Iv^^'J!^, for bvV'O may have meant play, in contradistinction to ^^^J^. This is possible, but conjectural. Thus gam is not taken along with Vamalalav. That the child also makes himself known by his actions, is an awkward thought ; for if in anything else, in these he must show what one has to expect from him. Thus gam is after the syntactical method spoken of at xvii. 26, xix. 2, to be referred to "lyj (also the child, even the child), although in this order it is referred to the whole clause. The verb 133 is, from its fundamental thought, to perceive, observe from an ivavno- (TTj/jLov : to know, and to know as strange, to disown {vid. under Isa. iii. 9) ; the HitJipa. elsewhere signifies, like (Arab.) tankkar, to make oneself unknowable, but here to make one- self knowable ; Symmachus, ein'yvwpiaOrjo-erai, Venet. 'yvwaOrj- o-eraL. Or does the proverb mean : even the child dissembles in his actions (Oetinger) ? Certainly not, for that would be a statement which, thus generally made, is not justified by experience. We must then interpret 116 as a direct question, though it has the form of an indirect one : he gives himself to be known, viz. whether his disposition be pure and right. That one may recognise his actions in the conduct of any one, is a platitude; also that one may recognise his conduct in these, is not much better. ^Vß is therefore referred by Hitzig to God as the Creator, and he interprets it in the sense of the Arab, klndk, being created = «a^wm. We also in this way explain ^^'yf,, Ps,
CHAP. XX. 12. 47
clii. 14, as referable to God the i>'' ; and that poal occurs, e.g. Isa. i. 31, not merely in the sense of action, but also in that of performance or structure, is favourable to this interpretation. But one would think that poal, if thus used in the sense of the nature of man, would have more frequently occurred. It everywhere else means action or work. And thus it is perhaps also here used to denote action, but regarded as habitual conduct, and according to the root-meaning, moral disposition. The N. T. word €p<yov approaches this idea in such passages as Gal. vi. 4. It is less probable that 116 is understood with reference to the future (Luther and others) ; for in that case one does not see why the poet did not make use of the more intelligible phrase l^ys ^"^jy^, tK'''1 IT D^. It is like our (Germ.) proverb : Was ein Haken werden will krümmt sich bald [what means to become a hook bends itself early] ; or : Was ein Dörnchen werden will spitzt sich bei Zeiten^ [what means to become a thorn sharpens itself early], and to the Aram, yn'' n'-SDpö p^'in p^k*in = that which will become a gourd shows itself in the bud, Berachoth 48a.
Ver. 12 The hearing ear and the seeing eye — Jahve hath created them both. Löwenstein, like the LXX. : the ear hears and the eye sees — it is enough to refer to the contrary to ver. 10 and xvii. 15. In itself the proverb affirms a fact, and that is its sensus simplex ; but besides, this fact may be seen from many points of view, and it has many consequences, none of which is to be rejected as contrary to the meaning: (1.) It lies nearest to draw the conclusion, via eminentio;^ which is drawn in Ps. xciv. 9. God is thus the All-hearing and the All-seeing, from which, on the one side, the consolation arises that everything that is seen stands under His protection and government, xv. 3; and on the other side, the warning, Aboth ii. 1: "Know what is above thee ; a Seeing eye and a Hearing ear, and all thy conduct is marked in His book." (2.) With this also is connected the sense arising out of the combination in Ps. xl. 7 : man ought then to use the ear and the eye in conformity with the design which they are intended to subserve, according to
1 A similar comparison from Bereschith PmIIü, vid. Duke's liahhiu. Blumenlese, p. 126.
48 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the purpose of the Creator (Hitzig compares xvi. 4) ; it is not first applicable to man with reference to the natural, but to the moral life : he shall not make himself deaf and blind to that which it is his duty to hear and to see ; but he ought also not to hear and to see with pleasure that from which he should turn away (Isa. xxxiii. 15), — in all his hearing and seeing he is responsible to the Creator of the ear and the eye. (3.) One may thus interpx'et 'Miearing" and "seeing" as commendable properties, as Fleischer suggests from comparison of xvi. 11 : an ear that truly hears (the word of God and the lessons of AVisdom) and an eye that truly sees (the works of God) are a gift of the Creator, and are (Arab.) Ullhi, are to be held as high and precious. Thus the proverb, like a polished gem, may be turned now in one direction and now in another ; it is to be regarded as a many-sided fact.
Ver. 13 Love not sleep, lest thou become poor ; Open thine eyes, and have enough to eat.
What is comprehended in the first line here is presented in detail in vi. 9-11. T\\q fat. Niph. of c'n, to become poor (cf. X. 4), is formed metaplastically from K'T^ xxiii. 21, xxx. 9, as at 1 Sam. ii. 7 ; Hitzig compares (Arab.) ryth, which, however, means to loiter or delay, not to come back or down. The E.. ^~\ signifies either to be slack without support (cf. ^1), or to desire (cf. |V2^^, Arab, fhyr, properly hiscens, E. pD, as in npa, to open widely, which here follows). Regarding the second imper. Idb, vid. iii. 4 : it has the force of a consequence. Las deine aiigen loacker sein, So loirstu brots gnug haben (Luth.) [Let thine eyes be open, so shalt thou have bread enough]. With these two proverbs of the eyes, the group beginning with ver. 8 rounds itself off.
The following group has its natural limit at the new point of departure at ver. 20, and is internally connected in a diversity of ways.
Ver. 14 " Bad, bad !" saith the buyer ;
And gsing his way, he boasteth then.
Luther otherwise :
" Bad, bad !" saith one if he hath it ;
But when it is gone, then he boasteth of it.
CHAP. XX. 15. 49
This rendering has many supporters. Geler cites the words of the Latin poet :
" Omne honum prxscns minus est, sperafa videntur Magna." Schultens quotes the proverbs to irapov ßapu and Prcesentia laudato, for with Luther he refers 1^ hl^^ to the present posses- sion (^TX, as 1 Sam. ix. 7 = (Arab.) zdl, to cease, to be lost), and translates : at dilapsum sibi, turn demwii pro splendido celebrat. But by this the Hithpa. does not receive its full meaning ; and to extract from ^})v^^ the idea to which 'h ^TSI refers, if not unnecessary, is certainly worthless. Hakkoneh may also cer- tainly mean the possessor, but the possessor by acquisition (LXX. and the Venet. 6 Kr<oju,evo<i) ; for the most part it signifies the possessor by purchase, the buyer (Jerome, emptor), as correlate of "I3b, Isa. xxiv. 2 ; Ezek. iv. 12. It is customary for the buyer to undervalue that which he seeks to purchase, so as to obtain it as cheaply as possible ; afterwards he boasts that he has bought that which is good, and yet so cheap. That is an every-day experience ; but the proverb indirectly warns against conventional lying, and shows that one should not be startled and deceived thereby. The subject to 1^ ^TXI is thus the buyer ; 7TN with 17 denotes, more definitely even than 1^ "l^Ti, going from thence, sen aller. Syntactically, the punctuation i? ?TN1 [and he takes himself off] {perf. hypoth., Ewald, 357a) would have been near (Jerome: et cum recesserit) ; but yet it is not necessary, with Hitzig, thus to correct it. The poet means to say : making himself off, he then boasts. We cannot in German place the " alsdann " [then] as the T5< here, and as also, e.g. at 1 Sam. xx. 12 ; but Theodotion, in good Greek : Kal 7ropev6el<i rore Kav^/]creTaL. We may write i? ^TXI with Merclia on the antepenult, on which the accent is thrown back, cf. I Jin, xix. 17, but not i^ ; for the rule for Dagesh does not here, with the retrogression of the tone, come into application, as, e.g., in '^rp_ fjsix, Ps. xli. 10. Singularly the Syr. and Targ. do not read VI V[, but )rh V"},, and couple ver. 15 with 14. In the LXX., vers. 14-19 are wanting.
Ver. 15 There is indeed gold, and many pearls ;
But a precious treasure are lips full of knowledge. In order to find a connection between this proverb and that which precedes, we need only be reminded of the parable of
VOL. II. D
ÜO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the merchantman who sought goodly pearls, Matt. xiii. 45 f. The proverb rises to a climax : there is gold, and there are pearls in abundance, the one of which has always a higher value than the other ; but intelligent lips are above all such jewels — they are a precious treasure, which gold and all pearls cannot equal. In a similar manner the N". T. places the one pearl above the many goodly pearls. So might nyn {cliokma) be called the pearl above all pearls (iii. 15, viii. 11) ; but the lips as the organ of knowledge are fittingly compared with a precious vessel, a vessel of more precious substance than gold and pearls are.
Ver. 16 Take from him the garment, for he hath become surety for another ; And for strangers take him as a pledge.
The same proverb xxvii. 13, where nj^^ with the usual aphseresis, here interchanges with it the fuller form ^Pj, which is also found at Ezek. xxxvii. 16. To this imperative 'I'^^^n is parallel : take him as a pledge (Theodotion, Jerome, the Venet. and Luther) ; it is not a substantive : his pledge (Targ.), which would require the word iripbn (vbn) ; nor is it to be read with the Syr. 'i'^??^., one pledges him ; but it is imperative, not however of the P'tel, which would be ^"^P^n, and would mean "destroy him;" but, as Aben Ezra rightly, the imperative of /faZof P^Hj to take as a pledge, Ex. xxii. 25, for li^?3n without any example indeed except ■'^p^n^ Ps. ix. 14; cf. Ixxx. 16. The first line is clear : take his garment, for he has become good for another (cf. xi. 15), who has left him in the lurch, so that he must now become wise by experience. The second line also is intelligible if we read, according to the Chethtb, D'''}33 (Jerome, the Venet), not D'l^Jj as Schultens incorrectly points it, and if we interpret this plur. like D'33, Gen. xxi. 7, with Hitzig follow- ing Luther, as plur. of the category : take him as a pledge, hold fast by his person, so as not to suffer injury from strange people for whom he has become surety. But the Keri requires "^'l^J (according to which Theodotion and the Syr., and, more dis- tinctly still than these, the Targ. translates), and thus, indeed, it stands written, xxvii. 13, without the Ken, thus Bathra Hob reads and writes also here. Either nn33 is a strange woman, a prostitute, a maitresse for whom the unwise has made himself
CHAP. XX. 17, 18. 51
surety, or it Is neut. for aliena res (LXX. xxvH. 13, rk aXKorpia)^ a. matter not properly belonging to this unwise person. We regard D^"i33 in this passage as original. 1V2 coin- cides with vi. 26 : it does not mean avrl, but virep ; " for strange people" is here equivalent to for the sake of, on account of strange people (%a/3ti/ Tcou äWorplcov, as the Venet. translates it).
Ver. 17 Sweet to a man is the bread of deceit ; Yet at last his mouth is full of gravel. " Bread of deceit " is not deceit itself, as that after which the desire of a man goes forth, and that for which he has a relish (thus, e.g., Immanuel and Hitzig) ; but that which is not gained by labour, and is not merited. Possession (vid. iv. 17) or enjoyment (ix. 17) obtained by deceit is thus called, as D''3T3 Qrh^ xxiii. 3, denotes bread ; but for him who has a relish for it, it is connected with deceit. Such bread of lies is sweet to a man, because it has come to him without effort, but in the end not only will he have nothing to eat, but his tongue, teeth, and mouth will be injured by small stones ; i.e. in the end he will have nothing, and there will remain to him only evil (Fleischer). Or: it changes itself (Job xx. 14) at last into gravel, of which his mouth is filled full, as we might say, " it lies at last in his stomach like lead." ^^'H is the Arab, hatny, gravel (Hitzig, grien = gries, coarse sand, grit), R. J^n, scindere. Similarly in Arab. /> /; t^ hajar, a stone, is used as the image of disappointed expectations, / e.g. the adulterer finds a stone, i.e. experiences disappointment.
Ver. 18 Plans are established by counsel,
And with prudent government make war. From the conception of a thought, practically influencing the formation of our own life and the life of the community, to its accomplishment there is always a long way which does not lead to the end unless one goes forward with counsel and strength combined, and considers all means and eventualities. The Nijoh. of 113 means, in a passive sense : to be accomplished or realized (Ps. cxli. 2). The clause 18a is true for times of war as well as for times of peace ; war is disastrous, unless it is directed with strategic skill (vid. regarding ni7|innj i. 5). Grotius compares the proverb, Tvcaixac 7r\eov Kparovaiv r) cr6evo<; 'Xetpwv. In xxiv. 6, the necessity of counsel is also referred to the case of war. Ewald would read [the infin.] nb'y, or
52 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
nb»^: with maoagement it is that one carries on war. But why ? Because to him the challenge to carry on war appears to be contrary to the spirit of proverbial poetry. But the author of the proverb does certainly mean : if thou hast to carry on war, carry it on with the skill of a general ; and the imper. is protected by xxiv. 6 against that iufin., which is, besides, stylistically incongruous.
Ver. 19 He that goeth out gossiping revealeth a secret; And with the babbler have nothing to do.
Luther otherwise (like Hitzig) —
Be not complicated with him who revealeth a secret,
And with- the slanderer, and with the false (better : loquacious) mouth,
so that ? and the warning apply to the threefold description, a rendering which Kimchi also, and Immanuel, and others at least suggest. But in connection with xi. 13, the first line has the force of a judicium, which includes the warning to entrust nothing to a babbler which ought to be kept silent. Write "liB npia, as found in Codd. and old Edd., with Munach on the penultima, on which the tone is thrown back, and Dagesh to D, after the rule of the p'-m (Gesen. § 20, 2«), altogether like 3^ njip, XV. 32. 19Z> the Venet. translates after the first meaning of the word by Kimchi, tw äiraraLwvL Tot<; '^elXeat, to him who slanders and befools, for it thus improves Theodo- tion's Tft) aTrarcbvTi, ra %6tX,7; avrov. But nna means, Job v. 2, — cf. Hos. vii. 11, — not him who befools another, but him who is befooled, is slandered, by another (Aben Ezra : Dnns "inins^t^), with which ''''JnSJti' here does not agree. But now he wlio is easily befooled is called nnbj as being open to influence (sus- ceptible),parens ; and if this particip. is used, as here, transitively, and, on account of the object VDDb' standing near cannot pos- sibly be equivalent to nriDO, the usage of the language also just noticed is against it, then it means patefaciens or dilatans (cf. r\T\^r}^ Gen. ix. 27, Targ. ^riQS = l^n]n), and places itself as synon. to pti^S, xiii. 3 ; thus one is called who does not close his mouth, who cannot hold his mouth, who always idly babbles, and is therefore, because he can keep nothing to him- self, a dangerous companion. The Complut. rightly translates : jxera irXuTWOvTO'; to. iavrov fxr] /jiL-^6r]TC X^^^V'
CHAP. XX. 20. 53
The following group begins, for once more the aim of this older Book of Proverbs becomes prominent, with an inculcation of the fourth^ commandment.
Ver. 20 He that curseth his father and his mother,
His light is extinguished in midnight darkness.
The divine law, Ex. xxi. 17, Lev. xx. 9, condemns such an one to death. But the proverb does not mean this sentence against the criminal, which may only seldom be carried into execution, but the fearful end which, because of the righteousness of God ruling in history, terminates the life of such an unnatural son (xxx. 17). Of the godless, it has already been said that their light is extinguished, xiii. 9, there is suddenly an end to all that brightened, i.e. made happy and embellished their life ; but he who acts wickedly (''?!?, R. 7p, levem esse, synon. '^^P'?, Deut. xxvii. 16), even to the cursing of his father and mother, will see him- self surrounded by midnight darkness (Symmachus, aKOToixrjvrjy moonless night), not : he will see himself in the greatest need, forsaken by divine protection (Fleischer), for Jansen rightly : Lux et lucerna in scripturis et vitce claritatem et posteritatem et prosperitatem signißcat. The apple of the eye, |iEi^''5<, of dark- ness (yid. vii. 9), is that w-liich forms the centre or centralization of darkness. The Syr. renders it correctly by hobtho, pupil [of the eye], but the Targ. retains the |^Ci')< of the Keri, and renders it in Aram, by |inx, which Rashi regards as an infin,, Parchon as a particip. after the form '^^'^J^; but it may be also an infin. substantive after the form TlTV, and is certainly nothing else than the abbreviated and vocally obscured \\^''^, For the Talm. I^i^, to be hard, furnishes no suitable idea ; and the same holds true of *'}y^% times, Lev. xv. 25 of the Jerusalem Targ. ; while the same abbreviation and the same passing over of o into u represents this as the inflected li5J^''^? (=rij;). There is also no evidence for a verb T^X, to be black, dark ; the author of Aruch interprets ^?31t^'x, Bereschith Rabba, c. 33, with reference to the passage before us, of a dark bathing apartment, but only tentatively, and \\^^ii is there quoted as the Targ. of ^V^ Gen. xix. 8, which the text lying before us does not ratify. Ishon means the little man (in the eye), and neither the blackness
'■ i.e. The ß/th according to the arrangement of the "Westminster Con- fession.]
54 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
(Buxtorf and others) nor the point of strength, the central point (Levy) of the eye.-^
Ver. 21 An inheritance which in the beginning is obtained in haste, Its end wUl not be blessed. The partlc. ^{}'^''P may, after Zech. xi. 8, cf. Syr. IL.^.».^, nauseans, mean " detested," but that affords here no sense ; rather it might be interpreted after the Arab, bajila, to be IraJi^ avaricious, " gotten by avarice, niggardliness," vv^ith which, however, neither '"i^™, inheritance, nor, since avarice is a chronic disease, njitJ'K")^ agrees. On the contrary, the Keri ripribo [hastened] perfectly agrees, both linguistically {vid. xxviii. 22 ; cf. xiii. 11) and actually ; for, as Hitzig remarks, the words following ver. 20 fully harmonize with the idea of an inheritance, into the possession of which one is put before it is rightly due to him ; for a son such as that, the parents may live too long, and so he violently deprives them of the possession (cf. xix. 26) ; but on such a possession there rests no blessing. Since the Piel may mean to hasten, Esth. ii. 9, so '''^^'f may mean hastened = speedy, Esth. viii. 14, as well as made in haste. All the old interpreters adopt the Keri; the Aram, render it well by t^nnnoOj from ^ü"??^, overturned ; and Luther, like Jerome, hcereditas ad quam festinatur.
Ver. 22 Say not : I will avenge the evil ;
Hope in Jahve, so will He help thee. Men ought always to act toward their neighbours accord- ing to the law of love, and not according to the jus talionis, xxiv. 29 ; they ought not only, by requiting good with evil (xvi. 13 ; Ps. vii. 5a, xxxv. 12), not to transgress this law of requital, but they ought to surpass it, by also recompensing not evil with evil (vid. regarding Dpw', and synon. to xvii. 13) ; and that is what the proverb means, for 22b supposes injustice suffered, which might stir up a spirit of revenge. It does not, however, say that men ought to commit the taking of vengeance to God; but, in the sense of Rom. xii. 17-19, 1 Pet. iii. 9, that, renouncing all dependence on self, they ought to commit their deliverance out of the distress into which they have fallen, and their vindication, into the hands of God ; for the promise is not that He will avenge them, but that ' Vid. Fleischer in Levy's Chald. Wörterluch, i. 419.
CHAP. XX. 23, 21 55
He will help them. The jussive V^'") (write yJi']"), according to Metheg-setziing, § 42, with Gaja as m):iVT\j with the V to secure distinct utterance to the final guttural) states as a consequence, like, e.g., 2 Kings v. 10, what will then happen (Jerome, Luther, Hitzig) if one lets God rule (Gesen. § 128, 2c) ; equally pos- sible, syntactically, is the rendering : that He may help thee (LXX., Ewald) ; but, regarded as a promise, the words are more in accordance with the spirit of the proverb, and they round it off more expressively.
Ver. 23 An abomination to Jahve are two kinds of weights ; And deceitful balances are not good. A variant to ver. 10, xi. 1. The pred. y^U'^h (xvii. 26, xviii. 5, xix. 3) is conceived of as neut. ; they are not good, much rather bad and pernicious, for the deceiver succeeds only in appearance ; in reality he fails.
Ver. 24 The steps of a man depend on Jahve ;
And a man — how can he understand his way ? Line first is from Ps. xxxvii. 23, but there, where the clause has the verbal predicate =i33i3, the meaning is that it is the gracious assistance of God, by virtue of which a man takes certain steps with his feet, while here we have before us a variation of the proverb " der Mensch denkt, Gott lenkt " [= man proposes, God disposes], xvi. 9, Jer. x. 23; for IP, as at 2 Sam. iii. 37, Ps. cxviii. 23, denotes God in general as conditioning, as the ultimate cause. Man is indeed free to turn himself hither or thither, to decide on this course of conduct or on that, and is therefore responsible for it ; but the relations co-operating in all his steps as the possible and defining conditions are God's contrivance and guidance, and the consequences which are connected with his steps and flow therefrom, lie beyond the power of man, — every one of his steps is a link of a chain, neither the beginning nor the end of which he can see; while, on the other hand, God's knowledge comprehends the beginning, middle, and end, and the wisdom of God ruling in the sphere of history, makes all human activity, the free action of man, subservient to his world-plan. The question, which has a negative answer, is applicable to man : what, i.e. how shall he understand his way? n» is like, e.g., Ex. x. 26, Job ix. 2, xix. 28, accus., and fluctu- ates between the functions of a governed accusative : What
56 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
does he understand . . . (Job xl. 8) and an adv.: how, i.e. how so little, how even not, for it is the no of the negative question which has become in (Arab.) 7nä a word of negation. The way of a man is his life's-course. This he understands in the present life only relatively, the true unravelling of it remains for the future.
Ver, 25 It is a snare to a man to cry out hastily " holy ; " And first after vows to investigate. Two other interpretations of the first line have been proposed. The snare of a man devours, i.e. destroys the holy ; but then nnx K'piO must be an expression of an action, instead of an expression of an endurance, which is impossible. The same is true against the explanation : the snare of a man devours, i.e. consumes, eats up the holy, which as such is withdrawn from common use. Jerome with his devotare sanctos, and Luther with his das Heilige lestern [to calumniate the holy], give to yv = ypn a meaning which loses itself in the arbitrary. Accordingly, nothing is to be done with the meaning Kara- TTierat (Aquila, the Venet.). But V}) will be the abbreviated fut. of vh (from V^^l)^ or yy^ (y^'), Job vi. 3 = (Arab.) laghd temere loqui (proloqui) ; and ^"j? (after Hitzig : consecration, which is contrary to usage) is like Kopßäv, Mark vii. 11, the exclamation to which one suddenly gives utterance, thereby meaning that this or that among his possessions henceforth no longer belongs to him, but is consecrated to God, and thus ought to be delivered up to the temple. Such a sudden vow and halting deference to the oath that has been uttered is a snare to a man, for he comes to know that he has injured himself by the alienation of his property, which he has vowed beyond that which was due from him, or that the fulfilling of his vow is connected with difficulties, and perhaps also to others, with regard to whom its disposal was not permitted to him, is of evil consequences, or it may be he is overcome by repentance and is constrained to break his oath. The LXX. hits the true meaning of the proverb with rare success : IlayU ävhpl raj^x) TL rwv ISloov dyidcrat, [xera he to erj^aaOac fxeravoelv ryiverai. D''")n3 is plur. of the category (cf. 16^» Chetldb), and li?.?, as 2 Kings xvi. 15, Arab, hakr, examinare, inquirere^ means to subject to investigation, viz. whether he ought to observe, and might observe, a vow such as this, or whether he
CHAP. XX. 26, 27. 57
might not and ought not rather to renounce it (Fleischer). Viewed syntactically, 25a is so difficult, that Bertheau, with Hitzig, punctuates y?''. ; but this substantive must be formed from a verb V^] (cf. Hab. iii. 13), and this would mean, after (Arab.) ivala, " to long eagerly for," which is not suitable here. The punctuation shows y^'' as the 3d. fut. What inter- preters here say of the doubled accent of the word arises from ignorance: the correct punctuation is y?'^, with Gaja to J?, to give the final guttural more force in utterance. The poet appears to place in the foreground: " a snare for a man," as a rubrum; and then continuing the description, he cries out suddenly " holy ! " and after the vow, he proceeds to deliberate upon it. Fleischer rightly : post vota inquisiturus est (in ea) = ^ij^^p n''n> ; vid. at Hab. i. 17, which passage Hitzig also compares as syntactically very closely related.
Ver. 26 A wise king -winnoweth tlie godless, Aud bringeth over them the wheel. A variant to xx. 8, but here with the following out of the figure of the winnowing. For |Sii< with niTö is, without doubt, the wheel of the threshing-cart, npjy, Isa. xxviii. 27 f.; and thus with niTD, the winnowing fork, n~iTrp is to be thought of ; vid. a de- scription of them along with that of the winnowing shovel, nni, in Wetzstein's Excursus to Isa., p, 707 ff. "VYe are not to think of the punishment of the wheel, which occurs only as a terrible custom of war (e.g. Amos i. 3). It is only meant that a wise king, by sharp and vigorous procedure, separates the godless, and immediately visits them with merited punishment, as he who works with the winnowing shovel gives the chaff to the wind. Most ancient interpreters think on jSIN (from \pi^, vertere) in its metaphorical meaning : rpoiro'i (thus also Löwenstein, he deals with them according to merit), or the wheel of fortune, with reference to the constellations; thus, misfortune (Im- manuel, Meiri). Arama, Oetinger, and others are, however, on the right track.
With a proverb of a light that was extinguished, ver. 20 began the group ; the proverb of God's light, which here follows, we take as the beginning of a new group.
Ver. 27 A candle of Jahve is the soul of man,
Searching through all the chambers of the heart.
58 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
If the O. T. language has a separate word to denote the self- conscious personal human spirit in contradistinction to the spirit of a beast, this word, according to the usage of tlie language, as Reuchlin, in an appendix to Aben Ezra, remarks, is no^b ; it is so called as the principle of life breathed im- mediately by God into the body {vid. at Gen. ii. 7, vii. 22). Indeed, that which is here said of the human spirit would not be said of the spirit of a beast : it is " the mystery of self-con- sciousness which is here figuratively represented " (Elster). The proverb intentionally does not use the word ^'^},, for this is not the power of self-consciousness in man, but the medium of bodily life ; it is related secondarily to HDt^'j (nn), while r\D^2 W'Ti (nn) .is used, W^Ti K'D3 is an expression unheard of. Hitzig is in error when he understands by nctJ>J here the soul in con- tradistinction to the spirit, and in support of this appeals to an expression in the Cosmography of Kazwmi : " the soul (Arab. dl-nefs) is like the lamp which moves about in the chambers of the house ;" here also en-nefs is the self-conscious spirit, for the Arab, and post-bibl. Heb. terminology influenced by philo- sophy reverses the biblical usage, and calls the rational soul C'S:, and, on the contrary, the animal soul noti'3, nil {Psychologie, p. 154). '^^h is the particip. of ti'sn, Zeph. i. 12, without dis- tinguishing the Kal and Piel. Regarding It^n-nin, LXX. ra/xLela Koi\ia^, vid. at xviii. 8 : i^? denotes the inner part of the body (R. 02, to be deepened), and generally of the per- sonality ; cf. Arab, batn ulrwh, the interior of the spirit, and xxii. 18, according to which Fleischer explains : " A candle of Jahve, i.e. a means bestowed on man by God Himself to search out the secrets deeply hid in the spirit of another." But the candle which God has kindled in man has as the nearest sphere of illumination, which goes forth from it, the condition of the man himself — the spirit comprehends all that belongs to the nature of man in the unity of self-consciousness, but yet more : it makes it the object of reflection ; it peneti'ates, searching it through, and seeks to take it up into its knowledge, and recog- nises the problem proposed to it, to rule it by its power. The proverb is thus to be ethically understood : the spirit is that which penetrates that which is within, even into its many secret corners and folds, with its self-testing and self-knowing light
CHAP. XX'. 28, 29. 59
— it is, after Matt. vl. 22, the inner light, the inner eye. Man becomes known to himself according to his moral as well as his natural condition in the light of the spirit ; " for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?" says Paul, 1 Cor. ii. 11. With reference to this Solomonic proverb, the seven - branched candlestick is an ancient symbol of the soul, e.g. on the Jewish sepulchral monu- ments of the Eoman via Portuensis. Our texts present the phrase nin^ "13; but the Talm. Pesachim 7b, 8a, the Pesikta in part 8, the Midx'ash Othijoth de-Ralbi Akiba, under the letter 3, Alphasi (fl''"i) in Pesachim, and others, read Ö''^l^^? 1J ; and after this phrase the Targum translates, while the Syr. and the other old versions render by the word "Lord " (Venet. 6vtcüt7]<;), and thus had nin^ before them.
Ver. 28 Love and truth guard the king ;
And he supports his throne by love. We have not in the German [nor in the Eng.] language a couple of words that completely cover ncNI non ; when they are used of God, we translate them by grace and truth \_Gnade u. Wahrheit], Ps. xl. 12 (^?^^5:^.) ; when of men, by love and truth [lAehe u, Treue~\, xvi. 6 ; and when of the two-sided divine forces, by kindness and truth, iii. 3. Love and truth are the two good spirits that guard the king. If it is elsewhere said that the king's throne is supported " with judgment and with justice," Isa. ix. 6 [7] ; here, on the other side, we see that the exercise of government must have love as its centre ; he has not only to act on the line of right, H^ n^Vk^ ; but, as the later proverb says, in such a way, that within this circle his conduct is determined by the central motive of love. In this sense we give the king not only the title of Grossmächtigster [most high and mighty], but also that of ^^ AUergnädigster'^ [most gracious], for the king can and ought to exercise grace before other men; the virtue of condescension establishes his throne more than the might of greatness.
Ver. 29 The ornament of young men is their strength ; And the honour of the old is grey hairs. Youth has the name 'I'lna (different from "i^^a, chosen), of the maturity (it. "inn, cogn. ")33, 133, whence Mishn. H^J?, man- hood, in contradistinction to ri^""!^:) into which he enters from
60 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the bloom of boyhood ; and the old man is called lü^T (Arab. dhikn, as Schaltens says, a mento pendulo, from the hanging chin li^T, (Arab.) dhahan, chin, beard on the chin). To stand in the fulness of fresh unwasted strength is to youth, as such, an ornament (JTiSSn, cf. IIIN'S, blooming colour of the countenance); on the contrary, to the old man who has spent his strength in the duties of his office, or as it is said at xvi. 31, " in the way of righteousness," grey hairs (n3''t;^, f rom 3^^, AYSih.shdh^canescere) give an honourable appearance i^y}, from ^^'^^ turgidum^ amplum esse, vid. at Isa. Ixiii. 1).
Ver. 30 Cuttiug wounds cleanse away evil,
And reach the inner parts of the body. The two words for wounds in line first stand in the st. consir. ; rrp.n (from "i3n, to be bound around with stripes, to be striped) is properly the streak, the stripe; but is here heightened by W? (from J'V?, to cleave, split, tear open), beyond the idea of the stripe- wound : tearing open the flesh, cuts tearing into the flesh. The pred. is after the Keri pnori ; but this substantive, found in the Book of Esther, v/here it signifies the purification of the Avomen for the harem (according to which, e.g., Ahron B. Joseph explains tirh ns^ Kint^ D^C^J^ pnnn 1D3), is syntactically hard, and scarcely original. For if we explain with Kimchi: wounds of deep incision find their cleansing (cure) by evil, i.e. by means which bring suffering (according to which, probably the Venet. ixu>\w7re<i rpav/naro'; Xd/x^lrovatv iv KaKO)), then li^non, with the pronoun pointing back, one would have expected. But the interpretation of y^B, of severe means of cure, is con- strained ; that which lies nearest, however, is to understand J?1 of evil. But if, MMth this understanding of the word, we translate : Vihices plagarum sunt lustratio qua; adJdbetiir malo (Fleischer), one does not see why yili^ and not rather gen. j;"i, is used. But if we read after the Chetliib P"''}'?^!!, then all is syntactically correct; for (1.) that the word lp''"70!, or njpncri, is not used, is in accordance with a well-known rule, Gesen. § 146, 3 ; and (2.) that p'lon is connected, not directly with an accus, obj., but with 3, has its analogy in 3 ^VT\r}^ Jer. xlii. 2, 3 K^'Tf'7, Job xxxi. 12, and the like, and iaesides has its spe- cial ground in the metaphorical character of the cleansing. Thus, e.g., one uses Syr. ]v.4| of external misleading; but with
CHAP. XXI. SO. 61
a of moral misleailing (Ewald, § 217, 2) ; and Arab. jl^\ of erecting a building ; but with 4_; of the intellectual erection of a memorial (monument). It is the so-called Bä-dlmojäz; viel de Sacy's Chrest. Arab. i. 397. The verb P^9 means in Talm. also, " to take away" (a metaph. of ahstergere; cf. Arab. maralc^ to wipe off ^) ; and that meaning is adopted, Schahbath 3oa, for the interpretations of this proverb : stripes and wounds a preparedness for evil carries away, and sorrow in the innermost part of the body, which is explained by jpm (a disease appear- ing in diverse forms ; cf . " DrachenscJmss,'' as the name of an animal disease) ; but granting that the biblical p'\D may bear this meaning, the 1 remains unaccountable ; for we say pio •T'?y^ IJ^vy, for to prepare oneself for a transgression (sin of excess), and not "7?!^^. We have thus to abide by the primary meaning, and to compare the proverb, Berachoth ba : " afflictive providences wash away all the transgressions of a man." But the proverb before us means, first at least, not the wounds which God inflicts, but those which human educational energy in- flicts: deep-cutting wounds, i.e. stern discipline, leads to the rub- bing off of evil, i.e. rubs it, washes it, cleanses it away. It may now be possible that in 30& the subject idea is permutatively con- tinued : etverbera penetralium corporis (thus the Venet.: TrXiryal Twv raiJLielwv rod jaarpo^), i.e. quorum vis ad intimos corporis et animi recessus penelrat (Fleischer). But that is encumbered, and il??"^']in (cf. ver. 27, xviii. 8), as referring to the depths to which stern corporal discipline penetrates, has not its full force, riiap^ is either a particip. : and that as touching (ferientes) the inner chambers of the body, or pn-mn is with the 2, or immediately, the second object of pnon to be supplied : and strokes (rub off, cleanse, make pure) the innermost part. Jerome and the Targ. also supply 2, but erroneously, as designating place : in secretioribus ventris, relatively better the LXX. and Syr.: ek rafxieta KoiXm. Luther hits the sense at least, for he translates :
One must restrain evil with severe punishment,
And with hard strokes which one feels.
Vid. Dozy's Leltre a M. Fleischer (1871), p. 198.
62 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Chap. xxl. 1. The group, like the preceding one, now closes with a proverb of the king.
A king's heart in Jahve's hand is like brooks of water ; He turneth it whithersoever He will.
Bronk and canal (the Quinta : vSpaycoyol) are both called J?3, or 3^3, Job XX, 17, Arab, falaj (from J.^S, to divide, according to vi^hich Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, Siapeaei'^; Venet. Scavo/xai; Jerome, divisiones) ; Jdkut has the explanation of the word : "falaj is the name given to flowing water, particu- larly the brook from a spring, and every canal which is led from a spring out over flat ground." Such brooks of water are the heart of a king, i.e. it is compared to such, in Jahve's hand. The second line contains the point of comparison : He inclines it, gives to it "the direction {^^\}, causat. of nD3, Num. xxi. 15) toward whatever He will {Y^^ denotes willing, as a bending and inclining, viz. of the will; vid. at xviii. 2). Rightly Hitzig finds it not accidental that just the expression " brooks of water" is chosen as the figure for tractableness and subjection to govern- ment. In Isa. xxxii. 2, the princes of Judah are compared to "rivers of water in a dry place " with reference to the exhaus- tion of the land during the oppression of the Assyrian invasion ; the proverb has specially in view evidences of kindness pro- ceeding from the heart, as at xvi. 15 the favour of the king is compared to clouds of latter rain emptying themselves in bene- ficent showers, and at xix. 12 to the dew refreshing the plants. But the speciality of the comparison here is, that the heart of the king, however highly exalted above his subjects, and so removed from their knowledge he may be, has yet One above it by whom it is moved by hidden influences, e.g. the prayer of the oppressed ; for man is indeed free, yet he acts under the influence of divinely-directed circumstances and divine operations ; and though he reject the guidance of God, yet from his conduct nothing results which the Omniscient, who is surprised by nothing, does not make subservient to His will in the world-plan of redemption. Rightly the Midrash : God gives to the world good or bad kings, according as He seeks to bless it or to visit it with punishment ; all decisions that go forth from the king's mouth come n^nn37, i.e. in their
CHAP. XXI. 2-4. 63
first commencement and their last reason they come, from the Holy One.
The next group extends from ver. 2 to ver. 8, where it closes as it began.
Ver, 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes ; But a weigher of hearts is Jahve. A proverb similar to xvi. 2 (where '^y[ for V/}^, m for "iK^'j, nimi for nia^). God is also, xvii. 3, called a trier, jna, of hearts, as He is here called a weigher, l?ri. The proverb indirectly admonishes us of the duty of constant self-examina- tion, according to the objective norm of the revealed will of God, and warns us against the self-complacency of the fool, of whom xii. 15 says (as Trimberg in ^' Eenner") : " all fools live in the pleasant feeling that their life is the best," and against the self-deception which walks in the way of death and dreams of walking in the way of life, xiv. 12 (xvi. 25).
Ver. 3 To practise justice and right
Hath with Jahve the pre-eminence above sacrifice. We have already (vol. i. p. 42) shown how greatly this de- preciation of the works of the ceremonial cultus, as compared with the duties of moral obedience, is in the spirit of the Chokma ; cf. also at xv. 8. Prophecy also gives its testimony, e.g. Hos. vi. 7, according to which also here (cf. xx. 86 with Isa. ix. 8) the practising of tOS^Jpi nj^n^f (sequence of words as at Gen. xviii. 19, Ps. xxxiii. 5, elsewhere OSti'DI pnv, and yet more commonly npn^l tost^b) does not denote legal rigour, but the practising of the justum et cequum, or much rather the (vquum et honum^ thus in its foundation conduct proceeding from the principle of love. The inf. nc'J? (like njp, xvi. 16) occurs three times (here and at Gen. 1. 20; Ps. ci. 3); once Iti'J? is written (Gen. xxxi. 18), as also in the infin. ahsol.i\\Q form nby and Vi^V interchange {vid. Norzi at Jer. xxii. 4) ; once ^nb^j? for inib'y (Ex. xviii. 18) occurs in the status conjunctus. Ver. 4 Loftiness of eyes and swelling of heart — The husbandry of the godless is sin. If "13, in the sense of light, gives a satisfactory meaning, then one might appeal to 1 Kings xi. 36 (cf. 2 Sam. xxi. 17), where T'J appears to signify lamp, in which meaning it is once (2 Sam. xxii. 29) written Tp (like PV); or since "''3 = 13 (ground-form,
64 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
naioir,
lightening) is as yet certainly established neither in the Heb. nor Syr., one might punctuate i?. instead of *1J, according to which the Greeks, Aram., and Luther, with Jerome, translate. But of the lamp of the godless we read at xiii. 9 and elsewhere, that it goeth out. We must here understand by 1J the brilliant prosperity (Bertheau and others) of the wicked, or their " proud spirit flaming and flaring like a bright light" (Zöckler), which is contrary to the use of the metaphor as found elsewhere, which does not extend to a prosperous condition. We must then try another meaning for 1J ; but not that of yoke, for this is not Heb., but Aram.-Arab., and the interpretation thence derived by Lagarde : " Haughtiness and pride ; but the godless for all that bear their yoke, viz. sin," seeks in vain to hide behind the " for all that " the breaking asunder of the two lines of the verse." In Heb. "i?. means that which lightens (burning) = lamp, "1^3, the shining (that which burns) = fire, and 1''^, xiii. 23, from i^J, to plough up (Targ. 1 Sam. viii. 12, iJOx = ^"^ik) the fresh land, i.e. the breaking up of the fallow land ; according to which the Venet. as Kimchi : vico/ia äaeßcov a fiapTLU, winch as Ewald and Elster explain: " where a disposi- tion of wicked haughtiness, of unbridled pride, prevails, there will also sin be the first-fruit on the field of action ; "IJ, novale, the .field turned up for the first time, denotes here the first- fruits of sin." But why just the first-fruits, and not the fruit in general ? We are better to abide by the field itself, which is here styled ">?, not nnb> (or as once in Jer. xxxix. 10, 2^); be- cause with this word, more even than with nitf, is connected the idea of agricultural work, of arable land gained by the digging up or the breaking up of one or more years' fallow ground (cf. Pea ii. 1, "i^j Arab. siMk, opp. "lis, Arab, hur, Menachoth 85a, niiJiJp nnb*, a fresh broken-up field, Erachin 296, IJ, opp. "i"'2ri, to let lie fallow), so that DW^ 13 may mean the cultivation of the fields, and generally the husbandry, i.e. the whole conduct and life of the godless. 1^ is here ethically metaph., but not like Hos. x. 12, Jer. iv. 3, where it means a new moral com- mencement of life ; but like ti'in, arare, Job iv. 8, Hos. x. 13 ; cf. Prov. iii. 29. ini is not adj. like xxviii. 25, Ps. ci. 5, but infin. like ipn, x. 21 ; and accordingly also Dn is not adj. like D^n, or past like JiD, but infin. like Isa. x. 12. And riXDn is the
CHAP. XXI. 5, G. G5
pred. of tlie complex subject, which consists of ^)TV Di"i, a haughty looking down with the eyes, 3^"3n"i, breadth of heart, i.e. excess of self-consciousness, and WV'^") 13 taken as an asyn- deton summativiim: pride of look, and making oneself large of heart, in short, the whole husbandry of the godless, or the whole of the field cultivated by them, with all that grows thereon, is sin.
Ver. 5 The striving of the diligent is only to advantage. And hastening all [excessive haste] only to loss ; or in other words, and agreeably to the Heb. construction :
The thoughts of the industrious are (reach) only to gain, And every one who hastens — it (this his hastening) is only to loss. Vid. at xvii. 21. At x. 4, Luther translates " the hand of the diligent," here " the plans of an expert [endelicheii],'' i.e. of one actively striving (xxii. 29, endelich =^''^1^) to the end. The X^, hastening overmuch, is contrasted with the diligent ; Luther well : but he who is altogether too precipitant. Everywhere else in the Proverbs )*N has a closer definition with it, wherefore Hitzig reads *i>\^, which must mean : he who collects together ; but Y^ along with pnn is perfectly distinct. Tlie thought is the same as our " Eile mit Weile " \=festina lente'jj and Goethe's
Wie das Gestirn ohne Hast, Aber oTine Rast Drehe sich jeder Um die eigne Last.
" Like the stars, without haste but without rest, let every one carry about his own burden," viz. of his calling that lies upon him. The fundamental meaning of J'lX is to throng, to urge (Ex. V. 13), here of impatient and inconsiderate rashness. While on the side of the diligent there is nothing but gain, such haste brings only loss ; over-exertion does injury, and the work will want care, circumspection, and thoroughness. In the Book of Proverbs, the contrasts "gain " and "loss" frequently occur, xi. 24, xiv. 23, xxii. 16 : profit (the increase of capital by interest), opp. loss (of capital, or of part thereof), as commercial terms.
Ver. 6 The gaining of treasures by a lying tongue Is a fleeting breath of such as seek death. One may, at any rate, after the free manner of gnomic resem- VOL. II. ii
GQ THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
blances and comparisons, regard " fleeting breath " and " such as seek death " as two separated predicates : such gain is fleeting breath, so those who gain are seeking death (Caspari's Beiträge zu Jes. p. 53). But it is also syntactical!}- admissible to inter- pret the words rendered "seekers of death" as gen.; for such interruptions of the st. constr., as here by ^"=13 [fleeting], fre- quently occur, e.g. Isa. xxviii. 1, xxxii. 13 ; 1 Chron. ix. 13 ; and that an idea, in spite of such interruption, may be thought of as gen., is seen from the Arab.^ But the text is unsettled. Symmachus, Syr., Targ., the Venet., and Luther render the phrase '^^pl'O [seekers] ; but the LXX. and Jerome read ''tr'ipio [snares] (cf. 1 Tim. vi. 9) ; this word Rashi also had before him (vid. Norzi), and Kennicott found it in several Codd. Bertheau prefers it, for he translates : ... is fleeting breath, snares of death ; Ewald and Hitzig go further, for, after the LXX., they change the whole proverb into : ""K'ipiD-px Pil'i ?2r\ mo (^tf'ipinif), with hvb in the first line. But BLcoKet of the LXX. is an incorrect rendering of f\li, which the smuggling in of the iirl (irayiBa^ Oavdrov) drew after it, without our con- cluding therefrom that "•tJ'pIO"!'«, or "'t^'p'iD? (Lagarde), lay before the translators ; on the contrary, the word which (Cappellus) lay before them, "K'P'iD, certainly deserves to be preferred to ''t;^•pnn: the possession is first, in view of him who has gotten it, compared to a fleeting (^1'^?, as Isa. xlii. 2) breath (cf. e.g. smoke, Ps. Ixviii. 3), and then, in view of the inheritance itself and its consequences, is compared to the snares of death (xiii. 14, xiv. 27) ; for in W^ (here equivalent to nibl^, acquisition Gen. xxxi. 1; Deut. viii. 17) lie together the ideas of him who pro- cures and of the thing that is procured or effected (vid. at XX. 11).
Ver. 7 The violence of the godless teareth them away, For they have refused to do -what is right. The destruction which they prepare for others teareth or draggeth them away to destruction, by which wicked conduct brings punishment on itself; their own conduct is its own executioner (cf. i. 19) ; for refusing to practise what is right,
^ Via. Friedr. Philippi's Status constructns, p. 17, Anm. 3 ; and cf. there- with such constructions as (Arab.) muii'u fadlah almahtaji, i.e. a refuser of the needy, his beneficence = one who denies to the needy his beneficence.
CHAP. XXI. 8. 67
they have pronounced judgment against themselves, and fallen under condemnation. Kightly Jerome, detrahent, with Aquila, KaTaa7rdaei,=fgurrem (as Hab. i. 15), from ")"]3 ; on the con- trary, the LXX. incorrectly, eTTL^evcüOrjaerai^ from 1^3, to dwell, to live as a guest ; and the Venet., as Luther, in opposi- tion to the usus loq. : SeSi^erai, (fut. of SeScaaeaOai, to terrify), from 113, to dread, fear, which also remains intrans., with the accus, following, Deut. xxxii. 27. The Syr. and the Targ. freely: robbery (Targ. ^'JIS"), perhaps in the sense of usury) will seize them, viz. in the way of punishment. In Arab. jarr (jarii/ratn) means directly to commit a crime ; not, as Schultens explains, admittere a^imen poenam traJiens, but attra- here (arripere), like (Arab.) jaiiy {jinayatn), contrahere crimen ; for there the crime is thought of as violent usurpation, here as wicked accumulation.
Ver. 8 Winding is the way of a man laden witli guilt ; But the pure — his conduct is right. Rightly the accentuation places together " the way of a man " as subject, and "winding" as predicate: if the poet had wished to say (Schultens, Bertheau) " one crooked in his way" (quoad viam)j he would have contented himself with the phrase ^snj '^')'ij. But, on the other hand, the accentuation is scarcely correct (the second Munach is a transformed Ilugrasli), for it interprets IT) as a second pred. ; but "iH is adj." to ti'''^5. As '^Q^cn (synon. pripriQ, bjppV) is a hapax leg., so also va;:ar, which is equivalent to (Arab.) maivzior, crimine omistus, from wazira, crimen com- mittere, properly to charge oneself with a crime. The ancient interpreters have, indeed, no apprehension of this meaning before them ; the LXX. obtain from the proverb a thought reminding us of Ps. xviii. 27, in which vazar does not at all appear; the Syr. and Targ. translate as if the vav of vazar introduces the conclusion : he is a barbarian (nuchrojo) ; Luther: he is crooked ; Jerome also sets aside the syntax : perversa via viri aliena est ; but, syntactically admissible, the Venet. and Kimchi, as the Jewish interpreters generally, ScaarpocficoTdTT] 0S09 dvSpo<; koI dXkoKOTO'i. Fleischer here even renounces the help of the Arab., for he translates : Tortuosa est via viri criminihus onusti, qui aiitem sancte vivit, is recte facit ; but he adds thereto the remark that " vazar thus explained, with Cappellus, Schultens,
68 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
and Gesenlus, would, it is true, corresponding to the Arab. wazar, have first the abstract meaning of a verbal noun from wazira;^ the old explanation is therefore perhaps better: tor- tuosa est via viri et deßectens (seil, a recta linea, thus devia est), when the ^viri' is to be taken in the general sense of 'many, this and that one;' the closer definition is reflected from the "ill of the second clause." But (1) "iT as an adj. signifies peregrimts ; one ought thus rather to expect ID, degenerated, corrupt, although that also does not rightly accord ; (2) the verbal noun also, e.g. 'all, passes over into a subst. and adj. signification (the latter without distinction of number and gender) ; (3) ij), after its adj. signification, is related to (Arab.) loazyr, as D2n is to hahym, 2n"i to rahyh ; it is of the same form as "Ijy, with. which it has in common its derivation from a root of similar meaning, and its ethical signification. In 86, '^IP. is rightly accented as subj. of the complex pred. "ij! is the pure in heart and of a good conscience. The laden with guilt (guilty) strikes out all kinds of crooked ways; but the pure needs no stealthy ways, he does not stand under the pressure of the bondage of sin, the ban of the guilt of sin ; his conduct is straightforward, directed by the will of God, and not by cunning policy. Schultens : Integer vitoi scelerisque purus non habet cur vacillet, cur tituhet, cur sese coiitorqueat. The choice of the designation "jn [and the pure] may be occasioned by "ill (Hitzig) ; the expression 8b reminds us of xx. 11.
The group now following extends to ver. 18, where a new one begins with a variation of its initial verse.
Ver, 9 Better to sit oh the pinnacle of a house -roof,
Than a contentious wife and a house in common. We have neither to supplement the second line : than with a contentious wife . . . (Symmachus, Theodotion, Jerome, Luther), nor : than that one have a contentious . . . ; but tlie meaning is, that sitting on the roof-top better befits one, does better than a quarrelsome wife and a common house (rightly the Targ. and Venet.), i.e. in a common house ; for the con- necting together of the wife and the house by vav is a Semitic
1 The n. act formed from toaznra is ivazr, wizr, wizat. These three forms would correspond to the Heb. vezer, vezer, and zereth (z'rüh, cf. rcdeth, r'dah, Gen. xlvi. 3).
CHAP. XXI. 10. 69
hendiadys, a juxtaposition of two ideas wliicli our languao-e would place in a relation of subordination (Fleischer). This hendiadys would, indeed, be scarcely possible if the idea of the married wife were attached to nti'lSl; for that such an one has with her husband a " house of companionship, i.e. a common house," is self-evident. But may it not with equal right be understood of the imperious positive mother-in-law of a widower, a splenetic shrewish aunt, a sickly female neighbour disputing with all the world, and the like? A man must live together with his wife in so far as he does not divorce her ; he must then escape from her ; but a man may also be constrained by circum- stances to live in a house with a quarrelsome mother-in-law, and such an one may, even during the life of his wife, and in spite of her affection, make his life so bitter that he would rather, in order that he might have rest, sit on the pinnacle or ridge of a house-roof, nsa is the battlement (Zeph. i. 16) of the roof, the edge of the roof, or its summit ; he who sits there does so not without danger, and is exposed to the storm, but that in con- trast with the alternative is even to be preferred ; he sits alone. Eegarding the Chethih D'?n», Keri ^'T?p, vid. at vi. 14 ; and cf. the figures of the "continual dropping" for the continual scolding of such a wife, embittering the life of her husband, xix. 13.
Ver. 10 The soul of the godless hath its desire after evil ; His neighbour findeth no mercy in his eyes. The interchange of perf. and fut. cannot be without intention. Löwenstein renders the former as perf. Iiypotheticum : if the soul of the wicked desires anything evil . . . ; but the V^"] wishes evil not merely now and then, but that is in general his nature and tendency. The perf. expresses that which is actually the case : the soul of the wicked has its desire directed (write nniN with Mimach, after Codd. and old Ed., not with Mahhepli) toward evil, and the fut. expresses that which proceeds from this : he who stands near him is not spared. iO^ is, as at Isa. xxvi. 10, Hoph. of i^n, to incline, viz. oneself, compassionately toward any one, or to bend to him. But in what sense is V^ya added? It dees not mean, as frequently, e.g. ver. 2, according to his judgment, nor, as at xx. 8, vi. 13 : with his eyes, but is to be understood after the phrase "'.^''3/3 |n NVO: his neighbour finds no
70 THE BOOK OF PEOVEP.BS.
mercy in his eyes, so that in these words the sympatliy ruling within him expresses itself : " his eyes will not spare his friends," vid. Isa. xiii. 18.
Ver. 11 When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise ; And when insight is imparted to a wise man, he receives knowledge.
The thought is the same as at xix. 25. The mocker at religion and virtue is incorrigible, punishment avails him nothing, but yet it is not lost ; for as a warning example it teaches the simple, who might otherwise be easily drawn into the same frivolity. On the other hand, the wise man needs no punishment, but only strengthening and furtherance : if " instruction " is im- parted to him, he embraces it, makes it his own nj;^; for, being accessible tobetter insight, he gains more and more knowledge. De Dieu, Bertheau, and Zöckler make " the simple " the sub- ject also in 115 : and if a wise man prospers, he (the simple) gains knowledge. But f ^'''2'^>}, used thus impersonally, is un- heard of ; wherefore Hitzig erases the ? before D3n : if a wise man has prosperity. But b'^^lyn does not properly mean to have prosperity, but only mediately : to act with insight, and on that account with success. The thought that the simple, on the one side, by the merited punishment of the mocker ; on the other, by the intelligent prosperous conduct of the wise, comes to reflection, to reason, may indeed be entertained, but the tradi- tional form of the proverb does not need any correction. ^''Sti'n may be used not only transitively : to gain insight, Gen. iii. G, Ps. ii. 10, and elsewhere, but also causatively : to make intelli- gent, with the accus, following, xvi. 23, Ps. xxxii. 8, or : to offer, present insight, as here with the dat.-obj. following (cf. xvii. 26). Instead of "^^^3, the Kamctz of which is false, Codd. and good Edd. have, rightly, "tJ'jyii. Hitzig, making " the wise " the subject to 7''3brQ (and accordingly "the scorner" would be the subject in 11a), as a correct consequence reads ^pV? = t^'.^y[i3. For us, with that first correction, this second one also fails. " Both infinitivi consir." Fleischer remarks, " are to be taken passively; for the Semitic infin., even of transitive form, as it has no designation of gender, time, and person, is an in- determinate modusj even in regard to the generis verbi (Act. and
CHAP. XXI. 12. 71
Pass.) " ^ To this proverb with u-lehasUl there is connected the one that follows, beginning with maskll.
Ver. 12 A righteous One marketh the house of the godless ; He hurleth the godless to destruction.
If we understand by the word p''"nV a righteous man, then 12a would introduce the warning which he gives, and the unex- pressed subject of 12b must be God (Umbreit). But after such an introitus, mn'' ought not to be wanting. If in 12a " the righteous man " is the subject, then it presents itself as such also for the second parallel part. But the thought that the righteous, when he takes notice of the house of the godless, shows attention which of itself hurls the godless into destruction (Löwenstein), would require the sing. V'^-\ in the conclusion ; also, instead of ^?Dö the f ut. ^p,^\ would have been found ; and besides, the judicial ^1^0 (yid. regarding this word at xi. 3, xix. 3) would not be a suitable word for this confirmation iu evil. Thus by pn:»' the proverb means God, and pj^do has, as at xxii. 12, Job xii. 19, this word as its subject. " A righteous One" refers to the All-righteous, who is called. Job xxxi v. 1 7, " the All- just One," and by Rashi, under the passage before us, ~T\^ ip'''lV D?iy. Only do not translate with Bertheau and Zöckler : The Righteous One (All-righteous), for (1) this would require P""^^''"?, and (2) pni'H is never by itself used as an attributive designa- tion of God. Rightly, Fleischer and Ewald : a Righteous One, viz. God. It is the indetermination which seeks to present the idea of the great and dreadful : a Righteous One, and such a Righteous One !^ ^^sbri with bv, xvi. 20, or ^X, Ps. xli. 2, Neh. viii. 13, here with ?, signifies to give attention to anything, to look attentively on it. The two participles stand in the same line : animum advertit . . . evevtit. Hitzig changes
^ The Arab. National Grammarians, it is true, view the matter otherwise. When katlu zydn, the putting to death of Zeid, is used in the sense of Zeid's becoming dead, according to their view the /a'Z (the gen. siibjecfi) is omitted; the full expression would be katlu ^amrnzaydnu. Since now 'a??!?-?i is omitted, zaydn has in the gen. form taken the place of the/a'Z, but this gen. is the representative of the ace. ohjecti. "Without thus going round about, we say : it is the gen. ohjecll.
2 The Arabs call this indetermination Cdnkvt lalCzym icallllnnjl. Vid. under Ps. ii. 12.
72 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Vfl r\''2binto Sn''^^, and makes V'^"}. the subject of 12 J; but the proverb as it lies before us is far more intelligible.
Ver. 13 He that stoppeth bis ear at the cry of the poor — He also calls and is not heard. Only the merciful find mercy, Matt. v. 7 ; the unmerciful rich man, who has no ear for the cry of the ?^, i.e. of him who is without support and means of subsistence, thus of one who is needing support, will also remain unheard when he himself, in the time of need, calls upon God for help. Cf. the parable of the unmerciful servant of the merciful king, Matt, xviii. 23 ff. IP in npyw, as Isa. xxiii. 15, Gen. iv. 13, xxvii. 1 ; no preposi- tion of our [German] language [nor English] expresses, as Fleischer here remarks, such a fulness of meaning as this I» does, to which, after a verb of shutting up such as DüX (cf. xvii. 28), the Arab, ^s would correspond, e.g. amy 'n ältryk : blind, so that he does not see the way.
Ver. 14 A gift in secret turneth away anger ;
And a bribe into the bosom violent wrath. Hitzig reads with Symmachus, the Targ., and Jerome, n33', and translates: "extinguishes anger;" but it does not follow that they did read naa"" ; for the Talm. Heb. n33 signifies to cover by turning over, e.g. of a vessel, Sanhedrin IIa, which, when it is done to a candle or a fire, may mean its extinction. But nSD of the post-bibl. Heb. also means to bend, and thence to force out (Aram. t?53, ''S3), according to which Kimchi hesitates whether to explain : overturns = smothers, or : bends = forces down anger. The Venet. follows the latter signification : Kd/M-\lr6i (for Villoison's KaXv-yjrei rests on a false reading of the MS.). But there is yet possible another derivation from the primary signification, curvare, flectere, vertere, according to which the LXX. translates avarpeirei., for which aTrorpeirei would be yet better : nas, to bend away, to turn off, apKeiv, arcere, altogether like the Arab, (compared by Schultens) hfd, and hfy.^ apKelv, to prevent, whence, e.g., ikfini hada: hold that away from me, or : spare me that (Fleischer) ; with the words liafiica sharran (Lat. defendaris semper a malo) princes were anciently saluted ; hfy signifies " to suffice," because enough is there, where there is a keeping off of want. Accordingly we translate : Donum clam acceptum avertit iram, which also the
cnAP. XXI. 15, 16. 73
A.
Syr. meant by mephadka (P^^o). This verb is naturally to be supplied to 14&, which the LXX. has recognised (it translates : but he who spares gifts, excites violent anger). RegardincT nnb'j vid. at xvii. 8 ; and regarding pna, at xvii. 23. Also here PC (P''Ü = P10), like Avah. jayb, \ibb, 2n, denotes the bosom of the garment ; on the contrary, (Arab.) Ayr, Iddn, l^n, is more used of that of the body, or that formed by the drawing together of the body {e.g. of the arm in carrying a child). A present is meant which one brings with him concealed in his bosom ; perhaps 13^ called to mind the judge that took gifts, Ex. xxiii. 8 (Hitzig).
Ver. 15 It is a joy to the just to do justice,
And a terror for them that work iuiquity. To act according to the law of rectitude is to these as unto death ; injustice has become to them a second nature, so that their heart strives against rectitude of conduct ; it also enters so little into their plan of life, and their economy, that they are afraid of ruining themselves thereby. So we believe, with Hitzig, Elster, Zöckler, and Luther, this must be explained in accordance with our interpretation of x. 29. Fleischer and others supplement the second parallel member from the first : px 'hv'ih nnno J^jji ^j?3^ ; others render 155 as an independent sentence : ruin falls on those who act wickedly. But that ellipsis is hard and scarcely possible ; but in general nnn», as contrasted correlate to nriD'^, can scarcely have the pure objec- tive sense of ruin or destruction. It must mean a revolution in the heart. Right-doing is to the righteous a pleasure (cf. x. 23) ; and for those who have 1).^, and are devoid of moral worth, and thus simply immoral as to the aim and sphere of their conduct, right-doing is something which alarms them : wdien they act in conformity with what is right, they do so after an ex- ternal impulse only against their will, as if it were death to them.
Vor. 16 A man who wanders from the way of understanding, Shall dwell in the assembly of the dead. Regarding «b^n, vid. i. 3 ; and regarding Q'^S"), ii. 18. The verb n^J means to repose, to take rest, Job iii. 13, and to dwell anywhere, xiv. 33 ; but originally like (Arab.) ndkh and hadd, to lay oneself down anywhere, and there to come to rest ; and that is the idea which is here connected with ni:^, for the figura-
74 TEE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
live description of *73N'' or HlO^ is formed after the designation of the subject, 16a ; he who, forsaking the way of understand- ing, walks in the way of error, at length comes to the assembly of the dead ; for every motion has an end, and every journey a goal, whether it be one that is self-appointed or which is appointed for him. Here also it is intimated that the way of the soul which loves wisdom and follows her goes in another direction than earthwards down into hades ; hades and death, its background appear here as punishments, and it is true that as such one may escape them.
Ver. 17 He wlio loveth pleasure becometh a man of want ; He who loveth. wine and oil doth nob become rich. In Arab, sainh denotes the joyful action of the " cheerful giver," 2 Cor. ix. 7 ; in Heb. the joyful affection ; here, like farah, pleasure, delight, festival of joy. Jerome : qui diligit epulas. For feasting is specially thought of, where wine was drunk, and oil and other fragrant essences were poured (cf. xxvii. 9 ; Amos vi. 6) on the head and the clothes. He who loves such festivals, and is commonly found there, becomes a man of want, or suffers want (cf. Judg. xii. 2, ^''l. t^'''^s, a man of strife); such an one does not become rich p''^y|l, like x. 4,= "i^'y nbj^, Jer. xvii. 11); he does not advance, and thus goes backwards.
Ver. 18 The godless becometh a ransom for the righteous ;
And the faithless cometh into the place of the upright. The thought is the same as at xi. 8. An example of this is, that the same world - commotion which brought the nations round Babylon for its destruction, put an end to Israel's exile : Cyrus, the instrument in God's hands for inflicting punishment on many heathen nations, was Israel's liberator, Isa. xliii. 3. Another example is in the exchange of places by Haman and INIordecai, to which Rashi refers. 123 is equivalent to XvTpov, ransom; but it properly signifies price of atonement, and gene- rally, means of reconciliation, which covers or atones for the guilt of any one; the poll-tax and "oblations" also, Ex. xxx. 15 f., Num. xxxi. 50, are placed under this point of view, as blotting out guilt : if the righteousness of God obtains satis- faction, it makes its demand against the godless, and lets the righteous go free; or, as the substantival clause 186 expresses,
CHAP. XXI. 19, 20. _ 75
tlie faithless steps into the place of the upright, for the wrath passes by the latter and falls upon the former. Regarding 'TJn, vid. ii. 22. Thus, in contrast to the iti'^, he is designated, who keeps faith neither with God nor man, and with evil intention enters on deceitful ways, — the faithless, the malicious, the assassin.
Ver. 19. With this verse, a doublet to ver. 9 (xxv. 24), the collector makes a new addition ; in ver. 29 he reaches a proverb which resembles the closing proverb of the preceding group, in its placing in contrast the yiT") and "iC^^ ; —
It is better to dwell in a waste land, Than a contentions wife and vexation. The corner of the roof, Hitzig remarks, has been made use of, and the author must look further out for a lonely seat. But this is as piquant as it is devoid of thought ; for have both pro- verbs the same author, and if so, were they coined at the same time ? Here also it is unnecessary to regard fl'^^ö as an ab- breviation for ^:^'« DJ; natpp. Hitzig supplies tb*^', by which n^'N, as the accus.-obj., is governed ; but it is not to be supplied, for the proverb places as opposite to one another dwelling in a waste land (read i^l^'Pl!?? nn^i'jwith Codd. and correct Ed.) and a contentious wife (Chetfnb, Q'^Jiip ; Kei-i, C'^^IP) and vexation, and says the former is better than the latter. For oyril [and vexation] is not, as translated by the ancients, and generally received, a second governed genitive to TWyn, but dependent on p, follows " contentious woman " (cf. 2b) : better that than a quarrelsome wife, and at the same time vexation.
Ver. 20 Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the wise ; And a fool of a man squanders it. The wise spares, the fool squanders; and if the latter enters on the inheritance which the former with trouble and care collected, it is soon devoured. The combination i^tf'l löm "i^'ix [desirable treasure and oil] has something inconciunate, wherefore the ac- centuation places 1^'iX by itself by Meliuppach Legarmeh; but it is not to be translated " a treasure of that which is precious, and oil," since it is punctuated "ii>ii<, and not "i^^^; and besides, in that case ^''■^DriD would have been used instead of ''9'?v" Thus by "i^fix Hönj, a desirable and splendid capital in gold and things of value (Isa. xxiii. 18 ; Ps. xix. 11) ; and by p^, meniioued by
7ö TUE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
way of example, stores in kitchen and cellar are to be thought of, which serve him who lives luxuriously, and afford noble hospitality, — a fool of a man (D"]^ ?'?3, as at xv. 20), who finds this, devours it, i.e. quickly goes through it, makes, in short, a tabula rasa of it; cf. vh"^, Isa. xxviii. 4, with ^£»3, 2 Sam. xx. 26, and Prov. xix. 28. ' The suffix of ^3JJ^?^ refers back to "i^lX as the main idea, or distributively also both to the treasure and the oil. The LXX. {Oiqaavpoq iTTcdv/jirjro';) avairavaeTat eVt trToyu.aT09 aojiov, i.e. D3n nsn \y\3\ according to which Plitzig corrects ; but the fool, he who swallows down " the precious treasure with a wise mouth," is a being w'e can scarcely conceive of. His taste is not at all bad ; why then a fool ? Is it per- haps because he takes more in than he can at one time digest? The reading of the LXX. is corrected by 203.
Yer. 21 He that followeth after righteousness and kindness Will obtain life, righteousness, and honour. IIow we are to render ^?ni^ ni^n^* is seen from the connection of xxi. 3 and Hos. vi. 7 : tsedakah is conduct proceeding from the principle of self-denying compassionate love, which is the essence of the law, Mic. vi. 8 ; and hesed is conduct proceeding from sympathy, which, placing itself in the room of another, perceives what will benefit him, and sets about doing it (cf. e.g. Job vi. 14 : to him who is inwardly melted [disheartened] ipn is due from his neighbour). The reward which one who strives thus to act obtains, is designated 216 by 0''^^ and ^i^^. Honour and life stand together, xxii. 4, when "it^'y pre- cedes, and here n;?'!^* stands between, which, viii. 18, Ps. xxiv. 5, is thought of as that which is distributed as a gift of heaven, Isa. xlv. 8, which has glory in its train, Isa. Iviii. 8 ; as Paul also says, " Whom He justified, them He also glorified." The LXX. has omitted tsedakah, because it can easily appear as erroneously repeated from 21a. But in reality there are three good things which are promised to those who are zealous in the works of love : a prosperous life, enduring righteousness, true honour. Life as it proceeds from God, the Living One, right- eousness as it avails the righteous and those doing righteously before God, honour or glory (Ps. xxix. 3) as it is given (Ps. Ixxxiv. 12) by the God of glory. Cf. with npIV D^^n, x. 2, and with T\py^. especially Jas. ii. 13, KaraKav^aTai eXeos Kpiaeo}'^.
CHAP. XXI. 22-24. 77
Ver. 22 A wise man scaleth a city of the mightj' ;
And casteth down the fortress in which they trusted.
Eccles. ix. 14 f. is a side-piece to this, according to which a single wise man, although poor, may become the deliverer of a city besieged by a great army, and destitute of the means of defence. n?y^ seq. ace, means to climb up, Joel ii. 7 ; here, of the scaling of a fortified town, viz. its fortress. TV is that which makes it ty 1''^, Isa. xxvi. 1 : its armour of protection, which is designated by the genit. nntono, as the object and ground of their confidence. The vocalization nntoap^ for mihtachcJia (cf. Jer. xlviii. 13 with Job xviii. 14), follows the rule Gesen. § 27,
Anm. 21). The suff., as in '"^^^nxp, Isa. xxiii. 17, is lightened,
because of its mappik, Miclilol 305 ; vid. regarding the various grounds of these /o7'?ncB raphatce p)'>"0 mappicatis, Böttcher, § 418. If -a city is defended by ever so many valiant men, the Mise man knows the point where it may be overcome, and knows liow to organize the assault so as to destroy the proud fortress. With ^:i.%"he brings to ruin, cf. nrin-j IJ?, Deut. xx. 20. Ver. 23 lie that guardeth his mouth and his tongue, Keepeth his soul from troubles.
xiii. 3 resembles this. He guardeth his mouth who does not speak when he does better to be silent ; and he guardeth his tongue who says no more than is right and fitting. The troubles comprehend both external and internal evils, hurtful incidents and (K'D:) 32? nil^*, Ps. xxv. 17, xxxi. 8, i.e. distress of conscience, self-accusation, sorrow on account of the irreparable evil which one occasions.
Ver. 24 A proud and arrogant man is called mocker (free-spirit) ; One who acteth in superfluity of haughtiness. We have thus translated (vol. i. p. 39) : the proverb defines almost in a formal way an idea current from the time of Solomon : Y2 (properly, the distorter, vid. i. 7) is an old word; but as with us in the west since the last century, the names of free- tJiinJcers and esprits forts (cf. Isa. xlvi. 12) have become current for such as subject the faith of the Church to destructive criticism, so then they were called Ü''>7, who mockingly, as men of full age, set themselves above revealed religion and prophecy (Isa. xxviii. 9) ; and the above proverb gives the meaning of
78 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
this name, for it describes in liis moral character such a man. Thus we call one 'IT, haughty, and "fn^^ IT, i.e. destroying him- self, and thus thoughtlessly haughty, who )nT ri"]3j;n acts in superfluity or arrogance (vid. at xi. 23) of haughtiness ; for not only does he inwardly raise himself above all that is worthy of recognition as true, of faith as certain, of respect as holy; but acting as well as judging frivolously, he shows reverence for nothing, scornfully passing sentence against everything. Abul- walid (yid. Gesen. Thes.) takes ")\T' in the sense of obstinate ; for he compares the Arab. jaAr (jahar), which is equivalent to lijdj, constancy, stubbornness. But in the Targ. and Talm. (vid. at Hab. ii. 5, Levy's Chald. Wörterh. under "i''^^) "liT' in all its offshoots and derivations has the sense of pride ; we have then rather to compare the A.vdih.istaiJiara,io be insane ( = dhcilib 'aklh, mens 'ejus alienata est), perhaps also to hajjir^ mutahawivir, being overthrown, prceceps, so that Tn"» denotes one who by his vTrep^poveiv is carried beyond all acocfipovelu (yid. Rom. xii. 3), one who is altogether mad from ])ride. The Syr. madocJio (Targ. Nn'^'io), by which "iTT' (Targ. '^''n^) is rendex'ed here and at Hab. ii. 5, is its synonym ; this word also combines in itself the ideas foolhardy, and of one acting in a presumptuous, mad way ; in a word, of one who is arrogant. Schultens is in the right way ; but when he translates by tumidus mole cava omens, he puts, as it is his custom to do, too much into the word ; tumidus, puffed up, presents an idea which, etymologically at least, does not lie in it. The Venet. : aKpaTr]<; 6pacrv<i /Sw/xoA.oi^o«? Tovvofid ol, which may be translated : an untractable reckless person we call a fool \1wmo ineptus\ is not bad. Ver. 25 The desire of the slothful killeth him ; For his hands refuse to be active. The desire of the ?)>V, Hitzig remarks, goes out first after meat and drink; and when it takes this direction, as hunger, it kills him indeed. But in this case it is not the desire that kills him, but the impossibility of satisfying it. The meaning is simply: the inordinate desire after rest and pleasure kills the slothful ; for this always seeking only enjoj^ment and idleness brings him at last to ruin. ni«n means here, as in Kihroth lia-tava. Num. xi. 34, inordinate longing after enjoyments. The proverb is connected by almost all interpreters (also Ewald,
CHAP. XXI, 26, 27. 79
Bertheau, Hitzig, Elster, Zöckler) as a tetrastich with ver. 25 : lie (the slothful) always eagerly desires, but the righteous giveth and spareth not. But (1) although P'^'^V, since it designates one who is faithful to duty, might be used particularly of the in- dustrious (cf. XV. 19), yet would there be wanting in 26a T,^), xiii. 4, cf . XX, 4, necessary for the formation of the contrast ; (2) this older Book of Proverbs consists of pure distichs ; the only tristich, xix. 7, appears as the consequence of a mutilation from the LXX. Thus the pretended tetrastich before us is only apparently such.
Ver. 26 One always desireth eagerly ;
But the righteous giveth and holdeth not back. Otherwise Fleischer: per totmn diem avet avidiis, i.e. avarus ; but that in nii<n msrin the verb is connected with its inner obj. is manifest from Num. xi. 4; it is the mode of expression which is called in the Greek syntax schema eti/mologicum, and which is also possible without an adj. joined to the obj., as in the vßpiv O'vßpi^et^ (Eurip. Here. fur. 706), the Arab, mardhti mirycdn: he had a strife with him. Euchel impossibly: necessities will continually be appeased, which would have required n;!5<nn or njxno. The explanation also cannot be : each day presents its special demand, for Di'n-pzi does not mean each day, but the whole day, i.e. continually. Thus we render mxnn with the most general subject (in which case the national grammarians supply n'ixriön) : continually one longs longing, i.e. there are demands, solicitations, wishes, importunate petitions; but still the righteous is not embarrassed in his generosity, he gives as unceasingly (cf. Isa. xiv. 6, Iviii. 1) as one asks. Thus the pref. is explained, which is related hypothetically to the fut. following : though one, etc.
Ver. 27 The sacrifice of the godless is an abomination ; How much more if it is brought for evil ! Line first = xv. 8«. Regarding the syllogistic "'S ^N, vid. xii. 31, XV. 11 ; regarding net, crime, particularly the sin of lewd- ness (from DOT, to press together, to collect the thoughts upon something, to contrive, cf. ra-ßnement de la volupte), at x. 23. nsD is too vaguely rendered in the LXX. by irapovofiw'^, falsely by Jerome, ex scelere (cf. e'^ dSUov, Sir. xxxi. 18, with Mul. i. 13). The 2 is not meant, as at Ezek. xxii. 11, of the
80 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
way and manner ; for that the condition of life of the V^i is not a pure one, is not to be supposed. It is as Hitzig, rightly, that of price : for a transgression, i.e. to atone for it ; one is hereby reminded, that he who had intercourse with a betrothed bond- maid had to present an ascham [trespass-offering], Lev. xix. 20-22. But frequently enough would it occur that rich sensualists brought trespass-offerings, and other offerings, in order thereby to recompense for their transgressions, and to purchase fur themselves the connivance of God for their dis- solute life. Such offerings of the godless, the proverb means, are to God a twofold and a threefold abomination ; for in this case not only does the godless fail in respect of repentance and a desire after salvation, which are the conditions of all sacrifices acceptable to God, but he makes God directly a minister of sin.
Ver. 28 A false witness shall perish ;
But he who heareth shall always speak truth.
The LXX. translate 28& by ävi-jp he (^vKaacroixevo'i XaXijaet,. Cappellus supposes that they read IVJ^ for m:b, which, how- ever, cannot mean " taking care." Hitzig further imagines noB> for yöE^, and brings out the meaning: "the man that rejoiceth to deliver shall speak." But where in all the world does "ilfJ mean "to deliver"? It means, "to guard, preserve;" and to reach the meaning of "to deliver," a clause must be added with p, as V^^. When one who speaks lies ('3''3T3 IV), and a man who hears (VOiB' tJ^\^, plene, and with the orthophonic Dagesh), are contrasted, the former is one who fancifully or malevolently falsifies the fact, and the latter is one who before he speaks hears in order that he may say nothing that he has not surely heard. As ypb^ nb, 1 Kings iii. 9, means an obedient heart, so here V'Ci)U ^''^ means a man who attentively hears, carefully proves. Such an one will speak nVDPj i.e. not : accord- ing to the truth, and not : for victory (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, ek viko^), i.e. so that accomplishes it (Oetinger) ; for the Heb. nv; lias neither that Arab, nor this Aram, signi- fication ; but, with the transference of the root meaning of radiating or streaming over, to time, continuous existence {vid. Orelli, Synonyma der Zeit und Etüighit, pp. 95-97), thus: he will speak for continuance, i.e. either : without ever requiring
CHAP. XXI. 29. 81
to be silent, or, winch we prefer: so that what he says stands; on the' contrary, he who testifies mere fictions, i.e. avers that they are truth, is destroyed (28a = xix. 9&, cf. 5) : he himself comes to nothing, since his testimonies are referred to their ^groundlessness and falsity; for D^f'Jl )b ]^Ü "ip"J', the lie has no feet on which it can stand, it comes to nothing sooner or later.
Ver. 29. Another proverb with C'\S : —
A godless man showeth boldness in his mien ;
But one that is upright — he proveth his way. The Chethib has T?' ; but that the upright directeth, dirigit, his way, i.e. gives to it the right direction (cf. 2 Chron. xxvii. 6), is not a good contrast to the boldness of the godless ; the Kej-t, '^^y} T^[^, deserves the preference. Aquila, Symmachus, the Syr., Targ., and Venet. adhere to the C/iet/nb, which would be suitable if it could be translated, with Jerome, by corrigit ; Luther also reads the verb with 3, but as if it were 112'' (who- ever is pious, his way will stand) — only the LXX. render the Keri (avvLel) ; as for the rest, the ancients waver between the Cheilitb V3"ii. and the Keri i3"i"n : the former refers to manner of life in general ; the latter (as at iii. 31 and elsewhere) to the conduct in separate cases; thus the one is just as appro- priate as the other. In the circumstantial designation t^'^^ J^'^'") (cf. xi. 7) we have the stamp of the distinction of different classes of men peculiar to the Book of Pi'overbs. ti^n (to make firm, defiant) had, vii. 13, D'^JS as accus.; the 3 here is not that used in metaphoristic expressions instead of the accus, obj., which we have spoken of at xv. 4, xx. 30, but that of the means ; for the face is thought of, not as the object of the action, but, after Gesen. § 138. 1, as the means of its accomplishment: the godless makes (shows) firmness, i.e. defiance, accessibility to no admonition, with his countenance ; but the upright considers, i.e. proves (xiv. 8), his way. ps (P^H) means a perceiving of the object in its specific peculiarity, an understanding of its constituent parts and essential marks ; it denotes knowing an event analytically, as •'''S'^'Oj as well as synthetically (cf. Arab. sliald), and is thus used as the expression of a perception, which apprehends the object not merely immediately, but closely examines into its circumstances.
VOL. II. F
82 THE BOOK OF PKOVERBS.
If we further seek for the boundaries, the proverbs regard- ing the rich and the poor, xxii. 2, 7, 16, present themselves as such, and this the more surely as xxii. 16 is without contra- diction the terminus. Thus we take first together xxi. 30- xxii. 2.
Ver. 30 No wisdom and no understanding,
And no counsel is there against Jahve. The expression might also be 'n ''^27; but the predominating sense would then be, that no wisdom appears to God as such, that He values none as such. With TJ.^P the proverb is more objective : there is no wisdom which, compared with His, can be regarded as such (of. 1 Cor. iii. 19), none which can boast itself against Him, or can at all avail against Him (iJjf', as Dan. x. 12 ; Neh. iii. 37) ; whence it follows (as Job xxviii. 28) that the wisdom of man consists in the fear of God the Alone-wise, or, which is the same thing, the All-wise. Immanuel interprets "^^^n of theology, njun of worldly science, nvy of politics ; but noan is used of the knowledge of truth, i.e. of that which truly is and continues ; njnn of criticism, and n^:y of system and method ; vid. at i. 2, viii. 14, from which latter passage the LXX. has substituted here mnj instead of HJnn. Instead of 'n li:h it translates Trpo? top äaeßr), i.e. for that which is 'n njj against Jahve.
Ver. 31 The horse is harnessed for the day of battle ; But with Jahve is the victory, i.e. it remains with Him to give the victory or not, for the liorse is a vain means of victory, Isa. xxxiii. 17 ; the battle is the Lord's, 1 Sam. xvii. 47, i.e. it depends on Him how the battle shall issue ; and king and people who have taken up arms in defence of their rights have thus to trust nothing in the multitude of their war-horses (D-,D, horses, including their riders), and generally in their preparations for the battle, but in the Lord (cf. Ps. XX. 8, and, on the contrary, Isa. xxxi. 1). The LXX. translates nyic^nn by r} ßoijdeia, as if the Arab, name of victory, nasr, proceeding from this fundamental meaning, stood in the text ; nyiCT (from V^\ Arab. iüs\ to be wide, to have free space for motion) signifies properly prosperity, as the contrast of distress, oppression, slavery, and victory (cf. e.g. Ps. cxliv. 10, and r\m'\, 1 Sam. xiv. 45). The post-bibl. Heb. uses n^3
CHAP. XXII. 1, 2. 83
(iini*i) for victory ; but the O. T. Heb. has no word more fully covering this idea than nyi^'D (nyv^:''').^
Chap. xxii. 1 A good name has the preference above great riches ; For more than silver and gold is grace. The proverb is constructed chiastically; the commencing word nnia (cf. xxi. 3), and the concluding word 31D, are the parallel ,
predicates; rightly, none of the old translators have been mis- ^)^'- f^/^' led to take together 3iD in, after the analogy of niLD bb», iii. 14, ' ■ •
xiii. 15. Dy?' also does not need nitJ for nearer determination; the more modern idiom uses 31Ü UÜ,^ the more ancient uses DK^ alone {e.g. Eccles. vii. 1), in the sense of ovoyia koXov (thus here LXX.) ; for being well known (renowned) is equivalent to a name, and the contrary to being nameless (Job xxx. 8) ; to make oneself a name, is equivalent to build a monument in honour of oneself; possibly the derivation of the word from nn^, to be high, prominent, known, may have contributed to this meaning of the word sensu eximio, for Q^ has the same root word as n]ipf. Luther translates D*^ by Das Gerücht [rumour, fame], in the same pregnant sense ; even to the present day, renom., renommee, riputazione, and the like, are thus used. The parallel in signifies grace and favour (being beloved) ; grace, which brings favour (xi. 16) ; and favour, which is the consequence of a graceful appearance, courtesy, and demeanour {e.g. Esth. ii. 15).
Yer. 2 The rich and the poor meet together ; The creator of them all is Jahve. From this, that God made them all, i.e. rich and poor in the totality of their individuals, it follows that the meeting together is His will and His ordinance ; they shall in life push one against another, and for what other purpose than that this relation-
1 In the old High German, the word for war is urlag (urlac), fate, because the issue is the divine determination, and not (as in " der Nibelunge Not''), as binding, confining, restraint ; this vot is the correlate to nyiC'n, victory ; n?on^O corresponds most to the French guerre, which is not of Romanic, but of German origin : the Werre, i.e. the Gewirre [complication, con- fusion], for nrhl signifies to press against one another, to be engaged in close conflict ; cf. the Homeric K-kövog of the turmoil of battle.
2 e.g. Aboth iv. 17 : there are three crowns : the crown of the Tora, the crown of the priesthood, and the crown of royalty ; but niD Ü^ "IHD, the crown of a good name, excels them all.
84 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
ship of mutual intercourse should be a school of virtue: the poor shall not envy the rich (lii. 31), and the rich shall not despise the poor, who has the same God and Father as himself (xiv. 31, xvii. 5 ; Job xxxi. 15) ; they shall remain conscious of this, that the intermingling of the diversities of station is for this end, that the lowly should serve the exalted, and the exalted should serve the lowly, xxix. 13 is a variation ; there also for both, but particularly for the rich, lies in the proverb a solemn warning.
The group of proverbs beginning here terminates at ver. 7, wdiere, like the preceding, it closes with a proverb of the rich and the poor.
Ver. 3 The prudent seeth the evil, and hideth himself ; But the simple go forward, and suffer injury.
This proverb repeats itself with insignificant variations, xxvii. 12. The Keri "iJ^??"! makes it more conformable to the words there used. The Chetlnb is not to be read l^ip^l, for this Kal is inusit., but "•^3*'), or much rather "^nB'!, since it is intended to be said what immediate consequence on the part of a prudent man arises from his perceiving an evil standing before him ; he sees, e.g., the approaching overtlirow of a decaying house, or in a sudden storm the fearful flood, and betimes betakes himself to a place of safety ; the simple, on the contrary, go blindly for- ward into the threatening danger, and must bear the punish- ment of their carelessness. The fut. consec. 3a denotes the hiding of oneself as that which immediately follows from the being observant; the two perf. db, on the other hand, with or without I, denote the going forward and meeting with punish- ment as occurring contemporaneously (cf. Ps. xlviii. 6, and regarding these diverse forms of construction, at Hab. iii. 10). " The interchange of the sing, and plur. gives us to understand that several or many simiple ones are found for one prudent man" (Hitzig). The NipJi. of ^^V signifies properly to be punished by pecuniary fine (Ex. xxi. 22) (cf. the post-bibl. Dip, D^p, to threaten punishment, which appears to have arisen from censere, to estimate, to lay on taxes) ; here it has the general meaning of being punished, viz. of the self-punishment of want of foresight.
CHAP. XXII. 4. 85
Ver. 4 The reward of humility is the fear of Jahve, Is riches, and honour, and life.
As P'i^*"n;i3y^ Ps. xlv. 5, is understood of the two virtues, meek- ness and righteousness, so here the three Göttingen divines (Ewald, Bertheaii, and Elster), as also Dunasch, see in'n nx"]^ ni:y an asyndeton; the poet would then have omitted iJau, because instead of the copulative connection he preferred the apposi- tional (Schultens : prcemium mansuetudinis quce est reverentia Jehovcv) or the permutative (the reward of humility ; more accurately expressed : the fear of God). It is in favour of this interpretation that the verse following (ver. 5) also shows an asyndeton. Luther otherwise: wdiereone abides in the fear of the Lord ; and Oetinger : the reward of humility, endurance, calmness in the fear of the Lord, is . . .; Fleischer also interprets 'n nxi"" as xxi. 4, nXDn Qucema imjnorum vitiosa), as the accus, of the nearer definition. But then is the nearest-lying construc- tion : the reward of humility is the fear of God, as all old interpreters understand 4a (e.g. Symmachus, varepov irpavrr^To^ (poßo'i Kvpiov), a thought so incomprehensible, that one must adopt one or other of these expedients ? On the one side, we may indeed say that the fear of God brings humility with it; but, on the other hand, it is just as comformable to experience that the fear of God is a consequence of humility ; for actually to subordinate oneself to God, and to give honour to Him alone, one must have broken his self-will, and come to the knowledge of himself in his dependence, nothingness, and sin ; and one consequence by which humility is rewarded, may be called the fear of God, because it is the root of all wisdom, or as is here said (cf. iii. 16, viii. 18), because riches, and honour, and life are in its train. Thus 4a is a concluded sentence, which in 46 is so continued, that from 4a the predicate is to be con- tinued : the reward of humility is the fear of God ; it is at the same time riches . . . Hitzig con jectures 'n rns"i, the beholding Jahve ; but the visio Dei {beatifica) is not a dogmatic idea thus expressed in the O. T. 2\>V denotes what follows a thing, from 3p.y, to tread on the heels (Fleischer) ; for ^\>V (Arab, ^akib) is the heels, as the incurvation of the foot ; and 3py, the conse- quence (cf. Arab, 'aZ:6, \ihh, posteritas), is mediated through the V. denom. 3i?y, to tread on the heels, to follow on the heels (cf.
86 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
denominatives, such as Arab, hatn^ zahr, 'an, pV, to strike the bodj, the back, the eye).
Ver. 5 Thorns, snares, are on the way of the crooked ;
He that guardeth his soul, let him keep far from them. Rightly the Venet. aKavOat nrayiSef; iv oSw arpeßXov. The meaning of ^''^V (plur. of ?>*, or na^^ the same as ^^TT^) and D'^HQ (from no, Arab, fah), stands fast, though it be not etymo- logically verified ; the placing together of these two words (the LXX. obliterating the asyndeton: rpi'/SoXo? koI 7ray[he<;) follows the scheme m"" rätJ>, Hab. iii. 11. Tiie ^r^ipV (perverse of heart, crooked, xvii. 20, xi. 20) drives his crooked winding way, corresponding to his habit of mind, which is the contrast and the perversion of that wiiich is just, a way in which there are thorns which entangle and wound those who enter there- on, snares which unexpectedly bring them down and hold them fast as prisoners; the hedge of thorns, xv. 19, was a figure of the hindrances in the way of the wicked themselves. Tiie thorn and snares here are a figure of the hindrances and dangers which go forth from the deceitful and the false in the way of others, of those who keep their souls, i.e. who outwardly and morally take heed to their life (xvi. 17, xiii. 3, pred. here subj.), who will keep, or are disposed to keep, themselves from these thorns, these snares into which the deceitful and per- verse-hearted seek to entice them.
Ver. 6 Give to the child instruction conformably to His way ; So he will not, when he becomes old, depart from it. The first instruction is meant which, communicated to the child, should be "'S"?)?, after the measure (Gen. xliii. 7=:post- bibl. ""op and ''Ö3) of his way, i.e. not : of his calling, which he must by and by enter upon (Bertheau, Zockler), which i^"l'^ of itself cannot mean ; also not : of the way which he must keep in during life {Kidduscldn 30a) ; nor : of his individual nature (Elster) ; but : of the nature of the child as such, for T}/), "W is the child's way, as e.g. derek col-haarets, Gen. xix. 31, the general custom of the land; derek Mitsrdijim, Isa. x. 24, the way (the manner of acting) of the Egyptians. The instruc- tion of youth, the education of youth, ought to be conformed to the nature of youth ; the matter of instruction, the manner of instruction, ouffht to regulate itself according to the stage of
CHAP. XXII. 7. 87
life, and its peculiarities ; the method ought to be arranged according to the degree of development which the mental and bodily life of the youth has arrived at. The verb "n?n is a de- nominative like 3i^y, ver. 4 ; it signifies to affect the taste, Tin (== "il^f]), in the Arab, to put date syrup into the mouth of the suckling ; so that we may compare with it the saying of Horace, [Ep. i. 2, 69] : Quo semel est imbuta recens servahit odorem Testa diu. In the post-bibl. Heb. Tjisn denotes that which in the language of the Church is called catech'izaiio ; (iVJP) 120 "lljn is the usual title of the catechisms. It is the fundamental and first requisite of all educational instruction which the pro- verb formulates, a suitable motto for the lesson-books of peda- gogues and catechists. n3?30 [from it] refers to that training of youth, in conformity with his nature, which becomes a second nature, that which is imprinted, inbred, becomes accustomed. Ver. 6 is wanting in the LXX. ; where it exists in MSS. of the LXX., it is supplied from Theodotion ; the Complut. trans- lates independently from the Heb. text.
Ver. 7 A rich man will rule over the poor,
And the borrower is subject to the man who lends. " This is the course of the world. As regards the sing, and plur. in 7a, there are many poor for one rich ; and in the Orient the rule is generally in the hands of one " (Hitzig). The fut. denotes how it will and must happen, and the substantival clause Ihj which as such is an expression of continuance (Arab. thahdt, i.e. of the remaining and continuing), denotes that con- tracting of debt brings naturally with it a slavish relation of dependence, np, properly he who binds himself to one se ei obligat, and Hto, as xix. 17 (yid. I.e.), qui alterum (midui datione) obligat, from n^7, Arab, hoy, to wind, turn, twist round {cog. root laff), whence with Fleischer is also to be derived the Aram. ^1?, "into connection;" so ?X, properly "pushing against," refers to the radically related n?X (= rOS), contiguum esse. "^^/O ^^^ is one who puts himself in the way of lending, although not directly in a professional manner. The pred. precedes its sub- ject according to rule. Luther rightly translates : and he who borrows is the lender's servant, whence the pun on the proper names : " Borghart [= the borrower] is Lehnhart's [= lender's] servant."
88 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
The group now following extends to the end of this first collection of Solomon's proverbs ; it closes also with a proverb of the poor and the rich.
Ver. 8 He tliat soweth iniquity shall reap calamity ; And the rod of his fury shall vanish away. ''Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" (Gal. vi. 7) ; he that soweth good reapeth good, xi. 18 ; he that soweth evil reapeth evil, Job iv. 8 ; cf. Hos. x. 12 f. nbiy is the direct contrast of >^P'J^ or lü''^ (e.g. Ps. cxxv. 3, cvii. 42), proceeding from the idea that the good is right, i.e. straight, rectum; the evil, that which departs from the straight line, and is crooked. Regarding )).^, which means both perversity of mind and conduct, as well as destiny, calamity, viel. xii. 21. That which the poet particularly means by npij? is shown in 8b, viz. unsympathizing tyranny, cruel misconduct toward a neighbour. ^^TJ^^ ^-^"^ is the rod which he who soweth iniquity makes another to feel in his anger. The saying, that an end will be to this rod of his fury, agrees with that which is said of the despot's sceptre, Isa. xiv. 5 f.; Ps. cxxv. 3. Eightly Fleischer: baculus insolentice ejus consumetur h. e. facultas qua pollet alios insolenter tractandi evanescet. Hitzig's objection, that a rod does not vanish away, but is broken, is answered by this, that the rod is thought of as brandished ; besides, one uses n^3 of anything which has an end, e.g. Isa. xvi. 4. Other interpreters understand " the rod of his fury" of the rod of God's anger, which will strike the p^V and np^^j as at Ezek. v. 13 ; Dan. xii. 7 : " and the rod of His punish- ment will surely come " (Ewald, and similarly Schultens, Euchel, Umbreit). This thought also hovers before the LXX.: Tr\7]'^i')V he epycov avrov (imiy) awreKeaeL ('^^?'!). But if the rod of punishment which is appointed for the unrighteous be meant, then we would have expected n73"i. Taken in the future, the rii?3 of the D3'^ is not its confectio in the sense of completion, but its termination or annihilation ; and besides, it lies nearer after 8a to take the suffix of imny subjectively (Isa. xiv. 6, xvi. 6) than objectively. The LXX. has, after ver. 8, a distich : —
fcuTy^iOTYirei Sg 'ipyuv uvrou avuTi'hiaii.
The first line (2 Cor. ix. 7) is a variant translation of 9a (cf. xxi. 17), the second (imnj? XIC*"!) is a similar rendering of 8^.
CHAP. XXII. 9, 10. 89
Vcr. 9 He wlio is friendly is blessed ;
Because he giveth of his bread to the poor.
The thought is the same as at xi. 25. rJ{ 3iü (thus to be written without 3IaJchph, with Munach of the first word, with correct Codd., also 1294 and Jaman), the contrast of rv V"], xxiii. 6, xxii. 22, i.e. the envious, evil-eyed, ungracious (post- bibl. also TV "iV), is one who looks kindly, is good-hearted, and as iXapo^ S6t7](;, shoAvs himself benevolent. Such gentleness and kindness is called in the Mishna n^iD );y (Aboth ii. 13), or i^?^ ry. Such a friend is blessed, for he has also himself scattered blessings (cf. N^iTDJ^ xi. 25, xxi. 13); he has, as is said, lookincp back from the blessing that has happened to him, given of his bread (Luther, as the LXX., with partitive genitive: seines bigots [== of his bread]) to the poor; cf. the unfolding of this blessing of self-denying love, Isa. viii. The LXX. has also here another distich :
'^IKYIV Kxl TZ/H'/IV TreplTTOlSlTCil 0 Qiipcc oovg,
The first line appears a variant translation of xix. 6b, and the second of i. 19,&, according to which selfishness, in contrast to liberality, is the subject to be thought of. Ewald translates the second line :
And. he (who distributes gifts) conquers the soul of the recipients. But K€KT7jfxivo<; = ^V^ (^''^i!^) signifies the possessor, not the recipient of anything as a gift, who cannot also be here meant because of the /jbevroi,
Ver. 10 Chase away the scorner, and contention goeth out, And strife and reproach rest. If in a company, a circle of friends, a society (LXX. sKßaXe €K avveSplov), a wicked man is found who (vid. the definition of r^, xxi. 24) treats religious questions without respect, moral questions in a frivolous way, serious things jestingly, and in his scornful spirit, his passion for witticism, his love of anecdote, places himself above the duty of showing reverence, veneration, and respect, there will arise ceaseless contentions and conflicts. Such a man one ought to chase away; tlien there will imme- diately go forth along with him dispeace (P"'?), there will then be rest from strife and disgrace, viz. of the strife which such
a one draws forth, and the disgrace which it brings en the «/' /-><><
— I aoyV-
90 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
society, and continually prepares for it. ]\?p is commonly understood of the injury, abuse, which others have to suffer from the scoffer, or also (thus Fleischer, Hitzig) of the opprohria of the contentious against one another. But jpp is not so used ; it means always disgrace, as something that happens, an experi- ence, vid. at xviii. 3. The praise of one who is the direct con- trast of a yh is celebrated in the next verse. Ver. 11 He that loveth heart-purity,
Whose is grace of lips, the king is his friend. Thus with Hitzig, it is to be translated not : he who loveth with a pure heart, — we may interpret 2?""iinD syntactically in the sense of puritate cordis or punts corde (Ralbag, Ewald, after xx. 7), for that which follows inx and is its supple- ment has to stand where possible as the accus, of the object ; thus not : qui amat puritatem cordis, graiiosa erunt labia ejus (de Dieu, Geier, Schultens, C. B. Michaelis, Fleischer), for between heart-purity and graciousness of speech there exists a moral relation, but yet no necessary connection of sequence ; also not : he who loves purity of heart, and grace on his lips (Aben Ezra, Schelling, Bertheau), for " to love the grace of one's own lips" is an awkward expression, which sounds more like reprehensible self-complacency than a praiseworthy en- deavour after gracious speech. Excellently Luther :
" He who has a true heart and amiable speech, The king is his friend." 3S5~iinD is not adjectival, but substantival ; "iriD is thus not the constr. of the mas. linD, as Job xvii. 10, but of the segolate "inb, or (since the ground-form of ^2i^ 1 Sam. xvi. 7, may be nba as well as nnb) of the neut. linto, "like C^'lf?, Ps. xlvi. 5, Ixv. 5 : that wdiich is pure, the being pure = purity (Schultens). ''*C??' '" (gracefulness of his lips) is the second subject with the force of a relative clause, although not exactly thus thought of, but : one loving heart-purity, gracefulness on his lips — the king is his friend. Ewald otherwise : " he will be the king's friend," after the scheme xiii. 4 ; but here unnecessarily refined. A counsellor and associate who is governed by a pure intention, and connects therewith a gentle and amiable manner of speech and conversation, attaches the king to himself; the king is the •^J^"] Ql'?), the friend of such an one, and he also is " the fi'ieud
CHAP. XXII. 12. 91
of the king," 1 Kings iv. 5. It is a Solomonic proverb, the same in idea as xvi. 13. The LXX., Syr., and Targ. introduce after 3ns the name of God; but lib does not sj-ntacticallj admit of this addition. But it is worth while to take notice of an interpretation which is proposed by Jewish interpreters ; the friend of such an one is a king, i.e. he can royally rejoice in him and boast of him. The thought is beautiful; but, as the comparison of other proverbs speaking of the king shows, is not intended.
Ver. 12 The eyes of Jahve preserve knowledge ; So He frustrateth the words of the false. The phrase " to preserve knowledge " is found at v. 2 ; there, in the sense of to keep, retain ; here, of protecting, guarding ; for it cannot possibly be said that the eyes of God keep themselves by the rule of knowledge, and thus preserve knowledge ; this predicate is not in accord with the eyes, and is, as used of God, even inappropriate. On the other hand, after " to preserve," in the sense of watching, guarding a concrete object is to be expected, cf. Isa. xxvi. 3. We need not thus with Ewald supply V'}S'' ; the ancients are right that riyn^ knowledge, stands meto- nymically for ^''H (Meiri), or ''\:}:ni (Aben Ezra), or nyi '»ynv (Arama); Schultens rightly: Cognitio veritatis ac virtutis practica fertur ad homines earn colentes ac prcestantes. Where know- ledge of the true and the good exists, there does it stand under the protection of God. 12& shows how that is meant, for there the perf. is continued in the second consec. modus {fut. consec.) : there is thus protection against the assaults of enemies wlio oppose the knowledge which they hate, and seek to triumph over it, and to suppress it by their crooked policy. But God stands on the side of knowledge and protects it, and consequently makes vain the words (the outspoken resolutions) of the deceit- ful. Regarding ^l^'D 0.<9)j vid. xi. 3 and xix. 3. The meaning of ^'?.?"n ^?.? is here essentially different from that in Ex. xxiii. 8, Deut. xvi. 19 : he perverteth their words, for he giveth them a bearing that is false, i.e. not leading to the end. Hitzig reads nij?"i [wickedness] for nyn, which Zöckler is inclined to favour : God keeps the evil which is done in His eyes, and hinders its success ; but " to observe wickedness " is an ambiguous, unten- able expression ; the only passage that can be quoted in favour
92' THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
of this '' to observe " is Job vii. 20. The word DV'f, handed down without variation, is much rather justified.
Ver. 13 The sluggard saith, " A lion is without,
I shall be slain in the midst of the streets."
Otherwise rendered, xxvi. 13. There, as here, the perf. "I0^? has the meaning of an abstract present, Gesen. § 126. 3. The activity of the industrious has its nearest sphere at home ; but here a work is supposed which requires him to go forth (Pi'. civ. 3) into tlie field (Prov. xxiv. 27). Therefore pn stands first, a word of wide signification, which here denotes the open country outside the city, where the sluggard fears to meet a lion, as in the streets, i.e. the rows of houses forming them, to meet a Hi*"-) (nno), i.e. a murder from motives of robbery or revenge. This strong word, properly to destroy, crush, Arab. racjkh, is intentionally chosen : there is designed to be set forth the ridiculous hyperbolical pretence which the sluggard seeks for his slothfulness (Fleischer). Luther right well : "I might be murdered on the streets." But there is intentionally the absence of v^X [perhaps] and of |Si [lest]. Meiri here quotes .a passage of the moralists: nt^ujn isvyn TiSiroD (prophesying) belongs to the evidences of the sluggard; and Euchel, the pro- verb n^X33no D''!?^'ün (the sluggarcVs prophecy), i.e. the sluggard acts like a prophet, that he may palliate his slothfulness.
Ver. li A deep jDit is the mouth of a strange woman ; He that is cursed of God falleth therein.
The first line appears in a different form as a synonymous distich, xxiii. 27. The LXX. translate crro^a irapavofiov with- out certainly indicating which word they here read, whether V~l (iv. 14), or y^h (xxix. 12), or ni'J (iii. 32). xxiii. 27 is adduced in support of ninr (^vid. ii. 16) ; niJf (harlots) are meant, and it is not necessary thus to read with Ewald. The mouth of this strange woman or depraved Israelitess is a deep ditch (Hi^Oi; nnv^j otherwise Hf^pj?, as xxiii. 27a, where also occurs '"•i^^^J? ^), namely, a snare-pit into which he is enticed by her wanton words ; the man who stands in fellowship with God is
^ The text to Immanuers Cumment. (Naples 1487) has in both instances
npiDy.
CHAP. XXII. 15, IC. 93
armed against this syren voice ; but the 'n ^^V], i.e. he who is an object of the divine Dyr ( Venet. Key^oXwfxho^^ tm ovTcorfj), in- dignation, punishing evil with evil, falls into the pit, yielding to the seduction and the ruin. Schultens explains 'n Diyr by, is in quern despumat indignahundus ; but the meaning despumai is not substantiated ; Dyr, cf. Arab, zaghn, is probably a word which by its sound denoted anger as a hollow roaring, and like pealing thunder. The LXX. has, after ver. 14, three tedious moralizing lines.
Ver. 15 Folly is bound to the heart of a child ; The rod of correction driveth it forth.
Folly, i.e. pleasure in, stupid tricks, silly sport, and foolish behaviour, is the portion of children as such; their heart is as yet childish, and folly is bound up in it. Education first driveth forth this childish, foolish nature (for, as Menander says :
and it effects this when it is unindulgently severe : the "iD^^ '^?^' {yid. xxiii. 13) removeth Tb)^ from the heart, for it imparts intelligence and makes wise (xxix. 15). The LXX. is right in rendering 16a: civoia i^i^irraL (from i^dirretv) Kaphla^i veov ; i^- but the Syr. has " here mangled the LXX., and in haste has read avoia l^lirraTai : folly makes the understanding of the child fly away" (Lagarde).
Ver. 16 Whosoever oppresseth the lowly, it is gain to him ; Whosoever giveth to the rich, it is only loss.
It is before all clear that nisnn^ and "lisn»^, as at xxi. 5, ^rmh and ■nDno!', are contrasted words, and form the conclusions to the participles used, with the force of hypothetical antecedents. Jerome recognises this : qui calumniatur paitperem, lit augeat divitias suas, dahit ipse ditiori et egehit. So Rashi, who by T'^i'V thinks on heathen potentates. Proportionally better Euchel, referring p^V and IHJ, not to one person, but to two classes of men : he who oppresses the poor to enrich himself, and is liberal toward the rich, falls under want. The antithetic cTistich thus becomes an integral one, — the antithesis manifestly intended is not brought out. This may be said also against Bertheau, who too ingeniously explains : He who oppresses the poor to enrich himself gives to a rich man, i.e. to himself, the
94 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
enriched, only to want, i.e. only to lose again that which he gained unrighteously. Ralbag is on the right track, for he suggests the explanation : he who oppresses the poor, does it to his gain, for he thereby impels him to a more energetic exercise of his strength ; he who gives to the rich man does it to his own loss, because the rich man does not thank him for it, and still continues to look down on him. But if one refers )b to the poor, then it lies nearer to interpret niDHO? *]X of the rich : he who gives presents to the rich only thereby promotes his sleepy indolence, and so much the more robs him of activity (Elster) ; for that which one gives to him is only swallowed up in the whirlpool of his extravagance (Zöckler). Thus Hitzig also explains, who remarks, under 17«: "Oppression produces reaction, awakens energy, and thus God on the whole over- rules events" (Ex. i. 12). Similarly also Ewald, who thinks on a mercenary, unrighteous rich man : God finally lifts up the oppressed poor man ; the rich man always becoming richer, on the contrary, is " punished for all his wickedness only more and more." But with all these explanations there is too much read between the lines. Since lIDnoip 1« (xi. 24, xxi. 5) refers back to the subject : himself to mere loss, so also will it be here ; and the LXX., Symmachus, Jerome (cf. also the Syr. aicget malum suum) are right when they also refer if', not to the poor man, but to the oppressor of the poor. We ex- plain : he who extorts from the poor enriches himself there- by ; but he who gives to the rich has nothing, and less than nothing, thereby — he robs himself, has no thanks, only brings himself by many gifts lower and lower down. In the first case at least, 17a, the result corresponds to the intention; but in this latter case, 17b, one gains only bitter disappointment.
CHAP. XXII 17-21. 95
FIRST APPENDIX TO THE FIRST COLLECTION OF SOLOMONIC PROVERBS.— XXII. 17-XXIV. 22.
The last group of distiches, beginning with x. 1, closed at xxii. 16 with a proverb of the poor and the rich, as that before the last, vid. at xxii. 7. In xxii. 17 £f., the law of the distich form is interrupted, and the tone of the introductory Mashals is ao-ain perceptible. Here begins an appendix to the older Book of Proverbs, introduced by these Mashals. Vid. regarding the style and proverbial form of this introduction, at pages 4 and 16 of vol. i.
xxii. 17-21, forming the introduction to this appendix, are these Words of the Wise :
Ver. 17 Incline thine ear and hear the words of the wise, And direct thine heart to my knowledge !
18 For it is pleasant if thou keep them in thine heart ; Let them abide together on thy lips.
19 That thy trust may be placed in Jahve, I have taught thee to-day, even thee !
20 Have not I written unto thee choice proverbs. Containing counsels and knowledge,
21 To make thee to know the rule of the words of truth,
That thou mightest bring back words which are truth to them that send thee ? From X. 1 to xxii. 16 are the "Proverbs of Solomon," and not " The Words of the Wise;" thus the above irapaivecTL^ is not an epilogue, but a prologue to the following proverbs. The perfects ^''Piynin and ''^ii^na refer, not to the Solomonic pro- verbial discourses, but to the appendix following them; the preface commends the worth and intention of this appendix, and uses perfects because it was written after the forming of the collection. The author of this preface {vid. pp. 23, 36, vol. i.) is no other than the author of i.-ix. The ton (with Melinppacli, after Thorath Emeth, p. 27) reminds us of iv. 20, v. 1. The phrase 3^? n^, animim adveriere, occurs again in the second appendixj xxiv. 32. D^y^ is repeated at xxiii. 8, xxiv. 4 ; but DV3 with DP is common in the preface, i.-ix. D^Vr'? contains, as at Ps. cxxxv. 3, cxlvii. 1, its subject in itself. ^:^^^^''^ is not this subject : this that thou preservest them, which would have re- quired rather the infin. D-^0"f (Ps. cxxxiii. 1) or DWp; but it
96 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
suj^poses the case in which appears that which is amiable and praiseworthy : if thou preservest them in thy heart, i.e. makest them thoughtfully become thy mental possession. The suffix D— refers to the Words of the Wise, and mediately also to ''^^1?, for the author designates his practical wisdom "inj?1, which is laid down in the following proverbs, which, although not composed by him, are yet penetrated by his subjectivity. Ee- garding |12n, which, from meaning the inner parts of the body, is transferred to the inner parts of the mind, vid. under xx. 27. The clause ISb, if not dependent on ^3, would begin with ^^bp. The absence of the copula and the antecedence of the verb bring the optative rendering nearer. Different is the syntactical relation of v. 2, where the infin. is continued in the fin. The fut. N'iph. ^^'^], which, iv. 27, meant to be rightly placed, rightly directed, here means : to stand erect, to have continuance, stabilem esse. In ver. 19, the fact of instruction precedes the statement of its object, which is, that the disciple may place his confidence in Jahve, for he does that which is according to His will, and is subject to His rule. '^n^^Pj in Codd. and correct editions witli Fathach (yid. Miclilol l^ih) ; the n is as virtually doubled ; vid. under xxi. 22. In 196 the
accentuation DVn T'nyTin is contrary to the syntax ; Codd. and
old editions have rightly DVn ^'fiynin^ for nriS"flX is, after Gesen. § 121. 3, -an emphatic repetition of the "thee;" ^i?, like D3, xxiii. 15 ; 1 Kings xxi. 19. Hitzig knows of no contrast which justifies the emphasis. But the prominence thus effected is not always of the nature of contrast (cf. Zech. vii. 5, have ye truly fasted to me, i.e. to serve me thereby), here it is strong in- dividualizing ; the te etiam te is equivalent to, thee as others, and thee in particular. Also that, as Hitzig remarks, there does not appear any reason for the emphasizing of " to-day," is in- correct: Di'n is of the same signification as at Ps. xcv. 7 ; the reader of the following proverbs shall remember later, not merely in general, that he once on a time read them, but that he to-day, that he on this definite day, received the lessons of wisdom contained therein, and then, from that time forth, became responsible for his obedience or his disobedience.
In 2üa the Chefhib DltJ'^li» denotes no definite date ; besides,
CHAP. XXII. 17-21.
this word occurs only always along with ^)m (Pionx). Umbreit, Ewald, Bertheau, however, accept this " formerly (lately)," and suppose that the author here refers to a " Book for Youths " composed at an earlier period, without one seeing what this re- ference, winch had a meaning only for his contemporaries, here denotes. Tlie LXX. reads nnnn, and finds in 20a, contrary to the syntax and the usus log., the exhortation that he who is addressed ought to write these good doctrines thrice (rpiaam) on the tablet of his heart; the Syr. and Targ. suppose the author to say that he wrote them three times; Jerome, that he wrote them threefold— both without any visible meaning, since threefold cannot be equivalent to manch feltiglich (Luther) [- several times, in various ways]. Also the Keri U^^h^^ which without doubt is the authentic word, is interpreted in" niany un- acceptable ways ; Kashi and Elia Wilna, following a Midrash explanation, think on the lessons of the Law, the Prophets and the Hagiographa; Arama, on those which are referable to three classes of youth ; Malbim (as if here the author of the vyhole Book of Proverbs, from i. to xxxi., spake), on the supposed three chief parts of the Mishle; Dächsei better, on i.-ix., as the product of the same author as this appendix. Schultens compares Eccles. iv. 12, and translates triplici filo nexa. Ivmichi, Mein, and others, are right, who gloss n>&h^^ by nnm Dn233, and compare DH^J:, viii. (3 ; accordingly the Veneta, with the happy quid pro quo, by rptaiier^tara. The LXX. translates the military ^'^)^ by rpicxTciTri,- but this Greek word is itself obscure, and is explained by Hesychius (as well as by Suidas, and in the Etymologicum) by Regii satellites qui ternas hastas manu tenehant, which is certainly false. Another Greek, whom An- " gelhus quotes, says, under Ex. xv. 4, that rpiardTrj, was the name given to the warriors who fought from a chariot, every three of whom had one war-chariot among them; and this ap- pears, according to Ex. xiv. 7, xv. 4, to be really the primary meaning. Li the period of David we meet with the word D^K'^iJEf' as the name of the heroes (the Gihboiim) who stood nearest the king. The shalish-men form the elite troops that stood highest in rank, at whose head stood two triads of heroes — Jashobeam at the head of the first trias, and thus of the shahsh-meii generally; Abishai at the head of the second trias, VOL. II. ^ '
98 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
who held an honourable place among the shalish-men, but yet reached not to that first trias, 2 Sam. xxiii. 8 ff . ( = 1 Chron. xi. 11 ff.). The name n'p'hfr^ (Apoc. 2 Sam. xxiii. 8, V^ür}^ and ver. 13, 1 Chron. xxvii. 6, incorrectly D"'^?^n) occurs here with reference to the threefold division of this principal host ; and in regard to the use of the word in the time of Pharaoh, as well as in the time of the kings, it may be granted that shalish denoted the Three-man (frhnnvir), and then generally a high military officer ; so that CtJ'pK' here has the same relation to D"'T'J3, viii. 6, as ducalia to principalia. The name of the chief men (members of the chief troop) is transferred to the chief proverbs, as, Jas. ii. 8, that law which stands as a king at the head of all the others is called the " royal law ; " or, as Plato names the. chief powers of the soul, fxeprj '^ye/xove';. As in this Platonic word-form, so shalishim here, like negidim there, is understood neut., cf. under viii. 6, and Q''!?"'!, xii. 11 ; D''")^'!, xvi. 13. The a of nivyba (occurring at i. 31 also) Fleischer rightly explains as the 3 of uniting or accompanying : chief proverbs which contain good counsels and solid knowledge.
In the statement of the object in ver. 21, we interpret that which follows ^yninp not permutat. : ut te docerem recta, verba vera (Fleischer) ; but t^fp (ground-form to t2^'p, Ps. Ix. 6) is the bearer of the threefold idea : rectitudinem, or, better, regulam verborum veritatis. The (Arab.) verb kasita means to be straight, stiff, inflexible (synon. pTH, to be hard, tight, proportionately direct) ; and the name kist denotes not only the right conduct, the right measure (quantitas justa), but also the balance, and thus the rule or the norm. In 216, HDN D'^'iöN (as e.g. Zech. i. 13 ; vid. Philippi, Status Constr. p. 86 f .) is equivalent to ''^ÖK nON ; the author has this second time intentionally chosen the appositional relation of connection : words which are truth ; the idea of truth presents itself in this form of expression more prominently. Impossible, because contrary to the usus loq., is the translation : ut respondeas verba vera lis qui ad te mittimt (Schultens, Fleischer), because npci', with the accus, following, never means " to send any one." Without doubt y^i^ and n^K' stand in correlation to each other : he who lets himself be instructed must be supposed to be in circumstances to bring home, to those that sent him out to learn, doctrines which are
CHAP. XXII 22, 23. 99
truth, and thus to approve himself. The subject spoken of here is not a right answer or a true report brought back to one giving a commission ; and it hes beyond the purpose and power of the following proverbs to afford a universal means whereby persons sent out are made skilful. The ^''npb' [senders] are here the parents or guardians who send him who is to be instructed to the school of the teacher of wisdom (Hitzig). Yet it appears strange that he who is the learner is just here not addressed as " my son," which would go to the support of the expression, " to send to school," which is elsewhere unused in Old Hebrew, and the "'Opb' of another are elsewhere called those who make him their mandatar, x. 26, xxv. 13 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 13. The re- ference to the parents would also be excluded if, with Norzi and other editors, ^[y'^^ were to be read instead of ^"'n-'Ii'!' (the Venet. 1521, and most editions). Therefore the phrase ^vi^b'p, which is preferred by Ewald, recommends itself, according to which the LXX. translates, toU 7rpoßaX\.ofj,€voL<; aoi, which the Syro-Hexap. renders^ by Nmnix "]!? pnnsT jijn^, i.e. to those who lay problems before thee (yid. Lagarde). The teacher of wisdom seeks to qualify him who reads the following proverbs, and permits himself to be influenced by them, to give the right answer to those who question him and go to him for counsel, and thus to become himself a teacher of wisdom.
After these ten lines of preliminary exhortation, there now begins the collection of the " Words of the Wise " thus intro- duced. A tetrastich which, in its contents, connects itself with the last proverb of the Solomonic collection, xxii. 16, forms the commencement of this collection :
Ver. 22 Rob not the lowly because he is lowly ; And oppress not the humble in the gate. 23 For Jahve will conduct their cause, And rob their spoilers of life. Though it may bring gain, as said xxii. 16a, to oppress the 131, the lowly or humble, yet at last the oppressor comes to ruin. The poet here warns against robbing the lowly because he ^ The Syr. n. fern. awcMa (^<'^mx, Ps. xlix. 5, Targ.) is equivalent, to Heb. riTTt, from (Syr.) acM, nnx = mx, Neh. vii. 3, to shut up, properly, to lay hold on and retain ; the Arab. akJulhat means magic, incantation ; as seizing and making fast.
100 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
is lowly, and thus without power of defence, and not to be feared ; and against doing injustice to the "'Jy, the bowed down, and therefore incapable of resisting in the gate, i.e. in the court of justice. These poor men have not indeed high human patrons, but One in heaven to undertake their cause : Jahve will conduct their cause (D^""") an^, as at xxiii. 10), i.e. will undertake their vindication, and be their avenger. N3"n ('^1'"^), Aram, and Arab, dakk (cf. Pi?^, (Arab.) dakk), signifies to crush anything so that it becomes broad and flat, figuratively ta oppress, synon. P^*V (Fleischer). The verb J?3p has, in Chald. and Syr., the signification to stick, to fix (according to which Aquila here translates KaOrfkovv^ to nail ; Jerome, configere) ; and as root-word to riJ?3Pj the signification to be arched, like (Arab.) hah\ to be humpbacked; both significations are here unsuitable. The connection here requires the meaning to rob ; and for Mai. iii. 8 also, this same meaning is to be adopted, robbery and taking from one by force (Parchon, Kimchi), not : to deceive (Köhler, Keil), although it might have the sense of robbing by withholding or refraining from doing that which is due, thus of a sacrilege committed by omission or deception. The Talm. does not know the verb ynp in this meaning ; but it is variously found as a dialectic word for 7T1^ Schultens' ety- mological explanation, capitium injicere (after (Arab.) kab"', to draw back and conceal the head), is not satisfactory. The con- struction, with the double accus., follows the analogy of inan K''23 and the like, Gesen. § 139. 2. Regarding the sing. &'DJ, even where several are spoken of, vid. under i. 19. Another tetrastich follows :
' Thus Rosch lia-scliana 2G& : Levi came once to N.N. There a man came to meet him, and cried out {^''J^S jy^p. Levi knew not what he would say, and went into the Madrash-liouse to ask. One answered him : He is a robber (j^TJ) said that one to thee ; for it is said in the Scriptures (Mai. iii. 8), "Will a man rob God?" etc. (yid. Wissenschaft Kunst Judenthum,-p. 243). In the Midrash, niü ini'LJ', to Ps. Ivii., R. Levi says that )}yp nn« "»p is used in the sense of ">? 7tiJ nnX- And in the Midrash Tanchiima, P. rtölin, R- Levi answers the question, " What is the meaning of J?3p, Mai. iii. 8 ?" — It is an Arabic expression. An Arabian, when he wishes to say to another "»J^TIJ nnx no, says instead of it, •<:]3y\p nns nO- Perhaps ynp is cogn. to Y2p\ the R. 3p coincides in several groups of languages (also the Turkish kb) with the Lat. capere.
CHAP. XXII. 24, 25, 101
Ver. 24 Have no intercourse witb an angry man, And with a furious man go thou not; 25 Lest thou adopt his ways.
And bring destruction upon thy soul.
The Fiel ny"», Judg. xlv. 20, signifies to make or choose any one as a friend or companion (pV"},, T}) ; the Hlthpa. Hytrin (^cf. at xviii. 24), to take to oneself (for oneself) any one as a friend, or to converse with one ; i'^"!^"''^ sounds like y^ll^'■n■7^*J Isa. xli. 10, with Pat hack of the closed syllable from the apocope. The angry man is called «l^? -'^3, as the covetous man C'M ^yn^ xxiii. 2, and the mischievous man niiSTD pyn, xxiv. 8 ; vid. regarding ^y3 at i. 19 and xviii. 9. nion ^'ii is related superlat. to K^'i? n^n, XV. 18 (cf. xxix. 22), and signifies a hot-head of the highest degree, ^^un is*? is meant as warning (cf. xvi. 10b). ns ^513, or Dy '^"'^j Ps. xxvi. 4, to come along with one, is equi- valent to go into fellowship or companionship with one, which is expressed by HS Vn^ xiii. 20, as 3 sn means, Josh, xxiii. 7, 12, to enter into communion with one, venire in consuetudinem. This ns XU is not a trace of a more recent period of the language. Also ^_^T^, discas, cannot be an equivalent for it : Heb. poetry has at all times made use of Aramaisms as elegancies. ^?^, Aram, n?^,, ^r., Arab, dlifa, signifies to be en- trusted with anything = to learn {Fiel np.^, to teach, Job xv. 15, and in Elihu's speeches), or also to become confidential with one (whence ^i?i?, companion, confidant, ii. 17) ; this ^^^ is never a Heb. prose word ; the bibl. '^'^^i^ is only used at a later period in the sense of teacher. J^i^^^? are the ways, the conduct (ii. 20, etc.), or manner of life (i. 19) which any one enters upon and follows out, thus manners as well as lot, condition. In the phrase " to bring destruction," npb is used as in our phrase Schaden nehmen [to suffer injury] ; the ancient language also represented the forced entrance of one into a state as a being laid hold on, e.g. Job xviii. 20, cf. Isa. xiii. 8 ; here Üp^ü is not merely equivalent to danger (Ewald, falsely : that thou takest not danger for thy soul), but is equivalent to destruption, sin itself is a snare (xxix. 6) ; to bring a snare for oneself is equivalent to suffer from being ensnared. Whosoever comes into a near relation with a passionate, furious man, easily ac- commodates himself to his manners, and, hurried forward by
102 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
him and like him to outbreaks of anger, which does that which is not right before God, falls into ruinous complications. A third distich follows :
Ver. 26 Be not among those who strike hands,
Among those who become surety for loans. 27 If thou hast nothing to pay,
Why shall he take away thy bed from under thee ?
To strike hands is equivalent to, to be responsible to anyone for another, to stake one's goods and honour for him, vi. 1, xi. 15, xvii. 18, — in a word, my, seq. ace, to pledge oneself for him (Gen. xhii. 9), or for the loan received by him, nxrä, Deut, xxiv. 10 (from ^^i}^ with 3, of the person and accus, of the thing: to lend something to one on interest). The proverb warns against being one of such sureties (write DUnyn with Cod. 1294, and old impressions such as the Venice, 1521), against acting as they do ; for why wouklest thou come to this, that when thou canst not pay (Q?^, to render a full equivalent reckoning, and, generally, to pay, vi. 31),^ he (the creditor) take away thy bed from under thee? — for, as xx. 16 says, thus improvident suretyships are wont to be punished.
A fourth proverb — a distich — beginning with the warning
Ver. 28 Remove not the perpetual landmark Which thy ancestors have set up.
28a = xxiii. 10a. Regarding the inviolability of boundaries established by the law, vid. at xv. 25. D^ii? ^33 denotes " the boundary mark set up from ancient times, the removal of which were a double transgression, because it is rendered sacred by its antiquity " (Orelli, p. 76). 3D3 = J^D signifies to remove back, Iliph. to shove back, to move away. "iti'X has the mean- ing of (optov) 0, Ti, quippe quod. Instead of D7iy, the Mishna reads, Pea v. 6, uh^V, which in the Jerusalem Gemara one Rabbi understands of those brought up out of Egypt, another of the
' After Bcn-Asher, the pointing is ^'fJ^'pS'Di^ ; wliile, on the contrary, Bcn-Naphtali prefers ^T]^ pX"DX; vid. my Genesis (1869), pp. 74 (under i. 3) and 81, So, without any bearing on tlie sense, Ben-Asher points nrsf' with Tarda, Ben-Naphtali with Mercha.
CHAP. XXII. 29-XXIlI. 1-3. 103
poor; for "to rise " (in the world) is a euphemism (1133 \\'dh) for " to come down " (be reduced in circumstances).^
After these four proverbs beginning with ha, a new series begins with the following tristich :
Ver. 29 Seest thou a man who is expert in his calling —
Before kings may he stand ;
Not stand before obscure men ; i.e., he can enter into the service of kings, and needs not to enter into the service of mean men = he is entitled to claim the highest official post. ri^O? ^^ xsvi. 12 = xxix. 20, interchanging with ri''sn, is pei^f. hypotheticum (cf. xxiv. 10, xxv. 16) : si videris ; the conclusion which might begin with ''2 yi ex- presses further what he who sees will have occasion to observe. Eightly Luther: Sihestu einen Man endelich (yid. at xxi. 5) in seinem gescheht, u.s.w. [ = seest thou a man expert in his business, etc.]. ^''n? denotes in all the three chief dialects one who is skilful in a matter not merely by virtue of external artistic ability, but also by means of intellectual mastery of it. "psp 32k'|;rin, to enter on the situation of a servant before any one ; cf. Job i. 6, ii. 1. 'i^ lOV, 1 Sam. xvi. 21, 1 Kings x. 8. Along with the pausal form ^^'T}], there is also found in Codd. the form ^^^"J)''. (the ground-form to ^Jf^ri'*, whence that pausal form is lengthened), which Ben-Bileam defends, for he reckons this word among " the pathachized pausal forms." C'SK'n^ in contrast to 2"'370, are the obscuri = ignohiles. The Targ. trans- late the Heb. S and 1V3N by ^''t^'n and ^it^'n. Kimchi compares Jer. xxxix. 10, where D7"!]n ^VC ^^ translated by K*?''y'n (cf. 2 Kings xxiv. 14, xxv. 12). ' ^r\^hn (nsbn) is the old Heb. synonym in Ps. x. The poet seems here to transfer the Aram. usus log. into the Heb.
Ver. 29, which speaks of a high position near the king, is appropriately followed by a hexastich referring to the slipperi- ness of the smooth ground of the king's court, xxiii. 1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,
Consider well whom thou hast before thee.
2 And put thy knife to thy throat
If thou art a man of good appetite.
3 Be not lustful after his dainties, Because it is deceitful food.
^ As an analogical example, iin3 ""ilD, seeing clearly = blind.
104 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
The h of Qinpp is that of end : ad cibum capiendinn^ thus as one invited by him to his table; in prose the expression would be C^'^!' ^3>?^. ; ürb, to eat, is poet., iv. 17, ix. 5. The fut. pnn clothes the admonition in the form of a wish or counsel ; the wßii. intens. T? makes it urgent: consider well him whom thou hast before thee, viz. that he is not thine equal, but one higher, who can destroy thee as well as be useful to thee. With J^öy"! the jussive construction begun by pan is continued. Zöckler and Dächsei, after Ewald and Hitzig, translate incorrectly: thou puttest . . ., the per/, consec. after an imperf., or, which is the same thing, a fut. meant optatively (e.g. Lev. xix. 18 with i6, and also ver. 34 without i6) continues the exhortation ; to be thus understood, the author ought to have used the expression riü'^ T3^ and not T^'^ nnbl. Rightly Luther: " and put a knife to thy throat," but continuing : " wilt thou preserve thy life," herein caught in the same mistake of the idea with Jerome, the Syr., and Targ., to which C'DJ here separates itself. P?"^ (P2p) (Arab, with the assimilated a szHz^j, plur. sekdkin, whence sekakini, cutler) designates a knife (R. "JB' "JD, to stick, vid. at Isa. ix. 10). i'v, from Vi?, to devour, is the throat ; the word in Aram, signifies only the cheek, while Lagarde seeks to inter- pret ^^"^3 infinitively in the sense of (Arab.) ^hioho'ak, if thou longest for (from ivFa) ; but that would make 2h a tautology. The verb Vv (cf. Arab. VaV, to pant for) shows for the sub- stantive the same primary meaning as glutus from ghitire, which was then transferred from the inner organ of swallowing (Kimchi, njj^^nn n''3, Parchon : ^Y^^, oesophagus) to the ex- ternal. " Put a knife to thy throat, is a proverbial expression, like our : the knife stands at his throat; the poet means to say : restrain thy too eager desire by means of the strongest threaten- ing of danger — threaten as it were death to it" (Fleischer). In C'SJ 7^3, ti'DD means, as at xiii. 2, desire, and that desire of eating, as at vi. 30. Rightly Rashi : if thou art greedy with hunger, if thou art a glutton : cf. Sir. xxxiv. (xxxi.) 12, " If thou sittest at a great table, then open not widely thy throat ((pdpvyya), and say not : There is certainly much on it ! " The knife thus denotes the restraining and moderating of too good an appetite.
In ca the punctuation fluctuates between l^nn (Michlol
CHAP. XXIII. 4, 5. 105
131a) and ISHD ; the latter is found in Cod. 1294, the Erfurt 2 and 3, the Cod. Jaman.^ and thus it is also to be written at ver. 6 and xxiv. 1 ; 1^5^''1J 1 Chron. xi. 17 and Ps. xlv. 12, Codd. and older Edd. {e.g. Complut. 1517, Ven. 1515, 1521) write with Pathach. Jlisj/tpo, from 0^9, signifies savoury dishes, dainties, like (Arab.) d/nvakt, from dhdk (to taste, to relish) ; cf. sapores, from sapere, in the proverb: the tit-bits of the king burn the lips (viJ. Fleischer, Alis Hundred Proverbs, etc., pp. 71, 104). With X^ni begins, as at iii. 29, a conditioning clause: since it is, indeed, the bread of deceit (the connection like D''aT3"nj;, xxi. 28), food which, as it were, deceives him who eats it, i.e. ap- pears to secure for him the lasting favour of princes, and often enough herein deceives him ; cf. the proverb by Burckhardt and Meidani : whoever eats of the sultan's soup burns his lips, even though it may be after a length of time (Fleischer). One must come near to a king, says Calovius, hitting the meaning of the proverb, as to a fire : not too near, lest he be burned ; nor too remote, so that he may be warmed therewith.
All the forms of proverbs run through these appended pro- verbs. There now follows a pentastich :
Ver. 4 Do not trouble thyself to become rich ; Cease from such thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou let thine eyes fly after it, and it is gone? For it maketh itself, assuredly it maketh itself wings, Like an eagle which fleeth toward the heavens.
The middle state, according to xxx. 8, is the best : he who troubleth himself (cf. xxviii. 20, hasteth) to become rich, placeth before himself a false, deceitful aim. yr is essentially one with (Arab.) icojia, to experience sorrow, dolere, and then signifies, like TToveiv and Kcifiveiv, to become or to be wearied, to weary or trouble oneself, to toil and moil (Fleischer). The nj"'ii (cf. iii. 5) is just wisdom, prudence directed towards becoming rich; for striving of itself alone does not accomplish it, unless wisdom is connected with it, which is not very particular in finding out means in their moral relations ; but is so much the more crafty, and, as we say, speculative. Rightly Aquila, the Venet., Jerome, and Luther: take not pains to become rich. On the contrary, the LXX. reads iT'yn^ yrn ^S, stretch not thyself (if thou art poor) after a rich man ; and the Syr. and Targ. '»Ti'n? "^l^ ''^,
106 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
draw not near to the rich man ; but, apart from the uncertainty of the expression and the construction in both cases, poetry, and proverbial poetry too, does not prefer the article ; it never uses it without emphasis, especially as here must be the case with it not elided. These translators thought that 'lJ1 )2, ver. 5, presup- posed a subject expressed in ver. 4 ; but the subject is not "T'S^'iT', but the iK'y [riches] contained in l''^T['p. The self-intelligible it [in " it maketh wings," etc.] is that about which trouble has been taken, about which there has been speculation. That is a deceitful possession ; for what has been gained by many years of labour and search, often passes away suddenly, is lost in a moment. To let the eyes fly after anything, is equivalent to, to direct a (flying) look toward it : wilt thou let thine eyes rove toward the same, and it is gone ? i.e., wilt thou expose thyself to the fate o"f seeing that which was gained with trouble and craft torn suddenly away from thee? Otherwise Luther, after Jerome : Let not thine eyes fly after that which thou canst not have ; but apart from the circumstance that ^^J?''^') in cannot possibly be understood in the sense of ad opes quas non poles habere (that would have required IJVN IC'Sn), in this sense after the analogy of (?) ^X K'Da Nb'J, the end aimed at would have been denoted by "i^ and not by U. Better Immanuel, after Eashi : if thou doublest, i.e. shuttest (by means of the two eyelids) thine eyes upon it, it is gone, i.e. has vanished during the night; but fl"iy, du'plicare, is Aram, and not Heb. Rather the explanation is with Chajiig, after Isa. viii. 22 f.: if thou veilest (darkenest) thine eyes, i.e. yieldest thyself over to carelessness ; but the noun HDi'Dy shows tliat P|iy, spoken of the eyes, is intended to signify to fly (to rove, flutter). Hitzig too artificially (altering the expression to "^TVO?) : if thou faintest, art weary with the eyes toward him (the rich patron), he is gone, — which cannot be adopted, because the form of a question does not accord with it. Nor would it accord if l^rsi were thought of as a conclusion : " dost thou let thy look fly toward it ? It is gone ;" for what can this question imply ? The 1 of "13:"'X1 shows that this word is a component part of the question ; it is a question IIa nakar, i.e. in rejection of the subject of the question : wilt thou cast thy look upon it, and it is gone ? i.e., wilt thou experi- ence instant loss of that which is gained by labour and acquired
CHAP. XXIII. 4, 5. 107
by artifice ? On n, cf. Job vii. 8. '121 ^\ry, « thou directest thine eyes to me : I am no more." We had in xii. 19 another mode of designating [viz. till I wink again] an instant. The Chethib 'iJI ^^yrin is syntactically correct (cf. xv. 22, sx. 30), and might remain. The Keri is mostly falsely accentuated ^^y^n, doubly incorrectly ; for (1) the tone never retreats from a shut syllable terminating in ?, e.g. P^v'r', Isa. xl. 20 ; P^l'?, 1 Chron. i. 4 ; P^X, Job xxiii. 8 ; and (2) there is, moreover, wanting here any legitimate occasion for the retrogression of
the tone ; thus much rather the form ^''yri'7 (with Mehuppacli
of the last, and Zinnorith of the preceding open syllable) is to be adopted, as it is given by Opitz, Jablonsky, Michaelis, and Reineccius.
The subject of bl> is, as of ba, riches. That riches take wings and flee away, is a more natural expression than that the rich patron flees away, — a quaint figure, appropriate however at Nah. iii. 16, where the multitude of craftsmen flee out of Nineveh like a swarm of locusts, nb'y has frequently the sense of acquirere^ Gen. xii. 5, with 1^, sihi acquirere, 1 Sam. XV. 1 ; 1 Kings i. 15 ; Hitzig compares Silius Ilal. xvi. 351: sed turn sibi fecerat alas. The inf. intensivus strengthens the asser- tion : it will certainly thus happen.
In 5c all unnecessary discussion regarding the Chethib f\''V) is to be avoided, for this Chethib does not exist ; the Masora here knows only of a simple Chethib and Keri, viz. ^IVJ (read I^J'J), not of a double one (^'VJ), and the word is not among those wdiich have in the middle a "i, which is to be read like i. The manuscripts {e.g. also the Bragadin. 1615) have WJ, and the Kei'i ^»'ir ; it is one of the ten words registered in the Masora^ at the beginning of which a ^ is to be read instead of the written 1. IMost of the ancients translate with the amalgamation of the Keri and the Chethib : and he (the rich man, or better : the riches) flees heavenwards (Syr., Aquila, Symmachus, Theo- dotion, Jerome, and Luther). After the Keri the Venet. renders : ct}<; aero^ irri^a-eraL tol-j ovpavoh (viz. 6 ttXoOto?). Eightly the Targ. : like an eagle which flies to heaven (accord- ing to which also it is accentuated), only it is not to be trans- lated " am Himmel " [to heaven], but " gen Himmel " [towards
108 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
heaven]: C\)tpür] Is the accusative of direction — the eagle flies heavenward. Bochart, in the Hierozoicon, has collected many- parallels to this comparison, among which is the figure in Lucian's Timon^ where Pluto, the god of wealth, comes to one limping and with difficulty ; hut going away, outstrips in speed the flight of all birds. The LXX. translates coairep aerov koI v7ro(jTpe(pet et? tov olkov tov irpoecnriKOTo^ avTov. Hitzig accordingly reads 133^0 JT'n? 3C'1, and he (the rich patron) withdraws from thee to his own steep residence. But ought not o'Iko<; tov irpoeaTrjKoro'i avrov to be heaven, as the residence of Him who administers wealth, i.e. who gives and again takes it away according to His free-will ?
There now follows a proverb with unequally measured lines, perhaps a heptastich :
Ver. 6 Eat not the bread of the jealous,
And let not thyself lust after his dainties ;
7 For as one who calculates with himself, so is he : " Eat and drink," saith he to thee ;
But his heart is not with thee.
8 Thy morsel which thou hast enjoyed wilt thou cast up, And hast lost thy pleasant words.
As TV 3iD, xxii. 9, benignus oculo, denotes the pleasantness and joy of social friendship; so here (cf. Deut. xv. 9; Matt. xv. 15) rV J'l, malignus oculo, the envy and selfishness of egoism seek- ing to have and retain all for itself. The LXX. dvSpl ßacTKavo), for the look of the evil eye, JJI py, KL*'''n ^5^y (cattivo occhio), refers to enchantment ; cf. ßaaKalvecv, fascinare^ to bewitch, to enchant, in modern Greek, to envy, Arab. \m, to eye, as it were, whence majun, main, hit by the piercing look of the envious eye, invidice, as Apuleius says, letali plaga percus- sus (Fleischer). Kegarding isnn with Pathach, vid. the parallel line 3a. la is difficult. The LXX. and Syr. read Y^ [hair]. The Targ. renders ^^1 ^Vl^j ^^^'i t^^^^s reads "li?t^' [fool], and thus brings together the soul of the envious person and a high portal, which promises much, but conceals only deception behind (Ralbag). Joseph ha-Nakdan reads ^ "^W with sin; and Raslii, retaining the scldn, compares the " sour figs," Jer. xxix. 17.
J la an appendix to OcMa We-OcMa, in the University Library at Halle, lie reads ^yb^ but with xr^D [doubtful] added.
CHAP. XXIII. 6-8. 109
According to this, Luther translates : like a ghost (a monster of lovelessness) is lie inwardly; for, as it appears in ly*^, the goat- like spectre iTf hovered before him. Schaltens better, because more in conformity with the text : quemadmodum siiam ipsiiis animam ahlwrret {i.e. as he does nothing to the benefit of his own appetite) sic ille (erga alios multo magis). The thought is appropriate, but forced. Hitzig for once here follows Ewald ; he does not, however, translate : " like as if his soul were divided, so is it ;" but: " as one who is divided in his soul, so is he ;" but the verb IJ/'^, to divide, is inferred from ipc', gate = division, and is as foreign to the extra-bibl. usus loq. as it is to the bibl. The verb "i^'^ signifies to weigh or consider, to value, to estimate. These meanings Hitzig unites together : in simili- indinem arioU et conjectoris cestimat quod ignorat^ perhaps meaning thereby that he conjecturally supposes that as it is with him, so it is with others : he dissembles, and thinks that others dissemble also. Thus also Jansen explains. The thought is far-fetched, and does not cover itself by the text. The translation of the Venet. also : &)? <yap i/jberpTjcrev ev '^v'^fj 01 ovT(i)<i iarlv (perhaps : he measures to others as penuriously as to himself), does not elucidate the text, but obscures it. Most moderns (Bertheau, Zockler, Dächsei, etc.) : as he reckons in his soul, so is he (not as he seeks to appear for a moment before thee). Thus also Fleischer : quemadmodum reputat ajmd se, ita est {sc. non ut loquitw'), with the remark that ly^ (whence ly??', measure, market value, Arab, sir), to measure, to tax so as to determine the price, to reckon ; and then like 3rn, in ,,^,,
general, to think, and thus also Meiri with the neut. rendering of ita est. But why this circumlocution in the expression ? The poet ought in that case just to have written 131. 1^3 vb ''3 t<in p vnDb2j for he is not as he speaks with his mouth. If one read "^Vy^ (Symmachus, elfcd^cov), then we have the thought adapted to the portrait that is drawn ; for like one calculat- ing by himself, so is he, i.e. he is like one who estimates with himself the value of an object; for which we use the ex pression : he reckons the value of every piece in thy mouth. However, with this understanding the punctuation also of '\W as finite may be retained and explained after Isa. xxvi. 18 : for as if he reckoned in his soul, so is he ; but in this the perf. is
110 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
inappropriate; by tlie particip. one reaches the same end ^ by a smoother way. True, he says to thee: eat and drink (Song V. Ih), he invites thee with courtly words ; but his heart is not with thee (?3, like xxiv. 23) : he only puts on the appearance of joy if thou partakest abundantly, but there lurks behind the mask of liberal hospitality the grudging niggardly calculator, who poisons thy every bite, every draugiit, by his calculating, grudging look. Such a feast cannot possibly do good to the guest: thy meal (HS, from rinS; cf. kXuv top aprov, Aram. ^9 - ^"'^j ^o divide and distribute bread, whence Dp.")?, to receive aliment, is derived) which thou hast eaten thou wilt spue out, i.e. wilt vomit from disgust that thou hast eaten such food, so that that which has been partaken of does thee no good. ^P13 is also derived from nris :^ has he deceived thee (with his courtly words), but with this ^{^^, which, as the Makkeph rightly denotes, stands in an attributive relation to *]ns, does not agree. nss^n is Hiph. of Nip, as transitive : to make vomiting ; in Arab, the fut. Kal of ka terminates in i. The fair words which the guest, as the perf. consec. expresses, has lavished, are the words of praise and thanks in which he recognises the liberality of the host appearing so hospitable. Regarding the penult, accenting of the perf. consec. by Miigrasck, as xxx. 9, vid. under Ps. xxvii. 1. Pinsker (Babyl.-Bebr. Punktations- sr/stenij p. 134) conjectures that the line Sb originally formed the concluding line of the following proverb. But at the time of the LXX. (which erroneously expresses Jin^l) it certainly stood as in our text.
Ver. 9. Another case in which good words are lost :
Speak not to the ears of a fool,
For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
^ We may write N^in "={3 : the Mehuppach (Jethih) sign of the Oleivejored standing between the two words represents also the place of the Makkeph ; vid. Thorath Emeth, p. 20.
2 Immanuel makes so much of having recognised the verb in this Tins (and has he persuaded thee), that in the concluding part of his Divan (entitled Machberoth Immanuel), which is an imitation of Dante's Div'ma Commedia, he praises himself on this account in the paradise of King Solomon, who is enraptured by this explanation, and swears that he never meant that word otherwise.
^«^
CHAP. XXIII. 10-12. Ill
To speak In tlie ears of any one, does not mean to whisper to him, but so to speak that it is distinctly perceived. ?^D3, as we have now often explained, is the intellectually heavy and dull, like pinguis and tardus; Arab, halycl, clumsy, intellectually immoveable (cf. hid, the place where one places himself firmly down, which one makes his point of gravity). The heart of such an one is covered over (Ps. cxix. 70), as with grease, against all impressions of better knowledge ; he has for the knowledge which the words spoken design to impart to him, no susceptibility, no mind, but only contempt. The construction ? fl3 has been frequently met with from vi. 30.
The following proverb forms a new whole from component parts of xxii. 28 and xxii. 22 f. :
Ver. 10 Remove not ancient landmarks ;
And into the fields of orphans enter thou not. 11 For their Saviour is a mighty one ;
He will conduct their cause against thee.
3 Nia separates itself here to the meaning of injuste invadere et occupare; French, empieter sur sonvoisin, advance not into the ground belonging to thy neighbour (Fleischer). If orphans have also no goel among their kindred (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, «7;^io-Tei;9) to redeem by purchase (Lev. xxv. 25) their inheritance that has passed over into the possession of another, they have another, and that a mighty Saviour, Re- demptor, who will restore to them that which they have lost, — viz. God (Jer. 1. 34), — who will adopt their cause against any one who has unjustly taken from them.
The following proverb warrants us to pause here, for it opens up, as a compendious echo of xxii. 17-21, a new series of proverbs of wisdom :
Ver. 12 Apply thine heart to instruction,
And thine ear to the utterances of knowledge.
We may, according as we accent in "ic^ö? the divine origin or the human medium, translate, oßer disciplince (Schultens), or adhibe ad disciplinam cor tmim (Fleischer). This general ad- monition is directed to old and young, to those who are to be educated as well as to those who are educated. First to the educator :
112 THE BOOK OF PEOVEEBS.
Ver. 13 Withhold not correction from the child ;
For thou will beat him with the rod, and he will not die. 14 Thou beatest him with the rod,
And with it deliverest his soul from hell.
The exhortation, 13a, presupposes that education by word and deed is a duty devolving on the father and the teacher with regard to the child. In 136, "'S is in any case the relative con- junction. The conclusion does not mean : so will he not fall under death (destruction), as Luther also would Jiave it, after Deut. xix. 21, for tliis thought certainly follows ver. 14 ; nor after xix. 18 : so may the stroke not be one whereof he dies, for then the author ought to have written wri''Ori"PX ; but : he will not die of it, i.e. only strike if he has deserved it, thou needest not fear ; the bitter medicine will be beneficial to him, not deadly". The nns; standing before the double clause, ver. 14, means that he who administers corporal chastisement to the child, saves him spiritually ; for i'lXC' does not refer to death in general, but to death falling upon a man before his time, and in his sins, viel. xv. 24, cf. viii. 26.
The following proverb passes from the educator to the pupil :
Ver. 15 My son, if thine heart becometh wise, !My heart also in return will rejoice ; 16 And my reins will exult
If thy lips speak right things.
Wisdom is inborn in no one. A true Arab, proverb says, " The vi^ise knows how the fool feels, for he himself was also once a fool;"^ and folly is bound up in the heart of a child, accord- ing to xxii. 15, which must be driven out by severe discipline. 15b, as many others, cf. xxii. 196, shows that these " words of the wise " are penetrated by the subjectivity of an author ; the author means : if thy heart becomes wise, so will mine in return, i.e. corresponding to it (cf. D3, Gen. xx. 6), rejoice. The thought of the heart in ver. 15 repeats itself in ver. 16, with reference to the utterance of the mouth. Regarding 0''"!^'''^,
1 The second part of the saying is, " But a fool knows not how a wise man feels, for he has never been a wise man." I heard this many years ago, from the mouth of the American missionary Schaufler, in Con- stantinople.
CHAP. XXIII. 17, 18. 113
viel. \. 5. Regarding the " reins," riV73 (perhaps from np3j to languish, Job xix. 21), with which the tender and inmost affections are connected, viel. Psychologie, p. 268 f.
The poet now shows how one attains unto wisdom — the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God :
Ver. 17 Let not thine heart strive after sinners, But after the fear of Jahve all the day. 18 Truly there is a future,
And thy hope shall not come to naught.
The LXX., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther, and the Arab, in- terpreters, render lib as an independent clause : "but be daily in the fear of the Lord." That is not a substantival clause (cf. xxii. 7), nor can it be an interjectional clause, but it may be an elliptical clause (Fleischer : from the prohibitive N3pn"^x is to be taken for the second parallel member the v. subst. lying at the foundation of all verbs) ; but why had the author omitted n^T ? Besides, one uses the expressions, to act {i^t'V)^ and to walk (l^n) in the fear of God, but not the expression to be (n\n) in the fear of God. Thus riSTn, hke D'Xi3ri3j is depen-
-t«x,
ur
dent on N3pn";x ; and Jerome, who translates : Non cemulet cor tuum peciatores, sed in timore Domini esto tola die, ought to have continued : sed timorem Domini tola die ; for, as one may say in Latin : cemidari virtutes^ as well as ccmulari aliquem, so also in Heb. 3 t??.P, of the envying of those persons Avhose fortune excites to dissatisfaction, because one has not the same, and might yet have it, iii. 31, xxiv. 1, 19, as well as of emula- tion for a thing in which one might not stand behind others : envy not sinners, envy much rather the fear of God, i.e. let thyself be moved with eager desire after it when its appearance is presented to thee. There is no O. T. parallel for this, but the Syr. tan and the Greek ^rfkorv-Kovv are used in this double sense. Thus Hitzig rightly, and, among the moderns, Malbim; with Aben Ezra, it is necessary to take nsi"'a for nNT» tJ'''X3, this proverb itself declares the fear of God to be of all things the most worthy of being coveted.
In ver. 18, Umbreit, Elster, Zockler, and others interpret the ''3 as assigning a reason, and the üi< as conditioning : for when the end (the hour of the righteous judgment) has come ; Bertheau better, because more suitable to the ^l and the n^"inN ; when an
VOL. II. • H
114 THE BOOK OF TROVEKES.
end (an end adjusting the contradictions of the present time) comes, as no doubt it will come, then thy hope will not be de- stroyed ; but, on the other hand, the succession of words in the conclusion (viel, at iii. 34) opposes this ; also one does not see why the author does not say directly n''"inx ti'"' ""a, but expresses himself thus conditionally.^ If DX is meant hypothetically, then, with the LXX. iav yap TTjpT^crrj'; avra ea-rai aoi cKjova, we should supply after it niinjpK'ri, that had fallen out. Evvald's : much rather there is yet a future (Dächsei : much rather be happy there is . . .), is also impossible ; for the preceding clause is positive, not negative. The particles CX ""3, connected thus, mean : for if (e.g. Lam. iii. 32) ; or also relatively : that if (e.g. Jer. xxvi. 15). After a negative clause they have the meaning of " unless," which is acquired by means of an ellipsis ; e.g. Isa. Iv. 10, it turns not back thither, unless it has watered the earth (It returns back not before then, not unless this is done). This " unless" is, however, used like the Lat. nisi, also without the conditioning clause following, e.g. Gen. xxviii. 17, Jiic locus non est nisi domus Dei. And hence the expression DX '"3, after the negation going before, acquires the meaning of "but," e.g. lib: let not thy heart be covetous after sinners, for thou canst always be zealous for the fear of God, i.e. much rather for this, but for this. This pleonasm of DX sometimes occurs where "'S is not used confirmatively, but affirmatively : the "certainly if" forms the transition, e g. 1 Kings xx. 6 (vid. Keil's Comm. I.e.), whose "if" is not seldom omitted, so that CX ""a has only the meaning of an affirmative " certainly," not "truly no," which it may also have, 1 Sam. xxv. 34, but "truly yes." Tims DX '3 is used Judg. xv. 7 ; 2 Sam. xv. 21 (where as is emitted by the Kert); 2 Kings v. 20; Jer. II. 14; and thus it is also meant here, 18a, notwithstanding that CX ''3, in its more usual t-ignificatlcu, " besides only, but, nisi,'^ precedes, as at 1 Sam. xxl. 6, cf. 5. The objection by Hitzig, that with this explanation : " certainly there is a future," vers. 18 and 17 are at variance, falls to the ground, if one reflects on the Heb. idiom, in which the affirmative signification of ^3 is interpene- ^ The form -QS "'S does not contradict the connection of the two particles. This use of the MaJckeph is general, except in these three instances: Geu. XV. 4 ; Num. xxxv. 33 ; Neh. ii. 2.
CHAP. XXIII. 19-21 115
trated by the confirmative, nnnx used tlius pregnantly, as here (xxiv. 14), is the glorious final issue ; the word in itself designates the end into which human life issues (cf. Ps. xxxvii. 37 f.) ; here, the end crowning the preceding course. Jeremiah (xxix. 11) in this sense connects mpni nnns* [end and expecta- tion]. And what is here denied of the n^i?J^, the hope (not as certain Jewish interpreters dream, the thread of life) of him who zealously strives after the fear of God, is affirmed, at Ps. xxxvii. 38, of the godless : the latter have no continuance, but the former have such as is the fulfilling of his hope.
Among the virtues which flow from the fear of God, tem- perance is made prominent, and the warning against excess is introduced by the general exhortation to wisdom :
Ver. 19 Hear thou, my son, and become -wise,
And direct thy heart straight forward on the way.
20 And be not among wine-drinkers, And among those who devour flesh ;
21 For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And sleepiness clotheth in rags.
The nn^j connected with V^f, imports that the speaker has to do with the hearer altogether by himself, and that the latter may make an exception to the many who do not hear (cf. Job xxxiii. 33 ; Jer. ii. 31). Eegarding it^X, to make to go straight out, vid. at iv. 14 ; the Kal, ix. 6, and also the Piel, iv. 14, mean to go straight on, and, generally, to go. The way merely, is the one that is right in contrast to the many byways. Fleischer : " the way sensu eximio, as the Oriental mystics called the way to perfection merely (Arab.) alatryh ; and him who walked therein, älsälak, the walker or wanderer."^ 3 '''?^~''^, as at xxii. 26, the " Words of the Wise," are to be compared in point of style. The degenerate and perverse son is more clearly de- scribed, Deut. xxi. 20, as t<?bl ppir. These two characteristics the poet distributes between 20a and 20&. N3D means to drink (whence X3b, drink = wine, Isa. i. 22) wine or other intoxi- cating drinks ; Arab, saha, vinum potandi causa emere. To the 1";^^ here added, "i^'9 in the parallel member corresponds, which
^ Eashi reads "J27 1"n3 (walk), in the way of "thy heart (which has become wise), and so Heidenheim found it in an old MS. ; but '^"in^ is equivalent to njU 1"in3) ix. 6.
116 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
consequently is not the fleshly body of the gluttons themselves, but the prepared flesh which they consume at their luxurious banquets. The LXX. incorrectly as to the word, but not con- trary to the sense, " be no wine-bibber, and stretch not thyself after picbiicks {avfißoXak), and buying in of flesh {Kpewv re ayopaafjioU),'" whereby ''9?t is translated in the sense of the Aram. V.^r (Lagarde). ?^f denotes, intransitively, to be little valued (whence bi^iT, opp. "li^J, Jer. xv. 19), transitively to value little, and as such to squander, to lavish prodigally ; thus : qui prodigi sunt carnis sibi ; iö? is dat. commodi. Otherwise Gesenius, Fleischer, Umbreit, and Ewald : qui prodigi sunt carnis suce, who destroy their own body ; but the parallelism shows that flesh is meant wherewith they feed themselves, not their o-wn flesh (^rh nlvn, like i»^"non, Ps. Iviii. 5), which, i.e. its health, they squander, hhw also, in phrase used in Deut. xxi. 20 (cf. with Hitzig the formula <j)dyo'; koI olvoirörr}^, Matt. xi. 19), denotes not the dissolute person, as the sensualist, iropvo- Ko'TTO'^ (LXX.), but the avfjbßokoKoiro^ (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion), Kpewßöpo^ ( Venet.), "li?^ ^^T (Onkelos), i.e. flesh- eater, ravenous person, glutton, in which sense it is rendered, here, by the Syr. and Targ., by tSlDS (ld'^dx), i.e. äacoTo<i. Eegarding the metaplastic fat. Niph. ^y^, (LXX. 7rTö);^eucret), vid. at XX. 13, cf. xi. 25. HM (after the form of nc'Q, n:^^, rriix) is drowsiness, lethargy, long sleeping, which necessarily follows a life of riot and revelry. Such a slothful person comes to a bit of bread (xxi. 17) ; and the disinclination and unfitness for work, resulting from night revelry, brings it about that at last he must clothe himself in miserable rags. The rags are called yT!i?. and pdKo<i, from the rending (tearing), Arab, ruk'at, from the patching, mending. Lagarde, more at large, treats of this word here used for rags.
The parainesz's begi anew, and the division is open to ques- tion. Vers. 22-24 can of themselves be independent distichs ; but this is not the case with ver. 25, which, in the resump- tion of the address and in expression, leans back on ver. 22. The author of this appendix may have met with vers. 23 and 24 (although here also his style, as conformed to that of i. 9, is noticeable, cf. 236 with i. 2), but vers. 22 and 25 are the form which he has given to them.
CHAP. SXIII. 22-25. 117
Thus 22-25 are a whole :— Ver. 22 Hearken to thy father, to him T\'ho hath begotten thee, And despise not thy mother when she has grown old. 23 Buy the truth, and sell it not,
Wisdom and discipline and understanding. 24. The father of a righteous man rejoiceth greatly;
(And) he that is the father of- a wise man — he will rejoice. 25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad ; And her that bare thee exult.
The ostasticli begins with a call to childlike obedience, for p V^^, to listen to any one, is equivalent to, to obey him, e.g. Ps. Lxxxi. 9, 14 (cf. " hearken to his voice," Ps. xcv. 7). VT- "] is a relative clause (cf. Deut. xxxii. 18, without nf or "^^f^), according to which it is rightly accentuated (cf. on the contrary, Ps. Ixxviii. 54). 221», strictly taken, is not to be translated neve contemne cum senuerit matrem iuam (Fleischer), but cum senuerit mater tua, for the logical object to Tl3n"7X is attracted as subj. of n^ipT (Hitzig). TJiere now follows the exliortation comprehending all, and formed after iv. 7, to buy wisdom, i.e. to shun no expense, no effort, no privation, in order to attain to the possession of wisdom ; and not to sell it, i.e. not to place it over against any earthly possession, worldly gain, sensual en- joyment ; not to let it be taken away by any intimidation, argued away by false reasoning, or prevailed against by entice- ments into the way of vice, and not to become unfaithful to it by swimming with the great stream (Ex. xxiii. 2) ; for truth, nox, is that which endures and proves itself in all spheres, the moral as well as the intellectual. In 2ob, in like manner as i. 3, xxii. 4, a threefold object is given to n^ip instead of DON : there are three properties which are peculiar to truth, the three powers which handle it : "^^^O ^^ knowledge solid, press- ing into the essence of things; "iD''^ is moral culture; and n:""!! the central faculty of proving and distinguishing (vid. i. 3-5). Now ver. 24 says what consequences are for the parents when the son, according to the exhortation of 23, makes truth his aim, to which all is subordinated. Because in nax the ideas of practical and theoretical truth are inter-connected. P'''^^ and Dsn are also here parallel to one another. The Chethih of 24a is ^=13^ ^i2, which Schultens finds tenable in view of (Arab.) jalf fut. jajidu (to turn round ; Heb. to turn oneself for joy)
118 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
but the Heb. usus log. knows elsewhere only ^i) yi, as the Kei'i corrects. The LXX., misled by the ChetMb, translates Ka\o)'i eKTpej>ei (incorrect iKTpv(j>i](T6L), i.e. ?'^i] ?3!?> In 24J, no^^l is of the nature of a pred. of the conclusion (cf. Gen. xxii. 24 ; Ps. cxv. 7), as if the sentence were : has one begotten a wise man, then (cf. xvii. 21) he has joy of him ; but the Kert effaces this Vav cqyodosis, and assigns it to 'rpy as Vav copul. — an unnecessary mingling of the syntactically possible, more emphatic expression. This proverbial whole now rounds itself off in ver. 25 by a reference to ver. 22, — the Optative here corresponding to the Impr. and Prohib. there : let thy father and thy mother rejoice (LXX. evc^pavea-Qco), and let her that bare thee exult (here where it is possible the Optat. form ''^.^"i). Vers. ^6-28. This hexastich warns against unchastity. What, in i.-ix., extended discourses and representations exhi- bited to the youth is here repeated in miniature pictures. It is the teacher of wisdom, but by him Wisdom herself, who speaks :
Ver. 26 Give me, my son, thine heart ;
And let thine eyes delight in my ways.
27 For the harlot is a deep ditch,
And the strange woman a narrow pit.
28 Yea, she lieth in wait like a robber. And multiplieth the faithless among men
We have retained Luther's beautiful rendering of ver. 26,^ in which this proverb, as a warning word of heavenly wisdom and of divine love, has become dear to us. It follows, as Sym- machus and the Venet., the Chethtb nj\nn (for nr^nn, like Ex. ii. 16 ; Job v. 12), the stylistic appropriateness of which pro- ceeds from xvi. 7, as on the other hand the Ken njiirn (cf. 1 Sam. xiv. 27) is supported by xxii. 12, cf. v. 2. But the correction is unnecessary, and the Chethib sounds more affec- tionate, hence it is with right defended by Hitzig. The ways of wisdom are ways of correction, and particularly of chastity, thus placed over against "the ways of the harlot," vii. 24 ff. Accordingly the exhortation, ver. 26, verifies itself ; warning, by ver. 27, cf. xxii. 14, where Hj^DJ^ was written, here as at Job xii. 22, with the long vowel nj^iöj?" (npDj;). nn^ isa interchanges
^ The right punctuation of 26a is rizb ""JlTljri, as it is found in the editions : Ven. 1615 ; Basel 1619 ; and in those of Norzi and Michaelis.
CHAP. XXIII. 2C-23. 119
with np"iDy nmC', and means, not the fountain of sorrow (Löwen- stein), but the narrow pit. "ixa is fern, gen., xxvi. 21 f., and IV means narrow, like kroit (old French, estreit), from strictus. The figure has, after xxii. 14, the mouth of the harlot in view. Whoever is enticed by her syren voice falls into a deep ditch, into a pit with a narrow mouth, into which one can more easily enter than escape from. Ver. 28 says that it is the artifice of the harlot which draws a man into such depth of wickedness and guilt. With ^X, which, as at Judg. v. 29, belongs not to N''n but to the whole sentence, the picture of terror is completed. The verb ^inn (whence Arab, hataf, death, natural death) means to snatch away. If we take ^nn as abstr. : a snatching away, then it would here stand elliptically for ^nn (?i?^) C^'X, which in itself is improbable (vid. vii. 22, Day) and also un- necessary, since, as ^?o, 13y, ^bri^ etc. show, such ahstracta can pass immediately into concreta, so that ^irin thus means the person who snatches away, i.e. the street robber, latro (cf. ^t^n^ (Arab.) khataf, Ps. x. 9, rightly explained by Kimchi as cogn.). In 2Sh, fl''pin cannot mean abripit (as LXX., Theodotion, and Jerome suppose), for which the word '"ispri (^IDNri) would have been used.^ But this verbal idea does not harmonize with the connection ; ?i''Din means, as always, addit (aiiget), and that here in tlie sense of midliplicat. The same thing may be said of D''13U as is said (xi. 15) of D'ypin. Hitzig s objection, "fj-'Din, to multiply, with the accusative of the person, is not at all used," is set aside by xix. 4. But we may translate : the faith- less, or: the breach of faith she increases. Yet it always remains a question whether Ci'^'^? is dependent on nnJ13, as Eccles. viii. 9, cf. 2 Sam. xxiii. 3, on the verb of ruling (Hitzig), or whether, as frequently D"]';'^^ e.g. Ps. Ixxviii. 60, it means inter homines (thus most interpreters). Uncleanness leads to faithlessness of manifold kinds : it makes not only the husband unfaithful to his wife, but also the son to his parents, the scholar to his teacher and pastor, the servant (cf. the case of Potiphar's wife) to his master. The adulteress, inasmuch as she entices now one and now another into her net, increases the
^ The Targ. translates 28b (here free from the influence of the Peshito) in the Syro-Palestinian idiom by '<-)2*y i<*J3N lifVI^ i-^- slie seizes thought- less sons.
120 THE BOOK OF PROVERDS.
number of those who are faithless towards men. But are they not, above all, faithless towards God? We are of opinion that not D"'^JU, but Fi'Din, has its complement in 01X3, and needs it : the adulteress increases the faithless among men, she makes faithlessness of manifold kinds common in human society. According to this, also, it is accentuated ; nn^m is placed as object by MugrascU, and mxn is connected by Mercha with ei^Din.
Vers. 29-35. The author passes from the sin of uncleanness to that of drunkenness ; they are nearly related, for drunkenness excites fleshly lust ; and to wallow with delight in the mire of sen- suality, a man, created in the image of God, must first brutalize himself by intoxication. The Maslial in the number of its lines passes beyond the limits of the distich, and becomes a Mashal ode. Ver. 29 Whose is woe ? Whose is grief ?
"Whose are contentions, -whose trouble, whose wounds without cause ?
Whose is dimness of eyes ?
30 Theirs, who sit late at the wine, Who turn iu to taste mixed wine.
31 Look not on the wiue as it sparklcth red, As it showeth its gleam in the cup, Glideth down with ease.
32 The end of it is that it biteth like a serpent, And stingetli like a badlisk,
S3 Thine eyes shall see strange things,
And thine heart shall speak perverse things ; Si And thou art as one lying iu the heart of the sea,
And as one lying on the top of a mast. 35 " They have scourged me — it pained me not ;
They have beaten me — I perceived it not.
When shall I have wakened ficm sleep?
Thus en I go, I return to it again."
The repeated '^p^ asks who then has to experience all that ; the answer follows in ver. 30. With ""ix, the ""isx occurrino; only here accords ; it Is not a substantive from n3X (whence iVjSI) after the form of priv, in the sense of cgestas; but, like the former ['if*], an interjection of sorrow (Venet. tlvi at, TiVL (jiev). Regarding ü^^no (ChetJub ^'?'^^), viel, at vi. 14.
1 We punctuate iMn ''C7, for that is Ben Asher's punctuation, while that
of his opponent Ben Naphtali is Pix"''»^- Vid. Tlwrath Emeth, p. 33.
CHAP. XXIII. 29-35. 121
n^b» signifies (vid. at vi. 22) meditation and speech, here sor- rowful thought and sorrowful complaint (1 Sam. i. 16 ; Ps. Iv. 18 ; cf . i^i}J, y^'}), e.g. over the exhausted purse, the neglected work, the anticipated reproaches, the diminishing strength. In the connection Csn WV'^B (cf. Ps. xxxv. 19) the accus, adv. D3n (French gratuitement) represents the place of an adjective: strokes which one receives without being in the situation from necessity, or duty to expect them, strokes for nothing and in return for nothing (Fleischer), wounds for a long while (Oetinger). ^''X'V. ^"^^"^^ is the darkening (clouding) of the eyes, from /3n, to be firm, closed, and transferred to the sensa- tion of light : to be dark (yid. at Gen. xlix. 12 ; Ps. x. 8) ; the copper-nose of the drunkard is not under consideration ; the word does not refer to the reddening, but the dimming of the eyes, and of the power of vision. The answer, ver. 30, begins, in conformity with the form of the question, with h (write ^"'"!Ü]^P^, with Gaja to h, according to 3 fetheg- Setzung, § 20, Michlol ■iijb) : pain, and woe, and contention they have who tarry late at the wine (cf. Isa. v. 11), who enter (viz. into the wine-house, Eccles. ii. 4, the house of revelry) " to search " mingled drink (vid. at ix. 2 ; Isa. v. 22). Hitzig : " they test the mixing, as to the relation of the wine to the water, whether it is correct." But lipn^ is like D''132, Isa. v. 22, meant in mockery : they are heroes, viz. heroes in drinking ; they are searchers, such, namely, as seek to examine into the mixed wine, or also : thoroughly and carefully taste it (Fleischer).
The evil consequences of drunkenness are now registered. That one may not fall under this common sin, the poet, ver. 31, warns against the attraction which the wine presents to the sight and to the sense of taste: one must not permit himself to be caught as a prisoner by this enticement, but must maintain his fi'eedom against it. D'^^^n'7j to make, i.e. to show oneself red, is almost equivalent to D''']^^i^ ; and more than this, it presents the wine as itself co-operating and active by its red play of colours (Fleischer). Regarding the antiptosis (antiphonesis) : Look not on the wine that is . . ., vid. at Gen. i. 3 ; yet here, where nxi means not merely " to see," but " to look at," the case is somewhat different. In 315, one for the most part assumes that iJ''y signifies the eye of the wine, i.e. the pearls which play
122 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
on the surface of the wine (Fleischer). And, indeed, Hitzlg's translation, after Num. xi. 7 : when it presents its appearance in the cup, does not commend itself, because it expresses too little. On the other hand, it is saying too much when Böttcher maintains that py never denotes the mere appearance, but always the shining aspect of the object. But used of wine, py appears to denote not merely aspect as such, but its gleam, glance ; not its pearls, for which ^^V would be the word used, but shining glance, by which particularly the bright glance, as out of deep darkness, of the Syro-Palestinian wine is thought of, which is for the most part prepared from red (blue) gi'apes, and because very rich in sugar, is thick almost like syrup. Jerome translates iry well : (cum splenduerit in vitro) color ejus. But one need not think of a glass; Böttcher has rightly said that one might perceive the glittering appearance also in a metal or earthen vessel if one looked into it. The Clietlub D''32 is an error of transcription ; the Midrash makes the remark on this, that D''33 fits the wine merchant, and Dins the wine drinker. From the pleasure of the eye, 31c passes over to the pleasures of the taste : (that, or, as it) goeth down smoothly (Luther) ; the expression is like Eccles. vii. 10. Instead of "]St (like jary, of fluidity) there stands here l^nnn, commonly used of pleasant going; and instead of D''"i5J'''Dp with h, the norm D"'"iK''"'D3 with n of the manner; directness is here easiness, facility (Arab. jusr); it goes as on a straight, even way unhindered and easily down the throat.^
Ver. 32 shows how it issues with the wine, viz. with those who immoderately enjoy it. Is in''")n5< [its end] here the sub- ject, as at V. 4 ? We must in that case interpret '^It^' and ^"[p] as attributives, as the Syr. and Targ. translate the latter, and Ewald both. The issue which it brings with it is like the serpent which bites, etc., and there is nothing syntactically opposed to this (cf. e.g. Ps. xvii. 12) ; the future, in contra- distinction to the participle, would not express properties, but intimations of facts. But the end of the wine is not like a serpent, but like the bite of a serpent. The wine itself, and
^ The English version is, " when it moveth itself aright," which one has perceived in the phenomenon of the tears of the wine, or of the movement in the glass. Vid. Ausland, 1869, p. 72.
CHAP. XXIII. 29-35. 123
independent of its consequences, is in and of itself like a serpent. In accordance with the matter, innns may be interpreted, with Hitzig (after Jerome, in novissimo), as ace. adverb. = )n'^-\r\i^2, Jer. xvii. 11. But why did not the author more distinctly write this word 'S3 ? The syntactic relation is like xxix. 21: lIT'irii« is after the manner of a substantival clause, the subject to that which follows as its virtual predicate : " its end is : like a serpent it biteth = this, tliat it biteth like a serpent." Ee- iiarding "'^V^Vj serpens regulus (after Schultens, from J?3V = (Arab.) saf, to breathe out glowing, scorching), vid. at Isa. vii. 8. The Hiph. K^nsn Schultens here understands of the division of the liver, and Hitzig, after the LXX., Vulgate, and Venet.^ of squirting the poison ; both after the Arab, farth. But C'^DH, Syr. ofrcs, also signifies, from the root-idea of dividing and splitting, to sting, poindre, pointer, as ßashi and Kimchi gloss, whence the Aram. C^'Q, an ox-goad, with which the ancients connect C'lD (of the spur), the name for a rider, eques, and also a horse (cf. on the contrary, Fleischer in Levy, W. B. ii. 574) ; a serpent's bite and a serpent's sting (Lat. morsus, ictus, Varro : citm pepiigerit coluhrd) are connected together by the ancients.^ The excited condition of the drunkard is now described. First, ver. 33 describes the activity of his imagination as excited to madness. It is untenable to interpret HiiT here with Kashi, Aben Ezra, and others, and to translate with Luther: " so shall thine eyes look after other women " {circum- spicient midieres impudicas, Fleischer, for the meaning to per- ceive, to look about for something, to seek something with the eyes, referring to Gen.xli. 33). For niiT acquires the meaning of midieres rmpudicce only from its surrounding, but here the parallel niasnn (perverse things) directs to the neut. aliena (cf. XV. 28, J^iJ^'J), but not merely in the sense of unreal things (Ralbag, Meiri), but : strange, i.e. abnormal, thus bizarre, mad, dreadful things. An old Heb. parable compares the changing circumstances which wine produces with the man-
^ However, we will not conceal it, that the post-bibl. Heb. does not know Ci^nsn in the sense of to prick, sting (the Midrash explains the passage by W^Tih nrT'D P3 t^'''"lSN i-e- it cuts off life) ; and the Nestorian Knanishu of Superghau, whom I asked regarding aphrish, knew only of the meanings " to separate " and " to point out," but not " to sting."
124 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
iier of the lamb, the lion, the swine, the monkey; here juggles and phantoms of the imagination are meant, which in the view and fancy of the drunken man hunt one another like monkey capers. Moreover, the state of the drunken man is one that is separated from the reality of a life of sobriety and the safety of a life of moderation, 34a : thou act like one who lies in the heart of the sea. Thus to lie in the heart, i.e. the midst, of the sea as a ship goes therein, xxx. 19, is impossible ; there one must swim; but swimming is not lying, and to think on a situation like that of Jonah, i. 5, one must think also of the ship; but 23^^ does not necessarily mean '' to sleep," and, besides, the sleep of a passenger in the cabin on the high sea is of itself no dangerous matter. Rightly Hitzig : in the depth of the sea (cf. Jonah ii. 4) — the drunken man, or the man overcome by wine (Isa. xxviii. 7), is like one who has sunk down into the midst of the sea ; and thus drowned, or in danger of being drowned, he is in a condition of intellectual confusion, wliich finally passes over into perfect unconsciousness, cutoff from the true life which passes over him like one dead, and in this con- dition he has made a bed for himself, as ^sb' denotes. With D^3j {^'Nia stands in complete contrast : he is like one who lies on the top of the mast. ^3n, after the forms "i^'n, Q?^, is the sail-yard fastened by ropes, Qv^ri (Isa. xxxiii. 23). To lay one- self down on the sail-yard happens thus to no one, and it is no place for such a purpose; but as little as one can quarter him who is on the ridge of the roof, in the 'Älija, because no one is able to lie down there, so little can he in the bower IMastkorh] him who is here spoken of (Böttcher). The poet says, but only by way of comparison, how critical the situation of the drunkard is ; he compares him to one who lies on the highest sail-yard, and is exposed to the danger of being every moment thrown into the sea ; for the rocking of the ship is the greater in proportion to the height of the sail-yard. The drunkard is, indeed, thus often exposed to the peril of his life ; for an acci- dent of itself not great, or a stroke, may suddenly put an end to his life.
Ver. 35. The poet represents the drunken man as now speak- ing to himself. He has been well cudgelled; but because insen- sible, he has not felt it, and he places himself now where he will
CHAP. XXIV. 1, 2. 125
sleep out his intoxication. Far from being made temperate by the strokes inflicted on liim, he rejoices in the prospect, when he has awaked out of his sleep, of beginning again the life of drunkenness and revelry which has become a plea- sant custom to him. npn means not only to be sick, but gene- rally to be, or to become, affected painfully ; cf. Jer. v. 3, where vli is not the 3d pi. mas. of ^'H, but of r6n. The words pips ''no are, it is true, a cry of longing of a different kind from Job vii. 4. The sleeping man cannot forbear from yielding to the constraint of nature : he is no longer master of himself, he becomes giddy, everything goes round about with him, but he thinks with himself : Oh that I were again awake ! and so little has his appetite been appeased by his sufferings, that when he is again awakened, he will begin where he left off yesterday, when he could drink no more, ''^ö is here, after Nolde, Fleischer, and Hitzig, the relative quando (quujn); but the bibl. usus log. gives no authority for this. In that case we would have expected T'^^'^i?!?. instead of Pi??. As the interrog. «i^o is more animated than the relat., so also ^5?'i??^? fl''?i^ is more animated (1 Sam. ii. 3) than l^?.?^ fl^DIS. The suffix of I3:rpns refers to the wine : raised up, he will seek that which has become so dear and so necessary to him.
After this divergence (in vers. 29-35) from the usual form of the proverb, there is now a return to the tetrastich : xxiv. 1 Envy not evil men,
And desire not to have intercourse with them. 2 For their heart thinketh of violence, And their Hps speak mischief.
The warning, not to envy the godless, is also found at iii. 31, xxiii. 17, xxiv. 19, but is differently constructed in each of these passages. Regarding ^^^n^ with Pathach, viel, at xxiii. 3. '^V'l ^'^'-.^ (cf. V], xxviii. 5) are the wicked, i.e. such as cleave to evil, and to whom evil clino;s. The warnincj is grounded in this, that whoever have intercourse with such men, make themselves partners in greater sins and evil : for their heart broodeth (write ^b' "'S, Munacli Dechi) violence, i.e. robbery, plunder, destruction, murder, and the like. With nb' (in the Mislde only here and at xxi. 7, cf. Tj}*^, xix. 26) connects itself else- where DO'7, here (cf. Hab. i. 3) ?OJ?j lahor, molestia, viz. those
126 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
wlio prepare it for others by means of slanderous, crafty, un- charitable talk.
Vers. 3, 4. The warning against fellowship with the godless is followed by the praise of wisdom, which is rooted in the fear of God.
Ver. 3 By -«'isdom is the house builded,
And by understanding is it established. 4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled With all manner of precious and pleasant goods.
What is meant by the " building of the house " is explained at xiv. 1. It is wisdom, viz. that which originates from God, which is rooted in fellowship with Him, by which every house- hold, be it great or small, prospers and attains to a successful and flourishing state ; p}3, as parallel word to n32 (iii. 19 ; Hab. ii. 12), is related to it as statuere to extruere; the Hithpal (as at Num. xxi. 17) means to keep oneself in a state of continuance, to gain perpetuity, to become established. That ^^?^1 by Athnach has not passed over into the pausal I^J??!, arises from this, that the Athnach, by the poetical system of accents, has only the force of the prose accent Salcef; the clause completes itself only by 4i ; the pausal form on that account also is not found, and it is discontinued, because the Athnach does not produce any pausal effect {vid. at Ps. xlv. 6). The form of expression in ver. 4 is like i. 13, iii. 10. But the Q'"'?'^'^., of storerooms (LXX. as Isa. xxvi. 20, rafiieXa), and D''i?3, like xxii. 18, xxiii. 8, is peculiar to this collection.
Vers. 5, 6. The praise of wisdom is continued : it brings blessings in the time of peace, and gives the victory in war.
Ver. 5 A wise man is full of strength ;
And a man of understanding showeth great power. 6 For with wise counsel shalt thou carry on successful war; And safety ia where counsellors are not wanting.
The 3 of Tiy? (thus with Pathach in old impressions. Cod. 1294, Cod. Jaman., and elsevrfiere with the Masoretic note N^ül n^b) introduces, as that of nb3, Ps. xxix. 4, the property in which a person or thing appears; the article (cf. D"'nryn, ii. 13, Gesen. § 35, 2a) is that of gender. The parallel na J'DSn, a Greek translates by vTrep Kparaiov Wxv'i = nb pßt<0 (Job ix. 4 ; Isa. xl. 26). But after 5a it lies nearer that the poet means
CHAP. SXIV. 7. 127
to express the power which lies in wisdom itself (Eccle?. vii. 19), and its superiority to physical force (xxi. 22) ; the LXX., Syr., and Targ. also, it is true, translate 5a as if TJ?» (prce potente) were the words used, nb )^ÖX means to strengthen the strength, and that is (Nah. ii. 2) equivalent to, to collect the strength (to take courage), here and at Amos ii. 14, to show strong (superior) strength. The reason is gathered from xx. 186 and xi. lib. The ^p here added. Hitzig is determined to read nt^yn : for with prudent counsel the war shall be carried out by thee. The construction of the passive with ^ of the subject is correct in Heb. (vid. at xiv. 20) as well as in Arara.,^ and n^yv frequently means, in a pregnant sense : to complete, to carry out, to bring to an end; but the phrase nünhj2 nb'J? means always to carry on war, and nothing further, "^b is the dat. commod., as in p ^Or-'j to wage war (to contend) for any one, e.g. Ex. xiv. 14. Instead of n"i2, the LXX. reads 'ihl ; regarding <y6ü)pyiov fieydXov for n3 )^DNO, without doubt a corrupt reading, vid. Lagarde.
Till now in this appendix we have found only two distichs (vid. vol. i. p. 17) ; now several of them follow. From this, that wisdom is a power which accomplishes great things, it follows that it is of high value, though to the fool it appears all too costly.
Ver. 7 Wisdom seems to the fool to be an ornamental commodity ; He openeth not his mouth in the gate. !Most interpreters take riiONT for nioi (written as at 1 Chron. vi. 58 ; cf. Zech. xiv. 10; ^i^l, Pro v. x. 4; ns^, Hos. x. 14), and translate, as Jerome and Luther : " Wisdom is to the fool too high;" the way to wisdom is to him too long and too steep, the price too costly, and not to be afforded. Certainly this thought does not lie far distant from what the poet would say ; but why does he say niMn, and not "^^sn ? This m03n is not a numerical plur., so as to be translated with the Venet. : /xericopoL rw a4>povt at eirtarriixaL ; it is a plur., as Ps. xlix. 4 shows ; but, as is evident from the personification and the con- struction, i. 20, one inwardly multiplying and heightening, which is related to nD3n as science or the contents of know- ledge is to knowledge. That this plur. comes here into view 1 Vid. Nöldeke's Neusyrische Gram. p. 219, Anm.^ and p. 41G.
128 THE BOOK OF PROVECBS.
as in i.-ix. (vid. vol. i. p. 34), is definitely accounted for in these chapters by the circumstance that wisdom was to be de- signated, which is the mediatrix of all wisdom ; here, to be designated in intentional symphony with niöxn, whose plur. ending uth shall be for that very reason, however, inalienable. Thus niDN") will be the name of a costly foreign bijouterie, which is mentioned in the Book of Job, where the unfathom- ableness and inestimableness of wisdom is celebrated ; vid. Job xxvii. 18, where we have recorded what we had to say at the time regarding this word. But what is now the meaning of the saying that wisdom is to the fool a pearl or precious coral ? Joel Bril explains: "The fool uses the sciences like a precious stone, only for ornament, but he knows not how to utter a word publicly." This is to be rejected, because nioxi is not so usual a trinket ©r ornament as to serve as an expression of this thought. The third of the comparison lies in the rarity, costli- ness, unattainableness ; the fool despises wisdom, because the expenditure of strength and the sacrifices of all kinds which are necessary to put one into the possession of wisdom deter him from it (Rashi). This is also the sense which the expression has when niüS") = niO"i ; and probably for the sake of this double meaning the poet chose just this word, and not c^js, C^UJ, or any other name, for articles of ornament (Hitzig). The Syr. has incorrectly interpreted this play upon words : sapieniia ahjecfa stulto; and the Targumist : the fool grumbles (Dyino) against wisdom.-^ He may also find the grapes to be sour be- cause they hang too high for him ; here it is only said that wisdom remains at a distance from him because he cannot soar up to its attainment ; for that very reason he does not open his mouth in the gate, where the council and the representatives of the people have their seats : he has not the knowledge neces- sary for being associated in counselling, and thus must keep silent; and this is indeed the most prudent thing he can do.
Ver. 8. From wisdom, which is a moral good, the following proverb passes over to a kind of a-o^ia ^ai/xovLooSi]<; :
He that meditateth to do evil, "We call such an one an intriguer.
1 This explanation is more correct than Levy's: he lifts himself up (boasts) Avith wisdom.
CHAP. XXIV. 9. 129
A verbal explanation and definition like xxi. 24 (cf. vol. i. p. 40), formed like xvi. 21 from jni. Instead of niSTp-^ya [lord of mischief] in xii. 2, the expression is 'ö t^'^N (cf.' at xxii. 24). Regarding niaro in its usual sense, vid. v. 2. Such definitions have of course no lexicographical, but only a moral aim. That which is here given is designed to warn one against gaining for himself this ambiguous title of a refined (cunning, versutus) man ; one is so named whose schemes and endeavours are directed to the doing of evil. One may also inversely find the turning-point of the warning in 8b : " he who projects deceitful plans against the welfare of others, finds his punishment in this, that he falls under public condemnation as a worthless in- triguer" (Elster). But niöfD is a p^fia fiiaov, vid. v. 2 ; the title is thus equivocal, and the turning-point lies in the brintr. ing out of his kernel : ]nnb imJD =, meditating to do evil.
Ver. 9. This proverb is connected by DOT with ver. 8, and by hm with ver. 7 ; it places the fool and the mocker over against one another.
The undertaking of folly is sin ; And an abomination to men is the scomer. Since it is certain that for % the subject is " the scorner," so also « sin" is to be regarded as the subject of 9a. The special meanmg ßagitiiü7i, as xxi. 27, HöT will then not have here, but it derives it from the root-idea " to contrive, imagine," and signifies first only the collection and forthputting of the thoughts towards a definite end (Job xvii. 11), particularly the refined preparation, the contrivance of a sinful act. In a similar way we speak of a sinful beginning or undertaking. But if one regards sin in itself, or in its consequences, it is always a contrivance or desire of folly (gen. snhjecti), or : one that bears on itself (gen. qualitatis) the character of folly ; for it disturbs and destroys the relation of man to God and man, and rests, as Socrates in Plato says, on a false calculation. And the mocker (the mocker at religion and virtue) is nnx^ ri2yin. The form of combination stands here before a word with J», as at Job xviii. 2, xxiv, 5, and frequently. But why does not the poet say directly Dnx nnyin ? Perhaps to leave room for the double sense, that the mocker is not only an abomination to men, viz. to the better disposed ; but also, for he makes others err as to VOL. II. I
130 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
their faith, and draws them into his frivolous thoughts, becomes to them a cause of abomination, i.e. of such conduct and of such thoughts as are an abomination before God (xv. 9, 26).
Ver. 10. The last of these four distichs stands without visible connection :
Hast thou shown thyself slack in the day of adversity, Then is thy strength small. The perf. 10a is the hypothetic, vid. at xxii. 29. If a man shows himself remiss (xviii. 9), i.e. changeable, timorous, in- capable of resisting in times of difficulty, then shall he draw- therefrom the conclusion which is expressed in 10Z>. Rightly Lutlier, with intentional generalization, " he is not strong who is not firm in need." But the address makes the proverb an earnest admonition, which speaks to him who shows himself weak the judgment which he has to pronounce on himself. And the paronomasia n"iy and 1^ may be rendered, where pos- sible, " if thy strength becomes, as it were, pressed together and bowed down by the difficulty just when it ought to show itself (viz. "^ 2'''!'"in^), then it is limited, thou art a weakling." Thus Fleischer accordingly, translating : si segnis fueris die angustice, angustce sunt vires tuce. Hitzig, on the contraiy, corrects after Job vii. 11, ^n^l, '•'• Klemm (klamm) ist dein Mut" [ = strait is thy courage]. And why ? Of Hi [strength], he remarks, one can say ^cb [it is weak] (Ps. xxxi. 11), but scarcely ">V [strait, straitened] ; for force is exact, and only the region of its energy may be wide or narrow. To this we answer, that certainly of strength in itself we cannot use the word HD in the sense here required ; tlie confinement (limitation) may rather be, as with a stream, Isa. lix. 19, the increasing (heightening) of its intensity. But if the strength is in itself anything definite, then on the other hand its expression is something linear, and the force in view of its expression is that which is here called "IV, i.e. not extending widely, not expanding, not inaccessible. "IX is all to which narrow limits are applied. A little strength is limited, because it is little also in its expression.
Now, again, we meet with proverbs of several lines. The first here is a hexastich :
Ver. 11 Deliver them that are taken to death,
And them that are tottering to destruction, oh stop them !
CHAP. XXIV, 11, 12. 131
12 If thou sayest, " We knew not of it indeed," —
It is not so : The Weigher of hearts, who sees through it. And He that observeth thy soul, He knoweth it, And requiteth man according to his work.
If DX is interpreted as a particle of adjuraticn, then "ijiL'^nrrnx is equivalent to : I adjure thee, forbear not (cf. Neh. xiii. 25 with Isa. Iviii. 1), viz. that which thou hast to do, venture all on it (LXX., Syr., Jerome). But the parallelism requires us to take together y}ij? D''pö (such as with tottering steps are led forth to destruction) as object along with *]lb'nn-DX, as well as niap D''np? (such as from their condition are carried away to death, cf. Ex. xiv. 11) as object to ^^fn^ ia which all the old interpreters have recognised the imper., but none the i?>ßn. {eripere . . . ne cesses, which is contrary to Heb. idiom, both in the position of the words and in the construction). DX also is not to be interpreted as an interrogative ; for, thus expressed, an retinetis ought rather to have for the converse the meaning : thou shalt indeed not do it! (cf. e.g. Isa. xxix. 16.) And DN cannot be conditional : si proJiihere poteris (Michaelis and others), for the fut. after DN has never the sense of a potential. Thus DX is, like ^b, understood in the sense of utinam, as it is used not merely according to later custom (Hitzig), but from ancient times (cf. e.g. Ex. xxxii. 32 with Gen. xxiii. 13). "iDNn-''2 (reminding^ us of the same formula of the Rabbinical writings) introduces an objection, excuse, evasion, which is met by N?n ; introducing " so say I on the contrary," it is of itself a reply, vid. Deut. vii. 17 f. HT we will not have to interpret per- sonally (LXX. rovTov) ; for, since ver. 11 speaks of several of them, the neut. rendering (Syr., Targ., Venet., Luther) in itself lies nearer, and nt, hoc, after J/T", is also in conformity with the usus loq. ; vid. at Ps. Ivi. 10. But the neut. T\1 does not refer to the moral obligation expressed in ver. 11 ; to save human life when it is possible to do so, can be unknown to no one, wherefore Jerome (as if the words of the text were ^3T b^b px nt) : vires non suppetunt. riT refers to the fact that men are led to the tribunal; only thus is explained the change of Tiin"", which was to be expected, into l^ipij : the objection is, that one certainly did not know, viz. that matters had come to an ^ Vid. my hebräiscJien Römerbrief, p. 11 f.
132 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
«
extremity with them, and that a short process will be made with them. To this excuse, with pretended ignorance, the reply of the omniscient God stands opposed, and suggests to him who makes the excuse to consider : It is not so : the Searcher of hearts (vid. at xvi. 2), He sees through it, viz. what goes on in thy heart, and He has thy soul under His inspection pVi, as Job vii. 20 ; LXX. kol 6 ifkdaa'^ ; '^^ which Hitzig prefers, for he thinks that "i^i must be interpreted in the sense of to guard, preserve ; Luther rightly) ; He knows, viz., how it is with thy mind , He looks through it, He knows (cf. for both, Ps. cxxxix. 1-4), and renders to man according to his conduct, which, without being deceived, He judges according to the state of the heart, out of which the conduct springs. It is to be observed that ver. 11 speaks of one condemned to death generally, and not expressly of one innocently condemned, and makes no distinction between one condemned in war and in peace. One sees from this that the Chokma generally has no pleasure in this, that men are put to death by men, not even when it is done legally as punishment for a crime. For, on the one side, it is true that the punishment of the murderer by death is a law proceeding from the nature of the divine holi- ness and the inviolability of the divine ordinance, and the worth of man as formed in the image of God, and that the magistrate who disowns this law as a law, disowns the divine foundation of his office ; but, on the other side, it is just as true that thousands and thousands of innocent persons, or at least persons not worthy of death, have fallen a sacrifice to the abuse or the false application of this law ; and that along with the principle of recompensative righteousness, there is a principle of grace which rules in the kingdom of God, and is represented in the O. T. by prophecy and the Chokma. It is, moreover, a notice- able fact, that God did not visit with the punishment of death the first murderer, the murderer of the innocent Abel, his brother, but let the principle of grace so far prevail instead of that of law, that He even protected his life against any avenger of blood. But after that the moral ruin of the human race had reached that height which brought the Deluge over the earth, there was promulgated to the post-diluvians the word of the law. Gen. ix. 6, sanctioning this inviolable right of putting
CHAP. XXIV. 11, 12. 133
to death by the hand of justice. The conduct of God regulates itself thus according to the aspect of the times. In tlie Mosaic law the greatness of guilt was estimated not externally (cf. Num. XXXV. 31), but internally, a very flexible limitation in its practical bearings. And that under certain circumstances grace might have the precedence of justice, the parable having in view the pardon of Absalom (2 Sam. xiv.) shows. But a word from God, like Ezek. xviii. 23, raises grace to a principle, and the word with which Jesus (Johnviii.ll) dismisses the adulteress is altogether an expression of this purpose of grace passing beyond the purpose of justice. In the later Jewish common- wealth, criminal justice was subordinated to the principle of predominating compassion ; practical effect was given to the consideration of the value of human life during the trial, and even after the sentence was pronounced, and during a long time no sentence of death was passed by the Sanhedrim. But Jesus, who was Himself the innocent victim of a fanatical legal murder, adjudged, it is true, the supremacy to the sword; but He preached and practised love, which publishes grace for justice. He was Himself incarnate Love, offering Himself for sinners, the Mercy which Jahve proclaims by Ezek. xviii. 23. The so-called Christian state [" Civitas Dei"'\ is indeed in manifest opposition to this. But Augustine declares himself, on the supposition that the principle of grace must penetrate the new era, in all its conditions, that began with Christianity, for the suspension of punishment by death, especially because the heathen magistrates had abused the instrument of death, which, according to divine right, they had control over, to the destruction of Christians; and Ambrosius went so far as to impress it as a duty on a Christian judge who had pronounced the sentence of death, to exclude himself from the Holy Supper. The magisterial control over life and death had at that time gone to the extreme height of bloody violence, and thus in a certain degree it destroyed itself. Therefore Jansen changes the proverb (ver. 11) with the words of Ambrosius into the admonition : Quando indulgentia non nocet publico, eripe inter- cessione, eripe gratia tu sacerdos, aut tu imperator eripe siib- scriptione indulg entice. When Samuel Eorailly's Bill to abolish the punishment of death for a theft amounting to the sum of
134 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
five shillings passed the English House of Commons, it was thrown out by a majority in the House of Lords. Among those who voted against the Bill were one archbishop and five bishops. Our poet here in the Proverbs is of a different mind. Even the law of Sinai appoints the punishment of death only for man-stealing. The Mosaic code is incompar- ably milder than even yet the Carolina. In expressions, how- ever, like the above, a true Christian spirit rules the spii'it which condemns all blood-thirstiness of justice, and calls forth to a crusade not only against the inquisition, but also against such unmerciful, cruel executions even as they prevailed in Prussia in the name of law in the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm i., the Inexorable.
Vers. 13, 14. The proverb now following stands in no obvious relation with the preceding. But in both a commencement is made with two lines, which contain, in the former, the prin- cipal thought ; in this here, its reason :
Ver. 13 My son, eat honey, for it is good,
And honeycomb is sweet to thy taste. 14 So apprehend wisdom for thy soul :
When thou hast found it, there is a future, And thy hope is not destroyed.
After its nearest fundamental thought, 3iL3, Arab, tejjih, means that which smells and tastes well ; honey {^^'^., from C'l'n, to be thick, consistent) has, besides, according to the old idea (e.g. in the Koran), healing virtue, as in general bitterness is viewed as a property of the poisonous, and sweetness that of the whole- some, nail is second accus, dependent on "''^X, for honey and honeycomb were then spoken of as different ; risb (from riö3, to pour, to flow out) is the purest honey (virgin-honey), flowing of itself out of the comb. With right the accentuation takes 136 as independent, the substantival clause containing the reason, " for it is good :" honeycomb is sweet to thy taste, i.e. applying itself to it with the impression of sweetness ; ?V, as at Neh. ii. 5 ; Ps. xvi. 6 (Hitzig).
In the {3 of 14a, it is manifest that ver. 13 is not spoken for its own sake. To apprehend wisdom, is elsewhere equivalent to, to receive it into the mind, i. 2, Eccles. i. 17 (cf. ni''3 nj?n, iv. 1, and frequently), according to which Böttcher also here
CHAP. XXIV. 15, 16. 135
explains : lenrn to understand wisdom. But p unfolds itself in 1466' : even as honey has for the body, so wisdom has for the soul, beneficent wholesome effects. Hönn nyT is thus not ab- solute, but is meant in relation to these effects. Riirhtly Fleisclier : talem reputa; Ewald: sic (talem) scito sapientiam (esse) animce tuce, know, recognise wisdom as something advan- tageous to thy soul, and worthy of commendation. Incor- rectly Hitzig explains riX^'0"DX, " if the opportunity presents itself." Apart from this, that in such a case the words would rather have been ^5^'0^ "'S, to find wisdom is always equivalent to, to obtain it, to make it one's own, iii. 13, viii. 35 ; cf. ii. 5, viii. 9. niyn i stands for ny^, after the form np ; HT^ (after Böttcher, § 396, not without the influence of the following commencing sound), cf. the similar transitions of — into — placed together at Ps. xx. 4 ; the form nyi is also found, but ny^ is the form in the Cod. Hilleli,^ as confirmed by Moses Kimchi in Comm., and by David Kiinchi, MichlollOlb. With '^.1'! begins the apodosis (LXX., Jerome, Targ., Luther, Rashi, Ewald, and others). In itself, ^'') (cf. Gen. xlvii. 6) might also continue the conditional clause ; but the explanation, si inveyieris (earn) et ad postremum venfum erit (Fleischer, Bertheau, Zöckler), has this against it, that n'''inx e" does not mean : the end comes, but: there is an end, xxiii. 18 ; cf. xix. 18 ; here: there is an end for thee, viz. an issue that is a blessed reward. The promise is the same as at xxiii. 18. In our own language we speak of the hope of one being cut off ; (Arab.) jciza^ to be cut off, is equivalent to, to give oneself up to despair.
Ver. 15 Lie not in wait, oh wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous ; Assault not his resting-place. 16 For seven times doth the righteous fall and rise again,
But the wicked are overthrown when calamity falls on them.
The 2*">i:5 [lying in wait] and Tn.t?^ [practising violence], against whicii the warning is here given, are not directed, as at i. 11, xix. 26, immediately against the person, but against the dwell-
1 Write nyi "with Illvj after the preceding LegarmeTi, like 126, }<!in (Tltnrath Emeth, p. 28).
2 Vid. Strack's Prolegomena critica in V. T. (1872), p. 19.
/
136 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
ing-place and resting-place O'^"?., e.g. Jer. 1. 6, as also np, iü. 33) of the righteous, who, on his part, does injustice and wrong to no one; the warning is against coveting his house, Ex. xx. 17, and driving him by cunning and violence out of it. Instead of V^l, Sjmmachus and Jerome have incorrectly read V'^_, and from this misunderstanding have here introduced a sense with- out sense into ver. 15 ; many interpreters (Löwenstein, Ewald, Elster, and Zöckler) translate with Luther appositionally : as a wicked man, i.e. " with mischievous intent," like one stealthily lurking for the opportunity of taking possession of the dwell- ing of another, as if this could be done with a good intent : r^'l is the vocative (Syr., Targ., Venet. : aaeßh), and this address (cf. Ps. Ixxv. 5 f.) sharpens the warning, for it names him who acts in this manner by the right name. The reason, 16a, sounds like an echa of Job v. 19. Vy^ signifies, as at Ps. cxix. 164, seven times ; cf. nj^O, xvii. 10. Di^} (not D|"51) is perf. consec.^ as "•ni, e.g. Gen. iii. 22 : and he rises afterwards (notwithstanding), but the transgressors come to ruin ; ^Vy^, if a misfortune befall them (cf. xiv. 32), they stumble and fall, and rise no more.
Vers. 17, 18. Warning against a vindictive disposition, and joy over its satisfaction.
Ver. 17 At the fall of thine enemy rejoice not,
And at his overthrow let not thine heart be glad ; 18 That Jahve see it not, and it be displeasing to Him, And He turns away His anger from Him.
The Chethib, which in itself, as the plur. of category, ^''?^iN', might be tolerable, has lib against it: with right, all inter- preters adhere to the Ken "^Tix (with i from e in doubled close syllable, as in the like Keri, 1 Sam. xxiv. 5). i^t>'3n^, for i^^'Snni, is the syncope usual in the inf. Niph. and Hiph.^ which in Niph. occurs only once with the initial guttural (as ^t?^?) or half guttural (nixn?). j;ni_ is not adj. here as at 1 Sam. xxv. 3, but perf. with the force of a fut. (Symmachus : koX firj apia-jj evcoTTcov avTov). The proverb extends the duty of love even to an enemy ; for it requires that we do good to him and not evil, and warns against rejoicing when evil befalls him. Hitzig, indeed, supposes that the noble morality which is expressed in ver. 17 is limited to a moderate extent by the motive assigned in 186. Certainly the poet means to say that God could easily
CHAP. XXIV. 19-22. 137
give a gracious turn for the better, as to the punishment of the wicked, to the decree of his anger against his enemy; but his meaning is not this, that one, from joy at the misfortune of others, ought to desist from interrupting the process of the de- struction of his enemy, and let it go on to its end ; but much rather, that one ought to abstain from this joy, so as not to experience the manifestation of God's displeasure thereat, by His granting grace to him against whom we rejoice to see God's anger go forth .^
Vers. 19, 20. Warning against envying the godless for their external prosperity :
Be not enraged on account of evil-doers, Envy not the godless ; 20 For the wicked men shall have no future, The light of the godless is extinguished. Ver. 19 is a variation of Ps. xxxvii. 1 ; cf. also iii. 21 (where with VilTiiaa following the traditional nnan is more appropriate than "innn, which Hupfeld would here insert), "»nnri is fut. apoc. of iTinnn, to be heated (to be indignant), distinguished from the Tiphel "^yy^, to be jealous. The ground and occasion of being enraged, and on the other side, of jealousy or envy, is the prosperity of the godless, Ps. Ixxiii. 3 ; cf. Jer. xii. 1. This anger at the apparently unrighteous division of fortune, this jealousy at the success in which the godless rejoice, rest on short-sightedness, which regards the present, and looks not on to the end. ^''"inK, merely as in the expression 'riN tJ*"", 146 (of. Ps. xxxvii. 37), always denotes the happy, glorious issue in- demnifying for past sufferings. Such an issue the wicked man has not ; his light burns brightly on this side, but one day it is extinguished. In 206 is repeated xiii. 9 ; cf. xx. 20.
Vers. 21, 22. A warning against rebellious thoughts against God and the king :
My son, honour Jahve and the king,
And involve not thyself with those who are otherwise disposed ; 22 For suddenly their calamity ariseth,
And the end of their years, who knoweth it?
^ This proverb, accordiog to Ahoth iv. 24, was the motto of that Sa'juel with the surname JDpn, who formulated D''ycn nD"l2 (the interpola^ on in the Schemone-Esre prayer directed against the schismatics) : he tLoa dis- tinguished between private enemies and the enemies of the truth.
1?.8 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS
The verb ^^f, proceeding from the primary idea of folding (complicare, diiplicare), signifies transitively to do twice, to repeat, xvii. 9, xxvi. 11, according to which Kimchi here inap- propriately thinks on relapsing ; and intransitively, to change, to be different, Esth. i. 7, iii. 8. The Syr. and Targ. translate the word \'.^f , fools ; but the Kal (iO^tJ) HJ^ occurs, indeed, in the Syr., but not in the Heb., in the meaning alienata est {mens ejus) ; and besides, this meaning, alieni, is not appropriate here. A few, however, with Saadia (cf. Deutsch-Morgenländische Zeitschr. xxi. 616), the dualists (Manichees), understand it in a dogmatic sense ; but then ^^^^^ must be denom. of D^Jlp, while much more it is its root-word. Either U^'TX; means those who change, novantes = novarum rerum studiosi, which is, however, exposed to this objection, that the Heb. r.yy, in the transitive sense to change, does not elsewhere occur ; or it means, ac- cording to the usus log., diversos = diversum seniientes (C. B. Michaelis and others), and that with reference to 21a: D''"iDOn Dni^'ül Dnnm (Meiri, Immanuel), or nDDnn jnjö Q-'JC'D (Ahron b. Joseph). Thus they are called (for it is a common name of a particular class of men) dissidents, oppositionists, or revolution- aries, who recognise neither the monarchy of Jahve, the King of kings, nor that of the earthly king, which perhaps Jerome here means by the word detractorihus (= detractatoribufi). The Venet. incorrectly, avv roh fjucrova-i,, i.e. CXiiK*. With 2 at xiv. 10, ^'}V^>} meant to mix oneself up with something, here with Dy, to mix oneself with some one, i.e. to make common cause with him.
The reason assigned in ver. 22 is, that although such persons as reject by thought and action human and divine law may for a long time escape punishment, yet suddenly merited ruin falls on them. T'K is, according to its primary signification, weighty, oppressive misfortune, vid. i. 27. In DipJ it is thought of as hostile power (Hos. x. 14) ; or the rising up of God as Judge (e.g. Isa. xxxiii. 10) is transferred to the means of executing judgment. T*?) (= 113 of Ti3 or T'Q, Arab, fad, f ut. jafüda or jaftdu, a stronger power of bad, cogn. ins) is destruction (Arab. feid,fid, death) ; this word occurs, besides here, only thrice in the Book of Job. But to what does D[l\^ti' refer? Certainly not to Jahve and the king (LXX., Schultens, Umbreit,and Bertheau),
CHAP. XXIV. 21, 22. 139
for in itself it is doubtful to interpret the genit. after T'S as designating the subject, but improper to comprehend God and man under one cipher. Rather it may refer to two, of whom one class refuse to God, the other to the king, the honour that is due (Jerome, Luther, and at last Zöckler) ; but in the fore- going, two are not distinguished, and the want of reverence for God, and for the magistrates appointed by Him, is usually met with, because standing in interchangeable relationship, in one and the same persons. Is there some misprint then in this word ? Ewald suggests Di!!i''?.Ji', i.e. of those who show them- selves as D'^iit:' (altercatores) towards God and the king. In view of Dn''Pi^, Ex. xxxii. 25, this brevity of expression must be regarded as possible. But if this were the meaning of the word, then it ought to have stood in the first member (TN DlT'Jti'), and not in the second. No other conjecture presents itself. Thus ^'>T^P is perhaps to be referred to the D'^JiC^^ and those who engage with them : join thyself not with the opposers ; for suddenly misfortune will come upon them, and the destruction of both (of themselves and their partisans), who knows it ? But that also is not satisfactory, for after the address 0?''^^' was to have been expected, 226. Nothing remains, therefore, but to understand D^'^tp, with the Syr. and Targ,, as at Job xxxvi. 11 ; the proverb falls into rhythms DXi^Q and T'Q, D"'^Vti' and Dil"'i?5i'. But " the end of their year " is not equivalent to the hour of their death (Hitzig), because for this QT3 (cf.
rino-
o)
Arab, feid and Jid^ death) was necessary ; but to the expi the vanishing, the passing by of the year during which they have succeeded in maintaining their ground and playing apart. There will commence a time which no one knows beforehand when all is over with them. In this sense, ''who knoweth," with its object, is equivalent to "suddenly ariseth," with its subject. In the LXX., after xxiv. 22, there follow one distich of the relations of man to the word of God as deciding their fate, one distich of fidelity as a duty towards the king, and the duty of the king, and one pentastich or hexastich of the power of the tongue and of the anger of the king. The Heb. text knows notliing of these three proverbs. Ewald has, Jahrh. xi. 18 f., attempted to translate them into Heb., and is of opinion that they are worthy of being regarded as original
110
THE BOOK OF PROVERDS.
component parts of i.-xxix., and tliat they ought certainly to have come in after xxiv. 22. We doubt this originality, but recognise their translation from the Heb. Then follows in the LXX. the series of Proverbs, xxx. 1-14, which in the Heb. text bear the superscription of "the Words of Agur;" the second half of the " Words of Agur," together with the " Words of Lemuel," stand after xxiv. 34 of the Heb. text. The state of the matter is this, that in the copy from which the Alexandrines translated the Appendix xxx.-xxxi. 9, stood half of it, after the " Words of the Wise " [which extend from xxii. 17 to xxiv. 22], and half after the supplement headed " these also are from wnse men " [xxiv. 23-34], so tliat only the proverbial ode in praise of the excellent matron [xxxi. 10] remains as an appendix to the Book of Hezekiah's collection, xxv.-xxix.
V
men m
SECOND SUPPLEMENT TO THE FIRST SOLOMONIC COLLECTION.— XXIV. 23-34.
There now follows a brief appendix to the older Book of Pi-o- ^erbs, bearing the superscription, 23a, " Tliesealso are from loise en," i.e. also the proverbs here following originate from wise en. The old translators (with the exception of Luther) have not understood this superscription ; they mistake the Lamed auctoris, and interpret the b as that of address : also these (proverbs) I speak to wise men, sapientihus (LXX., Syr., Targ., Jerome, Venet.). The formation of the superscription is like that of the Hezekiah collection, xxv. 1, and from this and other facts we have concluded {vid. vol. i. pp. 26, 27) that this second supplement originated from the same source as the extension of the older Book of Proverbs, by the append- ing of the more recent, and its appendices. The linguistic complexion of the proverbs here and there resembled that of the first appendix (cf. 29Ö with I2d, and Dj;r, 2ba, with D^yj, xxii. 18, xxiii. 8, xxiv. 4) ; but, on the other hand, 23^» refers back to xxviii. 21 of the Hezekiah collection, and in ver. 33 f. is repeated vi. 10 f. This appendix thus acknowledges
CHAP. XXIV. 23-25. Ill
its secoiiJaiy cliaiacter ; the poet in minute details stands in the same relation to the Solomonic Mashal as tliat in which in general he stands to the author of the Introduction, i.-ix. That 23b is not in itself a proverb, we have ali'eadj (vol. i. p. 6) proved ; it is the first line of a hexastich (vid. vol. i. p. 16).
Vers. 236-25. The curse of partiality and the blessing of impartiality :
Eespect of persons in judgment is by no means good :
24 He that saith to the guilty, " Thou art in the right," Him the people curse, nations detest.
25 But to them who rightly decide, it is well, And upon them cometh blessing with good.
Partiality is either called D''3£i nxb^, xviii. 5, respect to the person, for the partisan looks with pleasure on the ""JS, the countenance, appearance, personality of one, by way of preference ; or ""I3n D''3S, as here and at xxviii. 21, for he places one person before another in his sight, or, as we say, has a regard to him; the latter expression is found in Deut. i. 17, xvi. 19. "i''2n (vid. XX. 11) means to regard sharply, whether from interest in the object, or because it is strange. ?2 Heidenheim regards as weaker than N^ ; but the reverse is the case (vid. vol. i. p. 204), as is seen from the derivation of this negative (= balj, from n?3j to melt, to decay) ; thus it does not occur anywhere else than here with the pred. adj. The two supplements delight in this hi, xxii. 29, xxiii. 7, 35. The thesis 2ob is now confirmed in vers. 24 and 25, from the consequences of this partiality and its opposite: He that saith ('"ip>*, with Mehuppach Legarmeh from the last syllable, as riglitly by Athias, Nissel, and Michaelis, vid. Thorath Emeth^ p. 32) to the guilty : thou art right, i.e. he who sets the guilty free (for y^n and P'''nV have here the forensic sense of the post-bibl. ^'n and "'3f), him they curse, etc. ; cf. the shorter proverb, xvii. 15, according to which a partial, unjust judge is an abomination to God. liegarding 2i53 (33i^) here and atxi. 26, Schultens, under Jobiii. 8, is right; the word signifies figere, and hence to distinguish and make prominent by distinguishing as well as by branding ; cf. defi- gere, to curse, properly, to pierce through. Regarding Di'Jj ^''^* at xxii. 14. O'W and ^'^^b (from D^y and DN^, which both mean to bind and combine) are plur. of categ.: not merely
142 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
individuals, not merely families, curse such an unrighteous judge and abhor him, but the whole people in all conditions and ranks of society ; for even though such an unjust judge bring himself and his favourites to external honour, yet among no people is conscience so blunted, that he who absolves the crime and ennobles the miscarriage of justice shall escape the vox populL On the contrary, it goes well (0^^., like ii. 10, ix. 17, but here with neut. indef. subj. as 3^''"', Gen. xii. 13, and frequently) with those who place the right, and particularly the wrong, fully to view ; n'^io is he who mediates the right. Job ix. 33, and particularly who proves, censures, punishes the wrong, ix. 7, and in the character of a judge as here, Amos V. 10 ; Isa. xxix. 21. The genitive connection niü"n3"il is not altogether of the same signification as litsn p^^ wine of a good sort. Song vii. 10, and V} ^i^^^ a woman of a bad kind, vi. 24, for every blessing is of a good kind ; the gen. 31L5 thus, as at Ps. xxi. 4, denotes the contents of the blessing ; cf. Eph. i. 3, " with all spiritual blessings," in which the manifoldness of the blessing is presupposed.
Ver. 26. Then follows a distich with the watchword C^'nbJ :
He kisseth the lips
Who for the end giveth a right answer.
The LXX., Syr., and Targ. translate: one kisseth the lips who, or : of those who . . . ; but such a meaning is violently forced into the word (in that case the expression would have been y^^ '^St^ or Ü'ym D^nsb'). Equally impossible is Theo- dotion's 'X^elXeai KaTa^L\.r}d7]aerai^ for Pf^, cannot be the fat. Nipli. Nor is it : lips kiss him who . . . (Rashi) ; for, to be thus understood, the word ought to have been ^^ip^. ^p^ is naturally to be taken as the subj., and thus it supplies the meaning : he who kisseth the lips giveth an excellent answer, viz. the lips of him whom the answer concerns (Jerome, Venet., Luther). But Hitzig ingeniously, " the words reach from the lips of the speaker to the ears of the hearer, and thus he kisses his ear with his lips." But since to kiss the ear is not a custom, not even with the Florentines, then a welcome answer, if its impression is to be compared to a kiss, is compared to a kiss on the lips. Hitzig himself translates : he commends himself with the lips who . . . ; but \>^\ may mean to join oneself, Gen.
CHAP. XXIV. 27. 143
xli. 40, as kissing is equivalent to the joining of the Hps ; it does not mean intrans. to cringe. Eather the explanation : he who joins the lips together . . . ; for he, viz. before reflecting, closed his lips together (suggested by Meiri) ; but p'Cb, with D'TiQK', brings the idea of kissing, labi^ lahris jüngere^ far nearer. This prevails against Schultens' armatus est {erit) labia, besides p\^2, certainly, from the primary idea of connecting (laying together) (vid. Ps. Ixxviii. 9), to equip (arm) oneself therewith ; but the meaning arising from thence : with the lips he arms himself ... is direct nonsense. Fleischer is essentially right, Lahra osculatur {i.e. quasi osculum ohlatum reddit) qui congrua respondet. Only the question has nothing to do with a kiss ; but if he who asks receives a satisfactory answer, an enlighten- ing counsel, he experiences it as if he received a kiss. The Midrash incorrectly remarks under Ci''nb3 D''^3'n, " words of merited denunciation," according to which the Syr. translates. Words are meant which are corresponding to the matter and the circumstances, and suitable for the end (cf. viii. 9). Such words are like as if the lips of the inquirer received a kiss from the lips of the answerer.
Ver. 27. Warning against the establishing of a household where the previous conditions are wanting :
Set in order thy work without,
And make it ready for thyself beforehand in the fields, —
After that then mayest thou build thine house. The interchange of pnn and nntrs shows that by nn|'n n^xf^p field-labour, 1 Chron. xxvii. 26, is meant. p3n, used of ar- rangement, procuring, here with nas^o, signifies the setting in order of the work, viz. the cultivation of the field. In the parallel member, nnriy^ carrying also its object, in itself is ad- missible: make preparations (LXX., Syr.); but the punctua- tion ^y^V (Targ., Venet.; on the other hand, Jerome and Luther translate as if the words were nni^n mnyi) is not worthy of being contended against : set it (the work) in the fields in readiness, i.e. on the one hand set forward the present neces- sary work, and on the other hand prepare for that which next follows ; thus : do completely and circumspectly what thy calling as a husbandman requires of thee, — then mayest thou go to the building and building up of thy house {yid. at ver. 3,
144 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
xlv. 1), to which not only the building and setting in order oF a convenient dwelling, but also the bringing home of a house- wife and the whole setting up of a household belongs ; prosperity at home is conditioned by this — one fulfils his duty without in the fields actively and faithfully. One begins at the wrong end when he begins with the building of his house, which is much rather the result and goal of an intelligent discharge of duty within the sphere of one's calling. The perf., with 1 after a date, such as "inx^ toyo niy^ and the like, when things that will or should be done are spoken of, has the fut. signi- fication of a perf. consec, Gen. iii. 5 ; Ex. xvi. 6 f., xvii. 4 ; Ewald, § 3445.
Ver. 28. Warning against unnecessary witnessing to the disadvantage of another :
Never be a causeless witness against thy neighbour ; Aud shouldest thou use deceit with thy lips ?
The phrase D3n"iy does not mean a witness who appears against his neighbour without knowledge of the facts of the case, but one who has no substantial reason for his giving of testimony ; D^n means groundless, with reference to the occasion and motive, iii. 30, xxiii. 29, xxvi. 2. Other designations stood for false witnesses (LXX., Syr., Targ.). Rightly Jerome, the Venet.^ and Luther, without, however, rendering the gen. con- nection DjrriJ?, as it might have been by the adj.
In 285, Chajug derives ^''^sn'l from nns, to break in pieces, to crumble; for he remarks it might stand, with the passing over of 6 into % for riwsni [and thou wilt whisper]. But the ancients had no acquaintance with the laws of sound, and therefore with naive arbitrariness regarded all as possible ; and Böttcher, indeed, maintains that the Hiphil of riDD may be TT'riDn as well as ninan ; but the former of these forms with i could only be metaplastically possible, and would be JrT'riDn {yid. Hitzig under Jer. xi. 20). And what can this Hiph. of nns mean ? " To crumble " one's neighbours (Ciiajug) is an unheard of ex- pression ; and the meanings, to throw out crumbs, viz. crumbs of words (Böttcher), or to speak with a broken, subdued voice (Hitzig), are extracted from the rare Arab, fatafit (fataßt), for which the lexicographers note the meaning of a secret, moaning sound. When we see DTiam standing along with ^^n^'r r^, then
CHAP. XXIV. 29. 145
before all we are led to think of nns [to open], xx. 19 ; Ps. Ixxiii. 36. Bat we stumble at the interrog. n, which nowhere else appears connected with 1. Ewald therefore purposes to read ^'^^^\ [and will open wide] (LXX. fx.rjSe irXarvvov) : '' that thou usest treachery with thy lips ; " but from nnsn, to make wide open, Gen. ix. 27, "to use treachery " is, only for the flight of imagination, not too wide a distance. On ni^ et num, one need not stumble ; ^i^'D,!, 2 Sam, xv. 35, shows that the connection of a question by means of 1 is not inadmissible; Ewald himself takes notice that in- the Arab, the connection of
the interrogatives \ and Js^ withj and t_j is quite common ;^ and thus he reaches the explanation : wilt thou befool then by thy lips, i.e. pollute by deceit, by inconsiderate, wanton testi- mony against others? This is the right explanation, which Ewald hesitates about only from the fact that the interrog. n comes in between the "i consec. and its per/., a thing which is elsewhere unheard of. But this difficulty is removed by the syntactic observation, that the jDerf. after interrogatives has often the modal colouring of a conj. or optative, e.g. after the interrog. pronoun, Gen. xxi. 7, quis dixerit, and after the in- terrogative particle, as here and at 2 Kings xx. 9, iveritne, where it is to be supplied (vid. at Isa. xxxviii. 8). Thus : et nvm persuaseris (deceperis) lahiis tuis, and shouldest thou prac- tise slander with thy lips, for thou bringest thy neighbour, without need, by thy uncalled for rashness, into disrepute?
" It is a question, aVnahar (cf. xxiii. 5), for which f (not U)
in the usual Arab, interrogative : how, thou wouldest ? one then permits the inquirer to draw the negative answer; "No, I will not do it " (Fleischer).
Ver. 29. The following proverb is connected as to its sub- ject with the foregoing : one ought not to do evil to his neigh- bour without necessity ; even evil which has been done to one must not be requited with evil :
Say not, " As he hath done to me, so I do to him : I requite the man according to his conduct."
1 We use the forms awa^ aha., ätJiümm, for we suppose the interrogative to the copula ; we also sa.y/ahad, vid. Mu/as^'al, p. 941.
VOL. II. K
146 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
On the ground of public Justice, the talio is certainly the nearest form of punishment, Lev. xxiv. 19 f. ; but even here the Sinaitic law does not remain in the retortion of the injury according to its external form (it is in a certain manner prac- ticable only with regard to injury done to the person and to property), but places in its stead an atonement measured and limited after a higher point of view. On pure moral grounds, ihe jus talionis ("as thou to me, so I to thee") has certainly no validity. Here he to whom injustice is done ought to commit his case to God, xx. 22, and to oppose to evil, not evil but good ; he ought not to set himself up as a judge, nor to act as one standing on a war-footing with his neighbour (Judg. xv. 11) ; but to take God as his example, who treats the sinner, if only he seeks it, not in the way of justice, but of grace (Ex. xxxiv. 6 f.). The expression 296 reminds of xxiv. 12. In- stead of ^"^^f^, there is used here, where the speaker points to a definite person, the phrase &^. Jerome, the Venet., and Luther translate : to each one, as if the word were vocalized thus, ^'i6 (Ps. Ixii. 13).
A Mashal ode of the slothful, in the form of a record of ex- periences, concludes this second supplement (vid. vol. i. p. 17) :
Ver. 30 The field of a slothful man I came past,
And the vineyard of a man devoid of understanding.
31 And, lo ! it was wholly filled up with thorns ; Its face was covered with nettles ;
And its wall of stones was broken down.
32 But I looked and directed my attention to it ; I saw it, and took instruction from it :
S3 " A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest. 34 Then cometh thy poverty apace,
And thy want as an armed man."
The line 296 with tf'''xb is followed by one with K>^S. The form of the narrative in which this warning against drowsy siothfulness is clothed, is like Ps. xxxvii. 35 f. The distin- guishing of different classes of men by K'''X and DIN (cf. xxiv. 20) is common in proverbial poetry. "•^I^^V, at the close of the first parallel member, retains its Pathach unchanged. The description : and, lo ! (nsni, with Fazer^ after Tliorath Emeth, p. 34, Anm. 2) it was . . . refers to the vineyard, for V33X nnj
CHAP. XXIV. 30-34. 147
(its stone wall, like Isa. ii. 20, "its idols of silver") is, like Num. xxii. 24, Isa. v. 5, the fencing in of the vineyard. i>)3 nby, totus excreverat (in carduos), refers to this as subject, of. in Ausonius: apex vitihus assurgit; the Heb. construction is as Isa. v. 6, xxxiv. 13 ; Gesen. § 133, 1, Anm. 2. The sing. fi^l^\) of ^''^iCßp does not occur ; perhaps it means properly the weed which one tears up to cast it aside, for (Arab.) hiindsh is matter dug out of the ground.^ The ancients interpret it by urticce; and -"^n^ plur. D'^iin (as from ?in), E. "in, to burn, ap- pears, indeed, to be the name of the nettle; the botanical name (Arab.) khullar (beans, pease, at least a leguminous plant) is from its sound not Arab., and thus lies remote.^ The Pual 1D3 sounds like Ps. Ixxx. 11 (cf. ^?3, Ps. Ixxii. 20) ; the position of the words is as this passage of the Psalm ; the Syr., Targ., Jerome, and the Venet. render the construction actively, as if the word were ^D3.
In ver. 32, Hitzig proposes to read nrnxi : and I stopped (stood still) ; but THN is trans., not only at Eccles. vii. 9, but also at ii. 15: to hold anything fast; not: to hold oneself still. And for what purpose the change? A contemplating and lookincT at a tiling, with which the turning and standin^j near is here connected, manifestly includes a standing still ; ''ri"'^!^"!, after i^.tH^Jj is, as commonly after ü'^an {e..g. Job xxxv. 5, cf. Isa. xlii. 18), the expression of a lingering looking at an object after the attention has been directed to it. In modern impres- sions, ""^JN ntnxi are incorrectly accentuated ; the old editions
have rightly nrns") with Rehia; for not ''33S 'ni, but n"»!;'« ''3JX are connected. In viii. 17, this prominence of the personal pronoun serves for the expression of reciprocity ; elsewhere, as e.g. Gen. xxi. 24, 2 Kings vi. 3, and particularly, frequently in Hosea, this circumstantiality does not make the subject pro- minent, but the action ; here the suitable extension denotes that he rightly makes his comments at leisure (Hitzig). 37 rT'a' is, as at xxii. 17, the turning of attention and reflection ;
1 This is particularly the name of what lies round about on the ground in the Bedouin tents, and which one takes up from thence (from kamesh, cogn. YJ2p |^2p, ramasser, cf. the journal Tijon, 1871, p. 2876) ; in modern Arab., linen and matter of all kinds ; vid. Bocthor, under linge and etojff'e.
2 Perhaps oXy^«, vid. Lagarde's Gesamm. AbhandL p. 59.
148 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
elsewhere "iD'i?^ nph, to receive a moral, viii. 10, Jer. vii. 28, is here equivalent to, to abstract, deduce one from a fact, to take to oneself a lesson from it. In vers. 33 and 34 there is a re- petition of vi. 9, 10. Thus, as ver. 33 expresses, the sluggard speaks to whom the neglected piece of ground belongs, and ver. 34 places before him the result. Instead of '^?,[}^r of the original passage [vi. 9, 10], here ^^nnö^ of the coming of poverty like an avenging Nemesis ; and instead of Tibnöl, here ^'•nbnai (the Cod. Jaman. has it without the "•), which might be the 2:)lene written pausal form of the sing. {vid. at vi. 3, cf. vi. 11), but is more surely regarded as the plur. : thy deficits, or wants ; for to thee at one time this, and at another time that, and finally all things will be wanting. Regarding the variants ^*^'ST and ^tf'n (with K in the original passage, here in the borrowed passage with "•), vid. at x. 4. Ip.^ 5i'''X? is translated in the LXX. by wairep äja6o<i Spo/uieix; (vid. at vi. 11); the Syr. and Targ. make from it a ^"J^^D X^3a, tabellarius, a letter- carrier, coming with the speed of a courier.
SECOND COLLECTION OF SOLOMONIC PROVERBS.— XXV.-XXIX.
The older Solomonic Book of Proverbs, with its introduction, i. 9, and its two supplements, (1) xxii. 17-xxiv. 22, (2) xxiv. 23-34, is now followed by a more modern Solomonie Book of Proverbs, a second extensive series of no^ü' ""^t^D, which the collector has introduced with the superscription :
XXV. 1 These also are proverbs of Solomon,
Which the men of Hezekiah the king of Judah have collected.
Hezekiah, in his concern for the preservation of the national literature, is the Jewish Pisistratos, and the " men of Hezekiah " are like the collectors of the poems of Homer, who were em- ployed by Pisistratos for that purpose. np^s"Da is the subject, and in Cod. 1294, and in the editions of Bomberg 1515, Hart- mann 1595, Nissel, Jablonsky, Michaelis, has Dechi. This title is like that of the second supplement, xxiv. 23. The form of the name '^JiPjnj abbreviated from in*ipTn| (=in^'i?[n)j is not
CHAP. XXV, 2. 149
favourable to the derivation of the title from the collectors themselves. The LXX. translates : Avrai al TratSeiaL XaXw- /xcovTO^ al ahiuKpLroL (cf. Jas. iii. 17), a? i^eypdylravro ot <f)i\ot ^E^eKLOv, for which Aquila has a? jxerrjpav ävBpe<i 'E^€KLov, Jei-ome, transtulerunt. P'^n^jü signifies, like (Arab.) iisah, np3^ to snatch away, to take away, to transfer from another place; in later Heb. : to transcribe from one book into another, to translate from one language into another : to take from another place and place together; the Whence? remains undetermined : according to the anachronistic rendering of the Midrash DnrJJD, i.e. from the Apocrypha ; according to Hitzig, from the mouths of the people ; more correctly Euchel and others : from their scattered condition, partly oral, partly written. Vid. regarding pTiyn, Zunz, in Deutsch - Morgenl. Zeitsch. XXV. 147 f., and regarding the whole title, vol. i. pp. 5, 6 ; regarding the forms of proverbs in this second collection, vol. i. p. 17 ; regarding their relation to the first, and their end and aim, vol. i. pp. 25, 26. The first Collection of Pro- verbs is a Book for Youth, and this second a Book for the People.
Ver. 2. It is characteristic of the purpose of the book that it begins with proverbs of the king :
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing ;
And the glory of the king to search out a matter.
That which is the glory of God and the glory of the king in itself, and that by which they acquire glory, stand here contrasted. The glory of God consists in this, to conceal a matter, i.e. to place before men mystery upon mystery, in which they become conscious of the limitation and insufficiency of their knowledge, so that they are constrained to acknowledge, Deut, xxix. 28, that " secret things belong unto the Lord our God." There are many things that are hidden and are known only to God, and we must be contented with that which He sees it good to make known to us.^ The honour of kings, on the contrary, who as pilots have to steer the ship of the state (xi. 14), and as supreme judges to administer justice (1 Kings iii. 9), consists in this, to search out a matter, i.e. to place in the ^ Cf. von Lasaulx, Philosophie der Geschichte^ p. 128 f. : " God and Nature love to conceal the beginning of things."
150 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
light things that are problematical and subjects of controversy, in conformity with their high position, with surpassing intelli- gence, and, in conformity with tlieir responsibility, with con- scientious zeal. The thought that it is the glory of God to veil Himself in secrecy (Isa. Iv. 15; cf. 1 Kings viii. 12), and of the king, on the contrary, not to surround himself with an impenetrable nimbus, and to withdraw into inaccessible remote- ness,— this thought does not, immediately at least, lie in the proverb, which refers that which is concealed, and its contrary, not to the person, but to a matter. Also that God, by the concealment of certain things, seeks to excite to activity human research, is not said in this proverb; for 2b does not speak of the honour of wise men, but of kings ; the searching out, 2b, thus does not refer to that which is veiled by God. But since the honour of God at the same time as the welfare of men, and the honour of the king as well as the welfare of his people, is to be thought of, the proverb states that God and the king promote liuman welfare in very different ways, — God, by concealing that which sets hmits to the knowledge of man, that he may not be uplifted ; and the king, by research, which brings out the true state of the matter, and thereby guards the political and social condition against threatening danger, secret injuries, and the ban of offences unatoned for. This proverb, regarding the difference between that which constitutes the honour of God and of the king, is followed by one which refers to that in which the honour of both is alike,
Ver. 3 The heavens in height, and the earth in depth, And the heart of kings are unsearchable. This is a proverb in the priamel-form, vid. p. 13. The praeam- hulmn consists of three subjects to which the predicate Ipn px [= no searching out] is common. "As it is impossible to search through the heavens and through the earth, so it is also impossible to search the hearts of common men (like the earth), and the hearts of kings (like the heavens) " (Fleischer). The meaning, however, is simple. Three unsearchable things are placed together : the heavens, with reference to their height, stretching into the impenetrable distance ; the earth, in respect to its depth, reaching down into the immeasurable abyss ; and the heart of kings — it is this third thing which the proverb
CHAP. XXV. 4, 5. 151
particularly aims at — which in themselves, and especially with that which goes on in their depths, are impenetrable and un- searchable. The proverb is a warning against the delusion of being flattered by the favour of the king, which may, before one thinks of it, be withdrawn or changed even into the con- trary; and a counsel to one to take heed to his words and acts, and to see to it that he is influenced by higher motives than by the fallacious calculation of the impression on the view and disposition of the king. The 7 in both cases is the expression of the reference, as e.g. at 2 Chron. ix. 22. pSI, not =pNni, but like Isa. xxvi. 19, Ixv. 17, for pxi, which generally occurs only in the st. constr.
There now follows an emblematic {vid. vol. i. p. 10) tetrastich :
Ver. 4 Take away the dross from silver,
So there is ready a vessel for the goldsmith ; 5 Take away the wicked from the king,
And his throne is established by righteousness.
The form iin (cf. the inf. Poal iJn, Isa. lix. 13) is regarded by Schultens as showing a ground-form l^n ; but there is also found e.g. i^V, whose ground- form is ''^'V ; the verb njrij R. jn (whence Arab, hajr.^ discedere), cf. nj^ (whence ^^^, semovit, 2 Sam. XX. 13 = Syr. dwagy, cf. Arab, dwjay, to withhold, to abstain from), signifies to separate, withdraw; here, of the sepa- ration of the ^''T^, the refuse, i.e. the dross {vid. regarding the plena scriptio, Baer's krit. Ausg. des Jesaia, under i. 22) ; the goldsmith is designated by the word H"!^, from ^y^, to turn, change, as he who changes the as yet drossy metal by means of smelting, or by purification in water, into that which is pure. In 5a njn is, as at Isa. xxvii. 8, transferred to a process of moral purification ; what kind of persons are to be removed from the neighbourhood of the king is shown by Isa. i. 22, 23. Here also (as at Isa. I.e.) the emblem or figure of ver. 4 is followed in ver. 5 by its moral antitype aimed at. The punctuation of both verses is wonderfully fine and excellent. In ver. 4, n:»^i is not pointed i^)».''.'!, but as the consecutive modus X)f>1 ; this first part of the proverb refers to a well-known process of art : the dross is separated from the silver (m/. absoL, as xii. 7, xv. 22), and so a vessel (utensil) proceeds from the goldsmith, for he
152 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
manufactures pure silver ; the b is here similarly used as the designation of the subject in the passive, xiii. 13, xiv. 20. In ver. 5, on the contrary, |i3*l (13*5) is not the punctuation used, but the word is pointed indicatively ps'I'i ; this second part of the proverb expresses a moral demand {inf. ahsol. in the sense of the imperative, Gesen. § 131, 4J like xvii. 12, or an optative or concessive conjunction): let the godless be removed, Tjpo '•pap, i.e. not from the neighbourhood of the king, for which the words are "I/O ''^P?^ ; also not those standing before the king, i.e. in his closest neighbourhood (Ewald, Bertheau) ; but since, in the absolute, >^^^, not an act of another in the interest of the king, but of the king himself, is thought of : let the godless be removed from before the king, i.e. because he administers justice (Hitzig), or more generally: because after that Psalm (ci.), which is the " mirror of princes," he does not suffer him to come into his presence. Accordingly, the punctuation is p"!2k*3j not pl^2 (xvi. 12) ; because such righteousness is meant as separates the V^l from it and itself from him, as Isa. xvi. 5 (vid. Hitzig), where the punctuation of "IDH? denotes that favour towards Moab seeking protection. There now follows a second pro- verb with 1^0, as the one just explained was a second with D''3^0 : a warning against ai'rogance before kings and nobles.
Ver. 6 Display not thyself before the king,
And approach not to the place of the great. 7 For better that one say to thee, " Come up hither," Than that they humble thee before a prince, Whom thine eyes had seen.
The Dv^? are those, like xviii. 16, who by virtue of their descent and their office occupy a lofty place of honour in the court and in the state, y^^ (vid. under viii. 16) is the noble in disposition and the nobleman by birth, a general designation which comprehends the king and the princes. The Hithpa. "i^nnn is like the reflex forms xii. 9, xiii. 7, for it signifies to conduct oneself as "i^n or l"nn3 {vid. xx. 29), to play the part of one highly distinguished. "l^V has, Qh, its nearest signification : it denotes, not like 32??, standing still, but approaching to, e.g. Jer. vii. 2. The reason given in ver. 7 harmonizes with the rule of wisdom, Luke xiv. 10 f. : better is the saying to thee, i.e. that one say to thee (Ewald, § 304i), y^^'n <n?j;_ (so the Olewejored is
CHAP. XXV. 8-10. 153
to be placed), TrpocravußrjOi dvcorepov (thus in Luke), than that one humble thee nnj '^^b^ not : because of a prince (Hitzig), for "»^D? nowhere means either pro (xvii. 18) or propter, but before a prince, so that thou must yield to him (cf. xiv. 19), before him whom thine eyes had seen, so that thou art not excused if thou takest up the place appropriate to liim. Most interpreters are at a loss to explain this relative. Luther : " which thine eyes must see," and Schultens : id videant oculi till. Michaelis, syntactically admissible: quem videre gestiverunt oculi tuiy viz. to come near to him, according to Bertheau, with the request that he receives some high office. Otherwise Fleischer : before the king by whom thou and thine are seen, so much the more felt is the humiliation when it comes upon one after he has pressed so far forward that he can be perceived by the king. But 2^3 is not specially the king, but any dis- tinguished personage whose place he who has pressed forward has taken up, and from which he must now withdraw when the right possessor of it comes and lays claim to his place, "iti'i? is never used in poetry without emphasis. Elsewhere it is equi- valent to ovriva, quippe quern, here equivalent to ovirep, quem quidem. Thine eyes have seen him in the company, and thou canst say to thyself, this place belongs to him, according to his rank, and not to thee, — the humiliation which thou endurest is thus well deserved, because, with eyes to see, thou wert so blind. The LXX., Syr., Symmachus (who reads 8a, 2"i?, ea 7rX?;^o?), and Jerome, refer the words " whom thine eyes had seen " to the proverb following ; but "lt^'K does not appropriately belong to the beginning of a proverb, and on the supposition that the word yv is generally adopted, except by Symmachus, they are also heterogeneous to the following proverb :
Ver. 8 Go not forth hastily to strife,
That it may not be said, " What wilt thou do in the end
thereof, When now thy neighbour bringeth disgrace upon thee ? " 9 Art thou striving with thy neighbour ? strive with him, But disclose not the secret of another ; 10 That he who heareth it may not despise thee, And thine evil name depart no more.
Whether ^n in yf^ is inßn., as at Judg. xxi. 22, or suhst., as at
154 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
2 Chron. xix. 8, is not decided : ad litigandum and ad litem harmonize. As little may it be said whether in i<>'J]}"i'^it [go not forth], a going out to the gate (court of justice), or to the place where he is to be met who is to be called to account, is to be thought of ; in no respect is the sense metaphorical : let not thyself transgress the bounds of moderation, ne te laisse pas em- porter; yv X^'^ is correlate to 31"ip ^13^ Judg, xxi. 22. The use of IS in 8b is unprecedented. Euchel and Löwenstein regard it as an imper. : reflect upon it (test it) ; but '"132 does not signify this, and the interjeetional DH does not show the possibility of an imper. Kal |2, and certainly not 13 (jS). The conj. }3 is the con- necting form of an original subst. (=pa7ij), which signifies a turning away. It is mostly connected with the future, accord- ing to which Nolde, Oetinger, Ewald, and Bertheau explain no indefinite, something, viz. unbecoming. In itself, it may, perhaps, be possible that no ]Q was used in the sense of ne quid {Venet. /tJ^Trore ri) ; but "to do something," for "to commit something bad," is improbable ; also in that case we would expect the words to be thus : no nb'yn JS. Thus HD will be an interrogative, as at 1 Sam. xx. 10 [vid. Keil), and the expres- sion is brachylogical : that thou comest not into the situation not to know what thou oughtest to do (Rashi : ynn i6 H''^ ^52n }ö T\)b]h no), or much rather anakoluth.; for instead of saying nib'I?rnD ynn N-'"|S, the poet, shunning this unusual i6 }Q, adopts at once the interrogative form : that it may not be said at the end thereof (viz. of the strife) : what wilt thou do ? (Umbreit, Stier, Elster, Hitzig, and Zöckler.) This extreme perplexity would occur if thy neighbour (with whom thou disputest so eagerly and unjustly) put thee to shame, so that thou standest confounded (oi^D, properly to hurt, French Messe?''). If now the summons 9a follows this warning against going out for the purpose of strife : fight out thy conflict with thy neigh- bour, then ^^nj set forth with emphasis, denotes not such a strife as one is surprised into, but that into which one is drawn, and the tiiam in causam tuam is accented in so far as 2b localizes the strife to the personal relation of the two, and warns against the drawing in of an "inx, i.e. in this case, of a third person : and expose not the secret of another ^'JJ^"-'?? (after Michlol 130a, and Ben-Bileam, who places the word under the a"D3 pnns,
CHAP. XXV. 11. 155
is vocalized with Patliacli on 3, as is Cod. 1294, and elsewhere in correct texts). One ought not to bring forward in a dispute, as material of proof and means of acquittal, secrets entrusted to him by another, or secrets which one knows regarding the position and conduct of another; for such faithlessness and gossiping affix a stigma on him who avails himself of them, in the public estimation, ver. 10 ; that he who hears it may not blame thee (isn = Aram. lErij viel, under xiv. 34), and the evil report concerning thee continue without recall. Fleischer : ne infamia tua non recedat i. e. nunquam desinat per ora hominum propagari, with the remark, " in nn"j, which properly means a stealthy creeping on of the rumour, and in 2V\^ lies a (Arab.) tarshyh" i.e. the two ideas stand in an interchangeable relation with a play upon the words : the evil rumour, once put in cir- culation, will not again retrace its steps ; but, on the contrary, as Virgil says :
Mobilitate viget viresque acquirit eundo.
In fact, every other can sooner rehabilitate himself in the public estimation than he who is regarded as a prattler, who can keep no secret, or as one so devoid of character that he makes public what he ought to keep silent, if he can make any use of it in his own interest. In regard to such an one, the words are con- tinually applicable, hie niger est, liunc tu, Eomane, caveto, xx. 19. The LXX. has, instead of ']r\2l\ 10b, read innnoi, and trans- lated it with the addition of a long appendix : " They quarrel, and hostilities will not cease, but will be to thee like death. Kindness and friendship deliver, let these preserve thee, that thou mayest not become one meriting reproaches (Jerome : ne exprohrahilis fias), but guard thy ways, ev(TvvaXkdKrü3<;." The first emblematical distich of this collection now follows:
Ver. 11 Golden apples in silver salvers.
A word spoken according to its circumstances.
The Syr. and Jerome vocalize l^T "ini, and the Targ. l^'l 13^ ; both are admissible, but the figure and that which is repre- sented are not placed in so appropriate a relation as by "i^lT "13T ; the wonderfully penetrating expression of the text, which is rendered by the traditional nikkud, agrees here with the often occurring i?M (= "'r?'!'?), also its passive i^2"=J. The defective
156 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
writing is like, e.g., n^?, Ps. cxii. 7, and gives no authority to prefer "ili'i = "is'ip (Böttcher). That ''?.^^, corresponding to the plur. "•n'lsri, is not used, arises from this, that nm is here mani- festly not a word without connection, but a sentence of motive, contents, and aim united. For V:SN"7yj the meaning of inj?zi presents itself from xv. 23, according to which, among the old interpreters, Symmachus, Jerome, and Luther render " at its time." Abulwalid compared the Arab, äiffan (äibban, also ^iffan, whence ^aly ^ifanihi, justo tempore), which, as Orelli has shown in his Si/non. der Zeithegriffe, p. 21 f., comes from the roots af ah, to drive (from within) going out, time as consisting of individual moments, the one of which drives on the other, and thus denotes time as a course of succession. One may not hesitate as to the prep. pV, for D"'JiN* would, like niny, denote the circumstances, the relations of the time, and ?V would, as e.g. in "•3 vy and ■'mi^'n'-'i^, have the meaning of Kara. But the form VJ2X, which like 1"'jSn, Lev. xvi. 12, sounds dualistic, appears to oppose this. Hitzig supposes that D^J?^ may designate the time as a circle, with reference to the two arches projecting in oppo- site directions, but uniting themselves together; but the circle which time describes runs out from one point, and, moreover, the Arab, names for time äfaf, äifaf, and the like, which inter- change with äiffan, show that this does not proceed from the idea of circular motion. Ewald and others take for VJQX the meaning of wheels (the Venet., after Kimchi, eVt rwv Tpoyßiv avTi]<;), whereby the form is to be interpreted as dual of )2i< = |SiK, " a word driven on its wheels," — so Ewald explains : as the potter quickly and neatly forms a vessel on his wheels, thus a fit and quickly framed word. But "im signifies to drive cattle and to speak = to cause words to follow one another (cf. Arab. sr/dk, pressing on = flow of words), but not to drive = to fashion in that artisan sense. Otherwise Böttcher, " a word fitly spoken, a pair of wheels perfect in their motion," to which he compares the common people " in their jesting," and adduces all kinds of heterogeneous things partly already rejected by Orelli (e.g. the Homeric einrpo'^dh'qv, which is certainly no commen- dation). But ''jesting" is not appropriate here; for what man conceives of human speech as a carriage, one only sometimes compares that of a babbler to a sledge, or says of him that he
CHAP. XXV. 11. 157
slioves the cart into the mud.^ Is it then thus decided that VJSX is a dual? It may be also like 1''7r^5 the plur. especially in the adverbial expression before us, which readily carried the abbre- viation with it {viel. Gesen. Lehrgehr. § 134, Anni. 17). On this supposition, Orelli interprets iSi< from |S5<, to turn, in the sense of turning about, circumstances, and reminds of this, that in the post.-bibl. Heb. this word is used as indefinitely as rpoiro^;, e.g. riD fSlxa, quodammodo (vkl. Reland's Analecta Ralhinica, 1723, p. 126). This late Talra. usage of the word can, indeed, signify nothing as to the bibl. word ; but that Q"'^2iX, abbreviated D^psx, can mean circumstances, is warranted by the synon. nniX. Aquila and Theodotion appear to have thus understood it, for their eVl dpfio^ovaiv avTw, which they substitute for the colourless ovrcoii of the LXX., signifies : under the circum- stances, in accordance therewith. So Orelli thus rightly defines : " D"'jas denote the ä/iiuäl, circumstances and conditions, as they form themselves in each turning of time, and those which are ascribed to -\21 by the suffix are those to which it is proper, and to which it fits in. Consequently a word is com- mended which is spoken whenever the precise time arrives to which it is adapted, a word which is thus spoken at its time as well as at its place (van Dyk, fai/ maJiUah), and the grace of which is thereby heightened." Aben Ezra's explanation, D''3D f'jj D"'''1^«"l^, in the approved way, follows the opinion of Abulwalid and Parchon, that VJSi^ is equivalent to VJD (cf. ali/ icajhihi, sua ratione)^ which is only so far true, that both words are derived from R. |D, to turn. In the figure, it is questionable whether by 2rir "'H-iSri, apples of gold, or gold-coloured apples, are meant (Luther: as pomegranates and citrons); thus oranges are meant, as at Zech. iv. 12. 3n|n denotes golden oil. Since fjoa, besides, signifies a metallic substance, one appears to be under the necessity of thinking of apples of gold ; cf. the brazen pomegranates. But (1) apples of gold of natural size and massiveness are obviously too great to make it probable that such artistic productions are meant ; (2) the material of
^ It is something different when the weaver's beam, minwal in Arab., is metaph. for kind and manner : they are \ihj minu-al wuhad, is equivalent tc they are of a like calibre, Arab, kalih, Avhich is derived from x-ooCwovs (xaXowoB/oi/), a shoemaker's last.
X
/
158 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the emblem is usually not of less value than that of which it is the emblem (Fleischer) ; (3) the Scriptures are fond of com- paring words with flowers and fruits, x. 31, xii. 14, xiii. 2, xviii. 20, and to the essence of the word which is rooted in the spirit, and buds and grows up to maturity through the mouth and the lips, the comparison with natural fruits corresponds better in any case than with artificial. Thus, then, we interpret " golden apples " as the poetic name for oranges, aurea mala, the Indian name of which with reference to or (gold) was changed into the French name orange, as our pomeranze is equivalent to pomum aurantmm. rii»2b'0 is the plur. of JT'Sb'öj already explained, xviii. 11 ; the word is connected neither with '^3t^♦, to twist, wreathe (Ewald, with most Jewish inter- preters--^), nor with nab', to pierce, infigere (Redslob, vid. under Ps. Ixxiii. 7) ; it signifies medal or ornament, from nab*, to behold (cf. I^'^y', Qea = öea/xa^ Isa. ii. 6), here a vessel w^iiich is a deHght to the eyes. In general the Venet. rightly, iv fxapcpco- fxaa-Lv äp'yvpov; Symmachus and Theodotion, more in accordance with the fundamental idea, iv irepißkeTnoL^; ap<^vpov ; the Syr. and Targ. specially : in vessels of embossed work CI^J?, from 1J3, to draw, to extend) ; yet more specially the LXX., kv opfJbiaKw aapSiov, on a chain of cornelian stone, for which, per- haps, iv cf)opfji,L(TKw (Jäger) äpyvpiov, in a little silver basket, is the original phrase. Aquila, after Bereschith ralha c. 93, translates by fMrjXa '^pvaov iv BcaKOL<; äp<^v(^iov. Jerome : in lectis argenteisj appears to have fallen into the error of taking ajj'ö for natJ'D, lectiis. Hitzig here emends a self-made aira^ Xe<y. Luther's " golden apples in silver baskets" is to be preferred.^ A piece of sculpture which represents fruit by golden little disks or points within groups of leaves is not meant, — for the proverb does not speak of such pretty little apples, — but golden oranges are meant. A word in accordance with the circumstances which
^ On this proceeds also the beautiful interpretation by ]\Iaimuni in the preface to More Nebuchim: Maskiyyotli sont des ciselures reticulaires, etc., according to Munk's translation from the Arab, text, vid. Kohut's Pers. Pentateuch- Vehers. (1871), p. 356. Accordingly Jewish interpreters {e.g. Elia Wilna) understand under VJQS the four kinds of writing : lac'S, TO"!, l>»1-n, and TiD, w^hich are comprehended under the memorial word DTlD-
2 A favourite expression of Goethe's, vid. Biichmaun's Geßiujelte Worte, 1688.
CHAP. XXV. 12. 159
occasion it, is like golden oranges which are handed round in silver salvers or on silver waiters. Such a word is, as adopting another figure we might say, like a well-executed picture, and the situation into which it appropriately fits is like its elegant frame. The comparison with fruit is, however, more signifi- cant ; it designates the right word as a delightful gift, in a way which heightens its impression and its influences.
Ver, 12. Another proverb continues the commendation of the effective word; for it represents, in emblem, the inter- changeable relation of speaker and hearer :
A golden earring and an ornament of fine gold — A wise preacher to an ear that heareth ;
i.e., as the former two ornaments form a beautiful ensemble, so the latter two, the wise pi'eacher of morality and an attentive ear, form a harmonious whole : 7y, down upon, is explained by Deut. xxxii. 2. DT3, at xi. 12, standing along with ?1N3, meant a ring for the nose ; but here, as elsewhere, it means an ear- ring (LXX., Jerome, Venet.), translated by the Syr. and Targ. by ^'^"Jpj because it serves as a talisman. A ring for the nose^ cannot also be here thought of, because this ornament is an emblem of the attentive ear : willingly accepted chastisement or instruction is an ear-ornament to him who hears (Stier). But the gift of the wise preacher, which consists in rightly dividing the word of truth, 2 Tim. ii. 15, is as an ornament for the neck or the breast v^. (= Arab, khali/, fem. n^?n = hili/t), of fine gold (003, jewel, then particularly precious gold, from Dri3, Arab, katam, recondere)? The Venet. well : k6(7/xo<; airvpo-
^ Vid. Geiger's Zeitschrift, 1872, pp. 45-48, where it is endeavoured to be shown that DT3i as an earring, is rejected from the later biblical litera- ture, because it liad become " an object used in the worship of idols," and that the word was used only of a ring for the nose as a permissible orna- ment, while yi]} was used for the earring. But that does not apply to the Solomonic era ; for that, in the passage under review, DT3 signifies a ring for the nose, is only a supposition of Geiger's, because it accords with his construction of history.
2 Hitzig compares Arab, kumet; but this means bayard, as Lagarde re- marks, the Greek >c6j:co(,ido;; and if by ons gold foxes (gold money) are to be thought of, yet they have nothing whatever to do with bayards (red-brown horses) ; cf. Boehnier, de colorum nominibus equinorum, in his Roman. Stud. Heft 2, 1872, p. 285.
160 THE BOOK OF PROVERDS.
'^pvcrov (fine gold) ; on tlie contrary (perhaps in want of another name for gold), Dn3 is translated, by the LXX. and Syr., by sardine ; by the Targ., by emerald ; and by Jerome, by mar- garitum} It looks well when two stand together, the one of whom has golden earrings, and the other wears a yet more precious golden necklace — such a beautiful mutual relationship is formed by a wise speaker and a hearer who listens to his admonitions.
Ver. 13. The following comparative tristich refers to faithful service rendered by words :
Like the coolness of snow on a harvest day- Is a faithful messenger to them that send him : He refresheth the soul of his master.
The coolness (ns^* from \y^, |3y, to be cool) of snow is not that of a fall of snow, which in the time of harvest would be a calamity, but of drink cooled with snow, which was brought from Lebanon or elsewhere, from the clefts of the rocks ; the peasants of Damascus store up the winter's snow in a cleft of the mountains, and convey it in the warm months to Damascus and the coast towns. Such a refreshment is a faithful messenger (vid. regarding "'''V, xiii. 17, here following "»''Vi^ as a kind of echo) to them that send him (vid. regarding this plur. at X. 26, cf. xxii. 21) ; he refreshes, namely (l explicativum, as e.g. Ezek. xviii. 19, etenim filius, like the 1 et quidem, Mai. i. 11, different from the 1 of conditional clause xxiii. o), the soul of his master ; for the answer which he brings to his master refreshes him, as does a drink of snow-cooled water on a hot harvest day.
Ver. 14. This proverb relates to the word which promises much, but remains unaccomplished :
Clouds and wind, and yet no rain —
A man who boastcth with a false gift.
Incorrectly the LXX. and Targ. refer the predicate contained in the concluding word of the first line to all the three subjects ; and equally incorrectly Hitzig, with Heidenheim, interprets "ip'ii^ nriDj of a gift that has been received of which one boasts,
1 Another Greek translates -ttiuusi; xp^avi. This 'ttIuutic: is a philological mystery, the solution of which has been attempted by Bochart, Letronne, and Field.
CHAP. XXV. 15. 161
although It is in reality of no value, because by a lying pro- mise a gift is not at all obtained. But as D'^nD nnf', xxiii. 3, is bread which, as it were, deceives him who eats it, so -\p^ nn» is a gift which amounts to a lie, i.e. a deceitful pretence. Rightly Jerome : vir gloriosiis et promissa non complens. In the Arab. salid, which Fleischer compares, the figure 14a and its counter- part 14^» are amalgamated, for this word signifies both a boaster and a cloud, which is, as it were, boastful, which thunders much, but rains only sparsely or not at all. Similar is the Arab, khidlab, clouds which send forth lightning, and which thunder, but yet give no rain ; we say to one, magno promissor hiaht : thou art (x4.rab.) haharahn hhdlahin^ i.e. as Lane trans- lates it : " Thou art only like lightning with which is no rain." Schultens refers to this proverbial Arabic, fulmen niihis in- fecundoe. Liberality is called (Arab.) imdnay^ as a watering, cf. xi. 25. The proverb belongs to this circle of figures. It is a saying of the German peasants, " Wenn es sich ivolket, so loill es regnen'"' [when it is cloudy, then there will be rain]; but according to another saying, '•^ nicht alle Wolken regnen'^ [it is not every cloud that yields rain]. " There are clouds and wind without rain."
Three proverbs follow, which have this in common, that they exhort to moderation :
Ver. 15 By forbearance is a judge won over,
And a gentle tongue breaketh the bone. rVi^ {vid. vi. 7) does not denote any kind of distinguished person, but a judge or a person occupying a high official posi- tion. And nri3 does not here mean, to talk over or delude; but, like Jer. xx. 7, to persuade, to win over, to make favour- able to one ; for D^3i< "n"^>' {vid. xiv. 29) is dispassionate calm- ness, not breaking out into wrath, which finally makes it manifest that he who has become the object of accusation, suspicion, or of disgrace, is one who nevertheless has right on his side ; for indecent, boisterous passion injures even a just cause ; while, on the contrary, a quiet, composed, thoughtful behaviour, which is not embarrassed by injustice, either ex- perienced or threatened, in the end secures a decision in our favour. " Patience overcomes " is an old saying. The soft, gentle tongue (cf. '^'], xv. 1) is the opposite of a passionate,-
VOL. II. L
162 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
sharp, coarse one, which only the more increases the resistance which it seeks to overcome. " Patience," says a German pro- verb, " breaks iron ; " another says, " Patience is stronger than a diamond." So here : a gentle tongue breaketh the bone (D"]3 = DVy, as at xvii. 22), it softens and breaks to pieces that which is hardest. Sudden anger makes the evil still worse ; long-suffering, on the contrary, operates convincingly ; cutting, immoderate language, embitters and drives away ; gentle words, on the contrary, persuade, if not immediately, yet by this, that they remain as it were unchangeable.
Ver. 16. Another way of showing self-control : Hast thou found honey? eat thy enough, Lest thou be surfeited with it, and vomit it up.
Honey is pleasant, salutary, and thus to be eaten sparingly, xxiv. 13, but ne quid nimis. Too much is unwholesome, 27a : avTov Kol fieX.iTO<i to irKeov earl %o\?7, i.e. even honey enjoyed immoderately is as bitter as gall; or, as Freidank says: des honges sileze erdriiizet so mans ze viel geniuzet [the sweetness of honey offends when one partakes too much of it]. Eat if thou hast found any in the forest or the mountains, ;IJ.1, thy enough (LXX. TO LKuvov ; the Venet. to apKovv aoi), i.e. as much as appeases thine appetite, that thou mayest not become sur- feited and vomit it out (^ni^ipni with Tsere, and ii quiesc, as at 2 Sam. xiv. 10 ; vid. Micldol 116a, and Parchon under Nip). Fleischer, Ewald, Hitzig, and others, place vers. 16 and 17 together, so as to form an emblematic tetrastich ; but he who is surfeited is certainly, in ver. 16, he who willingly enjoys, and in 17, he to whom it is given to enjoy without his will ; and is not, then, ver. 16 a sentence complete in itself in mean- ing? That it is not to be understood in a purely dietetic sense (although thus interpreted it is a rule not to be despised), is self-evident. As one can suffer injury from the noblest of food if he overload his stomach therewith, so in the sphere of science, instruction, edification, there is an injurious over- loading of the mind ; we ought to measure what we receive by our spiritual want, the right distribution of enjoyment and labour, and the degree of our ability to change it in succum et sanguinem, — else it at last awakens in us dislike, andi becomes an evil to us.
CHAP. XXV. 17, 18. 163
Ver. 17. This proverb is of a kindred character to the fore- going. " If thy comrade eats honey," says an Arabic proverb quoted by Hitzig, " do not lick it all up." But the emblem of honey is not continued in this verse :
^Make rare thy foot in tliy neighbour's house, Lest he be satiated with thee, and hate thee.
To make one's foot rare or dear from a neighbour's house is equivalent to : to enter it seldom, and not too frequently ; "li^in includes in itself the idea of keeping at a distance (Targ. ^?^1 'V.'?', Symmachns, vTToarecXov, and another: (pl/jicocrov ttoBu (Tov), and IP has the sense of the Arab, 'an, and is not the com- parative, as at Isa. xiii. 12: regard thy visit dearer than the house of a neighbour (Heidenheim). The proverb also is significant as to the relation of friend to friend, whose reciprocal love may be turned into hatred by too much intercourse and too great fondness. But '^V."! is including a friend, any one with whom we stand in any kind of intercourse. "Let him who seeks to be of esteem," says a German proverb, " come seldom ;" and that may be said with reference to him whom his heart draws to another, and also to him who would be of use to another by drawing him out of the false way and guiding on the right path, — a showing of esteem, a confirming of love by visiting, should not degenerate into forwardness which appears as burdensome servility, as indiscreet self-enjoyment ; nor into a restless impetuosity, which seeks at once to gain by force that which one should allow gradually to ripen.
Vers. 18-22. This group of proverbs has the word J?1 in each of them, connecting them together. The first of the group represents a false tongue :
Ver. 18 A hammer, and a sword, and a sharp arrow —
A man that beareth false witness against his neiglibour.
An emblematic, or, as we might also say, an iconological pro- verb ; for 18a is a quodlihet of instruments of murder, and ISZ» is the subscription under it : that which these weapons of murder accomplish, is done to his neighbour by a man who bears false witness against him — he ruins his estate, takes away his honour, but yet more : he murders him, at one time more grossly, at another time with more refinement ; at one time slowly, at another time more quickly. r?Pj from pa, is equiva-
164 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
lent to Y^^, and T?'? from |'S3 ; the Syr. and Targ. have instead NJ/llö (syna) from yis» = W? ; the word «y''1|, on which Hitzig builds a conjecture, is an error of transcription (vid. Lagarde and Levy). The expression, 185, is from the decalogue, Ex. XX. 16; Deut. v. 17. It is for the most part translated the same here as there : he who speaks against his neighbour as a false witness. But rightly the LXX., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther : false testimony. As b^ signifies both that which is mighty = power, and Him who is mighty = God, so "IJ? signifies both him who bears testimony and the testimony that is borne, properly that which repeats itself and thereby strengthens itself ; accordingly we say ^i? n^y, to give testimony in reply, — viz. to the judge who asks, — or generally to offer testimony (even unasked) ; as well as *iy? '^^^, Deut. xxxi. 21, i.e. as evidence (Jerome, pro testimonio). The prep. 3 with this njy has always the meaning of contra, also at 1 Sam. xii. 3 ; Gen. XXX. 33 is, however, open to question.
Ver. 19 A worthless tooth and an unsteady foot — Trust in a faithless man in the day of need. The form ni;i (with Mercha on the antepenult), Isa. xxix. 19, takes the place of an inf. absol. ; nj?h here (about the tone syllable of which Decid does not decide, thus without doubt Milra) is certainly not a subst. : tooth of breaking (Gesen.) ; for how strange such a designation of a worthless tooth ! \^ is indeed mas. in 1 Sam. xiv. 5, but it can also be used as fem., as <i"i., which is for the most part fem., also occurs as mas., Böttch. § 650. Böttcher, in the new Aelirenlese, and in the Lehrbuch, takes nyn as fern, of an adj. Vn, after the form bh ; but bh is not an adj., and does not form a fem., although it means not merely profanity, but that which is profane ; this is true also of the Aram. b-,n ; for xn?W, Esth. ii. 9, Targ., is a female name mistaken by Buxtorf. Are we then to read i^VI, with Hitzig, after the LXX. ? — an imimportant change. We interpret the traditional i^V^ with Fleischer, as derived from nyyi"), from VVp, breaking to pieces (crumbling), in an intransi- tive sense. The form ^^jno is also difficult. Böttcher regards it as also, e.g. Aben Ezra after the example of Gecatilia as part. Kal. =■ niJ^lD, " only on account of the pausal tone and the combination of the two letters J?D with ü instead of d." But
CHAP. XXV. 20. 165
this vocal change, with its reasons, is merely imaginary. JTiyiiD is the part. Paed, with the preformative ^ struck out, Ewald 169<i. The objection that the parL Pual should be ^yj^p, after the form "lybö, does not prove anything to the contrary ; for rill/iö cannot be the fem. so as not to coincide with the fern, of the j^art. Kal.^ cf. besides to the long ü the form without the Dagesh D^L^'i^V, Eccles. ix. 12 = D^'i^^O (Arnheim, Gramm, p. 139). nny^D ?jn is a leg that has become tottering, trembling. He who in a time of need makes a faithless man his ground of confidence, is like one who seeks to bite with a broken tooth, and which he finally crushes, and one who supports himself on a shaking leg, and thus stumbles and falls. The gen. con- nection 1J12 nuno signifies either the ground of confidence consisting in a faithless man, or the confidence placed in one who is faithless. But, after the Masora, we are to read here, as at Ps. Ixv. 6, nn3D, which Michlol 184a also confirms, and as it is also found in the Venice 1525, Basel 1619, and in Norzi. This nüno is constr. according to Kimchi, notwith- standing the Kametz ; as also ^i^'^'p, Ezra viii. 30 (after Abul- walid, Kimchi, and Norzi). In this passage before us, nü3ö njin may signify a deceitful ground of confidence (cf. Hab. ii. 5), but the two other passages present a genit. connection of the words. We must thus suppose that the — of nLinD and 7i?K^b, in these three passages, is regarded as fixed, like the ä of the form (Arab.) mif'al.
The above proverb, which connects itself with ver. 18, not only by the sound j;"i, but also by p, which is assonant with priT, is followed by another with the catchword yi :
Ver. 20 He that layeth aside his coat on a day of frost, vinegar on nitre, And he who -welcomes -with songs a dejected heart.
Is not this intelligible, sensible, ingenious? All these three things are wrong. The first is as wrong as the second, and the third, which the proverb has in view, is morally wrong, for one ought to weep with those that weep, Kom, xii. 15 ; he, on the contrary, who laughs among those who weep, is, on the most favourable judgment, a fool. That which is wrong in 20a, according to Böttcher in the Aehrenlese, 1849, consists in this, that one in severe cold puts on a fine garment. As if
166 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
there were not garments which are at the same time beautiful, and keep warm ! In the new Aehrenlese he prefers the reading na^^b : if one changes his coat. But that surely lie might well enough do, if the one were warmer than the other ! Is it then impossible that ^1^^, in the connection, means transire faciens = removens? The Kal niy, transiit, occurs at Job xxviii. 8. So also, in the poetic style, nnyn might be used in the sense of the Aram. ''"^yx. Riglitly Aquila, Symmachus, Trepiaipcov ; the Venet. better, a(j)aipovjiievo<i (Mid.). 133 is an overcoat or mantle, so called from covering, as tJ'^^? (R. 37, to fasten, fix), the garment lying next the body, vid. at Ps. xxii. 19. Thus, as it is foolish to lay off upper clothing on a frosty day, so it is foolish also to pour vinegar on nitre ; carbonic acid nitre, whether it be mineral (which may be here thought of) or vegetable, is dissolved in water, and serves diverse purposes (vid. under Isa. i. 25) ; but if one pours vinegar on it, it is destroyed. J^y3V is, at xxvi. 23 and elsewhere, a heart morally bad, here a heart badly disposed, one inclined to that which is evil; for T'ti' T^ is the Contrast of Hi'^ip Jjip^ and always the consequence of a disposition joyfully excited; the inconsistency lies in this, that one thinks to cheer a sorrowful heart by merry singing, if the singing has an object, and is not much more the reckless expression of an animated pleasure in view of the sad condition of another. ^V "i"**^" signifies, as at Job xxxiii. 27, to sing to any one, to address him in singing; cf. ?y I3"n, Jer. vi. 10, and particularly 3^"^^, Hos. ii. 16 ; Isa. xl. 2. The 3 of n'-}^2 is neither the partitive, ix. 5, nor the transitive, xx. 30, but the instrumental ; for, as e.ff. at Ex. vii. 20, the obj. of the action is thought of as its means (Gesen. § 138, Anm. 3*) ; one sings " with sono-s," for definite songs underlie his singing. The LXX., which the Syr., Targ., and Jerome more or less follow, has formed from this proverb one quite different: "As vinegar is hurtful to a wound, so an injury to the body makes the heart sorrowful ; as the moth in clothes, and the worm in wood, so the sorrow of a man injures his heart." The wisdom of this pair of proverbs is not worth much, and after all inquiry little or nothing comes of it. The Targ. at least preserves the
1 The writing wavers between J)T3^ bv (c^- ^TDy b^) and yn 3^"^y.
CHAP. XXV. 21, 22. 167
figure 20b : as he who pours vinegar (Syr. chalo) on nitre ; the Peshito, however, and here and there also the Targum, has jathro (arrow-string) instead of netliro (nitre). Hitzig adopts this, and changes the tristich into the distich :
He that meeteth archers with arrow on the string, Is like him who singeth songs with a sad heart.
The Hebrew of this proverb of Hitzig's ("TT''^ '"^"IP ^'''P) is un- hebraic, the meaning dark as an oracle, and its moral contents idl.
Ver. 21 If thine enemy hunger, feed him with bread ;
And if he thirst, give him water to drink. Ver. 22 For thereby thou heapest burning coals on his head,
And Jahve will recompense it to thee.
The translation of this proverb by the LXX. is without fault ; Paul cites therefrom Rom. xii. 20. The participial construction of 22a, the LXX., rightly estimating it, thus renders : for, doing this, thou shalt heap coals on his head. The expression, "thou shalt heap" (acopevaeL^), is also appropriate; for nnn certainly means first only to fetch or bring fire (vid. vi. 27); but here, by virtue of the constructio prcegnans with bv, to fetch, and hence to heap up, — to pile upon. Burning pain, as com- monly observed, is the figure of burning shame, on account of undeserved kindness shown by an enemy (Fleischer). But how burning coals heaped on the head can denote burning shame, is not to be perceived, for the latter is a burning on the cheeks ; wherefore Hitzig and Rosenmiiller explain : thou wilt thus bring on him the greatest pain, and appease thy ven- geance, while at the same time Jahve will reward thy generosity. Now we say, indeed, that he who rewards evil with good takes the noblest revenge ; but if this doing of good proceed from a revengeful aim, and is intended sensibly to humble an adversary, then it loses all its moral worth, and is changed into selfish, malicious wickedness. Must the proverb then be understood in this ignoble sense? The Scriptures elsewhere say that guilt and punishment are laid on the head of any one when he is made to experience and to bear them. Chrysostom and others therefore explain after Ps. cxl. 10 and similar passages, but thereby the proverb is morally falsified, and ver. 22 accords with ver. 21, which counsels not to the avenging of oneself.
168 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
but to the requital of evil with good. The burning of coals laid on the head must be a painful but wholesome consequence; it is a figure of self-accusing repentance (Augustine, Zöckler), for the producing of which the showing of good to an enemy is a noble motive. That God rewards such magnanimity may not be the special motive ; but this view might contribute to it, for otherwise such promises of God as Isa. Iviii. 8-12 were without moral right. The proverb also requires one to show himself gentle and liberal toward a needy enemy, and present a tw^ofold reason for this : first, that thereby his injustice is brought home to his conscience ; and, secondly, that thus God is well-pleased in such practical love toward an enemy, and will reward it ; — by such conduct, apart from the performance of a law grounded in our moral nature, one advances the happiness of his neighbour and his own.
The next group of proverbs extends from ver. 23 to ver. 28. Ver. 23 Wind from the north produceth rain ;
And a secret tongue a troubled countenance.
The north is called li^y, from i^v, to conceal, from the firmament darkening itself for a longer time, and more easily, like the old Persian apalihtara, as (so it appears) the starless, and, like cujuilo, the north wind, as bringing forward the black clouds. But properly the "fathers of rain" are, in Syria, the west and the south-west ; and so little can ps^; here mean the pure north wind, that Jerome, who knew from his own experi- ence the changes of weather in Palestine, helps himself, after Symmachus (pLaXvec ßpo-^yv), with a quid pro quo out of the difficulty : ventus aquilo dissipat pluvias; the Jewish inter- preters (Aben Ezra, Joseph Kimchi, and Meiri) also thus ex- plain, for they connect together b^)r\n, in the meaning yjnn, with the unintelligible ni'-'^n (far be it !). But pav may also, perhaps like ^6(f)o<i (Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitsch. -xxi. 600 f.), standing not without connection therewith, denote the north- west ; and probably the proverb emphasized the northern direction of the compass, because, according to the intention of the similitude, he seeks to designate such rain as is associated with raw, icy-cold weather, as the north wind (xxvii. 16, LXX., Sir. xliii. 20) brings along with it. The names of the winds are gen. fan., e.g. Isa. xliii. 6. ?)?.inn (Aquila, whivei;
CHAP. XXV. 24-26. 169
cf. viii. 24, dihivrjOrjv) has in Codd., e.g. the Jaman., the tone on the penult, and with Tsere Metheg {Thorath Emeth, p. 21) serving as moyn. So also the Arab, nataj is used of the wind, as helping the birth of the rain-clouds. Manifestly C)''pj;T3 D"'J3, countenances manifesting extreme displeasure (viel, the Kal oyj, xxiv. 24), are compared to rain. With justice Hitzig renders D'']Q, as e.g. John ii. 6, in the plur. sense ; because, for the in- fluence which the tongue slandering in secret (Ps. ci. 5) has on the slandered, the " sorrowful countenance " would not be so characteristic as for the influence which it exercises on the mutual relationships of men: the secret babbler, the confidential communication throwing suspicion, now on this one and now on that one, behind their backs, excites men against one another, so that one shows to another a countenance in which deep displeasure and suspicion express themselves.
Ver. 24 Better to sit on the top of a roof,
Than a quarrelsome woman and a house in common. A repetition of xxi. 9.
Ver. 25 Fresh water to a thirsty soul ;
And good news from a far country.
Vid. regarding the form of this proverb, vol. i. p. 9 ; we have a similar proverb regarding the influence of good news at xv. 30. Fresh cold w^ater is called at Jer. xviii. 14 D*")!^ n^O ; vid.. re- garding ii^, xviii. 27. " ^.'.y, cogn. ^^ and fiiy, properly to become darkened, therefore figuratively like (Arab.) gushiya ^alyli, to become faint, to become feeble unto death, of the darkness which spreads itself over the eyes" (Fleischer).
This proverb, with the figure of " fresh water," is now fol- lowed by one with the figure of a " fountain " :
Ver. 26 A troubled fountain and a ruined spring — A righteous man yielding to a godless man. For the most part, in ÜO one thinks of a yielding in conse- quence of being forced. Thus e.g. Fleischer : as a troubled ruined spring is a misfortune for the people who drink out of it, or draw from it, so is it a misfortune for the surrounding of the righteous, when he is driven from his dwelling or his possession by an unrighteous man. And it is true : the right- eous can be compared to a well (pyo, well-spring, from TV, a well, as an eye of the earth, and "tip», fountain, from nip, R. np,
170 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
"13, to round out, to dig out), with reference to the blessing which flows from it to its surroundings (cf. x. 11 and John vii. 38). But the words " yielding to " (contrast " stood before," 2 Kings X. 4, or Josh. vii. 12), in the phrase "yielding to the godless," may be understood of a spontaneous as well as of a constrained, forced, wavering and yielding, as the expression in the Psalm toi?3X"^3 [«on movehor, Ps. x. 6] affirms the certainty of being neither inwardly nor outwardly ever moved or shaken. The righteous shall stand fast and strong in God without fear- ing the godless (Isa. li. 12 f.), unmoveable and firm as a brazen Avail (Jer. i. 17 f.). If, however, he is wearied with resistance, and from the fear of man, or the desire to please man, or from a false love of peace he yields before it, and so gives way, — then he becomes like to a troubled fountain (t^'?"], cogn. Don^ Ezek. xxxiv. 18 ; Isa. xli. 25 ; Jerome : fons tiirbatiis pede), a ruined spring; his character, hitherto pure, is now corrupted by his own guilt, and now far from being a blessing to others, his wavering is a cause of sorrow tc> the righteous, and an offence to the weak — he is useful no longer, but only injurious. Rightly Lagarde : " The verse, one of the most profound of the whole book, does not speak of the misfortune, but of the fall of the righteous, whose sin compromises the holy cause which he serves, 2 Sam. xii. 14." Thus also e.g. Löwenstein, with reference to the proverb Savhedrin 925 : also in the time of danger let not a man disown his honour. Bachja, in his Ethics, referring to this figure, 26a, thinks of the possibility of restora- tion : the righteous wavers only for the moment, but at last he comes right (n^iyi Dl31?onD). But this interpretation of the figure destroys the point of the proverb.
Ver. 27. This verse, as it stands, is scarcely to be under- stood. The Venet. translates 27b literally : epevvd re Bo^af avTMv So^a ; but what is the reference of this D'ibZ) ? Euchel and others refer it to men, for they translate : " to set a limit to the glory of man is true glory ; " but the " glory of man " is denoted by the phrase D^N* lbs, not by D^bs ; and, besides, "ipn does not mean measure and limit. Oetinger explains : "To eat too much honey is not good; whereas the searching after their glory, viz. of pleasant and praiseworthy things, which are likened to honey, is glory, cannot be too much done,
CHAP. XXV. 27. 171
and is never without utility and honour;" but how can D^jilS be of the same meaning as y^H D'''i2Tn 133 or ti'n'nzi n''7Cb3n — such an abbreviation of the expression is impossible. Schultens, according to Rashi : vestigatio gravitatis eorum est gravitus, i.e. the searching out of their difficulty is a trouble; better Vitringa (since 1133 nowhere occurs in this sense of gravitas molesta ac •pondere oppressura) : investigatio prcestantice eorum est gloriosa ; but Vitringa, in order to gain a connection to 27a, needs to introduce etiamsi, and in both explanations the reference of the 0133 is imaginary, and it by no means lies near, since the Scripture uses the word 1133 of God, and His kingdom and name, but never of His law or His revelation. This also is an argument against Bertheau, who translates: the searcliingout of their glory (viz. of the divine law and revelation) is a burden, a strenuous occupation of the mind, since "ipn does not in itself mean searching out, and is equivocally, even unintelligibly, expressed, since 1133 denotes, it is true, here and there, a great multitude, but never a burden (as 133). The thought which Jerome finds in 27b : qui scrutator est majestatis opprimetur a gloria, is judicious, and connects itself synonym, with 27a; but such a thought is unwarranted, for he disregards the suff. of Dl'33j and renders 1133 in the sense of difficulty (oppression). Or should it perhaps be vocalized D133 (Syr., Targ., Theodotion, BeBo^a(T/j.€va = 011333) ? Thus vocalized, Umbreit renders it in the sense of honores ; Elster and Zöckler in the sense of d{ficultates (dificilia) i but this plur., neither the biblical, nor, so far as I know, the post-bibl. usage of the word has ever adopted. However, the sense of the proverb which Elster and Zöckler gain is certainly that which is aimed at. We accord- ingly translate :
To surfeit oneself in eating honey is not good,
But as an inquirer to enter on what is difficult is honour.
We read 0133 instead of 0133. This change commends itself far more than 11330 133 (ipm), according to which Gesenius explains : nimium studium honoris est sine honore — impossible, for 1!?.n does not signify nimium studium, in the sense of striving, but only that of inquiry : one strives after honour, but does not study it. Hitzig and Ewald, after the example of J. D. Michaelis, Arnoldi, and Ziegler, betake themselves therefore to
172 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the Arabic ; Ewald explains, for he leaves the text unchanged: " To despise their honour (that is, of men) is honour (true, real honour) ; " Hitzig, for he changes the text like Gesenius : " To despise honour is more than honour," with the ingenious remark : To obtain an order [insigne ordinis] is an honour, but not to wear it then for the first time is its bouquet. Nowhere any trace either in Hebrew or in Aramaic is to be found of the verb "ipn, to despise (to be despised), and so it must here remain without example.-^ Nor have we any need of it. The change of dY23 into 0133 is enough. The proverb is an antithetic distich ; 27a warns against inordinate longing after enjoyments, 275 praises earnest labour. Instead of Jlinnn t'l'i, if honey in the mass were intended, the words would have been nnnn K^iT (Eccles. V. 11 ; 1 Kings x. 10), or at least ^^'^. rii3~in (Amos iv. 9) ; nimn can only be a n. actionis^ and ^^^ ?3N its inverted object (cf. Jer. ix. 4), as Böttcher has discerned : to make much of the eating of honey, to do much therein is not good (cf. ver. 16). In 276 Luther also partly hits on the correct rendering: " and he who searches into difficult things, to him it is too diffi- cult," for which it ought to be said : to him it is an honour. C)"]?3, viz. nnm, signifies difficult things, as D'i?''"?., xii. 11, vain things. The Heb. 1?3, however, never means difficult to be understood or comprehended (although more modern lexicons say this),^ but always only burdensome and heavy, gravis, not dißciUs. 0133 are also things of which the "i|^n, i.e, the funda- mental searching into them (xviii. 17, xxv. 2 f.), costs an earnest effort, which perhaps, according to the first impression, appears to surpass the available strength (cf. Ex. xviii. 18). To overdo oneself in eating honey is not good ; on the contrary, the search- ing into difficult subjects is nothing less than an eating of honey, but an honour. There is here a paronomasia. Fleischer translates it : explorare gravia grave est ; but we render grave
1 The Hebrew meaning nzvesf/^rctj-e, and the equivalent Arabic liakr, con- temnere (contemtui esse), are derivations from the primary meaning (R. pn): to go down from above firmly on anything, and thus to press in (to cut in), or also to press downward.
2 Cf. Sir. iii. 20 f. with Ben-Sira's Heb. text in my Gesch. der jüd. Poesie, p. 204 (vers. 30-32) ; nowhere does this adj. ^33 appear here in this warning against meditating over the transcendental.
CHAP, XXV. 28-XXVI. I. 17.3
est not in the sense of molestiam creat, but gravitatem parit
(weight = respect, honour).
Ver. 28. This verse, counselling restraint as to the spirit, is
connected with the foregoing, which counsels to self-control as
to enjoyment :
A city broken through, now without walls — A man without self-control over his spirit.
A " city broken down " is one whose wall is " broken," 2 Chron. xxxii. 5, whether it has met with breaches (D''>n£)), or is wholly- broken ; in the former case also the city is incapable of being defended, and it is all one as if it had no wall. Such a city is like a man " who hath no control over his own spirit " (for the accentuation of the Heb. words here, vid. Thorath Emeth, p. 10) : cujus sphntui nulla cohihitio (Schultens), i.e. qui aiiimuni suum cohibere non potest (Fleischer : "ivy, R. nv, to press to- gether, to oppress, and thereby to hold back). As such a city can be plundered and laid waste without trouble, so a man who knows not to hold in check his desires and affections is in constant danger of blindly following the impulse of his un- bridled sensuality, and of being hurried forward to outbreaks of passion, and thus of bringing unhappiness upon himself. There are sensual passions {e.g. drunkenness), intellectual (e.g. ambi- tion), mingled (e.g. revenge) ; but in all of these a false ego rules, which, instead of being held down by the true and better ego, rises to unbounded supremacy.-^ Therefore the expression used is not iE^'D:7, but in^p ; desire has its seat in the soul, but in the spirit it grows into passion, which in the root of all its diversities is selfishness (Psychol, p. 199) ; self-control is accord- ingly the ruling of the spirit, i.e. the restraining (keeping down) of the false enslaved ego-life by the true and free, and powerful in God Himself.
xxvi. 1. There now follows a group of eleven proverbs of the fool ; only the first of the group has after it a proverb of different contents, but of similar form :
As snow in summer, and rain in harvest ; So honour befitteth not a fool.
If there is snow in high summer (Y^ to be glowing hot), it is
contrary to nature; and if there is rain in harvest, it is (accord-
1 Vid. Drbal's Empirische Psychologie, § 137.
174 THE BOOK OF PKOVERBS.
ing to the alternations of the weather in Palestine) contrary to what is usually the case, and is a hindrance to the ingathering of the fruits of the field. Even so a fool and respect, or a place of honour, are incongruous things ; honour will only injure him (as according to xix. 10, luxury) ; he will make unjust use of it, and draw false conclusions from it ; it will strengthen him in his folly, and only increase it. ^'l^<J (= "»^SJ) is the adj. to the P'd. m^p, Ps. xciii. 5 (plur. ^1X3) ; nixj, xix. 10, and niN3, xvii. 7, are also masc. and fern, of the adj., according to which, that which is said under xix. 10 is to be corrected. Symmachus and Theodotion have translated ovic eirpe^^ev, and have therefore read rijXJ. The root word is ns3 (as nnc^ to njnji')=nj3, to aim at something (yid. Hupfeld under Ps. xxiii. 2).
Ver. 2. This verse is formed quite in the same way as the preceding :
As the sparrow in its fluttering, as the swallow in its flying,
So the curse that is groundless : it cometh not.
This passage is one of those fifteen (vid. under Ps. c. 3) in which the N^ of the text is changed by the Keri into 17 ; the Talm., Midrash, and Sohar refer this Sh partly to him who utters the curse himself, against whom also, if he is a judge, such inconsiderate cursing becomes an accusation by God ; partly to him who is cursed, for they read from the proverb that the curse of a private person also (t:inn, IBicoTijii) is not wont to fall to the ground, and that therefore one ought to be on his guard against giving any occasion for it (vid. Norzi). But Aben Ezra supposes that üb and 1^ interchange, as much as to say that the undeserved curse falls on him (l^) who curses, and does not fall (i6) on him who is cursed. The figures in 2a harmonize only with ti7, according to which the LXX., the Syr., Targ., Veiiet., and Luther (against Jerome) translate, for the principal matter, that the sparrow and the swallow, although flying out (xxvii. 8), return home again to their nest (Ralbag), would be left out of view in the comparison by 17. This emphasizes the fluttering and flying, and is intended to affirm that a groundless curse is a "i^i.^^^ nnb, aimless, i.e. a thing hovering in the air, that it fails and does not take effect. Most interpreters explain the two Lameds as declaring the destination: ut passer (so. natus est) ad vagandum, as the sparrow, through
CHAP. XXVI. 3, 4. 175
necessity of nature, roves about . . . (Fleischer). But from XXV. 3 it is evident that the Lamed in both cases declares tlie reference or the point of comparison : as the sparrow in respect to its fluttering about, etc. The names of the two birds are, according to Aben Ezra, like dreams without a meaning ; but the Romanic exposition explains rightly "li^V by passereaitj and "liiT by hirondelle, for "IIDV (Arab, hisfuior), twitterer, designates at least preferably the sparrow, and "iim the swallow, from its flight shooting straight out, as it were radiating (yid. under Ps. Ixxxiv. 4) ; the name of the sparrow, duri (found in court- yards), which Wetstein, after Saadia, compares to nm, is ety- mologically different.-^ Regarding D3n, vid. under xxiv. 28. Rightly the accentuation separates the words rendered, " so the curse undeserved " (ri?Pp, after Kimchi, Micldol Idb, n^?i5),from those which follow ; N^H N7 is the explication of p : thus hovering iu the air is a groundless curse — it does not come (KU, like e.g. Josh. xsi. 43). After this proverb, which is formed like ver. 1, the series now returns to the " fool." Ver. 3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, And a rod for the back of fools.
J. D. Michaelis supposes that the order should be reversed: a bridle for the horse, a whip for the ass ; but Arnold! has here discovered the figure of speech merismus (cf. x. 1) ; and Hitzig, in the manner of the division, the rhythmical reason of the combination (cf. nan DH Di^ for Dm nD"" D'l^) : whip and bridle belong to both, for one whips a horse (Neh. iii. 2) and also bridles him ; one bridles an ass (Ps. xxxii. 9) and also whips him (Num. xxii. 28 f.). As whip and bridle are both service- able and necessary, so also serviceable and necessary is a rod, ^^'03 \ib, X. 13, xix. 29.
Ver. 4 Answer not the fool according to his folly, Lest thou thyself also become like unto him.
After, or according to his folly, is here equivalent to recognising the foolish supposition and the foolish object of his question, and thereupon considering it, as if, e.g., he asked why the ignorant man was happier than the man who had much know- ledge, or how one may acquire the art of making gold ; for "a 1 It is true that the Gemara to Nefja'im, xiv. 1, explains the Mishnic DnSX lin, "house -birds," for it derives niil from "in, to dwell.
X76 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
fool can ask more than ten wise men can answer." He who recognises such questions as justifiable, and thus sanctions them, places himself on an equality with the fool, and easily himself becomes one. The proverb that follows affirms ap- parently the direct contrary :
Ver. 5 Answer the fool according to his folly, Lest he regard himself as wise.
'''''??f'''.^y. (with MaMeph, and Gaja, and Chatep) here stands opposed to ^''03 lyrr^N. The Gospel of John, e.g. v. 31, cf. viii. 31,^ is rich in such apparently contradictory sayings. The sic et non here lying before us is easily explained ; after, or ac- cording to his folly, is this second time equivalent to, as is due to his folly : decidedly and firmly rejecting it, making short work with it (returning a sharp answer), and promptly replying in a way fitted, if possible, to make him ashamed. Thus one helps him, perhaps, to self-knowledge ; while, in the contrary case, one gives assistance to his self-importance. The Talmud, Schahbath 306, solves the contradiction by referring ver. 4 to worldly things, and ver. 5 to religious things ; and it is true that, especially in the latter case, the answer is itself a duty toward the fool, and toward the truth. Otherwise the Midrash : one ought not to answer when one knows the fool as such, and to answer when he does not so know him ; for in the first instance the wise man would dishonour himself by the answer, in the latter case he would give to him who asks the importance ap- pertaining to a superior.
Ver. 6 He cutteth off the feet, he drinketh injury, Who transacteth business by a fool.
He cutteth off, i.e. his own feet, as we say: he breaks his neck, il se casse le cou ; Lat. frangere brachium, crus, coxam ; frangere navem (Fleischer). He thinks to supplement his own two legs by those of the messenger, but in reality he cuts them off ; for not only is the commission not carried out, but it is even badly carried out, so that instead of being refreshed (xiii.
^ Thus after Ben Asher ; while, on the contrary, Ben Naphtali writes ?^D3 npy with Munach, vid. Thoratli Emeth, p. 41.
2 Vid. my dissertation on three little-observed passages in the Gospel of John, and their practical lessons, in the Evang. lutli. Kirchenzeitung, 18G9, Nos. 37, 38.
CHAP. XXVI. 7. 177
17, XXV. 13) by the quick, faitliful execution of it, he has to swallow nothing but damage ; cf. Job xxxiv. 7, where, how- ever, drinking scorn is meant of another (LXX.), not his own ; on the contrary, D^n here refers to injury suffered (as if it were iD^n, for the suff. of Don is for the most part objective) ; cf. the similar figures x. 26. So T3 n^^, to accomplish anything by the mediation of another, cf. Ex. iv. 13; with "im (Dnan), 2 Sam. XV. 36. The reading nsrpD (Jerome, Luther, claudus) is unnecessary ; since, as we saw, Hi'i^p includes it in the sihi. The Syr. reads, after the LXX. (the original text of which was etc T(av ttoSmv eavrov), '"'■fi?'?, for he errs, as also does the Targumist, in thinking that r\)ipD can be used for |*^;pO ; but Hitzig adopts this reading, and renders : " from the end of the legs he swallows injury who sends messages by a fool." The end of the legs are the feet, and the feet are those of the foolish messenger. The proverb in this form does not want in boldness, but the wisdom which Hitzig finds in it is certainly not mother-wit.^ Böttcher, on his part, also with n)fi?0, renders : " from the end of his feet he drinks in that which is bitter . . ." — that also is too artificial, and is unintelligible without the explanation of its discoverer. But that he who makes a fool his messenger becomes himself like unto one who cuts off his own legs, is a figure altogether excellent.
Ver. 7 The hanging down of the legs of a lame man ; And a proverb in a fool's mouth.
With reference to the obscure Ivl, the following views have been maintained : — (1) The form as punctuated appears directly as an imperative. Thus the LXX. translate, the original text of which is here : a^ekov iropeiav kvXKwv (conj. Lagarde's) koI irapoifilav e'/c aT6fjLaTo<; a^povwv, which the Syr. (with its imitator, the Targ.) has rendered positively : " If thou canst give the power of (sound) going to the lame, then wilt thou also receive (prudent) words from the mouth of a fool." Since Kimchi, V'hl has been regarded by many as the softening of the Imp. Piel 1^"^, according to which the Venet. translates : eTrdpare
1 The Venet. translates nnb* by »vov;, bo ntob' (the post-bibl. designa- tion of a fool) — one of the many indications that this translator is a Jew, and as such is not confined in his knowledge of language only to the bibl. Hebrew.
VOL. TI. M
178 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
KvrijjLa<i '^coXov ; and Bertheau and Zöclder explain : always take away his legs from the lame, since they are in reality useless to him, just as a proverb in the mouth of the fool is useless, — something that without loss might be never there." But why did not the poet write ^t^'^li}, or I'T'DH, or inp, or the like ? ""^I, to carry away, to dispense with, is Syriac (Targ. Jer. I., under Deut. xxxii. 50), but not Hebrew. And how mean- ingless is this expression ! A lame man would withstand a surgeon (as he would a murderer) who would amputate his legs ; for lame legs are certainly better than none, especially since there is a great distinction between a lame man (nD3, from HDSij luxare; cf. (Arab.) fasah, laxare, vid. Schultens) who halts or goes on crutches (2 Sam. iii. 29), and one who is maimed (paralytic), who needs to be carried. It comes to this, that by this rendering of la one must, as a consequence, with the LXX., regard ^^^^ [and a proverb] as object, accus, parallel to 0]?'^ D^gs] ; but " to draw a proverb from one's mouth " is, after xx. 5, something quite different from to tear a proverb away from him, besides which, one cannot see how it is to be caught. Rather one would prefer : attollite crura claudi (iit incedat, et iiildL promovehitis) ; but the jo of riDSö does not accord with this, and lb does not connect itself with it. But the explanation : " take away the legs from a lame man who has none, at least none to use, and a proverb in the mouth of fools, when there is none," is shattered against the " leg-taking-away," which can only be used perhaps of frogs' legs. (2) Symmachus translates ; i^eXcTrov Kvrnxai airo '^coXov; and Chajug explains VpT as 3 pret. Kal, to which Kimchi adds the remark, that he appears to have found w^, which indeed is noted by Norzi and J. H. Michaelis as a variant. But the INIasoretic reading is vp'i, and this, after Gesenius and Böttcher (who in this, without any reason, sees an Ephraimitic form of uttering the word), is a softened varia- tion from 1?1. Only it is a pity that this softening, while it is supported by cdiiis = aXko^, folium = (pvWov, faillir =f allere^ and the like, has yet not a single Hebrew or Semitic example in its favour. (3) Therefore Ewald finds, " all things con- sidered," that it is best to read Vp-n, " the legs are too loose for the lame man to use them." But, with Dietrich, we cannot
CHAP. XXVI. 7. 179
concur in this, nor in the more appropriate translation : " the legs of the lame hang down loose," to say nothing of the clearly impossible : " high are the legs of the lame (one higher than the other)," and that because this form V?3 for vpa also occurs without pause, Ps. Ivii. 2, Ixxlii. 2, cxxii. 6, Isa. xxi. 12 ; but although thus, as at Ps. xxxvi. 9, Ixviii. 32, at the beginning of a clause, yet always only in connection, never at the beginning of an address. (4) It has also been attempted to interpret VPT as abstr., e.g. Euchel: '• he learns from a cripple to dance, who seeks to learn proverbs from the mouth of a fool." D^i^t^ V?"l must mean the lifting up of the legs = springing and dancing. Accordingly Luther translates :
" As dancing to a cripple, So does it become a fool to speak of ■wisdom."
The thought is agreeable, and according to fact ; but these words do not mean dancing, but much rather, as the Arabic shows (yid. Schultens at xx. 5, and on the passage before us), a limping, waddling walk, like that of ducks, after the manner of a well - bucket dangling to and fro. And V?^, after the form ^3p^, would be an unheard-of Aramaism. For forms such as ^nb', swimming, and vK', security, Ps. xxx. 7, on which C. B. Michaelis and others rest, cannot be compared, since they are modified from sachxo, salw, while in VpT the ü ending must be, and besides the Aramaic VpT must in st. constr. be nvp^. Since none of these explanations are grammatically satisfactory, and besides VpT = vp/n = 'w\ gives a parallel member which is heterogeneous and not conformable to the nature of an emblematical proverb, we read '''^T\ after the forms ""^SV, ^'^'P'^ (cf. P^srij vi. 10, xxiv. 33), and this signifies loose, hanging down, from HP'n, to hang at length and loosely down, or transi- tively : to hang, particularly of the hanging down at length of the bucket-rope, and of the bucket itself, to draw water from the well. The }D is similar to that of Job xxviii. 4, only that here the connecting of the hanging down, and of that from which it hangs down, is clear. Were we to express the purely nominally expressed emblematical proverb in the form of a comparative one, it would thus stand as Fleischer translates it : %it laxa et ßaccida dependent (torpent^ crura a claudo^ sic sen- tentia in ore stultorum {sc. torpet h. e. inutilis est). The fool can
180 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
as little make use of an intelligent proverb, or moral maxim {dictum sententiosum), as a lame man can of his feet ; the word, which in itself is full of thought, and excellent, becomes halting, lame, and loose in his mouth (Schaltens : deformiter Claudicat) ; it has, as spoken and applied by him, neither hand nor foot. Strangely, yet without missing the point, Jerome : quomodo pidcras frustra habet claudus tibias, sic indecens est in ore stidtorum parabola. The lame man possibly has limbs that appear sound ; but when he seeks to walk, they fail to do him service, — so a ban-mot comes forth awkwardly when the fool seeks to make use of it. Hitzig's conjecture : as leaping of the legs on the part of a lame man . . ., Böttcher has already shown sufficient reasons for rejecting ; leaping on the part of any one, for the leaping of any one, were a court style familiar to no poet.
Ver. 8. This proverb presents to us a new difficulty.
As one binds a stone in a sling,
So is he -who giveth honour to a fool.
This translation is warranted by tradition, and is in accordance with the actual facts. A sling is elsewhere called V7\> ; but that no3"iD also in the passage before us signifies a sling (from DJ"i, to throw with stones = to stone or to throw stones = to sling, cf. Targ. Esth. v. 14 Dn, of David's slinging stones against Goliath), is supported by the LXX., Syr., and Targ. on the one side, and the Jewish Glossists on the other (Rashi : fronde^ \\.i\\. frombola). Eightly the LXX. renders "'i"'>"ri as a verb : o)? airohearfievei ; on the contrary, the Syr. and Targ. regard it as a substantive : as a piece of stone ; but "inx as a substantive does not mean a piece, as one would put into a sling to use as a weapon, but a grain, and thus a little piece, 2 Sam. xvii. 13 ; cf. Amos ix. 9. Erroneously Ewald : " if one binds to the sling the stone which he yet seeks to throw, then all his throwing and aiming are in vain ; so it is in vain to give to a fool honour which does not reach him." If one seeks to sling a stone, he must lay the lapis missilis so in the sling that it remains firm there, and goes forth only by the strong force of the slinging ; this fitting in (of the stone), so that it does not of itself fall out, is expressed by 3 "inv (cf.
CHAP. XXVI. 8. 181
xxs. 4 ; Job xxvi. 8). The giving is compared to the binding, the stones to the honour, and the sling to the fool : the fool is related to the honour which one confers on him, as the stone to the sling in which one lays it — the giving of honour is a slinging of honour. Otherwise (after Kimchi) the Venet. w? avvSe(Tfji,oi \l6ov iv XLOdSL, i.e. as Fleischer translates : ut qui crumenam gemmarum pleiiain in acervum lapidum conjicit. Thus also Ralbag, Ahron b. Josef, and others, and lastly Zöckler. The figure is in the form of an address, and ^^P.^ (from D^n, accicmulare, congerere, vid. under Ps. Ixvii. 28) might certainly mean the heaping of stones. But 15^ is not used in the sense of •T^i^^ 1?^ (precious stone) ; also one does not see why one precious stone is not enough as the figure of honour, and a whole heap is named ; but in the third place, iriiJ }3 requires for niiva a verbal signification. Therefore Jerome translates: siciit qui mittit lapldem in acervum 3Iercurii ; in this the echo of his Jewish teacher, for the Midrash thus explains literally : every one who gives honour to a fool is like one who throws a stone on a heap of stones consecrated to Mercury. Around the Hermes {epfxai)^ i.e. pillars with the head of Mercury {statues mercuriules or viales), were heaps of stones (k'pfiaKe<;), to which the passer-by was wont to throw a stone ; it was a mark of honour, and served at the same time to improve the way, whose patron was Mercurius (D''b"ipiö). It is self-evident that this Grseco-Koman custom to which the Talm. make frequent reference, cannot be supposed to have existed in the times of Solomon. Luther translates independently, and apparently rendering into German that in acervum Mercurii: that is as if one threw a precious stone on the " JRabenstein,''^ i.e. the heap of stones raised at the foot of the gallows. This heap of stones is more natural and suitable to the times of Solomon than the heap of stones dedi- cated to Mercury, if, like Gussetius, one understands nojiD of a heap of stones, sujjj'a corpus lapidatum. But against this and similar interpretations it is enough to remark that lliva cannot signify sicut qui mittit. Had such a meaning been intended, the word would have been ^''^^'l'? or "ily^P?. Still different is the rendering of Joseph Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and finally Löwenstein : as when one wraps up a stone in a piece of purple stuff. But I^P.^j purple, has nothing to do with the verb
182 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
D5"J ; it is, as the Aramaic i)3"!SI shows, a compound word ; the supposition of a denom. '"loa-iD thus proceeds from a false etymological supposition. And Hitzig's combination of HDJID with (Arab.) munjam, handle and beam of a balance (he trans- lates : as a stone on the beam of a balance, i.e. lies on it), is nothing but refined ingenuity, since we have no need at all of such an Arab, word for a satisfactory clearing up of nojiD. "We abide by the rendering of the sling. Böttcher translates : a sling that scatters ; perhaps nnjiD in reality denotes such a sling as throws many stones at once. Let that, however, her as it may : that he who confers a title of honour, a place of honour, and the like, on a fool, is like one who lays a stone in a sling, is a true and intelligibly formed thought: the fool makes the honour no honour ; he is not capable of maintaining it ; that which is conferred on him is uselessly wasted.
Ver. 9 A thorn goeth into the hand of a drunkard, And a proverb in a fool's mouth ;
i.e., if a proverb falls into a fool's mouth, it is as if a thorn entered into the hand of a drunken man ; the one is as danger- ous as the other, for fools misuse such a proverb, which, rightly used, instructs and improves, only to the wounding and grieving of another, as a drunken man makes use of the pointed instrument which he has possession of for coarse raillery, and as a welcome weapon of his strife. The LXX., Syr. (Targ. ?), and Jerome interpret "^V in the sense of shooting up, i.e. of growing; ; Böttcher also, after xxiv. 31 and other passages, insists that the thorn which has shot up may be one that has not grown to per- fection, and therefore not dangerous. But thorns grow not in the hand of any one ; and one also does not perceive why the poet should speak of it as growing in the hand of a drunken man, which the use of the hand with it would only make worse. We have here ''Ta nbv, i.e. it has come into my hand, commonly used in the 3Iishna, which is used where anything, according to intention, falls into one's hands, as well as where it comes acci- dentally and unsought for, e.g. Nazir 23a, SV2 T\\h]h \X\'2T\IV} ''Ö nPD "ib'a IT'n Tbv\ y^n "iba, he who designs to obtain swine's flesh and (accidentally) obtains lamb's flesh. Thus rightly Heidenheim, Löwenstein, and the Venet.: uKavOa aveßr] ek
CHAP. XXVI. 9. 183
'Xeipa fxe6vovTo<i. H^n signifies a thorn bush, 2 Kings xiv. 9/ as well as a thorn, Song ii. 2, but where not the thorns of the rose, and indeed no rose at all, is meant. Luther thinks of the rose with the thorn when he explains: "When a drunkard carries and brandishes in his hand a thorn bush, he scratches more with it than allows the roses to be smelled — so a fool with the Scriptures, or a right saying, often does more harm than good." This paraphrase of Luther's interprets T*! npy more correctly than his translation does ; on the other hand, the latter more correctly is satisfied with a thorn twig (as a thorn twig which pierces into the hand of a drunken man) ; the roses are, however, assumed contrary to the text. This holds good also against Wessely's explanation : " the Mashal is like a rose not without thorns, but in the mouth of a fool is like a thorn without a rose, as when a drunken man seeks to pluck roses and gains by his effort nothing but being pierced by thorns." The idea of roses is to be rejected, because at the time when this proverb was formed there were no roses in Palestine. The proverb certainly means that a right Mashal, i.e. an ingenious excellent maxim, is something more and better than a nin (the prick as of the Jewish thorn, Zizyphus vulgaris, or the Christus-i\\oYn, the Ziz. spina Christi) ; but in the mouth of a fool such a maxim becomes only a useless and a hurtful thing ; for the fool so makes use of it, that he only embarrasses others and recklessly does injury to them. The LXX. translates ^SJ'D by BovXeta, and the Aram, by NWtpö' ; how the latter reached this ''folly" is rot apparent; but the LXX. vocalized ^^'^, according to which Hitzig, at the same time changing "ii3^ into "i^^b', translates : " thorns shoot up by the hand of the hireling, and tyranny by the mouth of fools." Although a hired labourer, yet, on this account, he is not devoid of conscience; thus 9a so corrected has something in its favour : one ought, as far as possible, to do all with his own hand; but the thought in 9b is far-fetched, and if Plitzig explains that want of judgment in the state councils creates despotism, so, on the other hand, xxiv. 7 says that the fool cannot give counsel in the gate, and therefore he holds his mouth. ' The plur. QTiin, 1 Sam. xiii. 6, signifies not thorn bushes, but rock- splitting ; in Damascus, chocha means a little gate in the -wing of a large door ; viel. TVetstein's JSordaralien, p. 23.
184 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Ver. 10. All that we have hitherto read is surpassed in 6h- scurity by this proverb, which is here connected because of the resemblance of "lati'l to "iDtJ'. We translate it thus, vocalizino- differently only one word :
Much bringeth forth from itself all ;
But the reward and the hirer of the fool pass away.
The LXX. translates iroWa '^eifjud^erac iräcra crap^ acppovcov (all the flesh of fools suffers much), a-vvTpLß/jaerat jap rj eKo-raaL'i avrcav, which is in Hebrew :
An unfortunate attempt so to rectify the words that some meaning might be extracted from them. The first line of this translation has been adopted by the Syr. and Targ., omitting only the b, in which the self-condemnation of this deciphering lies (for "ib*! b means elsewhere, humanity, not the whole body of each individual) ; but they translate the second line as if the words were :
i.e., and the drunken man sails over the sea (nn^i? is separated into D"" -i3y, as nnpaa, Amos vi. 12, is to be separated into DJ "ii^3?) ; but what does that mean ? Does it mean that to a drunkard (but 113^, the drunken man, and not N2b, the drunkard, is used) nothing remains but to wander over the sea? or that the drunken man lets his imagination wander away over the sea, while he neglects the obligation that lies upon him ? Symmachus and Theodotion, with the Midrash (Rashi) and Saadia (Kimchi), take "i3i:> in 106 = "iJD (like Isa. xix. 10, "i3i^ = embankment, cf. p3P, Kelhn, xxiii. 5); the former translates by koI 0 ^pdcrcroov ä(ppova epL^pdaaei ra? opja^ auTov, the latter by Koi (pipboiv ä(j)pova ^ipiol '^oKov^j yielding to the imagination that ^n^y, like '^^^'^V, may be the plur. of »T^^y, anger. Jerome punctuates 21 as, xxv. 8, 2"!, and interprets, as Symmachus and Theodotion, 13CJ' both times = lib, translating: Judicium determinat causas, et qui imponit stulto silentium iras miligat ; but 31 does not mean judicium^ nor hh'^n'O determinat, nor 73 causas. As Gussetius, so also Ralbag (in the first of his three explanations), Meiri, Elia
CHAP. XXVI. 10. 185
"VYilna interpret the proverb as a declaration regarding quarrel- some persons : he causeth woe to all, and hireth fools, hireth transgressors, for his companions ; but in that case we must read 3^ ^^r 3"} ; 7?)^^, bringing woe, would be either the Po. of ??n, to bore through, or Pilel of P''n (b^n), to put into distress (as with pangs) ; but Q'^^jj, transgressors = sinners, is contrary to the O. T. usus loq.^ xxii. 3 (xxvii. 12) is falsely cited in its favour; besides, for 3^ there should have been at least Ht JT'^X, and why "lib»"! is repeated remains inexplicable. Others take fja-^hnö as the name of God, the creator of all men and things ; and truly this is the nearest impression of these two words, for ??in is the usual designation for divine production, e.g. Ps. xc. 2. Accordingly Kimchi explains : The Lord is the creator of all, and He gives to fools and to transgressors their main- tenance ; but ^''l^j?, transgressors, is Mishnic, not bibl. ; and 13b' means to hire, but not to supply with food. The proverb is thus incapable of presenting a thought like Matt. v. 45 (He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good). Others translate : " The Lord is creator of all, and takes fools, takes idlers, into His service." Thus rendered, the proverb is offen- sive; wherefore Rashi, Moses Kimchi, Arama, and others regard the Mashal as in the mouth of fools, and thus they take vers. 9 and 10 together as a tetrastich. Certainly this second collection of proverbs contains also tetrastiches ; but vers. 9 and 10 cannot be regarded as together forming a tetrastich, because 3"i (which is valid against Kimchi also) cannot mean God the Lord : 3"}, Lord, is unheard of in bibl. Heb., and at least the word 3nn must be used for God. The Venet. on this account does not follow Kimchi, but translates, "Ap^d^v TrXdrret iravra^ koX fiiaOovraL fioopov koX fiiadovrai o)? 7rapaßdTr}<i (ought to have been irapaßdra'i) ; but who could this cunning man be? Perhaps the Venet. is to be understood, after Geca- tilia (in Rashi) : a great (rich) man performs all manner of things ; but if he hires a fool, it is as if he hired the first best who pass along the way. But that ^Pin is used in the general sense of to execute, to perform, is without example, and im- probable. Also the explanation : a ruler brings grief, i.e. severe oppression, upon all (Abulwalld, Immanuel, Aben Ezra, who, in his smaller grammar, explains 3"i = 3T after Isa. xlix. 9 ;
186 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
C. B. Micliaells : dolore afficit omnes), does not recommend itself; for ^bin, whether it be from bbn, Isa. li. 9 (to bore through), or from TTI, Ps. xxix. 9 (to bring on the pangs of birth), is too strong a word for hurting ; also the clause, thus generally understood, is fortunately untrue. Translated as by Euchel : " the prominent persons destroy all ; they keep fools in pay, and favour vagabonds," — it sounds as if it had been picked up in an assembly of democrats. On the other hand, the proverb, as translated by Luther :
A good master maketh a thing right ;
But he who hireth a bungler, by him it is spoiled,
is worthy of the Book of Proverbs. The second line is here freely rendered, but it is also appropriate, if we abide closer by the words of the text, in this connection. Fleischer: Magister {artifex peritus) effingit omnia (i.e. bene perficit qucecunque ei committimtur) ; qui autem stultum conducit, conducit transeuntes (i.e. idem facit ac si homines ignotos et forte transeuntes ad opus gravius et diß.cilius conduceret). Thus also Gesenius, Böttcher, and others, who all, as Gecatilia above, explain Ciny, rov'i Tv^ovTa'^, the first best. But we are reluctantly constrained to object to this thought, because 3"i nowhere in bibl. Hebrew signifies a master; and the 1 of the second "I3bl cannot bear that rendering, ac si. And if we leave it out, we nevertheless encounter a difficulty in ^?in, which cannot be used of human production. Many Christian interpreters (Cocceius, Schultens, Schelling, Ewald, Bertheau, Stier, Zöckler) give to m a mean- ing which is found in no Jewish interpreter, viz. Sagittarius, from yy] (^^1)5 Gen. xlix. 23 (and perhaps Ps. xviii. 15), after the forms 1V, "itr, the plur. of which, D""!!"!, is found at Job xvi. 13, Jer. 1. 29, but in a connection which removes all doubt from the meaning of the word. Here also y\ may be more closely defined by '•■^ino ; but how then does the proverb stand ? " an archer who wounds everything, and he who hires a fool, and hires passers-by " (Ewald : street-runners), i.e. they are alike. But if the archer piercing everything is a comic Hercules furens, then, in order to discover the resemblance between the three, there is need of a portion of ingenuity, such as is only particularly assigned to the favoured. But it is also
CHAP. XXVL 11. 187
against tlie form and the usage of the wort! to interpret D''l2y simply of rogues and vagabonds. Several interpreters have supposed that m and ^2 must stand in a certain interchange- able relation to each other. Thus, e.g., Ahron b. Josef : " Much makes amazement to all, but especially one who hires a fool. . . ." But this "especially" (before all) is an expression smuggled in. Agreeing with Umbreit and Plitzig, we trans- late line first ; but in translating line second, we follow our own method :
Much bringeth all out of it ; i.e., where there is much, then one has it in his power, if he begins right, to undertake everything. 2"] has by bb the defini- tion of a neuter, so as to designate not only many men. Ex, xix. 21, but also much ability in a pecuniary and facultative sense (cf. the subst. y}, Isa. Ixiii. 7; Ps. cxlv. 7); and of the much which bringeth forth all out of itself, effects all by itself, ^pin with equal right might be used, as xxv. 23, of the north wind. The antithesis 106 takes this form :
But the reward (read "lab'O ^°d the master (who hires him for wages) of the fool pass away,
i.e. perish ; ^''l^'y, as if "^^V, is used of chaff, Isa. xxix. 5 ; of stubble, Jer. xiii, 24 ; of shadow, Ps. cxliv. 4. That which the fool gains passes away, for he squanders it ; and he who took him into his service for wages is ruined along with him, for his work is only pernicious, not useful. Although he who pos- sesses much, and has great ability, may be able to effect every- thing of himself, yet that is not the case when he makes use of the assistance therein of foolish men, who not only do not accomplish anything, but, on the contrary, destroy everything, and are only ruinous to him who, with good intention, associates them with himself in his work. That the word must be more accurately "^^^^ instead of i"'2b"i, one may not object, since "labl is perfectly unambiguous, and is manifestly the object. Ver. 11. The series of proverbs regarding fools is continued :
Like a dog Avhich returneth to his vomit, Is a fool who Cometh again with his folly.
yf is like Hiic^, particip. ; only if the punctuation were 3^33, ought " which returneth to his vomit " to be taken as a
188 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
relative clause (vid. under Ps. xxxviii. 14). Regarding bv as designating the terminus quo with verbs of motions, vid. Köhler under Mai. iii. 24. On i^\?. = N'i?, cf. xxlii. 8. Luther rightly : as a dog devours again his vomit. The LXX. translate : coa-Trep Kvcov orav iTrekOrj evrt rov eavrov eixerov ; the reference in 2 Pet. ii. 22 : kvwv kiria-Tpe-^a'i eirl to iSlov i^epafjua, is thus not from the LXX. ; the Venet. is not connected with this N. T. citation, but with the LXX., if its accordance with it is not merely accidental. To devour again its vomit is common with the dog.^ Even so, it is the manner of fools to return again in word and in deed to their past folly (vid. regarding ny\i^ with 2 of the object, xvii. 9); as an Aram, popular saying has it : the fool always falls back upon his foolish conduct.^ He must needs do so, for folly has become to him a second nature ; but this " must " ceases when once a divine light shines forth upon him. The LXX. has after ver. 11 a distich which is literally the same as Sir. iv. 21.
Ver. 12 Seest thou a man who is wise in his own eyes ? The fool hath more hope than he. Regarding the per/, lypotheticum ^''X'l, vid. at xxii. 29. Line second is repeated, xxix. 20, unchanged. I^^??, prce eo, is equi- valent to the Mishnic ^ ^p '^nS'^^plus quam ei. As the conversion of a sinner, who does not regard himself as righteous, is more to be expected than that of a self-righteous man (Matt. ix. 12 f.), so the putting right of a fool, who is conscious that he is not wise (cf. xxiv. 7), is more likely to be effected than that of one deeming himself wise ; for the greatest hindrance to any turn- ing toward that which is better lies in the delusion that he does not need it.^ Thus far the group of proverbs regarding fools.
There follows now a group of proverbs regarding the slothful :
Ver. 13 The slothful saith there is a lion without, A lion in the midst of the streets ;
' Vid. Schulze's Die bibl. Sprichwörter der deutschen Sprache, p. 71 f.
* Vid. Wahl's Das Sprichwort der heh.-aram. Literatur, p. 147; Duke's Rahhin. Blumenlese, p. 9.
3 The Targum has 126 after Codd. n''3!p 3D X^DD DpQ (= Syr. peJcach, expedit, convenit, melius est), it is far better circuuistanced regarding the fool han regarding him. Vid, Geiger's Zeitschr. vi. (1868), p. 154.
CHAP. XXVI. 14-16. 189
cf. the original of this proverb, xxii. 13. PyVJ', to say nothing of ?nK^, is not the jackal ; ?n^ is the bibl. name for the lion. T? is the more general expression for ^'lipa, Isa. v. 25 ; by the streets he thinks of the rows of houses that form them.
Ver. 14 The door tumeth on its hinges, And the sluggard on his bed.
The comparison is clear. The door turns itself on its hinges, on which it hangs, in and out, without passing beyond the narrow space of its motion ; so is the fool on his bed, where he turns himself from the one side to the other. He is called pvy? because he is fast glued to the place where he is (Arab. 'azila), and cannot be free (contrast of the active, cf. Arab. liafyf, moving nimbly, agilis). But the door offers itself as a comparison, because the diligent goes out by it to begin his work without (xxiv, 27 ; Ps. civ. 23), while the sluggard rolls himself about on his bed. The hook, the hinge, on which the door is moved, called I^V, fi'om "i^V, to turn,^ has thus the name of aiDn.
Ver. 15 The slothful has thrust his hand into the dish,
It is hard for him to bring it back to his mouth again.
A variation of xix. 24 ; the fut. HSTti''' there, is here explained
by ^y^V^^ nx^j.
Ver. 16 The sluggard is wise in his own eyes,
More than seven men who give an excellent answer.
Between sloth fulness and conceit there exists no inward neces- sary mutual relation. The proverb means that the sluggard as such regards himself as wiser than seven, who all together answer well at any examination : much labour — he thinks with himself — only injures the health, blunts men for life and its joys, leads only to over-exertion ; for the most prudent is, as a general rule, crack-brained. Böttcher's ^'maulfaule" [slow to speak] belongs to the German style of thinking ; böV KJC'I' in Syr. is not he who is slow to speak, but he who has a
I The Arab, verb signifies radically : to turn, hke the Persian verbs kashatn and kardydan, and like our " werden " [to grow, turn], accords with verier e (Fleischer).
190 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
faltering tongue.^ Seven is the number of manlfoldness In completed unfolding (ix. 1). Meiri thinks, after Ezra vii. 14, on the council of seven of the Asiatic ruler. But seven is a round number of plurality, ver. 25, xxiv. 16, vi. 31. Regard- ing ^V^, vid. at xi. 22.
A series of proverbs which recommend the love of peace, for they present caricatures of the opposite :
Ver. 17 He seizeth by the ears a dog passing by,
Who is excited by a strife which concerns him not. According to the accentuation in the text, the proverb is to be translated with Fleischer: Qualis est qui prehendit aiires canis, talis est qui forte transiens ira abripitur propter rixam alienam {eique temere se immiscet). Since he is cautioned against un- warranted interference, the expression pB ^^i^np might have been used (xiv. 10), according to which the Syr. translates ; but 3^T''? substantiates the originality of "isynD {vid. xiv. 16, XX. 2). On the other hand, the placing together, without any connection of the two participles, is perplexing; why not "layrini ~i3'y ? For it is certainly not meant, that falling into a passion he passes by; but that passing by, he falls into a passion ; for he stands to this object. The Targumist, feeling this also, renders ">3V in the sense of being angry, but contrary to the usus loq. Wherefore the conjecture of Euchel and Abramsohn commends itself, that "I2'y belongs to 3^3 — the figure thereby becomes more distinct. To seize one's own dog by the ear is not dangerous, but it is not advisable to do this with a strange dog. Therefore i^y belongs as a necessary attribute to the dog. The dog accidentally passing by corresponds to the strife to which one stands in no relation {p'^b 3''"i, vid. regarding the Makkeph, Baer's Genesis, p. 85, not. 9). Who- ever is excited to passion about a strife that does not belong to him, is like one who lays hold by the ears (the LXX. arbitrarily : by the tail) of a dog that is passing by — to the one or to the other it happens right when he brings evil upon himself thereby.
Vers. 18, 19. These verses form a tetrastich : Ver. 18 As a man who casteth brands, And arrows, and death ;
» The Aram. ^QV is the Hebr. ^vy, as Süy = n!»);; but in Arab, corre- sponds not to ''atul, but to 'azal.
CHAP. XXVI. 19. 191
19 So is tlie man who deceiveth his neighbour, And saith : I only make sport.
The old translations of rhrhn^ are very diverse. Aquila has rendered it by KaKorjOt^ofievo'; ; Symmachus : Treipcofievot ; the Syr.: the vaincrlorious ; the Targ. : nnna (from nnj), a suc- cessor (spiritually) ; Jerome : noxius (injurious ; for which Luther: secret). There is thus no traditional translation. Kimchi explains the word by VJnii'n {Venet. e^ecrröj?) ; Aben Ezra by ^L3n:^'^ (from HLD'J'), to behave thoughtlessly, foolishly ; but both erroneously, confounding with it '"^p^l, Gen. xlvii. 13, which is formed from nn7 and not from ^\y>^ and is related to ^^s^, according to wliich Tbrhno would designate him who exerts himself (Rashi, yrriDn), or who is worn out (Saadia : who does not know what to do, and in weariness passes his time). The root ^rh (rb, whence the reflex form rkjj^^^, like iTOnrpnn^ from •"^no^ no) leads to another primary idea. The root n? presents in (Arab.) aliha (vid. Fleischer in the Comm. zur Genesis, p. 57), loaliha, and taliha, formed from the 8th form of this verb (aiitcdah), the fundamental meaning of internal and external unrest; these verbs are used of the effect of fear (shrinking back from fear), and, generally, the want of self-command; the Syr. otlaliiah, to be terrified, ohstupescere, confirms this primary conception, connecting itself with the R. ri7. Accord- ingly, he who shoots every possible death-bringing arrow, is thought of as one who is beside himself, one who is of confused mind, in which sense the passive forms of (Arab.) alah and talah are actually used. Schultens' reference to (Arab.) lah micare, according to which n?n?ni33 must mean siciit ludicram micationem exercens (Böttcher : one who exerts himself ; Mal- bim : one who scoffs, from Pnn)^ is to be rejected, because nSn^no must be the direct opposite of pH'^'P ; and Ewald's com- parison of (Arab.) icah and akhlch, to be entangled, distorted, Idh, to be veiled, confounds together heterogeneous words. Regarding D"'ipT (from P^J), burning arrows, vid. under Isa. 1. 11. Death stands third, not as comprehensive (that which is deadly of every kind), but as a climax (yea, even death itself). The )? of the principal sentence, correlate to 3 of the contiguous clause, has the Makkeph in our editions; but the laws of the metrical Makkeph require K'''S J3 (with Mitnach), as it occurs
192 TUE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
e.g. in Cod. 1204. A man who gives vent to his malice against his neighbour, and then says : seest thou not that . . . (NPn, like Arab, aid), i.e. I am only jesting, I have only a joke with thee : he exhibits himself as being mad, who in blind rage scatters about him deadly arrows.
There now follow proverbs regarding the nirgdn, the slanderer (vid. regarding the formation and import of this word at xvi. 28):
Ver. 20 Where the wood failcth, the fire goeth out ;
And where do tale-bearer, discord cometh to silence.
Wood, as material for building or for burning, is called, with the plur. of its product, I3''Vy. Since DDX is the absolute end of a thing, and thus expresses its no longer existing, so it was more appropriate to wood (Fleischer: consumtis lignis) than to the tale-bearer, of whom the proverb says the same thing as xxii. 10 says of the mocker.
Ver. 21 Black coal to burning coal, and wood to fire ; And a contentious man to stir up strife.
The Venet. translates QHS by Kapßoöv, and npna by avOpa^; the former (from Ons, Arab, fahuma, to be deep black) is coal in itself; the latter (from ?f]^, jaham, to set on fire, and intrans. to burn), coal in a glowing state (e.g. xxv. 22 ; Ezek. i. 13). Black coal is suited to glowing coal, to nourish it ; and wood to the fire, to sustain it ; and a contentious man is suited for and serves this purpose, to kindle up strife, "iin signifies to be hot, and the Pilpel ">Dir'j to heat, i.e. to make hot or hotter. The three — coal, wood, and the contentious man — are alike, in that they are a means to an end.
Ver. 22 The words of the tale-bearer are like dainty morsels ; And they glide down into the innermost parts.
A repetition of xviii. 8.
The proverbs next following treat of a cognate theme, hypocrisy (the art of dissembling), which, under a shining l_gleisse7{] exterior,^ conceals hatred and destruction : Ver. 23 Dross of silver spread over an earthen vessel — Lips glowing with love and a base heart.
^ Vid. regarding gleisen (to give a deceitful appearance) and gleissen (to throw a dazzling appearance), Schmitthenner-Weigand's Deutsches Wör- terbuch.
CHAP. XXVI. 24, 25. 193
Dross of silver is the so-called glätte (French, Utliarge), a com- bination of lead and oxygen, which, in the old process of pro- ducing silver, was separated (Luther: silberschaum, i.e. the silver litharge ; Lat. spuma argenti, having the appearance of foam). It is still used to glaze over potter's ware, which here (Greek, Kepa/Mo<i) is briefly called t^'■^^ for tjnn 73 ; for the vessel is better in appearance than the mere potsherd. The glossing of the earthenware is called J^'in-py nay, which is applicable to any kind of covering (nay, R. C)V, to spread or lay out broad) of a less costly material with that which is more precious. 23a contains the figure, and 236 its subscription : V^ sS w^h''^^ Ql'pöb'. Thus, with the taking away of the Mahhepli after Codd., to be punctuated : burning lips, and therewith a base heart ; burning, that is, with the fire of love (Meiri, ptt'nn tJ'N), while yet the assurances of friendship, sealed by ardent kisses, serve only to mask a far different heart. The LXX. translate U^phl [burn- ing] by Xeta, and thus have read ^[hn [smooth], which Hitzig without reason prefers ; burning lips (Jerome, incorrectly : tmnentia ; Luther, after Deut. xxxii. 33, noil : Gifftiger mund = a poisonous mouth) are just flattering, and at the same time hypocritical ^ lips. Regarding D'TiDti' as masc, vid. vol. i. p. 119; J?n 3^5 means, at xxv. 20, animus mcestus ; here, inimicus. The figure is excellent : one may regard a vessel with the silver gloss as silver, and it is still earthen ; and that also which gives forth the silver glance is not silver, but only the refuse of silver. Both are suitable to the comparison : the lips only glitter, the heart is false (Heidenheim). Vers. 24 and 25 form a tetrastich.
Ver. 24 With his lips the hater dissembleth,
And in his heart he museth deceit. 25 If he maketh his voice agreeable, believe him not,
For seven abominations are in his heart.
^ Schultens explains the labia flagrantia by voluhiliter prompta et diserta. But one sees from the Arab, dhaluka, to be loose, lightly and easily moved {viJ. in Fleischer's Beiträgen zur arab. SprachJcunde the explanation of the designation of the liquid expressed with the point of the tongue by dhal- kiytt, at i. 26, 27 ; cf . de Sacy's Grammar), and dalk, to draw out (of the sword from its scabbard), to rinse (of water), that the meaning of the Heb, p^n, to burn, from R. ^n, refers to the idea of the flickering, tongue- like movement of the flame.
VOL. II. N
194 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
All the old translators (also the Veuet. and Luther) give to "ISSI the meaning, to become known ; but the Niph. as well as the Hithpa. {vid. at xx. 11 ; Gen. xlvii. 7) unites with this meanincp also the meanincj to make oneself known : to make oneself unknow'n, unrecognisable = (Arab.) tanakkr, e.g. by means of clothing, or by a changed expression of countenance.^ The contrast demands here this latter signification : labiis suis alium se simulat osor^ intus in pectore autem reconditum habet dolum (Fleischer). This rendering of nO"i?D n''^^ is more correct than Hitzig's ("in his breast) he prepares treachery;" for IT'ü' nD"iD is to be rendered after ni^'y JT'C', Ps. xiii. 3 {vid. Hupfeld's and also our comni. on this passage), not after Jer. ix. 7 ; for one says D''t^'lpiD n"'K', to place snares, l^i< JT'E', to lay an ambush, and the like, but not to place or to lay deceit. If such a dissembler makes his voice agreeable {Piel of l^n only here, for the form Ps. ix. 14 is, as it is punctuated, Kal), trust not thyself to him (r^xn, with 2: to put firm trust in anything, vid. Genesis^ p. 312 ^) ; for seven abominations, i.e. a whole host of abominable thoughts and designs, are in his heart ; he is, if one may express it, after Matt. xii. 45, possessed inwardly of seven devils. The LXX. makes a history of 24a; an enemy who, under complaints, makes all possible allowances, but in his heart TeKralverat, SoXov;. The history is only too true, but it has no place in the text.
Ver. 26 Hatred may conceal itself behind deceit :
Its wickedness shall be exposed in the assembly.
1 Vid. de Goeje's Fragmenta Hist. Arab. ii. (1871), p. 94. The verb 133, primarily to fix one's attention, sharply to contemplate anything, whence is derived the meanings of knowing and of not knowing, dis- owning. The account of the origin of these contrasted meanings, in Gesenius-Dietrich's Lexicon, is essentially correct ; but the Arab, nakar there referred to means, not sharpness of mind, from nakar = "Tian, but from the negative signification prevailing in the Arab, alone, a property by which one makes himself worthy of being disowned : craftiness, cunning, and then also in honam partem : sagacity.
2 The fundamental idea of firmness in pDSH is always in the subject, not the object. The Arabic interpreters remark that arnan with b expresses recognition, and with I submission (vid. Lane's Lexicon under arnan) ; but in Hebr. paSH with "2 fiducia ßdei, with ^ assensus ßdei; the relation is thus not altogether the same.
cnAP. XXVI. 26. 195
true; yet, as we liave seen, xii. 26, tliey are sometimes to be met with in the collection. This is one of the few that are of such a character; for that the LXX. and others translate 6 Kpvir- rojv, which gives for inj;"i a more appropriate reference, does not require us to agree with Hitzig in reading i^^''2\} (xii. 16, 23), — the two clauses rendered fut. stand in the same syntactical relation, as e.g. Job xx. 24. Still less can the rendering of )1^^cb2 by (Twiarrjcn B6\ov, by the LXX., induce us to read with Hitzig |)X ^"^hj especially since it is doubtful whether the Heb. words which floated before those translators (the LXX.) have been fallen upon, ji^^^'ö (beginning and ending with a formative syllable) is certainly a word of rare formation, to be compared only to jii'^pPj Judg. iii. 23 ; but since the nearest- lying formation i^f^ signifies usury (from V^'C'^, to credit) (ac- cording to Avhich Symmachus, Sia Xij/jL/u-aTa^ to desire gain), it is obvious that the language preferred this double formation for the meaning deceiving, illusion, or, exactly : fraud. It may also be possible to refer it, like nixitj^b (vid. under Ps. xxiii. 18), to Xi:^> = nsc', to be confused, waste, as this is done by Parchon, Kimchi (Vcnet. iv ip7)/xia), Ralbag, and others; pxrä, in this sense of deepest concealment, certainly says not a little as the contrast of /Hj^ [an assembly], but f^^^'^'\ [a desert] stood ready for the poet to be used in this sense ; he might also have expressed himself as Job xxx. 3, xxxviii. 27. The selection of this rare word is better explained if it denotes the superlative of deceit, — a course of conduct maliciously directed toward the deception of a neighbour. That is also the im- pression which the word has made on Jerome (fraudulenter), the Targ. (snp'ilSJa^ in grinding), Luther (to do injury), and according to which it has already been explained, e.g. by C. B. Michaelis and Oetinger ("with dissembled, deceitful nature"). The punctuation of riDSD, Codd. and editions present in three different forms. Buxtorf in his Concordance (also Fürst), and the Basel Bihlia Rahhinica, have the form ^Dsn ; but this is a mistake. Either npari (^Niph.) or HMri (Hithpa., with the same assimilation of the preformative n as in Da^Hj Lev. xiii. 55 ; "'S??, Deut. xxi. 8) is to be read; Kimchi, in his Wörterbuch, gives npSPi, which is certainly better supported. A surer contrast of JIXK'bi and br\p2 remains in our interpretation ; only we translate not
196 THE BOOK OF PROVEEDS.
as Ewald : " hatred seeks to conceal itself by hypocrisy," but : in deceitful work. Also we refer inv^, not to ;iX'^'b3, but to nxJ^j for hatred is thought of in connection with its personal representative. We see from 265 that hatred is meant which not only broods over evil, but also carries it into execution. Such hatred may conceal itself in cunningly-contrived decep- tion, yet the wickedness of the hater in the end comes out from behind the mask with the light of publicity.
Ver. 27 He who diggeth a pit falleth therein ;
And he that rolleth up a stone, upon himself it roUeth back. The thought that destruction prepared for others recoils upon its contriver, has found its expression everywhere among men in divers forms of proverbial sayings ; in the form which it here receives, 27a has its oldest original in Ps. vii. 16, whence it is repeated here and in Eccles. x. 8, and Sir. xxvii. 26. Re- garding i^"})^, vid. at xvi. 27. «^^ here has the sense of in earn ipsam; expressed in French, the proverb is : celui qui creuse la fosse, y tomhera ; in Italian : chi cava la fossa, cadera in essa. The second line of this proverb accords with Ps. vii. 17 (vid. Hupfeld and Riehm on this passage). It is natural to think of the rolling as a rolling upwards ; cf. Sir. xxvii. 25, o ßdXkwv \i6ov eh ü-v^ro? eVt KecpaXyjv avrov ßdWei, i.e. throws it on his own head. |3N ?Pil is to be syntactically judged of like xviii. 13.
Ver. 28 The lying tongue hateth those whom it bruiseth ; And a flattering mouth causeth ruin. The LXX., Jerome, the Targ., and Syr. render V^l N3b"' in the sense of non amat veritatem ; they appear by Y21 to have thought of the Aram. N^^l, that which is pure ; and thus they gain nothing else but an undeniable plain thought. Many Jewish interpreters gloss : VnOID, also after the Aram. : 1^3^ = V3"|p ; but the Aram. ''3'n does not mean pure in the sense of being right, therefore Elia Wilna understands him who desires to justify himself, and this violent derivation from the Aram, thus does not lead to the end. Luther, translating : '' a false tongue hates those who punish it," explains, as also Gesenius, conterentes^=.castigantes ipsam; but TjT signifies, according to the usage of the language before us, " bruised " {vid. Ps. ix. 10), not : bruising ; and the thought that the liar hates him who listens to him, leads ad absurdum; but that he does not love him
CHAP. XXVI. 28, 197
who bruises (punishes) him, is self-evident. Kimchi sees in V2T another form of i^ST ; and Meiri, Jona Gerundi in his ethical work (nmc'n "'lyi^ = The gates of Kepentance), and others, accordingly render V21 in the sense of "iJy C^V) * ^'^^ ^J'^g tongue hates — as Löwenstein translates — the humble [pious] ; also that for VSl, by the omission of i, ^3"! = ''3T may be read, is supposable ; but this does not harmonize with the second half of the proverb, according to which ii?.t?' pt^7 must be the subject, and V21 N3B'"' must express some kind of evil which proceeds from such a tongue. Ewald : " the lying tongue hates its master (1''3'"IX)," but that is not in accordance with the Heb. style ; the word in that case should have been lY^?. Hitzig countenances this VJ"IX, with the remark that the tongue is here personified ; but personified, the tongue certainly means him who has it (Ps. cxx. 3). Böttchers conjecture i"'3"i is2^\ " confounds their talk," is certainly a curiosity. Spoken of the sea, those words would mean, "it changes its surge." But is it then at all necessary to uncover first the meaning of 28a? Eashi, Arama, and others refer V3T to D^S'n^D^sani (ü'3^??). Thus also perhaps the Venet., which translates tov<; eTrcrpt/xfiovi^ (not: kirLTerpi^ixevov^i) avTri<i. C.B.Michaelis: Lingua falsi- tatis odio habet contritos sicos, k. e. eos quos falsitate ac mendacio Icedit contritosqiie facit. Hitzig objects that it is more correct to say : conterit loerosos sibi. And certainly this lay nearer, on which account Fleischer remaiks : in 28a there is to be sup- posed a poetic transposition of the ideas (Hypallage) : Jioino qui lingua ad cahimnias abutitur conterit eos quos adit. The poet makes XJb'"' the main conception, because it does not come to him so readily to say that the lying tongue bruises those against whom it is directed, as that it is hatred, which is active in this. To say this was by no means superfluous. There are men who find pleasure in repeating and magnifying scandal- ously that which is depreciatory and disadvantageous to their neighbour unsubstantiated, without being at all conscious of any particular ill-will or personal enmity against him ; but this proverb says that such untruthful tongue-thrashing proceeds always from a transgression of the commandment, " Thou shalt not hate thy brother," Lev. xix. 17, and not merely from the want of love, but from a state of mind which is the direct
198 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
opposite of love (vld. x. 18). Ewald finds it incongruous that" 28a speaks of that which others have to suffer from the lying tongue, whereas the whole connection of this proverb requires that the tongue should here be regarded as bringing ruin upon its owner himself. But of the destruction which the wicked tongue prepares for others many proverbs also speak, e.g. xii. 13, cf. xvii. 4, nin JV^J^?; and 286 does not mention that the
smooth tongue (written P^n'nsi with 3Iakkeph) brings injury upon itself (an idea which must be otherwise expressed; cf . xiv. 32), but that it brings injury and ruin on those who have pleasure in its flatteries (nip?n, Ps. xii. 3; Isa. xxx. 10), and are befooled thereby : os hlandiloquum {hlanditiis dolum teyens) ad casum impellit, sc. alios (Fleischer).
xxvii. In the group 1-6 of this chapter every two proverbs form a pair. The first pair is directed against unseemly boasting :
Ver. 1 Boast not thyself of to-morrow,
For thou knowest not what a day bringeth forth.
The 3 of Di''3 is like, e.g. that in xxv. 14, the 2 of the ground of boasting. One boasts of to-morrow when he boasts of that which he will then do and experience. This boasting is foolish and presumptuous (Luke xii. 20), for the future is God's ; not a moment of the future is in our own power, we know not what a day, this present day or to-morrow (Jas. iv. 13), will bring forth, i.e. (cf. Zeph. ii. 2) will disclose, and cannot therefore order anything beforehand regarding it. Instead of Vin'X? (with Kametz and Mitgrash), V^n'iö (thus e.g. the Cod. Jaman) is to be written ; the Masora knows nothing of that pausal
form. And instead of Qi^ '^(.'^'^^, we write Dr np» no with Zinnorith. ^71 before Di"" has the tone thrown back on the pemdt., and consequently a shortened ult. ; the Masora reckons this word among the twenty-five words with only one Tsere.
Yer. 2 Let another praise thee, and not thine own mouth ; A stranger, and not thine own lips. The negative N^ is with T'3, as in (Arab.) ghyra fyh, bound into one compact idea : that which is not thine own mouth (Fleischer), "not thine own lips," on the other hand, is not to be interpreted as corresponding to it, like n'lO'pNj xii. 28 ; since
CHAP XXVII. 3. 199
after the prohibitive ?i?, W^n"; [praise thee] easily supplies itself. *1T is properly the stranger, as having come from a dis- tance, and "'I^J he who comes from an unknown country, and is liimself unknown (vid. under xxvi. 24) ; the idea of both words, however, passes from advena and alienigena to alius. Tliere is certainly in rare cases a praising of oneself, which is authorized because it is demanded (2 Cor. xi. 18), which, because it is offered strongly against one's will, will be measured by truth (x. 13); but in general it is improper to applaud oneself, because it is a vain looking at oneself in a glass; it is indecent, because it places others in the shade ; imprudent, because it is of no use to us, but only injures, for propria laus sordet, and as Stobäus says, ovSev ovtco^ aKovafjia (popriKov w? o kuO' avrov €Trai,vo<i. Compare the German proverb, " Eigenlob stinkt, Freundes Lob hinkt, fremdes Lob klingt^^ [= self-praise stinks, a friend's praise is lame, a stranger's praise sounds].
The second pair of proverbs designates two kinds of violent passion as unbearable :
Ver. 3 The heaviness of a stone, the weight of sand — A fool's wrath is heavier than both.
We do not translate : Gravis est peira et onerosa arena, so that the substantives stand for strengthening the idea, instead of the corresponding adjective (Fleischer, as the LXX., Jerome, Syr., Targum); the two pairs of words stand, as 4a, in genit. relation (cf. on the contrary, xxxi. 30), and it is as if the poet said : represent to thyself the heaviness of a stone and the weight of sand, and thou shalt find that the wrath of a fool compared thereto is still heavier, viz. for him who has to bear it ; thus heavier, not for the fool himself (Hitzig, Zockler, Dächsei), but for others against whom his anger goes forth. A Jewish pro- verb {vid. Tendlau, No. 901) says, that one knows a man by his wine-glass (D13), his purse (D"'3), and his anger (Di'3), viz. how he deports himself in the tumult ; and another says that one reads what is in a man 1Dj;3 DVa, when he is in an ill- humour. Thus also Dya is to be here understood : the fool in a state of angry, wrathful excitement is so far not master of himself that the worst is to be feared; he sulks and shows hatred, and rages without being appeased ; no one can calculate
200 THE BOOK OF PBOVERBS.
what he may attempt, his behaviour is unendurable. Sand, ^in,^ as it appears, as to the number of its grains innumerable, so as to its mass (in weight) immeasurable, Job vi. 3 ; Sir. xxii. 13. ?9-? the Venet. translates, with strict regard to the etymology, by ap/jua.
Ver. 4 The madness of anger, and the overflowing of wrath — And before jealousy who keeps his place !
Here also the two pairs of words 4a stand in connection ; ninpX (for which the Cod. Jaman has incorrectly nvipN) is the con- necting form; uz(i. regarding ''1T3X, V. 9. Let one imagine the blind, relentless rage of extreme excitement and irritation, a boiling over of anger like a water-flood, which bears everything down along with it — these paroxysms of wrath do not usually continue long, and it is possible to appease them ; but jealousy is a passion that not only rages, but reckons calmly ; it inces- santly ferments through the mind, and when it breaks forth, he perishes irretrievably who is its object. Fleischer generalizes this idea : '' enmity proceeding from hatred, envy, or jealousy, it is difficult or altogether impossible to withstand, since it puts into operation all means, both secretly and openly, to injure the enemy." But after vi. 34 f., cf. Song viii. 8, there is particularly meant the passion of scorned, mortified, deceived love, viz. in the relation of husband and wife.
The third pair of proverbs passes over from this special love between husband and wife to that subsisting between friends : Ver. 5 Better is open accusation Than secret love.
An integral distich; '""^i^^^r ^^^^ Munacli, and instead of the second Metheg Tarcha^ after Thorath Emeth, p. 11. Zöckler, with Hitzig, incorrectly : better than love which, from false indulgence, keeps concealed from his neighbour his faults, when he ought to tell him of them. That would require the phrase nnriDD nnriN^ not nnriDO. Ddchsel, in order to accommo- date the text to this meaning, remarks : concealed censure is concealed love ; but it is much rather the neglected duty of love, — love without mutual discipline is weak, faint-hearted, ^ Sand is called by the name hn (^Tl); to change, whirl, particularly to form sand-wreaths, whence (Arab.) al-Habil, the region of moving sand ; vid. Wetzstein's Nord-araiien, p. 56.
CHAP. XXVII. 6. 201
and, if it is not too blind to remark in a friend what is worthy of blame, is altogether too forbearing, and essentially without conscience ; but it is not " hidden and concealed love." The meaning of the proverb is different : it is better to be courageously and sternly corrected — on account of some fault committed — by any one, whether he be a foe or a friend, than to be the object of a love which may exist indeed in the heart, but which fails to make itself manifest in outward act. There are men who continually assure us of the reality and depth of their friendship ; but when it is necessary for them to prove their love to be self-denying and generous, they are like a torrent which is dry when one expects to drink water from it (Job vi. 15). Such "secret" love, or, since the word is not nnnw, but I^"]^DP, love confined to the heart alone, is like a fire which, when it burns secretly, neither lightens nor warms ; and before such a friend, any one who frankly and freely tells the truth has by far the preference, for although he may pain us, yet he does us good ; while the former deceives us, for he leaves us in the lui'ch when it is necessary to love us, not merely in word and with the tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 John iii. 18). Rightly Fleischer : Prcestat correptio aperta amicitice tectce, i.e. nulla re probatce.
Ver. 6 Faithful are the -wounds of a friend,
And overloaded [plentiful] the kisses of an enemy.
The contrast to Q"'?öN3j true, i.e. honourable and good (with the transference of the character of the person to his act), would be fraudulenta (Jerome), or ni3Dn3, i.e. false (Ralbag) ; Ewald seeks this idea from "inj;, to stumble, make a false step ; ^ Hitzig, from "iny = (Arab.) dadhr, whence dddhir, perfidus, to gain from ; but (1) the comparison does not lie near, since usually the Arab. C-> corresponds to the Heb. K^, and the Arab, j to the Heb. T; (2) the Heb. iny has already three meanings, and it is not advisable to load it with yet another meaning assumed for this passage, and elsewhere not found. The three meanings are the following : (a) to smoke, Aram. l£?y.,
1 Thus also Schultens in the Animad verstörtes, which later he fancied was derived from "iny, nidor, from the meaning nidorosa, and thence virulenta.
202 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
whence "iW, vapour, Ezek. viii. 11, according to wliicli the Venet., with Kimchi's and Parchon's Lex., translates : the kisses of an enemy avvcofML^covrai, i.e. are fog; (b) to sacrifice, to worship, Arab, atar ; according to which Aquila: iKeriKd (as, with Grabe, it is probably to be read for eKovaia of the LXX.); and agreeably to the Niph., but too artificially, Arama: ob- tained by entreaties = constrained; (c) to heap up, whence Hiph. 1''n^n, Ezek. xxxv. 13, cf. Jer. xxxiii. 6, according to which Eashi, Meiri, Gesenius, Fleischer, Bertheau, and most explain, cogn. with l^i?, whose Aram, form is inj?, for "itJ'y is properly a heap of goods or treasures.^ This third meaning gives to the kisses of an enemy a natural adjective : they are too abundant, so much the more plentiful to veil over the hatred, like the kisses by means of which Judas betrayed his Lord, not merely denoted by ^ikelv, but by KaracptXetv, Matt. xxvi. 49. This, then, is the contrast, that the strokes inflicted by one who truly loves us, although they tear into our flesh {V^B, from WB, to split, to tear open), yet are faithful (cf. Ps. cxli. 5) ; on the contrary, the enemy covers over with kisses him to whom he wishes all evil. Thus also niinyj forms an indirect contrast to D''JOW.
In 7-10 there is also visible a weaving of the external with the internal. First, there are two proverbs, in each of which there is repeated a word terminating with 3.
Ver. 7 A satisfied soul treadeth honeycomb under foot ;
And a hungry soul — everything bitter is (to it) sweet. It is unnecessary to read H^ri (Hitzig) ; Di3n is stronger ; " to tread with the feet" is the extreme degree of scornful despite. That satiety and hunger are applicable to the soul, vid. under X. 3. In 7b, the adverb rb, relative to the nomin. absol, like xxviii. 7, but not xiii. 18. " Hunger is the best cook," ac- cording to a German proverb ; the Hebrew proverb is so formed that it is easily transferred to the sphere of the soul. Let the man whom God has richly satisfied with good things guard himself against ingratitude towards the Giver, and against an undervaluing of the gifts received ; and if they are spiritual blessings, let him guard himself against self-satisfaction and
^ Vid. regarding this word, Sch\ottma,un in Deutsch.- Mo rgenl Zeitschrift, xxiv. 665, 668.
CHAP. XXVII. 8. 203
self-contentment, which is, in truth, the worst poverty, Rev. iii. 17 ; for life without God is a constant hunger and thirst. There is in worldly things, even the most pleasing, a dis- satisfaction felt, and a dissatisfaction awakening disgust; and in spiritual life, a satiety which supposes itself to be full of life, but which is nothing else than the decay of life, than the changing of life into death.
Ver. 8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest,
So is a man that wandereth from his home.
It is not a flying out that is meant, from which at any moment a return is possible, but an unwilling taking to flight (LXX. Sb : orav airo^evcoOfj ; Venet. : TfXavovjxevov . . . TrXavovfxevo'i) ; for T]i3 fiiy, Isa. xvi. 2, of. Jer. iv. 25, birds that have been frightened; and ^"p, xxi. 15 f., designates the fugitive; cf. 131 yj, Gen. iv. 14, and above, xxvi. 2, where llJ designates aimless roving about. Otherwise Fleischer: "warning against unnecessary roaming about, in journeyings and wanderings far from home : as a bird far from its nest is easily wounded, caught, or killed, so, on such excursions, one easily comes to injury and want. One may think of a journey in the East. The Arabs say, in one of their proverbs : alsafar kafat man dlklyym (= journeying is a part of the pains of hell)." But TiJ here is not to be understood in the sense of a lihere vagari. Rightly C. B. Michaelis : qui vagatur extorris et exul a loco suo sc. natali vel hahitationis ordinance. This proverb mediately recommends the love of one's fatherland, i.e. " love to the land in which our father has his home ; on which our paternal mansion stands ; in which we have spent the years of our childhood, so significant a part of one's whole life ; from which we have derived our bodily and intellectual nourishment ; and in which home we recognise bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh." ^ But next it says, that to be in a strange land must be an unhappiness, because a man never feels better than at home, as the bird in its nest. We say : Heimat [home] — this beautiful word becomes the German language, which has also coined the expressive idea of Heimweh [longing for home] ; the
^ Gustave Baur's article " Vaterlandsliebe," in Schmid's Pädagogischer Encyklopädie.
204 THE BOOK OF PEOVERDS.
Heb. uses, to express the idea of home, tlie word ""isipo ; and of fatherland, the word ''inx or "TiDIX. The Heb. H^^^ corre- sponds ^ to the German ELend^ but = Eilend, elilenti, of another land, strange.
The two following proverbs have in common the catchword V"], and treat of the value of friendship : —
Ver. 9 Oil and frankincense rejoice the heart ;
And the sweet discourse of a friend from a counselling of soul.
Regarding the perfuming with dry aromas, and sprinkling with liquid aromas, as a mark of honour towards guests, and as a
^ The translators transfer to this place a note from vol. ii. p. 191 f. of the author's larger Covim. ii. den Psalter, to which Delitzsch refers the reader: — "The modern High German adj. elend, middle High German eilende, old High German alilandi, elilendi, or elilenti, is composed of ali and land. The adj. ali occurs only in old High German in composition. In the Gothic it is found as an independent adj., in the sense of alius and uh'Ko; (vid. Ulfilas, Gal. v. 10). The primary meaning of elilenti is conse- quently : of another country, foreign. In glosses and translations it is rendered by the Lat. words peregrinus, exul, advena, also captivus. In these meanings it occurs very frequently. In the old High German trans- lation of Ammonius, Diatessaron, sive Harmonise in quatuor Evangelica, the word proselytism, occurring in Matt, xxiii. 15, is rendered hy elilantan. To the adj. the old High German subst. corresponds. This has the meaning exilium, transmigratio, captivitas. The connection in elilenti or elilentes, used adverbially, is rendered by the Lat. peregre. In the middle High German, however, the proper signification of both words greatly pre- dominates. But as, in the old High German, the idea of 7niser is often at the same time comprehended in the proper signification : he who is miser- able through banishment, imprisonment, or through sojourning in a strange land ; thus, in several places of the middle High German, this derived idea begins to separate itself from the fundamental conception, so that eilende comes in genei'al to be called miser. In the new High German this derived conception is almost alone maintained. Yet here also, in certain connec- tions, there are found traces of the original idea, e.g. in's Elend schicken, for to banish. Very early also the word came to be used, in a spiritual sense, to denote our present abode, in contrast to paradise or the heavenly kingdom. . . . Thus, e.g. in one of Luther's hymns, when we pray to the Holy Ghost :
" Das er vns behüte, an vnserm ende, Wenn wir heim farn aus diesem elende."
[That He guard us to our end When we go home from this world.]
— KuD. VON Eaujiee.
CHAP. XXVII. 9. 205-
means of promoting joyful social fellowship, vid. at vii. 16 f,, xxi. 17. The pred. nab''' comprehends frankincense or oil as the two sides of one and the same thing ; the LXX. introduces, from Ps. civ. 15, also wine. It also reads nyi pnci as one word, nynpnjpi : Karappy^jwrai, Be viro avfiTrrcof^drcov '^V'^ij, which Hitzig regards as original ; for he translates, under- standing riVyo after Ps. xiii. 3, " but the soul is torn by cares." But why nyipn^, this Hitlipa. without example, for i^J^IP^ ? and now connected with 1?? in the sense of viro ! And what does one gain by this Alexandrian wisdom [of the LXX.] — a con- trast to 9« which is altogether incongruous ? Döderlein's ren- dering accords far better with 9a : " but the sweetness of a friend surpasses fragrant wood." But although this renderinij of the word \p'^t] by " fragrant wood " is found in Gesen. Lex., from one edition to another, yet it must be rejected ; for the word signifies wood as the contents of trees, the word for aromatic wood must be D''Vy ; and if the poet had not intention- ally aimed at dubiety, he ought to have written Db'^ ''>*y, since C'D:, with the exception of Isa. iii. 20, where it is beyond doubt, nowhere means fragrance. If we read n^>y and ^'Q3 together, then we may suppose that the latter designates the soul, as at Ps. xiii. 3 ; and the former, counsel (from the verb YT^. But to what does the suffix of ^nyi refer? One may almost con- jecture that the words originally were inyn ri^yo tJ'SJ pnni^ and the sweetness of the soul {i.e. a sweet relish for it, cf. ver. 7 and xvi. 24) consists in the counsel of a friend, according to which Jerome translates : et bonis amici consiliis anima dulcora- tur. By this transposition inyi refers back to B'D) ; for if nephesh denote a person or a living being, it can be construed ad sensum as masc, e.g. Num. xxxi. 28. But the words may remain in the order in which they are transmitted to us. It is possible that inyT is (Böttcher refers to Job xii. 4) of the same meaning as y"]n (the friend of one = the friend), as ^?3 denotes directly the whole ; i''Vn, the half ; i^y, the right time. Recognising this, Cocceius, Umbreit, Stier, and Zockler explain : sweetness, i.e. the sweet encouragement (Pr"?? in the sense of " sweetness (grace) of the lips," xvi. 21) of a friend, is better than one's own counsel, than prudence seeking to help oneself, and trusting merely to one's own resources ; thus also Rashi : better than
206 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
what one's own soul advises him. Bat (1) K'SJ cannot mean one's own person (oneself) in contrast to another person ; and (2) this does not supply a correct antithesis to 9a. Thus |0 will not express the preference, but the origin. Accordingly Ewald, e.g., explains : the sweetness of a friend whom one has proceedeth from the counsel of soul, i.e. from such counsel as is drawn from a deep, full soul. But no proof can be brought from the usage of the language that C'Drm*y can be so meant ; these words, after the analogy of ll'DJ nyn, xix. 2, mean ability to give counsel as a quality of the soul (viii. 14 ; Job xii. 13), i.e. its ability to advise. Accordingly, with Bertheau, we explain i^TiOb''' as the common predicate for 9a and 96; ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, and (the Syr., Targ., well : even so) the sweet exhortation of a friend, from a soul capable of ren- dering counsel ; also, this and this, more than that fragrance. This proverb is formed in the same way as xxvi. 9, 14. In this explanation inj?"i is well referred back to 2? : and (more than) the sweet advice of his friend. But not so that inj?1 is equivalent to 3?n yn^ for one does not thus speak; but the con- struction is as when we say, in the German language : Nichts thut einem Herzen xooler als loenn sein Freund es mitfühlend tröstet [nothing does more good to a heart than when a friend sympathizingly comforts it] ; or : Zage nicht, tief betrübtes Herz! Hein Freund lebt und wird dir bald sich zeigen [Be not dismayed, deeply-troubled heart ! thy friend lives, and will soon show himself to thee]. In such cases the word " Herz'^ [heart] does not designate a distinct part of the person, but, synecdochically, it denotes the whole person.
Ver. 10. Another proverb, consisting of three lines, in com- mendation of friendship :
Thine own friend and the friend of thy father forsake not,
And into thy brother's house go not in the day of thy misfortune —
Better is a near neighbour than a far-off brother.
In our editions ^T}, is incorrectly pointed with Pasek after it, so that the accent is Asia Legarmeh ; the Pasek is, after the example of older editions, with Norzi, to be cancelled, so that only the conjunctive Asia remains ; " thine own and the friend of thy father" denotes the family friend, like some family
CHAP. XXVII. n, 207
heirloom, descending from father to son. Such an old tried friend one must certainly not give up. The Keri changes the second nyni into T}\ but nj/ni (which, after the Masora in St. constr., retains its segol, Ewald, § 2 lie) is also admissible, for a form of comparison (Hitzig) this nyn is not, but the fuller form of the abbreviated J?"», from nyn, to take care of, to tend,
to pasture — an infinitive formation (= ''.V"!) like the cogn. ^j
a participial. Such a proved friend one ought certainly not to give up, and in the time of heavy trial (vid. regarding T'i?, i. 26) one should go to him and not to a brother's house — it is by this supposed that, as xviii. 24 says, there is a degree of friend- ship (cf. xvii. 17) which in regard to attachment stands above that of mere fraternal relationship, and it is true ; blood-rela- tionship, viewed in itself, stands as a relationship of affection on natural grounds below friendship, which is a relationship of life on moral grounds. But does blood-relationship exclude friendship of soul ? cannot my brother be at the same time my heart-friend ? and is not friendship all the firmer when it has at the same time its roots in the spirit and in natural grounds? The poet seems to have said this, for in 10c, probably a popular saying (cf. ^^ Besser Nachbar an der Wand als Bruder über Land''^ [Better a neighbour by one's side than a brother abroad]), he gives to his advice a foundation, and at the same time a limita- tion which modifies its ruggedness. But Dächsei places (like Schultens) in ^iii^ and pinn meanings which the words do not contain, for he interprets them of inward nearness and remoteness; and Zöckler reads between the lines, for he remai'ks, a " near neighbour " is one who is near to the oppressed to counsel and help them, and a "distant brother" is one who with an un amiable disposition remains far from the oppressed. The state of the matter is simple. If one has a tried friend in neighbourly nearness, so in the time of distress, when he needs consolation and help, he must go to this friend, and not first to the house of a brother dwelling at a distance, for the former certainly does for us what the latter probably may and probably may not do for us.
Ver. 11. This proverb has, in common with the preceding tristich, the form of an address:
203 THE BOOK OF PEOVEEBS.
Become wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice, That I may give an answer to my accusers.
Better than " be wise " (Luther), we translate " become wise " (LXX. (To^o^ yivov); for he who is addressed might indeed be wise, though not at present so, so that his father is made to listen to such deeply wounding words as these, " Cursed be he wiio begat, and who educated this man" (Malbim). The cohortative clause 116 (cf. Ps. cxix. 42) has the force of a clause with a purpose (Gesen. § cxxviii. 1) : ut Juiheam quod Us qui me convicientur o^egerere possim ; it does not occur anywhere in the Hezekiah collection except here.
Ver. 12. Diny appears to lean on D3n.
The prudent man seeth the misfortune, hideth himself ; The simple pass on, suffer injury.
= xxii. 3, where D^^nsi for D>*riQ, nrip;i for ■iJ;i?3, and ^^}V}\ for ''^JHiv ' ^^^® three asyndeta make the proverb clumsy, as if it counted out its seven words separately to the hearer. Ewald, § 349a, calls it a " Steinschrift " [an inscription on a stone]. The perfects united in pairs with, and yet more without, Vav, express the coincidence* as to time. Ver. 13. Dny alliterates with liy.
Take from him the garment, for he hath become surety for another, And for the sake of a strange matter put him under bonds.
= xx. 16, vid. there. n^'iaa we interpret neut. (LXX. ra dWorpia ; Jerome, pro alicnis), although certainly the case occurs that one becomes surety for a strange woman (Aquila, Theodotion, irepl ^evT]<i), by whose enticements and flatteries he
1 The second Munach is at xxii. 3, as well as here, according to the rule xviii. 4 of the Accentuationssystem, the transformation of the Dechi, and pre- serves its value of interpunction ; the Legarmeh of I Dliy is, however, a disjunctive of less force than Dechi, so that thus the sequence of the accents denotes that nj?") ns") Qllj; is a clause related to "inDJI as a hypothetical antecedent : if the prudent sees the calamity, then he hides himself from it. This syntactic relation is tenable at xxii. 3, but not here at xxvii. 12. Here, at least, Dl"iy would be better with Rebla, to which the following Dechi would subordinate itself. The prudent seeth the evil, concealeth himself ; or also, prudent is he who sees the evil, hides himself. For of two dis- junctives before Athnach, the first, according as it is greater or less than the second, retains either Legarmeh (e.g. Ps. i. 5, Ixxxvi. 12, Ixxxviii. 14, cix, 14) or Rebia (xii. 2 ; Ps. xxv, 2, Ixix. 9, cxlvi. 5).
CHAP. XXVII. 14, 15. 2 Of
is taken, and who afterwards leaves him in the lurch whh the debts for Avhich he had become security, to show her costly favour to another.
Ver. 14. This proverb, passing over the three immediately intervening, connects itself with vers. 9 and 10. It is directed against cringing, noisy complimenting:
He who blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising early in the
morning, It is reckoned as a curse to him.
The first line is intentionally very heavy, in order to portray the empressement of the maker of compliments : he calls out to another his good wishes with a loud voice, so as to make the impression of deep veneration, of deeply felt thankfulness, but in reality to gain favour thereby, and to commend himself to greater acts of kindness ; he sets himself to meet him, having risen up (D^3K'n, adverbial inj. ahs. ; cf . .Ter. xliv. 4 with xxv. 4) early in the morning, to offer his captatio benevolentice as speedily as possible ; but this salutation of good wishes, the affected zeal in presenting which is a sign of a selfish, calculating, servile soul, is reckoned to him as np?p, viz. before God and every one who can judge correctly of human nature, also before him who is complimented in so ostentatious and troublesome a manner, the true design of which is thus seen. Oiliers understand the proverb after the example of Berachoth 14a, that one ought to salute no one till he has said his morning's prayer, because honour is due before all to God (the Book of Wisdom, x. 28) ; and others after EracJdn 16a, according to which one is meant who was invited as a guest of a generous lord, r.-.d was liberally entertained, and who now on the public streets blesses him, i.e. praises him for his nobility of mind — such blessing is a curse to him whom it concerns, because this trumpeting of his ])raise brings upon him a troublesome, importunate crowd. But plainly the particularity of '1J1 7ipii lays the chief emphasis on the servility manifested ; and one calls to mind the case of the clients besieging the doors of their patrons, those cUentes matutini, each of whom sought to be the first in the sahiiatio of his distinguished wealthy patron.
Ver. 15. This proverb passes from the complimentarius to its opposite, a shrewish wife:
VOL. II. O
C^IO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
A continual dropping in a rainy clay And a contentious woman are alike.
Thus we have ah-eady translated (vol. i. p. 9), where, when treating of the manifold forms of parabolic proverbs, we began with this least poetic, but at the same time remarked that vers. 15 and 16 are connected, forming a tetrastich, which is certainly the case according to the text here lying before us. In verse 15, xix. 13b is expanded into a distich, and made a complete verse. Regarding *T]iü f\7i^ vid. the explanation there
given. The noun i^l^?, which the Syr. translates by lr-iv-£0,
but the Targumist retains, because it is in common use in the post.-bibl. Heb. {Bereschith rabba, c. 1) and the Jewish Aramaic, si(Tnifies violent rain, after the Jewish interpreters, because then the people remain shut up in their houses ; more correctly, per- haps, from the unbroken continuousness and thickness (cf. the Arab, insajara, to go behind each other in close column) with which the rain pours down. Regarding D''3n», Kert ^^^l^?, vid. vi. 14 ; the genit. connection of '^ rif S* we had already at xxi. 9. The form niriU'2 is doubtful. If accented, with Löwen- stein and others, as Milray then we would have a Nithkatal before us, as at Num. i. 47, or a Hoilikatal — a passive form of the Kal, the existence of which, however, is not fully established. Eather this word is to be regarded as ^}^'''^'} {NiÜipa. as Deut. xxi. 8 ; Ezek. xxiii. 48) without the dagesh, and lengthened ; the form of the word >^y!}^?, as found in the Cod. Jaman., aims at this. But the form niW3 is better estab- lished, e.g. by Cod. 1294, as MileL Kimchi, McJdol 131a (cf. Ewald, § 132t;), regards it as a form without the dagesh, made up of the Ä'iph. and Hilhpa., leaving the penrdtima toning unex- plained. Bertheau regards it as a voluntative: let us compare (as nynüö, Isa. xli. 23) ; but as he himself says, the reflexive form does not accord with this sense. Hitzig has adopted the right explanation (cf. Olshausen, § 275, and Böttcher, § 1072, who, however, registers it at random as an Ephraimitism). i^)^^! is a Niphal, with a transposition of consonants for ^nv^'?, since nnyjö passes over into ninp'J. Such is now the genus in the arrangement ; the Milra form would be as masc. syntactically inaccurate. " The finite following the subjects is regulated by
CHAP. SXVir. 16. 211
the gender and number of that which is next before it, as at 2 Sam. iii. 22, xx. 20 ; Ps. Iv. 6 ; Job xix. 15 " (Hitzig).
Ver. 16. This verse stands in close connection with the pre- ceding, for it speaks of the contentious woman:
He that restraiueth her restraineth the wind,
And oil meeteth his right hand. The connection of the plur. subject n^jsi; = quicunque earn cohibet, with a sing, predicate, is not to be disputed (yid. iii. 18 and xxviii. 16, Chelhib) ; but can pi* gain from the meaning of preserving, laying up, also the meanings of keeping, of con- fining, and shutting up? — for these meanings we have N?li and "lyy (cf. 1"]^*, XXX. 4). In 166 it lies nearer to see in iJ''P^ tlie object of the clause (oil meeteth his right hand) than the subject (his right hand meeteth oil), for the gender of pD"" directs to "i^ (e.g. Ezek. xv. 66 ; cf. Qa, where "'■]■^^^^ is as to gender indifferent) : it is fem., while on the contrary I^^i' is generally masc. (cf. Song i. 3). There is no reason for regard- ing i2''D^ as an adverbial accus, (he meets oil with his right hand), or, with Hitzig, as a second subject (he meets oil, his right hand) ; the latter, in the order of the words lying before us, is not at all possible. We suppose that N^i?^., as at Gen. xlix. 1, is equivalent to nnp^ (Ewald, § 116c), for the explanation oleum dextercB ejus prceconem agit (Cocceius, Schultens) does not explain, but only darkens ; and oleum dextera sua legit, i.e. colligit (Fleischer), is based on an untenable use of the word. As one may say of person to person, Tjp^, occurrit tibi, Num. xxv, 18, so also X")P1 ('""vi?"^)? ^^ ^ thing that meets a man or one of his members; and if we compare riNii^p and "'"li', then for 166 the meaning is possible: oil meets his right hand; the quarrelsome woman is like oil that cannot be held in the hand, which struggles against that which holds it, for it always glides out of the hand. Thus also Luther : " and seeks to hold oil with his hand," as if he read Y^P\- In fact, this word was more commonly used as the expression of untenableness than the colourless and singular word xnp^, which, besides, is so ambiguous, that none of the old translators has thought on any other Nip than that which signifies " to call," " to name." The Jewish interpreters also adhere to this nearest lying N"ip, and, moreover, explain, as the Syr., Targ., Aquila, Symrnachus, Jerome, and the Venet., 13"'0^ 10*^,
212 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
according to the accentuation as genit. connected, e.g. Raslii : he calls for oil to his right hand, viz. as the means of purifica- tion from leprosy, Lev. viii. 14 [xiv. 16] ; and Aben Ezra : even when he calls for oil to his right hand, i.e. would move them to silence with the precious anointing oil. Perhaps ver. 16 was originally an independent proverb as follows :
nn \ti^ {in ^jd^j
K-ip"' lyn'» pm '"^
i3re He who layeth up riches in store layeth up the wind,
And he nameth them the fat of his right hand ; "
i.e.^ he sees in them that which makes his right hand fat ^lu' strong (19t;', as at Ps. cix. 24, opp. Zech. xi. 17 ; cf. VSOtJ'pa, Isa. X. 16, and regarding 'Eafxovv, the Phoenican god of health, at Isa. lix. 10), and yet it is only the wind, i.e. something that is worthless and transient, which he stored up (ISV, as at xiii. 22, and in 1''^3Vöj Obad. ver. 6). |in is used as it frequently occurs in the Book of Proverbs, e.g. xi. 4, and the whole proverb expresses by another figure the same as xviii. 11. The fact that pss (nn), XXV. 23, and as a contrast thereto in the compass YJ2'' (the south), hovered before the poet, may not have been without its influence on the choice of the words and expression here.
Ver. 17. This proverb expresses the influence arising from the intercourse of man with man :
Iron is sharpened by iron,
And a man may sharpen the appearance of another. When the Masora reads in^^, Ewald remarks, it interprets the word as denoting "at the same time," and the further meaning of the proverb must then accord therewith. Accordingly he trans- lates : " iron together with iron ! and one together with the face of another ! " But then the prep. 3 or Dy is wanting after the second in'' — for '^^'[ is, in spite of Ewald, § 217A, never a prep. — and the " face," 17^», would be a perplexing superfluity. Hitzig already replies, but without doing homage to the tra- ditional text-punctuation, that such a violence to the use of language, and such a darkening of the thought, is not at all to be accepted. He suggests four ways of interpreting nrr*: (1) the adverb "^^l, united, properly (taken accusat.) union ; (2) nn]^ Ps. Ixxxvi. 11, imper. of the Piel ^iy,, unite ; (3) "nn;", Job iii. 6,
CHAP. XXVII. 17. 213
jussive of the Kal nnn, gandeat ; and (4) as Kimclii, in Michlol 126a, jussive of the Kal nnn (^=z:Tin) acuere, after the form Tnri, Mic. iv. 11. Yü% Gen. xxxii. 8, etc. in p. nrp, after the form rnx, Job xxiii. 9. ^n'V 2 Kinr^s i. 2 (= i6r\^\ 2 Chron. xvi. 12). If we take nn^ with ?n3, then it is a priori to be, supposed that in nn^ the idea of sharpening lies ; in the Arab, iron is simply called /iadi/da = '^^'^^, that which is sharpened, sharp; and a current Arab, proverb says : alhadyd halhadyd yiiflali =ferrum ferro dip.nditur {yid. Freytag under the word /a/a/i). But is the traditional text-punctuation thus understood to be rightly maintained ? It may be easily changed in conformity with the meanincT, but not so that with Böttcher we read in'» and ^H''
O' 1ST- J — 7
the fut. Kal of ^in : "iron sharpenetli itself on iron, and a man sharpeneth himself over against his neighbour" — for ""iD after a verb to be understood actively, has to be regarded as the object — but since 'in^''^ is changed into *in* {fut. Hipli. of '^1\}), and in;; into *in^ or in;; (^fut. Hiph. of Tin, after the form P^^, incipianij Deut. ii. 25, or ^nx^ profanaho^ Ezek. xxxix. 7; Num. XXX. 3). The passive rendering of the idea 17a and the active of 176 thus more distinctly appear, and the unsuitable jussive forms are set aside : ferrum ferro exacuitur^ et homo exacuitfaciem amici sui (Jerome, Targ., the Ve7ieL). But that is not necessary. As H'-l may be the fut. of the Iliph. (he brought up) as well as of the Kal (he went up), so *l|V may be regarded as fit. Kal, and in;; as fut. Hiph. Fleischer prefers to render irr also as Hiph. : aciem exhibet, like '^'^^'V^., divitias acqidrit, and the like ; but the jussive is not favourable to this supposition of an in- transitive (inwardly transitive) Hiph. It may indeed be said that the two jussives appear to be used, according to poetic licence, with the force of indicatives (cf. under xii. 26), but the repetition opposes it. Thus we explain : iron is sharpened [gewetzt, Luther uses this appropriate word] by iron (3 of the means, not of the object, which was rather to be expected in 176 after xx. 30), and a man whets '•jd, the appearance, the deportment, the nature, and manner of the conduct of his neighbour. The proverb requires that the intercourse of man with man operate in the way of sharpening the manner and forming the habits and character; that one help another to culture and polish of manner, rub off his ruggedness, round
214 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
liis corners, as one has to make use of iron when he sharpens iron and seeks to make it bright. The jussive form is the oratorical form of the expression of that which is done, but also of that which is to be done.
The following three proverbs are connected with 17 in their similarity of form : —
Ver. 18 Whosoever watclieth the fig-tree will enjoy its fruit ;
And he that hath regard to his master attaineth to honour. The first member is, as in ver. 17, only the means of contem- plating the second ; as faithful care of the tree has fruit for a reward, so faithful regard for one's master, honour ; "i>|3 is used as at Isa. xxvii. 3, i^b' as at Hos. iv. 10, etc. — the proverb is valid in the case of any kind of master up to the Lord of lords. The fig-tree presented itself, as Heidenheim remarks, as an appropriate figure ; because in the course of several years' train- ino; it brintrs forth its fruit, which the lano;uao;e of the Mishna distinguishes as pjS, unripe, Snu, half ripe, and 7üV, fully ripe. To fruit in the first line corresponds honour in the second, which the faithful and attentive servant attains unto first on the part of his master, and then also from society in general.
Ver. 19 As it is with water, face correspondeth to face, So also the heart of man to man. Thus the traditional text is to be translated ; for on the supposi- tion that 2^03 must be used for D^ö?3, yet it might not be trans- lated : as in waters face corresponds to face (Jerome : guo- modo in aquis resplendent vultus respicientium), because 3 (instar) is always only a prep, and never conj. subordinating to itself a whole sentence {vid. under Ps. xxxviii. 14). But whether D^ss, " like water," may be an abridgment of a sentence: " like as it is with water," is a question, and the translation of the LXX. (Syr., Targ., Arab.), wcnrep ov-^ ofioLairpoawira irpoaoi- TroL^;, K.T.\., appears, according to Böttchers ingenious conjec- ture, to have supposed D''D3 "iC'XD, from which the LXX. derived Q^jyi px3, sicut non pares. The thought is beautiful: as in the water-mirror each one beholds his own face (Luther : der Scheme — the shadow), so out of the heart of another each sees his own heart, i.e. he finds in another the dispositions and feel- ings of his own heart (Fleischer) — the face finds in water its
CHAP. XXVII. 20. 215-
reflection, and the heart of a man finds in man its echo ; men are oixoLoiradel^^ and it is a fortunate thing tliat their heart is capable of the same sympatlietic feelings, so that one can pour into the heart of another that which fills and moves his own heart, and can there find agreement with it, and a re-echo. The expression with ? is extensive : one corresponds to another, one belongs to another, is adapted to the other, turns to the other, so that the thought may be rendered in manifold ways ; the divinely-ordained mutual relationship is always the ground- thought. This is wholly obliterated by Hitzig's conjecture D^03, " what a mole on the face is to the face, that is man's heart to man," i.e. the heart is the dark spot in man, his partie honteuse. But the Scripture nowhere speaks of the human heart after this manner, at least the Book of Proverbs, in which 2^5 frequently means directly the understanding. Far more intelligible and consistent is the conjecture of Mendel Stern, to which Abrahamsohn drew my attention : CJöp D^2Br\ D^J33, like water (viz. flowing water), which directs its course always for- ward, thus (is turned) the heart of man to man. This con- jecture removes the syntactic harshness of the first member without changing the letters, and illustrates by a beautiful and excellent figure the natural impulse moving man to man. It appears, however, to us, in view of the LXX., more probable that 2)^3 is abbreviated from the original cm nü^'xa (cf. xxiv. 29).
The following proverb has, in common with the preceding, the catchword Dnxn, and the emphatic repetition of the same expression :
Ver. 20 The under-world and hell are not satisfied, And the eyes of man are not satisfied.
A Ken pnasi is here erroneously noted by Lövvenstein, Stuart, and others. The Ke)i to n"'^3K1 is here n3N"i, which secures the right utterance of the ending, and is altogether wanting^ in many mss. (e.g. Cod. Jaman). The stripping off of the } from the ending Ji is common in the names of persons and places {e.g. iyobü^ LXX. SoXo/xdov and Hpi^') ; we write at pleasure either i or n— {e.g. n?9), Olsh. § 215j. ni3N (h2x) of the
1 In Gesen. Lex. this mas stands to the present day under m3N.
216 THE BOOK OF PROVERDS.
nature of a proper name, is already found in its full form P'^^x at XV. 11, along with 7iSK'; the two synonyms are, as was there shown, not wholly alike in the idea they present, as the under- world and realm of death, but are related to each other almost the same as Hades and Gehenna ; pna« is what is called^ in the Jonathan-Targum X5"^3i^ n''3, the place of destruction, i.e of the second death {'^^''J^ J^niO). The proverb places Hades and Hell on the one side, and the eyes of man on the other, on the same line in respect of their insatiableness. To this Fleischer adds the remark : cf. the Arab. aVayn Va tamVaha aWa altrah, nothing fills the eyes of man but at last the dust of the grave — a strikingly beautiful expression ! If the dust of the grave fills the open eyes, then they are full — fearful irony ! The eye is the instrument of seeing, and consequently in so far as it always looks out farther and farther, it is the instrument and the representation of human covetousness. The eye is filled, is satisfied, is equivalent to : human covetousness is appeased. But first "the desire of the eye," 1 John ii. 16, is meant in the proper sense. The eyes of men are not satisfied in looking and contemplating that which is attractive and new, and no com- mand is more difficult to be fulfilled than that in Isa. xxxiii. 15, "... that shutteth his eyes from seeing evil." There is therefore no more inexhaustible means, iwjyice specidationis, than the desire of the eyes.
There follow here two proverbs which have in common with each other the figures of the crucible and the mortar :
Ver. 21 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
And a man according to the measure of his praise ; i.c.j silver and gold one values according to the result of the smelting crucible and the smelting furnace ; but a man, accord- in o- to the measure of public opinion, which presupposes that which is said in xii. 8, " according to the measure of his wisdom is a man praised." -'(ü)^ is not a pfjfia jxeaov like our Leumund [renown], but it is a graduated idea which denotes fame down to evil Loh [fame], which is only L^oh [praise] i^er antiphrasin. Ewald otherwise : " according to the measure of his glorying ;" or Hitzig better : " according to the measure with which he praises himself," with the remark : " hhr\^2 is not the act, the
1 Vid. Frankel, Zu dem Tarcjim der Propheten (1872), p. 25.
CHAP. XXVII. 22. 217
glorifying of self, but the object of the glorying (cf. HDno, tno), i.e. that in which he places his glory." Böttcher some- thing further : " one recognises him by that which he is generally wont to praise in himself and others, persons and things." Thus the proverb is to be understood ; but in connec- tion with xii. 8 it seems to us more probable that bhr\j2 is thought of as going forth from others, and not as from him- self. In line first, xvii. 3a is repeated ; the second line there is conformable to the first, according to which it should be here said that the praise of a man is for him what the crucible and the furnace is for metal. The LXX., Syr., Targ., Jerome, and the Venet. read i<'?.p^ "'S?, and thereby obtain more con- cinnity. Luther accordingly translates :
A man is tried by the mouth of his praise,
As silver in the crucible and gold in the furnace.
Others even think to interpret man as the subject examining, and so they vocalize the words. Thus e.g. Fleischer : Qualis est catinus argento etfornax auro, talis sit homo ori a quo laiidatur, so that " mouth of his praise " is equivalent to the man who praises him with his mouth. But where, as here, the language relates to relative worth, the supposition for "•£?, that it denotes, as at xii. 8, pro ratione, is tenable. And that the mouth of him who praises is a smelting crucible for him who is praised, or that the praised shall be a crucible for the mouth of him who praises, would be a wonderful comparison. The LXX. has here also an additional distich which has no place in the Heb. text.
Ver. 22 Though thou bruise a fool in a mortar among grit with a pestle, Yet would not his folly depart from him.
According to the best accredited accentuations, ti'in^n^DX has lllvj. and t^'n3G3 has Pazer^ not Hebia, which would separate more than the DecJii, and disturb the sequence of the thoughts. The first line is long ; the chief disjunctive in the sphere of the Athnach is Dechi of '"in, this disjoins more than the Pazer of 'Ki3, and this again more than the Legarmeh of ' !?MX^-n^?. The n of riisin does not belong to the stem of the word (Hitzig), but is the article ; nisi (from fill, to shake, to break ; according
218 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
to Scliultens, from risn, to crumble, to cut in pieces, after tlie form ">it3''p, which is improbable) are bruised grains of corn (peeled grain, grit), here they receive this name in the act of being bruised ; rightly Aquila and Theodotion, iv /J^ea-o) ifiTma- aofxevcov (grains of corn in the act of being pounded or bruised), and the Venet. fiecrov rcov Trriaavcov} In yjJB (thus to be written after Michlol 43i, not vya, as Heidenheim writes it without any authority) also the article is contained. C'riDO is the vessel, and the 3 of ''bv2 is Beth insirumenti ; v.y. (of lifting up for the purpose of bruising) is the club, pestle (Luther: stempffel=^ pounder) ; in the Mishna, Beza i. 5, this word denotes a pounder for the cutting out of flesh. The proverb interprets itself : folly has become to the fool as a second nature, and he is not to be delivered from it by the sternest discipline, the severest means that may be tried ; it is not indeed his substance (Hitzig), but an inalienable accident of his substance.
Vers. 23-27. An exhortation to rural industry, and particularly to the careful tending of cattle for breeding, forms the conclu- sion of the foregoing series of proverbs, in which we cannot always discern an intentional grouping. It is one of the Mashal- odes spoken of vol. i. p. 12. It consists of 11 =4+ 7 lines.
Ver. 23 Give heed to the look of thy small cattle, Be considerate about the herds.
24 For prosperity continues not for ever ;
And does the diadem continue from generation to generation?
25 (But) the hay is gone, and the after-growth appears, And the grass of the mountains is gathered :
26 Lambs serve to clothe thee, And goats are the price of a field.
27 And there is plenty of goats' milk for thy nourishment, And for the nourishment of thy house,
And subsistence for thy maidens.
The beginning directs to the fut., as is not common in these proverbs, vid. xxvi. 26. With V^\ to take knowledge, which is strengthened by the«?/, inte.nsivus, is interchanged 3? T\'"\^, which means at xxiv. 32 to consider well, but here, to be careful regarding anything. JN^ is the small or little cattle, thus sheep and goats. Whether Q^'J^yJ'- G^^"^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^' ^^"- 2) contains the 1 The LXX. translates iu yJau avueZpiov, and has thereby misled the Syr., and mediately the Targum.
CHAP. XXVII. 23-27. 219
article is questionable (Gesen. § 35. 2 A), and, since the herds are called 2''"}iyn, is not probable; thus : direct thy attention to the herds, that is, to this, that thou hast herds. V.? is the external side in general ; here, the appearance which the sheep present ; thus their condition as seen externally. In ver. 24 I formerly regarded "ly. as a synonym of Ta, to be understood of the produce of wool, or, with Hitzig, of the shearing of the meadow, and thus the produce of the meadow. But this interpretation of the word is untenable, and ver. 25 provides for ver. 24, thus under- stood, no natural continuation of thought. That |?n signifies a store, fulness of possessions, property, and abundance, has already been shown under xv. 6 ; but ITJ is always the mark of royal, and generally of princely dignity, and here denotes, per melon, signipro re signata, that dignity itself. With the negative expression in 24a the interrogative in 246 is interchanged as at Job xl. 9, with the implied negative answer ; DX"i, of an oath (" and truly not," as at Isa. Ixii. 8), presents the same thought, but with a passionate colouring here unnecessary. Eightly Fleischer : " ready money, moveable property, and on the other hand the highest positions of honour, are far more easily torn away from a man, and secure to him far less of quiet prosperity, than husbandry, viewed particularly with respect to the rearing of cattle." In other words : the possession of treasures and of a lofty place of power and of honour has not in itself the security of everlasting duration ; but rural economy, and par- ticularly the rearing of cattle, gives security for food and clothing. The Chetlnh in -\Th is found, e.g. at Ex. ill. 15 ; the Keri lini nn^ substitutes the more usual form. If ver. 25 was an independent whole (Hitzig : grass vanishes and fresh green appears, etc.), then the meaning here and onward would be that in the sphere of husbandry it is otherwise than is said in ver. 24 : there that which is consumed renews itself, and there is an enlarging circulation. But this contrast to ver. 24 must be expressed and formed unambiguously. The connection is rather this, that ver. 23 commends the rearing of cattle, ver. 24 confirms it, and 25 ff. discuss what real advantages, not depen- dent on the accidents of public and social life, it brings.
I rejoice to agree with Fleischer in the opinion that the per- fects of ver. 25 form a complex hypothetical antecedent to ver.
220 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
26 : Quiim evanuerit gramen (sc. vettis) et apparuerint herhce recentes et collecta fuerint jyabula montiiim, agni vestitui tuo (inservient) et pretium agri (sc. a te emendi) erunt hirci, i.e. then wilt thou nourish thy lierds of sheep and goats with the grass on tliy fields, and with the dried gathered hay ; and these will yield for thee, partly immediately and partly by the money derived therefrom (viz. from the valuable goats not needed for the flocks), all that is needful for thy life. He also remarks, under TO, that it means to make a place void, empty (viz. to quit the place, evacuer la forteresse) ; hence to leave one's fatherland or home, to wander abroad ; thus, rhetorically and poetically of things and possessions : to disappear. 'T'V'7 (from ">vn, to be green) is hay, and Nti^'n the after-grovv'ing second crop (after- grass) ; thus a meadow capable of being mowed a second time is thought of. D-'in nu^'y (with Bag. dirimens, as e.g. ''^^V, Deut. xxxii. 32) are the herbage of the mountains. The time when one proceeds to sheep-shearing, ver. 25 cannot intend to designate ; it sets before us an interesting rural harvest scene, where, after a plentiful ingathering of hay, one sees the meadows again overspread with new grass (Ewald) ; but with us the shearing of sheep takes place in the month of May, when the warm season of the year is just at hand. The poet means in general to say, that when the hay is mown and now the her- bage is grow^n up, and also the fodder from the mountains (Ps. cvi. 20) has been gathered home, when thus the barns are filled with plenty, the husbandman is guaranteed against the future on all sides by his stock of cattle. 2pn (from 2?n, Arab. hal)/b, with halah) is the usual metaplastic connecting form of 3^ri, milk. '•'^ (from % like ''n from '•n), generally connected with the genitive of the person or thing, for which anything is sufficient (e.g. xxv. 16, ^^.'^, to which Fleischer compares Arab. Iiashuha, tassiiha kifayuha)^ has here the genitive of the thing of which, or in which, one has enough. The complex subject- conception is limited by Eebia, and the governing ''T has the subordinated disjunctive Legarmeh. 0"?^ is a word of two genders (epicoenum), Gesen. § 107, Id. In Q"'>ri"i the influence of the p stiJl continues; one does not need to supply it mean- while, since all that maintains and nourishes life can be called D^^n (vita = victus), e.g. iii. 22. The LXX. translates ^ri^? by
COiV
CHAP. SXVIII. 1, 221
OepaTTovrcov, and omits (as also the Syr., but not the Syro- Hexap.) the last line as now superfluous ; but that the maids attending to the cattle — by whom we particularly think of milkers — are especially mentioned, intentionally presents the figure of a well-ordered household, full of varied life and activity rJob xl. 29).
This Mashal-ode, commending the rearing of cattle, is a boundary. The series of proverbs beginning with the next chapter is not, however, a commencement, like that at xxii. 17 ; and Hitzig's supposition, that xxviii. 1-16 and xxii. 17 ff. have one and the same author, stands on a false foundation. The second proverb of the twenty-eighth chapter shows directly that this new series of proverbs is subordinated to the aim of the Hezekiah-collection beginning with xxv., and thus has to be regarded as an original component part of it. The traces of the post-exih'an period which Hitzig discovers in xxviii. 1-16 are not sufficient to remove the origin of the proverbs so far down from the times of Hezekiah. We take the first group, xxviii. 1-11, together; for po and "ir^"', pervading these eleven proverbs, gives to them, as a whole, a peculiar colouring ; and xxviii. 12 presents itself as a new beginning, going back to ver. 2, which ver. 1 precedes as a prelude.
xxviii. 1 The godless flee without any one pursuing them ; But the righteous are bold like a lion. We would misinterpret the sequence of the accents if we sup- posed that it denoted V^"] as obj. ; it by no means takes ^ivp*?! as a parenthesis, yc'i belongs thus to ^D3 as collective sing, (cf. e.g. Isa. xvi. Ab) ; ^ in lb, ^^^], as comprehensive or dis- tributive (individualizing) singular, follows the plur. subject. One cannot, because the word is vocalized i''??? and not 1^233, regard n\2y as an attributive clause thereto (Ewald, like Jerome, quasi leo conßdens) ; but the article, denoting the idea of kind, does not certainly always follow d. We say, indifferently, ''1X3 or ^1X3, S^ab or N^n^S, and always nnx3, not ^n^<3. In itself, indeed, nun'' may be used absolutely : he is confident, undis- mayed, of the lion as well as of the leviathan, Job xl. 23. But
' The Targuni of xxviii. la is, in BcrcscMth rahba, c. 84, K^t^") p"ij? ?h psm ^^h ; that lying before us is formed after the Peshito.
222 THE BOOK OF PllOVERBS.
it is suitable thus without any addition for the righteous, and 1D3 and non'' <;orrespond to each other as predicates, in accordance with the parallehsm ; the accentuation is also here correct. The perf. 1DJ denotes that which is uncaused, and yet follows : the godless flee, pursued by the terrible images that arise in their own wicked consciences, even when no external danger threatens. The fut. nüy denotes that which continually happens ; the righteous remains, even where external danger really threatens, bold and courageous, after the manner of a young, vigorous lion, because feeling himself strong in God, and assured of his safety through Him.
Ver. 2. There now follows a royal proverb, whose key-note is the same as that struck at xxv. 2, which states how a country falls into the ovk äya96v of the rule of the many :
Through the wickedness of a land the rulers become many ;
And through a man of wisdom, of knowledge, authority continues. If the text presented Vti'Sa as Hitzig corrects, then one might think of a political revolt, according to the usage of the word, 1 Kings xii. 19, etc. ; but the word is V^^^,^ and V^Q (from r^S, dlrumpere) is the breaking through of limits fixed by God, apostasy, irreligion, e.g. Mic. i. 5. But that many rulers for a land arise from such a cause, shows a glance into the Book of Hosea, e.g. vii. 16 : " They return, but not to the Most High (sursum) ; they are becume like a deceitful bow ; their princes shall then fall by the sword ; " and viii. 4 : " They set up kings, but not by me ; they liave made princes, and I knew it not." The history of the kingdom of Israel shows that a land which apostatizes from revealed religion becomes at once the victim of party spirit, and a subject of contention to many would-be rulers, whether the fate of the king whom it has rejected be merited or not. But what is now the contrast which 2b brings forward ? The translation by Bertheau and also by Zockler is impossible : " but through intelhgent, prudent men, he (the prince) continueth long." For 2a does not mean a frequent changing of the throne, which in itself may not be a punishment for the sins of the people, but the appearance at the same time of many pretenders to the throne, as was the
^ Thus to be written with Gaja here and at ssix. 6, after the rule of Metheg-Setzuvg, § 42i.
CHAP. XXV III. 2. 223
case in the kingdom of Israel during the interregnum after the death of Jeroboam ii., or in Rome at the time of the thirty tyrants; T")^,! must thus refer to one of these "many" who usurp for a time the throne. D^X3 may also mean, xxiii. 28, inter homines ; but Q*J5<j with adjective following, e.g. xi. 7, xii. 23, xvii. 18, xxi. 16, always denotes one ; and that trans- lation also changes the i? into a " so," " then " introducing the concluding clause, which it altogether disregards as un- translatable. But equally impossible is Böttcher's : " among intelligent, prudent people, one continues (in the government)," for then the subject-conception on which it depends would be slurred over. Without doubt |3 is here a substantive, and just this subject-conception. That it may be a substantive has been already shown at xi. 19. There it denoted integrity (pro- perly that which is right or genuine) ; and accordingly it means here, not the status quo (Fleischer : idem rerum status), but continuance, and that in a full sense : the jurisdiction (properly that which is upright and right), i.e. this, that right continues and is carried on in the land. Similarly Heidenheim, for he glosses p by psn pao ; and Umbreit, who, however, unwarned by the accent, subordinates this p [in the sense of " right"] to V'J} as its object. Zöckler, with Bertheau, finds a difficulty in the asyndeton Vf p^^. But these words also, Neh. x. 29, stand together as a formula ; and that this formula is in the spirit and style of the Book of Proverbs, passages such as xix. 25, xxix. 7 ^ show. A practical man, and one M'ho is at the same time furnished with thorough knowledge, is thus spoken of, and prudence and knowledge of religious moral character and worth are meant. What a single man may do under certain circumstances is shown in xxi. 22 ; Eccles. ix. 15. Here one has to think of a man of understanding and spirit at the helm of the State, perhaps as the nearest counsellor of the king. By means of such an one, right continues long (we do not need to supply T\\'rh after " continues long "). If, on the one side, the State falls asunder by the evil conduct of the inhabitants of the
1 The three connected words j;T« pa© D1X31 have, in Löwenstein, the accents Mercha, MercJia, Mucjrash ; but the Venetian, 1515, 20, Athias, v. d. Hooght, and Hahn, have rightly Tarcha, Mercha, Mu^rash, — to place two Mcrchas is Beu-Naphtali's manner.
224 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
land, on tlie other hand a single man who unites in himself sound understanding and higher knowledge, for a long time holds it together.
Ver. 3. A proverb of a tyrant here connects itself with that of usurpers :
A poor man and an oppressor of the lowly — A sweeping rain without bringing bread.
Thus it is to be translated according to the accents. Fleischer otherwise, but also in conformity with the accents : Quales sunt vir pauper et oppressor miserorum, tales sunt pluvia omnia securn abripiens et qui panein non hahent, i.e. the relation between a poor man and an oppressor of the needy is the same as tliat between a rain carrying all away with it and a people robbed thereby of their sustenance : in other words : a prince or poten- tate who robs the poor of their possessions is like a pouring rain which floods the fruitful fields — the separate members of the sentence would then correspond with each other after the scheme of the chiasmus. But the comparison would be faulty, for C^n "i3a and Dn^ p^ fall together, and then the explanation would be idem per idem. A " sweeping rain " is one which has only that which is bad, and not that which is good in rain, for it only destroys instead of promoting the growth of the corn ; and as the Arab, according to a proverb compared by Hitzig, says of an unjust sultan, that he is a stream without water, so an oppressor of the helpless is appropriately compared to a rain which floods the land and brings no bread. But then the words, '' a poor man and an oppressor of the lowly," must designate one person, and in that case the Heb. words must be
accentuated, D'^1 P^Vl C^"} inj (cf. xxix. Aa). For, that the oppressor of the helpless deports himself toward the poor man like a sweeping rain which brings no bread, is a saying not intended to be here used, since this is altogether too obvious, that the poor man has nothing to hope for from such an ex- tortioner. But the comparison would be appropriate if da referred to an oppressive master ; for one who belongs to a master, or who is in any way subordinated to him, has before all to expect from him that which is good, as a requital for his services, and as a proof of his master's condescending sympathy.
CHAP. XXVIII. 3. 225
It is thus asked whether " a poor man and an oppressor of the lowly " may be two properties united in the person of one master. This is certainly possible, for he may be primarily a poor official or an upstart (Zöckler), such as were the Eoman proconsuls and procurators, who enriched themselves by im- poverishing their provinces (cf. LXX. xxviii. 15) ; or a heredi- tary proprietor, who seeks to regain what he has lost by extorting it from his relatives and workmen. But tr"i (poor) is not sufficient to give this definite feature to the figure of the master ; and what does this feature in the figure of the master at all mean ? What the comparison 3b says is appropriate to any oppressive ruler, and one does not think of an oppressor of the poor as himself poor ; he may find himself in tlie midst of shattered possessions, but he is not poor ; much rather the op- pressor and the poor are, as e.g. atxxix. 13, contrasted with each other. Therefore we hold, with Hitzig, that e^n of the text is to be read rosh, whether we have to change it into e'N"), or to suppose that the Jewish transcriber has here for once slipped into the Phoenician writing of the word;^ we do not interpret, with Hitzig, C'X") 123 in the sense of av6pw'Ko<i Swdcrrr}^, Sir. viii. 1, but explain : a man (or master - ">''35) is the head (cf. e.g. Judg. xi. 8), and oppresses the helpless. This rendering is probable, because cn "i33, a poor man, is a combination of words without a parallel : the Book of Proverbs does not once use the expres- sion ^1 C^'N, but always simply ti'") {e.g. xxviii. 6, xxix. 13) ; and "133 is compatible with CSn and the like, but not with m. If we stumble at the isolated position of D*N"i, we should consider that it is in a certain measure covered by c^n ; for one has to think of the "I33, who is the üa.1, also as the tJ'NT of these Q'bl, as one placed in a high station who numbers poor people among his suboi'dinates. The LXX. translates dvSp6io<i ev dae߀Lai<; as if the words of the text were W"} 1133 (cf. the interchange of "I33 and ">i33 in both texts of Ps. xviii. 26), but what the LXX. read must have been V''^'"]^^ ii33 (Isa. v. 22) ; and what can 1123 here mean ? The statement here made refers to the ruinous conduct of a 123, a man of standing, or 1''33, a high lord, a "wicked ruler," xxviii. 15. On the
^ The Phcen. writes CI (i-e. K^"l, rus) ; vid. Schroder's PJianizische Gram. p. 133; cf. Geseo. Thes. under ^ii\
VOL. II. P
226 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
contrary, wliat kind of rain the rule of an ideal governor is compared to, Ps. Ixxii. 1-8 tells.
Ver. 4 They who forsake the law praise the godless ;
But they who keep the law become angry with them, viz. the godless, for V'f] is to be thought of collectively, as at ver. 1. They who praise the godless turn away from the revealed word of God (Ps. Ixxiii. 11-15) ; those, on the con- trary, who are true to God's word (xxix. 18) are aroused against them (vid. regarding mj, xv. 18), they are deeply moved by their conduct, they cannot remain silent and let their wickedness go unpunished ; nnarin is zeal (excitement) always expressing itself, passing over into actions (syn. "•"'.^^nn, Job xvii. 8).
Ver. 5. A similar antithetic distich :
Wicked men understand not what is right ;
But they who seek Jahve understand all.
Eegardiiig the gen. expression yyc'JX, vid. under ii. 14. He who makes wickedness his element, falls into the confusion of the moral conception ; but he whose end is the one living God, gains from that, in every situation of life, even amid the greatest difficulties, the knowledge of that which is morally right. Similarly the Apostle John (1 John ii. 20): "ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things " (otSare iravTo) : i.e., ye need to seek that knowledge which ye require, and which ye long after, not without yourselves, but in the new divine foundation of your personal life; from thence all that ye need for the growth of your spiritual life, and for the turn- ing away from you of hostile influences, will come into youi consciences. It is a potential knowledge, all-comprehensive in its character, and obviously a human relative knowledge, that is here meant.
Ver. 6. What is stated in this proverb is a conclusion from the preceding, with which it is also externally connected, for CJ*") (= ti'Nl), VJi'ij S!"i, and now \:h, follow each other: Better a poor man who walketh in his innocence, Than a double-going deceiver who is rich thereby. A variation of xix. 1. Stainlessness, integritas vitce^ as a con- sequence of unreserved devotion to God, gives to a man with poverty a higher worth and nobility than riches connected with
CHAP. XXVIII. 7, 8. 227
falsehood which " halts between two opinions " (1 Kings xviii. 21), and appears to go one way, while in reality it goes another. The two ways ^\^y\ (cf. Sir. ii. 12, ovac afxaprcoXu) . . . einßaivovri iirl Bvo rplßovi) are, as ver. 18, not ways going aside to the right or to the left of the right way, but the evil way which the deceiver truly walks in, and the good way which he pretends to walk in (Fleischer); the two ways of action placed over against one another, by one of which he masks the other. Ver. 7 He who keepeth instruction is a wise son ;
But he that is a companion of profligates bringeth his father into shame.
We have translated mm at ver. 4 by " law ;" here it includes the father's instruction regarding the right way of life, nnin ijria^ according to the nearest lying syntax, has to be taken as pred. DY?.it are such as squander their means and destroy their health, vid. under xxiii. 20 f. nyn signifies, as frequently from the idea of (cf. xxix. 3) pasturing, or properly of tending, to take care of, and to have fellowship with. Cv?! [shall put to shame] denotes both that he himself does dis- grace to him, and that he brings disgrace to him on the part of others.
Ver. 8. This verse continues a series of proverbs (com- mencing in ver. 7) beginning with a participle :
He who increaseth his wealth by interest and usury, Gathereth it for one who is benevolent toward the lowly. Wealth increased by covetous plundering of a neighbour does not remain with him who has scraped it together in so relentless a manner, and without considering his own advan- tage ; but it goes finally into the possession of one who is merciful towards the poor, and thus it is bestowed in a manner that is pleasing to God (cf. xiii. 22, Job xxii. 16 f.). The Keri, which drops the second 3, appears to wish to mitigate the sharpness of the distinction of the second idea supposed in its repetition. But Lev. xxv. 35-37, where an Israelite is forbidden to take usury and interest from his brother, the two are distinguished ; and Fleischer rightly remarks that there "IB'J means usury or interest taken in money, and n^Sin usury or interest taken in kind ; i.e., of that which one has received
228 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
in loan, such as grain, or oil, etc., he gives back more than he has received. In other words : ']\i^i is the name of the interest for the capital that is lent, and ri''3"io, or, as it is here called JT'lin, the more, the addition thereto, the increase (Luther : vbersatz). This meaning of gain by means of lending on in- terest remains in "pi ; but n''2"in, according to the later usus log., signifies gain by means of commerce, thus business-profit, vid. Baba Mezui, v. 1. Instead of ^35*315'', more recent texts have the Kal^ I3y31?\ Jp.inp also is, as xiv. 31, xix. 17, part, Kal, not inf. Poel : ad largiendum pauperibus (Merc, Ewald, Bertheau), for there the person of him who presents the gift is undefined ; but just this, that it is another and better-disposed, for whom, without having it in view, the collector gathers his stores, is the very point of the thought.
Ver. 9 He who turneth away his ear not to hear of the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. Cf. XV. 8 and the argument 1 Sam. xv. 22. Not only the evil which such an one does, but also the apparent good is an abomination, an abomination to God, and eo ipso also in itself : morally hollow and corrupt ; for it is not truth and sincerity, for the whole soul, the whole will of the suppliant, is not present : he is not that for which he gives himself out in his prayer, and does not earnestly seek that which he presents and expresses a wish for in prayer.
Ver. 10. A tristich beginning with a participle: He who misleads the upright into an evil way, He shall fall into his own pit ; But the innocent shall inherit that which is good.
In the first case, xxvi. 27 is fulfilled : the deceiver who leads astray falls himself into the destruction which he prepared for others, whether he misleads them into sin, and thus mediately prepares destruction for them, or that he does this immediately
^ If, as Hitzig, after J. H. Michaelis, remarks, the word were Ben-Asher's 13)i3p\ then it would be thus rightly punctuated by Clodius and the moderns. Kimchi, in the Wörterluch under |>3p, adduces this word as Bea-Asher's. But the Masora knows nothing of it. It marks ^3^*3p\ Jer. xxxi. 10, with T\'h «s uniciim, and thus supposes for the passage before us ^3^*3pN which certainly is found in Jiss., and is also marked on the margin with n""^ as unicum.
CHAP. XXVIII. 11. 229
by enticing them into this or that danger ; for V} Tf?.^ may be understood of the way of wicked conduct, as well as of the experience of evil, of being betrayed, robbed, or even mur- dered. That those who are misled are called D^'j'^, explains itself in the latter case : that they are such as he ought to show respect towards, and such as deserved better treatment, heightens the measure of his guilt. If we understand being morally led astray, yet may we not with Hitzig here find the " theory " which removes the punishment from the just and lays it on the wicked. The clause xi. 8 is not here applicable. The first pages of the Scripture teach that the deceiver does not by any means escape punishment ; but certainly the deceiver of the upright does not gain his object, for his diabolical joy at the destruction of such an one is vain, because God again helps him with the right way, but casts the deceiver so much the deeper down. As the idea of yi "["iT has a twofold direction, so the connections of the words may be genitival (via mali) as well as adjectival (via mala). inin*^'Zi is not incorrectly written for inmti'a, for rr'nc' occurs (only here) with ninty as its warrant both from nn^", to bend, to sink ; cf. ri^P under iv. 24. In line third, opposite to " he who misleads," stand " the innocent " (pious), who, far from seeking to entice others into the evil way and bring them to ruin, are unreservedly and honestly devoted to God and to that which is good ; these shall inherit good (cf. iii. 35) ; even the consciousness of having made no man unhappy makes them happy ; but even in their external relations there falls to them the possession of all good, which is the divinely ordained reward of the good,
Ver. 11 A rich man deems himself wise ;
But a poor man that hath understanding searcheth him out,
or, as we have translated, xviii. 17, goes to the bottom of him, whereby is probably thought of the case that he seeks to use him as a means to an ignoble end. The rich man appears in his own eyes to be a wise man, i.e. in his self-delusion he thinks that he is so; but if he has anything to do with a poor man who has intelligence, then he is seen through by him. "Wisdom is a gift not depending on any earthly possession.
We take vers. 12-20 together. A proverb regarding riches
230 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
closes this group, as also the foregoing is closed, and its com- mencement is related in form and in its contents to ver. 2 :
Ver. 12 When righteous men triumph, the glory is great ;
And when the godless rise, the people are searched for.
The first line of this distich is parallel with xxix. 2 ; cf. xi. 10«, 11a : when the righteous rejoice, viz. as conquerors (cf. e.g. Ps. Ix. 8), who have the upper hand, then ri"!Xari, bright prosperity, is increased ; or as Fleischer, by comparison of the Arab, yaiom alazynt (day of ornament = festival day), explains : so is there much festival adornment, i.e. one puts on festival clothes, Signum pro re signata : thus all appears festal and joyous, for pro- sperity and happiness then show themselves forth, nsn is adj. and pred. of the substantival clause ; Hitzig regards it as the attribute : " then is there great glory ; " this supposition is possible (vid. vii. 26, and under Ps. Ixxxix. 51), but here it is purely arbitrary. 28a is parallel with 12b : if the godless arise, attain to power and prominence, these men are spied out, i.e. as we say, after Zeph. i. 12, they are searched for as with lamps. D^X ti'sn"; is to be understood after Obadiah, ver. 6, cf. ii. 4 : men are searched out, i.e. are plundered (in which sense Heiden heim regards b'sn as here a transposition from flKTi), or, with reference to the secret police of despotism : they are subjected to an espionage. But a better gloss is D'lK "iriD^ 28a : the people let themselves be sought for, they keep them- selves concealed in the inside of their houses, they venture not out into the streets and public places (Fleischer), for mistrust and suspicion oppress them all ; one regards his person and property nowhere safer than within the four walls of his house ; the lively, noisy, variegated life which elsewhere rules without, is as if it were dead.
Ver, 13 He that denieth his sin shall not prosper ;
But he that acknowledgeth and forsaketh it shall obtain mercy.
Thus is this proverb translated by Luther, and thus it lives in the mouth of the Christian people. He who falsely disowns, or with self-deception excuses, if he does not altogether justify his sins, which are discernible as öW'ö, has no success; he remains, after Ps. xxxii., in his conscience and life burdened with a secret ban ; but he who acknowledges (the LXX. has i^r)yovfi€vo<i
CHAP. SSIII. 14-16. 231
instead of i^oijLo\oyovfji€vo<i, as it ought to be) and forsakes (for the remissio does not follow the confessio, if there is not the accompaniment of nova ohedientia) will find mercy (om'', as Hos. xiv. 4). In close connection therewith stands the thought that man has to work out his salvation "with fear and trem- bling" (Phil. ii. 12).
Ver. 14 Well is it with the man who feareth always ;
But he that is stiff-necked shall fall into mischief. The Piel "'HS occurs elsewhere only at Isa. li. 13, where it is used of the fear and dread of men ; here it denotes the anxious concern with which one has to guard against the danger of evil coming upon his soul. Aben Ezra makes God the object ; but rather we are to regard sin as the object, for while the truly pious is one that " fears God," he is at the same time one that " feareth evil." The antithesis extends beyond the nearest lying contrast of fleshly security ; this is at the same time more or less one who hardens or steels his heart (i^p n'ti'ipo)^ viz. against the word of God, against the sons of God in his heart, and against the affectionate concern of others about his soul, and as such rushes on to his own destruction (»"IVI? ''^^^ as at xvii. 20). This general ethical proverb is now followed by one concern- ing the king :
Ver. 15 A roaring lion and a ravening bear Is a foolish ruler over a poor people, i.e. a people without riches and possessions, without lasting sources of help, — a people brought low by the events of war and by calamities. To such a people a tyrant is a twofold terror, like a ravenous monster. The LXX. translate J?^'") ^^i^io by o<? rvpavvel tttw^o? wi', as if t^*"l had been transferred to this place from ver. 3. But their translation of ytj*"!, xxix. 7, wavers between äaeßr)<i and tttw^j^o?, and of the bear they make a wolf 3^?T, dialectical S''^.. p\>)'^ designates a bear as lingering about, running hither and thither, impelled by extreme hunger {Venet. eVioDcra), from Pi^B' = pit^, to drive, which is said of nimble running, as well as of urging impulses (cf. under Gen. iii. 16), viz. hunger.
Ver. 16. Another proverb of the king:
0 prince devoid of understanding and rich in oppression !
He that hateth unrighteous gain continueth long.
232 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
The old interpreters from the LXX. interpret DiptJ'yö y]\ as pred. (as also Fleischer : princeps qui intellig entice habet partim idem oppressionis exercet mulium) ; but why did not the author use the word Nin or ^5'l^'l instead of this ambiguous inconvenient \% Hitzig regards the first term as a nominative absolute, which does not assume a suffix in the second line. But examples such as 27a, xxvii. 7Z>, are altogether of a different sort ; there occurs a reference that is in reality latent, and only finds not expression ; the clause following the nominative is related to it as its natural predicate, but here 15^ is an independent clause standing outside of any syntactical relation to 15a. Heidenheim has acknowledged that here there lies before us a proverb not in the form of a mere declaration, but of a warning address, and thus also it is understood by Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, and Zöckler. The accentuation seems to proceed on the same supposition. It is the only passage in the Book of Proverbs where T'JJj of the supreme ruler of the people, and where the plur, riiiuri, occur ; it is not therefore at all strange if the proverb also has some- thing strange in its formation. Often enough, proverbs are in the form of an address to a son, and generally to their reader ; why not also one at least to the king ? It is a proverb as when I say : Oh thou reckless, merry fellow ! he who laughs much will sometimes weep long. Thus here the address is directed to the prince who is devoid of all wisdom and intelligence, which are necessary for a prince ; but on this account the more earnest in exhortation to say to him that only one who hates defrauding the people attains an old age ; thus that a prince who plunders the people wantonly shortens his life as a man, and his position as a ruler (cf. ^\j^}}^^ xxiv. 22). The Keri ^}P has the tone thrown back on the penult., as the Chetldh ''N3B' would also have it, cf. ^^Sjjl-, viii. 9. The relation of a plur. subj. to a sing. pred. is as at xxvii. 16. Eegarding ^^3, vid. under i. 19. A confirmation of this proverb directing itself to princes is found in Jer. xxii. 13-19, the woe pronounced upon Jehoiakim. And a glance at the woe pronounced in Hab. ii. 12, shows how easily ver. 17 presents itself in connection. Ver. 17 A man burdened with the guilt of blood upon his soul Fleeth to the pit ; let no one detain him.
Luther translates : " A man that doeth violence to the blood
CHAP. XXVIII. 17. 233
of any one," as if he had read the word P'^^. Löwenstein per- suades himself that P'^V may mean '' having oppressed," and for this refers to ^^^^, having clothed, in the Mishna "'Vl^J, 212"i, Lat. coenatus, juratus ; but none of all these cases are of the same nature, for always the conduct designated is interpreted as a suffering of that which is done, e.g. the drawing on, as a being clothed ; the riding, as a being ridden, etc. Of P^^'V, in the sense of the oppression of another, there is no such part, jjass. as throws the action as a condition back upon the subject. This is valid also against Aben Ezra, who supposes that P'^V means oppressing after the forms 1^J^^, n^lK', JW^, for of p3^, settled = dwelling, that which has just been said is true; that "113X is equivalent to "i3X, cf. regarding it under xxx. 1, and that "i^n^', Ps. cxxxvii. 8, is equivalent to ll't^, is not true. Kimchi adds, under the name of his father (Joseph Kimchi), also D^nti', Jer. ix. 7 = t^O^'^; but that "slaughtered" can be equivalent to slaughtering is impossible. Some MSS. have the word P^V, which is not inadmissible, but not in the sense of " accused " (Löwenstein), but : persecuted, exposed to war ; for Ptr'^ signifies to treat hostilely, and post-bibl. generally to aspire after or pursue anything, e.g. n")in ''^^']2 piDj;^ R. c>j; (whence Piel con- trectare, cf. Isa. xxiii. 2, according to which p^V appears to be an intensifying of this nb'J?). However, there is no ground for regarding P^'V ^ as not original, nor in the sense of " hard pressed ; " for it is not used of avenging persecution, but : inwardly pressed, for Isa. xxxviii. 14 »^P^fV also signifies the anguish of a guilty conscience. Whoever is inwardly bowed down by the blood of a man whom he has murdered, betakes himself to a ceaseless flight to escape the avenger of blood, the punishment of his guilt, and his own inward torment ; he flees and finds no rest, till at last the grave ("113 according to the Eastern, i.e. the Babylonian, mode of writing in) receives him, and death accomplishes the only possible propitiation of the murderer. The exhortation, " let no one detain him," does not mean that one should not lay hold on the fugitive ; but, since 3 Tjon does not mean merely to hold fast, but to hold right, that 1 Böttcber supposes much rather pWV = P^V^; also, xxv. 11, -|3"J = 'iinü ; but that does not follow from the de/ectiva scriptio, nor from any- thinof else.
234 THE BOOK OF PEO VERBS.
one should not afford him any support, any refuge, any covering or security against the vengeance which pursues him ; that one should not rescue him from the arm of justice, and thereby invade and disturb the public administration of justice, which rests on moral foundations ; on the other side, the Book of Pro- verbs, xxiv. 11 f., has uttered its exhortation to save a human life whenever it is possible to do so. The proverb lying before us cannot thus mean anything else than that no one should give to the murderer, as such, any assistance ; that no one should save him clandestinely, and thereby make himself a partaker of his sin. Grace cannot come into the place of justice till justice has been fully recognised. Human sympathy, human forbearance, under the false title of grace, do not stand in con- trast to this justice. We must, however, render in"l3»n''-!3N not directly as an admonition against that which is immoral; it may also be a declaration of that which is impossible : only let no one support him, let no one seek to deliver him from the unrest which drives him from place to place. This is, however, in vain; he is unceasingly driven about to fulfil his lot. But the translation : nemine eum sustinente (Fleischer), is inadmissible ; a mere declaration of a fact without any subjective colouring is never bx seq. fut.
Ver. 18 He who walketh blamelessly is helped,
And he who is perverse in a double way suddenly perisheth. The LXX. translate D'^on by St/cat'o)? (as the accusative of manner), Aquila and Theodotion by reXeio?; but it may also be translated reketov or reXetoTT^ra, as the object accus, of ii. 7. Instead of D^ani ^^V^ ver. 6, there is here D^3-iT t'^V':^ obliquely directed in a double way, or reflex bending himself. At ver. 6 we have interpreted the dual D^a^T rightly, thus rinsa cannot refer back to one of these two ways ; besides, TIIT as fem. is an anomaly, if not a solecism, nnxa signifies, like the Aram. ^IH^, either all at once (for which the Mish. nns3, Aram. ^"JH^), or once ( = rinN 0^03), and it signifies in the passage before us, not : once, aligumido, as Nolde, with Flacius, explains, but : all at once, i.e. as Geier explains : penitusj sic ut pluribus casibus porro non sit opus. Schultens compares : " Procubuit moriens et humum semel ore momordit.'''''^ 1 jEneid, xi. 418.
CHAP. XXVIII. 19-21. 235
Eightly Fleischer : repente totus concidet. Ver. 19 He who cultivateth his land is satisfied with bread,
And he that graspeth after vanities is satisfied with poverty.
A variation of xii. 11. The pred. here corresponds to its con- trast. On ti'n (here and at xxxi. 7), instead of the more fre- quent tJ'^"?., cf. X. 4.
To this proverb of the cultivation of the land as the sure source of support, the next following stands related, its con- tents being cognate :
Ver. 20 A strong, upright man is enriched with blessings ;
But he that hastens to become rich remains not unpunished.
D"?!)»« {y'^X, XX. 6, as well as niiiDS 'S, denotes a man bonoi fidei; but the former expression refers the description to a constancy and certainty in the relations of favour and of friendship, here to rectitude or integrity in walk and conduct ; the plur. refers to the all-sidedness and the ceaselessness of the activity. ni3"j3 is related, as at x. 6 : the idea comprehends blessings on the side of God and of man, thus benedictio rei and benedictio voti. On the contrary, he who, without being careful as to the means, is in haste to become rich, remains not only unblessed, but also is not guiltless, and thus not without punishment ; also this njpr vh {e.g. vi. 29), frequently met in the Mishle, is, like nDi3, the union of two ideas, for generally the bibl. mode of conception and language comprehends in one, sin, guilt, and punishment.
With a proverb, in the first half of which is repeated the beginning of the second appendix, xxiv. 23, a new group com- mences :
Ver. 21 Respect of persons is not good ;
And for a morsel of bread a man may become a transgressor.
Line first refers to the administration of justice, and line second — the special generalized — to social life generally. The " morsel of bread," as example of a bribe by means of which the favour of the judge is purchased, is too low a conception. Hitzig well I " even a trifle, a morsel of bread (1 Sam. ii. 36), may, as it awakens favour and dislike within us, thus in general call forth in the will an inclination tending to draw one aside from the line of strict rectitude." Geier compares A. Gellius' Noct.
236 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Att. i. 15, where Cato says of the Tribune Coelius: Fnisto panis condiici potest vel ut taceat vel ut loquatur. Ver. 22 The man of an evil eye hasteneth after riches,
And knoweth not that want shall come upon him.
Hitzig renders 'lil ^^^ [the man of an evil eye] as appos. of the subject ; but in that case the phrase would have been py yi c'''N ;in^ ^n33 (cf. e.g. xxix. 1). py yt (xxiii. 6) is the jealous, envious, grudging, and at the same time covetous man. It is certainly possible that an envious man consumes himself in ill- humour without quietness, as Hitzig objects ; but as a rule there is connected with envy a passionate endeavour to raise oneself to an equal height of prosperity with the one who is the object of envy ; and this zeal, proceeding from an impure motive, makes men blind to the fact that thereby they do not advance, but rather degrade themselves, for no blessing can rest on it ; discontentedness loses, with that which God has assigned to us, deservedly also that which it has. The pret. ?n33, the expression of a fact ; the part. '''"^^3, the expression of an habitual characteristic action ; the word signifies prceceps (fjui prceceps fertitr), with the root-idea of one who is unbridled, who is not master of himself (vid. under Ps. ii. 5, and above at XX. 21). The phrase wavers between ?n33 (Kimchi, under biM; and Norzi, after Codd. and old editions) and ^n.^J (thus, e.g., Cod. Jamaii) ; only at Ps. xxx. 8 -'^^^ stands unquestioned, "ipn [want] is recognised by Symmachus, Syr., and Jerome. To this, as the authentic reading, cf. its ingenious rendering in Bereschith Rahba, c. 58, to Gen. xxiii. 14. The LXX. reads, from 225, that a T'On, iXerj/xcov, will finally seize the same riches, according to which Hitzig reads "ipn, disgrace, shame (cf. XXV. 10).
Ver. 23 He that reproveth a man who is going backwards, Findeth more thanks than the flatterer.
It is impossible that aj can be the suffix of '•'^nx ; the Talmud, Tamid 28(2, refers it to God ; but that it signifies : after my (Solomon's) example or precedence (Aben Ezra, Ahron b. Josef, Venet., J. H. Michaelis), is untenable — such a name given by the teacher here to himself is altogether aimless. Others translate, with Jerome : Qui corripit hominem gratiayn postea inveniei apiid eum magis, quam ille qui per linguce hlandi-
CHAP. XXVIII. 23. 237
tnenta decipit, for they partly purpose to read l?""'"]!!}^, partly to give to 'ni? the meaning of posfea. ^I^i^, Ewald says, is a notable example of an adverb. Hitzig seeks to correct this adv. as at Neh. iii. 30 f., but where, with Keil, I^H'):? is to be read ; at Josh. ii. 7, where nns is to erased ; and at Deut. ii. 30, where the traditional text is accountable. This '•'^nx may be formed like ''TN* and ""riO; but if it had existed, it would not be a aira^ Xey. The accentuation also, in the passage before us, does not recognise it ; but it takes ■'']nNi and Dnx together, and how otherwise than that it appears, as Ibn-Jach ja in his Grammar, and Immanuel ^ have recocmised it, to be a noun terminatino- in aj. It is a formation, like ''i^?, 1 Kings vi. 10 (cf. Olshausen's Lelirb. p. 428 f.), of the same termination as ''T^, ''sn^ and in the later Aram.-Heb. ''3_f, and the like. The variant ^"ins, noticed by Heidenheim, confirms it; and the distinction be- tween different classes of men (yid. vol. i. p. 39) which prevails in the Book of Proverbs favours it. A ""inN DIS is defined, after the manner of Jeremiah (vii. 24) : a man who is directed back- wards, and not ^''^sp, forwards. Not the renegade — for n"'3"irD, opp. \\''S p-'^no, does not lead to so strong a conception — but the retrograder is thus called in German : Rückläufige [one who runs backwards] or Rückwendige [one who turns backwards], who turns away from the good, the right, and the true, and always departs the farther away from them (Immanuel : going backwards in his nature or his moral relations). This centri- fugal direction, leading to estrangement from the fear of Jahve, or, wdiat is the same thing, from the religion of revela- tion, would lead to entire ruin if unreserved and fearless denunciation did not interpose and seek to restrain it; and he who speaks^ so truly, openly, and earnestly home to the conscience of one who is on the downward course, gains for himself thereby, on the part of him whom he has directed aright, and on the part of all who are well disposed, better thanks (and also, on the part of God, a better reward, James
^ Abulwalid {Rikma, p. 69) also rightly explains nnx, as a characterizing epithet, by ijiriN (turned backwards).
2 Lowensteia writes n^3iO, after Metheg- Setzung, § 43, not incorrectly ; for the following word, although toned on the first syllable, begins with guttural having the same sound.
238 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
V. 19 f.) than he who, speaking to him, smooths his tongue to say to him who is rich, or in a high position, only that which is agreeable. Laiidat adulator^ sed non est verus amator. The second half of the verse consists, as often (Ps. Ixxiii. 8 ; Job xxxiii. 1 ; cf. Thorath Emeth, p. 51), of only two words, with Mercha Silluk. Ver. 24 He who robbeth his father and mother, and saith : It is no wrong, Is a companion of the destroyer.
The second line is related to xviii. 2b. Instead of dominus perditionis there found, there is here JT'nK'b B'''N, vir perdens ( per ditor) i the word thus denotes a man who destroys, not from revenge, but from lust, and for the sake of the life of men, and that which is valuable for men ; thus the spoiler, the incendiary, etc. Instead of nx there, here we have I3n in the same sense. He who robs his parents, i.e. takes to himself what belongs to them, and regards his doing so as no particular sin,^ because he will at last come to inherit it all (cf. xx. 21 with xix. 26), is to be likened to a man who allows himself in all offences against the life and property of his neighbour ; for what the deed of such a son wants in external violence, it makes up in its wickedness, because it is a rude violation of the tenderest and holiest demands of duty.
Ver. 25 The covetous stirreth up strife ;
But he that trusteth in Jahve is richly comforted. Line first is a variation of xv. 18a ; C'^rnrri is not to be inter- changed with 3/?"3n"!, xxi. 4. He is of a wide heart who haughtily puffs himself up, of a wide soul (cf . with Schultens HTiin It^'SJ, of the opening up of the throat, or of revenge, Isa. v. 14; Hab. ii. 5) who is insatiably covetous ; for 3? is the spiritual, and trw the natural, heart of man, according to which the M'idening of the heart is the overstraining of self-consciousness, and the widening of the soul the overstraining of passion. Rightly the LXX., according to its original text : airXTjaro^ avrjp KLvel (thus with Hitzig for Kptvet) veUr). Line second is a variation of xvi. 20, xxix. 25. Over against the insatiable is he who trusts in God (nt3 3^, with Gaja to the vocal, concluding 1 Accentuate ycj'D px "10N1 without Makkeph, as in Codd. 1294 and old editions.
CHAP. XXVIII. 26, 27. 239
the word, for it follows a word accented on the first syllable, and beginning with a guttural ; cf . '^1, xxix. 2 ; 's^, xxix. 18), that He will bestow upon him what is necessary and good for him. One thus contented is easily satisfied (compare with the word xi. 25, xiii. 4, and with the matter, x. 3, xiii. 24), is externally as well as internally appeased ; while that other, never con- tented, has no peace, and creates dispeace around him.
The following proverb assumes the HDln of the foregoing : ^ Ver. 26 He that trusteth in bis own heart is a fool ; But he that walketh in wisdom shall escape. From the promise in the second line. Hitzig concludes that a courageous heart is meant, but when by itself lb never bears this meaning. He who trusteth in his own heart is not merely one who is guided solely " by his own inconsiderate, defiant impulse to act " (Zöckler). The proverb is directed against a false subjectivity. The heart is that fabricator of thoughts, of which, as of man by nature, nothing good can be said, Gen. vi. 5, viii. 21. But wisdom is a gift from above, and consists in the knowledge of that which is objectively true, that which is normatively godlike. '*19t"?? ^^'^ is he who so walks that he has in wisdom a secure authority, and has not then for the first time, when he requires to walk, need to consider, to reckon, to experiment. Thus walking in the way of wisdom, he escapes dangers to which one is exposed who walks in foolish con- fidence in his own heart and its changeful feelings, thoughts, imaginations, delusions. One who thoughtlessly boasts, who vainly dreams of victory before the time, is such a person ; but confidence in one's own heart takes also a hundred other forms. Essentially similar to this proverb are the words of Jer. ix. 22 f., for the wisdom meant in 2G6 is there defined at ver. 23.
Ver. 27 He that giveth to the poor suifereth no want ;
But he that covereth his eyes meeteth many curses. In the first line the pronoun \h, referring back to the subject noun, is to be supplied, as at xxvii. 7 n?. He who gives to the poor has no want ("liBTO), for God's blessing reimburses
1 We take the opportunity of remarking that the tendency to form to- gether certain proverbs after one catchword is found also in German books of proverbs ; vid. Paul, Ueber die urspr. Anord. von FreiJanks Bescheiden- heit (1870), p. 12.
240 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
him richly for what he bestows. He, on the other hand, who veils (DvV'?j cf. the Hithpa., Isa. Iviii. 7) his eyes so as not to see the misery which calls forth compassion, or as if he did not see the misery which has a claim on his compassion ; he is (becomes) rich in curses, i.e. is laden with the curses of those whose wants he cared not for ; curses which, because they are deserved, change by virtue of a divine requital {yid. Sir. iv. 5f. ; Tob. iv. 7) into all kinds of misfortunes {opp. niann-m., 20a). nnsp is constructed after the form niittj iripD from "»"iN,
The following proverb resembles the beginnings xxviii. 2, 12. The proverbs xxviii. 28, xxix. 1, 2, 3, form a beautiful square grasp, in which the first and third, and the second and fourth, correspond to one another.
Ver. 28 When the godless rise up, men hide themselves ; And when they perish, the righteous increase. Line first is a variation of 12/;. Since they who hide them- selves are merely called men, people, the meaning of 12T is probably not this, that the righteous then from all sides come out into the foreground (Hitzig), but that they prosper, multiply, and increase as do plants, when the worms, caterpillars, and the like are destroyed (Fleischer) ; Löwenstein glosses ^^T. by 'h'\Ti they become great = powerful, but that would be Elihu's style, Job xxxiii. 12, which is not in common use ; the names of masters and of those in authority, 3"!, ''3"i, }3"i, nijan, are all derived from 32"!, not from nan. The increase is to be under- stood of the prosperous growth (to become great = to increase, as perhaps also Gen. xxi. 10) of the congregation of the righteous, which gains in the overthrow of the godless an accession to its numbers; cf. xxix. 2, and especially 16. xxix. 1. A general ethical proverb here follows :
A man often corrected who hardeneth his neck,
Shall suddenly go to ruin without remedy. Line second = vi. Ibh. The connection riinain c''»« must make the nearest impression on a reader of the Book of Proverbs that they mean a censurer (reprehender), but which is set aside by what follows, for the genit. after ^^^ is, xvi. 29, xxvi. 21, xxix. 10, xiii. 20, the designation of that which proceeds from the subject treated. And since riinain, Ps. xxxvii. 15, Job xxiii. 4, denotes counter evidence, and generally rejoinders, thus
CHAP. XXIX. 2. 241
in the first line a reasoner is designated who lets nothing be said to him, and nothing be shown to him, but contradicts all and every one. Thus e.g. Fleischer: vir qui correptus contradicit et cervicem ohdurat. But this interpolated correptus gives involun- tary testimony of this, that the nearest lying impression of the 'in &^ suffers a change by K}^ n'j'pn : if we read n'j'pn (ih) ?liy with 'in, the latter then designates the correptio, over against which is placed obstinate boldness (Syr., Targ., Jerome, Luther), and 'in shows itself thus to be gen. ohjecti, and we have to compare the gen. connection of &ü, as at xviii. 23, xxi. 17, or rather at 1 Kings xx. 42 and Jer. xv. 10. But it is unneces- sary, with Hitzig, to limit 'in to divine infliction of punishment, and after Hos. v. 9, Isa. xxxvii. 3, to read mn^in [punishment], which occurs, Ps. cxlix. 7, in the sense of punishment inflicted by man.^ Besides, we must think first not of actual punishment, but of chastening, reproving words ; and the man to whom are spoken the reproving words is one whose conduct merits more and more severe censure, and continually receives correction from those who are concerned for his welfare. Hitzig regards the first line as a conditional clause : " Is a man of punish- ment stiff-necked?" . . . This is syntactically impossible. Only f]iy nc'ptt could have such force : a man of punishment, if he . . . But why then did not the author rather write the words Nim fl"iy T]\ypj:i ? Why then could not F)-iy n\:}p'a be a co-ordinated further description of the man? CL e.g. Ex. xvii. 21. The door of penitence, to which earnest, well-meant admonition calls a man, does not always remain open. He who with stiff-necked persistence in sin and in self-delusion sets himself in opposition to all endeavours to save his soul, shall one day suddenly, and without the prospect and possibility of restoration (cf. Jer. xix. 11), become a wreck. Audi doctrinam si vis rdtare ruinam. The general ethical proverb is here followed by one that is political :
Ver. 2 When the righteous increase, the people rejoice ;
And when a godless man ruleth, the people mourn.
Regarding ''^V ^i^l? (Aquila rightly, ev tm '7T\r]6vvai Bifcaiov(>}y vid. at xxviii. 28. If the righteous form the majority, or are
1 Vid. Zunz, " Regarding the Idea and the Use of ToJcliccha,''' in Stein- schneider's Heb. Bihliographia, entitled ■l"'3IDn, 1871, p. 70 f. VOL. II. Q
242 THE BOOK OF PEOVERES.
in such numbers that they are the party that give the tone, that form the predominant power among the people (Fleischer, cum mcrementa capiimt justi)^ then the condition of the people is a happy one, and their voice joyful (xi. 10) ; if, on the contrary, a godless man or (after xxviii. 1) godless men rule, the people are made to sigh (DJJ n^xi, with the Gaja, according to rule). " There is reason," as Hitzig remarks, " why Dy should be placed first with, and then without, the article." In the first case it denotes the people as those among whom there is such an increase of the righteous ; in the second case, the article is wanting, because it is not generally used in poetry ; and, besides, its absence makes the second line consist of nine syllables, like the first. This political proverb is now followed by one of general ethics :
Ver. 3 A man wlio lovetli wisdom deligliteth his father ;
And he who keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
Line first is a variation of x. 1. nns't^'^X has, according to rule, the Metheg, cf. 9a. t^'''^^ is man, without distinction of age, from childhood (Gen. iv. 1) up to ripe old age (Isa. Ixvi. 13) ; love and dutiful relation towards father and mother never cease. Line second reminds of xxviii. 7 (cf. xiii. 20).
A series of six proverbs follows, beginning with a proverb of the king :
Ver. 4 A king by righteousness bringeth the land to a good condition ; But a man of taxes bringeth it down.
The Hlph. 'T'^yn signifies to make it so that a person or matter comes to stand erect and stand fast {e.g. 1 Kings xv. 4) ; D"in, to tear down, is the contrary of building up and extending (Ps. xxviii. 5), cf. Dnnj, opp. tir\, of the state, xi. 11. By 'in C^\S is meant the king, or a man of this kind ; but it is questionable whether as a man of gifts, i.e. one who lets gifts be made to him (Grotius, Fleischer, Ewald, Bertheau, Zöckler), or as a man of taxes, i.e. who imposes them (Midrash, Aben Ezra, Ealbag, Rosenmüller, Hitzig). Both interpretations are possible, for 'in means tax (lifting, raising = dedicating), free- will offerings, as well as gifts that are obligatory and required by the laws of nature. Since the word, in the only other place
CHAP. XXIX. 5, 6. 243
where it occurs, Ezek. xlv. 13-16, is used of the relation of the people to the prince, and denotes a legally-imposed tax, so it appears also here, in passing over from the religious sphere to the secular, to be meant of taxes, and that according to its fundamental conception of gifts, i.e. such taxes as are given on account of anything, such as the produce of the soil, manu- factures, heritages. Thus also is to be understood Aquila's and Theodotion's ävi]p äj)aipe^arwv, and the rendering also of the Venet. ipdvcov. A man on the throne, covetous of such gifts, brings the land to ruin by exacting contributions; on the contrary, a king helps the land to a good position, and an enduring prosperity, by the exercise of right, and that in ap- pointing a well-proportioned and fit measure of taxation. Ver. 5 A man who flattereth his neighbour Spreadeth a net for his steps.
Fleischer, as Bertheau : vir qui alterum hlanditiis circumvenit ; but in the ?y there does not lie in itself a hostile tendency, an intention to do injury ; it interchanges with aS', Ps. xxxvi. 3, and what is expressed in line second happens also, without any intention on the part of the flatterer : the web of the flatterer before the eyes of a neighbour becomes, if he is caught thereby, a net for him in which he is entangled to his own destruction (Hitzig). Pvnri signifies also, without any external object, xxviii. 23, ii. 16, as internally transitive : to utter that which is smooth, i.e. flattering. VOysi is, as Ps. Ivii. 7 = Ivi^, for which it is the usual Phoenician word.
Yer. 6 In the transgression of the wicked man lies a snare ; But the righteous rejoiceth \_julelt\ and is glad.
Thus the first line is to be translated according to the sequence of the accents, Mahpach, Munach, Miinach, Athnach, for the second Munach is the transformation of Dechi; V] ü''i^ thus, like Vyt;'^^, xxviii. 5, go together, although the connection is not, like this, genitival, but adjectival. But there is also this sequence of the accents, Munach, Dechi, Munach, Athnach, which separates V] and C'^X. According to this, Ewald trans- lates : " in the transgression of one lies an evil snare ; " but in that case the word ought to have been Vi c'pID, as at xii. 13 ; for although the numeral D^2"i sometimes precedes its substan- tive, yet no other adjective ever does ; passages such as Isa.
244 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
xxviii. 21 and x. 30 do not sliow the possibility of this position of the words. In this sequence of accents the explanation must be : in the wickedness of a man is the evil of a snare, i.e. evil is the snare laid therein (Böttcher) ; but a reason why the author did not write yt C'pIO would also not be seen there, and thus we must abide by the accentuation V ti'''X. The righteous also may fall, yet he is again raised by means of repentance and pardon ; but in the wickedness of a bad man lies a snare into which having once fallen, he cannot again release himself from it, xxiv. 16. In the second line, the form ]T\\^ for j'l^, is defended by the same metaplastic forms as l^t:^', Ps. xci. 6 ; n">|J, Isa. xlii. 4 ; and also that the order of the words is not |ni T\'d^\ (LXX. iv %«/3a Kol iv €v(J3pocrvvr} ; Luther : freicet sich vnd hat loonne [rejoices and has pleasure]), is supported by the same sequence of ideas, Zech. ii. 14, cf. Jer. xxxi. 7 : the Juheln is the momentary outburst of gladness ; the Freude [gladness], however, is a continuous feeling of happiness. To the question as to what the righteous rejoiceth over \_juhelt\ and is glad \_freuet\ because of, the answer is not : because of his happy release from danger (Zockler), but : because of the prosperity which his virtue procures for him (Fleischer). But the contrast between the first and second lines is not clear and strong. One misses the expression of the object or ground of the joy. Cocceius introduces into the second line a si lapsus fuerit. Schultens translates, Justus vel succumhens triwnphabit, after the Arab, ran f. o., which, however, does not mean succum- here^ but subigere {via. under Ps. Ixxviii. Qb). Hitzig compares Arab, raym f. i., discedere^ relinquere, and translates : " but the riyhteous passeth through and rejoiceth." Böttcher is inclined to read noi^l nx"}";, he sees it (what?) and rejoiceth. All these devices, however, stand in the background compared with Pinsker's proposal {Bahylon.-Heh. Punktationssi/stem, p. 156) :
" On the footsteps of the wicked man lie snares, But the righteous runneth and is glad," i.e. he runneth joyfully (like the sun, Ps. xix. 6) on the divinely- appointed way (Ps. cxix. 132), on which he knows himself threatened by no danger. The change of yjrD3 into j;b'S3 has xii. 13 against it ; but pi"" may be regarded, after iv. 12, cf. xviii. 10, as the original from which IIT* is corrupted.
CHAP. XXIX. 7-9. 245
Ver. 7 The rigliteous knoweth the cause of the poor, But the godless uuderstandeth no knowledge.
The righteous knoweth and recogniseth the righteous claims of people of low estate, i.e. what is due to them as men, and in particular cases ; but the godless has no knowledge from which such recognition may go forth (cf. as to the expression, xix. 25). The proverb begins like xii. 10, which commends the just man's compassion to his cattle ; this commends his sympathy with those who are often treated as cattle, and worse even than cattle. The LXX. translates 7b twice : the second time reading U'\ instead of yc"), it makes nonsense of it.
Ver. 8 Men of derision set the city in an uproar, But wise men allay anger. Isa. xxviii. shows what we are to understand by |i^'^ '•ü'JX! : men to whom nothing is holy, and who despise all authority. The Hiphil ^n''SJ does not signify irretiunt, from nna ( VeneL 7rayiS(,ovcrc, after Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and others), but sufflant, from niD (Rashi : U^■^!''') : they stir up or excite the city, i.e. its inhabitants, so that they begin to burn as with flames, i.e. by the dissolution of the bonds of mutual respect and of piety, by the letting loose of passion, they disturb the peace and excite the classes of the community and individuals against each other ; but the wise bring it about that the breathings of anger that has broken forth, or is in the act of breaking forth, are allayed. The anger is not that of God, as it is rendered by Jerome and Luther, and as "irT'S"' freely translated might mean. The Aram, err in regard to IIT'S'' in passages such as vi. ] 9.
Ver. 9 If a wise man has to contend with a fool,
He [the fool] rageth and laugheth, and hath no rest.
Among the old translators, Jerome and Luther take the " wise man " as subject even of the second line, and that in all its three members: vir sapiens si cum stulto contenderit, sive iras- catur sive rideat, noii inveniet requiem. Thus Schultens, C. B. Michaelis, Umbreit, Ewald, Elster, and also Fleischer : " The doubled Vav is correlative, as at Ex. xxi. 16, Lev. v. 3, and expresses the perfect sameness in respect of the effect, here of the want of effect. If the wise man, when he disputes with a fool, becomes angry, or jests, he will have no rest, i.e. he will never bring it to pass that the fool shall cease to reply ; he yields
246 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the right to him, and thus makes it possible for him to end the strife." But the angry passion, and the bursts of laughter alternating therewith, are not appropriate to the wise man affirming his right ; and since, after Eccles. ix. 17, the words of the wise are heard nnjii, the riTO psil [and there is no rest] will cause us to think of the fool as the logical subject. So far correctly, but in other respects inappropriately, the LXX. av7]p (TO(f)o<i Kpivel edvrj (after the expression DJ?, i.e. DJ?, instead of nx), avy-jp he (j}av\o'; (which b'')ü Ü'ü does not mean) op^yc^cfievo'^ KarayeXarai koX ov KaraTrr/jaaeL (as if the words were riH'' X?1).^ The syntactical relation would be simpler if t^S^J in 9« were vocalized as a hypothetical perfect. But we read for it the past t3Btt'3. Ewald designates 9a as a conditional clause, and Hitzig remarks that the Lat. viro sapiente disceptante cum siulto corresponds therewith. It marks, like 1 Sam. ii. 13, Job i. 16, the situation from which there is a departure then with perf. consec. : if a wise man in the right is in contact with a fool, he starts up, and laughs, and keeps not quiet (supply r? as at xxviii. 27), or (without 1^) : there is no keeping quiet, there is no rest. The figure is in accordance with experience. If a wise man has any controversy with a fool, Avhich is to be decided by reasonable and moral arguments, then he becomes boisterous and laughs, and shows himself incapable of quietly listening to his opponent, and of appreciating his arguments.
We now group together vers. 10-14. Of these, vers. 10 and 11 are alike in respect of the tense used ; vers. 12-14 have in common the pronoun pointing back to the first member.
Ver. 10 Älen of blood hate the guiltless
And the upright ; they attempt the life of such
The nearest lying translation of the second line would certainly be : the upright seek his soul (that of the guiltless). In ac- cordance with the contrasted IW'k^'', the Aram, understand the seeking of earnest benevolent seeking, but disregarding the t'DJ
' According to this the Targum i^Rno üb) (lie remains obstinate), according to which the I^DnriD nSi (he does not lose his wits) of the Peshito is perhaps to be corrected. The distribution of the subjects is obscure.
CHAP. XXIX. 10. 247
in 1^23^ ;^ Symmachus (i7n(^i]Tt]aovcn), Jerome (qnamint), and Luther thus also understand the sentence ; and Rashi remarks that the phrase is here nnn \):yb, for he rests ; but mistrusting himself, refers to 1 Sam.xxi. 23. Ahron b. Josef glosses : to enter into friendship with him. Thus, on account of the contrast, most moderns, interpreting the phrase se7isu bono, also Fleischer: probi aufem vitani ejus conservare student. The thought is, as xii. 6 shows, correct ; but the itsiis loq. protests against this rendering, which can rest only on Ps. cxlii. 5, where, however, the poet does not say "'l^'03 tJ>nn px, but, as here also the usus loq. requires, ""'^'SJ?. There are only three possible explanations which Aben Ezra enumerates : (1) they seek his, the bloody man's, soul, i.e. they attempt his life, to take vengeance against him, according to the meaning of the expressions as generally elsewhere used, e.g. at Ps. Ixiii. 10 ; (2) they revenge his, the guiltless man's, life (LXX. eK^Tjr^crova-Lv), which has fallen a victim, after the meaning in which elsewhere only D"^ t:'i?n and ti'l'^ t/'Qi, Gen. ix. 5, occur. This second meaning also is thus not in accordance with the usage of the words, and against both meanings it is to be said that it is not in the spirit of the Book of Proverbs to think of the nnii''' [the upright, righteous] as executors of the sentences of the penal judicature. There thus remains^ the interpretation (3) : the upright — they (the bloody men) seek the soul of such an one. The transition from the plur. to the sing, is individualizing, and thus the arrangement of the words is like Gen. xlvii. 21 : " And the people (as regards them), he removed them to the cities," Gesen. § 145. 2. This last explanation recommends itself by the consideration that DD and D''"iü'' are cognate as to the ideas they represent, — let one call to mind the common expression "^^l) Dri [perfect and upright, e.g. Job i. 1, 8, ii. 3], — that the same persons are meant thereby, and it is rendered necessary by this, that the thought, " bloody men hate the guiltless," is incomplete ; for the same thing may also be said of the godless in general. One expects to hear that just against the guiltless, i.e. men walking in their inno-
1 The Targum translates DD, guiltlessness, and the Venet. (fnaovj/) yvuarj, turning to i. 22.
^ For evdiU 06 avvct^ovatu (will bring away ?) rviv t^vx'^v uvtuv, under- stood after Jer. xlv. 5, lies linguistically yet further off.
248 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
cence, the bloody-mindedness of such men is specially directed, and 10b says the same thing; this second clause first brings the contrast to the point aimed at. Lutz is right in seeking to confute Hitzig, but he does so on striking grounds. Ver. 11 All his wrath the fool poureth out ;
But the wise man husheth it up in the background. That inn is not meant here of his spirit (Luther) in the sense of qucecunque in mente habet (thus e.g. Fleischer) the contrast shows, for '"'^Oi'^': *^oes not signify cohibet, for which n33^'n'; (LXX. ra/xLeverai,) would be the proper word : nn thus is not here used of passionate emotion, such as at xvi. 31 ; Isa. xxv. 4, xxxiii. 11. nziK' is not here equivalent to Arab, sabbah, alvelv (Imman., Venet., and Heidenheim), which does not supply an admissible sense, but is equivalent to Arab, sahbakh, to quiet (Ahron b. Josef : ps''SUp = KaraTraveiv), the former going iDack to the root-idea of extending (amj)Ußcare), the latter to that of going to a distance, putting away: sabbakh, procul recessit, distitit, hence n?'^, Vs. Ixxxix. 10, and here properly to drive off into the background, synon. ^''t^'H (Fleischer). But "iinN3 (only here with a) is ambiguous. One might with Kashi explain : but the wise man finally, or afterwards (Symmachus,e7r' eV^areoz/; Venet. KaröiTiv = KaroTTicrOe), appeaseth the anger which the fool lets loose; i.e., if the latter gives vent to his anger, the former appeases, subdues, mitigates it (cf. Hnnsn^inx!?, Isa. xlii. 23). But it lies still nearer to refer the antithesis to the anger of the wise man himself ; he does not give to it unbridled course, but husheth it in the background, viz. in his heart. Thus Syr. and Targ. reading ^'^JV^S, the former, besides nant^ri'; (repufat earn), so also Aben Ezra : in the heart as the background of the organ of speech. Others explain: in the background, after- ward, retrorsum, e.g. Nolde, but to which compescit would be more appropriate than sedat. Hitzig's objection, that in other cases the expression would be i3")i?3, is answered by this, that with ninsn the idea of pressing back (of ">^nx) is connected. The order of the words also is in favour of the meaning in re- cessu (cordis). Tree dilatio mentis pacatio (according to an old proverb).
Ver. 12 A ruler who listens to deceitful words, All his servants are godless.
CHAP. XXIX. 13. 249
They are so because they deceive him, and they become so ; for instead of saying the truth which the ruler does not wish to hear, they seek to gain his favour by deceitful flatteries, mis- representations, exaggerations, falsehoods. Audiat 7'ex quceprce- cipit lex. He does not do this, as the saying is, sicut rex ita grex (Sir. X. 2), in the sense of this proverb of Solomon.
Ver. 13 The poor niau and the usurer meet together — Jahve lighteneth the eyes of both. A variation of xxii. 2, according to which the proverb is to be understood in both of its parts. That Q''3^ri C'\S* is the contrast of C'"], is rightly supposed in Temura 16& ; but Rashi, who brings out here a man of moderate learning, and Saadia, a man of a moderate condition (thus also the Targ. N^^J?V^ ^7??) after Bux- torf, homo mediocris fortiutce), err by connecting the word with ■^jW. The LXX. Saveiarov koI %pew(^eC\.erov (äXX.i]\oi<i (TvvekOövrcov), which would be more correct inverted, for K'"''« C^33n is a man who makes oppressive taxes, high previous payments of interest ; the verbal stem ^3^, Arab, tak, is a secondary to R. wak, which has the meanings of pressing to- gether, and pressing firm (whence also the middle is named; cf. Arab, samym alaUab, the solid = the middle point of the heart). Tin, with the plur. caan, scarcely in itself denotes interest, toato? ; the designation D''33n C'^N includes in it a sensible reproach (Syr. aßictor), and a rentier cannot be so called (Hitzig). Luther : Reiche [rich men], with the marginal note : " who can practise usury as they then generally all do ?" There- fore Löwenstein understands the second line after 1 Sam. ii. 7 : God enlighteneth their eyes by raising the lowly and humbling the proud. But this line, after xxii. 2b, only means that the poor as well as the rich owe the light of life (Ps. xiii. 4) to God, the creator and ruler of all things, — a fact which has also its moral side : both are conditioned by Him, stand under His control, and have to give to Him an account; or otherwise rendered: God maketh His sun to rise on the low and the high, the evil and the good (cf. Matt. v. 45) — an all-embracing love full of typical moral motive.^
* "l''NO bas, by Löwenstein, Afehuppach Legarmeh, but incorrectly, since after Legarmeh two conjunctives cannot occur. Also Norzi with Mchup- jjach Merclia is irregular, since Ben-Asher recognises only two examples of
250 THE BOOK OF PROVEEBS.
Ver. 14 A king who judgeth the poor with truth, His throne shall stand for ever. noxn, as at Isa. xvi. 5 (synon. n:"iOJ«3, D''-iC'''m, niC'^Dl), is equi- valent to fidelity to duty, or a complete, full accomplisliment of his duty as a ruler with reference to the dispensing of justice; in other words : after the norm of actual fact, and of the law, and of his duty proceeding from both together. '^IP?^ has in Codd., e.g. Jaman., and in the Venetian 1517, 21, rightly Rehia. In that which follows, riDXa üSItr are more closely related than T\12^1 ti'h^^ for of two conjunctives standing together the first always connects more than the second. D^^T riO>«3 t^SI^J' 1^0 is the truest representation of the logical grammatical relation. To 146 compare the proverb of the king, xvi. 12, xxv. 5.
A proverb with t33tr, ver. 15, is placed next one with t^Di::*, but it begins a group of proverbs regarding discipline in the house and among the people :
Ver. 15 The rod and reproof give wisdom ;
But an undisciplined son is a shame to his mother. With t23t^ [a rod], which xxii. 15 also commends as salutary, nn3in refers to discipline by means of words, which must accompany bodily discipline, and without them is also necessary ; the construction of the first line follows in number and gender the scheme xxvii. 9, Zech. vii. 7 ; Ewald, § 339c. In the second line the mother is named, whose tender love often degenerates into a fond indulgence; such a darling, such a mother's son, becomes a disgrace to his mother. Our " ausgelassen,''' by which Hitzig translates n^pp, is used of joyfulness unbridled and without self-restraint, and is in the passage before us too feeble a word; ^/^ is used of animals pasturing at liberty, wandering in freedom (Job xxxix. 5; Isa. xvi. 2) ; nPt^'D -\p_ is accordingly a child who is kept in by no restraint and no punishment, one left to himself, and thus undisciplined (Luther, Gesenius, Fleischer, and others).
Ver. 16 When the godless increase, wickedness iucreaseth ; But the righteous shall see their fall.
this double accentuation to which this li^O does not belong ; vid. Thorath Emeth, p. 12. That the penuUima toning "Ti^O in several editions is false scarcely needs to be remarked. Jablonski rightly points with Mehuppach on the ult.., and Zlnnorith on the preceding open syllable.
CHAP. XXIX. 17, 18. 251
The LXX, translation is not bad : iroXXcov ovroov acreßoiv iroXkal <^ivovTai äjxapTLaL (yid. regarding nn"i, ver. 2, xxviii. 28); but in the main it is only a Binsenwahrheit, as they say in Swabia, i.e. a trivial saying. The proverb means, that if among a people the party of the godless increases in number, and at the same time in power, wickedness, i.e. a falling away into sins of thought and conduct, and therewith wickedness, prevails. When irreligion and the destruction of morals thus increase, the righteous are troubled ; but the conduct of the godless carries the judgment in itself, and the righteous shall with joy perceive, in the righteous retribution of God, that the godless man will be cast down from his power and influence. This proverb is like a motto to Ps. xii.
Ver. 17 Correct thy son, and he will give thee delight, And afford pleasure to thy soul.
The LXX. well translates yvi'^'^ by koX uvaTravcrev a-e ; '■ n^:n denotes rest properly, a breathing again, avd-^v^i<; ; and then, with an obliteration of the idea of I'estraint so far, generally (like the Arab, arah, compared by Fleischer) to afford pleasure or delight. The post.-bibl. language uses for this the words nn nm, and says of the pious that he makes nn nru to his Creator, Berachoth 11a; and of God, that He grants the same to them that fear Him, Berach. 295; in the morning prayer of the heavenly spirits, that they hallow their Creator nn nnJ3 (with inward delight). Write with Codd. (also Jaman.) and older editions 'VTT]i not ^0"'^,"! ; for, except in verbs n"p, the suffix of this Hijyhil form is not dageshed, e.g. ^^'''^^j 1 Kings ii. 26 ; cf. also 1 Kings xxii. 16 and Ps. 1. 8. ^V.VP the LXX. understands, after 2 Sam. i. 24 (D'^Jiyoy, /tera Koafiou), also here, of ornament ; but the word signifies dainty dishes — here, high spiritual enjoyment. As in vers. 15 and 16 a transition was made from the house to the people, so there now follows tlie proverb of the discipline of children, a proverb of the education of the people :
Ver. 18 Without a revelation a people becomes ungovernable ; But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
1 Their translation of vers. 17 and 18 here is found, in a marred and mutilated form, after xxviii. 17. At that place the words are xal d-/ct7s-'/j(jei ai.
252 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Regarding the importance of tliis proverb for estimating the relation of the Chohma to prophecy, vid. vol. i. p. 41. |iTn is, according to the sense, equivalent to '""^^^^j the prophetic reve- lation in itself, and as the contents of that which is proclaimed. Without spiritual preaching, proceeding from spiritual experi- ence, a people is unrestrained (yy^^ vid. regarding the punctua- tion at xxvlii. 25, and regarding the fundamental meaning, at i. 25) ; it becomes J^'^3, disorderly, Ex. xxxii. 25 ; loild vnd loiist, as Luther translates. But in the second line, according to the unity of the antithesis, the words are spoken of the people, not of individuals. It is therefore not to be explained, with Hitzig: but whoever, in such a time, nevertheless holds to the law, it is well with him ! Without doubt this proverb was coined at a time when the preaching of the prophets was in vogue ; and there- fore this, " but whoever, notwithstanding," is untenable ; such a thought at that time could not at all arise ; and besides this, min is in the Book of Proverbs a moveable conception, which is covered at least by the law in contradistinction to prophecy. 7üm denotes divine teaching, the word of God ; whether that of the Sinaitic or that of the prophetic law (2 Chron. xv. 3, cf. e.g. Isa. i. 10). While, on the one hand, a people is in a disso- lute condition when the voice of the preacher, speaking from divine revelation, and enlightening their actions and sufferings by God's word, is silent amongst them (Ps. Ixxiv. 9, cf. Amos viii. 12) ; on the other hand, that same people are to be praised as happy when they show due reverence and fidelity to the word of God, both as written and as preached. That the word of God is preached among a people belongs to their con- dition of life; and they are only truly happy when they earnestly and willingly subordinate themselves to the word of God which they possess and have the opportunity of hearing. ^htl:'« (defective for ^nn^^s) is the older, and here the poetic kindred form to Vnt^'N, xiv. 21, xvi. 20. From the discipline of the people this series of proverbs again returns to the dis- cipline of home:
Ver. 19 With words a servant will not let himself be bettered ;
For he understandeth them, but conformeth not thereto.
The Niph. "ipiJ becomes a so-called tolerative, for it connects with the idea of happening that of reaching its object : to
CHAP. XXIX 20. 253
become truly bettered (taught in wisdom, corrected), and thus to let himself be bettered. With mere words this is not reached; the unreasonable servant needs, in order to be set right, a more radical means of deliverance. This assertion de- mands confirmation ; therefore is the view of von Hofmann {Schriftheio. ii. 2. 404) improbable, that 196 has in view a better-disposed servant : supposing that he is intelligent, in which case he is admonished without cause, then the words are also lost : he will let them pass over him in silence without any reply. This attempted explanation is occasioned by this, that n3yo can signify nothing else than a response in words. If this were correct, then without doubt its fundamental meaning would correspond with "'S ; for one explains, with Löwenstein, " for he perceives it, and may not answer," i.e. this, that a reply cut off frustrates the moral impression. Or also : for he understands it, but is silent, — in pra'fractum se silentium configit (Schultens) ; and thus it is with the ancients (Rashi). But why should not n^yo psi itself be the expression of this want of any consequences? njyo cannot certainly mean humiliation^ (Meiri, after Ex. x. 3, 7\v:i':iT]), but why as an answer in words and not also a response by act (Stuart : a practical answer) ? Thus the LXX. eav jap koX voi^arj, a)OC ovx viraKovaeraL, according to which Luther : for although he at once understands it, he does not yet take it to himself. That njyo may mean obedience, the Aram, so understood, also at xvi. 4. It denoted a reply in the most comprehensive meaning of the word, vid. at xvi. 1. The thought, besides, is the same as if one were to explain : for he understands it, and is silent, i.e. lets thee speak ; or : he understands it, but that which he perceives finds no practical echo.
Ver. 20 Seest thou a man hasty in his words? The fool hath more hope than he. Cf. xxvi. 12. Such an one has blocked up against himself the path to wisdom, which to the fool, i.e. to the ingenuous, stands open ; the former is perfect, of the latter something may yet be made. In this passage the contrast is yet more precise, for the fool is thought of as the dull, which is the proper meaning
^ The Syr. and Targ. also think on T\'iVi for they translate: "for he knows that he receives no strokes."
2 54 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
of ?''p3, vid. under xvii. 24. There is more hope for the fool than for him, although he may be no fool in himself, who over- throws himself by his words. " The TrpoTrerr/s« ev Xoycp avrov (Sir. ix. 18) has, in the existing case, already overleaped the thought ; the !'^D3 has it still before him, and comes at length, perhaps with his slow conception, to it " (Hitzig) ; for the ass, according to the fable, comes at last farther than the grey- hound. Hence, in words as well as in acts, the proverb holds good, "Eile mit Weile^' \_^ festina lente]. Every word, as well as act, can only be matured by being thought out, and thought over. Fi'om this proverb, which finds its practical application to the affairs of a house, and particularly also to the relation to domestics, the group returns to the subject of in- struction, which is its ground-tone.
Ver. 21 If one pampers his servant from youth up, He will finally reach the place of a child. The LXX. had no answer to the question as to the meaning of }1JD. On the other hand, for P3S, the meaning to fondle, delicaiius enutrire, is perfectly warranted by the Aram, and Arab. The Talmud, Succa 52b, resorts to the alphabet nn"t3X in order to reach a meaning for |1]0. How the Targ. comes to translate the word by nDJO (outrooted) is not clear; the ren- dering of Jerome : postea sendet eum contumacem, is perhaps mediated by the earrat fyo'y'yva-/x6<; of Symmachus, who com- bines pj with ])7, Niph. ryoyjv^eiv. The odvvrjOrjaerat of the LXX., with the Syr., von Hofmann has sought to justify {Schrifthew. ii. 2. 404), for he derives )i:D = pinja from r]n\ We must then punctuate P^O ; but perhaps the LXX. derived the word from i^^ = P^^^, whether they pronounced it lii^ (cf. n^bn =:: nnbxo) or p30. To follow them is not wise, for the formation of the word is precarious ; one does not see what the speaker of this proverb, to whom the language presented a fulness of synonyms for the idea of complaint, meant by using this peculiar word. Linguistically these meanings are impossible : of Jerome, dominus = nspn (Ahron b. Josef, Meiri, and others) ; or : the oppressed = n^iD^ from nj^ (Johlson) ; or : one who is sick = HiiD (Euchel). And Ewald's " undankbar " [unthankful], derived from the Arabic, is a mere fancy, since (Arab.) manuioan does not mean one who is unthankful, but,
CHAP. XXIX. 21. 255
on the contrary, one who upbraids good deeds shown.^ The ancients are in the right track, who explain )130 after the verb jo, Ps. Ixxli. 17 = p = i? ; the Venet., herein following Kimchi, also adopts the nominal form, for it translates (but without perceptible meaning) <yövwaL<;. Luther's translation is fortunate :
" If a servant is tenderly treated from youth up, He will accordingly become a Junker [squire]." The ideas represented in modern Jewish translations : that of a son {e.g. Solomon : he will at last be the son) and that of a master (Zunz), are here united. But how the idea of a son (from the verb pj), at the same time that of a master, may arise, is not to be perceived in the same way as with Junher and the Spanish infante and hidalgo; rather with pjo, as the ironical naming of the son (little son), the idea of a weakling (de Wette) may be connected. The state of the matter appears as follows : — The verb p: has the meanings of luxuriant growth, numerous propagation ; the fish has from this the Aram, name of pJ, like the Heb. J"^, from nj^, which also means luxuriant, exuberant increase {vid. at Ps. Ixxii. 17). From this is derived PJ, which designates the offspring as a component part of a kindred, as well as )iJOj which, according as the D is interpreted infin. or local, means either this, that it sprouts up luxuriantly, the abundant growth, or also the place of luxuriant sprouting, wanton growing, abundant and quick multiplication : thus the place of hatching, spawning. The subject in ^'^J}^ might be the fondled one; but it lies nearer, however, to take him who fondles as the subject, as in 21a. innnx is either adv. accus, for innnxn, or, as we preferred at xxiii. 32, it is the subj. in-
^ In Jalirh. xi. p, 10 f. Ewald compares, in an expressive way, the Ethiopic manncma (Piel) to scorn ; mcmin, a reprobate ; and mannam, one who is despised ; according to which pjD could certainly designate " a man despising scornfully his own benefactors, or an unthankful man." But this verbal stem is peculiarly Ethiop., and is certainly not once found in Arab. For minnat (which Ewald compares) denotes benefaction, and the duty laid on one thereby, the dependence thereby produced. The verb (Arab.) minn (= jj)d) signifies to divide ; and particularly, partly to confer bene- faction, partly to attribute benefaction, reckon to, enumerate, and thereby to bring out the sense of obligation. Thus nothing is to be derived from this verbal stem for pjD.
256 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
troducing, after the manner of a substantival clause, the following sentence as its virtual predicate : " one has fondled his servant from his youth up, and his (that of the one wlio fondles) end is : he will become a place of increase." The master of the house is thought of along with his house ; and the servant as one who, having become a man, presents his master with r\]'2 "^yb]^ who are spoilt scapegraces, as he himself has become by the pampering of his master. There was used in the language of the people, T? for I^i, in the sense in which we name a degenerate son a " Schönes Früchtchen " [pretty little fruit] ; and P^ö ^^ ^ place (house) where many D''J''3 are; and a man (master of a house) who has many of them is one whose family has increased over his head. One reaches the same meaning if P3ö is rendered more immediately as the place or state of growing, increasing, luxuriating. The sense is in any case : he will not be able, in the end, any more to defend himself against the crowd which grows up to him from this his darling, but will be merely a passive part of it.
The following group begins with a proverb which rhymes by pnD, with pjo of the foregoing, and extends on to the end of this Hezekiah collection :
Ver. 22 A man of anger stirreth up strife ;
And a passionate man aboundeth in trangression. Line first is a variation of xv. 18a and xxviii. 2öa. ti'''X and 7^3 as here, but in the reverse order at xxii. 24} ^^ here means anger, not the nose, viz. the expanded nostrils (Schultens). In V^B-2-\_ the J/li'D is, after xiv. 29, xxviii. 16, xx. 27, the governed genitive ; Hitzig construes it in the sense of 1") J/'ti'D, Ps. xix. 2, with mr, but one does not say V'^^ nna ; and that which is true of I3''3"i, that, after the manner of a numeral, it can precede its substantive (vid. under Ps. vii. 26, Ixxxix. 51), cannot be said of ^1. Much (great) in wickedness denotes one who heaps up many wicked actions, and burdens himself with greater guilt (cf. y'l^'D, ver. 16). The wrathful man stir- reth up (vid. under xv. 18) strife, for he breaks through the mutual relations of men, which rest on mutual esteem and
^ For PiX-c'^X (Löwenstein after Norzi) is to be written, with Baer {Tkorath Emeth, p. 19), FjX t'^'H- Thus also in Cod. Jaman.
CHAP. XXIX. 23, 24. 257
love, and by means of his passionate conduct he makes enemies of those against whom he thinks that he has reason for being angry ; that on account of which he is angry can be settled without producing such hostility, but passion impels him on, and misrepresents the matter ; it embitters heart.s, and tears them asunder. The LXX. has, instead of 31, i^wpv^ev, of dreaming, n"i3 (xvi. 27).
Ver. 23 passes from anger to haughtiness :
A man's pride will bring him low ; But the lowly attaineth to honour.
Thus we translate Ii32 Tjbnri (Lat. honorem ohtinet) in accord with xi. 16, and nn"72l^ with xvi. 19, where, however, ^'^ is not adj. as here, but inf. The haughty man obscures the honour which he has by this, that he boasts immeasurably of it, and aspires yet more after it ; the lowly man, on the other hand, obtains honour without his seeking it, honour before God and before men, which would be of no worth were it not con- nected with the honour before God. The LXX. : rov^ Se rairetvoippova'; ipeiSet Bo^rj KvpLo<i. This Kvpto<i is indeed not contrary to the sense, but it is opposed to the style. Why the 24th verse should now follow is, as regards the contents and the expression, hard to say ; but one observes that vers. 22-27 follow each other, beginning with the successive letters of the alphabet s (n), :, n, n, -I, n (n).
Ver. 24 He that taketh part with a thief hateth himself ; He heareth the oath and confesseth not.
Hitzig renders the first member as the pred. of the second : " he who does not bring to light such sins as require an atone- ment (Lev. v. 1 ff.), but shares the secret of them with the sinner, is not better than one who is a partner with a thief, who hateth himself." The construction of the verse, he remarks, is not understood by any interpreter. It is not, however, so cross, — for, understood as Hitzig thinks it ought to be, the author should have expressed the subject by npx VJ^\y n^r ab)^ — but is simple as the order of the words and the verbal form require it. The oath is, after Lev. v. 1, that of the judge who adjures the partner of the thief by God to tell the truth ; but he conceals it, and burdens his soul with a crime worthy of
VOL. II. R
258 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
death, for from a concealer he becomes in addition a perjured man.
Ver. 25 Fear of man bringeth a snare with it ;
But he that trusteth iu Jahve is advanced.
It sounds strange, Hitzig remarks, that here in the Book of an Oriental author one should be warned against the fear of man. It is enough, in reply to this, to point to Isa. li. 12 f. One of the two translations in the LXX. (cf. Jerome and Luther) has found this "strange" thought not so strange as not to render it, and that in the gnomic aorist : <f)oßr}6evre<; Kai ala')(yv- 6evTe<i dvOpcoirov; v7reaKe\lo-07](Tav. And why should not n"n"in D^ijl be able to mean the fear of man (cowardice) ? Perhaps not so that DIN is the gen. objecti, but so that D^X min means to frighten men, as in 1 Sam. xiv. 15. D'-n^x min, a trembling of God ; cf . Ps. Ixiv. 2 ; n"'N ins, the fear occasioned by the enemy, although this connection, after Dent. ii. 25, can also mean fear of the enemy {gen. ohjecti). To iril, occasioned = brings as a consequence with it, cf. x. 10, xiii. 15 ; the Synal- lage generis is as at xii. 25a ; it is at least strange with fern, infinit, and infinitival nouns, xvn. 1 6, xxv. 14 ; Ps. Ixxiii. 28; but •"■IID (trembling) is such a nom. aciionis, Ewald, § 238a. Re- garding 33"^*^. (for which the LXX.^ aco6r]aeTai, and LXX.^ eucjipavOricreraL = nob'''), vid. at xviii. 10. He who is put into a terror by a danger with which men threaten him, so as to do from the fear of man what is wrong, and to conceal the truth, falls thereby into a snare laid by himself — it does not help him that by this means he has delivered himself from the danger, for he brands himself as a coward, and sins against God, and falls into an agony of conscience (reproach and anguish of heart) which is yet worse to bear than the evil wherewith he was threatened. It is only confidence in God that truly saves. The fear of man plunges him into yet greater suffering than that from which he would escape ; confidence in God, on the other hand, lifts a man internally, and at last externally, above all his troubles.
Ver. 26. A similar gen. connection to that between ülü min exists between C>\S-DD:i'0 :
Many seek the countenance of the ruler ; Yet from Jahve cometh the judgment of men.
CHAP. XXIX. 27. 259
Line first is a variation of xix. Ga, cf. 1 Kings x. 24. It lies near to interpret tJ^'K as gen. obj. : the judgment regarding any one, i.e. the estimating of the man, the decision regarding him ; and it is also possible, for V^^V) Ps. xvii. 2, may be understood of the judgment which I have, as well as of the judgment pro- nounced regarding n^e (cf. Lam. iii. 59). But the usage appears to think of the genit. after t2S'J'0 always as subjective, e.g. xvi. 33, of the decision which the lot brings. Job xxxvi. 6, the right to which the poor have a claim ; so that thus in the passage before us C'''N"US:^•D means the right of a man, as that which is proper or fitting to him, the judgment of a man, as that to which as appropriate he has a claim (LXX. rb SUaiov dvSpi). Whether the genit. be rendered in the one way or the other, the meaning remains the same : it is not the ruler who finally decides the fate and determines the worth of a man, as they appear to think who with eye-service court his favour and fawn upon him.
Ver. 27 An abomination to a righteous man is a villanous man ;
And an abomination to the godless is he who walketh uprightly.
In all the other proverbs which begin with ri3i)in, e.g. xi. 20, mn^ follows as genit., here D''i?''^V, whose judgment is like that of God. ?}y ti^''N is an abhorrence to them, not as a man, but just as of such a character ; ?}V is the direct contrast to "i*i^'\ The righteous sees in the villanous man, who boldly does that which is opposed to morality and to honour, an adversary of his God ; on the other hand, the godless sees in the man that walketh uprightly (^'i'.'^'iti'^., as at Ps. xxxvii. 14) his adversary, and the condemnation of himself.
With this doubled n the Book of Proverbs, prepared by the men of Hezekiah, comes to an end. It closes, in accordance with its intention announced at the beginning, with a proverb concerning the king, and a proverb of the great moral contrasts which are found in all circles of society up to the very throne itself.
260 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
FIRST APPENDIX TO THE SECOND SOLOMONIC COLLECTION OF PROVERBS.— CHAP. XXX.
The title of this first appendix, according to the text lyiag before us, is :
" The words of Agur the sou of Jakeh, the utterance."
This title of the following collection of proverbs is limited by Oleicejored; and i^f^\!, separated from the author's name by JRehiuj is interpreted as a second inscription, standing on one line with ''■?.?'l, as particularizing that first. The old synagogue tradition which, on the ground of the general title i. 1, regarded the whole Book of Proverbs as the work of Solomon, inter- preted the words, " Agur the son of Jakeh," as an allegorical designation of Solomon, who appropriated the words of the Tora to the king, Deut. xvii. 17, and again rejected them, for he said : God is with me, and I shall not do it (viz. take many wives, without thereby suifering injury), Scliemoth rabba, c. 6. The translation of Jerome : Verba congregantis filii Vomentis, is the echo of this Jewish interpretation. One would sup- pose that if *' Agur" were Solomon's name, " Jakeh" must be that of David; but another interpretation in Midrash Mishle renders p (" son ") as the designation of the bearer of a quality, and sees in " Agur" one w^ho girded (")3S = ijn) his loins for wisdom; and in "son of Jakeh" one free from sin (bsö ''pj iiy") {<Dn). In the Middle Ages this mode of interpretation, which is historically and linguistically absurd, first began to prevail ; for then the view was expressed by several (Aben Ezra, and Meiri the Spaniard) that Agur ben Jakeh was a wise man of the time of Solomon. That of Solomon's time, they thence con- clude (blind to XXV. 1) that Solomon collected together these proverbs of the otherwise unknown wise man. In truth, the age of the man must remain undecided ; and at all events, the time of Hezekiah is the fixed period from which, where possible, it is to be sought. The name " Agur " means the gathered (vi. 8, X. 5), or, after the predominant meaning of the Arab, ajar, the bribed, mercede conductum; also the collector (cf. t^'ipj, fowler) ; or the word might mean, perhaps, industrious in collecting (cf. ''alwakj attached to, and other examples in Mühlau, p. 36).
CHAP. XXX. 261
Eegarding 13 =: Unj (usual in 113"13), and its relation to the Arab, ibn^ vid. Genesis^ p. 555. The name Jakeh is more transparent. The noun T\r^\>^.^ xxx. 17, Gen. xlix. 10, means the obedient, from the verb njp^ ; but, formed from this verbal stem, the form of the word would be ^?,\ (not ni^^). The form 7\?l is the participial adj. from nj?^, like ns^ from naj ; and the Arab, wakay^ corresponding to this ni^j^ viii. ittakay, to be on one's guard, particularly before God ; the usual word for piety regarded as evkdßeia. !Mühlau (p. 37) rightly sees in the proper names EUekeh [Josh. xix. 44] and Eltekon [Josh. xv. 59] the secondary verbal stem Hi^n, which, like e.g. nin (nxri), 3{<^, iny^ has originated from the reflexive, which in these proper names, supposing that b^ is subj., means to take under protec- tion ; not : to give heed = cavere. All these meanings are closely connected. In all these three forms — npj, r\p^^ r\\m — the verb is a synonym of lOü' ; so that ^\>\ denotes^ the pious, either as taking care, evXaßi]<;, or as keeping, i.e. observing, viz. that which is commanded by God.
In consequence of the accentuation, ^^"^^ is the second designation of this string of proverbs, and is parallel with nm. But that is absolutely impossible. i^^'O (from t5b'3, to raise, viz. the voice, to begin to express) denotes the utterance, and according to the usage of the words before us, the divine utter- ance, the message of God revealed to the prophet and announced by him, for the most part, if not always {vid. at Isa. xiii. 1), the message of God as the avenger. Accordingly Jewish interpreters {e.g. Meiri and Arama) remark that Nb»» designates what follows, as ''^5:^^33 "lai, i.e. an utterance of the prophetic spirit. But, on the other hand, what follows begins with the confession of human weakness and short-sightedness; and, moreover, we read proverbs not of a divine but altogether
1 According to the Lex. 'Gezerl (from the Mesopotamian town of 'Geziret ihn 'Amr), the word wakihon is, iu the Mesopotamian language, " the over- seer of the house in which is the cross of the Christians ; " and accordingly, in Muhammed's letter to the Christians of Negran, after they became subject to him, " a monk shall not be removed from his monastery, nor a pres- byter from his presbyterate, (ivakCtJUah) wala watah wakahyttah^^ (this will be the correct phrase), " nor an overseer from his office." The verbal stem loak-ali (;q[5>) is, as it appears, Northern Semitic ; the South Arabian lexicographer Ncshwan ignores it (Wetzstein in Mühlau).
262 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
of a human and even of a decaying spiritual stamp, besides distinguished from the Solomonic proverbs by this, that the / of the poet, which remains in the background, here comes to the front. This N'^o of proplietic utterances does not at all harmonize with the following string of proverbs. It does not so harmonize on this account, because one theme does not run through these proverbs which the sing, ^itro requires. It comes to this, that Sbo never occurs by itself in the sense of a divine, a solemn utterance, without having some more clearly defining addition, though it should be only a demonstrative i^l,^ (Isa. xiv. 28). But what author, whether poet or prophet, would give to his work the title of N^D, which in itself means everything, and thus nothing ! And now : the utterance — what can the article at all mean here ? This question has remained unanswered by every interpreter. Ewald also sees himself constrained to clothe the naked word ; he does it by reading together Nb'Dn 25?53, and translating the " sublime saying which he spoke." But apart from the consideration that Jer. xxiii. ol proves nothing for the use of this use of DXJ, the form ("injn) QX3 is supported by 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 (cf. ver. 5 with 2 Sam. xxii. 31) ; and besides, the omission of the 15^'S, and in addition of the relative pronoun (iöW), would be an inaccuracy not at all to be expected on the brow of this gnomology {vid. Hitzig). If we leave the alto- gether unsuspected Q5<3 undisturbed, xb'ün will be a nearer defi- nition of the name of the author. The ]Midrash has a right suspicion, for it takes together Hamassa and Agur hen Jakeh, and explains : of Agur the son of Jakeh, who took upon him- self the yoke of the most blessed. The Gnpcus Venetus comes nearer what is correct, for it translates : \ö<yoL ^Ayovpov vleo)^ 'Ia/cea)9 tov Macrdov. We connect xxxi. 1, where ^^^ ^^^^)', " Lemuel (the) king," is a linguistic impossibility, and thus, ac- cording to the accentuation lying before us, i^f^ ^?0 also are to be connected together ; thus it appears that sb'D must be the name of a country and a people. It was Hitzig who first made this Columbus-egg to stand. But this is the case only so far as he recognised in k'j^d i?J2 ^xio^ a Lemuel, the king of Massa, and recognised this Massa also in xxx. 1 (vid. his dis- sertation : Das Königreich Massa [the kingdom of ^Massa], in Zeller's Theolog. Jahrbb. 1844, and his Comm.), viz. the Israel-
CHAP. XXX. 263
itish Massa named in Geu. xxv. 14 (r=l Cliron. i. 30) along with Dumah and Tema. But he proceeds in a hair-splitting way, and with ingenious hypothesis, without any valid founda- lion. That this Dumah is the Dumat el-jendel (cf. under Isa. xxi. 11) lying in the north of Nejed, near the southern fron- tiers of Syria, the name and the founding of which is referred by the Arabians to Dum the son of Ishmael, must be regarded as possible, and consequently Massa is certainly to be sought in Northern Arabia. But if, on the ground of 1 Chron. iv. 42 f., he finds there a Simeonitic kingdom, and finds its origin in this, that the tribe of Simeon originally belonging to the ten tribes, and thus coming from the north settled in the south of Judah, and from thence in the days of Hezekiah, fleeing before the Assyrians, were driven farther and farther in a south-east direction towards Northern Arabia ; on the contrary, it has been showm by Graf (The Tribe of Simeon, a contribution to the history of Israel, 1866) that Simeon never settled in the north of the Holy Land, and according to existing evidences ex- tended their settlement from Negeb partly into the Idumean highlands, but not into the highlands of North Arabia. Hitzig thinks that there are found traces of the Massa of Agnr and Lemuel in the Jewish town^ of DSöi'"'L:, of Benjamin of Tudela, lying three days' journey from Chebar, and in the proper name (Arab.) Malsd (smooth), which is given to a rock between Tema and Wady el-Kora {yid. Kosegarten's Chrestom. p. 143) ; but how notched his ingenuity here is need scarcely be shown. By means of more cautious combinations ^liihlau has placed the residence of Agur and Lemuel in the Hauran mountain range, near which there is a Dumah, likewise a Tema; and in the name of the town Mismtje, lying in the Leja^is probably found the Mishma which is named along with Massa, Gen. xxv. 14; and from this that is related in 1 Chron. v. 9 f., 18-22, of warlike expeditions on the part of the tribes lying on the east of the Jordan against the Hagarenes and their allies Jetur, Nephish, and Nodah^ it
» Cf. Blau's Arab, im sechsten JahrJi. in the Deutsch. Morrjl. Zeits. xxxiii. 590, and also p. 573 of tlie same, regarding a family of proselytes among the Jews in Taima.
2 Mühlau combines Noddb with Nudebe to the south-east of Bosra ; Blau (Dent. Morg. Zeit. xxv. 5G6), with the l<ixßox7oi of Eupolemos named along with the 'NxßuTcchi. The Kamüs has Nadab as the name of a tribe.
264 THE BOOK OF PKOVERBS.
is with certainty concluded that in the Hauran, and in the wikler- ness which stretches behind the Euphrates towards it, Israehtish tribes have had their abode, whose territory had been early seized by the trans- Jordanic tribes, and was held " until the captivity," 1 Chron. V. 22, i.e. till the Assyrian deportation. This desig- nation of time is almost as unfavourable to ^liihlau's theory of a Massa in the Hauran, inhabited by Israelitish tribes from the other side, as the expression "^o Mount Seir " (1 Chron. iv. 42) is to Hitzig's North Arabian Massa inhabited by Simeonites. We must leave it undecided whether Dumah and Tema, which the Toledoth of Ismael name in the neighbourhood of 3fassa, are the east Hauran districts now existing; or as Blau (Beut. Morgl. Zeit. XXV. 539), with Hitzig, supposes, North Arabian districts (cf. Genesis, p. 377, 4th ed.).^ " Be it as it may, the contents and the language of this difficult piece almost necessarily point to a region bordering on the Syro-Arabian waste. Ziegler's view {Neue Uebers. der Denhpräclie Salomons, 1791, p. 29), that Lemuel was probably an emir of an Arabian tribe in the east of Jordan, and that a wise Hebrew translated those pro- verbs of the emir into Hebrew, is certainly untenable, but does not depart so far from the end as may appear at the first glance" (Miihlau).^ If the text-punctuation lying before us rests on the false supposition that Massa, xxx. 1, xxxi. 1, is a generic name, and not a proper name, then certainly the question arises whether xb^D should not be used instead of N'I'O, much more ^<■^*"P, which is suggested as possible in the article "Sprüche," in Herzoges Enci/cl. xiv. 694. Were i^f^, Gen. x. 30, the region Meaijv)], on the northern border of the Persian Gulf, in which Apamea lay, then it might be said in favour of this, that as the histories of Muhammed and of Benjamin of Tudela prove the existence of an old Jewish occupation of North Arabia, but without anything being heard of a ^^'^, the Talmud bears testimony^ to a Jewish occupation of Mesene, and par- ticularly of Apamea; and by the mother of Lemuel, the king
^ Dozy (Israeliten in Mecca, p. 89 f.) couuects Massa Avith Mansdh, a pretended old name of Mecca.
2 These German quotations with the name of Jliihlau are taken from the additions to his book, -which he placed at my disposal.
2 Vid. Neubauer's La Geographie du Talmud, pp. 325, 329, 382.
CETAP. XXX. u 265
of 3Ies7ia, one may think^ of Helena, celebrated in Jewish writings, queen of Adiabene, the mother of Monabaz and Izates. But the identity of the Meslia of the catalogue of nations with Meaypij is uncertain, and the Jewish population of that place dates at least from the time of the Sassanides to the ]-)eriod of the Babylonian exile. We therefore hold by the Ishmaelite Massa, whether North Arabian or Hauranian ; but we by no means subscribe Miihlau's non possumus non negare^ Agurum et Lennielem proselytos e paganis, non Israelitas fuisse. The religion of the tribes descended from Abraham, so far as it had not degenerated, was not to be regarded as idolatrous. It was the religion which exists to the present day among the great Ishmaelite tribes of the Syrian desert as the true tradition of their fathers under the name of Din Ibrdlum (Abraham's reli- gion) ; which, as from \yetzstein, we have noted in the Com- mentary/ on Job (p. 387 and elsewhere), continues along with Mosaism among the nomadic tribes of the wilderness ; which shortly before the appearance of Christianity in the country beyond the Jordan, produced doctrines coming into contact with the teachings of the gospel ; which at that very time, according to historic evidences {e.g. Mejasini's chronicles of the Kabe), was dominant even in the towns of Higaz; and in the second century after Christ, was for the first time during the repeated migration of the South Arabians again oppressed by Greek idolatry, and was confined to the wilderness ; which gave the mightiest impulse to the rise of Islam, and furnished its best component part ; and which towards the end of the last century, in the country of Neged, pressed to a reform of Islam, and had as a result the Wahabite doctrine. If wo except XXX. 5 f., the proverbs of Agur and Lemuel contain nothing which may not be conceived from a non-Israelitish standpoint on which the author of the Book of Job placed himself. Even xxx. 5 f. is not there (cf. Job vi. 10, xxiii. 12) without parallels. When one compares Deut. iv. 2, xili. 1, and 2 Sam. xxii. 31 = Ps. xviii. 31 (from which ver. 5 of the proverbs of Agur is derived, with the change of mn"» into i^vf^.), Agur certainly appears as one intimately acquainted with the revealed religion of Israel, and with their literature. But •- Derenbourg's Essai stir Vllist. et la Geog. de la Palestine, i. p. 22-i.
266 THE BOOK OF PKOVERBS.
must we take the two Massites therefore, with Hitzig, Mühlau, and Zöckler, as born Israehtes ? Since the Bible history knows no Israelitish king outside of the Holy Land, we regard it as more probable that King Lemuel and his countryman Agur were Ishmaelites who had raised themselves above the religion of Abraham, and recognised the religion of Israel as its completion. If we now return to the words of xxx. la, Hitzig makes Agur Lemuel's brother, for he vocalizes i^^^ i^vii^ri? "'''^?, i'ß- Agur the son of her whom Massa obeys. Eipa and Björck of Sweden, and Stuart of America, adopt this view. But supposing that ^\>1 is connected with the accusative of him who is obeyed, p, as the representative of such an attributive clause, as of its virtual genitive, is elsewhere without example; and besides, it is unadvisable to explain away the proper name HiT, which speaks for itself. There are two other possibilities of comprehending J^i^in, without the change, or with the change of a single letter. Wetzstein, on xxxi. 1, has said regarding ]\Iühlau's translation " King of Massa : " "I would more cautiously translate, ' King of the Massans,' since this interpreta- tion is unobjectionable ; while, on the contrary, this is not terra Massa, nor urbs Massa. It is true that the inhabitants of Massa w^ere not pure nomads, after xxx. and xxxi., but pro- bably, like the other tribes of Israel, they were half nomads, who possessed no great land as exclusive property, and whose chief place did not perhaps bear their name. The latter may then have been as rare in ancient times as it is in the present day. Neither the Sammar, the Harh, the Muntefik, nor other half nomads whom I know in the southern parts of the Syrian desert, have any place which bears their name. So also, it appears, the people of Uz (I'ly), which we were constrained to think of as a dominant, firmly-settled race, since it had so great a husbandman as Job, possessed no P^ ^!"]i?. Only in certain cases, where a tribe resided for many centuries in and around a place, does the name of this tribe appear to have remained attached to it. Thus from no^T fi^ij, ' the low-country of the Dumahns,' or n^n nnip, ' the city of Dumahns,' as also from NO^Pi nni?, <■ the city of the Temans,' gradually there arose (pro- bably not till the decline and fall of this tribe) a city of Dumali, Si haven of Midian, and the like, so that the primary meaning of
cnAP. sxs. 1. 267
tlie name came to be lost." It is clear that, from the existence of an Ishmaelite tribe ^5^o, there does not necessarily follow a similar name given to a region. The conj. K'^ID, for Ntyen {vid. Herzog's Encycl. xiv. 702), has this against it, that although it is good Heb., it directly leads to this conclusion {e.g. 2 Sam. xxiii. 20, 29, cf. 1 Kings xvii. 1). Less objectionable is Bun- sen's and Böttcher's ''N'^'ön, But perhaps Nb'ön may also have the same signification ; far rather at least this than that which Malbim, after ^V^^ n^n^ 1 Chron. xv. 27, introduced with the LXX. äp')(wv t6)v (phoiv: "We ought tlien to compare 2 Sam. xxiii. 24, on? n''3 nn, a connection in which, after the analogy of such Arabic connections as Jcaysu 'aylana, Kais of the tribe of ^Ailan {Ihn Coteiba, 13 and 83), or Ma'nu layyin, ^Ma'n of the tribe of Tay, i.e. Ma'n belonging to this tribe, as dis- tinguished from other men and families of this name {Scliol. Hamasce 144. 3), nrb n^2 is thought of as genit."^ (Mühlau). That nrh JT'a (instead of ^pn^i] n''2) is easily changed, with Thenius and Wellhausen, after 1 Chron. xi. 26, into Dn^ ^''3», and in itself it is not altogether homogeneous, because without the article. Yet it may be supposed that instead of Xb'ö, on account of the appellat. of the proper name (the lifting up, elatio), the word Nb'DH might be also employed. And since np"'-p, along with "IIJX, forms, as it were, one compositum, and does not at all destroy ^ the regulating force of niJJs, the ex- pression is certainly, after the Arabic tisus log., to be thus explained : The words of Agur the sou of Jakeh, of the tribe (the country) of Massa.
The second line of this verse, as it is punctuated, is-to be rendered :
The saying of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Uchal, not Uklal ; for, since Athias and van der Hooght, the incorrect form ?3X1 has become current. J. H. Michaelis has the right form of the word basi. Thus, with 3 oxqohatum, it is to be read after the Masora, for it adds to this word the remark n"'5>
■* In 'l31 Dyn, Jer. viii. 5, 'ü^'n^ is thought of as genit., although it may be also nom., after the scheme of apposition instead of annexion. That it is genit., cf. Philippi's St. Const, pp. 192-195.
2 We say, in Arab., without any anomaly, e.g. Aliju-hiu-Muhammadin Tajjiin, i.e. the Ali son of Muhammed, of the tribe (from the tribe) of Tay ; cf. Josh. iii. 11 : Isa. xxviii. 1, Ixiii. 11 : and Deut. iii. 13.
2 GS TUE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
"loni, and counts it among tlie forty-eight words sometimes written defectively witliout] 1 (vid. tliis list in the Masorafinalis, 21b, Col. 4); and since it only remarks the absence of the letter lengthening the word where no dagesh follows the vocal, it thus supposes that the 3 has no dagesh, as it is also found in Codd. (also Jaman.) written with the liajyhe. 7J<''n''Np is doubly accentuated ; the Tarcha represents the Metheg, after the rule Tliorath Ernetli, p. 11. The P after D5<3 is, in the sense of the punctuation, the same dat. as in ''?"'X^, Ps. ex. 1, and has an apparent right in him who asks V^n ""S in the 4th verse. Ithiel and Uchal must be, after an old opinion, sons, or disciples, or contemporaries, of Agur. Thus, e.g., Gesenius, in his Lex. under '^i?^ri"'S, where as yet his reference to Neh. xi. 7 is wanting. 7S"'n"'i< is rendered by Jefet and other Karaites, " there is a God " = ^X 'n'N ; but it is perhaps equivalent to ^^ ^nx, "■ God is with me ; " as for "ris, the form ''Jn''X is also found. ?9^ (^35^) nowhere occurs as a proper name; but in the region of proper names, everything, or almost everything, is possible.^ Ewald sees in 15-14 a dialogue : in vers. 2-4 the "133^', i.e. as the word appears to him, the rich, haughty mocker, who has worn out his life, speaks; and in 5-14 the '•'• Mitmirgott'''' [= God with me], or, more fully, " Miimirgott-sohiniclistarh " [= God with me, so am I strong], i.e. the pious, humble man answers. " The whole," he remarks, " is nothing but poetical ; and it is poetical also that this discourse of mockery is called an elevated strain." But (1) "i33 is a harmless word ; and in lain DXJ, Num. xxiv. 3, 15, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, it is a solemn, earnest one ; (2) a proper name, consisting of two clauses con- nected by Vav, no matter whether it be an actual or a symbolical name, is not capable of being authenticated ; E^vald, § 2745, recognises in 'lil ''^?1?, 1 Chron. xxv. 4, the naming, not of one son of Heman, but of two ; and (3) it would be a very forced, inferior poetry if the poet placed one half of the name in one line, and then, as if constrained to take a new breath, gave the other half of it in a second line. But, on the other hand, that ^N"'n''X and ?3X are the names of two different persons, to whom the address of the man is directed, is attested by the, in this
1 Vid. Wctzsteiu's Inschriften aus den Tradionen und dem Hauranyehirge (186i), p. SSCf.
CHAP. XXX. 1. 269
case aimless, anadiplosis, the here unpoetlcal paralleHsm with reservation. The repetition, as Fleischer remarks, of the name Ithiel, which may rank with Uchal, as the son or disciple of Agur, has probably its reason only in this, that one placed a second more extended phrase simply along with the shorter. The case is different ; but Fleischer's supposition, that the poet him- self cannot have thus written, is correct. We must not strike out either of the two ^XTT'Nb ; but the supposed proper names must be changed as to their vocalization into a declaratory clause. A principal argument lies in ver. 2, beginning with "'S : this -2 supposes a clause which it established ; for, with right. Mühlau maintains that '•3, in the affirmative sense, which, by means of aposiopesis, proceeds from the confirmative, may open the conclusion and enter as confirmatory into the middle of the discourse {e.g. Isa. xxxii. 13), but cannot stand abruptly at the commencement of a discourse (cf. under Isa. xv. 1 and vii. 9). But if we now ask how it is to be vocalized, there comes at the same time into the sphere of investigation the striking phrase ")22n DS3. This phrase all the Greek interpreters attest by their rendering, raSe \e<yei 6 dvr/p {Venet. (prjcrlv avqp) ; besides, this is to be brought forward from the wilderness of the old at- tempts at a translation, that the feeling of the translators strives against the recognition in 73S1 of a second personal name : the Peshito omits it ; the Targ. translates it, after the Midrash, by 731X1 (I may do it) ; as Tiieodotion, koX Zwrjcrofxat^ which is probably also meant by the Kal o-wrlao/mat (from avvtevac, to be acquainted with) of the Venet. ; the LXX. with koI iraiiofiai ; and Aquila, koL reXeaov (both from the verb n^3). As an ob- jection to -i33n DN3 is this, that it is so bald without being followed, as at Num. xxiv. 3, 15, 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, with the attributive description of the man. Luther was determined thereby to translate : discourse of the man Leithiel . . . And why could not ''5<''n''Np be a proper-name connection like ^SW^'J' (7X''ri7kr) ? Interpreted in the sense of " I am troubled con- cerning God," it might be a symbolical name of the ^fXocro^o?, as of one who strives after the .knowledge of divine things with all his strength. But (1) nx?, with the accus, obj., is not established, and one is rather inclined to think of a name such as ^^"'^''r'T', after Ps. Ixxxiv. 3; (2) moreover, ^x*n\s^ cannot be at one
270 THE BOOK OF PEOVERBS.
time a personal name, and at another time a declarative sentence — one must both times transform it into ?^ ''T}^i<^ ; but ?x has to be taken as a vocative, not as accus., as is done by J. D. Michaelis, Hitzig, Bunsen, Zöckler, and others, thus : I have wearied myself, O God ! . . . The nakedness of "i3Jn is accordingly not covered by the first Leithiel. Mühlau, in his work, seeks to in- troduce sb'nn changed into NiJ'Dö : " The man from Massa," and prefers to interpret nnin generically:^ "proverb (confession) of the man (i.e. the man must confess) : I have wearied my- self, O God ! . . ." Nothing else in reality remains. The article may also be retrospective: the man just now named, whose "words" are announced, viz. Agur. But why was not the expression nijx DW then used ? Because it is not poetical to say : " the (previously named) man." On the other hand, what follows applies so that one may understand, under lajn, any man you choose. There are certainly among men more than too many who inquire not after God (Ps. xiv. 2 f.). But there are also not wanting those who feel sorrowfully the distance between them and God. Agur introduces such a man as speaking, for he generalizes his own experience. Ps. xxxvi. 2 (vid. under this passsge) shows that a proper name does not necessarily follow DSJ. With lajn DN3 Agur then introduces what the man has to confess — viz. a man earnestly devoted to God ; for with ns3 the ideas of that which comes from the heart and the solemnly earnest are connected. If Agur so far generalizes his own experience, the passionate anadiplosis does not disturb this. After long contemplation of the man, he must finally confess : I have troubled myself, O God ! I have troubled myself, O God ! . . . That the trouble was directed toward God is perhaps denoted by the alliteration of "TT'K? with f)«. But wdiat now, further ? i'3X1 is read as i'^N'i, ^3«), ^3N1, ^3X1, ^3X1j and it has also been read as ^3SJ. The reading ^3SJ no one advocates; this that follows says the direct con- trary, et potui {pollui). Geiger {Urschrift^ p. 61) supports the reading ^^^<'!, for he renders it interrogatively : " I wearied my-
^ Thus, viz., that injn denotes, not the man as he ought to be, but the man as he usually is (the article, as the Arabic grammarians say, " not for the exhaustion of the characteristic marks of the genus," but for the expression of " the quality maliije of the genus ").
CHAP. XXX. 1. 271
self in vain about God, I wearied myself in vain about God ; why should I be able to do it ? " But since one may twist any affirmative clause in this way, and from a yes make a no, one should only, in cases of extreme necessity, consent to such a ques- tion in the absence of an interrogative word. Böttcher's ^N '^^''^^. I have wearied myself out in vain, is not Hebrew. But at any rate the expression might be ?3S"7S, if only the Vav did not stand between the words ! If one might transpose the letters, then we might gain P^N N?l, according to which the LXX. translates : oii Bvvi^aofxai. At all events, this despairing as to the consequence of further trouble, " I shall be able to do nothing (shall bring it to nothing)," would be better than ?^i^] (and I shall withdraw — become faint), for which, besides, ^(.^^] should be used (cf. xxii. 8 with Job xxxiii. 21). One expects, after wsb, the expression of that which is the consequence of earnest and long-continued endeavour. Accordingly Hitzig reads ?2Sij and I have become dull — suitable to the sense, but unsatisfactory on this account, because ??3, in the sense of the Arab, kail, hebescere, is foreign to the Heb. usus loq. Thus 73X1 will be a fut. consec. of nb. J. D. Michaelis, and finally Böttcher, read it as fut. consec. Fiel ?3>f^l or 73X1 {vid. regarding this form in pause under xxv. 9), " and I have made an end ; " but it is not appropriate to the inquirer here complaining, when dissatisfaction with his results had determined him to abandon his research, and let himself be no more troubled. We therefore prefer to read with Daliler, and, finally, with Mühlau and Zöckler, ^^^\, and I have withdrawn. The form understood by Hitzig as a pausal form is, in the unchangeable- ness of its vocals, as accordant with rule as those of "in^^, xxvii. 17, which lengthen the — of their first syllables in pause. And if Hitzig objects that too much is said, for one of such meditation does not depart, we answer, that if the inquiry of the man who speaks here has completed itself by the longing of his spirit and his soul (Ps. Ixxxiv. 3, cxhii. 7), he might also say of himself, in person, W^^ or 73X1. An inquiry proceeding not merely from intellectual, but, before all, from practical necessity, is meant — the doubled TT'i«^ means that he applied thereto the whole strength of his inner and his outer man ; and i'DXI, that he nevertheless did not reach his end, but wearied himself in
272 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
vain. By this explanation which we give to la, no change of its accents is required; but lb has to be written :
ft- • j-r vv-i J-:
Vers. 2, 3. The "»a now following confirms the fruitlessness of the long zealous search :
For I am without reason for a man,
And a man's understanding I have not. 3 And I have not learned -wisdom,
That I may possess the knowledge of the All-IIoTy. He who cannot come to any fixed state of consecration, inas- much as he is always driven more and more back from the goal he aims at, thereby brings guilt upon himself as a sinner so great, that every other man stands above him, and he is deep under them all. So here Agur finds the reason why in divine things he has failed to attain unto satisfying intelligence, not in the ignorance and inability common to all men — he appears to himself as not a man at all, but as an irrational beast, and he misses in himself the understanding which a man properly might have and ought to have. The IP of t^"'NO is not the partitive, like Isa. xliv. 11, not the usual com- jjarative : than any one (Böttcher), which ought to be expressed by t^'ii^"?!!», but it is the negative, as Isa. lii. 14 ; Fleischer : riidior ego sum quam ut homo appeller, or : hrutas ego^ hominis lion similis. Eegarding 1^2, vid. under xii. 1.^ Ver. 3 now says that he went into no school of wisdom, and for that reason in his wrestling after knowledge could attain to nothing, be- cause the necessary conditions to this were wanting to him. But then the question arises: Why this complaint? He must first go to school in order to obtain, according to the word " To him who hath is given," that for which he strove. Thus ""JJilo^ refers to learning in the midst of wrestling ; but
1 The Munacli is the transformation of Mtigrash, and this sequence of accents — Tarcha, Munach, Silluk — remains the same, whether we regard ^S as the accusative or as the vocative.
2 According to the Arab, i^ya is not a beast as grazing, but as dropping stei-cus (haW, camel's or sheep's droppings) ; to the R. -|2i Mühlau rightly gives the meanings of separating, whence are derived the meanings of grazing as well as of removing (cleansing) (cf. Pers. tliak karadu, to make clean = to make clean bouse, tahtila rasa).
CHAP. XXX. 4 273
lüb, spiritually understood, signifies the acquiring of a hennens [knowledge] or konnens [knowledge = ability] : he has not brought it out from the deep point of his condition of know- ledge to make wisdom his own, so that he cannot adjudge to liimself knowledge of the all-holy God (for this knowledge is the kernel and the star of true wisdom). If we read ob y'^^? iO, this would be synchronistic, nescieham, with "•mo? standing on the same line. On the contrary, the positive yix subordinates itself to ''mo^'X^I, as the Arab, fda' lama, in the sense of (ita) ut scirem scieniiam Sanctissinii, thus of a conclusion, like Lam. i. 19, a clause expressive of the intention, Ewald, § 347«. Ü^pli) is, as at ix. 10, the name of God in a superlative sense, like the Arab, el-kuddus.
Ver. 4 Who hath ascended to the heavens and descended ?
"Who hath grasped the wind in his fists ?
"WTio hath bound up the waters in a garment ?
Who hath set right all the ends of the earth ?
What is his name, and what his sou's name, if thou knowest ?
The first question here, 'l31 'P, is limited by Pazer ; U^^^'rhv has Metheg in the third syllable before the tone. The second question is at least shut off by Pazer, but, contrary to the rule, that Pazer does not repeat itself in a verse ; Cod. Erfurt. 2,
and several older editions, have for Visnn more correctly n^na with liehia. So much for the interpunction. 2';3Dn are pro- perly not the two fists, for the fist — that is, the hand gathered into a ball, pugnus — is called ^I'l^S ; while, on the contrary, )2n (in all the three dialects) denotes the palm of the hand, vola (fit/. Lev. X vi. 12) ; yet here the hands are represented after they have seized the thing as shut, and thus certainly as fists. The dual points to the dualism of the streams of air produced by the disturbance of the equilibrium ; he who rules this move- ment has, as it were, the north or east wind in one fist, and the south or west wind in the other, to let it forth according to his pleasure from this prison (Isa. xxiv. 22). The third question is explained by Job xxvi. 8 ; the npob' (from ^nb', comprelien- dere) is a figure of the clouds which contain the upper waters, as Job xxxviii. 37, the bottles of heaven. '' All the ends of the earth " are as at five other places, e.g. Ps. xxii. 28, the most distant, most remote parts of the earth ; the setting up of all
VOL. II, S
274 THE BOOK OF PKOVECDS.
these most remote boundaries (marglnes) of the earth is equi- valent to the making fast and forming the limits to which the earth extends (Ps. Ixxiv. 17), the determining of the compass of the earth and the form of its figures. V^ri ''3 is in symphony with Job xxxviii. 5, cf. 18. The question is here formed as it is there, when Jahve brings home to the consciousness of Job human weakness and ignorance. But there are here two pos- sible significations of the fourfold question. Either it aims at the answer : No man, but a Being highly exalted above all creatures, so that the question i^^'"no [what his name'?] refers to the name of this Being. Or the question is primarily meant of men : What man has the ability ? — if there is one, then name him ! In both cases rbv ""D is not meant, after xxiv. 28, in the
modal sense, quis ascendent, but as the following T}1|i requires, in
the nearest indicative sense, qiiis ascendit. But the choice between these two possible interpretations is very difficult. The first question is historical : Who has gone to heaven and (as a consequence, then) come down from it again ? It lies nearest thus to interpret it according to the consecutio temporiun. By this interpretation, and this representation of the going up before the descending again, the interrogator does not appear to think of God, but in contrast to himself, to whom the divine is transcendent, of some other man of whom the contrary is true. Is there at all, he asks, a man who can comprehend and penetrate by his power and his knowledge the heavens and the earth, the air and the water, i.e. the nature and the inner condition of the visible and invisible world, the quantity and extent of the elements, and the like? Name to me this man, if thou knowest one, by his name, and designate him to me exactly by his family — I would turn to hiin to learn from him what I have hitherto striven in vain to find. But there is no such an one. Thus : as I feel myself limited in my knowledge, so there is not at all any man who can claim limitless Jcönnen and kennen [ability and knowledge]. Thus casually Aben Ezra explains, and also Rashi, Arama, and others, but without holding fast to this in its purity; for in the interpretation of the question, "Who hath ascended? " the reference to Moses is mixed up with it, after the Midrash and Sohar (Parasha, br]\)% to Ex. xxxv. 1),
CHAP. XXX. 4. 275
to pass by other obscurities and difficulties Introduced. Among the moderns, this explanation, according to which all alms at the answer, " there is no man to whom this appertains," has no exponent worth naming. And, indeed, as favourable as is the qiiis ciscendit in ccelos ac rursiis descendit, so unfavour- able is the quis constliidt omnes terminos terrce, for this question appears not as implying that it asks after the man who has accomplished this; but the thought, according to all ap- pearance, underlies it, that such an one must be a being without an equal, after whose name inquiry is made. One will then have to judge rhv and TTil after Gen. xxvlli. 12 ; the ascending and descending are compared to our German '•^ auf und nieder'"' [up and down], for which we do not use the phrase " nieder tind auf" and Is the expression of free, expanded, unrestrained presence in both regions ; perhaps, since 1"i"'1 Is historical, as Ps. xviii. 10, the speaker has the traditional origin of the creation in mind, according to which the earth arose into being earlier than the starry heavens above.
Thus the four questions refer (as e.g. also Isa. xl. 12) to Him who has done and who does all that, to Him who is not Plim- self to be comprehended as His works are, and as He shows Himself in the greatness and wonderfulness of these, must be exalted above them all, and mysterious. If the inhabitant of the earth looks up to the blue heavens streaming in the golden sunlight, or sown with the stars of night ; If he considers the interchange of the seasons, and feels the sudden rising of the wind ; if he sees the upper waters clothed In fleecy clouds, and yet held fast within them floating over him; if he lets his eye sweep the horizon all around him to the ends of the earth, built up upon nothing in the open world-space (Job xxvl. 7) : the conclusion comes to him that he has before him in the whole the work of an everywhere present Being, of an all-wise omnipotent Worker — It is the Being whom he has just named as b^, the absolute Power, and as the Q"'^1p, exalted above all created beings, with their troubles and limitations; but this know- ledge gained via causalitalis, via eminentiw, and via negationis, does not satisfy yet his spirit, and does not bring him so near to this Being as is to him a personal necessity, so that if he can in some measure answer the fourfold ""D, yet there always
276 TUE BOOK OF PEOVERBS.
presses upon him the question inC'Tio, wliat is his name, i.e. the name which dissolves the secret of this Being above all beings, and unfolds the mystery of the wonder above all wonders. That this Being must be a person the fourfold '•O presupposes ; but the question, " What is his name?" expresses the longing to know the name of this supernatural personality, not any kind of name which is given to him by men, but the name which covers him, which is the appropriate personal immediate expression of his being. The further question, " And what the name of his son?" denotes, according to Hitzig, that the inquirer strives after an adequate knowledge, such as one may have of a human being. But he would not have ventured this question if he did not suppose that God was not a monas [unity] who was without manifoldness in Himself. The LXX. translates : r] rt ovofia Tot? T6KvoL<; avTov (152), perhaps not without the influence of the old synagogue reference testified to in the Midrash and Sohar of 132 to Israel, God's first-born ; but this interpretation is opposed to the spirit of this nT-n (intricate speech, enigma). Also in general the interrogator cannot seek to know what man stands in this relation of a son to the Creator of all things, for that would be an ethical question which does not accord with this metaphysical one. Geier has combined this I3n-D"^""nö1 with viii. ; and that the interrogator, if he meant the n?D3n, ought to have used the phrase in2"DK'"nnij rays nothing against this, for also in jiOiji, viii. 30, whether it means foster-child or artifex, work- master, the feminine determination disappears. Not Ewald alone finds here the idea of the Logos, as the first-born Son of God, revealing itself, on which at a later time the Palestinian doctrine of ninn N^p''n imprinted itself in Alexandria;^ but also J. D. Michaelis felt himself constrained to recognise here the N. T. doctrine of the Son of God announcing itself from afar. And why might not this be possible ? The Rig- Veda contains two similar questions, x. 81, 4 : " Which was the primeval forest, or what the tree from which one framed the heavens and the earth? Surely, ye wise men, ye ought in your souls to make inquiry whereon he stood when he raised the wind ! " And i. 164, 4: " Who has seen the first-born? Where was the life, the blood, the soul of the world ? Who came thither to ask ' Vid. Apologetik (1S69), p. 432 ff.
CHAP. XXX. 1. 277
this from any one who knew it ? '" ^ Jewish interpreters also interpret ^:2 of the causa media of the creation of the world. Arama, in his work pn^*i mpv, sect, xvi., suggests that by 133 we are to understand the primordial element, as the Sankhya- philosophy understands by the first-born there in the Rig, the Prakriti, i.e. the primeval material. R. Levi b. Gerson (Ralbag) comes nearer to the truth when he explains 132 as meaning the cause caused by the supreme cause, in other words : the prin- cipium principiatum of the creation of the world. We say : the inquirer meant the demiurgic might which went forth from God, and which waited on the Son of God as a servant in the creation of the world ; the same might which in chap. viii. is called Wisdom, and is described as God's beloved Son. But with the name after which inquiry is made, the relation is as with the ''more excellent name than the angels," Heb. i. 4.^ It is mani- festly not the name p, since the inquiry is made after the name of the p ; but the same is the case also with the name nösn, or, since this does not harmonize, according to its grammatical gender, with the form of the question, the name "im p^''^) ; but it is the name which belongs to the first and only-begotten Son of God, not merely according to creative analogies, but accord- ing to His true being. The inquirer would know God, the creator of the world, and His Son, the mediator in the creation of the world, according to their natures. If thou knowest, says he, turning himself to man, his equal, what the essential names of both are, tell them to me ! Bat who can name them ! The nature of the Godhead is hidden, as from the inquirer, so from every one else. On this side of eternity it is beyond the reach of human knowledge.
The solemn confession introduced by DX3 is now closed.
1 Cited by Lyra in Beiceis des Glaubens Jahrg. 1869, p. 230. The second of these passages is thus translated by Wilson {Rig- Veda-Scnihitu, London, 1854, vol. ii. p. 127) : " "Who has seen the primeval (being) at the time of his being born? What is that endowed with substance which the unsubstantial sustains ? From earth are the breath and blood, but where is the soul? Who may repair to the säge to ask this? "
2 The Comm. there remarks : It is the heavenly whole name of the highly exalted One, the K'liaon D^, nomen explicitum, which here on this side has entered into no human heart, and can be uttered by no human tongue, the (ii/ofix 0 oi/Oil; oloi'j it fivj 6 uvTo;, Rev. xix. 12.
278 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Ewald sees herein the discourse of a sceptical mocker at religion ; and Elster, the discourse of a meditating doubter ; in ver. 5, and on, the answer ought then to follow, which is given to one thus speaking : his withdrawal from the standpoint of faith in the revelation of God, and the challenge to subordinate his own speculative thinking to the authority of the word of God. But this interpretation of the statement depends on the sym- bolical rendering of the supposed personal names ksTl^N and b^a, and, besides, the dialogue is indicated by nothing ; the be- ginning of the answer ought to have been marked, like the beginning of that to which it is a reply. The confession, li-4, is not that of a man who does not find himself in the right condition, but such as one who is thirsting after God must renounce : the thought of a man does not penetrate to the essence of God (Job xi. 7-9) ; even the ways of God remain inscrutable to man (Sir. xviii. 3 ; Eom. xi. 33) ; the Godhead remains, for our thought, in immeasurable height and depth ; and though a relative knowledge of God is possible, yet the dogmatic thesis, Deum quiclem cognoscimus, sed non compre- hendimus, i.e. non perfecte cognoscimus quia est infinitus^ even over against the positive revelation, remains unchanged. Thus nothing is wanting to make 1-4 a complete whole ; and what follows does not belong to that section as an organic part of it.
Ver. 5 Every word of Eloah is pure ;
A shield is He for those who hide themselves in Him. 6 Add thou not to His words, Lest He convict thee and thou becomest a liar.
Although the tetrastich is an independent proverb, yet it is connected to the foregoing N^mn [utterance, ver. 1]. The more limited a man is in his knowledge of God, — viz. in that which presents itself to him lumine naturce, — so much the more thankful must he be that God has revealed Himself in history, and so much the more firmly has he to hold fast by the pure word of the divine revelation. In the dependent relation of ver. 5 to Ps. xviii. 31 (2 Sam. xxii. 31), and of ver. 6 to Deut. iv. 2, there is no doubt the self-testimony of God given to Israel, and recorded in the book of the Tora, is here meant. rinpK-!?3 ^ Vid. Luthardt's Kompendium der Dogmatik, § 27.
CHAP. XX5. 5, 6. 279
is to he judged after -Traaa 7pa0>;, 2 Tim. iii. 16, not : every declaration of God, wherever promulgated, but : every declara- tion within the revelation lying before us. The primary passage [Ps. xviii. 31] has not ^D here, but, instead of it, Cphn 73?^ and instead of i^vX mox it has niiT' 'dx ; his change of the name of Jahve is also not favourable to the opinion that ver. 5 f. is a part of the N^um, viz. that it is the answer thereto. The proverb in this contains traces of the Book of Job, with which in many respects that N^um harmonizes ; in the Book of Job, l!iiP^5 (with ''^"^) is the prevailing name of God ; whereas in the Book of Proverbs it occurs only in the passage before us. Mühlau, p. 41, notes it as an Arabism. ^liy (Arab, saraf, to turn, to cliange) is the usutil word for the changing process of smelting ; ^l^i^ signifies solid, pure, i.e. purified by separating: God's word is, without exception, like pure, massive gold. Re- garding nipn^ to hide oneself, vid. under Ps. ii. 12 : God is a shield for those who make Him, as revealed in Plis word, their refuge. The part, nnh occurs, according to the Masora, three times written defectively, — xiv. 32 ; 2 Sam. xxii. 31 ; Neh. i. 7 ; in the passage before us it is to be written D''pinp ; the pro- verbs of Agur and Lemuel have frequently the plena scriptio of i\\e part. act. Kal, as well as of the fut. Kal, common to the Book of Job (vid. Mühlau, p. 65).
In 6a, after Aben Ezra's Moznajim 2b (lib of Heiden- lieim's edition), and Zachoth 53a (cf. Lipmanii's ed.), and other witnesses (vid. Norzi), t sp (the f\ with dagesh) is to be written, — the Cod. Jaman. and others defect, without 1, — not tdsf ; for, since ^IDW (Ex. x. 28) is yet further abbreviated in this way, it necessarily loses^ the aspiration of the tenuis, as in T\'-\y' ( = TTO;). The words of God are the announcements of His holy will, measured by His wisdom ; they are then to be accepted as they are, and to be recognised and obeyed. He who adds any- thing to them, either by an overstraining of them or by repress- ing them, will not escape the righteous judgment of God : God will convict him of falsifying His word (n'Sin^ P^;. 1. 21 ; only
^ That both Shevas in to.^p are quicsc, vid. Kimchi, MicJdul 155 a h, who is finally decided as to this. That the word should be read toxp^'al is the opinion of Chajug in nun 'd (regarding the quiesc. letters), p. G of the Ed. by Dukes-Ewald.
280 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
here with 3 of the obj.), and expose him as a liar — viz. by the dispensations which unmask the falsifier as such, and make manifest the falsehood of his doctrines as dangerous to souls and destructive to society. An example of this is found in the kingdom of Israel, in the destruction of which the curse of the human institution of its state religion, set up by Jeroboam, had no little share. Also the Jewish traditional law, although in itself necessary for the carrying over of the law into the praxis of private and public life, falls under the Deuteron, pro- hibition,— which the poet here repeats, — so far as it claimed for itself the same divine authority as that of the written law, and so far as it hindered obedience to the law — by the straining-at- a-gnat policy — and was hostile to piety. Or, to adduce an example of an addition more dogmatic than legal, what a fearful impulse was given to fleshly security by that over- straining of the promises in Gen. xvii., which were connected with circumcision by tiie tradition, " the circumcised come not into hell," or by the overstraining of the prerogative attributed by Paul, Rom. ix. 4 f., to his people according to the Scriptures, in the principle, " All Israelites have a part in the future world ! " Regarding the accentuation of the perf. consec. after JS), vid. at Ps. xxviii. 1. The penultima accent is always in pausa (cf. vers. 9 and 10).
In what now follows, the key-note struck in ver. 1 is con- tinued. There follows a prayer to be kept in the truth, and to be preserved in the middle state, between poverty and riches. It is a Mashal-ode, vid. vol. i. p. 12. By the first prayer, " vanity and lies keep far from me," it is connected with the warning of ver. 6.
Ver. 7 Two things I entreat from Thee,
Eefuse them not to me before I die.
8 Vanity and lies keep far away from me Poverty and riches give me not :
Cause me to eat the bread which is allotted to me,
9 Lest in satiety I deny, And say : Who is Jahve ?
And lest, in becoming poor, I steal, And profane the name of my God.
We begin with the settlement and explanation of the traditional punctuation. A monosyllable like Niji' receives, if Legarmeh,
CHAP. XXX. 7-9. 281
always Mehuppach Legarmeh^ while, on the contrary, the poly- syllable V2\y^ has Asia Legarmeh. ''^7\^'^'^% with double Mahkeph and with Gaja in the third syllable before the tone (after the Metheg- Setzung, § 28), is Ben-Asher's ; whereas Ben- Naphtali prefers the punctuation v )Jiri"pX (vid. Baer's Genesis, p. 79, note 3). Also ^W^ ^^as (cf. ^^f:\% xxxi. 5) Mahkeph, and on the antepenultima Gaja (vid. Thorath Emeth, p. 32).
The per/, consec. ""n'^npi has on the ult the disjunctive Zinnor (Sarka), which always stands over the final letter; but that the ult. is also to be accented, is shown by the counter-tone Metheg, which is to be given to the first syllable. Also ''JjilOXI has in correct Codd., e.g. Cod. 1294, the correct ultima toning of a perf. consec. ; Kimchi in the Michlol Q>b, as well as Aben Ezra in both of his Grammars^ quotes only ''iii'y'Sni '•ri^^il as toned on the penult. That ''^3331 cannot be otherwise toned on account of the pausal accent, has been already remarked under &b ; the word, besides, belongs to the P)D"s<3 pnns, i.e. to tliose which pre- serve their PaiAac/i unlengthened by one of the greater disjunc- tives; the Athnach has certainly in the three so-called metrical books only the disjunctive form of the Zakeph of the prose books. So much as to the form of the test.
As to its artistic form, this prayer presents itself to us as the first of the numerical proverbs, under the "Words" of Agur, who delighted in this form of proverb. The numerical proverb is a brief discourse, having a didactic end complete in itself, which by means of numerals gives prominence to that which it seeks to bring forward. There are two kinds of these. The more simple form places in the first place only one numeral, which is the sum of that which is to be brought forth separately : the numerical proverb of one cipher ; to this class belong, keeping out of view the above prayer, which if it did not commence a series of numerical proverbs does not deserve this technical name on account of the low ciphers : vers. 24-28, with the cipher 4 ; Sir. XXV. 1 and 2, with the cipher 3. Similar to the above prayer are Job xiii. 20 f., Isa. li. 19 ; but these are not numeri- cal proverbs, for they are not proverbs. The more artistic kind of numerical proverb has two ciphers : the two-ciphered numerical proverb we call the sharpened (pointed) proverb.
282 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Of such two - ciphered numerical proverbs the " words " of Agur contain four, and the whole Book of Proverbs, reckon- ing vi. 16-19, five — this ascending numerical character belongs to the popular saying, 2 Kings ix. 32, Job xxxiii. 29, Isa. xvi. 6, and is found bearing the stamp of the artistic distich outside of the Book of Proverbs, Ps. Ixii. 12, Job xxxiii. 14, xl. 5 ; Job v. 19, and particularly Amos i. 3-ii. 6. According to this scheme, the introduction of Agur's prayer should be :
n^DX DnDa "»aDO yjpn-^x D^rii^'i
and it could take this form, for the prayer expresses two re- quests, but dwells exclusively on the second. A twofold request he presents to God, these tw^o things he wishes to be assured of on this side of death ; for of tliese he stands in need, so as to be able when he dies to look back on the life he lias spent, without the reproaches of an accusing conscience. The first thing he asks is that God would keep far from him vanity and Ij ing words. Niti' (= J<]ü^, from KiK' = !^^J!'f , to be waste, after the form nio) is either that which is confused, worthless, untrue, which comes to us from without (e.g. Job xxxi. 5), or dissolute- ness, hollowness, untruthfulness of disposition (e.g. Ps. xxvi. 4) ; it is not to be decided whether the suppliant is influenced by the conception thus from within or from without, since 3T3'"i3T [a word of falsehood] may be said by himself as well as to him, a falsehood can intrude itself upon him. It is almost more probable that by NIC' he thought of the misleading power of God-estranged, idolatrous thought and action ; and by aD"nm, of lying words, with which he might be brought into sympathy, and by which he might ruin himself and others. The second petition is that God would give him neither poverty (K'^?., vid. X. 4) nor riches, but grant him for his sustenance only the bread of the portion destined for liim. The HipJi. fi"'19n (from Pj^D, to grind, viz. the bread with the teeth) means to give^ anything, as ^'}1^, with which, xxxi. 15, pn jnj is parallel : to present a fixed piece, a definite portion of sustenance, ph, Gen. xlvii. 22, the portion assigned as nourishment ; of. Job ^ The Venet. translates, according to Villoison, dipipou fis ; but the MS. has, according to Gebhardt, öpiipou.
CHAP. XXX. 10. ■ 283
xxili. 14 ■'ü'n, the decree determined regarding me. Accord- ingly, ''ipn on? does not mean the bread appropriately measured out for me (like äpTO<; i7rLoiicrco<i^ that which is required for ovala, subsistence), but the bread appropriate for me, deter- mined for me according to the divine plan. Fleischer compares (Arab.) ratab and marsaum^ which both in a simihir way desig- nate a fixed susteutation portion. And why does he wish to be neither poor nor rich ? Because in both extremes lie moral dangers : in riches, the temptation to deny God (which 'n3 D'n3 signifies, in the later Heb. "li^ys "iS3, to deny the fundamental truth ; cf. (Arab.) kafar, unbelieving), whom one flowing in superabundance forgets, and of whom one in his self-indul- gence desires to know nothing (Job xxi. 14-16, xxii. 16 f.) ; in poverty, the temptation is to steal and to blaspheme the name of God, viz. by murmuring and disputing, or even by words of blasphemy ; for one who is in despair directs the outbreaks of his anger against God (Isa. viii. 21), and curses Him as the cause of His misfortune (Rev. xvi. 11, 21). The question of godless haughtiness, nin"" '•pj the LXX. improperly change into nxi'' '"O^ Ti9 fxe opa. Regarding tJ'liJ, to grow poor, or rather, since only the fat. Niph. occurs in this sense, regarding 5inv, vid. at XX. 13.
That the author here, by blaspheming (grasping at) the name of God, especially thinks on that which the Tora calls " cursing \h^) God," and particularly " blaspheming the name of the Lord," Lev. xxiv. 15, 16, is to be concluded from the two following proverbs, which begin with the catchword ^^p : Ver. 10 Calumniate not a servant -with his master,
Lest he curse thee, and thou must atone for it. Incorrectly Ewald : entice not a servant to slander against his master ; and Hitzig : " Make not a servant tattle regarding his master." It is true that the Foel V^r? (to pierce with the tongue, lingua petere) occurs twice in the sense of to calumniate; but that pw'Sn means nothing else, is attested by the post.-bibl. Hebrew ; the proverb regarding schismatics (Q"'?'''?!? ^i?"!?) in the Jewish Scliemone-Esre (prayer of the eighteen benedictions) began with D"':''C^?Dh, "and to the calumniators" (delatorihus). Also in the Arab, dlsana signifies pertulit verba aliciijus ad alleramj to make a babbler, rapporteur (Fleischer). That the word also
284 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
here is not to be otherwise interpreted, is to be concluded from ?X with the causative rendering. Rightly Symmachus, fxr] SiaßaXrj'i ; Theodotioti, fMrj KaTdkaXrjay^ ; and according to the sense also, Jerome, ne accuses ; the Venet. fir] Karafji,rjvvcrrj<i (give not him) ; on the contrary, Luther, verrate nicht [betray not], renders pc'iri with the LXX., Syr. in the sense of the Aram. Q^C'N and the Arab, dslam (tradere, prodere). One should not secretly accuse (Ps. ci. 5) a servant with his master, and in that lies the character of slander Qjy} pti'?) when one puts suspicion upon him, or exaggerates the actual facts, and generally makes the person suspected — one thereby makes a man, whose lot in itself is not a happy one, at length and perhaps for ever unhappy, and thereby he brings a curse on himself. But it is no matter of indifference to be the object of the curse of a man whom one has unrighteously and unjustly overwhelmed in misery: such a curse is not without its influence, for it does not fruitlessly invoke the righteous retribution of God, and thus one has sorrowfully to atone for the wanton sins of the tongue {ve- aschdmta, for ve-ascliamtd as it is would be without pause).
There now follows a Priamel^ the first line of which is, by hh'p^ connected with the 'jh\>'' of the preceding distich :
Ver. IIA generation that curseth their father, And doth not bless tlicir mother ;
12 A generation pure in their own eyes, And yet not washed from their filthiness;
13 A generation — how haughty their eyes, And their eyehds lift themselves up ;
14 A generation whose teeth are swords and their jaw teeth
knives To devour the poor from the earth and the needy from the midst of men.
Ewald translates : O generation ! but that would have required the word, 13a, ~nn (Jer. ii. 31), and one would have expected
^ [Cf. vol. i. p. 13. The name (from prxanibuluin) given to a peculiar form of popular gnomic poetry which prevailed in Germany from the 12th {e.g. the ^leistersinger or Minstrel Sparvogel) to the 16th century, but was especially cultivated during the 14th and 15th centuries. Its peculiarity consisted in this, that after a series of antecedents or subjects, a briefly- expressed consequent or predicate was introduced as the epigrammatic point applicable to all these antecedents together. Vid. Erschenburg's Denk- mälern altdeutscher Dichtkunst, Bremen 1799.]
CHAP. XXX. 11-1-i. 285
to have found something mentioned which the generation ad- dressed were to take heed to ; but it is not so. But if " O generation 1" should be equivalent to " O regarding the genera- tion ! " then ""in ought to have introduced the sentence. And if we translate, with Luther: There is a generation, etc., then ^^, is supplied, which might drop out, but could not be omitted. The LXX. inserts after ckjovov the word kukov, and then renders what follows as pred. — a simple expedient, but worthless. The Venet. does not need this expedient, for it renders ryevea TOP warepa avrov ßXaa^7]fjbi]cr€t ; but then the order of the words in 11a would have been vax bbp'' in ; and in 12a, after the manner of a subst. clause, Nin vryi ^l^tJ "ill, one sees dis- tinctly, from 13 and 14, that what follows in is to be under- stood, not as a pred., but as an attributive clause. As little can we interpret ver. 14, with Löwenstein, as pred. of the three subj., " it is a generation whose teeth are swords ; " that would at least have required the words Nin "in ; but ver. 14 is not at all a judgment valid for all the three subjects. The Targ. and Jerome translate correctly, as we above ; ^ but by this rendering there are four subjects in the preamble, and the whole appears, since the common pred. is wanting, as a muti- lated Priamel. Perhaps the author meant to say : it is such a generation that encompasses us ; or : such is an abomination to Jahve; for "in is a Gesamtheit = totality, generation of men who are bound together by contemporary existence, or homo- geneity, or by both, but always a totality ; so that these verses, 11-14, might describe quatuor detestahilia genera Jiominum (C. B. Michaelis), and yet one generatio, which divide among themselves these four vices, of blackest ingratitude, loathsome self-righteousness, arrogant presumption, and unmerciful covet- ousness. Similar is the description given in the Mishna Sota ix. lA, of the character of the age in which the Messiah ap- peared. " The appearance of this age," thus it concludes, " is like the appearance of a dog; a son is not ashamed before his father ; to whom will we then look for help 1 To our Father in heaven!"^ The undutifulness of a child is here placed
^ The Syr. begins 11a as if *in were to be supplied. 2 Cf. also Ali b. Abi Täleb's dark description, beginning -with hadhn alzman (this age), Zur allg. Char, der arah. Poesie (1870), p. 54 f
286 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
first. To curse one's parents is, after Ex. xxi. 17, cf. Prov. XX. 10, a crime worthy of death ; " not to bless," is here, per litoten, of the same force as ??i? [to curse]. The second charac- teristic, ver. 12, is wicked blindness as to one's judgment of himself. The LXX. coarsely, but not bad : ir]v S' e^ohov auTov ovK aTrevt^lrev. Of such darkness one says : sordes siias putat olere cinnama. Y^"} is not the abbreviated part. (Stuart), as e.g. Ex. iii. 2, but the finite, as e.g. IIos. i. 6.
In loa the attributive clause forms itself, so as to express the astonishing height of arrogance, into an exclamation : a generation, how lofty are their eyes (cf. e.g. vi. 17, niOT D^i""!?) ! to which, as usual, it is simply added : and his eyelids (palpe- brce) lift themselves up ; in Lat., the lifting up of the eye- brow as an expression of haughtiness is described by elatum (^siqjerhum) siiperciliitm.
The fourth characteristic is insatiable covetousness, which does not spare even the poor, and preys upon them, the help- less and the defenceless : they devour them as one eats bread, Ps. xiv. 4. The teeth, as the instruments of eating, are com- pared to swords and knives, as at Ps. Ivii. 4 to spears and arrows. With VSt^' there is interchanged, as at Job xxix. 17,
Jonah i. 6, vnypHD (not 'rio, as Norzi writes, contrary to Metheg-
Setzung, § 37, according to which Gcija, with the servant going before, is inadmissible), transposed from vriyripö, Ps. Iviii. 7, from Vri7, to strike, pierce, bite. The designation of place, n^^j " from the earth " (which also, in paiisa, is not modified into P'^''?), and D'iND, " from the midst of men," do not belong to the obj. : those who belong to the earth, to mankind (yid. Ps. X. 18), for thus interpreted they would be useless ; but to the word of action : from the earth, out from the midst of men away, so that they disappear from thence (Amos viii. 4). By means of fine but cobweb combinations. Hitzig finds Amalek in this fourfold proverb. But it is a portrait of the times, like Ps. xiv., and certainly without any national stamp.
With the characteristic of insatiableness it closes, and there follows an apopldhegma de quatuor insaiiahilihus qnce ideo com- parantur cum sanguisuga (C. B. Michaelis). We translate the text here as it lies before us :
CHAP. XXX. 1.5, 16. 287
Ver. 15 The 'AWca hath two daughters : Give I Give! Three of these are never satisfied ; Four say not : Enough ! 16 The under-world and the closing of the womb ; The earth is not satisfied with water ; And the fire saith not : Enough !
We begin with Masoretic externalities. The first 2 in '2T\ is Beth minus culum ; probably it had accidentally this diminutive form in the original MSS., to which the Midrash (cf. Sepher Tagliin ed. Barges, 1866, p. 47) has added absurd conceits. This first i^n has Pasek after it, which in this case is servant to the Olewejored going before, according to the rule Thorath Emeth, p. 24, here, as at Ps. Ixxxv. 9, Mehiippach. The second an, which of itself alone is the representative of Olewejored, has in Plutter, as in the Cod. Erfurt 2, and Cod. 2 of the Leipzig Public Library, the pausal punctuation sn (cf. Hi^^ 1 Sam. xxi. 10), but which is not sufficiently attested. Instead of 1"ipX"N7, 15^ 'nox N^" and instead of nnnx-^^^, 166, nnox S are to be written ; the Zinnorith removes the Makkeph, according to Thorath Emeth, p. 9, Accentuationssystem, iv. § 2. Instead of 2^0, 16a, only Jablonski, as Mühlau remarks, has D^ö; but in- correctly, since Athnach, after Olewejored, has no pausal force {vid. Thorath Emeth, p. 37). All that is without any weight as to the import of the words. But the punctuation affords some little service for the setting aside of a view of Rabbenu Tam (yid. Tosaphoth to Aboda zara IIa, and Eriibin 19a), which has been lately advocated by Lövvenstein. That view is, that 'Aluka is the name of a wise man, not Solomon's, because the Pesikta does not reckon this among the names of Solomon, nor yet a name of hell, because it is not, in the Gemara, numbered among the names of Gehinnom. Thus
I rii^vv? would be a superscription, like "Dlb and r\J:h'J?, Ps. xxvi. 1, Ixxii. 1, provided with Asia Legarmeh. But this is not possible, for the Asia Legarmeh, at Ps. xxvi. 1 and Ixxii. 1, is the transformation of Olewejored, inadmissible on the first word of the verse (Accentttationssi/stem, xix. § 1) ; but no Olewejored can follow such an Asia Legarmeh, which has the force of an Olewejored, as after this npl^j?!', which the accentuation then does not regard as the author's name given as a superscription.
288 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
ni5w is not the name of a person, and generally not a proper name, but a generic name of certain traditional signification. "One must drink no water" — says the Gemara Ahoda zara V2h — "out of a river or pond, nor (immediately) with his mouth, nor by means of his hand ; he who, nevertheless, does it, his blood comes on his own head, because of the danger. What danger ? npvj? ri33p," i.e. the danger of swallowing a leech. The Aram, also designates a leech by Ni^vJ? (cf. e.g. Targ. Ps. xii. 9 : hence tlie godless walk about like theleech, which sucks the blood of men), and the Arab, by 'alah (n. unit. ^alakat),Si3 the word is also rendered here by the Aram, and Arab, translators. Accordingly, all the Greeks render it by ßSeWr] ; Jerome, by sanguisuga (Rashi, sangsue) \ also Luther's Eigel is not the Igel erinaceus [hedgehog], but the Egel, i.e., as we now designate it, the Blutegel [leech], or (less correctly) Blutigel. *^\>pV is the fem. of the adj. pvj?, attached to, which meaning, to- gether with the whole verbal stem, the Arab, has preserved (yid. Miihlau's Mittheilung des Art. 'aluka aus dem Ramus, p. 42 ).'^ But if, now, the 'Aluka is the leech,^ which are then its two daughters, to which is here given the name in an, and which at the same time have this cry of desire in their mouths ? Grotius and others understand, by the two daughters of the leech, the two branches of its tongue ; more correctly : the double- membered overlip of its sucker. C. B. Michaelis thinks thiU the greedy cry, " Give ! Give ! " is personified : voces istcB con- cipiuntur ut hirudinis film, quas ex se gignat et velut mater sobolem vnpense diligat. But since this does not satisfy, sym- bolical interpretations oi' Aluka have been resorted to. The Talmud, Ahoda zara 17a, regards it as a name of hell. In this sense it is used in the language of the Pijut (synagogue
^ Nöldeke has remarked, with reference to Miihlau's Monographie, that 'aluka, in the sense of tenacious (tenax), is also found in Syr. (Geopou. xiii. 9, xli. 26), and that generally the stem p^y, to cleave, to adhere, is more common in Aram, than one would suppose. But this, however common in Arab., is by no means so in Syr. ; and one may affirm that, among other Arabisms foimd in the Proverbs of Agur, the word 'Aluka has decidedly an Arab, sound.
2 In Sanscrit the leech is called galaukas (masc.) or galauka (fem.), i.e. the inhabitant of the water (from gala, water, and okas, dwelling). Ewald regards this as a transformation of the Semitic name.
CHAP. XXX. 15, IC. 2S9
poetry).^ IVAIüM is hell, then fancy has the ■wldesL room for finding an answer to the question, What are the two daugliters ? The Tahnud supposes that nVl^'^ (the worklly domination) and m^D (heresy) are meant. The Church-fathers also, under- standing by 'Älül-a the power of the devil, expatiated in such interpretations. Of the same character are Calmet's interpre- tation, that sanguisxiga is a figure of the mala cupiditas, and its twin-daughters are avaritia and amhitio. The truth lying in all these is this, that here there must be some kind of symbol. But if the poet meant, by the two daughters of the 'Aluka, two beings or things which he does not name, then he kept the best of his symbol to himself. And could he use 'Alaka, this common name for the leech, without further intimation, in any kind of symbolical sense? The most of modern interpreters do nothing to promote the understanding of the word, for they suppose that 'Älüica, from its nearest signification, denotes a demoniacal spirit of the character of a vampire, like the Jlahini of the Indians, which nourish themselves on human flesh ; the ghouls of the Arabs and Persians, which inhabit graveyards, and kill and eat men, particularly wanderers in the desert; in regard to which it is to be remarked, that (Arab.) 'axolah is indeed a name for a demon, and that aValuwah, accord- ing to the Kamus, is used in the sense of algJiical. Thus Dathe, Doderlein, Ziegler, Umbreit ; thus also Hitzig, Ewald, and others. Mühlau, while he concurs in this understanding of the -word, and now throwing open the question, Which, then, are the two daughters of the demoness 'Aliika? finds no answer to it in the proverb itself, and therefore accepts of the view of Ewald, since 15b-16, taken by themselves, form a fully completed whole, that the line 'iJi np'hv^ is the beginning of a numerical proverb, the end of which is wanting. We acknow- ledge, because of the obscurity — not possibly aimed at by the author himself — in which the two daughters remain, the frag- mentary characters of the proverb of the 'Alfika; Stuart also does this, for he regards it as brought out of a connection in which it was intelligible, — but we believe that the line '1:1 C'^b^
^ So says e.g. Salomo ha-Babli, in a Zidath of the first Chamdka-Sahhats (beginning fj^n I^V px) : p^y ''?n?'!'? '''^i?^ ^^^7 ^"^° ^^^^ ^"^"^ flames of hell.
VOL. II. T
290 THE BOOK OF PKOVERCS.
is an original formal part of this proverb. For the proverb forming, according to Mühlau's judgment, a whole rounded off:
n3j?3K'n i6 Hin ^i/'h^ Dm "ivyi ^ixB'
i\'\:^ mos ah c'i^i
contains a mark which makes the original combination of these five lines improbable. Always where the third is exceeded by the fourth, the step from the third to the fourth is taken by the connecting Vav : ver. 18, y^nsi ; 21, yms nnni ; 29, ny^nsi. We therefore conclude that 'iJi iS yaix is the original com- mencement of independent proverb. This proverb is :
Four things say not : Enough !
The uniler-world and the closing of the womb [i.e. unfruitful
•womb] — The earth is not satisfied -with water, And the fire saj^s not ; Enough !
a tetrastich more acceptable and appropriate than the Arab, proverb (Freytag, Prow. iii. p. 61, No. 347) : '' three things are not satisfied by three : the womb, and wood by fire, and the earth by rain ; " and, on the other hand, it is remarkable to find it thus clothed in the Indian language,^ as given in the Hitopadesa (p. 67 of Lassen's ed.), and in Pantschatantra, i. 153 (ed. of Kosegarten) :
nagnis trpjati Tcäshtliänän näpagänän maliodadliih nCintakak sarvdbTiütänän va punsCin vumalo'canali.
Fire is not sated with wood, nor the ocean with the streams, Nor death with all the living, nor the beautiful-eyed with men.
As in the proverb of Agur the 4 falls into 2 + 2, so also in this Indian sloka. In botli,fire and the realm of death {antaha is death as the personified ''end-maker") correspond; and as there the
^ That not only natural productions, but also ideas and literary produc- tions (words, proverbs, knowledge), were conveyed from the Indians to the Semites, and from the Semites to the Indians, on the great highways by sea and laud, is a fact abundantly verified. There is not in this, however, any means of determining the situation of Massa.
CHAP. XXX. 13, 16. 291
womb and the earth, so here feminarium cupidltas and the ocean. The parallehzing of px and am is after passages such as Ps. cxxxix. 15, Job i. 21 (cf. also Prov. v. 16; Num. xxiv. 7; Isa. xlviii. 1); that of hs'i^ and v^^ is to be judged of ^ after passages such as Deut. xxxii. 22, Isa. Ivi. 24. That {in nöS N^ repeats itself in pn mnx ^ is now, as we render the proverb indepen- dently, much more satisfactory than if it began with 'iji C'lb'k^ : it rounds itself off, for the end returns into the beginning. Eegardiag Jin, viel. i. 13. From pn, to be light, it signifies living lightly; ease, superabundance, in that Avhich renders life light or easy. " Used accusatively, and as an exclamation, it is equivalent to plenty! enough! It is used in the same sense in the North African Arab, hrrakat (spreading out, fulness). Wetzstein remarks that in Damascus lalwn, i.e. hitherto, is used in the sense of hajah, enough ; and that, accordingly, we may attempt to explain pn of our [Heb.] language in the sense of (Arab.) haion haddah, i.e. here the end of it ! " (Miihlau.)
But what do we now make of the two remaining lines of the proverb of the 'Aluka f The proverb also in this division of two lines is a fragment. Ewald completes it, for to the one line, of which, according to his view, the fragment consists, he adds two :
The bloodsucker has two daughters, " Hither ! hither ! "
Three saying, " Hither, hither, hither the blood,
The blood of the wicked child." A proverb of this kind may stand in the O. T. alone : it sounds as if quoted from Grimm's Mährchen, and is a side-piece to Zappert's altdeutsch. Schlummerliede. Cannot the mutilation of the proverb be rectified in a less violent way without any self- made addition ? If this is the case, that in vers. 15 and 16, which now form one proverb, there are two melted together, only the fii;st of which lies before us in a confused form, then this phenomenon is explained by supposing that the proverb of the ^ Aluka originally stood in this form :
The 'Aluka has two daughters : Give ! give ! — The under- world and the closing of the womb ; There are three that are never satisfied.
Thus completed, this tristich presents itself as the original side-
1 The parallelizing of dm andisiXw', Beraclotli 15&, is not directly aimed at by the poet.
292 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
piece of the lost tetrastich, beginning with ynii«. One might suppose that if ^iX'kJ^ and Dm "ivy have to be regarded as the daughters of the 'Aluka, which Hitzig and also Zöckler have recognised, then there exists no reason for dividing the one proverb into two. Yet the taking of them as separate is neces- sary, for this reason, because in the fourth, into which it expands, the 'Aluka is altogether left out of account. But in the above tristich it is taken into account, as was to be expected, as the mother with her children. This, that sheol (?iS'^ is for the most part fern.), and the womb (Dn*i =Dn"!, which is fem., Jer. XX. 17) to which conception is denied, are called, on account of their greediness, the daughters of i\\Q'Alüha, is to be under- stood in the same way as when a mountain height is called, Isa. V. 1, a horn of the son of oil. In the Arab., which is inexhaustibly rich in such figurative names, a man is called " a son of the clay (limi) ;" a thief, " a son of the night ; " a nettle, " the daughter of fire." The under-world and a closed womb have the ' AluJca nature; they are insatiable, like the leech. It is unnecessary to interpret, as Zöckler at last does, 'Aluka as the name of a female demon, and the 077, " daughters," as her companions. It may be adduced in favour of this view that nj^w^ is without the article, after the manner of a proper name. But is it really without the article? Such a doubtful case we had before us at xxvii. 23. As yet only Böttcher, § 394, has entered on this difficulty of punctuation. We compare Gen. xxix. 27, mbj;3 ; 1 Kings xii. 32, uh^vb ; 1 Chron. xiii. 7, "^^^i!^ ; and consequently also Ps. cxlvi. 7, D''pVki'i;? ; thus the assimilating force of the Chateph appears here to have changed the syntactically required b and 3 into f_ and 3. But also supposing that nj^-ipy in Hi^^pyp is treated as a proper name, this is explained from the circumstance that the leech is not meant here in the natural history sense of the word, but as embodied greediness, and is made a person, one individual being. Also the symbol of the two daughters is opposed to the mythological character of the 'Aluka. The imper. 2n, from 2n'', occurs only here and at Dan. vii. 17 {=\^), and in the bibl. Heb. only with the intentional i^—, and in inflection forms. The insatiableness of sheol (xxvii. 20«) is described by Isaiah, V. 14 ; and Kachel, Gen. xxx. 1, with her " Give me children,"
CHAP. XXX. 17. 293
is an example of the greediness of the " closed-up womb " (Gen. XX. 18). The womb of a childless wife is meant, which, because she would have children, the nupiice never satisfy; or also of one who, because she does not fear to become pregnant, invites to her many men, and always burns anew with lust. " la Arab, ^aluwak means not only one fast bound to her husband, but, according to Wetzstein, in the whole of Syria and Palestine, the prostitute, as well as the KivaiSot, are called ^ulak (plur. \dwak), because they obtrude themselves and hold fast to their victim" (Mühlau). In the third line, the three : the leech, hell, and the shut womb, are summarized : t7ia sunt quce non satiantur. Thus it is to be translated with Fleischer, not with ^liihlau and others, tria licec non satiantur. " These three " is expressed in Heb. by n^x^^?^, Ex. xxi. 11, or ri*^?^ '"'?^(0)j 2 Sam. xxi. 22 ; nan (which, besides, does not signify hcec, but ilia) is here, taken correctly, the pred., and represents in general the verb of being (Isa. li. 19), vid. at vi. 16. Zöckler finds the point of the proverb in the greediness of the unfruitful womb, and is of opinion that the poet purposely somewhat concealed this point, and gave to his proverb thereby the enhanced attraction of the ingenious. But the tetrastich '1J1 yaiX shows that hell, which is compared to fire, and the un- fruitful womb, to which the parched and thirsty earth is com- pared, were placed by the poet on one and the same line ; it is otherwise with vers. 18—20, but where that point is nothing less than concealed.
The proverb of the 'Aluka is the first of the proverbs founded on the figure of an animal among the " words " of Agur. It is now followed by another of a similar character :
Ver. 17 An eye that mocketh at Iiis father,
And despiseth obedience to his mother : The ravens of the brook shall pluck it out, And the young eagles shall eat it.
If " an eye," and not " eyes," are spoken of here, this is accounted for by the consideration that the duality of the organ falls back against the unity of the mental activity and mental expression which it serves (cf. Psychol, p. 234). As haughtiness reveals itself (ver. 13) in the action of the eyes, so is the eye also the mirror of humble subordination, and also of
294 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
malicious scorn which refuses reverence and subjection to father and mother. As in German the verbs \yerspotten, spotten^ höhnen, hohnsprechen'] signifying to mock at or scorn may be used with the accus., genit., or dat., so also iv? [to deride] and ti3 [to despise] may be connected at pleasure with either an accusative object or a dative object. Ben-Chajim, Athias, van der Hooght, and others write ^vbn ; Jablonski, Michaelis, Löwenstein, wn ; Mühlau, with Norzi, accurately, WP}, with Munach, like ^j^^rij Ps. Ixv. 5 ; the writing of Ben- Asher ^ is W^, with Gaja, Chateph, and Munach. The punctua- tion of nnp^^ is more fluctuating. The word T\V!p7 (e.g. Cod. Jaman.) may remain out of view, for the Dag. dirimens in p stands here as firmly as at Gen. xlix. 10, cf. Ps. xlv. 10. But it is a question whether one has to write nni^y with Yod quies, (regarding this form of writing, preferred by Ben-Naph- tali, the P sahnen- Comm. under Ps. xlv. 10, in both Edd.; Luzzatto's Gramm. § 193 ; Baer's Genesis, p. 84, note 2 ; and Heidenheim's Pentateuch, with the text-crit. Comm. of Jekuthiel ha-Nakdans, under Gen. xlvii. 17, xlix. 10), as it is found in Kimchi, Mlchlol 45a, and under np"», and as also Norzi requires, or rinip^p (as e.g. Cod. Erfurt 1), wdiich appears to be the form adopted by Ben-Asher, for it is attested^ as such by Jekuthiel under Gen. xlix. 10, and also expressly as such by an old Masora-Cod. of the Erfurt Library. Löwenstein translates, " the weakness of the mother." Thus after Kashi, who refers the word to ^^T}?, to draw together, and explains it, Gen. xlix. 10, " collection ; " but in the passage before us, understands it of the wrinkles on the countenance of the aged mother. Nach- mani (Ramban) goes still further, giving to the word, at Gen. xlix. 10, everywhere the meaning of weakness and frailty. Aben Ezra also, and Gersuni (Ealbag), do not go beyond the meaning of a drawing together; and the LXX., with the
1 The Gaja has its reason in the Zinnor that follows, and the Munach in the syllable beginning with a moveable Sheva ; jyi^n with Sclieva quiesc. must, according to rule, receive MercJia, vid. TJioratli Emeth, p. 26.
2 Kimchi is here no authority, for he contradicts himself regarding such word-forms. Thus, regarding rhb''), Jer. xxv. 36, in Michlol 87b, and under ^^\ The form also wavers. between }hn''3 and (i"iri^_2, Eccles. ii. 13. The Cod. Jaman. has here the Joel always quiesc.
en AP. XXX 18-20. 295
Aram., who all translate the word by senectiis, have also nn;5 In the sense of to become dull, infirm (certainly not the -<^thiopic Ulfka^ to become old, w^eak through old age). But Kimchi, whom the Venet. and Luther^ follow, is informed by Abul- walid, skilled in the Arab., of a better : nn|5> (or r\r^^\, cf . rr\p, Ps. cxli. 3) is the Arab. waMiat, obedience (vid. above np^^ under la). If now it is said of such a haughty, insolent eye, that the ravens of the brook (cf. 1 Kings xvii. 4) will pluck it out, and the ""^'^r'.-?-? ^^^ it, they, the eagle's children, the unchild- like human eye : it is only the description of the fate that is before such an one, to die a violent death, and to become a prey to the fowls of heaven (cf. e.g. Jer. xvi. 3 f., and Passow's Lex. under Kopa^) ; and if this threatening is not always thus literally fulfilled, yet one has not on that account to render the future optatively, with Hitzig ; this is a false conclusion, from a too literal interpretation, for the threatening is only to be under- stood after its spirit, viz. that a fearful and a dishonourable end will come to such an one. Instead of *}'^'^^\, as Mühlau reads from the Leipzig Cod., ^1■]P^ with Mercha (Athias and Nissel have it with Tarcha), is to be read, for a word between Oleioejored and Athnach must always contain a conjunctive accent (Thorath Emelh, p. 51; Accentuationssiisterriy xviii. § 9). ^n3"'a"iy is also irregular, and instead of it i'nj"''l")y is to be written, for the reason given above under ver. 16 (D^'?).
The following proverb, again a numerical proverb, begins with the eagle, mentioned in the last line of the foregoing :
Ver. 18 Three things He beyond me, And four I understand not :
19 The way of the eagle in the heavens, The way of a serpent over a rock, The way of a ship on the high sea, And the way of a man with a maid.
20 Thus is the way of the adulterous woman : She eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith : I have done no iniquity.
^ Jerome translates, et qui despicit jjcirtum jnatris suk. To partus there separates itself to him here the signification expectatio, Gen. xlix. 10, resting on a false combination with mp. To think oi pareo, parui, paritum (.Mühlau), was not yet granted to him.
296 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS,
"•sap -it^PDJ, as relative clause, like 15b (where Aquila, Sym- niaclius, Tlieodotion rightly : TpLu Be iariv a ov ifXrjaQrjcreraL), is joined to ^'(^\} ^Y^'^. On the other hand, j;mi< (ricraapa, for which the Ken, conforming to 18a, ^J'^"}^, Tecraapa<;) has to be interpreted as object, accus. The introduction of four things that are not known is in expressions like Job xlii. 3 ; cf. Ps. cxxxix. 6. The turning-point lies in the fourth ; to that point the other three expressions gravitate, which have not an object in themselves, but are only as fo lie to the fourth. The articles wanting after "lt^'3l^ : they would be only the marks of the gender, and are therefore unnecessary ; cf . under xxix. 2. And while ^]^^^, in the heavens, and ö^"^??, in the sea, are the expressions used, 1^^' y2 is used for on the rock, because here "on" is not at the same time "in," "within," as the eagle cleaves the air and the ship the waves. For this same reason the expression, " the way of a man n^Pyiij" is not to be under- stood of love unsought, suddenly taking possession of and captivating a man toward this or that maid, so that the principal thought of the proverb may be compared to the saying, " mar- riages are made in heaven ;" but, as in Kidduscldn 2b, with refer- ence to this passage, is said coiius via oppellatiir. The 3 refers to copula carnalis. But in what respect did his understanding not reach to this ? " Wonderful," thus Hitzig explains as the best interpreter of this opinion elsewhere (cf. Psychol, p. 115) propounded, " appeared to him the flying, and that how a large and thus heavy bird could raise itself so high in the air (Job xxxix. 27) ; then how, over the smooth rock, which offers no hold, the serpent pushes itself along ; finally, how the ship on the trackless waves, which present nothing to the eye as a guide, nevertheless finds its way. These three things have at the same time this in common, that they leave no trace of their pathway behind them. But of the fourth way that cannot be said ; for the trace is left on the substrat, which the man ^'^'n, and it becomes manifest, possibly as pregnancy, keeping out of view that the nio^y may yet be n^na. Tiiat which is wonderful is consequently only the coition itself, its mystical act and its incomprehensible consequences." But does not this interpre- tation carry in itself its own refutation? To the three wonderful ways which leave no traces behind them, there
CHAP. XXX. 18-20. 297
cannot be compared a fourth, the consequences of which are not only not trackless, but, on the contrary, become manifest as proceeding from the act in an incomprehensible way. The point of comparison is either the wonderful ness of the event or the tracklessness of its consequences. But now " the way of a man r6)T]2 " is altogether inappropriate to designate the wonder- ful event of the origin of a human being. How altogether differently the Chohna expresses itself on this matter is seen from Job x. 8-12 ; Eccles. xi. 5 (cf. Psycliol. p. 210). That "way of a man with a maid" denotes only the act of coition, which physiologically differs in nothing from that of the lower animals, aud which in itself, in the externality of its accomplishment, the poet cannot possibly call something transcendent. And why did he use the word no^yn, and not rather napJn [with a female] or Hü'xn [j.d^ ? For this reason, because he meant the act of coition, not as a physiological event, but as a historical occur- rence, as it takes place particularly in youth as the goal of love, not always reached in the divinely-appointed way. The point of comparison hence is not the secret of conception, but the tracelessness of the carnal intercourse. Now it is also clear why the way of the serpent "il^* vj; was in his eye ; among grass, and still more in sand, the trace of the serpent's path would perhaps be visible, but not on a hard stone, over which it has glided. And it is clear why it is said of the ship n''~3^1 [in the heart of the sea ] : while the ship is still in sight from the land, one knows the track it follows; but who can in the heart of the sea, i.e. on the high sea, say that here or there a ship has ploughed the water, since the water-furrows have long ago disappeared ? Looking to the heavens, one cannot say that an eagle has passed there ; to the rock, that a serpent has wound its way over it ; to the high sea, that a ship has been steered through it ; to the maid, that a man has had carnal intercourse with her. That the fact might appear on nearer investigation, although this will not always guide to a certain conclusion, is not kept in view ; only the outward appearance is spoken of, the intentional concealment (Rashi) being in this case added thereto. Sins against the sixth [=rthe seventh] commandment remain con- cealed from human knowledge, and are distinguished from others by this, that they shun human cognition (as the proverb
293 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
says : nviy!? DiailD^SN ps*, there is for sins of the flesh no eVt- rpoTTO?) — unchastity can mask itself, the marks of chastity are deceitful, here only the All-seeing Eye (^b nj^n ]\V, Ahotli ii. 1) perceives that which is clone. Yet it is not maintained that " the way of a man with a maid " refers exclusively to external intei'course ; but altogether on this side the proverb gains ethical significance. Regarding ^^^V (from D^y, pubes esse et cceundi cujndus, not from thv, to conceal, and not, as Schultens derives it, from th]}, signare, to seal) as distinguished from n?in3, vid. under Isa. vii. 14. The mark of maidenhood belongs to nrhv not in the same way as to nhm (cf. Gen. xxiv. 43 with 16), but only the marks of puberty and youth; the wife nU'X (viz. ti'"'i^ nti'Xi) cannot as such be called HD^y. Ralbag's gloss nSiyn J^'TIL*' nni'j; is incorrect, and in Arama's explanation {Akeda, Abschn. 9) : the time is not to be determined when the sexual love of the husband to his wife flames out, ought to have been Till Wt^X3 C"''«. One has therefore to suppose that ver. 20 explains what is meant by " the way of a man with a maid " by a strong example (for '' the adulterous woman " can mean only an old adulteress), there not inclusive, for the tracklessness of sins of the flesh in their consequences.
This 20th verse does not appear to have been an original part of the numerical proverb, but is an appendix thereto (Hitzig). If we assume that |3 points forwards : thus as follows is it with the . . . (Fleischer), then we should hold this verse as an in- dependent cognate proverb; but where is there a proverb (except xi. 19) that begins with i? ? p, which may mean eodem modo (for one does not say D? 13) as well as eo modo, here points backwards in the former sense. Instead of <^'}Ü^^ n''S (not n^ö ; for the attraction of that which follows, brought about by the retrogression of the tone of the first word, requires dageshing, Tliorath JEmeth, p. 30) the LXX. has merely airovi- 'ylrafxevr], i.e. as Immanuel explains: novy nnppp, ahstergens semet ijysam, with Grotius, who to tergens os smim adds the remark : (7€fjivo\o<yLa (Jionesta elocutio). But eating is just a figure, like the " secret bread," ix. 17, and the wiping of tlie mouth belongs to this figure. This appendix, with its )3, confirms it, that the intention of the four ways refers to the tracklessness of the consequences.
CHAP. XXX. 21-23. 299
It is now not at all necessary to rack one's brains over the grounds or the reasons of the arrangement of the following proverb (vid. Hitzig). There are, up to this point, two numerical proverbs which begin with Q^^y', ver. 7, and ''^f^ ver. 15 ; after the cipher 2 there then, ver. 18, followed the cipher 3, which is now here continued :
Ver. 21 Under three things doth the earth tremhle, And under four can it not stand :
22 Under a servant when he becomes king, And a profligate -when he has bread enough ;
23 Under an unloved woman when she is married, And a maid-servant when she becomes heiress to her
mistress.
We cannot say here that the 4 falls into 3 + 1 ; but the four consists of four ones standing beside one another. Y"}^ is here without pausal change, although the Athnach iiere, as at ver. 24, where the modification of sound occurs, divides the verse into two ; P^^, 145 (cf. Ps. xxxv. 2), remains, on the other hand, correctly unchanged. The " earth " stands here, as fre- quently, instead of the inhabitants of the earth. It trembles when one of the four persons named above comes and gains free space for acting ; it feels itself oppressed as by an insuffer- able burden (an expression similar to Amos vii. 10) ; — the ar- rangement of society is shattered; an oppressive closeness of the air, as it were, settles over all minds. The first case is already designated, xix. 10, as improper : under a slave, when he comes to reign (qiium rex ßt) ; for suppose that such an one has reached the place of government, not by the murder of the king and by the robbery of the crown, but, as is possible in an elective monarchy, by means of the dominant party of the people, he will, as a rule, seek to indemnify himself in his present highness for his former lowliness, and in the measure of his rule show himself unable to rise above his servile habits, and to pass out of the limited circle of his earlier state. The second case is this : a ^23, one whose mind is perverted and whose conduct is profligate, — in short, a low man (viel. xvii. 17), — Dn^"J?3b''; (cf. Metheg- Setzung, § 28), i.e. has enough to eat (cf. to the expression xxviii. 19, Jer. xliv. 17) ; for this undeserved living without care and without want makes him only so much
300 THE BOOK OF PIJOVERBS.
the more arrogant, and troublesome, and dangerous. The nxiJ^j in the second case, is not thought of as a spouse, and that, as in supposed polygamy, Gen. xxix. 31, Deut. xxi. 15-17, as fallen into disfavour, but who again comes to favour and honour (Dathe, Eosenmiiller) ; for she can be ^^?^3b> without her own fault, and as such she is yet no ^^^'na ; and it is not to be perceived why the re-assumption of such an cue should shatter social order. Eightly Hitzig, and, after his example, Zockler : an unmarried lady, an old spinster, is meant, whom no one desired because she had nothing attractive, and was only repulsive (cf. Grimm, under Sir. vii. 261^). If such an one, as pysn ""D says, at length, however, finds her husband and enters into the married relation, then she carries her head so much the higher ; for she gives vent to ill-humour, strengthened by long restraint, against her subordinates ; then she richly re- quites her earlier and happily married companions for their depreciation of her, among whom she had to suffer, as able to find no one who would love her. In the last case it is asked whether &'"}''n""'3 is meant of inheriting as an heiress (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Targ., Jerome, the VeiieL, and Luther), or supplanting (Euchel, Gesenius, Hitzig), i.e. an entering into the inheritance of the dead, or an entering into the place of a living mistress. Since C^'V, with the accus, of the person. Gen. xv. 3, 4, signifies to be the heir of one, and only with the accus, of peoples and lands signifies, " to take into possession (to seize) by supplanting," the former is to be preferred ; the LXX. (Syr.), otuv eKßakrj, appear to have read tJnjn-'S. This K'^.a would certainly be, after Gen. xxi. 10, a piece of the world turned upside down ; but also the entering, as heiress, into the inheritance, makes the maid-servant the reverse of that which she was before, and brings with it the danger that the heiress, notwithstanding her want of culture and dignity, demean herself also as heiress of the rank. Although the old Israelltish law knew only intestate succession to an inheritance, yet there also the case might arise, that where there were no natural or legal heirs, the bequest of a wife of rank passed over to her servants and nurses.
Vers. 24-28. Another proverb with the cipher 4, its first line terminating in pS :
CHAP. XXX. 24-28. SOI
Ver. 24 Four are tlie little things of the earth, And yet they are quick of wit — wise :
25 The ants — a people not strong,
And yet they prepare in summer their food ;
26 Conies — a people not mighty,
And yet set their dwelling on the rocks ;
27 No king have the locusts,
And yet they go forth in rank and file, all of them together ; 2S The lizard thou canst catch with the hands, And yet it is in the king's palaces.
By the disjunctive accent, ^J'^1^?, in spite of the following word toned on the beginning, retains its iiUima-ton'm^, 18a; but here, by the conjunctive accent, the tone retrogrades to the penult., which does not elsewhere occur with this word. The connec- tion pX"''i)np is not superlat. (for it is impossible that the author could reckon the D'jac', conies, among the smallest of beasts), but, as in the expression pS-'''i3D:j the honoured of the earth, Isa. xxiii. 8. In 246, the LXX., Syr., Jerome, and Luther see in ö the comparative: aocfxjorepa twv (rocpayv (D''p3nö), but in this connection of words it could only be partitive (wise, reckoning among the wise) ; the 2oart. Paul Q''p3no (Theodotion, the Venet. aeao(f)tafjieva) was in use after Ps. Iviii. 6, and signified, like •'^^9 '"'?J ^^' ^^^' ^' boiled well ; thus D''03nD D^D3n, taught wit, wise, cunning, prudent (cf. Ps. Ixiv. 7, a planned plan = a cunningly wrought out plan; Isa. xxviii. 16, and Vitringa thereto: grounded = firm, grounding), Ewald, § Side. The reckoning moves in the contrasts of littleness to power, and of greatness to prudence. The unfolding of the nj?2"is [four] begins with the Q y^?!! [the ants] and D"'|3ü^ [conies], subject con- ceptions with apposit. joined; 26a, at least in the indetermina- tion of the subject, cannot be a declaration. Regarding the fut. consec. as the expression, not of a causal, but of a contrasted connection, vid. Ewald, § 342, la. The ants are called n^j and they deserve this name, for they truly form communities with well-ordered economy; but, besides, the ancients took delight in speaking of the various classes of animals as peoples and states.^ That which is said, 2öb, as also vi. 8, is not to be understood of stores laid np for the winter. For the ants are torpid for the most part in winter ; but certainly the summer is their time ^ Vid. Walter von der Vugehceide, edited by Lachmann, p. 8f.
302 THE BOOK OF PEOVERBS.
for labour, when the labourers gather together food, and feed in a truly motherly way the helpless. |SC^, translated arbitrarily in the Venet. by i'^ivot, in the LXX. by '^oLpoypvXkioi, by the Syr. and Targ. here and at Ps. civ. by Din^ and by Jerome by lepuscidus (of. XaylSiov), both of which names, here to be understood after a prevailing Jewish opinion, denote the Caninichen^ (Luther), Latin cuniculus (kovlkXo'?), is not the haninchen [rabbit], nor the marmot, '^otpoypvXkio'i (C. B. Michaelis, Ziegler, and others) ; this is called in Arab, yarhuw'' ; but JDB' is the wahr^ which in South Arab, is called thiifun, or rather tliafan^ viz. the kUppdachs (Jiyrax syriacus)^ like the marmot, which lives in societies and dwells in the clefts of the mountains, e.g. at the Kedron, the Dead Sea, and at Sinai (yid. Knobel on Lev. xi. 5; cf. Brehm's Thierlehen, ii. p. 721 ff., the Illustrirte Zeitung, 1868, Nr. 1290). The Jdippdachs are a weak little people, and yet with their weakness they unite the wisdom that they establish themselves among the rocks. The ants show their w^'sdom in the organization of labour, here in the arranging of inaccessible dwellings.
Ver. 27. Thirdly, the locusts belong to the class of the wise little folk : these have no king, but notvvithstanding that, there is not wanting to them guidance; by the power and foresight of one sovereign will they march out as a body, Hn, dividing, viz. themselves, not the booty (Schultens) ; thus : dividing them- selves into companies, ordine disposita', from KV^, to divide, to fall into two (cogn. nyn, e.g. Gen. sxxii. 7) or more parts ; Mühlau, p. 59-64, has thoroughly investigated this whole wide range of roots. What this ^n denotes is described in Joel ii. 7: " Like mighty men they hunt ; like men of war they climb the walls ; they march forward every one on his appointed w'ay, and change not their paths." Jerome narrates from his own observation : tanto ordine ex dispositione jubentis (LXX. at this passage before us : a^' ei/o? KeXeva/Maro'i evrdicT(oi) voUtant, let instar tesserulariim, qiice in pavimentis artificis figimtur manu,
^ The Jcaninchen as well as the JclippdacJis [cliff -badgers] may be meant, Lev. xi. 5 (Deut. xiv. 7) ; neither of these belong to the hlsuka, nor yet, it is true, to the ruminants, though to the ancients (as was the case also with hares) they seemed to do. The klippdach is still, in Egypt and Syria, regarded as unclean.
CHAP. XXX, 2S. 803
sintm locum teneant et ne "puncto quidem et ut ita dicam ungue transverso decUnent ad alterum. Aben Ezra and others find in Y^n the idea of gathering together in a body, and in troops, according to which also the Syr., Targ., Jerome, and Luther translate ; Kimclii and Meiri gloss }*i:n by inin and miD, and understand it of the cutting off, i.e. the eating up, of plants and trees, which the Venet. renders by eKTefxvovcra.
Ver. 28. In this verse the expression wavers in a way that is with difficulty determinable between nvprpu' and ^'^^^'^. The Edd. of Opitz Jablonski and Vi.n der Hooght have '^±', but the most, from the Venetian 1521 to Nissel, have '^^ (rüZMühlau, p. 69). The Codd. also differ as to the reading of the word ; thus the Codd. Erfurt 2 and 3 have 'rob', but Cod. 1294 has 'l2^. Isaak Tschelebi and Moses Algazi, in their writings regarding words with ti» and b' (Constant. 1723 and 1799), prefer 'Db>, and so also do Mordecai Nathan in his Concordance (1563-4), David de Pomis (1587), and Norzi. An important evidence is the writing n^DDD, Scliahbath lib, but it is as little decisive as IV'^.p [coat of mail], used by Jeremiah [xlvi. 4], is decisive against the older expression |i''")y'. But what kind of a beast is meant hereis a question. The swallow is at once tobe set aside, as the Venet. translates (-^eXtSoov) after Kimchi, who explains after Abulwalid, but not without including himself, that the Heb. word for (Arab.) khuttaf (which is still the name given to the swallow from its quickness of motion), according to Haja's testimony, is much rather n"'3^3Dj a name for the swallow ; which also the Arab. (Freytag, ii. p. 368) and the modern Syriac confirm ; besides, in old Heb. it has the name of DID or D"'p (from Arab. sJiash, to fly confusedly hither and thither). In like manner the ape (Aben Ezra, Meiri, Im- manuel) is to be set aside, for this is called f\\p (Indian kapi, kajy, kamp, to move inconstantly and quickly up and down),^ and appears here admissible only on the ground that from b'Dnn an^a they read that the beast had a resemblance to man. There remains now only the lizard (LXX. Jerome) and the spider (Luther) to be considered. The Talmud, Schahbath lib, reckons five instances in which fear of the weaker pursues the stronger : one of these instances is nt^^jn hv JT'J'iJD riD''«, another 1 Vid. A. Weber's Indische Studien, i. pp. 217, 313.
S04 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
nipj?n hv n"'i;rDD n?3\S'. The swallow, thus Kashi explains, creeps under the wings of .the eagle and hinders it from spreading them out in its flight ; and the spider (araigne) creeps into the ear of the scorpion ; or also : a braised spider applied heals the scorpion's sting. A second time the word occurs, Sanhedrin 1036, where it is said of King Amon that he burnt the Tora, and that over the altar came a IT'oDtJ' (here with t^), which Eashi explains of the spider (a spider's web). But Aruch testifies that in these two places of the Talmud the explanation is divided between ragnatelo (spider) and (Ital.) lucerta (lizard). For the latter, he refers to Lev. xi. 30, where ni^ü':> (also explained by Rashi by Uzard) in the Jerus. Targ. is rendered ^ by NrT'DD^i' (the writing here also varies between ti* and ti' or D). Accordingly, and after the LXX. and Jerome, it may be re- garded as a confirmed tradition that n'^OOlJ* means not the spider, for which the name ^'''^'^V is coined, but the lizard, and par- ticularly the stellion (spotted lizard). Thus the later language used it as a word still living (plur. rii'?pop, Sifre^ under Deut. xxxiii. 19). The Arab, also confirms this name as applicable to the lizard.^ " To this day in Syria and in the Desert it is called samawiyyat, probably not from poison, but from samawah — n»OL^, the wilderness, because the beast is found only in the stony heaps of the Kharab" (Mühlau after Wetzstein). If this derivation is correct, then JT'OOü' is to be regarded as an original Heb. expression ; but the lizard's name, samm, wliich, without doubt, designates the animal as poisonous (cf. np, samam, samm^ vapour, poisonous breath, poison), favours Schultens' view : IT'XDöü' = (Arab.) samamyyat^ aßiatn interficiens, or generally venenosa. In the expression ti'Qriri D';l^^3, Schultens, Gesenius, Ewald, Hitzig, Geier, and others, understand n''T' of the two fore-feet of the lizard : " the lizard feels (or : seizes) with its two hands ;" but granting that Dn'' is used of the fifteen feet of the stellio, or of the climbing feet of any other animal (LXX. KoXa-
^ The Samaritan has, Lev. xi. 30, n"'?2üü> for np3S, and the Syr. trans- lates the latter word by NHpOX, which is used in the passage before us (cf. Geiger's Urschi/t, p. 68 f.) for n''COti' ; omakto (Targ. akmetha) appears there to mean, not a spider, but a lizard.
2 Perhaps also the modern Greek, axfuu^uiv^os ((Tctf<,i»y.tlo;, uct^iot- ftthioif), which Grotius compares.
CHAP. XXX. 29-51. 305
ßcoTT}'; = ä(TKa\aß(oTr]<;), yet it is opposed by this explanation, that in line first of this fourth distich an expression regarding the smallness or the weakness of the beast is to be expected, as at 25a, 26«, and 27a. And since, besides, ti>Dn with T'a or f[22 always means "to catch" or "seize" (Ezek. xxi. 16, xxix. 7; .Ter. xxxviii. 23), so the sense according to that explanation is : the lizard thou canst catch with the hand, and yet it is in kings' palaces, i.e. it is a little beast, which one can grasp with his hand, and yet it knows how to gain an entrance into palaces, by which in its nimbleness and cunning this is to be thought of, tliat it can scale the walls even to the summit (Aristoph. Nuhes 170). To read '^'^T^^ with Miihlau, after Böttcher, recommends itself by this, that in t^^anri one misses the suff. pointing back (nab'snri) ; also why the intensive of t:>sn is used, is not rightly comprehended. Besides, tlie address makes the expression more animated ; cf. Isa. vii. 25, t^un. In the LXX. as it lies before us, the two explanations spoken of are mingled together : koI KaXaßciiTT]^ (= ä(TKa\aßcoTT]<;) '^epalv epetZoiievo'i Kol evd\(OTo<; wv . . . Tliis evaXcoro'i oiv (Symmachus, -^epalv iX\a/jLßav6fx,6vo'i) hits the sense of 28a. In '^^p V3''n, "^^o is not the genit. of possession, as at Ps. xlv. 9, but of description (Hitzig), as at Amos vii. 13.
Vers. 29-31. Another numerical proverb with the cipher 4 = 3+1:
Three things are of stately walk, And four of stately going :
30 The lion, the hero among beasts,
And that turneth back before nothing ;
31 The swift-loiued, also the goat ;
And a king with whom is the calling out of the host.
Regarding ^''P'T' with inf. following (the segolated 72. actionis tyy is of equal force with an inf.), vid. under xv. 2} The relation of the members of the sentence in 30a is like that in 25a and 26a : subj. and apposit., which there, as here, is con- tinued in a verbal clause which appears to us as relative. It deserves to be here remarked that tJ'v, as the name for a
^ In 29a, after Norzi, ^n''D"'0, and in 296, *aü''D, is to be written, and this is required by the little Masora to 1 Sara. xxv. 31, the great, to Ezek. xxxiii. 33, and also the Erfurt little Masora to the passage before us.
VOL. II. U
306 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
lion, occurs only here and at Job iv. 11, and in the description of the Sinai wilderness, Isa. xxx. 6 ; in Arab.it is layih^ Aram. Dvj and belongs to the Arameo-Arab. dialect of this language ; the LXX. and Syr. translate it " the young lion ;" the Venet. excellently, by the epic A.t9. nipnsii has the article only to denote the genus, viz. of the beasts, and particularly the four- footed beasts. What is said in 306 (cf. with the expression. Job xxxix. 22) is described in Isa. xxx. 4. The two other beasts which distinguish themselves by their stately going are in 31a only briefly named. But we are not in the condition of the readers of this Book of Proverbs, who needed only to hear the designation Q^^riD T'nT at once to know what beast was meant. Certainly "'■'pT^ as the name for a beast, is not altogether un- known in the post-bibl. Heb. " In the days of Eabbi Chija (the great teacher who came from Babylon to the Academy of Sepphoris), as is narrated in Bereschifh rabha, sect. 65, a zarzir flew to the land of Israel, and it was brought to him with the question whether it were eatable. Go, said he, place it on the roof ! Then came an Egyptian raven and lighted down beside it. See, said Chija, it is unclean, for it belongs to the genus of the ravens, which is unclean (Lev. xi. 15). From this circum- stance there arose the proverb : The raven goes to the zarzir because it belongs to his own tribe." ^ Also the Jer. Rosch ha- schane, Halacha 3 : "It is the manner of the world that one seeks to assist his zarzir, and another his zarzir, to obtain the victory ;" and Midrash Eclia v. 1, according to which it is the custom of the world, that one Avho has a large and a little zarzir in his house, is wont to treat the little one sparingly, so that in the case of the large one being killed, he might not need to buy another. According to this, the zarzir is a pugnacious animal, which also the proverb BerescJiifh rabha, c. 75, confirms : two zarzir do not sleep on one board ; and one makes use of his for contests like cock-fights. According to this, the Tipf is a bird, and that of the species of the raven ; after Rashi, the etourneau, the starling, which is confirmed by the Arab, zurzur (vulgar Arab.
1 This " like draws to like " in the form : " not in vain goes the raven to the zarzir, it belongs just to its own tribe," came to be often employed, ChulUn 65a, Baba Kamma 92b. Plantavitius has it, Tendlau more at large, Sprichwörter, u.s.u\, Nr. 577.
CHAP, XXX. 29-Sl. 307
zar-iir), the common name of starlings (cf. Syr. zarzizo, under zrz of CastelH). But for the passage before us, we cannot regard this as important, for why is the starhng fully named D^^riD nniTt To this question Kimchi has already remarked that he knows no answer for it. Only, perhaps, the grave magpie (corvus pica), strutting Avith up- raised tail, might be called succinctits lamhos, if D''jno can at all be used here of a bird. At the earliest, this might possibly be used of a cock, which the later Heb. named directly 133, because of its manly demeanour ; most old translators so under- stand it. The LXX. translates, omitting the loins, by aXeKTcop ifjLTrepLTraTcbv drjXeiai^ ev-^v')(o<;, according to which the Syr. and Targ. : like the cock which struts about proudly among the hens ;^ Aquila and Theodotion : aXeKroyp (uXeicTpvüiv) vcoTov ; the Quinta : oXeKTcop oaj)vo<; ; Jerome : (/alius suc- cinctus Iwnhos. Sarsar (not sirsir, as Hitzig vocalizes) is in Arab, a name for a cock, from sarsara, to crow, an onomato- poeia. But the Heb. "i"'nT, as the name of a bird, signifies, as the Talmud proves on the ground of that history, not a cock, but a bird of the raven order, whether a starling, a crow, or a magpie. And if this name of a corviniis is formed from the onomatopoaia IPT, the weaker form of that (Arab.) sarsar, then D''JnD, which, for T'DT, requires the verbal root nr, to girdle, is not wholly appropriate ; and how strangely would the three animals be mingled together, if between K'v and ^''J), the two four-footed animals, a bird were placed ! If, as is to be ex- pected, the " Lendeminig artete^' [the one girded about the loins =: ^'l^J}'^ T'nT] be a four-footed animal, then it lies near, with C. B. Michaelis and Ziegler, after Ludolf's^ example, to
^ Eegarding the Targum Text, vid.. Levy under K33S and ^snf. The expression TTqp^ (who is girded, and shows himself as such) is not un- suitable.
2 Ludolf gave, in his Hist, ^tliiop. i. 10, and Commentariux, p. 150, only a description of the Zecora, without combining therewith 'T'nT ; but vid. Job. Dietr. Winckler's Tlieol u. Pliilol. AhJiand. i. (1755) p. 33 ff. : "A nearer explanation of what is to be understood by D'^jno "IVIT, Prov. xxx. 31, along with a statement from a hitherto unpublished correspondence between the learned philologists Iliob Ludolf and Matthai Leydecker, a Reformed preacher in Batavia." With Ludolf, Job. Simonis also, in the Arcanum Formarum (1735), p. G87 sq., decides in favour of the zebra.
308 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
think of the zebra, the South African wild ass. But this animal lay beyond the sphere of the author's observation, and perhaps also of his knowledge, and at the same time of that of the Israelitish readers of this Book of Proverbs ; and the dark- brown cross stripes on a white ground, by which the zebra is distinguished, extend not merely to its limbs, but over the whole body, and particularly over the front of the body. It would be more tenable to think of the leopard, with its black round spots, or the tiger, with dark stripes ; but the name TPT D''3nö scarcely refers to the colour of the hair, since one has to understand it after the Aram. .•^^^■)n PT = Vjno Dl^, 1 Kings xviii. 46, or V^'Pn ITK, Job xxxviii. 3, and thus of an activity, i.e. strength and swiftness, depending on the condition of the loins. Those who, with Kimchi, think that the 1^3 [leopard] is thus named, ground their view, not on this, that it has rings or stripes round its legs, but on this, that it prm D^JJID pT V3n»2. But this beast has certainly its definite name ; but a fundamental supposition entering into every attempt at an ex- planation is this, that D'JDD TPT, as well as ^''h and K'Tl, is the proper name of a beast, not a descriptive attribute. Therefore the opinion of Rosse, which Bochart has skilfully established in the Hierozoicon, does not recommend itself, for he only suggests, for choice, to understand the name, " the girded about the loins," in the proper sense of straps and clasps around and on the loins (thus e.g. Gesenius, Fleischer, Hitzig), or of strength, in the sense of the Arab, hahuwk, the firmly- bound = compact, or samm alslab, the girded loin (thus e.g. Muntinghe). Schultens connects together both references : Utrumque jungas licet. That the by-name fits the horse, particularly the war-horse, is undeniable ; one would have to refer it, with Mühlau, to the slender structure, the thin flanks, which are reckoned among the requisites of a beautiful horse.^ But if succinctus liimhos were a by-name of a horse, why did not the author at once say D''3nD TPT DID ? We shall give the preference to the opinion, according to which the expression, '* girt about the loins " = " with strong loins," or " with slender limbs," is not the by-name, but the proper name of the animal.
'^ Vid. Ahlwardt, Chalef ela'hmar''s Qasside (1859), and the interpreta- tion of the description of the horse contained therein, p. 201 ff.
CHAP. XXX. 29-31. 309
This may be said of the hunting-hound, levrier (according to which the Venet.y incorrectly translating D'^jno : XayaoKvcov ■^^roioiv)^ which Kimchi ranks in the first place. Luther, by his translation, Ein Wind = Windhimd [greyhound], of good limbs, has given the right direction to this opinion. Melanch- thon, Lavater, Mercier, Geier, and others, follow him ; and, among the moderns, so also do Ewald and Böttcher (also Bertheau and Stuart), which latter supposes that before TpT □••jno there originally stood 373, which afterwards disappeared. But why should the greyhound not at once be called imT D''jnö ? We call the smaller variety of this dog the Windspiel [greyhound] ; and by this name we think on a hound, without saying Windspielhund. The name D'^^DD "iTT (Symmachus excellently : 7repc€ac})i,<yiJiivo';, not 7repLea(j)pa'yicr/xevo<;, ri]v oa^vv, i.e. strongly bound in the limbs) is fitted at once to suggest to us this almost restless, slender animal, with its high, thin, nimble limbs. The verbal stem llj^ (Arab.) zaj^r, signifies to press together, to knit together ; the reduplicative form iPTj to bind firmly together, whence l''nt, firmly bound together, re- ferred to the limbs as designating a natural property (Ewald, § 158a) : of straight and easily-moveable legs.^ The hunting- hound {salaki or saluhi^ i.e. coming from Seleucia) is celebrated by the Arab, poets as much as the hunting-horse.^ The name 3^3, though not superfluous, the author ought certainly to have avoided, because it does not sound well in the Heb. collocation of words.
There now follows K^^n, a goat, and that not the ram (Jerome, Luther), which is called y^, but the he-goat, which bears this name, as Schultens has already recognised, from its pushing, as it is also called iwy^ as paratus ad pugnam ; the two names appear to be only provincially different ; "'''i''^, on the contrary, is the old he-goat, as shaggy ; and "i"'Sy also perhaps denotes it, as Schultens supposes, with twisted, i.e. curled hair (tortipilus).
^ Thus reads Schleusner, Opusc. Crit. p. 318, aud refers it to the horse : nam solebant equos ficjuris quihusdam notare et quasi svjlllare.
2 The Aram, pf is shortened from ipT, as Tjis from -13-13 ; the particip. adj. pit signifies nimble, swift, eager, e.g. Pesachim 4a : " the zealous obey the commandment — as soon as possible hasten to fulfil it."
' Vid. Ahlwardt, Chalef elahmar's Qasside, p. 205 f.
310 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
In Arab, tays denotes the he-goat as well as the roebuck and the gazelle, and that at full growth. The LXX. (the Syr. and Targ., which is to be emended after the Syr.) is certainly- right, for it understands the leading goat : KoXrpd'^o'i rjyovjjievo'i alirdXlov. The text, however, has not ^^7\\ but ^\T\ ii{, y^ Tpa709 (Aquila, Theodotion, Quinta, and the Venet.). Böttcher is astonished that Hitzig did not take hold of this ix, and con- jectures c'^ri'ixrij which should mean a " gazelle-goat " (Mühlau: dorcas mas). But it is too bold to introduce here iXJii (i^in), which is only twice named in the O. T,, and ti'Tinxn for I^T ixn is not the Heb. style; and besides, the setting aside of IS has a harsh asyndeton for its consequence, which bears evidence to the ap- pearance that ixn and ^^D are two different animals. And is the IN then so objectionable ? More wonderful still must Song ii. 9 appear to us. If the author enumerated the four of stately going on his fingers, he would certainly have said ^''T\]. By "IN he communicates to the hearer, setting before him another figure, how there in the Song Sulamith's fancy passed from one object to another.
To the lion, the kin£f of the animal world, the kinfr S^V DIpPN corresponds. This Dip?« Hitzig regards as mutilated from K)*Thü (which was both written and pronounced as D'^p^X by the Jews, so as to conceal the true sound of the name of God), — which is untenable, for this reason, that this religious conclusion [" A king with whom God is "] accords badly with the secular character of this proverb. Geiger [Urschrift, p. 62 ff.) trans- lates : " and King Alkimos corresponding to it (the lustful and daring goat) " — he makes the harmless proverb into a ludibrium from the time of the Maccabeo-Syrian war. The LXX., which the Syr. and Targ. follow, translates koX ßacn\ev<i SrjjxTjjopcou iv edvei ; it appears to have changed 1»y Dipbx into iny ^s Dp (standing with his people and haranguing them), like the Quinta : koX ßaa. ävaarm (o? ävearrj) iv tm Xaaj avrov. Ziegler and Böttcher also, reading isy and ?X without any transposition, get i^y D^p"7N IPOIj which the former translates : " a king with the presence of his people ;" the latter, " a king with the setting up of his people," — not accordant with the thought, for the king should be brought forward as HD? yu^'ü. For the same reason, Kimchi's explanation is not suitable : a
CHAP, XXX. 29-31. 311
king with whom is no resistance, i.e. against whom no one can rank himself (thus e.g. also Immanuel) ; or more specially, but not better : who has no successor of his race (according to which the Venet. aStaSe/cro? ^i/v eavTo»). Eather this expla- nation commends itself: a king with whom {i.e. in war with whom) is no resistance. Thus Jerome and Luther : against whom no one dare place himself ; thus Rashi, Aben Ezra, Ralbag (yov noipn |''Xt^'), Ahron b. Josef (Dip = avrl<7Taat<;), Arama, and others ; thus also Schultens, Fleischer {adversus quem nemo consistere audet)^ Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, Stuart, and others. But this connection of p^ with the infin. is not Heb. ; and if the Chokma, xii. 28, has coined the expression n}0~7t« for the idea of " immortality," then certainly it does not express the idea of resistlessness by so bold a quasi compositum. But this boldness is also there mitigated, for ''[}\ is supplied after pi<, which is not here practicable with Dip, which is not a subst. like ITIO. Pocock in the Spec, histoiice Arahum, and Castellus in the Lex. Heptaglotton (not Castellio, as the word is printed by Zöckler), have recognised in D1p!?X the Arab, dlkaiom; Schultens gives the LXX. the honour of this recognition, for he regards their translation as a paraphrase of o hrjfxo'i [xer avTOv. Bertheau thinks that it ought to be in Arab, kaiomuhu, but lay n'\pbii = dlkaivJiu jua'ahu is perfectly correct, alkaivliu is the summons or the Heerbann =^ arriere-han ;^ in North Africa they speak in their language in the same sense of the Gums. This explanation of DIp^X, from the Arab. Dachselt (rex cum satellitio suo), Diedrichs in his Arab.-Syr. Spicilegium (1777), Umbreit, Gesenius, and Vaihinger, have recognised, and Mühlau has anew confirmed it at length. Hitzig, on the contrary, remarks that if Agur wrote on Arab, territory, we could be contented with the Arab, appellative, but not with the article, which in words like t^''^3p>? and D''2?ppx is no longer of force as an art., but is an integ. component part of the word. We think that it is with Dip!'« exactly as with other words descriptive of lordship, and the many similar that have passed over into the Spanish
^ Wetzsteia's Ausgewalilte Inschriften, p. 355 : "The word kaiom signifies people, not in the sense of populus, but in the sense of the Heb. D''p (Job xxiv. 17) = mukawim ahrajul, he who breaks with or against any- one." Incorrect in Gesenius-Dietrich's Heb. Wörterbuch.
312 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
language ; the word is taken over along with the article, with- out requiring the Heb. listener to take the art. as such, although he certainly felt it better than we do, when we say " das Al- horan^^ [the Alcoran], " das Alcohol^^ and the like. Blau also, in his Gesch. der Arab. Substantiv- Determ.^ regards it as certain that Agur borrowed this Dlpi?« from the idiom of the Arabians, among whom he lived, and heard it constantly spoken. By this explanation we first reach a correspondence between what is announced in lines first and second and line sixth. A king as such is certainly not " comely in going;" he can sit upon his throne, and especially as Srjfirjyopcbv will he sit (Acts xii. 21) and not stand. But the majesty of his going shows itself when he marches at the head of those who have risen up at his summons to war. Then he is for the army what the B'TI [he- goat] is for the flock. The IN, preferred to "i, draws close together the tJ'^D and the king (cf. e.g. Isa. xiv. 9).
Vers. .32, 33. Another proverb, the last of Agur's " Words " which exhorts to thoughtful, discreet demeanour, here follows the proverb of self-conscious, grave deportment :
If thou art foolish in that thou exaltest thyself, Or in devising, — put thy hand to thy mouth ! S3 For the pressure on milk bringeth forth butter, And pressure on the nose bringeth forth blood, And pressure on sensibility bringeth forth altercation.
Löwenstein translates ver. 32 :
Art thou despicable, it is by boasting ;
Art thou prudent, then hold thy hand on thy mouth.
But if nor denotes reflection and deliberation, then ?23, as its opposite, denotes unreflecting, foolish conduct. Then i<^^nn3 [by boasting] is not to be regarded as a consequent (thus it happens by lifting thyself up ; or : it is connected with boast- ing) ; by this construction also, np33"Di;? must be accented with DecJdy not with Tarcha. Otherwise Euchel :
Hast thou become offensive through pride,
Or seems it so to thee, — lay thy hand to thy mouth.
^ In the " Alt-arab. Sjn-achstudien,^^ Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitschr. xxv. 539 f.
CHAP. XXX. 32, 33. 313
The thought is appropriate/ but J^f?3 for ri^BJ is more than im- probable ; ?3Jj thus absolutely taken in an ethical connection, is certainly related to ?3Jj as ?D3, Jer. x. 8, to ^''i?3. The prevail- ing mode of explanation is adopted by Fleischer : si stulta arrogantia elatus fueris et si quid diirius (in alios) mente con- ceperis, manum ori impone ; i.e., if thou arrogantly, and with offensive words, wilt strive with others, then keep thyself back, and say not what thou hast in thy mind. But while nrsro and niQTO denote intrigues, xiv. 17, as well as plans and considera- tions, 20T has never by itself alone the sense of meditari mala ; at Ps. xxxvii. 12, also with h of the object at which the evil devices aim. Then for ONI , . . DN (Arab, an . . . wCai) there is the supposition of a correlative relation, as e.g. 1 Kings xx. 18, Eccles. xi. 3, by which at the same time riiST is obviously thought of as a contrast to ri^33. This contrast excludes^ for moi not only the sense of mala moliri (thus eg. also Mühlau), but also the sense of the Arab, zamm, superhire (Schultens). Plitzig has the right determination of the relation of the mem- bers of the sentence and the ideas : if thou art irrational in ebullition of temper and in thought — thy hand to thy mouth ! But ^^'^'^'^ has neither here nor elsewhere the meaning of n5J?nn (to be out of oneself with anger) ; it signifies everywhere to elevate or exalt oneself, i.e. rightly or wrongly to make much of oneself. There are cases where a man, who raises himself above others, appears as a fool, and indeed acts foolishly ; but there are also other cases, when the despised has a reason and an object for vindicating his superiority, his repute, his just claim : when, as we say, he places himself in his right position, and assumes importance ; the poet here recommends, to the one as well as to the other, silence. The rule that silence is gold has its exceptions, but here also it is held valid as a rule. Luther and othei's interpret the perfecta as looking back : " hast thou be-
^ Yet the Talmud, Nidda 27a, derives another moral rule from this pro- verb, for it interprets Dof in the sense of DOf = DDPI, to tie up, to bridle, to shut up, but n?33 DS in the sense of " if thou hast made thyself despicable," as Löwenstein has done.
2 The Arab, signification, to become proud, is a nuance of the primary signification, to hold erect — viz. the head, — as when the rider draws up the head of a camel by means of the halter (Arab, zamain).
314 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
come a fool and ascended too high and intended evil, then lay thy hand on thy mouth." But the reason in ver. 33 does not accord with this rendering, for when that has been done, the occasion for hatred is already given ; but the proverb designs to warn against the stirring up of hatred by the reclaiming of personal pretensions. The perfecta, therefore, are to be interpreted as at Deut. xxxii. 29, Job ix. 15, as the expression of the abstract present; or better, as at Job ix. 16, as the expression of the f ut. exactum : if thou wouldest have acted foolishly, since thou walkest proudly, or if thou hadst (before) thought of it (Aquila, Theodotion ; koi iav ivvo7]6f]<i) — the hand on thy mouth, i.e. let it alone, be silent rather (expression as xi. 24 ; Judg. xviii. 19; Job xl. 4). The Venet. best: ec'Trep i/jicopava<i ev roj iirai- peaOac kol ecTrep iXojiacOj '^elp tu> aro/jiaTt. When we have now interpreted Nb'jnn, not of the rising up of anger, we do not also, with Hitzig, interpret the dual of tlie two snorting noses — viz. of the double anger, that of him who provokes to anger, and that of him who is made angry, — but D^.SX denotes the two nostrils of one and the same person, and, figuratively, snorting or anger. Pressure against the nose is designated ^i^TP? eKfirj^ijai^ {eKiri- eaii) /jLVKTTjpo^ (write fli^T^''? with Melheg, with the long tone, after Metheg- Setzung, § 11, 9, 12), and Q^SX YV, eKixv^r^ai^ Oufiov (Theodotion), with reference to the proper meaning of Q"'ax, pressure to anger, i.e. to the stirring up and strengthening of anger. The nose of him who raises himself up comes into view, in so far as, with such self-estimation, sneering, snuffling scorn (/MVKT7]pi^eLv) easily connects itself ; but this view of a.\y:nD is not here spoken of.
SECOND APPENDIX TO THE SECOND SOLOMONIC COLLECTION OF PROVERBS.— XXXI. 1-9.
Superscription :
Ver. 1 Words of Lemuel the ting,
The utterance wherewith his mother warned him.
Such would be the superscription if the interpunction of the text as it lies before us were correct. But it is not possibly
CUAP, XXXI. 1. 315
light. For, notwithstanding the assurance of Ewald, § 277^;, ■JPO 7S1D7, nevertheless, as it would be here used, remains an impossibility. Certainly under circumstances an indeterminate apposition can follow a proper name. That on coins we read ^nj jna nTino or lO'^p jn: is nothing strange ; in this case we also use the words " Nero, emperor," and that we altogether omit the article shows that the case is singular: the apposition wavers between the force of a generic and of a proper name. A similar case is the naming of the proper name with the general specification of the class to which this or that one bearing the name belongs in lists of persons, as e.g. 1 Kings iv. 2-6, or in such expressions as, e.g.^ " Damascus, a town," or " Tel Ham, a castle," and the like ; here we have the indefinite article, because the apposition is a simple declaration of the class.^ But would the expression, " The poem of Oscar, a king," be proper as the title of a book ? Proportionally more so than " Oscar, king;" but also that form of indeterminate apposition is contrary to the usus loq., especially with a king with whom the apposition is not a generic name, but a name of honour. We assume that "Lemuel" is a symbolical name, like "Jareb" in "Kino- Jareb," Hos. v. 13, x. 6 ; so we would expect the phrase to be ^XID^J 1^o(n) rather than "j^a ^i^io!?. The phrase " Lemuel, king," here in the title of this section of the book, sounds like a double name, after the manner of ^|?0 l^j; in the book of Jeremiah. In the Greek version also the phrase Aejjbovekov ßacriXeco^; (^Venet.) is not used as syntactically correct without liaving joined to the ßacrL\eo3<i a dependent genitive such as tcov Apdßcov, while none of the old translators, except Jerome, take the words 1^0 bn^lDb together in the sense of Lamuelis regis. Thus i^I'D ^?9 ^^'6 ^o be taken together, with Hitzig, Bertheau, Zöckler, Mühlau, and Dächsei, against Ewald and Kamphausen; Nb>0, whether it be a name of a tribe or a country, or of both
1 Thus it is also with the examples of indeterminate gcntilicia, which Riehm makes valid for "j^D ^SIO^ (for he translates ^XID^ symbolically, which, however, syntactically makes no difference): "As analogous to ' Lemuel, a king,' one may adduce ' Jeroboam, son of Nebat, an Ephra- thite,' 1 Kings xi. 26, instead of the usual form ' the Ephrathite ; ' " and ''J''0''"p, Ps. vii. 1, for lyoTI p; on the contrary, jna, 1 Kings iv. 5, does not belong to the subject, but is the pred.
316 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
at the same time, is the region ruled over by Lemuel, and since this proper name throws back the determination which it has in itself on "l^O, the phrase is to be translated : " Words of Lemuel the king of Massa" (vid. under xxx. 1). If Aquila renders this proper name by Ae^fjiovv, Symmachus by 'Ia/u,ovi]\, Theo- dotion by Peßov^X, the same arbitrariness prevails with refer- ence to the initial and terminal sound of the word, as in the case of tiie words ^ A/jLßaKov/ji, BeeX^eßovX, BeXlap. The name kx^ö^ sounds like the name of Simeon's first-born, ^^'^\y Gen. xlvi. 10, written in Num. xxvi. 12 and 1 Chron. iv. 24 as bi<V2^ ; ^Ni'' also appears, 1 Chron. iv. 35, as a Simeonite name, which Hitzig adduces in favour of his view that Nb»» was a North Arab. Simeonite colony. The interchange of the names ^xilD" and baV2: is intelligible if it is supposed that ^sin'' (from nn^ = ii^]) designates the sworn (sworn to) of God, and ^i^iroj (from D3 Mishnic = OW) ^ the expressed (addressed) of God ; here the reference of ID'' and "1D3 to verbal stems is at least possible, but a verb n?p7 is found only in the Arab., and with significations inus. But there are two other derivations of the name : (1) The verb (Arab.) icaala signifies to hasten (with the infin. of the onoma- top. verbs waniyal, like raliyal, walking, because motion, espe- cially that which is tumultuous, proceeds with a noise), whence maumil, the place to which one flees, retreat. Hence -'If^lö? or 7NiDp, which is in this case to be assumed as the ground-form, might be formed from ^i?iö ^N, God is a refuge, with the rejec- tion of the N. This is the opinion of Fleischer, which Mühlau adopts and has established, p. 38-41 ; for he shows that the initial N is not only often rejected where it is without the sup- port of a full vocal, e.g. 'liTO = =i3n3N, lalah = ilalah {Deus), but that this aphaeresis not seldom also occurs where the initial has a full vocal, e.g. "iJVr = "^l^-^j lahmaru = allahmaru {ruber), la/isd = al-lalisd (the name of a town); cf. also Blau in Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitschr. xxv. 580. But this view is thus acceptable and tenable ; a derivation which spares us by a like certainty the supposition of such an abbreviation established only by the late Palestinian "iTy^, Adi^apo'i, might well desire the preference. (2) Fleischer himself suggests another derivation : " The signi-
^ In the Midrash KoJieleth to i. 1, the name Lemuel (as a name of Solomon) is explained : he who has spoken to God in his heart.
CHAP XXXI. 2. 317
fication of the name is Deo consecratus^ i^?, poetic for ?, as also in ver. 4 it is to be vocalized p^^'^? after the Masora." The form ^i<iö? is certainly not less favourable to that first derivation than to this second ; the ü is in both cases an obscuration of the original . But that " Lemuel" may be explained in this second way is shown by " Lael," Num. iii. 24 (Olshausen, § 277c?).^ It is a beautiful sign for King Lemuel, and a veri- fication of his name, that it is he himself by whom we receive the admonition with which his mother in her care counselled him when he attained to independent government, "iti'^ con- nects itself with nai, after we have connected Nb'O with pn; it is accus, of the manner to IJ^IS"! = ^i^^"!!?" ; cf. W^n^ vii. 21, with inn^na, xxxi. 12 : wherewith (with which words) she earnestly and impressively admonished him. The Syr. translates : words of Muel, as if h were that of the author. " Others as inconsistently : words to Lemuel — they are words which he himself ought to carry in his mouth as received from his mother" (Fleischer).
The name " Massa," if it here means effatnm, would be pro- portionally more appropriate for these " Words" of Lemuel than for the " Words" of Agur, for the maternal counsels form an inwardly connected compact whole. They begin with a question which maternal love puts to itself with regard to the beloved son whom she would advise :
Ver. 2 What, my sou ? and what the son of my womb ? And what, 0 son of my vows ? ! The thrice repeated no is completed by nb'i|ri (cf. Köhler under Mai. ii. 15), and that so that the question is put for the purpose of exciting attention : Consider well, my son, what thou wilt do as ruler, and listen attentively to my counsel (Fleischer). But the passionate repetition of Ho would be only affectation if thus interpreted ; the underlying thought must be of a subjective nature: what shall I say, 1?"!^^. {yid. under Isa. xxxviii. 15), what advise thee to do ? The question, which is at the same time a call, is like a deep sigh from the heart of the mother concerned for the welfare of her son, who would say to him what is bene- ficial, and say it in words which strike and remain fixed. He
1 Simonis has also compared ^thiopic proper names, such as Zakrestos, Zaiasus. ZamikatL Zamariam.
318 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
is indeed her dear son, the son whom she carries in lier heart, the son for whom with vows of tlianksgiving she prayed to God ; and as he was given her by God, so to His care she com- mits him. The name "Lemuel " is, as we interpret it, like the anagram of the fulfihTient of the vows of his mother. "•'JB bears the Aramaic shade in the Arameo-Arab. colouring of these proverbs from Massa ; 3''']3 is common in the Aram., and particularly in the Talmudic, but it can scarcely be adduced in support of "'■13. n»^ belongs to the 24, n?Oj with n or J? not fol- lowing ; vid. the Masora to Ex. xxxii. 1, and its correction by Norzi at Deut. xxix. 23. We do not write "i^-nni ; n», with Mahhepli and with 3Ietheg, exclude one another.
Ver. 3. The first admonition is a warning against effeminat- ing sensuality :
Give not thy strength to women, Nor thy ways to them that destroy kings. The punctuation T\)nu? sees in this form a syncopated m?/. Hiph. = ninonp (vid. at xxiv. 17), according to which we are to translate : viasque tuas ad perdendos reges {ne dirige), by which, as Fleischer formulates the twofold possibility, it may either be said : direct not thy effort to this result, to destroy neighbouring kings, — viz. by wars of invasion (properly, to wipe them away from the table of existence, as the Arabs say), — or : do not that by which kings are overthrown ; i.e., with special reference to Lemuel, act not so that thou thyself must thereby be brought to ruin. But the warning against vengeful, rapacious, and covetous propensity to war (thus Jerome, so the Veiiet. after Kimchi : dTTOfidrreiv ßa(Tikea<i, C. B. Michaelis, and earlier, Gesenius) does not stand well as parallel with the warning against giving his bodily and mental strength to women, i.e. expending it on them. But another explana- tion : direct not thy ways to the destruction of kings, i.e. toward that which destroys kings (Elster) ; or, as Luther translates : go not in the way wherein kings destroy them- selves,— puts into the words a sense which the author cannot have had in view ; for the individualizing expression would then be generalized in the most ambiguous way. Thus niriDb p!5ö will be a name for women, parallel to Q^K'Sp. So far the translation of the Targum : P^^^ T\y2h^ ßUahus (HTO^^P?) regum^
CHAP. XXXI 3. 319
lies under a right supposition. But the designation is not thus general. Schultens explains catapiiltis regum after Ezek. xxvi. 9 ; but, inasmuch as he takes this as a figure of those who lay siege to the hearts of men, he translates : expwjnatricihus reginrij for he regards nino as the plur. of nno, a particip. noun, which he translates by deletor. Tlie connecting form of the fem. plur. of this nno might certainly be riino (cf. ''To, from HTO), but pa^ö mno^ ought to be changed into 'i^l '^^ ; for one will not appeal to anomalies, such as 'op, xvi. 4 ; 'j?, Isa. xxiv. 2 ; ''oh, Lam. i. 19 ; or '131 'nn, 1 Kings xiv. 24, to save the Pathach of nino^, which, as we saw, proceeds from on alto- gether different understanding of the word. But if '^y? is to be changed into 'pp, then one must go further, since for nriD not an active but a conditional meaning is to be assumed, and we must write ninbp, in favour of which Fleischer as well as Gesenius decides : et ne committe eonsilia factaque tua Us quce reges perdunt, regum pestibiis. Ewald also favours the change riinbpj for he renders nriD as a denom. of nb, marrow : those who enfeeble kings, in which Kamphausen follows him. Mühlau goes further ; he gives the privative signification, to enfeeble, to the Fiel HTO = makliakha (cf. Herzog's Recd- Wörterb. xiv. 712), which is much more probable, and proposes ninoipp : Us quce vires enervant regum. But we can appro- priately, with Nöldeke, adhere to riinbp, deletricihus {perditrici bus), for by this change the parallelism is satisfied ; and that nno may be used, with immediate reference to men, of entire and total destruction, is sufiiciently established by such passages as Gen. vi. 7, Judg. xxi. 17, if any proof is at all needed for it. Eegarding the LXX. and those misled by it, who, by ]':ihü and D'3^D, 4a, think on the Aram. T?^», ßovXal, vid. Mühlau, p. 53.-^ But the Syr. has an idea worthy of the discourse, who translates epulis regum without our needing, with Mühlau, to charge him with dreaming of On^ in T\'\n]:h. Perhaps that is true ; but perhaps by ninob he thought of riin»^ (from no, the particip. adj. of nno) : do not direct thy ways to rich food (morsels), such as kings love and can have. By this reading,
^ Also Hitzig's Blinzlerinnen [women who ogle or leer = seductive courtesans] and Böttcher's Streichlerinnen [caressers, viz. of kings] are there rejected, as they deserve to be.
320 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
3^ would mediate the transition to ver. 4; and that the mother refers to the immorality, the unseemliness, and the dangers of a large harem, only in one brief word (3a), cannot seem strange, much rather it may be regarded as a sign of delicacy. But so much the more badly does T'3"J"tl accord with Hi nop. Certainly one goes to a banquet, for one finds leisure for it ; but of one Mdio himself is a king, it is not said that he should not direct his ways to a king's dainties. But if ninbp refers to the whole conduct of the king, the warning is, that he should not regulate his conduct in dependence on the love and the government of women. But whoever will place himself amid the revelry of lust, is wont to intoxicate himself with ardent spirits ; and he who is thus intoxicated, is in danger of giving reins to the beast within him. Hence there now follows a warning against drunkenness, not unmediated by the reading riinbp :
Ver. 4 It is not for kings, 0 Lemuel, Not for kings to drink wine, Not for rulers to ask for intoxicating drink ; 5 Lest he drink, and forget what is prescribed, And pervert the right of all the children of want.
The usual translation of 4a is : non decet reges ... (as e.g. also Mühlau) ; but in this ^s is not rightly rendered, which indeed is at times only an ov, spoken with close interest, but yet first of all, especially in such parasnetic connection as here, it is a dissuasive firj. But now ninc' D^r^D^ üb or nin^i? D^3^0^ i6, after 2 Chron. xxvi. 18, Mic. iii. 1, signifies : it is not the ])art of kings, it does not become them to drink, which may also be turned into a dissuasive form : let it not be the part of kings to drink, let them not have any business therewith, as if it be- longed to their calling ; according to which Fleischer renders : Absit a rcgibus, Lemuel, ahsit a regibus potare vinvm. The clearer expression ^siD^, instead of ^XiD^J, is, after Böttcher, occasioned by this, that the name is here in the vocative ; per- haps rather by this, that the meaning of the name : consecrated to God, belonging to God, must be placed in contrast to the descending to low, sensual lust. Both times we write ^""^^fr - with the orthophonic Dagesh ^ in the h following b, and with- ^ Vid. Luih. Zeitschrift, 1863, p. 413. It is the rule, according to which, with Ben-Asher, it is to be written p3"j3
CHAP. XXXI. i, 5. 821
out the recompensative Dagesh, the want of wlilcli is in a certain measure covered by the Metheg {viel. Norzi). Regarding the inf. consir. \T\f (cf, nJi^^ xvi. 16), vid. Gesen. § 75, Anm. 2 ; and regarding the sequence of accents here necessary, '^''^^^P? ^^. 11^ "in'^' (not Mercha, Dechi, Athnacli, for Dechi would be here contrary to rule),- vid. Thorath Eineth, p. 22 § 6, p. 43 § 7. In 4cb nothing is to be gained from the Chetldb IS. There is not a substantive 1^^, desire, the consir. of which would here have to be read, not is (Umbrelt, Gesenius), but IS, after the form 1i5 (Maurer) ; and why did the author not write "^^^ riixri ? But the particle IS does not here also fall in with the connec- tion ; for if "I3t^ is connect itself with )"•'• (Hitzig, Ewald, and others), then it would drag disagreeably, and we would have here a spiritless classification of things unadvisable for kings. Böttcher therefore sees in this IS the remains of the obli- terated Si3D ; a corrector must then have transformed the si which remained into IS. But before one ventures on such conjectures, the Keri "'S [where ?] must be tried. Is it the abbreviated P'^ (Herzog's Real-Wörterhucli, xiv. 712)? Cer- tainly not, because I3t^ ps CiTilpl would mean : and the princes, or rulers (vid. regarding D''Jn"i at viii. 15), have no mead, which is inconsistent. But p^ does not abbreviate itself into ■'S, but into "'S. Not "'S, but "'S, is in Heb., as well as in Ethiop., the word with which negative adjectives such as ""pJ 'S^ not innocent, Job xxii. 30, and in later Heb. also, negative sen- tences, such as l^?S ''S : it is not possible, are formed.* Therefore Mühlau vocalizes ""Sj and thinks that the author used this word for 7S, so as not to repeat this word for the thii'd time. But how is that possible ? 13'^ ''^* signifies either : not mead, or : there is not mead ; and both afford, for the passage before us, no meaning. Is, then, the Keri "'S truly so unsuit- able ? Indeed, to explain : how came intoxicating drink to rulers ! is inadmissible, since "'S always means only uhi (e.g. Gen. iv. 9) ; not, like the Ethiop. aite, also quomodo. But the
1 The author of the Comm. c^pr müV to the W^n ms, c. 6, Geiger and others would read is, because is is abbreviated from pS- But why not from ps, 1 Sam. xxi. 9 ? The traditional expression is "'S ; and Elias Levita in the Tishbl, as also Baer in the Siddur Ahodath Jisrael, are right in defending it against that innovation.
VOL. II. X
322 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
question ubi temetum, as a question of desire, fits the connec- tion, whether the sentence means : non decet principlbus dicere (Ahron b. Josef supplies "nöS''5J') uhi temetum^ or: absit a princijnbus qucerere ubi temetum (Fleischer), which, from our view of 4a, we prefer. There is in reality nothing to be sup- plied; but as 4a says that the drinking of wine ought not to characterize kings, so A.b, that "Where is mead?" {i.e. this eager inquiry after mead) ought not to characterize rulers.^ Why not? ver. 5 says. That the prince, being a slave to drink, may not forget the Pi^n^, i.e. that which has been made and has become \>n^ thus that which is lawfully right, and may not alter tlie righteous cause of the miserable, who cry against their oppressors, i.e. may not handle falsely the facts of the case, and give judgment contrary to them. H n^^ (Aquila, Theodotion, Quinta, äWoiovv Kplcnv) is elsewhere equivalent to DSt^'b ntzin (n'lj;). VV"''^? ^^^ those who are, as it were, born to oppression and suffering. This mode of expression is a Semitism (Fleischer), but it here heightens the impression of the Arab, colouring. In 73 {Venet. oivnvovv) it is indicated that, not merely with reference to individual poor men, but in general to the whole class of the poorer people, suffering humanity, sympathy and a regard for truth on the part of a prince given to sensuality are easily thrown aside. Wine is better suited for those who are in a condition to be timeously helped over which, is a refreshment to them.
Ver. 6 Give strong drink to him that is perishing,
And wine to those whose soul is in bitter woe ; 7 Let him drink and forget his poverty, And let him think of his misery no more.
The preparation of a potion for malefactors who were con- demned to death was, on the ground of these words of the proverb, cared for by noble women in Jerusalem (niip"" C^'J DvC^"n''3E'), Sanhedrin 43a ; Jesus rejected it, because He wished, without becoming insensible to His sorrow, to pass away from the earthly life freely and in full consciousness, Mark xv. 23.
» The translation of Jerome, quia nullum sccretum est lili regnat ehrictas (as if the words were "ist»» i^ XH T\'h), corresponds to the proverb: DiD3 TiD X^"" p, when the wine goes in the secret comes out ; or, which is the same thing : if one adds p> (= 70), TiD (= 70) comes out.
CHAP. XXXI. 8, 9, S23
The transition from the plur. to the sing, of the subject is in ver. 7 less violent than in ver. 5, since in ver. 6 singular and plur. already interchange. We write "i3*^'"=iJri with the counter- tone Metheg and Mercha. *l?iX designates, as at Job xxix. 13, xxxi. 19, one who goes to meet destruction : it combines the present signification interiens, the fut. signif. interilurus, and the ])erL perditus (hopelessly lost). 5^'S3 ''^D (those whose minds are filled with sorrow) is also supported from the Book of Job, iii. 20, cf. xxi. 25, the language and thought and mode of writing of which notably rests on the Proverbs of Agur and Lemuel (yid. Mühlau, pp. 64-66). The Venet. rot'i iriKpoh (not '^v-^pols:) rrjv ^^vx/jv. ti'''1 (poverty) is not, however, found there, but only in the Book of Proverbs, in which this word-stem is more at home than elsewhere. Wine rejoices the heart of man, Ps. civ. 15, and at the same time raises it for the time above oppression and want, and out of anxious sorrow, wherefore it is soonest granted to them, and in sympathizing love ought to be presented to them by whom this its beneficent influence is to be wished for. The ruined man forgets his poverty, the deeply perplexed his burden of sorrow ; the king, on the contraiy, is in danger from this cause of forgetting what the law requu'ed at his hands, viz. in relation to those who need help, to whom especially his duty as a ruler refers.
Ver. 8 Open thy mouth for the dumb,
For the right of all the children of leaving ; 9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, And do right to the poor and needy.
He is called dumb who suffers the infirmity of dumbness, as "i?y and nSQ, Job xxix. 15, is he who suffers the infirmity of blind- ness or lameness, not here figuratively ; at the same time, he who, on account of his youth, or on account of his ignorance, or from fear, cannot speak before the tribunal for himself (Fleischer). With p the dat. commodi (LXX. after Lagarde, fiojiXaXo) ; Aquila, Svmmachus, Theodotion, aXaXa ; the Venet. after Gebhardt, ßcoßS) b^, of the object aimed at, interchanges, as e.g. 1 Kings xix. 3, 2 Kings vii. 7, D^'Srbx, for the preserva- tion of their life, or for the sake of their life, for it is seldom that it introduces the object so purely as here. And that an infin. such as '^V'}. should stand as a subst. occurs proportionally
324 TUE BOOK OF PROVERDS.
seldomer in Heb. (Isa. Iv. 4 ; Ps. xxii. 7 ; cf. with n of tlie artic, Num. iv. 12 ; Ps. Ixvi. 9) than it does in Arab, ^li^n ''33 in the same way as VV~^■??^ ^^j belongs to the Arab, complexion of this proverb, but without its being necessary to refer to the Arab, in order to fix the meaning of these two words. Hitzior explains after Ma//, to come after, which further means " to have the disadvantage," in which Zöckler follows him ; but this verb in Arab, does not mean varepetv (ycnepetaOai)^ we must explain " sons of him that remains behind," i.e. such as come not forward, but remain behind ('aji) others. Mühlau goes further, and explains, with Scliultens and Vaihinger : those destitute of defence, after (Arab.) hhalafahii he is ranked next to him, and has become his representative — a use of the word foreign to the Heb. Still less is the rendering of Gesenius justified, "children of inheritance" = children left behind, after hhallafa, to leave behind ; and Luther, '' for the cause of all who are left behind," by the phrase (Arab.) hliallfaiiy ^an ^aiunihj he has placed me behind his help, denied it to me, for the Kal of the verb cannot mean to abandon, to leave. And that C]i^n ""33 means the opposers of the truth, or of the poor, or the litigious person, the quarrelsome, is perfectly inadmissible, since the Kal f\)bn cannot be equivalent to (Arab.) kJiilof, the inf. of the od conj., and besides, the gen. after H always denotes those in whose favour, not those against whom it is passed ; the latter is also valid against Ealbag's "sons of change," i.e. who say things different from what they think ; and Ahron b. Josef's " sons of changing," viz. the truth into lies. We must abide by the meaning of the Heb. fl^n, " to follow after, to change places, pass away." Accordingly, Fleischer understands by ^vH, the going aw^ay, the dying, viz. of parents, and translates : eorum qui parentibus orhati sunt. In another way Eashi reaches the same sense : orphans de- prived of their helper. But the connection ^bn ""Jl requires that we make those who are intended themselves the subject of «ll^n. Rightly Ewald, Bertheau, Kamphausen, compare Isa. ii. 18 (and Ps. xc. 5 f., this with questionable right), and under- stand by the sons of disappearance those whose inherited lot, whose proper fate, is to disappear, to die, to perish (Symmachus: irdvTcov vlojv aTroh^ofievcov, Jerome: omnium filiorum qui per-
CHAP. XXXI. 10. 325
transeuni). It is not men in general as children of frailty that are meant (Kimchi, Meiri, Immanuel, Euchel, and others), after M'hicli the Venet. rwv vlwv tov [xeraßuXKeiv {i.e. those Tvho must exchange this life for another), but such as are on the brink of the abyss. p^i in P*T[^*"U3Li' is not equivalent to p'^^'3, but is the accus, of the object, as at Zech. viii. 16, decide justice, i.e. so that justice is the result of thy judicial act; cf. Knobel on Deut. i. 16. H^ is imper., do right to the miserable and the poor ; cf. Ps. liv. 3 with Jer. xxii. 16, v. 28. That is a king of a right sort, who directs his high function as a judge, so as to be an advocate \jprocurator'] for the helpless of his people.
THIRD APPENDIX TO THE SECOND COLLECTION OF SOLOMONIC PROVERBS.— XXXI. 10 ff.
The admonitions of a faithful mother are followed by words in praise of a virtuous wife ; the poet praises them through all the prcedicamenta, i.e. all the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The artificialness of the order, says Hitzig, proves that the section belongs to a proportionally late age. But if, as he himself allows, even a Davidic psalm, viz. Ps. ix.-x., is constructed acrostically, then from this, that there the acrostic design is not so purely carried out as it is here in this ode, no substantial proof can be drawn for the more recent origin of the latter. Yet we do not deny that it belongs to an earlier time than the earliest of the era of Hezekiah. If Hitzig carries it back to the times subsequent to Alexander on account of the scripiio plena, without distinctive accents, vers. 17, 25, it is, on the other hand, to be remarked that it has the scripiio plena in common with the " utterance from Massa," which he places forward in the times of Hezekiah, without being influ- enced to such clear vision by writings such as '])bD'', xxx. 22, nniN, xxxi. 6, D"":!!"!, xxxi. 4. Besides, the plene written Tiy, ver. 25, is incorrect, and ti^B, ver. 17, which has its parallel in "Tiy, Ps. Ixxxiv. 6, is in its form altogether dependent on the Munach, which was added some thousand years after.
326 THE BOOK OF PRO VERBS.
In the LXX. this section forms the concluding section of the Book of Proverbs. But it varies from the Heb. text in that the Q (aTo/ia) goes before the j? (la'^vv). The very same sequence of letters is found in the Heb. text of Ps. xxxiv. and Lam. ii. iii. and iv.
Stier has interpreted allegorically the matron here com- mended. He understands thereby the Holy Ghost in His regenerating and sanctifying influence, as the Midrash does the Tora; Ambrosius, Augustine, and others, the Church; Im- manuel, the soul in covenant with God, thirsting after the truth. As if it were not an invaluable part of Biblical moral instruction which is here presented to us ! Such a woman's mirror is no- where else found. The housewife is depicted here as she ought to be ; the poet shows how she governs and increases the wealth of the house, and thereby also advances the position of her husband in the common estimation, and he refers all these, her virtues and her prudence, to the fear of God as their root (Von Hofmann's ScJmßbeioeis, ii. 2. 404 f.). One of the most beautiful expositions of this section is that of Luis de Leon, La perfecta casada (Salamanca, 1582), which has been revived in a very attractive way by Wilkens.^
A wife, such as she ought to be, is a rare treasure, a good excelling all earthly possession :
Ver. 10 X A virtuous woman, who findeth her! She stands far above pearls in worth. In the connection <n nC'X and the like, the idea of bodily vigour is spiritualized to that of capacity, ability, and is generalized ; in vwtus the corresponding transition from manliness, and in the originally Homanic " Bravheit," valour to ability, is completed ; we have translated as at xii. 4, but also Luther, " a virtuous woman," is suitable, since Tugend (virtue) has with Tüchtigkeit [ability] the same root-word, and according to our linguistic [German] usage designates the property of moral goodness and propriety, while for those of former times, when they spoke of the tilgend (tugent) of a woman, the word combined with it the idea of fine manners (cf. |n, xi. 16) and culture (cf. aiD b'y^^ xiii. 15). The question N^'ö^ ""jp, qms inveniat, which,
1 C. A. Wilkens' Fray Luis de Leon. A biography from the History of the Spanish Inquisition and Church of the 16th cent. (1866), pp. 322-327.
CHAP. XXXI, 11. 327
Ec'cles. v'li. 24, proceeds from the supposition of the impos- sibility of finding, conveys here only the idea of the difficulty of finding. In ancient Jerusalem, when one was married, they were wont to ask : x:»*id IX NVO, i.e. has he found ? thus as is said at Prov. xviii. 22, or at Eccles. vii. 26. A virtuous woman [braves WeiJ}] is not found by every one, she is found by comparatively few. In 106 there is given to the thought which underlies the question a synonymous expression. Ewald, Elster, and Zöckler incorrectly render the 1 by "although" or "and yet." Fleischer rightly : the second clause, if not in form yet in sense, runs parallel to the first. 13:0 designates the price for Avhich such a woman is sold, and thus is purchasable, not without reference to this, that in the Orient a wife is obtained by means of inb. "i^Oj synon. 1''no, for which a wife of the right kind is gained, is pifTij placed further, i.e. is more difficult to be obtained, than pearls {yid. regarding "pearls" at iii. 15), i.e. than the price for such precious things. The poet thereby means to say that such a wife is a more precious possession than all earthly things which are precious, and that he who finds such an one has to speak of his rare fortune. The reason for this is now given : Ver. 11 2 The heart of her husband doth trust her, And he shall not fail of gain.
If we interpret ?^"f , after Eccles. ix. 8, as subject, then we miss i^; it will thus be object., and the husband subj. to "isn'' k?: nee Incro carehit, as e.g. Fleischer translates it, with the remark that 77t^ denotes properly the spoil which one takes from an enemy, but then also, like the Arab, danymat, can mean profit and gain of all kinds (cf. Rödiger in Gesenius' Thes.). Thus also in our '^ kriegen ^^ = to come into possession, the reference to war disappears. Hitzig understands by 9?'\^, the continual prosperity of the man on account of his fortunate possession of such a wife ; but in that case the poet should have said 7?^ nnob' ; for 9?\^ is gain, not the feeling that is therewith connected. There is here meant the gain, profit, which the housewife is the means of bringing in (cf. Ps. Ixviii. 13). The heart of her husband (^^V?) can be at rest, it can rest on her whom it loves — he goes after his calling, perhaps a calling which, though weighty and honourable, brings in little or nothing; but the wife keeps the family possessions scrupulously together, and
328 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
increases them by her laborious and prudent management, so that there is not wanthig to him gain, which he properly did not acquire, but which the confidence he is justified in reposing in his wife alone brings to him. She is to him a perpetual spring of nothing but good.
Ver. 12 J She doeth good to him, and not evil, All the days of her life ; or, as Luther translates :
" Sie thut jm liebs vnd kein leids." [She does him good, and no harm.] She is far from ever doing him evil, she does him only good all her life long ; her love is not dependent on freaks, it rests on deep moral grounds, and hence derives its power and purity, which remain ever the same. ?^a signifies to accomplisli, to perform. To the not assimilated form =innp03, of. l^"]?";, 16. The poet now describes how she disposes of things :
Ver. 13 T She careth for wool and flax,
And worketh these with her hands' pleasure. The verb B'I'n proceeds, as the Arab, shows,^ from the primary mesLnlng terere ; but to translate with reference thereto : tractat lanam et Union (LXX., Schultens, Dathe, Rosenmüller, Fleischer), is inadmissible. The Ileb. t^iT does not mean tlie external working at or manufacturing of a thing; but it means, even when it refers to this, the intention of the mind purposely directed thereto. Thus wool and flax come into view as the material of work which she cares to bring in ; and '^*V^). signifies the work itself, following the creation of the need of work. Hitzig translates the second line : she works at the business of her hands. Certainly 3 after nb»}; may denote the sphere of activity, Ex. xxxi. 4 ; 1 Kings v. 30, etc. ; but if ^sn had here the weakened signification business, irpä'yiia, — which it gains in the same way as we say business, affaii-, of any object of care, — the scarcely established meaning presents itself, that she shows herself active in that which she has made the business of her hands. How much more beautiful, on the contrary, is the thought : she is active with her hands' pleasure ! J*?^ is, as Schultens rightly explains, inclinatio flexa et propensa in aliqiiid, audi 2?ulchre manihus diUgentissimis attribnitur lubentia cum oh- ^ The inquirer is there called (Arab.) dar as, as Ubros tercns.
CHAP. XXXI. 14, 15. 329
lectatione et per ohiectationem sese animmis. nb'y, without obj. accus., signifies often: to accomplish, e.g. Ps. xxii. 32; here it stands, in a sense, complete in itself, and without object, accus., as when it means '■'■handeln" [arjrerc], xiii. 16, and particularly to act in the service of God = to offer sacrifice, Ex. x. 25 ; it means here, and at Ruth ii. 19, Plag. ii. 4, to be active, as at Isa. xix. 15, to be effective ; '^V^\ is equivalent to ti^'yril n3xS?3n or nriax^D b'j?ni (cf. under x. 4). And pleasure and love for the work, j'sn, can be attributed to the hands w^ith the same right as at Ps. Ixxviii. 72, discretion. The disposition which animates a man, especially his inner relation to the work devolving upon him, communicates itself to his hands, which, according as he has joy or aversion in regard to his work, will be nimble or clumsy. The Syr. translates : " and her hands are active after the pleasure of her heart ; " but ^'Dnn is not equivalent to !^^*2ri3 ; also }*?[??? in the sense of con amove (Böttcher), is not used. The following proverb praises the extent of her housewifely transactions :
Yer. 14 n She is like the ships of the merchant — Bringeth her food from afar. She is (LXX. iyevero) like merchant ships (ni'JX3, indetermi- nate, and thus to be read küonijoth), i.e. she has the art of such ships as sail away and bring wares from a distance, are equipped, sent out, and managed by an enterprising spirit ; so the prudent, calculating look of the brave wife, directed towards the care and the advancement of her house, goes out beyond the nearest circle ; she descries also distant opportunities of advantageous purchase and profitable exchange, and brings in from a distance what is necessary for the supply of her house, or, mediately, what yields this supply (PQ"]^?? Cod. Jaman. pniD», cf. under Isa. x. 6), for she finds that source of gain she has espied. With this diligence in her duties slie is not a long sleeper, who is not awakened till the sun is up ; but
Ver. 15 ^ She riseth up while it is yet night, And giveth food to her house, And the fixed portion to her maidens.
The fut. consec. express, if not a logical sequence of connection, yet a close inner binding together of the separate features of the character here described.
330 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
such a housewife rises up, because she places care for lier house above her own comfort ; or rather, because this care is to lier a satisfaction and a joy. Since now the poet means with- out doubt to say that she is up before the otlier inmates of the house, especially before the children, though not before the maids : we have not, in l^ril, to think that the inmates of the house, all in the morning night-watch, stand round about her, and that each receives from her a portion for the ap- proaching day ; but that she herself, early, whilst yet the most are asleep, gives out or prepares the necessary portions of food for the day (cf. \^% Isa. liii. 9). Eegarding ^l^ü, food, from ^19 0<^ ^^^^ ^" pieces, viz. with the teeth), and regarding ph, a portion decreed, vid. at xxx. 8. It is true that ph also means the appointed labour {penswin), and thus the day's work (Di'' in'n) ; but the parallelism brings it nearer to explain after XXX. 8, as is done by Gesenius and Hitzig after Ex. v. 14. This industry, — a pattern for the whole house, — this punctu- ality in the management of household matters, secures to her success in the extension of her household wealth :
Ver. IG t She seeketh a field and getteth possession of it ; Of the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. The field which she considereth, tow'ards which her wish and her effort are directed, is perhaps not one beyond those which she already possesses, but one which has hitherto been wanting to her family; for the poet has, after ver. 23, an inhabitant of a town in his eye, — a woman whose husband is not a landlord, but has a business in the city. The perf. '"Tp^T precedes and gives circumstantiality to the chief factum expressed by ^Hi'^^?- Kegarding DOJ, vid. xxi. 27. " ^\i> is the general expression for purchasing, as jO^, 2W, for selling. Thus the Aram, and Arab, ^nx, while, (Arab.) akhadh lo'ta, Turk, alisch loerisch (from elmek, to take, and loirmek, to give — viz. sätün, in the way of selling ; Lat. vemmi)^ post.-bibl. t'^'^'' ^^1^ or IS'PP^ Hj^ö, denotes giving and taking = business in general" (Fleischer). In IQh the Chetidh is, with Ewald and Bertheau, to be read V^\ and, with Hitzig, to be made dependent on nnpni, as parallel obj. : "of her hands' fruit (she gaineth) a planting of vines." But a planting of vines would be expressed by D"i2 VtSD (Mic. i. 6) ; and the Ken nyL5_3 is more acceptable. The perf., as a
CHAP. XXXI. 17-19. S31
fundamental verbal form, is here the expression of the abstract jiresent : she plants a vineyard, for she purchases vines from the profit of her industry (Isa. vii. 23, cf. v. 2). The poet has this augmented household wealth in his eye, for he continues :
Ver. 17 n She girdeth her loins with strength, And moveth vigorously her arms.
Streng;th is as the girdle which she wraps around her body (Ps. xciii. 1). We write TiV^ nnjn ; both words have Munach, and the n of Tiy2 is aspirated. Thus girded with strength, out of this fulness of strength she makes firm or steels her arms (cf. Ps. Ixxxix. 22). The produce of the field and vineyard extend far beyond the necessity of her house ; thus a great portion is brought to sale, and the gain thence arising stimulates the industry and the diligence of the unwearied woman.
Ver. 18 J3 She perceiveth that her gain is good ; And her light goeth not out at night.
The perf. and f ut. are related to each other as antecedent and consequent, so that 18a can also be rendered as an hypothetical antecedent. She comes to find (taste) how profitable her industry is by the experience resulting from the sale of its pro- duct : the corn, the grapes, and the wine are found to be good, and thus her gain (cf. iii. 14) is better, this opened new source of nourishment productive.
This spurs on her active industry to redoubled effort, and at times, when she is not fully occupied by the oversight of her fields and vineyard, she has another employment over which her light goes not out till far in the night, ^^y^ is, as at Lam. ii. 19, a needless Ken for the poetic ?1?2 (Isa. xvi. 3). What other business it is to which she gives attention till in the night, is mentioned in the next verse.
Ver. 19 "I She putteth her hand to the rock [^Spinnrockenl ; And her fingers lay hold ou the spindle.
She applies herself to the work of spinning, and performs it with skill. Tlie phrase 3 T n?'^ {^T^, Job xxviii. 9) signifies to take up an object of work, and '^'on^ with obj. accus, (cf. Amos i. 5), the handling of the instrument of work necessary thereto. D^iai) denotes the hands when the subject is skilful, successful work ; we accordingly say D''S3 TT.) not CT" yj""; cf. vers. 13 and lo,
OÖ2 THE BOOK OF PEOVERBS.
Ps. Ixxvlii. 72. What tips means is shown by the Arab. falaJcat, which, as distinguished from mighzal, i.e. fuseau (hat. /usus), is explained by bout arrondi et conique au has du fuseau^ thus : the whorl, i.e. the ring or knob fastened on the spindle below, which gives it its necessary weight and regulates its move- ment, Lat. veriicellus, post-bibl. ni^''S! (which Bartenora glosses by the Ital. fusajuolo) or -Tli^y, e.g. Kelim ix. 6, ns j;^3*^ K'n miy^'n, a spindle which holds the whorl hidden {yid. Aruch under L'O^ iii.). But the word then also signifies per synec- docJien partis pro toto, the spindle, i.e. the cylindrical wood on which the thread winds itself when spinning (cf. 2 Sam. iii. 29, where it means the staff on which the infirm leans) ; Homer gives to Helen and the goddesses golden spindles {^pvarfka- Karoi). Accordingly it is not probable that liti'''3 also denotes the whorl, as Kimchi explains the word : " TiJj»''3 is that which one calls by the name verteil, viz. that which one fixes on the spindle (l^s) above to regulate the spinning (niDo)," according to which the Venet. renders 'W&':i by crcjiovSvXo^, whorl, and "ibzi by arpaKra, spindle. The old interpreters have not recog, nised that T,a'0 denotes a thing belonging to the spinning apparatus ; the LXX., Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Syr., and Jerome see therein an ethical idea (from 1^3, to be capable, able) ; but Luther, not misled thereby, translates with unusual excellence :
She stretches her hand to the rock,
Aud her fingers grasp the spindle.
He has in this no predecessors, except only the Targumists, whose N^t^'JD (vid. Levy) appears also to denote the spinning- rock. The Syriac and Talmudic C^3, which is compared by Gesenius-DIetrich, is another word, and denotes, not the rock, but the spindle. Immanuel also, who explains "|^3 as the bwD, i.e. the spindle, understands (as perhaps also Parchon) by '^)^>2 the rock. And why should not the rock (luocken = distaff), i.e. the stock to which the tuft of flax, hemp, or wool is fixed for the purpose of being spun, Lat. coins, not be named lVt^'''3, from "icb, to be upright as a stick, upright in height, or perhaps more correctly as "i"'C'3D, i.e. as that which prepares or makes fit the flax for spinning ? Also in P3"'>*, Jer. xxix. 26, there are united the meanings of the close and the confining dungeon, and i^^'^ = P?''^
CHAP. XS.XI. 20. 333
signifies^ the place which yields rest. The spinning-wheel is a German invention of the 16th century, but the rock standing on the ground, or held also in the hands, the spindle and the whorl, are more ancient.'^ With the spindle nan stands in fit relation, for it is twirled between the fingers, as Catullus says of Fate:
Lihratum tereti versabat pollice fusum.^
That which impels the housewife to this labour is not selfishness, not a narrow-hearted limitation of her care to the circle of what is her own, but love, which reaches out far beyond this circle :
Ver. 20 D She holdeth out her hand to the unfortunate, And stretcheth forth her hands to the needy.
With n"*??, 1%, is connected the idea of artistic skilfulness ; with rnB3, here that of offering for counsel {vid. at Isa. ii. 6) ; with sympathy and readiness to help, she presents herself to those who are oppressed by the misfortunes of life as if for an alliance, as if saying : place confidence in me, I shall do what- ever I can — there thou hast my hand! Hitzig erroneously thinks of the open hand with a gift lying in it : this ought to be named, for f[2 in itself is nothing else than the half-opened
1 Otherwise, but improbably, Schultcns ; coZ?<s a "icb = Icatrkathr, necii in orhem, circicmnecti in glohum. In r(?ß, whence Tj^a, he rightly finds the prinaary meaning of circumvolutio sive gyratio.
2 A view of the ancient art of spinning is afforded by the figures of the 12th Dynasty (according to Lepsius, 2380-2167 b.c.) in the burial chamber of Beni Hassan (270 kilometres above Bulak, on the right bank of the Nile). M. J. Henry, in his work VEgypte Pharaonique (Paris 1816), Bd. 2, p. 431, mentions that there are figures there which represent " toutes les operations de la fabrication des tissus depnis leßlagejnsqu au tissage." Then he continues : Lexfuseaux dont se servent les fileuses sont exactement semblables aux notres, et on voit vieme ces ßlenses imprimer le mouvement de rotation a cesfuseaux, en enfroissant le bout inferieur entre leur main et leur cuisse.
3 In the " marriage of Peleus and Thetis," Catullus describes the work of the Fates : " Their hands are ceaselessly active at their never-ending work ; while the left holds the rock, surrounded with a soft fleece, the right assiduously draws the thread and forms it with raised fingers ; then it swiftly turns the spindle, with the thumb stretched down, and swings it away in whirling circles." Then follows the refrain of the song of the Fates:
Currite ducentes subtegmina, currite,fusL
(After Hertzbeug's Translation.)
334 THE BOOK OF PKOVEEDS.
liand. Also in 205 we are not to think of alms. Here Ilitzig rightly : she stretches out to him both of her hands, that he might grasp them, both of them, or whichever he may. She does not throw to him merely a gift from a distance, but above all she gives to him to experience her warm sympathy (cf. Ezek. xvi. 49). Here, as at 19a, r]rh\y is punctuated (with Dagesli) as Fiel. The punctuation supposes that the author both times not unintentionally made use of the intensive form. This one verse (20) is complete in itself as a description of character ; and the author has done well in choosing such strong expressions, for, without this sympathy with misery and poverty, she, so good and trustworthy and industrious, might indeed be pleasing to her husband, but not to God. One could almost wish that greater expansion had been given to this one feature in the ])icture. But the poet goes on to describe her fruitful activity in the nearest sphere of her calling :
Ver. 21 7 She is not afraid of the snow for her house ; For her whole house is clothed in scarlet. A fall of snow in the rainy season of winter is not rare in Palestine, the Hauran, and neighbouring countries, and is sometimes accompanied with freezing cold.^ She sees ap- proaching the cold time of the year without any fear for her house, even though the season bring intense cold ; for her whole house, i.e. the whole of the members of her family, are ^'"^f ^'^, The connection is accusatival ( Venet. ivh£hvfievo<; ipvOpd), as at 2 Sam. XV. 32 ; Ezek. ix. 2, 3. 'ji'f, from r\y^, to shine, glance clear, or high red, and is with or without nj;!5in the name of the colour of the Kermes worm, crimson or scarlet, perhaps to be distinguished from JO?")^, the red-purple shell colour, and riparij the blue. D''^t?' are clothing or material coloured with such ''i^ (bright red) (yid. at Isa. i. 18). The explanation of the word by dihapha is inadmissible, because the doubled colouring, wherever it is mentioned, always refers to the purple, particularly that of Tyre {dihapha Tyria), not to the scarlet.^ But why does the poet name scarlet-coloured clothing? On
^ Vid. regarding a fall of snow in Jerusalem, the journal Saat auf Hoffnung Jahrg. 3, Heft 3 ; and in the Hauran Comni. to Job xxxviii. 22. Vid. Blümner's Die gewcrhliche ThiUigkeit der Völker des klassischen Altertimms (1869), p. 21 f.
CHAP. XXXI. 22. 335
account of the contrast to the white snow, says Hitzig, he clothes the family in crimson. But this contrast would be a meaningless freak. Kather it is to be supposed that there is ascribed to the red material a power of retaining the heat, as there is to the white that of keeping off the heat ; but evidences for this are wanting. Therefore Rosenmüller, Vaihinger, and Böttcher approve of the translation dupUcibus (Jerome, Luther) [= with double clothing], because they read, with the LXX., n):f} But, with right, the Syr., Targ. abide by NjTlinr, scarlet. The scarlet clothing is of wool, which as such preserves warmth, and, as high-coloured, appears at the same time dignified (2 Sam. i. 24). From the protecting, and at the same time ornamental clothing of the family, the poet proceeds to speak of the bed-places, and of the attire of the housewife :
Ver. 22 ^ Slie prepareth for herself pillows ; Linen and purple is her raiment. Regarding Q''"^?1^ (with 3 raphatum), vid. at vii. 16. Thus, ])illows or mattresses (Aquila, Theodotion, 'Treptarpcofiara ; Jerome, stragidatam vestem ; Luther, Deche = coverlets) to make the bed soft and to adorn it (Kimchi : rilöDn P]/ HiSv, according to which Venet. Koa-yna) ; Symmachus designates it as dficpLTairov^;, i.e. raTrrjTes (tajjetce, tapetia^ carpets), which are hairy (shaggy) on both sides.^ Only the LXX. makes out of it Sicro-a? yXaLva<i, lined overcoats, for it brings over D"'i5i\ By d^'T\T\'d>v it is not meant that she prepares such pillows for her own bed, but that she herself (i.e. for the wants of her house) prepares them. But she also clothes herself in costly attire. ^"^ (an Egyptian word, not, as Heb., derived from m^, cogn. ^^1, to be white) is the old name for linen, according to which the Aram, translates it by p3, the Greek by ßua-ao^, vid. Genesis, pp. 470, 557, to which the remark is to be added, that
' The LXX. reads together D""*!!"!» D"']^', S/o-o-aj ;<;X«/y«f, and brings into vers. 21 (her husband remains without care for the members of the family if it does not snow %/oy('^^, as it is to be read for xno-jil!^'/)) and 22 the husband, who appears to the translator too much kept in the back- ground.
2 Vid. liUmbroso, Reclicrches sur V Economic politique de VEgijpte sous les Lagides (Turin, 1870), p. Ill ; des tapis de laine de premiere qualite, pourpres, laineux des deux coles (ä,«(p/r«-o;).
336 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
the linen [Bjssus], according to a prevailing probability, was not a fine cotton cloth, but linen cloth. Luther translates c'jy, here and elsewhere, by loeisse Seide [white silk] (a'rjpiKov, i.e. from the land of the Xf]pe<;, Rev. xviii. 12) ; but the silk is first mentioned by Ezeklel under the name of ''^'0 ; and the ancients call the country where silk -stuff (hombycina) was woven, uniformly Assyria. i02"ix (Aram. |]nx, derived by Benfey, with great improbability, from the rare Sanscrit word rdga- vant, red-coloured ; much rather from DJ"i = Djp"!, as stuff of variegated colour) is red purple ; the most valuable purple garments were brought from Tyre and Sidon.
Now, first, the description turns back to the husband, of the woman who is commended, mentioned in the introduction : Ver. 23 j "Well known in the gates is her husband,
Where he sitteth among the elders of the land. Such a wife is, according to xii. 4, n?y3 fl^tsy, — she advances the estimation and the respect in which her husband is held. He has, in the gates where the affairs of the city are de- liberated upon, a well-known, reputable name; for there he sits, along with the elders of the land, who are chosen into the council of the city as the chief place of the land, and has a weighty voice among them. The phrase wavers between J^^IJ (LXX. Trept/SXeTTTo? f^LveraL ; Venet. eXvcoarat) and P*J13. The old Venetian edd. have in this place (like the Cod. Jaman.), and at Ps. ix. 17, W^; on the contrary, Ps. Ixxvi. 2, Eccles. vi. 10, y'J'ii, and that is correct ; for the Masora, at this place and at Ps. Ixxvi. 2 (in the B'lhlia rahb.), is disfigured. The description, following the order of the letters, now directs at- tention to the profitable labour of the housewife :
Ver. 24 D She prepareth body -linen and selleth it,
And girdles doth she give to the Phoenicians. It is a question whether p'lD signifies (tlvBcüv, cloth fi'om Siridhu, the land of India (vid. at Isa. iii. 23) ; the Arab, sadn {sadl), to cause to hang down, to descend (for the purpose of covering or veiling), offers an appropriate verbal root. In the Talmud, piD is the sleeping linen, the curtain, the embroidered cloth, but particularly a light smock-frock, as summer costume, which was worn on the bare body (cf. Mark xiv. 51 f.). Kirachi explains the word by night-shirt ; the Edictum Diode-
CHAP. XXXI. 25. 337
iiani^ xvlii. 16, names (ruvZove^ Kocraplai, as the Papyrus Louvre^ odovia i<yKotfjii]Tpia ; and the connection in the Edict shows that linen attire (e'/c Xivov) is meant, although — as with i^y^, SO also with P"ID — with the ancients and the moderns, sometimes linen and sometimes cotton is spoken of without any distinction, ^thicus speaks of costly girdles, Cosmogr. 84, as fabricated at Jerusalem : haltea regalia . . . ex Hierosolyma allata; Jerusalem and Scythopolis were in later times the chief places in Palestine for the art of weaving. In Galilee also, where excellent flax grew, the art of weaving was carried on ; and the odovai,, which, according to Clemens Alex. Pcedag. ii. 10, p. 239, were exported eV 7»}? 'Eßpaicov, are at least in their material certainly synon. with atvSöve'i. Regarding 1^3, syn. "I3öj opp. nip7, syn. X^3 = njj^^ vid. at 16a. There is no reason to interpret ''Jy33 here, with the obliteration of the ethnographical meaning, in the general sense of ">rib, trader, merchant ; for purple, 22b, is a Phoenician manufacture, and thus, as an article of exchange, can be transferi'ed to the pos- session of the industrious wife. The description is now more inward :
Ver. 25 ]} Strength and honour is her clothing ; Thus she laugheth at the future day.
She is clothed with T'y? strength, i.e. power over the changes of temporal circumstances, which easily shatter and bring to ruin a household resting on less solid foundations ; clothed with """Jt» g^o'^'J? ^'•^' elevation above that which is low, little, com- mon, a state in which they remain who propose to themselves no high aim after which they strive with all their might : in other words, her raiment is just pride, true dignity, with which she looks confidently into the future, and is armed against all sorrow and care. The connection of ideas, '^'^Tii'i TJJ (defectively written, on the contrary, at Ps. Ixxxiv. 6, Masora, and only there written plene, and with Munach), instead of the frequent nin "nm, occurs only here. The expression 2bb is like Job xxxix. 7, Avherefore Hitzig rightly compares Job xxiv. 14 to 25a. |hnx DV, distinguished from ^''nnx, and incorrectly interpreted (Rashi) of the day of death, is, as at Isa. xxx. 8, the future, here that which one at a later period may enter upon.
VOL. II. Y
333 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
The next verse presents one of the most beautiful features in the portrait :
Ver. 26 a She openeth her mouth with wisdom,
And amiable iustruction is oq her tongue.
The 3 of "^^^nzi is, as also at Ps. xlix. 5, Ixxviii. 2, that of means : when she speaks, then it is wisdom pressing itself from her heart outward, by means of which she breaks the silence of her mouth. With ?y, in the expression 2Qb, else- where rinn interchanges : under the tongue, Ps. x. 7, one has that which is ready to be spoken out, and on the tongue, Ps. XV. 3, that which is in tlie act of being spoken out. ipriTinin is a genitive connection after the manner of torath HOX, Mai, ii. 6. The gen. is not, as at Lev. vi. 2, in torath ^'^)i'^, the gen. of the object (thus e.g. Fleischer's institutio ad humanitatem), but the gen. of property, but not so that IDH denotes grace (Sjm- maclms, v6/xo<i e7ri'^apL<; ; Theodotion, vo/jLo^ ■^dpLTo<;)^ because for this meaning there is no example except Isa. xl. 6 ; and since IDn in the O. T. is the very same as in the N. T., love, which is the fulfilling of the law, Hos. vi. 6, cf. 1 Kings XX. 31,^ it is supposed that the poet, since he writes IDH DilD, and not in miD, means to designate by IDH this property without wliich her love for her husband, her industry, her high sentiment, would be no virtues, viz. unselfish, sympa- thizing, gentle love. Instruction which bears on itself the stamp of such amiability, and is also gracious, i.e. awaken- ing love, because going forth from love (according to which Luther, translating holdselige Lere = pleasing instructions, thus undei'stands it) — such instruction she carries, as house-mother (i. 8), in her mouth. Accordingly the LXX. translate {vid. Lngarde regarding the mistakes of this text before us) 6ea[io\ e\€rj/xoavvr]<i, and Jerome lex dementias. ^90 ^^ related to n^nx as grace to love ; it denotes love showing itself in kind- ness and gracefulness, particularly condescending love, proceed- ing from a compassionate sympathy with the sufferings and wants of men. Such graceful instruction she communicates
1 Immanuel remarks that Torath IDPI probably refers to the Tora, and *lDn nisiDC', i.e. which is wholly love, which goes forth in love, to the Gesetz = statute.
CHAP. XXXI. 27. o39
now to this and now to that memher of her houseliolcl, for nothing that goes on in her house escapes her observation.
Ver. 27 >; She looketh well to the ways of her house, And eateth not the bread of idleness.
Although there exists an inner relation between 27a and ver. 26, yet 27a is scarcely to be thought of (Hitzig) as appos. to the suffix in i^^i*^?. Participles with or without determination occur in descriptions frequently as predicates of the subject standing in the discourse of the same force as abstr. present declarations, e.g. Isa. xl. 22 f., Ps. civ. 13 f. H'Siv is connected with the accus, of the object of the intended wai'ning, like XV. 3, and is compared according to the form with ^'^^^, vii. 11. •^rVLl signifies elsewhere things necessary for a journey. Job vi. 19, and in the plur. magnißcus it denotes show (pompa), Hab. iii. 6 : but originally the walk, conduct, Nah. ii. 6 ; and here in the plur. walks = comings and goings, but not these separately, but in general, the modi procedendi (LXX. hta- rpcßat). The Chetlnh has nia!''":!, probably an error in writing, but possibly also the plur. of '"'^pHj thus found in the post.-bibl. Heb. (after the form riiPIV), custom, viz. appointed traditional law, but also like the Aram, ^i^^ {emph. xn^pn)^ usage, manner, common practice. Hitzig estimates this Chetldh, understood Talmudically, as removing the section into a late period ; but this Talmudical signification is not at all appropriate (Hitzig translates, with an incorrect rendering of rT'Sli*, " for she sees after the ordering of the house "), and besides the Aram. ^i?'^-, e.g. Targ. Prov. xvi. 9, in the first line, signifies only the walk or the manner and way of going, and this gives with the Kert essentially the same signification. Luther well : Sie schawet wie es in jrein Hause zugeht [=she looks how it goes in her house]. Her eyes are turned everywhere; she is at one time here, at another there, to look after all with her own eyes ; she does not suffer the day's work, according to the instructions given, to be left undone, while she folds her own hands on her bosom ; but she works, keeping an oversight on all sides, and does not eat the bread of idleness (nipyy = n7yy, xix. 15), but bread well deserved, for el Tt? ov diXei ipya^eaOat, fjirjBe iadteTO), 2 Thess. iii. 10.
340 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
Now begins the finale of this song in praise of the virtuous woman :
Ver. 28 p Her sons rise up and bless her,
Her husband (riseth up) and praiseth her.
The Piel '^'^.^ in such a connection is denom. of "i^i'X ('''ü^^). Her children rise up (Dip, like e.g. Jer. xxvi. 17, but here, perhaps, with the associated idea of reverential honour) and bless her, that she has on her part brought the house and them to such prosperity, such a position of respect, and to a state where love (ion) reigns, and her husband rises up and sings her praise.
Ver, 29 T " Many are the daughters who have done bravely, But thou hast surpassed them all together."
We have already often remarked, last time under xxix. 6, that y\, not indeed in its sing., but in its plur. CST and riin"!, can precede, after the manner of a numeral, as attribute ; but this syntactical licence, xxviii. 12, by no means appears, and needs to be assumed as little here as at viii. 26, although there is no reason that can be adduced against it. ^'^n \WV signifies here not the gaining of riches (the LXX., Syr,, Targ., Jerome, Luther, Gesenius, Böttcher, and others), which here, where the encomium comes to its height, would give to it a mercenary mammon-worship note — it indeed has this signification only when connected with ? of the person : Sibi opes acquirere, Deut. vi. 17 ; Ezek. xxviii. 4 — but : bravery, energy, and, as the reference to ^^n ntf^'x demands, moral activity, capacity for activity, in accordance with one's calling, iroLetv aper^v, by which the Venet. translates it. Hin is, as in the primary pas- sages, Gen. Kxx. 13, Song vi. 9, a more delicate, finer name of ■women than D^^J : many daughters there have always been who have unfolded ability, but thou my spouse hast raised thy- self above them all, i.e. thou art excellent and incomparable. Instead of T\''bv, there is to be written, after Chajug, Aben Ezra (Zachoth 7a), and Jekuthiel under Gen. xvi. 11, r^'bv ; the Spanish Nakdanim thus distinguish the forms ^^^9; *^^°^ ^^^^ found, and riX^'D, she has found. nj^S, for |b. Gen. xlii. 36. What now follows is not a continuation of the husband's words of praise (Ewald, Elster, Löwenstein), but an epiphonema auctoris
CHAP. XXXI. 30, 31. 341
(Scliultens) ; the poet confirms the praise of the husband by referring it to the general ground of its reason :
Ver. 30 {J> Grace is deceit ; and beauty, vanity —
A wife that feareth Jahve, she shall be praised, Grace is deceit, because he who estimates the works of a M'ife merely by the loveliness of her external appearance, is deceived by it ; and beauty is vanity, vanitas, because it is nothing that remains, nothing that is real, but is subject to the law of all material things — transitoriness. The true value of a wife is measured only by that which is enduring, according to the moral background of its external appearance ; according to the piety which makes itself manifest when the beauty of bodily form has faded away, in a beauty which is attractive.^ nx")'' (with Makkeph following)^ is here the connective form of nsn"; (fem. of NT). The HitJipa. ^^lI^O is here manifestly (xxvii. 2) not reflexive, but representative of the passive (cf. xii. 8, and the frequently occurring ??![ip, laudatus = laudandus), nowhere occurring except in the passage before us. In itself the fut. may also mean : she will be praised = is worthy of praise, but the jussive rendering (Luther : Let her be praised) is recom- mended by the verse which follows :
Ver. 31 n Give to her of the fruit of her hands ;
And let her works praise her in the gates ! The fruit of her hands is the good which, by her conduct, she has brought to maturity, — the blessing which she has secured for others, but, according to the promise (Isa. iii. 10), has also secured for her own enjoyment. The first line proceeds on the idea that, on account of this blessing, she herself shall rejoice. np'^jn (with Gaja, after Metheg- Setzung, § 37) is not equivalent to give to her honour because of ... ; for in that case, in- stead of the ambiguous 10, another preposition — such e.g. as 7V — would have been used ; and so ^^^, of itself, cannot be equi-
1 Vid. the application of ver. 30 in Taanith 26&: " Young man," say the maidens, " lift up thine eyes and behold that which thou choosest for thyself ! Direct thine eyes not to beauty (113), direct thine eyes to the family (nnD^D) ; pleasantness is a deception, etc."
2 The writing -flXI^ is that of Ben Asher, nx"l^ that of Ben Naphtali ; Norzi, from a misunderstanding, claims "riN")"' (with Gaja) as Ben Asher's manner of writing.
342 THE BOOK OF PROVEOBS.
valent to ^^^ (sing the praise of), as Ziegler would read, after Judg. xi. 40. It must stand with 1133, or instead of "•^sp an accus, obj. is to be thought of, as at Ps. Ixviii. 35, Deut. xxxii. 3, which the necessity of the case brings with it, — the giving, as a return in the echo of the song of praise. Immanuel is right in explaining nH^n by TDH n^ I^DJn or 1U31 non nnv lb>y, cf. Ps. xxviii. 4. The IP, as is not otherwise to be expected, after IJn is partitive : give to her something of the fruit of her hands, i.e. recompense it to her, render it thankfully, by which not exclusively a requital in the form of honourable recogni- tion, but yet this specially, is to be thought of. Her best praise is her works themselves. In the gates, i.e. in the place where the representatives of the people come together, and where the people are assembled, her works praise her ; and the poet desires that this may be right worthily done, full of cer- tainty that she merits it, and that they honour themselves who seek to praise the works of such a woman, which carry in themselves their own commendation.
NOTE.
The Proverbs peculiar to the Alexandrine Translation.
In the LXX. there are not a few proverbs which are not found in the Heb. text, or, as we may express it, are peculiar to the Egyptian Text Recension, as distinguished from the Palestinean. The number is not so great as they appear to be on a superficial examination ; for many of these apparently independent proverbs are duplicate translations. In many places there follows the Greek translation of the Heb. proverbs another translation, e.g. at i. 14, 27, ii. 2, iii. 15, iv. 10, vi. 256, x. 5, xi. 16, xiv. 22, xv. 6, xvi. 26, xxiii. 31, xxix. Ih, 25, xxxi. 29a. These duplicate translations are found sometimes at different places, e.g. xvii. 206 is duplicate to xvii. IM ; xix. 15 is dupli- cate to xviii. 8; xxii. 9c(i = xix. 66, i. 196; xxix. 17 is duplicate to xxviii. lied; or, according to the enumeration of the verses as it lies before us, not within the compass of one verse to which they belong : xxii. 8, 9 is a duplicate transla-
NOTE. 343
tlon of ver. Sb and 9a of the Heb. text; xxlv. 23, xxx. 1, n duplicate translation of xxx. 1 ; and xxxi. 26, 21b, of xxxi. 26 of the Heb. text.^ Everywhere, here, along with the trans- lated proverb of our Heb. text, there is not an independent one. Also one has to be on his guard against seeing independent proverbs where the translator only, at his own will, modified one of the Heb. proverbs lying before us, as e.g. at x. 10, xiii. 23, xix. 7, as he here and there lets his Alexandrine exegesis influence him, ii. 16 f., v. 5, ix. 6, and adds explana- tory clauses, ii. 19, iii. 18, v. 3, ix. 12 ; seldom fortunate in this, oftener, as at i. 18, 22, 28, ix. 12, xxviii. 10, showing by these interpolations his want of knowledge. There are also, in the translation, here and there passages introduced from some other part of Scripture, e.g.: i. lab = Ps. cxi. 10, LXX. ; iii. 22ccZ = iii. 8 ; iii. 28c = xxvii. lb, xiii. 5c, from Ps. cxii. 5, of. xxxvii. 21; xvi. 1 {oatp ijLija<; k.t.\.) = Sir. iii. 18 ; xxvi. llc^ = Sir. iv. 21. A free reminiscence, such as xvi. 17, may speak a certain independence, but not those borrowed passages. Keeping out of view all this only apparent independence, we place together the independent proverbs contained in the LXX., and, along with them, we present a translation of them into Heb. Such a translation has already been partly at- tempted by Ewald, Hitzig, and Lagarde ; perhaps we have been here and there more fortunate in our rendering. It is certainly doubtful whether the translator found all these pro- verbs existing in Heb. Many of them appear to be originally Greek. But the rendering of them into Hebrew is by no means useless. It is of essential importance in forming a judgment regarding the original language.^
• One must suppose that here translations of other Greeks, which were placed alongside of the LXX. in Origen's Hexapla, were taken up into the LXX. B It this is not confirmed : these duplicates were component parts of the LXX., which Origen and the Syiiac translators found already existing.
[2 These the translator has not printed, because, however interesting it may be to the student of the Hebrew language as such, to compare Delitzsch's renderings into Hebrew with the Greek original, as placed before him, they may be here omitted, inasmuch as all that is of importance on the subject, in an exegetical point of view, has been already embodied in the Commentary.]
344 THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
There are a few grains of wheat, and, on the other hand, much chaff, in these proverbs that are peculiar to the LXX. They are not, in the most remote way, fit to supply the place of the many proverbs of our Heb. text which are wanting in the LXX. One must also here be cautious in examining them. Thus, e.g.^ xvii. 19 stands as a proverb of only one line ; the second forms a part of ver. 16. As true defects, we have noticed the following proverbs and parts of proverbs : i. 1 6, vii. 256, viii. 32&, 33, xi. U, 4, 106, xviii. 8, 23, 24, xix. 1, 2, 15, xxi. 5, xxii. 6, xxiii. 23, xxv. 20a. All these pro- verbs and parts of proverbs of the Heb. text are wanting in the LXX.
It is difficult to solve the mystery of this Alexandrine trans- lation, and to keep separate from each other the Text Recension which the translator had before him, the transformations and corrections which, of his own authority, he made on the corrnpcions which the text of the translation, as it cam.e from' the first translator and the later revisers of it, has suffered in the course of time. They appear in Egypt to have been as arbitrary as incompetent in handling the sacred Scriptures. The separating from each other of the proverbs of Agur and / Lemuel, xxx.-xxxi. 9, has its side-piece in the separation of
Jeremiah's prooemiums of the prophecies concerning the people, Jer. XXV.
INDEXES.
I.— WORDS ETYMOLOGICALLY EXPLAINED.
nax, X. 28, xix. 9.
••iai«, xxiii. 29.
D13X, xiv. 4.
I^JSi pi'- «., XXX. 1.
D^^ns*, vii. 17.
^^X, xiv. 24.
n|51N*, V. 23, xiv. 24.
^Tx, XX. 14.
)^ÜX, vii. 16.
ns-X, XX. 10.
)it^'>', VÜ. 2.
irris*, xiii. 15.
nns, xvii. 12.
PjaX, xvi. 26.
i?X, xxii. 7.
;]1^X, Ü. 17.
DIpSiS*, XXX. 31.
f)bx, xxii. 24.
P]^X, xiv. 4.
|iDN*, viii. 30.
px, HipMl, xxvi. 25,
wote, cf. viii. 30. n3X, xii. 21. DDX, iii. 10. •'S CJX, xi. 31, cf. XV. 11. )DX, XXV. 11. ^^•X, VÜ. 8. |OpX, xxxi. 22.
nm'x, XV. 17.
nnx, iii. 33.
pti'X, XX. 20. 3JÜ'X, vii. 6. -IB'XJ iv. 14.
152, Ü. 19, xi. 3. R.'na, X. 28, xix. 9. fjna, xxviii. 22.
non2, xii. 1.
\^):i, xxix. 26.
"i^na, XX. 30.
}n2, xvii. 3.
HDn (XD3), xii. 18.
nD3, iii. 5.
|Dn, xiii. 25, XX. 27.
t> i. 2.
^2, xxiv. 23.
^jjs^a, vi. 12.
lj;2, vi. 25.
nyzi, "cva, xii. i, xxx.
2, note. ni53, i. 28. {^[52, xi. 27. R. -|2, XXX. 2, nofe. -12, xi. 26. n''")2, xviii. 19. !1"12', -jn^, V. 18, xi. 23. "lb'2, xiv. 30.
njX3, xiv. 3. 346
123, vi. 34. Sina, X. 28. nna, nna, xvii. 22. laj X. 13. ••ia, xiv. 34. rhm, xxvi. 21.
jj^ja, xvii. 14. Da. xvii. 15. biDa, xii. 14. P|3, ix. 3.
ma, R- "la, xv. 18. f)ha, ^73, xix. 19. ina, xxi. 7.
n2'n, XXV. 9. n^_,'v. 18.
Xai, xxii. 22.
R. ^n, xxvi. 23, note.
phi, id.
-liT^, xxvi. 2.
B^T^, xi. 27, xxxi. 13.
finn, xiii. 11.
nan, R. an, xxv. 4.
Sinn, X. 3.
nin, njn, x. 3, xvii. 4.
IT'Sin, xxiv. 26, note.
|in, i., XXX. 15.
HM, X. 3, Niph. xiii. 19
346
THE BOOK OF PROVELBS.
Wala (Arab.), confu-
gere, xxxi. 1. -in, xxi. 8. K. wJc (Arab.), xxix. 13.
Wakiha,wakay{Arixh.},
XXX. 1.
fill, xi. 2.
E.'ir, n3T, xviii. 11,
XX. 9. ■qr, xvi. 2. DDT, n^T, i. 4, X. 23,
xxi. 27, XXX. 32, nofe.
Dyr, Dyr, xxü. 14.
ji^T,' XX. 29.
*lt~lT, canere, xxx. 31.
"intj cingere, xxx. 31.
nh, xxi. 14.
m^sn, XX. 30.
^nn, xiii. 13.
nnn, xxvU. 17. pnn, XV. 19.
-nn, vii. 27, xviii. 8.
nin, D'^nin, xxvi. 9.
7in, xxvii. 3, note. f^n, V. 16. S^tan, viii. 36.
nt:n, vii. 16.
"IDh, xiv. 3. mTI, i. 6, xxii. 21, ?zoZe. b^n,x. 28, xiü. 22. p^n, pn, V. 20, xvi. 33,
xxi. 14. ^n, V. 3.
ni!5bn, xxiü. 29. Dan,' no3n, i. 2, x. i. K. hn, nbn, xiii. 12,
xix. 6.
'<bn, XXV. 12.
P)i3n, xxxi. 8.
Hon, XV. 1.
Don, iv. 17.
T|3n, xxii. 6.
Pjjn, xi. 9.
R. on, iii. 3, xiv. 34.
non, nisn, «vz., xxv. lo. jpn, }ph, XV. 6.
|Dn, XXX. 4.
^an, |*ari, üi. 15, xviii.
2, xxxi. 13, "ISn, xix. 26. b'Sn, ii. 4. "Til^n, xxvii. 25. }Vh, xxi. 14.
K- ^n, }*^n, f^n, xx.
17, xxx. 27. '' pn, vid. p'-n, v. 20, xvi.
33, xxi. 14. E. ^n, ipn, XXV. 27. ppn, viii. 29.
i«nn, D''^7n, xxiv. 3i. pnn, pn, iu. 14, x. 4. Pl''-in, XX. 4. ^nn, xii. 27. P]"lh, XX. 4.
pn, ?;2d pin,
t>inn, iii. 29.
mn, c'nnn, xvii. 28.
R. B'n, xvii. 11.
nnn, vi. 27.
f)rin, finn, xxiü. 28.
aiü, XV. 13, xxiv. 13. h^ö, xvi. 33. R. DD, D\*, PlV, ii. 1. TiD, xix. 13.
J?^, xxiii. 4. j;t, i. 2. "IM", xxi. 24. \^ü\ via. 30.
IDS iii. 19.
n^j;\ V. 19.
2\)\ iii. 10.
nipv pr. n., XXX. 1.
nnpS XXX. 17.
\i})p\ vi. 5.
-|p% -Ii5^ i. 13, xvii. 27.
^'\ ii. 7. viii. 21.
nti'"», xi. 24,
in''(?), xii. 12, xiii. 15.
nri>, in'', ü. 21, xiv. 13,
xvii. 7,
133, XXV. 27.
):i3, iii. 19.
-l!l3, xvii. 3.
R. (Arab.) kz, m, C'p,
xvii. 11. R. na, xxiv. 26, note. 133, vi. 25. R. b, xviii. 14. D^3, neb, xviii. 13,
XXV. 8. |3, as substantive, xi.
19, XV. 7. XD3, vii. 17. ^>D3, i. 18, viii. 5, xvii.
21, xxiii. 9. ^303, iii. 26. nD3, xiv. 30. r! na, vi. 25, XXV. 26. ']p3, xxxi. 19. Dri3 (also Egypt. Ä;e<em),
xxv. 12. ins, Hijph, xiv. 18.
nfj, iv. 23, viii. 5.
R. 3^, naj', XXV. 20.
D3^, X. 8. ■
E. rii5, nn^, xxvi. 18.
Qrh, xviii. 8.
nf?, xxii. 7.
r6, Ü. 15.
n^ iii. 3. r^l'h, i. 9.
V)b, V^^, y^S, XX. 25,
xxiii. 2. tJ')^, XXX. 30. E. i!?, iii. 26. fjSio!', xxxi. 1.
Vi;^, 'vid. pii?.
}>f!, i. 6, 22, iü. 34, xxi.
"24. n^l^, i. 5.
|*t>i^, i7?>A., XXX. 10. yn^, XXX. 14.
NHÜ, viii. 3.
nxiD, V. 16. vnio. vii. 5. tmn, i. 2. Iia, iii. 35.
nio, V. 5.
nsTD, i. 4, V. 2. K. ^o, bbj2, vi. 13. ?]S'f)ö, xiii. 17. nonf5)p, XV. 11, «o^e. Hi'^^D, i. 6.
cr«^
}30, xxix. 21, note.
Tj?0, X. 29.
}yo, npyo, xvi. 4.
tl-l>"0, xvii. 3. ■)ipD, V. 15, XXV. 26. nb, vii. 17, note. n»a")p, xxvi. 8. irno, T1D, xiv. 10. >y2', xvii. 11. pnn, XX. 30.
INDEXES.
Nb'O, XXX. 1.
ri^3L"0, xviii. 11, XXV.
li.' ])am, xxvi. 26. T]tra, xiii. 13. f5C'0, i. 1. D2L"0, i. 3,
a''oni?rio, xviii. 8,
mw, xxvi. 1.
f Xji V. 12.
njj, iv. 25, viii. 6, xv.
ii.
T-JJ, viii. 6.
njj, iv. 18, 720<(?.
nn:, viii. 16, xix. 6.
on/, V. 11.
2^^ X. 31.
m:, iii. 33.
mj, xxi. 16, cf. xxix. 17,
^T3, V. 15.
DTJ, XXV. 12.
nm, vi. 22.
pnj, viii. 21, note.
Dm, V. 11.
T'J, 13, xiii. 23, xxi. 4.
R. 13, naj, xxiv. 2G,
note. nab, iv. 25, V. 21.
n^:, XX. 11, xxiv. 23,
xxvi. 24. nPDJ, vi. 6. ■?lpJ,' viii. 23. nsb, V. 3, xxiv. 13. nvJ, n^J, xxi. 28. ijVJ, vi. 3. 3I?3, xxiv. 24. 13, t'^d Ttj. 12-13, xvi. 28.
R. n:, iii. 17, note. HTn:, i. 15, iii. 17.
347
N'np, xxiii. 21.
iniD, xxvii. 15.
piD, xxxi. 23.
niD, iii. 32, xi. 13, xv. 22.
D^D, D>p, XXX. 24.
K. ^D, XV. 19.
«l^p, «l^p, xi. 3, xiii. 6,
XV. 4, xix. 3. QD, XXX. 28. ino, vii. 11.
ny, viii. 26. ny, xii. 17. ny, X. 29. try, viii. 28. I^y, vid. py yn. cj^y, XXV. 25. Day, vii. 22.
nj^^i^y, XXX. 15.
''i'y = ^y, viii. 2. HD^y, XXX. 19. ^oy, xvi. 26. njy, vi. 20. D-pjy, i. 9. nyy, V. lo, xv. i. nvy, xvi. 30.
^yy, vi. 9, xxvi. 14. ivy, XXV. 28.
2i?J?' 2i?.v' ^^"- ^• any, iii. 23. my, R. 31, vi. 1.
my, 2"iy, vü. 9. Diy, HD-iy, i. 4. bny, vii.' 16.
P^V, R. ti'y, xxviii. 17.
ny,'xv. 23.
pny, pny, viii. 18.
nny, xxvi. 6.
348
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
p^3, iii. 13.
TS, viii. 19.
Dna, xxvi. 21.
1LD3, xvii. 14.
n^a', xix. 22.
ihQ, J^a, V. 16, xxi. 1.
^^3, xxxi. 19, note.
D^a, iv. 26, V. 21. R. jQ, XXV. 11. |3, V. 6, XXV. 8. ü'^y^S, iii. 15.
nea, xxvi. 7.
K. pa, XX. 13.
j;na, i. 25.
Ü>n3, Ä2>Ä., xxiii. 32. R. tJ'a, xii. 13, xiii. 3. pb>3, xiii. 3. VpB, i;L*'3, X. 19. xii. 13, xviii. 19,xxviii.2. na, xxiii. 8.
DNna, vi. 15. ^na', i. 4.
hm, viii. 8.
|NV, xxvii. 23.
••ay, vi. 5.
p'j^, xvi. 13, xxii. 21.
'^i)i, vi. 26.
T»!?, xiii. 17, xxvi. 14.
nn>>V, xix. 24, note.
R. DV, «^zU R. DD.
nay, xxv. 13.
J?m, xi. 2.
R. Pl^,^ vi. 5, xxvi. 23,
and vid. Qtj. nSV, XV. 3. nay, xxvi. 23.
pay, XXV. 23. niay, vi. 5, xxvi. 2.
|DV, i. 31, X. 14.
I ''JVsy, xxiii. 32. nnv, xvi. 27. f)nv, XXV. 4, XXX. 5.
^^-*^ (tocrow),xxx,31.
R. 3p, xxii. 23, no/e. j;3p, xxii. 23. Flip, XXX. 28. pp, vi. 7, xxvi. 1. n?p, xii. 9. D-Jitl'bp, xxiv. 31. N^l?, N3p, iii. 31. nX3p, xiv. 30. nj'p, viii. 22. |i03p, vii. 17, note. R. Dp, DDp, xvi. 10. R. np (to round, to dig),
XXV. 26. np, nnp, xvii. 27. Pi?, vi' 12.
R. B'p, vi. 5, xvii. 4, 11. 2^p^, i. 24, ii. 2, xvii. 4. m>p, xxii. 21.
niCNI, xxiv. 7. (^Ij,^«^ 0., xxix. 6.
R. 21, iii. 30, vi. 1, vii.
16. ini, vii. 16. j;j-i, xii. 19. DT), X. 5. 2nn, vi. 3. |in, xiv. 28. Ip, viii. 15. D''pn-|, xii. 10. an, iii. 30. h'pl, xi. 13.
nno-i, X. 4.
\yi, i. 21.
vn, nyn, xxvii. lO.
nvi (to be considerate),
XV. 14. py J?-|, xxiii. 6. e]y-i, iii. 20. R. f)"!' "^S"!» vii. 16. Sa-J, xii. 18. niai, xxvii. 21. D31, vi. 3.
nyn, xxU. 13. 3pn, X. 7. R. B^l, XX. 13,
njpB', iii. 1.5. nTK>, XX. 29. n't, vi. 22, no<e.
R. ^jy (to pierce), xviii.
11, xxiii. 1. pab», xxiii. 1.
b^tf, ^3EJ>, i. 3, iii. 4,
X. öJ " 13b'=-|JD, xxvi. 10. nob', xiii. 9, xxi. 17. n^O^, XXX. 4. n^Öo^, XXX. 28.
nsb», v. 3.
b)a^, V. 6. -\a^, V. 11.
n3K', xxix. 11.
122^, X. 13.
^JB', V. 16.
1^, V. 19.
Tn^', xix. 26.
H)^, XXX. 8.
pV^, vii. 8.
liC', xiv. 4.
D^■5n^, iii. 20, viii. 28.
-iriK'j'xiii. 24.
-iDb», vi. 7.
")3K>, XX. 1.
INDEXKS.
49
R. fjü*, i. 13, 33, vi. 5,
xü. 20.
USb^, üi- 2, xü. 10.
{>;"i^Ji>, Q''^^, xxii. 20.
]rhp, ix. 2.
h'?f, i. 13. DK', xxii. 1. n"'pOK', XXX. 28. »JB>, xxxi. 21. "ij?:^, xxüL 7. n^'yv^^'yC', viii. 30.
}3Ü?, XXX. 26.
njpB/, viii. 34.
H^PC', Üi. 8.
V\P'^, Niph., vii. 6.
ppü', xxviii. 15.
"1{^, nn^', üi. 6.
^^ (liueii), xxxi. 22.
nixn, xviü. 1. ^an, vüi. 26. nn, V. 19.
niaann, ü. 12. n^n^ri, x. 28.
7]in, xxix. 13.
niri, xü. 26. n^'Dw, ü. 7. Tjri, D'':?3n, xxix. 13. J3ri, xvi. 2.
R. ^n, i. 1.
mpn, X. 28.
Ipri, xvi. 2. ypn, vi. 1. nyitj'n, xxi. 31.
IL— SYNONYMS EXPLAINED.
f\12Vt, ^iSti^, xxvH. 20.
nonx, ^ari, vüi. 26.
^^1N, ^"M, voL i. p. 40 ;
xiv. 3.' -lix, -13, vi, 23. Pl!?«, liC', xiv. 4. DJK'iil, |i^n, vü. 6. iNii, "lia, V. 15. C'ia, "isn, xix. 26. nr2, mi2ri, ü. 2. B'ipn, B^"i"=]/"in^> xi. 27. -lb'3, ISC', V. 11.
^ia.'DNVny, xiv. 34.
U^p, XXX. 31, «o<e.
{j>n^, vid. K^ipa- pnn, ^''3b'n, xxi. 29. noin, -iD% ix. 7. Tj;n,pi?n,np:i',viü.34.
"IT, naj, xxvü. 2.
pipl, virtus, dpsTii, xxxi. ■'10.
non, |n, xxxi. 26. -isn, vid. nn. IDS t'iW. n^^in.
iV!''iyoS ^- 24, cf. ü. 20.
^p\ na^, vi. 2.
D''aT3, IjpjJ', vi. 17. •)^D3, wtV. ^x. ^^p3, ^33, xvu. 21. ^03, mpn, iü. 26, note. D''23, D''T, xxxi. 19, "20.
n3^ 2;iW. c'i?^
D13TXD, dJ^S, xvi. 11.
I^yö, py, V. 16.
pyp, lipo, XXV. 26.
h^6, pvi5, iL:b'', vi. 7.
bl^', vid. ^"•03.
ns:, ?J2V/. -IT-
C'33, nil, xviü. 14, XX.
27."
na, iJit?. nix.
^jti'J, JTiS-iri, or n^S^D,
xxviii. 2. jri3, npi5 (to give and to
\ake), xxxi. 16, 24. niv, br\p^, V. 14. i;y, t'l't/. pyo. oy, uij. lia- "layi ■'ay, üi. 34, xiv. 21.
D''Sny, D'^ipn'J', üi. 26.
D^S, vid. n^jTxa. nWa, nxinri, x. I6. piv, npnv, i. 3, cf. vol.
Yp.43.
350
rT'^'sn, n^nri, ix. lO.
mi, vid. C'-'SJ.
•i^yi5>, vid. iif>r\. ^ixK', vid. ii^2N.
"IXB^*, vid. -1^2.
D^HK', vid. n^any.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS. -lüb', vid. ^{J»ö.
r\'jur\, vid. nj'3.
^2ri, vid. nonx.
XXX. 31.
n''3nri, vid. tj^'j.
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DR. MURPHY'S NEW WORK.
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A CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY
ON THE
BOOK OF PSALMS,
WITH A NEW TRANSLATION.
By JAMES G. MUEPHY, LL.D., T.C.D.,
AUTHOR OF COMMENTARIES ON THE BOOKS OF GENESIS, EXODUS, ETC.
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Just published, in Two Vols. Svo, price 21s.,
A COMMENTARY
ON THE
GOSPEL OF ST, LUKE.
BY F. G O D E T,
DOCTOR AND PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, NEUCHATEL.
Translated from the Second French Edition.
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AIDS TO THE STUDY
OF
GERMAN THEOLOGY.
By Rev. GEORGE MATHESON, M.A., B.D.,
MINISTER OF INELLAN.
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Just published, in demy 8vo, price 10s. 6d.,
DELIVERY AND DEVELOPMENT
OF
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
CIjc dTifti) ^meä of tl)t Cunntngljam EccturfS. By ROBERT RAINY, D.D.,
PROFESSOR OF DIVINrTY A>'D CHURCH HISTORY, NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.
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INTRODUCTION
TO
THE PAULINE EPISTLES,
By PATON J. GLOAG, D.D.,
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THE TRIPARTITE NATURE OF MAN,
SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY,
Applied to Illustrate and Explain the Doctrines of Original Sin, the New Birth, the Disembodied State, and the Spiritual Body.
By Rev. J. B. HEARD, M.A.
With an Appendix on the Fatherhood of God.
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SEaröurtonian Hccturrs on propicrij, 1870 to t874*
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VOICES OF THE PROPHE,TS.
Twelve Lectures Preached in the Chapel of Lincoln's Inn, in the Years 1870-74, on the Foundation of Bishop Warburton.
By EDWARD HAMILTON GIFFORD, D.D.
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PUBLICATIONS
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T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET,
EDINBURGH.
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CLASSIFICATION OF CONTENTS.
APOLOGETICS.
Buchanan — Christlieb — Ebrard
— Hengstenberg — Hetherington — Lange — Luthardt — Ullmann — Winer.
BIBLICAL CRITICISM AND HER- MENEUTICS.
Cremer — Davidson — Doedes — Fairbairn — Forbes — Gardiner— Ro- binson — Steinmeyer — Stier — White — Winer.
BIBLICAL-THEOLOGICAL.
Brown — Bruce — Buchanan — Cre- mer— Delitzsch — Dorner — Fairbairn —Heard— Hengstenberg — Lange — Morgan — Muller — Naville — Oehler —Owen — Rainy — Saisset— Schmid —Smeaton— Steward — Wright.
BIOGRAPHY.
Calvin — Krummacher — Nettleton — Von Hütten.
COMMENTARIES— OLD TESTA- MENT.
Alexander — Delitzsch — Fairbairn — Gerlach — Hengstenberg — Keil — Krummacher — Kurtz — Lange — Mui-phy — Umbreit.
COMMENTARIES— NEW TESTA- MENT.
Adam — Augustine — Baumgarten — Bengel — Besser — Billroth —Bruce
— Delitzsch — Eadie — Ebrard — Fair- bairn— Forbes — Glasgow — Gloag — Godet — Hengstenberg — Lange — Lisco — Meyer — Morgan — Neander
— Olshausen — Owen — Steiger — Steinmeyer — Steward — Stier — Tho- luck — Witsius.
DEVOTIONAL AND PRACTICAL THEOLOGY.
Augustine — Besser — Buchanan — Caspers — Church — Cunningham — Fairbairn — Gotthold — Krummacher — Morgan — Oosterzee — Pressense — Robinson — Tholuck — Vinet.
ETHICS.
Harless — Kant- tensen — Wuttke.
■Luthardt — Mar-
AND
Foreign Theological Library
Writings of St. Augustine,
Owen's {Dr. John) Works,
Calvin's Works,
Stier's Words of the Lord Jesus (Cheap
Lance's Life of Christ, .
Bengel's Gnomon, .
Ante-Nicene Library,
Lange's Commentaries,
Meyer's Commentary,
HISTORICAL THEOLOGY CHURCH HISTORY.
Bannerman — Bungener — Couard — Cunningham— Dorner- -Edersheim — Gerlach — Gieseler — Guericke — Hefele — Kahnis — Killen — Kurtz — Luthardt — Maclauchlan — Neander — Preuss—Scliaff—Shedd— Ullmann.
INTRODUCTIONS.
Bleek — Ernesti — Gloag — Haver- nick — Keil — Macdonald.
PHILOSOPHY.
Ackermann — Chalybaeus — Cousin — ^Jouffroy — Kant — Saisset.
PROPHECY.
Brown — Fairbairn — Gifford — Glasgow — Lange — White.
SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY.
Augustine — Buchanan — Calvin — Luthardt — Martensen — Müller — Owen — Shedd — Winer.
PAGE
24-26
Edition),
T. and T. Clark's Publications.
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His disciples' errors, trained them to faith iu Himself, and pi-epared them to become His apostles to the ends of the earth. It is rather a collection of discourses on the Words of our Lord, as illut-trating the events of His life and unfolding tht? pur- poses of His death.' — London Quarterly Reciew.
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Ninth Edition.
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Calvin— HIS LIFE, LABOURS, AND WRITINGS. By Felix Bdngener. 8vo, 83. Gd.
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-= INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. Trans- lated by Henry Beveridge. Two vols. 8vo, 14s.
INSTITUTIO CHRISTIANS RELIGIONIS. Curavit
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a really, fresh devotional volume to stop here at this one;'— Weekly Review.
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'The style is full of pithiness. The sentences are short and antithetical, and the translation is so good and ididmatic that you never have occasion in reading to remember that it is a translation at all. The papers are short, but not too short for a profitable, devout meditation in the closet. We close by recommending any and every reader who may be in quest of
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T. atid T. Claries Ptiblications.
Delitzsch (Professor)— A SYSTEM OF BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOGY.
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BIBLICAL COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF JOB.
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MANUAL OF HISTORICO-CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
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- COMMENTARY, THEOLOGICAL AND HOMILETICAL., ON THE GOSPELS OF ST. MATTHEW AND MARK. Specially designed and adapted for the use of Ministers and Students. By J. P. Lange, D.D., Professor of Divinity in the University of Bonn. Three vols., £], lis. 6d.
T. mid T. Claris s Pitblications.
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[For 'Moral Truths' see next page
1 6 T. and T. Clark's Publications.
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