30 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Better [is] the poor that walketh in his integrity,.... In the uprightness of his heart before God and men; who is sincere in the worship of God, and in the profession of his name, and walks in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless; and is upright, harmless, and inoffensive in his conversation with men; and studies to exercise...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
1 Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Here see, 1. What will be the credit and comfort of a poor man, and make him more excellent than his neighbour, though his poverty may expose him to contempt and may dispirit him. Let him be honest and walk in integrity, let him keep a good...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Also, [that] the soul [be] without knowledge, [it is] not good,.... Without knowledge of things natural and civil, especially without the knowledge of God and Christ, and divine and spiritual things; to be without this is not good, yea, very bad; for men without such knowledge and understanding are, like the beasts that perish, and for lack of it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The foolishness of man perverteth his way,.... The sinfulness of his heart and nature; the folly which is bound up in it causes him to go astray out of the way in which he should go, or makes things go cross with him; so that the ways he takes do not prosper, nor his schemes succeed; but everything goes against him, and he is brought into straits...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wealth maketh many friends,.... Or "adds" (f); it increases the number of them: so the poet (g), "donec eris felix, multos numerabis amicos"; and to this agrees what the wise man says, Proverbs 14:20; but the poor is separated from his neighbour; or "friend" (h); he will not visit him as he did in his prosperity, nor suffer him to come into his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
A false witness shall not be unpunished,.... He that bears false witness against his neighbour in an open court of judicature; though be may not be detected by men, and so escape the punishment due to such offenders by the laws of God and men; yet God, who knows all hearts and actions, will not suffer him to go with impunity; if not punished in...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Many will entreat the favour of the prince,.... Or of the liberal and bountiful man; as kings and princes generally are, Lu 22:25; such have many to wait upon them, and are humble petitioners to them. Aben Ezra and Gersom interpret the many of great and honourable men, who are courtiers to kings and princes; who wait upon them, ask favours of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
All the brethren of the poor do hate him,.... They despise him on account of his poverty; they neglect him, and do not take care of him; they reckon him a reproach unto them, and do not choose to own him; all which may be interpreted an hatred of him; how much more do his friends go far from him? or "his friend", every one of his friends; or "his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul,.... Wisdom and knowledge in things natural and civil; and especially in things divine, spiritual, and evangelical; particularly he that gets Christ, the Wisdom of God, and a saving knowledge of him; see Proverbs 3:13. Or, "he that getteth a heart" (p); a good heart, as the Targum explains it; which is a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
A false witness shall not be unpunished,.... [See comments on Proverbs 19:5]; and [he that] speaketh lies shall perish; or "be lost", shall be undone for ever; he shall not enter into the holy city, but have his part in the lake of fire: they that speak lies in hypocrisy, doctrinal ones, and are given up to believe and profess them, such shall be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Delight is not seemly for a fool,.... Such an one as Nabal, whose name and nature were alike; and whose prosperity ill became him, and the mirth and delight he had in it, 1 Samuel 25:25; for, as the wise man elsewhere says, "the prosperity of fools shall destroy them", Proverbs 1:26; they do not know how to make a right use of their prosperity;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The discretion of a man deferreth his anger,.... That he does not show it immediately; but takes time to consider of the offence given him, and makes use of a proper time to resent what is fit should be resented; he is a wise and discreet man that is slow to anger, Proverbs 14:29. He is most like to God, who is "longsuffering, abundant in goodness...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The king's wrath [is] as the roaring of a lion,.... Which is very terrible when hungry, and is after its prey, and has got it. Kings, especially tyrannical ones, are compared to lions; as Nebuchadnezzar by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 4:17; and Nero by the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:7; and the rage of such is very dreadful, as Ahasuerus's was to Haman....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
A foolish son [is] the calamity of his father,.... Or, "the calamities of his father" (q); he brings them to him. A very great affliction he is, and which has many distresses and sorrows in it; as loss of reputation and credit in his family, which is sunk by his behaviour, instead of being supported and increased; loss of substance, through...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Houses and riches [are] the inheritance of fathers,.... Which they are careful to provide and leave to their children. This they may and often do, build or purchase houses, and procure great riches, and put their children into the possession of them; and, or but, a prudent wife [is] from the Lord; one that behaves well to her husband, massages the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep,.... Slothful persons are generally sleepy, and are very desirous of sleep, and indulge themselves in it; they spend their time, day and night, in sleep and drowsiness; and are quite careless and unconcerned about either their temporal or eternal good; see Proverbs 6:9; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He that keepeth the commandment,.... Either of parents, as children ought to do; or of masters, as servants should; or of kings and princes, as is the duty of subjects in all things lawful: or rather of God; every command of his, whether of a moral or positive nature, which, though they cannot be perfectly kept, yet should as much as in man lies,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
He that hath pity unto the poor lendeth unto the Lord,.... A man, whose heart is full of compassion to the poor, and whose hands distribute to their necessities, from a true principle of love and charity to men, and with a view to the glory of God, and not from any selfish principle and with a end; such a man's gift to the poor is a loan to the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Chasten thy son while there is hope,.... Of guiding and keeping him in the right way, as long as corrections are or can be hoped to be of use; while in a state of infancy, childhood, and youth; while under parental government; and before habits in sin are grown strong, and the case become desperate, and he is hardened, and proof against all...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment,.... Either a child that is of a wrathful disposition, and provokes his parent to wrath; or a parent that chastises his child in wrath; each shall suffer for it; or any man that gives way to wrath and anger and is continually quarrelling, he involves himself in trouble; and is punished, as his offence...