it but it can never be made consistent with honesty and goodness to have respect to the person not to the cause which is brought before one in judgment for by that means the wicked is favoured because he is rich or because he is a friend c. and the just man loses his right and is oppressed because he is poor or none of the Judge's acquaintance 6. A fools lips enter into contention and his mouth calleth for strokes 6. If a fool find others scolding or contending he will thrust himself into the quarrel but is so unskilfull that instead of making them friends he increases the difference till from words they come to blows in which he escapes not without some share of them to him self 7. A fools mouth is his destruction and his lips are the snare of his soul 7. For in all other cases a fool uses his tongue so imprudently that he ruins himself by his own discourse and if he go about to defend what he saith he is but the more intangled to the certain hazard of his life 8. The word of a tale-bearer are as wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly 8. A whisperer of false stories makes a great show of harmlesness if not of love and kindness when he backbites others nay seems perhaps to doe it very unwillingly with great grief of heart and not without excuses for the persons from whom he detracts but his words give them the most deadly wound and sink deep into the mind of those that hear them See Arg. d 9. He also that is slothfull in his work is brother to him that is a great waster 9. There is so little difference between a slothfull man and a prodigal that they may be called Brethren for he that looks not after his business must needs come to poverty as well as he that is a spend-thrift 10. The Name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous runneth into it and is safe 10. The Almighty power and goodness of the great Lord of the World is the securest defence in all manner of dangers unto which a vertuous man may have the confidence cheerfully to resort and hope to find protection nay to be there as safe as if he was in an impregnable fortress See Arg. e 11. The rich mans wealth is his strong city and as an high wall in his own conceit 11. The worldly-minded man indeed thinks otherwise and places his security in heaps of wealth which he fancies hath a power to doe any thing and is able to defend him like a high bulwark which none can scale from all assaults but alas this is onely his own vain opinion he is safe merely in imagination 12. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty and before honour is humility 12. When a man's spirit grows lofty by prosperity forgetting God and despising his brethren it is a certain forerunner of his utter destruction as on the other side humility meekness and patience in a low condition is the best preparation for honour and preferment 13. He that answereth a matter before he heareth it it is folly and shame unto him 13. He that is so forward as to answer to a business before he hath heard the state of it that is before he understand it thinks perhaps to show the quickness of his apprehension but by his impertinent discourse declares his egregious folly and makes himself ridiculous See Arg. f 14. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear 14. There is a vast difference between outward and inward evils for a manly spirit will support us under bodily sicknesses and outward afflictions but if the mind it self have lost its courage and become abject cast down and oppressed with grief and sadness it is not in the power of man to raise and lift it up 15. The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge 15. He therefore that hath so much understanding as to consider what is good for himself will take the greatest care to possess his mind with the true knowledge of God and of his duty to him and be so wise as to lissen to those that can give him right information for it is this alone that can preserve the mind from being dejected and broken 16. A mans gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men 16. There is no man so mean but he may make his way whithersoever he desires by gifts and presents which will procure his inlargement if he be in prison and more than that bring him into favour with great men nay purchase him the honour to wait upon Princes 17. He that is first in his own cause seemeth just but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him 17. A man may seem to have a good cause who hath got the start of his neighbour till he come also to examine his information and open the whole matter before the Judge nay more than this he hath a great advantage who first possesses the Judge's mind with the justice of his cause for it will not be easie for his adversary to find out his tricks and to confute him without a diligent search and curious inquiry into what he hath alledged See Arg. g 18. The lot causeth contentions to cease and parteth between the mighty 18. But in some cases it is very hard to make an end of suits where the reasons are strong on both sides or the parties contending both very powerfull to maintain their pretensions and then the casting of lots is an equal way to determine the controversie and put each of them in quiet possession of that which falls to his share 19. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city and their contentions are like the bars of a castle 19. But there are no contentions so sharp and obstinate as those among Brethren who grow so refractory when they have transgressed against each other that it is easier to take a strong City or to break the barrs of a Castle than it is to compose their differences and remove all the obstructions that lie in the way to their hearty reconciliation 20. A mans belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled 20. The Tongue is so hard to govern and so much depends upon it that it cannot be too oft repeated XII 14. XIII 2. we ought to take as great care about the words we speak as we do about the fruit of our Trees or the increase of the earth which we are to eat for according as they are wholsome and good or unsavoury and bad so will the pleasure or the pain be wherewith we shall be filled 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof 21. The good or the harm that the Tongue can doe both to a man's
slighted his importunities to obedience For He is not onely good but just also and not so easy as to be moved merely by Prayers and Intreaties and that when we are in distress which have more of self-love in them than love to Him Whose wise Providence requites men in their kind and destroys them by that which they most desire In short in this Chapter he introduces Wisedom speaking to his Son or to her Children in general inviting them to love her and by no means to tread in the way of Sinners but to keep close to her directions threatning destruction to those who contemned this Counsel There seem to be three Proverbial Sayings in it One v. 17. which may be four or five ways interpreted two of which I have comprised in the Paraphrase being the most common and natural Another v. 31. like to that in Terence Tute hoc intrivisti omne hoc vorandum est tibi And the other in the next v. 32. Where those words the prosperity of Fools shall destroy them teach us that it is a great part of Wisedom to be able to bear a great fortune as we call it Of which among the Jews Jason was an example in after times who was undone by his Successes 2 Maccab. v. 6 7 c. 1. THE proverbs of Solomon the son of David king of Israel 1. THIS Book contains some notable and very usefull Sayings of that wise Prince King Solomon the Son of that devout Prince King David by whose special appointment he succeeded him in the government of God's peculiar People Israel for which according to David's Prayer LXXII Psalm and his own 1 Kings III. 9. God indued him with an extraordinary degree of understanding 2. To know wisedom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding 2. The scope of them is to make a Man know what it is to be truly wise and instruct him how to avoid those errors which Men are apt to fall into or to correct them if he hath been misled and run into them and to make him understand when good advice is given him nay to be able to give it unto others 3. To receive the instruction of wisedom justice and judgment and equity 3. For they will furnish him with the most excellent notions and make him capable to understand things of highest concernment both how to be just and good in all private transactions and in publick trusts and offices to judge and act according to right and equity and every other way to be upright and exactly vertuous 4. To give subtilty to the simple to the young man knowledg and discretion 4. The most unskilfull and incautious persons may here learn to be circumspect and wary and they who are childish and inconsiderate get so much knowledge as to behave themselves with prudence and discretion 5. A wise man will hear and will increase learning and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels 5. As for him that is wise already he will not lose his labour in reading this Book which will make him still wiser And indeed it is principally designed for the improvement of him that is so wise as to be willing to learn more who shall both gain a clearer knowledge of what he understands and also make such additions that he shall be fit to be a counsellor to Kings and govern the affairs of State in the greatest Kingdoms 6. To understand a proverb and the interpretation the words of the wise and their dark sayings 6. He shall comprehend the most usefull Maxims and be able to express them also with the greatest elegance the weightiest sayings of wise men shall be easy to him and their abstrusest notions shall not be hidden from him 7. ¶ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisedom and instruction 7. ¶ In the first place then let all both simple and wise look upon an awfull sense of God a devout affection to Him and fear to offend Him as the chiefest point and the very foundation of all Wisedom Without which men are but Fools and having no regard to their Creator will despise the wisest Instructions that I can give them See Arg. a 8. My son hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother 8. And next to God let me advise thee my Son or whoever thou art that comest to learn of me in this Book to reverence thy Parents And not onely to hearken unto thy Father when he teaches thee to fear God or tells thee that thou dost amiss but to let thy Mother's commands be a Law to thee especially when she bids thee observe the Directions of thy Tutors and publick Instructors unto whom she commits thee from which be sure never to depart See Arg. b 9. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck 9. But value their counsels more than the fairest ornaments thy Parents can put upon thy head or the most precious chains wherewith they can adorn thy neck for they shall add a far greater grace unto thee and make thee more acceptable both with God and with all worthy men 10. ¶ My son if sinners entice thee consent thou not 10. ¶ There will be those who will make it their business to seduce thee from their obedience but remember my Son that none can love thee so well as they and therefore if leud persons who have no respect to God or to their pious Parents and Instructors perswade thee to bear them company by no means yield to their greatest importunities but flee their society See Arg. c 11. If they say Come with us let us lay wait for bloud let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause 11. They may represent perhaps what advantage it will be to thee to joyn with them in the breach of the very next Commandment to that of honouring thy Father and thy Mother saying come along with us to our lurking places where no body can see us and from thence set upon a wealthy Traveller who is to go that way and take away his life what though he be innocent we shall the more easily dispatch him when he suspects no danger and hath given us no provocation 12. Let us swallow them up alive as the grave and whole as those who go down into the pit 12. And though he should have many Servants or Companions with him to defend him let not that affright thee for we are enow of us to kill them all with ease and in a moment or to strangle them and bury them alive so that none shall escape to tell any tales nor shall they make any noise nay it shall not be known what is become of them 13. We shall find all precious substance we shall fill our houses with spoil 13. The booty shall be great for we are sure to find vast treasures and all manner of precious things enough to inrich us all and furnish our
when thou comest home to rest from thy labours thou shalt not be troubled with fear of what may happen whilst thou art asleep but having nothing within to discompose thee shalt lie down securely and by a sound and sweet repose be refreshed to return to thy employments 25. Be not afraid of sudden fear neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh 25. In which if thou shouldst be interrupted by any rumours and reports of unexpected and approaching danger let not that disturb thee no though thou shouldst see the Wicked ready to lay all waste or the Divine Vengeance bringing utter desolation upon them for their wickedness 26. For the LORD shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken 26. For a firm hope in the Lord shall be thy support even when thou art in a tottering condition nay when thy skill quite sails thee and thou knowest not what to doe for thy safety He shall so direct and guide thee that thou shalt be preserved from falling into the hands of those that lie in wait to destroy thee 27. ¶ Withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it 27. ¶ And as it will give thee great security of mind and confidence in God at such a time not to be conscious to thy self of any wrong done to thy Neighbour by denying to pay thy just debts when thou art able so the remembrance of having done good to others will be a far greater and therefore let me advise thee to take a special care not to withhold relief from those whose needs in-title them unto it when thou canst not pretend disability but hast wherewithall to do it 28. Say not unto thy neighbour Go and come again and to morrow I will give when thou hast it by thee 28. And as thou wouldst not have God to defer his help in such distresses as I spake of v. 25 26. so do not thou put off thy Neighbour when he begs a kindness of thee saying I cannot now come another time to morrow thou shalt see what I will doe for thee when if thou hadst a heart to it thou couldst supply him now as well as then and who can tell what shall be to morrow 29. Devise not evil against thy neighbour seeing he dwelleth securely by thee 29. And let not the quietness of any Man's temper much less the confidence he hath of thy honesty and goodness tempt thee to contrive any mischief to him for the more securely he relies on thy vertue and the less mistrust he hath of any harm from thee the greater wickedness it will be so much as to have it in thy thoughts to doe him any injury 30. ¶ Strive not with a man without cause if he have done thee no harm 30. ¶ For instance do not bring false Actions against any Neighbour nor vex him with causless or unnecessary Suits at Law no nor so much as pretend a cause for quarrelling and falling out with him when he hath done nothing to deserve it of thee 31. ¶ Envy thou not the oppressour and chuse none of his ways 31. ¶ And what though thou shouldst see men thrive by oppression and violence let not that provoke thee to emulate them that is to wish thy self in their condition by imitating them in any of their injurious proceedings 32. For the froward is abomination to the LORD but his secret is with the righteous 32. For he that perversely departs from all the rules of truth and justice is above all expression abominable to the Lord even in his highest prosperity but the Lord is a Friend to men of sincere integrity who know the secret of his Providence in raising those wicked Oppressours so high that they may have the more dreadfull fall 33. ¶ The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked but he blesseth the habitation of the just 33. ¶ The evil doer is under the curse of the Lord though he live in the most stately Palace but just and good men ought to look upon themselves as under his care and blessing and therefore very happy in the meanest Cottage 34. ¶ Surely he scorneth the scorners but he giveth grace to the lowly 34. ¶ Those proud Oppressours and Scoffers at good Men he will undoubtedly not onely confound but expose to scorn and make them ridiculous in the eyes of the World but cause the humble modest and meek who bare even their insolent scoffs patiently to be had in honour and highly esteemed 35. The wise shall inherit glory but shame shall be the promotion of fools 35. They may be despised and debased for a time but in the issue they shall be accounted the onely wise Men and leave an excellent never-dying fame behind them when those impious Men shall be famous for nothing but the shame and disgrace that shall fall upon them CHAP. IV. ARGUMENT The dulness sluggishness and forgetfulness of Mankind in their principal concernments are so notorious that we need not wonder the Wise Man repeats the very same things and quickens our attention to them in the beginning of this Chapter Which he thought necessary to excite again v. 10. and again v. 20. because all his pains he knew would be lost without serious consideration of what he said and the very first step to Wisedom is to have a mind to be wise And to make his Exhortations the more acceptable he acquaints the Reader with the Lessons which his own Father and Mother were wont to teach him v. 3 4 c. and the great benefit he had received by them Which gave him the greater confidence to press every one to follow his example of obsequiousness to good counsels as the surest way to be happy and by no means to imitate the examples of the wicked from which he disswades by many arguments v. 14 15 c. and beseeches they may be so duly pondered v. 20 21 c. that they produce in every one a watchfulness over his heart his mouth his eyes his feet as may be seen in the conclusion of the Chapter The whole Chapter from v. 4. may be conceived to be the words of David as well as Solomon's But I have extended David's advice no further than unto v. 10. and there make Solomon to resume his exhortation and urge upon his Son what his Father had taught him There is one Proverbial speech in v. 27. which needs no explication Some would have another v. 16. but I can see no reason for it The Principal Instructions in this Chapter are these The care that Parents ought to take to instruct their Children diligently and the greater they are suppose Princes the more accurate ought their Education to be as Solomon's was v. 3 4 c. And above all things the excellence of Wisedom and Vertue is to be inculcated for this excites a desire of it and that 's the very beginning of it as some
praises the fear of the Lord which may have this sense also that her vertues commend Religion unto others Religion it self is honoured by her excellent vertues which are so exemplary that they make others in love with them as well as with her I conclude all with the Observation of Melancthon that this Description which he calls Speculum honestae Matronae is altogether simple and plain without any such allegories as Simonides used who said he was happy that married a wife like a Bee and that all this in a manner is comprehended by the Apostle in those words to Timothy 1. II. ult she shall be saved in Child-bearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety Faith saith he is the acknowledgment of the true God and confidence in his Son Jesus Christ that is belief of the whole Gospel out of which springs the love of God and from thence the love of her Husband and Children and then holiness or sanctification which is that vertue we call chastity and lastly temperance as he translates it moderation in meat and drink or rather all manner of sober behaviour and prudence in the Government of the family and in the moderation of all sorts of expences c. which things the Apostle particularly mentions because in the enumeration of Vertues it is the manner of the holy Writers to name those onely which are most proper and sutable to every ones state and vocation 1. THE words of king Lemuel the prophecy that his mother taught him 1. UNto those Sayings of Agur let these of King Lemuel be added and considered which are weighty Sentences also XXX 1. which his Mother taught him with such authority as if she had been a Prophetess See Arg. a 2. What my son and what the son of my womb and what the son of my vows 2. And with no less tenderness and affection also saying Hearken my Dear Son for whose well-doing O how much am I concerned I want words to express the care I have about it I am at a loss how to instruct thee according to my wishes what shall I desire thee to doe for my sake who indured so much for thee when I carried thee in my womb and brought thee forth from thence what shall I pray thee to doe for whom I have made so many prayers to God and vows too if I might but see thee come safe into the world and grow to be a man and sit upon a Throne See Arg. b 3. Give not thy strength unto women nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings 3. In the first place let me prevail with thee as thou lovest me and as thou lovest thy self to be chaste in thy desires of bodily pleasures and not to give up thy self to follow thy lust after women which will destroy the strength of thy body weaken thy mind and exhaust thy treasures that is engage thee in such courses as are the bane of Kings and by making them neglect their Government have brought many of them and their Kingdoms to utter ruin See Arg. c 4. It is not for kings O Lemuel it is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes strong drink 4. And next to this O Lemuel Kings of all other men Kings I say should be sparing very sparing in the use of wine and of all other intoxicating drink and so should their Counsellours and Commanders of Armies and Judges and all other Ministers and Officers See Arg. d 5. Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted 5. For they may injure more than themselves when they are in drink If a Cause for instance be brought before a Prince or a Judge and his thoughts are confused by the fumes of wine he may quite forget the standing Rules whereby he ought to determine it and things appearing to him quite otherwise wise than they are he may not onely judge amiss but unjustly condemn those that ought to have been acquitted and undoe poor and afflicted people by giving away their right when the comfort of their whole life depends upon his justice 6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine to those that be of heavy hearts 6. If the liberal use of wine and strong drink is to be indulg'd to any body it is to those miserable wretches and the meaner sort of persons whom it may be charity to comfort therewith when they are in danger to perish for want of the necessary supports of life or are oppressed with grief and sorrow in any other deplorable condition See Arg. e 7. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more 7. Then bring forth plenty of wine and set it before such a disconfolate person let him drink freely till he hath cheered his heart and raised his drooping spirits and be able to think of something else beside his poverty and misery nay till he be so merry as quite to forget the cares and wearisome labours that it brings upon him 8. Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction 8. And that 's the third thing I beg of thee to administer justice exactly to all thy Subjects and not merely commit the care of it unto others but sit thy self upon the bench and if thou seest a man in danger to lose his right because he is not able to make it out and through fear or ignorance or want of elocution cannot speak for himself keep not silence but undertake his defence especially if it be the cause of strangers who understand not the Laws and perhaps are in danger to suffer some great damage in their bodies credits or estates See Arg. f 9. Open thy mouth judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy 9. And when thou hast cleared the righteousness of their cause fear not to pronounce the sentence boldly according as the Laws require Let no man perswade thee to admit of delays but bring the business to a speedy issue that he who is poor nay a mere beggar may neither be oppressed by doing him injustice or by deferring to doe him right 10. ¶ Who can find a vertuous woman for her price is far above rubies 10. ¶ And now next to this I shall commend a good Wise unto thee In the choice of whom a singular care ought to be employed But alas such a woman as I would have is scarce and hard to be found One that is not onely industrious but pious and can command her self as well as govern her family being inricht with all those vertuous qualities which make her far more valuable than all the pearls or precious stones that women love to be adorned withall See Arg. g 11. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil 11. I can onely give the character of her which may serve to direct others as well as
calamity of a Son both because the affection of a Mother is more soft and tender and perchance is conscious to her self that by too much indulgence she hath tainted and corrupted his tender years She is more at home also it may be added and therefore having her Son's folly more in her eye hath a greater share in the grief that it causes But this is not to be too much pressed I think for both of them have such a share either in the joy or in the sorrow that it is as hard to distinguish between them constantly as it is to make a difference between the joy and grief for the well or ill doing of a Son and the well or ill doing of a Daughter which may be and oft times are equal And therefore I have but just touched upon this in my Paraphrase of the first verse Concerning which I shall note this further that whether these Instructions were written with a peculiar respect to the education of Solomon's own Son or indifferently for all it was most judiciously done to begin with such as this first part chiefly consists of there being so great a necessity as the forenamed Writer observes in his VIIth Book Chap. 3. that men drink deeply all pious and moral knowledge before they taste of politick that they who are bred up in the Courts of Princes and in affairs of State from tender years rarely attain to inward and sincere probity of manners For not being seasoned with Religion and the Doctrine of manners and offices of life their judgments are corrupted and made to think that there are no true and solid moral differences of things but all things are to be measured by utility and success And in this false opinion they are the more immovably settled if to ill education there be added the fewel of bad Books which all those will reject with disdain who shall be so happy as to make this Book their early study In which there follow here immediately and very properly some Instructions about getting riches and about the keeping and using them aright v. 2 3 c. that a curse may not be intailed upon them and descend with them unto our children And then v. 7. a memorable observation is annexed b which Plato as Eusebius observes translated into his VIIth Book of Laws concerning the fame of good and bad men after they are dead About which the same great man before named the Lord Bacon hath this Note in the same VIIIth Book Parab 8. That the Name of good men after Envy is extinguisht which cropt the blossome of their Fame while they were alive presently shoots up and flourisheth and their Praises daily increase in strength and vigour But for wicked men though their fame through the partial favour of Friends and of men of their own faction may last for a little time a detestation of their name springs up not long after and at last those vanishing praises end in infamy and like bodies that putrifie expire in a filthy and noisome odour And thus the LXX in this place instead of the memory of the just is blessed or is with blessing or benediction have these words the memory of the just is with encomiums or praises which is the true explication of the phrase And accordingly the Church commemorates the Saints of God recounting their worthy deeds and praising Him for them Of which see Mr. Mede Discourse XXII The rest of the Chapter consists of mixt observations concerning the difference between wise men and fools idle persons and diligent ill-natured people and those who are candid and kind v. 12. and especially between the vices and vertues of the tongue and their rewards and punishments v. 13 14 c. And one remarkable observation is inserted v. 22. which belongs to c that head of diligence and laboriousness upon which he remembers us no man is so to depend as to imagin to obtain what he would have by that alone but to look up to God as the donour of all good things and giving success to our industry Which was a thing little thought of by heathens who were too prone to imagin all things requisite unto happiness to be placed in themselves But the Scriptures every where inculcate this that it is God who gives wisedom to the wise and victory to the valiant and riches to the diligent and good success to the prudent and potent c. d Vnto which add that observation also v. 24. which may be further improved than is expressed in the Paraphrase to this sense that wicked men many times draw upon themselves that which they feared by those very means whereby they study to avoid them An Example of which as Bochartus observes in his Phaleg L. I. c. 16. Part. 1. we have in those that built the Tower of Babel who for fear of dispersion designed to build a City and a Tower saying Go to let us build c. lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth XI Gen. 4. But God so ordered it that this very attempt was the occasion of their dispersion and brought what they feared sooner upon them atque ipsum mali remedium illis cessit in periculum the very remedy of the evil they would have avoided leading them directly into it R. Levi hath an observation that the precepts of Wisedom from the beginning of this Chapter to the 10th verse of the XVIIIth are in a manner all concerning the danger of several sorts of vice and wickedness and afterward they are all concerning other subjects Which how true it is I shall there consider 1. THE proverbs of Solomon A wise son maketh a glad father but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother 1. LET the Father's care in educating his Children especially his Son the Heir of his Family be equal to the joy he will have in their well doing and let the Mother beware that her indulgence do not spoil them for she will have the greatest share in the heaviness which their untowardness will give them See Arg. a 2. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing but righteousness delivereth from death 2. This is more necessary than the care of heaping up riches for them which many times tempt men to fraud and oppression for though great treasures be gotten by such means they will be so far from availing the owners in time of distress that they will rather expose them to be a prey when justice and mercy with a little wealth will procure safety and deliverance from the greatest dangers 3. The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish but he casteth away the substance of the wicked 3. The reason is the Lord hath Treasures in store for the just especially for the mercifull man and will send him such supplies in his straits that he shall not starve but rather have enough But He will drive the wicked out of their ill-gotten possessions whereby they think to secure themselves
molest others But I can see no reason why Maldonate should favour the LXX Translation who against the stream of all other Interpreters apply these words to an ungodly man's digging up evil to himself as if the meaning were he digs a pit for himself and the words he speaks are the cause of his punishment as if he were burnt unless it proceeded from his fondness for the Spanish Inquisition which he was desirous to introduce every where The very best of them it appears by him who was one of the most learned and judicious Interpreters in the Romish Church are most devoutly bent to our destruction For he cannot forbear here to alledge that Inquisition as a proof of Solomon's words Id exemplo Inquisitionis Hispanicae perspicuum est c. This is apparent by the example of the Spanish Inquisition whereby he that speaks any thing rashly against the faith is deservedly delivered to the fire which I WISH WERE DONE EVERY WHERE Thus in the most literal sense this Jesuits lips are as a burning fire in which he would have us not onely singed but devoured in pursuance of this Maxim of Solomon Which others honestly interpret of those calumnies discords seditions which evil men raise by their tongues to the destruction of their neighbours For so it follows v. 28. A froward man soweth strife c. 1. THE preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is from the LORD 1. MEN may deliberate and contrive and order in their mind what and in what manner and method they will speak but whether they shall perswade and prevail or no for such an Answer as they expect nay be able to deliver themselves with such elocution as they imagine cannot be resolved by them but depends upon the pleasure of the Lord. See Arg. a 2. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes but the LORD weigheth the spirits 2. Such is the blindness of self-love that men can find no fault in themselves but imagine all that they contrive and doe to be free from blame which when the Lord examines who searches into the very intentions of mens hearts is found to be very defective if not vitious 3. Commit thy works unto the LORD and thy thoughts shall be established 3. When thou undertakest any thing implore the Divine blessing and committing the success of it to God's Providence leave it to Him to give what issue to it He pleases which is the surest way to have thy honest designs accomplished 4. The LORD hath made all things for himself yea even the wicked for the day of evil 4. The Lord disposeth all things throughout the world to serve such ends as He thinks fit to design which they cannot refuse to comply withall For if any men be so wicked as to oppose his Will he will not lose their service but when He brings a publick calamity upon a Country employ them to be the executioners of his wrath See Arg. b 5. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD though hand joyn in hand he shall not be unpunished 5. There is no man so great but if his mind grow lofty and arrogant forgetting God and insolently oppressing his neighbour he is hatefull beyond all expression unto the Lord who will take vengeance on him and pull him down though he make never such strong confederacies to support himself for if he avoid one punishment another shall overtake him nay his wickedness shall pursue him from generation to generation XI 21. 6. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil 6. The most effectual means to appease mens anger for private offences or to divert the anger of God in publick calamities is to exercise mercy and loving kindness with justice and faithfull performance of promises especially when they proceed from an awfull regard to God and Religious dread of his displeasure which will make a man carefull to decline every thing that is evil and thereby escape the punishment that attends upon it 7. When a mans wayes please the LORD he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him 7. The best to have our enemies reconciled unto us is for us first to be reconciled unto God for such is the reverence men bear to Vertue and such is the love which the Lord hath to vertuous persons that when all their designs and actions are such as He approves He inclines even those that were their foes to become their friends 8. Better is a little with righteousness then great revenues without right 8. A small estate honestly gotten and charitably enjoyed is much to be preferred before vast incomes heaped up by oppression and kept without hospitality 9. A mans heart deviseth his way but the LORD directeth his steps 9. The mind of man designs an end and contrives what means to use and reckons perhaps what success they will have but the Lord determines what the event shall be and orders his motions perhaps to such an issue as never came into his thoughts 10. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king his mouth transgresseth not in judgment 10. God is present in a singular manner unto a pious King inspiring his mind to divine sagatiously in dubious and obscure things that his resolutions and decrees may be received like Oracles and all causes be decided by him so justly and exactly that no man be wrong'd in the judgment which he passes See Arg. c 11. A just weight and balance are the LORDS all the weights of the bag are his work 11. And it is worthy of his care that there be no corruption in private no more than in publick justice for it also is of divine Institution the great Lord of all requiring just and equal dealings in all our commerce one with another which He hath ordained should be managed with scrupulous integrity in the smallest as well as in the greatest matters 12. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness for the throne is established by righteousness It is not enough to good Kings that they doe no injury but they abominate with the highest detestation all oppression cruelty extortion c. not onely in themselves but in others for they know that Justice Mercy and true Religion support their authority and make their Kingdoms durable 13. Righteous lips are the delight of kings and they love him that speaketh right 13. And calumniators or flatterers find no acceptance with such Princes but they delight in those that will not deceive them by false unjust and malicious informations and make him their favourite who deals sincerely and tells them the truth though it may seem ungratefull to them 14. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death but a wise man will pacifie it 14. The wrath of a King strikes such terrour into him with whom he is offended as if the sentence of death were pronounced against him
between things holy and common but converts that which was consecrated to God the first fruits suppose or such-like sacred things to his own proper use And secondly when he vows in his distress to give something unto God but having obtained his desires studies how he may be loosed from his obligations See Arg. l 26. A wise king scattereth the wicked and bringeth the wheel over them 26. Such impious persons can no more stand before a Religious Prince than the chaff before the wind but he disperses them all and thrashes them as we speak so severely that the Country is clean purged and freed from such wicked wretches See Arg. m 27. The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD searching all the inward parts of the belly 27. That active spirit which the Lord hath breathed into man is like a torch lighted at the divine understanding to guide and direct him in all his motions and to make reflexions upon them afterward nay to penetrate also into the most secret designs of other men that he may not be deceived by them See Arg. n 28. Mercy and truth preserve the King and his throne is upholden by mercy 28. The best and strongest Guards for the preservation of a Prince's Person and for the security of his Government are bounty and clemency joined with justice and faithfulness to his Word and if either of the two be of greater force than the other for their support and maintenance it is an high degree of bounty and benignity which settles him fast in all mens affections and intails the kingdom upon his posterity See Arg. o 29. The glory of young men is their strength and the beauty of old men is the gray head 29. That which makes young men honoured is their strength and vigour and courage whereby they are capable to serve for the defence of their Country but that which makes old men venerable is their aged gravity and experience which qualifies them to advise and consult for its safety 30. The blewness of a wound cleanseth away evil so doe stripes the inward parts of the belly 30. It is impossible to mend some persons without blows and those not gentle neither but severe And therefore though it be a very sharp and grievous remedy which they by all means avoid it must not be forborn but they are rather to be beaten black and blew and scourged till their very hearts ake than not be cleansed from their impurity See Arg. p CHAP. XXI ARGUMENT This Chapter begins with a Sentence which Themistius a Pagan Philosopher and Oratour seems to take notice of and mention as very memorable in the Assyrian as he is supposed to call the Hebrew Writings and commends to the thoughts of the Emperour Valens in a speech he made to him Orat. IX But if he had respect to this Proverb of Solomon's he did not fully comprehend the sense of it for he takes notice onely of a Prince's mind being in the custody and under the guard of God For thus he translates it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mind of the King is kept in safe custody in the hand of God From whence he draws this Inference that a King ought to be very sensible what danger he is in if he go about any thing contrary to the mind of God because he then is in peril to fall out of the hand which preserves and keeps him Nay thou oughtst O King saith he not onely to design nothing thy self but what is holy but they that are about thee ought to speak to thee nothing that is not so For every word that comes to thy ears is written in his uncorrupted hand But though this be a most excellent Admonition worthy to be written in the hearts of all Princes that it is very unbecoming to have any evil thing any thing impure or in the least blemished with cruelty or inhumanity in that heart which those most holy and most gracious and benign hands of God carry in their keeping yet there is a great deal more than these Assyrian Letters or Pictures which he speaks of express For Solomon would have them and us sensible that they cannot manage things by their power as they think good but depend upon an higher cause who orders all their motions good and bad to such ends as He proposes to himself quite contrary to their intentions and inclinations Which is an Instruction sufficient to correct the pride of the most absolute Monarch and the impatience of the most oppressed Subject b Next to which follows v. 2. a caution against thinking too well of our selves which had been delivered before XVI 2. but for the weightiness I suppose of the matter and the proneness of men to flatter themselves and not to judge sincerely of their own actions is here again repeated And then there is a caution added v. 3. against Hypocrisie which thinks to please God with ceremonies without moral honesty c In the fourth verse the meaning is something uncertain from the different acceptions of the word ner or nir which the Greek the Latin and other Interpreters translate not ploughing or ploughed fields but the light the splendour of the wicked I have had respect to both senses understanding by ploughing the study contrivance and business of wicked men And the Sentence may be inverted in this manner sin is the pride the ambition the glory and joy or the business of wicked men That upon which they value themselves and for which they think themselves brave fellows c. is that they dare doe wickedly or we may make two Sentences of this verse to this purpose men that have proud and lofty thoughts have very ambitious desires and an unsatiable appetite which put them upon much wickedness nay the very business and employment of all wicked men as well as their pleasure is nothing but sin And this word ner signifying a yoke among the Chaldaeans Syrians and Arabians Lud. de Dieu thinks this no improper sense superciliousness and swelling of the heart or mind is a yoke intolerable and proper to the wicked Castalio alone understands by sin the effects of sin to this sense pride and haughtiness of mind are deadly enemies to that happiness and pleasure which the wicked pursue for instead of making them greater as they fancy they lay them low in all mens opinions and expose them to their hatred c. I omit other Interpretations d In the seventh verse there are different opinions about the force of the word jegorem most of which I have endeavoured to express in the Paraphrase And there is no little obscurity in the next verse but besides that sense which I have represented the words are capable of another which is as plain viz. as the man is so are his works a man of tricks will act strangely quite different from all the rules whereby we ought to govern our selves but an honest man you may know where to have for he acts conformable to
are near to a final destruction This wicked temper of mind he expresses by hardning the neck which is a Metaphor as Bochartus truly observes L. III. de Sacr. Animal C. 41. P. 1. taken from Oxen who being put forward draw back and withdraw their necks and shoulders from the yoke and sometimes are so headstrong and stiffnecked that they cannot be brought to submit to it unto which the Scripture often alludes both in the Old Testament and the New for instance XXXII Exod. 9. VII Act. 51. And hither belong those expressions XLVIII Isa 4. where he saith his people had an iron sinew c. and that in V. Jer. 5. where he saith they had broken the yoke and burst the bonds b Then follows a tacit Admonition unto Princes to be good by describing the happiness which a Nation then enjoys which they had noted twice before in the foregoing Chapter v. 12. and 28. but thought it so considerable and so needfull that they insert it here again and the latter part of it once more v. 16. Being a famous observation of his father David XII Psal 9. where he takes notice how the wicked flourish and go about confidently into every place nay take the liberty to doe as they list when men of no account are exalted to power who take no care to oppose growing wickedness and to keep every man within the bounds of his duty c And after an Admonition v. 3. that the study of Wisedom is the onely preservative against the lust of uncleanness which in the preface to this Book it is observed destroys abundance of young mea and their estates also for lust is very blind and very prodigal the next observation v. 4. is concerning Kings again where ish Terumoth which we translate a man that receiveth gifts is in the Hebrew phrase a man of oblations For so the word Terumoth always signifies throughout the whole Bible the heave offerings which were offered to God which would make one think that ish Terumoth a man of heave offerings signifies here a Prince that is sacrilegious and robs the Church of its proper goods or if we will not take it in that strict sense it denotes one that will suffer himself to be pacified by gifts and bribed to wink at the most enormous crimes which he ought to have severely punished or that is so unjust as to find fault perhaps with the most innocent persons on purpose that they may appease him by offering him a part of their estate to save all the rest one or other of these is the most literal exposition of the words But I have contented my self with the LXX who render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to use onely general expressions in the Paraphrase which include all these and whatsoever else that is contrary to the duty of his office Rabbi Solomon doth not differ much from the sense of the LXX when he translates it a proud man who heaves and lifts up himself in his own thoughts imagining he is above all laws and not bound to observe them d In the next verse v. 5. I have not wholly neglected the sense of the LXX who refer the last clause to the flatterer himself who cannot escape the hatred of those whom he hath ruin'd by his pernicious praises or base compliances with all their humours c. which is more fully expressed in the following Sentence v. 6. where I have interpreted one part of the verse by the other e And then seems to follow again a double admonition to Princes or those that govern under them First not through laziness or contempt to refuse to examin a poor man's complaint and doe him right v. 7. secondly not through prophaneness pride or carelesness to scorn admonitions especially any warning that is given of danger c. v. 8. For when he says the righteous considers the cause of the poor he seems to mean a righteous Prince or Judge and so I have explained it in the Paraphrase for who else is to consider of the din as it is in the Hebrew the cause of the poor which is to be judged None but they and the Advocates who are to plead it all which persons are obliged in conscience to search into the truth of things not to be sparing of their pains though matters be intricate though the labour be like to be long though they shall get nothing by it to find out the bottom of a business which he that refuses to doe nay perhaps rejects the complaint of the poor or beats them off with bugg words or out of the hardness of his heart or the love of ease or fear of great men or any other respect will not give them audience or not consider and redress their grievance Solomon pronounces him a wicked an impious person and accordingly God will proceed against him f Such men indeed may scorn these threatnings nay laugh at them but thereby they will endanger the bringing all things into confusion as Solomon observes in the succeeding words v. 8. where men of scorn as it is in the Hebrew signifie such as mock at Religion and at all things that are serious whom the LXX call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lawless pestilent men that regard neither God nor man but onely their own wicked humour which brings the Kingdom or place where they live into the greatest danger Which we express by the word insnare and other Translations by words of the like import which I have expressed in the Paraphrase but shall not mention here because I would leave room to insert the most admirable discourse of the Lord Bacon upon this verse It may seem strange saith he B. VIII Advanc of Learn Chap. II. Par. 12. that in the description of men made and framed as it were by nature to the ruin and destruction of a State Solomon hath chosen the character not of a proud and insolent man not of a tyrannical and cruel not of a rash and violent not of an impious and lewd not of an unjust and oppressive not of a seditious and turbulent not of an incontinent and voluptuous no nor of a foolish and unable person but of a SCORNER But this is a judgment most worthy the wisedom of that great King who best knew the causes of the conservation or subversion of a State For there is not commonly the like plague unto Kingdoms and Common-wealths as when Counsellours or Senatours and such as sit at the helm of government are by nature scorners For first such persons that they may win the reputation of undaunted Statesmen do ever extenuate the greatness of dangers and insult over those who give them their just weight as timorous and faint hearted people Secondly they scoff at all mature delays and meditated debatings of matters by consultation and deliberation as a thing too much tasting of an oratory vein and full of tediousness but nothing conducing to the summe and issue of business As for Fame thirdly at which
a Princes Counsels should especially level they contemn it as the spittle of the vulgar and a thing that will quickly be blown over The power and authority of Laws fourthly they regard not at all but look upon them as Cob-webs that ought not to stop matters of consequence Fifthly counsels and precautions foreseeing of events afar off they reject as mere dreams and melancholy apprehensions Sixthly men truly prudent and well seen in affairs of great resolution and counsel they defame with gibes and jests In a word they do at once overturn all the foundations of civil Government which is the more to be attended because they secretly undermine it and do not assault it by open force And it is a practice which is not yet so suspected among men as it deserves g The latter end of the next verse v. 9. some refer to the fool others to the wise man They that refer it to the fool understand it two ways much to the same purpose Some thus the fool will alway be angry or deride so that the wise man cannot put in a word Others thus the wise man shall be either irritated or derided by the fool perpetually As much as to say he shall get nothing if he contend with a fool but either to be derided or provoked to anger by him This I have taken some notice of in my Paraphrase but the other being the most common opinion that he speaks of the way of a wise man's dealing with a fool I have principally regarded And the Lord Bacon hath made this very pertinent reflexion upon it in the forenamed Book and place Parab 3. which it will be profitable to set down here It is accounted a wise rule not to contend with our betters but it is a no less usefull admonition which Solomon here gives us not to contend with a worthless person whom we cannot meddle withall but upon disadvantageous terms For to overcome is no victory but to be conquered a foul disgrace And it is all one in the management of this contention whether we deal sometime in a jesting way with him and sometime in a way of disdain and scorn For which way soever we turn we shall come off with the loss of our credit and not be able handsomely to disengage our selves But the worst of all is when the person with whom we contend hath something of the fool in him as Solomon speaks That is if he be both witless and wilfull have some heart but no brain h The tenth verse I have expounded of a Magistrate that hath the courage to make inquisition after and prosecute notorious offenders and in the latter part of it have put two senses together As I have done also in the next v. 11. where the word Ruach Spirit being differently interpreted hath produced several expositions For some take it to signifie anger others to signifie words or the sense of the mind They that take it for anger expound it thus A fool shews all his anger immediately but a wise man keeps it in till he hath a fitting opportunity to express it most to purpose If we understand it of words the sense is a fool blurts out every thing that comes in his head but a wise man speaks onely as much as is necessary If it signifie the sense of the mind then this is the meaning a fool utters all that he knows but a wise man conceals many things But the great person before named in the same Chapter Parab 15. thinks none of these hit the mark For this Parable saith he corrects principally not the futility of vain men who utter easily as well what ought to be kept secret as what may be spoken nor the bold liberty of such as without discretion and judgment fly upon all men and upon all matters nor talkativeness which troubles others even to a surfeit but another vice more close and retired viz. that government of discourse which of all other is not prudent and politick And that is when a man so orders his discourse in private conferences as whatsoever is in his mind which he conceives any way pertinent to his purpose out it comes at once and as it were in one breath and in a continued speech This is that which doth much prejudice business For first a speech broken off by inter locutions and instilled by parts penetrates deeper than that which is continued because that in a continued discourse the weight of things is not precisely and distinctly taken nor by some convenient pauses suffered to fix but one reason drives out another before it be throughly settled in the mind of the hearer Secondly there is no man master of such powerfull and happy eloquence as to be able at the very first dash as we speak to strike him dumb and altogether speechless with whom he discourses but he will have something to answer and perhaps to object on the other side And then it falls out that those things which should have been reserved for replication and refutation being disclosed already and tasted beforehand by this unadvised anticipation quite lose their strength and their grace Thirdly if a man do not pour out all he hath to say at once but deliver himself by parcels now one thing and anon casting in another he shall perceive by the looks and the answer of him with whom he discourses how every particular passage affects him and what acceptance they find with him so as what is yet remaining to be spoken he may with the greater caution either suppress or select what is to his purpose Thus that great person who herein hath followed the LXX who express the sense rather than translate the words in this manner a man void of understanding brings out his whole mind but a wise man dispenses it part by part i The like observation he makes upon the next verse v. 12. where by lyes or words of falshood as the Hebrew hath it the LXX truly understand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an unjust report that hurts our neighbour by calumnies or false accusations as the word commonly signifies in Scripture particularly Psal LII unto which if a Ruler lend his ear he will never want lewd Informers or rather Slanderers in his Court to work upon that inclination Melancthon hath observed upon this verse that the love of lyes as he translates it comprehends a great many vices according as there are divers sorts of lies which are all repugnant to that eminent Vertue of Truth in which a Prince ought to excell viz. vanity or perfidiousness breach of promises calumnies suspicions sophistry which defends bad causes by colourable pretences to please great men and perswades the Prince by plausible arguments that he is tied to no rules unto any of which if a Prince be inclined his Ministers will not fail to make him break his word perpetually to abuse him with false stories to infuse into his mind unjust suspicions and to find colours for any thing though never so
and right takes the most illegal courses to inrich himself subverts it utterly though it be never so well settled See Arg. c 5. A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet 5. He that sooths up his neighbour by commending all that he doth though never so directly against his interest is so far from being his friend as he imagins that he is a traitour to him and leads him unawares into such dangers that when he finds himself perplexed in them he will treat that flatterer as his greatest enemy See Arg. d 6. In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare but the righteous doth sing and rejoyce 6. A naughty man hath an heavy heart at last when he finds himself undone by those very arts whereby he thought to have ruin'd others but pious men are always cheerfull nay full of joy both to think that they are in safe and secure ways and to see the evil doer caught in his own wickedness 7. The righteous considereth the cause of the poor but the wicked regardeth not to know it 7. A righteous man when he is in authority not onely readily receives and patiently weighs the complaints of the poorest person but is at the pains to study his cause that he may fully understand it and doe him right though he thereby incurr hatred to himself from the adverse party but a wicked man will not attend unto it or not use due care to be well instructed in it See Arg. e 8. Scornfull men bring a city into a snare but wise men turn away wrath 8. There are no greater fools than Scorners who by laughing at all things serious whether sacred or civil put a Kingdom into combustion when it is disposed to be quiet nay turn things topsy-turvy and indanger its utter ruin unless good and cautious men prevent it who by their piety turn away the divine vengeance and by their prudence and other vertues divert the fury of men which those scorners have raised See Arg. f 9. If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man whether he rage or laugh there is no rest 9. Let a man be never so wise it is to no purpose for him to dispute or to enter into any contest with an obstinate fool for which way soever he deal with him whether roughly or gently whether angrily or pleasantly there will be no end of the controversie but the fool will still have the last word nay it is well if he do not either restlessly rage or laugh one to scorn See Arg. g 10. The bloud-thirsty hate the upright but the just seek his soul 10. Men enormously wicked who stick not to kill those that oppose their desires above all others hate and would destroy an upright Magistrate whose integrity makes him courageously indeavour to bring them to condign punishment but such a person all vertuous men love the more heartily and labour to defend and preserve from their violence or to revenge his death if he should perish by them See Arg. h 11. A fool uttereth all his mind but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards 11. A fool is so inconsiderately transported by his passion or conceit of himself that when he comes to treat of any business he can put no stop to his discourse but runs on till he hath poured out all that he thinks upon that Subject but a wise man represses the heat and forwardness of his spirit that he may pause and take time to declare his mind not altogether but by parcels See Arg. h 12. If a ruler hearken to lies all his servants are wicked 12. A Prince who hearkens to the false suggestions of those that tell him he may doe what he pleases or who easily believes without any examination all the stories and accusations that are brought him against others fills his whole Court with so many wicked men that it is hard to find an honest Minister or Officer among them See Arg. i 13. The poor and the deceitfull man meet together the LORD lightneth both their eyes 13. The world is made up of several sorts of men of poor for instance who are fain to borrow and of rich who lend them money and perhaps oppress them but these would all agree well enough when they meet together if they would but consider that there is one LORD who makes the Sun to shine equally on all and who intends all should live happily though in an unequal condition See XXII 2. 14. The king that faithfully judgeth the poor his throne shall be established for ever 14. A King that administers justice equally to all his Subjects and cannot be moved by the power or interest of the greatest persons to deny it to the meanest but faithfully and sincerely sets himself to help the poor to their right or to defend them from violence and wrong takes the surest course to settle himself in the affections of his people and continue his Kingdom for many generations 15. The rod and reproof give wisedom but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame 15. The way to make a Child wise and vertuous is not onely to instruct him in his duty but to check him when he is in fault and that not merely by reproof but by the sharp discipline of the rod when the other will doe no good for if he be left to follow his own will or rather to wander after his own inclinations without such restraints he will prove in all likelihood a disgrace to his mother by whose indulgence he was spoiled nay fly perhaps in her face and openly reproach her X. 1. 16. When the wicked are multiplied transgression increaseth but the righteous shall see their fall 16. When the wicked grow numerous by growing great v. 2. men take the greater license to transgress and wickedness increases by having authority on its side but let not the righteous hereby be discouraged for the wickeder men are the shorter is their reign and they that preserve their vertue shall have the pleasure to behold their downfall 17. Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest yea he shall give delight unto thy soul 17. It may seem most for thy ease to let thy Child alone without giving him correction or reproof but let me advise thee to put thy self to this trouble to save thy self a greater viz. many anxious and restless thoughts which his ill doing will raise in thee or rather to give thy self the highest delight when by thy care of his education he proves a great ornament unto thee 18. Where there is no vision the people perish but he that keepeth the law happy is he 18. Where there are none to instruct the people and expound the will of God unto them they first grow idle and careless and then run into all licentiousness till growing refractory and ungovernable they be abandoned by God to destruction but when they are not onely well taught but also strictly observe the Laws