that labour, industry, and ingenious arts, be encou- [1] After the consideration of these four little crea- 3 ensue. defending what we have done amiss, much less making such complaints of others, &c. For (as I have expressed in the paraphrase, ver. last) by insisting upon our innocence, or charging others, or exaggerating faults, very great mischiefs may But these two verses may be connected with that which precedes, (though I have not been bold to do it, because interpreters go the other way); and ver. 32. may be an advice to subjects, if they have offended their prince any way, and been so foolish as to oppose him, not to persist in their error, much less to defend it, and clamour upon the government, &c. but sit down in silence, bewailing the guilt, and imploring a pardon. And then, ver. 33. may be looked upon as advice to princes, not to oppress their subjects, and thereby provoke them to rebel against them. The vulgar Latin, seems to refer both to princes; for thus runs the sense of ver. 32. according to that translation, (which I cannot indeed reconcile well with the Hebrew). It sometimes happens, that he who is advanced on high, (to a throne suppose), appears to be a fool; who if he had understood, viz. his danger, or his folly, or what had been best for him, would have put bis hand upon his mouth; that is, never have desired that dignity which perhaps he earnestly sought. And, though I know not how to justify this translation, it agrees well. with what follows, (which may well be applied unto princes), that it is great folly to strain things too far. Either the laws, which, if extended to the utmost rigour, will, by such hard construction, become the bane of human society, or their taxes and exactions beyond what the people can bear. For by squeezing them too much, most dangerous. seditions and rebellions have happened under excellent princes. And thus Melancthon understands the beginning of this verse, (ver. 33.), that empires and governments ought to be moderate, according to two excellent sayings of Plato and Solon, which he alledges; and then concludes that anger also ought to be repressed, (according to the admonition in the last words), lest public discords arise, which draw after them vast ruins; and oft-times arise from light causes, which ought to have been mollified and cured by some moderation, and not exasperated into a flame. Ver. 1. THE words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy; the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal.] Here now follow some memorable sayings of Agur, who was the son of Jakeh, out of whose works these weighty sentences were collected, which he uttered like a prophetical teacher to Ithiel, one of his most eminent scholars, and to Ucal, another of them, but especially to the former. See Arg. [a] [c] Ver. 2. Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.] Who admiring his wisdom, and desiring to be resolved in D many difficulties, Agur modestly and humbly said, Do not call me wise; for I am so far from that acuteness which is natural to him who excels in wisdom, that I am stupid in comparison with such a person; nay, I cannot arrogate to myself the understanding of a common man. See Arg. [b] [c] Ver. 3. I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.] And as for improvements, which are made by the help of knowing persons, I have not had the advantages of many other men; for I was never brought up in the schools of the prophets, where I might have learned some wisdom; much less have I received the knowledge of such sacred mysteries as thou inquirest after; the most I can pretend unto, is only to know what belongs to a pious life. See Arg. [d] Ver. 4. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who bath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell? But had I a greater reach, or been better bred, it would have been impossible for me to give an account of the works of God, much less of God himself. For where is he, among all the wise men, that ever went up into heaven and came down again, to tell us the order and the motion of the stars, and all the rest that is done there? Nay, who is it that can so much as give us the least account of the wind, but God alone? who hath it perfectly in his power to make it cease, and blow again, as he pleaseth. And, to come lower yet, who but he hath tied up the waves of the sea, that they should not exceed their bounds? or who hath fixed the earth (on which thou dwellest, and therefore art better acquainted withal) within such limits, as it never breaks? By what name is he called, that can explain these things? or if thou knowest, tell me the name of his son, or of his family, that, if he be dead, we may inquire of them. Ver. 5. Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.] The most that any man can do for thy satisfaction is this, to send thee to the book of God, and bid thee be content with what he hath there revealed of himself, and of his will, which in every part of it is so sincere, and free from all mixture of deceit, that thou mayest safely rely upon it, and take his word, that he will protect and defend all those who, in obedience to his commands, trust him for what he hath promised. Ver. 6. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.] Let this suffice thee, and do not pretend to greater acquaintance with his will, than really thou hast, by adding any thing of thy own to God's word, and vouching it for his, which may bring thee into great danger of the severest punishments from him, for being guilty of the worst of forgeries, in counterfeiting divine inspiration. Ver. 7. Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die.] And in answer to the question about prayer, (What things thou shouldst ask of God?), I have not much to say neither, for I would not have thee multiply words, but say, as I am wont to do, I humbly beg two things of thee, O God, which I most earnestly beseech thee I may not want, as long as I stay in this world. Ver. 8. Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:] The first is for my mind, that I may be perfectly secured from being deceived myself by false opinions, especially concerning thee and religion, and from being any way guilty of deceiving other men; and then, for the supply of my bodily necessities, I desire thou wouldst neither give me scarcity nor superfluity, but, if I may choose, a middle between both: making me such a competent allowance as may be sufficient to maintain me decently in that state and condition of life wherein thou hast placed me. See Arg. [e] Ver. 9. Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.] For I am sensible how great danger there is, either in having abundance of wealth, which may tempt me to be so profane and irreligious, as not only to forget the donor of all good things, but atheistically to contemn thy worship and service, nay, insolently to profess that I know no such thing as the Lord, nor have any thing to do with him; or in a beggarly condition, which may press me, first to be injurious to others for my own relief, and then to run into the fearful crime of perjury, to purge myself from the charge of theft, Exod. xxii. 8. 11. Ver. 10. Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.] As for rules of bel.aviour towards others, they are generally well known, and therefore I only admonish thee to avoid one thing, (to which our nation is too prone), that is, not to abuse any poor slave, whose condition is wretched enough; and therefore, for instance, rather excuse than aggravate his fault to his master, who perhaps is too rigorous; and be sure never to lead him with unjust accusations, lest, being wronged by thee, and not knowing how to right himself, he appeal to the Lord, and pray him to punish thee, and thou, being found guilty, feel the heavy effects of his vengeance. See Arg. [f] Ver. 11. There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.] And now, to answer your inquiry, What company you should keep? There are four sorts of men I would have you set a mark upon, and cautiously shun: First, They that are foully ungrateful to them from whom they have received many benefits; for such a sort of men there is, who have no sense of obligations, no, not to their parents to whom they have the greatest, but rail upon their father, nay, wish him dead, and cannot speak a good word of their mother. Ver. 12. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.] Next to these are a sort of hypocrites, who have a great opinion of their own purity, and would be thought by others very virtuous; but hide the great est filthiness, both in their minds and lives, (which either they do not see, or will not take care to purge away), under this outward garb of holiness. Ver. 13. There is a generation, O bow lofty are their eyes! and their eye-lids are lifted up.] There is a third sort, whose pride and arrogance is so lofty, that it appears in their very countenance, and makes them superciliously overlook all other men, as if they were not worthy of the least respect from them. Ver. 14. There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. But the fourth and last sort is most mischie vous, whose ravenous cruelty hath no example, unless you conceive a lion or wolf, that hath teeth both small and great, as sharp as swords or knives, coming with open mouth to devour every creature that is weaker than themselves; such is the savage oppression of tyrants, extortioners, calumniators, &c. who have no mercy upon the poor and needy, but make their condition (which moves compassion in other men) so insufferable, that they are weary of living any longer in the world. Ver. 15. The horse-leech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:] And here I will satisfy one of your other questions, What creature is most unsatiable? I answer, the horseleech, which sucks the blood of other creatures till it burst; as those wicked men do the livelihood of the poor, till they ruin themselves. And in this perpetual craving more and more, without any end, there are two things so like the horse-leech, that they may be called her daughters; nay, there are three that are never satisfied, or rather four, whose desires cannot be filled. See Arg. [g] Ver. 16. The grave and the barren womb, the earth that it not filled with water, and the fire that saith not, It is enough.] They are these; death, or the grave, which having consumed so many past generations, will as greedily swallow up and consume all that are yet to come; the barren womb, which is wont to be desirous of children beyond measure; the earth, which drinks up all the rain that falls upon it, and still thirsts for more; and the fire, which devours all the fuel that is thrown into it, and never ceases to burn, as long as there is any thing to feed it. Ver. 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.] I will not end this, till I have pronounced the doom of the first sort of wicked men, now mentioned, (ver. 11.), who are so ungrateful to their parents, as not only to disobey their commands, but to scorn, nay, and deride their persons, and mock at the infirmities of their old age; whose villainies shall bring them to an infamous end, and expose their dead bodies for a prey to the ravens, (which frequent the brooks that run in the vallies), and to the young eagles, who shall pick out those eyes, in which their scorn and derision of their parents was wont to appear. See Arg. [h] derful for me, yea, four which I know not :] To your next question, my answer is, that there are three things, whose motions are beyond my reach; nay, a fourth, which is the most unaccountable of all the See Arg. [i] rest. Ver. 19. The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid.] First, the wonderful swiftness of an eagle's flight into the air, quite out of our sight, (xxiii. 5.); secondly, the manner of a serpent's speedy creeping, without any feet, to the top of a slippery rock, thirdly, the way that a ship makes in the sea, though it seem sometimes to sink to the bottom of the water, and to mount up into the air; but, above all, the slipperiness of youth, (which is more inconstant than the air, &c.), and especially the impatience and restless tossing of a young man's mind, his cunning and sleights when he goes a-wooing, and the wonderful arts he hath to slide into the heart of a maid, and win her love. Ver. 20. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.] And yet the subtilty of an adulterous woman is equal to this, both in crafty contrivances of secret ways to enjoy their filthy pleasures, and in casting a mist before her husband's eyes to conceal them, when she is in danger to be discovered. For having defiled his bed, she not only looks modestly and demurely, but professes the greatest innocency, and behaves herself as if she were the honestest woman, and the kindest wife too, in the world, like one that, having eaten some forbidden meat, wipes her mouth, and says, she has not so much as tasted it, but abhors to let it come within her lips. Ver. 21. For three things the earth is disquiet, and for four, which it cannot bear":] And to satisfy your other question, What things are most intolerable? my answer is, That three things make such a disturbance, that men groan under the load of them; nay, there are four, which are an unsupportable gricvance unto those that are oppressed by them. Arg. [k] See Ver. 22. For a servant when he reigneth, and a fool when he is filled with meat.] First, the insolent cruelty of a vile slave, when he is advanced to a throne: Secondly, the petulent rudeness of a fortunate fool, especially when he grows debauched, and is in one of his drunken fits: Ver. 23. For an odious woman when she is married, and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.] And, thirdly, a woman whose moroseness, pride, and passion, and such like ill qualities, make her hated by every body when she gets a husband: and, lastly, a poor maid-servant, when she is puffed up by an estate, left her by her mistress, or, which is worse, that, having supplanted her mistress, and thrust her, first out of her husband's affections, and then out of doors, succeeds in her place, and becomes his wife. See Arg. [1] Ver. 24. There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise. To these four Ver. 18. There be three things which are too won . 396 PROVERB S. intolerable things, of which all complain, I will add Ver. 25. The ants are a people not strong; yet they prepare their meat in the summer;] First, the ants, who are a creature so infirm, that one crush of our foot kills multitudes of them, and yet so provident, as well as industrious, that they prepare granaries under ground, with wonderful art, to receive their food; which they gather and lay up in harvest-time, and secure it too, that it may serve for all the year. See vi. 8. Ver. 26. The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks ;] Secondly, the mountain-mice are a feeble sort of creatures also, but they have a leader to give them notice of any danger, and are so cunning that they provide for their safety in high rocks; into which they have several entrances and out-lets, that if they be assaulted in one port, they may escape at another. See Arg. [n] Ver. 27. The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;] Next, the locusts, which herein indeed differ from the former, that they have no king to govern them; yet go forth like soldiers to battle, in good order; and when they fall upon the spoil, divide it among themselves without any quarrel or contention. See Arg. [0] Ver. 28. The spider taketh bold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.] Lastly, (the spider, which weaves a curious web, or rather), the little spotted lizard, which takes fast hold on the flat ceiling of houses, and there goes (with its body hanging down into the air) in pursuit of its prey; which as it nimbly catches, so it intrudes itself to hunt for it, even in kings' palaces. See Arg. [p] Ver. 29. There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going :] And here, after the consideration of these four contemptible things, it will be fit to answer your last question, What things are most stately? and there are three, or rather four things, whose motion is majestic, and go after a goodly manner. Ver. 30. A lion, which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any] First the lion, when he is come to his full growth, who is the most heroical and undaunted of all creatures, never turning his back for fear of the greatest multitude of hunters, or dogs that set upon him. Ver. 31. A grey-bound; an be-goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.] Next to him, a strong and generous horse, especially when he is girt and equipped (as we speak) for the battle; and then the he-goat, with his long beard, when he walks in pompous state before the flock; and lastly, a prosperous king, of invincible courage, especially when he reigns in the hearts of his people, and marches at the head of an unanimous, victorious army, whom none dare rise up to oppose. See Arg. [q] Ver. 32. If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand CHAP. XXX upon thy mouth.] If thy pride or thy passion hath engaged thee in some foolish action, whereby thou hast disgraced thyself, or made thee contrive and endeavour any thing that is unwarrantable, do not add body but thyself for it, much less by quarrelling at one fault to another, by excusing it, or blaming any those that admonish thee of it, and reprehend thee ly acknowledge thy error. for it; but stop at the first motion to this, and silentSee Arg. [r] butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; Ver. 33. Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth from little things there is an easy progress unto greatso the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.] For the cow's udder, and then being shaken in the churn er. And just as you see milk is first pressed out of is forced into butter, and as the nose, being wrung, though at first it only purge itself, yet if it be harder ing to and fro, raise an heat, and that, if continued, pressed, there comes out blood; even so, words passstirs up anger, and that, making men vehemently insist upon their opinion or their desire, turns into scolding, and that in the issue grows up to quarrels, and irreconcileable enmities. CHAP. XXXI. THE ARGUMENT.-[a] It is generally taken for granted both by Hebrew and Christian writers, that king Lemuel, whose mother gave him the precepts contained in this chapter, was Solomon, whom Bathsheba took early care to instruct in his duty, being, as some of no small name fancy, divinely inspired with the gift of prophecy. But as all this depends merely upon conjecture, and that without the least ground, so there is no good reason assigned why Solomon should here be called Lemuel, and not by the name he hath, both in the beginning of the preface to this book, Prov. i. 1. and in the entrance of the first part, chap. x. 1. and of the last collection also (xxv. 1.) made by the men of Hezekiah; whom Grotius fancies to be the king here mentioned, under the name of Lemuel, only for this reason, that this chapter follows the collection of proverbs made by his servants; which hath no force at all in it, for the words of Agur follow more immediately, which he cannot ascribe to Hezekiah. And therefore it is more reasonable to conceive this Lemuel to have been a prince in some other country, who had gathered some weighty sentences taught him by his mother, (whose name is unknown), which it was thought fit to adjoin to the foregoing; because they are very wise, and of great moment, as if they proceeded from a prophetical spirit. And it is only the vanity of the Jewish nation, who would inclose all wisdom within the bounds of their own country, which hath made them ascribe that which follows in this chapter to Solomon and Bathsheba. For which, as I said, there is no colour; but it appears by the history of the queen of Sheba, and the embassies which came from the kings thereabouts, who sent to hear the wisdom of Solomon, (1 Kings, iv. ult.), that there were, even in those times, great persons very inquisitive after knowledge, as there had been in the times foregoing, in those eastern countries, and in Egypt, which was famous for wise men, 1 Kings, iv. 30. where we read of the wisdom of the children of the East, (i. e. Arabia, where Job, a considerable prince, and the rest of his friends, lived in former ages), and the wisdom of Egypt. Of which country some have thought those famous men to have been, who are mentioned in the next words, ver. 31. where this demonstration is given, that Solomon's wisdom excelled all the wisdom of those countries; for he was wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, &c.: upon which words, Gasper Sanchez notes, that the Sedar Olam says, "these were Egyptian wise men." But it is not good to take things upon trust; for I find upon examination of the place, (which is chap. xx. of the greater book of that name), that it saith no such thing, but only this, that the sons of Zara, Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, (mentioned 1 Chr. ii. 6.), were prophets who prophesied in Egypt: but however this be, that very book acknowledges. in the next chapter, that "there were prophets in other countries before the law of Moses was given ; though after the delivery of it, the Holy Spirit, they fancy, forsook all the world but them, immediately upon the speaking of those words," Exod. xxxiii. 16. xxxiv. 6. For which assertion, as there is not the least shadow of reason, so, supposing it were true, it must notwithstanding be confessed that there remained still among other nations, many excellent and wise persons, both men and women; who had such communication also with the Jews, that many of them were proselyted to their religion; which might have countenanced their authors if they had said, (and it seems to me a better fancy than any they have), that Lemuel's mother was a Jewish lady, married to some prince of another country, by whom she had this son, and took care of his institution in the wisdom of her people. And by the use of the word bar three times for a son, in the beginning of this instruction, (which is nowhere used in this book before, nor in the whole Bible more than once, Psal. ii. 12.), one would guess this Lemuel to have been some great person in Chaldea. For in the next verse aiso, (ver. 4.), we meet with the word melachin, (kings), according to the termination in the language of that country. [b] But this is all uncertain, and therefore I proceed no farther in it; but only note, that whosoever was the mother of Lemuel, she was mightily solicitous to have him do well; as appears by ver. 2. Which some think to be a passionate expression, when she saw him incline to evil courses; as if she had said, “What dost thou mean, my son ?" &c. But it is more likely, that it proceeded from a tender concern for his well-doing, as soon as ever he grew up, whilst he was yet innocent and untainted. And that he might so continue, she gives him three, or rather four, of the most proper advices that could be thought of for a prince. [c] First, to subdue that lust, which she knew to be [d] In order to this, she admonishes him, in the se- text. [e] In which follows, ver. 9. the true reason of this |