Mudre izreke 21:20 Komentar

Note, 1. Even the hearts of men are in God's hand, and not only their goings, as he had said, Pro 20:24. God can change men's minds, can, by a powerful insensible operation under their spirits, turn them from that which they seemed most intent upon, and incline them to that which they seemed most averse to, as the husbandman, by canals and gutters, turns the water through his grounds as he pleases, which does not alter the nature of the water, nor put any force upon it, any more than God's providence does upon the native freedom of man's will, but directs the course of it to serve his own purpose. 2. Even kings' hearts are so, notwithstanding their powers and prerogatives, as much as the hearts of common persons. The hearts of kings are unsearchable to us, much more unmanageable by us; as they have their arcana imperii - state secrets, so that they have great prerogatives of their crown; but the great God has them not only under his eye, but in his hand. Kings are what he makes them. Those that are most absolute are under God's government; he puts things into their hearts, Rev 17:17; Ezr 7:27.

Note, 1. Those that are wise will increase what they have and live plentifully; their wisdom will teach them to proportion their expenses to their income and to lay up for hereafter; so that there is a treasure of things to be desired, and as much as needs be desired, a good stock of all things convenient, laid up in season, and particularly of oil, one of the staple commodities of Canaan, Deu 8:8. This is in the habitation, or cottage, of the wise; and it is better to have an old-fashioned house, and have it well furnished, than a fine modern one, with sorry housekeeping. God blesses the endeavors of the wise and then their houses are replenished. 2. Those that are foolish will misspend what they have upon their lusts, and so bring the stock they have to nothing. Those manage wretchedly that are in haste to spend what they had, but not in care which way to get more. Foolish children spend what their wise parents have laid up. One sinner destroys much good, as the prodigal son.

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water,.... The heart of every king, and all that is in it, his thoughts, counsels, purposes, and designs; the hearts of bad kings, as Pharaoh, whom the Lord hardened and softened at pleasure; the antichristian kings, into whose hearts he put it to give their kingdoms to the beast, Rev 17:17; the hearts of good kings, as David, Solomon, Cyrus, and others: and if the hearts of kings are in the hands of the Lord, which are full of things of the greatest importance with respect to the government of the world; and which are generally more untractable and unmanageable; and who are more resolute and positive, and will have their own wills and ways, especially arbitrary princes; then much more the hearts of other persons. And which are as "rivers of water"; for so the words may be rendered, as rivers of water is "the heart of a king", which is "in the hand of the Lord"; unstable, fluid, and fluctuating; and yet the Lord can stay and settle, and fix them, and keep them steady and within bounds: or which, like a torrent of water, comes with force and impetus; and so the Septuagint render it, "the force of waters"; and bears all before it, as do the wills of despotic kings; and yet these the Lord can stop and bound, and rule and overrule: or like rivers of water, reviving and refreshing, so is the heart of a good king, full of wisdom and prudence, of integrity and faithfulness, of clemency and goodness; the streams of whose bounty and kindness flow among his subjects, to their great pleasure and profit; so Christ, the King of kings, is said to be as "rivers of water", Isa 32:2. The allusion is to gardeners, that make channels for the water to run in, to water their gardens; or to husbandmen, that cut aqueducts from rivers, to water their fields; or to the turning of the course of rivers, as Euphrates was by Cyrus, when he took Babylon. The heart of a king is as much at the dispose of the Lord, and can be turned by him as easily as such canals may be made, or the course of a river turned; for it follows: he turneth it whithersoever he will; contrary to their first designs, and to answer another purpose; oftentimes towards his people, and for the good of his cause and interest, which they never designed; and to bring about such things as were out of their view. And so, in conversion, the Lord can turn the hearts of men as he pleases; their understanding, will, and affections, are in his hands: he can make the understanding light which was darkness, and so turn it from darkness to light; he can take off the stiffness of the will, and turn it from its bias and bent, and make it willing to that which is good in the day of his power: he can turn the channel and course of the affections from sinful lusts and pleasures, to himself, his son, his truths, word, worship, ordinances, and people; he can take out of the heart what he pleases, its ignorance, hardness, enmity, unbelief, pride, and vanity; and he can put in what he pleases, his fear, his laws, his Spirit, and the gifts and graces of if; he can change and turn it just as he will; he that made the heart can operate upon it, and do with it as seems good in his sight. The Heathens very wrongly call one of their deities Verticordia (o), from the power of turning the heart they ascribe to it; however, this shows their sense, that to turn the heart is the property of deity. (o) Valer. Maximus, l. 8. c. 15. s. 12. Vid. Ovid. Fasti, l. 4. v. 158.

There is a treasure to be desired,.... Gold, silver, jewels, and precious stones; all sorts food, as Aben Ezra explains it, and rich and costly, raiment; all which may be lawfully desired and sought after, and, when obtained, laid up for future use; which may be spared for their own service and that of posterity: but there are riches of grace, a pearl of great price and treasure in heaven, more desirable than these, Mat 6:19; and oil in the dwelling of the wise; which is particularly mentioned, because a principal blessing of the land of Canaan; much used for food, and was for delight and refreshment: and something of this was in the house of every wise, provident, and industrious man, for the use of him and his family; even though he lived but in a "cottage", as the word (f) signifies this is an emblem of the grace of God, which is sometimes compared to oil; which a wise man is chiefly concerned, that it may be in his heart, in his house, and in his family; but a foolish man spendeth it up; the oil; he swallows it up at once, as soon as he has got it, and wastes and lavishes away what his wise father had provided for him. This may refer not to oil only, but to the desired treasure, wealth, riches, substance of every sort, he is heir to and becomes possessed of; and which, in a spiritual sense, may be applied to a foolish wicked man, who misspends his time, neglects the means of grace, and all opportunities by which men grow rich and wise in spiritual things; see Mat 25:1. (f) "tuguirolum", Mercerus, Gejerus.

Another passage of Scripture speaks of the precious treasure of wisdom and describes ruminating on wisdom as clean and not ruminating as unclean: “A precious treasure rests in the mouth of a wise man; but a foolish man swallows it up.” Symbols of this kind, either in words or in things, give useful and pleasant exercise to intelligent minds in the way of inquiry and comparison. But formerly people were required not only to hear [of food laws] but to practice many such things. For at that time it was necessary that, by deeds as well as by words, those things should be foreshadowed which were in after times to be revealed. After the revelation by Christ and in Christ, the community of believers is not burdened with the practice of the observances but is admonished to give heed to the prophecy. This is our reason for accounting no animals unclean, in accordance with the saying of the Lord and of the apostle, while we are not opposed to the Old Testament, where some animals are pronounced unclean.

So those who hear and out of carelessness forget, so to say swallow what they have heard, so that they no longer have a taste of it in their mouth but just bury what they hear under forgetfulness. But those who meditate on “the law of the Lord day and night” are chewing the cud, as it were, and enjoying the flavor of the word with a kind of palate of the heart.

A desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the just, etc. The cheerfulness of good works, always lovable to God; and the fatness of love shines in the church of the saints. This verse the blessed Pope Gregory in his Homilies on the Gospel placed according to the ancient translation: "A desirable treasure will rest in the mouth of the wise." But the reprobates not only do not attain virtues but also persecute, and as much as they can, hasten to overthrow the good. This verse can certainly be understood about any martyr, in whose dwelling, that is, body, the holy soul, namely the treasure of God, is kept, and the anointing of spiritual grace abounds. But the imprudent persecutor can break such a dwelling; but he cannot touch the treasure and the oil that was held in the dwelling. Hence the Lord teaches not to fear those who kill the body, and after these things have nothing more they can do (Luke 12:4).

(Pro. 21:1-31) rivers--irrigating channels (Psa 1:3), whose course was easily turned (compare Deu 11:10). God disposes even kings as He pleases (Pro 16:9; Psa 33:15).

The wise, by diligence and care, lay up and increase wealth, while fools spend--literally, "swallow it up," greedily.

20 Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the wise; And a fool of a man squanders it. The wise spares, the fool squanders; and if the latter enters on the inheritance which the former with trouble and care collected, it is soon devoured. The combination אוצר נחמד ושׁמן [desirable treasure and oil] has something inconcinnate, wherefore the accentuation places אוצר by itself by Mehuppach Legarmeh; but it is not to be translated "a treasure of that which is precious, and oil," since it is punctuated אוצר, and not אוצר; and besides, in that case מחמדּים would have been used instead of נחמד. Thus by אוצר נחמד, a desirable and splendid capital in gold and things of value (Isa 23:18; Psa 19:11); and by שׁמן, mentioned by way of example, stores in kitchen and cellar are to be thought of, which serve him who lives luxuriously, and afford noble hospitality, - a fool of a man (כּסיל אדם, as at Pro 15:20), who finds this, devours it, i.e., quickly goes through it, makes, in short, a tabula rasa of it; cf. בּלע, Isa 28:4, with בּלּע, Sa2 20:26, and Pro 19:28. The suffix of יבלּענּוּ refers back to אוצר as the main idea, or distributively also both to the treasure and the oil. The lxx (θησαυρὸς ἐπιθυμητὸς) ἀναπαύσεται ἐπὶ στόματος σοφοῦ, i.e., ישׁכן בפה חכם, according to which Hitzig corrects; but the fool, he who swallows down "the precious treasure with a wise mouth," is a being we can scarcely conceive of. His taste is not at all bad; why then a fool? Is it perhaps because he takes more in than he can at one time digest? The reading of the lxx is corrected by 20b.