Chapter 25

1 Observations about kings, 8 and about avoiding causes of quarrels, and sundry causes thereof.

1. Copied out. Literally, “removed,” or, according to the later technical meaning of the word, “transcribed.” These proverbs were evidently copied either from other writings or from collections or some, perhaps, from oral sources—people who had been taught these sayings of Solomon. Among those who helped in this task may have been Isaiah the prophet, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the chronicler (2 Kings 18:18; cf. 2 Chron. 26:22).

2. Glory. It is a glory for God to be infinite and therefore to conceal much from the finite and sin-darkened minds of men (Deut. 29:29). The mysteries of the Bible, which are now beyond our full comprehension, are proofs that it is indeed the word of God.

Honour. Heb. kabod. Better, “glory,” as kabod is translated in the first clause.

Search out a matter. A ruler must satisfy his subjects that he is concerned that the humblest receive the justice to which they are entitled. It is his glory to convince the people that he has searched out the full details of notorious cases and settled them in strict equity.

3. The heaven. The height of the atmospheric heavens can be fairly well established. The height of the stellar heaven is unknown. New and larger telescopes that penetrate vast distances disclose no limits to the starry heavens. Thus the heaven is unsearchable for height. Each new discovery reveals still higher heights to be searched out.

The earth. As men have been unable to journey far into outer space, so their burrowings into the earth have been restricted to mere surface tunnelings. Probing with sound waves and studying earthquake shocks have yielded valuable information, but the actual knowledge of the substance of the heart of the earth remains much as it was in the days of Solomon.

Unsearchable. As the heavens are unsearchable for height and the earth for depth, so likewise are the hearts of kings impenetrable to their fellow men. Even those human beings who are closest to one another do not really know what is going on in each other’s mind; still less can a subject fathom the mind of the king. Even a courtier who thinks he is able to keep the king’s favor by flattery never knows when he may find that another has taken his place.

4. Finer. The “smelter,” “refiner,” or “smith.” On the removal of extraneous matter see Ps. 12:6; Eze. 22:20; Mal. 3:3.

5. Take away the wicked. As the removal of the dross from the silver beautifies and strengthens the metal, so the removal of wicked men, who flatter the king into evil ways, from the court of the king, adds to the nobility and endurance of the kingdom. The ruler himself should take the responsibility of detecting and removing unsuitable men from office. Such purgings augur well for the prosperity of the king’s reign and the happiness of the people.

6. Put not forth. Compare Luke 14:7–11.

7. Come up hither. Haman sought to make himself powerful in the Persian court. He was quick to ask for royal honors when he thought he was the one to be honored (Esther 6:6–11). Yet he received only the mortification of being required to honor one whom he hated, one who had held back from seeking honor for himself, but who was called up higher by the king as a result of faithful service. Deep chagrin seizes those who have thrust themselves forward into high places in the court and are publicly set back in favor of another (see Luke 14:7–11).

8. Hastily to strive. A warning against litigation without careful consideration, since right does not necessarily guarantee the victory in a court of law, and also because no man is a perfect judge of his own matter.

9. Thy neighbour himself. Compare Matt. 18:15. The first step in any quarrel or disagreement is to go quietly to the other person and discuss the matter with him. Even if he seems definitely to be much more in the wrong, there is almost always some element of fault on your side. A confession of this minor error will often bring about a confession of his greater culpability and a consequent reconciliation. To follow the more usual course of telling everyone else the story before attempting to see the other man is to make it almost impossible to secure peace.

10. Put thee to shame. Others will reproach you when they discover your treachery. The LXX has an interesting addition to this verse: “but shall be to thee like death. Favour and friendship set a man free, which do thou keep for thyself, lest thou be made liable to reproach; but take heed to thy ways peaceably.”

11. Fitly spoken. A word spoken in the right manner and at the right time is the essence of tactfulness and has a beauty which is likened to golden fruit in a silver setting.

12. Earring. Heb. nezem, a ring, either of the nose (see Isa. 3:21; see on Gen. 24:22) or of the ear (Ex. 32:2, 3). The ornaments here described may have represented earrings matched with a golden pendant worn around the neck. To Solomon, with his large and costly household, jewelry was abundant and considered of great value. The obedient ear accepts the counsel of a wise reprover and, as it were, wears the advice as a jewel setting off to advantage the beauty of a good character.

13. The cold of snow. The reference is obviously not to a snowfall in harvest, for such a fall would have been very unwelcome (ch. 26:1) and probably disastrous to the crops. The “cold of snow” is the snow-cooled drink, a most welcome refreshment in the heavy heat of harvest days. Before the days of mechanical refrigeration, the use of snow or ice to cool and preserve was a privilege enjoyed by the wealthy in every land where snow could be obtained.

Faithful messenger. Compare chs. 10:26; 13:17. In these days of rapid communication by electricity, it is difficult to realize how dependent even mighty kings were upon their ambassadors and envoys. Once dispatched, the messenger had entire control of the handling of the mission, which might take him months to accomplish.

14. Without rain. Clouds and wind frequently portend rain (see 1 Kings 18:45). When the clouds bring no rain in a time when moisture is sorely needed, people feel cheated. Men react similarly when they have been promised a gift and the promise is not kept. There are some who seem continually to arouse expectations that they will do great things for their friends and acquaintances; yet they seldom or never carry out the implied promises. The consequences of such actions may be much greater than the mere loss of the promised gift. When faith in mankind is weakened, the whole character may be adversely affected, and even faith in God diminished.

15. By long forbearing. Calm, patient persistence, which continues to marshal facts and arguments in the face of opposition, may well succeed in changing the mind of a prince or judge. One who becomes heated and angry when his statement of the case is not immediately accepted is greatly handicapped. It is the studied aim of some lawyers to make their opponents angry while they themselves appear to remain calm, for they know that the judge will be greatly influenced by these contrasting attitudes.

Breaketh the bone. The gentle, persuasive ways of a soft tongue will accomplish all that force can do, and more besides. The stubborn opposition that only becomes more stubborn under direct attack will often melt like ice in the sun when exposed to tender, conciliatory words spoken in gentle, winning tones.

16. Hast thou found honey? Compare chs. 24:13; 25:27. This verse is not primarily dietetic counsel, but a dietetic principle illustrating the maxim of Prov. 25:17. To have too much, even of a good thing, is to turn the good into an evil. Even spiritual instruction can become a surfeit, if those who continually seek to receive do not balance their receiving by imparting to others.

17. Withdraw thy foot. The first clause reads literally, “Make your foot precious [that is, rare] in the house of your friend.” In the scale of fallible human values, that which is rare is precious and that which is plentiful, of relatively less value. It is easy to wear out one’s welcome by being too frequent a visitor. Familiarity often breeds contempt except where the close ties of family relationship bind hearts ever closer together. Without such close mutual love, constant association on a social level, after the element of novelty has gone, tends to reveal weaknesses and breed a weariness that may easily turn to dislike.

18. A maul. The three types of weapons represent the effects of false witness upon the friend so vilified. The maul was a war club that crushed in the heads or smashed the bones and bruised the flesh of its victims. Some attacks made upon a man’s reputation are crude and simply crush the sufferer down in ruin. Others inflict deep cuts with sharp words which incapacitate and often destroy as does a sword. But one of the favorite weapons of the maligner of his fellow men is the arrow. Sped from a distance, it pierces the heart and saps the will to struggle against the covert enmity of the archer, who often disguises himself as a friend. Such attacks break the sixth commandment as well as the ninth (Ex. 20:13, 16; see PP 308).

19. Broken tooth. Two vivid illustrations that point up the danger of relying upon a faithless friend in time of stress. A man cannot always get a weak or dislocated foot or a broken tooth made fit for use immediately, but he can easily cease to trust in a friend whose reliability he has good reason to doubt (see Isa. 36:6).

20. Taketh away. The removal here referred to is not that of a garment from another, but the laying aside of one’s own. It is foolish to lay off warm clothes on a cold day and thus invite sickness.

Nitre. Here, not saltpeter (potassium or sodium nitrate), but an alkali known as natron, which is largely composed of carbonate of soda and which was used for washing (Jer. 2:22). It is both foolish and wasteful to pour vinegar upon natron, for the two chemicals react on each other and leave both the vinegar and the natron changed into a salt that is useless for the duties of either. For “nitre” the LXX reads, “a sore,” or “wound.” To obtain this reading in the Hebrew requires the change of only one consonant so as to read neteq instead of neter.

As foolish and as liable to produce ill effects as the removing of clothes, as wasteful and productive of an angry outburst as the mixing of an acid with soda, so is the singing of merry songs to one whose heart is heavy. The wise and tactful have always known instinctively that it was foolish to joke with the anxious, and to exhort them to pull themselves together and throw off their sorrow without doing anything to alter the circumstances that produced the trouble.

21. If thine enemy. Compare 2 Kings 6:19–23; Prov. 24:17, 18; Matt. 5:44.

22. Heap coals of fire. There has been much difference of opinion as to the meaning of this metaphor. Some have felt that the coals of fire represent the burning shame and remorse with which the enemy is covered and that this was a form of vengeance gained by the innocent party. But one cannot very well conceive of God rewarding the taking of vengeance. He has claimed that vengeance belongs to Him (Heb. 10:30), and has bidden us to love our enemies and suffer whatever they may do to us (Matt. 5:44; James 5:6–8). Whatever the precise meaning, the metaphor seems most probably to represent an attempt to do good to the foe, even though such an action may give him further opportunity to sin against us.

Our material kindness to an enemy, by seeking him out when he should really come to us for reconciliation, may bring upon his head fires of repentance and sorrow for sin that will burn up all the ill will and make us good friends and fellow servants of the Lord.

23. Driveth away. Heb. chil, “to whirl,” “to dance,” “to writhe.” In the form here used chil may mean “to bring forth.” It is used in Isa. 51:2 of Sarah’s bringing forth the people of Israel, and in Ps. 90:2 of God’s producing the earth. Hence the first clause may be given a completely opposite rendering, “the north wind bringeth forth rain.” Though fair weather in Palestine came out of the north (Job 37:22), it is also true that the northwest wind produced rain.

If the KJV translation is taken, the second clause means that an angry look conveys enough of a threat of retaliation to silence the slanderer. The more probable translation suggests that an angry face may drive one to begin to talk, literally, with a “concealed tongue.” Or the elements of the second clause may be inverted so as to make the slander produce the anger.

24. Brawling woman. Compare ch. 21:9.

25. Good news. In the days of poor communications, little could be heard from one who left home and traveled in a far country. News brought by some returning traveler would be the only way of knowing that the absent one was still alive and prospering in his mission.

As the good news from a far country cheered the heart of the recipient, so in a spiritual sense the good news of heaven that has been brought to us by the prophets refreshes us on our march through a dreary world. Through them—

“We have heard from the bright, the holy,

land;

We have heard, and our hearts are glad.”

26. A troubled fountain. The righteous man should be a spring of water welling up to eternal life (Prov. 10:11; John 4:14); but when he fails to stand up for right and truth before unbelievers and opponents, he becomes a spring trampled by defiling feet until the water is muddied and spoiled. None will be attracted to drink from such a fountain, and they would find little refreshment from it if they were. With the promise of God’s presence for support at all times (Isa. 51:12; Matt. 28:20), it is a disgrace for a believer to lower his colors through moral cowardice.

27. To search their own glory. It is difficult to translate the Hebrew of this verse so as to preserve the antithesis characteristic of the majority of the proverbs. Translators and commentators have suggested various other translations in an endeavor to find a meaning close to the Hebrew that shows the customary contrast between the two clauses of the verse. The language of the first clause is clear enough and should be expected to set the stage for the second. Since the Hebrew word for “glory,” kabod, also means “honor,” many have rendered the clause, “contempt of their honor is honor”; but this does not fit the warning against excess in the first clause. Others prefer, “searching out honor brings difficulty,” or “searching out one’s honor is burdensome” from another meaning of kabod, namely, “weight.”

A translation that fits the context in its warning against excess is, “The searching out of weighty matters is a weight.” This would warn against excessive study. Honey is good, study is good, but to indulge in either to excess would be to turn a blessing into a burden (see Eccl. 12:12). However, we cannot be sure that this is the intended meaning.

28. No rule. A city without walls is open to attack on all sides by any adversary (see Neh. 2:13); so a man who cannot retain control over his own emotions and desires is certain to succumb to temptations. Enticements to evil allure him from without; angry words and deeds break out from within.

Ellen G. White comments

8, 9 GW 498; 7T 250

11   AH 434; CG 562; CSW 76; CT 443; Ev 477; FE 133; ML 190; SL 9; 1T 470; 3T 109, 247; 4T 69, 310; WM 288

21, 22  MB 109

25   7T 50

28   Ed 236; MYP 135; 4T 368