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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
P R O V E R B S
CHAP. XXXI.
This chapter is added to Solomon’s proverbs, some think because it is
of the same author, supposing king Lemuel to be king Solomon; others
only because it is of the same nature, though left in writing by
another author, called Lemuel; however it be, it is a prophecy, and
therefore given by inspiration and direction of God, which Lemuel was
under in the writing of it, and putting it into this form, as his
mother was in dictating to him the matter of it. Here is,
I. An exhortation to Lemuel, a young prince, to take heed of the sins
he would be tempted to and to do the duties of the place he was called
to,
II. The description of a virtuous woman, especially in the relation of
a wife and the mistress of a family, which Lemuel’s mother drew up, not
as an encomium of herself, though, no doubt, it was her own true
picture, but either as an instruction to her daughters, as the
foregoing verses were to her son, or as a direction to her son in the
choice of a wife; she must be chaste and modest, diligent and frugal,
dutiful to her husband, careful of her family, discreet in her
discourse, and in the education of her children, and, above all,
conscientious in her duty to God: such a one as this, if he can find
her, will make him happy,
| Maternal Counsels to King Lemuel. | |
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1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught
him.
2 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son
of my vows?
3 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which
destroyeth kings.
4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to
drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment
of any of the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine
unto those that be of heavy hearts.
7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his
misery no more.
8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are
appointed to destruction.
9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the
poor and needy.
Most interpreters are of opinion that Lemuel is Solomon; the name
signifies one that is for God, or devoted to God; and so
it agrees well enough with that honourable name which, by divine
appointment, was given to Solomon
2 Sam. xii. 25),
Jedediah–beloved of the Lord. Lemuel is supposed to be a
pretty, fond, endearing name, by which his mother used to call him; and
so much did he value himself upon the interest he had in his mother’s
affections that he was not ashamed to call himself by it. One would the
rather incline to think it is Solomon that here tells us what his
mother taught him because he tells us
what his father taught him. But some think (and the conjecture is not
improbable) that Lemuel was a prince of some neighbouring country,
whose mother was a daughter of Israel, perhaps of the house of David,
and taught him these good lessons. Note,
1. It is the duty of mothers, as well as fathers, to teach their
children what is good, that they may do it, and what is evil, that they
may avoid it; when they are young and tender they are most under the
mother’s eye, and she has then an opportunity of moulding and
fashioning their minds well, which she ought not to let slip.
2. Even kings must be catechised; the greatest of men is less than the
least of the ordinances of God.
3. Those that have grown up to maturity should often call to mind, and
make mention of, the good instructions they received when they were
children, for their own admonition, the edification of others, and the
honour of those who were the guides of their youth.
Now, in this mother’s (this queen mother’s) catechism, observe,
I. Her expostulation with the young prince, by which she lays hold of
him, claims an interest in him, and awakens his attention to what she
is about to say
(v. 2):
“What! my son? What shall I say to thee?” She speaks as one
considering what advice to give him, and choosing out words to reason
with him; so full of concern is she for his welfare! Or, What is it
that thou doest? It seems to be a chiding question. She observed,
when he was young, that he was too much inclined to women and wine, and
therefore she found it necessary to take him to task and deal roundly
with him. “What! my son? Is this the course of life thou
intendest to lead? Have I taught thee no better than thus? I must
reprove thee, and reprove thee sharply, and thou must take it well,
for,”
1. “Thou art descended from me; thou art the son of my womb, and
therefore what I say comes from the authority and affection of a parent
and cannot be suspected to come from any ill-will. Thou art a piece of
myself. I bore thee with sorrow, and I expect no other return for all
the pains I have taken with thee, and undergone for thee, than this, Be
wise and good, and then I am well paid.”
2. “Thou art devoted to my God; thou art the son of my vows, the
son I prayed to God to give me and promised to give back to God, and
did so” (thus Samuel was the son of Hannah’s vows); “Thou art the son I
have often prayed to God to give his grace to
(Ps. lxxii. 1),
and shall a child of so many prayers miscarry? And shall all my hopes
concerning thee be disappointed?” Our children that by baptism are
dedicated to God, for whom and in whose name we covenanted with God,
may well be called the children of our vows; and, as this may be
made a good plea with God in our prayers for them, so it may be made a
good plea with them in the instructions we give them; we may tell them
they are baptized, are the children of our vows, and it is at
their peril if they break those bonds in sunder which in their infancy
they were solemnly brought under.
II. The caution she gives him against those two destroying sins of
uncleanness and drunkenness, which, if he allowed himself
in them, would certainly be his ruin.
1. Against uncleanness
(v. 3):
Give not thy strength unto women, unto strange women. He must
not be soft and effeminate, nor spend that time in a vain conversation
with the ladies which should be spent in getting knowledge and
despatching business, nor employ that wit (which is the strength of the
soul) in courting and complimenting them which he should employ about
the affairs of his government. “Especially shun all adultery,
fornication, and lasciviousness, which waste the strength of the body,
and bring into it dangerous diseases. Give not thy ways, thy
affections, thy conversation, to that which destroys kings,
which has destroyed many, which gave such a shock to the kingdom even
of David himself, in the matter of Uriah. Let the sufferings of others
be thy warnings.” It lessens the honour of kings and makes them mean.
Are those fit to govern others that are themselves slaves to their own
lusts? It makes them unfit for business, and fills their court with the
basest and worst of animals. Kings lie exposed to temptations of this
kind, having wherewith both to please the humours and to bear the
charges of the sin, and therefore they ought to double their guard;
and, if they would preserve their people from the unclean spirit, they
must themselves be patterns of purity. Meaner people may also apply it
to themselves. Let none give their strength to that which destroys
souls.
2. Against drunkenness,
He must not drink wine or strong drink to excess; he must
never sit to drink, as they used to do in the day of their king,
when the princes made him sick with bottles of wine,
Hos. vii. 7.
Whatever temptation he might be in from the excellency of the wine, or
the charms of the company, he must deny himself, and be strictly sober,
considering,
(1.) The indecency of drunkenness in a king. However some may call it a
fashionable accomplishment and entertainment, it is not for kings, O
Lemuel! it is not for kings, to allow themselves that liberty; it
is a disparagement to their dignity, and profanes their crown, by
confusing the head that wears it; that which for the time unmans them
does for the time unking them. Shall we say, They are gods? No,
they are worse than the beasts that perish. All Christians are
made to our God kings and priests, and must apply this to
themselves. It is not for Christians, it is not for
Christians, to drink to excess; they debase themselves if they
do; it ill becomes the heirs of the kingdom and the spiritual priests,
Lev. x. 9.
(2.) The ill consequences of it
(v. 5):
Lest they drink away their understandings and memories, drink
and forget the law by which they are to govern; and so, instead of
doing good with their power, do hurt with it, and pervert or
alter the judgment of all the sons of affliction, and, when they
should right them, wrong them, and add to their affliction. It is a sad
complaint which is made of the priests and prophets
that they have erred through wine, and through strong drink they are
out of the way; and the effect is as bad in kings, who when they
are drunk, or intoxicated with the love of wine, cannot but stumble in
judgment. Judges must have clear heads, which those cannot have who so
often make themselves giddy, and incapacitate themselves to judge of
the most common things.
III. The counsel she gives him to do good.
1. He must do good with his wealth. Great men must not think that they
have their abundance only that out of it they may made provision for
the flesh, to fulfil the lusts of it, and may the more freely
indulge their own genius; no, but that with it they may relieve such as
are in distress,
“Thou hast wine or strong drink at command; instead of doing thyself
hurt with it, do others good with it; let those have it that need it.”
Those that have wherewithal must not only give bread to the hungry and
water to the thirsty, but they must give strong drink to him that is
ready to perish through sickness or pain and wine to those
that are melancholy and of heavy heart; for it was appointed
to cheer and revive the spirits, and make glad the heart (as it
does where there is need of it), not to burden and oppress the spirits,
as it does where there is no need of it. We must deny ourselves in the
gratifications of sense, that we may have to spare for the relief of
the miseries of others, and be glad to see our superfluities and
dainties better bestowed upon those whom they will be a real kindness
to than upon ourselves whom they will be a real injury to. Let those
that are ready to perish drink soberly, and it will be a means
so to revive their drooping spirits that they will forget their
poverty for the time and remember their misery no more, and
so they will be the better able to bear it. The Jews say that upon this
was grounded the practice of giving a stupifying drink to condemned
prisoners when they were going to execution, as they did to our
Saviour. But the scope of the place is to show that wine is a cordial,
and therefore to be used for want and not for wantonness, by those only
that need cordials, as Timothy, who is advised to drink a little
wine, only for his stomach’s sake and his often infirmities,
1 Tim. v. 23.
2. He must do good with his power, his knowledge, and interest, must
administer justice with care, courage, and compassion,
(1.) He must himself take cognizance of the causes his subjects have
depending in his courts, and inspect what his judges and officers do,
that he may support those that do their duty, and lay those aside that
neglect it or are partial.
(2.) He must, in all matters that come before him, judge
righteously, and, without fear of the face of man, boldly pass
sentence according to equity: Open thy mouth, which denotes the
liberty of speech that princes and judges ought to use in passing
sentence. Some observe that only wise men open their mouths, for
fools have their mouths always open, are full of words.
(3.) He must especially look upon himself as obliged to be the patron
of oppressed innocency. The inferior magistrates perhaps had not zeal
and tenderness enough to plead the cause of the poor and needy;
therefore the king himself must interpose, and appear as an advocate,
[1.] For those that were unjustly charged with capital crimes, as
Naboth was, that were appointed to destruction, to gratify the
malice either of a particular person or of a party. It is a case which
it well befits a king to appear in, for the preserving of innocent
blood.
[2.] For those that had actions unjustly brought against them, to
defraud them of their right, because they were poor and needy,
and unable to defend it, not having wherewithal to fee counsel; in such
a case also kings must be advocates for the poor. Especially,
[3.] For those that were dumb, and knew not how to speak for
themselves, either through weakness or fear, or being over-talked by
the prosecutor or over-awed by the court. It is generous to speak for
those that cannot speak for themselves, that are absent, or have not
words at command, or are timorous. Our law appoints the judge to be of
counsel for the prisoner.
| The Virtuous Woman. | |
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10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above
rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that
he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her
hands.
14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from
afar.
15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to
her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of
her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her
arms.
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle
goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the
distaff.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth
forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her
household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is
silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the
elders of the land.
24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth
girdles unto the merchant.
25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall
rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is
the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth
not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband
also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them
all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman
that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works
praise her in the gates.
This description of the virtuous woman is designed to show what
wives the women should make and what wives the men should choose; it
consists of twenty-two verses, each beginning with a letter of the
Hebrew alphabet in order, as some of the Psalms, which makes
some think it was no part of the lesson which Lemuel’s mother taught
him, but a poem by itself, written by some other hand, and perhaps had
been commonly repeated among the pious Jews, for the ease of which it
was made alphabetical. We have the abridgment of it in the New
Testament
(1 Tim. ii. 9, 10; 1 Pet. iii. 1-6),
where the duty prescribed to wives agrees with this description of a
good wife; and with good reason is so much stress laid upon it, since
it contributes as much as any one thing to the keeping up of religion
in families, and the entail of it upon posterity, that the mothers be
wise and good; and of what consequence it is to the wealth and outward
prosperity of a house every one is sensible. He that will thrive must
ask his wife leave. Here is,
I. A general enquiry after such a one
(v. 10),
where observe,
1. The person enquired after, and that is a virtuous woman–a woman
of strength (so the word is), though the weaker vessel, yet made
strong by wisdom and grace, and the fear of God: it is the same word
that is used in the character of good judges
that they are able men, men qualified for the business to which
they are called, men of truth, fearing God. So it follows, A
virtuous woman is a woman of spirit, who has the command of her own
spirit and knows how to manage other people’s, one that is pious and
industrious, and a help meet for a man. In opposition to this strength,
we read of the weakness of the heart of an imperious whorish
woman,
Ezek. xvi. 30.
A virtuous woman is a woman of resolution, who, having espoused
good principles, is firm and steady to them, and will not be frightened
with winds and clouds from any part of her duty.
2. The difficulty of meeting with such a one: Who can find her?
This intimates that good women are very scarce, and many that seem to
be so do not prove so; he that thought he had found a virtuous
woman was deceived; Behold, it was Leah, and not the Rachel
he expected. But he that designs to marry ought to seek diligently for
such a one, to have this principally in his eye, in all his enquiries,
and to take heed that he be not biassed by beauty or gaiety, wealth or
parentage, dressing well or dancing well; for all these may be and yet
the woman not be virtuous, and there is many a woman truly virtuous who
yet is not recommended by these advantages.
3. The unspeakable worth of such a one, and the value which he that
has such a wife ought to put upon her, showing it by his thankfulness
to God and his kindness and respect to her, whom he must never think he
can do too much for. Her price is far above rubies, and all the
rich ornaments with which vain women adorn themselves. The more rare
such good wives are the more they are to be valued.
II. A particular description of her and of her excellent
qualifications.
1. She is very industrious to recommend herself to her husband’s esteem
and affection. Those that are good really will be good relatively. A
good woman, if she be brought into the marriage state, will be a good
wife, and make it her business to please her husband,
1 Cor. vii. 34.
Though she is a woman of spirit herself, yet her desire is to her
husband, to know his mind, that she may accommodate herself to it,
and she is willing that he should rule over her.
(1.) She conducts herself so that he may repose an entire confidence in
her. He trusts in her chastity, which she never gave him the least
occasion to suspect or to entertain any jealousy of; she is not morose
and reserved, but modest and grave, and has all the marks of virtue in
her countenance and behaviour; her husband knows it, and therefore his
heart doth safely trust in her; he is easy, and makes her so. He
trusts in her conduct, that she will speak in all companies, and act in
all affairs, with prudence and discretion, so as not to occasion him
either damage or reproach. He trusts in her fidelity to his interests,
and that she will never betray his counsels nor have any interest
separate from that of his family. When he goes abroad, to attend the
concerns of the public, he can confide in her to order all his affairs
at home, as well as if he himself were there. She is a good wife that
is fit to be trusted, and he is a good husband that will leave it to
such a wife to manage for him.
(2.) She contributes so much to his content and satisfaction that he
shall have no need of spoil; he needs not be griping and scraping
abroad, as those must be whose wives are proud and wasteful at home.
She manages his affairs so that he is always before-hand, has such
plenty of his own that he is in no temptation to prey upon his
neighbours. He thinks himself so happy in her that he envies not those
who have most of the wealth of this world; he needs it not, he has
enough, having such a wife. Happy the couple that have such a
satisfaction as this in each other!
(3.) She makes it her constant business to do him good, and is
afraid of doing any thing, even through inadvertency, that may turn to
his prejudice,
She shows her love to him, not by a foolish fondness, but by prudent
endearments, accommodating herself to his temper, and not crossing him,
giving him good words, and not bad ones, no, not when he is out of
humour, studying to make him easy, to provide what is fit for him both
in health and sickness, and attending him with diligence and tenderness
when any thing ails him; nor would she, no, not for the world, wilfully
do any thing that might be a damage to his person, family, estate, or
reputation. And this is her care all the days of her life; not
at first only, or now and then, when she is in a good humour, but
perpetually; and she is not weary of the good offices she does him:
She does him good, not only all the days of his life, but
of her own too; if she survive him, still she is doing him good
in her care of his children, his estate, and good name, and all the
concerns he left behind him. We read of kindness shown, not only to
the living, but to the dead,
Ruth ii. 20.
(4.) She adds to his reputation in the world
(v. 23):
Her husband is known in the gates, known to have a good wife. By
his wise counsels, and prudent management of affairs, it appears that
he has a discreet companion in his bosom, by conversation with whom he
improves himself. By his cheerful countenance and pleasant humour it
appears that he has an agreeable wife at home; for many that have not
have their tempers strangely soured by it. Nay, by his appearing clean
and neat in his dress, every thing about him decent and handsome, yet
not gaudy, one may know he has a good wife at home, that takes care of
his clothes.
2. She is one that takes pains in the duty of her place and takes
pleasure in it. This part of her character is much enlarged upon here.
(1.) She hates to sit still and do nothing: She eats not the bread
of idleness,
v. 27.
Though she needs not work for her bread (she has an estate to live
upon), yet she will not eat it in idleness, because she knows that we
were none of us sent into this world to be idle, that when we have
nothing to do the devil will soon find us something to do, and that it
is not fit that those who will not labour should eat.
Some eat and drink because they can find themselves nothing else to do,
and needless visits must be received with fashionable entertainments;
these are eating the bread of idleness, which she has no relish for,
for she neither gives nor receives idle visits nor idle talk.
(2.) She is careful to fill up time, that none of that be lost. When
day-light is done, she does not then think it time to lay by her work,
as those are forced to do whose business lies abroad in the fields
(Ps. civ. 23),
but her business lying within-doors, and her work worth candle-light,
with that she lengthens out the day; and her candle goes not out by
night,
v. 18.
It is a mercy to have candle-light to supply the want of day-light, and
a duty, having that advantage, to improve it. We say of an elaborate
piece, It smells of the lamp.
(3.) She rises early, while it is yet night
(v. 15),
to give her servants their breakfast, that they may be ready to go
cheerfully about their work as soon as the day breaks. She is none of
those who sit up playing at cards, or dancing, till midnight, till
morning, and then lie in bed till noon. No; the virtuous woman
loves her business better than her ease or her pleasure, is in care to
be found in the way of her duty every hour of the day, and has more
true satisfaction in having given meat to her household betimes
in the morning than those can have in the money they have won, much
more in what they have lost, who sat up all night at play. Those that
have a family to take care of should not love their bed too well in a
morning.
(4.) She applies herself to the business that is proper for her. It is
not in a scholar’s business, or statesman’s business, or husbandman’s
business, that she employs herself, but in women’s business: She
seeks wool and flax, where she may have the best of each at the
best hand, and cheapest; she has a stock of both by her, and every
thing that is necessary to the carrying on both of the woollen and the
linen manufacture
(v. 13),
and with this she does not only set the poor on work, which is a very
good office, but does herself work, and work willingly, with her
hands; she works with the counsel or delight of her hands
(so the word is); she goes about it cheerfully and dexterously, lays
not only her hand, but her mind to it, and goes on in it without
weariness in well-doing. She lays her own hands to the
spindle, or spinning-wheel, and her hands hold the distaff
(v. 19),
and she does not reckon it either an abridgment of her liberty or a
disparagement to her dignity, or at all inconsistent with her repose.
The spindle and the distaff are here mentioned as her honour, while the
ornaments of the daughters of Zion are reckoned up to their reproach,
&c.
(5.) She does what she does with all her might, and does not trifle in
it
(v. 17);
She girds her loins with strength and strengthens her arms; she
does not employ herself in sitting work only, or in that which is only
the nice performance of the fingers (there are works that are scarcely
one remove from doing nothing); but, if there be occasion, she will go
through with work that requires all the strength she has, which she
will use as one that knows it is the way to have more.
3. She is one that makes what she does to turn to a good account, by
her prudent management of it. She does not toil all night and catch
nothing; no, she herself perceives that her merchandise is good
(v. 18);
she is sensible that in all her labour there is profit,
and that encourages her to go on in it. She perceives that she can make
things herself better and cheaper than she can buy them; she finds by
observation what branch of her employment brings in the best returns,
and to that she applies herself most closely.
(1.) She brings in provisions of all things necessary and convenient
for her family,
No merchants’ ships, no, not Solomon’s navy, ever made a more
advantageous return than her employments do. Do they bring in foreign
commodities with the effects they export? So does she with the fruit of
her labours. What her own ground does not produce she can furnish
herself with, if she have occasion for it, by exchanging her own goods
for it; and so she brings her food from afar. Not that she
values things the more for their being far-fetched, but, if they be
ever so far off, if she must have them she knows how to come by them.
(2.) She purchases lands, and enlarges the demesne of the family
(v. 16):
She considers a field, and buys it. She considers what an
advantage it will be to the family and what a good account it will turn
to, and therefore she buys it; or, rather, though she have ever so much
mind to it she will not buy it till she has first considered it,
whether it be worth her money, whether she can afford to take so much
money out of her stock as must go to purchase it, whether the title be
good, whether the ground will answer the character given of it, and
whether she has money at command to pay for it. Many have undone
themselves by buying without considering; but those who would make
advantageous purchases must consider, and then buy. She also
plants a vineyard, but it is with the fruit of her hands;
she does not take up money, or run into debt, to do it, but she does it
with what she can spare out of the gains of her own housewifery. Men
should not lay out any thing upon superfluities, till, by the blessing
of God upon their industry, they have got before-hand, and can afford
it; and then the fruit of the vineyard is likely to be doubly
sweet, when it is the fruit of honest industry.
(3.) She furnishes her house well and has good clothing for herself and
her family
(v. 22):
She makes herself coverings of tapestry to hang her rooms, and
she may be allowed to use them when they are of her own making.
Her own clothing is rich and fine: it is silk and
purple, according to her place and rank. Though she is not so vain
as to spend much time in dressing herself, nor makes the putting on of
apparel her adorning, nor values herself upon it, yet she has rich
clothes and puts them on well. The senator’s robes which her husband
wears are of her own spinning, and they look better and wear better
than any that are bought. She also gets good warm clothing for her
children, and her servants’ liveries. She needs not fear the cold of
the most pinching winter, for she and her family are well provided with
clothes, sufficient to keep out cold, which is the end chiefly to be
aimed at in clothing: All her household are clothed in scarlet,
strong cloth and fit for winter, and yet rich and making a good
appearance. They are all double clothed (so some read it), have
change of raiment, a winter suit and a summer suit.
(4.) She trades abroad. She makes more than she and her household have
occasion for; and therefore, when she has sufficiently stocked her
family, she sells fine linen and girdles to the merchants
(v. 24),
who carry them to Tyre, the mart of the nations, or some other trading
city. Those families are likely to thrive that sell more than they
buy; as it is well with the kingdom when abundance of its home
manufactures are exported. It is no disgrace to those of the best
quality to sell what they can spare, nor to deal in trade and send
ventures by sea.
(5.) She lays up for hereafter: She shall rejoice in time to
come, having laid in a good stock for her family, and having good
portions for her children. Those that take pains when they are in their
prime will have the pleasure and joy of it when they are old, both in
reflecting upon it and in reaping the benefit of it.
4. She takes care of her family and all the affairs of it, gives
meat to her household
(v. 15),
to every one his portion of meat in due season, so that none of
her servants have reason to complain of being kept short or faring
hard. She gives also a portion (an allotment of work, as well as
meat) to her maidens; they shall all of them know their business
and have their task. She looks well to the ways of her household
(v. 27);
she inspects the manners of all her servants, that she may check what
is amiss among them, and oblige them all to behave properly and do
their duty to God and one another, as well as to her; as Job, who put
away iniquity far from his tabernacle, and David, who would suffer no
wicked thing in his house. She does not intermeddle in the concerns of
other people’s houses; she thinks it enough for her to look well to her
own.
5. She is charitable to the poor,
v. 20.
She is as intent upon giving as she is upon getting; she often serves
the poor with her own hand, and she does if freely, cheerfully, and
very liberally, with an out-stretched hand. Nor does she relieve her
poor neighbours only, and those that are nigh at hand, but she
reaches forth her hands to the needy that are at a distance,
seeking opportunities to do good and to communicate, which is as
good housewifery as any thing she does.
6. She is discreet and obliging in all her discourse, not talkative,
censorious, nor peevish, as some are, that know how to take pains; no,
she opens her mouth with wisdom; when she does speak, it is with
a great deal of prudence and very much to the purpose; you may perceive
by every word she says how much she governs herself by the rules of
wisdom. She not only takes prudent measures herself, but gives prudent
advice to others; and this not as assuming the authority of a dictator,
but with the affection of a friend and an obliging air: In her
tongue is the law of kindness; all she says is under the government
of that law. The law of love and kindness is written in the heart, but
it shows itself in the tongue; if we are kindly affectioned one to
another, it will appear by affectionate expression. It is called a
law of kindness, because it gives law to others, to all she
converses with. Her wisdom and kindness together put a commanding power
into all she says; they command respect, they command compliance. How
forcible are right words! In her tongue is the law of grace, or
mercy (so some read it), understanding it of the word and law of
God, which she delights to talk of among her children and servants. She
is full of pious religious discourse, and manages it prudently, which
shows how full her heart is of another world even when her hands are
most busy about this world.
7. That which completes and crowns her character is that she fears
the Lord,
v. 30.
With all those good qualities she lacks not that one thing
needful; she is truly pious, and, in all she does, is guided and
governed by principles of conscience and a regard to God; this is that
which is here preferred far before beauty; that is vain and
deceitful; all that are wise and good account it so, and value
neither themselves nor others on it. Beauty recommends none to God, nor
is it any certain indication of wisdom and goodness, but it has
deceived many a man who has made his choice of a wife by it. There may
be an impure deformed soul lodged in a comely and beautiful body; nay,
many have been exposed by their beauty to such temptations as have been
the ruin of their virtue, their honour, and their precious souls. It
is a fading thing at the best, and therefore vain and
deceitful. A fit of sickness will stain and sully it in a little
time; a thousand accidents may blast this flower in its prime; old age
will certainly wither it and death and the grave consume it. But the
fear of God reigning in the heart is the beauty of the soul; it
recommends those that have it to the favour of God, and is, in his
sight, of great price; it will last for ever, and bid defiance to death
itself, which consumes the beauty of the body, but consummates the
beauty of the soul.
III. The happiness of this virtuous woman.
1. She has the comfort and satisfaction of her virtue in her own mind
(v. 25):
Strength and honour are her clothing, in which she wraps
herself, that is, enjoys herself, and in which she appears to the
world, and so recommends herself. She enjoys a firmness and constancy
of mind, has spirit to bear up under the many crosses and
disappointments which even the wise and virtuous must expect to meet
with in this world; and this is her clothing, for defence as well as
decency. She deals honourably with all, and she has the pleasure of
doing so, and shall rejoice in time to come; she shall reflect
upon it with comfort, when she comes to be old, that she was not idle
or useless when she was young. In the day of death it will be a
pleasure to her to think that she has lived to some good purpose. Nay,
she shall rejoice in an eternity to come; she shall be
recompensed for her goodness with fulness of joy and pleasures for
evermore.
2. She is a great blessing to her relations,
(1.) Her children grow up in her place, and they call
her blessed. They give her their good word, they are themselves a
commendation to her, and they are ready to give great commendations of
her; they pray for her, and bless God that they had such a good mother.
It is a debt which they owe her, a part of that honour which the fifth
commandment requires to be paid to father and mother; and it is a
double honour that is due to a good father and a good mother.
(2.) Her husband thinks himself so happy in her that he takes
all occasions to speak well of her, as one of the best of women. It is
no indecency at all, but a laudable instance of conjugal love, for
husbands and wives to give one another their due praises.
3. She gets the good word of all her neighbours, as Ruth did, whom
all the city of her people knew to be a virtuous woman,
Ruth iii. 11.
Virtue will have its praise,
A woman that fears the Lord, shall have praise of God
and of men too. It is here shown,
(1.) That she shall be highly praised
(v. 29):
Many have done virtuously. Virtuous women, it seems, are
precious jewels, but not such rare jewels as was represented
There have been many, but such a one as this cannot be paralleled.
Who can find her equal? She excels them all. Note, Those
that are good should aim and covet to excel in virtue. Many
daughters, in their father’s house, and in the single state,
have done virtuously, but a good wife, if she be virtuous,
excels them all, and does more good in her place than they can
do in theirs. Or, as some explain it, A man cannot have his house so
well kept by good daughters, as by a good wife.
(2.) That she shall be incontestably praised, without contradiction,
Some are praised above what is their due, but those that praise her do
but give her of the fruit of her hands; they give her that which
she has dearly earned and which is justly due to her; she is wronged if
she have it not. Note, Those ought to be praised the fruit of whose
hands is praise-worthy. The tree is known by its fruits, and therefore,
if the fruit be good, the tree must have our good word. If her children
be dutiful and respectful to her, and conduct themselves as they ought,
they then give her the fruit of her hands; she reaps the benefit
of all the care she has taken of them, and thinks herself well paid.
Children must thus study to requite their parents, and this is
showing piety at home,
1 Tim. v. 4.
But, if men be unjust, the thing will speak itself, her own
works will praise her in the gates, openly before all the
people.
[1.] She leaves it to her own works to praise her, and does not court
the applause of men. Those are none of the truly virtuous women that
love to hear themselves commended.
[2.] Her own works will praise her; if her relations and
neighbours altogether hold their peace, her good works will proclaim
her praise. The widows gave the best encomium of Dorcas when they
showed the coats and garments she had made for the poor,
Acts ix. 39.
[3.] The least that can be expected from her neighbours is that they
should let her own works praise her, and do nothing to hinder
them. Those that do that which is good, let them have praise
of the same
Rom. xiii. 3)
and let us not enviously say, or do, any thing to the diminishing of
it, but be provoked by it to a holy emulation. Let none have an ill
report from us, that have a good report even of the truth
itself. Thus is shut up this looking-glass for ladies, which they
are desired to open and dress themselves by; and, if they do so, their
adorning will be found to praise, and honour, and glory, at the
appearing of Jesus Christ.
Twenty chapters of the book of Proverbs (beginning with
ch. x. and ending with ch. xxix.), consisting mostly of
entire sentences in each verse, could not well be reduced to proper
heads, and the contents of them gathered; I have therefore here put the
contents of all these chapters together, which perhaps may be of some
use to those who desire to see at once all that is said of any one head
in these chapters. Some of the verses, perhaps, I have not put under
the same heads that another would have put them under, but the most of
them fall (I hope) naturally enough to the places I have assigned them.
|
1. |
Of the comfort, or grief, parents have in their children, according
as they are wise or foolish, godly or ungodly, xxvii. 11; xxix. 3. |
|
2. |
Of the world’s insufficiency, and religion’s sufficiency,
to make us happy and the preference to be therefore given to the gains of virtue above those of this world, |
|
3. |
Of slothfulness and diligence,
xviii. 9; xix. 15, 24; xx. 4, 13; xxi. 5, 25, 26; xxii. 13, 29; xxiv. 30-34; xxvi. 13-16; xxvii. 18, 23, 27; xxviii. 19. Particularly the improving or neglecting opportunities, |
|
4. |
The happiness of the righteous, and the misery of the wicked,
xii. 2, 3, 7, 13, 14, 21, 26, 28; xiii. 6, 9, 14, 15, 21, 22, 25; xiv. 11, 14, 19, 32; xv. 6, 8, 9, 24, 26, 29; xx. 7; xxi. 12, 15, 16, 18, 21; xxii. 12; xxviii. 10, 18; xxix. 6. |
|
5. |
Of honour and dishonour,
And of vain-glory, |
|
6. |
The wisdom of obedience, and folly of disobedience,
xix. 16; xxviii. 4, 7, 9. |
|
7. |
Of mischievousness and usefulness,
xiv. 22; xvi. 29, 30; xvii. 11; xxi. 10; xxiv. 8; xxvi. 23, 27. |
|
8. |
The praise of wise and good discourse, and the hurt and
shame of an ungoverned tongue, xv. 2, 4, 7, 23, 28; xvi. 20, 23, 24; xvii. 7; xviii. 4, 7, 20, 21; xx. 15; xxi. 23; xxiii. 9; xxiv. 26; xxv. 11. |
|
9. |
Of love and hatred, peaceableness and contention,
xxv. 8; xxvi. 17, 21; xxix. 9. |
|
10. |
Of the rich and poor,
xix. 1, 4, 7, 22; xxii. 2, 7; xxviii. 6, 11; xxix. 13. |
|
11. |
Of lying, fraud, and dissimulation, and of truth and sincerity,
xxvi. 18, 19, 24-26, 28. |
|
12. |
Of slandering, |
|
13. |
Of talkativeness and silence,
|
|
14. |
Of justice and injustice,
xxii. 28; xxiii. 10, 11; xxix. 24. |
|
15. |
Of pride and humility,
xxv. 6, 7; xxviii. 25; xxix. 23. |
|
16. |
Of despising and respecting others, |
|
17. |
Of tale-bearing, |
|
18. |
Of rashness and deliberation,
|
|
19. |
Of suretiship, |
|
20. |
Of good and bad women, or wives,
xxi. 9, 19; xxv. 24; xxvii. 15, 16. |
|
21. |
Of mercifulness and unmercifulness, |
|
22. |
Of charity to the poor, and uncharitableness,
|
|
23. |
Of covetousness and contentment, |
|
24. |
Of anger and meekness,
xix. 11, 19; xxii. 24, 25; xxv. 15, 28; xxvi. 21; xxix. 22. |
|
25. |
Of melancholy and cheerfulness,
|
|
26. |
Of hope and expectation, |
|
27. |
Of prudence and foolishness,
xviii. 2, 15; xxiv. 3-7; vii. 27; xxvi. 6-11; xxviii. 5. |
|
28. |
Of treachery and fidelity, |
|
29. |
Of good and bad company, |
|
30. |
Of the education of children,
|
|
31. |
Of the fear of the Lord,
|
|
32. |
Of true and false witness-bearing, |
|
33. |
Of scorners, |
|
34. |
Of credulity and caution, |
|
35. |
Of kings and their subjects,
xxii. 11; xxiv. 23-25; xxx. 2-5; xxviii. 2, 3, 15, 16; xxix. 5, 12, 14, 26. |
|
36. |
Of envy, especially envying sinners, |
|
37. |
Of God’s omniscience, and his universal providence,
xxi. 1, 30, 31; xxix. 26. |
|
38. |
Of a good and ill name, |
|
39. |
Of men’s good opinion of themselves,
|
|
40. |
Of devotion towards God, and dependence on him,
|
|
41. |
Of the happiness of God’s favour, |
|
42. |
Excitements to get wisdom,
xxiv. 13, 14; xxvii. 11. |
|
43. |
Cautions against temptations, |
|
44. |
Of old age and youth, |
|
45. |
Of servants, |
|
46. |
Of bribery, |
|
47. |
Of reproof and correction,
xxvii. 5, 6, 22; xxviii. 23; xxix. 1. |
|
48. |
Of ingratitude, |
|
49. |
Of friendship, |
|
50. |
Of sensual pleasures, |
|
51. |
Of drunkenness, |
|
52. |
Of the universal corruption of nature, |
|
53. |
Of flattery, |
|
54. |
Of undutiful children, |
|
55. |
Of the short continuance of what is ill-gotten, |
|
56. |
Of revenge, |
|
57. |
Of sacrilege, |
|
58. |
Of conscience, |
|
59. |
Of the preference of moral duties before ceremonial, |
|
60. |
Of prodigality and wastefulness, |
|
61. |
The triumphs of wisdom and godliness, |
|
62. |
Of frowardness and tractableness, |
|
63. |
Of uncleanness, |
|
64. |
Of fainting in affliction, |
|
65. |
Of helping the distressed, |
|
66. |
Of loyalty to the government, |
|
67. |
Of forgiving enemies, |
|
68. |
Of causeless curse, |
|
69. |
Of answering fools, |
|
70. |
Of unsettledness and unsatisfiedness, |
|
71. |
Of cowardliness and courage, |
|
72. |
The people’s interest in the character of their rulers, |
|
73. |
The benefit of repentance and holy fear, |
|
74. |
The punishment of murder, |
|
75. |
Of hastening to be rich, |
|
76. |
The enmity of the wicked against the godly, |
|
77. |
The necessity of the means of grace, |
|
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