d) Against stubbornness and insubordination

CHAP. 29

1          He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck

shall suddenly be destroyed and without remedy.

2     When the righteous increase the people rejoice,

but when a wicked man ruleth the people mourn.

3     He that loveth wisdom maketh his father glad,

but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.

4     The king will establish the land by judgment,

but a man (fond) of bribes destroyeth it.

5     A man who flattereth his neighbor

spreadeth a net for his feet.

6     In the transgression of the wicked man is a snare,

but the righteous will rejoice and be glad.

7     The righteous knoweth-the cause of the poor;

the wicked doth not discern knowledge.

8     Scoffers set on fire the city,

but wise men turn back anger.

9     A wise man contendeth with the fool;

but he rageth, and laugheth, and there is no rest.

10     Men of blood hate the upright,

but the righteous seek his soul (to deliver it).

11     All his wrath doth the fool pour forth,

but the wise quieteth it afterward.

12     A ruler that giveth heed to deceitful words,

all his servants are wicked.

13     The poor man and the usurer meet together;

Jehovah giveth light to the eyes of both.

14     A king who judgeth the poor faithfully,

his throne shall be established for ever.

15     The rod and reproof impart wisdom;

but a neglected son causeth his mother shame.

16     When the wicked are multiplied transgression increaseth;

but the righteous shall see their fall.

17     Correct thy son, and he will give thee rest,

and bring delight to thy soul.

18     When there is no revelation the people are ungoverned,

but he that keepeth the law, blessed is he!

19     By words a servant will not be corrected;

for he perceiveth them but doth not conform to them.

20     Seest thou a man hasty in his words;

the fool hath more hope than he.

21     One bringeth up his servant tenderly from a child

and afterward he shall be a son.

22     An angry man stirreth up strife,

and a passionate man aboundeth in transgression.

23     A man’s pride shall bring him low,

but he that is of a lowly spirit retaineth honor.

24     He that is partner with a thief hateth his own soul;

he heareth the curse and showeth it not.

25     Fear of man bringeth a snare,

but he that trusteth Jehovah shall be preserved.

26     Many seek the favor of the ruler,

but from Jehovah cometh man’s judgment.

27     An abomination to the righteous is the unjust man,

and an abomination to the wicked is he who is upright in his way.

GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL

Proverbs 29:5.—With מַחֲלִיק we should, according to 28:23, supply לָשׁוֹן; and עַל expresses here the dative relation as אֶל usually does; Comp. Ps. 36:3.

Proverbs 29:6.—יָרוּן stands for יָרן, illustrating a very common transition from עע roots into the עו form; EWALD, § 138, a. [GREEN, § 140, 1: BÖTT. § 1147, A., etc.]

Proverbs 29:10.—Between דָּמִים and תָּם there seems to be an assonance intended.

Proverbs 29:18.—[אַשְׁרֵהוּ an instance of the attachment of the suffix of the singular to form pluralia lantum; comp. אַשְׁרָיו in 14:21; 16:20, the only other instances in which the noun occurs with the suffix of 3d pers. sing. BÖTT. suggests that this may he a trace of the dialect of Ephraim; § 888, δ and n. 1; § 888, 1.—A.]

Proverbs 29:25.—חֶרְדַּת BÖTT. treats as a fem. Infin. (§ 990, 4, B and n.3), and notices the not uncommon sequence of a masculine predicate (990, 3, β.).—A.]

EXEGETICAL

1. Proverbs 29:1–7. Against various forms of obstinate unrighteousness, especially oppression, prodigality, flattery, etc.—He that is often reproved, being stiffnecked. A “man of corrections” or “reproofs” (for which HITZIG needlessly substitutes תוֹכֵחוֹת “punishments” [which GESEN. would render “arguments,” i.e., a man who when censured defends himself]) is one who deserves many corrections, is continually bringing them upon himself (comp. the “man of sorrows,” Is. 53:8). Here he is described as such a man, who “maketh his neck hard,” i.e., the stiffnecked man who will everywhere defiantly carry through his own will (comp. Ex. 32:9; 33:3; 39:9; Deut. 9:6; 31:27, etc.; and also the “hardening of the heart” in Proverbs 28:14). [The E. V. which is followed by nearly all our expositors, and which we have given in the general version of the chapter, makes the obstinacy not the original cause of the many corrections, that for which the offender is in the first instance reproved, but the disposition evinced by him under all reproofs whatsoever. The final difference is not great; sudden and utter destruction will follow and end unavailing reproofs.—A.]. With b compare the literally identical second clause of Proverbs 6:15.

Proverbs 29:2. When the righteous increase. According to Proverbs 28:28 this is the same thing as “the wicked’s perishing.” HITZIG: “when righteous men attain to power,”—an unnecessary assimilation of the meaning of the verb to that in clause b. For the rest compare 28:12.

Proverbs 29:3. With a compare 10:1; with b, 6:26; 28:7.

Proverbs 29:4. A king will establish the land by judgment, (i.e., by the maintenance of justice). For the verb comp. 1 Kings 15:4. The “man of gifts (bribes)” is then naturally the unjust ruler who “perverts justice from love of gifts” (BERTHEAU). ROSENMUELLER and HITZIG explain the phrase as meaning “a man of taxes or assessments;” in like manner LUTHER: “he who assesses the land excessively.” This is possible, but not demonstrable with full certainty. The conception of the Vulgate is at any rate too general: Vir avarus, and also STIER’S; “he who willingly receives presents.” [K. agrees with HITZIG, etc.; H., N., S., M., take our author’s view.]

Proverbs 29:5. A man who flattereth his neighbor; see Critical notes.—Spreadeth a net for his feet. “He does this even when he is not intending it; the web of enticing errors before his neighbor’s eyes, becomes, when he comes into contact with them, a net in which he is caught” (HITZIG). For the sentiment comp. 26:24, 25, 28.

Proverbs 29:6; In the transgression of the wicked man is a snare, i.e., for himself; comp. 18:7; 20:25; 22:25. HITZIG proposes instead of the noun the corresponding verb (in the Niphal); “In the sin of the wicked he ensnareth himself.” A change plainly as superfluous as that of EWALD, who, following the steps of some earlier expositors but clearly in violation of the order of words, combines the epithet “evil” with the “snare.”—But the righteous will rejoice and be glad, i.e., in his own happy escape from danger. For a like combination of רנן to exult, or shout for joy, and שׂמח to be glad, comp. Ps. 35:27.

Proverbs 29:7. The righteous knoweth the cause of the poor, i.e., their judicial cause, their claims before a court. For this use of the verb “to know” comp. 12:10; for the sentiment Proverbs 29:14; Job 29:12, 16.—The wicked doth not discern knowledge (others “know understanding”); i.e., he listens to no reason, has no sensibility for right and equity (HITZIG). Comp. 28:5. [This explanation, which is also WORDSWORTH’S (“knowledge, which consists in piety and charity”), we prefer to the more external one given, e.g., by H., S., M.; does not acquaint himself with the poor man’s cause.—A.]

2. Proverbs 29:8–11. Against scoffing, contentiousness, thirst for blood and passionateness.—Mockers set on fire the city. “Men of derision” is a more select expression for the common לֵצִים “scorners,” one found likewise in Is. 28:14 [intending and meaning more than would be ordinarily suggested by the rendering of the E. V.; “scornful men.”—A.]. The “setting on fire” (lit. “blowing upon,” comp. Ezek. 21:36) the city is a fitly chosen figurative expression for the excitement of the passion and the party spirit of the people of the city; קִרְיָה stands here like πόλις in Matth. 12:24 of the community of the city.—With b comp. 15:1, 18; Eccles. 10:4. [The connection is not unknown in modern times of religious skepticism and rationalism, with political radicalism and a revolutionary spirit.—A.].

Proverbs 29:9. A wise man contendeth with a fool;—but he rageth and laugheth and there is no rest. The first clause forms, somewhat like the abl. absol. in Latin, a clause by itself, the participle of which may be resolved into “if or when the wise contendeth, etc.” The subject of the verbs in b is the fool and not the wise man (EWALD, UMBREIT, ELSTER, STIER [DE W., MUFFET, N., etc., while BERTHEAU, K., H., S., etc., understand “the fool,” the E. V., M. and others being ambiguous]), in which case the וְאֵין נָחַת (and there is no ceasing, no rest comes, comp. 1 Sam. 25:9) would form quite too short a conclusion; moreover the “raging” and the “laughing” appear to be much rather characteristic signs of the fool’s conduct than of the wise man’s; comp. Proverbs 29:11 and Proverbs 12:16.

Proverbs 29:10. Men of blood hate the upright. “Men of blood” as in Ps. 5:7; 26:9; 55:24; 139:19.—But the righteous seek his soul, viz., to preserve and prosper it. That the “seeking the soul” here stands bono sensu, unlike its use in some other passages (e.g., Ps. 40:15; 1 Kings 19:10, etc.,) [on the other hand comp. דורֵשׁ לְנַפְשִׁי in Ps. 142:5], appears from the contrast with clause a; HITZIG’S emendation is therefore unnecessary, substituting וְלַשְׁמִים for וִישׁרָיִם, and thus obtaining as the meaning: “and seek to separate his soul, to isolate it” (!). [Of our expositors H. prefers the common rendering of the predicate, and makes “the upright” a nom. or ace. absolute.—A.]

Proverbs 29:11. All his wrath doth the fool pour forth. “Spirit” is here plainly wrath, as in 16:32, and not “soul” (UMBREIT) or “mind” STIER, etc.; [so E. V. and some of our interpreters]).—But the wise quieteth it afterward. בְּאָחוֹר, which occurs only here, means “afterward, at length”; others explain this unusual expression by “back, retrorsum;” e.g., DE W., STIER, HITZIG, GESEN., etc.: “Keepeth it back, restraining it, pressing it in as it were (?).”

3. Proverbs 29:12–17. Admonitions to a just and mild mode of government, and also the strict discipline of children. With Proverbs 29:12 comp. Ecclesiast. 10:2, and also CIC. De Leg., III. 13 and the Latin proverb; Qualis rex talis grex, “like king, like people.”

Proverbs 29:13. The poor man and the usurer (oppressor) meet together. The “man of exactions” should be interpreted with the LXX (δανειοτὴς), Vulg. (creditor), EWALD, HITZIG, FUERST, etc., by “usurer,” inasmuch as תְּכָכִים, as a plural from תֹּךְ (τοκος) [?] is very probably equivalent in meaning to נֶשֶׁךְ “usury;” [RÖD., BÖTT., etc., prefer the broader meaning “oppression”]. A “man of usury, money-lender” is furthermore only a more concrete expression for a “rich man,” and this is the corresponding term in Proverbs 22:2.—Jehovah giveth light to the eyes of both; i.e., according to the parallels cited, Jehovah has given to them both the light of their life; from God comes to both the light of life and the joy of life; comp. Ps. 13:4; Job 33:30; Eccles. 11:7. [“Here is comfort to the poor in his sufferings; here is warning to the rich in his violence,” WORDS.]

Proverbs 29:14. A king who judgeth the poor faithfully. “In truth, or fidelity” is not here “conscientiously, with truth to his own convictions,” but conformably to the state of the facts, “so that he permits true judgment (Zech. 7:9) to reach the poor” (HITZIG). With the sentiment comp. 20:28; 25:5.

Proverbs 29:15. With a comp. 23:13; 13:24; with b, 10:1; 17:21; 28:7. The “neglected” is literally “he who is exempted from discipline, who is left to his own will.”

Proverbs 29:16. When the wicked are multiplied transgression increaseth, so far forth as the wicked who are found in the decided majority think that they may with impunity commit all manner of wickedness. With b comp. Ps. 37:34 where the joyful beholding of the destruction of the wicked is expressed by the same phrase.

Proverbs 29:17. With a comp. 19:18.—And give delight to thy soul. מַעֲדַנִּים not “delicacies, dainties” (BERTHEAU), but delights, joys in general, whose increasing variety is expressed by the plural (STIER).

4. Proverbs 29:18–23. Against lawlessness, insubordination, a passionate temper, and pride.—When there is no revelation the people are ungoverned. חָזוֹן here denotes prophetic prediction, the revelation of God by His חֹזִים or רֹאִיה, “seers” (1 Sam. 9:9), [E. V. “when there is no vision”]; the chief function of these consisted in their watching over the vigorous fulfilling of the law, or in the enforcement of the demands of the law. By the phrase “in lack of Vision” a time is described like that mentioned in 1 Sam. 3:1, when “the word of the Lord was precious;” or like those mentioned in Hos. 3:4; Am. 8:12; 2 Chron. 15:3; Ps. 74:9, times distinguished by poverty in prophetic testimonies and activities. In such times the people must necessarily be “undisciplined and unbridled,” (so Ex. 34:25 [where the E. V. incorrectly renders “naked”]).—But he that keepeth the law blessed is he! (comp. 14:21; 16:20.) This benediction forms no strict antithesis to clause a. The connection of ideas seems to be this: But he who in such seasons of ascendant lawlessness nevertheless keeps God’s law, etc.” (HITZIG).

Proverbs 29:19. By words a servant will not be corrected; i.e., mere words do not reform a servant, who rather needs a sharper correction.—For he perceiveth them but doth not conform to them; lit. “but there is not an answer,” that is in action, by actual obedience, by ὑπακοή (2 Cor. 10:6, etc.). BERTHEAU is wrong: “For he will observe it—that there is no coming to blows—and there will be no answer;” no less is EWALD incorrect: “But he becomes intelligent (gains understanding) without an answer,” and likewise VON HOFMANN, Schriftbew., II. 2, 377: “if he has understanding no answer follows.”

Proverbs 29:20. Almost exactly like 26:12. Comp. also Ecclesiast. 9:18, where the προπετὴς ἐν λόγῳ αὐτοῦ corresponds precisely with the “hasty in his words” of our verse.

Proverbs 29:21. If one bringeth up his slave tenderly from a child afterward he will be a son. The relation of the two clauses is like that in Proverbs 29:9, פנק “to fondle” is used here only in the O. T.; it is more common in Aramaic. מָנוֹן which according to the Rabbinic is cognate with נִין suboles, seems to be designed to distinguish “the son of the household,” the free filius familias in contrast with the house-slave; comp. LUTHER’S term “Junker” [a “squire”]. Others interpret the Hapaxlegom. differently, e.g. EWALD, following the Arabic: “he will be unthankful” [FUERST, “intractable”]: STIER “his end will be (evil) development;” VON HOFMANN, ubi supra: “there is at last a lamentation,” etc. [HOLDEN: “shall be grieved”]. HITZIG reads מָנוֹד which is to be interpreted, like Ps. 44:15 (14) “a shaking of the head,” or even “a wringing of the hands!” To write מָדוֹן would be more natural than this: “his end will be contention,” as the Vulgate seems to have understood the expression, when it renders: postea sentiet eum contumacem.

Proverbs 29:22. An angry man stirreth up strife. Almost precisely like 15:18; comp. 28:25.—And a passionate man aboundeth in transgression; for רַב in the sense of “great or rich in something,” comp. 28:20, 27. See Proverbs 22:24 for a phrase kindred to the “lord of passion,” i.e., the passionate man.

Proverbs 29:23. With a compare 16:18; 25:7; with b, 16:19; 11:16.

5. Proverbs 29:24–27. Warning against the fear of man, disposition to please men, and complicity in transgressions.—He that is partner with a thief hateth himself; i.e., inasmuch as he, as the concealer of a thief, brings upon himself the guilt and likewise the penalty of the full theft.—He heareth the curse and showeth it not; i.e., he hears the curse which according to the law (Lev. 5:1 sq.) marks a theft as an offence deserving a heavy penalty, and yet does not reveal the perpetrators of the deed which is laden with such a curse, and thus brings the curse also upon himself. [The E. V. is altogether ambiguous and misleading.]

Proverbs 29:25. Fear of man bringeth a snare. Fear of man (for which HITZIG conjectures הֲמֹד לְאָדָם, “desiring or delighting in man”) is strictly “trembling before men;” comp. 1 Sam. 14:15. Such a fear of man “bringeth a snare,” because it easily betrays into a participation in the sinful actions of men. With b comp. 18:10.

Proverbs 29:26. Many seek the face (favor) of the ruler; they wait upon him, the potentate, in person, as a token of their homage, and in order to gain his favor. Comp. 19:6; 1 Kings 10:24.—But from Jehovah cometh man’s judgment; i.e., God, the Supreme Ruler, allots the destinies of men most justly and equitably; with Him one obtains the desired judgment more certainly than with any human ruler whatsoever. Comp. 16:33. HITZIG arbitrarily says: “judgment is here equivalent to rank, dignity.”

Proverbs 29:27. Comp. 11:20; 28:4; and for the expression “they that walk uprightly,” or are “upright in the way,” in clause b, see in particular Ps. 37:14, and also Prov. 2:7.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

When early expositors (STÖCKER, WOHLFARTH, etc., comp. also STIER) represent the chapter before us as directed especially against stiff-necked obstinacy, or against wilful disobedience and persistent refusal of correction, this conception of its main subject not only corresponds with Proverbs 29:1, but also with the repeated occurrence of rebukes of lawless conduct and the bad training of children, such as the following series of proverbs exhibits (Proverbs 29:9, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21). Besides the manifold warnings against violent temper and its evil consequences fall under the same category (Proverbs 29:8, 11, 22); in like manner the dissuasions against prodigality (Proverbs 29:3), oppression of the poor (Proverbs 29:2, 7, 13, 14), pride (Proverbs 29:23), flattery and bribery (Proverbs 29:4, 5, 12), injustice and deeds of wickedness in general (Proverbs 29:6, 10, 16, 27). As a peculiar form of insubordination, or persistent disregard of the divine law, there is brought out prominently toward the end of the chapter the fear of man, which has not before been expressly mentioned in the Book of Proverbs. And this is done in such a way as to distinguish three degrees of this fault; the concealing of a theft, as its rudest and lowest form (Proverbs 29:24); the “trembling before men,” or pliability with respect to such conduct of wicked persons in general as is sinful and entices to sin (Proverbs 29:25); and the mere disposition to please men, or reliance on the protection and favor of powerful men, instead of on God alone (Proverbs 29:26).

A special adaptation to the theocratic political organization of the people of God under the Old Testament is given to the general direction which the chapter takes against wilfulness, insubordination and want of discipline, in Proverbs 29:18: When there is no revelation, the people become lawless; but he that keepeth the law, blessed is he! In this remarkable testimony to the need of prophecy as the living watch and ward of the law, there is evidently brought to view that thought which is doctrinally and in respect to the history of salvation the most significant in the section. This is a thought which could develop itself, and find expression only after repeated periods had occurred in which prophecy was wholly or partially silent, and therefore only on the ground of sorrowful experiences that had accumulated in such seasons. The appearance of this thought, however, in the section before us by no means compels the assumption that this division of the book may not have originated till after Hezekiah, and this HITZIG also admits. Comp. above, the exegetical interpretation of the passage.

The great significance of prophecy for the moral life, both of the theocratic people of God and of Christian nations, has been well presented by ELSTER, in connection with this passage. “Where the continuity of these prophetic revelations (to which it belonged to maintain in life and to develop the fundamental revelation made in i the law) was interrupted, this was the sign of a stagnation in the theocratic life, of an incapacity to understand the voice of God that ever continued to exist in Israel. Such a condition must therefore necessarily bring with it also a moral lawlessness in the people. For when the law was a vivid reality, it must necessarily develop prophetic manifestations, because there is in the law itself a struggling toward a higher perfection, so that the faithful keeping of the law stood in the most intimate reciprocity with the flourishing of prophecy.—Naturally the relation of this proverb to the life of Christian nations is thereby not excluded, for we must then contemplate the law as first revealed in its true import in the light of the gospel, and revelation as the continued working of the Spirit in the Church.”

How far moreover in the life of Christian nations we can and must speak of an abiding cooperative work of prophecy [i.e., naturally that of the New Testament), upon its successful development, religious and moral, VON ZEZSCHWITZ has shown with peculiar force and pertinence in his three discourses on “Domestic Missions, popular education and prophecy” (Frankfort on the Main, 1864); see in particular pp. 86 sq.

HOMILETIC AND PRACTICAL

Homily on the chapter as a whole: The blessing of strict discipline on the basis of the word of God, or its necessity for the prosperity whether of individual persons and households, or of entire nations and States.—STÖCKER: Third hinderance to the attainment of true wisdom: obstinate disobedience or stubbornness; origin, characteristics and remedy of this evil.

Proverbs 29:1–7. [TRAPP (on Proverbs 29:1): If men harden their hearts, God will harden His hand.—J. HOWE: A fearful thing when the gospel itself shall not be my remedy!—CHALMERS: The hardening effect of continued resistance to the application of a moral force.—S. DAVIES: To follow the conduct of our own folly and refuse the advantage we might receive from the wisdom of others discovers an uncreaturely pride and self-sufficiency; and the career of such a pursuit, whatever be its object, will always end in disappointment and confusion.—HOOKER (on Proverbs 29:2): Religion unfeignedly loved perfecteth man’s abilities unto all kind of virtuous services in the common-wealth.]—ZELTNER (on Proverbs 29:1): He that obstinately opposes the Holy Ghost and will not receive the wholesome corrections of God’s word, his heart the evil spirit hardens; he thereby plunges himself into calamity.—(On Proverbs 29:3): Pious parents can experience no greater joy than when they see their children walk in true wisdom and the fear of God.—(On Proverbs 29:5): The caress of a flatterer is much more dangerous than the hatred of an enemy.—[SOUTH (on Proverbs 29:5): Three Sermons on Flattery.—BRIDGES (on Proverbs 29:6): There is always a snare in the ways of sin; always a song in the ways of God.]—LANGE (on Proverbs 29:7): Let judges and rulers take good heed lest they by their negligence in the cause of the humble be reckoned as among the ungodly.—VON GERLACH: By righteousness there is opened to man a view into all departments of life; especially may he transfer himself into the position and case of the oppressed; while to the wicked man, who looks on every thing superficially, such insight is denied, and he therefore easily comes to oppress the poor.

Proverbs 29:8–11. HASIUS (on Proverbs 29:8): An unwashed mouth may easily stir up much evil; but it is a characteristic of wisdom to make the best of every thing.—STARKE: A true Christian is at the same time a good citizen in the commonwealth; for he seeks to produce and preserve peace.—[LORD BACON: Scorners weaken all the foundations of civil government; a thing the more to be attended to, because the mischief is wrought not openly, but by secret engines and intrigues.—LAWSON: The holy seed are the substance and strength of a land.—Lord BACON (on Proverbs 29:9): In this contest the chances are altogether unequal; seeing it is no victory to conquer, and a great disgrace to be conquered.]—LANGE: One should not suffer himself to be kept from the proclamation of the truth by the opposition of foolish people, 2 Tim. 4:2; if one does not receive it, another does.—VON GERLACH (on Proverbs 29:11): Among the characteristics of folly there is always found a boisterous, ungovernable nature; to wisdom belongs self-command.

Proverbs 29:12–17. MELANCHTHON (on Proverbs 29:12): The example of distinguished persons, such as rulers, teachers, etc., avails and effects very much, and that in both directions, by promoting good as well as evil. Most rapidly, however, is the plague of base vices transmitted, especially in the circle of household companions, and in the daily retinue of these persons of high station.—[MUFFET: He that carrieth Satan in his ear is no less blame-worthy than he which carrieth him in his tongue.]—CRAMER (on Proverbs 29:13): The Holy Scriptures are for poor and for rich; every one findeth his own chapter therein adapted to himself. But in order that the one as well as the other may see what is needful for them, both need enlightenment and divine help.—STARKE (on Proverbs 29:14): Not so much by strength and might as rather by faithful, kind and righteous treatment of subjects is a government preserved and confirmed.—VON GERLACH (on Proverbs 29:15, 17): Mothers are wont to be most at fault in indulging their children, and must therefore bear away the chief shame of its fruits.—[CHALMERS: By joining the rod with the reproof, the moral is sometimes the better enforced when there is added to it the physical appliance.]

Proverbs 29:18. LUTHER: Without God’s word man can do nothing but practise idolatry and his own will.—MELANCHTHON: As well princes as people must consider that pious governments, which God aids by His counsel and blessing, are more needful than all things beside; they must therefore beseech God for such a wholesome government, and not plunge themselves in sin and vice, lest God withdraw it from them as a judgment.—STÖCKER (special sermon for married people, based on Proverbs 29:18): On the indispensable necessity of the divine word to a blessed domestic relation: a) How Christian hearts should stand related to the word of God; b) What advantage and reward they have from its right use.—WOHLFARTH: Take religion from man and he sinks into the deepest barbarism.—[FLAVEL: The Spirit and the word of God usually come and go together.]

Proverbs 29:19–27. ZELTNER (on Proverbs 29:19–21): As self-willed menials do when they are indulged, so likewise our own vile flesh and blood. If one leaves to this its own will even a little, it will quickly rule over the spirit,Gal.5:17 sq.—[LORD BACON (on Proverbs 29:21): Princes and masters ought to keep a measure in conferring grace and favor on their servants.… Sudden promotion begets insolence; continual obtaining of desires begets impatience of refusal; and if there be nothing further to aspire to, there will be an absence of alacrity and industry.]—STARKE (on Proverbs 29:24): Both the bold sinner himself and he likewise who makes himself partaker in the sins of others, brings upon himself God’s wrath and punishment.—(On Proverbs 29:25): It is a sinful fear of man when one from timidity acts to please others against his conscience.—A means against this fear of man is pre-eminently prayer for a joyous spirit (Ps. 51:12, 14), and faith and child-like reliance on God’s protection.—[FLAVEL: Men vainly “hope to find mercy with God,” but expect none from men; so the voice of conscience is drowned by the louder clamors and threats of adversaries.—ARNOT: It is not a transference of fear from man to God that makes a sinner safe; the kind of affection must be changed as well as its object. Safety lies not in terror, but in trust. Hope leads to holiness.]—VON GERLACH (on Proverbs 29:26): Justice and favor which princes can ensure are indifferent in the presence of God’s decision.—(On Proverbs 29:27): It is no good sign for him who would be upright when he can be on friendly terms with the ungodly.