Proverbs 24:24

He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:17,18. The pleasure we are apt to take in the troubles of an enemy is forbidden. 19,20. Envy not the wicked their prosperity; be sure there is no true happiness in it. 21,22. The godly in the land, will be quiet in the land. There may be cause to change for the better, but have nothing to do with them that are given change. 23-26. The wisdom God giveth, renders a man fit for his station. Every one who finds the benefit of the right answer, will be attached to him that gave it. 27. We must prefer necessaries before conveniences, and not go in debt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Belong to the wise - Either "are fitting for the wise, addressed to them," or (as in the superscriptions of many of the Psalms) "are written by the wise." Most recent commentators take it in the latter sense, and look on it as indicating the beginning of a fresh section, containing proverbs not ascribed to Solomon's authorship. Compare the introduction to Proverbs.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24, 25. of which an example is justifying the wicked, to which is opposed, rebuking him, which has a blessing.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He that saith, to wit, publicly, and in judgment, as he now said, and as appears by the publicness of the curse following upon it, for people or nations do neither observe nor hate every man who saith thus privately.

Thou art righteous, that justify wicked men in their unrighteous courses.

Nations shall abhor him, partly for the grossness and odiousness of the crime, and partly for the great and general mischief which such practices bring to civil societies.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous,.... Not in a private way, or as giving his opinion or character of a man that is wicked, whom either through ignorance or flattery another may call righteous; which may be done and not resented by people and nations; but in an open court of judicature pronounced by the judge, justifying the wicked for reward, and condemning the just, which is an abomination unto the Lord; see Proverbs 17:15; nor should the ministers of the Gospel flatter the wicked, and call them righteous and good men, and strengthen their hands in their wickedness, promising them life though they continue in their evil ways; for though God justifies the ungodly, man should not; nor does he justify them in, but from, their ungodliness; see Ezekiel 13:2;

him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him; the people of the land shall curse him as an unjust judge, as a patron of wickedness aunt wicked men; as an enemy to justice, and a discourager of truth and honesty, and all good men; and even nations that have not so immediate a concern in the affair, yet hearing of it shall express their indignation at him and abhorrence of him.

Geneva Study Bible

He that saith unto the wicked, Thou are righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. the people &c.] Rather, peoples shall curse him; nations shall abhor him, R.V. From this it appears that it is to rulers and judges that the proverb primarily, though not necessarily exclusively, applies. In Proverbs 17:15 the divine, as here the human, estimate of such conduct is affirmed.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 24. - He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous. The judge is supposed to be acquitting a guilty person. Him shall the people curse. The Hebrew is "peoples," as Septuagint and Vulgate, maledicient eis populi. Nations shall abhor him. Not individuals, nor families only, but the whole community, wherever such an iniquitous ruler is found, shall execrate and hate him. The voice of the people is universally against him; no one is so blind and degraded as openly to applaud his nets. The verb nakab, "to curse," means primarily "to bore or pierce;" hence some have translated it here, "him shall the peoples stab." But the word is used in the sense of distinguishing by a mark or brand, and thence passes into the sense of cursing, as at Proverbs 11:26; Leviticus 24:11; Job 3:8. In Proverbs 17:15 the unjust judge is called an abomination to the Lord. In this case the vox populi is vox Dei. Proverbs 24:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The curse of partiality and the blessing of impartiality:

     Respect of persons in judgment is by no means good:

24 He that saith to the guilty, "Thou art in the right,"

     Him the people curse, nations detest.

25 But to them who rightly decide, it is well,

     And upon them cometh blessing with good.

Partiality is either called שׂאת פנים, Proverbs 18:5, respect to the person, for the partisan looks with pleasure on the פני, the countenance, appearance, personality of one, by way of preference; or הכּר־פּנים, as here and at Proverbs 28:21, for he places one person before another in his sight, or, as we say, has a regard to him; the latter expression is found in Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 16:19. הכּיר (vid., Proverbs 20:11) means to regard sharply, whether from interest in the object, or because it is strange. בּל Heidenheim regards as weaker than לא; but the reverse is the case (vid., vol. i. p. 204), as is seen from the derivation of this negative ( equals balj, from בּלה, to melt, to decay); thus it does not occur anywhere else than here with the pred. adj. The two supplements delight in this בל, Deuteronomy 22:29; Deuteronomy 23:7, 35. The thesis 23b is now confirmed in Proverbs 24:24 and Proverbs 24:25, from the consequences of this partiality and its opposite: He that saith (אמר, with Mehuppach Legarmeh from the last syllable, as rightly by Athias, Nissel, and Michaelis, vid., Thorath Emeth, p. 32) to the guilty: thou art right, i.e., he who sets the guilty free (for רשׁע and צדּיק have here the forensic sense of the post-bibl. חיּב and זכּי), him they curse, etc.; cf. the shorter proverb, Proverbs 17:15, according to which a partial, unjust judge is an abomination to God. Regarding נקב (קבב) here and at Proverbs 11:26, Schultens, under Job 3:8, is right; the word signifies figere, and hence to distinguish and make prominent by distinguishing as well as by branding; cf. defigere, to curse, properly, to pierce through. Regarding זעם, vid., at Proverbs 22:14. עמּים and לאמּים (from עמם and לאם, which both mean to bind and combine) are plur. of categ.: not merely individuals, not merely families, curse such an unrighteous judge and abhor him, but the whole people in all conditions and ranks of society; for even though such an unjust judge bring himself and his favourites to external honour, yet among no people is conscience so blunted, that he who absolves the crime and ennobles the miscarriage of justice shall escape the vox populi. On the contrary, it goes well (ינעם, like Proverbs 2:10; Proverbs 9:17, but here with neut. indef. subj. as ייטב, Genesis 12:13, and frequently) with those who place the right, and particularly the wrong, fully to view; מוכיח is he who mediates the right, Job 9:33, and particularly who proves, censures, punishes the wrong, Proverbs 9:7, and in the character of a judge as here, Amos 5:10; Isaiah 29:21. The genitive connection ברכּת־טוב is not altogether of the same signification as יין הטּוב, wine of a good sort, Sol 7:10, and אושׁת רע, a woman of a bad kind, Proverbs 6:24, for every blessing is of a good kind; the gen. טוב thus, as at Psalm 21:4, denotes the contents of the blessing; cf. Ephesians 1:3, "with all spiritual blessings," in which the manifoldness of the blessing is presupposed.