Commentary on Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel

CHAP. XXIII. Vers. 1. When thou sittest to eat]

SEe my common place of Abstinence.

Consider diligently what is before thee] And feed with fear, Jude 12. Lest thou lose by thy luxury that praise and preferment, that thou hadst gotten by thine industry, chap. 22.9.

Vers. 2. And put a knife to thy throat] Put into thy throat, (as Ibn-ezra reads it) rather than offend by inordinate appetite. Some read it thus, For thou puttest a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Thou shortnest thy life, and diggest as it were thine own grave with thine own teeth. Meat kills as many as the Musket; the board as the sword. Tennis mensa sanitatis mater: but much meat, much malady.

Vers. 3. Be not desirous of his dainties] It is a shame for a Saint to be a slave to his Palat. Isaac loved venison too too well, the Disciples are cautioned by Christ, Luk. 21.34. who well enough knew where they were weakest.

For they are deceitful meat] There is a hook under that bait: it may prove as dangerous as Jonathan's honey, of which he had no sooner tasted, but his head was forfeited. There is a deceitfulness in sin, Heb. 3.13. a lie in vanity, Jon. 2.8. transit voluptas, manet dolor.—dolor est etiam ipsa voluptas.

Vers. 4. Labor not to be rich] The Courtier is still at his lesson. Many gotten into Princes Palaces, into places of profit, fat offices, mind nothing more than the feathering of their own nests, raising of their own houses, filling of their own coffers. Such were Shebna, Haman, Sejanus, of whom Tacitus makes this report. Palam compositus pudor, intus summa adipiscendi libido, that he made show of modesty, but was extreme covetous; insomuch saith Seneca, that he thought all to be lost that he got not for himself. How much better Joseph, Nehemiah, Daniel, &c. who being wholly for the public, as they had nothing to lose, so they had as little to get, but were above all price or sale.

Cease from thine own wisdom] Cast away that carnal policy that would prompt thee to get rem, rem, quocunque modo rem, wealth of any fashion. This wisdom is by Saint James fitly styled, earthly, sensual, devilish. Earthly, managing the lusts of the eye to the ends of gain: Sensual, managing the lusts of the eye to ends of pleasure: and Devilish, managing the pride of life unto ends of power, James 3.15. with 1 John. 2.14.15.

Vers 5. Wilt thou set thine eyes, &c.] Hebr. Wilt thou cause thine eyes to fly after, &c.? Wilt thou fly a fools pitch, and go hawking after that that cannot be had? or if had, will not pay for the pains, countervail the cost? Wilt thou cast a leering look after such vanities?

Upon that which is not] That hath no solid subsistence, though the foolish world call it substance. The fashion of this world passeth away, 1 Cor. 7.31. The Greek word there used, intimateth, that there is nothing of any firmness or solid consistence in the Creature. Heaven only hath a foundation. Heb. 11.10. Earth hath none, but is hanged upon nothing, as Job speaketh. Ye rejoice in a thing of naught, saith the Prophet to them that drank wine in bowls &c. Amos. 6.6, 13.

For riches certainly make themselves wings] As the Heathens feigned of their God Plutus. Under these wings let the Master hide himself, as Isaiah 28.15. yet with those wings will they fly away, without once taking leave, leaving nothing but the print of talons in his heart to torment him. Riches (saith one) were never true to those that trusted them: To fly from us, they make themselves great Eagles wings: to fly to us, or after us, Ne passerinas quidem, not so much as old sparrows wings. Temporals (saith another) are as transitory, as a hasty head-long torrent, a shadow, a ship, a bird, an arrow, a post that passeth by, or if you can name anything of swifter wing, or sooner gone.

Vers. 6. Eate thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye] That is, of a miserly muckworm, that wisheth thee choked for so doing, even then when he maketh greatest show of hospitality and humanity.

Vers. 7. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he] Men's cujusque is est quisque. The man is as his mind is, or as he thinketh in his heart, so he speaketh; he cannot so dissemble, but that eftsoons he blurteth out some word, or showeth some sign of his sordid disposition. Some read it thus: For as he grudgeth his own soul, so he will say unto thee, eat, drink, &c. As he starves his own Genius, and cannot afford himself a good meals-meat, so he grudgeth at his guests whom yet he bids welcome. Christ doth not so, Cant. 5.1.

Vers. 8. The morsel which thou hast eaten] That is, That which thou hast eaten, shall be so ill-sauced, that thou shalt wish it up again, and thou shalt repent thee of thy complements, or of whatsoever other good speech thou hast used at table: which was the salt wherewith our Savior used to besprinkle the dishes wherever he dined.

Vers. 9. Speak not in the ears of a fool] That is, Of a willful fool, that seldom asketh Counsel, but never followeth any, as it is said of James King of Scotland. See the notes on Prov. 9.7, 8. and on Mat. 7.6.

Vers. 10. Remove not the ancient land-mark] See the Note on chap. 22.28.

Vers. 11. For their Redeemer is mighty] The thunder of his power who can understand? Job 26.14. And who knoweth the power of his wrath? Psal. 90.11. Oh contend not with him that is mightier than thou. Eccles. 6.10. God Almighty is in a special manner the Guardian of his Orphans, and the great Master of the Wards.

Vers. 12. Apply thy heart unto instruction] Make thine heart to come to it, though never so averse. Call in thy scattered thoughts, and busy them about the best things, Anima dispersa fit minor. This is the wise man's Counsel to the younger sort. But because surdis plerunque fabulam, few youths will be better advised, therefore he bespeaks their Parents and Tutors in the next words.

Vers. 13. With-hold not correction from the Child] See the Note on chap. 13.24.

He shall not die] Or if he do, yet not by thy default: Thou hast delivered thine own soul howsoever. If a Blackmore enter into the Bath, though he become not white by it, Yet the Bath-master hath his pay, saith Keyserspergius. The Physician hath his see whether the Patient recover or die.

Vers. 14. And shalt deliver his soul from hell] Fond and foolish Parents are peremptores potiùs quam parents, rather Paricides than Parents: since Qui non, cum potest, servat, occidit, by not saving their Children, they slay them; by cockting them in their sin, they pitch them headlong into Hell.

Vers. 15. My son, if thine heart be wise] Si vexatio det intellectum, if either by instruction or correction I may make thee wise or well-spoken, Bonum birum, dicendi peritum (as Quintilians Orator) cotus laetitia dissiliam, I shall be a joyful man indeed. Saint John had no greater joy than to hear that his children walked in the truth. And St. Paul could never be thankful enough for such a mercy, 1 Thess. 3.9.

Even mine] Or, even as I; viz. was a comfort to my Parents.

Vers. 17. Let not thine heart envy sinners] Who have they never so much here, they have but a pension, an annuity, a state of life granted them in the utmost and most remote part of our Inheritance.

But be thou in the fear of the Lord all day long] An excellent means to cure one of the fret: Probatum est. Only it must be used constantly. Men must wake with God, walk with him, and lie down with him, be in continual communion with him, and conformity unto him. This is to be in Heaven aforehand.

Vers. 18. For surely there is an end] Viz. Of their pomp and prosperity, dum fanea quadam felicitate temporaliter floreant, as Augustine hath it, whiles as grass they flourish, and then de-flourish.

And thine expectation shall not be cut off] As the wicked's shall, Psal. 37.38. Chear up therefore, and do not despond: Flebile principium melior fortuna sequatur, as Queen Elizabeth was wont to say, whiles she was yet a prisoner. Then she envied the Milk-maid that sang so merrily: But if she had known what a glorious reign she should have had for four and forty years, she would not have envied her.

Vers. 19. Hear thou my son, and be wise] Hearing is one of the learned senses, as Aristotle calls it. Wisdom entereth into the soul by this door, as folly did at first, when the woman listened to the old Serpents illusions. This sense is first up in a morning: and this preface the Wiseman purposely premiseth to his following discourse; as well knowing how hardly young men are drawn off from drinking matches, and Good-fellow-meetings.

And guide thine heart in the way] That is to say, let knowledge and affection be as twins, and run parallel: let them mutually transfuse life and vigor, the one into the other. Practice God's Will as fast as thou understandest it. The Tigurine translation reads it, Ut beatum fit in via cor tuum, that thine heart may be blessed in the way.

Vers. 20. Be not amongst Wine-bibbers] Follow not the custom, nor company of such; thou knowest not what thou mayest be drawn to do, though of thyself averse to such evil courses. Noah got no good by the luxurious old world ( Matth. 24.38.) with whom he lived: Nor Lot by the intemperate Sodomites, Ezek. 16.49. Uriah (a good man) was at length over-persuaded to over-drink himself, 2 Sam. 11.13. Let him that stands take heed last he fall. That evil servant that presumes to eat and drink with the drunken, shall be cut off in the middle, Matth. 24.49.

Among • i • tous caters of flesh] Amongst flesh-mongers, qui crapula indulgent, that pamper their panches, In cute curanda plus aequo operaci. See my Common-place of abstinence. These be all for themselves, as Nabal was, Helluantursibi carnem (so the Hebrew runs) they ravin up flesh for themselves.

Vers. 21. For the drunkard—shall come to poverty] Nay, to eternal misery in Hell, 1 Cor. 6.10. but few men fear that: beggary they hold worse than any hell. Per mare pauperiem fuginal, per saxa, per ignes. But poverty to such is but a prelude to a worse matter.

Vers. 22. Hearken to thy father, &c.] See the Note on chap. 1.8.

And despise not thy mother when she is old] Dr. Taylor Martyr said to his Son among other things, when he was to suffer; When thy mother is waxed old, forsake her not, but provide for her to thy power, and see that she lack nothing: for so will God bless thee, and give thee long life upon Earth, and prosperity.

Vers. 23. Buy the truth and sell it not] Every parcel of truth is precious, as the filings of gold, as the Bezar-stone, when beaten, are carefully looked to, and preserved. Hold last the faithful word, as with both hands, Tit. 1.9. Strive together for the faith of the Gospel, Phil. 1.27. Be zealous for it, Jude 3. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Either live with it, or die for it. As we have received it as a legacy from our forefathers (who sealed it with their blood, and paid dear for it) so we must transmit it to our Posterity pure and entire, whatever it stands us in. They were so religious that they would not exchange a letter or syllable of the faith, wherewith Christ had betrusted them. So zealous in buying the truth, that they would give five marks and more for a good book (and that was more money than ten pound is now) Some gave a load of hay for a few Chapters of Saint James, or of Saint Paul in English, sitting up all night in reading and hearing, &c. What a deal of charge was the Queen of Sheba at for Solomon's wisdom? The wise Merchant for the pearl of price? Hieron and Reuchlin for their Hebrew-learning? Pro singulis horis singulos aureos numerabant. Reuchlin gave a crown an hour to the Jew that read to him. Hieron ventured his life to repair by night to a Jew-doctor.

Vers. 24. The Father of the righteous, &c.] See the Note on chap. 10.1.

Vers. 26. My son give me thy heart] There is a strange strife, not of earthly but of spiritual powers after the possession of man's heart: and through man's transgression Satan hath gotten strong hold thereon, Act. 5.3. Luke 22.3. Once he strove about a dead man's body, Jude 9. but doubtless his purpose was therein to have set up an Idol for himself in the hearts of the living. If Satan can get the heart, he is safe: and so is Satan's Vicar. It was a watch-word in Pope Gregory the thirteenths time; in Queen Elizabeth's days, My son give me thy heart; Be in heart a Papist, and then go to Church, dissemble, do what ye will. Among the Heathens, when the beast was cut up for sacrifice, the first thing the Priest looked upon was the heart: and if the heart were naught, the sacrifice was rejected. As among the Jews Philo observeth, that the heart, and the horns, or brains were never offered with the sacrifices: for they are the fountains and secret cels, wherein lurks, and out of which flows all impiety. But whatever was in the type, this is in the truth: As the heart is by nature, the Lord will have none of it: yet till the heart be renewed and given to the Lord, he will accept nothing can come from man, Isaiah 29.13. and 66.3. Jer. 42.20. Of the heart God seems to say to us, as Joseph did to his brethren concerning Benjamin, Gen. 43.3. Ye shall not see my face without it. The heart is Christ's bed of spices, Cant. 6.2. wherein the delights, Psal. 50.17. and for which he wisheth, Deut. 5.29. O that there were such an heart, &c.

And let thine eyes observe my ways] Look well to thy pattern so fairly pensild out unto thee: take true stitches out of this perfect sampler; take right strokes after this incomparable Copy. The Hebr. here hath it, Let thine eyes run through my ways: Get a full prospect of them, and diligently peruse them: Fix and feed thine eyes upon the best objects; and restrain them from gazing up on forbidden beauties, lest they prove to be windows of wickedness, and loopholes of lust.

Vers. 27. For an whore is a deep ditch] Fitly so called, quod nullus neque modus neque finis sit in amore meritricio, because lust is boundless, bottomless. He is a perfect slave that serves a whore. See the Note on Prov. 22.14.

Vers. 28. She also lieth in wait] Terence calls harlots Cruces crumeninculgas, sordida poscinummia, &c. base beg-pennies, pickpurses, &c. See the Notes upon chap. 7.

And increaseth the transgressors amongst men] Nothing hath ever so enriched helas the whorish woman. Vide ubi supra.

Vers. 29. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow?] Whoredom is usually ushered in by drunkenness. Est Venus in vinis. Hence, Rev. 17.4. the Whore cometh forth with a cup, as with an instrument fit for the fulfilling of her lust; even as of old everyone did openly bear in his hand at Rome the badge of that Art that he professed. Solomon therefore having warned his yonker of Whoredom, fitly shows him next the mischief of drunkenness; and this he doth by way of admiration or interrogation, that the Drunkard may (will he, nill he) see, as in a glass, and so abhor his own absurdities, miseries, and mischiefs. The best that can come of drunkenness is repentance (that fairest daughter of so foul a mother) and that's not without its woe and alas, its sorrow and redness of eyes with weeping for sin? But few drunkards are taken in that fault.

Who hath babbling] A great deal of small, talk, telling all that's within.

When the Wine is in, the Wit is out.

Who hath redness of eyes] Oculorum suffusio, the Vulgar reads suffossio. Drunkards have usually red and rich faces, Nasos instar coctilis cancri, Noses like a boyld Lobster; plenty of Pustulaes or Quots, as they call them. Briefly, Drunkenness, like another Africa, is never without some new monster of mischief.

Vers. 30. They that tarry long at the Wine] These men do not want time, but waste it. Pliny, if he were alive, would surely say to such, as once he did to his Nephew, Poteras has horas non per didisse, Thou mightest have spent thy time much better. How may those Wine-bibbers more justly lament their loss, than good Bernard did, and say each man for himself, Totum vitae meae tempus perdidi, quia perdite vixi?

Vers. 31. Look not thou upon the Wine] Many men die of the wound in the eye. It is not unlawful to look; but because of looking comes lusting, therefore Laws are to be laid upon our looks. Vitiis nobis in animum per oculos est via, saith Quintilian. If we do not let in sin at the window of the eye, or by the door of the ear, it cannot enter into our hearts.

When it moveth itself aright] When it sparkles, and is Vinum Cos (as they call the best Wine at Paris and Lovain ) that is, Vinum Coloris, Odoris, Saporis, optimi, Wine of the best color, smell, and savor.

Vers. 32. At the last it biteth like a Serpent] Loe such is the guilt of sin, such the end and effect of drunkenness, torments here, and tortures in hell.

Vers. 34. Thine eyes shall behold stranger women] See the Note on verse. 29. Venter aestuans mero, spumat in libidinem, saith Jerome. A belly filled with wine, foameth out filthiness. Wine is the milk of Venus, saith another. Drunkenness is the gallery that lechery walketh through, saith a third.

Thine heart shall utter perverse things] Prepostorous, distorted, dislocated matters: soliciting thy Neighbors Wife to wickedness, or otherwise vomiting out that which God hateth, and godly men abhor.

Vers. 35. Yea, thou shalt be as he, &c.] Thy brains shall crow, and thou shalt be of Copernicus his opinion, that the earth turns round. Thou shalt also be fearless of the greatest danger, and not refuse to sleep upon a Mast-pole, dance upon a Weather-cock, &c.

Vers. 36. They have stricken me] A drunken man, we say, takes no hurt, feels no smart, is turned into a very stock. Dionysius the Heracleot felt not needles thrust into his fat belly. Pliny mentioneth certain Bears, that being sound asleep, cannot be wakened with the sharpest prickles. Mathiolus reports of the Asses of Hetruria, that feeding upon Hen-bane, they fall into such a dead sleep, that being taken for dead, they are half hideled, ere they can be arowsed. Loe such is the Drunkards lethargy: neither is he more insensible than sensual, and irrecoverable.

CHAP. XXIV. Vers. 1. Be not thou envious against evil men.]

HEbr. Men of evil, such as are set upon sin, as are like Caracalla, qui nihil cogitabat boni, qui id non didicerat; quod ipse fatebatur, saith Dio; who never thought of any good, &c. Envy not such an one his pomp, anymore than we do a dead corps his flowers, and gayity. See chap. 23.17.

Neither desire to be with them] That is, to be in their estate, so thou mightest be at their stay. This hath been the folly of some of God's people, as David noteth, Psal. 73.10. For the which they have afterwards befooled and be-beasted themselves, as he did, verse. 22.

Vers. 2. For their heart studieth destruction] Great students they are, wittily wicked: but they consult shame and confusion to them and theirs.

And their lips talk of mischief] The mischief that they machinate, budgeth and blistereth out at their tongues ends. They are even big with it, and not well, till delivered.

Vers. 3. Through wisdom is an house built] q. d. I will show thee a better project; wouldest thou thrive and grow great? Exercise godliness, wish not wickedness. See the Notes on chap. 3.16, 17.

Vers. 4. With all precious and pleasant riches] Riches imply, 1 Plenty of that which is precious and pleasant. 2 Propriety; they must be good things that are our own: And hereunto economical prudence much conduceth. God bestoweth abundance on the wicked ex largitate, only out of a general providence: but upon his people that are good husbands, ex promisso, by virtue of this and the like promises.

Vers. 5. A wise man is strong] See the Note on Chap. 21.22.

Vers. 6. For by wise counsel] See the Note upon chap. 20.18. This Salust delivers, as the sentence of the wisest Sages. But Solomon said it long before.

Vers. 7. Wisdom is too hard for a fool] Hebr. Too high; his pericranium comprehends it not, neither indeed can do, 1 Cor. 2.14. He puts off the study of it, pretending the impossibility of reaching to it.

He openeth not his mouth in the gate] He were two fools if he should, for whiles he holds his tongue, he is held wise.

Vers. 8. Shall be called a mischievous person] Hebr. A master of sinful musings, an Artist at any evil. Josephus saith of Antipater, that his course of life might fitly be called, a Mystery of mischief, quae altissimas egerat radices, &c.

Vers. 9. The thought of foolishness is sin] The Schools do well observe, that outward sins are majoris infamiae, of greater infamy: but inward heart-sins are majoris reatus, of greater guilt, as we see in Devils. See the Note on Chap. 14.22.

And the scorner is an abomination to men] Witness Julian, Lucian, Porphiry, Julius Scaliger, that proud Hypercritick (qui neminem praese duxit hominem) Laurentius Valla, who jeered at other Logicians, and extolled his own Logic as the only best, calling it, Logicam Laurentiuam.

But what an odious scorner was Quintinus the Libertine, of whom Calvin complains, that he scoffed at everyone of the holy Apostles? Paul he called a broken Vessel, John a foolish Youth, Peter a Denyer of God, Matthew an Usurer. En quomodo ill foetoris gurges putido ore suo blasphemare audebat! saith Calvin. See how this stinking elf dust bark and blaspheme the Saints. The basest can mock; as the abjects did David, Psal. 35.15. and Tobiah the servant did Nehemiah, Chap. 2.10. Scorners are the most base spirits. The Septuagint call them Pests, Psal. 1.1. incorrigible, Prov. 20.1. proud persons, chap. 3.34. naught, Prov. 9.12, &c.

Vers. 10. If thou faint in the day of adversity] Afflictions try what sap we have: as hard weather tries what health. Withered leaves fall off in a wind: rotten boughs break when weight is laid on them, so do earthen vessels when set empty to the fire. As is the man, so is his strength, said they to Gideon, Josephs bow abode in strength (though the Archers sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him) and the arms of his hand were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, &c. Gen. 49.23, 24.

Vers. 11. If thou forbear to deliver them, &c.] That is, that are wrongfully butchered. Here, not to save a man (if it be in our power) is to destroy him, Mark 3.4. Job brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the prey out of his teeth. The people rescued Jonathan, and Ebedmelech Jeremy. Henry 8. delivered his Queen Katherine; and King Philip with his Spaniards kept the Lady Elizabeth from the cruel mercies of Stephen Gardener, who had designed them destruction; Sir George Blage, (one of King Henry the Eighths Privy-chamber) being condemned for an Heretic, was yet pardoned by the King. He coming afterwards to the Kings presence, Ah my Pig, saith the King (for so he was wont to call him) Yea, said he, if your Majesty had not been better to me than your Bishops were, your Pig had been roasted ere this time. But what a bloody mind bore Harpsfield, Arch-Deacon of Canterbury, who being at London when Queen Mary lay a dying, made all post-haste home to dispatch those whom he had then in cruel custody.

Vers. 12. If thou sayest, behold we knew it not, &c.] As no wool is so coarse, but will take some color; so there is no sin so foul but will admit of some excuse. Ignorance is commonly pleaded; we know not this man's Case, the Justice of his Cause, the means of his Rescue, &c. But be not deceived, God is not mocked. They that would mock him imposturum faciunt & patientur, cozen themselves, as the Emperor said of him that sold glass for Pearl. Deo obscura clarent, muta respondent, silentinm confitetur. God's eyes behold, his eye-lids try the children of men. The former points out his knowledge, the latten his critical descant.

Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider?] No man needs a window in his breast (as the Heathen Momus wished) for God to look in at; for every man before God is all window, Job 34.22. and his eyes are as a flaming fire, Revel. 1.14. that need no outward light, that see extra mittendo by sending out a ray &c. that see thorough that transparent body, the world, called a sea of glass. Revel. 4.6.

Vers. 13. My son, eat thou honey because it is good] Profitable and pleasant, wholesome and toothsome. So, and much more than so is divine knowledge. Plutarch tells of Eudoxus, that he would be willing to be burnt up by the Sun presently, so he might be admitted to come so near it, as to learn the nature of it. How sweet must it needs be then to know Christ and him crucified? &c. sweeter it was to David, than Live-honey dropping from the comb, Psal. 19.10. and 119.103. The believing Hebrews knew within themselves, that there should be a reward, and that their expectation should not be cut off, Heb. 10.34. They drew the circumference of God's promises to the center of their hearts, and so living by faith, they had the sweet-meats of the feast of a good Conscience, as Master Latimer hath it: they tasted of that honey, the sweetness whereof none can find by any discourse (how elegant soever) so well as by eating of it, as Augustine speaketh.

Vers. 15. Lay not wait, O wicked man, &c.] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as that Heathen said. God dwells with the righteous, molest him not therefore, beat not up his quarters. The Scythians (saith he in Plutarch ) though they have no Music or Vines amongst them, yet they have God's. So whatever the Saints want, they want not God's gracious presence with them. And if wicked men had but so much knowledge of God, as Pilate's Wife had in a Dream, they would take heed of having anything to do with these just men.

Vers. 16. For a just man falleth seven times] i. e. often. Seven times a day, as the Vulgar and many of the Fathers read it, who also understand this text of falling into sin, and rising again by repentance. But the opposition carrys it to the other sense, of falling into trouble. And the next verse speaks as much, Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, &c. God's Saints are bound to rejoice when they fall into divers temptations, Jam. 1.2. What though they fall into them? not go in step by step, but be precipitated, plunged over head and ears. Say they fall not into one but many crosses, (as they seldom come single, but like Jobs messengers one at the heels of another) yet be exceeding glad, (saith the Apostle) as a Merchant is to see his ships come laden in. For though ye fall, ye shall arise, and though ye sit in darkness, the Lord shall give you light, Mic. 7.8.

But the wicked shall fall into mischief] i. e. into remediless misery. Non surget hic afflictio, Nahum 1.9. As they shall have an evil, an only evil without mixture of mercy, Ezek. 7.5. so they shall totally and finally be consumed at once. If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom Hamon hath begun to fall, he shall fall to some purpose, Esth. 6.13. A Jew may fall before a Persian, and get up and prevail. But if a Persian or other Persecutour begin to fall before a Jew, he can neither stay nor rise. There is an invisible hand of Omnipotency that strikes in for his own, and confounds their opposites.

Vers 17. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth] If thou dost, it is a sure sign of devilish hatred, ( 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 being the devils disease) what good will, innocence, or ignoscency soever thou makest show off. Job cleareth himself of this fault, Job 31.24. and so doth David notably, Psal. 35.13, 14. See his practice, 2 Sam. 1.11, 12. Caesar wept when Pompey's head was presented to him, and said, Victoriam volui, non vindictam. See the Notes on Mat. 5.44. and on Rom. 12.19.

Vers. 18. Lest the Lord see it] viz. Thy pride and cruelty, as he will, for he is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 All-eye, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , if he see, he will kindle and turn the wheel upon thee, as he threatened to do upon Edom, for looking with liking upon Israel's calamity. For prevention hereof, think thus with thyself; Either I am like mine enemy, or else I am better or worse than he. If like him, why may not I look for the like misery? If better, who made me to differ? If worse, what reason then have I to insult?

Vers. 19. Fret not thyself because of evil men] We are wondrous apt to be sick of the Fret; hence so many precepts to this purpose. See chap. 23.17. and 24.1.

Vers. 20. For there shall be no reward] He shall suffer both pain of loss, and pain of sense, which whether is the more grievous, is hard to determine. Sure it is, that the tears of hell are not sufficient to bewail the loss of heaven: their worm of grief gnaws as painfully as their fire burns. Depart from me ye cursed, sounds as harsh in their ears, as that which follows, into everlasting flames.

Vers. 21. My son, fear the Lord and the King] Who would not fear thee O King of Nations? for unto thee doth it appertain, Jer. 10.7. God is the prime and proper object of fear. Whence by an Appelative proper, he is called Fear by the Psalmist. The Greeks call him 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (as some think) from the fear that is due to him. Princes also must be feared and honored, 1 Pet. 2.17. as those that are invested with God's Authority, and entrusted with the administration of his Kingdom upon earth, by the exercise of vindictive and remunerative Justice. And whiles they be just, ruling in the fear of God, 2 Sam. 23.3. and commanding things consonant to the word and will of God, they must be obeyed for conscience sake, Rom. 13.3. otherwise not. See the note on Acts 4.19.

And meddle not with them that are given to change] i. e. with seditious spirits, that affect and effect alterations, law less persons (as Saint Paul calls them) Male-contents, to whom 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the present government is ever grievous, as Thucydides noteth. Such were Kore and his complices; Absalom, Sheba, the ten tribes that cried, Alleva jugum, Ease our yoke; and before them, those in Samuel's time that cried, Nay but we will have a King. Novatus hath still too many followers, of whom Saint Cyprian, under whom he lived, thus testifieth, Novatus rerum novarum semper cupidus, arrogantia inflatus, that he was an arrogant innovatour. These turbulent spirits prove oft the pests and boutefeaus of the state they live in: and it is dangerous having to deal with them.

Vers. 22. For their calamity shall rise suddenly] When they think they have made all cock-sure: Had Zimri -peace that killed his master? Had Absalom, Sheba, Rhodolphus Duke of Suevia, Sanders, Story, Parry, Campian, the powder-plotters, Raviliac, &c. Knute the first Danique King caused the false Edrics head (that had been his Agent) to be set upon the highest part of the tower of London: therein performing his promise of advancing him above any Lord in the Land. James the first, King of Scots, was murdered in Perth by Walter Earl of Athol, in hope to attain the Crown. Crowned indeed he was, but not as his witches and sorcerers had ambiguously insinuated, with the Crown of that Realm, but with a Crown of red hot Iron, clapt upon his head, being one of the tortures wherewith he ended at once his wicked days and desires.

And who knoweth the ruin of them both?] i. e. That both God and the King will inflict upon the Rebels; Or of them both, i. e. both of the King if a Tyrant, and of those that seditiously move against him.

Vers. 23. These things also belong to the wise] As subjects must know their duties, so Magistrates theirs: neither may they hold themselves too wise to learn. God can send even a Solomon to School to the Raven, to the Pismire, yea to the Lilies of the Field; as being able to teach the wisest man by the weakest Creature.

It is not good to have respect of Persons] Hebr. to know faces, to regard not so much the matter as the man, to hear Persons speak and not Causes, to judge not according to truth and equity, but according to opinion and appearance, to fear or favor. This cannot be good, lawful, or safe, Job 13.13. He will surely (or thoroughly) reprove you, (not verbally only, but penally too) if you secretly accept Persons. Of Trajan it is said, that he neither feared nor hated any man; but that he heard the Causes of his Subjects without praejudicate impiety, judiciously examined them without sinister obliquity, and sincerely judged them without unjust partiality.

Vers. 24. Him shall the people curse] Hebr. They shall run him thorough, with their evil wishes for his evil sentence: he shall be generally hated, and set against, as was Herod, Pilate, Festus, Ferres, &c.

Vers. 25. But to them that rebuke him shall be delight] Those Judges that reprove and punish the wicked shall (besides the Euge of a good Conscience, which is far better than the worlds Plaudite ) delight themselves in the Lord, and reign in the affections of all good men, who shall eftsoons also say, God's blessing be on such a good Judges heart, for he saveth the innocent, and punisheth the wicked, &c. As he hath done worthily in Ephratah, so he shall be famous in Bethlehem, Ruth 4.11. See Job 29.11, 12.

Vers. 26. Every man shall kiss his lips] That is, shall do him honor, as Gen. 41.40. All the people shall kiss at thy mouth, saith Pharaoh to Joseph: and Samuel kissed Saul when he annointed him King, 1 Sam. 10.1. and, Kiss the Son, saith David, Psal. 2.11. That is, give unto him the honor due unto his name.

Vers. 27. Prepare thy work without, &c.] God would have all his to be not good men only, but good husbands too; to order their affairs with discretion, and to take their fittest opportunities for dispatch of household businesses. Pliny hath a saying to like sense with this, Aedificandum, saith he, consito agro, & tunc quoque cunctanter, Let building alone till thy field be tilled, vined, planted, &c.

Vers. 28. Be not a witness against thy neighbor without cause] That is, Without calling, being not thereunto required: for this would speak thee spiteful, rash, and revengeful, as in the next verse.

And deceive not with thy lips] When called to be a Witness, speak thy mind simply and plainly, without preface or passion, without varnish of fine words, whereby to mislead the Judge, or deceive the Jurors, to bolster out a bad cause, or out-face a good.

Vers. 29. Say not, I will do so to him, as he hath done to me] Nothing is more natural than revenge of wrongs: and the world approves it as right temper, true touch: As, to put up wrongs is held towardise, and unmanliness. But we have not so learned Christ. Nay, those that never heard of Christ, have spoken much against this vindictive disposition. See the Note on chap. 20.22. and on Mat. 5.39. Rom. 12.17.

I will render to the man according to his works] But is not that God's Office? And will you needs leap into his Chair, wring the Sword out of his hand? or at least, will you be a Pope in your own cause, depose the Magistrate, or appeal from him to yourself? What Luciferian pride is this? Nemo te impune lacessit? Is not God the God of recompenses?

Vers. 30. I went by the field of the slothful] Not purposely to spy faults (for Nemo curiosus quin malevolus ) but my business lay that way, and I was willing to make the best of everything that came before me.

By the vineyard of the man void of understanding] Hebr. That had no heart, that is, that made no use of it, that was not Egregie cordatus homo, as one describes a wise man.

Vers. 31. And loe it was all grown over with thorns] So is the Spiritual sluggards soul with lusts and sins, under the which lurketh that old Serpent.

Vers. 32. Then I saw and considered it well] I made my best use of it for mine own instruction. A Be can suck honey out of a flower, which a Fly cannot do. So a spiritual mind can extract good out of every object and occurrence, even out of other men's faults and follies; he can gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles, as here. Well therefore may grace be called the Divine Nature, 2 Pet. 1.4. for as God draws light out of darkness, good out of evil, &c. so doth grace, by an heavenly kind of Alchymy, as I may so say.

And received instruction] Exemplo alterius qui sapit, ill sapit. The worse others are, the better should we be; getting as far off from the wicked as we can, in our daily practice, and saving ourselves from this untoward generation.

Vers. 33. Yet a little sleep] Mercer makes this to be the lesson that the Wiseman both learnt himself, and also lays before others, viz. to be content with a little sleep, to be up and at it betimes, &c. that the beggar catch us not. But I rather incline to those that think, that he here brings in the sluggard pleading for his sloth: and by an elegant Mimesis imitates and personates him, saying as he used to do, yet a little more sleep, a little more slumber, &c. A little, and yet sleeps, in the plural. A little he would have, but a little will not serve his turn. See the Note on chap. 6.9, &c.

Vers. 34. So shall thy poverty come] Swiftly and irresistibly. Seneca calls Sloth the Nurse of beggary, the Mother of misery.

CHAP. XXV. Vers. 1. These also are Proverbs of Solomon, which the men]

SAlomon hath his thousand out of this his Vine-yard of three thousand Proverbs (1 King. 4.32.) and these men of Hezekiah that kept (and yet communicated) the fruit thereof, their two hundred, Cant. 8.12. It is good for men to be doing what they are able for the glory of God, and good of others: If it be but to Copy out another man's Work, and prepare it for the Press: Them that any way honor God he will honor: that is a bargain of his own making, and we may trust to it.

Vers. 2. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing] That what we conceive not, we may admire (mirari non rimari) and cry out with Paul, O the depth! as the Romans dedicated to their Goddess Victoria a certain Lake, the depth whereof they could not dive into. God is much to be magnified for what he hath revealed unto his people in the holy Scriptures, for their eternal good. But those unsearchable secrets of his (such as are the union of the three Persons into one Nature, and of two Natures into one Person, his wonderful Decrees, and the no less wonderful execution thereof &c.) these make exceeding much to the glory of his infinite Wisdom, and surpassing greatness; in speaking whereof our safest eloquence is our silence, since tantum recedit quantum capitur, saith Nazianzen, much like that Pool spoken of by Polycritus, which in compass at the first, scarce seemed to exceed the breadth of a shield; but if any went in to wash, it extended itself more and more.

But the honor of Kings is to search out a matter] As Solomon did that of the two Harlots, 1 King. 3. There are that divide this Book of Proverbs into three parts. In the nine first Chapters things of a lower nature, and fit for instruction of youth, are set down and described. Next, From thence to this five and twentieth Chapter the wise man discourseth of all sorts of virtues and vices, suitable to all sorts of People. Lastly, From this Chapter to the end he treateth (for the most part) of higher matters, as of King-craft, and State-business.

Vers. 3. The Heaven for height, &c.] It is a wonder that we can look up to so admirable an height, and that the very eye is not tired in the way. If this ascending line could be drawn right forwards, some that have calculated curiously, have found it 500 years journey to the starry sky. Other Mathematicians say, that if a stone should fall from the 8th Sphere, and should pass every hour 100 miles, it would be 65. years or more before it would come to ground. I suppose there is as little credit to be given to these, as to Aratus the Astrologer, who boasted that he had found out and set down the whole number of the stars in heaven: or as to Archimedes the Mathematician, that said, that he could by his Art cast up the just number of all the sands both in the habitable and inhabitable parts of the world.

And the earth for depth] From the surface to the center, how far it is cannot be known exactly, as neither whether hell be there: but that it is somewhere below may be gathered from Rev. 14.11. and other places: Ubi sit sentient, qui curiosius quaerunt.

And the heart of Kings is unsearchable] Profundum sine fundo. God gave Solomon a large heart, even as the sand that is on the Sea-shore, 1 Kings 4.29. A vast capacity, an extraordinary judgment, and wisdom to reserve himself. No bad cause was too hard for him to detect, no practices which he did not smell out, no complotter which he did not speedily entrap in their wiles, as Adonijah.

Vers. 4. Take away the dross from the silver] The holy Prophets were not only most exactly seen in the peerless skill of Divinity, but most exquisitely also furnished with the entire knowledge of all things natural. Hence their many Similies wherewith they learnedly beautify their matter, and deck out their terms, words, and sentences, giving thereunto a certain kind of lively gesture, attiring the same with light, perspicuity, easiness, estimation, and dignity: stirring up thereby men's drowsy minds to the acknowledgement of the truth, and pursuit of godliness.

Vers. 5. Take away the wicked] Who are compared elsewhere also to dross, Ezek. 22.19. and fitly: for as dross is a kind of unprofitable earth, and hath no good metal in it; so in the wicked is no good to be found but pride, worldliness, &c. Forbisher in his voyage to discover the Straits, being tossed up and down with foul weather, snows, and inconstant winds, returned home, having gathered a great quantity of stones, which he thought to be minerals, from which when there could be drawn neither gold nor silver, nor any other metal, we have seen them (saith Master Camden ) cast forth to mend the high ways. Evil Counselors about a Prince, are means of a great deal of mischief, as were Do • g, Haman, Rheoboams and Herod's flatterers, Pharaoh's sorcerers, &c. Of a certain Prince of Germany it was said, Esset alius, si esset apud alios; He would be another man, if he were but amongst other men. Say they be not so drossy, but that some good oar is to be found in them, yet all is not good that hath some good in it. It is Scaligers Note, Malum non est nisi in bono. The original nature of the Devil is good, wherein all his wickedness subsisteth. When one highly commended the Cardinal Julian to Sigismund; he answered, Tamen Romanus est, yet he is a Roman, and therefore not to be trusted. Those Cardinals and Popish Bishops being much about Princes, have greatly empoisoned them, and hindered the Reformation. Zwingli fitly compares them to that wakeful Dragon that kept the golden fleece, as the Poets have feigned. They get the royalty of their ear, and then do with them whatsoever they list. David therefore vows, as a good Finer, to quit the Court of such dross, Psal. 101.4. and gives order upon his death-bed to his Son Solomon, to take out of the way those men of blood, 1 King. 1. that his throne might be established in righteousness.

Vers. 6. Put not forth thyself in the presence of the King] Ne te ornes coram rege. Compare not, vie not with him in apparel, furniture, house-keeping, &c. as the Hebrews sense it. This was the ruin of Cardinal Wolsey, and of Viscount Verulam.

And stand not in the place of great men] Exalt not thyself, but wait till God shall reach out the hand from Heaven and raise thee, Psal. 75.5, 6, 7, 8. Adonijah is branded for this, that he exalted himself, saying, I will be King, 1 King. 1.5. When none else would lift Hildebrand up into Peters Chair, he gat up himself: For who (said he) can better judge of my worth than I can? Harden thy fore-head (said Calvus to Vatinius ) and say boldly, that thou deservest the Praetorship better than Cato. Ambition rides without reigns, as Tullia did over the dead body of her own father, to be made a Queen. See my common-place of Ambition.

Vers. 7. For better it is that it be said unto thee] From this Text our Savior takes that Parable of his, put forth to those that were bidden to a feast, Luk. 14.10. Now, if before an earthly Prince, men should carry themselves thus modestly and humbly, how much more before the King of heaven? And if among guests at a feast, how much more among the Saints and Angels in the holy assemblies? That is an excellent saying of Bernard, Omnino oportet nos orationis tempore curiam intrare coelestem, in qua Rex regum stellato sedet solio, circumdante innumerabili & ineffabili beatorum Spirituam exercitu. Quantâ ergo cum reverentiâ, quanto timore, quantâ illuc humilitate accedere debet e palude sua procedens & repens vilis ranuncula? At prayer-time we should enter into the Court of heaven, where sitteth the King of Kings with a guard of innumerable blessed Spirits. With how great reverence then, with how great fear and self-abasement should we come, like so many vile Vermin creeping and crawling out of some sorry pool or puddle?

Vers. 8. Go not forth hastily to strive] Contention is the Daughter of Arrogance and Ambition, Jam. 4.1. Hence Solomon (whose very name imports peace) persuades to peaceableness very oft in this Book; and sets forth the mischief or strife and dissention. Stir not strife (saith he) but make haste to stint it, (so the words may be rendered) you may do that in your haste that you may repent by leisure. Hasty men, we say, never want woe. If every man were a law to himself (as the Thracians are said to be) there would not be so much lawing, warbling and warring as there is. There is a curse upon those that delight in War, (as King Pyrrhus did) Psal. 68.30. but a blessing for all the children of peace, Mat. 10. who shall also be called the Children of God, Mat. 5. Paul and Barnabas had a sharp, but short fit of falling out, Acts 15.39. Jerome and Augustine had their bickerings in their Disputations, but it was no great matter who gained the day; for they would both win by understanding their errors.

When thy Neighbor hath put thee to shame] That is, when thine Adversary hath got the upper hand, and foiled thee. Those are ignoble quarrels, saith one, Ubi vincere inglorium est, atteri sordidum; wherein whether a man get the better or the worse, he is sure to go by the worse, to sit down with loss in his name, state, or both.

Vers. 9. Debate thy cause with thy Neighbor, &c.] What shall I do then (may some say) if I may not right myself by law? You may, saith he, so you do it deliberately: and have first privately debated the cause out of desire of agreement, and moved for a compremise. See Mat. 18.15.

And discover not the secret of another] Meerly to be revenged on him for some supposed injury. There are that in their rage care not what they disclose to the prejudice of another. Charity chargeth the contrary, 1 Cor. 13. It claps a plaster on the sore, and then covers it with her hand, as Surgeons use to do, that the world may be never the wiser.

Vers. 10. Lest he that heareth it put thee to shame] Repute thee and report thee an evil-conditioned fellow, a back-biter, and a tale-bearer, one not fit to be trusted with secrets, &c. True it is, that dearest friends are in some cases to be accused and complained of to those that may do good upon them; as Joseph brought his brethren's evil report to his father, and as the household of Chloe told Paul of the Corinthian contentions. But this must be done wisely and regularly, with due observation of circumstances, as Solomon elegantly sets forth in the following Proverb.

Vers. 11. A word fitly spoken] Hebrew, spoken upon his weels, that is, rightly ordered and circumstantiated, spoken with a grace, and in due place. It is an excellent skill to be able to time a word, Isa. 50.4. to set it upon the wheels, as here. How good are such words? Prov. 15.23. how forcible? Job 6.25. How pleasant? even like apples of gold in pictures, or lattices, of silver, not only precious for matter, Eccles. 12.10. but detectable for order, as gold put in a case of silver cut-work.

Vers. 12. As an ear-ring of gold, &c.] Ut inauris aurea, &c. A seasonable word falling upon a tractable ear, hath a redoubled grace with it; as an ear-ring of gold, and as an ornament of fine gold, or as a diamond in a diadem. It is an hard and happy thing to suffer the words of exhortation, to digest a reproof, to say with David, Let the righteous smite me, &c. to be of Gersons disposition, of whom it is recorded, that he rejoiced in nothing more, quam si ab aliquo fraterne & charitative redargueretur, than if he were friendly and freely reproved by any one. Every vice doth now go armed: touch it never so gently, yet like the nettle, it will sting you. If you deal with it roughly and roundly, it swaggereth, as the Hebrew did with Moses, who made thee a man of authority? &c. Exod. 2.14. Ear-rings and ornaments are ill bestowed upon such uncircumcised ears.

Vers. 13. As the cold of snow in the time of harvest] Harvest men of all men, beat the heat of the day: being far from shade or shelter, far from springs of water, parched and scorched with heat and drought, in those hotter countries especially. Now as the cold of snow or ice (which in those countries they kept under ground all the year about to mix with their wines) would be most welcome to such; so is a trusty and speedy messenger: for by his good news he greatly reviveth the longing and languishing minds of those that sent him: who during the time of his absence, through fear and doubt, were almost half dead. This is much more true of God's faithful messengers, Job 33.23. whose very feet are therefore beautiful, and message most comfortable, to those that labor and languish under the sense of sin, and fear of wrath.

Vers. 14. Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift] as Ptolemy surnamed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , from his fair promises, slack performances: As Sertorius the Roman, that fed his creditors and clients with fair words, but did nothing for them, (Pollicitis dives quilibet esse potest) As that Pope and his Nephew, of whom it is recorded, that the one never spake as he thought, the other never performed what he spake. Lastly, as the Devil who promised Christ, excelsa in excelsis, mountains on a mountain, and said, All this will I give thee, when as that All, was just nothing, more than a show, a representation, a semblance, or if it had been something, yet it was not his to give: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. Physicians call their drugs 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 gifts, and yet we pay dear for them. Apothecaries set fair titles upon their boxes and gally-pots, but there is oftentimes aliud in titulo, aliud in pyxide, nothing but a bare title. Such are vain boasters, pompous Preachers, Painted hypocrites, Popish priests: such as was Tecelius, that sold indulgences in Germany, and those other Massemongers in Gersons time, that preached publicly to the people, that if any man would hear a mass, he should not on that day be smitten with blindness, nor die a sudden death, nor want sufficient sustenance, &c. These were clouds without rain, that answer not expectation, Jude 12.

Vers. 15. By long forbearing is a Prince persuaded] If he be not over-hasty, his wrath may be appeased, and his mind altered. Our Henry the third gave commandment for the apprehending of Hubert de Burgo, Earl of Kent: who having sudden notice thereof at mid-night, got him up and fled into a Church in Essex. They to whom the business was committed, finding him upon his knees before the high-altar, with the Sacrament in one hand, and a cross in the other, carried him away nevertheless unto the Tower of London. Roger Bishop of London taking this to be a great violence, and wrong offered unto the holy Church, would never leave the King until he had caused the Earl to be carried unto the place whence he was fetched. And this it is thought, was a means of saving the Earls life. For though order was taken he should not scape thence, yet it gave the Kings wrath a time to cool, and himself leisure to make his Apology: by reason whereof, he was afterwards restored to the Kings favor, and former places of honor. So true is that of the Philosopher, Maximum irae remediumest dilatio; And that of the Poet.

There are that read and sense the words thus: By meekness a Prince is appeased, that is, when he seeth that he is not opposed, that his Subjects repine not, rebel not against him. An old Courtier of Nero's being asked how he had escaped that Lions mouth? answered, Injurias ferendo, & gratias agendo, by taking shrewd turns, and being thankful.

A soft tongue breaketh the bones] Though it be flesh and no bones, yet it breaketh the bones: that is, stout and stern spirits, that otherwise would not yield. Thus Gideon broke the rage of the Ephraimites, Judge. 8.1. &c. and Abigail David's, by her humble and dutiful oration, 1 Sam. 25. See the Note on Prov. 15.1.

Vers. 16. Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient] i. e. Be moderate in the use of all lawful comforts and contentments. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith the Orator, for there is a satiety of all things, and by excess the sweetest comforts will be dis-sweetened; as Epictetus also observed. It is therefore excellent counsel that the holy Apostle giveth, 1 Cor. 7.29. that those that have wives be as if they had none, &c. that we hang loose to all creature comforts, and be weanedly affected towards them; considering that Licitis perimus omnes. We generally most of all over-shoot ourselves in the use of things lawful; as those recusant guests did, Matth. 22. and the old world, Luke 17.26.27.

Vers. 17. Withdraw thy foot from thy Neighbors house] This is an honey that thou mayest surfeit on, therefore make thy foot precious or rare (so the Original hath it) at thy Neighbors house, by too-oft frequenting whereof thou mayest become cheap, nay burdensome. At first thou mayest be Oreach (as the Hebrew proverb hath it) i. e. welcome as a Traveler that stays for a day. At length thou wilt be Toreach, a charge, a burden. And lastly by long tarrying, thou shalt be Boreach, an outcast, hunted out of the house, that thou hast so immodestly haunted. It is a very great fault among many, (saith one) that when they have found a kind and sweet friend, they care not how they overlay him, or abuse his courtesy. But as we say in our common proverb, it is not good to take too much of a frank horse.

Vers. 18. Is a Maul, and a Sword, and a sharp Arrow] A Maul, Hammer, or Club to knock out his brains, and make them fly about the room, as the Hebrew word imports. A Sword, or Murthering weapon, to run him thorough and let out his bowels. And a sharp Arrow, to pierce his flesh, and strike thorough his very heart. Loe here the mischief of an evil tongue, thin, broad, and long, like a Sword to let out the Life-blood of the poor innocent; nay, to destroy his soul too, as seducers do, that bear false witness against the truth of God, and by their cunning lies, deceive the hearts of the simple.

Vers. 19. Confidence in an unfaithful man, &c.] In a Prevaricator, a Covenant-breaker, a perfidious Person, such as Ahithophel was to David, Jobs miserable comforters to him. (He compares them to the brooks of Tema, chap. 6.16, 17. in a moisture they swelled, in a drought they failed) Egypt to Israel, a staff or broken reed, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it, Isa. 36.6. the Roman Senate to Julius Caesar, whom they killed in the Council-chamber with twenty three wounds, and this was done à pluribus amicis quam inimicis quorum non expleverat spes inexplebiles (saith Seneca ) by most of his pretended friends, whose unreasonable hopes he had not satisfied. How good is it therefore to try before we trust, yea to trust none that are not true to God? David durst not repose upon Saul's fair promises, whom he knew to be moody and slippery. The French say in their Proverb, When the Spaniard comes to parl of peace, then double-bolt the door. The Hollanders make no conditions with the Spaniard (whom they know to hold that Machiavellian heresy, Fides tam diù servanda est quamdiú expediat, ) but such as are made at Sea, and sealed with great Ordnance. Calvin and other Protestant Divines were called to the Council of Trent, but durst not venture thither, quia me vestigia terrent, as the Fox in the Fable said: they had not forgot how John Hus, and Jerome of Prague sped at the Council of Constance, although they had the Emperors safe conduct. They knew that Turks and Papists concur in this, as they do in many other Tenets, That there is no faith to be kept with dogs, that is, with Christians, as Turks understand it, with Heretics, as Papists.

Vers. 20. As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather] Music in mourning is held most unseasonable: that was an Heathenish custom that the Jews had taken up, Matth. 9.23. Cantabat moestis tibia funeribus, saith Ovid. We should rejoice with those that rejoice, and weep with those that weep. Nabla & lyra lugentibus ingrata, saith Plutarch. Music and mourning agree like Harp and Harrow, like thin clothing and cold weather, or like Nitre and Vinegar, saith Solomon. There are that read the words otherwise, and accordingly sense them. Thus: As he that putteth on a garment in the cold season, or Vinegar on Nitre; so is he that singeth songs to a sad heart. That is, Tristitiam dissolvit cantus, ut vestes discutiunt frigus, & acetum dissolvit nitrum. As a garment warmeth the body, and Vinegar dissolveth Nitre, so a sweet singer, by his delightsome ditty, cheereth up the pensive soul, and driveth sorrow out of it. See 1 Sam. 16.24. 2 King. 3.15. Dan. 6.19.

Vers. 21. If thine enemy be hungry] Elisha did so: he feasted his Persecutours, (2 King. 6.) by a noble revenge; and provided a table for those who had provided a grave for him. Those Syrians came to Dothan full of bloody purposes to Elisha: he sends them from Samaria full of good cheer and jollity. Thus, thus should a Christian punish his pursuers: no vengeance but this is Heroical and fit for imitation.

Vers. 22. For thou shalt heap coals of fire] By heaping courtesies upon him, thou shalt win him over to thyself: as the King of Israel did those Syrians he feasted. They came no more after that by way of ambush or incursion into the bounds of Israel. In doing some good to our enemies, we do most to ourselves.

And the Lord shall reward thee] However men deal with thee. It may be they may prove dross that will not be melted, dirt that will not be mollified, but moulter to nothing, crumble to crattle as stones, &c. as having no metal of ingenuity or good nature in them. But desist not, despond not, God will reward thee, and his retributions are more than bountiful. Or (as the words may be read) God will pacify for thee, as he did Saul for David. Never did a charitable act go away without a blessing: God cannot but love in us this imitation of his mercy, who bids his Sun to shine upon the evil and unthankful: and that love is never fruitless.

Vers. 23. The North-wind drives away rain] Hence Homer calls it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the fair-weather-maker, and Jerome, the airs Beesome. There is a Southerly wind, that attracts clouds, and engenders rain.

So doth an angry countenance, a back-biting tongue] The ready way to be rid of Tale-bearers, is to brow-beat them: for like Whelps, if we stroke them, they leap upon us and defile us with fawning; but give them a rap, and they are gone: so here. Carry therefore in this case a severe rebuke in thy countenance, as God doth, Psal. 80.16. Be not a re-setter to these privy Thieves, a receptacle for these mures nominis, as one calls them: the Tale-hearer is as blame-worthy as the Tale-bearer, and he that loves a lie, as he that makes it. Revel. 22. See Psal. 15.3. Rom. 1.31.

Vers. 24. It is better to dwell, &c.] See the note on chap. 21.9. and 19.13.

Vers. 25. As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news] This and many more of these Proverbs Solomon might well utter out of his own experience: for he sent out into far Countries for Gold, Horses, and other Commodities, 1 King. 9.26. besides Ambassies of state, and enquiries into the natures and qualities of foreign parts and people's. Of the Conversion of other Countries to the faith, he could not then hear, as we now may, and lately have good news from New-England. Neither had he the happiness to hear that, which we have not only heard, but seen and handled of the Word of life, 1 Joh. 1.1. He had 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the Promise, but we have 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the joyful tidings, the sum of all the good news in the World, as the Angels, those first Messengers cleped it, Luk. 2.10. Jesus is a short Gospel, and the good news of him should drown all discontents, yea make our very hearts dance Levaltoes within us: as Abraham's did, though he heard of him only by the hearing or the ear, or saw him afar off. Heaven is called a far Country, Matth. 25.14. good news from thence brought in by the hand of the Holy Ghost, witnessing with our spirits that we are the Sons of God, and if Sons, then Heirs of that far Country, of that fair City, whose maker and builder is God, how welcome should that be to us, and how inexpressibly comfortable? See 1 Pet. 1.8.

Vers. 26. A righteous man falling down before the wicked] i. e. Doing anything (though by mere frailty) unbeseeming his Profession, or that redounds not to the scandal of the weak only (as Gal. 2.11.) but to the scorn of the wicked (as 2 Sam. 12.14.) is as a troubled fountain, &c. is greatly disgraced and prejudiced. What a blemish was it for Abraham to fall under the reproof of Abimelech? for Sampson to be taken by the Philistines in an Whore-house? for Josiah to be in-minded of his duty by Pharaoh Necho? for Peter to be drawn by a silly Wench to forswear his Master, &c? was not the Fountain here troubled, when trampled by the feet of these beasts? the Spring corrupted, when Conscience is thus defiled and gashed? Let it be our care to cleanse this spring of all pollutions of flesh and spirit: as a troubled fountain will clear itself, and as sweet water made brackish by the coming in of the salt, yet if naturally it be sweet, at length it will work it out.

Vers. 27. It is not good to eat too much honey] For it breeds choler, and brings diseases.

So for men to search their own glory] i. e. To be desirous of vain-glory, Gal. 5.26. to seek the praise of men, to hunt after the worlds plaudite, to say to it, as Tiberius once answered Justinus, Situ volueris ego sum, Si tu non vis ego non sum, I am wholly thine, I am only thy Clay and Wax; this is base and in-glorious; this is to be Gloriae animal, popularis aurae vile mancipium, the creature of vain-glory, a base slave to popular applause, as Jerome calls Crates the Philosopher, who cast his goods into the Sea, merely for a name. Some do all for a name, as Jehu and the Pharisees; like Kites they flutter up a little, but their eye is upon the carrion. The Chaldee Paraphrast by their glory, understands the Majesty of the Scriptures, (which to David were sweeter than honey) These we must search, but not over-curiously: Ne qui scrutatur majestatem, opprimatur aegloria, as the vulgar here hath it, lest prying into God's Majesty, we be oppressed by his glory.

Vers. 28. He that hath no rule over his own spirit] Cui non est cohibitio in spiritum suum, that reigns not in his unruly affections, but suffers them to run riot in sin, as so many head-strong Horses, or to ride upon the backs one of another, like Kine in a straight. This man being not fenced with the wall of God's fear, lies open to all assaults of Satan and other enemies, Ephes. 4.26, 27. Jam. 4.7. as Laish, Judge. 18. or Hazor, that had neither gates nor bars, Jer. 49.31. or the Hague in Holland, which the inhabitants will not wall, as desiring to have it counted rather the principal Village of Europe, than a lesser City.

CHAP. XXVI. Vers. 1. So honor is not seemly for a fool.

HOnour is the reward of virtue, dignity should wait upon desert. Sed dignitas in indigno est ornamentum in luto, as Salvian. Honor is as fit for a fool, as a Gold-ring for a Swines snout. Sedes prima & vita ima, will never suit. The order of nature is inverted when the vilest men are exalted, Psal. 12.8. it is a foul incongruity, and of very evil consequence. For thereby themselves will be hardened, and others heartened to the like prosperous folly ( Felix enim scelus virtus vocatur, saith Tully ) The study of virtue also will be neglected when fools are preferred, and God's heavy Wrath poured out in full measure upon these uncircumcised Vice-gods (as I may in the worst sense best term them) who mis-represent him to the world by their ungodly practices, as a wicked, crooked, unrighteous Judge.

Vers. 2. As the Bird by wandering, and the Swallow] i. e. As these may fly where they will, and nobody cares or is the worse. So here. And as Birds tired with much wandering, and not finding where to rest, return again to their Nest, after that they have beat the air with weary wing: so the causeless curse returns to the author. Cursing men are cursed men.

So the curse causeless shall not come] What was David the worse for Shimei's rash railings? or Jeremy for all the Peoples cursings of him? chap. 15.10. Or the Christian Churches for the Jews cursing them in their daily Prayers, with a Maledic Domine Nazaraeis? or the reformed Churches for the Popes Excommunications, and Execrations, with Bell, Book and Candle? The Pope is like a Wasp, no sooner angry but out comes a sting: which being out is like a fools dagger, rattling and snapping without an edge. Sit ergo Gallus in nomine Diabolorum, The Devil take the French, said Pope Julius the second, (as he was sitting by the fire and saying his Prayers) upon news of his Forces defeated by the French at the battle of Ravenna. Was not this that very mouth that speaketh great things and blasphemies? Revel. 13.5. And (as qualis herus talis servus, like master, like man) a certain Cardinal entering with a great deal of pomp into Paris, when the people were more than ordinarily earnest with him for his fatherly benediction; Quandoquidem, said he, hic populus vult decipi, decipiatur in nomine diaboli. Forasmuch as this people will be fooled, let them be fooled in the Devils name. And another Cardinal, when at a Diet held at Ausborough, the Prince Electors Ambassador was (in his Masters name) present at Mass, but would not as the rest did, kiss the consecrated Charger; the Cardinal, I say, that sung Mass, being displeased thereat, cried out, Si non vis benedicticum, habeas tibi maledictionem in aeternum. If thou wilt not have the blessing, thou shalt have God's curse and mine forever. Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed, but let thy servants rejoice, Psal. 109.28.

Vers. 3. A whip for the horse] Viz. To quicken his slow pace. A bridle for the asse, wherewith to lead him in the right way: for he goes willingly but a foot-pace, and would be oft out, but for the bit, and besides, he is very refractory, and must be held in with bit and bridle, Psal. 32.9.

And a rod for the back of fools] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . A fool will be the better for beating. Vexatio dat intellectum. Due punishment may well be to these horses and asses (so the Scripture terms unreasonable and wicked men) both for a whip to incite them to good, and for a bridle to reign them in from evil. God hath rods sticking in every corner of his house for these froward fools, and if a rod serve not turn, he hath a terrible sword, Isaiah 27.1. So must Magistrates. Cuncta prius tentanda. If a rod will do, they need not brandish the sword of Justice; nor do as Draco did, who punished with death every light offense. This was to kill a fly upon a man's forehead with a beetle, to the knocking out of his brains.

Vers. 4. Answer not a fool according to his folly] When either he curseth thee, as verse 2, or crieth out upon thee for giving him due correction ( verse 3.) for every public person had need to carry a spare handkerchief, to wipe off the dirt of disgrace and obloquy cast upon him for doing his duty. Pass such an one by in silence, as not worthy the answering. Sile, et funestam dedisti plagam, say nothing, and you pay him to purpose. Hezekiah would not answer Rabshakeh, nor Jeremy Hananiah, chap. 28.11. nor our Savior his adversaries, Mat. 26.26. John 19.9. he reviled not his revilers, he threatened not his open opposites, 1 Pet. 2.23.

Lest thou also be like unto him] As hot and as head-long as he; for a little thing kindles us, and we are apt to think that we have reason to be mad, if evil-entreated: to talk as fast for ourselves, as he doth against us, and to give him as good as he brings: so that at length there will be never a wiser of the two, and people will say so.

Vers. 5. Answer a fool according to his folly] Cast in somewhat that may sting him, and stop his mouth. Stone him with soft words, but hard arguments, as Christ dealt with Pilate: lest he lift up his crest, and look upon himself as a conqueror, and be held so by the hearers. In fine, when a fool is among such as himself, answer him, lest he seem wise. If he be among wise men answer him not, and they will regard rather quid tu taceas, quam quod ill dicat, thy seasonable silence, than his passionate prattle.

Vers. 6. He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool] The worth of a faithful messenger he had set forth, Chap. 15.13. here, the discommodity of a foolish one: Such as were the Spies Moses sent, Num. 13. and 14. So when the Prophet proves a fool, the spiritual man is mad ( Hos. 9.7.) things go on as heavily, as if feet were wanting to a traveler, or as if a messenger had lost his legs.

Vers. 7. The legs of the lame are not equal] Locum habet proverbium cum is qui male vivit, been loquitur, saith an Interpreter. This Proverb hits such as speak well, but live otherwise. Uniformity and Ubiquity of obedience are sure signs of sincerity; but as unequal pulse argues a distempered body, so doth uneven walking show a diseased soul. A wise man's life is all of one color like itself: and godliness runs thorough it, as the woof runs thorough the warp. But if all the parts of the line of thy life be not straight before God, it is a crooked life. If thy tongue speak by the talent, but thine hands scarce work by the ounce, thou shalt pass for a Pharisee, Mat. 23.3. They spake like Angels, lived like Devils; had heaven commonly at their tongues end, but the earth continually at their fingers end. Odi homines ignavâ operà, Philosophâ sententiâ, said the Heathen, that is, I hate such Hypocrites, as have mouths full of holiness, hearts full of hollowness. A certain stranger coming on Embassage to the Senate of Rome, and colouring his hoary hair and pale cheeks with vermillion hiew, a grave Senator espying the deceit, stood up and said, What sincerity are we to expect at this man's hand, whose locks, and looks, and lips do lie?

Vers. 8. As he that bindeth a stone in a sling] A precious stone is not fit for a sling (where it will soon be cast away and lost) no more is honor for a fool. See verse. 1. Ibn-Ezra saith, that Margemah here rendered a Sling, signifies Purple, and senseth it thus; As it is an absurd thing to wrap a Pibble in purple, so is it to prefer a fool, as Saul did Doeg, as Ahasuerosh, Human.

Vers. 9. As a thorn goeth up into the hand, &c.] He handleth it hard, as if it were another kind of wood, and it runs into his hand. So do profane persons pervert and pollute the holy Scriptures, to their own and other men's destruction. By a Parable here the Hebrews understand either these Parables of Solomon, or the whole Book of God. At this day no people under Heaven do so abuse Scripture as the Jews do. For commending (in their familiar Epistles) some Letter they have received, they say, Eloquia Domini, eloquia pura: The words of my Lord are pure words. When they flatter their friends, Pateat, say they, accessus ad aditum sanctitatis tuae. Let me have access to the sanctuary of thy holiness. When they would testify themselves thankful, Nomini tuo psallam, I will sing praise to thy Name. When they complain, friends forsake them, Lord, say they, thou goest not forth with our armies. When they invite their friends to a Banquet or a Wedding, In thee have I trusted, let me not be put to confusion. Loe thus do these witless wicked wretches abuse God's Parables, and take his Name in vain. Whereas the very Heathen could say, Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine, God is not to be talked of lightly, loosely, disrespectively. Thou shalt fear that glorious and fearful Name, Jehovah thy God, saith Moses their own Law-giver, Deut. 28.58.

Vers. 10. The great God that formed all things] As he made all, so he maintains all; even the evil, and the unthankful. God deals not as that cruel Duke of Alva did in the Netherlands, some he roasted to death (saith the Historian) starved others, and that even after quarter, saying, Though he promised to give them their lives, he did not promise to find them meat. But as he hath given them their lives (forfeited in Adam ) so he allows them a livelihood, gives them their portion in this life, fills their bellies with his good treasure, but withal sends leanness into their souls: or if he fat them, it is to fit them for destruction, as fated ware is fitted for the shambles.

Vers. 11. As a dog returneth to his vomit] A homely comparison (able to make a true Christian ready to lay up all) but good enough for the odious Apostate, to whom it is applied. Such an one was Judas, Julian, Ecebolius, Baldvinus, Islebius, Agricola that first Antinomian, who did many times promise amendment, and yet afterwards fell to his error again. After that, he condemned his error, and recanted it in a public Auditory, and printed his revocation; yet when Luther was dead, he relapsed into that error; so hard a thing is it to get poison out, when once swallowed down. Harding (Bishop Jewels Antagonist ) was in King Edwards days, a thundering Preacher against Popery, wishing he could cry out against it as loud as the Bells of Oseney: so that by his preaching many were confirmed in the truth. All which to be so, they can testify that heard him, and be yet alive, saith Mr. Fox. See an excellent Letter of the Lady Jane Grays to him, whiles she was Prisoner in the Tower, Act. & Mon. fol. 1291. wherein she wills him to remember the horrible History of Julian of old, and the lamentable case of Spira alate, &c.

Vers. 12. Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?] This foolish wise-man, or wise foolish-man (for whether of the two to call him I know not, as the Chronicler saith of Sir Thomas Moore ) is that Dog spoken of in the former verse; that fore-thinks not the evil that followeth upon his returning to his filthy vomit; which being made much worse by the heat of the Sun and open air, maketh him much more sick than before he had been. Semblably, the witless wicked man, insensible of the evil of his way, and highly conceited thereof, goes boldly on till there be neither hope of better, nor place of worse. See the Note on chap. 3.7. and my common-place of Arrogance.

Vers. 13. The slothful man saith, There is a Lion] See the Note on cha. 22. verse. 13.

Vers. 14. As the door turneth upon his hinges] But comes not off, unless lifted or knocked off: So neither comes the sluggard out of his feathered nest, (where he lies soaking and stretching) unless hard hunger or other necessity rouse and raise him. As abroad there is a Lion, so at home there is a Lurk, a Lurdain, and a Losel, that lives in the world to no purpose, yea to bad purpose; and being wise in his own conceit, will not accept of better counsel. Those whose heads are laid upon down-pillows, are not apt to hear noises; no more are those that live at ease in Zi • n, to hearken to wholesome advice. Or if sometimes they have a kind of willingness and velleity to do better; yet it is but as the door that turns on the hinges, but yet hangs still upon them.

Vers. 15. The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom] See the Note on ch. 19.24.

Vers. 16. Than seven men that can render a reason] Yea though they were the seven Wise-men of Greece, they were all fools to him. The proud Pharisees rejected the counsel of God, and would not be baptized of John, Luke 7.30. Belly-policy teaches the Sluggard a great many excuses, which he thinks will go for wisdom: because by them he thinks to sleep in a whole skin.

Vers. 17. He that passeth by and meddleth, &c.] Two kind of studies have I always hated (saith one) studium partium, & studius novarum rerum. They that enter strife without calling (saith another) do commonly hazard themselves into trouble without comfort. This was Jehosaphats folly at Jabesh Gilead, and (as some think) Josiah's when he went up against Pharah Necho: thinking thereby to ingratiate with the Assyrian, Pharaohs professed enemy. It is from idleness usually, that men are thus busy in other men's matters, without thank, or other benefit. 1 Tim. 5.13. and 1 Thess. 4.11. and therefore this Proverb fitly follows the former. Howbeit this is not always true: for charity may move men to interpose for a right understanding, and a good accord betwixt disagreeing parties. Neither in this case must a man affect to be held no medler, since blessed are the peace-makers. And though it be for most part a thankless office (for if a man have two friends, he oft loseth one of them) yet our reward is with God: and if by seeking to part the scuffle, we derive some blows upon ourselves, yet the Euge of a good conscience will salve that well enough. That which is here forbidden, is, for a man to make himself a party and maintain one side against another. And yet where it is for God and his truth, this may be done too: as when Queen Elizabeth not only sat as Umpire betwixt the Spaniard, French, and Hollanders (so as she might well have taken up that saying of her Father, Cuiadhaereo, praeest, He whom I side with, carries it) but afterwards, when she saw her time, undertook the protection of the Netherlanders against the Spaniard: wherein all Princes admired her fortitude; and the King of Sweden said, that she had now taken the Diadem from her head, and set it upon the doubtful chance of war. This was done, Anno 1585.

Is like one that taketh a Dog by the ears] Where he loves not to be handled, but about the neck rather. The Dutch have a like Proverb, To take a dog by the tail. The Greeks, To take a Lion by the beard, or a Bear by the tooth, to thrust ones hand into a Wasps-nest, to stir up a Scorpion, &c.

Vers. 19. Am not I in jest?] The wicked man's mirth is usually mixed with mischief; it is no sport, unless he may have the Devil his Play-fellow: no good fellowship without Horse-play. Salt-jests, and dry flouts, to the just grief or disgrace of another, is counted facetious and fine. But St. Paul calls it foolish, Ephes. 5.4. and further saith, that for such things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience. Quid mihi cum fabulis, cum jocis? saith Bernard, what hath a Christian to do with jesting and jeering? We allow an Horse to praunce and skip in a pasture; which if he doth when backed by the Rider, we count him an unruly and unbroken Jade. So, howsoever in Heathens and Atheists, God may wink at jocularity and dicacity, yet he looks for better things from his own people. Crede mihi, res severa est verum gaudium, saith Seneca. True mirth is a severe business. But what a mad man Robert de Beliasme Earl of Shrewsbury, Anno Dom. 1111. delighting to do mischief, and exercise his cruelty, and then to say, Am not I in jest? An example hereof he shown upon his own Son; who being but a child and playing with him, the father for a pastime, put his thumb in the boys eyes, and thrust out the balls thereof.

Vers. 20. Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out] Lignis ignis conservatur: so is strife by evil tongues, these are the Devils bellows and boutefeaus. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble, your breath as fire shall devour you, Isa. 33.11. Such is the breath of Tale-bearers. A cover-feu bell would do well for these Incendiaries, that else may set on fire the whole course of Nature, Jam. 3.6. See the Note on Chap. 16.28.

Vers. 21. So is a contentious man] Hebr. A man of contentions, Vir biliosus & bellicosus, a man made up of discords (as Democritus said the world was) that loves to live in the fire, as the Salamander doth: the dog-days continue with such all the year long, and like mad dogs, they bite and set a madding all they can fasten on, as did Sheba, Korah, and Judas, who set all the Disciples a murmuring at the oil poured on Christ's head. So Arius set all the Christian world on a light fire, and Pope Hildebrand cast abroad his firebrands.

Vers. 22. The words of a tale-bearer, &c.] See chap. 18.8.

Vers. 23. Burning lips and a wicked heart, &c.] The tongue of the righteous is as fined silver, but glossing lips upon a false heart is no better than dross upon dirt: counterfeit friends are naught on both sides, having os maledictum & cor malum, as Luther renders this Text; a bad mouth, and a worse heart. Wicked men are said to speak with an heart and a heart, Psal. 12. as speaking one thing, and thinking another, drawing a fair glove on a foul hand. These are dangerous to be dealt withal: for like Serpents, they can sting without hissing; like cur dogs, suck your blood only with licking, and in the end kill you and cut your throats without biting: so cunning and close are they in the conveyance of their collusion. Squire sent out of Spain to poison Queen Elizabeth, annointed the pummel of her saddle with poison covertly, and as it were doing somewhat else, praying with a loud voice, God save the Queen. When those Romish Incendiaries, Gifford, Hodgeson, and others, had set Savage a work to kill the said Queen, they first set forth a Book to persuade the English Catholics to attempt nothing against her. So, Parsons, when he had hatched that nameless villainy the Powder-plot, set forth his book of Resolution, as if he had been wholly made up of devotion. Caveatur osculum Iscarioticum. It is the property of a godly man to speak the truth from his heart, Psal. 15.

Vers. 24. He that hateth, dissembleth with his lips] And so heaps sin upon sin, till he be transformed into a breathing devil. This is meant not so much of the passion of hatred, as of the habit of it; when it hath wholly leavened the heart, and lies watching its opportunity of doing mischief. The Devil is at Inn with such (as Mr. Bradford phraseth it) and was as great a Master, long before the Florentine Secretary was born, as since.

Vers. 25. When he speaketh fair, believe him not] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . Take heed whom you trust, beware of men, Matth. 10.17. bless yourselves from your pretended friends, and pray with David to be delivered from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. Admit they not only speak us fair, but do us many kindnesses, yet believe them, as little as David did Saul. Enemies gifts are giftless gifts, said one Heathen. And — timeo Danaos & dena ferentes, saith another.

Vers. 26. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, &c.] He shall be detected and detested of all, sooner or later. God will wash off his varnish with rivers of brimstome. Love, as it is the best armor, so it is the worst cloak, and will serve dissemblers, as the disguise Ahab put on, and perished 1 King. 22.

Vers. 27. Whoso diggeth a pit, shall fall thereinto] This is the same with Psal. 7.15. Where-hence it seems to be taken. See the Note there. Heathen writers have many Proverbs to like purpose. See Erasm. Chiliad.

And he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him] Cardinal Benno relates a memorable story of Pope Hildebrand, or Greg. 7. that he hired a base fellow to lay a great stone upon a beam in the Church, where Henry 4. the Emperor used to pray, and so to lay it, that it might fall (as from the top of the Church) upon the Emperors head, and kill him. But whilst this Caytiff was attempting to do it, the stone with its weight drew him down, and falling upon him, dashed him in pieces upon the pavement. The Thracians in Herodotus being offended with Jupiter for raining unseasonably upon them, shot up their arrows at him, which soon after returned upon their own pates.

Vers. 28. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it] False love proves to be true hatred, by the evil consequent of its ruin and destruction to the party flattered, and betrayed by a smooth supparasitation. There are that thus read the Text, The false tongue hateth those that smite it, &c. Truth breeds hatred: as the fair Nymphs did the ill-favored Fauns and Satyrs.

CHAP. XXVII. Vers. 1. Boast not thyself of tomorrow.]

THat is, of what thou wilt do hereafter, in quovis tempore postero. See 1 Sam. 28.19. Jam. 4.14. He was a wise man, that being invited to a feast on the next morrow, answered, Ex multis annis crastinum non habui, for these many years I have not had a morrow day to promise for any business. But what luxurious fools were those Sybarites, that intending a feast, did use to invite their guests a whole year before?

For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth] A great-bellied day. Whiles a Woman is yet with child, none can tell what kind of birth it will be, Luk. 12.16, 17. Time travelleth with God's Decrees, and in their season brings them forth; but little doth any man know what is in the womb of tomorrow, till God hath signified his will by the event. David in his prosperity said, that he should never be moved, but he soon after found a sore alteration: God confuted his confidence, Psal. 30. So the evil which men intend against us, may prove abortive, either die in the womb, or else they may travel with mischief, and bring forth a lie, that is, somewhat contrary to that they intend; but Fata viam invenient — Stat sua cuique dies. See Judge. 5.28, 29, 30. 1 King. 20.10. Accidit in puncto quod non speratur in anno.

Vers. 2. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth] Unless it be in defense of thine innocence, as David, Psal. 7. or when the concealing of thy goodness may turn to the hindrance of the truth, or to the hurt of the Church, or impairing of God's glory, as Paul, 2 Cor. 11. and 12. Let a man do worthily in Ephratah, and he shall be famous in Bethlehem: he need not be his own Trumpeter, as Jehu, the proud Pharisee, and other arrogant vain-glorious Bragadochioes. (See my common place of Arrogance ) God will take order that those that honor him, be honored of all, and that fame shall attend virtue, as the shadow doth the body. Say that wicked men will not speak well but ill of us, yet we have a testimony in their Consciences (as David had in Saul's, Daniel in Dariuso', &c.) Demetrius hath a good report of all good men, and of the truth itself: and that is enough for him; since, not he that commendeth himself (or hath the worlds applause) is approved, but he whom the Lord (and his people) commendeth, 2 Cor. 10.18. Haec ego primus vidi, was a vain-glorious brag that Zabarel had better held in. And haec ego feci, proves men to be no better than Faeces, saith Luther wittily; these brags are but dregs; Laus proprio sordescit in ore; That which had been much to a man's commendation, if out of another man's mouth, sounds very slenderly out of his own, saith Pliny. Let her works (not her words) praise her in the gates, Prov. 31.31. as they did Ruth, All the City of my people knows that thou art a virtuous woman, Ruth 3.11. She was so, and she had the credit of it. So had the Virgin Mary, and yet she was troubled when truly praised of the Angel. They shall be praised of Angels in Heaven, who have eschewed the praises of men on earth, and blush when but justly commended, speaking modestly and meanly of their own good parts and practices. Saint Luke saith, Levi made a great feast, Luke 5.27, 28. But when himself speaks of it, Matth. 9.10. he saith only, that Christ came home and eat bread in Levies house, to teach us the truth of this Proverb, that another man's mouth should praise us, and not our own. Like as in the Olympic games, those that overcame did not put the Garlands on their own heads, but stayed till others did it for them; so here.

Vers. 3. But a fools wrath is heavier than them both] Himself cannot rule nor repress it, but that he dies of the sullens sometimes, as that fool Nabal did. Much less can others endure it without trouble and regret; especially when so peevish and past grace, as to be angry with those that approve not, applaud not his folly. How angry was Nebuchadnezzar, how much hotter was his heart than his Oven, against those three Worthies, for refusing to fall down before his golden Mawmer? How unsufferable was Herod's anger in the Massacre at Bethlehem, and the primitive Persecutors for the two first ages after Christ? that I come no lower. See my Common-place of Anger.

Vers. 4. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous] Or, over-flowing all the banks, or carrying all before it as an impetuous Land-flood, and therefore most intolerable, as verse. 3. but behold a worse matter: Envy is an evil that none can stand before, for it knows neither end nor measure: as appears in the Devil, and his Patriarch Cain; in Saul, the Pharisees, those spiteful Jews, Acts 13.45. And to this day they do antiquum obtinere, bear the old grudge to us Christians, cursing us in their daily Orisons, calling us Bastard-gentiles, professing that if their Messias were come, rather than we should have any part in him, or benefit by him, they would Crucify him an hundred times over. They have a saying amongst them, Optimus qui inter gentes est d • gnus cui caput conteratur tanquam Serpenti. The best of us Gentiles is worthy of the Serpents punishment, viz. to have his head bruised, &c. so great is their envy still against Christians, who pity them and pray for them: and truly, it is no more than need, since by the question here propounded, we may easily guess, how potent this quick-sighted and sharp-fanged malignity envy is; indeed the venom of all vices is found in it: neither will it be drawn to embrace that good which it envies to another, as too good for him, Act. 13.44, 45.

Vers. 5. Open rebuke is better than secret love] For after the nature of Pils, Rebuke, though it be not toothsome, yet it is wholesome; and a sure sign of a faithful friend, if rightly managed. See my Common-place of Admonition. Secret love, that either seeth nothing amiss in a friend, or dare not say so, is little worth in comparison. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but (as an Argument of thy love) thou shalt reprove him plainly (but wisely) and not suffer sin upon him, much less further it, and be his broker or pander in it, as Hirah the Adullamite was to his friend Judah, and Jonadab to his Cousin Amnon, 2 Sam. 13.5.

Vers. 6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend] And are therefore to be prayed for: but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful, or to be detested, and therefore prayed against: so some read the words, and make the opposition. See this done by David, Psal. 141.5. Knocks from a righteous man he would take for kindnesses: but the precious oils of the wicked (answerable to their kisses here) he would cry out of, as the breaking of his head; for so Mercer, Ainsworth, and others read that text, and the Septuagint accordeth, saying, let not the oil of the sinner supple my head; by oil meaning flattering words, as Psal. 55.22. Reproofs and Corrections, though sharp and unpleasant, yet if looked upon as issuing from that love that lies hid in the heart, they are faithful, that is, fair and pleasant, as the Chaldee interprets it.

But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful] i. e. his glossing and closing with us for a further mischief, (such as were the kisses of Joab, Judas, Absalom and Ahithophel ) are not to be fancied, but deprecated and detested. See the note on chap. 26.23. Theophrastus hath in his character drawn out these kissing cut-throats, who can be affable to their enemies, and disguise their hatred in commendation, while they privily lay their snares: men Italienated, that can salute with mortal embracements, and clasp you in those arms which they mean to embrue in your dearest blood. These treacherous kissers are of kin to that mad Hacket, hanged in Queen Elizabeth's days, who bit off his honest schoolmasters nose, as he embraced him, under color of renewing their love, and ear it down before the poor man's face. So, and no better are the kisses, that is, the fawnings and flatteries of perfideous persons.

Vers. 7. The full soul loatheth an honey comb] Heb. treadeth it under feet as dung or dogs-meat. Chrysostom reports the saying of a certain Philosopher to the same purpose. Anima in satietate posita etiam favis illudit. The sated soul rejecteth finest fare, and most sweetest sustenance. This holds true in spirituals too. The honey of God's holy word, how is it trampled on by those stall-fed beasts, in whom fullness hath bred forgetfulness, saturity security? Our soul loatheth this light meat, said they of their Manna, when once cloyed with it. The Pharisees found no more sweetness or savoriness in our Savior's own Sermons, than in the white of an egg, or a dry chip. Our Nation is also sick of a spiritual plethory or plurifie: we begin to surfeit on the bread of life. Now when God sees his mercies lying under Table, 'tis just with him to call to the enemy to take away. Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the East,—who shall eat thy fruit, and drink thy milk, Ezek. 25.4.

But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet] Hunger is the best Cook, say the Dutch, the best sauce, say we, experience proves it so: how sweetly doth it season homely cates, coarse fare? Artaxerxes Memor being put to fly for his life, fed hungerly on barley-bread, with dried figs, and said, he never made a better meal in all his life. Hunyadi once driven out of the field by the Turks, and lighting upon a shepherd, craved for God's sake of him something to eat: who brought him to a poor cottage not far off, causing to be set before him bread and water with a few Onions: who in the pleasant remembrance of that passed misery, would oftentimes after in his greatest banguers say, that he never in his life fared better or more daintily, than when he supped with this shepherd.

Vers. 8. As a bird that wandereth from her nest] Doth it of inconstancy, and oft meets with misery: whereas God had taken order that none should molest a bird upon her nest. Deut. 22.6, 7.

So is a man that wandreth from his place] A vagrant, an idleby, or a busy-body, that keeps not his station, abides not in the calling wherein he was called, 1 Cor. 7.20. exposed to misery and mischief, to ruth and ruin, Numb. 16.32. 2 Sam. 6.6, 7. 2 Chron. 26.19. Jonah 1. Jude 6. Psal. 107.4. An honest man's heart is where his calling is: such an one when he is abroad, is like a fish in the air, whereinto if it leap for recreation or necessity, yet it soon returns to its own element.

Vers. 9. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart] Sweet ointment sensum afficit, spiritum reficit, cerebrum juvat, affects the sense, refresheth the spirit, comforteth the brain.

So doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel] It is as a fresh gale of sweet air to him that lives among walking dung-hills, open sepulchers. It preserveth the soul as a pomander, and refresheth it more than musk or civet doth the brain. The Counsel of such especially (Ministers I mean) of whom the Scripture saith, that they are unto God a sweet savor of Christ unto them that are saved, 2 Cor. 2.15. These are they that can sell us oil for our lamps, that we may buy for ourselves, Mat. 25.9. Such a Counselor may be an Angel, nay a God to another, as Moses was to Aaron: the comfort given by such (as the blessing of Parents) is usually most effectual, because they are in God's room. See Job 33.23. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, Unus e millibus, not Unus e similibus as the Vulgar reads it falsely, and from the purpose.

Vers. 10. Thine own friend and thy Fathers friend forsake not] To forsake a friend (an old friend especially) is to forsake ones self: for a friend is a second self, and friendship (as wine) is commendable from its oldness. What a Price set Solomon upon Hiram, who had been his fathers friend? 1 King. 5, and how did he seek his love, as a precious inheritance left him (as it were) by his father? and how courteously for his fathers sake, likewise dealt he with Abiathar, that had dealt disloyally with him?

Neither go into thy brothers house] Cajetan reads it, (and perhaps better) Thy brothers house will not come in the day of thy calamity, When thine old friend will visit thee and stick close to thee; as Jonathan did to David, and Onesiphorus to Paul. David complains of his carnal kindred; My lovers and my friends stand a far off from my sore, and mine acquaintance stand aloof; as the Priest and Levite did from the wounded man, when the Samaritan, a stranger, but a neighbor indeed, relieved him.

Vers. 11. My son, be wise, and make my heart glad] See the note on chap. 10.1.

Vers. 12. A prudent man foreseeth the evil] See the note on Chap. 22.3.

Vers. 13. Take his garment that is surety] See the note on chap. 20.16.

Vers. 14. He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice] Qui leonum laudibus murem obruit, that extols a man above measure, as the false Prophets did Ahab, and the People Herod, that praiseth him to his face: which when a Court-parasite did to Sigismund the Emperor, he gave him a sound box on the ear. A Preacher in Constantine's time, ausus est Imperatorem in os beatum dicere, saith Eusebius, presumed to call the Emperor a Saint to his face: but he went away with a check. When Aristobulus the Historian, presented to Alexander the great book that he had written of his glorious acts; wherein he had flatteringly made him greater than he was, Alexander (after he had read the book) threw it into the River Hydaspes, and said to the Author, It were a good deed to throw thee after it.

Rising early in the morning] As afraid to be prevented by another, or that he shall not have time enough all day after to do it in.

Vers. 15. A continual dropping] See the note on chap. 19.24.

Vers. 16. Whosoever hideth her, hideth the wind] i. e. One may as soon hide the wind, or hold it from blowing, as hide her shame, or hush her brawling. The wife should make her husband her covering, (when she is abroad especially) but many wives are so intemperate and willful, that a man may as well hide the wind in his fist, or oil in his clutch-fist, as his wives infirmities. Let this be marked by those that venture upon shrews, if rich, fair, well-descended, in hope to tame them, and make them better.

Vers. 17. Iron sharpeneth Iron] One edge-tool sharpeneth another: so doth the face of a man his friend. Ipse aspectus viri boni delectat, saith Seneca. Let us whet one another to love and good works, saith Paul, as boars whet their tusks, as mowers whet their sithes. Thus Paul was pressed in spirit by the coming of Timothy, Acts 18.4. and extimulates Timothy to stir up the gift of God that was in him. Thus Peter roused up those to whom he wrote, ex veterno torporis & teporis, out of their spiritual lethargy, 2 Pet. 1.13. And thus those good souls spake often one to another, for mutual quickening in dull and dead times, Mul. 3.10, 17. See my notes on that text. As amber-greece is nothing so sweet in itself, as when compounded with other things; So godly and learned men are gainers by communicating themselves to others. Conference hath incredible profit in all sciences. Cast alio renders this text thus: Ut ferrum ferro, sic homines alii aliis conjunguntur; as iron is to iron, so are men joined and soldered to one another, viz. in a very straight bond of love and friendship.

Vers. 18. Whoso keepeth the fig tree, shall eat, &c.] Of the continually-renewed fruits thereof, for when the ripe figs are pulled off, others shortly come in their place. The Egyptian fig tree is reported by Solinus to bear fruit seven times in a year: such as is good both for meat and medicine, as Galen observeth, and after him Dioscorides.

So he that waiteth on his master shall be honored] That is, Liberally maintained, and highly promoted; As Joseph was where-ever he served. The Heathens were very cruel to their servants; putting an engine about their necks (called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ) and it reached down to their hands, that they might not so much as lick off the meal when they were sifting it. These poor servants were in worse case than the Jews Oxen, 1 Cor. 9.8. But such as are faithful and serviceable, however their Masters deal with them (they should deal well with them, Deut. 15.12, 13, 14.) God will bestow upon them a Childs part, even the reward of inheritance, Col. 3.22, 23, 24. Their Masters also, if faithful and beloved, as they partake of the benefit, viz. of their good service, so they will be beneficial to them. Beneficentiae recompensatores, as Bullinger after Theophilact renders that text, 1 Tim. 6.2.

Vers. 19. As in water face answereth to face, &c.] Men's fancies differ as much as their faces: So the Chaldee interprets it. But they do better that give this sense, that in regard of natural corruption, all men look with one countenance, and have one visage: since whole evil is in man, and whole man in evil, neither by nature is there ever a better of us. In the heart of the vilest person we may see, as in a mirror, our own evil hearts. For as there were many Marii in one Caesar, so are there many Cain's and Judasses in the best of us. And as that first Chaos had the feed of all Creatures, and wanted only the Spirits motion to bring them forth, Gen. 1.1, 2. so there is a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a common seed-plot of sin in us all: there wants but the warmth and watering of Satan's temptations to make it bud, Ezek. 7.10. And though there were no Devil, yet our naughty nature would act Satan's part against itself: It would have a supply of wickedness, (as a Serpent hath poison) from itself: It hath a spring to feed it. Hence our Savior chargeth his own Disciples to take heed of surfeiting, drunkenness, and distracting carefulness, Luke 21.34. (who would ever have suspected such monsters to lurk in such holy bosoms?) And Saint Paul saw cause to warn so pure a soul as young Timothy to fly youthly lusts, and to exhort the younger women with chastity: thereby intimating, that whiles he was exhorting them to chastity, some impure motion might steal upon him unawares. Corruption in the best will have some flurts.

Vers. 20. Hell and destruction are never satisfied] Hell and the Grave have their name in Hebrew from their unsatisfiablenesse, being always craving more, and that with assiduity and importunity. And this fitly follows upon the former verse (as Ibn-Ezra well observeth) that men may be frighted by the remembrance of Hells wide mouth gaping for them, from following the bent of their sinful natures: and that those that here have never enough, shall once have fire enough in the bottom of hell.

So the eyes of men are never satisfied] That is, their lusts, their carnal concupiscence: to seek to satisfy it is an endless piece of business, Quaecunque videt oculus, ea omnia desiderat avarus, saith Basil, the covetous man hankereth after all that he beholdeth, the curse of unsatisfiablenesse lies heavy upon him: His desire is a fire, riches are fuel, which seem to slake the fire, but indeed they increase it. He that loveth silver shall never be satisfied with silver, Eccles. 5.10. No more shall he that loveth honor, pleasure, &c. Earthly things cannot so fill the heart, but still it would have more things in number, and otherwise for manner. And therefore the particles in the Hebrew that signify And, and Or, come of a word that signifies to desire: because the desires of a man would have this and that, and that and another; and doth also tire itself, not knowing whether to have this, or that, or the other, &c.

Vers. 21. As the fining pot for silver, &c.] Man is naturally apt to be much taken, and even tickled with his own commendation, as Felix was with Tertullus his flatteries; as Demosthenes was when they pointed at him as he passed by, and said, This is that famous Orator. But let every man prove his own work, saith Paul, Gal. 6.4. and testimonium tibi perhibeat conscientia propria, non lingua aliena, saith Austin; let thine own Conscience, and not another man's tongue praise thee. Or if needlessly they will do it, Let it refine us (as here) to more humility, and more care of sound holiness; let it, by the fining-pot, melt us, and make us better. This is the right use of it.

Vers. 22. Though thou shouldest bray a fool, &c.] The Cypress Tree, the more it is watered, the more it is withered: So it is with the wicked; humbled they are, but not humble; low, but not lowly; wearied in sin, as Babylon was in the greatness of her way, Isa. 47.13. but not weary of it. Of these Augustine, Perdidistis, saith he, utilitatem calamitatis, miserrimi factis estis, & pessimi permansistis, ye have lost the fruit of your afflictions: ye have suffered much, and are never the better. By this the iniquity of Jacob shall be purged, and this is all the fruit, the taking away of his sin. And if this be not done, God will say as once, In thy filthiness is lewdness: Because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt have thy will, thou shalt not be purged: but then I will have my will to; for I will cause my fury to rest upon thee, Ezek. 24.13. how likest thou that?

Vers. 33. Be thou diligent to know the state, &c.] Hebr. Knowing thou shalt know the face of thy flocks: alluding, belike, to those shepherds, that know their sheep asunder by their visages, and can call them by name, as Joh. 10.

And look well to thy Herds] Heb. Set thy heart to them. That is, be very inquisitive and solicitous of their welfare. Leave not all to servants, though never so faithful: but supervise and over-see business, as Boaz did. His eyes were in every corner, on the Servants, on the Reapers, on the Gleaners: He lodged in the midst of his husbandry. He was not to learn, that the Masters eye feeds the Horse, and the Masters foot soyls the Land; and that Procul à villa sua dissitus, jacturae vicinus, as Columella hath it. He that is far from his Husbandry, is not far from poverty. And unless the Master be present, saith the same Author, (it will be as in an Anmy where the General is absent) cuncta officia cessant, all businesses will be hindered. He must be as the great Wheel to set all a work, or little will be done.

Vers. 34. For riches endure not forever] Whether they be riches of inheritance or of purchase, they will waste without good husbandry. The royalty of Solomon could not have consisted for all his riches, had he not been frugal. Our Henry the third merited to be called Regni dilapidator, a waste-Kingdom. But what a great husband (perhaps too great) was Lewis the eleventh of France, of whom ye shall find in the chamber of accounts a reckoning of two shillings for new sleeves to his old dublet, and three half-pence for liquor to grease his boots? Anno 1461. Pertinax the Emperor also was a singular good husband: for the which, as the rich gallants derided him, so others of us, Quibus virtus luxuris potior, laudabamus, who prized Virtue above Luxury, commended it in him, saith Dio the Historian, who writes his life.

Vers. 35. The hay appeareth, and the tender grass] And the due time must be taken to take it in for fodder, in the hard winter. The earth is alma Mater, a bountiful Mother to man and beast. It is (as one well saith) marsupium Domini, the Lord's great Purse. The Stars also are God's Store-houses, which he openeth to our profit, Deut. 28.12. Every Star is like a purse of gold, saith one, out of which God throws down riches, which good men gather, bad men scramble for. By their influence they make a scatter of Corn, Hay, Fruits of all sorts. And good husbands cut Hay not only in the valleys where there is great store, but upon the mountains too, as soon as it is ready, lest heat or wet mar it. Note here by the way, 1 How good the Lord is, that stoops so low as to teach us thrift. 2 How perfect the holy Scripture is, that instructs us in these meaner matters also.

Vers. 36. The Lambs are for thy clothing] Ad esum & ad usum, for food and raiment, a profitable creature. Some Creatures are profitable alive, not dead, as the Dog, Horse, &c. Some dead, not alive, as the Hog. Some both, as the Ox; yet none so profitable as the Sheep.

And the Goats are the price of thy field] Wherewith thou mayest pay thy rent, and besides hire tillage, or it may be purchase Land, and have money in thy purse to do thy needs with.

Vers. 37. And thou shalt have Goats milk enough] And this was anciently accounted good cheer indeed. By Goats-milk understand all manner of Whitmeat, as they call it; and see how sparingly they lived in those days, content with that they had at hand, and not running every hands-while to the Butchers, or Drapers, as now. Or if the men being harder wrought, had stronger meat sometimes, yet the Maidens were well content with a more slender diet. Apelles painted a servant with his hands full of tools (to show that he should be work-brittle) with broad shoulders (to bear hard usage) with Hinds feet (to run about his businesses) with Asses ears, and his mouth shut (to signify that he should be swift to hear, slow to speak) lastly, with a lean belly, (that he should be content with coarse fare, spare diet, &c.)

CHAP. XXVIII. Vers. 1. The wicked fly when none pursueth.]

NOne but their own Consciences; Facti sunt à cord suo fugitivi, as Tertullian hath it. Such a fearful Fugitive was bloody Cain, who cried out, when there were yet few or none to pursue him, Every man that meets me, shall kill me. Such were those cursed Canaanites, that were chased by God's Hornet sent amongst them, that is, by the blood-hounds of their own consciences. Such were those Syrians, that struck with a Panick terror, fled for their lives, and left their rich Camp for a booty to the Israelites, 2 King. 7.7. The shadow of the Mountains seemed armed men to guilty Gaal. Judge. 9.36. The Burgundians expecting a battle, thought long thistles were launces. God sends a faintness into the hearts of the wicked, and the sound of a shaken leaf frights them. In Arithmetic, of nothing comes nothing, yet they fear where no fear is: As Cardinal Crescentius feared a fancied devil walking in his Chamber like a great Mastiff, and couching under his table as he was writing Letters to Rome against the Protestants: As Richard the third thought he saw in his sleep divers Images like terrible Devils, pulling and haling at him, after he had, Joab -like, slain two men more righteous than him, his two innocent Nephews: As Charles the ninth of France, after the cruel Massacre, could neither sleep nor wake without Music to divert his self-accusing thoughts; so hotly was he haunted and followed with the furies of his own Conscience: As the Spanish Fleet in eighty eight, Venit, vidit, fugit, as the Zelanders thereupon stamped their new coin. The Hollanders also stamped new monies with this invincible Armado (as the Spaniards in their pride had styled it) having this Motto, Impius fugit, nemine sequente, The wicked fly when no man pursueth. I pity the loss of their souls (saith a reverend man) that serve themselves as the Jesuit in Lancashire, followed by one that found his Glove, with a desire to restore it him, but pursued inwardly with a guilty conscience, leaps over a hedge, plunges into a Marle-pit behind it unseen and unthought of, wherein he was drowned.

But the righteous is bold as a Lion] Conscientia pura semper secura, a good Conscience hath sure confidence; and he that hath it, sits, Noah like, Medius tranquillus in undis, quiet in the greatest combustions, freed, if not from the common destruction, yet from the common distraction; for he knows whom he hath trusted, and is sure, that neither life nor death, nor things present, nor things to come, can ever sunder him from God's love in Christ. He is bold as a Lion, saith the Text: yea as a young Lion, that is in his hot blood, and therefore fears no other creature; yea when he is fiercely pursued, he will never once alter his gate, though he die for it. No more will the righteous man his resolution against sin, such is his Christian courage. Daniel chose rather to be cast to the lions, than to bear a lyon in his own bosom, to violate his conscience. The primitive Christians chose rather to be abandoned, ad leones, quam ad lenones, they preferred affliction before sin. And this their persecutors counted not courage and magnanimity, but willfulness and obstinacy; But they knew not the power of the Spirit: nor the privy armor of proof, that the righteous have about their hearts, that insuperable faith whereby some have stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, &c. Heb. 11.33.34. and whereby they do all daily encounter, and conquer that roaring lyon, the devil, quenching his fiery darts, &c. Eph. 6.

Vers. 2. For the transgression of a land, many are the Princes] Either many at once, or many ejecting and succeeding one another, to the great calamity and utter undoing of the People; as may be seen in the books of Judges and Kings, as in the Roman state after Nero's death, by the succession of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. What a deal of trouble was here in the time of the Heptarchy? and in the dissensions of the two houses of York and Lancaster? causing the death of twice as many natives of England, as were lost in the two conquests of France: besides 80 Princes of the blood royal slain. And all this is said to be for the transgression of a land, thus chastised by the LORD. Elihu tells Job, that the hypocrite is set to reign for the people's sin, Job. 34. and Levite. 26. it is threatened as an heavy curse: If ye still trespass against me, I will set Princes over you that shall hate you; mischievous, odious Princes, odious to God, malignant to the People. And Isa. 3.4. I will give children to be their Princes, and babes shall rule over them. How many Kings had the ten Tribes after their defection from the house of David, and not one good one amongst them all? And what got most of the Roman Caesars by their hasty honors, nisi ut citius interficorentur (saith one) but to be slain the sooner? Very few of them till Constantine, but died unnatural deaths. If ye do wickedly, ye shall perish, both you and your King, 1 Sam. 12.25.

But by a man of understanding and knowledge] As one sinner may destroy much good, Eccles. 9.18. so one excellently wise man (called here a man of understanding knowledge, there is no copulative in the Original) the state may be prolonged, there may be a lengthening of its tranquility, it may be delivered by the pureness of thine hands, Job 22.30. See 2 Sam. 20.16. &c. Eccles. 9.13. &c. Jer. 5.1. Religious and prudent Princes especially, may do much in this case, 2 King. 22.20.

Vers. 3. A poor man that oppresseth the poor, &c. Such an oppressor bites hard (as a lean louse doth) makes clean work, plunders to the life, as they say omnia corradit & converret. Poor men should pity poor men, as knowing the misery of poverty: but to oppress or defraud their comperes, is greatest inhumanity, as that merciless fellow servant did, Matth. 18.28. &c. A Weesel is a ravenous beast as well as a Lyon, a Sparrow-hauk as greedy as an Eagle, and more mercy is to be expected from those more noble creatures, than from the base and abject.

Vers. 4. They that forsake the Law, praise the wicked] As Machiavel doth Caesar Borgia, that bipedum nequissimum, proposing him for a pattern to all Christian Princes; as Onuphrius (the Popes Biographer) doth Hildebrand or Gregory 7th in five books written of his noble acts, and great virtues; whom Cardinal Benno truly describeth to have been a murderer, an adulterer, a conjurer, a Schismatic, an heretic, and every way as bad as might be. Epiphanius tells us that there were a sort of brain-sick heretics that cried up Cain, and were therefore called Cainites. They also commended the Sodomites, Korah, Judas the traitor, &c. In the book of Judith, the act of Simeon and Levi upon the Shechemites is extolled, and there was one Bruno that wrote an Oration in commendation of the devil.

But they that keep the law, contend with them] Moved with a zeal of God, they cannot be silent: As Croesus his dumb son, they cry out, Wilt thou • ill my father, dishonor my God, &c? Good blood will never bely itself, good metal will appear. How did young David bristle against black-mouthed Goliath, and enter the lists with him? Do not I hate them that hate thee? saith he, Yea, I hate them with a perfe •• hatred, I cast down the gauntlet of defiance against them, I count them mine enemies. Asa cannot bear with Idolatry, no not in his own mother. Our Edward the sixth would by no means yield to a toleration for his sister Mary, though solicited thereunto by Cranmer and Ridley, for politick respects. Mihi qu • dem Auxentius non alius erit quam diabolus, quamdiu Arrianus, said Hilary, I shall look upon Auxentius as a devil, so long as he is an Arian. It was the speech of blessed Luther, who though he was very earnest to have the Communion administered in both kinds, contrary to the doctrine and custom of Rome, yet if the Pope (saith he) as Pope, commanded me to receive it in both kinds, I would but receive it in one kind: since to obey what he commands as Pope, is a receiving of the mark of the beast.

Vers. 5. Evil men understand not judgment] They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge: their wits work not that way, they are bard and brutish as horse and asse, Psal. 32. Yea they fall beneath the stirrup of reason, and know not their owner, which yet the ox and asse doth, Esa. 1.3. no wiser at 70 years old, than at seven. Ut liberius peccent, libenter ignorant, not willing to know what they are, not minded to practice.

But they that seek the Lord understand all things] Not all that is possible to be known, as Averroes saith, Aristotle did, as the Civilians say their Baldus did, as the Papists say Tostatus did: but they understand all things needful to salvation, and they often meditate on the last judgment.

Vers. 6. Better is the poor, &c.] See chap. 19.1.

Vers. 7. He that keepeth the law, is a wise son] It is neither good nature, nor good nurture, or breeding that can prove a man to be truly wise: but obedience to God's statutes, Deut. 4.6. Alphonsus King of Spain, surnamed the Wise, was a rank fool, and an arrant Atheist: so are all the worlds Wisards.

But he that is a companion to riotous men] Or, that feedeth gluttons, whose belly hath no bottom.

They say the Locust is all belly, which is joined to his mouth, and endeth at his tail, such are riotous belly-gods: to feed such, is to cast away all and bring an indelible infamy upon the family.

Vers. 8. He that by usury and unjust gain, &c.] Usury is condemned by the very Heathens, Aristot. Ethic. lib. 4. c. 1. The ancient Law of the Romans make the usurer a thief and worse, the Hebrews make him a biting thief, who gnaweth the debtor to the very bones: yea the most toothless usury (that usual plea) hath sharp gums, which bite as sore as an old dog, or an hungry fly: and under show of licking whole, sucks out the heart blood. Let those who plead for it consider, that God dispenseth with no usury ( Ezek. 18.8.) whether neshec or tarbith, biting or toothless; that the lender deals not as he would be dealt withal, that the Gospel makes these sinners worse than other sinners, when it saith, Sinners lend to sinners to receive the like, Luk. 6.34. but these to receive more, that at Rome (this day) all usurers are excommunicated monthly; that the Canon-law drives them from the Sacrament, denies them burial, makes their will no will, as though their goods were not their own; that no man of note in all antiquity ( Jews and Manichees excepted) for 1500 years after Christ, hath ever undertaken the defense of usury: that Chrysostom is very fierce against it, comparing it to the stinging of an asp, which casts a man into a sleep, whereof he dies, &c.

He shall gather it for him that will pity the poor] God will provide him an executor never mentioned in his will: or his heir (being a better man) shall freely distribute what he hath wrongfully raked together, Eccles. 2.21. Job 27.16,

Vers. 9. He that turneth away his ear from hearing, &c.] Heb. that causeth his ear to decline the Law, that willfully slights the opportunities of hearing, and frames excuse, trusting to his good prayers (as they call it) and conceits that he can better bestow his time at home: this man prays for a curse, and shall have it, as Saul had; He would not hear Samuel; God will not hear nor answer him in his distress. This was (as the Hebrews call it) Mensuram contra mensuram, to pay him home in his own coin. The back-slider in heart shall be filled with his own ways. See the Note on chap. 1.28.

Even his prayer shall be abominable] See Chap. 15.8.

Vers. 10. Who so causeth the righteous to go astray, &c.] This follows fitly upon the former. Seducers and Sectaries dissuade men from hearing the Law in public assemblies, and carry them into by corners, under a pretence of prayer: like Moals they do all their mischief by working under ground, as Epiphanius observeth: they shall therefore perish in their own pit. If the blind lead the blind, &c. See the Note on chap. 26.27.

But the upright shall have good things in possession] They shall not be so led away with the error of the wicked, as to fall from their own steadfastness, 2 Pet. 3.17. or to forfeit their hereditary right to the Kingdom, because both the deceived and the deceiver are with the Lord, Job 12.13, 16. and it is impossible for the elect to be fundamentally and finally seduced, Mat. 24.24. since they are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation: heaven is kept for them and they for heaven; how then should they miss of it?

Vers. 11. The rich man is wise in his own conceit] He sacrificeth to himself, as Scianus did; to his drag and net, as the Babylonians did; he thanks his wit for his wealth, and takes upon him as if there were none such. (See 1 Tim. 6.17. with the note there) Like Isis her Ass, that had gone so oft to the temple of that Goddess, that at length she thought herself worshipful. Every grain of riches hath a vermin of pride and self conceit in it, and a very small wind will blow up a bubble.

But the poor that hath understanding] That is well versed in the bigger volume of God's Word, and in the lesser volume of his own heart, (which is better to him than any Expositor, for the right understanding of the Scriptures) this poor wise-man searcheth him out, finds the rich man's folly, and if need be, tells him of it, giving him a right character of himself. Sed divitibus fere ideo talis amicus deest, quia nihil deest.

Vers. 12. When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory] That is, there is cause of common joy to all: for they have public spirits, and rectified judgments, neither can they be merry at heart when it goes ill with the Church. All comforts are but Icabods to them, if the Ark be taken; all places but Hadadrimmons, if the Church be in heaviness. Terentius under Valens the Arian Emperor, asked nothing but that the Church might be freed from Arians: And when the Emperor tore his Petition, he said, that he would never ask anything for himself, if he might not prevail for the Church; for that, his happiness was laid up in hers.

But when the wicked rise, a man is hidden] That is, when Tyrants are set up, a man, that is, a good man (for God reckons of men by their righteousness, Jer. 5.1.) is hidden, lies close, and hath no heart to show himself, lest he should suffer either in his own person, or in his possession. Thus the man Moses fled and hid himself from Pharaoh, David from Saul, Elijah from Ahab, Obadiah's clients from Jezebel, Jeremiah from Jehoiakim, Joseph and the Child JESUS from Herod, those Worthies, of whom the world was not worthy, ( Heb. 11.38.) from Antiochus (that little Antichrist) and other Persecutors, and the Christian Church from the greater Antichrist, Revel. 12. so that she was not to be sought in tectis & exteriori pompa, sed potius in carceribus & speluncis, in Palaces of worldly pomp, but in Dens and Dungeons, as Hilary hath it: She fled into the Wilderness, into her place, from the face of the Serpent, Rev. 12.14.

Vers. 13. He that covereth his sins, shall not prosper] Sin is a Traitor, and must not be hid: for if so, now it sucks a man's breast, shortly it will suck his blood. Sin is a sore, and must be opend; a sickness, and must be declared to the Physician; the concealing of one circumstance may endanger all. Sin is a deformity that must be uncovered, or God will never cover it: see it we must to confession, or see it we shall to our confusion. If Job had covered his transgression as Adam (or after the manner of men ) he had undone himself, Job 31.33. It is the manner of men (and they have it from Adam ) to palliate their sins, and plead for them, to eleviate and extenuate them, to mince and excuse them. Sin and Shifting came into the world together. Sin and Satan are alike in this, they cannot abide to appear in their own color. Some deal with their souls, as others do with their bodies: when their beauty is decayed, they desire to hide it from themselves by false glasses, and from others by painting: so their sins, from themselves by false glosses, and from others by excuses. These must not look for Gaius's prosperity. The Sun-shine also of their outward prosperity ripens their sin apace, and so fits them for destruction. Never was Ephraim's case so desperate, as when God said. Ephraim is joined with Idols, let him alone. Nor Jerusalem so near destruction as when God said, My fury shall depart from thee, I will be quiet, and no more angry, Ezek. 16.42. To prosper in sin, is the greatest unhappiness that can befall a man, out of Hell.

But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them, &c.] Confession of sin must be joined with confusion of sin, or all is lost. Papists use confession as Drunkards use Vomiting, that they may add drunkenness to thirst. Profane people use it as Lewis the eleventh of France did his Crucifix; he would swear an oath and then kiss it, and swear again and then kiss it again: So they sin, and confess they do not well, nor will they strive to do better. As they sorrow not to a transmentation with those Corinthians, so they confess not to an utter abandoning of their wicked courses. They confess, as those Israelites did, Numb. 14.40. We have sinned, we will go up. They might as well have said, We have sinned, we will sin, for God had flatly forbidden them to go up at that time. They confess as Saul did, I have sinned, viz. in humouring the people, yet honor me, said he, before the people. As the Philistines confessed God's hand, yet sent away the Ark so do these. They that confess and forsake not, are only dog-sick: when they have disgorged their stomachs, they will return to their vomit.

Shall have mercy] Confess the debt, and God will cross the book: he will draw the red lines of Christ's blood over the black lines of our sins, and cancel the hand-writing that was against us. No sooner could David cry peccavi, I have sinned, but Nathan said, Transtulit peccatum tuum Dominus, God hath taken away thy sin: yea, transtulit, He hath translated it, he hath caused thy sin to pass over from thee to Christ, Isa. 53.6. Rom. 4.8. Confession is the Souls vomit, and those that use it, shall not only have ease of conscience, but God's best comforts and cordials to restore them again. Cum homo agnoscit, Deus ignoscit, saith Augustine. It is not here, Confess and be hanged, but Confess and be saved. In the Courts of men it is safest to say, Non feci, (quoth Quintilian ) I did it not, to plead Not guilty. Not so here, Ego feci, is the best plea, I did it, I have done very foolishly. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, &c. Judah (that is Confession ) got the Kingdom from Reuben: it is the way to the Kingdom. No man was ever kept out of Heaven for his confessed badness; many are, for their supposed goodness.

Vers. 14. Blessed is the man that feareth always] That is in the fear of the Lord all day long, chap. 23.17. Duo sunt timores Dei, servilis & amicalis, saith Bede. There is a twofold fear of God, Servile and Filial, perfect love casts out the former, breeds and feeds the latter. By this fear of the Lord it is that men depart from evil, that they shake off security, that they abound in God's work, that they may abide in his love, that they set a jealous eye upon their own hearts, and suspect a Snake under every Flower, a snare in every Creature, and do therefore feed with fear, and rejoice in fear, pass the whole time of their sojourning herein fear, yea work out their whole salvation with fear and trembling. O the blessedness of such!

But he that hardeneth his heart] As a perfect stranger to God's holy fear (the contrite heart ever trembles at God's Word, Isa. 57.17.) Why hast thou hardened our hearts from thy fear, ( Isa. 63.17.) which (as Fire doth Iron) mollifies the hardest heart, and makes it malleable. Fear is a fruit of repentance, (2 Cor. 7.11. yea what fear ) which intenerates the heart, and makes it capable of Divine impressions, as Josiah. On the other side, the Jews feared not God because of a rebellious heart, Jer. 5.22, 23.

Shall fall into mischief] Manifold mischief, ruin without remedy, chap. 29.1. The incestuous person, though delivered up to Satan, repented and recovered: but he that is delivered up to an hard heart, to a dead and dedolent disposition, is in a manner desperate and deplored; he heaps up wrath against the day of wrath, Rom. 2. This made a reverent man once say; If I must be put to my choice, I had rather be in Hell with a sensible heart, than on earth with a reprobate mind. A hard heart is, in some respect, worse than Hell: since one of the greatest sins is far greater in evil, than any of the greatest punishments, as one hath well observed.

Vers. 15. As a roaring Lion, and a ranging Bear] Regiment without righteousness turns into tyranny; and becomes no better than robbery by authority. Look how the Lion frayes the poor beasts with his roaring, so that they have no power to stir, and then preys upon them with his teeth; And as the Bear searches them out and tears them limb-meal: So deal Tyrants with their poor Subjects, Zeph. 3.3. Her Princes within her are roaring Lions, her Judges evening Wolves, they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Such were those Cannibals in David's days, that eat up God's people as they eat bread, Psal. 14.4. such those miscreants in Micah, who did eat the flesh of God's people, and flayd their skin, that brake their bones, and chopped them in pieces as for the pot, chap. 3.3. Much like those American Cannibals, who when they take a Prisoner, feed upon him alive, and by degrees: cutting off from his body now a meal and then a meal, which they roast before his eyes, searing up the wounded place with a fire-brand, to staunch the blood, to the unutterable aggravation of his horror and torment. Such a Lion Rampant was Nero, 2 Tim. 4.17. I was delivered, saith St. Paul, out of the mouth of the Lion. Tertullian calls him, The Dedicator of the condemnation of the Christians; whom he used as bad almost as the Spaniards at this day do the poor Indians, under pretence of converting them to the faith. Their own Writers tell us, that within the space of forty years twenty seven millions of people were destroyed, and that with such cruelties as never were heard of before. Let every good man bless himself out of the paws and jaws of these bloody Catholics, more savage and fierce than the wild beasts, as they soon show when armed with power, as were easy to instance. See the Babylonian cruelty Graphically described, Jerem. 51.34. and see whether it be not matched and overmatched by mystical Babylon. The ranging Lion, and ravening Bear is nothing to that Man of Sin, that hath died all Christendom with the blood of God's Saints, and dunged it with their carcases. This Ostrich can digest any metal, especially money: witness his incredible exactions, here in England, anciently called the Popes Ass. This Cannibal is a Pickrel in a Pond, or Shark in the Sea, devours the poorer, as they the lesser Fishes: Not unlike that cruel Prince mentioned by Melanchthon, who to get money of his miserable Subjects, used to send for them, and if they refused to furnish him with such sums of money as he demanded, he would first knock out one of their teeth, and then another, threatening to leave them none at all.

Vers. 16. The Prince that wanteth understanding] As every Tyrant doth, Psal. 14.4. (though they think they deal wisely, as Pharaoh, Exod. 1.10.) for they usually come to untimely ends, as most of the Caesar's till Constantine: and as our Richard the third, and Queen Mary, whose reigns are the shortest of all the Kings since the Conquest. Bloody and deceitful men live not half their days: or if they do, it is for a further evil unto them, Isa. 65.20.

But he that hateth Covetousness] Covetousness in the original hath its name from piercing or wounding: and fitly, both in respect of others, Prov. 1.19. and himself, 1 Tim 6.10.

Vers. 17. A man that doth violence unto the blood] The Hebrew word Adam, here rendered Man, hath one letter in the Original less than the rest: to show, that a blood-shedder is not worthy to be called a man.