Their company or manner of life.

Studieth destruction; how they may oppress and destroy others, which yet at last falls upon their own heads.

There is no need that thou shouldst raise thyself and family by ruining others, as the manner of wicked men is, which thou mayst more easily and effectually do by wisdom, and the fear of God.

Knowledge; which in Scripture phrase includes the love and practice of that which we know.

Is strong; is courageous and resolute, and able by wisdom to do greater things than others can accomplish by their own strength.

War is better managed by wisdom than by strength. So this proves what he said in the last verse.

Wisdom is too high for a fool; either, 1. Really, it is above his reach or capacity. Or, 2. In his opinion; he judgeth it too hard for him, he despairs of attaining it, he pretends the impossibility of it, because he will not put himself to the charge or trouble of getting it; as, on the contrary,…

Heb. a master of mischief. The sense is, Though he cover his wicked devices with fair pretences, and would be better esteemed, yet he shall be noted and branded with that infamy which is due to him.

The thought of foolishness is sin; the very inward thought or contrivance of evil, of which he spake Prov. 24:8, even before it break forth into action, it is a sin in God’s sight, and it is hateful to God.

If thou faint; if thou art impatient, and unable to bear sufferings; if thy resolution flag, and thou givest way to despondency or dejection of mind. Is small, Heb. is narrow; it lives in a little compass; it is as strait as thy condition is; for there is an elegant allusion in the Hebrew words.

To deliver them, when it is in thy power to do it lawfully. Drawn unto death, to wit, unjustly, or by the violence of lawless men. That are ready to be slain; that are in present danger of death or destruction.

We knew it not; I was ignorant either of his innocency, or of his extreme danger, or of my power to relieve him. Consider it; that this is only a frivolous excuse, and that the true reason of thy neglect was thy want of true love to thy brother, whose life thou wast by the law of God and of nature…

This is not a command, but a concession, and is here expressed only to illustrate the following verse. Honey in those parts was excellent, and a usual and an acceptable food. See Deut. 8:8, Judg. 14:18, 1 Sam. 14:25.

When thou hast found it; whereby he implies that there is indeed some difficulty and trouble in the pursuit of wisdom, but that it is abundantly compensated with the sweetness and advantage of it when a man arrives at it. Then there shall be a reward, Heb. and or also there is a reward.

Lay not wait; do him no injury, either by subtle and secret devices, or, as it follows, by manifest violence. Against the dwelling of the righteous; against his person, or family, or possession.

Falleth; either, 1. Into sin. Or, rather, 2. Into calamities, of which he evidently speaks, both in the foregoing verse, and in the opposite and following branch of this verse, and so this word is used in the next verse, and Ps. 37:24, Isa. 24:20, Jer. 25:27, Amos 8:14, Mic. 7:8;c.

Falleth, to wit, into mischief, as in the former verse. Please not thyself in his destruction; which plainly shows that the love of our enemies is a precept of the old law as well as of the gospel. See Ex. 23:4–5.

Understand, upon thee, which is implied in the Hebrew phrase, such defects being usual in that concise language, Ps. 84:11;Prov. 19:1, and oft elsewhere.

Fret not thyself; which translation of the word is confirmed by the parallel word in the following clause. Because of evil men; for their present impunity and good success.

There shall be no reward to the evil man; all his hopes and happiness shall quickly and eternally perish, and he shall have the share in those solid felicities and blessed recompences of a better life which thou shalt enjoy; therefore thou hast no reason to envy him.

Fear thou the Lord and the king; honour and obey both God and the king, and all in authority. He puts God before the king, because God is to be served in the first place, and our obedience is to be giver, to kings only in subordination to God, and not in those things which are contrary to the will…

Who knoweth? who can conceive how sore and sudden it will be? The ruin of them both; of them that fear not God, and of them that fear not the king, for they have two potent and terrible enemies; and therefore if they will not obey them out of conscience, as their duty binds them, yet they should do…

These things also, these proverbs or counsels here following to the end of the chapter, no less than those hitherto mentioned, belong to the wise; are worthy of the consideration, and fit for the use, of them who are or would be wise; for only such are capable of understanding and improving these…

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

That rebuke him; that publicly and judicially rebuke and condemn the wicked. Delight; the peace of a good conscience, and the comfort of a good name. A good blessing; which the people shall wish, and by their prayers obtain, from God for them; which is fitly opposed to the people’s curse in the…

Every man shall kiss his lips, shall highly respect and love him, of which kissing was a sign, that giveth a right answer; who being called to speak, either as a judge, or witness, or otherwise, in weighty matters, speaks pertinently, and plainly, and truly, to the conviction and satisfaction of…

This is a domestical precept, requiring both industry and prudence in the management of a man’s concerns, that he take care in the first place to furnish himself with cattle and the fruits of the field, which are necessary for his subsistence, and after that he may procure such things as are for…

Be not a witness against thy neighbour, either in judgment or in private conversation, without cause; rashly or falsely, without just and sufficient cause. Deceive not neither thy neighbour, to whom thou hast made a show of friendship, nor the judge, nor any other bearers, with false information.

Say not within thyself; give not way to any such thoughts or passions. I will render to the man according to his work; I will repay him all his calumnies and injuries.

I learned wisdom by his folly, and by his gross idleness was provoked to greater care and diligence.

See this and the following verse in Prov. 6:10–11.