care and provision of his parents; nor so much from
his own good choice and industry as from the kind pro-
vidence of God, to which he shouitl ascribe it; hisparents
may give him houses and lands, but it is God that gives
him a wise and discreet woman to be an help-meet to
him; see ch. xviii. 22.
Ver. 15. Slothfulness castelk into a deep sleep, &c.]
Slothful persons are generally sleepy, and are very de-
,irons of sleep, and indulge themselves in it; they
spend their time, day and night, in sleep and drowsi-
ness; and are quite careless and unconcerned about
either their temporal or eternal good; see ch. vi. 9--11.
And an idle soul shall suffer hunger ; and perish with
it, both in a temporal and spiritual sense: an idle
person, that will not work,. ought not to eat; and
an idle soul, or one that is unconcerned about his soul,
and the spiritual food of it, shall perish for want of it.
Ver. 16. He that keepeth the commandment, &c.]
Either of parents, as children ought to do; or of
masters, as servants should; or of kings and princes, as
is the duty of subjects in all things lawful: or rather
of God; every command of his, whether of a moral
or positive nature, which, though they cannot be per-
fectly kept, yet should as much as in man lies, in faith,
from a principle of love, and. to the glory of God: and
such aman keepeth his own soul, or observes{s} it; he
shews that he has a concern for its welfare and peace;
for though peace does not arise froIn keeping the com-
mandments of God, yet such have great peace of soul 
who do love and keep the law of God; though there
is no reward for, yet there is a reward in keeping the
divine commands; though salvation is not hereby, yet
blessed are they that do his commands; by which it
appears they have a right to enter into the city, into
eternal happiness, Psal. cxix. 165. and xix. 11. Rev.
xxii. 14. But he that despiseth his ways: which are
at and proper for him to walk in, as Aben Ezra ob-
serves; or who is negligent of his ways, does not care
in what ways he walks, oT what is the isle of them;
he walks in the ways of'his own heart, and in the
sight of his eyes; has his conversation according to
the course of this world; walks with a muititude, with
a crowd, to do evil, in the broad road which leads to
destruction, and yet is quite careless abopt it: or that
despises the ways of the commandment or word of
God, which that directs to; for that is a !amp and a
light, which men Would do well to take heed to, as it
shews them the ways in which they should walk; but
these they neglect and contemn: or he that despises
the ways of God, the ways he himself takes in the sal-
vation of men, all whose ways are mercy and truth; that
despises the ways -of peace, pardon, righteousness, and
salvation by Jesus Christ: he sh,ll die; he is dead in
sins already, and he shall die 'the second death, that ne-
glects and despises so great salvation, and all the ways
of the Lord, Heb. ii. 3. and x. 26--29- There is a
Keri, or marginal reading, which we follow'; hut the
Cetib, or written text, is, he shall be killed, or put to
death; and so the Syriac version; immediately, by
the hand of heaven, by the Lord himself, before his
time; or by the 5udges and civil magi. strates; his sins
being openly known, as A hen Ezra.
Ver. 17. He that hath p:ty unto the poor lendeth unto
the Lord, &c.]. A man, whose heart is full of com-
passion to the poor, and whose hands distribute to
their necessities, from a true principle ot' love an:t ,'ha-
rity to men, and with a view to the glory of God, and
not from any sellish principle. and with a
end; such a man's gift. to the poor is a loan to the
Lord; it is not cast away upon the creature, but is a
depositurn in the hands of God, and shall be returned
with advantage. And that whi.ch he hath given will,
he pay him again; either in this life, in things tempo-
ral and spiritual, increasing his worldly snbstance.
blessing his posterity, granting him larger measures
of grace, indulging him with his gracious presence.
and giving him peace of mind, which pusseth all un-
derstanding; or in the world to come; not as a reward
of debt, but of grace; see Eccl. xi. 1, 2. Matt. x. 4e.
and xxv. 35.
Ver. 18. Chasten thy son while there is hope, &c.]
Of guiding and keeping him in the right way, as long
as corrections are or can be hoped to be of use; whilst
in a state of infancy, childhood, and youth; whilst
under parental government; and before habits in sin
are grown strong, and the case become de.sperate, and
he is hardened, and proof against all instruction and
discipline. And let not thy soul spare for his crying
the noise he makes, the tears he sheds, the entreaties
he uses to keep off the rod; let not a foolish pity and
tenderness prevail to lay it aside on that account. the
consequence of which may be bad to parent and child;
see cb. xiii. 24. and xxiii. 13, 14. The Targum is.
"but unto his death do not lift up thy soul ;" or to
the slaying of him t, as the Vulgate Latin version; and
this sense Jarchi gives into: and then the meaning is.
that though parents should be careful to give due cor-
rection to their children, so long as there is hope of
doing them good, yet not in a brutal and barbarous
manner,. to the endangering of their lives: as some pa-
ú rents are too indolent, mild, and gentle, as Eli was;
others are too vt-rathful and furious. and use no mode-
ration in their corrections, but unmercifully beat their
children; such extremes ought to be avoided. Ger-
som interprets the word of crying, as we do.
Ver. 19. A man of great wrath shall suffer punish-
ment, &c.] Either a child that is of a wrathful dispo-
sition, and provokes his parent to wrath; or a parent
that chastises his child in' wrath; each shall suffer for
it; or any 'man that gives way to wrath and anger. and
is continually quarrelling, he involves himself in trou-
ble; and is punished, ashis offenos requires, accord-,
ing to law, either in his person or estate. For if thou
deliver him, yet thou must do it again; if he is got out
of one broil, he will get into another quickly; if he
clear of one lawsuit, another will be commenced
against him in a short time; if he is discharged and
freed from a penalty he is justly subject to, it must be
done again and again; he will fall into the same evil,
and there is no end of appearin.,,' for him and serving
him; a wrathrid man brings himself into. great trouble.
as may be seen. in Shimei, 2 Sam. xvi. 7. 1 Kings
ii. 46.
Ver. c20. Hear counsel, and receive instruction. &c.]

{s} \^rmv\^ observat.
{t} \^wtymh la\^ ad interficiendum eum, Pagninus, Vatablus, Mercerus,
Gejerus; ad occidendum eum, Piscator, Cocceius, Tigurine version,
Michaelis, Schultens, Gussetius, p. 534.