Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_400.lzh/4_498.TXT

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generate man is, who is unconcerned about his soul,
and the welfare of it; whatever understanding he may
have of things natural and civil, he has no knowledge
of spiritual things, of God in Christ, of himself, his
state and condition; of Christ, and the way of peace,
life, and salvation by him; of the Spirit, and iris work
of grace upon the heart; and of the Gospel, and the
mysteries of it; and so has no regard to the vineyard
of his soul, and the plantation and fruitfulness of it;
see Cant. i. 6.
Ver. 31. And, 1o, it was all grown ovcr with thor,s,
&c.] Or thistles {y}; which grow up of themselves,
are the fruit of the curse, and the effect of slothfulness.
And nettles had covered thejace thereof ; so that nothing
was to be seen but thorns and thistles, nettles and
weeds; and such is the case of the souls of men wbcn
neglected, and no concern is had for them; so it is with
carnal and worldly professors, who are overrun with the
cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the
lusts of other things, comparable to thorns and nettles
for their piercing and stinging nature, and the unfruit-
fulhess. and unprofitablehess of them; such are the
thorny-ground hearers, Matt. xiii. 22. and such is the
case of all unregenerate persons, whose souls are like an
uncultivated field, and a neglected vineyard; in which
grow naturally the weeds of sin and corruption, com-
parable to thorns and nettles for their spontaneous
production, for the number of them, for their unfruit-
fulness, and for the pain and distress they bring when
conscience is awakened; and because as such ground
that bears thorns and nettles is nigh to cursing, and its
end to be burned, which :,s their case; see Heb. vi. S.
And the stone wall thereof was broken down; the fence
about the fields, the wall about the vineyard, to kccp
out men and beasts; see Isa. v. o.. which through sloth-
fulness, and want of repair and keeping up, fell to decay,
Eccl. x. 18. and thus carnal professors and unregene-
rate men, having no guard upon themselves, are open
and exposed to every sin, snare, and temptation; Satan
has free egress and regress; the evil spirit can go out
and come in-when he pleases, and bring seven evil
spirits tnore wicked than himself: indeed such is the
evil heart of man that it needs no tempter; he is drawn
aside of his c, wn lust, and enticed; he is liable to every
sin, and to fall into the utmost ruin; he has nothing
to protect and defend him; not thc spirit, nor grace,
nor power of God.
Ver. 3e. Then Isaw, and considereditwell, &c.] Or

when .I saw, I considered it well; or set my heart
it {z}; when he saw as he passed along the field and the
vineyard, he, considered who was the owner and pro-
prietor of them; what a sluggish and foolish man he
was, and what a ruinons condition his field and vine-
yard were in. I Ioo/ccd upon it, and received instac-
tion; looked at it again, and took a thorough view of
it, and learned something froth it; so great and w:,se a
man as Solotnon received instruction from the field
and vinevard of the sloth/hi and foolish man;
learned to be wiser, and to be more diligent in cul-
tivating his own field, and dressing his own vine-
yard: so from the view and consideration of the sloth-
i'ulness and folly of tinregenerate man, and of the state
an,_t condition of his soul, many lcssons of instructSon
may be learned; as that there is no free will and
wisdom in men with respect to that which is good-,
the ruinous state and condition of men, as being all
overspread with sin anti corruption, in all the powers
and faculties of their souls; and that. there is nothing
in them agreeable to God, but all the reverse; also
the necessity of divine grace to put them into a good
state, and make them fruitful; moreover, the distin-
guishing grace of God, which makes others to differ
from them; and likewise it is teaching and instructive
to good men to use more diligencc themselves in things
relating to their spiritual good, and to the glory of
God.
Vet. 33. Yet a little sleep, a little shetuber, &c.'i
The sight of the field and vineyard of the slothful pat
Solomon in mind of an observation he had made be-
fore, which fitly describes the disposition and gesture
of the sluggard, by which means his field and vineyard
came to ruin; whilst he should be up and tilling his
field and planting his vineyard, he is in his bed; and
awaking, instead of rising, craves for and indulges him-
self in another little doze, and whicll he repeats again
and again. A little folding oJ' the hands to sleep; which
ought to have been employed another way; see the
note on ch. vi. 10.
Vet. 34. So shall thy poverty come as one that tra-
vdleth, &c.] .Swiftly and suddenly, both in a tem
poral and spiritual sense. And thy want as an
man; irresistibly. Here ends according to some the
second, according to others the third part r.,f this book
of Proverbs, auother. beginning with the folloWing
chapter.

Vet. I. TheSE are are also proverbs of Solomon, &c.]
These that follow to the end of the book, as well as
those which go before. Here begins a third, some say
a fourth part of this book. The Targum and Syriac
version read," these are also the deep proverbs of
"Solomon;" and the Arabic version adds," the ex-
"position eft which is difficult." Which the men
Hezekiah king of Judah copied out; out of the writings
of Solomort; out of his three thousand proverbs, it ,nay
be; or out of the public records, which contained an
account of his words and deeds. Who these men were
is not certain; perhaps his ministers of state, Eliakim,
Sheban, and Joah; or the prophets of his time, Isaiah,
Micah, and Hosea: the Targum and Synac version call


{y} \^Mynwvmq\^ chamaeleones, Junius & Tremellius; cardui, Piscator,
Cocceius; carduis, Michaelis, Schultens.
{z} \^ybl tyva ykna hzxaw\^ quum ergo contemplatus essem, adjunxi
animum meum, Mercerus; eum intuerer, apposui cor meum, Gejerus;
cum igitur viderem ego, adponebam eor meum, Michaelis.