Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 1:28 - 1:28

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 1:28 - 1:28


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Then - this sublime preacher in the streets continues - distress shall teach them to pray:

28 Then shall they call on me, and I will not answer;

They shall early seek after me, and not find me;

29 Because that they hated knowledge,

And did not choose the fear of Jahve.

30 They have not yielded to my counsel,

Despised all my reproof:

31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way,

And satiate themselves with their own counsels.

In the full emphatic forms, יִקְרָאֻנְנִי, they shall call on me, יְשַׁחֲרֻנְנִי, they shall seek me, and יִמְצָאֻנְנִי, they shall find me, the suffix נִי may be joined to the old plur. ending ûn (Gesenius, Olshausen, Böttcher); but open forms like יְבָרֲכֶנְהוּ, He will bless him,יְכַבְּדָֽנְנִי, He will honour me (from יְכַבְּדַנִּי), and the like, rather favour the conclusion that נ is epenthetic (Ew. §250, b).

(Note: In the Codd. יִקְרָאֻנְנִי is written; in this case the Metheg indicates the tone syllable: vid., Torath Emeth, p. 7 note, p. 21 note; and Accentssystem, ii. §1, note. In יְשַֽׁחֲרֻנְנִי the Rebia is to be placed over the ר. In the Silluk-word יִמְצָאֻנְנִי it appears undoubtedly that the form is to be spoken as Milel, i.e., with tone on the penult.)

The address here takes the form of a declaration: Stultos nunc indignos censet ulteriori alloquio (Mich.). It is that laughter and scorn, Pro 1:26, which here sounds forth from the address of the Judge regarding the incorrigible. שִׁחֵר is denom. of שַׁחַר, to go out and to seek with the morning twilight, as also בִּקֵּר, Psa 27:5, perhaps to appear early, and usually (Arab.) bakar (I, II, IV), to rise early, to be zealous (Lane: “He hastened to do or accomplish, or attain the thing needed”). Zöckler, with Hitzig, erroneously regards Pro 1:29, Pro 1:30 as the antecedent to Pro 1:31. With וְיֹאכְלוּ, “and they shall eat,” the futt. announcing judgment are continued from Pro 1:28; cf. Deu 28:46-48. The conclusion after תַּהַת כִּי, “therefore because,” or as usually expressed (except here and Deu 4:37, cf. Gen 4:25), תַּהַת אֲשֶׁר (ἀνθ ̓ ὧν), is otherwise characterized, Deu 22:29; 2Ch 21:12; and besides, תהת אשׁר stands after (e.g., 1Sa 26:21; 2Ki 22:17; Jer 29:19) oftener than before the principal clause. בָּחַר combines in itself the meanings of eligere and diligere (Fl.). The construction of אָבָה לְ (to be inclining towards) follows that of the analogous שָׁמַע לְ (to hear). Each one eats of the fruit of his way - good fruit of good ways (Isa 3:10), and evil fruit of evil ways. “The מִן, 31b, introduces the object from which, as a whole, that which one eats, and with which he is satisfied, is taken as a part, or the object from which, as from a fountain, satisfaction flows forth” (Fl.). In correct texts, וְיֹאכְלוּ has the accent Dechî, and at the same time Munach as its servant. Regarding the laws of punctuation, according to which וּמִמֹּֽעֲצֹתֵיהֶם (with Munach on the tone-syllable, Tarcha on the antepenult, and Metheg before the Chateph-Pathach) is to be written, see Baer's Torath Emeth, p. 11, Accentssystem, iv. §4. Norzi accents the word incorrectly with Rebia Mugrash. With the exception of Pro 22:22, the pluralet

(Note: A plur. denoting unity in the circumstances, and a similarity in the relations of time and space.)

מוֹעֵצוֹת has always the meaning of ungodly counsels.