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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 11:28 - 11:28
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28 He that trusteth in his riches shall fall,
And the righteous shall flourish like the green leaf.
יִפּוֹל (plene after the Masora) as well as the figure וְכֶֽעָלֶה (cf. for the punctuation וְכֶֽעָשָׁן, Pro 10:26) are singular, but are understood if one observes that in 28a a withered tree, and in 28b a tree with leaves ever green, hovers before the imagination of the poet (cf. Psa 1:4; Jer 17:8). The proud rich man, who on the ground of his riches appears to himself to be free from danger, goes on to his ruin (יפול as Pro 11:5, and frequently in the Book of Proverbs), while on the contrary the righteous continues to flourish like the leaf - they thus resemble the trees which perennially continue to flourish anew. Regarding עָלֶה as originally collective (Symm. θάλλος), vid., at Isa 1:30, and regarding פָּרַח (R. פר, to break), here of the continual breaking forth of fresh-growing leaf-buds, vid., at Isa 11:1. The apostolic word names this continual growth the metamorphosis of believers, 2 Cor. 2:18. The lxx has read וּמַעֲלֶה (approved by Hitzig): and he who raiseth up the righteous.