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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 14:28 - 14:28
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28 In the multitude of the people lies the king's honour;
And when the population diminishes, it is the downfall of his glory.
The honour or the ornament (vid., regarding הָדַר, tumere, ampliari, the root-word of הָדָר and הֲדָרָה at Isa 63:1) of a king consists in this, that he rules over a great people, and that they increase and prosper; on the other hand, it is the ruin of princely greatness when the people decline in number and in wealth. Regarding מְחִתַּה, vid., at Pro 10:14. בְּאֶפֶס signifies prepositionally “without” (properly, by non-existence), e.g., Pro 26:20, or adverbially “groundless” (properly, for nothing), Isa 52:4; here it is to be understood after its contrast בְּרָב־: in the non-existence, but which is here equivalent to in the ruin (cf. אָפֵס, the form of which in conjunction is אֶפֶס, Gen 47:15), lies the misfortune, decay, ruin of the princedom. The lxx ἐν δὲ ἐκλείψει λαοῦ συντριβὴ δυνάστου. Certainly רָזוֹן (from רָזַן, Arab. razuna, to be powerful) is to be interpreted personally, whether it be after the form בָּגוֹד with a fixed, or after the form יָקוֹשׁ with a changeable Kametz; but it may also be an abstract like שָׁלוֹם (= Arab. selâm), and this we prefer, because in the personal signification רֹזֵן, Pro 8:15; Pro 31:4, is used. We have not here to think of רָזוֹן (from רָזָה), consumption (the Venet. against Kimchi, πενίας); the choice of the word also is not determined by an intended amphibology (Hitzig), for this would be meaningless.