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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 15:30 - 15:30
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Two proverbs regarding the eye and the ear:
30 The light of the eye rejoiceth the heart,
And a good message maketh the bones fat.
Hitzig corrects also here: מַרְאֵה עינים, that which is seen with the eyes, viz., after long desire; and certainly מראה עינים can mean not only that which the eyes see (Isa 11:3), but also this, that the eyes do see. But is it true what Hitzig says in justification of his correction, that מאור never means light, or ray, or brightness, but lamp (φωστήρ)? It is true, indeed, that מאור עינים cannot mean a cheerful sight (Luther) in an objective sense (lxx θεωρῶνὀφθαλμὸς καλά), as a verdant garden or a stream flowing through a landscape (Rashi), for that would be מַרְאֶה מֵאִיר עינים, and “brightness which the eyes see” (Bertheau); the genitive connection certainly does not mean: the מאור is not the light from without presenting itself to the eyes, but, like אור עינים (Psa 38:11) and similar expressions, the light of the eye itself [bright or joyous eyes]. But מאור does not mean alone the body of light, but also the illumination, Exo 35:14 and elsewhere, not only that which (ὄ, τι) gives light, but also this, that (ὄτι) light arises and is present, so that we might translate it here as at Psa 90:8, either the brightness, or that which gives light. But the clear brightness of one's own eye cannot be meant, for then that were as much as to say that it is the effect, not that it is the cause, of a happy heart, but the brightness of the eyes of others that meet us. That this gladdens the heart of him who has a sight of it is evident, without any interchanging relation of the joy-beaming countenance, for it is indeed heart-gladdening to a man, to whom selfishness has not made the χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων impossible, to see a countenance right joyful in truth. But in connection with Pro 16:15, it lies nearer to think on a love-beaming countenance, a countenance on which joyful love to us mirrors itself, and which reflects itself in our heart, communicating this sense of gladness. The ancient Jewish interpreters understand מאור עינים of the enlightening of the eye of the mind, according to which Euchel translates: “clear intelligence;” but Rashi has remarked that that is not the explanation of the words, but the Midrash. That, in line second of this synonymous distich, שְׁמוּעָה טוֹבָה does not mean alloquium humanum (Fl.), nor a good report which one hears of himself, but a good message, is confirmed by Pro 25:25; שְׁמוּעָה as neut. part. pass. may mean that which is heard, but the comparison of ישׁוּעָה, שְׁבוּעָה, stamps it as an abstract formation like גְּאֻלָּה, גְּדֻלָּה (גְּדוּלָה), according to which the lxx translates it by ἀκοή (in this passage by φήμη). Regarding דִּשֵּׁן, richly to satisfy, or to refresh, a favourite expression in the Mishle, vid., at Pro 11:25; Pro 13:4.