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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 20:6 - 20:6
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6 Almost every one meeteth a man who is gracious to him;
But a man who standeth the test, who findeth such a one?
As צִיר אמונים, Pro 13:17, signifies a messenger in whom there is confidence, and עֵד אמונים, Pro 14:5, a witness who is altogether truthful, so אִישׁ אֱמוּנִים is a man who remains true to himself, and maintains fidelity toward others. Such an one it is not easy to find; but patrons who make promises and awaken expectations, finally to leave in the lurch him who depends on them - of such there are many. This contrast would proceed from 6a also, if we took קָרָא in the sense of to call, to call or cry out with ostentation: multi homines sunt quorum suam quisque humanitatem proclamat (Schelling, Fleischer, Ewald, Zöckler, and also, e.g., Meîri). But אִישׁ חַסְדּוֹ is certainly to be interpreted after Pro 11:17, Isa 57:1. Recognising this, Hitzig translates: many a man one names his dear friend; but in point of style this would be as unsuitable as possible. Must יִקְרָא then mean vocat? A more appropriate parallel word to מָצָא is קָרָא = קָרָה, according to which, with Oetinger, Heidenheim, Euchel, and Löwenstein, we explain: the greater part of men meet one who shows himself to them (to this or that man) as אִישׁ חֶסֶד, a man well-affectioned and benevolent; but it is rare to find one who in his affection and its fruits proves himself to be true, and actually performs that which was hoped for from him. Luther translates, with the Syr. and Targ. after Jerome: Viel Menschen werden From gerhümbt [many men are reputed pious]; but if יִקֵרָא were equivalent to יִקָּרֵא, then אִישׁ חֶסֶד ought to have been used instead of אישׁ חסדו. The lxx read רַב אדם יקר אישׁ חסד, man is something great, and a compassionate man is something precious; but it costs trouble to find out a true man. The fundamental thought remains almost the same in all these interpretations and readings: love is plentiful; fidelity, rare; therefore חסד, of the right kind, after the image of God, is joined to אמת.