Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 26:6 - 26:6

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Proverbs 26:6 - 26:6


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6 He cutteth off the feet, he drinketh injury,

Who transacteth business by a fool.

He cutteth off, i.e., his own feet, as we say: he breaks his neck, il se casse le cou; Lat. frangere brachium, crus, coxam; frangere navem (Fleischer). He thinks to supplement his own two legs by those of the messenger, but in reality he cuts them off; for not only is the commission not carried out, but it is even badly carried out, so that instead of being refreshed (Pro 13:17; Pro 25:13) by the quick, faithful execution of it, he has to swallow nothing but damage; cf. Job 34:7, where, however, drinking scorn is meant of another (lxx), not his own; on the contrary, חָמָס here refers to injury suffered (as if it were חֲמָדוֹ, for the suff. of חמס is for the most part objective); cf. the similar figures Pro 10:26. So שָׁלַח בְּיַד, to accomplish anything by the mediation of another, cf. Exo 4:13; with דבר (דברים), 2Sa 15:36. The reading מְקַצֶּה (Jerome, Luther, claudus) is unnecessary; since, as we saw, מְקֻצֶּה ,was ew includes it in the sibi. The Syr. reads, after the lxx (the original text of which was ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν ἑαυτοῦ), מִקְצֵה, for he errs, as also does the Targumist, in thinking that מקצה can be used for מקצץ; but Hitzig adopts this reading, and renders: “from the end of the legs he swallows injury who sends messages by a fool.” The end of the legs are the feet, and the feet are those of the foolish messenger. The proverb in this form does not want in boldness, but the wisdom which Hitzig finds in its is certainly not mother-wit.

(Note: The Venet. translates שֹׁתֶה by ἄνους, so שֹׁטֶה (the post-bibl. designation of a fool) - one of the many indications that this translator is a Jew, and as such is not confined in his knowledge of language only to the bibl. Hebrew.)

Böttcher, on his part, also with מִקְצֵה, renders: “from the end of his feet he drinks in that which is bitter...” - that also is too artificial, and is unintelligible without the explanation of its discoverer. But that he who makes a fool his messenger becomes himself like unto one who cuts off his own legs, is a figure altogether excellent.