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Selected Verse: Proverbs 12:10 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Pr 12:10	Strong Concordance	A righteous [06662] man regardeth [03045] the life [05315] of his beast [0929]: but the tender mercies [07356] of the wicked [07563] are cruel [0394].
	King James	A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
regardeth--literally, "knoweth" (Psa 1:6). mercies . . . cruel--as acts of compassion ungraciously rendered to the needy. The righteous more regards a beast than the wicked a man.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

regardeth--literally, "knoweth" (Psa 1:6).

mercies . . . cruel--as acts of compassion ungraciously rendered to the needy. The righteous more regards a beast than the wicked a man.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Regardeth - literally, "knoweth." All true sympathy and care must grow out of knowledge. The duty of a person to animals: (1) rests upon direct commandments in the Law Exo 20:10; Exo 23:4-5; (2) connects itself with the thought that the mercies of God are over all His works, and that man's mercy, in proportion to its excellence, must be like His Jon 4:11; and (3) has perpetuated its influence in the popular morality of the East. Tender mercies - Better, "the feelings, the emotions," all that should have led to mercy and pity toward man.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
10 The righteous knows how his cattle feel, And the compassion of the godless is cruel. The explanation: the righteous taketh care for the life of his beast (Fl.), fails, for 10a is to be taken with Exo 23:9; נפשׁ signifies also the state of one's soul, the frame of mind, the state of feeling; but ידע has, as in the related proverb, Pro 27:23, the meaning of careful cognizance or investigation, in conformity with which one acts. If the Tor includes in the law of the Sabbath (Exo 20:10; Exo 23:12) useful beasts and cattle, which are here especially meant, and secures to them the reward of their labour (Deu 25:4); if it forbids the mutilation, and generally the giving of unnecessary pain, to beasts; if it enjoins those who take a bird's nest to let the dam escape (Deu 22:6.) - these are the prefigurations of that דעת נפש בהמה, and as the God of the Tor thus appears at the close of the Book of Jonah, this wonderful apology (defensio) of the all-embracing compassion, the God also of the world-history in this sympathy for the beasts of the earth as the type of the righteous. In 10b most interpreters find an oxymoron: the compassion of the godless is compassionless, the direct opposite of compassion; i.e., he possesses either altogether no compassion, or he shows such as in its principle, its expression, and in its effects is the opposite of what it ought to be (Fl.). Bertheau believes that in the sing. of the predicate אכזרי he is justified in translating: the compassion of the wicked is a tyranny. And as one may speak of a loveless love, i.e., of a love which in its principle is nothing else than selfishness, so also of a compassionless compassion, such as consists only in gesture and speech without truth of feeling and of active results. But how such a compassionless compassion toward the cattle, and one which is really cruel, is possible, it may be difficult to show. Hitzig's conjecture, רחמי, sprang from this thought: the most merciful among sinners are cruel - the sinner is as such not רחוּם. The lxx is right in the rendering, τὰ δὲ σπλάγχνα τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνελεήμονα. The noun רחמים means here not compassion, but, as in Gen 43:30 (lxx ἔντερα or ἔγκατα) and Kg1 3:26 (lxx μήτρα), has the meaning the bowels (properly tender parts, cf. Arab. rakhuma, to be soft, tender, with rḥm), and thus the interior of the body, in which deep emotions, and especially strong sympathy, are wont to be reflected (cf. Hos 10:8). The singular of the predicate אכזרי arises here from the unity of the subject-conception: the inwards, as Jer 50:12, from the reference of the expression to each individual of the many.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

10 The righteous knows how his cattle feel,

And the compassion of the godless is cruel.

The explanation: the righteous taketh care for the life of his beast (Fl.), fails, for 10a is to be taken with Exo 23:9; נפשׁ signifies also the state of one's soul, the frame of mind, the state of feeling; but ידע has, as in the related proverb, Pro 27:23, the meaning of careful cognizance or investigation, in conformity with which one acts. If the Tor includes in the law of the Sabbath (Exo 20:10; Exo 23:12) useful beasts and cattle, which are here especially meant, and secures to them the reward of their labour (Deu 25:4); if it forbids the mutilation, and generally the giving of unnecessary pain, to beasts; if it enjoins those who take a bird's nest to let the dam escape (Deu 22:6.) - these are the prefigurations of that דעת נפש בהמה, and as the God of the Tor thus appears at the close of the Book of Jonah, this wonderful apology (defensio) of the all-embracing compassion, the God also of the world-history in this sympathy for the beasts of the earth as the type of the righteous.

In 10b most interpreters find an oxymoron: the compassion of the godless is compassionless, the direct opposite of compassion; i.e., he possesses either altogether no compassion, or he shows such as in its principle, its expression, and in its effects is the opposite of what it ought to be (Fl.). Bertheau believes that in the sing. of the predicate אכזרי he is justified in translating: the compassion of the wicked is a tyranny. And as one may speak of a loveless love, i.e., of a love which in its principle is nothing else than selfishness, so also of a compassionless compassion, such as consists only in gesture and speech without truth of feeling and of active results. But how such a compassionless compassion toward the cattle, and one which is really cruel, is possible, it may be difficult to show. Hitzig's conjecture, רחמי, sprang from this thought: the most merciful among sinners are cruel - the sinner is as such not רחוּם. The lxx is right in the rendering, τὰ δὲ σπλάγχνα τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνελεήμονα. The noun רחמים means here not compassion, but, as in Gen 43:30 (lxx ἔντερα or ἔγκατα) and Kg1 3:26 (lxx μήτρα), has the meaning the bowels (properly tender parts, cf. Arab. rakhuma, to be soft, tender, with rḥm), and thus the interior of the body, in which deep emotions, and especially strong sympathy, are wont to be reflected (cf. Hos 10:8). The singular of the predicate אכזרי arises here from the unity of the subject-conception: the inwards, as Jer 50:12, from the reference of the expression to each individual of the many.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Regardeth - He will not destroy it either by labour beyond its strength, or by denying it necessary food or rest. Cruel - There is cruelty mixed even with their most merciful actions.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast - One principal characteristic of a holy man is mercy: cruelty is unknown to him; and his benevolence extends to the meanest of the brute creation. Pity rules the heart of a pious man; he can do nothing that is cruel. He considers what is best for the comfort, ease health, and life of the beast that serves him, and he knows that God himself careth for oxen: and one of the ten commandments provides a seventh part of time to be allotted for the rest of laboring beasts as well as for man. I once in my travels met with the Hebrew of this clause on the sign board of a public inn: יודע צדיק נפש בהמתו yodea tsaddik nephesh behemto. "A righteous man considereth the life of his beast;" which, being very appropriate, reminded me that I should feed my horse. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel - אחזרי achzari, are violent, without mercy, ruthless. The wicked, influenced by Satan, can show no other disposition than what is in their master. If they appear at any time merciful, it is a cloak which they use to cover purposes of cruelty. To accomplish its end, iniquity will assume any garb, speak mercifully, extol benevolence, sometimes even give to the poor! But, timeo Danaos, et dona ferentes. The cry of fire at midnight, provided it be in another's dwelling, is more congenial to their souls than the; cry of mercy. Look at the human fiends, "out-heroding Herod," in horse races, bruising matches, and cock fights, and in wars for the extension of territory, and the purposes of ambition. The hell is yet undescribed, that is suited to such monsters in cruelty.

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⁶ For the LORD [03068] knoweth [03045] the way [01870] of the righteous [06662]: but the way [01870] of the ungodly [07563] shall perish [06].

¹¹ And should not I spare [02347] Nineveh [05210], that great [01419] city [05892], wherein are [03426] more [07235] than sixscore [08147] [06240] thousand [07239] persons [0120] that cannot discern [03045] between their right hand [03225] and their left hand [08040]; and also much [07227] cattle [0929]?

⁴ If thou meet [06293] thine enemy's [0341] ox [07794] or his ass [02543] going astray [08582], thou shalt surely [07725] bring it back [07725] to him again [07725].
⁵ If thou see [07200] the ass [02543] of him that hateth [08130] thee lying [07257] under his burden [04853], and wouldest forbear [02308] to help [05800] him, thou shalt surely [05800] help [05800] with him.

¹⁰ But the seventh [07637] day [03117] is the sabbath [07676] of the LORD [03068] thy God [0430]: in it thou shalt not do [06213] any work [04399], thou, nor thy son [01121], nor thy daughter [01323], thy manservant [05650], nor thy maidservant [0519], nor thy cattle [0929], nor thy stranger [01616] that is within thy gates [08179]:

¹² Your mother [0517] shall be sore [03966] confounded [0954]; she that bare [03205] you shall be ashamed [02659]: behold, the hindermost [0319] of the nations [01471] shall be a wilderness [04057], a dry land [06723], and a desert [06160].

⁸ The high places [01116] also of Aven [0206], the sin [02403] of Israel [03478], shall be destroyed [08045]: the thorn [06975] and the thistle [01863] shall come up [05927] on their altars [04196]; and they shall say [0559] to the mountains [02022], Cover [03680] us; and to the hills [01389], Fall [05307] on us.

²⁶ Then spake [0559] the woman [0802] whose the living [02416] child [01121] was unto the king [04428], for her bowels [07356] yearned [03648] upon her son [01121], and she said [0559], O [0994] my lord [0113], give [05414] her the living [02416] child [03205], and in no wise [04191] slay [04191] it. But the other said [0559], Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide [01504] it.

³⁰ And Joseph [03130] made haste [04116]; for his bowels [07356] did yearn [03648] upon his brother [0251]: and he sought [01245] where to weep [01058]; and he entered [0935] into his chamber [02315], and wept [01058] there.

⁶ If a bird's [06833] nest [07064] chance [07122] to be before [06440] thee in the way [01870] in any tree [06086], or on the ground [0776], whether they be young ones [0667], or eggs [01000], and the dam [0517] sitting [07257] upon the young [0667], or upon the eggs [01000], thou shalt not take [03947] the dam [0517] with the young [01121]:

⁴ Thou shalt not muzzle [02629] the ox [07794] when he treadeth out [01778] the corn.

¹² Six [08337] days [03117] thou shalt do [06213] thy work [04639], and on the seventh [07637] day [03117] thou shalt rest [07673]: that thine ox [07794] and thine ass [02543] may rest [05117], and the son [01121] of thy handmaid [0519], and the stranger [01616], may be refreshed [05314].

²³ Be thou diligent [03045] to know [03045] the state [06440] of thy flocks [06629], and look [07896] well [03820] to thy herds [05739].

⁹ Also thou shalt not oppress [03905] a stranger [01616]: for ye know [03045] the heart [05315] of a stranger [01616], seeing [03588] ye were strangers [01616] in the land [0776] of Egypt [04714].