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Selected Verse: Proverbs 25:4 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Pr 25:4 |
King James |
Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| As separating impurities from ore leaves pure silver, so taking from a king wicked counsellors leaves a wise and beneficent government. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
There now follows an emblematic (vid., vol. i. p. 10) tetrastich:
4 Take away the dross from silver,
So there is ready a vessel for the goldsmith;
5 Take away the wicked from the king,
And his throne is established by righteousness.
The form הגו (cf. the inf. Poal הגו, Isa 59:13) is regarded by Schultens as showing a ground-form הגו; but there is also found e.g., עשׂו, whose ground-form is עשׂי; the verb הגה, R. הג (whence Arab. hajr, discedere), cf. יגה (whence הגה, semovit, Sa2 20:13 = Syr. âwagy, cf. Arab. âwjay, to withhold, to abstain from), signifies to separate, withdraw; here, of the separation of the סיגים, the refuse, i.e., the dross (vid., regarding the plena scriptio, Baer's krit. Ausg. des Jesaia, under Pro 1:22); the goldsmith is designated by the word צרף, from צרף morf, to turn, change, as he who changes the as yet drossy metal by means of smelting, or by purification in water, into that which is pure. In 5a הגה is, as at Isa 27:8, transferred to a process of moral purification; what kind of persons are to be removed from the neighbourhood of the king is shown by Isa 1:22-23. Here also (as at Isa. l.c.) the emblem or figure of Pro 25:4 is followed in Pro 25:5 by its moral antitype aimed at. The punctuation of both verses is wonderfully fine and excellent. In Pro 25:4, ויצא is not pointed ויצא, but as the consecutive modus ויּצא; this first part of the proverb refers to a well-known process of art: the dross is separated from the silver (inf. absol., as Pro 12:7; Pro 15:22), and so a vessel (utensil) proceeds from the goldsmith, for he manufactures pure silver; the ל is here similarly used as the designation of the subject in the passive, Pro 13:13; Pro 14:20. In Pro 25:5, on the contrary, ויּכּון (ויּכּן) is not the punctuation used, but the word is pointed indicatively ויכּון; this second part of the proverb expresses a moral demand (inf. absol. in the sense of the imperative, Gesen. 131, 4b like Pro 17:12, or an optative or concessive conjunction): let the godless be removed, לפני מלך, i.e., not from the neighbourhood of the king, for which the words are מלּפני מלך; also not those standing before the king, i.e., in his closest neighbourhood (Ewald, Bertheau); but since, in the absolute, הגה, not an act of another in the interest of the king, but of the king himself, is thought of: let the godless be removed from before the king, i.e., because he administers justice (Hitzig), or more generally: because after that Psalm (101), which is the "mirror of princes," he does not suffer him to come into his presence. Accordingly, the punctuation is בּצּדק, not בּצדק (Pro 16:12); because such righteousness is meant as separates the רשׁע from it and itself from him, as Isa 16:5 (vid., Hitzig), where the punctuation of בּחסד denotes that favour towards Moab seeking protection. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Take away - Then, and not 'till then it is fit for that use. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| Take away the dross from the silver - You cannot have a pure silver vessel till you have purified the silver; and no nation can have a king a public blessing till the wicked - all bad counsellors, wicked and interested ministers, and sycophants - are banished from the court and cabinet. When the wise and good only are the king's ministers and advisers, then the throne will be established in righteousness, and his administration be a universal blessing. |
5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
20 The poor is hated even of his own neighbour: but the rich hath many friends.
13 Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
22 Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
7 The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the righteous shall stand.
4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
13 When he was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.