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Selected Verse: Proverbs 3:5 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Pr 3:5 |
King James |
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. |
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] |
| Trust . . . heart--This is the center and marrow of true wisdom (Pro 22:19; Pro 28:25). The positive duty has its corresponding negation in the admonition against self-confidence. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
| In preaching "trust in God" the moralist anticipates the teaching that man is justified by faith. To confide in God's will, the secret of all true greatness, is to rise out of all our anxieties and plans and fears when we think of ourselves as the arbiters of our own fortunes, and so "lean to our own understanding." |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
trust
(See Scofield) - (Psa 2:12). |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
Were "kindness and truth" (Pro 3:3) understood only in relation to men, then the following admonition would not be interposed, since it proceeds from that going before, if there the quality of kindness and truth, not only towards man, but also towards God, is commended:
5 Trust in Jahve with thy whole heart,
And lean not on thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make plain thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes;
Fear Jahve, and depart from evil.
8 Health will then come to thy navel,
And refreshing to thy bones.
From God alone comes true prosperity, true help. He knows the right way to the right ends. He knows what benefits us. He is able to free us from that which does us harm: therefore it is our duty and our safety to place our confidence wholly in Him, and to trust not to our own judgment. The verb בּטח, Arab. baṭḥ, has the root-meaning expandere, whence perhaps, by a more direct way than that noted under Psa 4:6, it acquires the meaning confidere, to lean with the whole body on something, in order to rest upon it, strengthened by על, if one lean wholly - Fr. se reposer sur quelqu'un; Ital. riposarsi sopra alcuno, - like השּׁען with אל, to lean on anything, so as to be supported by it; with על, to support oneself on anything (Fl.). דעהוּ (the same in form as שׂאהוּ, Num 11:12) is not fully represented by "acknowledge Him;" as in Ch1 28:9 it is not a mere theoretic acknowledgment that is meant, but earnest penetrating cognizance, engaging the whole man. The practico-mystical דעהוּ, in and of itself full of significance, according to O. and N.T. usage, is yet strengthened by toto corde. The heart is the central seat of all spiritual soul-strength; to love God with the whole heart is to concentrate the whole inner life on the active contemplation of God, and the ready observance of His will. God requites such as show regard to Him, by making plain their path before them, i.e., by leading them directly to the right end, removing all hindrances out of their way. ארחתיך has Cholem in the first syllable (vid., Kimchi's Lex.).
(Note: In the st. constr. Pro 2:19, and with the grave suff. Pro 2:15, ǒ instead of ō is in order; but Ben-Asher's ארחתי, Job 13:27, cf. Job 33:11, is an inconsistency.)
"Be not wise in thine own eyes" is equivalent to ne tibi sapiens videare; for, as J. H. Michaelis remarks, confidere Deo est sapere, sibi vero ac suae sapientiae, desipere. "Fear God and depart from evil" is the twofold representation of the εὐσέβεια, or practical piety, in the Chokma writings: Pro 16:6, the Mashal Psa 34:10, Psa 34:15, and Job 28:28 cf. Pro 1:2. For סר מרע, the post-biblical expression is ירא חטא.
Pro 3:8
The subject to תּהי; (it shall be) is just this religious-moral conduct. The conjectural reading לבשׂרך (Clericus), לשׁרך = לשׁארך (Ewald, Hitzig), to thy flesh or body, is unnecessary; the lxx and Syr. so translating, generalize the expression, which is not according to their taste. שׁר, from שׁרר, Arab. sarr, to be fast, to bind fast, properly, the umbilical cord (which the Arabs call surr, whence the denom. sarra, to cut off the umbilical cord of the newborn); thus the navel, the origin of which coincides with the independent individual existence of the new-born, and is as the firm centre (cf. Arab. saryr, foundation, basis, Job, p. 487) of the existence of the body. The system of punctuation does not, as a rule, permit the doubling of ר, probably on account of the prevailing half guttural, i.e., the uvular utterance of this sound by the men of Tiberias.
(Note: See my work, Physiologie u. Musik in ihrer Bedeutung fr Grammatik besonders die hebrische, pp. 11-13.)
לשׁרּך here, and שׁרּך at Eze 16:4, belong to the exceptions; cf. the expanded duplication in שׁררך, Sol 7:3, to which a chief form שׁרר is as little to be assumed as is a הרר to הררי. The ἅπ. γεγρ. רפאוּת, healing, has here, as מרפּא, Pro 4:22; Pro 16:24, and תּרוּפה, Eze 47:12, not the meaning of restoration from sickness, but the raising up of enfeebled strength, or the confirming of that which exists; the navel comes into view as the middle point of the vis vitalis. שׁקּוּי is a Piel formation, corresponding to the abstract Kal formation רפאוּת; the Arab. saqâ, used transit. (to give to drink), also saqqâ (cf. Pu. Job 21:24) and asqâ, like the Hebr. השׁקה (Hiph. of שׁקה, to drink); the infin. (Arab.) saqy means, to the obliterating of the proper signification, distribution, benefaction, showing friendship, but in the passage before us is to be explained after Job 21:24 (the marrow of his bones is well watered; Arnheim - full of sap) and Pro 15:30. Bertheau and Hitzig erroneously regard Pro 3:8 as the conclusion to Pro 3:7, for they interpret רפאות as the subject; but had the poet wished to be so understood, he should have written וּתהי. Much rather the subject is devotion withdrawn from the evil one and turned to God, which externally proves itself by the dedication to Him of earthly possessions. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Trust - Wholly rely upon God's promises and providences. Lean not - Under this one kind of carnal confidence, he understands all other confidence in bodily strength, wealth, or friends. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart - This is a most important precept:
1. God is the Fountain of all good.
2. He has made his intelligent creatures dependent upon himself.
3. He requires them to be conscious of that dependence.
4. He has promised to communicate what they need.
5. He commands them to believe his promise, and look for its fulfillment.
6. And to do this without doubt, fear, or distrust; "with their whole heart."
Lean not unto thine own understanding - אל תשען al tishshaen, do not prop thyself. It is on God, not on thyself, that thou art commanded to depend. He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. |
25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
19 That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.
12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
30 The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat.
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
24 His breasts are full of milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.
12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.
24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.
8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.
6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
11 He putteth my feet in the stocks, he marketh all my paths.
27 Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks, and lookest narrowly unto all my paths; thou settest a print upon the heels of my feet.
15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: