III.

(d) Fourth Discourse:—Exhortation to Various Virtues (Pro iii 1-18).

(2) Long life.—That is, a life worth living, fit to be called “life”; whereas” length of days” only implies extension of life, the reward promised for obedience to parents.

3:1-6 In the way of believing obedience to God's commandments health and peace may commonly be enjoyed; and though our days may not be long upon earth, we shall live for ever in heaven. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; God's mercy in promising, and his truth in performing: live up to them, keep up thine interest in them, and take the comfort of them. We must trust in the Lord with all our hearts, believing he is able and wise to do what is best. Those who know themselves, find their own understandings a broken reed, which, if they lean upon, will fail. Do not design any thing but what is lawful, and beg God to direct thee in every case, though it may seem quite plain. In all our ways that prove pleasant, in which we gain our point, we must acknowledge God with thankfulness. In all our ways that prove uncomfortable, and that are hedged up with thorns, we must acknowledge him with submission. It is promised, He shall direct thy paths; so that thy way shall be safe and good, and happy at last.Three words carry on the chain of blessings:

(1) "Length of days" (see the Psalm 91:16 note);

(2) "Years of life," i. e., of a life worth living (compare Psalm 30:5; Psalm 42:8);

(3) "Peace," tranquility inward and outward, the serenity of life continuing through old age until death. Compare 1 Timothy 4:8.

2. length … life—often promised as blessings (Ps 21:4; 91:16).

peace—includes prosperity (Ps 125:5).

add—abound to thee.

God will add these blessings which he hath promised to the obedient, Deu 8:18 30:20 1 Timothy 4:8.

For length of days, and long life,.... Or, "years of life", or "lives" (f); a long life of usefulness and comfort here, and eternal life hereafter: the law of Moses promised a long life to the observers of it; but the Gospel of Christ brings an immortal life to light and promises to all believers in him that they shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. "Length of days for ever and ever" was asked by Christ of his Father, Psalm 21:4, and given him, and is in his right hand, Proverbs 3:16; it is in his power to give, and he does give it to all his children, people, and followers, Psalm 21:4;

and peace shall they add to thee; the Gospel is the Gospel of peace, which not only proclaims peace by the blood of Christ; but the doctrines of it, such as justification by the righteousness of Christ, pardon by his blood, and atonement by his sacrifice, are the means of giving and increasing spiritual peace in the hearts of believers; and so are the ordinances of Christ, which in Proverbs 3:17; are called, for that reason, "paths of peace"; see Romans 5:1.

(f) "annos vitarum", Montanus.

For length of {a} days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

(a) Long life is the blessing of God which he gives to his, so far as it is expedient for them.

2. long life] Rather, with A.V. marg. and R.V. text, years of life. There is perhaps a climax; not only length of days, prolonged existence, but years of life truly so-called, life worth living. The distinction is at least suggested by the use of βίος in the first clause and ζωή in the second by the LXX. μῆκος βίου, ἔτη ζωῆς: not alone vita quam vivimus, but vita quâ vivimus.

peace] This word, meaning literally wholeness, completeness, contains implicitly and is gradually developed into its full Biblical sense: “the greatest blessing, even peace, a blessing which no man is able to afford,” Philo quoted by Bp Westcott on St John 14:17. Comp. Php 4:7.

Verse 2. - Length of days (orek yamim); Vulgate, longitudo dierum. The expression is literally "extension of days," and signifies the prolongation of life, its duration to the appointed limit - a meaning which is brought out in the LXX. μῆκος βίου, "length of days," the Greek word βίος being used, not of existence, but of the time and course of life. It occurs again in ver. 16, and also in Job 12:12 and Psalm 21:4. "Length of days" is represented as a blessing in the Old Testament, depending, however, as in the present instance, on the fulfilment of certain conditions. Thus in the fifth commandment it is appended to the honouring of parents (Exodus 20:12), and it was promised to Solomon, at Gibeon, on the condition that he walked in the way, statutes, and commandments of God (1 Kings 3:14). The promise of prolongation of life is not to be pressed historically as applying to every individual case, but is to be taken as indicating the tendency of keeping the Divine precepts, which, as a rule, ensure preservation of health, and hence "length of days." Long life (vush'noth khayyim); literally, years of life; Targum Jonathan, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic, anni vitae; LXX., ἔτη ζωῆς. The Authorized Version scarcely serves to bring out the sense of the original, as there is practically no difference in meaning between "length of days" and "long life? The idea conveyed in the expression, "years of life," is that of material prosperity. The thought of an extended life is carried on from the preceding expression, but it is amplified and described. The years of life will be many, but they will be years of life in its truest sense, as one of true happiness and enjoyment, free from distracting cares, sickness, and other drawbacks. The Hebrew plural, khayyim, "lives," is equivalent to the Greek expression, βίος βιωτός, "a life worth while living" (cf. Plat., 'Apol.,' 38, A). To the Israelitish mind, the happiness of life consisted in "dwelling in the land" (Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 5:30, etc.), and "abiding in the house of the Lord" (Psalm 15:1; Psalm 23:6; Psalm 27:3) (Zockler). The conjecture that the plural, khayyim, signifies the present and the future life, is unfounded. The scope of the promise before us is confined to the present stage of existence, and it is negatived also by the similar use of the plural in Proverbs 16:5, "In the light of the king's countenance is life (khayyim)," where khayyim cannot possibly refer to the future life. Khayyim stands for life in its fulness. "Godliness" has indeed, as St. Paul wrote to Timothy, "promise of the life that now is, aud of that which is to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). Peace (shalom). The verb shalam, from which the substantive shalom is derived, signifies "to be whole, sound, safe," and hence "peace" means internal and external contentment, and tran-quillity of mind arising from the sense of safety. In ver. 17 the ways of Wisdom are designated peace. While, on the one hand, peace is represented by the psalmist as the possession of those who love God's Law (Psalm 119:165), on the other, it is denied the wicked (Isaiah 48:22; Isaiah 57:21). Shall they add to thee; i.e. shall the precepts and commands bring (Zockler) or heap upon (Muffet) thee. Proverbs 3:2With למען there commences a new section, coordinating itself with the להצּילך ("to deliver thee") of Proverbs 2:12, Proverbs 2:16, unfolding that which wisdom accomplishes as a preserver and guide:

20 So that thou walkest in the good way,

     And keepest the right paths.

21 For the upright shall inhabit the land,

     And the innocent shall remain in it.

22 But the godless are cut off out the land,

     And the faithless are rooted out of it.

Wisdom - thus the connection - will keep thee, so that thou shalt not fall under the seductions of man or of woman; keep, in order that thou... למען (from מען equals מענה, tendency, purpose) refers to the intention and object of the protecting wisdom. To the two negative designations of design there follows, as the third and last, a positive one. טובים (contrast to רעים, Proverbs 14:19) is here used in a general ethical sense: the good (Guten, not Gtigen, the kind). שׁמר, with the object of the way, may in another connection also mean to keep oneself from, cavere ab (Psalm 17:4); here it means: carefully to keep in it. The promise of Proverbs 2:21 is the same as in the Mashal Psalm 37:9, Psalm 37:11, Psalm 37:22; cf. Proverbs 10:30. ארץ is Canaan, or the land which God promised to the patriarchs, and in which He planted Israel, whom He had brought out of Egypt; not the earth, as Matthew 5:5, according to the extended, unlimited N.T. circle of vision. יוּתרוּ (Milel) is erroneously explained by Schultens: funiculis bene firmis irroborabunt in terra. The verb יתר, Arab. watar, signifies to yoke (whence יתר, a cord, rope), then intrans. to be stretched out in length, to be hanging over (vid., Fleischer on Job 30:11); whence יתר, residue, Zephaniah 2:9, and after which the lxx here renders ὑπολειφθήσονται, and Jerome permanebunt. In 22b the old translators render יסּחוּ as the fut. of the pass. נסּח, Deuteronomy 28:63; but in this case it would be ינּסחוּ. The form יסּחוּ, pointed יסּחוּ, might be the Niph. of סחח, but סחח can neither be taken as one with נסח, of the same meaning, nor with Hitzig is it to be vocalized יסּחוּ (Hoph. of נסח); nor, with Bttcher (1100, p. 453), is יסּחוּ to be regarded as a veritable fut. Niph. יסּחוּ is, as at Proverbs 15:25; Psalm 52:7, active: evellant; and this, with the subj. remaining indefinite (for which J. H. Michaelis refers to Hosea 12:9), is equivalent to evellentur. This indefinite "they" or "one" ("man"), Fleischer remarks, can even be used of God, as here and Job 7:3 - a thing which is common in Persian, where e.g., the expression rendered hominem ex pulvere fecerunt is used instead of the fuller form, which would be rendered homo a Deo ex pulvere factus est. בּוגדים bears (as בּגד proves) the primary meaning of concealed, i.e., malicious (treacherous and rapacious, Isaiah 33:1), and then faithless men.

(Note: Similar is the relation in Arab. of labbasa to libâs (לבוּשׁ); it means to make a thing unknown by covering it; whence telbı̂s, deceit, mulebbis, a falsifier.)

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