

John Gill’s Commentary of the Whole Bible: Proverbs 28

Proverbs 28:1

Ver. 1. The wicked flee when no man pursueth,… Through the terrors of a guilty conscience, as in Cain and others; who fear where no immediate cause of fear is, are frightened with their own shadows; and as Gaal was with the shadow of the mountains, he took for an army of men, as his friend told him, Jud 9:36; they are chased with the sound of a shaken leaf, and fancy men are at their heels to destroy them, and therefore with all haste flee to some place of safety; see Le 26:17;


{z} Isthm. 4. antistroph. 3. col. 1. v. 5. {a} xjby “confiduat”, Mercerus, Gejerus, Trigurine version; “confidet, vel confidere solet”, Baynus; “confidit”, Michaelis.

Proverbs 28:2



“and the sons of men that understand knowledge shall endure;”

see Ec 9:15.

Proverbs 28:3



Proverbs 28:4

Ver. 4. They that forsake the law praise the wicked,… Who are like them; who forsake and transgress the law, as they do; every like loves its like; wicked men delight in sin, the transgression of the law, and in those that do it. One covetous man will bless and praise another, whom the Lord abhors, and commend his covetousness as frugality and good husbandry: one proud man will call another happy, and praise him as a man of spirit, that will not debase himself, but keep up his authority, rank, and dignity, and not condescend to men of low estates; the workers of wickedness are set up and extolled, and tempters of God, men of atheistical and deistical principles, are not only delivered from the punishment they deserve, but are commended for their bold spirits; see Ps 10:3. Or, “every wicked man praises those that forsake the law”, so Schultens;


“they contend with them, that they may return,”


Proverbs 28:5



“that understand all good things;”

and so Aben Ezra interprets it: the Arabic version is, “they understand it in all things”; that is, judgment, justice, and equity, in all its branches, and practise it.

{b} er yvna “viri mali, (in genitivo casu)”, Mercerus; “vel malitiae”, Baynus, Gejerus.

Proverbs 28:6

Ver. 6. Better [is] the poor that walketh in his uprightness,…

See Gill on “Pr 19:1”;


{c} Mykrd Heb. “duabus viis”, Piscator, Cocceius; “pervertens duas vias”, Baynus; “duplici via”, Michaelis; “gemina via”, Schultens, so Ben Melech.

Proverbs 28:7

Ver. 7. Whoso keepeth the law [is] a wise son,… That observes the law of God; for, though he cannot perfectly keep it, yet he delights in it after the inward man; and with his spirit serves it, from a principle of love, in faith, and with a view to the glory of God, without mercenary and sinister ends. Such a man enjoys peace, and has a reward “in” though not “for” keeping the commands of it; so that it is his wisdom to observe it; and he may be truly called a wise man, De 4:6; Or that observes the law or commandments of his parents, which they enjoin him; see Pr 6:20; and particularly the law of God, which requires honour and obedience to be given to parents, and which turns to the account of children; it is well with them, and their days are prolonged on earth, and therefore they are wise that keep it, Eph 6:1; and such a wise son makes a glad father, as the contrary brings shame to him, as in the next clause;

but he that is a companion of riotous [men] shameth his father: that keeps company with gluttons, and indulges his sensual appetite with them; that “feeds” {d} such persons and himself, as some render the word; that gives up himself to an epicurean life: he brings himself at last to disgrace and poverty, and so causes shame to his father; who will be charged with neglecting his education, and indulging him in such a luxurious way of living; see Pr 10:5.

{d} her “qui pascit”, V. L. Pagninus, Piscator, Gejerus, Schultens; “pascitar”, Michaelis; “pascens”, Montanus.

Proverbs 28:8

Ver. 8. He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance,… By biting and oppressing the poor; letting him have money at an exorbitant interest, and goods at an exorbitant price, and so increases his substance in this scandalous manner; hence usury is in Le 25:36, called “increase”, and by the Greeks tokov, a “birth”, because money is the birth of money, as Aristotle {e} observes; and so by the Latins “foenus”, as if it was “foetus” {f}, “a birth”. The word for usury here signifies biting; and so usury, with classical writers {g}, is said to bite; and while it increases the substance of the usurer, it lessens and devours that of others;


{e} Politic. l. 1. c. 10. {f} A. Gell. Noct. Attic. l. 16. c. 12. {g} Plauti Pseudolos, Act. 4. Sc. 7. v. 23, 24. “Habet argentum jam admordere hune mihi lubet”, Lucan. l. 1. v. 131. “Vorax usura.”

Proverbs 28:9



Proverbs 28:10

Ver. 10. Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way,… That is, who attempts to deceive them, and draw them into errors or immoralities, and so into a snare, into mischief and ruin; first into the evil of sin, in order to bring them into the evil of punishment; I say, who attempts to do it; for it is not possible that God’s elect, those who are truly righteous and good, should be totally and finally deceived, Mt 24:24;



{h} bwj wlxny “haereditate accipient bonum”, Pagninus, Montanus; “haereditabunt bonum”, Michaelis; so Mercerus, Cocceius; “haereditatem cernent ubertatem boni”, Schultens.

Proverbs 28:11

Ver. 11. The rich man [is] wise in his own conceit,… Ascribing his getting riches to his great sagacity, wisdom, and prudence; and being flattered with it by dependents on him;


Proverbs 28:12



a man is hidden: a good man; he hides himself, as in Pr 28:28; he withdraws himself from court, from city, from company, from commerce, and business, because of the tyranny and persecution of wicked men; and flees to distant places, and wanders in deserts and mountains, in caves and dens of the earth; as some saints, under the Old Testament, did, and as the Church, in Gospel times, fled from the tyranny of antichrist into the wilderness, to hide herself: or, “a man is” or “shall be sought for” {i}, and searched out; as wicked persecutors are very diligent to search for and find out such persons that hide themselves, and fetch them out of their hiding places, and cruelly use them.

{i} vpxy “investigabitur”, Pagninus, Montanus; “exploratur”, Tigurine version; “explorabitur”, Baynus; “pervestigatur”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.

Proverbs 28:13



Proverbs 28:14



{k} herb “in malum”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schultens.

Proverbs 28:15

Ver. 15. [As] a roaring lion, and a ranging bear,… Which are both terrible; the lion that roars for want of food, or when it is over its prey; and the hear, when it runs from place to place in quest of provision, being “hungry [and very] desirous” of food, has a keen appetite, as some think the word {l} signifies. The Targum and Jarchi take it to be expressive of the cry and roaring it makes at such a time, as well as the lion; see Isa 59:11; so the Tigurine version. “Roaring” is the proper epithet of a lion, and is frequently given it in Scripture, and in other writers {m}; and the bear, it is to have its name, in the Oriental language, from the growling and murmuring noise it makes when hungry; hence that of Horace {n};


{l} qqwv “avidus”, Pagninus, Montanus; “famelicus”, Castalio, Schultens; “esuriens”, V. L. Vatablus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Bochart; “adpetens”, Michaelis. {m} “Leo fremit”, Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 16. “Spumat aper, fluit unda, fremit leo, sibilat anguis”; Licentius de Protheo. {n} “Nec vespertinus circumgemit ursus ovile”, Epod. Ode 16. v. 51.

Proverbs 28:16

Ver. 16. The prince that wanteth understanding [is] also a great oppressor,… Or, “much in oppressions” {o}; he multiplies them, and abounds in them; he distresses his subjects in a variety of ways and methods he uses to extort money from them by which he shows his want of understanding: he is a wise prince that uses gentle methods, and gains the affections of his people, and who cheerfully supports his crown and government with honour and glory; but he is a foolish prince that uses them with rigour. It may be rendered, “and a prince that wanteth understanding, and is much”, or “abounds, in oppressions”; in laying heavy burdens and taxes on his people, in an arbitrary manner; “shall shorten, and not prolong his days” {p}, as it may be supplied from the next clause; either his subjects will rise up against him, and dethrone him, and destroy him; or God, in mercy to them, and in judgment to him, will remove him by death;


{o} twqvem br “multus oppressionibus”, Montanus, Junius & Tremeilius, Piscator, Mercerus, Baynus, Michaelis, Schultens. {p} So Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, and some Jewish writers in Vatablus.

Proverbs 28:17

Ver. 17. A man that doeth violence to the blood of [any] person,… That sheds the blood of any in a violent manner; that lays violent hands upon a club, and takes away his life, contrary to the law in Ge 9:6. Or, “that is pressed because of the blood of any person” {q}; pressed in his own mind; filled with horror, and tortured in his conscience, for the innocent blood he has shed: the letter “daleth” in the word “Adam” is lesser than usual; and Vitringa, on Isa 34:6; observes, that it signifies a man red with blood, oppressed in his conscience, and depressed by God, which this minute letter is a symbol of; and thinks it applicable to Edom or Rome: or it signifies one pressed, pursued, and dose followed by the avenger of blood;


{q} Mdb qve “pressus propter sanguinem animae”, Amama, Cartwright; so R. Joseph Kimchi in D. Kimchii Sepher Shorash rad. qve.

Proverbs 28:18


but [he that is] perverse [in his] ways; “in his two ways”, as in Pr 27:6; or many ways, and all perverse and wicked:


{r} evwy “erit salvus”, Pagninus, Montanus, V. L. Mercerus, Cocceius, Gejerus.

Proverbs 28:19

Ver. 19. He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread,… Or, “shall he filled” or “satisfied with bread” {s}: shall have bread enough, and to spare; provisions of all sorts, and in great plenty;

See Gill on “Pr 12:11”;


shall have poverty enough; or be “filled with [it]” {t}; he shall be exceeding poor, reduced to the utmost distress, be clothed in rags and destitute of daily food.

{s} Mxl ebvy “saturabitur pane”, Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Gejerus, Schultens. {t} ebvy “satiabitur”, Tigurine version, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis; “saturabitur”, Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus, Schultens.

Proverbs 28:20





{u} twnwma vya “vir fidelitatum”, Vatablus, Merceras, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis. {w} twkrb br “multus benedictionibus”, Montanus, Vatablus, Baynus, Michaeiis. {x} “Vir veritatum”, Montanus. {y} Satyr. 14. v. 178.

Proverbs 28:21

Ver. 21. To have respect of persons [is] not good, &c, In courts of judicature, to give a cause or pass sentence in favour of a person, because he is rich, or is a relation, a friend, an acquaintance, or has done a kindness; and against another, because of the reverse, Le 19:15; nor in religious assemblies, making a difference between the rich and the poor, Jas 2:1; this is not good in itself, nor productive of good effects, and cannot be well pleasing to God, who himself is no respecter of persons;



see Eze 13:19.

Proverbs 28:22

Ver. 22. He that hasteth to be rich,… As every man that is eagerly desirous of riches is; he would be rich at once {z}, and cannot wait with any patience in the ordinary course of means:



{z} “Nam dives qui fieri vult, et cito vult fieri”, Juvenal. Satyr. 14. v. 176. {a} “Sed quae reverentia legum? quis metus, ant pudor est unquam properantis avari?” Juvenal, ib.

Proverbs 28:23

Ver. 23. He that rebuketh a man,… His friend and acquaintance, for any fault committed by him; which reproof he gives in a free and faithful manner, yet kind, tender, and affectionate. The word rendered “afterwards”, which begins the next clause, according to the accents belongs to this, and is by some rendered, “he that rebuketh a man after me” {b}; after my directions, according to the rules I have given; that is, after God, and by his order; or Solomon, after his example, who delivered out these sentences and instructions. The Targum so connects the word, and renders the clause,

“he that rebukes a man before him;”

openly, to his thee: but rather it may be rendered “behind”; that is, as Cocceius interprets it, apart, alone, privately, and secretly, when they are by themselves; which agrees with Christ’s instructions, Mt 18:15;


{b} yrxa “post me”, Montanus, Tigurine version, Baynus; so some in Vatablus and Michaelis, R. Saadiah Gaon; “ut sequatur me”, Junius & Tremellius.

Proverbs 28:24

Ver. 24. Whoso robbeth his father or his mother,… As Micah did of eleven hundred shekels of silver, Jud 17:2;



Proverbs 28:25

Ver. 25. He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife,… Or, of a “large heart” {c}, or has an enlarged one; not with useful knowledge and understanding, as Solomon had; nor a heart enlarged with love and affection to the souls of men, as the Apostle Paul had; but either has a covetous one, who enlarges its desire as hell, and is never satisfied with what he has, and so is continually contending with his neighbours, engaging in lawsuits for their property, or unwilling to pay his lawful debts; or of a proud spirit, and despises all around him, and cannot bear opposition and contradiction; and is of a wrathful and revengeful spirit, and always at variance with his neighbours and quarrelling with them; see Pr 18:15;


{c} vpn bxr “latus animo”, Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version; “amplus animo suo”: Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; “latus anima”, Mercerus, Cocceius.

Proverbs 28:26




“he shall be protected from evil.”

Proverbs 28:27




Proverbs 28:28

Ver. 28. When the wicked rise, men hide themselves,… When wicked men are raised to places of power and authority, rich men hide themselves, lest they should become a prey to them; and good men hide themselves, that they may not be put to death by them; or as ashamed to behold their evil actions; See Gill on “Pr 28:12”;

