Proverbs 24:7

“Wisdom [is] too high for a fool, etc.] It is out of his reach, he cannot attain it; natural wisdom, or the knowledge of many things in nature; at least it seems so to himself, and therefore will not take any pains, or make use of any means, to obtain it; as the knowledge of human laws; of medicine, of philosophy, of languages, or of any of the liberal arts and sciences; or he has not really a capacity for it. This is more especially true of spiritual wisdom, or of the knowledge of divine things in a spiritual way; or of the things Of the Spirit of God, which a natural man cannot know, because they are spiritually discerned; it is God only makes men to know this kind of wisdom in the hidden…”

“(Compare Pro 14:16). in the gate--(Compare Pro 22:22).”

“In the gate - Compare the Proverbs 22:22 note. return to 'Top of Page'”

“A fool - For a wicked man, whose sins enfeeble his mind, and make it incapable of wisdom. Openeth not - He knows not how to speak acceptably, and profitably in the publick assembly. Proverbs 24:8”

“24:7 Saying 22: Rulers should be wise (see 8:5-6).”

“too: Pro 14:6, Pro 15:24, Pro 17:24; Psa 10:5, Psa 92:5, Psa 92:6; Co1 2:14 openeth: Pro 22:22, Pro 31:8, Pro 31:9; Job 29:7-25, Job 31:21; Isa 29:21; Amo 5:10, Amo 5:12, Amo 5:15 Proverbs 24:8”

“Till now in this appendix we have found only two distichs (vid., vol. i. p. 17); now several of them follow. From this, that wisdom is a power which accomplishes great things, it follows that it is of high value, though to the fool it appears all too costly. 7 Wisdom seems to the fool to be an ornamental commodity; He openeth not his mouth in the gate. Most interpreters take ראמות for רמות (written as at Ch1 6:58; cf. Zac 14:10; ראשׁ, Pro 10:4; קאם, Hos 10:14), and translate, as Jerome and Luther: "Wisdom is to the fool too high;" the way to wisdom is to him too long and too steep, the price too costly, and not to be afforded. Certainly this thought does not lie far distant from what the…”