Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:14

A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.

Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.

14 Where there is no direction a people fall But where there is no want of counsellors there is safety. Regarding תּחבּות, vid., at Pro 1:5. There it means rules of self-government; here, rules for the government of the people, or, since the pluralet. denotes a multiplicity in unity, circumspect κυβέρνησις. With 14b, Pro 24:6 (where direction in war, as here in peace, is spoken of, and the meaning of the word specializes itself accordingly) agrees; cf. also Pro 15:22. Hitzig criticises the proverb, remarking, "we who have the longest resorted to many counsellors, as a consequence of the superabundance have learned to say, 'Too many cooks spoil the broth,' and, 'He who asks long, errs.'" But the truth of the clause 14b is in modern times more fully illustrated in the region of ecclesiastical and political affairs; and in general it is found to be true that it is better with a people when they are governed according to the laws and conclusions which have resulted from the careful deliberation of many competent and authorized men, than when their fate is entrusted unconditionally to one or to a few. The proverb, it must be acknowledge, refers not to counsellors such as in Isa 3:3, but as in Isa 1:26. Proverbs 11:15

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