Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 11:27
A historical reference excerpt for this verse.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.
That self-sacrificing endeavour after the good of others finds its regard in the thought encircling the following proverbs. 27 He that striveth after good, seeketh that which is pleasing; And he that searcheth after evil, it shall find him. Here we have together three synonyms of seeking: בּקּשׁ (R. בק, findere), which has the general meaning quaerere, from the root-idea of penetrating and pressing forwards; דּרשׁ (R. דר .R( , terere), which from the root-idea of trying (proving) corresponds to the Lat. studere; and שׁחר (whence here שׁחר instead of משׁחר, as דּבר instead of מדבּר), which means mane, and thus sedulo quaere (vid., at Pro 1:28). From 27b, where by רעה is meant evil which one prepares for another, there arises for טוב the idea of good thoughts and actions with reference to others. He who applies himself to such, seeks therewith that which is pleasing, i.e., that which pleases or does good to others. If that which is pleasing to God were meant, then this would have been said (cf. Pro 12:2); the idea here is similar to Pro 10:32, and the word יבקּשׁ is used, and not ימצא, because reference is not made to a fact in the moral government of the world, but a description is given of one who is zealously intent upon good, and thus of a noble man. Such an one always asks himself (cf. Mat 7:12): what will, in the given case, be well-pleasing to the neighbour, what will tend to his true satisfaction? Regarding the punctuation here, שׁחר, vid., at Pro 11:26. The subject to תבואנּוּ, which, Pro 10:24, stands as the fundamental idea, here follows from the governed רעה, which may be the gen. ( Psa 38:13) as well as the accus. Proverbs 11:28
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