Wesley Corpus

Keren - happuch signifies plenty restored. So fair - In the Old Testament we often find women praised for their beauty, but never in the New, because the beauty of holiness is brought to a much clearer light by the gospel. After this, &c. - Some conjecture, that he was seventy when his trouble came. If so his age was doubled, as his other possessions. Full of days - So coming to his grave, as Eliphaz had spoken, like a ripe shock of corn in its season. We have here a new way of writing, wherein Divine wisdom is taught us in Proverbs or short sentences, which contain their whole design within themselves, and are not connected with one another. And these Proverbs of Solomon are not merely a collection of the wise sayings which had been formerly delivered, but were the dictates of the Spirit of God in Solomon: so that it is God by Solomon that here speaks to us. I say, to us: for when Solomon speaks to his son, St. Paul says, The exhortation speaketh to us, as unto children. The nine first chapters are as a preface exhorting us to the study and practice of wisdom, and warning us against the things that would hinder it. We have then the first volume of Solomon's Proverbs, chap. 10 - 24. After that a second volume, chap. 25 - 29. And then Agur's prophecy, chap. 30. And Lemuel's, chap. 31. The scope of all is, to direct us so to order our conversation, that we may see the salvation of God.