Ver. 1. Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity.] That poor but honest man, that speaks supplications, (Proverbs 18:23) but abuseth not his lips to lewd and loose language, is better than that rich fool that answers him roughly and robustiously—as Nabal did David’s messengers—and otherwise speaks ill, thinks worse. We usually call a poor man a “poor soul”; a poor soul may be a rich Christian, and a rich man may have a poor soul.
Ver. 2. Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good.] An ignorant man is a naughty man. Ignorat sane improbus omnis, saith Aristotle, Every bad minded man is in the dark; neither can any good come into the heart, but it must pass through the understanding; and the difference of stature in Christianity grows from different degrees of knowledge. The Romans were “full of knowledge,” and therefore “full of goodness.” (Romans 15:14) And he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.] Or, Wandereth out of the way. As he that is out of his way, the faster he rides or runs, the farther he is out; so is blind zeal. It is like mettle in a blind horse, that, running upon the rocks and precipices, first breaks his hoofs, and then his neck; or like the devil in the possessed, that cast him sometimes into the fire and sometimes into the water. Eth., lib. iii.
Ver. 3. The foolishness of a man perverteth his way.] So that all goes cross with him, and God “walks contrary to him,” (Leviticus 26:21) as it befell our King John, Queen Mary, and Henry IV of France. King John saw and acknowledged it in these words, Postquam, ut dixi, Deo reconciliatus, me ac mea regna (proh dolor!) Romanae subieci ecclesiae, nulla mihi prospera, sed omnia contraria advenerunt, Ever since I submitted to the see of Rome, nothing hath prospered with me. And his heart frets against the Lord.] As the cause of his calamity. Birds of prey, that have been long kept in the dark, when they get abroad, are out of measure, raging and ravenous: so are ignorant spirits; they let fly on all hands, when in durance especially, and spare not to spit their venom in the very face of God, as did Pharaoh, when that thick darkness was upon him; the king of Israel that said, “Behold this evil is of the Lord, and what should I wait for the Lord any longer?” (2 Kings 6:33) Mohammed, the first emperor of the Turks, being wonderfully grieved with the dishonour and loss he had received at the last assault of Scodra, in his choler and frantic rage, most horribly blasphemed against God, saying, that it were enough for him to have care of heavenly things, and not to cross him in his worldly actions. Mat. Paris. Turk. Hist., fol. 423.
Ver. 4. Wealth maketh many friends.] Res amicos invenit, saith he in Plautus. Wine, saith Athenaeus, hath ελκοστικον τι προς φιλιαν, a force in it to make friendship. Wealth we are sure hath; but as that is no sound love that comes out of cups—it is but ollaris amicitia; friendship of the cup, so neither are they to be trusted that wealth wins to us. Hired friends are seldom either satisfied or sure, but, like the ravens in Arabia, that, full gorged, have a tunable, sweet record, but empty, screech horribly. Flies soon fasten upon honey, and vermin will haunt a house where food is to be gotten. But the poor is separated from his neighbour.] Who either turns from him as a stranger, or against him as an enemy. Nero being condemned to die, and not finding any one that would fall upon him and despatch him, cried out, Itane, nec amicum, nec inimicum habeo? Have I now neither friend nor foe that will do this for me?
Ver. 5. A false witness shall not be unpunished.] Many poor people care not to lend their rich friend an oath at a need; and many rich, though they think ill of pillory perjury, yet they make little conscience of a merry lie. Neither of these shall pass unpunished. And this sentence may be to them, as those knuckles of a man’s hand were to Belshazzar, to write them their destiny, or as Daniel was to him, to read it unto them.
Ver. 6. Many will entreat the favour of the prince.] Yea, lie at his feet, and lick up his spittle, not being loyal in love for conscience, but submissive in show for commodity. Every man will be thrusting in where anything is to be gotten. The poets make Litae, or Petitions, to be the daughters of Jupiter, and ever about him; to signify, saith the mythologist, that princes and great ones are seldom without suppliants and suitors. And every man is a friend, &c.] [See Trapp on “Pr 17:8”] ου γαρ ατιμοι Ικεσιου Ζηνος κουραι λιται.— Orph. in Arg.
Ver. 7. All the brethren of the poor do hate him.] How much more then his hired friends? These are like crows to a dead carcase, which if they flock to it, it is not to defend but to devour it; and no sooner have they bared the bones, but they are gone. [See Trapp on “Pr 14:20”]