1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Proverbs 17:1 | Better is a dry morsel with joy, than a house full of victims with strife. | Victims. Of which part was used for a feast, Proverbs 7:14. (Calmet) --- Septuagint add, "of many goods, and unjust victims." (Haydock) |
| Proverbs 17:2 | *A wise servant shall rule over foolish sons, and shall divide the inheritance among the brethren. Ecclesiasticus 10:28. | Brethren. Partaking with them, (Abenezra; Tirinus; Menochius) or rather acting as his master's executor; which evinces the advantages of wisdom, so as to raise a slave above those whom his station requires him to serve. Such was Joseph, who was tried. |
| Proverbs 17:3 | As silver is tried by fire, and gold in the furnace: so the Lord trieth the hearts. | |
| Proverbs 17:4 | The evil man obeyeth an unjust tongue: and the deceitful hearkeneth to lying lips. | Lips. They mutually deceive one another, as well as others. |
| Proverbs 17:5 | *He that despiseth the poor, reproacheth his maker: and he that rejoiceth at another man's ruin, shall not be unpunished. Proverbs 14:31. | |
| Proverbs 17:6 | Children's children are the crown of old men: and the glory of children are their fathers. | Fathers. Whose virtues they are bound to imitate. |
| Proverbs 17:7 | Eloquent words do not become a fool, nor lying lips a prince. | Eloquent. Septuagint, "faithful." They cannot be expected from them. |
| Proverbs 17:8 | The expectation of him that expecteth is a most acceptable jewel: whithersoever he turneth himself, he understandeth wisely. | Expecteth heavenly things. Septuagint, "instruction is the reward of good deeds to those who use it." |
| Proverbs 17:9 | He that concealeth a transgression, seeketh friendships: he that repeateth it again, separateth friends. | Friends. Detractors cause dissensions, and even wars. |
| Proverbs 17:10 | A reproof availeth more with a wise man, than a hundred stripes with a fool. | Fool. "A word is enough for the wise." Nobilis equus umbra virgae regitur, ignavus ne calcari quidem. (Q. Curt.) |
| Proverbs 17:11 | An evil man always seeketh quarrels: but a cruel angel shall be sent against him. | Angel. Messenger of death, (Menochius) which is sometimes inflicted by good, at others by bad, angels of death, or satan, 2 Corinthians 12:7., and Psalm 77:49. |
| Proverbs 17:12 | It is better to meet a bear robbed of her whelps, than a fool trusting in his own folly. | Fool. Hebrew, "fool in his folly." The danger is not greater in meeting (Calmet) a female bear, though it be the most terrible. (Aristotle, Anim. 9:1.) |
| Proverbs 17:13 | *He that rendereth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. Romans 12:17.; 1 Thessalonians 5:15.; 1 Peter 3:9. | |
| Proverbs 17:14 | The beginning of quarrels is as when one letteth out water: before he suffereth reproach, he forsaketh judgment. | Water. It is scarcely possible to prevent the bad effects of detraction. Frequent quarrels have also risen on account of springs, Genesis 26:20. --- Judgment. And gives up the cause, as being much more prudent, Matthew 5:25, 40. |
| Proverbs 17:15 | *He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, both are abominable before God. Isaias 5:23. | God. We ought to suspend our judgment, or incline to the more favourable side, Matthew 7:1., and Romans 2:1. |
| Proverbs 17:16 | What doth it avail a fool to have riches, seeing he cannot buy wisdom? | He, etc., is not here in Hebrew, though it be equivalently (ver. 19.) where the Septuagint are silent. (Calmet) |
| Proverbs 17:17 | He that is a friend loveth at all times: and a brother is proved in distress. | Distress. Like the real friend, Proverbs 18:24. |
| Proverbs 17:18 | A foolish man will clap hands, when he is surety for his friend. | Hands. Through joy, or as a mark of his consent. |
| Proverbs 17:19 | He that studieth discords, loveth quarrels: and he that exalteth his door, seeketh ruin. | Door. Sixtus V reads, "mouth:" as some explain the door to mean. A large door supposes that the house is elevated, and thus exposed to danger from winds, etc. |
| Proverbs 17:20 | He that is of a perverse heart, shall not find good: and he that perverteth his tongue, shall fall into evil. | |
| Proverbs 17:21 | A fool is born to his own disgrace: and even his father shall not rejoice in a fool. | |
| Proverbs 17:22 | *A joyful mind maketh age flourishing: a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones. Proverbs 15:13.; Proverbs 16:24. | |
| Proverbs 17:23 | The wicked man taketh gifts out of the bosom, that he may pervert the paths of judgment. | |
| Proverbs 17:24 | *Wisdom shineth in the face of the wise: the eyes of fools are in the ends of the earth. Ecclesiastes 2:14.; Ecclesiastes 8:1. | Earth. Wandering and insatiable, and deeming the acquisition of wisdom too difficult. |
| Proverbs 17:25 | A foolish son is the anger of the father: and the sorrow of the mother that bore him. | |
| Proverbs 17:26 | It is no good thing to do hurt to the just: nor to strike the prince, who judgeth right. | No good. But very criminal. See Jeremias 7:31. |
| Proverbs 17:27 | *He that setteth bounds to his words, is knowing and wise: and the man of understanding is of a precious spirit. James 1:19. | Precious and reserved spirit. This is a mark of wisdom. (Calmet) |
| Proverbs 17:28 | Even a fool, if he will hold his peace, shall be counted wise: and if he close his lips, a man of understanding. |