Proverbs 26:10 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The great God formed all things, &c. The Hebrew text of this verse will admit of different translations, as the reader may see by the margin, and commentators are much divided in their opinions of its meaning. The Hebrew word רב, rab, here rendered great, may be applied either to God or to a prince, and the proverb may be considered as declaring either how God the Creator and Governor of the universe will deal with sinners, or how kings and princes ought to act toward their subjects. Bishop Patrick's paraphrase, which includes both, seems to give the most probable sense of the verse, thus: “The great God, who made all things, governs them also most wisely and equally; dispensing, for instance, his punishments suitable to men's sins, whether out of ignorance, or of wilful wickedness; whom a good prince imitates; but a bad one proves a universal grievance, by employing either fools or profane persons in his service, who vex the rest of his subjects.”