CRITICAL NOTES.—
Proverbs 24:23. These things also belong to the wise. Rather “These (the proverbs which follow) are also from wise men” The word also connects this introduction with that in chap. Proverbs 22:17.
Proverbs 24:25. To them that rebuke, etc. The word him is not in the original, and spoils the sense. If this rendering of the verb is accepted, iniquity must be understood to be the subject of rebuke. Delitzsch however reads, “To them who rightly decide,” and Miller renders, “To them that set the thing right.”
Proverbs 24:26. A right answer, i.e., a faithful, straightforward answer. “The word comes,” says Miller, “from a verb meaning to be in front.” “The mention of the lips,” Zöckler remarks, “is to be explained simply by the remembrance of the question to which the upright and truthful answer corresponds.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Proverbs 24:23-26
IMPARTIALITY OF TRUTH
I. Two blessings to society. While there is nothing that more certainly undermines the moral tone of any community than that “respect of persons” which the Bible so emphatically and constantly condemns (Leviticus 19:15; James 2:1), there is no person who more contributes to the welfare of society, and contributes more to its well-being than the man who judges all men by the same standard, viz., their character. It is especially indispensable that those who are set apart to administer the laws of the land should be men above all suspicion of partiality. For, wherever there is a code of law, it is a testimony to that inborn sense of justice which is more or less active in every human being; and although it may sometimes be but an imperfect attempt to render to every man his right, if it is administered by men of integrity it is one of the greatest bulwarks of national prosperity and security. It may well be a matter of thankfulness to every Englishman that the judicial bench of this land occupies the high position that it does in this respect as in all others, and that the days when men thought it possible to use unlawful influence with an English judge have passed away. But to what do we owe this blessing, if not to the greater hold which the principles of the Bible has upon our national life? But Solomon brings before us another character which is as necessary to a nation’s moral health, which is, perhaps, rarer than the first, but which might and ought to belong to every man. Those who are called to sit in judgment are the few, but those who in various ways are called to bear witness concerning persons and things, are the many. And some who would deem it a crime to have respect of persons in judgment, do not realise how much the cause of truth and righteousness would be furthered if men, in their every-day intercourse, would give a “right or straightforward answer” (see rendering in Critical Notes) to the questions put to them. If it was the habit of merchants and statesmen, of masters and servants, in the market and in the social circle, to speak the “truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” how much purer would be the moral atmosphere which we breathe, and how much more nearly would society on earth be like that of heaven.
II. The recognition which such characters receive from their fellow-men. In a world where the unrighteous far outnumber the righteous, and where most men are but half loyal to truth, it is remarkable that it should be so. But history in general and individual experience in particular bears witness that Solomon was right. Even unrighteous men cannot help admiring a just and truthful man, and their consciences and their experience combine to testify that they themselves have more to hope from those who are morally above them than from those who are on a level with themselves. It is probable that both moral sense and self-interest combine to bring people as a whole to bless him who rebukes the wicked and to “kiss his lips” who giveth a right answer.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Proverbs 24:26. The meaning of that ceremony of kissing him that was anointed to be king, St. Gregory giveth to be this, that it was to teach him that was so kissed that God hath brought him to that dignity, to the end that he might make peace between God and his people that were under him, whereof a kiss is a sign and pledge. For by sinning we procure the enmity of God, when therefore a ruler is set up for the correction of sinners, thereby is taken away that which made us enemies to God. If, therefore, we read this verse as the English doth, we may understand it that everyone shall acknowledge him to be a peacemaker between God and them, who by right judgment punisheth the wicked.—Jermin.