That he may withdraw man [from his] purpose, and hide pride from man.
Ver. 17. That he may withdraw man from his purpose] Or, rather, practice. Heb. work, that is, evil work, called a man's own work, Hebrews 4:10; for when we do evil we work de nostro, et secundum hominem, 1 Corinthians 3:3, as when the devil speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own, John 8:44. Now from such bad work God taketb men off, by dreams sometimes, as he did Abimelech, Genesis 20:3, and Laban, Gen 31:24 but more frequently by corrections of instruction, which are the way of life, Proverbs 6:23 : Christianornm Theologia, as Luther calleth it; Virtutum officina, as Ambrose; Bonorum omnium thesaurus, as Brentius upon this text.
And hide pride from man] Which else, as a master pock, will break out in his forehead and testify to his face. By pride we may understand all other sins, which God both covereth and cureth in his penitent people; but pride is fitly instanced, because it was one of the first sins, and is still the root and source of all other sins. God therefore humbleth all under his mighty hand, and preserveth them from the perilous pinnacle of self exaltation; as he dealt with Paul, both when he met him on the way to Damascus, and unhorsed him, as also when by that thorn in the flesh he let out the swollen matter of pride out of his heart, which might else have broken forth into odious and loathsome practices.