Bridges on Proverbs 10:1
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 10:1
 
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1.  ¶ The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
 
THE former chapters have beautifully set forth in continuous discourse the nature and value of heavenly wisdom, contrasted with the fascinations of sinful folly. We now come to what are more properly (not excluding the foregoing) (Chapter 1:2) the Proverbs of Solomon. They are for the most part unconnected sentences, remarkable for profound thought, and acute observation, expressed in an antithetical or illustrative form; the whole comprising a Divine system of morals of universal application; a treasury of wisdom in all its diversified details, personal, domestic, social, civil. The previous chapters form a striking introduction to the book. The glorious description of the Great Counsellor (Chapter 1. 8.) commends to us his gracious instruction as the principles of true happiness and practical godliness.
Perhaps this first sentence may have been placed in the front, to point to the value of a godly education in its personal, social, national influence, connected both with time and eternity. We naturally look for rest in our children, as the choicest gift of God. (Genesis 5:28, 29; 33:5. Psalm 127:3.) Faith, indeed, may be tried, perhaps severely tried. (Ecclesiastes 11:1) But the child, watched, prayed over, instructed, and disciplined, shall, in the Lord's best time, choose wisdom's paths (Chapter 22:6), and be the gladness of his father's heart. (Chapter 15:20; 23:15, 16, 24, 25; 27:11; 29:3. Genesis 45:28; 46:30.)
Many a mother, alas! is chastened with the heaviness of a foolish son. (Genesis 26:34, 35; 27:46.) In such cases, has not indulgence, instead of wholesome restraint; pleasure, instead of godliness; the world, instead of the Bible — educated the child? Want of early discipline; passing over trifles; yielding when we ought to command — how little do we think to what they may grow! (1 Samuel 2:24; 3:13. 1 Kings 1:5, 6; 2:25.) God has laid down plain rules, plain duties, and plain consequences flowing from their observance (Chapter 22:6; 23:13, 14) or neglect. (Chapter 29:15.) To forget a daily reference to them; to choose our own wisdom before God's (1 Samuel 2:29); — can we wonder that the result should be heaviness?†
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Proverbs 1:2
2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
 
 
Proverbs 1.
 
Proverbs 8.
 
 
Genesis 5:28, 29
28 ¶ And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. {Noah: Gr. Noe: that is Rest, or, Comfort}
 
Genesis 33:5
5 ¶ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. {with...: Heb. to thee}
 
Psalm 127:3
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward
 
 
Ecclesiastes 11:1
1 ¶ Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. {upon...: Heb. upon the face of the waters}
 
 
Proverbs 22:6
6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. {Train...: or, Catechise} {in...: Heb. in his way}
 
 
Proverbs 15:20
20 ¶ A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.
 
Proverbs 23:15, 16, 24, 25
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. {even...: or, even I will rejoice} 16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. 24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
 
Proverbs 27:11
11 ¶ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
 
Proverbs 29:3
3 ¶ Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
 
Genesis 45:28
28 And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
 
Genesis 46:30
30 And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Genesis 26:34, 35
34 ¶ And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah. {a grief...: Heb. bitterness of spirit}
 
Genesis 27:46
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?
 
 
1 Samuel 2:24
24 Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress. {transgress: or, cry out}
 
1 Samuel 3:13
13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. {For I...: or, And I will tell him} {vile: or, accursed} {restrained...: Heb. frowned not upon them}
 
1 Kings 1:5, 6
5 ¶ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. {be king: Heb. reign} 6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. {at any...: Heb. from his days}
 
1 Kings 2:25
25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
 
 
Proverbs 22:6
6 ¶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. {Train...: or, Catechise} {in...: Heb. in his way}
 
Proverbs 22:13, 14
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
 
 
Proverbs 29:15
15 ¶ The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
 
 
1 Samuel 2:29
29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?
 
 
Footnote:
Bishop Lowth supposes an antithesis between the relative terms (Prelim. Dissert. Isaiah), which Bishop Jebb illustrates by the distinctive character of the father's gladness, whose affections are more disciplined, and the mother's grief, whose tenderness might blind her to the faults of her children, or lead her weakly to excuse them. — Sacred Literature, Sect. ii. But, probably, this refinement of criticism is beside the meaning of the inspired Writer, who interchangeably ascribes these exercises of feeling to both parents. Chapter 17:2, 25; 19:13; 23:24, 25. Compare Genesis 26:35. 2 Samuel 13:37-39. Compare Glass. Phil. Sacr. Lib. iv. Tract ii. Obs. 13. Schultens in loco.
 
 
Proverbs 17:2, 25
2 ¶ A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. 25 ¶ A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.
 
Proverbs 19:13
13 ¶ A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
 
Proverbs 23:24, 25
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
 
Compare
Genesis 26:35
35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah. {a grief...: Heb. bitterness of spirit}
 
2 Samuel 13:37-39
37 But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. {Ammihud: or, Ammihur} 38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years. 39 And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. {longed: or, was consumed}