3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The integrity of the upright shall guide them,.... The Spirit of God is the best guide of an upright man; he leads into all truth, and unto the land of uprightness, and continues to be a guide, even unto death; and it is right to walk after him, and not after the flesh: and besides him, the upright man has the word of God as a lamp to his feet, and a light to his paths, which he does well to take heed to; and next to that is the sincerity and uprightness of his heart, which will not suffer him, knowingly and willingly, to go aside into crooked paths, or to do amiss: integrity of heart and innocency of hand go together; such are the followers of the Lamb, as described, Revelation 14:4; see Psalm 25:21;
but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them; the perverse ways, words, and actions of such as transgress the law of God, deal treacherously with God and men, as the word (e) signifies, shall be their ruin: the perverse doctrines and worship of the man of sin, and his followers, shall bring destruction upon them, 2-Thessalonians 2:4. The word for "perverseness" is only used here and in Proverbs 15:4; and there plainly signifies the perverseness of the tongue or speech, and so may have respect to corrupt doctrine.
(e) "perfidosorum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "perfidorum", Cocceius, Michaelis.
An honest man's principles are fixed, therefore his way is plain.
guide--to lead, as a shepherd (Proverbs 6:7; Psalm 78:52).
perverseness--ill-nature.
destroy--with violence.
3 The integrity of the upright guideth them;
But the perverseness of the ungodly destroyeth them.
To the upright, ישׁרים, who keep the line of rectitude without turning aside therefrom into devious paths (Psalm 125:4.), stand opposed (as at Proverbs 2:21.) the ungodly (faithless), בּגדים, who conceal (from בּגד, to cover, whence בּגד = כּסוּת) malicious thoughts and plans. And the contrast of תּמּה, integrity = unreserved loving submission, is סלף, a word peculiar to the Solomonic Mashal, with its verb סלּף (vid., p. 32). Hitzig explains it by the Arab. saraf, to step out, to tread over; and Ewald by lafat, to turn, to turn about ("treacherous, false step"), both of which are improbable. Schultens compares salaf in the meaning to smear (R. לף, לב, ἀλείφειν; cf. regarding such secondary formations with ש preceding, Hupfeld on Psalm 5:7), and translates here, lubricitas. But this rendering is scarcely admissible. It has against it lexical tradition (Menahem: מוטה, wavering; Perchon: זיוף, falsifying; Kimchi: עוות, misrepresentation, according to which the Graec. Venet. σκολιότης), as well as the methodical comparison of the words. The Syriac has not this verbal stem, but the Targum has סלף in the meaning to distort, to turn the wrong way (σκολιοῦν, στρεβλοῦν), Proverbs 10:10, and Esther 6:10, where, in the second Targum, פּוּמהּ אסתּלף means "his mouth was crooked." With justice, therefore, Gesenius in his Thesaurus has decided in favour of the fundamental idea pervertere, from which also the Peshito and Saadia proceed; for in Exodus 23:8 they translate (Syr.) mhapêk (it, the gift of bribery, perverts) and (Arab.) tazyf (= תּזיּף, it falsifies). Fl. also, who at Proverbs 15:4 remarks, "סלף, from סלף, to stir up, to turn over, so that the lowermost becomes the uppermost," gives the preference to this primary idea, in view of the Arab. salaf, invertere terram conserendi causa. It is moreover confirmed by salaf, praecedere, which is pervertere modified to praevertere. But how does סלף mean perversio (Theod. ὑποσκελισμός), in the sense of the overthrow prepared for thy neighbour? The parallels demand the sense of a condition peculiar to the word and conduct of the godless (treacherous), Proverbs 22:12 (cf. Exodus 23:8), Proverbs 19:3, thus perversitas, perversity; but this as contrary to truth and rectitude (opp. תּמּה), "perverseness," as we have translated it, for we understand by it want of rectitude (dishonesty) and untruthfulness. While the sincerity of the upright conducts them, and, so to say, forms their salvus conductus, which guards them against the danger of erring and of hostile assault, the perverseness of the treacherous destroys them; for the disfiguring of truth avenges itself against them, and they experience the reverse of the proverb, "das Ehrlich whrt am lngsten" (honesty endures the longest). The Chethı̂b ושׁדם (ושׁדּם) is an error of transcription; the Kerı̂ has the proper correction, ישׁדּם = ישׁדדם, Jeremiah 5:6. Regarding שׁדד (whence שׁדּי), which, from its root-signification of making close and fast, denotes violence and destruction, vid., under Genesis 17.
*More commentary available at chapter level.