Proverbs Chapter 6 verse 35 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 35. - He will not regard any ransom; neither will he rest content, though thou givest many gifts. No recompense or atonement, nor any gifts however great, will buy him off. These are supposed to be offered by the adulterer to the enraged husband, who, however, will never rest till he effects the utter ruin of his injurer. The literal rendering of the first hemistich is, "He will not accept the face of any ransom." The phrase nasa phanim, is equivalent to the Greek πρόσωπον λαμβάνειν, and signifies "to give a favourable reception to the outward expression of any one." The figure is taken from lifting up the face of a suppliant, the radical meaning of the verb nasa being "to take up," "to lift up." The ransom; Hebrew, kopher (the word usually applied to designate the price of redemption, mulct, or line demanded for expiation of a crime; see Exodus 21:30; Exodus 30:12; Numbers 35:31, 32); here the bribe offered by the adulterer to be let off will be altogether rejected, however alluring, the word p'ney, "face," carrying with it the idea of something recommendatory. For the expression, nasa phanim, cf. Genesis 19:21; Genesis 22:21; Job 13:10; Job 13:8; and Malachi 1:8. The LXX. rendering is, Οὐκ ἀνταλλάξεται οὐδενὸς λύτρου τὴν ἔχθραν, "He will not commute for any redemption his enmity." Neither will he rest content; literally, and he will not be willing; Hebrew, v'lo-yoveh; LXX., οὐδὲ μὴ διαληθῇ, "nor may it, i.e. his enmity, be dissolved or weakened." (On the verb avah, "to consent to," or "to be willing," see Proverbs 1:10.) Many gifts, each increasing in value, may be offered, but he will not be willing to forego his right of revenge. Though thou givest many gifts. It is noticeable that the address, which has been adapted to the third person, here becomes personal, and so takes up the form originally employed in vers. 20-25. A hypothetical case has been imagined in vers. 26-35, but still with the thought underlying it that it applies to the person addressed. "Though thou givest many gifts," or more literally, "though thou multipliest the gift," brings the matter homo to the young man. Gifts; Hebrew, shokad, "the gift," is the word usually employed to designate the bribe offered to corrupt a judge (see Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 10:17; Deuteronomy 16:19; Deuteronomy 27:25; 1 Samuel 8:3). Here it refers to the money offered to free from punishment. The Vulgate gives the idea that these gifts or bribes are offered by a third party on behalf of the adulterer: Nec acquiescet cujusquam precibus, nec suscipiet pro redemptione dona plurima. On these two last verses Lange remarks, "Just as little as the adulterer, taken in his adultery, is left unpunished by the injured husband, so little, yea, even less, wilt the spiritual adulterer remain unpunished of the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:17)."

Ellicott's Commentary