Sprueche 10:24

24 Was der Gottlose fürchtet, das wird ihm begegnen; und was die Gerechten begehren, wird ihnen gegeben.

Sprueche 10:24 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 10:24

The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him
What he dreads in his own mind will be his unhappy case, sooner or later it comes upon him; his fear of distresses, calamities, and judgments in this life, and of eternal wrath and vengeance hereafter; for the most profligate and abandoned wretches, the greatest atheists, who endeavour to work themselves up to a disbelief of a God and a future state, have at times their frights and fears about these things; and as are their fears of God, so will his wrath be, ( Psalms 90:11 ) . Jarchi illustrates this in the instance of the builders of Babel, who were afraid of being scattered upon the face of the earth, which thing feared came upon them through and for their building of the tower; and so it sometimes is, that the very thing which men fear comes upon them by the means which they take to prevent it; so the Jews were afraid that if their people believed in Jesus of Nazareth, the Romans would come and seize their city and nation, and therefore endeavoured to persuade them to reject him; for which rejection of him the thing they feared came upon them; but the desire of the righteous shall be granted;
or "he shall give" {s}; that is, God shall give it; who has it in his hands or power to give it, as Jarchi's note is: what a righteous man desires from right principles, and with right views; what is for his own good and the glory of God; what he asks in faith, and with submission to the divine will, and is according to it, is sooner or later, in God's own time and way, granted unto him: particularly his desires after righteousness; after the righteousness of Christ, and to be found alone in that, living and dying; after holiness of heart and life, that he might be cleansed and kept from sin, and preserved to the coming of Christ; after more grace, an increase of it, and fresh supplies from Christ; after more communion with God and Christ, and conformity to them; after glory and happiness, and a being with them to all eternity. Some understand this of the righteous man's desire upon the wicked; that his fear might come upon him, and the glory of divine justice appear in his swift and sudden destruction; as expressed in ( Proverbs 10:25 ) ; so Aben Ezra.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (Nty) "dabit", Pagninus, Montanus, Baynus; "justis dat quod cupiunt", Tigurine version; "dabit Deus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis; "dat Deus", Mercerus, Gejerus.

Sprueche 10:24 In-Context

22 Der Segen des HERRN macht reich ohne Mühe.

23 Ein Narr treibt Mutwillen und hat dazu noch seinen Spott; aber der Mann ist weise, der aufmerkt.

24 Was der Gottlose fürchtet, das wird ihm begegnen; und was die Gerechten begehren, wird ihnen gegeben.

25 Der Gottlose ist wie ein Wetter, das vorübergeht und nicht mehr ist; der Gerechte aber besteht ewiglich.

26 Wie der Essig den Zähnen und der Rauch den Augen tut, so tut der Faule denen, die ihn senden.