Proverbs 24:32

32 I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened:

Proverbs 24:32 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 24:32

Then I saw, [and] considered it well
Or, "when I saw, I considered it well"; or "set my heart it" ^F26; when he saw as he passed along the field and the vineyard, he, considered who was the owner and proprietor of them; what a sluggish and foolish man he was, and what a ruinous condition his field and vineyard were in. I looked upon [it, and] received instruction;
looked at it again, and took a thorough view of it, and learned something from it; so great and wise a man as Solomon received instruction from the field and vineyard of the slothful and foolish man; learned to be wiser, and to be more diligent in cultivating his own field, and dressing his own vineyard: so from the view and consideration of the slothfulness and folly of unregenerate man, and of the state and condition of his soul, many lessons of instruction may be learned; as that there is no free will and wisdom in men with respect to that which is good; the ruinous state and condition of men, as being all overspread with sin and corruption, in all the powers and faculties of their souls; and that there is nothing in them agreeable to God, but all the reverse; also the necessity of divine grace to put them into a good state, and make them fruitful; moreover, the distinguishing grace of God, which makes others to differ from them; and likewise it is teaching and instructive to good men to use more diligence themselves in things relating to their spiritual good, and to the glory of God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 (ybl tyva ykna hzxaw) "quum ergo contemplatus essem, adjunxi animum meum", Mercerus; "cum intuerer, apposui cor meum", Gejerus; "cum igitur viderem ego, adponebam cor meum", Michaelis.

Proverbs 24:32 In-Context

30 One day I walked by the field of an old lazybones, and then passed the vineyard of a lout;

31 They were overgrown with weeds, thick with thistles, all the fences broken down.

32 I took a long look and pondered what I saw; the fields preached me a sermon and I listened:

33 "A nap here, a nap there, a day off here, a day off there, sit back, take it easy - do you know what comes next?

34 Just this: You can look forward to a dirt-poor life, with poverty as your permanent houseguest!"