TRV
Basil of Caesarea
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 690 passages across 52 books
Commentary
Proverbs 13:8
The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but the poor heareth not rebuke.
Suppose you are an ignoble and undistinguished person, poor and of lowly origin, without home or city, sick, in need of daily sustenance, in dread of the powerful, cowering before everyone because of your abject condition. “But he that is poor,” says the Scripture, “bears not reprehension.” Yet, do not despair or cast aside every good hope because your present state is quite unenviable. Rather, turn your thoughts to the blessings already granted you by God and to those reserved by promise for the future.
Proverbs 15:5
· 2 passages
A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.
True prudence is the knowledge of what to do and what not to do. One who possesses it never refrains from virtuous works and is never pierced by the deadly arrow of vice. Thus, he who understands words of prudence knows the difference between what is insidious, structured for deception, and what reminds us quietly about the best way to live life. Like the good practice of a banker, he will retain what is good and abstain from every form of evil. Grant such prudence to the builder of his house, that he would lay its foundation upon rock, that is, support it on faith in Christ, so that it will remain unmoved when the winds and rains and thunderstorms attack. For the Lord teaches us through this parable to remain immovable in the presence of temptations, both those of human and also of supernatural origin. Beyond this, he teaches us not to neglect the necessary things, but, having been equipped for the journey of life, to anticipate the coming of the bridegroom with eager hearts.
Prudence is that quality by which all things are accomplished through skillful industry, in the same way that malice is that quality whereby only evil is perpetrated. Because, therefore, every activity admits prudence and because evils likewise occur in all things, the name of prudence signifies two realities. Whoever uses cleverness and skill for the destruction of others is evil, but one who acts cleverly and shrewdly to avoid the harm that others have in store for him, directly and wisely detecting his own good, possesses a prudence that is worthy of praise. Attend diligently, therefore, to the voice of the prudent soul, and you will know that it contains a center in which the prudence which uses healthy counsel for its own benefit and that of its neighbor is to be praised. But the prudence which applies itself to the neighbor’s detriment, using its faculties for the purpose of destruction, becomes liable to condemnation.
Proverbs 15:13
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Those who live under discipline should avoid very carefully even such intemperate action as is commonly regarded lightly. Indulging in unrestrained and immoderate laughter is a sign of intemperance, of a want of control over one’s emotions and of failure to repress the soul’s frivolity by a stern use of reason. It is not unbecoming, however, to give evidence of merriment of soul by a cheerful smile, if only to illustrate that which is written, “A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance”; but raucous laughter and uncontrollable shaking of the body are not indicative of a well-regulated soul, or of personal dignity, or self-mastery.
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
This course … will bring you honor and true glory. With your ears opened to give heed and your hands ready to execute the command you have heard, let your tongue be silent and keep your heart under custody. Be slow and dull for idle talk but knowing and wise in hearkening to the saving words of the holy Scriptures. Let the hearing of worldly tales be to you as a bitter taste in your mouth but the discourse of holy men as a honeycomb.
Proverbs 18:17
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
Speak not in your own praise, nor contrive that others do so. Do not listen to indecent talk. Conceal insofar as you can your own superior gifts. On the other hand, where sin is concerned, be your own accuser, and do not wait for others to make the accusation. Thus, you will be like a just man who accuses himself in the first speech made in court, or like Job who was not deterred by the crowd of people in the city from declaring his personal guilt before all.
Proverbs 19:17
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.
If you help a poor person in the Name of the Lord, you are making a gift and at the same time granting a loan. You are making a gift because you have no expectation of being reimbursed by that poor person. You are granting a loan because the Lord will settle the account.
It is not much that the Lord receives by means of the poor, but He will pay a great deal on their behalf.
It is not much that the Lord receives by means of the poor, but He will pay a great deal on their behalf.
Proverbs 20:10
Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
If there were two persons to be judged, one being given more consideration and the other less consideration, with a judge standing between both and making them equal by depriving only the one who has more than enough, the judge can be said to have failed to the extent that the adjudged party is injured. He who does not first have true justice instilled in his soul, but is corrupted by money or favors his friends or seeks vengeance against his enemies or reveres power, is unable to effect justice.… For rectitude in judgment is evidence that someone’s soul is well disposed toward equity and law. Hence, it prohibits this in what follows, saying, “Large weights and small weights are abominable before God,” with inequality in judgment being indicated in Proverbs under the title of weights.
Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
If “the heart of the king is in the hand of God,” he will not be saved through power of arms but through the divine guidance. Now, not any random person is in the hand of God but one who is worthy of the name of king.
Proverbs 21:13
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Benefactions to the needy, financed by unjust gains, are not acceptable with God. Even one who refrains from committing injustices, and yet does not share the goods he possesses with anyone, is not deserving of praise.… If you will make an offering to God from the fruits of injustice and rapine, it would be better not to possess such wealth and not to make an offering.
Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Thus, here also it calls him a new child who was reborn through the washing of regeneration and educated and made childlike, who is made fit for the kingdom of heaven through this process in the same way. The book of Proverbs, therefore, provides training which imparts perception and understanding to the recently born child who is hungry for rational and genuine milk: a perception of present realities but an understanding of future realities. For the child is educated in human matters and given a perception of reality so that he would neither be enslaved to shameful desires nor long for the empty glory of this world. Beyond this, Proverbs confers an understanding of the coming age and encourages faith in the promises by its words.
Proverbs 22:10
Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.
If some persist in their disobedience, finding fault in secret and not openly stating their grievance, thus becoming the cause of quarreling in the community and undermining the authority of the commands given, they should be dismissed from the community as teachers of disobedience and rebellion. For the Scripture says, “Cast out the scoffer from the council, and contention shall go out with him” and also, “Put away the evil one from yourselves, for a little leaven corrupts the whole lump.”
Proverbs 22:24
Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
A secluded and remote habitation also contributes to the removal of distraction from the soul. Living among those who are unscrupulous and disdainful in their attitude toward an exact observance of the commandments is dangerous, as is shown by the following words of Solomon: “Do not be a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a furious man, lest perhaps you learn his ways and take snares unto your soul.”
Proverbs 23:6
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
Wise, therefore, was he who forbids us even to dine in company with an envious man, and in mentioning this companionship at table, he implies a reference to all other social contacts as well. Just as we are careful to keep material which is easily inflammable as far away as possible from fire, so we must refrain insofar as we can from contracting friendships in circles of which envious persons are members. By so doing, we place ourselves beyond the range of their shafts. We can be caught in the toils of envy only by establishing intimacy with it.
Proverbs 23:13-14
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
As small children who are negligent in learning become more attentive and obedient after being punished by their teacher or tutor, and as they do not listen before the lash, but, after feeling the pain of a beating, hear and respond as though their ears were just recently opened, improving also in memory, so likewise with those who neglect divine doctrine and spurn the commandments. For, after they experience God’s correction and discipline, then the commandments of God which had always been known to them and always neglected are most readily received as though by ears freshly cleansed.
Proverbs 23:29-31
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
“Who has woe? Who has sorrow?” For whom is there distress and darkness? For whom eternal doom? Is it not for the transgressors? For those who deny the faith? And what is the proof of their denial? Is it not that they have denied their own confession? And when and what did they confess? Belief in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Ghost, when they renounced the devil and his angels and uttered those saving words. What fit title, then, has been discovered for them, for [these former] children of light to use? Are they not addressed as transgressors, as having violated the covenant of their salvation?
Proverbs 27:5
Open rebuke is better than secret love.
It is surely clear that concealing sin contributes to the death of the sick person, “for the sting of death is sin,” says the Scripture, and also, “Open rebukes are better than hidden love.” Let no one, therefore, conceal a sin in behalf of another, lest fratricide take the place of fraternal charity.
Proverbs 28:14
Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
He who in all things stands in awe out of reverent timidity is called blessed, and he stands firm in the truth who is able to say, “I set the Lord always in my sight; for he is at my right hand that I shall not be moved.”
Proverbs 30:3-4
I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.
Raise your eyes to heaven, therefore, like him who said, “To you who lives in heaven, I lift my eyes.” Look upon the sun of righteousness and, as you are directed by the commandments of the Lord, which resemble the most radiant of stars, have vigilant eyes. Do not allow the eyes [of the soul] to slumber or the eyelids to rest, that the commandments might lead you perpetually. “For, your law is a lamp to my feet,” he says, “and a light to my path.” Indeed, if you never fall asleep at the helm while steering through life, given the obviously unstable state of worldly affairs, you will obtain the cooperation of the Spirit, who will lead you beyond and transport you with gentle breezes and in peaceful security until you arrive unharmed at that tranquil and serene gate by the will of God, to whom be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Proverbs 30:8-9
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
Solomon says, “Give me neither beggary nor riches; give me only what is necessary and sufficient,” lest being filled I should deny and say, Who sees me? Or being poor, I should steal and forswear the name of my God; thus representing riches as satiety, poverty as a complete lack of the necessities of life, and sufficiency as a state both free from want and without superfluity. Sufficiency varies, however, according to physical condition and present need.… In every case, care must be taken for a good table, yet without overstepping the limits of the actual need.