Bridges on Proverbs 30:18-20

Charles Bridges on Proverbs 30:18-20


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18. There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 19. The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. {midst: Heb. heart} 20. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

The kingdom of nature is full of wonder, and these wonders full of instruction. Where the philosopher cannot give a reason, the humble disciple may learn a lesson. The depths of nature are the figure of the depths of sin — of the unsearchable deceitful heart. (Ib. 17:9.) The eagle soars in the air with so lofty and rapid a flight, that the eye cannot follow her way. She leaves no scent nor footsteps, by which we might trace her, as the beast on the ground. (Job 39:27.) The serpent on the sand would leave its mark. But the serpent on the rock leaves no slime like the worm, no feathers like the birds; who then can mark its way? The ship, like the great monster of the deep, “maketh a path to shine after her.”† But while she ploughs in the midst (in the heart) of the sea, her furrows are quickly closed up, and her way is untraceable. Not less mysterious is the way of a man with a maid. Eminently practiced is the seducer in “the depths of Satan,” and a thousand arts does he employ to allure the affections of his unwary victim. And it is often as difficult to penetrate his designs and to escape his snares, as to trace the way of the eagle, the serpent, or the ship. Let this be a warning to young and inexperienced females, not to trust to their own purity, or to the strength of their own resolutions, or to place themselves in unprotected situations.†

Equally unfathomable are the devices of the adulterous woman to entangle her prey, and to deceive her unsuspecting husband. Solomon has described the picture with striking and minute accuracy. (Chapter 7; 5:6.) Such a course of abomination, wickedness, and hypocrisy, as is scarcely to be conceived; indulging her sin as the sweet morsel under her tongue; feasting greedily upon her “stolen waters and secret bread;”† yet keeping up the semblance of innocence and purity;† wiping her mouth, to prevent all suspicion, suffering no sign of the action to remain. A woman must be advanced very far in the way of sin before she can present such unblushing a front. Yet every fresh indulgence of lust gives rise to new artifices, “hardening” the heart more fully in the “deceitfulness of sin.” (Hebrews 3:13.) Its fascinations blind it to its real character. Let then the first step be shunned, the most distant path that may lead to temptation. Where shame ceases to accompany it, the ruin of the victim is accomplished. Abundant warning is given; solemn instruction — many beacons in the path — to show the certain end of this flowery road.†

Jeremiah 17:9

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Job 39:27

27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? {at...: Heb. by thy mouth}

Footnote:

Job 41:32. Compare Psalm 104:26; 107:23, 24. This figure, and that of the eagle, as images of the rapid course of life, are finely illustrated – Wisdom 5:11, 12. Witsius admirably defends these figures as worthy of inspiration, against the sneers of neological critics – Misc. Sacra, Lib. i. c. xviii. 31-33.

Job 41:32

32 He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary.

Compare

Psalm 104:26

26 There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. {made: Heb. formed}

Psalm 107:23, 24

23 ¶ They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; 24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

Wisdom 5:11, 12

And as a ship that passeth over the waves of the water, which when it is gone by, the trace thereof cannot be found, neither the pathway of the keel in the waves; Or as when a bird hath flown through the air, there is no token of her way to be found, but the light air being beaten with the stroke of her wings and parted with the violent noise and motion of them, is passed through, and therein afterwards no sign where she went is to be found;

Footnote:

Ambrose has treated fully upon these four figures. Assuming the chapter to be written by Solomon, he explains his ignorance of them – ‘not that he was not able to know them, but because it was not a time for him to know them.’ The way of the eagle he understands to be the ascension of Christ, flying back as an eagle to his Father, carrying man plucked from the jaws of the enemy as his prey with him! And though the ascension was visible, yet what understanding could grasp the apprehension of such Majesty retiring to heaven! The way of the serpent on the rock shadowed the assaults of Satan upon Christ – on whom, as on a rock (unlike the first man, who was earth and dust) he could leave no mark, no footsteps of his malice. The pious father seems to be in some doubt upon the third image. The way of the ship in the sea is the way of God's church through the sea of persecution. This ship cannot miscarry, because Christ is lifted up in the mast of it – that is – on the cross. The Father sitteth as pilot at the stern of it. The Comforter preserved its prow! Or – Christ is the ship, into which the souls of all true believers do go up; which, that it may be carried more strongly in the midst of the waves, is made of wood, and fastened with iron: this is Christ in the flesh. And who can tell the way of this ship, either into the womb of the Virgin, or the heart of believers? The way of a man in his youth (LXX and some other versions) illustrates the ways of our Savior Christ in his youth upon the earth!’

Such puerile crudities are calculated to bring ridicule rather than reverence to the sacred book. Yet a combined and powerful effort is now made to palm the Fathers upon the church as the primary expositors of Scripture, and the standard of faith! Many patristic expositions of the Proverbs equally gross might have been produced. Apart from higher ground – Can we forbear surprise, that men of taste and learning should affix their imprimatur to such undisciplined folly of interpretation?

Proverbs 7.

Proverbs 5:6

6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

Footnote:

Chapter 9:17.

Proverbs 9:17

17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. {eaten...: Heb. of secrecies}

Footnote:

Genesis 39:13-19.

Genesis 39:13-19

13 ¶ And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, 14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: {loud: Heb. great} 15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. 16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home. 17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: 18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out. 19 ¶ And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

Hebrews 3:13

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Footnote:

Chapter 5:3-5; 7:24-27; 9:18.

Proverbs 5:3-5

3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: {mouth: Heb. palate} 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

Proverbs 7:24-27

24 ¶ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. 25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. 26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

Proverbs 9:18

18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.