Bridges on Proverbs 30:21-23
 
 
Charles Bridges on Proverbs 30:21-23
 
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21.  For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: 22.  For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; 23.  For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
 
Next to things which were unsearchable, Agur now mentions some things that were intolerable — things, for which the earth is disquieted, bringing confusion wherever they are found. Who does not naturally condemn things out of place, as unsuitable and unseemly? Order is the law of the works of God in the world, no less than in the Church;† and any breach of order is to be deprecated. Four such evils are here mentioned — two connected with men, two with women; the one class in the community, the other in the family.
The first evil mentioned is — a servant, when he reigneth. This is a serious evil in the family, whether it arises from the mismanagement of the master,† or from his own intrigue. (Verse 23.) He is obviously out of place; and ruling where he ought to serve, he must bring disorder. (Genesis 16:4.) The evil is far greater in a kingdom. Men of low birth may indeed rise honorably by their own merit to a high station. God may call them, as he did Joseph (Ib. 41:41), to reign. The evil is the advancement to power of ignorant, unprincipled minions.† Men of mean spirit cannot bear to be raised. Intoxicated by sudden elevation, these upstarts shew themselves not only fools, but tyrants;† swelling with all the insolence of their unseemly honor. Such was the enmity of Tobiah the Ammonite† and the misrule of Haman.† What national evil resulted from the elevation of Jeroboam!† What anarchy from the successful usurpation of Zimri!† Well therefore might the reign of servants be deplored, as a component part of the calamity of disconsolate Zion! (Lamentations 5:8.) In the ordinary course it can only be viewed as a chastening dispensation. (Isaiah 3:4, 5.) Let us acknowledge with thankfulness our deliverance from it.
Then look at the fool (not an idiot, but a willful sinner) when he is filled with meat. Can we wonder that he should be a trouble and a curse; giving the reins to his appetite, and becoming yet more devoid of understanding than before? The history of Nabal, sunk into brutishness by his own sensual lust (1 Samuel 25:36); Elah murdered by his servant, whilst “drinking himself drunk in his steward's house;”† Belshazzar giving himself over to the lust of ungodliness† — all these were evils, for which the earth was disquieted, and which it could not bear. Filled with meat — “with surfeiting and drunkenness” they dig as it were their own graves with their teeth, and are set forth as an example in the just punishment of their wicked folly.
Look again into the inner room of the family. What is the origin of discord and palpable misery? An odious woman is in rule. She quarrels with all around her. Her ungoverned tongue and temper are an unceasing source of agitation. Had she known herself, much better for her never to have entered into the marriage bond, than to become the inseparable tormentor of her husband and family.† Woman is to man either his greatest curse or blessing. If love be not the earnest of the sacred union, truly will it be a bond of misery, from which only the special mercy of God can deliver. Let the worldly portion of the wife be the last consideration. Take heed, lest worldly glitter open a door for remediless misery.
The odious woman, when she is married, if she be in authority, becomes a national evil. Jezebel was a scourge to Israel, the spring of all Ahab's wickedness, that brought the heavy judgment of God upon the land.† The earth was disquieted for her, and at the last cast her out. (2 Kings 9:30-37.) Herodias brought upon her husband and his nation the guilt of the blood of the murdered prophet “crying from the ground.” (Matthew 14:8.) If marriage be the ordinance of lust, not of godliness, what wonder if an odious woman should be the result, a canker to every domestic comfort?
The last evil noticed is a frequent source of family trouble — an handmaid, that is heir to her mistress. Want of discipline, simplicity, or integrity, leads to waywardness and self-indulgence; and the house, instead of being under wholesome rule, becomes a prey to envy and strife. The ill-regulated connection between Abraham and Hagar, when the servant became heir to her mistress — occupying her mistress's place with her husband — became the source of most baneful contention. (Genesis 16:4.) Our own history presents sad illustration of this intolerable evil. Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour were handmaids, and unhappily heirs to their respective mistresses while living in the affections of the sovereign. The royal example of selfishness and lust was a national grievance, in which the handmaids were not wholly guiltless.
And thus in modern society, an handmaid, treated with that familiarity which breaks down the Divine barriers between the several ranks, has sometimes become heir to her mistress; either succeeding to her property — perhaps to the exclusion of more rightful claimants (Chapter 29:21); or rising into her place by an ill-assorted union like those above-mentioned, usually productive of much family dissension. Or again, in the higher ranks, she is the heir to her mistress's dresses. This encourages in her the love of dress and vanity, habits unsuitable to her situation in life; and too often hurtful to her solid respectability and eternal interests.
How needful is it to preserve consistency in every part of our profession! Oh! let us look carefully to it, that no want of wisdom, godly contentment, or self-denial, brings reproach upon that worthy name by which we are called; that there be no spots to mar that adorning beauty which might attract those around us to the ways of God.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Footnote:
Ecclesiastes 3:11. 1 Corinthians 14:40.
 
 
Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 ¶ He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
 
1 Corinthians 14:40
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 29:21.
 
 
Proverbs 29:21
21 ¶ He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.
 
 
Proverbs 30:23
23 For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
 
 
Genesis 16:4
4 ¶ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
 
 
Genesis 41:41
41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 19:10. Ecclesiastes 10:5-7.
 
 
Proverbs 19:10
10 ¶ Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
 
Ecclesiastes 10:5-7
5 There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler: {from: Heb. from before} 6 Folly is set in great dignity, and the rich sit in low place. {in great...: Heb. in great heights} 7 I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter XX? iii. 3. This danger is accurately drawn by one of the Classic moralists: —
     Asperius nihil est humili; cum surgit in altum,
     Cuncta ferit, dum cuncta timet; desaevit in omnes,
     Ut se posse putet; nec bellua tetrior ulla est,
     Quam servi rabies, in libera terga furentis.
     Claudian. Lib. i. in Eutrop.
 
 
Footnote:
Nehemiah 2:10.
 
 
Nehemiah 2:10
10 When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
 
 
Footnote:
Esther 3:1.
 
 
Esther 3:1
1 ¶ After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.
 
 
Footnote:
1 Kings 11:26-28; 12:30.
 
 
1 Kings 11:26-28
26 ¶ And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king. 27 And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father. {repaired: Heb. closed} 28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. {was industrious: Heb. did work} {charge: Heb. burden}
 
1 Kings 12:30
30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
 
 
Footnote:
Ib. 16:9-20. Compare 2 Kings 8:12.
 
 
1 Kings 16:9-20
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah. {steward...: Heb. which was over} 10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. 11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. {neither...: or, both his kinsmen and his friends} 12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, {by: Heb. by the hand of} 13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 15 ¶ In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, 19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. 20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
 
2 Kings 8:12
12 And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lamentations 5:8
8 Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand.
 
 
Isaiah 3:4, 5
4 And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.
 
 
1 Samuel 25:36
36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
 
 
Footnote:
1 Kings 16:9, 10. Hosea 7:5.
 
 
1 Kings 16:9, 10
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah. {steward...: Heb. which was over} 10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
 
Hosea 7:5
5 In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners. {bottles...: or, heat through wine}
 
 
Footnote:
Daniel 5:1-4, 30. 1 Samuel 30:16. 1 Kings 20:16.
 
 
Daniel 5:1-4, 30
1 ¶ Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. {father: or, grandfather} {taken: Chaldee, brought forth} 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. 30 ¶ In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
 
1 Samuel 30:16
16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
 
1 Kings 20:16
16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
 
 
Footnote:
Chapter 21:9, 19; 27:15.
 
 
Proverbs 21:9, 19
9 ¶ It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house. {a brawling...: Heb. a woman of contentions} {a wide...: Heb. an house of society} 19 ¶ It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman. {in...: Heb. in the land of the desert}
 
Proverbs 27:15
15 ¶ A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
 
 
Footnote:
1 Kings 16:31; 21:25.
 
 
1 Kings 16:31
31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. {as if...: Heb. was it a light thing, etc}
 
1 Kings 21:25
25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. {stirred...: or, incited}
 
 
2 Kings 9:30-37
30 ¶ And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. {painted...: Heb. put her eyes in painting} 31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? 32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. {eunuchs: or, chamberlains} 33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter. 35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: {by: Heb. by the hand of} 37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Matthew 14:8
8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.
 
 
Genesis 16:4
4 ¶ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
 
 
Proverbs 29:21
21 ¶ He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.