PROVERBS CHAPTER 25.
True Wisdom the Highest Good of Kings and Subjects.
V.1. These are also proverbs of Solomon, maxims composed by the wise son of David, by inspiration of God, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out, evidently from collections where they were being preserved, the king being very anxious to have the literature of the “Golden Age” passed on to posterity in a form which would be as complete as possible.
V.2. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, He, whose essence is unsearchable and whose wisdom is past finding out, cannot he grasped by finite minds; but the honor of kings is to search out a matter, to make careful inquiry and get the right understanding of every case that is brought before them for judicial decision. God’s judgments are often advisedly hidden before the eyes of men, the king’s judgments must always be open and clear.
V. 3. The heaven for height, for it extends to immeasurable distances, and the earth for depth, since its abysses are unbelievably deep, and the heart of kings is unsearchable, their intentions cannot be figured out by ordinary subjects, whence it follows that it is foolish for men to flatter themselves with possessing the favor of the mighty, true wisdom consisting in guarding oneself in both words and deeds and in letting true worth make its impression