Proverbs 24:25

But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

24:17,18. The pleasure we are apt to take in the troubles of an enemy is forbidden. 19,20. Envy not the wicked their prosperity; be sure there is no true happiness in it. 21,22. The godly in the land, will be quiet in the land. There may be cause to change for the better, but have nothing to do with them that are given change. 23-26. The wisdom God giveth, renders a man fit for his station. Every one who finds the benefit of the right answer, will be attached to him that gave it. 27. We must prefer necessaries before conveniences, and not go in debt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

There is no surer path to popularity than a righteous severity in punishing guilt.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24, 25. of which an example is justifying the wicked, to which is opposed, rebuking him, which has a blessing.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That rebuke him; that publicly and judicially rebuke and condemn the wicked.

Delight; the peace of a good conscience, and the comfort of a good name.

A good blessing; which the people shall wish, and by their prayers obtain, from God for them; which is fitly opposed to the people’s curse in the last verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But to them that rebuke him shall be delight,.... That is, such that rebuke in the gate, or openly, in a court of judicature; that reprove delinquents, such as are found guilty of malpractices, and punish them as they ought to be, according to the laws of God and man; they shall have delight in themselves, peace and pleasure in their own minds; or the people shall delight in them, and speak well of them, and think themselves happy under such a just administration; or the Lord shall delight in them, the beauty or sweetness of the Lord shall come unto them, as Aben Ezra explains it; the Lord shall be sweet and delightful to them, and they shall have pleasure in him;

and a good blessing shall come upon them; or "a blessing of good" (w); a blessing of good things, temporal and spiritual, here and hereafter; the blessing of a good God, and a blessing from him; and a blessing of good men, as opposed to the curse of the people in Proverbs 24:24.

(w) "benedictio boni", Baynus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis, Schultens; "benefactio cujusque boni": Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Geneva Study Bible

But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25. rebuke] i.e. convict and punish. Comp. the use of the same Heb. word in Proverbs 3:12; Amos 5:10.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 25. - But to them that rebuke him shall be delight (see on Proverbs 2:10). They who punish the wicked, with them it is well; they are approved by God and applauded by the people. Vulgate, Qui aruunt cum laudabuntur, "They who convict him shall be praised." And a good blessing shall come upon them; literally, a blessing of good - one that has in it all good things, the happy contrast to the curses which meet the unjust judge. Septuagint, "But they that convict them (the guilty) shall appear more excellent, and upon them shall come blessing." Proverbs 24:25

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The curse of partiality and the blessing of impartiality:

     Respect of persons in judgment is by no means good:

24 He that saith to the guilty, "Thou art in the right,"

     Him the people curse, nations detest.

25 But to them who rightly decide, it is well,

     And upon them cometh blessing with good.

Partiality is either called שׂאת פנים, Proverbs 18:5, respect to the person, for the partisan looks with pleasure on the פני, the countenance, appearance, personality of one, by way of preference; or הכּר־פּנים, as here and at Proverbs 28:21, for he places one person before another in his sight, or, as we say, has a regard to him; the latter expression is found in Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 16:19. הכּיר (vid., Proverbs 20:11) means to regard sharply, whether from interest in the object, or because it is strange. בּל Heidenheim regards as weaker than לא; but the reverse is the case (vid., vol. i. p. 204), as is seen from the derivation of this negative ( equals balj, from בּלה, to melt, to decay); thus it does not occur anywhere else than here with the pred. adj. The two supplements delight in this בל, Deuteronomy 22:29; Deuteronomy 23:7, 35. The thesis 23b is now confirmed in Proverbs 24:24 and Proverbs 24:25, from the consequences of this partiality and its opposite: He that saith (אמר, with Mehuppach Legarmeh from the last syllable, as rightly by Athias, Nissel, and Michaelis, vid., Thorath Emeth, p. 32) to the guilty: thou art right, i.e., he who sets the guilty free (for רשׁע and צדּיק have here the forensic sense of the post-bibl. חיּב and זכּי), him they curse, etc.; cf. the shorter proverb, Proverbs 17:15, according to which a partial, unjust judge is an abomination to God. Regarding נקב (קבב) here and at Proverbs 11:26, Schultens, under Job 3:8, is right; the word signifies figere, and hence to distinguish and make prominent by distinguishing as well as by branding; cf. defigere, to curse, properly, to pierce through. Regarding זעם, vid., at Proverbs 22:14. עמּים and לאמּים (from עמם and לאם, which both mean to bind and combine) are plur. of categ.: not merely individuals, not merely families, curse such an unrighteous judge and abhor him, but the whole people in all conditions and ranks of society; for even though such an unjust judge bring himself and his favourites to external honour, yet among no people is conscience so blunted, that he who absolves the crime and ennobles the miscarriage of justice shall escape the vox populi. On the contrary, it goes well (ינעם, like Proverbs 2:10; Proverbs 9:17, but here with neut. indef. subj. as ייטב, Genesis 12:13, and frequently) with those who place the right, and particularly the wrong, fully to view; מוכיח is he who mediates the right, Job 9:33, and particularly who proves, censures, punishes the wrong, Proverbs 9:7, and in the character of a judge as here, Amos 5:10; Isaiah 29:21. The genitive connection ברכּת־טוב is not altogether of the same signification as יין הטּוב, wine of a good sort, Sol 7:10, and אושׁת רע, a woman of a bad kind, Proverbs 6:24, for every blessing is of a good kind; the gen. טוב thus, as at Psalm 21:4, denotes the contents of the blessing; cf. Ephesians 1:3, "with all spiritual blessings," in which the manifoldness of the blessing is presupposed.