Proverbs 22:9 - Exposition

He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed . The "good of eye" is the kindly looking, the benevolent man, in contrast to him of the evil eye, the envious, the unfriendly and niggardly man ( Proverbs 23:6 ; Proverbs 28:22 ). St. Jerome renders, Qui pronus est ad misericordiam. Such a one is blessed by God in this world and the next, in time and in eternity, according to the sentiment of Proverbs 11:25 . Thus in the temporal sense:23). "Him that is liberal in food lips shall bless, and the testimony of his liberality will be believed." Septuagint, "He that hath pity upon the poor shall himself be continually sustained ( διατραφήσεται ) . " The reason is added, For he giveth of his brans to the poor. The blessing is the consequence of his charity and liberality. 2 Corinthians 9:6 , "He that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully ( ἐπ αὐλογίαις )." The Vulgate and Septuagint add a distich not in the Hebrew, Victoriam et honorem acquiret qui dat munera; animam autem aufert accipientium ; νίκην καὶ τιμὴν περι ποιεῖται ὁ δῶρα δοὺς τὴν μέντοι ψυχὴν ἀφαι ρεῖται τῶν κεκτημένωνω , "Victory and honour he obtaineth who giveth gifts; but he takes away the life of the possessors." The first hemistich appears to be a variant of Proverbs 19:6 , the second to be derived from Proverbs 1:19 . The second portion of the Latin addition may mean that the liberal man wins and carries away with him the souls of the recipients of his bounty. But this, though Ewald would fain have it so, cannot be the signification of the corresponding Greek, which seems to mean that the man who is so liberal in distributing gifts obtains the power to do so by oppressing and wronging others.