Proverbs 26:10

10. The great God, etc. Here again we have a verse of much difficulty, by reason of the uncertainty of the true import of several words. The word GOD is not in the original. רב , ( rabh,) great, among its many meanings has such as these: mighty, the Mighty, agreat one, chief leader, master, doctor, teacher, etc. The word מחולל , ( mehholel,) formed, is equally, or more, latitudinarian in sense. There is seemingly nothing in the construction to aid in reaching the true meaning, and the Versions yield little help. The Septuagint and Vulgate “are hopelessly unintelligible.” The simplest and best rendering, perhaps, is that found in the Speaker’s Commentary: “As the archer that woundeth every one, so is he who hireth the fool, and he who hireth every passer by.” Or thus: “A master-workman endangers everything when he employs a fool or employs vagrants.” With this, substantially, agrees Lange. The note of the Speaker’s Commentary is good: “Acting at random, intrusting matters of grave moment to men of bad repute, or to any chance comer, is as likely to do mischief as one who shoots arrows at every one.” Conant translates: “A master-workman forms all things, but he that hires a fool is as he that hires passers by.”