properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Micah 3:4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themse…
Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of…
Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto m…
Zechariah 7:13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Matthew 25:10-12 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?
1 Samuel 8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 1:20–end
Solomon, having shown how dangerous it is to hearken to the temptations of Satan, here shows how dangerous it is not to hearken to the calls of God, which we shall for ever rue the neglect of. Observe,
I. By whom God calls to us - by wisdom. It is wisdom that crieth without. The word is plural - wisdoms, for, as there is infinite wisdom in God, so there is the manifold wisdom of God, Eph 3:10. God speaks to the children of men by all the kinds of wisdom, and, as in every will, so in every word, of God there is a counsel. 1. Human understanding is wisdom, the light and law of nature, the powers and faculties of reason, and the office of conscience, Job 38:36. By these God speaks to the childr…
Now no prayers or most diligent seeking will avail (Pro 8:17).
John Gill on Proverbs 1:28
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer,.... As he called them, and they refused to answer to his call, Proverbs 1:24; so it was just in him to return no answer to them, when they called on him to deliver them from the Romans, and save them from ruin: for this was what they called out for, and what they expected, that the Messiah would come and deliver them; this was what they buoyed themselves up with, and made them so desperate to the last;
they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me; this is the very thing that Christ told the Jews, and much in the same words with these, John 7:34; for when he was gone, and they were in distress, then they sought after the Messiah, i…
Then - this sublime preacher in the streets continues - distress shall teach them to pray:
28 Then shall they call on me, and I will not answer;
They shall early seek after me, and not find me;
29 Because that they hated knowledge,
And did not choose the fear of Jahve.
30 They have not yielded to my counsel,
Despised all my reproof:
31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way,
And satiate themselves with their own counsels.
In the full emphatic forms, יקראנני, they shall call on me, ישׁחרנני, they shall seek me, and ימצאנני, they shall find me, the suffix ני may be joined to the old plur. ending ûn (Gesenius, Olshausen, Bttcher); but open forms like יברכנהוּ, He will bless him,יכב…
The Church Fathers
"But I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper." Behold, he calls through himself, he calls through angels, he calls through the fathers, he calls through the prophets, he calls through the apostles, he calls through pastors, he calls also through us, he often calls through miracles, he often calls through scourges, he sometimes calls through the prosperity of this world, he sometimes calls through adversity. Let no one despise, lest while the one called makes excuses, when he wishes to enter he may not be able. Hear what Wisdom says through Solomon: "Then they shall call upon me, and I will not hear; they shall rise early, and shall not find me." Hence it is that the foolish virgins coming late cry out, saying: "Lord, Lord, open to us." But to those seeking entrance it is then said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, I know you not."
What is it then which Scripture says in many places: "They shall call, and I will not hear them"? Yet surely you are merciful to all who call upon you.... Some call, yet call not upon him of whom it is said, "They have not called upon God." They call, but not on God. You call upon whatever you love: you call upon whatever you draw to yourself, whatever you wish to come to you. Therefore if you call upon God for this reason, in order that money may come to you, that an inheritance may come to you, that worldly rank may come to you, then you are calling upon those things that you desire may come to you; but you are making God the helper of your desires, not the listener to your needs. God is good, if he gives what you wish. What if you wish ill, will he not then be more merciful by not giving? Then if he gives not, then is God nothing to you; and you say, How much I have prayed, how often I have prayed, and have not been heard! Why, what did you ask? Perhaps that your enemy might die. What if he at the same time was praying for your death? God who created you, created him also. You are a human, your enemy also is human. But God is the judge: he hears both, and he grants the prayer to neither. You are sad, because you were not heard when praying against your enemy. But be glad, because his prayer was not heard against you.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Call Of God, The · Rejection by God — Rejection by God
Counsel · REJECTED — REJECTED
Impenitence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Judgments · Are sent, as punishment for: Despising the warnings of God — Are sent, as punishment for: Despising the warnings of God
Obduracy (Hardness) · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Opportunity · THE MEASURE OF RESPONSIBILITY — THE MEASURE OF RESPONSIBILITY
Prayer, Answers To · Denied to those who: Reject the call of God — Denied to those who: Reject the call of God
Repentance · Exhortation to — Exhortation to
Reprobacy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Seeking God · The wicked: Rejected, when too late in — The wicked: Rejected, when too late in
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
