Proverbs 24:17

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Rejoice	תִּשְׂמָ֑ח tis.Mach	H8055	probably to brighten up · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
enemy	אֽ֭וֹיִבְךָ 'oy.vei.kha	H341	hating · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
falleth	בִּנְפֹ֣ל bin.Fol	H5307	to fall · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
heart	לִבֶּֽךָ li.Be.kha	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
glad	יָגֵ֥ל ya.Gel	H1523	properly · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
stumbleth	וּ֝בִכָּשְׁל֗וֹ u.vi.ka.she.Lo	H3782	to totter or waver (through weakness of the legs · conjunction + preposition + verb, niphal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

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

Obadiah 1:12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over…
Job 31:29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him:
Proverbs 17:5 Whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his Maker: and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
2 Samuel 16:5-14 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Ger…
Psalms 35:15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew…
Psalms 35:19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
Psalms 42:10 As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:17-18

Here, 1. The pleasure we are apt to take in the troubles of an enemy is forbidden us. If any have done us an ill turn, or if we bear them ill-will only because they stand in our light or in our way, when any damage comes to them (suppose they fall), or any danger (suppose they stumble), our corrupt hearts are too apt to conceive a secret delight and satisfaction in it - Aha! so would we have it; they are entangled; the wilderness has shut them in - or, as Tyrus said concerning Jerusalem (Eze 26:2) I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste. "Men hope in the ruin of their enemies or rivals to wreak their revenge or to find their account; but be not thou so inhuman; rejoice not when the wor…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:17

Yet let none rejoice over the fate of evildoers, lest God punish their wrong spirit by relieving the sufferer (compare Pro 17:5; Job 31:29).

John Gill on Proverbs 24:17

Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth,.... These words are spoken not to the wicked man, Proverbs 24:15; but to the just man, or Solomon's son, or the children of Wisdom; for by the "enemy" is meant such who are at enmity with the people of God, as the seed of the serpent, and those after the flesh, are: and when these "fall", saints should not "rejoice"; as when they fall into sin; for so to do would be to act as wicked "charity which rejoiceth not in iniquity", 1 Corinthians 13:6, or rather when they fill into calamity and distress; for this is also the part which wicked men act towards the people of God, and should not be imitated in; see Obadiah 1:12. Joy may be expressed at the fall of t…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:17-18

Warning against a vindictive disposition, and joy over its satisfaction. 17 At the fall of thine enemy rejoice not, And at his overthrow let not thine heart be glad; 18 That Jahve see it not, and it be displeasing to Him, And He turns away His anger from Him. The Chethı̂b, which in itself, as the plur. of category, אויביך, might be tolerable, has 17b against it: with right, all interpreters adhere to the Kerı̂ אויבך (with i from ē in doubled close syllable, as in the like Kerı̂, Sa1 24:5). וּבבּשׁלו, for וּבהכּשׁלו, is the syncope usual in the inf. Niph. and Hiph., which in Niph. occurs only once with the initial guttural (as בּעטף) or half guttural (לראות). רעו is not adj. here as at Sa1 2…

The Church Fathers

When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, etc. Earlier he forbade laying snares for the righteous; now, to perfect himself in all things, he also forbids insulting enemies when they sin or incur some adversity, lest perchance, if by the mercy of the Lord they return to repentance and the salvation of their souls and begin to have faithful friendship with you, you would then blush because you once despised those whom divine grace had reserved for life. But, as much as you can, commiserate with those who have fallen, and help them to rise again; and if your wish and endeavor follow through with success, you will rejoice over the one healed whom you had mourned for being ill; otherwise, however, you will not lack the fruit of your goodwill with God. Or certainly it should be said thus: Do not rejoice over the fall of your enemy, lest perhaps the Lord, casting down your pride, which undoubtedly displeases him, humiliates you by making you fall into sin while your enemy, repenting, gets healed.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

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

Enemies · Rejoice not at the failings of — Rejoice not at the failings of
Enemy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Forgiveness · OF ENEMIES — OF ENEMIES
Malice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Revenge · Forbidden by our Lord — Forbidden by our Lord
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).

Proverbs 24:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:17-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:17

John Gill on Proverbs 24:17

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:17-18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 24:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 24:17-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 24:17

John Gill on Proverbs 24:17

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 24:17-18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 24:17-18

Rashi on Proverbs 24:14