a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
boasteth
מִ֝תְהַלֵּ֗לmit.ha.Lel
H1984
to be clear (orig. of sound · verb, hithpael active participle, masculine singular absolute
false
שָֽׁקֶרSha.ker
H8267
an untruth · noun, common masculine singular absolute
gift
בְּמַתַּתbe.ma.tat-
H4991
a present · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
clouds
נְשִׂיאִ֣יםne.si.'Im
H5387
properly · noun, common masculine plural absolute
wind
וְ֭רוּחַVe.Ru.ach
H7307
wind · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
rain
וְגֶ֣שֶׁםve.Ge.shem
H1653
a shower · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
1 Kings 22:11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until th…
2 Corinthians 11:13-18 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2 Peter 2:15-19 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness…
Jude 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admi…
Luke 18:10-14 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 25:14
He may be said to boast of a false gift, 1. Who pretends to have received or given that which he never had, which he never gave, makes a noise of his great accomplishments and his good services, but it is all false; he is not what he pretends to be. Or, 2. Who promises what he will give and what he will do, but performs nothing, who raises people's expectations of the mighty things he will do for his country, for his friends, what noble legacies he will leave, but either he has not wherewithal to do what he says or he never designs it. Such a one is like the morning-cloud, that passes away, and disappoints those who looked for rain from it to water the parched ground (Jde 1:12), clouds witho…
clouds--literally, "vapors" (Jer 10:13), clouds only in appearance.
a false gift--promised, but not given.
John Gill on Proverbs 25:14
Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift,.... Of his charity and alms deeds; bragging of great things he does this way, when he does nothing; or who is very vain in making large promises of what he will give, when he does not perform; either not having it in his heart, or in the power of his hands, to give what he promises; Satan like, who offered to give all the kingdoms of this world to Christ, if he would worship him, when nothing of it belonged unto him, or was in his power to give: and so the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "a glorious man"; that is, a vainglorious man, and "not fulfilling promises". It may very well be applied to false teachers, who boast of their gifts and spiritual k…
This proverb relates to the word which promises much, but remains unaccomplished:
Clouds and wind, and yet no rain -
A man who boasteth with a false gift.
Incorrectly the lxx and Targ. refer the predicate contained in the concluding word of the first line to all the three subjects; and equally incorrectly Hitzig, with Heidenheim, interprets מתּת שׁקר, of a gift that has been received of which one boasts, although it is in reality of no value, because by a lying promise a gift is not at all obtained. But as לחם כזבים, Pro 23:3, is bread which, as it were, deceives him who eats it, so מתת שׁקר is a gift which amounts to a lie, i.e., a deceitful pretence. Rightly Jerome: vir gloriosus et promi…
The Church Fathers
Clouds and wind, etc. This seems similar to what was said earlier, Do not beguile anyone with your lips. But that verse specifically contains this, that you do not promise to take a person in and then deceive by not fulfilling it; this verse, however, can both contain this, and that which the Apostle says, Having a form of godliness, but denying its power (II Timothy III).
Humility therefore is the mistress of all virtues, it is the surest foundation of the heavenly building, it is the special and splendid gift of the Saviour. For he can perform all the miracles which Christ wrought, without danger of being puffed up, who follows the gentle Lord not in the grandeur of His miracles, but in the virtues of patience and humility. But he who aims at commanding unclean spirits, or bestowing gifts of healing, or showing some wonderful miracle to the people, even though when he is showing off he invokes the name of Christ, yet he is far from Christ, because in his pride of heart he does not follow his humble Teacher. For when He was returning to the Father, He prepared, so to speak, His will and left this to His disciples: "A new commandment," said He, "give I unto you that ye love one another; as I have loved you, so do ye also love one another:" and at once He subjoined: "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love to one another." He says not: "if ye do signs and miracles in the same way," but "if ye have love to one another;" and this it is certain that none but the meek and humble can keep. Wherefore our predecessors never reckoned those as good monks or free from the fault of vainglory, who professed themselves exorcists among men, and proclaimed with boastful ostentation among admiring crowds the grace which they had either obtained or which they claimed. But in vain, for "he who trusteth in lies feedeth the winds: and the same runneth after birds that fly away." For without doubt that will happen to them which we find in Proverbs: "As the winds and clouds and rain are very clear so are these who boast of a fictitious gift." And so if any one does any of these things in our presence, he ought to meet with commendation from us not from admiration of his miracles, but from the beauty of his life, nor should we ask whether the devils are subject to him, but whether he possesses those features of love which the Apostle describes.
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
Cloud — The Hebrew so rendered means “a covering,” because clouds cover the sky. The word is used as a symbol of the Divine presence, as indicating the splendour of that glory which it conceals (Ex. 16:10;…
Boasting · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Bribery · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Clouds · Illustrative: (Without rain,) of the fraudulent — Illustrative: (Without rain,) of the fraudulent
Ostentation · In prayer and almsgiving — In prayer and almsgiving
Pride · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Self-Righteousness · 2:9; — 2:9;
Wind, The · Illustrative: (Without rain,) of one who boasts of a false gift — Illustrative: (Without rain,) of one who boasts of a false gift
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).
In Israel, rain is rare. When rain does not follow the appearance of storm clouds, it is like the disappointment caused by someone who gives empty promises. Cp. Jude’s description of false teachers (Jude 1:12).
Rashi on Proverbs 25:14
Clouds and wind, etc. When there is a false hope—when the heavens thicken with clouds and the wind blows—people hope that it will rain. Now if it does not rain, they are troubled and their eyes languish. So is a man who boasts, saying, “So much and so much charity I will give to the collector,” but he lies, and the eyes of the poor languish for his gift, but it does not come.
