Matthew Henry on Proverbs 29:2
This is what was said before, Pro 28:12, Pro 28:28. 1. The people will have cause to rejoice or mourn according as their rulers are righteous or wicked; for, if the righteous be in authority, sin will be punished and restrained, religion and virtue will be supported and kept in reputation; but, if the wicked get power in their hands, wickedness will abound, religion and religious people will be persecuted, and so the ends of government will be perverted. 2. The people will actually rejoice or mourn according as their rulers are righteous or wicked. Such a conviction are even the common people under of the excellency of virtue and religion that they will rejoice when they see them preferred a…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 29:2
(Compare Pro 11:10; Pro 28:28).
in authority--(Compare Margin), increased in power.
John Gill on Proverbs 29:2
When the righteous are in authority,.... Or "are increased" (g); either in number or in riches, or in power and dominion; are set in high places, and have the exercise of civil government and the execution of the laws in their hands; for the protection of good men in their civil and religious privileges, and for the punishment of evil men; for the encouraging of all that is good, and for the discouraging of everything that is bad;
the people rejoice; the whole body of the people, because of the public good; a state is happy under such an administration; everyone feels and enjoys the advantage of it; see 1 Kings 4:20;
but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn; or "groan" (h), or "w…
Read the whole note in the consoleKeil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 29:2
The general ethical proverb is here followed by one that is political:
2 When the righteous increase, the people rejoice;
And when a godless man ruleth, the people mourn.
Regarding 'בּרבות צדּ (Aquila rightly, ἐν τῷ πληθῦναι δικαίους), vid., at Pro 28:28. If the righteous form the majority, or are in such numbers that they are the party that give the tone, that form the predominant power among the people (Fleischer, cum incrementa capiunt justi), then the condition of the people is a happy one, and their voice joyful (Pro 11:10); if, on the contrary, a godless man or (after Pro 28:1) godless men rule, the people are made to sigh (יאנח עם, with the Gaja, according to rule). "There is rea…
