John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 8. A man shall be commended according to his wisdom , etc.] Not according to his birth and pedigree; not according to his riches and wealth; not according to the places of honour and trust he may be in; but according to his wisdom, which he discovers in his words and actions, in his life and conversation: not according to the wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish; not according to the wisdom of the world, which comes to nought, either natural or civil; especially that which lies in sophistry and subtlety, in wicked craft and cunning, whereby men trick, overreach, and defraud one another; but according to that which is spiritual and evangelical; which lies in the knowledge of Christ, and of God in Christ, and of those things which belong to salvation; the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord, and which comes from above, and is pure and peaceable.
A man possessed of this is commended by all wise and good men, and by the Lord himself; as the wise man is by Christ, ( Matthew 7:24,25); who builds his house on a rock; for which reason it stands, as in the preceding verse; but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised ; and which appears by the perverse words he speaks against God and Christ; against his people, ways, and worship, as antichrist and his followers do; and by his perverse actions, which are contrary to the light of nature, to the law of God, and Gospel of Christ: and such vile persons are contemned in the eyes of all good men, and are had in abhorrence by the Lord himself; for such who despise him are lightly esteemed; (see Proverbs 18:3).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 8 - The apostles showed wisdom by glorying in shame for the name of Christ.
Original Hebrew לפי6310 שׂכלו7922 יהלל1984 אישׁ376 ונעוה5753 לב3820 יהיה1961 לבוז׃937
