SEV Biblia, Chapter 14:16
¶ El sabio teme, y se aparta del mal; mas el loco se arrebata, y confía.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Proverbs 14:16
Verse 16. A wise man feareth ] He can never trust in himself, though he be satisfied from himself. He knows that his suffiency is of GOD; and he has that fear that causes him to depart from evil, which is a guardian to the love he feels. Love renders him cautious; the other makes him confident. His caution leads him from sin; his confidence leads him to God.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 16. A wise [man] feareth, and departeth from evil , etc.] He fears God, and is careful not to offend him; wherefore he departs from sin, stands at a distance from it, abstains from all appearance of it; being influenced by the goodness and grace of God unto him, he fears the Lord and his goodness, and therefore avoids all occasions of sinning against him: his motive is not merely fear of punishment, as Jarchi, but a sense of goodness; and now, as it is through the influence of divine fear that men depart from evil; so to do this shows a good understanding, and that such a man is a wise man, ( Proverbs 16:6 Job 28:28); but the fool rageth, and is confident ; he fears neither God nor men, he sets his mouth against both; he “rages” in heart, if not with his mouth, against God and his law, which forbid the practice of such sins he delights in; and against all good men, that admonish him of them, rebuke him for them, or dissuade him from them: and “is confident” that no evil shall befall him; he has no concern about a future state, and is fearless of hell and damnation, though just upon the precipice of ruin; yet, as the words may be rendered, “he goes on confidently”, nothing can stop him; he pushes on, regardless of the laws of God or men, of the advices and counsels of his friends, or of what will be the issue of his desperate courses in another world.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 16 - Holy fear guards against every thing unholy.
Original Hebrew
חכם 2450 ירא 3373 וסר 5493 מרע 7451 וכסיל 3684 מתעבר 5674 ובוטח׃ 982
