SEV Biblia, Chapter 25:20
¶ El que canta canciones al corazón afligido, es como el que quita la ropa en tiempo de frío, o el que sobre el jabón echa vinagre.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Proverbs 25:20
Verse 20. As vinegar upon nitre ] The original word rtn nather is what is known among chemists as the natron of the ancients and of the Scriptures, and carbonate of soda. It is found native in Syria and India, and occurs as an efflorescence on the soil. In Tripoli it is found in crystalline incrustations of from one third to half an inch thiek. It is found also in solution in the water of some lakes in Egypt and Hungary. The borders of these lakes are covered with crystalline masses, of a grayish white or light brown colour; and in some specimens the natron is nearly pure carbonate of soda, and the carbonate is easily discovered by effervescing with an acid. It appears to have its Hebrew name from rtn nathar, to dissolve or loosen: because a solution of it in water is abstersive, taking out spots, &c. It is used in the East for the purposes of washing. If vinegar be poured on it, Dr. Shaw says a strong fermentation immediately takes place, which illustrates what Solomon says here: "The singing of songs to a heavy heart is like vinegar upon natron:" that is, "there is no affinity between them; and opposition, colluctation, and strife, are occasioned by any attempt to unite them." And poureth vyneper upon chalke. - COVERDALE. This also will occasion an effervescence. See Jer. ii. 22.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 20. [As] he that taketh away a garment in cold weather , etc.] Either takes it off of himself, or another person, when it would be rather more proper to put another garment on, and so is exposed to the injury of cold weather; [and as] vinegar upon nitre : nitre was found in Egypt, beyond Memphis, as Strabo says f689 ; there were two mines of nitre, which produced much, and thence it was called the Nitriotic Nome: others say, nitre has its name from Nitria, a town in Egypt f690 , which gives name to the Nitrian desert, where there is a lake called Latron; from the bottom of which, that sort of nitre, called Natron, arises to the top, as is apprehended, and there, by the heat of the sun, condenses into this kind of substance f691 , which will react with an acid; and so vinegar poured upon it will irritate and disturb it, cause it to react, and make a noise and a hissing. This must be understood only of this sort of nitre, of the nitre of the ancients; not of the moderns, which is no other than saltpetre; for though this will ferment with vinegar, saltpetre will not f692 : nitre is dissolved by a liquid, but not any, only that which is cold, as Aristotle observes f693 , as is vinegar; and therefore, with great propriety, this is joined to what goes before; so [is] he that singeth songs to a heavy heart ; rather distresses and afflicts him the more; as he cannot sing himself, he cannot bear to hear others sing; such rather should be condoled and wept with than to have songs sung to them. Some understand the words in a sense the reverse; the word rendered taketh away, in the first clause, has the signification of adorning with a garment; hence they render it, “as he that putteth on a garment f694 for ornament in cold weather, and as vinegar to nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart”; that is, as an additional garment drives away cold, and vinegar dissolves nitre, so singing songs to a heavy hearted man drives away sorrow; as in the case of Saul, such an effect had music on him, ( Samuel 16:21); or rather, to put on a thin garment for ornament in cold weather is as absurd and unseasonable as to put vinegar to nitre, or to a wound, as Schultens, and to sing songs to a heavy heart; all absurd.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 20 - We take a wrong course if we think to relieve those in sorrow by endeavouring to make them merry.
Original Hebrew
מעדה 5710 בגד 899 ביום 3117 קרה 7135 חמץ 2558 על 5921 נתר 5427 ושׁר 7891 בשׁרים 7892 על 5921 לב 3820 רע׃ 7451
