If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 12. Strong. Hebrew el, means also “God threatening every day;” ( Bible.) which must be a proof of his patience, as the Septuagint have intimated, since he could destroy at once. Thus numquid, must be rendered “is he not?” Isaiah 27:7. Bert.—God cannot but be displeased at every sin. He threatens the offender daily by secret remorse, or by his preachers and good books. Bible.—But he often defers punishment ( Worthington.) till death, when the measure of crimes is full. Saint Augustine—This silence or delay is one of the most terrible of his judgments, ( Bible.) and a mark of his great indignation. If he were, however, to strike every one as soon as he had committed sin, where should we be? “He would soon be alone,” as a pagan observed of “Jupiter, if he were presently to hurl his thunderbolts against every offender.” Calmet. See Val. Max. i. 2. Sirach 5:4.