- Keil-Delitzsch
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
- Tyndale
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary
The following comparative tristich refers to faithful service rendered by words:
Like the coolness of snow on a harvest day
Is a faithful messenger to them that send him:
He refresheth the soul of his master.
The coolness (צנּה from צנן, צנן, to be cool) of snow is not that of a fall of snow, which in the time of harvest would be a calamity, but of drink cooled with snow, which was brought from Lebanon or elsewhere, from the clefts of the rocks; the peasants of Damascus store up the winter's snow in a cleft of the mountains, and convey it in the warm months to Damascus and the coast towns. Such a refreshment is a faithful messenger (vid., regarding ציר, Pro 13:17, here following קציר as a kind of echo) to them that send him (vid., regarding this plur. at Pro 10:26, cf. Pro 22:21); he refreshes, namely (ו explicativum, as e.g., Eze 18:19, etenim filius, like the ו et quidem, Mal 1:11, different from the ו of conditional clause Pro 23:3), the soul of his master; for the answer which he brings to his master refreshes him, as does a drink of snow-cooled water on a hot harvest day.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Snow from mountains was used to cool drinks; so refreshing is a faithful messenger (Pro 13:17).
John Gill Bible Commentary
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest,.... As water as cold as snow; or as a breeze of air, such as in a time of snow; and so Jarchi,
"as the cold of the days of snow, which a man desires in summer, and not snow simply, for snow itself is not good in the time of harvest;''
see Pro 24:1. Or rather "as a shield" or "covering of snow" (h), as the word signifies: perhaps, as Gussetius (i) thanks, a vessel in such a form, in which snow was kept in summer, is meant; and the same word, the two first radical letters being doubled, is used for the pot, or urn, in which the manna was kept, Exo 16:33. As snow, that in those hot countries used to be kept in vessels, in places underground, to cool their drink with in summertime; just as ice is kept with us, in like places, for the same purpose; and then the sense is, as drink cooled with snow is very agreeable, and exceeding refreshing to those that labour in the field in the time of harvest;
so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters: such an one that is sent with a message, and faithfully executes it, while he is gone, the mind of his master is very thoughtful about the it sue and success of it; but when he returns and gives him an account of it, and especially when he succeeds to his wish; it "restores" and settles his mind, as the word (k) signifies; and gives him a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction, and renders the messenger dear and valuable to him. Christ is the messenger, one of a thousand, sent by his divine Father on a message of grace and salvation, in which he has succeeded being faithful to him that appointed him; and so exceeding acceptable to him, his servant, his elect, in whom his soul delighteth! Gospel ministers are messengers, and faithful ones, whose feet are beautiful, and their words acceptable to souls to whom they are sent, and are a sweet savour to him that sent them; and who will commend them as good and faithful servants, and appoint them rulers over many cities, and introduce them into his joy.
(h) "sicut scutum ex nive", some in Gejerus, so Aben Ezra; "sicat tectio nivis", Michaelis. (i) Comment. Ebr. p. 718. (k) "restituit", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "faciet reqiuiescere", Pagninus, Baynus.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
See here, 1. What ought to be the care of a servant, the meanest that is sent on an errand and entrusted with any business, much more the greatest, the agent and ambassador of a prince; he ought to be faithful to him that sends him, and to see to it that he do not, by mistake or with design, falsify his trust, and that he be in nothing that lies in his power wanting to his master's interest. Those that act as factors, by commission, ought to act as carefully as for themselves. 2. How much this will be the satisfaction of the master; it will refresh his soul as much as ever the cold of snow (which is hot countries they preserve by art all the year round) refreshed the labourers in the harvest, that bore the burden and heat of the day. The more important the affair was, and the more fear of its miscarrying, the more acceptable is the messenger, if he have managed it successfully and well. A faithful minister, Christ's messenger, should be thus acceptable to us (Job 33:23); however, he will be a sweet savour to God, Co2 2:15.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
25:13 Snow would be a welcome relief in Israel’s hot, dry summers (cp. 26:1); trustworthy messengers refresh their employer by enabling him or her to plan for the future.
