As he that takes away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda, so is he that sings songs to a heavy heart.
All Commentaries on Proverbs 25:20 Go To Proverbs 25
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
And. Protestants, "as he that taketh away a, and as vinegar.to a heavy heart. "(Haydock)
The former sentence may be joined with the preceding, as it is improper to deprive a person of his garment, no less than to trust in the faithless; though some would suppose (Calmet) that this conduct, as well as the mixing of vinegar with nitre, is no less absurd than to attempt to relieve by music those who are extremely afflicted, Ecclesiasticus xxii. 6. (Tirinus)
But Solomon does not speak of such, but only of those who are "heavy "and we know that music has wonderful efficacy in relieving them, (1 Kings xvi. 17.) in like manner as this mixture serves to cleanse the skin and garments, (Jeremias ii. 22.; Calmet) and to purify the ears, when they are deafish. (Pliny, xxxi. 10.; Vales. lx.)
As a, is not in Hebrew, St. Jerome (Calmet)
The Chaldean has the latter part, (Haydock) "grief tries the heart, as fire does silver. As the worm eats wood, so folly "(Calmet)
