Proverbs 29:18

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

a. ASV: Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

b. YLT: Without a Vision is a people made naked, And whoso is keeping the law, O his happiness!

c. Classic Amplified: Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]—blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.

d. Septuagint: There shall be no interpreter to a sinful nation: but he that observes the law is blessed.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings: Where there is no prophecy the people become unrestrained, but one who keeps the Torah is praiseworthy.

1. “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”

a. [Where there is] no [Strong: 369 'ayin ah'-yin as if from a primitive root meaning to be nothing or not exist; a non-entity; generally used as a negative particle:--else, except, fail, (father-)less, be gone, in(-curable), neither, never, no (where), none, nor, (any, thing), not, nothing, to nought, past, un(-searchable), well-nigh, without.] 

b. vision [Strong: 2377 chazown khaw-zone' from 2372; a sight (mentally), i.e. a dream, revelation, or oracle:--vision.]

c. [the] people [Strong: 5971 `am am from 6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:--folk, men, nation, people.]

d. perish [Strong: 6544 para` paw-rah' a primitive root; to loosen; by implication, to expose, dismiss; figuratively, absolve, begin:--avenge, avoid, bare, go back, let, (make) naked, set at nought, perish, refuse, uncover.]

2. “...but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”

a. [but he that] keepeth [Strong: 8104 shamar shaw-mar' a primitive root; properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect, attend to, etc.:--beward, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep(-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch(-man).]

b. [the] law [Strong: 8451 towrah to-raw' or torah {to-raw'}; from 3384; a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch:--law.]

c. happy [is he] [Strong: 835 'esher eh'-sher from 833; happiness; only in masculine plural construction as interjection, how happy!:--blessed, happy.]

1). For decades the United States has rejected the things of God in this nation. There are elements in this nation that have tried to wipe out any influence of our Judeo-Christian heritage. One such example is the forbidding of posting any of the word of God in public schools.

  a). “Ten Commandments Thrown Out Of School”, Cincinnati Enquirer, 11/18/80, Washington: “Thou shalt not post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, the Supreme Court told states Monday. By a 5-4 vote, the justices invalidated a 1978 Kentucky law requiring that a 16 x 20 inch copy of the Ten Commandments, purchased at private expense, be placed on the wall of every public classroom in the state. “The preeminent purpose for posting the Ten Commandments on school room walls is plainly religious in nature,” the court majority concluded in an unsigned opinion issued without waiting for oral arguments and complete legal briefs. The state had argued that the statute did not violate the constitutional principle of church-state separation because no public funds were involved. Moreover, the state contended, the Ten Commandments brought down from Mt. Sinai by Moses in the Old Testament have become the foundation of American law. Those arguments were summarily rejected by the Court, which itself sits in a courtroom that includes Moses among its lawgivers. Above the justices’ heads, in fact, is a marble panel depicting the Ten Commandments, flanked by the Majesty of the Law and the Power of Government.”   

2). Stone v. Graham makes it unconstitutional to post the Ten Commandments at public schools or Courthouses. Yet two prominent Founding Fathers didn’t believe incorporating at least two of the Ten Commandments into law were unconstitutional.

a). Oliver Ellsworth, On a Religious Test for Holding Public Office. “If any test were to be made, perhaps the least exceptionable would be one requiring all persons appointed to office to declare, at the time of their admission, their belief in the being of God, and in the divine authority of the Scriptures. In favor of such a test, it may be said that one who believes these great truths will not be so likely to violate his obligations to his country as one who disbelieves them; we may have greater confidence in his integrity. But I answer: His making a declaration of such a belief is no security at all. For suppose him to be an unprincipled man who believes neither the Word or the being of God, and to be governed merely by selfish motives, how easy is it for him to dissemble!...But while I assert the rights of religious liberty, I would not deny that the civil power has a right, in some cases to interfere in matters of religion. It has a right to prohibit and punish gross immoralities and impieties; because the open practice of these is of evil example and detriment. For this reason, I heartily approve of our laws against drunkenness, profane swearing, blasphemy, and professed atheism.”

(1) First printed in the Connecticut Courant and the American Mercury. Reprinted in The Annals of America, Vol. 3, 1784-1796, pp. 169-172, Published by Britannica.

(2) Oliver Ellsworth was a Connecticut delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, nominated by George Washington.

b). Details regarding James Madison legislating elements of the 4th Commandment come to light in McGowan v. State of Maryland, the 1961 Supreme Court case that upheld Sunday closing laws. Chief Justice Earl Warren authored the decision. “This Court has considered the happenings surrounding the Virginia General Assembly’s enactment of “An Act for Establishing Religious Freedom”, 12 Hening’s Statutes of Virginia 84, written by Thomas Jefferson and sponsored by James Madison, as best reflecting the long and intensive struggle for religious freedom in America, as particularly relevant in search for the First Amendment’s meaning. See the opinions in Everson v. Board of Education (US) supra. In 1776, nine years before the bill’s passage, Madison co-authored Virginia’s Declaration of Rights which provided, inter alia, that “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience…” 9 Hening’s Statutes of Virginia 109, 11-112. Virginia had had Sunday legislation since early in the seventeenth century; in 1776, the laws penalizing “maintaining any opinions in matters of religion, forbearing to repair to church, or the exercising any mode of worship whatsoever” (emphasis added), were repealed, and all dissenters were freed from the taxes levied for the support of the established church. Id., at 164. The Sunday labor prohibitions remained; apparently, they were not believed to be inconsistent with the newly enacted Declaration of Rights. Madison sought also to have the Declaration expressly condemn the existing Virginia establishment. This hope was finally realized when “A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom” was passed in 1785. In this same year 1785, Madison presented to Virginia legislators “A Bill for Punishing…Sabbathbreakers” which provided, in part: “If any person on Sunday shall himself be found laboring at his own or any other trade or calling, or shall employ his apprentices, servants or slaves in labour, or other business, except it be in the ordinary household offices of daily necessity, or other work of necessity or charity, he shall forfeit the sum of ten shillings for every such offence, deeming every apprentice, servant, or slave so employed, and every day he shall be so employed as constituting a distinct offence.” This became law the following year and remained during the time that Madison fought for the First Amendment in the Congress. It was the law in Virginia, and similar laws were in force in other States, when Madison stated at the Virginia ratification convention: “Happily for the states, they enjoy the utmost freedom of religion…Fortunately for this commonwealth, a majority of the people are decidedly against any exclusive establishment. I believe it to be so in the other states…I can appeal to my uniform conduct on this subject, that I have warmly supported religious freedom.” 

a). In this quote from McGowan v. State of Maryland, 1961, we see that James Madison, in a nine year period from 1776 to 1785, not only successfully fought for religious freedom in Virginia and against the Established Church in Virginia; he also was successful in legislating elements of the Fourth Commandment in Virginia.

3). It is a covenant responsibility for believers in this nation to contend in a godly manner with those who forsake the law, the covenant of God. 

a). Proverbs 28:4 They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.