We shall find all precious substance. This verse carries on the proposal of the sinners one step further, and puts forward a third enticement, viz. that of' the profit of crime, or the prospect of immediate riches, before youth to join in crime.
A short cut to wealth, and to the acquirement of that which costs others long years of steady application and carefulness, is a strong inducement (Wardlaw). We shall find; נִמְצָא (nimetza), from מָצָא (matza), properly "to reach to," and "to find," in the sense of "to come upon;" cf.
Latin invenio. Substance ( הוֹן, hon); i.e. substance in the sense of riches. The radical meaning of הוּן (hun), from which it is derived, is the same as in the Arabic word, "to be light, easy, to be in easy circumstances, and so to be rich" (Gesenius).
In its abstract sense, hon, "substance," means ease, comfort, and concretely riches which bring about that result (see also Fleischer, as quoted by Delitzsch); cf. the LXX. κτῆσις, i.e. collectively, possessions, property.
The Piscatoris Version, for "precious substance," reads divitias, "riches." Precious; יָקָר (yakar), properly " heavy," is found with הוֹן (hon), "substance," in Proverbs 12:27 and Proverbs 24:4. The collocation of the ideas of lightness and heavineess in these two words is striking, but we need not necessarily suppose that any oxymoron is intended, as Schnltens.
Such combinations occur in other languages, and reside more in the radical meanings of the words than in the mind or intention of the writer or speaker. We shall fill our houses with spoil; i.e. they promise not only finding, but full possession (Gejerus, Muffet).
Spoil; שָׁלָל (shalal), from שָׁלַל (shalal), same as the Arabic verb "to draw," and hence "to strip off' (Gesenius); and equivalent to the Greek σκῦλα (LXX.), the arms stripped off a slain enemy, spoils, and the Latin spolia (Vulgate).
Shalal is used generally, as here, for "prey," "booty" (Genesis 49:27; Exodus 15:9). Our gains, say the robbers, will not only be valuable, but numerous and plentiful.