Text -- Proverbs 2:1-17 (NET)

Benefits of Seeking Wisdom

2:1 My child, if you receive my words, and store up my commands within you, 2:2 by making your ear attentive to wisdom, and by turning your heart to understanding, 2:3 indeed, if you call out for discernment– raise your voice for understanding– 2:4 if you seek it like silver, and search for it like hidden treasure, 2:5 then you will understand how to fear the Lord, and you will discover knowledge about God. 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 2:7 He stores up effective counsel for the upright, and is like a shield for those who live with integrity, 2:8 to guard the paths of the righteous and to protect the way of his pious ones. 2:9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity– every good way. 2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and moral knowledge will be attractive to you. 2:11 Discretion will protect you, understanding will guard you, 2:12 to deliver you from the way of the wicked, from those speaking perversity, 2:13 who leave the upright paths to walk on the dark ways, 2:14 who delight in doing evil, they rejoice in perverse evil; 2:15 whose paths are morally crooked, and who are devious in their ways; 2:16 to deliver you from the adulteress, from the sexually loose woman who speaks flattering words; 2:17 who leaves the husband from her younger days, and forgets her marriage covenant made before God.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Pro 2:1

Lay them up in thy heart with care, as men do their choicest treasures.

Wesley: Pro 2:3

To God, the only giver of it.

Wesley: Pro 2:4

With unwearied diligence and earnest desire and patient expectation.

Wesley: Pro 2:8

Righteous paths, judgment being here put for righteousness. And keeping of paths may be put for keeping them in their paths.

Wesley: Pro 2:9

When God in answer to thy desires hath given thee wisdom.

Wesley: Pro 2:9

All the parts of thy duty to man, as well as the fear of God.

Wesley: Pro 2:10

Thou dost truly love wisdom.

Wesley: Pro 2:13

Of sin.

Wesley: Pro 2:15

Who swerve from the straight way of God's law, and have windings and turnings, to escape conviction.

Wesley: Pro 2:16

From the adulteress or whore.

Wesley: Pro 2:17

Her husband whom she took to be her guide and governor, in her youth.

Wesley: Pro 2:17

The marriage covenant: so called because God is the author of that mutual obligation: and because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn promise and covenant.

JFB: Pro 2:1-5

Men are invited to seek wisdom because it teaches those principles by which they may obtain God's guidance and avoid the society and influence of the wicked, whose pernicious courses are described. (Pro. 2:1-22)

Diligence in hearing and praying for instruction must be used to secure the great principle of godliness, the fear of God.

JFB: Pro 2:1-5

Lay up in store (compare Pro 7:1).

JFB: Pro 2:2

Listen attentively and reflect seriously (Pro 1:24; Psa 130:2).

JFB: Pro 2:2

Right perception of truth.

JFB: Pro 2:3

Literally, "When if," that is, in such a case.

JFB: Pro 2:3

Or, "discrimination."

JFB: Pro 2:3

As in Pro 2:2.

JFB: Pro 2:4

There must be earnest prayer and effort.

JFB: Pro 2:5

Or, "perceive intelligently."

JFB: Pro 2:5

Obtain.

JFB: Pro 2:6

God is ready (Jam 1:5; Jam 4:8).

JFB: Pro 2:6

By revelation from Him.

JFB: Pro 2:7

Literally, "substance," opposed to what is fictitious. According to the context, this may be assistance, as here corresponding with

JFB: Pro 2:7

Or safety, or wisdom, which procures it (compare Pro 3:21; Pro 8:14; Pro 18:1; Job 6:13; Job 12:13).

JFB: Pro 2:7

Provides, ever ready.

JFB: Pro 2:8

God defends the right way, and those in it.

JFB: Pro 2:8

Objects of favor (compare Psa 4:3, &c.). He guides and guards them.

JFB: Pro 2:9

Emphatic, in such a case.

JFB: Pro 2:9

All parts of duty to God and man.

JFB: Pro 2:10-11

Idea of Pro 2:9, amplified; on terms, compare Pro 2:2 and Pro 2:4.

JFB: Pro 2:12-15

As from great danger (Pro 6:5).

JFB: Pro 2:12-15

(Psa 1:1).

JFB: Pro 2:12-15

Perversity (Pro 6:14; Pro 23:23), what is opposed to truth.

JFB: Pro 2:13

Or, "plainness."

JFB: Pro 2:13

Habitually act;

JFB: Pro 2:14

And that with pleasure, in ignorance of good and pursuit of evil.

JFB: Pro 2:14

Not only their own perversity, but that of others is their delight. They love most the worst things.

JFB: Pro 2:15

Tortuous, unprincipled.

JFB: Pro 2:15

Literally, (they) are going back, not only aside from right, but opposite to it.

JFB: Pro 2:16-19

Deliverance from another danger.

JFB: Pro 2:16-19

This term is often used for harlot, or loose woman (Jdg 11:1-2), married (Pro 7:5, Pro 7:19) or not (1Ki 11:1), so called, because such were, perhaps at first, foreigners, though "strange" may also denote whatever is opposed to right or proper, as "strange fire" (Num 3:4); "strange incense" (Exo 30:9).

JFB: Pro 2:16-19

Literally, "smooths."

JFB: Pro 2:16-19

(Psa 5:9).

JFB: Pro 2:17

Lawful husband (Jer 3:4).

JFB: Pro 2:17

Of marriage made in God's name.

Clarke: Pro 2:1

My son - Here the tutor still continues to instruct his disciple

Hide my commandments with theel Treasure them up in thy heart, and then act from them through the medium of thy affections. He who has the rule of his duty only in his Bible and in his head, is not likely to be a steady, consistent character; his heart is not engaged, and his obedience, in any case, can be only forced, or done from a sense of duty: it is not the obedience of a loving, dutiful child, to an affectionate father. But he who has the word of God in his heart, works from his heart; his heart goes with him in all things, and he delights to do the will of his heavenly Father, because his law is in his heart. See Pro 3:3.

Clarke: Pro 2:4

If thou seekest her as silver - How do men seek money? What will they not do to get rich? Reader, seek the salvation of thy soul as earnestly as the covetous man seeks wealth; and be ashamed of thyself, if thou be less in earnest after the true riches than he is after perishing wealth

Clarke: Pro 2:4

Hid treasures - The original word signifies property of any kind concealed in the earth, in caves or such like; and may also mean treasures, such as the precious metals or precious stones, which are presumptively known to exist in such and such mines. And how are these sought? Learn from the following circumstance: In the Brazils slaves are employed to scrape up the soil from the bed of the Rio Janeiro, and wash it carefully, in order to find particles of gold and diamonds; and it is a law of the state, that he who finds a diamond of so many carats shall have his freedom. This causes the greatest ardor and diligence in searching, washing out the soil, picking, etc., in order to find such diamonds, and the greatest anxiety for success; so precious is liberty to the human heart. This method of searching for gold and precious stones is alluded to in Pro 3:13-15. In this way Solomon wishes men to seek for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding; and he who succeeds finds the liberty of the children of God, and is saved from the slavery of sin and the empire of death.

Clarke: Pro 2:7

He layeth up sound wisdom - תושיה tushiyah . We have met with this word in Job; see Job 5:12; Job 6:13; Job 11:6; Job 12:16. See especially the note on Job 11:6 (note), where the different acceptations of the word are given

Coverdale translates, "He preserveth the welfare of the righteous."It is difficult to find, in any language, a term proper to express the original meaning of the word; its seems to mean generally the essence or substance of a thing, The thing itself - that which is chief of its kind. He layeth up What Is Essential for the righteous.

Clarke: Pro 2:9

Then shalt thou understand - He who is taught of God understands the whole law of justice, mercy, righteousness, and truth; God has written this on his heart. He who understands these things by books only is never likely to practice or profit by them.

Clarke: Pro 2:11

Discretion shall preserve thee - מזמה mezimmah . See on Pro 1:4 (note). Here the word is taken in a good sense, a good device. The man invents purposes of good; and all his schemes, plans, and devices, have for their object God’ s glory and the good of man: he deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things he shall stand. Coverdale translates, "Then shall Counsel preserve thee."A very good translation, much better than the present.

Clarke: Pro 2:12

The man that speaketh froward things - תהפכות tahpuchoth , things of subverston; from תפך taphach , to turn or change the course of a thing. Men who wish to subvert the state of things, whether civil or religious; who are seditious themselves, and wish to make others so. These speak much of liberty and oppression, deal greatly in broad assertions, and endeavor especially to corrupt the minds of youth.

Clarke: Pro 2:16

The stranger which flattereth with her words - החליקה hechelikah , she that smooths with her words. The original intimates the glib, oily speeches of a prostitute. The English lick is supposed to be derived from the original word.

Clarke: Pro 2:17

Which forsaketh the guide of her youth - Leaves her father’ s house and instructions, and abandons herself to the public

Clarke: Pro 2:17

The covenant of her God - Renounces the true religion, and mixes with idolaters; for among them prostitution was enormous. Or by the covenant may be meant the matrimonial contract, which is a covenant made in the presence of God between the contracting parties, in which they bind themselves to be faithful to each other.

Defender: Pro 2:4

The words of God, as available now in the Holy Scriptures, are inexhaustibly rich and provide infallible guidance in every area of life and truth (Pro 23:23; Mat 13:44, Mat 13:52)."

Defender: Pro 2:5

This phrase, "the fear of the Lord," occurs fourteen times in Proverbs (Pro 1:7, Pro 1:29; Pro 2:5; Pro 8:13; Pro 9:10; Pro 10:27; Pro 14:26, Pro 14:27; Pro 15:16, Pro 15:33; Pro 16:6; Pro 19:23; Pro 22:4; Pro 23:17). The concept of "fear," of course, implies reverence, such as a good son would feel toward his godly father. When necessary, of course, God - just as would an earthly father - may chastise His disobedient sons."

Defender: Pro 2:16

The "strange woman" ("alien woman") is named as such no less than ten times in Proverbs, with both literal and figurative applications. Foreign women, with different gods and moral standards than those of Israel, often led God's people into sin, including Solomon himself (1Ki 11:1-8). This situation also represents spiritual adultery, with the Israelites not only consorting with strange women but also worshipping strange gods. This is suggested in the next verse, "forgetteth the covenant of her god" (Pro 2:17)."

TSK: Pro 2:1

if : Pro 1:3, Pro 4:1, Pro 7:1; Joh 12:47, Joh 12:48; 1Ti 1:15

hide : Pro 3:1, Pro 4:20-22, Pro 6:21; Deu 6:6-9; Job 23:12; Psa 119:9-11; Mat 13:44; Luk 2:19, Luk 2:51, Luk 9:44

TSK: Pro 2:2

thou : Pro 18:1; Psa 119:111, Psa 119:112; Isa 55:3; Mat 13:9

apply : Pro 22:17-21, Pro 23:12; Psa 90:12; Ecc 7:25, Ecc 8:9, Ecc 8:16; Act 17:11

TSK: Pro 2:3

if : Pro 3:6, Pro 8:17; 1Ki 3:9-12; 1Ch 22:12; Psa 25:4, Psa 25:5, Psa 119:34, Psa 119:73, Psa 119:125, Psa 119:169; Luk 11:13; Eph 1:17, Eph 1:18; Jam 1:5

liftest up thy voice : Heb. givest thy voice

TSK: Pro 2:4

thou : Pro 3:14, Pro 3:15, Pro 8:18, Pro 8:19, Pro 16:16, Pro 23:23; Psa 19:10, Psa 119:14, Psa 119:72, Psa 119:127; Mat 6:19-21; Mat 13:44, Mat 19:21, Mat 19:22, Mat 19:29

searchest : Job 28:12-20; Ecc 4:8; Luk 16:8

TSK: Pro 2:5

shalt : 2Ch 1:10-12; Hos 6:3; Mat 7:7, Mat 7:8; Luk 11:9-13

the fear : Pro 9:10; Job 28:28; Jer 32:40, Jer 32:41

find : Jer 9:24, Jer 24:7, Jer 31:34; Mat 11:27; Luk 10:22; Joh 17:3; 1Jo 5:20

TSK: Pro 2:6

the Lord : Exo 31:3; 1Ki 3:9, 1Ki 3:12, 1Ki 4:29; 1Ch 22:12; Job 32:8; Isa 54:13; Dan 1:17; Dan 2:21, Dan 2:23; Luk 21:15; Joh 6:45; Eph 1:17, Eph 1:18; Jam 1:5, Jam 1:17

out : Pro 6:23, Pro 8:5-9; Psa 19:7, Psa 119:98, Psa 119:104; Isa 8:20

TSK: Pro 2:7

layeth : Pro 8:14, Pro 14:8; Job 28:8; 1Co 1:19, 1Co 1:24, 1Co 1:30, 1Co 2:6, 1Co 2:7, 1Co 3:18, 1Co 3:19; Col 2:3; 2Ti 3:15-17; Jam 3:15-17

a buckler : Pro 28:18, Pro 30:5; Psa 84:11, Psa 144:2

TSK: Pro 2:8

keepeth : Pro 8:20; Psa 1:6, Psa 23:3, Psa 121:5-8; Isa 35:9, Isa 49:9, Isa 49:10; Joh 10:28, Joh 10:29

and : Pro 3:21-24; Deu 33:3, Deu 33:26-29; 1Sa 2:9; Psa 37:23, Psa 37:24, Psa 37:28, Psa 37:31, Psa 66:9, Psa 145:20; Jer 32:40, Jer 32:41; 1Pe 1:5; Jud 1:24

TSK: Pro 2:9

Pro 1:2-6; Psa 25:8, Psa 25:9, Psa 32:8, Psa 119:99, Psa 119:105, Psa 143:8-10; Isa 35:8, Isa 48:17; Jer 6:16; Mat 7:13, Mat 7:14; Joh 14:6

TSK: Pro 2:10

Pro 18:1, Pro 18:2, Pro 24:13, Pro 24:14; Job 23:12; Psa 19:10, Psa 104:34, Psa 119:97, Psa 119:103, Psa 119:111, Psa 119:162; Jer 15:16; Col 3:16

TSK: Pro 2:11

Pro 4:6, Pro 6:22-24; Psa 25:21, Psa 119:9-11; Ecc 9:15-18, Ecc 10:10; Eph 5:15

TSK: Pro 2:12

deliver : Pro 1:10-19, Pro 4:14-17, Pro 9:6, Pro 13:20; Psa 17:4, Psa 17:5, Psa 26:4, Psa 26:5, Psa 141:4; 2Co 6:17

from the man : Pro 3:32, Pro 8:13, Pro 16:28-30; Psa 101:4; Isa 59:3-5; Act 20:30; 1Co 15:33

TSK: Pro 2:13

leave : Pro 21:16; Psa 14:3, Psa 36:3; Eze 18:26, Eze 33:12, Eze 33:13; Zep 1:6; Mat 12:43-45; 2Ti 4:10; Heb 6:4-6; 2Pe 2:20-22; 1Jo 2:19

walk : Pro 4:19; Job 24:13-16; Joh 3:19, Joh 3:20, Joh 12:35; Rom 1:21; 1Th 5:5-7; Joh 1:6, Joh 2:9-11

TSK: Pro 2:14

rejoice : Pro 10:23; Jer 11:15; Hab 1:15; Zep 3:11; 1Co 13:6

and : Hos 7:3; Luk 22:4, Luk 22:5; Rom 1:32

TSK: Pro 2:15

Deu 32:5; Psa 125:5; Isa 30:8-13, Isa 59:8; Phi 2:15

TSK: Pro 2:16

deliver : Prov. 5:3-20, Pro 6:24, 7:5-23, Pro 22:14, Pro 23:27; Gen 39:3-12; Neh 13:26, Neh 13:27; Ecc 7:26

flattereth : Pro 7:21, Pro 29:5

TSK: Pro 2:17

the guide : Pro 5:18; Jer 3:4

forgetteth : Eze 16:8, Eze 16:59, Eze 16:60; Mal 2:14-16

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Pro 2:1

Now in the divine order comes the promise Pro 2:5. The conditions of its fulfillment are stated in Pro 2:1-4 in four sets of parallel clauses, each with some shade of distinct meaning. Thus, not "receiving"only, but "hiding"or treasuring up - not the "ear"only, but the "heart"- not the mere "cry,"but the eager "lifting up the voice."

Barnes: Pro 2:4

Note the illustrations.

(1) Contact with Phoenician commerce, and joint expeditions in ships of Tarshish (see Psa 72:10 note), had made the Israelites familiar with the risks and the enterprise of the miller’ s life. Compare Job 28:

(2) The treasure hidden in a field, is the second point of comparison. Such treasure-seeking has always been characteristic of the East. Compare Mat 13:44.

Barnes: Pro 2:5

The promise. The highest blessedness is to know God Joh 17:3. If any distinction between "the Lord" יהוה y^e hovâh and "God" אלהים 'elohı̂ym can be pressed here, it is that in the former the personality, in the latter the glory, of the divine nature is prominent.

Barnes: Pro 2:6

People do not gain wisdom by any efforts of their own, but God gives it according to the laws of His own goodness.

Barnes: Pro 2:7

Sound wisdom - " Soundness,"an idea which passes on into that of health and safety. Compare "sound doctrine"in 1Ti 1:10; 2Ti 4:3.

Barnes: Pro 2:8

saints - The devout and God-fearing. Compare Psa 85:8 etc. The occurrence of the word here, in a book that became more and more prominent as prophetic utterances ceased, probably helped to determine its application in the period of the Maccabean struggles to those who especially claimed for themselves the title of "devout"(Chasidim, the ̓Ασιδαῖοι Asidaioi of 1 Macc. 7:13).

Barnes: Pro 2:10

Another picture of the results of living in the fear of the Lord. Not that to which it leads a man, but that from which it saves him, is brought into view. Notice also that it is one thing for wisdom to find entrance into the soul, another to be welcomed as a "pleasant"guest.

Barnes: Pro 2:12-15

The evil-doers here include not robbers and murderers only Pro 1:10-16, but all who leave the straight path and the open day for crooked ways, perverse counsels, deeds of darkness. "To delight etc."Pro 2:14 is the lowest depth of all.

Barnes: Pro 2:16

The second great evil, the warnings against which are frequent (see the marginal reference). Two words are used to describe the class.

(1) "The strange woman"is one who does not belong to the family, one who by birth is outside the covenant of Israel.

(2) "The stranger"is none other than a foreigner.

It is the word used of the "strange"wives of Solomon 1Ki 11:1, 1Ki 11:8, and of those of the Jews who returned from Babylon (Ezra 10; passim). The two words together, in connection with those which follow, and which imply at once marriage and a profession of religious faith, point to some interesting facts in the social history of Israel. Whatever form the sin here referred to had assumed before the monarchy (and the Book of Judges testifies to its frequency), the contact with Phoenicians and other nations under Solomon had a strong tendency to increase it. The king’ s example would naturally be followed, and it probably became a fashion to have foreign wives and concubines. At first, it would seem, this was accompanied by some show of proselytism Pro 2:17; but the old pagan leaven (influence) presently broke out; the sensual worship of other gods led the way to a life of harlotry. The stringent laws of the Mosaic code Lev 19:29; Lev 21:9; Deu 23:18 probably deterred the women of Israel from that sin, and led to a higher standard of purity among them than prevailed among other nations.

Most interpreters have, however, generalized the words as speaking of any adulteress. The Septuagint as if reluctant to speak of facts so shameful, has allegorized them, and seen in the temptress the personification of "evil counsel."

Barnes: Pro 2:17

The guide of her youth - Better, the familiar friend (compare Pro 16:28; Pro 17:9). The "friend"is, of course, the husband, or the man to whom the strange woman first belonged as a recognized concubine. Compare Jer 3:4

The covenant of her God - The sin of the adulteress is not against man only but against the Law of God, against His covenant. The words point to some religious formula of espousals. Compare Mal 2:14.

Poole: Pro 2:2

Give thyself to the study of it with affection and diligence.

Poole: Pro 2:3

If thou criest to wit, unto God, the only giver of it, Pro 2:5 , Heb. if thou callest ; invitest it to come unto thee; earnestly desirest its conduct.

Poole: Pro 2:4

With the same unwearied diligence, and earnest desire, and patient expectation under all delays, disappointments, and difficulties, which worldlings use in the purchase of riches, or in digging in mines of silver.

Poole: Pro 2:5

Understand more perfectly and profitably for that very seeking and searching after it, Pro 2:4 , supposed some understanding.

The fear of the Lord which is the beginning of this wisdom, Pro 1:7 .

Poole: Pro 2:6

Giveth wisdom Heb. will give ; hath promised to give it, to wit, to those that so seek it; whereby he also teacheth them not to ascribe any wisdom which they may obtain unto their own wit and industry, but only unto God’ s favour and blessing. Out of his mouth from his word, or appointment, and good will; as the word of God is taken, Deu 8:3 .

Poole: Pro 2:7

Sound wisdom Heb. essence or substance ; either,

1. Solid and true felicity, opposed to the vain enjoyments of this world, which are said to have no substance or being, Pro 23:5 . Or,

2. True and substantial wisdom, which is satisfactory and everlasting, opposed to worldly wisdom, which is but an empty shadow of wisdom, and perisheth with us.

A buckler to them to protect and save them from that mischief and ruin which shall befall all wicked men.

Poole: Pro 2:8

He keepeth the paths of judgment he guardeth and guideth the paths or ways, i.e. the counsels and actions, of good men, as the next clause explains this, which are called

paths of judgment or righteous paths ; judgment being here put for righteousness , as it is in Psa 99:4 , and oft elsewhere. And keeping of paths may be put for keeping them in their paths, so as they shall neither swerve from them, nor stumble and fall in them. And preserve the way of his saints ; the same thing repeated in other words.

Poole: Pro 2:9

Then ; when thou hast done thy part, expressed Pro 2:1-3 , &c., and God in answer to thy desires hath given thee wisdom, Pro 2:6 ; or when it is with thee, as it follows, Pro 2:10 . Righteousness, and judgment, and equity ; all the parts of thy duty to man, as well as the fear of God, Pro 2:5 , which contains all duties to God. These three words are used here, as also Pro 1:3 , to signify the same thing. Every good path ; the practice of all virtues and graces.

Poole: Pro 2:10

When wisdom entereth into thine heart when thou dost truly love it, and passionately desire it, and hide its precepts in thy heart, according to Psa 119:11 .

Poole: Pro 2:11

From wicked courses, and the mischiefs which attend upon them; as is particularly expressed in the following verses.

Poole: Pro 2:12

From the way of the evil man from following his counsel or example, which others for want of wisdom commonly do.

That speaketh froward things with design to corrupt thy mind, and entice thee to evil principles or practices.

Poole: Pro 2:13

The paths of uprightness the way of God’ s precepts.

Of darkness i.e. of sin, which is oft called darkness, as Rom 13:12 , &c.; Eph 5:11 , because it comes from darkness, ignorance, and error, and loves darkness and hates light, and leads to utter darkness.

Poole: Pro 2:14

Who rejoice to do evil seeking and embracing occasions of sin with diligence and greediness, and pleasing themselves both in the practice and remembrance of sin; whereas upright men abhor and watch against all occasions of sin beforehand, and mourn bitterly for it afterwards.

Delight in the frowardness of the wicked not only in their own sins, but in the sins of other wicked men, which shows a greater malignity of mind and love to sin. See Rom 1:32 .

Poole: Pro 2:15

Whose ways are crooked or, who make their ways crooked , i.e. whose course of life swerves from the right and straight way of God’ s law.

Poole: Pro 2:16

From the strange woman from the adulteress or whore; called strange, partly because such persons were commonly heathens, or are supposed to be such by reason of that severe law against these practices in Israelitish women, Deu 23:17 , or are justly reputed heathens, as being degenerate Israelites, which are oft called strangers, as hath been noted in the Book of the Psalms; and partly because conversation with such persons is forbidden to men; as those Israelites which were not Levites are called strangers, Num 1:51 , in respect of the holy things which they were prohibited to touch; and forbidden fire is called strange fire , Num 3:4 .

Which flattereth with her words which useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchaste actions; one kind being put for all the rest.

Poole: Pro 2:17

The guide of her youth to wit, her husband, whom she took to be her guide and governor, and that in her youth: which circumstance is added to aggravate her sin and shame, because love is commonly most sincere and fervent between a husband and wife of youth, as they are for that reason emphatically called, Pro 5:18 Isa 54:6 Joe 1:8 Mal 2:14,15 .

Forgetteth i.e. violateth or breaketh, as that word is commonly used in a practical sense.

The covenant of her God the marriage covenant; so called, partly because God is the author and institutor of that society and mutual obligation; and partly because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn promise and covenant, and the avenger of the transgression of it.

Haydock: Pro 2:1

If. This proves free will. To become truly wise, we must desire it with the same avidity as a miser seeks for riches. (Worthington) ---

We must also pray, (ver. 3.) with humility (ver. 2.) to God, the giver of wisdom, ver. 6. Every science which has not Him for the beginning and end, is vain and dangerous. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 2:7

Salvation. Protestants, "sound wisdom." Tushiya (Haydock) often occurs in this book, and is very comprehensive, (Calmet) denoting the substance (Haydock) of goodness, virtue, &c., Job v. 12.

Haydock: Pro 2:8

Justice. In his servants. (Calmet) ---

God gives them grace to follow virtue, (Haydock) and protects them from every danger. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 2:12

Things. The danger of such company for young people is very great, as the heart is misled by the understanding, (Calmet) if it do not itself shew the way to error. (Haydock) ---

We all possess a fund of corruption. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 2:14

Evil. These signs prove whom we ought to shun. St. Augustine depicts his own conduct before his conversion in the darkest colours. (Calmet)

Haydock: Pro 2:16

Strange. Idolatress, (Grotius) or rather the abandoned woman, whether married or not. (Calmet) ---

This description, as well as the former, guards us against heretics, who leave the right way of the Catholic Church, (ver. 13.) and devise perverse doctrines of rebellion against princes, &c., as if faith alone were sufficient. By this faith, Protestants do not mean any article which all must believe, but only that each one must be convinced that he himself is just, and will be saved. Like the strange woman, they preach a comfortable doctrine, and use sweet speeches, Romans xvi. 18. Their conversion is a very difficult matter, (ver. 19.) because they are condemned by their own judgment, (Titus iii. 11.) and will not admit of the ordinary means of instruction in the Church. (Worthington)

Haydock: Pro 2:17

Youth. Her husband, whom she married young when love is more lasting. This increases her guilt. It may also signify her father, or preceptor.

Gill: Pro 2:1

My son,.... These are either the continuation of the words of Solomon to his son Rehoboam; or to anyone that came to him for instruction, or was within the reach of being taught by him; whom he addresses in this tender and affectionate manner, in order to gain his attention to what he was about to say: or else they are the words of Wisdom, or Christ, continued, thus bespeaking: his children and people; and giving them some very wholesome counsel and advice, backed with the most powerful and prevailing arguments;

if thou wilt receive my words; or doctrines: the doctrines of the Gospel, relating to the person, office, and grace of Christ, and salvation by him; such as the words of peace, pardon, righteousness, and life; which are to be received, not as the word of man, but as the word of God; and with all readiness of mind and willingness, as they were by the Bereans; and most gladly, as by the three thousand pricked to the heart under Peter's sermon; and as they are and will be by every sensible sinner;

and hide my commandments with thee; in the heart; so as to have a high esteem of them, and a hearty affection and value for them; retain them in memory, and frequently think of them and meditate upon them, and constantly observe them; see Psa 119:11.

Gill: Pro 2:2

So that thou incline thine ear unto Wisdom,.... Hearken to Wisdom, that is, Christ; or rather to the instruction of Wisdom, which is the Gospel; so called, because it is the produce of divine wisdom, what the wisdom of man could never have devised, and which it opposes; and in which there is a most glorious display of the wisdom of God, in the justification and salvation of his people by Christ, 1Co 2:6; and is worth listening unto with the greatest attention, which is what is designed by this expression;

and apply thine heart to understanding; to a spiritual and experimental understanding of the Gospel, and the truths of it: for an inclination of the ear, without an application of the heart, which signifies the intenseness of the mind, an earnest and hearty desire after knowledge, will signify nothing; a hypocrite may seemingly hear with great attention, and show much affection, and yet his heart be after the world and the things of it, Eze 33:31; see Psa 119:112.

Gill: Pro 2:3

Yea, if thou criest after knowledge,.... Of God, Christ, and the Gospel; not only bow the ear and bend the mind to these things, but importunately and fervently pray for them; not only attend the ministry of the word by men, but cry to God to give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of divine and spiritual things; which supposes some sense of a want of it, an hearty desire for it, having some apprehension of the worth and value of it; and that it is to be had, as there is indeed great reason to hope for and expect it, Jam 1:5;

and liftest up thy voice for understanding; for Christ, who is understanding as well as wisdom, Pro 8:14; or rather for an understanding of the Gospel and the mysteries of it, which men do not naturally understand; and for which there must be an understanding given, or the eyes of the understanding must be enlightened; or Christ, by his spirit and grace, must open the understanding, that it may understand these things; which is granted to those who lift up their voice in prayer for it.

Gill: Pro 2:4

If thou seekest her as silver,.... That is, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding; which all signify and relate unto one and the same thing, expressed here by "her": namely, the doctrine of wisdom, or Christ; that is, the Gospel, and a spiritual and experimental knowledge and understanding of it, and the truths thereof; which are as desirable and valuable as silver, and more so; and which may be fitly compared to it, and be preferred before it, for their purity, solidity, and duration; see Psa 119:72; and are to be sought after with as much and more eagerness, affection, and diligence, as silver is by those who are most covetous of it, Pro 8:10;

and searchest for her as for hid treasures; the Gospel is a treasure, 2Co 4:7; an accumulation of riches. It contains rich truths, things valuable for their antiquity; for being far fetched and dearly bought, coming from heaven, and sealed by the blood of Christ, and the holy martyrs of Jesus; and for the abundance of them; there are treasures of wisdom and knowledge in the Gospel, and in Christ the sum and substance of it, who is full of truth as well as grace, Col 2:3. It contains rich blessings of grace, such as are spiritual, solid, and substantial, sure and irreversible; and a multitude of them, Rom 15:29; and also rich promises, exceeding great and precious ones; which are absolute and unconditional, suited to the various cases of God's people, and sure to all the seed: and it reveals the riches of God's goodness, his special goodness in Christ; the unsearchable riches of Christ; and the riches both of grace and glory. And under this notion of a treasure is it to be searched for, and as an hid treasure; in allusion to what is laid up in the cabinets of princes, or lies in the bowels of the earth, as precious stones: Pliny ^m says, that "topazin", in the language of the Troglodytes, has the signification of seeking, because "topazes" are diligently sought for and searched after; See Gill on Job 28:19. The Gospel, and the truths of it, were greatly hid under the former dispensation from the Gentile world, and very much from the Jews themselves; being wrapped up in dark prophecies, obscure hints, and shadowy types and sacrifices; and are now, and always were, entirely hid from the wicked and reprobate part of the world, from them that are lost, and from God's own elect before conversion. This is "the fellowship of the mystery" that was "hid in God", in his heart, from all eternity, Eph 3:9, the truths of it are the "treasures of wisdom and knowledge hid" in Christ, Col 2:3; and likewise the "treasure hid in the field" of the Scriptures, Mat 22:44; which therefore are to be searched into for them, with like labour and resolution with which men dig into the earth, to find the rich ore that is in the bowels of it: and this should be done by diligent reading them; by frequent and deep meditation on them; by constant hearing the truths of the Gospel preached; by earnest prayer for the illumination of the divine Spirit to understand them; and by all the help of the writings of good men, and conversation with them, that can be had. These are things to be sought for and searched after, in the first place, in the early time of life; and with the utmost diligence and labour, as being of the greatest moment and importance.

Gill: Pro 2:5

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,.... The grace of fear, and the exercise of it: which is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, and is a treasure itself, Pro 1:7. By means of the Gospel the Lord works it in the hearts of his people by his Spirit; and by the same leads them into the riches of his special grace and "goodness", which they are influenced by to "fear", and the Lord for the sake of it: and particularly they are led hereby to the pardoning grace and mercy of God, which is with him, that he may "be feared"; and it is the Gospel which induces and encourages a true filial fear of God, by which men "depart from evil"; for that teaches them to deny all manner of sin, and to live a godly life and conversation: so that through a diligent search after the knowledge of the Gospel, and an attaining it, men come to have a spiritual, experimental, and practical understanding of the fear of God as a grace; and also, as it includes the whole worship of God, by means of Gospel light, they come to understand what sort of worship that is God is to be worshipped with; that it is pure, spiritual, and evangelical, suited to his nature and will: what the ordinances of divine service are; and that these are to be kept as they were delivered, and in the exercise of faith, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory, of God, without trusting to them or depending on them for salvation. And this is the advantage arising from a diligent search after the doctrine of wisdom, or the Gospel, and a knowledge and understanding of it; and is used as an argument encouraging to it; and another follows;

and find the knowledge of God; such a knowledge of God as is not to be found by the light of nature, in the whole volume of the creatures, and in all the writings of the philosophers; no, nor in the law of Moses; for though much of God and his perfections may be seen and known by the things that are made, and much of the will of God by the law he gave; yet by neither of these is the knowledge of God in Christ, which is "life eternal". This only is to be found in the Gospel, and by means of it; here only it is brought to light; and through this men not only find it, but increase more and more in it: herein is a glorious display of his persons and perfections, of his counsels and purposes, of his covenant and promises, of his mind and will, with respect to doctrine and worship; and of the way of peace, life, and salvation, by Jesus Christ; which must serve greatly to engage and excite persons to a diligent search and pursuit after it. And all that is here said is designed to encourage a diligent search after divine things; for, as the poet ⁿ says, there is nothing so difficult but by searching may be found out.

Gill: Pro 2:6

For the Lord giveth wisdom,.... Natural wisdom in all its branches, with all its improvements, and in its utmost latitude and perfection; and spiritual wisdom, which lies in the knowledge of a man's self, his own folly, impurity, impotence, and misery; being wise unto salvation; in the knowledge of Christ, as the only way of salvation, and of God in Christ; in partaking of the true grace, which is wisdom in the hidden part; in being acquainted experimentally with the doctrines of the Gospel; and in walking wisely and circumspectly, and as becomes it, which is practical wisdom: and all this is the gift of God; as is also Christ, who is wisdom, and is given to be wisdom to his people. He is the gift of God to them, in all characters he bears, and relations he stands in; he is a very large comprehensive gift, an unspeakable one; which is given freely and liberally, and is never taken away again. Now this is said, partly to caution such who search after wisdom, and find it, not to attribute it to their diligence and industry, but to the grace of God; and partly as a direction where to go for it; and as an encouragement to hope to have it, since the Lord freely gives it, Jam 1:5;

out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding; by the prophets of the Old Testament who came with a "Thus saith the Lord", and were the mouth of the Lord to the people; from whence flowed the knowledge of divine things; of the will of God; of the Messiah, his person and offices; of his coming, sufferings, death and salvation by him: and by his Son, by whom he has spoke in these last days, and has declared all his mind; and by whom the doctrines of grace and truth, and the knowledge of them, are come fully and clearly, Heb 1:1; and by the Scriptures of truth, both of the Old and of the New Testament, which are the word of God; what are breathed by him and come out of his mouth, and are able to make men wise unto salvation: and by the ministers of the Gospel, who speak in the name of the Lord, and the Lord by them; and by means of whom he imparts much spiritual and evangelical knowledge to the sons of men; the mouth of a Gospel minister, who is the month of God to men, "speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment", Psa 37:30. This clause is added, to encourage to a search after wisdom in the use of means; namely, by attending on the word, and the ministry of it.

Gill: Pro 2:7

He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous,.... In order to give it to them that seek for it; which is another encouragement to search after it. By "sound wisdom" may be meant, not the law, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; so called, because it endures for ever, when all beings are defective and come to nothing; but the Gospel, which is sound doctrine, pure and not corrupt; true and real wisdom, in opposition to that which has only the show of wisdom, and is science falsely so called; and this was hid in God, in Christ, and laid up as a treasure in the sacred Scriptures: or else the true grace of God, in distinction from that which is counterfeit; and is that goodness of his, which he has laid up in his heart, and in the covenant of his grace; and the fulness of grace which he has laid up in Christ for them Psa 31:19; or eternal glory and happiness. The word here used signifies "essence", "substance" ^o; that which really is, and is solid and substantial; and such are the glories of the other world the crown of righteousness, the hope laid up in heaven, and the inheritance reserved there, Col 1:5. These are real things, though invisible, and are rich and valuable; and have substance and solidity in them, in opposition to earthly riches, which are a vain show, and are things that are not, and at best temporal and perishing; but these are an enduring substance, Pro 8:21. The Septuagint render it by "salvation", and the Targum by a word which signifies "glory" and "honour"; all which may well be understood of eternal life which is laid up and reserved "for the righteous": not for such who are only so in show and imagination, but for those who are really and truly so; not for those who are legally, but evangelically righteous; or not for such that seek righteousness by the law, but by faith in Christ; for such who are made righteous by the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, and by faith receive it, and lay hold on it as their righteousness; and in consequence of this live soberly and righteously: for these only eternal life is prepared; they only have a right unto it, and a meetness for it, and shall enjoy it;

he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly; who are sincere in their deportment before God and men; who walk according to the rule of the divine word; who walk by faith on Christ, and walk on in him as they have received him; and go on living by faith on his righteousness, which is walking in his uprightness, till they come to be with him for ever in heaven. To these the Lord is a "buckler" or shield; he covers them with the "shield of faith", his own Son, his blood righteousness, and sacrifice; which faith lays hold on and uses as a shield against Satan's fiery darts; and gives them "the shield of salvation" which secures them from sin and wrath and every enemy; and encompasses them about with his "favour", as a "shield", which is immutable and invariable; and keeps them by his power through faith unto salvation, Eph 6:16; with this compare Gen 15:1, Psa 3:3. Some ^p read these words by way of apposition, and understand them of sound wisdom; that that is a buckler or shield to the persons here described; see Ecc 7:12.

Gill: Pro 2:8

He keepeth the paths of judgment,.... That is, the Lord keeps them; he does that which is just and right himself, in the course of his providence, and in the methods of his grace; and as he guides the feet of his people in the ways of righteousness and holiness, he keeps them there from turning out of them. The words may be rendered, "to keep the paths of judgment" ^q; and so expresses the end, fruit, and effect of the Lord's being a buckler to them, as he is said to be in Pro 2:7, he is their shield and protection, so as either to keep them in the right ways in which they should go; or that they might studiously observe them, and keep walking therein, without stumbling in them, or declining from them;

and preserveth the way of his saints; to whom he has been kind and bountiful; or who have been merciful, liberal, and generous to others; who having partook of the grace of God themselves, are useful to men: the Targum calls them "righteous ones". These the Lord preserves by his power and grace, in the way in which he has led them, and which is his own way, safe to his kingdom and glory: for none of his saints, his holy and righteous ones, shall ever perish; the way in which he directs them, and in which he keeps them, leads to everlasting life; see 1Sa 2:9.

Gill: Pro 2:9

Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment,.... This is another fruit and effect of the Gospel, and of a spiritual understanding of it; that besides the knowledge of God, and how to behave with reverence towards him, Pro 2:5; it leads men into a notion of doing that which is right and just among men; it gives them not only a theoretic but a practical understanding of justice, and a true judgment of what is right and wrong; or gives such an understanding thereof as that they practise it; for it teaches men to live soberly, righteously, and godly, Tit 2:11. It is not only a revelation and ministration of the righteousness of Christ as the only matter of a sinner's justification before God; and informs a man's judgment so that he can distinguish between truth and error, right and wrong, good and bad notions and practices; but it influences his actions, life, and conversation, and engages him to do works of righteousness from the best principles, upon the best motives, and with the best views;

and equity; yea, every good path; that is, so to understand equity, as to do that which is equitable between man and man; and to understand every good path which the word of God directs to, even all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, so as to walk in them; these things the Gospel acquaints men with, and urges them to observe: or the words may be rendered, either "the rectitude" or "equity of fall good paths", as the Syriac version; how just, and right, and plain, and equitable, everyone is, and therefore ought to be walked in; or "plainnesses", or "most plain", is or shall be "every good path" ^r, to them that have a spiritual and experimental knowledge of the Gospel; and by it an understanding of their duty. One word signifies "plain" and "straight", and another "round" ^s, and both are true of the path of righteousness; for though it is a circle of duty saints walk in, yet straight and plain.

Gill: Pro 2:10

When wisdom entereth into thine heart,.... Either Christ, the Wisdom of God; who enters there at conversion, and sets up a throne in the heart, and dwells there by faith: or else the Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery; which enters not into the head only, as in hypocrites and formal professors; nor into the natural affections, as in the stony ground hearers; but into the heart, opened by the Spirit of God to receive it, so as to have a spiritual understanding of it; which is done when the Gospel comes not in word only, but in the demonstration and power of the Spirit; when a man truly understands it, approves of it, loves it, believes it; and it has a place in his heart, and richly dwells there;

and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; which the Gospel thus entering gives; even the knowledge of God in Christ, as the God of all grace, as gracious and merciful, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the knowledge of Christ, as the only Redeemer and Saviour; and the knowledge of Gospel truths, which lead and relate unto him: all which is pleasant to a gracious soul, and affords unspeakable delight to the mind; and is sweeter, as every truth of the Gospel is, than the honey or the honeycomb; see Pro 16:24.

Gill: Pro 2:11

Discretion shall preserve thee,.... Which wisdom or the Gospel gives, or the Lord by the means of it; for the Gospel makes a man wise and discreet in the business of salvation, and in his conduct and deportment; and the discretion it gives him will put him upon his guard, and direct him to watch against every error, and every false way. And so the words may be rendered, "discretion will watch over thee"; to keep thee from everything pernicious in doctrine and practice. The Septuagint version renders it, "good counsel"; which wisdom gives, and the Gospel is full of; and which, if attended to, is a means of the preservation of the saints;

understanding shall keep thee; which is only the same thing expressed in other words. The Septuagint version renders it, "an holy thought"; and the Arabic version, "a just thought shall preserve thee in thy last times". What these are a means of keeping and preserving from is explained in the following verses.

Gill: Pro 2:12

To deliver thee from the way of the evil man,.... Who is so by nature and practice, who is hardened in sin and abandoned to it, whose course of life is evil, and who endeavours to draw others into the same evil practices; now the Gospel, and a spiritual knowledge of it, are a means of preserving men from following the examples of such persons, and from walking with them in the ways of sin: or from "the evil way" ^t, from every evil way, from a vicious course of life; not from idolatry only, as some interpret it, though this may be included, and chiefly designed; but from all manner of sin, from everything that is contrary to the law of God and sound doctrine;

from the man that speaketh froward things; perverse things, things contrary to the light of nature, to divine revelation, to the word of God, both law and Gospel; if a single man is meant, he might be thought to be the man of sin, antichrist, who has a mouth speaking blasphemies against God, his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell therein, Rev 13:5; and the Gospel delivers men from following him, and falling in with his perverse doctrines and practices; but the word seems to be a collective one, and to be understood of all wicked men, to whom the description agrees, as it is explained in the following verses in the plural number; who out of their evil hearts, and the abundance of wickedness there, speak evil things, tending to debauch the minds and manners of others; to be delivered from whom is a singular mercy. Jarchi restrains this to heretics, and such as caused Israel to apostatize to idolatry, and turned the law into evil. The Gospel is undoubtedly a means of preserving from error and heresy.

Gill: Pro 2:13

Who leave the paths of uprightness,.... Or "righteousness", or the "right and plain ways" ^u; which the light of nature and the law of God, and especially the Gospel of Christ, direct to; and in which they have been trained up, having had a religious education; for it supposes them to have been externally in these ways, since they are said to leave them; for though persons do not easily and ordinarily leave the ways they have been brought up in, yet sometimes they do; and there are instances of it, and such generally are the worst of men;

to walk in the ways of darkness: sin, ignorance, and infidelity; in which they that walk know not where they are, nor whither they are a going, and which must be very uncomfortable as well as dangerous; in which only works of darkness are done, and which lead to blackness of darkness, the darkness of hell; a miserable choice, a sad change this! So Schultens renders it, "ways of horrid darkness".

Gill: Pro 2:14

Who rejoice to do evil,.... At the doing of it, or when they have done it; they are glad of an opportunity of doing mischief, and glory when they have done it; it is a sport and pastime to them, Pro 10:2; they take pleasure in the act of sin, and have no remorse of conscience afterwards; they speak of it in an exulting manner, and boast of it, and glory in their shame;

and delight in the frowardness of the wicked: of the wicked man, as Aben Ezra and Gersom supply it; in the perversities and contradictions of every wicked man; they not only take pleasure in their own sins, but in the sins of others, and in them that commit them; which is an aggravation of their wickedness, Rom 1:32; they delight to hear a man speak froward and perverse things; things against God, and Christ, and religion, against all good men, and everything that is good; against the Gospel, the doctrines and ordinances of it; and they delight to see him do things perverse and contrary to the will of God. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "they exult in the worst things".

Gill: Pro 2:15

Whose ways are crooked,.... Which swerve from and are not agreeably to the rule of the divine word, either the law of God or the Gospel of Christ; sin is an aberration, a straying from the rule of God's word, a transgression of his law; and a walk in it is unbecoming the Gospel of Christ; it has many serpentine windings and turnings in it; full of distortions and excursions, and many retrograde actions; see Psa 125:5;

and they froward in their paths; declining here and there, sometimes going one way and sometimes another, but always following that which is evil, and resolute to continue therein.

Gill: Pro 2:16

To deliver thee from the strange woman,.... As the Gospel of Christ and its doctrines, or the instructions of wisdom, are a means of delivering persons from the evil man, his company, ways, and works; so from a naughty woman, an adulteress, called a "strange" woman; not because of another nation, or unknown, but because she belongs to another person, and not to him whom she entices into her embraces. Gersom interprets this of the sensitive appetite, and Jarchi of idolatry; as others do also of superstition and all false doctrine, and everything that is contrary to true wisdom; and the whole that is here and afterwards said may well enough be applied to the whore of Rome, from whose fornication, or spiritual adultery, that is, idolatry, will worship, and antichristian doctrines, the Gospel delivers men; see Pro 7:5, &c.

even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; that useth smooth and soft words to work upon the passions, move the affections, and win the hearts of men; and ensnare them and draw them to commit wickedness with her; see Pro 5:3; and so antichrist, and all false teachers and heretics, with good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple, Rom 16:18.

Gill: Pro 2:17

Which forsaketh the guide of her youth,.... Not God, the God of her life, and who had provided for her from her youth up; nor her parent that had taken care of her in her infancy, and had been the guardian of her virgin state; but her husband, to whom she was married in her youth, and to whom she gave up herself to be guided and directed, ruled and governed, by: and as it is an aggravation of evil in a man to deal treacherously against the wife of his youth, and the wife of his covenant, Mal 2:14; so it is in a woman to forsake "the friend" or "companion of her youth" ^w, as the phrase may be rendered; who loved her and espoused her in his youthful age, and with whom he had lived long in love and friendship, and in great happiness, but now forsakes him; her affections being alienated from him, leaves his company and bed, and associates with others. Gersom interprets this of the human understanding, appointed to govern the other powers and faculties of the soul;

and forgetteth the covenant of her God: not the covenant made with Noah, in which adultery, as well as other things, were forbidden; nor the law of Moses, or covenant at Sinai, in which it was condemned; but the marriage covenant, which she entered into with her husband when espoused to him, and when they mutually obliged themselves to be faithful to one another: and this is called "the covenant of God"; not only because God is the author and institutor of marriage, and has directed and enjoined persons to enter into such a contract with one another; but because he is present at it, and is a witness of such an engagement, mid is appealed unto in it; which, as it adds to the solemnity of it, makes the violation of it the more criminal. So the church of Rome has forsook Christ, who was her guide in her first settlement, and her husband she professed to be espoused to, as a chaste virgin; and has followed other lovers, and become the mother of harlots; so false teachers leave their guide, the Scriptures, and bring in damnable heresies, and deny the Lord that bought them, 2Pe 2:1.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Pro 2:1

¹ sn The chapter begins with an admonition to receive wisdom (1-4) and then traces the benefits: the knowledge of God and his protection (5-8), moral discernment for living (9-11), protection from evil men (12-15) and immoral women (16-19), and enablement for righteous living (20-22).

² tn Heb “my son.”

³ sn Verses 1-11 form one long conditional sentence in the Hebrew text: (1) the protasis (“if…”) encompasses vv. 1-4 and (2) the apodosis (“then…”) consists of two parallel panels in vv. 5-8 and vv. 9-11 both of which are introduced by the particle אָז (’az, “then”).

⁴ sn The verb “to store up” (צָפַן, tsafan; cf. NAB, NLT “treasure”) in the second colon qualifies the term “receive” (לָקַח, laqakh) in the first, just as “commands” intensifies “words.” This pattern of intensification through parallelism occurs throughout the next three verses. The verb “to store up; to treasure” is used in reference to things of value for future use, e.g., wealth, dowry for a bride. Since proverbs will be useful throughout life and not always immediately applicable, the idea of storing up the sayings is fitting. They will form the way people think which in turn will influence attitudes (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 43).

NET Notes: Pro 2:2

¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct לְהַקְשִׁיב (lÿhaqshiv, “by making attentive”) functions as an epexegetical explanation of how one will receive the instruction.

² sn The word “ear” is a metonymy of cause; the word is used as the instrument of hearing. But in parallelism with “heart” it indicates one aspect of the mental process of hearing and understanding. A “hearing ear” describes an obedient or responsive person (BDB 24 s.v. אֹזֶן 2).

³ tn The conjunction “and” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

⁴ tn The Hiphil imperfect (“by turning”) continues the nuance introduced by the infinitive construct in the first colon (GKC 352 §114.r). The verb נָטָה (natah) normally means “to stretch out” and only occasionally “to turn” or “to incline” one’s heart to something, as is the case here.

⁵ tn Or “mind” (the center of the will, the choice).

NET Notes: Pro 2:3

¹ tn Both particles retain their individual meanings, otherwise the verse would begin with a strong adversative and be a contrast to what has been said.

² tn Heb “summon.”

³ sn The noun recalls the second purpose of the book (1:2). It is also cognate to the last word of 2:2, forming a transition. The two objects of the prepositions in this verse are actually personifications, as if they could be summoned.

⁴ tn Heb “give your voice”; the expression is idiomatic for raising or lifting the voice to make a sound that carries further (e.g., Jer 2:15). This deliberate expression indicates that something significant is being uttered. J. H. Greenstone says, “If it [understanding] does not come at your first call, raise your voice to a higher pitch, put forth greater efforts” (Proverbs, 17).

NET Notes: Pro 2:4

¹ tn The conditional particle now reiterates the initial conditional clause of this introductory section (1-4); the apodosis will follow in v. 5.

² tn The verb בָּקַשׁ (baqash) means “to search for; to seek; to investigate” (BDB 134 s.v.). This calls for the same diligence one would have in looking for silver.

³ sn The two similes affirm that the value placed on the object will influence the eagerness and diligence in the pursuit and development of wisdom (e.g., Job 28:9-11). The point is not only that the object sought is valuable, but that the effort will be demanding but rewarding.

⁴ sn The verb חָפַשׂ (khafas) means “to dig; to search” (BDB 344 s.v.; cf. NCV “hunt for it”). The Arabic cognate means “to dig for water.” It is used literally of Joseph searching his brothers’ sacks (Gen 44:12) and figuratively for searching the soul (Ps 64:7). This is a more emphatic word than the one used in the first colon and again emphasizes that acquiring wisdom will be demanding.

NET Notes: Pro 2:5

¹ tn The verb בִּין (bin, “to perceive; to understand; to discern”) refers to ability to grasp, discern or be sensitive to what it means to fear the Lord.

² tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” The noun is an objective genitive; the Lord is to be the object of fear and reverence.

³ tn Heb “find” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

⁴ tn The term דַּעַת (da’at, “knowledge”) goes beyond cognition; it is often used metonymically (cause) for obedience (effect); see, e.g., Prov 3:6, “in all your ways acknowledge him,” and BDB 395 s.v. This means that the disciple will follow God’s moral code; for to know God is to react ethically and spiritually to his will (e.g., J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 18).

⁵ tn Heb “knowledge of God.” The noun is an objective genitive.

NET Notes: Pro 2:6

¹ tn This is a causal clause. The reason one must fear and know the Lord is that he is the source of true, effectual wisdom.

² tn The verb is an imperfect tense which probably functions as a habitual imperfect describing a universal truth in the past, present and future.

³ sn This expression is an anthropomorphism; it indicates that the Lord is the immediate source or author of the wisdom. It is worth noting that in the incarnation many of these “anthropomorphisms” become literal in the person of the Logos, the Word, Jesus, who reveals the Father.

⁴ tn The verb “comes” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

NET Notes: Pro 2:7

¹ tc The form is a Kethib/Qere reading. The Kethib וְצָפַן (vÿtsafan; Qal perfect + vav consecutive) is supported by the LXX and Syriac. The Qere יִצְפֹּן (yitspon; Qal imperfect) is supported by the Aramaic Targum of Prov 2:7 (the Aramaic translations of the Hebrew scriptures were called Targums) and Latin Vulgate. Internal evidence favors the imperfect; another imperfect appears in v. 6a with a similar sense. The Qere is normally preferred; the scribes are indicating that the received reading is corrupt. The Kethib reflects orthographic confusion between י (yod) and ו (vav). As in v. 6a, this Qal imperfect functions as a habitual imperfect describing a universal truth in past, present and future.

sn The verbal root צָפַן (tsafan, “to store up; to treasure up”) is repeated in 2:1 and 2:7. In 2:1, it is the responsibility of man to “store up” wisdom; but in 2:7, it is God who “stores up” wisdom for the wise person who seeks him.

² tn The noun תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) has a two-fold range of meanings: (1) “sound wisdom” (so KJV, NRSV); “effective counsel” and (2) result (metonymy of effect): “abiding success” (BDB 444 s.v.; W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 388; cf. NIV “victory”). It refers to competent wisdom and its resultant ability to achieve moral success (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 80).

³ sn The Hebrew word translated “upright” (יָשָׁר, yashar) is one of the terms used for the righteous. It points to the right conduct of the believer – that which is right or pleasing in the eyes of God. It stresses that the life of the individual is upright, straightforward, and just. It is paralleled with “those who walk in integrity.”

⁴ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁵ tn The word can be taken as in apposition explaining the subject of the first colon – the Lord is a shield, the Lord stores up. The word then is a metaphor for the protection afforded by the Lord.

⁶ tn Heb “walk.” The verb “to walk” (הָלַךְ, halakh) is an idiom (based upon hypocatastasis: implied comparison) for habitual manner of life (BDB 234 s.v. 3.e).

⁷ tn Heb “those who walk of integrity.” The noun תֹם (tom, “integrity”) functions as a genitive of manner.

NET Notes: Pro 2:8

¹ tn The infinitive construct לִנְצֹר (lintsor, “to guard”) designates the purpose of the Lord giving “effective counsel” and being a “shield” to the upright. The verb נָצַר (natsar, “to guard”) has a broad range of meanings: (1) to watch over, guard or protect a vineyard from theft (Prov 27:18); (2) to guard one’s lips or heart from evil (Prov 4:23; 13:3); (3) to protect a person from moral or physical danger (Prov 2:8, 11; 4:6; 13:6; 20:28; 22:12; 24:12) and (4) to guard with fidelity = to observe commands, law or covenant (Prov 3:1, 21; 4:13; 5:2; 6:20; 28:7; see BDB 665-66 s.v.). Here God guards the way of the just, that is, the course and conduct of life from the influence of evil.

² tn Heb “paths of righteousness.” The word “righteousness” is a possessive genitive, signifying the ways that the righteous take.

³ tn The imperfect tense verb יִשְׁמֹר (yishmor, “to protect”) continues the syntactical nuance of the preceding infinitive construct of purpose.

⁴ tc The Kethib is the singular noun + 3rd person masculine singular suffix חֲסִידוֹ (khasido) “his pious one.” The Qere reads the plural noun + 3rd person masculine singular suffix חֲסִידָיו (khasidav) “his pious ones.” The LXX εὐλαβουμένων αὐτόν (eujlaboumenwn aujton) supports the Qere reading.

tn The noun חֶסֶד (khesed, “the pious”) describes those who show “covenantal faithful love” or “loyal love” to God and his people. The description of the righteous by this term indicates their active participation in the covenant, for which God has promised his protection.

NET Notes: Pro 2:9

¹ tn Heb “discern.” See preceding note on בִּין (bin) in 2:5.

² tn The phrase “every good way” functions appositionally to the preceding triad of righteous attributes, further explaining and defining them.

³ tn Heb “every way of good.” The term טוֹב (tov, “good”) functions as an attributive genitive: “good way.”

⁴ tn Heb “track”; KJV, NIV, NRSV “path.” The noun מַעְגַּל (ma’gal) is used (1) literally of “wagon-wheel track; firm path” and (2) figuratively (as a metaphor) to describe the course of life (Pss 17:5; 23:3; 140:6; Prov 2:9, 15, 18; 4:11, 26; 5:6, 21; Isa 26:7; 59:8; see BDB 722-23 s.v. 2; KBL 2:609). It is related to the feminine noun עֲגָלָה (’agalah, “cart”) and the verb עָגַל (’agal) “to be round” (Qal) and “to roll” (Niphal). As a wagon-wheel cuts a deep track in a much traversed dirt road, so a person falls into routines and habits that reveal his moral character. In Proverbs the “paths” of the righteous are characterized by uprightness and integrity.

NET Notes: Pro 2:10

¹ tn The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as a metonymy of association for “mind” and “thoughts” (BDB 524 s.v. 3). It represents the center of the inner life where the volition and emotions join to bring about actions. It is used here in parallelism with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul”), for which see note.

² tn Heb “knowledge.” For the noun דַּעַת (da’at), see the note on 1:7.

³ tn Heb “pleasant.” The verb יִנְעָם (yin’am, “to be pleasant”) describes what is attractive. It is used of being physically attracted to one’s lover (Song 7:7) or to a close friendship (2 Sam 1:26). Here wisdom becomes attractive to the righteous, that is, the righteous desires to acquire it.

⁴ tn Heb “your soul.” The term נַפְשְׁךָ (nafshÿkha, “your soul”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= soul) for the whole person (= you); see BDB 660 s.v. 4.a.2. It also might function as a metonymy of association for emotions and passions (BDB 660 s.v. 6) or mental cognition (BDB 660 s.v. 7).

NET Notes: Pro 2:11

¹ tn The word מְזִמָּה (mÿzimmah, “discretion”) is the ability to know the best course of action for achieving one’s goal. It is knowledge and understanding with a purpose. This kind of knowledge enables one to make the right choices that will protect him from blunders and their consequences (cf. NLT “wise planning”; CEV “sound judgment”).

² tn Heb “will watch over you.”

NET Notes: Pro 2:12

¹ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct of נָצַל (natsal, “to deliver”) expresses the purpose of understanding right conduct: to protect a person from the wicked. The verb נָצַל (natsal) means “to save; to deliver; to rescue,” as in snatching away prey from an animal, rescuing from enemies, plucking a brand from the fire, retrieving property, or the like. Here it portrays rescue from the course of action of the wicked.

² tn The term “wicked” (רַע, ra’) means “bad, harmful, painful.” Rather than referring to the abstract concept of “wickedness” in general, the term probably refers to wicked people because of the parallelism with “those speaking perversity.”

³ tn Heb “man.” The singular noun אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) here will be further defined in vv. 13-15 with plural forms (verbs, nouns and suffixes). So the singular functions in a collective sense which is rendered in a plural sense in the translation for the sake of clarification and smoothness.

⁴ tn Heb “perversities.” The plural form of תַּהְפֻּכוֹת (tahpukhot) may denote a plurality of number (“perverse things”) or intensification: “awful perversity.” As here, it often refers to perverse speech (Prov 8:13; 10:31, 32; 23:33). It is related to the noun הֶפֶךְ (hefekh, “that which is contrary, perverse”) which refers to what is contrary to morality (Isa 29:16; Ezek 16:34; BDB 246 s.v. הֶפֶךְ). The related verb הָפַךְ (hafakh, “to turn; to overturn”) is used (1) literally of turning things over, e.g., tipping over a bowl (2 Kgs 21:13) and turning over bread-cakes (Judg 7:13; Hos 7:8) and (2) figuratively of perverting things so that they are morally upside down, so to speak (Jer 23:36). These people speak what is contrary to morality, wisdom, sense, logic or the truth.

NET Notes: Pro 2:13

¹ tn The articular plural active participle functions as attributive adjective for אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) in v. 12b, indicating that אִישׁ (“man”) is collective.

² tn Heb “paths of uprightness.” The noun יָשָׁר (yashar, “uprightness; straightness”) is an attributive genitive. The moral life is described in Proverbs as the smooth, straight way (2:13; 4:11). The wicked abandon the clear straight path for an evil, crooked, uncertain path.

³ tn Heb “ways of darkness.” Darkness is often metaphorical for sinfulness, ignorance, or oppression. Their way of life lacks spiritual illumination.

NET Notes: Pro 2:14

¹ tn The articular plural active participle functions as the second attributive adjective for אִישׁ (’ish, “man”) in v. 12b.

² tn The Qal infinitive construct is the complementary use of the form, expressing the direct object of the participle.

³ tn Or “harm.”

⁴ tn Heb “the perversity of evil” (so NASB). The noun רָע (ra’, “evil”) functions as an attributed genitive which is modified by the construct noun תַהְפֻּכוֹת (tahpukhot, “perversity”) which functions as an attributive adjective.

NET Notes: Pro 2:15

¹ tn The noun in this relative clause is an accusative of specification: The evil people are twisted with respect to their paths/conduct.

² tn Heb “crooked.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh, “crooked; twisted”) uses the morphological pattern of adjectives that depict permanent bodily defects, e.g., blindness, lameness. Their actions are morally defective and, apart from repentance, are permanently crooked and twisted.

³ tn The Niphal participle of לוּז (luz, “devious; crooked”) describes conduct that is morally deceptive, crafty, and cunning (Isa 30:12).

NET Notes: Pro 2:16

¹ sn This purpose clause introduced by לְהַצִּילְךָ (lÿhatsilkha, “to deliver you”) parallels the purpose clause introduced by לְהַצִּילְךָ (“to deliver you”) in v. 12. There it introduced deliverance from the evil man, and now from the evil woman. The description of the evil man encompassed four poetic lines in the Hebrew text (vv. 12-15); likewise, the description of the evil woman is four poetic lines (vv. 16-19).

² tn Heb “strange woman” (so KJV, NASB); NRSV “the loose woman.” The root זוּר (zur, “to be a stranger”) sometimes refers to people who are ethnically foreign to Israel (Isa 1:7; Hos 7:9; 8:7) but it often refers to what is morally estranged from God or his covenant people (Pss 58:4; 78:30; BDB 266 s.v.). Referring to a woman, it means adulteress or prostitute (Prov 2:16; 5:3, 20; 7:5; 22:14; 23:33; see BDB 266 s.v. 2.b). It does not mean that she is a foreigner but that she is estranged from the community with its social and religious values (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 285). It describes her as outside the framework of the covenant community (L. A. Snijders, “The Meaning of זוּר in the Old Testament: An Exegetical Study,” OTS 10 [1954]: 85-86). Here an Israelite woman is in view because her marriage is called a “covenant with God.” She is an adulteress, acting outside the legal bounds of the marriage contract.

³ tn Heb “alien woman.” The adjective נָכְרִי (nokhri, “foreign; alien”) refers to (1) people who are ethnically alien to Israel (Exod 21:8; Deut 17:15; Judg 19:12; Ruth 2:10; 1 Kgs 11:1, 8; Ezra 10:2, 10, 11; see BDB 649 s.v. 1); (2) people who are morally alienated from God and his covenant people (Job 19:15; Ps 69:9; Prov 20:16; Eccl 6:2; Jer 2:21; see BDB 649 s.v. 3) and (3) as a technical term in Proverbs for a harlot or promiscuous woman as someone who is morally alienated from God and moral society (Prov 2:16; 5:20; 6:24; 7:5; 20:16; 23:27; 27:13; see BDB 649 s.v. 2). The description of the woman as a “strange woman” and now an “alien woman” is within the context of the people of Israel. She is a “foreigner” in the sense that she is a nonconformist, wayward and loose. It does not necessarily mean that she is not ethnically Israelite (though BDB notes that most harlots in Israel were originally chiefly foreigners by reason of their otherwise homeless condition).

⁴ tn Heb “makes smooth.” The Hiphil of II חָלַק (“to be smooth; to be slippery”) means (1) “to make smooth” (metal with hammer) and (2) “to use smooth words,” that is, to flatter (Pss 5:10; 36:3; Prov 2:16; 7:5; 28:23; 29:5; see BDB 325 s.v. 2; HALOT 322 s.v. I חלק hif.2). The related Arabic cognate verb means “make smooth, lie, forge, fabricate.” The seductive speech of the temptress is compared to olive oil (5:3) and is recounted (7:14-20).

⁵ tn Heb “whose words she makes smooth.” The phrase is a relative clause that does not have a relative pronoun. The antecedent of the 3rd person feminine singular suffix is clearly “the sexually loose woman” earlier in the line.

sn For descriptions of seductive speech, see Prov 5:3 where it is compared to olive oil, and 7:14-20 where such speech is recorded.

NET Notes: Pro 2:17

¹ tn The construction is the active participle of עָזַב (’azav) with the article, serving as an attributive adjective. The verb means “to forsake; to leave; to abandon.”

² tn Heb “companion” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “partner.” The term אַלּוּף (’alluf, “companion”) is from the root אָלַף (’alaf, “to be familiar with; to cleave to”) and refers to a woman’s husband (Prov 2:17; Jer 3:4; see BDB 48 s.v. אַלּוּף 2). This noun follows the passive adjectival formation and so signifies one who is well-known.

³ tn Heb “of her youth.” The noun נְעוּרֶיהָ (nÿ’ureha, “her youth”) functions as a temporal genitive. The plural form is characteristic of nouns that refer to long periods of duration in the various stages of life. The time of “youth” encompasses the entire formative period within marriage.

⁴ tn Heb “the covenant.” This could refer to the Mosaic covenant that prohibits adultery, or more likely, as in the present translation, the marriage covenant (cf. also TEV, CEV). The lexicons list this use of “covenant” (בְּרִית, bÿrit) among other referents to marriage (Prov 2:17; Ezek 16:8; Mal 2:14; BDB 136 s.v. 1.5; HALOT 157 s.v. A.9).

⁵ tn Heb “covenant of God.” The genitive-construct could mean “covenant made before God.” The woman and her husband had made a marriage-covenant in which God was invoked as witness. Her sin is against her solemn pledge to her husband, as well as against God.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:1

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and ^{( a )} hide my commandments with thee;

^{( a )} That is, keep them in your heart.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:2

So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, [and] apply ^{( b )} thine heart to understanding;

^{( b )} If you give yourself to the true knowledge of God without hypocrisy.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:3

Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, [and] ^{( c )} liftest up thy voice for understanding;

^{( c )} Meaning that we must seek the knowledge of God with care and diligence.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:4

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as [for] hid ^{( d )} treasures;

^{( d )} Showing that no labour must be spared.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:5

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the ^{( e )} knowledge of God.

^{( e )} This (he says) is the true wisdom to know and fear God.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:11

^{( f )} Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

^{( f )} The word of God will guide you, and teach you how to govern yourself.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:13

Who leave the ^{( g )} paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

^{( g )} That is, the word of God, which is the only light, to follow their own fantasies which are darkness.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:14

Who rejoice to do evil, [and] delight ^{( h )} in the frowardness of the wicked;

^{( h )} When they see any given to evil as they are.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:16

To deliver thee from the strange ^{( i )} woman, [even] from the stranger [which] flattereth with her words;

^{( i )} Meaning, the wisdom which is the word of God, will preserve us from all vices: naming this vice of whoredom to which man is most prone.

Geneva Bible: Pro 2:17

Which forsaketh the ^{( k )} guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

^{( k )} That is, her husband, who is her head and guide to govern her, from whom she ought not to depart, but remain in his subjection.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Pro 2:1-22

1 Wisdom promises godliness to her children;

10 and safety from evil company;

20 and direction in good ways.

MHCC: Pro 2:1-9

Those who earnestly seek heavenly wisdom, will never complain that they have lost their labour; and the freeness of the gift does not do away the necessity of our diligence, Joh 6:27. Let them seek, and they shall find it; let them ask, and it shall be given them. Observe who are thus favoured. They are the righteous, on whom the image of God is renewed, which consists in righteousness. If we depend upon God, and seek to him for wisdom, he will enable us to keep the paths of judgment.

MHCC: Pro 2:10-22

If we are truly wise, we shall be careful to avoid all evil company and evil practices. When wisdom has dominion over us, then it not only fills the head, but enters into the heart, and will preserve, both against corruptions within and temptations without. The ways of sin are ways of darkness, uncomfortable and unsafe: what fools are those who leave the plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in such ways! They take pleasure in sin; both in committing it, and in seeing others commit it. Every wise man will shun such company. True wisdom will also preserve from those who lead to fleshly lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, and war against the soul. These are evils which excite the sorrow of every serious mind, and cause every reflecting parent to look upon his children with anxiety, lest they should be entangled in such fatal snares. Let the sufferings of others be our warnings. Our Lord Jesus deters from sinful pleasures, by the everlasting torments which follow them. It is very rare that any who are caught in this snare of the devil, recover themselves; so much is the heart hardened, and the mind blinded, by the deceitfulness of this sin. Many think that this caution, besides the literal sense, is to be understood as a caution against idolatry, and subjecting the soul to the body, by seeking any forbidden object. The righteous must leave the earth as well as the wicked; but the earth is a very different thing to them. To the wicked it is all the heaven they ever shall have; to the righteous it is the place of preparation for heaven. And is it all one to us, whether we share with the wicked in the miseries of their latter end, or share those everlasting joys that shall crown believers?

Matthew Henry: Pro 2:1-9

Job had asked, long before this, Where shall wisdom be found? Whence cometh wisdom? (Job 28:12, Job 28:20) and he had given this general answer (v. 23), God knoweth the place of it; but Solomon here goes further, and tells us both where we may find it and how we may get it. We are here told,

I. What means we must use that we may obtain wisdom.

1. We must closely attend to the word of God, for that is the word of wisdom, which is able to make us wise unto salvation, Pro 2:1, Pro 2:2. (1.) We must be convinced that the words of God are the fountain and standard of wisdom and understanding, and that we need not desire to be wiser than they will make us. We must incline our ear and apply our hearts to them, as to wisdom or understanding itself. Many wise things may be found in human compositions, but divine revelation, and true religion built upon it, are all wisdom. (2.) We must, accordingly, receive the word of God with all readiness of mind, and bid it welcome, even the commandments as well as the promises, without murmuring or disputing. Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. (3.) We must hide them with us, as we do our treasures, which we are afraid of being robbed of. We must not only receive, but retain, the word of God, and lodge it in our hearts, that it may be always ready to us. (4.) We must incline our ear to them; we must lay hold on all opportunities of hearing the word of God, and listen to it with attention and seriousness, as those that are afraid of letting it slip. (5.) We must apply our hearts to them, else inclining the ear to them will stand us in no stead.

2. We must be much in prayer, Pro 2:3. We must cry after knowledge, as one that is ready to perish for hunger begs hard for bread. Faint desires will not prevail; we must be importunate, as those that know the worth of knowledge and our own want of it. We must cry, as new-born babes, after the sincere milk of the word. 1Pe 2:2. We must lift our voice for understanding lift it up to heaven; thence these good and perfect gifts must be expected, Jam 1:17; Job 38:34. We must give our voice to understanding (so the word is), speak for it, vote for it, submit the tongue to the command of wisdom. We must consecrate our voice to it; having applied our heart to it, we must employ our voice in seeking for it. Solomon could write probatum est - a tried remedy, upon this method; he prayed for wisdom and so obtained it.

3. We must be willing to take pains (Pro 2:4); we must seek it as silver, preferring it far before all the wealth of this world, and labouring in search of it as those who dig in the mines, who undergo great toil and run great hazards, with indefatigable industry and invincible constancy and resolution, in pursuit of the ore; or as those who will be rich rise up early, and sit up late, and turn every stone to get money and fill their treasures. Thus diligent must we be in the use of the means of knowledge, following on to know the Lord.

II. What success we may hope for in the use of these means. Our labour shall not be in vain; for, 1. We shall know how to maintain our acquaintance and communion with God: " Thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord (Pro 2:5), that is, thou shalt know how to worship him aright, shalt be led into the meaning and mystery of every ordinance, and be enabled to answer the end of its institution." Thou shalt find the knowledge of God, which is necessary to our fearing him aright. It concerns us to understand how much it is our interest to know God, and to evidence it by agreeable affections towards him and adorations of him. 2. We shall know how to conduct ourselves aright towards all men (Pro 2:9): " Thou shalt understand, by the word of God, righteousness, and judgment, and equity, shalt learn those principles of justice, and charity, and fair dealing, which shall guide and govern thee in the whole course of thy conversation, shall make thee fit for every relation, every business, and faithful to every trust. It shall give thee not only a right notion of justice, but a disposition to practise it, and to render to all their due; for those that do not do justly do not rightly understand it."This will lead them in every good path, for the scripture will make the man of God perfect. Note, Those have the best knowledge who know their duty, Psa 111:10.

III. What ground we have to hope for this success in our pursuits of wisdom; we must take our encouragement herein from God only, Pro 2:6-8.

1. God has wisdom to bestow, Pro 2:6. The Lord not only is wise himself, but he gives wisdom, and that is more than the wisest men in the world can do, for it is God's prerogative to open the understanding. All the wisdom that is in any creature is his gift, his free gift, and he gives it liberally (Jam 1:5), has given it to many, and is still giving it; to him therefore let us apply for it.

2. He has blessed the world with a revelation of his will. Out of his mouth, by the law and the prophets, by the written word and by his ministers, both which are his mouth to the children of men, come knowledge and understanding, such a discovery of truth and good as, if we admit and receive the impressions of it, will make us truly knowing and intelligent. It is both an engagement and encouragement to search after wisdom that we have the scriptures to search, in which we may find it if we seek it diligently.

3. He has particularly provided that good men, who are sincerely disposed to do his will, shall have that knowledge and that understanding which are necessary for them, Joh 7:17. Let them seek wisdom, and they shall find it; let them ask, and it shall be given them, Pro 2:7, Pro 2:8. Observe here, (1.) Who those are that are thus favoured. They are the righteous, on whom the image of God is renewed, which consists in righteousness, and those who walk uprightly, who are honest in their dealings both with God and man and make conscience of doing their duty as far as they know it. They are his saints, devoted to his honour, and set apart for his service. (2.) What it is that is provided for them. [1.] Instruction. The means of wisdom are given to all, but wisdom itself, sound wisdom, is laid up for the righteous, laid up in Christ their head, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who is made of God to us wisdom. The same that is the Spirit of revelation in the word is a Spirit of wisdom in the souls of those that are sanctified, that wisdom of the prudent which is to understand his way; and it is sound wisdom, its foundations firm, its principles solid, and its products of lasting advantage. [2.] Satisfaction. Some read it, He lays up substance for the righteous, not only substantial knowledge, but substantial happiness and comfort, Pro 8:21. Riches are things that are not, and those that have them only fancy themselves happy; but what is laid up in the promises and in heaven for the righteous will make them truly, thoroughly, and eternally happy. [3.] Protection. Even those who walk uprightly may be brought into danger for the trial of their faith, but God is, and will be, a buckler to them, so that nothing that happens to them shall do them any real hurt, or possess them with any terrific apprehensions; they are safe, and they shall think themselves so. Fear not, Abraham; I am thy shield. It is their way, the paths of judgment in which they walk, that the Lord knows, and owns, and takes care of. [4.] Grace to persevere to the end. If we depend upon God, and seek to him for wisdom, he will uphold us in our integrity, will enable us to keep the paths of judgment, however we may be tempted to turn aside out of them; for he preserves the way of his saints, that it be not perverted, and so preserves them in it safe and blameless to his heavenly kingdom. The assurances God has given us of his grace, if duly improved, will excite and quicken our endeavours in doing our duty. Work out your salvation, for God works in you.

Matthew Henry: Pro 2:10-22

The scope of these verses is to show, 1. What great advantage true wisdom will be of to us; it will keep us from the paths of sin, which lead to ruin, and will therein do us a greater kindness than if it enriched us with all the wealth of the world. 2. What good use we should make of the wisdom God gives us; we must use it for our own guidance in the paths of virtue, and for the arming of us against temptations of every kind. 3. By what rules we may try ourselves whether we have this wisdom or no. This tree will be known by its fruits; if we be truly wise, it will appear by our care to avoid all evil company and evil practices.

This wisdom will be of use to us,

I. For our preservation from evil, from the evil of sin, and, consequently, from the evil of trouble that attends it.

1. In general (Pro 2:10, Pro 2:11), "When wisdom has entire possession of thee, it will keep thee. "And when has it an entire possession of us? (1.) When it has dominion over us. When it not only fills the head with notions, but enters into the heart and has a commanding power and influence upon that, - when it is upon the throne there, and gives law to the affections and passions, - when it enters into the heart as the leaven into the dough, to diffuse its relish there, and to change it into its own image - then it is likely to do us good. (2.) When we have delight in it, when knowledge becomes pleasant to the soul: "When thou beginnest to relish it as the most agreeable entertainment, and art subject to its rules, of choice, and with satisfaction, - when thou callest the practice of virtue, not a slavery and a task, but liberty and pleasure, and a life of serious godliness the most comfortable life a man can live in this world, - then thou wilt find the benefit of it."Though its restraints should be in some respects unpleasant to the body, yet even those must be pleasant to the soul. When it has come to this, with us, discretion shall preserve us and keep us. God keeps the way of his saints (Pro 2:8), by giving them discretion to keep out of harm's way, to keep themselves that the wicked one touch them not. Note, A principle of grace reigning in the heart will be a powerful preservative both against corruptions within and temptations without, Ecc 9:16, Ecc 9:18.

2. More particularly, wisdom will preserve us,

(1.) From men of corrupt principles, atheistical profane men, who make it their business to debauch young men's judgments, and instil into their minds prejudices against religion and arguments for vice: "It will deliver thee from the way of the evil man (Pro 2:12), and a blessed deliverance it will be, as from the very jaws of death, from the way in which he walks, and in which he would persuade thee to walk."The enemy is spoken of as one (Pro 2:12), an evil man, but afterwards as many (Pro 2:13); there is a club, a gang of them, that are in confederacy against religion, and join hand in hand for the support of the devil's kingdom and the interests of it. [1.] They have a spirit of contradiction to that which is good: They speak froward things; they say all they can against religion, both to show their own enmity to it and to dissuade others from it. They are advocates for Satan; they plead for Baal, and pervert the right ways of the Lord. How peevishly will profane wits argue for sin, and with what frowardness will they carp at the word of God! Wisdom will keep us either from conversing with such men or at least from being ensnared by them. [2.] They are themselves apostates from that which is good, and such are commonly the most malicious and dangerous enemies religion has, witness Julian (Pro 2:13): They leave the paths of uprightness, which they were trained up in and had set out in, shake off the influences of their education, and break off the thread of their hopeful beginnings, to walk in the ways of darkness, in those wicked ways which hate the light, in which men are led blindfold by ignorance and error, and which lead men into utter darkness. The ways of sin are ways of darkness, uncomfortable and unsafe; what fools are those that leave the plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in those ways! Psa 82:5; 1Jo 2:11. [3.] They take a pleasure in sin, both in committing it themselves and in seeing others commit it (Pro 2:14): They rejoice in an opportunity to do evil, and in the accomplishment and success of any wicked project. It is sport to fools to do mischief; nor is any sight more grateful to them than to see the frowardness of the wicked, to see those that are hopeful drawn into the ways of sin, and then to see them hardened and confirmed in those ways. They are pleased if they can discern that the devil's kingdom gets ground (see Rom 1:32), such a height of impiety have they arrived at. [4.] They are resolute in sin (Pro 2:15): Their ways are crooked, a great many windings and turnings to escape the pursuit of their convictions and break the force of them; some sly excuse, some subtle evasion or other, their deceitful hearts furnish them with, for the strengthening of their hands in their wickedness; and in the crooked mazes of that labyrinth they secure themselves from the arrests of God's word and their own consciences; for they are froward in their paths, that is, they are resolved to go on in them, whatever is said against it. Every wise man will shun the company of such as these.

(2.) From women of corrupt practices. The former lead to spiritual wickednesses, the lusts of the unsanctified mind; these lead to fleshly lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, but withal war against the soul. The adulteress is here called the strange woman, because no man that has any wisdom or goodness in him will have any acquaintance with her; she is to be shunned by every Israelite as if she were a heathen, and a stranger to that sacred commonwealth. A strange woman indeed! utterly estranged from all principles of reason, virtue, and honour. It is a great mercy to be delivered from the allurements of the adulteress, considering, [1.] How false she is. Who will have any dealings with those that are made up of treachery? She is a strange woman; for, First, She is false to him whom she entices. She speaks fair, tells him how much she admires him above any man, and what a kindness she has for him; but she flatters with her words; she has no true affection for him, nor any desire of his welfare, any more than Delilah had of Samson's. All she designs is to pick his pocket and gratify a base lust of her own. Secondly, She is false to her husband, and violates the sacred obligation she lies under to him. He was the guide of her youth; by marrying him she chose him to be so, and submitted herself to his guidance, with a promise to attend him only, and forsake all others. But she has forsaken him, and therefore it cannot be thought that she should be faithful to any one else; and whoever entertains her is partaker with her in her falsehood. Thirdly, She is false to God himself: She forgets the covenant of her God, the marriage-covenant (Pro 2:17), to which God is not only a witness, but a party, for, he having instituted the ordinance, both sides vow to him to be true to each other. It is not her husband only that she sins against, but her God, who will judge whoremongers and adulterers because they despise the oath and break the covenant, Eze 17:18; Mal 2:14. [2.] How fatal it will prove to those that fall in league with her, Pro 2:18, Pro 2:19. Let the sufferings of others be our warnings. Take heed of the sin of whoredom; for, First, The ruin of those who are guilty of it is certain and unavoidable, if they do not repent. It is a sin that has a direct tendency to the killing of the soul, the extinguishing of all good affections and dispositions in it, and the exposing of it to the wrath and curse of God and the sword of his justice. Those that live in forbidden pleasures are dead while they live. Let discretion preserve every man, not only from the evil woman, but from the evil house, for the house inclines to death; it is in the road that leads directly to eternal death; and her paths unto Rephaim, to the giants (so some read it), the sinners of the old world, who, living in luxury and excess of riot, were cut down out of time, and their foundation was overthrown with a flood. Our Lord Jesus deters us from sinful pleasures with the consideration of everlasting torments which follow them. Where the worm dies not, nor is the fire quenched. See Mat 5:28, Mat 5:29. Secondly, Their repentance and recovery are extremely hazardous: None, or next to none, that go unto her, return again. It is very rare that any who are caught in this snare of the devil recover themselves, so much is the heart hardened, and the mind blinded, by the deceitfulness of this sin. Having once lost their hold of the paths of life, they know not how to take hold of them again, but are perfectly besotted and bewitched with those base lusts. Many learned interpreters think that this caution against the strange woman, besides the literal sense, is to be understood figuratively, as a caution, 1. Against idolatry, which is spiritual whoredom. Wisdom will keep thee from all familiarity with the worshippers of images, and all inclination to join with them, which had for many ages been of such pernicious consequence to Israel and proved so to Solomon himself. 2. Against the debauching of the intellectual powers and faculties of the soul by the lusts and appetites of the body. Wisdom will keep thee from being captivated by the carnal mind, and from subjecting the spirit to the dominion of the flesh, that notorious adulteress which forsakes its guide, violates the covenant of our God, which inclines to death, and which, when it has got an undisturbed dominion, makes the case of the soul desperate.

II. This wisdom will be of use to guide and direct us in that which is good (Pro 2:20): That thou mayest walk in the way of good men. We must avoid the way of the evil man, and the strange woman, in order that we may walk in good ways; we must cease to do evil, in order that we may learn to do well. Note, 1. There is a way which is peculiarly the way of good men, the way in which good men, as such, and as far as they have really been such, have always walked. 2. It will be our wisdom to walk in that way, to ask for the good old way and walk therein, Jer 6:16; Heb 6:12; Heb 12:1. And we must not only walk in that way awhile, but we must keep it, keep in it, and never turn aside out of it: The paths of the righteous are the paths of life, which all that are wise, having taken hold of, will keep their hold of. "That thou mayest imitate those excellent persons, the patriarchs and prophets (so bishop Patrick paraphrases it), and be preserved in the paths of those righteous men who followed after them."We must not only choose our way in general by the good examples of the saints, but must also take directions from them in the choice of our particular paths; observe the track, and go forth by the footsteps of the flock. Two reasons are here given why we should thus choose: - (1.) Because men's integrity will be their establishment, Pro 2:21. It will be the establishment, [1.] Of their persons: The upright shall dwell in the land, peaceably and quietly, as long as they live; and their uprightness will contribute to it, as it settles their minds, guides their counsels, gains them the good-will of their neighbours, and entitles them to God's special favour. [2.] Of their families: The perfect, in their posterity, shall remain in it. They shall dwell and remain for ever in the heavenly Canaan, of which the earthly one was but a type. (2.) Because men's iniquity will be their destruction, Pro 2:22. See what becomes of the wicked, who choose the way of the evil man; they shall be cut off, not only from heaven hereafter and all hopes of that, but from the earth now, on which they set their affections, and in which they lay up their treasure. They think to take root in it, but they and their families shall be rooted out of it, in judgment to them, but in mercy to the earth. There is a day coming which shall leave them neither root nor branch, Mal 4:1. Let that wisdom then enter into our hearts, and be pleasant to our souls, which will keep us out of a way that will end thus.

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 2:1-2

The first אם , with that which it introduces, Pro 2:1, Pro 2:2, is to be interpreted as an exclamation, "O that!"( O si ), and then as an optative, as Psa 81:9; Psa 139:19. אז ... כּי , Pro 2:3-5, with the inserted connecting clauses, would then be confirmatory, "for then."But since this poet loves to unfold one and the same thought in ever new forms, one has perhaps to begin the conditional premisses with Pro 2:1, and to regard כּי אם as a new commencement. Hitzig takes this כי אם in the sense of imo : "much more if thou goest to meet her, e.g. , by curious inquiry, not merely permittest her quietly to come to thee." אם would then preserve its conditional meaning; and כּי as in Job 31:18; Psa 130:4, since it implies an intentional negative, would receive the meaning of imo . But the sentences ranged together with אם are too closely related in meaning to admit such a negative between them. כּי will thus be confirmatory, not mediately, but immediately; it is the "for = yes"of confirmation of the preceding conditions, and takes them up again (Ewald, §356, b, cf. 330 b) after the form of the conditional clause was given up. The צפן , which in Pro 1:11, Pro 1:18, is the synonym of צפה , speculari , presents itself here, 1b, 7a, as the synonym of טמן , whence מטמנים , synon. of צפוּנים , recondita ; the group of sounds, צף , צם , טם (cf. also דף , in Arab. dafan , whence dafynat , treasure), express shades of the root representation of pressing together. The inf. of the conclusion להקשׁיב , to incline (Gr. Venet . ὡς ἀκροῷτο ), is followed by the accus. of the object אזנך , thine ear, for הקשׁיב properly means to stiffen (not to purge, as Schultens, nor to sharpen, as Gesenius thinks); cf. under Psa 10:17. With חכמה are interchanged בּינה , which properly means that which is distinguished or separated, and תּבוּנה , which means the distinguishing, separating, appellations of the capacity of distinguishing in definite cases and in general; but it does not represent this as a faculty of the soul, but as a divine power which communicates itself as the gift of God (charisma ).

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 2:3-8

Instead of כּי אם there is an old אל תקרי

(Note: Regarding this formula, see Strack's Prolegomena , pp. 66-70.)

(read not so, but thus), כי אם (if thou callest understanding mother), which supposes the phrase כי אם (lxx) as traditional. If אם were intended (according to which the Targ. in the Bibl. rabbinica , but not in Norzi's text, translates), then 3b would correspond; vid ., Pro 7:4, cf. Job 17:14. Thus: Yea, if thou callest for understanding, i.e. , callest her to thee (Pro 18:6), invitest her to thee (Pro 9:15). The ק of בּקּשׁ is, with the exception of the imper. ( e.g. , בּקּשׁוּ ), always without the Dagesh . Pro 2:4 belongs to the ideas in the Book of Job found in these introductory discourses, cf. Job 3:21, as at Pro 2:14, Job 3:22 (Ewald, Sprüche, p. 49). חפשׂ ( חפּשׂ ), scrutari , proceeds, as חפס shows, from the primary meaning of a ditch, and is thus in its root-idea related to חפר (to dig, search out). In the principal clause of Pro 2:5 the ' יראת ה , as Psa 19:10, is the fear of Jahve as it ought to be, thus the reverence which is due to Him, the worshipping of Him as revealed. ' ה and אלהים are interchanged as קדשׁים and ' ה at Pro 9:10. דּעת is knowledge proceeding from practice and experience, and thus not merely cognition (steplang7 Kenntnis ), but knowledge (steplang7 Erkenntnis ). The thoughts revolve in a circle only apparently. He who strives after wisdom earnestly and really, reaches in this way fellowship with God; for just as He gives wisdom, it is nowhere else than with Him, and it never comes from any other source than from Him. It comes (Pro 2:6) מפּיו (lxx erroneously מפּניו ylsuoe ), i.e. , it is communicated through the medium of His word, Job 22:22, or also (for λὀγος and πνεῦμα lie here undistinguished from one another) it is His breath (Book of Wisdom 7:25: ἀτμὶς τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ ἀπόῤῥοια τῆς τοῦ παντοκράτορος δόξης εἰλικρινής ); the inspiration ( נשׁמת ) of the Almighty (according to Job 32:8) gives men understanding. In Pro 2:7, whether וצפן (Chethı̂b ) or יצפּן (Kerı̂ ) is read, the meaning is the same. The former is the expression of the completed fact, as ἡτοίμασεν , 1Co 2:9, and is rightly preferred by lxx and Syr., for one reluctantly misses the copula (since the thought is new in comparison with Pro 2:6). לישׁרם should be written with the accent Dechî . The Chokma-word (besides in Proverbs and Job, found only in Mic 6:9 and Isa 28:29) תּוּשׁיּה is a Hiphil formation (with the passing over of ô into û , as in תּוּגה ) from הושׁה (whence the pr. names יושׁה and יושׁויה ) = (Arab.) wasy and âsy , to re-establish, to advance, Hiph . of ישׁה = ושׁה , to stand, and thus means furtherance, i.e. , the power or the gift to further, and concretely that which furthers and profits, particularly true wisdom and true fortune.

(Note: I was formerly in error in regarding the word as a Hophal formation, and in assigning to it the primary signification of being in a state of realized existence, of reality, in contradistinction to appearance only. The objection of J. D. Michaelis, Supplem. p. 1167, Non placent in linguis ejusmodi etyma metaphysica , etc., does not apply here, since the word is a new one coined by the Chokma , but all the shades of meaning are naturally derived from the fundamental signification "furtherance"(cf. Seneca, Deus stator stabilitorque est ). " תושׁיה , from Arab. âsy and wasy , to further by word and deed, to assist by counsel and act, to render help, whence the meanings auxilium , salus , and prudens consilium , sapientia , easily follow; cf. Ali's Arab. proverb, "He furthers thee, who does not trouble himself about thee.")

The derivation from ישׁ (Pro 8:21) is to be rejected, because "the formation would be wholly without analogy, so much the more because the י of this word does not represent the place of the ו , as is seen from the Arab. l -ys and the Syr. lyt "(Fl.);

(Note: The Arab. ‛aysa (almost only in the negative la -ysa = לא ישׁ ), of the same signification as ישׁ , with which the Aram. אית ( איתי ) is associated, presupposes an ‛âsa (= ‛âssa ), to be founded, to found, and is rightly regarded by the Arabs as an old segolate noun in which the verbal force was comprehended.)

and the derivation of ושׁה = שׁוה , to be smooth (Hitzig), passes over without any difficulty into another system of roots.

(Note: The Arab. wsy and swy are confounded in common usage (Wetstein, Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitschr. xxii. 19), but the roots וש and שו are different; וש and אש , on the contrary, are modifications of one root.)

In the passage under consideration (Pro 2:7), תּוּשׁיּה signifies advancement in the sense of true prosperity. The parallel passage 7a clothes itself in the form of an apposition: (He) a shield ( מגן , n. instr . of גּנן , to cover) for הלכי תּם , pilgrims of innocence (Fl.), i.e. , such as walk in the way (the object-accus., as Pro 6:12, for which in Pro 10:9 בּ ) of innocence. תּם is whole, full submission, moral faultlessness, which chooses God with the whole heart, seeks good without exception: a similar thought is found in Psa 84:12. לנצר , 8a, is such an inf . of consequence as להקשׁיב (Pro 2:2), and here, as there, is continued in the finite. The "paths of justice"are understood with reference to those who enter them and keep in them; parallel, "the way of His saints"( חסיד , he who cherishes חסד , earnest inward love to God), for that is just ארח־צדקה (Pro 12:28): they are הלכי צדקות (Isa 33:15). Instead of the Mugrash , the conjunctive Tarcha is to be given to ודרך .

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 2:9-11

With the אז repeated, the promises encouraging to the endeavour after wisdom take a new departure:

9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and justice,

And uprightness; every way of good.

10 For wisdom will enter into thine heart,

And knowledge will do good to thy soul;

11 Discretion will keep watch over thee,

Understanding will keep thee.

Regarding the ethical triad מישׁרים [righteousness, rightness], משׁפּט [judgment], and צדק [rectitude], vid ., Pro 1:3. Seb. Schmid is wrong in his rendering, et omnis via qua bonum aditur erit tibi plana , which in comparison with Isa 26:7 would be feebly expressed. J. H. Michaelis rightly interprets all these four conceptions as object-accusatives; the fourth is the summarizing asyndeton (cf. Psa 8:7) breaking off the enumeration: omnem denique orbitam boni ; Jerome, bonam : in this case, however, טוב would be genitive ( vid ., Pro 17:2). מעגּל is the way in which the chariot rolls along; in עגל there are united the root-conceptions of that which is found ( גל ) and rolling ( גל ). Whether כּי , Pro 2:10, is the argumentative "because"(according to the versions and most interpreters) or "for"("steplang7 denn ,"J. H. Michaelis, Ewald, and others), is a question. That with כּי = "for"the subject would precede the verb, as at Pro 2:6, Pro 2:21, and Pro 1:32 (Hitzig), determines nothing, as Pro 2:18 shows. On the one hand, the opinion that כּי = "because"is opposed by the analogy of the כּי , Pro 2:6, following אז , Pro 2:5; the inequality between Pro 2:5-8 and Pro 2:9. if the new commencement, Pro 2:9, at once gives place to another, Pro 2:10; the relationship of the subject ideas in Pro 2:10, Pro 2:11, which makes Pro 2:11 unsuitable to be a conclusion from Pro 2:10. On the contrary, the promise not only of intellectual, but at the same time also of practical, insight into the right and the good, according to their whole compass and in their manifoldness, can be established or explained quite well as we thus read Pro 2:10, Pro 2:11 : For wisdom will enter (namely, to make it a dwelling-place, Pro 14:33; cf. Joh 14:23) into thine heart, and knowledge will do good to thy soul (namely, by the enjoyment which arises from the possession of knowledge, and the rest which its certainty yields). דּעת , γνῶσις , is elsewhere fem. (Psa 139:6), but here, as at Pro 8:10; Pro 14:6, in the sense of τὸ γνῶναι , is masc. In Pro 2:11 the contents of the אז תבין (Pro 2:9) are further explained. שׁמר על , of watching (for Job 16:16 is to be interpreted differently), is used only by our poet (here and at Pro 6:22). Discretion, i.e. , the capacity of well-considered action, will hold watch over thee, take thee under protection; understanding, i.e. , the capacity in the case of opposing rules to make the right choice, and in the matter of extremes to choose the right medium, will be bestowed upon thee. In תּנצרכּה , as in Psa 61:8; Psa 140:2, Psa 140:5; Deu 33:9, etc., the first stem letter is not assimilated, in order that the word may have a fuller sound; the writing כּה for ך is meant to affect the eye.

(Note: For the right succession of the accents here, see Torath Emeth , p. 49, § 5; Accentuationssystem , xviii. § 3.)

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 2:12-15

As in Pro 2:10, Pro 2:11, the אז תּבּין ("then shalt thou understand,"Pro 2:5) is expanded, so now the watching, preserving, is separately placed in view:

12 To deliver thee from an evil way,

From the man who speaks falsehood;

13 (From those) who forsake the ways of honesty

To walk in ways of darkness,

14 Who rejoice to accomplish evil,

Delight in malignant falsehood -

15 They are crooked in their paths,

And perverse in their ways.

That דּרך רע is not genitival, via mali , but adjectival, via mala , is evident from דרך לא־טוב , Pro 16:29. From the evil way, i.e. , conduct, stands opposed to the false words represented in the person of the deceiver; from both kinds of contagium wisdom delivers. תּהפּכות (like the similarly formed תּחבּות , occurring only as plur.) means misrepresentations, viz., of the good and the true, and that for the purpose of deceiving (Pro 17:20), fallaciae , i.e. , intrigues in conduct, and lies and deceit in words. Fl. compares Arab. ifk , a lie, and affak , a liar. להצּילך has Munach , the constant servant of Dechî , instead of Metheg , according to rule ( Accentssystem , vii. §2). העזבים (Pro 2:13) is connected with the collective אישׁ (cf. Jdg 9:55); we have in the translation separated it into a relative clause with the abstract present. The vocalization of the article fluctuates, yet the expression העזבים , like Pro 2:17 העזבת , is the better established ( Michlol 53b); העזבים is one of the three words which retain their Metheg , and yet add to it a Munach in the tone-syllable ( vid ., the two others, Job 22:4; Job 39:26). To the "ways of honesty"(steplang7 Geradheit ) (cf. the adj. expression, Jer 31:9), which does not shun to come to the light, stand opposed the "ways of darkness,"the ἔργα τοῦ σκότους , Rom 13:12, which designedly conceal themselves from God (Isa 29:15) and men (Job 24:15; Job 38:13, Job 38:15).

Pro 2:14

In this verse the regimen of the מן , 12b, is to be regarded as lost; the description now goes on independently. Whoever does not shrink back from evil, but gives himself up to deceit, who finally is at home in it as in his own proper life-element, and rejoices, yea, delights in that which he ought to shun as something destructive and to be rejected. The neut. רע is frequently an attributive genit., Pro 6:24; Pro 15:26; Pro 28:5; cf. טוב , Pro 24:25, which here, since תּהפּכות are those who in themselves are bad, does not separate, but heightens: perversitates non simplices aut vulgares, sed pessimae et ex omni parte vitiosae (J. H. Michaelis). With אשׁר ( οἵτινες ), Pro 2:15, this part is brought to a conclusion. Fleischer, Bertheau, and others interpret ארחתיהם , as the accus. of the nearer definition, as σκολιὸς τὸν νοῦν , τὰς πράξεις ; but should it be an accus., then would we expect, in this position of the words, עקּשׁוּ (Isa 59:8; Pro 10:8, cf. Pro 9:15). עקּשׁים is the pred.; for ארח , like דּרך , admits of both genders. וּנלוזים carries in it its subject הם ; לוּז , like the Arab. l'd , l'dh , is a weaker form of לוּץ , flectere, inclinare , intrans. recedere : they are turned aside, inclined out of the way to the right and left in their walk ( בּ as Pro 17:20).

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 2:16

With the resumption of להצּילך , the watchful protection which wisdom affords to its possessors is further specified in these verses:

16 To save thee from the strange woman,

From the stranger who useth smooth words;

The subject here continued is the fourfold wisdom named in Pro 2:10, Pro 2:11. זר signifies alienus , which may also be equivalent to alius populi , but of a much wider compass - him who does not belong to a certain class ( e.g. , the non-priestly or the laity), the person or thing not belonging to me, or also some other than I designate; on the other hand, נכרי , peregrinus , scarcely anywhere divests itself of the essential mark of a strange foreign origin. While thus אשּׁה זרה is the non-married wife, נכריּה designates her as non-Israelitish. Prostitution was partly sanctioned in the cultus of the Midianites, Syrians, and other nations neighbouring to Israel, and thus was regarded as nothing less than customary. In Israel, on the contrary, the law (Deu 23:18.) forbade it under a penalty, and therefore it was chiefly practised by foreign women (Pro 23:27, and cf. the exception, Rth 2:10),

(Note: In Talmudic Heb. ארמית (Aramean) has this meaning for the Biblical נכריּה .)

an inveterate vice, which spread itself particularly from the latter days of Solomon, along with general ungodliness, and excusing itself under the polygamy sanctioned by the law, brought ruin on the state. The Chokma contends against this, and throughout presents monogamy as alone corresponding to the institution and the idea of the relation. Designating marriage as the "covenant of God,"it condemns not only adulterous but generally promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, because unhallowed and thus unjustifiable, and likewise arbitrary divorce. Regarding the ancient ceremonies connected with the celebration of marriage we are not specially informed; but from Pro 2:17, Mal 2:14 (Ewald, Bertheau, Hitzig, but not Köhler), it appears that the celebration of marriage was a religious act, and that they who were joined together in marriage called God to witness and ratify the vows they took upon themselves. The perf. in the attributive clause אמריה החליקה proceeds on the routine acquired in cajoling and dissembling: who has smoothed her words, i.e. , learned to entice by flattering words (Fl.).

Keil-Delitzsch: Pro 2:17-19

17 Who forsakes the companion of her youth,

And forgets the covenant of her God;

18 For she sinks down to death together with her house,

And to the shadow of Hades her paths -

19 All they who go to her return not again,

And reach not the paths of life

אלּוּף , as here used, has nothing to do with the phylarch-name, similar in sound, which is a denom. of אלף ; but it comes immediately from אלף , to accustom oneself to a person or cause, to be familiar therewith (while the Aram. אלף , ילף , to learn, Pa . to teach), and thus means, as the synon. of רע , the companion or familiar associate ( vid ., Schultens). Parallels such as Jer 3:4 suggested to the old interpreters the allegorical explanation of the adulteress as the personification of the apostasy or of heresy. Pro 2:18 the lxx translate: ἔθετο γὰρ παρὰ τῷ θανάτῳ τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς : she (the dissolute wife) has placed her house beside death (the abyss of death). This שׁחה [ ἔθετο ] is perhaps the original, for the text as it lies before us is doubtful, though, rightly understood, admissible. The accentuation marks בּיתהּ as the subject, but בּית is elsewhere always masc., and does not, like the rarer ארח , Pro 2:15, admit in usage a double gender; also, if the fem. usage were here introduced (Bertheau, Hitzig), then the predicate, even though ביתה were regarded as fem., might be, in conformity with rule, שׁח , as e.g. , Isa 2:17. שׁחה is, as in Psa 44:26, 3rd pr. of שׁוּח , Arab. sâkh , to go down, to sink; the emendation שׁחה (Joseph Kimchi) does not recommend itself on this account, that שׁחה and שׁחח mean, according to usage, to stoop or to bend down; and to interpret (Ralbag, השׁפילה ) שׁחה transitively is inadmissible. For that reason Aben Ezra interprets ביתה as in apposition: to death, to its house; but then the poet in that case should say אל־שׁאול , for death is not a house. On the other hand, we cannot perceive in ביתה an accus. of the nearer definition (J. H. Michaelis, Fl.); the expression would here, as 15a, be refined without purpose. Böttcher has recognised ביתה as permutative, the personal subject: for she sinks down to death, her house, i.e. , she herself, together with all that belongs to her; cf. the permutative of the subject, Job 29:3; Isa 29:23 ( vid ., comm. l.c. ), and the more particularly statement of the object, Exo 2:6, etc. Regarding רפאים , shadows of the under-world (from רפה , synon. חלה , weakened, or to become powerless), a word common to the Solomonic writings, vid ., Comment. on Isaiah , p. 206. What Pro 2:18 says of the person of the adulteress, Pro 2:19 says of those who live with her ביתה , her house-companions. בּאיה , "those entering in to her,"is equivalent to בּאים אליה ; the participle of verbs eundi et veniendi takes the accusative object of the finite as gen. in st. constr ., as e.g. , Pro 1:12; Pro 2:7; Gen 23:18; Gen 9:10 (cf. Jer 10:20). The ישׁוּבוּן , with the tone on the ult., is a protestation: there is no return for those who practise fornication,

(Note: One is here reminded of the expression in the Aeneid , vi. 127-129:

Revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras ,

Hoc opes, hoc labor est .

See also an impure but dreadful Talmudic story about a dissolute Rabbi, b. Aboda zara , 17a.)

and they do not reach the paths of life from which they have so widely strayed.

(Note: In correct texts ולא־ישיגו has the Makkeph . Vid ., Torath Emeth , p. 41; Accentuationssystem , xx. §2.)

Constable: Pro 1:1--9:18

I. DISCOURSES ON WISDOM chs. 1--9

Verse one introduces both the book as a whole and chapters 1-9 in particular. The Book of Proverbs is a collection of at least five separate groups of proverbs. There are those that Solomon spoke and or wrote (possibly chs. 1-9 and definitely 10:1-22:16) and those that unknown sages produced (22:17-24:34). Next come proverbs of Solomon that King Hezekiah's men compiled (chs. 25-29), those that Agur spoke and or wrote (ch. 30), and finally those that King Lemuel spoke and or wrote (ch. 31).

"We're living in the information age,' but we certainly aren't living in the age of wisdom.' Many people who are wizards with their computers seem to be amateurs when it comes to making a success out of their lives. Computers can store data and obey signals, but they can't give us the ability to use that knowledge wisely. What's needed today is wisdom.

"The Book of Proverbs is about godly wisdom, how to get it and how to use it. It's about priorities and principles, not get-rich-quick schemes or success formulas. It tells you, not how to make a living, but how to be skillful in the lost art of making a life."¹¹

Since the sum total of human information now doubles approximately every year and a half, T. S. Eliot's questions are more apropos today than when he wrote them:

"Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?"¹²

Constable: Pro 1:8--8:1

B. Instruction for Young People 1:8-7:27

The two ways (paths) introduced in 1:7 stretch out before the reader (cf. Matt. 7:13-14). In this section Solomon spoke to his son guiding him into God's way. "My son" was and is a customary way of addressing a disciple.

"It derives from the idea that parents are primarily responsible for moral instruction (Prov 4:3-4; Deut 6:7)."²⁸

The frequent recurrence of the phrase "my son" in this part of Proverbs indicates that the instruction specially suited a young person. This person's life lay in front of him, and he faced major decisions that would set the course of his life from then on. Though the whole Book of Proverbs gives help to youths, chapters 1-7 can be of particular benefit to them.

Various individuals have proposed suggestions concerning how we should understand the phrase "my son." The best explanation I have seen is that the instruction that follows was originally the type of counsel a courtier father gave his son or sons in his home. This seems to have been a traditional form of ancient Near Eastern education, especially among the ruling classes.

In Egypt, for example, "The authors of the [wisdom] teachings' do not present themselves as priests and prophets. They appear as aged officials at the end of active and successful careers, desirous to let their children profit by their experience."²⁹

This instruction did not replace a formal education but supplemented it.³⁰

Earlier Akkadian officials evidently practiced the same custom.

"The advice given in the section My son' can have had relevance for very few people. . . . This suggests that we are to construe the text as being in the form of admonitions of some worthy to his son who will succeed him as vizier to the ruler."³¹

Other evidence exists that it was common throughout the ancient Near East for high officials to pass on this special instruction to their heirs. In Proverbs we have the record of what Solomon told his son Rehoboam.

". . . the Book of Proverbs has a definite masculine focus because in the ancient Jewish society daughters usually weren't educated for the affairs of life. Most of them were kept secluded and prepared for marriage and motherhood. For the most part, when you read man' in Proverbs, interpret it generically and read person,' whether male or female. Proverbs isn't a sexist book, but it was written in the context of a strongly male-oriented society."³²

In the teaching that follows there is advice for many situations a king would encounter and have to deal with effectively. These matters included the administration of justice, leadership, behavior, as well as urban and agricultural concerns. Consequently there seems to be no reason to take these references to "my son" as anything other than what they appear at face value to be (cf. Gen. 18:19; Exod. 12:24; Deut. 4:9-11).

In some parts of the ancient world the mother shared the duty of instructing the son with the father (cf. 1:8; 4:3; 6:20; 31:1, 26).³³

"Here the father and mother are placed on exactly the same footing as teachers of their children. . . . The phraseology of these sentences corresponds almost exactly to that of their Egyptian counterparts . . . and this throws into greater relief the one feature which is entirely unique in them: the mention of the mother. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that this feature is an example of the adaptation of the Egyptian tradition to the peculiar situation in which the Israelite instructions were composed: a domestic situation in which the father and mother together shared the responsibility for the education of the child."³⁴

Archaeologists have found most of the documents that contain extrabiblical instruction of the "my son" type in excavated scribal schools. This suggests that even though the teaching took place in the home the teachers preserved their instructions in writing with a view to sharing them with people outside the family circle. This means that what we have in Proverbs is not atypical. Probably when Solomon recorded his counsel to his son he adapted it to a more general reading audience, namely, all the people of Israel. Eventually all people profited from it.

Constable: Pro 2:1-5

The difficulty of obtaining wisdom 2:1-5

Even though wisdom wants people to adopt her (1:20-33) she is hard to get. The person who wants her has to work hard to obtain her (v. 3). If understanding does not come easily, one should work harder to obtain it.⁴⁰ He or she must start with revelation and study it diligently to obtain spiritual rather than merely academic wisdom. The "fear of the Lord" emphasizes awe, and the "knowledge of God" stresses intimacy.⁴¹

"If you want wisdom, you must listen to God attentively (Matt. 13:9), obey Him humbly (John 7:17), ask Him sincerely (James 1:5), and seek Him diligently (Isa. 55:6-7), the way a miner searches for silver and gold.

"Obtaining spiritual wisdom isn't a once-a-week hobby, it is the daily discipline of a lifetime. But in this age of microwave ovens, fast foods, digests, and numerous made easy' books, many people are out of the habit of daily investing time and energy in digging deep into Scripture and learning wisdom from the Lord. Thanks to television, their attention span is brief; thanks to religious entertainment that passes for worship, their spiritual appetite is feeble and spiritual knowledge isn't pleasant to [their] soul' (Prov. 2:10). It's no wonder fewer and fewer people take time to be holy' and more and more people fall prey to the enemies that lurk along the way."⁴²

Constable: Pro 2:6-9

The giver of wisdom 2:6-9

The searcher for wisdom will find what God gives when he or she searches revelation (v. 6). The knowledge of how to live comes with the knowledge of God (v. 7). The success in view is correct behavior (vv. 7-9). Lovers of wisdom are godly (v. 8, Heb. hasidim, loyal sons of the covenant).

This is another passage in which we can see the difference between Hebrew wisdom literature and that of other ancient nations. Solomon identified Yahweh as the source of wisdom. Only through relationship with Him can a person be truly wise and experience the blessings of wisdom.

Constable: Pro 2:10-22

The fruit of moral integrity 2:10-22

Wisdom safeguards a person morally. The first part of this pericope shows how God protects (vv. 10-11; cf. vv. 7b-8). The last part presents the temptations one can overcome (vv. 12-15 and 16-19). When a person submits himself or herself to God and gains wisdom, the ways of the wicked will lose some of their attractiveness. The wise person will see that the adventuress who promises thrills is offering something she cannot deliver except in the most immediate sensual sense.

The "strange" woman (v. 16) is one "outside the circle of [a man's] proper relations, that is, a harlot or an adulteress."⁴³ The word does not necessarily mean that she was a foreigner. Probably she is a stranger to the conventions of Israel's corporate life.⁴⁴

"If the evil man uses perverse words to snare the unwary [v. 12], the adulteress uses flattering words. Someone has said that flattery isn't communication, it is manipulation; it's people telling us things about ourselves that we enjoy hearing and wish were true."⁴⁵

The "covenant" she has left (v. 17) seems to refer to her own marriage covenant (Mal. 2:14) rather than to the covenant law that prohibited adultery (Exod. 20:14).⁴⁶ The "land" (vv. 21-22) is the Promised Land of Canaan.

This chapter, like the previous one, ends by contrasting the ends of the wicked and the righteous (vv. 21-22; cf. 1:32-33). It is a long poem that appeals for wisdom and then identifies the benefits of following wisdom.

Chapter 2 emphasizes moral stability as a fruit of wisdom, and chapter 3 stresses serenity. As chapter 2, chapter 3 also has three sections.

Commentary -- Other

Evidence: Pro 2:1-5

The fear of the Lord . This is how to obtain the fear of the Lord, the most necessary virtue: 1) receive the Word of God; 2) hide His commandments within you; 3) incline your ear to wisdom; 4) apply your heart to understanding; 5) cry out for knowledge and discernment; 6) seek it as you would for silver or hidden treasures.

Evidence: Pro 2:12

Wisdom, knowledge, discretion, and understanding will keep you from perversity and sexual sin. They give the blind light as to the end result of sin: see Pro 2:18 .

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

THE NATURE AND USE OF PROVERBS.--A proverb is a pithy sentence, concisely expressing some well-established truth susceptible of various illustrations and applications. The word is of Latin derivation, literally meaning for a word, speech, or discourse; that is, one expression for many. The Hebrew word for "proverb" (mashal) means a "comparison." Many suppose it was used, because the form or matter of the proverb, or both, involved the idea of comparison. Most of the proverbs are in couplets or triplets, or some modifications of them, the members of which correspond in structure and length, as if arranged to be compared one with another. They illustrate the varieties of parallelism, a distinguishing feature of Hebrew poetry. Compare Introduction to Poetical Books. Many also clearly involve the idea of comparison in the sentiments expressed (compare Pro 12:1-10; Pro 25:10-15; Pro 26:1-9). Sometimes, however, the designed omission of one member of the comparison, exercising the reader's sagacity or study for its supply, presents the proverb as a "riddle" or "dark saying" (compare Pro. 30:15-33; Pro 1:6; Psa 49:4). The sententious form of expression, which thus became a marked feature of the proverbial style, was also adopted for continuous discourse, even when not always preserving traces of comparison, either in form or matter (compare Pro. 1:1-9:18). In Eze 17:1; Eze 24:3, we find the same word properly translated "parable," to designate an illustrative discourse. Then the Greek translators have used a word, parabola ("parable"), which the gospel writers (except John) employ for our Lord's discourses of the same character, and which also seems to involve the idea of comparison, though that may not be its primary meaning. It might seem, therefore, that the proverbial and parabolic styles of writing were originally and essentially the same. The proverb is a "concentrated parable, and the parable an extension of the proverb by a full illustration." The proverb is thus the moral or theme of a parable, which sometimes precedes it, as in Mat 19:30 (compare Pro 20:1); or succeeds it, as in Mat. 22:1-16; Luk 15:1-10. The style being poetical, and adapted to the expression of a high order of poetical sentiment, such as prophecy, we find the same term used to designate such compositions (compare Num 23:7; Mic 2:4; Hab 2:6).

Though the Hebrews used the same term for proverb and parable, the Greek employs two, though the sacred writers have not always appeared to recognize a distinction. The term for proverb is, paroimia, which the Greek translators employ for the title of this book, evidently with special reference to the later definition of a proverb, as a trite, sententious form of speech, which appears to be the best meaning of the term. John uses the same term to designate our Saviour's instructions, in view of their characteristic obscurity (compare Pro 16:25-29, Greek), and even for his illustrative discourses (Pro 10:6), whose sense was not at once obvious to all his hearers. This form of instruction was well adapted to aid the learner. The parallel structure of sentences, the repetition, contrast, or comparison of thought, were all calculated to facilitate the efforts of memory; and precepts of practical wisdom which, extended into logical discourses, might have failed to make abiding impressions by reason of their length or complicated character, were thus compressed into pithy, and, for the most part, very plain statements. Such a mode of instruction has distinguished the written or traditional literature of all nations, and was, and still is, peculiarly current in the East.

In this book, however, we are supplied with a proverbial wisdom commended by the seal of divine inspiration. God has condescended to become our teacher on the practical affairs belonging to all the relations of life. He has adapted His instruction to the plain and unlettered, and presented, in this striking and impressive method, the great principles of duty to Him and to our fellow men. To the prime motive of all right conduct, the fear of God, are added all lawful and subordinate incentives, such as honor, interest, love, fear, and natural affection. Besides the terror excited by an apprehension of God's justly provoked judgments, we are warned against evil-doing by the exhibition of the inevitable temporal results of impiety, injustice, profligacy, idleness, laziness, indolence, drunkenness, and debauchery. To the rewards of true piety which follow in eternity, are promised the peace, security, love, and approbation of the good, and the comforts of a clear conscience, which render this life truly happy.

INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP.--With no important exception, Jewish and Christian writers have received this book as the inspired production of Solomon. It is the first book of the Bible prefaced by the name of the author. The New Testament abounds with citations from the Proverbs. Its intrinsic excellence commends it to us as the production of a higher authority than the apocryphal writings, such as Wisdom or Ecclesiasticus. Solomon lived five hundred years before the "seven wise men" of Greece, and seven hundred before the age of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It is thus very evident, whatever theory of his sources of knowledge be adopted, that he did not draw upon any heathen repositories with which we are acquainted. It is far more probable, that by the various migrations, captivities, and dispersions of the Jews, heathen philosophers drew from this inspired fountain many of those streams which continue to refresh mankind amid the otherwise barren and parched deserts of profane literature.

As, however, the Psalms are ascribed to David, because he was the leading author, so the ascription of this book to Solomon is entirely consistent with the titles of the thirtieth and thirty-first chapters, which assign those chapters to Agur and Lemuel respectively. Of these persons we know nothing. This is not the place for discussing the various speculations respecting them. By a slight change of reading some propose to translate Pro 30:1 : "The words of Agur, the son of her who was obeyed Massa," that is, "the queen of Massa"; and Pro 31:1 : "The words of Lemuel, king of Massa"; but to this the earliest versions are contradictory, and nothing other than the strongest exegetical necessity ought to be allowed to justify a departure from a well-established reading and version when nothing useful to our knowledge is gained. It is better to confess ignorance than indulge in useless conjectures.

It is probable that out of the "three thousand proverbs" (1Ki 4:32) which Solomon spoke, he selected and edited Pro. 1:1-24:34 during his life. Pro. 25:1-29:27 were also of his production, and copied out in the days of Hezekiah, by his "men," perhaps the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah. Such a work was evidently in the spirit of this pious monarch, who set his heart so fully on a reformation of God's worship. Learned men have endeavored to establish the theory that Solomon himself was only a collector; or that the other parts of the book, as these chapters, were also selections by later hands; but the reasons adduced to maintain these views have never appeared so satisfactory as to change the usual opinions on the subject, which have the sanction of the most ancient and reliable authorities.

DIVISIONS OF THE BOOK.--Such a work is, of course, not susceptible of any logical analysis. There are, however, some well-defined marks of division, so that very generally the book is divided into five or six parts.

1. The first contains nine chapters, in which are discussed and enforced by illustration, admonition, and encouragement the principles and blessings of wisdom, and the pernicious schemes and practices of sinful persons. These chapters are introductory. With few specimens of the proper proverb, they are distinguished by its conciseness and terseness. The sentences follow very strictly the form of parallelism, and generally of the synonymous species, only forty of the synthetic and four (Pro 3:32-35) of the antithetic appearing. The style is ornate, the figures bolder and fuller, and the illustrations more striking and extended.

2. The antithetic and synthetic parallelism to the exclusion of the synonymous distinguish Pro. 10:1-22:16, and the verses are entirely unconnected, each containing a complete sense in itself.

3. Pro. 22:16-24:34 present a series of admonitions as if addressed to a pupil, and generally each topic occupies two or more verses.

4. Pro. 25:1-29:27 are entitled to be regarded as a distinct portion, for the reason given above as to its origin. The style is very much mixed; of the peculiarities, compare parts two and three.

5. Pro. 30:1-33 is peculiar not only for its authorship, but as a specimen of the kind of proverb which has been described as "dark sayings" or "riddles."

6. To a few pregnant but concise admonitions, suitable for a king, is added a most inimitable portraiture of female character. In both parts five and six the distinctive peculiarity of the original proverbial style gives place to the modifications already mentioned as marking a later composition, though both retain the concise and nervous method of stating truth, equally valuable for its deep impression and permanent retention by the memory.

TSK: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

The wisdom of all ages, from the highest antiquity, has chosen to compress and communicate its lessons in short, compendious sentences, and in poetic language, which were readily conceived and easily retained, and circulated in society as useful principles, to be unfolded as occasion required. Indeed, such short maxims, comprehending much instruction in a few words, and carrying their own evidence with them, are admirably adapted to direct the conduct, without overburdening the memory, or perplexing the mind with abstract reasonings; and hence there are, in all countries and in all languages, old proverbs, or common sayings, which have great authority and influence on the opinions and actions of mankind. Such maxims, however, want their proper basis, the sanction of a Divine Original; and being generally the mere result of worldly prudence, are often calculated to impose on the judgment, and to mislead those who are directed by them. But the proverbs in this book not only are far more ancient than any others extant in the world, and infinitely surpass all the ethical sayings of the ancient sages; but have also received a Divine imprimatur, and are infallible rules to direct our conduct in every circumstance of human life. They are so justly founded on the principles of human nature, and so adapted to the permanent interests of man, that they agree with the manners of every age; and are adapted to every period, condition, or rank in life, however varied in its complexion or diversified by circumstance. Kings and subjects, rich and poor, wise and foolish, old and young, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, masters and servants, may here learn their respective duties, and read lessons of instruction for the regulation of their conduct in their various circumstances; while the most powerful motives, derived from honour, interest, love, fear, natural affection, and piety, are exhibited to inspire an ardent love of wisdom and virtue, and the greatest detestation of ignorance and vice. These maxims are laid down so clearly, copiously, impressively, and in such variety, that every man who wishes to be instructed may take what he chooses, and, among multitudes, those which he likes best. " He is wise," say St. Basil, " not only who hath arrived at a complete habit of wisdom, but who hath made some progress towards it; nay, who doth as yet but love it, or desire it, and listen to it. Such as these, by reading this book, shall be made wiser; for they shall be instructed in much divine, and in no less human learning....It bridles the injurious tongue, corrects the wanton eye, and ties the unjust hand in chains. It persecutes sloth, chastises all absurd desires, teaches prudence, raises man’s courage, and represents temperance and chastity after such a fashion that one cannot but have them in veneration."

TSK: Proverbs 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Pro 2:1, Wisdom promises godliness to her children; Pro 2:10, and safety from evil company; Pro 2:20, and direction in good ways.

Poole: Proverbs 2 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 2

Solomon exhorteth his son to get Wisdom, Pro 2:1-4 ; telleth him the benefit he shall receive thereby, Pro 2:5-10 , and the evils which he should avoid, Pro 2:11,12 . The wicked man’ s ways are described, Pro 2:13-20 . A habitation promised the righteous, Pro 2:21 . The end of the wicked miserable, Pro 2:22 .

These words are spoken by Solomon, either,

1. In the name of wisdom, as before; or rather,

2. In his own name. Hide my commandments with thee ; lay them up in thy mind and heart with care, as men do their choicest treasures.

MHCC: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

The subject of this book may be thus stated by an enlargement on the opening verses. 1. The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. 2. Which treat of the knowledge of wisdom, of piety towards God, of instruction and moral discipline, of the understanding wise and prudent counsels. 3. Which treat of the attainment of instruction in wisdom, which wisdom is to be shown in the conduct of life, and consists in righteousness with regard to our fellow-creatures. 4. Which treat of the giving to the simple sagacity to discover what is right, by supplying them with just principles, and correct views of virtue and vice; and to the young man knowledge, so that he need not err through ignorance; and discretion, so that by pondering well these precepts, he may not err through obstinacy. Take the proverbs of other nations, and we shall find great numbers founded upon selfishness, cunning, pride, injustice, national contempt, and animosities. The principles of the Proverbs of Solomon are piety, charity, justice, benevolence, and true prudence. Their universal purity proves that they are the word of God.

MHCC: Proverbs 2 (Chapter Introduction)

(Pro 2:1-9) Promises to those who seek wisdom.

(Pro 2:10-22) The advantages of wisdom.

Matthew Henry: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, With Practical Observations, of The Proverbs

We have now before us, I. A new author, or penman rather, or pen (if you will) made use of by the Holy Ghost for making known the mind of God to us, writing as moved by the finger of God (so the Spirit of God is called), and that is Solomon; through his hand came this book of Scripture and the two that follow it, Ecclesiastes and Canticles, a sermon and a song. Some think he wrote Canticles when he was very young, Proverbs in the midst of his days, and Ecclesiastes when he was old. In the title of his song he only writes himself Solomon, perhaps because he wrote it before his accession to the throne, being filled with the Holy Ghost when he was young. In the title of his Proverbs he writes himself the son of David, king of Israel, for then he ruled over all Israel. In the title of his Ecclesiastes he writes himself the son of David, king of Jerusalem, because then perhaps his influence had grown less upon the distant tribes, and he confined himself very much in Jerusalem. Concerning this author we may observe, 1. That he was a king, and a king's son. The penmen of scripture, hitherto, were most of them men of the first rank in the world, as Moses and Joshua, Samuel and David, and now Solomon; but, after him, the inspired writers were generally poor prophets, men of no figure in the world, because that dispensation was approaching in the which God would choose the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the wise and mighty and the poor should be employed to evangelize. Solomon was a very rich king, and his dominions were very large, a king of the first magnitude, and yet he addicted himself to the study of divine things, and was a prophet and a prophet's son. It is no disparagement to the greatest princes and potentates in the world to instruct those about them in religion and the laws of it. 2. That he was one whom God endued with extraordinary measures of wisdom and knowledge, in answer to his prayers at his accession to the throne. His prayer was exemplary: Give me a wise and an understanding heart; the answer to it was encouraging: he had what he desired and all other things were added to him. Now here we find what good use he made of the wisdom God gave him; he not only governed himself and his kingdom with it, but he gave rules of wisdom to others also, and transmitted them to posterity. Thus must we trade with the talents with which we are entrusted, according as they are. 3. That he was one who had his faults, and in his latter end turned aside from those good ways of God which in this book he had directed others in. We have the story of it 1 Kings 11, and a sad story it is, that the penman of such a book as this should apostatize as he did. Tell it not in Gath. But let those who are most eminently useful take warning by this not to be proud or secure; and let us all learn not to think the worse of good instructions though we have them from those who do not themselves altogether live up to them.

II. A new way of writing, in which divine wisdom is taught us by Proverbs, or short sentences, which contain their whole design within themselves and are not connected with one another. We have had divine laws, histories, and songs, and how divine proverbs; such various methods has Infinite Wisdom used for our instruction, that, no stone being left unturned to do us good, we may be inexcusable if we perish in our folly. Teaching by proverbs was, 1. An ancient way of teaching. It was the most ancient way among the Greeks; each of the seven wise men of Greece had some one saying that he valued himself upon, and that made him famous. These sentences were inscribed on pillars, and had in great veneration as that which was said to come down from heaven. A coelo descendit, Gnōthi seauton - Know thyself is a precept which came down from heaven. 2. It was a plain and easy way of teaching, which cost neither the teachers nor the learners much pains, nor put their understandings nor their memories to the stretch. Long periods, and arguments far-fetched, must be laboured both by him that frames them and by him that would understand them, while a proverb, which carries both its sense and its evidence in a little compass, is quickly apprehended and subscribed to, and is easily retained. Both David's devotions and Solomon's instructions are sententious, which may recommend that way of expression to those who minister about holy things, both in praying and preaching. 3. It was a very profitable way of teaching, and served admirably well to answer the end. The word Mashal, here used for a proverb, comes from a word that signifies to rule or have dominion, because of the commanding power and influence which wise and weighty sayings have upon the children of men; he that teaches by them dominatur in concionibus - rules his auditory. It is easy to observe how the world is governed by proverbs. As saith the proverb of the ancients (1Sa 24:13), or (as we commonly express it) As the old saying is, goes very far with most men in forming their notions and fixing their resolves. Much of the wisdom of the ancients has been handed down to posterity by proverbs; and some think we may judge of the temper and character of a nation by the complexion of its vulgar proverbs. Proverbs in conversation are like axious in philosophy, maxims in law, and postulata in the mathematics, which nobody disputes, but every one endeavours to expound so as to have them on his side. Yet there are many corrupt proverbs, which tend to debauch men's minds and harden them in sin. The devil has his proverbs, and the world and the flesh have their proverbs, which reflect reproach on God and religion (as Eze 12:22; Eze 18:2), to guard us against the corrupt influences of which God has his proverbs, which are all wise and good, and tend to make us so. These proverbs of Solomon were not merely a collection of the wise sayings that had been formerly delivered, as some have imagined, but were the dictates of the Spirit of God in Solomon. The very first of them (Pro 1:7) agrees with what God said to man in the beginning (Job 28:28, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ); so that though Solomon was great, and his name may serve as much as any man's to recommend his writings, yet, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. It is God, by Solomon, that here speaks to us: I say, to us; for these proverbs were written for our learning, and, when Solomon speaks to his son, the exhortation is said to speak to us as unto children, Heb 12:5. And, as we have no book so useful to us in our devotions as David's psalms, so have we none so serviceable to us, for the right ordering of our conversations, as Solomon's proverbs, which as David says of the commandments, are exceedingly broad, containing, in a little compass, a complete body of divine ethics, politics, and economics, exposing every vice, recommending every virtue, and suggesting rules for the government of ourselves in every relation and condition, and every turn of the conversation. The learned bishop Hall has drawn up a system of moral philosophy out of Solomon's Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The first nine chapters of this book are reckoned as a preface, by way of exhortation to the study and practice of wisdom's rules, and caution against those things that would hinder therein. We have then the first volume of Solomon's proverbs (ch. 10-24); after that a second volume (ch. 25-29); and then Agur's prophecy (ch. 30), and Lemuel's (ch. 31). The scope of all is one and the same, to direct us so to order our conversation aright as that in the end we may see the salvation of the Lord. The best comment on these rules is to be ruled by them.

Topical Index of Proverbs

Twenty chapters of the book of Proverbs (beginning with ch. 10 and ending with ch. 29), consisting mostly of entire sentences in each verse, could not well be reduced to proper heads, and the contents of them gathered; I have therefore here put the contents of all these chapters together, which perhaps may be of some use to those who desire to see at once all that is said of any one head in these chapters. Some of the verses, perhaps, I have not put under the same heads that another would have put them under, but the most of them fall (I hope) naturally enough to the places I have assigned them.

1. Of the comfort, or grief, parents have in their children, according as they are wise or foolish, godly or ungodly, Pro 10:1; Pro 15:20; Pro 17:21, Pro 17:25; Pro 19:13, Pro 19:26; Pro 23:15, Pro 23:16, Pro 23:24, Pro 23:25; Pro 27:11; Pro 29:3

2. Of the world's insufficiency, and religion's sufficiency, to make us happy (Pro 10:2, Pro 10:3; Pro 11:4) and the preference to be therefore given to the gains of virtue above those of this world, Pro 15:16, Pro 15:17; Pro 16:8, Pro 16:16; Pro 17:1; Pro 19:1; Pro 28:6, Pro 28:11

3. Of slothfulness and diligence, Pro 10:4, Pro 10:26; Pro 12:11, Pro 12:24, Pro 12:27; Pro 13:4, Pro 13:23; Pro 15:19; Pro 16:26; Pro 18:9; Pro 19:15, Pro 19:24; Pro 20:4, Pro 20:13; Pro 21:5, Pro 21:25, Pro 21:26; Pro 22:13, Pro 22:29; Pro 24:30-34; Pro 26:13-16; Pro 27:18, Pro 27:23, Pro 27:27; Pro 28:19. Particularly the improving or neglecting opportunities, Pro 6:6; Pro 10:5

4. The happiness of the righteous, and the misery of the wicked, Pro 10:6, Pro 10:9, Pro 10:16, Pro 10:24, Pro 10:25, Pro 10:27-30; Pro 11:3, Pro 11:5-8, Pro 11:18-21, Pro 11:31; Pro 12:2, Pro 12:3, Pro 12:7, Pro 12:13, Pro 12:14, Pro 12:21, Pro 12:26, Pro 12:28; Pro 13:6, Pro 13:9, Pro 13:14 15, 21, 22, 25; Pro 14:11, Pro 14:14, Pro 14:19, Pro 14:32; Pro 15:6, Pro 15:8, Pro 15:9, Pro 15:24, Pro 15:26, Pro 15:29; Pro 20:7; Pro 21:12, Pro 21:15, Pro 21:16, Pro 21:18, Pro 21:21; Pro 22:12; Pro 28:10, Pro 28:18; Pro 29:6

5. Of honour and dishonour, Pro 10:7; Pro 12:8, Pro 12:9; Pro 18:3; Pro 26:1; Pro 27:21. And of vain-glory, Pro 25:14, Pro 25:27; Pro 27:2

6. The wisdom of obedience, and folly of disobedience, Pro 10:8, Pro 10:17; Pro 12:1, Pro 12:15; Pro 13:1, Pro 13:13, Pro 13:18; Pro 15:5, Pro 15:10, Pro 15:12, Pro 15:31, Pro 15:32; Pro 19:16; Pro 28:4, Pro 28:7, Pro 28:9

7. Of mischievousness and usefulness, Pro 10:10, Pro 10:23; Pro 11:9-11, Pro 11:23, Pro 11:27; Pro 12:5, Pro 12:6, Pro 12:12, Pro 12:18, Pro 12:20; Pro 13:2; Pro 14:22; Pro 16:29, Pro 16:30; Pro 17:11; Pro 21:10; Pro 24:8; Pro 26:23, Pro 26:27

8. The praise of wise and good discourse, and the hurt and shame of an ungoverned tongue, Pro 10:11, Pro 10:13, Pro 10:14, Pro 10:20, Pro 10:21, Pro 10:31, Pro 10:32; Pro 11:30; Pro 14:3; Pro 15:2, Pro 15:4, Pro 15:7, Pro 15:23, Pro 15:28; Pro 16:20, Pro 16:23, Pro 16:24; Pro 17:7; Pro 18:4, Pro 18:7, Pro 18:20, Pro 18:21; Pro 20:15; Pro 21:23; Pro 23:9; Pro 24:26; Pro 25:11

9. Of love and hatred, peaceableness and contention, Pro 10:12; Pro 15:17; Pro 17:1, Pro 17:9, Pro 17:14, Pro 17:19; Pro 18:6, Pro 18:17-19; Pro 20:3; Pro 25:8; Pro 26:17, Pro 26:21; Pro 29:9

10. Of the rich and poor, Pro 10:5, Pro 10:22; Pro 11:28; Pro 13:7, Pro 13:8; Pro 14:20, Pro 14:24; Pro 18:11, Pro 18:23; Pro 19:1, Pro 19:4, Pro 19:7, Pro 19:22; Pro 22:2, Pro 22:7; Pro 28:6, Pro 28:11; Pro 29:13

11. Of lying, fraud, and dissimulation, and of truth and sincerity, Pro 10:18; Pro 12:17, Pro 12:19, Pro 12:22; Pro 13:5; Pro 17:4; Pro 20:14, Pro 20:17; Pro 26:18, Pro 26:19, Pro 26:24-26, Pro 26:28

12. Of slandering, Pro 10:18; Pro 16:27; Pro 25:23

13. Of talkativeness and silence, Pro 10:19; Pro 11:12; Pro 12:23; Pro 13:3; Pro 17:27, Pro 17:28; Pro 29:11, Pro 29:20

14. Of justice and injustice, Pro 11:1; Pro 13:16; Pro 16:8, Pro 16:11; Pro 17:15, Pro 17:26; Pro 18:5; Pro 20:10, Pro 20:23; Pro 22:28; Pro 23:10, Pro 23:11; Pro 29:24

15. Of pride and humility, Pro 11:2; Pro 13:10; Pro 15:25, Pro 15:33; Pro 16:5, Pro 16:18, Pro 16:19; Pro 18:12; Pro 21:4; Pro 25:6, Pro 25:7; Pro 28:25; Pro 29:23

16. Of despising and respecting others, Pro 11:12; Pro 14:21

17. Of tale-bearing, Pro 11:13; Pro 16:28; Pro 18:8; Pro 20:19; Pro 26:20, Pro 26:22

18. Of rashness and deliberation, Pro 11:14; Pro 15:22; Pro 18:13; Pro 19:2; Pro 20:5, Pro 20:18; Pro 21:29; Pro 22:3; Pro 25:8-10

19. Of suretiship, Pro 11:15; Pro 17:18; Pro 20:16; Pro 22:26, Pro 22:27; Pro 27:13

20. Of good and bad women, or wives, Pro 11:16, Pro 11:22; Pro 12:4; Pro 14:1; Pro 18:22; Pro 19:13, Pro 19:14; Pro 21:9, Pro 21:19; Pro 25:24; Pro 27:15, Pro 27:16

21. Of mercifulness and unmercifulness, Pro 11:17; Pro 12:10; Pro 14:21; Pro 19:17; Pro 21:13

22. Of charity to the poor, and uncharitableness, Pro 11:24-26; Pro 14:31; Pro 17:5; Pro 22:9, Pro 22:16, Pro 22:22, Pro 22:23; Pro 28:27; Pro 29:7

23. Of covetousness and contentment, Pro 11:29; Pro 15:16, Pro 15:17, Pro 15:27; Pro 23:4, Pro 23:5

24. Of anger and meekness, Pro 12:16; Pro 14:17, Pro 14:29; Pro 15:1, Pro 15:18; Pro 16:32; Pro 17:12, Pro 17:26; Pro 19:11, Pro 19:19; Pro 22:24, Pro 22:25; Pro 25:15, Pro 25:28; Pro 26:21; Pro 29:22

25. Of melancholy and cheerfulness, Pro 12:25; Pro 14:10, Pro 14:13; Pro 15:13, Pro 15:15; Pro 17:22; Pro 18:14; Pro 25:20, Pro 25:25

26. Of hope and expectation, Pro 13:12, Pro 13:19

27. Of prudence and foolishness, Pro 13:16; Pro 14:8, Pro 14:18, Pro 14:33; Pro 15:14, Pro 15:21; Pro 16:21, Pro 16:22; Pro 17:24; Pro 18:2, Pro 18:15; Pro 24:3-7; Pro 7:27; Pro 26:6-11; Pro 28:5

28. Of treachery and fidelity, Pro 13:17; Pro 25:13, Pro 25:19

29. Of good and bad company, Pro 13:20; Pro 14:7; Pro 28:7; Pro 29:3

30. Of the education of children, Pro 13:24; Pro 19:18; Pro 20:11; Pro 22:6, Pro 22:15; Pro 23:12; Pro 14:14; Pro 29:15, Pro 29:17

31. Of the fear of the Lord, Pro 14:2, Pro 14:26, Pro 14:27; Pro 15:16, Pro 15:33; Pro 16:6; Pro 19:23; Pro 22:4; Pro 23:17, Pro 23:18

32. Of true and false witness-bearing, Pro 14:5, Pro 14:25; Pro 19:5, Pro 19:9, Pro 19:28; Pro 21:28; Pro 24:28; Pro 25:18

33. Of scorners, Pro 14:6, Pro 14:9; Pro 21:24; Pro 22:10; Pro 24:9; Pro 29:9

34. Of credulity and caution, Pro 14:15, Pro 14:16; Pro 27:12

35. Of kings and their subjects, Pro 14:28, Pro 14:34, Pro 14:35; Pro 16:10, Pro 16:12-15; Pro 19:6, Pro 19:12; Pro 20:2, Pro 20:8, Pro 20:26, Pro 20:28; Pro 22:11; Pro 24:23-25; Pro 30:2-5; Pro 28:2, Pro 28:3, Pro 28:15, Pro 28:16; Pro 29:5, Pro 29:12, Pro 29:14, Pro 29:26

36. Of envy, especially envying sinners, Pro 14:30; Pro 23:17, Pro 23:18; Pro 24:1, Pro 24:2, Pro 24:19, Pro 24:20; Pro 27:4

37. Of God's omniscience, and his universal providence, Pro 15:3, Pro 15:11; Pro 16:1, Pro 16:4, Pro 16:9, Pro 16:33; Pro 17:3; Pro 19:21; Pro 20:12, Pro 20:24; Pro 21:1, Pro 21:30, Pro 21:31; Pro 29:26

38. Of a good and ill name, Pro 15:30; Pro 22:1

39. Of men's good opinion of themselves, Pro 14:12; Pro 16:2, Pro 16:25; Pro 20:6; Pro 21:2; Pro 26:12; Pro 28:26

40. Of devotion towards God, and dependence on him, Pro 16:3; Pro 18:10; Pro 23:26; Pro 27:1; Pro 28:25; Pro 29:25

41. Of the happiness of God's favour, Pro 16:7; Pro 29:26

42. Excitements to get wisdom, Pro 16:16; Pro 18:1; Pro 19:8, Pro 19:20; Pro 22:17-21; Pro 23:15, Pro 23:16, Pro 23:22-25; Pro 24:13, Pro 24:14; Pro 27:11

43. Cautions against temptations, Pro 16:17; Pro 29:27

44. Of old age and youth, Pro 16:31; Pro 17:6; Pro 20:29

45. Of servants, Pro 17:2; Pro 19:10; Pro 29:19, Pro 29:21

46. Of bribery, Pro 17:8, Pro 17:23; Pro 18:16; Pro 21:14; Pro 28:21

47. Of reproof and correction, Pro 17:10; Pro 19:25, Pro 19:29; Pro 20:30; Pro 21:11; Pro 25:12; Pro 26:3; Pro 27:5, Pro 27:6, Pro 27:22; Pro 28:23; Pro 29:1

48. Of ingratitude, Pro 17:13

49. Of friendship, Pro 17:17; Pro 18:24; Pro 27:9, Pro 27:10, Pro 27:14, Pro 27:17

50. Of sensual pleasures, Pro 21:17; Pro 23:1-3, Pro 23:6-8, Pro 23:19-21; Pro 27:7

51. Of drunkenness, Pro 20:1; Pro 23:23, Pro 23:29-35

52. Of the universal corruption of nature, Pro 20:9

53. Of flattery, Pro 20:19; Pro 26:28; Pro 28:23; Pro 29:5

54. Of undutiful children, Pro 20:20; Pro 28:24

55. Of the short continuance of what is ill-gotten, Pro 20:21; Pro 21:6, Pro 21:7; Pro 22:8; Pro 28:8

56. Of revenge, Pro 20:22; Pro 24:17, Pro 24:18, Pro 24:29

57. Of sacrilege, Pro 20:25

58. Of conscience, Pro 20:27; Pro 27:19

59. Of the preference of moral duties before ceremonial, Pro 15:8; Pro 21:3, Pro 21:27

60. Of prodigality and wastefulness, Pro 21:20

61. The triumphs of wisdom and godliness, Pro 21:22; Pro 24:15, Pro 24:16

62. Of frowardness and tractableness, Pro 22:5

63. Of uncleanness, Pro 22:14; Pro 23:27, Pro 23:28

64. Of fainting in affliction, Pro 24:10

65. Of helping the distressed, Pro 14:11, Pro 14:12

66. Of loyalty to the government, Pro 24:21, Pro 24:22

67. Of forgiving enemies, Pro 25:21, Pro 25:22

68. Of causeless curse, Pro 26:2

69. Of answering fools, Pro 26:4, Pro 26:5

70. Of unsettledness and unsatisfiedness, Pro 27:8, Pro 27:20

71. Of cowardliness and courage, Pro 28:1

72. The people's interest in the character of their rulers, Pro 28:12, Pro 28:28; Pro 29:2, Pro 29:16; Pro 11:10, Pro 11:11

73. The benefit of repentance and holy fear, Pro 28:13, Pro 28:14

74. The punishment of murder, Pro 28:17

75. Of hastening to be rich, Pro 28:20, Pro 28:22

76. The enmity of the wicked against the godly, Pro 29:10, Pro 29:27

77. The necessity of the means of grace, Pro 29:18

Matthew Henry: Proverbs 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Solomon, having foretold the destruction of those who are obstinate in their impiety, in this chapter applies himself to those who are willing to be taught; and, I. He shows them that, if they would diligently use the means of knowledge and grace, they should obtain of God the knowledge and grace which they seek (Pro 2:1-9). II. He shows them of what unspeakable advantage it would be to them. 1. It would preserve them from the snares of evil men (Pro 2:10-15) and of evil women (Pro 2:16-19). 2. It would direct them into, and keep them in, the way of good men (Pro 2:20-22. So that in this chapter we are taught both how to get wisdom and how to use it when we have it, that we may neither seek it, nor receive it in vain.

Constable: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible is "The Proverbs of Solomon, the Son of David, King in Israel" (cf. 1:1). The Greek Septuagint called this book "Proverbs of Solomon." The Latin Vulgate named it "The Book of Proverbs."

There is some debate about whether 1:1 is the title of the whole book or just the title of the first section (chs. 1-9). The first view has in its favor the fact that the Hebrew Bible took the verse as the title of the book. According to this view the references to Solomon in 1:1 are an indication that he was the primary author of the proverbs in the book.¹

The second view is that 1:1 simply introduces the first major section of the book. The support for this view is that some succeeding sections begin with a similar caption (cf. 10:1; 24:23; 25:1; 30:1; 31:1).²

In either case the book got its title from the proverbs it contains. The whole book is a book of proverbs so the title is appropriate.

"To read straight through a few chapters of Proverbs is like trying to have a conversation with someone who always replies with a one-liner."³

Writer

Proverbs claims to be a compendium of the wise sayings of several different individuals.⁴ Solomon originated some of them (10:1-22:16 and chs. 25-29 definitely, and probably chs. 1-9 as well).⁵ Unnamed wise men (sages) wrote other parts (22:17-24:34 definitely, and possibly chs. 1-9). Hezekiah's men copied some of Solomon's proverbs and added them to this collection (chs. 25-29). Agur and King Lemuel produced chapters 30 and 31 respectively.

We do not know who the sages were who wrote 22:17-24:34 nor do we know the names of the men whom King Hezekiah instructed to compile some of Solomon's sayings. Agur and Lemuel are unknown to us also, though Lemuel seems to have been a non-Israelite monarch.⁶

Some of the proverbs appear to have been copied from, or at least influenced by, earlier Mesopotamian and Egyptian books of wisdom.⁷

". . . whatever the Spirit of God inspired the ancient writers to include became a part of the Word of the Lord. Such inclusions then took on a new and greater meaning when they formed part of Scripture; in a word, they became authoritative and binding, part of the communication of the divine will."⁸

Date

Solomon reigned from 971 to 931 B.C. and Hezekiah from 715 to 686 B.C.⁹ We do not know when the sages, Agur, or Lemuel lived.

The earliest the Book of Proverbs could have been in its final form was in Hezekiah's day, but it may have reached this stage later than that. We have no way to tell.

The contents of the book could have been in existence in Solomon's lifetime though not assembled into the collection we know as the Book of Proverbs.

Message¹⁰

The Book of Proverbs contains no history. It is purely didactic. It is a book of explicit instruction. Like the other Old Testament wisdom books, Job and Ecclesiastes, it does not contain references to Israel's laws, rituals, sacrifices, or ceremonies. It deals with philosophy primarily. A philosopher is by definition a lover of wisdom. Proverbs is a book that focuses primarily on wisdom, as do Job and Ecclesiastes. In this sense these books are philosophical.

There is a fundamental difference between the philosophy we find in these books and all other philosophy. Other philosophies begin with a question. Hebrew philosophy begins with an affirmation. Its basic affirmation is that God exists. Therefore we can know ultimate truth only by divine revelation.

To many people the Book of Proverbs seems to be a grab bag of wise sayings that lacks any system or order. Nevertheless in a sense this is the most carefully organized of all the books of the Old Testament.

The first verse is its title page. Verses 2-7 are its preface that contains an explanation of the purpose of the book, the method of the Author, and the fundamental affirmation of the book (in v. 7). Then follow three parts of the body of the book. First, there are discourses in defense and application of the fundamental affirmation (1:8--ch. 9). Then we have proverbs Solomon collected and arranged to provide wisdom (chs. 10-24). Next there are additional wise words from Solomon that other people collected after Solomon died (chs. 25-29). An appendix that contains specific words of wisdom by two other sages, Agur and Lemuel, concludes the book (chs. 30-31).

Proverbs is one of the most timeless Old Testament books. The reader needs very little knowledge of ancient Hebrew life and culture to understand and appreciate it. We can understand the contents fairly easily and can apply them directly to modern life.

Let's look first at the fundamental affirmation and then observe how the application of that declaration unfolds in the chapters that follow.

The fundamental affirmation is the deepest insight in Hebrew philosophy (1:7).

There is a presupposition in this statement. It is that God is all wise. We can only find wisdom in God ultimately. This presupposition underlies all of what we read in Job and Ecclesiastes as well as in Proverbs. Furthermore the Hebrews assumed that God expressed His wisdom in all His works and in all His ways. They believed that all natural phenomena revealed God's wisdom. Wherever they looked, they saw God: on land, at sea, in the earth, or in the sky. We can see that viewpoint clearly in Genesis 1:1 (cf. John 14:6).

This fundamental affirmation also contains an inevitable deduction: if wisdom is perfect in God, then wisdom in man consists in the fear of God. A person is wise to the extent that he or she apprehends and fears God. The "fear" of God does not mean a dread that results in hiding from God. It is rather an emotional recognition of God. It is not fear that He may hurt me but fear that I may hurt Him. That is the kind of fear that produces holy character and righteous conduct. Intellectual apprehension of God precedes this emotional recognition, and volitional submission to God's will follows it. When a person comes to this emotional recognition of God he or she comes to the condition for being wise, not that in so doing he or she becomes wise (1:7). We can begin to be wise only when we come into proper relation to God as ultimate Wisdom.

Beginning with 1:8 and continuing to the end of the book, what we have is the application of that affirmation to the various situations and circumstances of life.

I would like to consider what God revealed here in the three spheres of life dealt with in the book: the home, friendship, and the world. In the home, the child must learn wisdom. In friendship, the youth must apply wisdom. In the world, the adult must demonstrate wisdom.

The first sphere is that of the home (1:8-9). God did not teach the responsibility of the father and mother here but took for granted that they would instruct their children. The child needs to hear parental instruction to live in the fear of the Lord. Young children cannot grasp abstract concepts. For them God is incarnate in father and mother. Fathers and mothers reflect the image of God to their children. Both parents are necessary to reveal God to the child fully. Children see some of God's character in the mother's attitudes and actions (cf. Matt. 23:37). They see other aspects of God's character in the father. You do not have to try to teach your young child systematic theology. Just live in the fear of God yourself, and your child will learn what he or she needs to learn about God, for that stage in life, just by observing you. I do not mean to exclude verbal instruction. My point is that young children learn wisdom by observing their parents as well as by listening to them.

The second sphere of life is friendship (1:10-19). The day must come when the child, in the natural process of development, moves out into a wider circle of experience.

Personally I believe the Bible presents two duties that children have to their parents.

When the child's sphere of life is his home, he is to obey his parents. However, that duty does not continue forever. When he moves into the larger sphere of life outside the home, his duty is to honor his parents. This duty does continue forever.

When a child enters this second sphere of life, guided at first by parental council but then finally on its own, wisdom gives important instruction (1:10). He should avoid certain friendships. He should beware of people who seek to make friends with him because they have selfish interests and unscrupulous methods. We have many warnings in Proverbs against people who are not true friends. There is no more important stage in a young person's development than when he or she begins to choose companions. Then, and from then on, he or she must follow the wisdom that comes from the fear of the Lord. The youth must submit to the Lord's wisdom, having learned that in the sphere of the home, to succeed in the larger arenas of life. The choice of a mate is one of these companion decisions.

The third sphere of life is the world, symbolized in Proverbs by the street, the gates, and the city (1:20-33; cf. chs. 2-9).

The first word of warning to the youth who leaves home to enter the world on his own is this. Beware of the evil way of those who do not fear the Lord (1:20-32). There is also a gracious promise (1:33). Wisdom does not say withdraw from the world. Wisdom says remember the fate of those who forget God. Wisdom promises that those who live in the fear of the Lord will be quiet and safe even in the turmoil of the world. Do you see how important preparation for living in this sphere of life is? Children must learn to take God into account in the home, and then in their friendships, before they launch out into the world. This instruction is what really prepares them for life.

The series of discourses beginning, "My son," represents the voice of home sounding in the youth's ears who has left home and is living in the world (chs. 2-7). The father tells his son how his father instructed him in wisdom and how this enabled him to live successfully in the world. Then specific warnings follow concerning impurity, laziness, bad companions, and adultery. As the young man climbs toward a higher position in life, wisdom comes to him again with instruction concerning how he can avoid the pitfalls of that stage of his life (ch. 8). The discourses close with a contrast in which Solomon personified wisdom and folly as two women (ch. 9). One is a woman of virtue and beauty, and the other is a woman of vice and ugliness. Solomon contrasted the value and victory of wisdom with the disaster and defeat of folly. He contrasted the wisdom of fearing God with the folly of forgetting God.

I would summarize the message of Proverbs this way. The person who learns the fear of God (an emotional recognition of God) in every sphere of life will be successful, but those who forget God will fail. By an emotional recognition of God I mean taking God into account, being aware of His reality and presence, making decisions in view of His existence and revelation. This is what fearing God means.

The precepts urging a life of wisdom center on 3:1-10. This passage concentrates on that subject. Proverbs 3:5-6 is some of the best advice anyone ever gave.

The practice of wisdom centers on 8:32-36.

The power for living a life of wisdom centers on 1:8 (cf. James 1:5; 3:37; Col. 2:3).

Constable: Proverbs (Outline)

Outline

I. Discourses on wisdom chs. 1-9

A. Introduction to the book 1:1-7

1. The title of the book 1:1

2. The purpose of the book 1:2-6

3. The thesis of the book 1:7

B. Instruction for young people 1:8-7:27

1. Warning against consorting with sinners 1:8-19

2. Wisdom's appeal 1:20-33

3. Wisdom as a treasure chs. 2-3

4. Encouragements to obey these instructions ch. 4

5. Warnings against unfaithfulness in marriage ch. 5

6. Other dangerous temptations 6:1-19

7. Further warnings against adultery 6:20-7:27

C. The value of wisdom and wise conduct chs. 8-9

1. The function of wisdom ch. 8

2. Wisdom and folly contrasted ch. 9

II. Couplets expressing wisdom 10:1-22:16

A. The marks of wise living chs. 10-15

1. Things that produce profit 10:1-14

2. Things of true value 10:15-32

3. Wise living in various contexts 11:1-15

4. Wise investments 11:16-31

5. The value of righteousness 12:1-12

6. Avoiding trouble 12:13-28

7. Fruits of wise living ch. 13

8. Further advice for wise living chs. 14-15

B. How to please God 16:1-22:16

1. Trusting God ch. 16

2. Peacemakers and troublemakers ch. 17

3. Friendship and folly ch. 18

4. Further advice for pleasing God 19:1-22:16

III. Wise sayings 22:17-24:34

A. Thirty sayings of the wise 22:17-24:22

1. The first group 22:17-23:11

2. The second group 23:12-24:22

B. Six more sayings of the wise 24:23-34

IV. Maxims expressing wisdom chs. 25-29

A. Instructive analogies 25:1-27:22

1. Wise and foolish conduct ch. 25

2. Fools and folly ch. 26

3. Virtues and vices 27:1-22

B. A discourse on prudence 27:23-27

C. Instructive contrasts chs. 28-29

V. Two discourses by other wise men chs. 30-31

A. The wisdom of Agur ch. 30

1. The introduction of Agur 30:1

2. Wisdom about God 30:2-9

3. Wisdom about life 30:10-33

B. The wisdom of Lemuel ch. 31

1. The introduction of Lemuel 31:1

2. The wise king 31:2-9

3. The wise woman 31:10-31

Constable: Proverbs

Proverbs

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.

INTRODUCTION.

This book is so called, because it consists of wise and weighty sentences, regulating the morals of men; and directing them to wisdom and virtue. And these sentences are also called Parables, because great truths are often couched in them under certain figures and similitudes. (Challoner) --- Wisdom is introduced speaking in the nine first chapters. Then to chap. xxv. more particular precepts are given. (Worthington) --- Ezechias caused to be collected (Haydock) what comes in the five next chapters, and in the two last. Some other, or rather Solomon himself, under (Worthington) different titles, gives us Agur's and his mother's instructions, and his own commendations of a valiant woman, (Haydock) which is prophetical of the Catholic Church. He also wrote the two next works, besides many other things, which have been lost. This is the first of those five, which are called "sapiential," giving instructions how to direct our lives, by the dictates of sound reason. (Worthington) --- It is the most important of Solomon's works, though collected by different authors. (Calmet) --- T. Paine treats Solomon as a witty jester. But his jests are of a very serious nature, and no one had before heard of his wit. (Watson)

Gill: Proverbs (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS

This book is called, in some printed Hebrew copies, "Sepher Mishle", the Book of Proverbs; the title of it in the Vulgate Latin version is,

"the Book of Proverbs, which the Hebrews call "Misle":''

in the Septuagint version it has the name of the writer, the Proverbs of Solomon; and so in the Syriac version, with the addition of his titles,

"the son of David, king of Israel.''

This and Ecclesiastes are both of them by the Jews ^a called Books of Wisdom: and it is common with the ancient Christian writers ^b to call the book of Proverbs by the names of "Wisdom" and "Panaretos"; names they give also to the apocryphal books of Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon; and therefore this is to be carefully distinguished from them. The author of this book was King Solomon, as the "first" verse, which contains the inscription of it, shows; for he was not a collector of these proverbs, as Grotius is of opinion, but the author of them, at least of the far greater part; and not only the author, but the writer of them: the Jews ^c say that Hezekiah and this men wrote them; it is true indeed the men of Hezekiah copied some, Pro 25:1; but even those were written by Solomon. R. Gedaliah ^d would have it that Isaiah the prophet wrote this book; but without any foundation. At what time it was written is not certain; the Jewish writers generally say ^e it was written by Solomon, as were the books of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs, in his old age, when near the time of his death; though some think it was written before his fall: and it may be it was not written all at once, but at certain times, when these proverbs occurred unto him and were spoken by him, and as occasion served: however, it is not to he doubted but that they were written under the inspiration of God. The Jews once thought to have made this book of Proverbs an apocryphal one, because of some seeming contradictions in it; but finding that these were capable of a reconciliation, changed their minds, as became them ^f. Among Christians, Theodore of Mopsuest, in the sixth century, denied the divine authority of this book, and attributed it merely to human wisdom; which opinion of his was condemned in the second council at Constantinople: and in later times it has been treated with contempt by the Socinians, and particularly by Father Simon and Le Clerc; but the authority of it is confirmed by the writers of the New Testament, who have cited passages out of it; see Rom 12:20 from Pro 25:21. The book consists of "five" parts; "first", a preface or introduction, which takes up the first "nine" chapters; the "second", the proverbs of Solomon, put together by himself, beginning at the tenth chapter to the twenty-fifth; the "third", the proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah, beginning at the twenty-fifth chapter to the thirtieth; the "fourth", the words of Agur, the thirtieth chapter, the "fifth", the instruction of Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, the thirty-first chapter.

Gill: Proverbs 2 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 2

This chapter directs to the means of attaining to the knowledge of divine things, and shows the profit and advantage arising from thence. The means are, embracing the doctrines of the Gospel, and retaining in memory and affection the ordinances of it, Pro 2:1; and an inclination of the ear and an application of the heart to the knowledge of these things, Pro 2:2. An earnest and importunate desire, expressed by prayer, after the same, Pro 2:3; and a diligent and unwearied search for them, as for silver and hid treasure, Pro 2:4. The advantages are, that such shall attain to the fear and knowledge of God; which may be concluded from these being the gift of God to his people, and from their being laid up for them, whom he carefully keeps and preserves, Pro 2:5; and not only so, but such learn to do that which is just and right among men, Pro 2:9. And, besides, such is the nature of divine wisdom, that, when it has once got a place in the heart and in the affections, it will be a means of preserving both from the ways of evil men, Pro 2:10; who are described, Pro 2:13. And from the evil woman, whose character is given, Pro 2:16; whose vicious course of life, and the ways she leads persons into, are represented as very dangerous, Pro 2:18. And, on the contrary, such is the usefulness of true wisdom, that it leads into the way of good men, who will be happy and safe, when the wicked shall be destroyed, Pro 2:20.