Proverbs 1:7

Introduction to the Theme of the Book

1:7 Fearing the Lord ¹  is the beginning ²  of moral knowledge, ³ 

but ⁴  fools ⁵  despise ⁶  wisdom and instruction. ⁷ 

Proverbs 1:28-29

1:28 Then they will call to me, but I will not answer;

they will diligently seek ⁸  me, but they will not find me.

1:29 Because ⁹  they hated moral knowledge, ¹⁰ 

and did not choose to fear the Lord, ¹¹ 

Proverbs 5:12-13

5:12 And you will say, “How I hated discipline!

My heart spurned reproof!

5:13 For ¹²  I did not obey my teachers ¹³ 

and I did not heed ¹⁴  my instructors. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 8:36

8:36 But the one who does not find me ¹⁶  brings harm ¹⁷  to himself; ¹⁸ 

all who hate me ¹⁹  love death.”

Proverbs 12:1

12:1 The one who loves discipline loves knowledge, ²⁰ 

but the one who hates reproof is stupid. ²¹ 

John 3:20

3:20 For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

Romans 1:28

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ²²  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ²³ 

Romans 2:21

2:21 therefore ²⁴  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

Romans 2:23

2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law!

Romans 2:2

2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth ²⁵  against those who practice such things.

Romans 2:10-12

2:10 but ²⁶  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ²⁷  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 2:2

2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth ²⁸  against those who practice such things.

Romans 4:3-4

4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited ²⁹  to him as righteousness.” ³⁰  4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. ³¹ 

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “fear of the Lord.” The expression יְהוָה יִרְאַת (yir’at yÿhvah, “fear of Yahweh”) is a genitive-construct in which יְהוָה (“the Lord”) functions as an objective genitive: He is the object of fear. The term יָרַא (yara’) is the common word for fear in the OT and has a basic three-fold range of meanings: (1) “dread; terror” (Deut 1:29; Jonah 1:10), (2) “to stand in awe” (1 Kgs 3:28), (3) “to revere; to respect” (Lev 19:3). With the Lord as the object, it captures the polar opposites of shrinking back in fear and drawing close in awe and adoration. Both categories of meaning appear in Exod 20:20 (where the Lord descended upon Sinai amidst geophysical convulsions); Moses encouraged the Israelites to not be afraid of God arbitrarily striking them dead for no reason (“Do not fear!”) but informed the people that the Lord revealed himself in such a terrifying manner to scare them from sinning (“God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him in you so that you do not sin”). The fear of the Lord is expressed in reverential submission to his will – the characteristic of true worship. The fear of the Lord is the foundation for wisdom (9:10) and the discipline leading to wisdom (15:33). It is expressed in hatred of evil (8:13) and avoidance of sin (16:6), and so results in prolonged life (10:27; 19:23).

[1:7]  ² tn The noun רֵאשִׁית (re’shit) has a two-fold range of meaning (BDB 912 s.v.): (1) “beginning” = first step in a course of action (e.g., Ps 111:10; Prov 17:14; Mic 1:13) or (2) “chief thing” as the principal aspect of something (e.g., Prov 4:7). So fearing the Lord is either (1) the first step in acquiring moral knowledge or (2) the most important aspect of moral knowledge. The first option is preferred because 1:2-6 focuses on the acquisition of wisdom.

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “knowledge.” The noun דָּעַת (da’at, “knowledge”) refers to experiential knowledge, not just cognitive knowledge, including the intellectual assimilation and practical application (BDB 394 s.v.). It is used in parallelism to מוּסָר (musar, “instruction, discipline”) and חָכְמָה (khokhmah, “wisdom, moral skill”).

[1:7]  ⁴ tn The conjunction “but” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the antithetical parallelism. It is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn The term אֱוִיל (’evil, “fool”) refers to a person characterized by moral folly (BDB 17 s.v.). Fools lack understanding (10:21), do not store up knowledge (10:14), fail to attain wisdom (24:7), and refuse correction (15:5; 27:22). They are arrogant (26:5), talk loosely (14:3) and are contentious (20:3). They might have mental intelligence but they are morally foolish. In sum, they are stubborn and “thick-brained” (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 6).

[1:7]  ⁶ tn The verb of בָּזָה (bazah, “despise”) means to treat things of value with contempt, as if they were worthless (BDB 102 s.v.). The classic example is Esau who despised his birthright and sold it for lentil stew (Gen 25:34). The perfect tense of this verb may be classified as characteristic perfect (what they have done and currently do) or gnomic perfect (what they always do in past, present and future). The latter is preferred; this describes a trait of fools, and elsewhere the book says that fools do not change.

[1:7]  ⁷ sn Hebrew word order is emphatic here. Normal word order is: verb + subject + direct object. Here it is: direct object + subject + verb (“wisdom and instruction fools despise”).

[1:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “look to.” The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar, “to look”) is used figuratively of intensely looking (=seeking) for deliverance out of trouble (W. L. Holladay, Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon, 366); cf. NLT “anxiously search for.” It is used elsewhere in parallelism with בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek rescue”; Hos 5:15). It does not mean “to seek early” (cf. KJV) as is popularly taught due to etymological connections with the noun שַׁחַר (shakhar, “dawn”; so BDB 1007 s.v. שָׁחַר).

[1:29]  ⁹ tn The causal particle תַּחַת כִּי (takhat ki, “for the reason that”) introduces a second accusation of sin and reason for punishment.

[1:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “knowledge.” The noun דָעַת (da’at, “knowledge”) refers to moral knowledge. See note on 1:7.

[1:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the fear of the Lord.” The noun is an objective genitive; the Lord is to be the object of fear. See note on 1:7.

[5:13]  ¹² tn The vav that introduces this clause functions in an explanatory sense.

[5:13]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term מוֹרַי (moray) is the nominal form based on the Hiphil plural participle with a suffix, from the root יָרָה (yarah). The verb is “to teach,” the common noun is “instruction, law [torah],” and this participle form is teacher (“my teachers”).

[5:13]  ¹⁴ sn The idioms are vivid: This expression is “incline the ear”; earlier in the first line is “listen to the voice,” meaning “obey.” Such detailed description emphasizes the importance of the material.

[5:13]  ¹⁵ tn The form is the Piel plural participle of לָמַד (lamad) used substantivally.

[8:36]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the one sinning [against] me.” The verb חָטָא (khata’, “to sin”) forms a contrast with “find” in the previous verse, and so has its basic meaning of “failing to find, miss.” So it is talking about the one who misses wisdom, as opposed to the one who finds it.

[8:36]  ¹⁷ tn The Qal active participle functions verbally here. The word stresses both social and physical harm and violence.

[8:36]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his soul.”

[8:36]  ¹⁹ tn The basic idea of the verb שָׂנֵא (sane’, “to hate”) is that of rejection. Its antonym is also used in the line, “love,” which has the idea of choosing. So not choosing (i.e., hating) wisdom amounts to choosing (i.e., loving) death.

[12:1]  ²⁰ sn Those who wish to improve themselves must learn to accept correction; the fool hates/rejects any correction.

[12:1]  ²¹ sn The word בָּעַר (ba’ar, “brutish; stupid”) normally describes dumb animals that lack intellectual sense. Here, it describes the moral fool who is not willing to learn from correction. He is like a dumb animal (so the term here functions as a hypocatastasis: implied comparison).

[1:28]  ²² tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

[1:28]  ²³ tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

[2:21]  ²⁴ tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction).

[2:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “based on truth.”

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

[2:12]  ²⁷ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[2:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “based on truth.”

[4:3]  ²⁹ tn The term λογίζομαι (logizomai) occurs 11 times in this chapter (vv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24). In secular usage it could (a) refer to deliberations of some sort, or (b) in commercial dealings (as virtually a technical term) to “reckoning” or “charging up a debt.” See H. W. Heidland, TDNT 4:284, 290-92.

[4:3]  ³⁰ sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[4:4]  ³¹ tn Grk “not according to grace but according to obligation.”