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Proverbs 2

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The Call to Diligently Seek Wisdom 1–4

1
My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; ​
2
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4
If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; ​

The Source and Reward of Wisdom 5–11

5
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. ​
6
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. ​
7
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. ​
8
He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9
Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
10
When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; ​
11
Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

Wisdom Protects from Evil Men 12–15

12
To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; ​
13
Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14
Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; ​
15
Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

Wisdom Protects from the Adulteress 16–19

16
To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; ​
17
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. ​
18
For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. ​
19
None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

The Final Outcome of the Two Paths 20–22

20
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. ​
22
But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Proverbs 2

Verse 1

receive my words, and hide my commandments — 'Hide' is tsaphan, to store away as treasure, the verb of Ps 119:11, 'Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.' Vv.1–4 are one long 'if' (receive, hide, incline, cry, seek); the 'then' comes at v.5.

Verse 4

as silver, and … as for hid treasures — 'Hid treasures' is matmon, wealth buried for safekeeping; it occurs only five times, among them Job 3:21, where men dig for death 'more than for hid treasures'. 'Searchest' is chaphas, to search out; wisdom is to be sought with a miner's persistence.

Verse 5

the fear of the LORD — The 'then' of the long condition in vv.1–4. 'Fear' (yirah) is where the pursuit lands, having begun there: 'The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge' (Prov 1:7), 'of wisdom' (Prov 9:10). What the seeker finds is 'the knowledge of God' (daath Elohim).

Verse 6

the LORD giveth wisdom — The verb nathan, 'give', is the same as in v.3, where the son 'liftest up' (literally, gives) his voice: he gives his cry, and the LORD gives wisdom. Solomon asked for it (1 Kings 3:9), and the promise stands for all: 'If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God' (James 1:5).

Verse 7

sound wisdom — Tushiyyah, help or ability, a word found in Proverbs only here and at 3:21; 8:14; 18:1. 'Layeth up' is tsaphan, the verb of 'hide' in v.1: what the son stores, the LORD has already stored. He is 'a buckler' (magen), a shield, as in 'I am thy shield' (Gen 15:1).

Verse 10

entereth into thine heart — The 'when' that follows the seeking: wisdom itself comes in, and knowledge is naem, pleasant, to the nephesh, the soul, the whole living person. It is the inward side of v.1, where the commandments were hid 'with thee'.

Verse 12

froward things — Tahpukah, from the verb to turn over: speech turned upside down. It is the 'froward mouth' the LORD hates (Prov 8:13) and the 'frowardness' devised in the heart (Prov 6:14). Vv.12–15 describe the men of 'the way of the evil man'; 'evil communications corrupt good manners' (1 Cor 15:33).

Verse 14

rejoice to do evil — 'Rejoice' is sameach, glad; 'delight' is gil, literally to spin round for joy, the verb of 'we will rejoice and be glad in it' (Ps 118:24). Here the gladness is turned to 'the frowardness of the wicked'. It is the opposite of charity, which 'rejoiceth not in iniquity' (1 Cor 13:6).

Verse 16

the strange woman — The participle of zur, to turn aside; 'the stranger' (nokriyah) is the foreign woman. Her flattery is chalaq, smoothness, the mouth 'smoother than oil' of Prov 5:3. The same warning is given, in these same words, in Prov 7:5.

Verse 17

the guide of her youth — Alluph, a familiar friend or chief, used in Jer 3:4 of the LORD himself, 'thou art the guide of my youth'. The 'covenant of her God' is the marriage she breaks: Mal 2:14 calls 'the wife of thy youth' 'the wife of thy covenant', with the LORD as witness.

Verse 18

inclineth unto death — Shuach, to sink down; her house is a descent. 'The dead' is rephaim, the shades below, as in Prov 9:18, 'the dead are there; and … her guests are in the depths of hell', and Prov 21:16, 'the congregation of the dead'. v.19 adds that none who go in return.

Verse 21

the upright shall dwell in the land — The 'land' (erets) is the promised inheritance, and the word is the 'earth' of v.22: the upright 'dwell' and 'remain', the wicked are 'cut off'. So Ps 37:29, 'The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever', and Christ's 'the meek … shall inherit the earth' (Matt 5:5).