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Part I. THE TITLE AND SUPERSCRIPTION.
The superscription of the Proverbs, which extends from verse 1 to verse 6, furnishes us with an epitome in short and concise language of the general scope and bearing of the book, and points out its specific utility, both to the inexperienced and to those already wise. Thus
(1) in Pro_1:1 it gives the name of the author to whom the proverbs are attributed;
(2) in Pro_1:2-3 it declares the aim, object, or design of the collection, which is to lead to the acquirement of wisdom generally; and
(3) in Pro_1:4-6 it proceeds to indicate the special utility the collection will be to two main classes—to the simple and immature, on the one hand, in opening and enlarging their understanding, and so providing them with prudent rules of conduct by which they may regulate the course of life; and, on the other, to the wise and intelligent, in further increasing their knowledge or learning, and thus rendering them competent to comprehend, and also to explain to others less favourably situated than themselves, other proverbs, or enigmas, or sayings, of a like recondite nature to those now to be brought before them.
The title of the book embodied in the text is, 'The Proverbs of Solomon the son of David, King of Israel,' but the shorter designation by which it was and is known among the Jews is Mishle ( îÄùÀÑìÅé ), taken from the word with which the book begins. Analogously, in the Authorized Version it is styled 'The Proverbs,' and the heading in the LXX. is Παοιμίαι Σολομῶντος . The outside title in the Vulgate is more elaborately given as, 'Liber Proverbiorum, quem Hebraei Misle appellant' ('The Book of the Proverbs, which the Hebrews call Misle'). In the Talmud it is called the 'Book of Wisdom'; and Origen (Eusebius, 'Hist. Eccl.,' 6.25) designates it Μισλώθ , the Greek form of the Hebrew Meshaloth ( îÀùÈÑìåÉú ). Among the ancient Greek Fathers, e.g. Clement, Hegesippus, Irenaeus, the book was known by a variety of titles, all more or less descriptive of its contents as a repository of wisdom.
Pro_1:1
The proverbs of Solomon. The word which is here translated "proverbs" is the original mishle ( îÄùÀÑìÅé ), the construct case of mashal ( îÈùÈÑì ), which, again, is derived from the verb mashal ( îÈùÇÑì ), signifying
(1) "to make like," "to assimilate," and
(2) "to have dominion" (Gesenius).
The radical signification of mashal is "comparison" or "similitude," and in this sense it is applied generally to the utterances of the wise. In Num_23:7, Num_23:8 it is used of the prophetic predictions of Balaam; certain didactic psalms, e.g. Psa_49:5 and Psa_78:2, are so designated, and in Job (Job_27:1 and Job_29:1) it describes the sententious discourses of wise men. While all these come under the generic term of meshalim, though few or no comparisons are found in them, we find the term mashal sometimes used of what are proverbs in the sense of popular sayings. Compare "Therefore it became a proverb ( îÈùÈÑì ), Is Saul also among the prophets?" (1Sa_10:12); and see also other instances in Eze_16:4 and Eze_18:2. In this sense it is also found in the collection before us. The predominant idea of the term, however, is that of comparison or similitude, and as such it is better represented by the Greek παραβολή (from παραβάλλω , "to set or place side by side"), literally, a placing beside, or comparison, than by παροιμία , "a byword," or "a trite wayside saying," though in the Greek of the synoptic Gospels παροιμία is equivalent to παραβολή . The English word "proverb" insufficiently renders the wider scope of meaning conveyed in the Hebrew mashal, and is not quite accurately rendered here, since of proverbs in our ordinary signification of that word there are comparatively few in this collection. The Hebrew word here means "maxims," "aphorisms," "wise counsels." Of Solomon. Most modern commentators (Delitzsch, Zockler, Fuerst, Stuart, Plumptre, etc.), while attributing, in a greater or less degree, the authorship of the book to Solomon, regard the insertion of his name in the title as indicating rather that he is the dominant spirit among those wise men of his age, some of whose sayings are here incorporated with his own. King of Israel, as forming the second hemistich of the verse, goes with "Solomon," and not "David." This is indicated in the Authorized Version by the position of the comma. The Arabic Version omits allusion to David, and reads, "Proverbia, nempe documenta Salomonis sapientis, qui regnavit super filios Israel." The proverbial or parabolic form of teaching was a recognized mode of instruction among the Hebrews, and in the Christian Church is recommended by St. Clement of Alexandria ('Strom.,' lib. 11, init.).
Pro_1:2
To know wisdom and instruction. In this verse we have a statement of the first general aim or object of the Proverbs. "To know" ( ìÈãÇòÇú , ladaath) is somewhat indefinite in the Authorized Version, and might be more accurately rendered. "from which men may know" (De Wette, Noyes); cf. unde scias (Munsterus). The ì which is here prefixed to the infinitive, as in verses 2, 8, and 6, gives the clause a final character, and thus points out the object which the teaching of the Proverbs has in view. The teaching is viewed from the standpoint of the learner, and hence what is indicated here is not the imparting of knowledge, but the reception or aprrspriation thereof on the part of the laemer. Schultens states that the radical meaning of ãÈÌòÇú (daath) is the reception of knowledge into one's self. Wisdom. It will be necessary to go rather fully into this word here on its first appearance in the text. The Hebrew is çÈëÀîÈä (khokhmah). Wisdom is mentioned first, because it is the end to which all knowledge and instruction tend. The fundamental conception of the word is variously represented as either
(1) the "power of judging," derived from øóÌ , "to be wise," from the Arabic, "to judge" (Oesenlus); or
(2) "the fixing of a thing for cognition," derived from the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew çÈëÇí , as before, which signifies "to fasten" (Zockler), or "compactness," from the same root as before, "to be firm, or closed." It is also variously defined
(1) as "insight into that upright dealing which pleases God—a knowledge of the right way which is to be followed before God, and of the wrong one which is to be shunned" (Zockler);
(2) as "piety towards God," as in Job_28:28 (Gesenius);
(3) as "the knowledge of things in their being and in the reality of their existence" (Delitzsch), The word is translated in the LXX. by σοφία , and in the Vulgate by sapientia. The Hebrew khokhmah and the Greek σοφία so far agree as philosophical terms in that the end of each is the same, viz. the striving after objective wisdom, the moral fitness of things; but the character of the former differs from that of the latter in being distinctly religious. The beginning and the end of the khokhmah, wisdom, is God (cf. Job_28:7). Wisdom, then, is not the merely scientific knowledge, or moral philosophy, but knowledge κατ ἐξοχήν , i.e. religious knowledge or piety towards God; i.e. an appreciation of what God requires of us and what we conversely owe to God. "Sapientia est de divinis" (Lyra). Wisdom will, of course, carry with it the notions of knowledge and insight. Instruction. As the preceding word represents wisdom in its intellectual conception, and has rather a theoretical character, so "instruction," Hebrew, îÀåÌñÈø (musar), represents it on its practical side, and as such is its practical complement. The Hebrew musar signifies properly "chastisement," from the root yasar ( éÈñÇø ), "to correct," or "chastise," and hence education, moral training; and hence in the LXX. it is rendered by παιδεῖα , which means both the process of education and its result as learning. The Vulgate has disciplina. In relation to wisdom, it is antecedent to it; i.e. to know wisdom truly we must first become acquainted with instruction, and hence it is a preparatory step to the knowledge of wisdom, though here it is stated rather objectively. The words, "wisdom and instruction," are found in exactly the same collocation in Pro_4:13 and Pro_23:23. In its strictly disciplinary sense, "instruction" occurs in Pro_3:11, with which comp. Heb_12:5. Holden takes this word as "moral discipline" in the highest sense. To perceive the words of understanding; literally, to discern the words of discernment; i.e. "to comprehend the utterances which proceed from intelligence, and give expression to it" (Delitzsch). Understanding; Hebrew, vinah ( áÄéðÈä ), connected with the hiph. ( ìÀäÈáÄéï lehavin), properly "to distinguish," hence "to discern," of the same clause, signifies the capability of discerning the true from the false, good front bad, etc. With this agrees Cornelius a Lapide, who says, "Unde prudenter discernas inter bonum et malum, licitum et illicitum, utile et noxium, verum et falsum," and from which you are enabled to know what to do in any circumstances, and what not to do. The LXX. renders the word by φρόμησις , the Vulgate by prudentia. Φρόνησις , in Plato and Aristotle, is the virtue concerned in the government of men, manage-merit of affairs, and the like, and means practical wisdom, prudence, or moral wisdom. Van Ess, Allioli, Holden, translate "prudence."
Pro_1:3
To receive the instruction of wisdom. This verse carries on the statement of the design of the Proverbs. To receive; Hebrew, ìÀ÷ÇçÇú (lakakhath), not the same word as "to know" ( ìÈãÇÌòÇú ), in verse 2, though regarded as synonymous with it by Delitzsch. Its meaning is well represented by the LXX. δέξασθαι , and the Authorized Version "to receive." The Hebrew, ìÈ÷ÇçÇú , is infinitive, and means properly "to take, or lay hold of," hence "to receive," Greek, δέχομαι , No doubt it conveys the idea of intellectual reception (cf. Pro_2:1). The instruction of wisdom; Hebrew, îåÌñÇø äÇùÀÒëÅÌì (musar hasekel); i.e. the discipline or moral training which leads on to reason, intelligence, or wisdom (as Hitzig, Fuerst, Zockler); or discipline full of insight, discernment, or thoughtfulness (as Umbreit, Ewald, Delitzsch). The phrase does not mean the wisdom which instruction imparts. The word musar occurs here in a slightly different sense from its use in verse 2; there it is objective, here its meaning as a medium for the attainment of wisdom is more distinctly brought out. Wisdom (haskel) is properly "thoughtfulness" (so Umbreit. Ewald, Delitzsch, Plumptre). It is strictly the infinitive absolute of ùÈÒëÇì (sakal), "to entwine or involve," and as a substantive it stands for the thinking through of a subject, so "thoughtfulness." The LXX. renders this sentence, δέξασθαί τε στροφὰς , which St. Jerome understands as "versutias sermonum et solutiones aenigmatum" ("the cunning or craftiness of words and the explication of enigmas"). Justice, and judgment, and equity. These words seem to be the unfolding of the meaning contained in the expression, "the instruction of wisdom." Holden regards the last four words as objective genitives dependent on "instruction," but wrongly. Cornelius a Laplde states that "justice and judgment and equity" indicate the same thing in different aspects. "Justice stands for the thing itself—that which is just; judgment in respect of right reason, which says it is just; and equity in respect of its being agreeable to the Law of God." Justice; Hebrew, öÆãÆ÷ (tsedek), from the root öÈãÇ÷ (tsadak), "to be right, or straight;" in a moral sense it means "rectitude," "right," as in Isa_15:2 (Gesenius). The underlying idea is that of straightness. Heidenheim, quoted by Delitzsch, maintains that in tsedek the conception of the justum prevails; but the latter enlarges its meaning, and holds that it also has the idea of a mode of thought and action regulated, not by the letter of the Law, but by love, as in Isa_41:2; Isa_42:6. Plumptre thinks "righteousness" would be a better translation of the word, on the ground that the Hebrew includes the ideas of truth and beneficence. Compare with this the LXX. δικαιοσύνη . Zockler also renders "righteousness," i.e. "that which is in accord with the will and ordinances of God as Supreme Judge." In the Authorized Version, in Pro_2:9, where we have the same collocation of words, tsedek is translated "righteousness;" cf. Pro_12:17, "He who utters truth shows forth righteousness (tsedek)." Judgment; Hebrew, îÀùÀÑôÈÌè (mishepat), from the root ùÈÑôÇÌè (shapat), "to adjust, judge," corresponds with the Hebrew in meaning; it is the delivery of a correct judgment on human actions. Compare the LXX. κρίμα κατευθύνειν . Equity; i.e. rectitude in thought and action (Delitzsch), or integrity (Zockler). This quality expresses upright demeanour or honoumble action on one's own part individually, while "judgment" has regard both to our own and the actions of others. The Hebrew, mesharim ( îÅùÈÑøÄéí ), used only in the plural, is from the root éÈùÇÑø (yashar), "to be straight or even," and is equal to "uprightness." The plural form is reproduced in the marginal reading "equities;" comp. Psa_17:2, "Let thine eyes beheld the things that are equal (mesharim)." The Vulgate reads aequitas and the Syriac rectitudo. The two ideas in judgment and equity appear to be expressed in the LXX. by the phrase. κρίμα κατευθύνειν .
Pro_1:4
To give subtilty to the simple. In this verse and the following we are introduced to the classes of persons to whom the proverbs will be beneficial The ì with the infinitive, ìÈúÅú (latheth) shows that in construction this proposition is so ordinate with those in Pro_1:2 and Pro_1:3, and not dependent as represented by ἵνα δῷ (LXX.)and ut detur (Vulgate). Subtilty; Hebrew, òÇøÀîÈä (aremah), from the root òÈøÇí , (aram), "to be crafty or wily," properly means "nakedness" or "smoothness;" hence in a metaphorical sense it expresses "the capacity for escaping from the wiles of others" (Umbreit). We have this idea expressed as follows in Pro_22:3, "The prudent man ( òÈøåÌí , arum) foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself." In the Arabic Version it is rendered by calliditas, "shrewdness," in a good sense. The Hebrew aremah, like the Latin calliditas, also means "craftiness," as appears in the use of the cognate adjective arum in Gen_3:1, where we read, "The serpent was more subtle," etc. For "subtilty" the LXX. has πσνουργία , a Greek word which appears to be employed altogether in a bad sense, as "trickery," "villainy," "knavery;" but that scarcely appears to be the meaning of the Hebrew here, since the aim of the Proverbs is ethical and beneficial in the highest degree. The Vulgate astutia, the quality of the astutus, beside the bad sense of craftiness, also boars the good sense of shrewdness, sagacity, and so better represents the Hebrew. "Subtilty may turn to evil, but it also takes its place among the highest moral gifts" (Plumptre). The simple; Hebrew, ôÀúÈàÄéí (phethaim), plural of ôÀúÄÌé (peti) from the root ôÈúÇç (pathakh), "to be open," properly means the open-hearted, i.e. those who are susceptible to external impressions (Zockler), and so easily misled. The word occurs in Pro_7:7; Pro_8:5; Pro_9:6; Pro_14:18; and Pro_27:12. The LXX. properly renders the word ἄκακοι , "unknowing of evil." The same idea is indirectly expressed in the Vulgate parvuli, "the very young;" and the term is paraphrased in the Arabic Version, iis in quibus non est malitia ("those who are without malice"). The Hebrew here means "simple" in the sense of inexperienced. To the young man knowledge and discretion. The Hebrew naar ( ðÇòÇø ) is here used representatively for "youth" (cf. LXX; παῖς νέος ; Vulgate, adolescens) in general, which stands in need of the qualities here mentioned. It advances in idea beyond "the simple." Knowledge; Hebrew, ãÇÌòÇú (daath), i.e. experimental knowledge (Delitzsch); insight (Gesenius); knowledge of good and evil (Plumptre). The LXX. has αἴσθησις , which clasically means perception by the senses and also by the mind. Discretion; Hebrew, îÀæÄîÈÌä (mezimmah), properly "thoughtfulness," and hence "circumspection" or "caution" (Zockler), or "discernment," that which sets a man on his guard and prevents him being duped by others (Plumptre). Εννοια was probably adopted by the LXX. in its primary sense as representing the act of thinking; intellectus (Vulgate), equivalent to "a discerning".
Pro_1:5
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning. The change of construction in the original is reproduced in the Authorized Version, but has been rendered variously. Thus Umbreit and Elster, regarding the verb éÄùÀÑîÇò (yishema) as conditional, translate, "if the wise man hear;" on the other hand, Delitzsch and Zockler take it as voluntative," let the wise man hear," ete. The principle here enunciated is again stated in Pro_9:9, "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser," and finds expression under the gospel economy in the words of our Lord, "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance". Learning; Hebrew, ìÆ÷Çç (lekakh), in the sense of being transmitted or received (Gesenius, Delitzsch, Dunn). A man of understanding (LXX; ὁ νοήμων ; Vulgate, intelligens) is a person of intelligence who lays himself open to be instructed. Wise counsels; Hebrew, úÇÌçÀáËÌìåÉú (takhebuloth). This word is derived from çÉáÆì (khevel), a ship rope, a denominative of çÉáÅì (khovel), and only occurs in the plural. It signifies those maxims of prudence by which a man may direct his course aright through life (cf. regimen, Arabic). The imagery is taken from the management of a vessel, and is reproduced in the LXX. κυβέρνησις , and the Vulgate gubernatio. "Navigationi vitam comparat" (Mariana). The word is almost exclusively confined to the Proverbs, and occurs in Pro_11:14; Pro_12:5; Pro_20:18; and Pro_24:6, usually in a good sense, though it has the meaning of "stratagem" in Pro_12:5. In the only other passage where it is found it is used of God's power in turning about the clouds; of. Job_37:12, "And it [i.e. the bright cloud] is turned round about by his counsels ( áÀÌúÇçÀáÌåÌì úÈåÌ , bethakhebulothau)." It is the practical correlative of "learning," in the first part of the verse.
Pro_1:6
To understand a proverb. This verse carries on the idea which is stated in Pro_1:5. The end of the wise and intelligent man's increase in learning and prudence is that he may be thus enabled to understand other proverbs. Schultens, followed by Holden, takes the verb ìÀäÈáÄéï (lehavin) as a gerund, intelligendo sententias. This rendering does not represent the end, but points to the proverbs, etc; as means by which the wise generally attain to learning and prudence. And the interpretation; Hebrew, îÀìÄéöÈä (melitsah). It is difficult to determine the exact meaning of this word. By Gesenius it is rendered "enigma, riddle;" by Bertheau and Hitzig, "discourse requiring interpretation:" by Delitzsch, "symbol; by Havernick and Keil, "brilliant and pleasing discourse;" and by Fuerst, "figurative and involved discourse." By comparing it with the corresponding words, "dark sayings," it may be regarded as designating that which is obscure and involved in meaning; compare σκοτεινὸς λόγος (LXX.). It only occurs here and in Hab_2:6, where it is rendered "taunting proverb." The marginal reading is "an eloquent speech," equivalent to facundia, "eloquence." Vatablus says that the Hebrews understood it as "mensuram et pondus verbi." The words of the wise; i.e. the utterances of the khakhamim ( çÂëÈîÄéí ). This expression occurs again in Pro_22:17, and also in Ecc_9:1-18 :19 and Ecc_12:11. In the latter they are described as "goads and as nails fastened by the ministers of assemblies" (i.e. "authors of compilations," as Mendelssohn), because they cannot fail to make an impression on everybody good or bad. The expression, as used in Pro_22:17, implies that other than Solomonic proverbs are included in this collection. And their dark sayings; Hebrew, åÀçÄéãÉúÈí (vekhidotham). The Hebrew khidah ( çÄéãÈä ), as melitsah ( îÀìÄéöÈä ), its parallel in the preceding hemistich, designates obscure, involved utterances. It plainly has the sense of "enigma" (Fleischer, apud Delitzsch). Compare αἰνίγματα (LXX.), and aenigmata (Vulgate), which latter is followed by the Chaldea Paraphrase and Syriac (see also Psa_78:2, "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter dark sayings of old"). Gesenius derives it from the root çåÌã (khud), "to tie knots," and hence arrives at its meaning as an involved or twisted sententious expression, an enigma.
Verse 7-9:18
Part II. INTRODUCTORY SECTION.
The first main section of the book begins here and ends at Pro_9:18. It consists of a series of fifteen admonitory discourses addressed to youth by the Teacher and Wisdom personified, with the view to exhibit the excellence of wisdom, and generally to illustrate the motto, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge," or wisdom. It urges strong encouragements to virtue, and equally strong dissuasives from vice, and shows that the attainment of wisdom in its true sense is the aim of all moral effort.
Pro_1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. This proposition is by some commentators regarded as the motto, symbol, or device of the book (Delitzsch, Umbreit, Zockler, Plumptre). Others, following the Masoretic arrangement of the Hebrew text, consider it as forming part of the superscription (Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, Keil). As a general proposition expressing the essence of the philosophy of the Israelites, and from its relation to the rest of the contents of this book, it seems rightly to occupy a special and individual position. The proposition occurs again in the Proverbs in Pro_9:10, and it is met with in similar or slightly modified forms in other books which belong to the same group of sacred writings, that is, those which treat of religious philosophy—the Khokhmah; e.g. Job_28:28; Psa_111:10; Ecc_12:13; Ecc_1:16, 25. With this maxim we may compare "The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom" (Pro_15:33). The fear of the Lord ( éÄøÀàÇú éÀäÈåÉä , yireath yehovah); literally, the fear of Jehovah. The expression describes that reverential attitude or holy fear which man, when his heart is set aright, observes towards God. The original word, éÄøÀàÇú (yireath) for "fear," is properly the infinitive of éÈøÅà , (yare), "to fear or reverence," and as a substantive means "reverence or holy fear" (Gesenius). Servile or abject fear (as Jerome, Beda, Estius) is not to be understood, but filial fear (as Gejerus, Mercerus, Cornelius a Lapide, Cartwright), by which we fear to offend God—that fear of Jehovah which is elsewhere described as "to hate evil" (Pro_8:13), and in which a predominating element is love. Wardlaw remarks that the "fear of the Lord" is in invariable union with love and in invariable proportion to it. We truly fear God just in proportion as we truly love him. The fear of the Lord also carries with it the whole worship of God. It is observable that the word Jehovah ( éÀäåÈÉä ) is used in the Hebrew, and not Elohim ( àÀìÆäÄéí ), a peculiarity which is invariably marked in the Authorized Version by small capitals. The beginning; Hebrew, øÅàùÄÑéú (reshith). This word has been understood in three different senses:
(1) As initium, the beginning; i.e. the initial step or starting point at which every one who wishes to follow true wisdom must begin (Gejerus, Zockler, Plumptre).
(2) As caput; i.e. the most excellent or principal part, the noblest or best wisdom. This sense is adopted in the marginal reading (comp. also Pro_4:7) (Holden, Trapp).
(3) As the principium (Vulgate); i.e. the origin, or basis, as in Mic_1:12, "She is the origin, or basis (reshith) of the sin of the daughter of Zion." Delitzsch regards the original, reshith, as embracing the two ideas of commencement and origin, in the same way as the Greek ἀρχὴ . Wisdom has its origin in God, and whoever fears him receives it if he prays in faith (cf. Jas_1:5, sqq.) (Vatablus, Mercerus, Delitzsch). That the first sense, viz. that of beginning, is to be understood here appears from the parallel passage in Pro_10:10, where the corresponding word is úÀÌçÄìÈÌú . (tekillath), "beginning," from the root çÈìÇì (khalal), "to begin;" cf. also the LXX. ἀρχὴ , in this sense, and the initium of the Syriac and Arabic Versions. All previous knowledge to "the fear of the Lord" is comparative folly. He who would advance in knowledge must first be imbued with a reverence or holy fear of God. But fools despise wisdom and instruction; or, according to the inverted order of the words in the original, wisdom and instruction fools despise, the association of ideas in the three words, "knowledge," "wisdom," and "instruction," thus being more continuously sustained. This arrangement links on the two latter words with "the fear of the Lord," and so helps towards the elucidation of the sense in which "fools" is to be understood Fools; àÁåÄéìÄéí (evilim), plural of àÁåÄéÌì (evil), from the root àÈåÇì (aval), "to be perverse," here properly designates the incorrigible, as in Pro_27:22, and those who are unwilling to know God (Jer_4:22), and hence refuse and despise wisdom and salutary discipline, those "who set at nought all his counsel, and will none of his reproof." The word is opposed to the "prudent" (Pro_12:16) and to the "wise" (Pro_10:14). Delitzsch understands it as "thick, hard, stupid," from the root aval, coalescere, incrassari. Schultens uses παχεῖς , equivalent to erassi pro stupidis, to represent the original. Dunn takes it in the same sense as "gross or dull of understanding." Fuerst, adopted by Wordsworth, regards it in the sense of having no moral stamina, from the root meaning "to be slack, weak, lax, or lazy." But none of these explanations seems, in my opinion, to coincide sufficiently with the evil and depraved activity expressed in the verb "despise," which follows, and which describes the conduct of this class. The LXX. renders the word or action by ἀσεβεῖς , equivalent to impii, "godless," "profane," and the Vulgate by stulti. Despise; áÈÌæåÌ (bazu) is perfect, but is properly translated by the present, because the perfect here represents a condition long continued and still existing; cf. the Latin odi, memini, etc. The LXX. uses the future ἐξουθενήσουσιν , i.e. they will set at nought; the Vulgate, the present (despiciunt). The radical meaning is most probably contemptuous trampling under the feet (Geseuius). Wisdom and instruction (see Pro_27:2). The latter clause of this verse is antithetical to the former, but the antithesis is obscurely expressed. In the Authorized Version it is marked by the adversative conjunction "but," which, however, is not in the original. The LXX. has a striking interpolation in this verse between the first and second clauses, which is partly taken from Psa_111:10 ( Σύνεσις δέ ἀγαθὴ πᾶσι τοῖς ποιοῦσιν αὐτήν εὐσέβεια δὲ εἰς Θεὸν ἀρχὴ αἰσθήσεως , "And a good understanding have all they that do it: and reverence towards God is the beginning of knowledge"). Compare the Arabic Version, which has the same interpolation: Et intellectus bonus onmibus facientibus eam. Sana religio in Deum est initium prudentiae.
Pro_1:8-19
1. First admonitory discourse. Warning against enticements to robbery and bloodshed.
Pro_1:8
My son, hear the instruction of thy father. The transition in this verse from what may be regarded as filial obedience towards God to filial obedience towards parents is suggestive of the moral Law. The same admonition, in a slightly altered form, occurs again in Pro_6:1-35; "My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother" (cf. also Pro_4:1). My son; áÀÌðÄáé (beni) from áÅÌï (ben), "a son." The form of address here adopted was that in common use by teachers towards their pupils, and marks that superintending, loving, and fatherly care and interest which the former felt in and towards the latter. It occurs frequently in the introductory section (Pro_2:1; Pro_3:1-35 :l, 21; Pro_4:10, Pro_4:20; Pro_5:1; Pro_6:1; Pro_7:1), and reappears again towards the close (Pro_23:15, Pro_23:19, Pro_23:26; Pro_24:13, Pro_24:21; Pro_27:11) in the teacher's address. The mother of Lemuel uses it (Pro_31:2) in the strictly parental sense. In other passages of the Old Testament the teacher, on the other hand, is represented as a "father" (Jdg_17:10 Isa_10:12; 2Ki_2:21). We find the same relation assumed in the New Testament, both by St. Paul (1Co_4:15; Phm_1:10; Gal_4:19) and by St. John (1Jn_2:1; 1Jn_5:2); but under the economy of the gospel it has a deeper significance than here, as pointing to the "new birth," which, being a later revelation, lies outside the scope of the moral teaching of the Old Testament dispensation. The instruction ( îåÌñÇø , musar); as carrying with it the sense of disciplinary education (cf. LXX; παιδεία ; Vulgate, disciplina; see also verse 2), and of the correction with which it may be enforced (cf. Pro_13:24; Pro_22:15; Pro_23:13, Pro_23:14), the writer attributes appropriately to the father, while the milder torah, "law," he uses of the mother (Delitzsch). Father. The nature of the exhortation conveyed in this verse requires that we should understand the terms "father" and "mother" in their natural sense as designating the parents of the persons addressed, though a symbolical meaning has Been attached to them by the rabbis (see Rabbi Salomon, in loc.), "father" being understood as representing God, and "mother," the people. But the terms are more than merely figurative expressions (Stuart). Those who look upon the Proverbs as the address of Solomon to his son Rehoboam naturally take "father" as standing for the former. Naamah, in this case must be the mother (1Ki_14:31). It is almost unnecessary to state that pious parents are presupposed, and that only that instruction and law can be meant which is not inconsistent with the higher and more perfect Law of God (Gejerus, Wardlaw). And forsake not the law of thy mother. Forsake. The radical meaning of äÄÌùÈÑ (tittosh) is that of "spreading," then of "scattering" (Aiken), and so the word comes to mean "forsake, reject, or neglect." The LXX. reads ἀπώσῃ , from ἀποθέω , abjicere, "to push away, reject." Cf. abjicias (Arabic). The Vulgate has dimittas, i.e. "abandon," and the Syriac, obliviscaris, i.e. "forget." The law; úÌåÉøÇú (torath), construct case of úÌåÉøÇä (torah), from the root éÈøÈä (yarah), "to teach," hence here equivalent to "a law" in the sense of that which teaches—a precept. With one exception (Pro_8:10), it is the term which always expresses the instruction given by Wisdom (Delitzsch). The law (torah) of the mother is that preceptive teaching which she imparts orally to her son, but torah is also used in a technical sense as lex, νόμος δέσμος , that which is laid down and established, a decretum or institutum, and designates some distinct provision or ordinance, as the law of sacrifice (Le Pro_6:7). In Jos_1:8 we find it employed to signify the whole body of the Mosaic Law (sepher hatorah). Mother. Not inserted here as a natural expansion of the idea of the figure required by the laws of poetic parallelism (as Zockler), since this weakens the force of the passage. Mothers are mentioned because of their sedulousness in imparting instruction (Bayne).
Pro_1:9
For they (shall be) an ornament of grace unto thy head. The sentiment here expressed is put forward as an inducement to youth to observe obedience towards the instruction of the father and the law of the mother, and the meaning is that, just as in popular opinion ornaments and jewels are supposed to set off the personal form, so obedience towards parents in the ways of virtue embellishes the moral character (Bayne, Cartwright, Holden). An ornament of grace; Hebrew, ìÄåÀéÇú äÅï (liveyath khen); literally, a wreath or garland of grace. We meet with the same expression in Pro_4:9, "She [i.e. wisdom] shall give to thine head an ornament of grace." The Hebrew ìÄåÀéä (liveyah) is derived from the root ìÈåÈä (lavah), "to wind a roll" (Delitzsch) or "to be joined closely with" (Gesenius), and hence signifies an ornament that is twisted, and so a wreath or garland. Gejerus and Schultens translate the phrase by corolla gratiosa, i.e. "a crown full of grace," and so meaning conferring or producing grace, just as the expression, "the chastisement of our peace" (Isa_53:5), means the chastisement bringing or procuring our peace. So again a "precious stone," in Pro_17:8, margin, "a stone of grace," is one conferring gracefulness. The marginal reading, "an adding" (additamentum, Vatablus), conveys, though obscurely, the same idea; and this sense is again reproduced in the Vulgate, ut addatur gratia capiti suo. The LXX. reads, στέφανος χαρίτων . And chains about thy neck. Chains; properly, necklaces; òÂðÈ÷Äéí (anakim), plural of òÂðÈ÷ (anak), "a cellar or necklace;" the κλοιός χρύσεος , or "golden collar," of the LXX; and torques (i.e. twisted neckchain) of the Vulgate. There is a very apposite parallel to this verse in Pro_6:20, Pro_6:21 (cf. Pro_3:3; see also Jdg_8:26). The gold chain round the neck was a mark of distinction, and was conferred on Joseph by Pharaoh when investing him with authority and dignity (Gen_41:42), and on Daniel by Belshazzar in the same way (Dan_5:29; see So Dan_4:9). The mere adornment of the person with gold and pearls, without the further adornment of the moral character with Christian graces, is deprecated both by St. Paul and St. Peter (see 1Ti_2:9, 1Ti_2:10, and 1Pe_3:3, 1Pe_3:4). Neck, âÇÌøÀâÀÌøÉú (garegeroth) only occurs in the plural (Gesenius). (See Pro_3:3, Pro_3:22; Pro_6:21.)
Pro_1:10
My son, if sinners entice thee. (As to the form of address, see Pro_1:8.) It is here used because the writer is passing to a warning against bad company, and hence the term is emphatic, and intended to call especial attention to what is said. It is repeated again in Pro_1:15, at a further stage in this address, with the same view. Sinners; çÇèÈÌàÄéí (khattaim), the plural of çÇèÈÌà (khatta), from the root çÈèÈÌà (khata), properly "to miss the mark, to err;" cf. Greek, ἀμαρτάνω , "to sin" (Gesenius), here equivalent to "habitual, abandoned sinners," and those especially who make robbery and bloodshed a profession. Not simply peccantes, i.e. sinners as a generic designation of the human race, for "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom_3:23), but peccatores (Chaldee, Syriac, Pagin; Tigur; Versions and Vulgate). "sinners," i.e. those who sin habitually, knowingly, wilfully, and maliciously (Gejerus), or those who give themselves up to iniquity, and persuade others to follow their example (Cartwright). In the New Testament they are styled ἀμαρτωλοὶ . They are those of whom David speaks in strikingly parallel language in Psa_26:9, "Gather not my soul with sinners (khattaim), nor my life with bloody men" (cf. Psa_1:1). The LXX. has ἄνδρες ἀσεβεῖς (i.e. ungodly, unholy men). Entice thee; ' éÀôÇúÌåÌêÈ (yephattukha); the piel form, ôÄúÈÌä (pitah), of the kal ôÈúÈÌä (patah), "to open," and hence to make accessible to persuasion, akin to the Greek πειθεῖν , "to persuade." The noun ôÀÌúÄé (pethi), is "one easily enticed or persuaded" (Gesenius). The LXX. reads μὴ πλανήσωσιν , "let them not lead thee astray." The idea is expressed in the Vulgate by lactaverint; i.e. "if sinners allure or deceive thee with fair words." The Syriac, Montan; Jun. et Tremell; Versions read pellexerint, from pellicio, "to entice." Consent thou not. ( àÇìÎúÉÌáÅà , al-tove ) à . The Masoretic text here has been emended by Kennicott and De Rossi, who, on the joint authority of fifty-eight manuscripts, maintain that úÉÌáÅà (tove ) à should be written úÌàÉáÅà (tosves). Others read úÈÌáàÉ (tavos), i.e. "thou shalt not go," which, though good sense, is incorrect. àÇìÎ (al) is the adverb of negation, i.q. μὴ , ne. The Hebrew úÉÌáÅà (toves) is derived from àÈáÈä (avah). "to agree to, to be willing" (Gesenius, Delitzsch), the preformative à being omitted, and is accurately rendered by the LXX; μὴ βουληθῇς , and the Vulgate, ne acquiescas. The warning is especially brief and striking. The only answer to all enticements of evil is a decided negative (Plumptre). Compare St. Paul's advice to the Ephesians (Eph_5:11, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them").
Pro_1:11
If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood. The teacher here puts into the mouth of the sinners, for the sake of vivid representation, the first inducement with which they seek to allure youth from the paths of rectitude, viz. privacy and concealment (Cartwright, Wardlaw). Both the verbs àÈøÇá (arav) and öÈôÇï , (tzaphan) mean "to lay in wait" (Zockler). The radical meaning of arav, from which ðÆàÆøÀáÈä (neerevah), "let us lay in wait" (Authorized Version) is taken, is "to knot, to weave, to intertwine." Verbs of this class are often applied to snares and craftiness (cf. the Greek δόλον ὑδαίνειν , and the Latin insidias nectere, "to weave plots, or lay snares"). Generally, arav is equivalent to "to watch in ambush" (Gesenius); cf. the Vulgate, insidiemur sanguini; i.e. "let us lay wait for blood." The LXX. paraphrases the expression, κοινώνησον αἵματος , i.e. "let us share in blood." On the other hand, öÈôÇï (tzaphan), from which ðÄöÀôÀðÈä (nitzepenah), translated in the Authorized Version, "let us lurk privily," is "to hide or conceal," and intrans. "to hide one's self," or ellipt; "to hide nets, snares" (Gesenius, Holden). This sense agrees with the Vulgate abscondamus tendiculas; i.e. "let us conceal snares." Delitzsch, however, holds that no word is to be understood with this verb, and traces the radical meaning to that of restraining one's self, watching, lurking. in the sense of speculari, "to watch for," insidiari, "to lay wait for." The two verbs combine what may be termed the apparatus, the arrangement of the plot and their lurking in ambush, by which they will await their victims. For blood ( ìÀãÈí , ledam). The context (see Pro_1:12 and Pro_1:16), bearing as it does upon bloodshed accompanying robbery, requires that the Hebrew ìÀãÈí (ledam) should be understood here, as Fleischer remarks, either elliptically, for "the blood of men," as the Jewish interpreters explain, or synedochically, for the person, with especial reference to his blood being shed, as in Psa_94:21. Vatablus, Cornelius a Lapide. and Gesenius support the latter view (cf. Mic_7:2, "They all lie in wait for blood," i.e. for bloodshed, or murder. ãÈí (dam) may be also taken for life in the sense that "the blood is the life" (Deu_12:23). Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause. The relation of the phrase. "without cause" ( çÄðÈÌí , khinnam), in this sentence is a matter of lnueh dispute. It may be taken either with
(1) the verb (as in the Authorized Version, Wordsworth, Luther, Van Ess, Noyes, Zockler, Delitzsch, Hatzig, LXX; Syriac, Rashi, Ralbac), and then "lurk privily without cause" is equivalent to
(a) without having any reason for revenge and enmity (Zockler), i.e. though they have not provoked us, nor done us any injury, yet let us hurt them, in the sense of absque causa (Munsterus, Paganini Version, Piscatoris Version, Mercerus), ἀδικῶς (LXX.), inique (Arabic);
(b) with impunity, since none will avenge them in the sense of Job_9:12 (this is the view of Lowestein, but it is rejected by Delitzsch); or
(2) it may be taken with the adjective "innocent," in which case it means him that is innocent in vain; i.e. the man whose innocence will in vain protect (Zockler, Holden), who gets nothing by it (Plumptre), or, innocent in vain, since God does not vindicate hint (Cornelius a Lapide). On the analogy of 1Sa_19:5; 1Sa_25:31; Psa_35:19; Psa_69:4; Lam_3:52, it seems preferable to adopt the first connection, and to take the adverb with the verb. In the whole of the passage there is an evident allusion to an evil prevalent in the age of Solomon, viz. the presence of bands of robbers, or banditti, who disturbed the security and internal peace of the country. In the New Testament the same state of things continued, and is alluded to by our Lord in the parable of the man who fell among thieves.
Pro_1:12
Let us swallow them up alive as the grave. A continuation of Pro_1:11, expanding the idea of bloodshed ending in murder, and showing the determination of the sinners to proceed to the most violent means to effect their covetous ends. The enticement here put before youth is the courage and boldness of their exploits (Wardlaw). The order of the words in the original is, "Let us swallow them up, as the grave, living," which sufficiently indicates the meaning of the passage. Alive; çÇéÄÌéí (khayyim), i.e. "the living," refers to the pronomiual suffix in ðÄáÀìÈòÅí (nivelaem), as in the Authorized Version and Zockler (cf. Psa_55:15; Psa_124:3). Umbreit and Hitzig are grammatically incorrect in connecting ëÄ&