Third Address. Chap. 2. Proverbs 2:1 The diligent pursuit of Wisdom is inculcated (Proverbs 2:1), as of that which in its essence is the knowledge and fear of God (Proverbs 2:5), and in its fruits preservation from the evil man (Proverbs 2:10) and from the evil woman (Proverbs 2:16), and guidance i... [ Continue Reading ]
_hide_ or, _lay up_, R.V.; as a treasure stored carefully.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thine heart_ For the wide meaning of this word in Holy Scripture see Delitzsch, _Biblical Psychology_, Section xii: "According to thorough investigation and evidence of Scripture in all its parts, the heart is the internal centre of the natural condition of man, in which the threefold life of man b... [ Continue Reading ]
_knowledge_ Rather, DISCERNMENT, R.V. See Proverbs 1:2, note.... [ Continue Reading ]
_as silver … hid treasures_ It has been supposed that there is reference here to the eagerness and effort connected with the discovery and working of a silver mine, and to the search for treasure hidden in the earth. See, for example, Dean Plumptre's interesting note on this verse in the _Speaker's... [ Continue Reading ]
_For_ Maurer rightly insists that this and two following verses are not a parenthesis, but an integral part of the main argument; q.d. I said that by diligent search after wisdom thou shouldest attain to the fear of Jehovah and the knowledge of God; and I said so _because_that knowledge involves the... [ Continue Reading ]
_layeth up_ Lit. _hideth_, as a treasure too precious to be left exposed, therefore it must be searched for (Proverbs 2:4). But he layeth it up _for_, not _from_, the upright; therefore the search shall be successful (Proverbs 2:5). He is _a buckler_ So R.V. except, instead of _buckler_, more accur... [ Continue Reading ]
He _keepeth_ Lit. TO KEEP, which may mean, for them (those that walk in integrity) to keep, _that they may keep_, R.V. marg. But it is better to retain God as the subject still, and at the same time to preserve the parallelism with the 2nd clause of the verse. The two verses (7, 8) will then read, w... [ Continue Reading ]
_When wisdom entereth … knowledge is pleasant_ Rather: FOR WISDOM SHALL ENTER … KNOWLEDGE SHALL BE PLEASANT, R.V. The address flows on continuously and describes how wisdom as a shield preserves from the evil man (Proverbs 2:12), and from the evil woman (Proverbs 2:16).... [ Continue Reading ]
_preserve_ Rather: WATCH OVER, R.V.; φυλάξει, LXX.; custodiet, Vulg.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the evil_man] Or, EVIL, R.V. text (marg. as A.V.); ἀπὸ ὁδοῦ κακῆς, LXX.; a via mala, Vulg.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of the wicked_ Or, OF EVIL, R.V. text, as in Proverbs 2:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
_whose ways_, &c. Rather, with R.V.: WHO ARE CROOKED IN THEIR WAYS, AND PERVERSE IN THEIR PATHS.... [ Continue Reading ]
_strange woman … stranger_ i.e. not belonging to thee; a stranger, in right, to any such relationship. Neither of the words, as here used, has any reference to nationality, as though the danger in question arose chiefly from _foreign_women. They are married women of the true religion (Proverbs 2:17)... [ Continue Reading ]
_the guide of her youth_ or, _friend_, R.V. or, _associate_, i.e. her husband to whom she was married in her youth. See Jeremiah 3:4, where the same phrase occurs in the same sense. Comp. "wife of thy youth," Proverbs 5:18; Malachi 2:14. _covenant of her God_ The marriage contract, which is of Divin... [ Continue Reading ]
_her house_&c. It is a steep descent, ending in death. The rendering of R.V. marg., _she sinketh down unto death_ WHICH IS _her house_, is less forcible and impairs the parallelism. _the dead_ Lit. THE REPHAIM. The Rephaim were among the Aborigines of Canaan (Genesis 14:5; Genesis 15:20) and were pe... [ Continue Reading ]
_take they hold of_ Rather, REACH, or (R.V.) ATTAIN UNTO.... [ Continue Reading ]
_that thou mayest_&c. The construction is still dependent on Proverbs 2:10. The punctuation should be throughout as in R.V., with no full stops as in A.V.... [ Continue Reading ]
_land … earth_ The Heb. word is the same, and should have the same rendering, either land or earth, in both verses. To a Jew this would of course mean "the _land_which the Lord, thy God, giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12; comp. Psalms 37 _passim_); but in a Book, the colouring of which is not Jewish, but w... [ Continue Reading ]
_transgressors_ Rather, TREACHEROUS, or PERFIDIOUS, with special reference perhaps to Proverbs 2:16.... [ Continue Reading ]