Proverbs 2:4

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; IF THOU SEEKEST HER AS SILVER, AND SEARCHEST FOR HER AS (FOR) HID TREASURES - not content with merely one look, or an ordinary searching, but again and again seeking by every means. Treasures anciently, when there were no banks, were often hidden in the earth. True knowledge lies deep as in a mine; and they alone will get the precious ore who dig down into it, not grudging time, delays, pains, expense. The same image occurs John 5:39, "Search [ ereunate (G2045)] the Scriptures." Not merely scrape the surface, and get a few superficial scraps of knowledge, but dig deep, and far, and wide. The "treasures" are 'hidden' by God, not in order to keep them back from us, but to stimulate our faith and patient...

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, John 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....

Verse Proverbs 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_. _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

Note the illustrations. (1) Contact with Phoenician commerce, and joint expeditions in ships of Tarshish (see Psalms 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 Matthew 13:44....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 2:1 3. _Third admonitory discourse, pointing out the benefits which arise from a sincere, earnest, and persevering search after Wisdom. _This discourse divides itself into three parts. (1) Proverbs 2:1 : a statement of the conditions which, if fulfilled, result in the highest knowledge of Jehovah—the fear of Jehovah and the knowledge of God, who is the Source of wisdom and the Protection and Ensurer of safety to the righteous. (2) Proverbs 2:10 : the negatively beneficial results of Wisdom, in delivery from the paths of evil, from destructive lusts and passions, from the temptations of wicked men and wicked

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 Psalms 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, Proverbs 8:10; AND SEARCHEST FOR HER AS [FOR] HID TREASURES; the Gospel is a treasure,...

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The pursuit of wisdom and its results (Proverbs 2:1)_ 2. Preservation from the evil man and the strange woman (Proverbs 2:10) 3. The path of the righteous (Proverbs 2:20) Proverbs 2:1 This second chapter of divine instructions begins with an exhortation to pursue after Wisdom. The sayings of Wisdom, that is the Word of the Lord, must be received, laid up, the ear must incline to hear them, the heart must be applied to understanding. In verse 3 mention is made of prayer. There must be crying after knowledge and for understanding and that must be followed by seeking and searching. If the

THIRD DISCOURSE. The wise man praises Wisdom, describing the blessings of obedience to her. The deeper religious element in wisdom appears, the fundamental conception of Hebrew prophecy, that the knowledge of God is the supreme good. PROVERBS 2:1. If the young man hearkens to wisdom, prizes it above all other gain, he will acquire the true knowledge of God. Yahweh alone gives wisdom, and He gives it only to the upright. PROVERBS 2:5. The phrase knowledge of God occurs in the OT only here and in Hos. Also Elohim only occurs elsewhere in Pr. in Proverbs 2:17; Proverbs 3:4;...

AS SILVER: or money. Probably the reference is to Job 28....

_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 Commentary_. It may well be doubted, however, whether by _silver_be not rather meant, _money_, or _wealth_, generally. LXX. ἀργύριον, Vulg. _pecuniam_. Comp. φιλαργυρία, 1 Timothy 6:10; ἀφιλάργυρος, Hebrews 13:5. (See Smith's _Bible Dict_., Art. Silver: "its chief use was as a medium of exchange, and throughout the O.T. we find _ceseph, silver_, used for money, like the Fr. _argent_.") We are told that silver, as a metal, was "nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon,...