Proverbs 3:20

By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. BY HIS KNOWLEDGE THE DEPTHS ARE BROKEN UP - into rivers and streams for the refreshment of man (; Job 38:8; Psalms 104:8; ). AND THE CLOUDS DROP DOWN THE DEW. Since dew does not descend from the clouds, but is formed near the ground, the Hebrew for dew is here used to express small or gentle rain (); or else "the clouds" are used here for the lower regions of the air, where the dew is formed. Scripture describes the facts of nature according to phenome...

13-20 No precious jewels or earthly treasures are worthy to be compared with true wisdom, whether the concerns of time or eternity be considered. We must make wisdom our business; we must venture all in it, and be willing to part with all for it. This Wisdom is the Lord Jesus Christ and his salvation, sought and obtained by faith and prayer. Were it not for unbelief, remaining sinfulness, and carelessness, we should find all our ways pleasantness, and our paths peace, for his are so; but we too often step aside from them, to our own hurt and grief. Christ is that Wisdom, by whom the worlds were made, and still are in being; happy are those to whom he is made of God wisdom. He has wherewithal to make good all his promises....

Verse Proverbs 3:20. _BY HIS KNOWLEDGE THE DEPTHS ARE BROKEN UP_] He determined in his wisdom how to _break up_ the _fountains of the_ _great deep_, so as to _bring a flood of waters upon the earth_; and by his knowledge those fissures in the earth through which _springs_ of water arise have been appointed and determined; and it is by his skill and influence that _vapours_ are exhaled, suspended in the _atmosphere_, and afterwards precipitated on the earth in _rain,_ _dews_, c. Thus the wisest of men attributes those effects which we suppose to spring from _natural causes_ to the Supreme Being himself....

Compare Genesis 1:7; Genesis 7:11; Job 38. Looking upon the face of Nature, men see two storehouses of the living water, without which it would be waste and barren. From the “depths” rush forth the surging waves, from the “clouds” falls the gentle rain or “dew;” but both alike are ordered by the Divine Wisdom....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 3:1 4. _Fourth admonitory discourse. _The third chapter introduces us to a group of admonitions, and the first of these (Proverbs 3:1) forms the fourth admonitory discourse of the teacher. To all intents and purposes this is a continuation of the discourse in the preceding chapter, for inasmuch as that described the benefits, spiritual and moral, which follow from the pursuit of Wisdom, in promoting godliness and providing safety from evil companions, so this in like manner depicts the gain flowing from Wisdom, the happiness of the man who finds Wisdom, and the favour which he meets with both with God and man. The discourse embraces exhortations to obedience ...

BY HIS KNOWLEDGE THE DEPTHS ARE BROKEN UP,.... From whence fountains and rivers flow, and whereby that great cavity was made which holds that large confluence of waters called the sea, Genesis 1:9. Some refer this to the breaking up the fountains of the great deep at the flood, Genesis 7:11; and others to the dividing of the waters of the Red sea when Israel came out of Egypt, Psalms 78:13; all wonderful works of divine wisdom, and show the greatness of him, in whom are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge", 1 Thessalonians 2:3, by whom they were done; AND THE CLOUDS DROP DOWN THE DEW; which makes the ea

CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The call and promise of wisdom (Proverbs 3:1)_ 2. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom (Proverbs 3:11) 3. Promise and instruction (Proverbs 3:21) Proverbs 3:1. The call to obedience is followed by promise. The promise is like all the promises to an earthly people “for length of days and long life”. Here are some blessed exhortations loved and cherished by all His people (Proverbs 3:5). How happier, and more fruitful the children of God would be if they obeyed constantly this instruction: “in all thy

FOURTH Discourse. The sage exhorts the young man to heed his oral instruction (_torah),_ and to trust in Yahweh, fear Him, and honour Him in the prescribed manner of firstfruits. It is interesting to find _torah_ used in its earlier prophetic sense of oral instruction, without reference to its later sense of the whole body of legislation represented by the Pentateuch. The torah of the wise man represents not his own individual authority, but the accumulated wisdom of experience. The torah of the prophet, although delivered in the name of Yahweh, represents ultimately the accumulated moral consciousness of the nation; while the torah of the priest in its later form at least represents the traditional and inherited ritual, the prescribed method of the cultus. Hence the primary idea of torah is the same in all three forms. (See pp. 121, 620, Deuteronomy 1:5 *, and for a fuller disc

CLOUDS, &C.. skies. DEW. night mist. See note on Psalms 133:3. "Dew" falls only when there are no clouds....

_are_ Rather, WERE _broken up_, R.V. The reference is to Genesis 7:2, where the same Heb. word is used: "all the foundations of the great deep were broken up." The two clauses of the verse give two typical examples: alike, when the pent-up forces of nature burst forth occasionally in their resistless might, and when her gentler agencies exert continually their beneficent influence, the wisdom of God is working....