The Purpose of Proverbs
Study note
Solomon, the son of King David, wrote most of these proverbs around 970-930 BC. He was famous for his God-given wisdom. The word 'proverb' means a short, wise saying that teaches a truth about life. Verse 7 is the theme of the entire book: real knowledge and wisdom start with having deep respect for God. This 'fear of the Lord' does not mean being scared of God, but honoring Him and taking His words seriously.
1 What follows are the wise teachings that come from Solomon, who was David's son and the king of Israel. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2 He wrote these to help people learn to live wisely. They teach good values. They help you grasp deep ideas. To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3 Through these words you will learn to live with self-control. You will learn to act with fairness, to do what is right, and to treat everyone honestly. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4 For those who are young or new to things, these sayings offer street smarts and good sense, along with the ability to think things through. To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
5 Even people who are already wise will learn new things here. Those who understand a lot will sharpen their skill at leading well. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
6 By studying these, you will be able to understand proverbs and word pictures. You will make sense of the clever sayings that wise people use. To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
A Warning Against Bad Company
Study note
The father warns his son about the danger of falling in with criminals who promise easy money through violence and theft. In ancient Israel, bandits would rob travelers on the roads between cities. The father explains that these criminals are actually setting a trap for themselves. Like a bird that can see the net being set, the son should be smart enough to avoid the obvious danger.
8 Listen to what your father teaches you, my child. Hold on to what your mother has shown you. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
9 What they teach you will be like a crown of honor on your head and a beautiful chain around your neck. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
10 My child, when people who do wrong try to pull you into their group, say no. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 They might say, "Tag along with us! We will set up an ambush and jump someone who never saw it coming." If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 "We will swallow them whole the way a grave swallows the dead, and we will take every last thing they own." Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 "We are going to grab all sorts of expensive things and pack our houses with what we take." We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 "Throw in your lot with us and become part of our crew! Everything we get, we split evenly." Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My child, refuse to go with them. Do not even walk in the same direction they are heading. My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 These people are in a hurry to cause harm and cannot wait to spill someone's blood. For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 Even a bird knows better than to fly into a trap it can see being set up. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.
18 What these people do not realize is that they are building a trap for themselves. Their own violence is going to circle back and take their lives. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
19 That is how it always ends for anyone who chases dishonest money. Greed swallows up the very people who cling to it. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Wisdom Calls Out in the Streets
Study note
Here Wisdom is pictured as a woman standing in the busiest places of the city, calling out to everyone. In ancient cities, the gates and marketplaces were where people gathered to do business and settle disputes. Wisdom warns that those who ignore her will face disaster, but those who listen to her will live in safety and peace. This is the first of several speeches by Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 1-9.
20 Meanwhile, Wisdom stands in the open and shouts for everyone to hear. She lifts her voice in the town square. Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
21 She stands at the busiest street corners and at the city gates. She calls out her message: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
22 "When will you simple people stop loving ignorance? When will you mockers quit enjoying your mockery? When will you fools stop turning your backs on knowledge?" How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23 "Turn around and pay attention to what I am telling you, and I will open my heart to you. I will let you in on everything I know." Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24 "Instead, I invited you and you turned your backs. I held out my hand and nobody cared." Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25 "You brushed off everything I suggested and wanted nothing to do with my correction." But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26 "So when trouble crashes into your life, I will be the one laughing. When the very thing you fear shows up, I will have no sympathy." I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27 "When fear hits you like a hurricane and suffering surrounds you on every side," When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28 "that is when you will cry out for my help, but I will not respond. You will look everywhere for me, but you will come up empty." Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29 "This is the consequence of rejecting knowledge and choosing not to honor the Lord." For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30 "You wanted nothing to do with my help. You pushed away every time I tried to correct you." They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31 "So now you will have to swallow the bitter results of your own decisions and choke on your own schemes." Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 "Simple people bring death on themselves by turning away. Fools destroy themselves by not caring." For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 "But anyone who pays attention to me will live in safety, free from worry about what might go wrong." But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.