Proverbs 2

¹My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

²So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

³Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

⁴If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

⁵Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Pr 2:1-22. Men are invited to seek wisdom because it teaches those principles by which they may obtain God’s guidance and avoid the society and influence of the wicked, whose pernicious courses are described. 1-5. Diligence in hearing and praying for instruction must be used to secure the great principle of godliness, the fear of God. hide ... with thee--lay up in store (compare Pr 7:1).

⁶For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

6. For--God is ready (Jas 1:5; 4:8). out of his mouth--by revelation from Him.

⁷He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

7. sound wisdom--literally, “substance,” opposed to what is fictitious. According to the context, this may be assistance, as here corresponding with buckler--or safety, or wisdom, which procures it (compare Pr 3:21; 8:14; 18:1; Job 6:13; 12:13). layeth up--provides, ever ready.

⁸He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

8. keepeth ... way--God defends the right way, and those in it. saints--objects of favor (compare Psa 4:3, &c.). He guides and guards them.

⁹Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.

9. Then--emphatic, in such a case. righteousness ... path--all parts of duty to God and man.

¹⁰When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;

¹¹Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

10-11. Idea of Pr 2:9, amplified; on terms, compare Pr 2:2 and Pr 2:4.

¹²To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;

¹³Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

¹⁵Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

12-15. To deliver--as from great danger (Pr 6:5). way ... man--(Psa 1:1). froward things--perversity (Pr 6:14; 23:23), what is opposed to truth.

¹⁶To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

¹⁷Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

¹⁸For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.

¹⁹None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.

16-19. Deliverance from another danger. the strange woman--This term is often used for harlot, or loose woman (Jud 11:1, 2), married (Pr 7:5, 19) or not (1Ki 11:1), so called, because such were, perhaps at first, foreigners, though “strange” may also denote whatever is opposed to right or proper, as “strange fire” (Nu 3:4); “strange incense” (Ex 30:9). flattereth--literally, “smooths.” her words--(Psa 5:9).

²⁰That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

20. That ... way of good--that is, Such is the object of these warnings.

²¹For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

²²But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

21-22. (Compare Psa 37:3, 9, 22, 27).