Proverbs 2
2
The Blessings of Wisdom#Chapter 2 is a single poem, an acrostic of twenty-two lines, the number of consonants in the Hebrew alphabet. In vv. 1–11, the letter aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, predominates, and in vv. 12–22, the letter lamed, the first letter of the second half of the alphabet. A single structure runs through the whole: if (aleph) you search…then (aleph) the Lord/Wisdom will grant…saving (lamed) you from the wicked man/woman…thus (lamed) you can walk in the safe way….
1My son, if you receive my words
and treasure my commands,
2Turning your ear to wisdom,#Wisdom…understanding…intelligence: various names or aspects of the same gift.
inclining your heart to understanding;
3Yes, if you call for intelligence,
and to understanding raise your voice;
4If you seek her like silver,
and like hidden treasures search her out,
5Then will you understand the fear of the Lord;
the knowledge of God you will find;
6For the Lord gives wisdom,
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;#Jb 32:8; Wis 7:25; Sir 1:1; Jas 1:5.
7He has success in store for the upright,
is the shield of those who walk honestly,
8Guarding the paths of justice,
protecting the way of his faithful ones,
9Then you will understand what is right and just,
what is fair, every good path;
10For wisdom will enter your heart,
knowledge will be at home in your soul,
11Discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you;
12#As in 1:8–19, there is an obstacle to the quest for wisdom—deceitful and violent men. Cf. also 4:10–19. They offer a way of life that is opposed to the way of wisdom. Saving you from the way of the wicked,
from those whose speech is perverse.
13From those who have left the straight paths
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14Who delight in doing evil
and celebrate perversity;
15Whose ways are crooked,
whose paths are devious;
16#A second obstacle and counter-figure to Wisdom, personified as an attractive woman, is the “stranger,” or “foreigner,” from outside the territory or kinship group, hence inappropriate as a marriage partner. In Proverbs she comes to be identified with Woman Folly, whose deceitful words promise life but lead to death. Woman Folly appears also in chap. 5, 6:20–35, chap. 7 and 9:13–18. Covenant: refers to the vow uttered with divine sanction at the woman’s previous marriage, as the parallel verse suggests. She is already married and relations with her would be adulterous. Saving you from a stranger,
from a foreign woman with her smooth words,#Prv 5:3, 20; 6:24; 7:5; 22:14.
17One who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
18For her path sinks down to death,
and her footsteps lead to the shades.#Shades: the inhabitants of Sheol. #Prv 5:5; 7:27.
19None who enter there come back,
or gain the paths of life.
20Thus you may walk in the way of the good,
and keep to the paths of the just.
21#Verses 21–22 echo the ending of Wisdom’s speech in 1:32–33, in which refusing Wisdom’s invitation meant death and obedience to her meant life. The same set of ideas is found in Ps 37 (especially vv. 3, 9, 11, 22, 29, 34, and 38): to live on (or inherit) the land and to be uprooted from the land are expressions of divine recompense. For the upright will dwell in the land,#Prv 10:7, 30; Jb 18:17; Ps 21:9–13; 37:22, 28.
people of integrity will remain in it;
22But the wicked will be cut off from the land,
the faithless will be rooted out of it.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Proverbs 2
2
1My son, if thou wilt receive my words,
And lay up my commandments with thee;
2So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom,
And apply thine heart to understanding;
3Yea, if thou cry after discernment,
And lift up thy voice for understanding;
4If thou seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hid treasures;
5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD giveth wisdom;
Out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding:
7He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright,
He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;
8That he may guard the paths of judgement,
And preserve the way of his saints.
9Then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgement,
And equity, yea, every good path.
10For wisdom shall enter into thine heart,
And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;
11Discretion shall watch over thee,
Understanding shall keep thee:
12To deliver thee from the way of evil,
From the men that speak froward things;
13Who forsake the paths of uprightness,
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14Who rejoice to do evil,
And delight in the frowardness of evil;
15Who are crooked in their ways,
And perverse in their paths:
16To deliver thee from the strange woman,
Even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
17Which forsaketh the friend 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 do they attain unto the paths of life:
20That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,
And keep the paths of the righteous.
21For the upright shall dwell in the land,
And the perfect shall remain in it.
22But the wicked shall be cut off from the land,
And they that deal treacherously shall be rooted out of it.
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