PROVERBS
LESSON 3 WISDOM’S CALL
Fourth Introductory Mashal Discourse, 3:1-18 Exhortation to Love and Faithfulness, and Self-Sacrificing Devotion to God, as the True Wisdom
Proverbs 3:1-6
3:1 Guidance for the Young My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; 2 for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart, 4 and so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. NKJV
3:1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your mind retain my commandments;
2 For they will bestow on you length of days, years of life and well-being.
3 Let fidelity and steadfastness not leave you; bind them about your throat, write them on the tablet of your mind,
4 And you will find favor and approbation in the eyes of God and man.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths smooth.
Proverbs 3:1-6 Tanakh Hebrew Text
3:1-12 Lecture 3: The wisdom of piety. The Lesson (verses 5-12), composed of distinct sayings, teaches humility, faith in God, fulfillment of cultic duties, and submission to divine chastisement. Unusually for Proverbs, it does not insist on the importance of wisdom, nor does it equate wisdom and religious virtues. [Jewish Study Bible]
3:3: Wear the teachings close to your body so that you will always have them with you (1:9; 4:9; 6:21). Write them on the tablet of your mind (“heart”) hold them permanently in memory. [JSB]
Proverbs 3:1-2
The foregoing Mashal discourse seeks to guard youth against ruinous companionship; this points out to them more particularly the relation toward God and man, which alone can make them truly happy, vv. 1-4.
1 My son, forget not my doctrine,
And let thine heart keep my commandments;
2 For length of days, and years of life,
And peace, will they add to thee.
3 Let not kindness and truth forsake thee:
Bind them about thy neck,
Write them on the tablet of thy heart,
4 And obtain favour and true prudence
In the eyes of God and of men.
(From Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)
PROVERBS LESSON THREE
3:2 they.
a. Not the “law” and “commandments: of verse 1, for they are in the Hebrew feminine,
b. But the “days” of verse 2 which are in the Hebrew tense masculine,
c. Which agreeing with the verb “add,” which is also masculine. Paul the Learner
3:2 add to thee.
(1) This, in the Hiphil = make increase for thee, or cause thee, or cause thee to increase or grow [in wisdom].
(2) In other words as the days and years lengthen and increase they will add to thy wisdom.
(3) If you don’t forget.
(4) So also in other passages where wisdom is supposed to promise long life, which it does not.
Paul the Learner
Proverbs 3:1-2
(a) The admonition takes a new departure.
(b) Towraatiy (OT: 8451 a precept or statute, Torah) and mitsªowtay (OT: 4687 a command) refer to the following new discourse and laws of conduct.
(c) Here, in the midst of the discourse, we have yitsor (OT: 5341 to guard, to protect).
(d) (V. 2) for towceepªnaah (they will bring, add) refers to the doctrine and the precepts, the vulgar Arabic.
(e) Also has set aside the forms jaktubna, taktubna "Extension of days" is continuance of duration, stretching itself out according to the promise, Exodus 20:12, and "years of life"
(f) (9:11) Are years-namely, many of them-of a life, which is life in the full sense of the word- is pure well-being, free from all that disturbs peace or satisfaction, internal and external contentment
Proverbs 3:3
(1) These two states of mind and of conduct are here contemplated as moral powers (Psalms 61:8; 43:3), which are of excellent service, and bring precious gain;
(2) And 4b shows that their ramification on the side of God and of men, the religious and the moral, remains radically inseparable.
(3) If the disciple is admonished to bind them about his neck (vid. Proverbs 1:9, cf. 3:22),
(4) So here reference is made, not to ornament, nor yet to protection against evil influences by means of them, as by an amulet
(5) But to the signet, which was wont to be constantly carried (Genesis 38:18, cf. Song 8:6) on a string around the neck.
(6) The parallel member 3c confirms this; 3b and 3c together put us in mind of the Tephillim (phylacteries), Exodus 13:16; Deuteronomy 6:8; 11:18,
(7) In, which what is here a figure is presented in external form, but as the real figure of that, which is required in the inward parts.
(8) Luwach (OT: 3871 a tablet), Arabic l'ah, to begin to shine, e.g., of a shooting star, gleaming sword; vid, signifies the tablet prepared for writing by means of polish;
(9) To write love and fidelity on the tablet of the heart, is to impress deeply on the heart the duty of both virtues,
(10) So that one will be impelled to them from within outward (Jeremiah 31:33).
(Keil and Delitzsch Commentary)
PROVERBS LESSON THREE
Proverbs 3:4
a. The Mishle no other meaning than intellects, which proceeds from the inwardly forming activity of the mind.
b. He obtains favour in the eyes of God and man, to whom favour on both sides is shown;
c. He obtains refined prudence, to which it is on both sides adjudicated.
(Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament)
Proverbs 3:1
PROVERBS 3:1-35.-The youth is admonished to keep God's law, which brings to the obedient long life and peace; not to forsake mercy and truth, which give favor in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord, and not in self, so shall He direct thee:
1. Fear the Lord and it shall be health to thee. Honour Him with thy substance, so shall thy stores be full (Proverbs 3:1-10).
2. Bear chastisement from the Lord patiently, and take it as a proof of His love (Proverbs 3:1-12).
3. General felicitation of the man who findeth wisdom: its preciousness, permanence, pleasantness; its agency in the creation of all things by the Lord (Proverbs 3:11-20).
4. Keep sound wisdom as life to the soul, grace to the neck, safety to the feet in walking, the giver of sleep uninterrupted by fears, since the Lord shall be thy confidence. Instances of wisdom: Withhold not good from the needy; strive not: envy not: for the Lord curses the wicked, and blesses the just, gives glory to the lowly wise, and shameful scorn as the only promotion that awaits scornful fools (Proverbs 3:21-35).
5. The address "my son" marks the divisions (Proverbs 3:1, 10, 21).
My son forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments. Solomon's advice to the young, as that of a father to his son (Proverbs 1:8). Forgetfulness of God's law is the fault of the heart, not merely of the head. When the heart keeps God's precepts as a precious treasure, the memory does not easily forget them. (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)
Proverbs 3:2
(a) For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee - (Deuteronomy 8:1; 30:16, 20; Psalms 34:12-14;
(b) "Godliness hath promise of the life that now is, and of that, which is to come," 1 Timothy 4:8; Psalms 133:3.)
(c) Quarrelling, luxury, pleasure and gain-seeking, and unbelieving cares, take away that sobriety and peace of spirit, which promote longevity.
(d) With all men's pains to prolong life, they generally neglect the Lord, the true Giver and Preserver, of it (Job 10:12).
(e) The Hebrew of "long life" is plural-literally, 'years of lives:' hinting at the twofold life, that here and that hereafter, which is at the Lord's disposal.
(f) "Peace" is the fruit of "love" to God's "law" (Psalms 119:165). (Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown)
Proverbs 3:3
(1) Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart - never go or be anywhere without these graces accompanying thee.
PROVERBS LESSON THREE
3:3
(2) "Mercy" toward men; "truth," i.e., sincerity, toward God. These two comprehend all the duties we owe toward God and man.
(3) "Bind them about thy neck," not merely as an ornament (Proverbs 1:9; 5:22),
(4) But as something always near and to be kept in view, like a chain hanging from the neck (Proverbs 6:21; 7:3; Exodus 6:8; 13:9,16; Deuteronomy 11:18),
(5) To, which allusion is made here (Song 1:10; 4:9; Ezekiel 16:11, "Write them upon the table of thine heart;" cf. Jeremiah 17:1; 2 Corinthians 3:3).
(6) The Spirit alone can enable us to "write them on the table," i.e., the tablet, of the heart (Jeremiah 31:33). (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)
Proverbs 3:4
a. So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
b. By keeping "mercy and truth" (Proverbs 3:3) thou shalt be esteemed before God and man as one of good understanding," and so "shalt find favour in the sight of God and man."
c. The Hebrew recommends the English version, though the parallelism would strictly require, as "favour" is on the part of God and man,
d. That so the corresponding noun should be also on the part of God and man.
e. But the English version accords best with the Hebrew; moreover, the parallelism is sufficiently maintained by "good understanding" (on the part of "thee"),
f. Answering to "favour" on the part of "God and man," which results from it.
g. With "find favour ... in the sight of God" cf. Exodus 33:12, 17; Luke 1:30, and especially Luke 2:52,
h. "Jesus (who alone fully realized the picture here) increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)
Proverbs 3:7-12
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. 11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; 12 for whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. NKJV
3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
8 It will be a cure for your body (literally “navel.”), a tonic for your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the best of all your income,
10 And your barns will be filled with grain; your vats will burst with new wine.
11 Do not reject the discipline of the Lord, my son; do not abhor His rebuke.
12 For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes, as a father the son whom he favors.
Proverbs 3:7-12 Tanakh Hebrew Text
3:9 Honor the Lord by bringing sacrificial donations to the Temple. [Jewish Study Bible]
3:11-12: Sometimes suffering can be interpreted as divine discipline, a warning intended to spare one greater punishments. On the basis of (verses 11-12 and Psalms 94:12), the Talmud develops the concept of “afflictions of love: (Talmud b. Ber. 8a, etc.) [Jewish Study Bible]
PROVERBS LESSON THREE
Proverbs 3:5-7
Were "kindness and truth" (v. 3) understood only in relation to men, then the following admonition would not be interposed, since it proceeds from that going before, if there the quality of kindness and truth, not only towards man, but also towards God, is commended:
5 Trust in Jahve with thy whole heart,
And lean not on thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make plain thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes;
Fear Jahve, and depart from evil.
8 Health will then come to thy navel,
And refreshing to thy bones.
Proverbs 3:5-7
(a) From God alone comes true prosperity, true help.
(b) He knows the right way to the right ends.
(c) He knows what benefits us.
(d) He is able to free us from that, which does us harm:
(e) Therefore it is our duty and our safety to place our confidence wholly in Him,
(f) And to trust not to our own judgment.
(g) The heart is the central seat of all spiritual soul-strength;
(h) To love God with the whole heart is to concentrate the whole inner life
(i) On the active contemplation of God,
(j) And the ready observance of His will.
(k) God requites such as show regard to Him,
(l) By making plain their path before them,
(m) I.e., by leading them directly to the right end,
(n) Removing all hindrances out of their way. (Keil & Delitzsch Commentary)
Proverbs 3:5
(1) Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding, - which latter cannot preserve thee.
(2) He guards against his recommendation of "good understanding" (a different Hebrew term from that here, which is binath) in Proverbs 3:4 being perverted into a ground for self-reliance.