Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.
7. This verse stands out as the motto, or key-note, both of the whole Book, and of the whole subject of which the Book treats. I am offering, the writer would seem to say, to give you the right of entering into the House of Knowledge, to conduct you through some of its goodly chambers, to display to you a portion of the rich and varied treasures with which it is stored. But as you approach the portal, note well the inscription which is traced above it: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The House is not a Palace only, but a Temple. They only who reverence the Deity who inhabits it are admitted within the shrine. It is the Temple of God; yet not that only but of Jehovah, the God of Israel, the God of revelation and of covenant. To recognise this is the beginning, the necessary condition, the essential pre-requisite of knowledge. Those who seek knowledge in any other spirit or by any other path, really “despise wisdom and discipline,” and in so doing shew themselves to be not wise men but “fools.” See further, Introd. ch. i. p. 10.
The fear ] not slavish dread, the “fear that hath torment” (1Jn 4:18), but childlike reverence. See Mal 3:16-17; Luk 12:5; Luk 12:7. In the LXX. this verse has been amplified by the addition of , , from Psa 111:10.
the beginning ] “the beginning and foundation of all knowledge,” Maur. This is better than the chief part, R.V. marg. Comp. Pro 9:10, where however the Heb. is different.
instruction ] Rather, discipline. See note Pro 1:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The beginning of wisdom is found in the temper of reverence and awe. The fear of the finite in the presence of the Infinite, of the sinful in the presence of the Holy (compare Job 42:5-6), this for the Israelite was the starting-point of all true wisdom. In the Book of Job 28:28 it appears as an oracle accompanied by the noblest poetry. In Psa 111:10 it comes as the choral close of a temple hymn. Here it is the watchword of a true ethical education. This fear has no torment, and is compatible with child-like love. But this and not love is the beginning of wisdom. Through successive stages and by the discipline of life, love blends with it and makes it perfect.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Pro 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The first rudiments of knowledge
The fear of the Lord is an abiding and reverent sense of the presence of God and of accountableness to Him: For this to exist God must be that real, personal Being which we have every reason to believe God has revealed Himself to be: such in character, as to love, holiness, and justice, as He has declared Himself in His Word. Why is this fear the beginning of knowledge?
1. Because knowledge being the apprehension of facts, and application of them to life, it cannot properly begin, or be based on a right foundation, without first apprehending and applying a fact which includes and which modifies all other facts whatever.
2. Because knowledge is the food of the soul. And what is the soul? What ought its stores and its accumulated powers to be, and to be useful for? The knowledge which is to feed and train the soul must begin, continue, and end, in the apprehension of Him.
3. Because knowledge, as the mere accumulation of facts, is in-operative upon life. If you would be worth anything to society, worth anything to your own families, worth anything to yourselves, the fear of God must come first in your thoughts and lives. The fear of God is the first thing; the consciousness of Him about you, the laying down His revealed facts respecting Himself and you as your greatest facts; the setting up of His will as the inner law of your being. (Dean Alford.)
How is the fear of the Lord the beginning of knowledge?
1. It quickens the intellect, and sustains its activity.
2. It restrains from those follies and corruptions which weaken the powers, and divert from high themes.
3. This fear starts thought from the right centre and in right directions.
4. This fear is the root of that right living and wise conduct, that forethought, purity, temperance, uprightness, and obedience to God, which we may call vital knowledge; knowledge in the heart and life, as well as in the head. (Monday Club Sermons.)
The root of knowledge
The fear of the Lord implies a right state of heart towards God, as opposed to the alienation of an unconverted man. Though the word is fear, it does not exclude a filial confidence and a conscious peace. What God is inspires awe; what God has done for His people commands affection. See here the centrifugal and centripetal forces of the moral world. Knowledge and wisdom are in effect synonymous–the best knowledge wisely used for the highest ends. The fear of the Lord is the foundation, knowledge is the imposed superstructure. He who does not reverentially trust in God knows nothing yet as he ought to know. His knowledge is partial and distorted. The knowledge of God–His character and plans, His hatred of sin, His law of holiness, His way of mercy–is more excellent than all that an unbelieving philosopher has attained. It is a knowledge more deeply laid, more difficult of attainment, more fruitful, and more comprehensive, than all that philosophers know. Men speak of the stupendous effects which knowledge, in the department of mechanical philosophy, has produced on the face of the world, and in the economy of human life; but the permanence of these acquisitions depends on the authority of moral laws in the consciences of men. The moral encircles and controls the economic in the affairs of men. The knowledge of God is the root of knowledge. (William Arnot, D. D.)
A plea for reverence
Reverence is the alphabet of religion. As you cannot acquire knowledge without the knowledge of the alphabet, so you cannot acquire anything of the religious life without the spirit of reverence. Self-conceit is precisely the negative of reverence. It is the absence of the spirit that looks up to anything above us. It is the spirit that leads one to say, I am the greatest and the best. There are many conditions in our life which tend to produce the spirit of self-conceit and tend to counteract the spirit of reverence. The absence of any traditions in America tend against the spirit of reverence. Across the ocean, in the Old World, we stand in cathedrals a thousand years or more old, in the presence of customs hoary-headed with antiquity; we walk by the city walls which have seen many a battle between liberty and despotism; and these old cathedrals, these old cities, these old customs, awaken in us some spirit of reverence. But we have no such cathedrals. The absence of any class distinctions in America tends against the spirit of reverence. We are all on the same level. There is no class to which we can look up with reverence. The reaction against Puritanism has tended against reverence. It is no longer customary in our homes to teach reverence of children to their parent, or in schools to teach reverence of pupils to teachers. In the olden time every boy bowed reverently to the minister; now the minister gets along very well if the boy does not cry out, Go up, thou baldhead! The spirit of criticism, the scientific spirit, has tended against reverence. Many things which of olden time men superstitiously feared they fear no longer. We have analysed until all great things have been picked to pieces in our laboratory. We will not allow any mysteries. You cannot revere what you are criticising. The two processes never can go on simultaneously in the same mind. The sectarian spirit has been against the spirit of reverence. The Congregationalist has sneered at the ritual of the Episcopalian, and the Episcopalian has shrugged his shoulders over the non-ritual of the Congregationalist. The spirit of antagonism between the different denominations has despoiled those symbols which were before the common objects of a mutual reverence. Finally, our democratic theology has tended against the old spirit of reverence. Just because we no longer reverence a king in the nation we do not reverence the King in the heavens. Now, if it be true that reverence is a fountain of life, and reverence is a beginning of wisdom, how in this age, under these circumstances, are we to develop reverence in ourselves, in our churches, and in our children? In the first place, then, the old notion of holy places is gone. We cannot recover it. In truth there is very little foundation for it. For it we are to substitute this larger, grander, more awe-inspiring conception–that every place is holy place, every ground is holy ground, and God is in all Nature. God is as truly here as He ever was in Palestine, as truly in the White Mountains or the Rocky Mountains as He ever was in the Sinaitic Mountains; He is everywhere, always speaking, in all phenomena. This must come into our hearts to take the place of the older and narrower conception of holy places. We cannot re-establish a united ritual, nor all agree to climb to Gods throne by the steps worn by the knees of many centuries. But we must learn the broader, the larger, more catholic, aye, and profounder reverence which sees God in every form of worship; for wherever the human heart is seeking God, there God is. We are to recognise Christ in all truth. The old reverence for the Bible as a book without any error whatever, and as a conclusive and final guide on questions of science, literature, history, philosophy, and religion, is passing away. Our reverence is not for the tables of stone that are broken and lost, nor for the words that were inscribed upon them–we do not know exactly what form of words were inscribed upon them–but for the great fundamental principles of the moral life which those Ten Commandments embody. There is many a man who has reverence for the book and none for the truth that is in the book. Woe to us if, throwing away the old mechanical reverence for the outer thing, we fail to get the deeper reverence for the inward truth! What reverence has God shown for truth! Think of it one moment. He has launched into human history this volume of literature. The ablest scholars are not agreed on such questions as who wrote these various books, at what dates, for what purpose, and with what immediate intent. The great majority of the books are anonymous; the great majority of them are without definite and positive date. What does this mean? It means this: God has launched truth without a sponsor into the world, and left the truth to bear witness to itself. Truth answers to the human mind as cog to cog; and the reverence for the shell is to be lost only that reverence for the kernel may take the place. We find it difficult, many of us, to have any reverence for the events that are taking place in America, and the leaders who are participating in them. We cannot cure that irreverence towards leaders and politicians by pretending respect for a man whom we do not respect, who has won his way to office by dishonourable and disreputable methods. We must go further, we must look deeper, we must see that, as God is in all worship and in all truth, so God is in all history. We are to see God in every man, and in all of life. There are times when there seems nothing more awe-inspiring than a simple, single human soul. Said Phillips Brooks once to me, There is no man so poor, so ignorant, so outcast, that I do not stand in awe before him. As the old reverence for the priest and the robe and the pulpit fade away, reverence for man as the battle-ground between good and evil must come in to take its place, or reverence will disappear. The fear of God is the fountain of life. I think it is Goethe who has drawn the distinction between fear and reverence. Fear, he says, repels; reverence attracts. It is not the fear of God that repels, it is the reverence for God which attracts, which is the fountain of life. And when this reverence has found its place in our hearts, it is to be the fountain of all our life; of our reason, and we are not to be afraid of being too rational; of our commercial industries, and we are not to be afraid of being too industrious; of our humour, and we are not to be afraid of a good hearty laugh; reverence in all our life. You cannot have reverence on Sunday and irreverence in the week; reverence in the church and irreverence in the daily life. And, leaving in the past that reverence which was fragmentary, broken, and largely idolatrous, we are to press forward to a grander, broader, nobler, diviner reverence in the future. (L. Abbott, D. D.)
The fear of the Lord
1. The fear of God will urge us to a profitable study of the Holy Scriptures.
2. The fear of God will especially influence us in our devotions.
3. The fear of God will bring us to the business of the day in the right frame of mind to carry it on.
4. The fear of God will enable us to bear the trials and disappointments of life.
5. In the last trial of all, in the hour of death, we shall assuredly reap the fruit of having lived in the fear of the Lord, for then we shall have nothing else to fear. (J. Edmunds.)
Piety
I. Piety is reverence for God. Filial reverence is meant by fear. Reverence implies two things, a recognition of Divine greatness, and a recognition of Divine goodness. An impression of goodness lies at the foundation of reverence, and hence, too, gratitude, love, adoration enter into this reverence.
II. Piety is initiatory to knowledge. It is the beginning of it. But what knowledge? Not mere intellectual knowledge. Many an impious man knows the circle of the sciences. The devil is intelligent. It is spiritual knowledge–spiritual knowledge of self, the universe, Christ, and God. True reverence for God is essential to this knowledge. Religious reverence is the root of the tree of all spiritual science. He knows nothing rightly who does not know God experimentally. (Homilist.)
Filial love
Filial love stands near and leans on godliness. It is next to reverence for God. That first and highest commandment is like the earths allegiance to the sun by general law; and filial obedience is like day and night, summer and winter, budding spring and ripening harvest, on the earths surface. There could be none of these sweet changes and beneficent operations of nature on our globe if it were broken away from the sun. So when a people burst the first and greatest bond–when a people cast off the fear of God, the family relations, with all their beauty and benefit, disappear. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Practical piety
I. Speculative piety, or a due knowledge of God and of our duty towards Him, is the first foundation of true wisdom.
1. The proper exercise of true wisdom consists in directing and conducting us to the chiefest happiness which human nature is capable of.
2. That religion is the only method by which we are directed and conducted towards the attainment of this chief happiness.
3. That a due knowledge of God, and of our duty towards Him, is the basis and groundwork of true religion.
II. Practical piety, or the regulating of our actions according to knowledge, is the height and perfection of understanding.
1. To be habitually conversant in the exercises of piety is an instance of the truest and most considerate wisdom, because it is the most effectual means to promote our happiness and well-being in this life. There are four things for the attainment of which we are chiefly solicitous. A clear reputation. A comfortable fortune. A healthful body. A quiet mind.
2. The constant exercise of religious duties is an instance of the truest and most considerate wisdom, because it is the most effectual means to promote our eternal happiness in the world to come. (N. Brady.)
A reverent fear of God
I. Religiousness, or a reverent fear of God, is the best wisdom. Because it brings a man to acquaintance with God. It teaches us how to converse with God rightly by true worship and obedience, and how to come to live with God for ever.
II. Things of greatest worth should be of greatest account with us. The affections should ever follow the judgment well informed.
III. Irreligious persons are in Gods account the fools of the world. They want Gods fear, as natural fools want wisdom.
IV. None despise heavenly wisdom but such as know not the value of it. The excellency of it is so great, that it would allure men to look after it, had they spiritual eyes to see it. Knowledge hath no enemy but an ignorant man.
V. They that slight the means of knowledge slight knowledge itself. We account so in outward things. We ask sick men refusing physic if they make no account of their lives. Neglect of the means of grace is a real slighting of wisdom. (Francis Taylor.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 7. The fear of the Lord] In the preceding verses Solomon shows the advantage of acting according to the dictates of wisdom; in the following verses he shows the danger of acting contrary to them. The fear of the Lord signifies that religious reverence which every intelligent being owes to his Creator; and is often used to express the whole of religion, as we have frequently had occasion to remark in different places. But what is religion? The love of God, and the love of man; the former producing all obedience to the Divine will; the latter, every act of benevolence to one’s fellows. The love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit produces the deepest religious reverence, genuine piety, and cheerful obedience. To love one’s neighbour as himself is the second great commandment; and as love worketh no ill to one’s neighbour, therefore it is said to be the fulfilling of the law. Without love, there is no obedience; without reverence, there is neither caution, consistent conduct, nor perseverance in righteousness.
This fear or religious reverence is said to be the beginning of knowledge; reshith, the principle, the first moving influence, begotten in a tender conscience by the Spirit of God. No man can ever become truly wise, who does not begin with God, the fountain of knowledge; and he whose mind is influenced by the fear and love of God will learn more in a month than others will in a year.
Fools despise] evilim, evil men. Men of bad hearts, bad heads, and bad ways.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The fear of the Lord; reverence and obedience to God, or his worship and service, as this word is commonly used.
The beginning; either the foundation, or the top, and perfection, or chief point, without which all other knowledge is vain and useless.
Fools; wicked men, called fools through this whole book; such as do not fear God.
Despise wisdom and instruction; are so far from attaining true wisdom, that they despise it, and all the means of getting it; which fully proves what he now said, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. The fear of the Lordtheprinciple of true piety (compare Pro 2:5;Pro 14:26; Pro 14:27;Job 28:28; Psa 34:11;Psa 111:10; Act 9:31).
beginningfirst part,foundation.
foolsthe stupid andindifferent to God’s character and government; hence the wicked.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The fear of the Lord [is] the beginning of knowledge,…. Here properly the book begins, and this is the first of the proverbs, and an excellent one; it is such an one as is not to be found in all the writings of the Heathens. By “the fear of the Lord” is not meant a servile fear, a fear of punishment, of hell, wrath, and damnation, which is the effect of the first work of the law upon the conscience; but a filial fear, and supposes knowledge of God as a father, of his love and grace in Christ, particularly of his forgiving love, from whence it arises, Ps 130:4; it is a holy, humble, fiducial fear of God; a reverential affection for him, and devotion to him; it includes the whole of religious worship, both internal and external; all that is contained in the first table of the law, and the manner of performing it, and principle of acting: this is the first of all sciences to be learned, and it is the principal one; it is the basis and foundation of all the rest, on which they depend; and it is the head, the fountain, the root an source, from whence they spring; and unless a man knows God, knows God in Christ, and worships him in his fear, in spirit and in truth, according to his revealed will, he knows nothing as he ought to know; and all his knowledge will be of no avail and profit to him; this is the first and chief thing in spiritual and evangelical knowledge, and without which all natural knowledge will signify nothing; see Job 28:28;
[but] fools despise wisdom and instruction; the same with “knowledge” before; they do not desire the knowledge of God, and of his ways and worship, but despise it, make no account of it, but treat it with contempt; especially the knowledge of God in Christ, in which lies the highest wisdom, for this is “life eternal”, Joh 17:3; they despise Christ “the Wisdom of God”, and the Gospel, and the truths of it, which are “the hidden wisdom” of God; and all “instruction” into it, and the means of it; they despise the Scriptures, which are able to make a man “wise unto salvation”; and the ministry of the word, and the ministers of it: such sort of “discipline” n was this, as the word signifies, they dislike and abhor; and especially “correction” or “chastisement” o, which is also the sense of it; suffering reproach and affliction for the sake of wisdom, a profession of Christ and his Gospel; and they are fools with a witness that despise all this; such fools are atheists, deists, and all profane and wicked men. The Septuagint render it, “the ungodly”; and such sort of men are all along meant by “fools” in this book.
n “disciplinam”, Tigurine version, Piscator, Cocceius, Schultens, o “Castigationem, correctionem”, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Parental Admonitions. | |
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. 8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
Solomon, having undertaken to teach a young man knowledge and discretion, here lays down two general rules to be observed in order thereunto, and those are, to fear God and honour his parents, which two fundamental laws of morality Pythagoras begins his golden verses with, but the former of them in a wretchedly corrupted state. Primum, deos immortales cole, parentesque honora–First worship the immortal gods, and honour your parents. To make young people such as they should be,
I. Let them have regard to God as their supreme.
1. He lays down this truth, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (v. 7); it is the principal part of knowledge (so the margin); it is the head of knowledge; that is, (1.) Of all things that are to be known this is most evident, that God is to be feared, to be reverenced, served, and worshipped; this is so the beginning of knowledge that those know nothing who do not know this. (2.) In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by the instructions that are given us unless our minds be possessed with a holy reverence of God, and every thought within us be brought into obedience to him. If any man will do his will, he shall know of his doctrine, John vii. 17. (3.) As all our knowledge must take rise from the fear of God, so it must tend to it as its perfection and centre. Those know enough who know how to fear God, who are careful in every thing to please him and fearful of offending him in any thing; this is the Alpha and Omega of knowledge.
2. To confirm this truth, that an eye to God must both direct and quicken all our pursuits of knowledge, he observes, Fools (atheists, who have no regard to God) despise wisdom and instruction; having no dread at all of God’s wrath, nor any desire of his favour, they will not give you thanks for telling them what they may do to escape his wrath and obtain his favour. Those who say to the Almighty, Depart from us, who are so far from fearing him that they set him at defiance, can excite no surprise if they desire not the knowledge of his ways, but despise that instruction. Note, Those are fools who do not fear God and value the scriptures; and though they may pretend to be admirers of wit they are really strangers and enemies to wisdom.
II. Let them have regard to their parents as their superiors (Pro 1:8; Pro 1:9): My son, hear the instruction of thy father. He means, not only that he would have his own children to be observant of him, and of what he said to them, nor only that he would have his pupils, and those who came to him to be taught, to look upon him as their father and attend to his precepts with the disposition of children, but that he would have all children to be dutiful and respectful to their parents, and to conform to the virtuous and religious education which they give them, according to the law of the fifth commandment.
1. He takes it for granted that parents will, with all the wisdom they have, instruct their children, and, with all the authority they have, give law to them for their good. They are reasonable creatures, and therefore we must not give them law without instruction; we must draw them with the cords of a man, and when we tell them what they must do we must tell them why. But they are corrupt and wilful, and therefore with the instruction there is need of a law. Abraham will not only catechize, but command, his household. Both the father and the mother must do all they can for the good education of their children, and all little enough.
2. He charges children both to receive and to retain the good lessons and laws their parents give them. (1.) To receive them with readiness: “Hear the instruction of thy father; hear it and heed it; hear it and bid it welcome, and be thankful for it, and subscribe to it.” (2.) To retain them with resolution: “Forsake not their law; think not that when thou art grown up, and no longer under tutors and governors, thou mayest live at large; no, the law of thy mother was according to the law of thy God, and therefore it must never be forsaken; thou wast trained up in the way in which thou shouldst go, and therefore, when thou art old, thou must not depart from it.” Some observe that whereas the Gentile ethics, and the laws of the Persians and Romans, provided only that children should pay respect to their father, the divine law secures the honour of the mother also.
3. He recommends this as that which is very graceful and will put an honour upon us: “The instructions and laws of thy parents, carefully observed and lived up to, shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head (v. 9), such an ornament as is, in the sight of God, of great price, and shall make thee look as great as those that wear gold chains about their necks.” Let divine truths and commands be to us a coronet, or a collar of SS, which are badges of first-rate honours; let us value them, and be ambitious of them, and then they shall be so to us. Those are truly valuable, and shall be valued, who value themselves more by their virtue and piety than by their worldly wealth and dignity.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 1:7. Fools, derived from a word meaning to be gross and dull of understanding. Gesenius understands it to signify one who turns away, the perverse.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Pro. 1:7-9
THE ROOT OF TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND THE MEANS OF ITS ATTAINMENT
When the husbandman comes to examine a fruit-tree, he disregards everything in the way of leaf and branch; if he does not also find evidence of fruit in the appointed season, he considers that the end of planting is not attained. God, the great Husbandman, here declares that all human wisdom and intelligence avail nothing unless they have for their basis that fear of Him which enables a man to attain the end for which he was created.
I. The fear of the Lord springs
(1) from a practical recognition of His existence. God, to the vast majority of mankind, is but a name; they no more recognise the personality and moral character of the Divine Father than they recognise a personality and moral attributes in the wind or the sunlight. He has no influence upon their hearts; to them, practically, there is no God. There is no fear of God before their eyes, because there is no God.
2. From an experimental knowledge of His kindness. The mightiest being cannot be reverenced for his power; that may produce the fear which hath torment, but not the reverence and godly fear which leads to willing obedience. When a kings character is such that his subjects taste of his kindness and feed upon his bounty, it begets a reverence which makes them fear to break his law. The fear of the Lord is synonymous with heart-religion, and must be born of a personal experience of Divine mercy. This fear says, O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him (Psa. 34:8).
II. The means by which this beginning of knowledge ought to be attained. The rule in creatures below man is, that they instruct their offspring as soon as they are capable of instruction. The eagle teaches her young to fly: she stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings. (Deu. 32:11.) And this is what God expects every parent to do in a moral sense. A child ought to get his first ideas of God from his parent, and his fathers and mothers love ought to be the stepping-stones by which he rises to apprehend the love of his Father in heaven. This exhortation takes for granted that the parents will be possessors of this true knowledge, and will impart it to their children.
III. The reason given to the young for receiving and retaining parental instruction. The coronet on the brow of the noble proclaims his place in societysets forth his high position. The necklace of pearls on the young and beautiful maiden proclaims the wealth of the wearer, and adds to her attractiveness. So the obedience of a good son to a true father proclaims him to belong to the noble in spiritsets a crown upon his character. And a daughters reverential love to a good mother is a true indication of moral wealth. That mothers words, treasured in the memory and translated into life, are so many precious pearls of soul-adornment, and are in the sight of God of great price.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro. 1:7. This, the fear of the Lord, comes as the motto of the book. The beginning of wisdom is found in the temper of reverence and awe. The fear of the finite in the presence of the Infiniteof the sinful in the presence of the Holy; self-abhorring, adoring, as in Jobs confession (Job. 42:5-6), this for the Israelite was the starting point of all true wisdom. What the precept Know thyself was to the sage of Greece, that this law was for him. In the book of Job (Pro. 28:28) it appears as an oracle accompanied by the noblest poetry. In Psa. 111:10, it comes as the choral close of a temple hymn. Here it is the watch-word of a true ethical education. This, and not love, is the beginning of wisdom. Through successive stages, and by the discipline of life, love blends with it and makes it perfect.Plumptre.
Why is this the only way that God hath pointed out for the attaining to ?Wisdom
1. One reason may be the falseness of mans spirit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and so God will not entrust it with such estimable treasures of durable wisdom before a trial hath been upon it. To him will I look, even to him that is of a pure and contrite spirit, and trembleth at my words.
2. Here is another argument, viz., impossibility. The natural man perceiveth not the things of the spirit of God, &c. The eye sees not the sun, unless it bear the image of the sun in it; nor could it receive that impression if it were covered with dirt and filth. So the necessary foundation of true wisdom is unfeigned righteousness and pureness. The purging of a mans soul takes away the main impediments to true knowledge,such as self-admiration, anger, envy, impatience, desire of victory rather than of truth, blindness proceeding out of a love of riches and honour, the smothering the active spark of reason by luxury and intemperance, &c.Henry Moore.
Where God is, there is the fear of God; and where the fear of God is, there are all things which God requireth.Jermin.
The fear of the Lord consists, once for all, in a complete devotion to God,an unconditional subjection of ones own individuality to the beneficent will of God as revealed in the law (Deu. 6:13; Deu. 10:20; Deu. 13:4; Psa. 119:63, &c.)
How, then, could they be regarded as fearing God, who should keep only a part of the Divine commands, or who should undertake to fulfil them only according to their moral principles, and did not seek also to make the embodying letter of their formal requirements the standard of life.Langes Commentary.
Pro. 1:8. The relation of the teacher to the taught is essentially fatherly.Plumptre.
In Scripture and that oriental speech framed to be its vehicle, narrow examples stand often for a universal class. Honour thy father and mother, meansobey all superiors. Thou shalt not steal, meanskeep clear of every fraud. In those patriarchial countries, obedience to a father was the finest model of subordination. Let the child take the first and obvious meaning; let the man look deeper. The earlier principles having been settled, the Proverbs have begun with a grand practical directionthat we are to listen to our teachers; that we are to begin at our firesides, and obey all the way up to God.Miller.
Pro. 1:9. The instruction and discipline of wisdom do at first seem difficult and hard, and are like fetters of iron restraining the corruption and rebellion of nature; but at length they are like chains of gold, worn like ornaments and no burden at all.Jermin.
Nothing so beautifies as grace doth. Moses and Joseph were fair to God, (Act. 7:20) and favoured of all men. Trapp.
As Christ prays, Hallowed be thy name, as his first petition, so Solomon puts first in his promises mere beauty, the mere prize of being right. The best thing in being pious is the mere comeliness of piety.Miller.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
2.FIFTEEN DIDACTIC POEMS, OR DISCOURSES ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS (Pro. 1:7 to Pro. 9:18).
(a) First Discourse:Against Companionship in Robbery (Pro. 1:7-19).
(7) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.The first discourse is prefaced by a distich, which serves as a key-note to all the teaching of the book. This expression, the fear of the Lord, occurs thirteen times in the Proverbs, and plays a prominent part throughout the Old Testament.
When God of old came down from heaven,
In power and wrath He came.
That law which was given amid blackness, and darkness, and tempest was enforced by the threat, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them (Gal. 3:10). Men had to be taught how hateful sin was to God, and the lesson was for the most part instilled into them by the fear of immediate punishment. (Comp. Deuteronomy 28) But when the lesson had been learnt, and when mankind had found by experience that they were unable to keep the law of God by their own strength, then the new covenant of mercy was revealed from Calvary, even free justification by Gods grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24). And with this new message a new motive to obedience was preached. The fear of the Lord was now superseded by the higher duty of the love of God, and of man, for His sake. The love of Christ constraineth us, says St. Paul. We love Him because He first loved us, writes St. John. Now, it was seen that, although the fear of the Lord may be the beginning of wisdom, yet something better still may be aimed at: that he that feareth is not made perfect in love; and so the teaching of St. John, the last New Testament writer, is summed up in the words, If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another (1Jn. 4:11).
Fools (evlm).Self-willed, headstrong persons, who will listen to no advice.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. As the preceding five verses may be regarded as stating the object of the book, so this may be considered as the motto, proposition, or text, which the author places at its head as containing the sum and substance of the whole, and which he designs to prove and illustrate.
The fear of the Lord JEHOVAH is the name commonly applied to the Divine Being in this book; seldom , ELOHIM God. The Septuagint adds to the first clause of this verse, as if exegetically, “And there is good understanding to all that practise it; and piety toward God is the beginning of discernment.”
The fear of Jehovah is a comprehensive expression, embodying, according to the conception of the Hebrew mind, the whole of piety or religion. (Job 28:28; Psa 9:10; Psa 111:10.) It implies a knowledge of the true God, of his existence, attributes, and works, and also of his relations to us as far as these several things were revealed in that day. As the idea of the great and everlasting God, our Maker and our Judge, strikes the mind with awe and reverence, from which proceed respect for his revealed will, and humiliation of mind, (Job 42:5-6,) so this term, the fear of the Lord, or reverence for Jehovah, comprehends both experimental and practical godliness, worship, and obedience. This fear of the Lord, then, resting on an intelligent apprehension of the divine majesty and his relations to us as revealed in his word, is the beginning, or the chief part, of knowledge of the intellectual attainments of a truly wise man. There is no study so high, so noble, so grand, so wholesome, so beneficent, as this. All others, which a man really wise pursues, are subordinate to this, and comprehended in it. The man who has a just conception of God and his relations to him can think of nothing that is not somehow related to this great theme, either as being in accordance with God’s will or contrary to that will as being forbidden or allowed. Hence all right learning and true science tends to honour God, as it tends to cultivate man. Moreover, the glorious idea of God in the mind is a quickening, elevating, and impelling element, that gives life, dignity, and force to mental action. It is only where this knowledge of God exists that man can rise to his true dignity as a rational, moral, and religious being. There is no motive to mental effort and high intellectual cultivation so powerful as that which true religion affords.
Many a youth “living after the flesh,” caring only for the things of the flesh, having no relish for other than sensual pleasures, neglects and rejects opportunities of mental improvement; but let him come under the dominion of religious feeling and principle let him attain to the fear of God, or, as Christianity has taught us to say, the love of God and his soul is immediately athirst for all useful knowledge. He feels that the improvement of his mind is one of his noblest privileges and highest duties; for only thus can he glorify and serve aright the Author of his being and salvation. These remarks elucidate the latter part of the verse.
Fools , ( evilim,) the gross, sensual, stupid.
Despise Trample under foot.
Wisdom and instruction , ( musar,) restraint, discipline. (See under Pro 1:2.) Compare on latter clause 1Ki 12:13 ; 1Sa 2:12-25; Act 17:18.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exhortation to Fear God and Parents: The Key of Life Revealed – The first key that Solomon gives to us to enable us to unlock the secrets to life’s journey is the instruction that we are to fear the Lord by initially respecting our parents in the home (Pro 1:7-9). This is where a person’s journey into fellowship with God begins in a life of godliness. God gave every human being parents and a home where discipline is taught as a way of starting us on our journey that will take us to Heaven’s gates and into God’s eternal presence. Our salvation experience is our decision to fear God and honor our parents. All other journeys lead to destruction. This journey will bring us into adornment and honor, which is referred to in Pro 1:9. So we see that the fear of the Lord opens the door of our hearts to receive the anointing. Thus, Pro 1:7-9 can be understood to be a summary of the entire book of Proverbs. It can be compared to the introduction of a thesis in which the issues and message of the document is summarized in the opening paragraph.
Reverence for Parents Reverence for parents (Pro 1:8) naturally follows Pro 1:7, for learning to obey our parents becomes our first lesson in reverence for God. God has established the institution of the family unit so that every human can begin his/her life with an environment that develops the fear of God in one’s heart. When a child develops a genuine devotion to his parents, he naturally will learn this same devotion to the Lord. His loyal and gentle spirit serves as an ornament of grace that makes this person stand out in a crowd above others of less character.
Obedience to parents is of utmost importance. Even if parents are wrong, a child’s responsibility is obedience. However, most of the time, the parents know more than the children do.
Illustration – In June 2002, our oldest child Elisabeth faced her first real test of who to follow. Not yet four years old, she had to decide whether to follow her parents (Pro 1:8), or the peer pressure of her playmate (Pro 1:10). My wife and I found her coming out of our neighbour’s house with her playmate in order to run down the street to visit an unknown neighbour. We told her not to go to this strange house and explained to her why. Then, we left her standing in the street with her playmate while we took the younger child on a stroll. We kept looking back to see if she would run off with her playmate to this house when we got far enough away. Sure enough, when we reached the end of the street and looked back, she was gone. My wife moved quickly back up the street and into the next street looking for her. She saw her running back to our house after having followed her playmate most of the way. We took her into our home and talked to her about obeying her parents. She explained that her playmate told her that when we were gone to run with him to the neighbour’s house. She gave into this call until guilt turned her steps around and she found herself running back home. She did not get a spanking that day; but hopefully she learned an important lesson heeding the call of her parents above others.
“fools…my son” – There are two types of people that need wisdom and instruction: the fools and children. Matthew Henry says, “ Fools are persons who have no true wisdom, who follow their own devices, without regard to reason, or reverence for God. Children are reasonable creatures, and when we tell them what they must do, we must tell them why. But they are corrupt and willful, therefore with the instruction there is need of a law. Let Divine truths and commands be to us most honourable; let us value them, and then they shall be so to us.” [50]
[50] Matthew Henry, Proverbs, in Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1991), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), notes on Proverbs 1:7-9.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pro 1:7
[51] Crawford H. Toy, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Proverbs, , in The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, eds. Charles A. Briggs, Samuel R. Driver, and Alfred Plummer (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1899), 10.
Illustration – Paint is made up of a carrier, such as oil or water, plus pigments and other ingredients. Cake is primarily made up of flour. In the same way, an accumulation of experiences in life must all be perceived in light of the fear of God, or knowing how God sees these experiences. This means that when one sees life from God’s perspective and with the fear of God, all the other ingredients in life make sense. These life experiences have little value without a divine perspective, just as the smaller ingredients in paint make little sense or have little value without being mixed with a carrier. Cake also is not a cake, when flour is not added. It is just a mixture of useless ingredients.
Comments on “The fear of the Lord” – The theme of fearing the Lord is repeated throughout the book of Proverbs. This is the key to unlocking the secrets of true wisdom. The book of Proverbs contrasts the fool as the person who has no fear of God in his heart. A study of Psalms 34 reveals to us that the fear of the Lord is something in which we must learn to walk.
Psa 34:11-14, “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD . What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.”
Psalms 34 describes the person who walks in the fear of the Lord as “the humble, one who seeks the Lord, a poor man, the righteous, them that are of a broken heart, such as be of a contrite spirit, His servants, and them that trust in Him.”
We can learn the fear of the Lord by continually reading His Word so that our hearts may not be lifted up against Him.
Deu 17:19-20, “And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God , to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.”
This was the role of the priests of Israel.
2Ki 17:28, “Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD.”
Thus, the Scriptures teach us that the fear of the Lord is a choice that we make, rather than an experience that we have (Pro 1:29).
Pro 1:29, “For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD :”
Thus, the fear of the Lord is chosen by those who received the instruction of God’s Word. This leads to the fact that the opposite of fearing the Lord is to be high-minded, or of a proud heart:
Rom 11:20, “Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear :”
Also, the opposite of fearing the Lord is despising Him:
Pro 14:2, “He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD : but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him .”
If we despise the Lord over a long period of time, our hearts will become hardened and we will fall into sin and destruction
Pro 28:14, “Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.”
So, note the progression of events in the heart of the sinner. He first makes the decision not to fear the Lord (Pro 1:29). In pursuing his own ways, he exalts his own reasoning above the Word of God, thus becoming highminded (Rom 11:20), or full of pride. His heart begins to despise the things of God and the people of God, since it condemns him. After a period of time, and after refusing repeated calls to repent, God turns him over to a reprobate mind (Rom 1:21-32) and his heart becomes hardened (Pro 28:14). We see this same progression of events in reverse order in 2Co 10:4-5.
2Co 10:4-5, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
Comments on “is the beginning of knowledge” The phrase “the beginning of knowledge,” means, “the beginning of a life abounding with the virtues described in Pro 1:2-6.” Therefore, the word “knowledge” is simply used to represent all of the virtues of wisdom. This word is used because it is the virtue that we begin within our quest for wisdom. The word “knowledge” is used figuratively in this verse to represent all of the virtues listed in the previous verses. Knowledge is one of the first ingredients in the path to godliness listed in 2Pe 1:5-7.
2Pe 1:5-7, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”
Comments – In his book The Call Rick Joyner is told, “Obedience in the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but the fullness of wisdom is to obey because of your love for God.” [52] For example, when I was a child, I ate my vegetables out of fear of punishment from my parents if I did not eat them. Today, I eat vegetables because I have grown to love them.
[52] Rick Joyner, The Call (Charlotte, North Carolina: Morning Star Publications, 1999), 61.
Comments – We are told in Jas 1:21 to receive God’s Word with meekness of heart. Many people have read the Scriptures, but it is only is a humble heart where these words can take root and grow. The hardened heart cannot receive instructions. Thus, the second part of this verse warns us of the fool, whose heart is too hardened to receive instruction, “but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Jas 1:21, “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word , which is able to save your souls.”
Comments – When a man is saved, he begins a walk in the fear of the Lord. This begins a journey of learning God’s ways. Many people come to God after years of striving for happiness, peace, joy, prosperity and the wisdom of this world. But 1Co 1:25 says, “The foolishness of God is wiser than men,” even “the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1Co 1:21). Man’s plans, his wisdom, and human ingenuity always have and will always fail. Only God’s wisdom works for the ultimate goal, which is a blessed life.
1Co 1:20-25, “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
Wisdom does not come from a good education, nor does it come from learning social behaviors of people. True wisdom originates from the heart of man and proceeds to change the outward man. It begins with a genuine fear of God and completes its task by changing the whole man, spirit, soul and body.
Thus, the path of divine wisdom is not an intellectual achievement, but it is a spiritual journey, that will last into eternity as we come to know the fullness of God.
A good definition of this verse is found in Psa 111:10 b, which says that all who do His commandments have good understanding.
Psa 111:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”
Pro 1:7 “but fools despise wisdom and instruction” Word Study on “fools” Strong says the Hebrew word “fools” ( ) (H191) comes from a root verb that means, “to be perverse.” This word occurs 26 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “ fool(s) 20, foolish (man) 6.” This word is used 19 times in Proverbs and only seven times outside this book of wisdom.
Comments – The entire book of Proverbs will be spent contrasting the wise man with the fool. The fool is not someone who is mentally deficient, but rather a person whose heart is rebellious towards the things of God. For example, in Luk 12:16-20, the rich man was intelligent enough to gather great wealth, but in God eyes, he was considered a fool.
Luk 12:20, “But God said unto him, Thou fool , this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”
Just as Pro 1:2-6 give us a brief introduction to wisdom by listing its virtues, so does Pro 1:7 b contrast this passage by giving us a brief introduction to the fool.
Just as 7a uses the word “knowledge” figuratively to represent all of the virtues of wisdom listed in Pro 1:2-6, so does 7b used the words “wisdom and instruction” in a figurative sense to represent all of the virtues of wisdom listed in the previous verses.
Fools despise and look down upon the way of righteousness and pure living. They refuse to correct their lives by God’s Word. The author is going to give an example of a fool in his folly in Pro 1:10-19. Wisdom will then show how a fool’s life will end in destruction and a wise person will be blessed (Pro 1:20-33).
This description of how fools despise wisdom helps us to understand that a wise man is someone who is teachable and ready to receive correction in his life, a person who is motivated by the fear of God in his heart.
Pro 1:7 Comments – The theme of Proverbs is clearly stated in Pro 1:7 a, which also indicates to us that there will be signposts that are posted throughout the journey to show to us that we are on the right path. For the way is narrow, and many are the deceptions along the way. As the list of virtues in Pro 1:2-6 gives us a brief introduction to characteristics of the wise man, the following verse, 7b, contrasts this passage with a brief introduction to the fool.
Pro 1:7 Comments – Keith Johnson teaches a series on how to train children and instill Godly character into their lives from a young age. During this series of teachings, one of the most profound things that he says was when he was dealing with parents who could not handle their rebellious child. The Lord spoke to Keith Johnson and reminded him of the time when his own two-year son stood in front of him and spoke back strongly to his father. Johnson lifted up his two-year old son and shoved him against a piece of furniture, looked into his small eyes and spoke so strongly into the child’s face that the child began to tremble. The Lord told Keith Johnson that on that day the fear of God was instilled into this young child’s life. The problem with the parents he was dealing with was that there was never a time when the fear of God was placed into the life of their rebellious child by instilling a fear of father and mother. [53]
[53] Keith Johnson, “Sermon,” Saskatoon Christian Center, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Without the fear of God in a child’s life, which must be instilled through parental discipline while the child is young, a person will grow up and even may become saved in church, but he will always have a problem with submission to those in authority over him. While some children will have the fear of God instilled in childhood, others will grow up without this holy fear. For those who grow up will have to come to the Lord with a different type of discipline, which is described later in this chapter. Calamity and problems will provoke some to come to the Lord and serve him. For example, my brother Jerry said to me that the Lord told him his sons would come to the Lord through hard times. This is because the fear of God was not instilled within their hearts as a child.
When a young man enrolls into the U. S. military service, he does not immediately go into training for the job that will be assigned to him. He first goes through boot camp and learns discipline and submission. His military sergeant’s duty is to instill fear and respect into the hearts of these young men. For those who do not allow this process to take place, but remain stubborn and unteachable, they are dismissed from military service even before their educational training begins. This is because fear and respect are the first ingredients to proper training.
Pro 1:7 Comments – After having learned what virtues we are to pursue on this daily journey in Pro 1:2-6, Pro 1:7 tells that this pursuit begins with the fear of the Lord. As we learn to walk in these virtues and taste of this world’s riches, many become deceived and pursue the riches only. As they lose the fear of the Lord, their heart becomes deceived and they start to walk as the fool. Thus, this verse becomes the key to reaching our destination of eternal rest.
We will learn now to develop the fear of the Lord within our hearts in Pro 2:1-5 as we partake of God’s Word. For this is the ingredient that is necessary to keep up on the divine journey that will take us to our destination of eternal rest.
Pro 1:7 Scripture References – Note similar verses:
Job 28:28, “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”
Psa 111:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.”
Pro 9:10, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
Ecc 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
Pro 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Pro 1:8
Comments- This word is most often translated as “instruction,” but quiet often “chastisement.” This word means any form of discipline and instruction that leads to a changed life.
Comments – The phrase “my son” is the voice of wisdom speaking. Here wisdom is personified, not as a father or mother, but as a tutor or guardian over a young man. For a teacher often addressed his students in this manner.
In the first nine chapters, where wisdom is personified, it speaks directly to young men as opposed to young women. The phrase “my son” is used fifteen times in the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs. Why is this the case? We can imagine living in the court of King Solomon. He has brought the finest young men into his palace in order to give them the best training possible as future leaders of Israel, to be sent out into different provinces of the kingdom. Women were not trained in this same capacity in those days.
We can see him teaching wisdom to these young men. Inspired after hearing such speeches, these young men pass thru the courtyards discussing the meanings of these proverbs with their colleagues. Each of these chosen youth is given a guardian to minister to him and to insure that he follows the rules of the palace.
We see this similar structure in Pharaoh’s court, as Moses’ mother is hired to nurse him:
Exo 2:7-9, “Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.”
Act 7:21, “And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.”
Moses was then trained in all the wisdom of Egypt:
Act 7:22, “And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.”
In the courts of King Nebuchadnezzar, we see Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, appointed to oversee Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, as these young Jews were trained in the court of the king.
Dan 1:4, “Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.”
Wisdom is speaking as one of those overseers, or guardians. Galatians portrays the Mosaic Law as a guardian or schoolmaster, much as wisdom is personified here. Wisdom also is our tutor to bring us to Jesus Christ.
Gal 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
In contrast, women were not trained and educated in the courts of the kings. We see Ester in the courts of King Ahasuerus, but not being trained for leadership. She was there rather for the king’s pleasure.
These guardians not only had the job of ensuring a good education, good study habits and good social behavior for these chosen young men, they also had the responsibility to discipline them if needed. In the same way, wisdom has the task of correcting God’s children when they go astray off the path of wisdom.
Comments – God created the family unit for a reason. No one is more concerned about a child’s well being than his own biological parents. Even parents who do not live a godly life will often instruct their children in the ways of godliness. God gave parents the responsibility of being the first influence in the lives of children. Thus, this passage in the book of Proverbs begins with parental wisdom.
Pro 1:9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
Pro 1:9
Pro 4:9, “She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.”
Comments We can imagine a woven turban as a similar headdress, which would represent a position of recognition or leadership in the oriental culture, thus giving honor and authority.
Comments Modern English versions use a variety of translations for the phrase “an ornament of grace.” The ASV translates it as “a chaplet of grace,” which is a garland or wreath worn on the head. Rotherham reads, “a wreath of beauth.” The RSV translates it as “a fair garland.” The YLT reads, “a graceful wreath.”
Comments – The headdress in the oriental culture would represent a position of recognition or leadership, thus giving honor and authority. Commentators suggest that the necklace would also have been given to the young man in recognition of certain achievements. Since these graceful ornaments are used figuratively in Pro 1:9, they represent the virtues of wisdom that are listed in Pro 1:2-6. Pro 4:9 calls these ornaments a “crown of glory.” By obedience to one’s parents and others in authority, young people will find grace or favour from God and man. They will be considered in highest regards above their fellows. These ornaments of favour and honor are true riches to be gained and worn as part of one’s character.
Often I have admired young people who were groomed by loving parents. There are those people who stand out in a crowd because of the wisdom that emanates from them, much as an ornament of jewelry accents a person’s physical appearance. In contrast, I have seen the child that was left to himself, struggling in social behaviors, looking foolish in so many ways.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Father Calls Us to Wisdom It is God who calls us to salvation, and not a work of ourselves. Thus, it is God’s foreknowledge motivated by His boundless love for mankind that initiates this call. Pro 1:7-33 describes this divine call from God. Rom 8:29-30 tells us that calling is the second phase of the Father’s foreknowledge in His overall divine plan of redemption. This divine calling is the underlying theme of Pro 1:7-33.
The opening statement in this passage (Pro 1:7 a) tells us that it is the fear of the Lord that will guide us along our journey to rest. These verses on the fear of the Lord will serve as signposts that are posted throughout the journey in order to show to us that we are on the right path; for the way is narrow, and many are the deceptions along the way. As the list of virtues in Pro 1:2-6 gives us a brief introduction to characteristics of the wise man, the following verse (Pro 1:7 b) contrasts this passage with a brief introduction to the fool.
Our divine calling from God begins at home, as a child learns to obey his parents. Reverence for parents (Pro 1:8) naturally follows Pro 1:7, for learning to obey our parents becomes our first lesson in reverence for God. When a child develops a genuine devotion to his parents, he naturally will learn this same devotion to the Lord. His loyal and gentle spirit serves as an ornament of grace that make this person stand out in a crowd above others of less character (Pro 1:9).
Although the heart of every believer knows that God’s wisdom is higher, he cannot help but hear the voice of the wicked ringing in his ears (Pro 1:10-19). These verses tell us that the wicked seek to exploit others for their own greedy gain, not knowing that they are actually destroying their own souls.
In the midst of the voices of this world, the believer hears the call of wisdom (Pro 1:20-33). This call cries loudly from within the heart of each believer. For those who choose this path, there is safety without fear (Pro 1:33). Those who scorn this voice will find distress (Pro 1:27). If the voice of wisdom is not heeded, she will not answer on the day of their calamity (Pro 1:28). Thus, Pro 1:7-33 gives us an initial call to pursue wisdom (Pro 1:20-33), but not before wisdom allows us to hear the call of the wicked (Pro 1:10-19).
Outline – Note the proposed outline:
1. Exhortation to Fear God and Parents Pro 1:7-9
2. The Call of the Wicked Man Pro 1:10-19
3. The Call of Wisdom Pro 1:20-23
4. The Consequences of Rejecting Wisdom’s Call Pro 1:24-33
This Passage Parallel’s Solomon’s Youth While He was Young and Tender – This passage of Scripture reveals to us the call of wisdom to those who are simple as well as wise. If we find a parallel of the theme of this opening passage within the life of Solomon, it would be his years as a youth, in which he is described by his father David as being “young and tender” (1Ch 22:5). During those years, he learned to discern between the call of God and that of the wicked.
1Ch 22:5, “And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So, David prepared abundantly before his death.”
The Characteristics of the Wicked – In Tit 1:6 we see two prevalent characteristics of undisciplined children, which Paul describes as “riotous and unruly.” Such children live in a riotous manner and they are full of rebellion.
Tit 1:6, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly .”
Paul lists these two vices as the characteristics of children who have no fear of God or reverence for their parents. Also, the book of Proverbs deals with these two topics in the opening passage. Pro 1:10-19 deals with riotous living and Pro 1:20-33 deals with rebellion. This peer pressure towards a riotous lifestyle and then rebellion are two common experiences that young people have to deal with. A riotous lifestyle develops into a heart of rebellion. At first, it appears a fun and games, but then the heart of that young person has to justify himself against his better conscious. This is when he hardens his heart in order to continue such a lifestyle, or he must repent and follow his conscious. These court guardians were very likely to have instructed these young men about these very same issues.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
God the Father’s Foreknowledge: Calling Us to Our Journey (Preparation for the Journey) Most scholars consider Proverbs 1-9 to be a discourse, or a tribute, to wisdom. This section serves as an introduction to Solomon’s collection of wise, pithy sayings that follows. This introductory material is a preparation for being able to understand the rest of the book. Its underlying emphasis is the divine calling that God gives to every human being. Therefore, we find the statement of wisdom “crying out,” “uttering her voice” and “calling” used repeatedly throughout this section of Proverbs.
In these first nine introductory chapters, wisdom is personified as a person speaking in the feminine gender. Just as an artist sketches an outline of a painting, then splashes colors upon the canvas, until a beautiful painting emerges, so in these chapters of Proverbs does wisdom begin to reveal itself verse by verse (as an artist reveals a picture color by color) until chapter 8, when wisdom is seen as an intimate part of God and His creation. Wisdom is personified as a person speaking because man would be incapable of understanding his experiences in life without divine wisdom being given to him. This impartation is done in the person of the Holy Spirit. Wisdom is personified as a woman because the Hebrew word translated as “wisdom” is in the feminine gender.
These chapters contrast the table of blessings (Pro 9:1-6) with the trap of death (Pro 1:17-19, Pro 9:18). The wise man chooses wisdom’s table of blessings. In contrast, the fool chooses the trap of death, supposing that it is a table of blessing. Studying this introduction is a necessary preparation for finding one’s way through the rest of the book of Proverbs. Thus, a drama immediately unfolds in the introduction, revealing to us how wisdom sets a man free, but the trap of death ensnares its victims in the strongholds of sin. These strongholds do not turn its captives loose until it completes its assignment of death. In contrast, wisdom leads a man into his rightful place of glory and honor above God’s creation (Pro 3:35, Pro 31:30), and into submission to his Creator.
This section of Proverbs is actually a call to follow the path of wisdom, in which wisdom presents his arguments for choosing the path of wisdom over the path of the fool. God calls mankind to righteousness in this present Church age through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that has been sent upon the earth, who convicts the world of sin righteousness and judgment (Joh 16:7-11); but prior to this age God called mankind to righteousness through wisdom, which testified from Creation (Rom 1:19-23), and from society. We see in these chapters that wisdom is a path that is to be diligently followed. Wisdom is a decision that is made on a daily basis, and these daily decisions will determine our destiny, both in this life and in the life to come. This book of wisdom contrasts the wise man with the fool throughout the book. As we will see in Proverbs, every decision that we make is either a wise decision, or a foolish one. Every decision affects our eternal destiny. This section begins with a call to follow wisdom (Pro 1:7-9), and ends by explaining how every human being decides between destinies, heaven or hell (Pro 9:1-18).
In the path of wisdom, there are many dangers. It is for this reason these nine chapters give us many warnings against the evil man and the adulteress, even before the real journey begins. The path of wisdom is narrow and easily missed. All of us have fallen off this path at one time or another in our lives. This book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon, considered the wisest person that has ever lived. Yet, even he fell off this path of wisdom because he allowed pride to blind his vision and dull his hearing. This gives us an indication of how narrow is this path to follow.
Pride is an attitude of the heart. It is the very reason that Solomon fell into idolatry. It is the root cause of every man’s failure. It comes clothed in many forms, such as false humility and it clothes itself in man-made titles of honour, such as “honorable, his lordship, his excellence, his grace, cardinal, pope, etc.” For example, the Pope in Rome carries the title of “His Holiness”. These nine chapters open and close with Pro 1:7; Pro 9:10, which reveal the secret of avoiding failure, which is caused by pride. We are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 1:7 and Pro 9:10). This fear keeps us from falling off the path of wisdom.
This introductory material in Proverbs 1-9 makes up almost one third of the book. Why is this introduction to Proverbs so lengthy relative to the overall length of the book? It is because the preparation for our journey in life is also lengthy. Solomon was taught for many years before he took the throne as king of Israel. Good training takes time and a good education does not come quickly. The degree that a person receives a secular education usually determines the height of his career. In comparison, the degree that a person becomes rooted and grounded in the Word of God will determine the height of that person’s ministry. You must take the time to receive this introductory training in the first nine chapters of Proverbs before you are ready for the journey. The better we are able to understand the introduction of the book of Proverbs, the better we will be able to understand the rest of its teachings.
For hundreds of years in western civilization, a theological education was a part of a well-rounded education. All students learned the classical languages of Hebrew, Greek and Latin in order to study theological literature. The children of Israel were also to give each child a theological education. Solomon received such an education. Therefore, we can see this introduction to Proverbs as the theological training that everyone should go through in preparation for the journey in life.
One further note is worth mentioning about chapters 1-9. Upon reading, we must ask the question as to why this lengthy introduction in Proverbs spends so much time describing and warning the readers about the harlot. Perhaps because this is the one area that trapped and deceived Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived. This is the area that Solomon knows many of the young men he is training for leadership positions in the kingdom will be tempted. In addition, in a figurative sense, such spiritual adultery represents a believer who chooses to love the things of this world above his love for God.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. The Call of Wisdom to Young & Tender Pro 1:7-33
2. Answering Wisdom’s Call (A Hearing Heart) Pro 2:1-22
3. The Blessings of Wisdom Pro 3:1-35
4. Three Paths of Wisdom Pro 4:1-27
5. Three Paths of Destruction Pro 5:1 to Pro 6:11
6. Characteristics of the Evil People Pro 6:12 to Pro 7:27
7. Characteristics of Wisdom Pro 8:1-36
8. Wisdom’s Final Call (Food for the Journey) Pro 9:1-18
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
A Fundamental Trait of Wisdom is the Avoidance Of Wickedness
v. 7. The fear of the Lord v. 8. My son, hear the instruction of thy father v. 9. for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head v. 10. My son, if sinners v. 11. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood v. 12. let us swallow them up alive as the grave v. 13. we shall find all precious substance v. 14. cast in thy lot among us v. 15. My son v. 16. for their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood v. 17. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird v. 18. And they lay wait for their own blood v. 19. So are the ways of every one that Is greedy of gain
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 1:7. The fear of the Lord See Psa 111:10. As the first lesson, the wise man tells us, that the fear of the Lord is the principle of wisdom. All wisdom which is not founded in religion, in the fear of God, is vain: piety, religion, the fear of God, are here synonimous. The prudence of the flesh, the policy of the world, knowledge raised from the things of earth, the barren science of the curiosities of nature; all this is not wisdom, because it may be without the fear of God, and true wisdom is founded only upon this fear. Some translate it, the principal point of wisdom is the fear of God: Piety, virtue, true wisdom, is principally founded upon the fear of the Lord: but the former sense is more clear and natural. This sentence is frequent in the Scriptures; and St. Augustin in Ep. Johan. tract. 9: often inculcates it; shewing, that fear prepares the way for the love of justice, which is perfect wisdom. Calmet.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Ver. 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning. ] Or, The chief and principal point a of wisdom, as the word here signified; yea, wisdom itself. Job 28:28 This Solomon had learned by the instruction of his father, as it is in the next verse, who had taught it him of a child, Pro 4:4 Psa 111:10 and therefore sets it here in the beginning of his works as the beginning of all. As in the end he makes it the end of all, Ecc 12:13 yea, the all of man, b without which he counts him not a complete man, though never so wise to the world ward. Heathen sages, as Seneca, Socrates, &c., were wise in their generation, and had many excellent gifts, but they missed of the main; there was no fear of God before their eyes: being herein as alchemists, who miss of their end, but yet find many excellent things by the way. These merchants found goodly pearls, but “the pearl of price” Mat 13:45-46 they failed of. The prophet calls the fear of God “our treasure.” Isa 33:6
But fools despise.
a The head or firstfruits; the head and height.
b Hoc est enim totus homo.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
fear = reverence. This expression occurs fourteen times in Proverbs (Pro 1:7, Pro 1:29; Pro 2:5; Pro 8:13; Pro 9:10; Pro 10:27; Pro 14:26, Pro 14:27; Pro 15:16, Pro 15:33; Pro 16:6; Pro 19:23; Pro 22:4; Pro 23:17). See App-75.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
the beginning. And only the “beginning”, not the end. It is not “wisdom” itself. True wisdom is to justify God and condemn oneself. See note on Job 28:28, and Compare Pro 9:10. Psa 111:10.
fools. Hebrew. ‘evil. In this book three Hebrew words are rendered “fools”: (1) ‘evil = lax or careless habit of mind and body. Occurs nineteen times in Proverbs, viz. here, Pro 7:22; Pro 10:8, Pro 10:10, Pro 10:14, Pro 10:21; Pro 11:29; Pro 12:15, Pro 12:16; Pro 14:3, Pro 14:9; Pro 15:5; Pro 16:22; Pro 17:28; Pro 20:3; Pro 24:7; Pro 27:3, Pro 27:22; Pro 29:9. (2) kesil = fat, and then dense, or stupid, which comes of it, showing itself in impiety. Occurs forty-nine times in Proverbs, viz. verses: Pro 1:22, Pro 1:32, Pro 1:35; Pro 8:5; Pro 10:1, Pro 10:18, Pro 10:23; Pro 12:23; Pro 13:16, Pro 13:19, Pro 13:20; Pro 14:7, Pro 14:8, Pro 14:16, Pro 14:24, Pro 14:33; Pro 15:2, Pro 15:7, Pro 15:14, Pro 15:20; Pro 17:10, Pro 17:12, Pro 17:16, Pro 17:21, Pro 17:24, Pro 17:25; Pro 18:2, Pro 18:6, Pro 18:7; Pro 19:1, Pro 19:10, Pro 19:13, Pro 19:29; Pro 21:20; Pro 23:9; Pro 26:1, Pro 26:3, Pro 26:4, Pro 26:5, Pro 26:6, Pro 26:7, Pro 26:8, Pro 26:9, Pro 26:10, Pro 26:11, Pro 26:12; Pro 28:26; Pro 29:11, Pro 29:20; and eighteen times in Ecclesiastes. (3) nabal = a vulgar churl. Occurs only three times in Proverbs: viz. Pro 17:7, Pro 17:21; Pro 30:22; not in Ecclesiastes.
despise = have always despised, &c. Illustrations: Cain (Gen 4:6-8); Hophni and Phinehas (1Sa 2:12, 1Sa 2:25); Nabal (1Sa 25:25); Rehoboam (1Ki 12:13); Athenians (Act 17:18, Act 17:32); Jews and Greeks (1Co 1:18, 1Co 1:23, 1Co 1:24).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
fear
Also; Pro 1:29, (See Scofield “Psa 19:9”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
The Beginning of Wisdom
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.Pro 1:7
This proposition is by some commentators regarded as the motto, symbol, or device of the Book of Proverbs. Others regard it as forming part of the superscription. As a general proposition expressing the essence of the philosophy of the Israelites, and from its relation to the rest of the contents of this book, it rightly occupies a special and individual position. The proposition occurs again in Pro 9:10, and it is met with in similar or slightly modified forms in other books of the Wisdom literature. The Arabs have adopted it at the head of their proverbial collections.
I
The Importance of Wisdom
1. Knowledge, that is, true knowledge or wisdom, is the supremely important thing. Wisdom was the key-word of the East in general, as well as of the Greek philosophic systems of thought. In the different cases the force of the term and the content assigned to it were different, yet, in spite of the differences, the term marks a common ground on which all meet, and reveals the essential unity of human thought and aspiration. Wisdom may be differently conceived, but there is agreement on this, that there is a great world-secret which to know is to find life, that there is a sphinx riddle, which we must answer or die. In the general Oriental idea of Wisdom there was much superstition. The wise man was he who could read the secret of the world, and unfold for mens guidance the roll of destiny. This sometimes took the form of such superstitions as that of astrology; yet there was a manifest effort to propound the right questions concerning human life, and to find the right answer. The result seems, from our point of view, to be meagre and inadequate enough, but there must have been a truth for them at the heart of it.
Prior to its contact with Hellenism, the Semitic mind had proceeded no farther in the path of Philosophy than the propounding of enigmas, and the utterance of aphoristic wisdom. Detached observations of Nature, but especially of the life and fate of Man, form the basis of such thinking; and where comprehension ceases, resignation to the almighty and inscrutable will of God comes in without difficulty. By the side of this wisdom there was found everywhere the Magic of the sorcerer,a knowledge which was authenticated by command over outward things. But it was only in the priestly circles of ancient Babylonia that men rose to a more scientific consideration of the world. Their eyes were turned from the confusion of earthly existence to the order of the heavens. They resembled rather the Greeks who came to understand the Many and Manifold in their sublunary forms only after they had discovered the harmony of the All in the unity and steadiness of the movement of the heavens. This Chaldan wisdom, from the time of Alexander the Great, became pervaded, in Babylonia and Syria, with Hellenistic and later with Hellenistic-Christian ideas, or else was supplanted by them. Of more importance than any Semitic tradition was the contribution made by Persian and Indian wisdom. India was regarded as the true land of wisdom. In Arab writers we often come upon the view that there the birth-place of philosophy is to be found. By peaceful trading, in which the agents between India and the West were principally Persians, and next as a result of the Muslim conquest, acquaintance with Indian wisdom spread far and wide. Many a deliverance of ethical and political wisdom, in the dress of proverbs, was taken over from the fables and tales of India. The investigations of the Indians, associated with their sacred books and wholly determined by a religious purpose, have certainly had a lasting influence upon Persian Sufism and Islamic Mysticism. But the Greek mind was needed to direct the reflective process to the knowledge of the Real. In Indian philosophy knowledge in the main continued to be only a means. Deliverance from the evil of existence was the aim, and philosophy a pathway to the life of blessedness. Hence the monotony of this wisdom,concentrated, as it was, upon the essence of all things in its Oneness,as contrasted with the many-branched science of the Hellenes, which strove to comprehend the operations of Nature and Mind on all sides.1 [Note: T. J. De Boer, The History of Philosophy in Islam, 6.]
2. The Greek idea of Wisdom was a grander thing; it meant a clear insight into the eternal order of the world. In more modern terms, it meant the knowledge of God. But it had its defects. The God that was sought after was too much of an intellectual Infinite, and too exclusively apprehended by the intellect. Hence the dictum that the highest wisdom was a kind of intellectual contemplation in which the mind transcended appearances and looked right into the heart and the reality of things. Even by the Greek this wisdom was held with a strong element of ethical apprehension and feeling. The ethical factors were presupposed even when not expressly stated, for the Greeks declared that knowledge was virtue, and it is clear that the knowledge which is virtue is ethical at the heart of it. But the intellectual and metaphysical predominated too much in the Greek system; the transcendence and sovereignty of the ethical element was not made clear and emphatic, and Greek wisdom at last degenerated into a jingle of syllogisms. Yet the Greek had seen much of the truth of the world, and many of the sons of Greece lived strong and heroic lives through the wisdom that God had revealed to them. When their old truths were ready to vanish away, God was already preparing to send them the higher wisdom, the wisdom revealed in Christ.
Wisdom, the third of Platos cardinal virtues, consists in the supremacy of reason over spirit and appetite; just as temperance and courage consisted in the subordination of appetite and spirit to reason. Wisdom, then, is much the same thing as temperance and courage, only in more positive and comprehensive form. Wisdom is the vision of the good, the true end of man, for the sake of which the lower elements must be subordinated.1 [Note: W. D. Hyde, The Five Great Philosophies of Life, 129.]
On the broad distinction between the morally good life, manifesting itself in such virtues as self-mastery and liberality, and the life of intellectual insight as typified in the wise administration of ones own and other peoples affairs, Aristotle shows no tendency to suppose that a man can be good in the full sense without being intelligent and thoughtful. The life of prudence he consistently conceives of (as we should expect from his general view of the relation of higher forms of reality to lower) as the end to which the life of conformity to moral and social traditions points, and in which it finds its reality. According to this view, to be good is to be on the road to wisdom; to be wise is to know where goodness points and what it means. Aristotle endeavoured to hold the balance between the citizen and the philosopher, first, by representing the life of good citizenship as a means to the life of leisure or philosophy, and, second, by identifying the latter with that highest form of intellectual activity which is the end and the soul of civilization. Wisdom, as conceived by Aristotle, presents two features which are the marks of truth. In the first place, it is activity, and activity of the highest element in man. To possess this wisdom is thus to heighten, instead of to depress, the sense of living. Secondly, it is a deepening of the present, and not merely the preparation for a future life. It is true that Aristotle speaks of it as a putting off of our mortality, but the immortality which he has in view consists not in an other-world life foreign to the present, but in the power of seeing the eternal principles or laws of which our own world is the expression.1 [Note: J. H. Muirhead, Chapters from Aristotles Ethics, 162.]
3. The Hebrew, though we cannot compare him in intellectual might with the great Greek athletes, found a nobler and truer and more abiding conception of Wisdom. While the Greek conception contained much that was noble and true, and was to that extent a preparation for the coming of Christ, especially preparing the intellectual elements and methods for the apprehension of the teaching of the Son, yet it was of the Hebrew conception that the Wisdom revealed in Christ was a direct development. The standpoint is the same in the Old and in the New Testament, and the Hebrew presentation of the relation of Wisdom both to God and to man contains some striking suggestions which become almost startling in the light of the New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ. The primary and fundamental idea in Hebrew Wisdom is ethical. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The Hebrew does not argue the matter; he does not prove it by a series of syllogisms. He knows it to be so. He is self-consciously ethical. Gods voice within him speaks to his spirit, his God-filled life presents him with a clear message, and that message he proclaims to the world. The question he propounds to himself is not, Whence came the world? but, What is the true path for me to pursue? What is the utterance within me which I recognize to be noblest and divinest? What is the course of life, the manner of existence, in which I shall be true to the best within me, and find peace and satisfaction for my life? The great merit of the Hebrew lies in this, that he, of all the old nations of the world, gave the truest answer to these questions, that he became the oracle of God in the shrine of human life, and that, while systems of thought have changed and been superseded, the message he gave the world of the will of God as the ethical Sovereign of the world remains in its integrity, his ethical standpoint has been confirmed by the development of the world, and the Wisdom he proclaimed stands for ever as the highest wisdom, the true guide of human life, and the true explanation of Gods world.
When we speak of Hebrew wisdom we must not think of it as concerned with the problems of metaphysics which absorb the attention of Western philosophers. It was concrete not abstract, practical not speculative. Its task was not to win an ordered and harmonious conception of the universe, but to teach men how they might direct their way aright. Even where it busied itself with problems, it was a practical interest which supplied the impulse. We have no reason to doubt that from the earliest times there were those who reflected on life and conduct, and embodied their observations in picturesque parable or terse aphorism. Many of the maxims in the Book of Proverbs may well be quite ancient, and not a few may have come from Solomon himself. The main body of the book consists of maxims for the right conduct of life, written from the standpoint of the virtuous middle classes, and with a firm belief that morality and prosperity went hand in hand. The shrewd worldly wisdom, the prudential note, the value placed on success, perhaps bulk too largely in the common estimate of the book, and do injustice to its finer, nobler, and more generous qualities. And even the lower element has its place in any sober judgment of life. Society needs it for a stable basis, the commercial world has much to learn from the insistence on integrity, while many of the children of light would be all the better for some of that wisdom in which they are notoriously deficient.1 [Note: A. S. Peake, The Religion of Israel, 145.]
II
The Beginning of Wisdom
1. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. That is to say, the gates of Knowledge and Wisdom are opened only to the knock of Reverence. Without reverence, it is true, men may gain what is called worldly knowledge and worldly wisdom; but these are far removed from truth, and experience often shows us how profoundly ignorant and how incurably blind pushing and successful people are, whose knowledge is all turned to delusion, and whose wisdom shifts round into folly. The seeker after real knowledge will have little about him which suggests worldly success. He is modest, self-forgetful, possibly shy; he is absorbed in a disinterested pursuit, for he has seen afar the high, white star of truth; at it he gazes, to it he aspires. Things which only affect him personally make but little impression on him; things which affect the truth move, agitate, excite him. A bright spot is on ahead, beckoning to him. The colour mounts to his cheek, the nerves thrill, and his soul is filled with rapture, when the form seems to grow clearer and a step is gained in the pursuit. When a discovery is made he almost forgets that he is the discoverer; he will even allow the credit of it to pass to another, for he would rather rejoice in the truth itself than allow his joy to be tinged with a personal consideration. Yes, this modest, self-forgetful, reverent mien is the first condition of winning Truth, which must be approached on bended knee, and recognized with a humble and a prostrate heart. There is no gainsaying the fact that this fear, this reverence, is the beginning of wisdom.
The greatest men of science in our own as in all other ages are distinguished by a singular simplicity, and by a reverence which communicates itself to their readers. What could be more reverent than Darwins way of studying the coral-insect or the earth-worm? He bestowed on these humble creatures of the ocean and of the earth the most patient and loving observation. And his success in understanding and explaining them was in proportion to the respect which he showed to them. The coral-diver has no reverence for the insect; he is bent only on gain, and he consequently can tell us nothing of the coral reef and its growth. The gardener has no reverence for the worm; he cuts it ruthlessly with his spade, and flings it carelessly aside; accordingly he is not able to tell us of its lowly ministries and of the part it plays in the fertilization of the soil. It was Darwins reverence which proved to be the beginning of knowledge in these departments of investigation; and if it was only the reverence of the naturalist, the truth is illustrated all the better, for his knowledge of the unseen and the eternal dwindled away, just as his perception of beauty in literature and art declined, in proportion as he suffered his spirit of reverence towards these things to die.1 [Note: R. F. Horton, The Book of Proverbs , 16.]
2. The deepest reverence arises from the recognition of God. If this universe of which we form a part is a thought of the Divine mind, a work of the Divine hand, a scene of Divine operations, in which God is realizing, by slow degrees, a vast spiritual purpose, it is evident that no attempt to understand it can be successful which leaves this, its fundamental idea, out of account; as well might one attempt to understand a picture while refusing to recognize that the artist had any purpose to express in painting it, or indeed that there was any artist at all. So much every one will admit. But if the universe is not the work of a Divine mind, or the effect of a Divine will; if it is merely the working of a blind, irrational force, which realizes no end, because it has no end to realize; if we, the feeble outcome of a long, unthinking evolution, are the first creatures that ever thought, and the only creatures who now think, in all the universe of Being; it follows that of a universe so irrational there can be no true knowledge for rational beings, and of a scheme of things so unwise there can be no philosophy or wisdom. No person who reflects can fail to recognize this, and this is the truth which is asserted in the text. It is not necessary to maintain that without admitting God we cannot have knowledge of a certain number of empirical facts; but that does not constitute a philosophy or a wisdom. It is necessary to maintain that without admitting God we cannot have any explanation of our knowledge, or any verification of it; without admitting God our knowledge can never come to any roundness or completeness such as might justify us in calling it by the name of Wisdom.
True Wisdom must account for the worlds that sweep in space, and even for the lily of the field and the sparrow on the housetop. True Wisdom is ultimately a philosophy of things, though it may be much more than this. We know that the New Testament makes Jesus Christ, as rightly apprehended, the explanation of the creation of the world, and of all the eternal activities of God, though the starting-point of this position is an ethical relation, and not a system of thought. This position is already obscurely anticipated in the Hebrew idea of Wisdom, on which is made to rest the whole superstructure of the universe.1 [Note: J. Thomas.]
3. If true wisdom is to be ours, the God that we acknowledge must be no mere idea or abstraction, but Jehovah, the God of revelation. It may be taken for granted that, so far as the intellect alone claims satisfaction, it is enough to posit the bare idea of God as the condition of all rational existence. But when men come to recognize themselves as spiritual beings, with conceptions of right and wrong, with strong affections, with soaring aspirations, with ideas which lay hold of Eternity, they find themselves quite incapable of being satisfied with the bare idea of God; the soul within them pants and thirsts for a living God. An intellectual love of God might satisfy purely intellectual creatures; but to meet the needs of man as he is, God must be a God that manifests His own personality, and does not leave Himself without a witness to His rational creatures. A wisdom, then, that is truly to appraise and rightly to guide the life of man, must start with the recognition of a God whose peculiar designation is the Self-existent One, and who makes Himself known to man by that name; that is, it must start with the fear of the Lord.
(1) In building the temple of knowledge, this fear of the Lord must be the foundation-stone. Knowledge being the apprehension of facts, and the application of them to life, cannot properly begin, or be based on a right foundation, without first apprehending and applying a fact which includes and which modifies all other facts whatever. The world has lived long enough to know that there is no such thing practically as getting at the knowledge of God through His works and waysthrough the phenomena of nature, or the unfoldings of providence, or the operations of the human intellect. God is that which He has declared Himself to be; that which His Spirit has in and by mans spirit testified that He is. And this revelation of Himself standing recorded for all the world, it is mere idleness to suppose that we can by searching find Him out, or can place that great fact last, as an object of research and conclusion, which He has blazoned forth for us on the face of His written word. This then must come first, unless we should have all our knowledge crippled and distorted.
A very clever man, a Bampton Lecturer, evidently writing with good and upright intention, sends me a Lecture in which he lays down the qualities he thinks necessary to make theological study fruitful. They are courage, patience, and sympathy. He omits one quality, in my opinion even more important than any of these, and that is reverence: without a great stock of reverence, mankind, as I believe, will go to the bad. I might add another omission: it is cautiona thing different from reverence, but an apt handmaid to it, and the proper counterpoise to the courage of which certainly there seems to be no lack.1 [Note: Letters on Church and Religion of W. E. Gladstone, ii. 327.]
(2) The fear of the Lord lies at the foundation of knowledge because knowledge, understood as the mere accumulation of facts, is inoperative upon life. The way from the head to the heart is stopped by a hard rock, which must be softened and cut through before a constant and reliable communication can be established. And in order to this, which is of first and paramount importance, if knowledge is to be of any real use to help and renovate man, the affections must be wrought upon at the very outset of teaching; the information imparted must stir fear and hope and love in the breast; and these must break up the stony way, and get diffused over the torpid heart, and stir it into action for good. But what fact will you disclose, what knowledge impart, which shall stir these affections? Fear and hope and love are inseparably connected in man with personal agency. Unless such agency intervene, i.e., if the object of these feelings be only a material one, fear becomes mere terror, hope mere expectation, love mere profession. And what personal agency will you bring in at the beginning of knowledge, which shall supply, and continue to supply, the exercise of these affections, so as to guarantee through life that knowledge shall not be barren or unprofitable? God has wisely placed about our infancy personal agencies exciting all these affections. He has continued around us through the greater part of life personal agencies on which fear and love and hope more or less depend. But all these pass away from us, and we from them. There is but one personal agent, whose influence and presence can abide through life, can alike excite fear and hope and love in the infant, in the child, in the youth, in the man, in the aged, and on the bed of death; and that one is God Himself. And unless He be known first, and known throughout, knowledge will abide alone in the head, and will not find a way to the heart; man will know, but will not grow by it; will know, but will not act upon it; will know for narrow, low, selfish purposes, but never for blessing to himself or to others; never for the great ends of his beingnever for glory to his God. The fear of the Lord is not a barren fact, like the shape of the earth or the course of the seasons; it is a living, springing, transmuting affection, capable of enduing even ordinary facts with power to cheer and bless, and to bear fruit in mens hearts and lives.
Exactly in the degree in which you can find creatures greater than yourself, to look up to, in that degree you are ennobled yourself, and, in that degree, happy. If you could live always in the presence of archangels, you would be happier than in that of men; but even if only in the company of admirable knights and beautiful ladies, the more noble and bright they were, and the more you could reverence their virtue, the happier you would be. On the contrary, if you were condemned to live among a multitude of idiots, dumb, distorted, and malicious, you would not be happy in the constant sense of your own superiority. Thus all real joy and power of progress in humanity depend on finding something to reverence, and all the baseness and misery of humanity begin in a habit of disdain. Now, by general misgovernment, I repeat, we have created in Europe a vast populace, and out of Europe a still vaster one, which has lost even the power and conception of reverence;which exists only in the worship of itselfwhich can neither see anything beautiful around it, nor conceive anything virtuous above it; which has, towards all goodness and greatness, no other feelings than those of the lowest creaturesfear, hatred, or hunger; a populace which has sunk below your appeal in their nature, as it has risen beyond your power in their multitude;whom you can now no more charm than you can the adder, nor discipline, than you can the summer fly.1 [Note: Ruskin, Crown of Wild Olive, 137.]
(3) In New Testament times the fear of God has blossomed into the love of God. The characteristic Old Testament designation of religion as the fear of Jehovah corresponds to the Old Testament revelation of Him as the Holy Onethat is, as Him who is infinitely separated from human existence and limitations. Therefore is He to be had in reverence of all who would be about Himthat fear or reverential awe in which no slavish dread mingles, and which is perfectly consistent with aspiration, trust, and love. The Old Testament reveals Him as separate from men; the New Testament reveals Him as united to men in the Divine Man, Christ Jesus. Therefore its keynote is the designation of religion as the love of God; but that name is no contradiction of the earlier, but the completion of it.
It hardly entered into the mind of a Hebrew thinker to conceive that fear of the Lord might pass into full, wholehearted, and perfect love. And yet it may be shown that this was the change effected when Christ was of God made unto us Wisdom; it is not that the fear, or reverence, become less; it is that the fear is swallowed up in the larger and more gracious sentiment. For us who have received Christ as our Wisdom, it has become almost a truism that we must love in order to know. We recognize that the causes of things remain hidden from us until our hearts have been kindled into an ardent love towards the First Cause, God Himself; we find that even our processes of reasoning are faulty until they are touched with the Divine tenderness, and rendered sympathetic by the infusion of a loftier passion. And it is quite in accordance with this fuller truth that both science and philosophy have made genuine progress only in Christian lands and under Christian influences. Where the touch of Christs hand has been most decisively felt, in Germany, in England, in America, and where consequently Wisdom has attained a nobler, a richer, a more tender significance, there, under fostering powers, which are not the less real because they are not always acknowledged, the great discoveries have been made, the great systems of thought have been framed, and the great counsels of conduct have gradually assumed substance and authority. And from a wide observation of facts we are able to say, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge; yes, but the wisdom of God has led us on from fear to love, and in the love of the Lord is found the fulfilment of that which trembled into birth through fear.1 [Note: R. F. Horton.]
One in a vision saw a woman fair;
In her left hand a water jar she bare,
And in her right a burning torch she held
That shed around a fierce and ruddy glare.
Sternly she said, With fire I will burn down
The halls of Heaven; with water I will drown
The fires of Hell,that all men may be good
From love, not fear, nor hope of starry crown.
The fear of punishment, the lust of pay,
With Heaven and Hell shall also pass away,
And righteousness alone shall fill each heart
With the glad splendour of its shining ray.
Such is the Hindoo legend quaintly told
In Bernard Picarts famous folio old;
And neath this symbol ethnical, we may
A moral for the present time behold.
When fear of punishment and greed of pay
Shall faint and die in Loves serener day,
Then shall the Kingdom of the Lord arrive
And earth become the Heaven for which we pray.1 [Note: W. E. A. Axon.]
Literature
Alford (H.), Quebec Chapel Sermons, vii. 1.
Banks (L. A.), The Problems of Youth, 1.
Benson (R. M.), The Wisdom of the Son of David, 1.
Goodwin (H.), Parish Sermons, ii. 258.
Hart (H. M.), A Preachers Legacy, 221.
Horton (R. F.), The Book of Proverbs (Expositors Bible), 9.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions: Esther, etc., 71.
Thomas (J.), Sermons (Myrtle Street Pulpit), ii. 177.
Warschauer (J.), The Way of Understanding, 11.
Churchmans Pulpit: Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, iv. 150 (H Goodwin).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
fear: Pro 9:10, Job 28:28, Psa 111:10, Psa 112:1, Ecc 12:13
beginning: or, principal part
but: Pro 1:22, Pro 1:29, Pro 1:30, Pro 5:12, Pro 5:13, Pro 15:5, Pro 18:2, Joh 3:18-21, Rom 1:28
Reciprocal: Gen 20:11 – Surely Gen 22:12 – now Exo 20:20 – his fear Lev 25:17 – fear Lev 26:15 – despise Deu 4:6 – this is your Deu 32:28 – General 1Sa 12:24 – fear the Lord Job 21:14 – for we Job 30:8 – fools Psa 5:5 – The Psa 14:1 – fool Psa 25:12 – What Psa 34:11 – I will Psa 50:17 – hatest Psa 95:10 – and they Psa 119:150 – draw nigh Psa 119:155 – for they Pro 9:18 – he Pro 15:33 – fear Pro 31:30 – a woman Jer 7:28 – correction Zep 3:2 – correction Hag 1:12 – fear Mat 13:19 – and understandeth Mat 22:5 – they Act 9:31 – and walking Act 10:35 – feareth Rom 3:11 – none that understandeth 1Th 4:8 – despiseth not 2Th 2:10 – they received 1Pe 2:17 – Fear
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 1:7. The fear of the Lord That is, reverence for and obedience to God; is the beginning of knowledge The foundation and source of it; without which all other knowledge is vain and useless. Mark well this sentence, reader: all wisdom, which is not founded in religion, in the true and genuine fear of God, is empty and unprofitable, and will be found such in the time of affliction, in the hour of death, and at the day of judgment. But fools Wicked men, or men devoid of true religion, called fools throughout this whole book, despise wisdom and instruction Are so far from attaining it, that they despise it, and all the means of getting it.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. The thesis of the book 1:7
This verse enjoys almost universal recognition as the key statement not only in Proverbs but in all the wisdom literature of the Bible (cf. Pro 9:10; Pro 15:33; Job 28:28; Psa 111:10; Ecc 12:13). Some people think of it as the motto of the book, others the foundational principle, others the major premise, or something similar. The verse contains a positive statement followed by its negative corollary.
The "fear of the Lord" occurs at least 18 times in Proverbs (Pro 1:7; Pro 1:29; Pro 2:5; Pro 3:7; Pro 8:13; Pro 9:10; Pro 10:27; Pro 14:2; Pro 14:26-27; Pro 15:16; Pro 15:33; Pro 16:6; Pro 19:23; Pro 22:4; Pro 23:17; Pro 24:21; Pro 31:30). "Fear" includes not only a correct way of thinking about God but a correct relationship with Yahweh. It is an affectionate reverence that results in humbly bowing to the Father’s will. It is a desire not to sin against Him because His wrath is so awful and His love is so awesome.
"Beginning" does not mean that the fear of the Lord is where one starts learning wisdom, but then he or she can move away from it as from the starting line in a race. Rather, the fear of the Lord is the controlling principle, the foundation, on which one must build a life of wisdom.
"What the alphabet is to reading, notes to reading music, and numerals to mathematics, the fear of the LORD is to attaining the revealed knowledge of this book." [Note: Waltke, The Book . . ., p. 181.]
"Knowledge" is a relationship that depends on revelation and is inseparable from character. Even though many unbelievers have acquired much information without the fear of God, true knowledge rests on a relationship to God that revelation supports. We can learn the really important lessons in life only this way.
Other ancient Near Eastern countries produced wisdom literature in addition to what we have in our Old Testament. [Note: See, for example, Cullen I. K. Story, "The Book of Proverbs and Northwest Semitic Literature," Journal of Biblical Literature 64 (1945):319-37; Giovanni Pettinato, "The Royal Archives of Tell Mardikh-Ebla," Biblical Archaeologist 39 (May 1976):45; Edmund J. Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs: Glimpses of Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, pp. 24, 152; W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature, pp. 92, 97, 222; James M. Lindenberger, "The Aramaic Proverbs of Ahiqar" (Ph.D. dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 1974); Leo G. Perdue, Wisdom and Cult, pp. 28-61; and Waltke, The Book . . ., pp. 28-31.] However, the wisdom literature outside Israel did not contain advice to look to a personal relationship with a god as essential to obtaining wisdom. The references to fearing the Lord in Proverbs, including Pro 1:7, are unique and make this book distinctive and theologically relevant. The demand for faith underlies the whole book. Only in a right relationship to the true and living God can one enter into God’s foreordained, righteous order for life and find true success and happiness. The fool despises God’s revealed order for life and the instruction that would lead him or her into it (Pro 1:7 b).
The Hebrews believed people could acquire knowledge in three ways. One way was through observing nature and human behavior. Another way was by drawing analogies between traditional beliefs (e.g., creeds) and reality. A third way was through an encounter with the transcendent God. [Note: James L. Crenshaw, "The Acquisition of Knowledge in Israelite Wisdom Literature," Word & World 7:3 (Summer 1986):247-52.]