Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 3:11

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

Fifth Address. Chap. 3. Pro 3:11-20

11, 12. This short paragraph is at once in contrast and in harmony, with what precedes and follows it. It states the contrast that it may introduce the harmony. The pathway of wisdom, so the rest of the chapter insists, is the pathway of temporal prosperity. But the experience of life proves that there is another side to the truth. There is, these verses say, a contradictory side, but it is so in appearance not in reality; for to the childlike follower of wisdom the apparent exceptions and contradictions are but as passing discords and minor strains that lend force and sweetness to the overmastering harmony of love.

Christian teaching itself has no better solution than this to give of the mystery of suffering. See Heb 12:3-13.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Despise … be weary – The temper is not that of contempt. To struggle impatiently, to fret and chafe, when suffering comes on us, is the danger to which we are exposed when we do not accept it as from the hands of God. Compare Jon 4:9; Job 5:17.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Pro 3:11

Despise not the chastening of the Lord.

Chastisements disciplinary

The text is a kind of condensation of practical wisdom for the direction of life. It has reference to those dealings of God with men which have a stern and severe aspect, which are in themselves painful and unwelcome, and under which the human soul cannot well be satisfied or sustained aside from the two considerations, first, that they are the appointments of God, and second, that they are designed to be instrumental of our good. One of the most striking and unusual marks of human destiny is to be found in the afflictive dispensations which trouble us. The general counsel of the text is aimed at one of the common errors of men, viz., not being affected by our trials in a wise and beneficial manner.

I. Consider our afflictions as chastenings, corrections.

1. They are of God, and God takes no pleasure in the miseries of His creatures. They must be disciplinary–a part of the discipline of His love. It is a wonder that God should love us at all; no less a wonder than that, loving, He should afflict us.

2. The rule or order of human afflictions indicates their corrective intent. All of them do not come under this principle, indeed, but many of them do. God makes the miseries of life follow close and visible the sins and crimes of life to a very wide extent. They follow the sins of individuals and of nations. But we cannot rank all miseries under this rule. If we could know as God knows all the secondary causes which He employs, it is extremely probable that we should attribute many human miseries to human sin which we now attribute to the just and naked sovereignty of God. Whenever we can see the connection, and trace our unhappiness to a fault, that unhappiness is clearly the blow of a rod of discipline.

3. A state of entire innocence would have kept the world from all suffering.

4. The nature of our afflictions has in it something very remarkable. They are not so heavy as to crush us. They have many accompanying alleviations. For the most part we are able to bear up under them. They are not destructive, they must be disciplinary.

5. Consider the manner in which our afflictions ordinarily come upon us. They commence gently, and if the chastised do not amend, they are increased.

6. The alleviations which accompany earthly afflictions furnish almost a demonstration that the afflictions are designed for amendment.

II. The improvement of this subject. It becomes us, who have so many distresses to bear, to consider well the design of them. The world we live in, with its mingled chastisements and mercies, perfectly accords with the declarations of the gospel, that God is displeased, but waits to be gracious. And we shall soon have done with this system of disciplinary affliction for ever. (I. S. Spencer, D. D.)

Life a discipline

People sunk in heathenism do not trouble themselves about the true meaning of life. They are at the unreflective age of experience. They are in a position of ignorance or indifference with respect to the moral and religious aspect of mans life. But with the rise and growth of reflection the significance of existence comes to the front, and presses in upon the mind, sometimes with painful urgency. This inquiry seems to us, who have eighteen centuries of Christian teaching, a comparatively easy one. But the answer varies to some extent with the individual. The attitude assumed towards God and the truths of revealed religion enters into the matter. This is seen by comparing the views of a sceptical and a believing person. The question as to the true interpretation of life was weighed and discussed by the wise and good men who wrote the Scriptures. Their conclusion was that life is, in part at least, disciplinary in its nature. Its hindrances, trials, sufferings are connected with the fatherly goodness of God, and offer opportunities for spiritual growth and improvement which would otherwise be impossible. This idea is, however, associated in most minds with the severer dispensations of Providence, and with these alone. But it really runs through life. The world is so constituted as to be a school of training for the human spirit. The moral government of the world gives clear evidences that God wills other ends than happiness, ends that even involve the present loss of happiness.

I. This broader and deeper aspect of the matter is disclosed in the relationship subsisting between man and nature. In the natural world the fullest scope has been left for effort, inquiry, perseverance, diligence. Had the world, as created by God, given a premium to indolence and incapacity it would have given us no hint of a Divine purpose underlying our life, but constituted as it is, it forces us to the conclusion that life was meant to be disciplinary in its character.

II. This truth is revealed in our relationship with men–with society. The moral law, which is our guide to duty, is stamped upon the consciences of men, so that there is no excuse for ignorance regarding it. But though the abiding principles of Gods kingdom are plain and undeniable, they do not save us from the trouble of thinking. The very difficulty of doing the right thing, we know, is a sign of the moral purpose underlying our life. Life is a discipline, but life may not be in any true sense a discipline to this individual and to that, because so much depends upon the attitude of the soul to God, and to His will. It remains with each man to enter into Gods redeeming purpose, and to become a fellow-worker with Him. (Morison Bryce.)

Despising Gods chastenings

I. What is it to despise the chastenings?

1. To receive them without any emotion. Trials should be felt; the heart should smart under the rod.

2. To fail to look into the cause of them. When afflictions come men seldom seriously set themselves to see why God contendeth with them.

3. To fail to be altered and improved by them. If a child is not better for his parents discipline, we say that correction has been thrown away upon him.

II. What is it to be weary of His correction?

1. It is the fault of those who make too much of their afflictions. Some are swallowed up of overmuch sorrow. It overwhelms, stupefies, consumes them. They brood over every circumstance of the stroke which has befallen them, and see it in the most aggravated light. Their imaginations even add to the reality. The believer, when he meets with sorrow, should consider the bright as well as the dark side of the Lords dealings with him. It is the sore temptation by which sufferers are sometimes exercised to be led to doubt, because of their suffering, that they are objects of the Lords interest.

2. It is the fault of those who rebel against the correction, who fret and murmur at the stroke. We weary of correction–

3. When we cannot wait the Lords time for the removal of our trials. We almost long to take the times out of His hands, and arrange things for ourselves. As trial never comes a day too early, so it never stays a day too long. We have afflictions to sustain, trials to endure; but we have a God of all comfort to make those trials easy. (A. Roberts, M.A.)

Right conduct under affliction

I. What must be our care when we are in affliction?

1. We must not despise an affliction, be it ever so light or short, as if it were not worth taking notice of; or as if it were not sent on an errand, and therefore required no answer. We must not be stocks or stones, insensible of them.

2. We must not be weary of an affliction, be it ever so heavy or long, nor faint under it; nor be dispirited, nor driven to use indirect means for our relief and redress of our grievances. We must not think that the affliction either presses harder, or continues longer than is meet, nor conclude that deliverance will never come because it does not come so soon as we expect it.

II. What will be our comfort when in affliction?

1. That it is a Divine correction.

2. That it is a fatherly correction. Afflictions not only consist with, but flow from, covenant love. They are so far from doing any real hurt, that they become the happy means of sanctification. (Matthew Henry.)

Chastening

The course of human life is a course of chastening. It is not a word confined to the vocabulary of religion. But chastening seems to be unequally distributed. There is s possibility of treating godly chastisement in an ungodly spirit. It may be despised, or it may be endured with impatience. Gods purpose requires time for its exposition and realisation; and we require patience to abide its complete unfoldment. Patience often accomplishes what the most overwhelming strength could never effect. (J. Parker, D.D.)

Moral beauty the result of chastening

Scarcely any gem reveals its true beauties in a natural state. The diamond in the rough is most unattractive, and would be thrown away by a casual observer as a worthless pebble; its perfections are hidden under a hard crust, which can only be removed by its own powder. The deep velvet hues of the sapphire, the glowing brilliant red of the ruby, the soft clear green of the emerald, and the delicate strata of the onyx, alike only display themselves in their true character after the lapidary has used his skill in cutting them into facets and polishing them; and on the perfection of this operation depends in a great measure the beauty of the gem. As it is with these, so it is also with human gems. (Scientific Illustrations.)

Neither be weary of His correction.

Suffering in its bearing on conversion

The text assures that there is nothing in our present affliction that need make us despair. Suffering is altered in character as soon as we enter into possession of the Divine favour. It is no longer absolute and irremediable; it forms part of the plan of Divine love. It has not, however, ceased to bear its character of chastisement. How does affliction help us to realise the Divine love?

1. It acts as a dyke against the overflow of evil, it incessantly restrains and thrusts it back. Pain is a restraining and preserving power in this sinful world.

2. It acts as a preparative. Suffering, under the influence of grace, fills up the infinite distance between man and the Cross. It was the suffering of a God who humbled Himself that saved us; and it is suffering dispensed by this same God which prepares the sinner to believe in the crucified One. Suffering also makes us seize the salvation thus wrought for us, but which must be consummated in us. It must, therefore, pursue its work on this redeemed earth, where sin still dwells. (E. De Pressense, D.D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 11. Despise not the chastening of the Lord] The word musar signifies correction, discipline, and instruction. Teaching is essentially necessary to show the man the way in which he is to go; discipline is necessary to render that teaching effectual; and, often, correction is requisite in order to bring the mind into submission, without which it cannot acquire knowledge. Do not therefore reject this procedure of God; humble thyself under his mighty hand, and open thy eyes to thy own interest; and then thou wilt learn specially and effectually. It is of no use to rebel; if thou do, thou kickest against the pricks, and every act of rebellion against him is a wound to thine own soul. God will either end thee or mend thee; wilt thou then kick on?

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Despise not the chastening of the Lord; either,

1. By making light of it, or not being duly affected with if; and so this is one extreme opposed to the other in the next clause. Or rather,

2. By accounting it an unnecessary, and useless, and troublesome thing; but rather esteem it as a privilege and favour from God, and a benefit to thyself; for such negatives do oft imply the contrary affirmatives by a common figure called meiosis, as Pro 17:21, and oft elsewhere. And this sense seems to agree better both with the following clause, which repeats the same thing with some aggravation, after the manner; and with the reason used to enforce this and the following command, Pro 3:12, which concerns not such as are insensible, but rather such as had too deep a sense of the evil of affliction.

Neither be weary of his correction; neither esteem it tedious and intolerable, but endure it with patience and cheerfulness.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

11, 12. The true intent ofafflictions considered; they do not contradict the assertion of theblessed state of the pious (Job 5:17;Heb 12:5; Heb 12:6).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord,…. This seems to be introduced to prevent an objection that may be made to the above promise of plenty; seeing the children of God are often afflicted in this world; even the wise and pious, and those that fear the Lord, and honour him; which is accounted for, and the reason of it given, in Pr 3:12. These words are cited in Heb 12:5, and are represented as an exhortation, spoken unto children, the children of God; by which it appears, that not any single person is meant by “my son”; and, as not here, so neither elsewhere in this book, where the same phrase is used. It is not to be limited to any son of Solomon’s according to the flesh; nor to any person or persons, that applied to him for instruction, and were taught by him; nor to all the people of God in his time: but it has respect to the Jews in the times of the apostles; and even to all the children of God in all ages, who more or less endure afflictions, here called “the chastening of the Lord”, because they are from him; whatever concern men or devils, or second causes, may have in them, they are originally from the Lord, either sent or suffered by him; they are indeed by his appointment, and are ordered, limited, and restrained by him, and are overruled for his glory and his people’s good: they are not chastisements in a way of vindictive wrath and justice, which would be contrary to the satisfaction of Christ, the justice of God, his everlasting and unchangeable love, and to his word and oath; but they are in love; they are the chastisements of a father, in which he deals with them as with children; and uses them for the good discipline and instruction of them, as the word r here signifies; and therefore not to be “despised”, or loathed and abhorred, as disagreeable food or physic be; or as if they were unnecessary and unprofitable, or unworthy of notice and regard; or as little, slight, and trifling things, without considering from whence they come and for what they are sent; but, on the contrary, should be regarded as useful and serviceable; see Job 5:17;

neither be weary of his correction; “rebuke” or “reproof” s; so in

Heb 12:5; “when thou art rebuked of him”, not in wrath and fury, but in love, as before. The same thing is meant by correction as chastening; and supposes a fault to be committed by him that is corrected, for God corrects none but for sin; and authority in the corrector, which he, as the Father of spirits, and as our covenant God and Father in Christ, has a right to do: he corrects by his Spirit, by his word, by his ministers, and by his providences, afflictive ones, which last is here meant; and it is always for good, at a proper time, and when necessary, in measure and with judgment: and of this the children should not be “weary”, as grievous and intolerable; and especially should not be weary of their lives on account of it, in which sense the word is used in Ge 27:46 which has been the case of Job and others; but should bear it quietly and peaceably, and with patience, without fretting and murmuring; or should not “faint”, as it is rendered in Heb 12:5; or sink under the weight, but cheerfully support under it. The two extremes, which men are apt to run into, are here guarded against; on the one hand, to make little or nothing of an affliction; to outbrave it, not to be affected with it, nor humble under the mighty hand of God; nor consider the rod, and him that has appointed it: and, on the other hand, to aggravate an affliction, as if no sorrow was like theirs, and to be quite dejected and overwhelmed with it.

r “disciplinam”, V. L. Cocceius, Schultens; “eruditionem”, Junius Tremellius. s “ad increpationem ejus”, Tigurine version, Mercerus, Gejerus “redargutionem ejus”, Cocceius; “sub redargutione ejus”, Schultens.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The contrast here follows. As God should not be forgotten in days of prosperity, so one should not suffer himself to be estranged from Him by days of adversity.

11 The school of Jahve, my son, despise thou not,

Nor loathe thou His correction;

12 For Jahve correcteth him whom He loveth,

And that as a father his son whom he loveth

Vid., the original passage Job 5:17. There is not for the Book of Job a more suitable motto than this tetrastich, which expresses its fundamental thought, that there is a being chastened and tried by suffering which has as its motive the love of God, and which does not exclude sonship.

(Note: Here Procop. rightly distinguishes between and .)

One may say that Pro 3:11 expresses the problem of the Book of Job, and Pro 3:12 its solution. , , we have translated “school,” for , , means in reality to take one into school. Ahndung [punishment] or Rge [reproof] is the German word which most corresponds to the Hebr. or . (whence here the prohibitive with ) means to experience loathing (disgust) at anything, or aversion (vexation) toward anything. The lxx (cited Heb 12:5.), , nor be faint-hearted, which joins in to the general thought, that we should not be frightened away from God, or let ourselves be estranged from Him by the attitude of anger in which He appears in His determination to inflict suffering. In 12a the accentuation leaves it undefined whether as subject belongs to the relative or to the principal clause; the traditional succession of accents, certified also by Ben Bileam, is , for this passage belongs to the few in which more than three servants (viz., Mahpach, Mercha, and three Munachs) go before the Athnach.

(Note: Vid., Torath Emeth, p. 19; Accentuationssystem, vi. 6; the differences between Ben-Asher and Ben-Naphtali in the Appendixes to Biblia Rabbinica; Dachselt’s Biblia Accentuata, and Pinner’s Prospectus, p. 91 (Odessa, 1845).)

The further peculiarity is here to be observed, that , although without the Makkeph, retains its Segol, besides here only in Psa 47:5; Psa 60:2. 12b is to be interpreted thus (cf. Pro 9:5): “and (that) as a father the son, whom he loves.” The is explanatory, as 1Sa 28:3 (Gesenius, 155, 1a), and (which one may supplement by or ) is a defining clause having the force of a clause with . The translation et ut pater qui filio bene cupit , is syntactically (cf. Isa 40:11) and accentually ( vid., 13b) not less admissible, but translating “and as a father he holds his son dear,” or with Hitzig (after Jer 31:10, a passage not quite syntactically the same), “and holds him dear, as a father his son” (which Zckler without syntactical authority prefers on account of the 2nd modus, cf. e.g., Psa 51:18), does not seem a right parallel clause, since the giving of correction is the chief point, and the love only the accompanying consideration (Pro 13:24). According to our interpretation, is to be carried forward in the mind from 12a. The lxx find the parallel word in , for they translate , , and thus have read or .

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

(11) Despise not the chastening of the Lord . . .Comp. Job. 5:17. A wonderful advance beyond the teaching of the Pentateuch: e.g., Deuteronomy 28, in which the Jews had to be treated as children, and punishment or reward follow as the immediate consequence of bad or good behaviour. Under such a discipline misfortune could only be regarded as a punishment, a sign of Gods displeasure; but now a further manifestation of His dealings with man is made. When He sends trouble upon His children, He is no longer to be regarded as an offended father punishing their faults, but as one who in love is correcting them. Even the New Testament quotes these words with approval, and without adding anything to their teaching (Heb. 12:5-13). There it is shown how all Gods children must, without exception, submit to this discipline.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

11, 12. Despise not the chastening Suppose it be the Lord’s will, as it may, that any affliction befall thee, contemn not the discipline, as if it were a mere natural occurrence or accident.

Neither be weary Better, nor feel horror (our word weary is too weak) when thou art rebuked by him, for it is an evidence of his tenderest regard: a father, by chastening the son in whom he delights, does him a favour, is gracious to him, in the act. See Heb 12:5; Heb 12:10, where the passage is quoted with some variation, following the Septuagint. Comp. Job 5:17; Rev 3:19.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

YHWH As Chastening Father And Wise Creator Inculcates Wisdom And Understanding As A Tree Of Life To Those Whom He Loves ( Pro 3:11-20 ).

The reference to ‘my son’ in Pro 3:11 (although in the Hebrew text not at the beginning of the sentence) points to the opening of a new subsection in the passage (as does the fact that it follows the chiasmus in Pro 3:1-10). Here YHWH is seen as acting to ensure the reception of His wisdom by those whom He loves. And He does it by means of discipline, by ‘the chastening instruction of wisdom’ (Pro 1:3). The man whom He loves will be subject to His rod. Solomon recognises the waywardness of even a good man’s heart, and realises that wisdom and understanding must partially be obtained as a consequence of stern discipline. Nevertheless this must be borne patiently because of the value of such wisdom and understanding, indeed because wisdom actually lies at the very root of creation. Note how the subsection commences with YHWH’s fatherly activity as He fashions those whom He loves, and ends with His creative, and even violent, activity by which He fashioned the world which He saw as ‘very good’. YHWH’s activity in saving and creating forms an inclusio. This reminds us again that it is YHWH’s wisdom and understanding that is being inculcated.

Thus this subsection commences with the idea of YHWH, as Father of those whom He loves, fashioning and shaping those who are truly His by chastening and reproof, in order to inculcate into them wisdom and understanding. The great value of that wisdom and understanding is then described in terms of longevity, security, pleasantness, prosperity and mention of the tree of life, all reminiscent of Eden (note how Eden similarly springs to mind in the prophets – Isa 51:3; Eze 36:35; Joe 2:3), and the subsection ends with the reminder that this wisdom is rooted in creation. The One Who initially founded, fashioned and shaped the world by wisdom, (and gave man the tree of life), is now through chastening and reproof, and through wisdom and understanding which are as a tree of life, fashioning those whom He loves in a new work of creation. Thus God’s chastening and reproof of those whom He loves is set against the background of creation and the fall

The subsection may be analysed chiastically as follows:

A Do not despise, my son, the chastening of YHWH, nor be weary of his reproof, for whom YHWH loves he reproves, even as a father the son in whom he delights (Pro 3:11-12).

B Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who obtains understanding, for the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and its profit than fine gold (Pro 3:13-14).

C She is more precious than rubies, and none of the things you can desire are to be compared to her, length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honour (Pro 3:15-16).

B Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace, she is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her, and happy is every one who retains her (Pro 3:17-18).

A YHWH by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he established the heavens, by his knowledge the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew (Pro 3:19-20).

In A YHWH, acting (in wisdom and understanding) like a father, will discipline his son in order to fashion and shape him, inculcating wisdom and understanding into the one whom He loves, undoubtedly seeking to restore him to what he once was, (it is a tree of life to him) and in the parallel this can be compared with the importance of God’s wisdom and understanding as Creator in the fashioning and shaping of the world. His wisdom in shaping the world thus still goes on in the chastening of His people. We should in fact note here that the idea of YHWH’s fatherhood and creatorship go hand in hand in the Scriptures (Deu 32:6; Isa 45:9-12; Mal 2:10; Luk 3:38; Eph 3:14-15). Having created He acts as Father to His creation. In B the man who finds wisdom and understanding is happy, and in the parallel everyone who retains wisdom/understanding is happy. Central in C is the incomparable worth of God’s wisdom/understanding.

We may see from this subsection Solomon’s way of thinking. God having created the universe by wisdom, had seen man lose access to the tree of life because he thrust aside God’s wisdom and replaced it with the serpent’s wisdom (his ‘subtlety’, a word used of the shrewd/prudent, and therefore wise, man in Pro 12:16; Pro 12:23; Pro 13:16; Pro 14:8; Pro 14:15; Pro 14:18; Pro 22:3). Now He is at work to restore man to his former state, using reproof and discipline in order to turn man back to His wisdom which is as a tree of life, a wisdom which fundamentally lies at the root of, and shaped and fashioned, creation, and is now shaping and fashioning His new creation (compare Eph 2:10).

Pro 3:11-12

‘Do not despise (reject), my son, the chastening of YHWH,

Nor be weary of his reproof,

For whom YHWH loves he reproves,

Even as a father the son in whom he delights.

The young man is not to reject or despise the chastening of YHWH, nor to grow weary when he is constantly reproved. For he must remember that he is being shaped and fashioned by a loving YHWH, in the same way as a loving father who is proud of his son, shapes and fashions him.

In Mal 2:10 we see that Israel closely connected God’s fatherhood with His position as creator and a similar connection occurs here (compare Pro 3:19-20). Nevertheless Israel also saw God’s fatherhood as evidence that God had chosen some from among many to be special to Him. Thus the idea of YHWH as the Father of His true people is emphasised in Exo 4:22 where He declares, ‘Israel is My son, my firstborn’, and this was confirmed by Moses in Deu 14:1, ‘you are the children of YHWH your God’. In other words the son of YHWH is one chosen by Him. But here in Proverbs the son is not all Israel, but the responsive remnant of Israel, those who take heed to the wisdom that comes from God and respond to His chastening. And each of them (‘my son’) is called on not to despise the chastening of YHWH, or be wearied by His reproof. They are to see that the chastening and reproving by God of His people is a necessary part of their progression. Indeed just as a loving father who delights in his son, chastens him, such chastening is evidence of YHWH’s love for those who are His true people. Israel had experienced such chastening in the wilderness days (Deu 8:3-5; Deu 11:2), and during the period of the Judges, and it comes in many forms, including reproof (Pro 19:25; Psa 141:5), being subjected to others (Pro 5:9-13; 2Sa 7:14), persecution (Heb 12:3-11 where this passage is cited; compare Rom 8:28-39) sickness and even death (1Co 11:30-32).

Whilst YHWH is not here called Father, the implication of His fatherly love is clear, and we have here the clear beginnings of the idea that not all Israel were YHWH’s beloved children. Thus YHWH is seen as fashioning and shaping those who are His own, having set His love upon them. And the thing that distinguishes them is their responsiveness to His wisdom, that wisdom that God initially revealed at creation when He fashioned and shaped the world (verses Pro 3:19-20), and now brings to bear in restoring those on whom He sets His love. Indeed that wisdom is as a restorative tree of life (Pro 3:18), restoring man to what he lost through the fall. Through it He has now set out to fashion and shape those whom He loves, restoring them to abundant life.

Pro 3:13-14

‘Happy is the man who finds wisdom,

And the man who obtains understanding,

For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver,

And its profit than fine gold.’

It is now made clear that the fashioning and shaping of His beloved sons is in order to inculcate in them wisdom and understanding. He Who by wisdom created and fashioned the world, is now recreating and refashioning those who are His by imparting to them wisdom and understanding (Pro 2:5-6). For in the final analysis men find wisdom and obtain understanding because YHWH Himself gives it to them (Pro 2:6).

And happy is the man who ‘finds’ (the word implies not by accident, but by searching out) such wisdom, and obtains such understanding for it is better than gaining silver, and more profitable than fine gold. (Note how the ‘it’ refers to both wisdom and understanding seen as one). We may see an expansion of this idea in Psalms 1 where the man is happy who deeply studies YHWH’s instruction and thereby rejects sin, and in Mat 5:3-10 where Jesus Himself taught the happiness of those who obtained God’s favour and received from Him true wisdom and understanding.

Note that whilst that wisdom was given by God, and is in fact an important aspect of His creative work, it still has to be sought and found. Nevertheless man cannot find it solely by his own efforts. He can only find it because it has been given by God in words that come from God (Pro 2:6).

Pro 3:15-16

‘She (wisdom/understanding) is more precious than rubies,

And none of the things you can desire are to be compared to her,

Length of days is in her right hand,

In her left hand are riches and honour.’

The value of such spiritual wisdom and understanding is now revealed. It is more precious even than ‘rubies’ (the word signifies some red material of value (Lam 4:7), possibly red coral as found in the Red Sea. The same word is found in Pro 8:11; Pro 20:15; Pro 31:10; Job 28:18 as indicating something precious). Indeed nothing that a man can desire is comparable in value to wisdom and understanding, for they offer on the one hand a long life (compare Pro 3:2; Pro 10:27), and on the other prosperity and honour. Here are the gifts which men desire above all others, to live long, to enjoy prosperity and to be held in high esteem. And they are all granted to the truly wise through their response to the wisdom of God. This was something that Solomon knew from his own experience, for because he sought from God wisdom above all else, he was promised both prosperity and length of days (1Ki 3:9-14).

The fact that length of days is held in the right hand may indicate the importance being laid on this, for what are prosperity and fame without length of days? And indeed the phrase may well be intended to include the idea of physical wellbeing, indicating length of days in good health, for otherwise they would simply be a burden.

‘In her left hand are riches and honour.’ This is not a promise that those who become wise will become financially rich. Certainly it includes a certain level of material prosperity (compare Pro 10:4), but the main idea is of richness of life which goes along with that prosperity. It is the blessing of YHWH that makes rich (Pro 10:22; compare Pro 13:8). We can compare here Pro 8:18 which speaks of ‘durable riches and righteousness’.

That all this was generally true in Solomon’s day we can be confident. It was a time of peace and prosperity, with no major wars, and conditions which allowed truly good men to live long and benefit from their wise living. We are similarly reminded of how in the eighteenth century John Wesley bemoaned the fact that godly living so enabled many of his Methodists to prosper materially, that it put them in danger of a diminution of their spiritual enthusiasm. Solomon, of course, overlooked the fact that his own extravagance, and his building schemes with their forced levies, often prevented this from being true for all.

The New Testament recognises the same principle, although seeing it in terms of eternal life and spiritual prosperity. Jesus Himself made clear that those who obtained true wisdom and understanding by responding to Him would be blessed in this life and finally enjoy eternal life (Mat 19:29).

It may be that the reference to ‘fine gold’ and rubies (or ‘red coral’) had in mind the ‘good gold’, bdellium and onyx stone found in connection with the ‘garden of Eden’ (Gen 2:12) in the same way as the tree of life which is shortly mentioned. Solomon in his splendour would necessarily expand on their magnificence. He may well not have thought much of bdellium and onyx stone. There is an Edenic quality about the promises given, length of day, riches and honour, pleasantness, peace, tree of life.

Pro 3:17-18

‘Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are peace,

She is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her,

And happy is every one who retains her.’

The happiness of the one who obtains wisdom from God is now again emphasised, and the benefits of obtaining such wisdom continue to be described. In contrast with the ways of the unwise (Pro 2:12-15; Pro 2:18-20), her ways are ways of pleasantness and peace. For the wise will not only experience spiritual blessing, but they will also avoid unnecessary discord, and will in general as a consequence of their good lives be in favour with the authorities (Rom 13:3-4; 1Pe 2:13-17) and with their neighbours. The New Testament takes up the idea and emphasises that true believers in Christ will enjoy lives of pleasantness and peace, receiving ‘life more abundant’ (Joh 10:10), ‘the peace which passes all understanding’ (Php 4:7) and ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory’ (1Pe 1:8).

Indeed God’s wisdom is ‘a tree of life to those who lay hold on her’. The idea behind this phrase (which is followed by a mention of creation) may well be of a figurative restoration from the fall. Adam exchanged God’s wisdom (‘you shall not eat of the tree of knowing good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you will certainly die’) for the serpent’s subtlety/prudence (‘you shall not certainly die’). Thereby he lost access to the tree of life (Gen 2:9; Gen 3:22; Gen 3:24) and became a dying man. Now by turning back to God’s wisdom those who are his receive a new impetus for righteous living, and enter into God’s promise that ‘those who do these things will live in them’ (Lev 18:5; Deu 4:1; Deu 8:1), clearly in contrast to those who do not do them and who will therefore die, first spiritually and then physically. It is noteworthy that constant contact with the tree of life was seemingly necessary (Gen 3:22), and of course the same applies to the wisdom that comes from God. The same figure is found in Pro 11:30; Pro 13:12; Pro 15:4 supporting the case for the unity of Pro 1:1 to Pro 24:34, but in those cases it does not directly have in mind wisdom

It is probable (see introduction) that Solomon saw in this reference to the tree of life a promise of a future life, that is, ‘eternal life’, although not in any thought out sense. If he did not then we see a greater fulfilment of it promised in the New Testament where those who receive Jesus Christ, God’s wisdom (1Co 1:30), thereby receive eternal life, pictured in Rev 2:7; Rev 22:2 in terms of the tree of life. But the Davidic Psalms do undoubtedly offer a glimpse of such a future hope (e.g. Psa 16:10-11; Psa 17:15) and it may well therefore have been an intrinsic part of Solomon’s thinking. And this especially so in the light of representations of the tree of life or its equivalent, the plant of life, in the mythology of nations round about, which offered immortality.

Pro 3:19-20

‘YHWH by wisdom founded the earth,

By understanding he established the heavens,

By his knowledge the depths were broken up,

And the skies drop down the dew.’

The vastness of the value of YHWH’s wisdom and understanding is now brought out by associating it with the founding and shaping of creation. YHWH’s wisdom is seen as intrinsic within His creating work. And by that wisdom YHWH founded the earth, and by that understanding He established the Heavens. And by it, as revealed in His knowledge, He broke up the depths and caused the skies to drop down dew, thus watering the earth for man’s benefit. Thus having created He fashioned. We may well see in the ‘breaking up of the depths’ and the ‘dropping down of the dew’ symbols of YHWH’s chastening work in breaking up man’s sinfulness through chastening (Pro 3:11-12), and His provision of wisdom in watering men’s lives. This latter idea has already been found in Pro 1:23 (the pouring down of wisdom’s spirit).

The breaking up of the depths is not referring to the separating of the water from the water (Gen 1:7), for it parallels the pouring of the dew from Heaven. Thus it refers to the waters below being caused to water the earth in accordance with Gen 2:6, just as the dew is the water from above. This is confirmed in Gen 7:11 where ‘all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened’ refers to the waters below (the sea) and the waters above (the clouds.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Wisdom and its Blessings in Chastisement – Wisdom will teach us how to endure God’s chastening and discipline in our lives, so that we will be pleasing in His sight. These verses naturally follow Pro 3:3-10, where we see that God instructs us in every area of our lives. In this path of instruction for spiritual, mental, physical, and material prosperity, God will have to correct us at times as His children. If we stay on the path that leads to life, we too will have to endure correction. It is a part of the process that leads to success and prosperity.

Pro 6:23, “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:”

Illustrations – David learned how to endure the chastening of the Lord:

Psa 118:18, “The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.”

The author of Hebrews quotes this passage to the Hebrew Christians with the same message in Heb 12:5-6.

Heb 12:5-6, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth .”

Note these insightful words from Frances J. Roberts regarding divine discipline and correction:

“Have I not said that unless ye experience chastening, ye may well doubt thy sonship? Why then, shouldst thou shrink from My rod of correction? Ye are not the teacher, but the pupil; not the parent, but the child; not the vine, but the branch. Discipline and correction must come if ye would be brought into conformity to My divine will. Shun nothing My hand brings to bear upon thy life. Accept My blessings and My comfort, but do not despise My sterner dealings. All are working toward thy ultimate perfection.

“Do ye hope to be made perfect apart from the corrective process? Do ye expect to bear large fruit without the pruning process? Nay, My children, either bend in submission to My hand, or ye shall break in rebellion. Godly sorrow yieldeth the good fruit of repentance, but if ye be brittle and unyielding, ye shall know a grief of spirit for which there is no remedy. Keep a flexible spirit, so that I may mold thee and shape thee freely so that I can teach thee readily, nor be detained by thy resistance.” [64]

[64] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 94.

Again:

“Resist Me not and harden not your hearts. Provoke Me not to use My chastening rod, for I love thee. I would not drive thee with a whip, nor bridle thee with rein and bit to prevent thee from plunging into error; but only let Me look into thine eyes, and I will guide thee in love and gentleness. I take no pleasure in the affliction of My children. In love I chasten to prevent the deeper suffering that would be involved if I allowed thee to go on in a path of evil. But My heart is glad when thou walkest close, with thy hand in Mine, and we may talk over the plans for each day’s journey and activities work and pleasures so that it becometh a happy way that we travel in mutual fellowship.” [65]

[65] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 171.

Pro 3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:

Pro 3:11 Comments – How do we despise the chastening of the Lord? Can a child avoid his punishment? If we examine a passage from the New Testament on chastisement, we can better understand this matter. In 1Co 11:30 it says, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”

Note that this verse lists the effects of God’s chastisement in a progressive order. God first allows problems to come into our lives to get our attention. These problems weaken us. If we still persist, God will allow sickness to come into our lives. Finally, if we continue in sin, God will take us home early to be in heaven.

Thus, we can despise the chastening of the Lord by not responding to Him when we are made weak or become sick in our bodies. If we despise Him, our chastisement intensifies. For example, when my second child was four years old, she took upon the habit of hitting her older sister and hurting her. At first, I scolder her for her deeds. But when she repeated her bad habit, I spanked her. However, this did not cure the situation. I then took her aside, spanked her and then explained that I would spank harder the next time she hit her sister. Sure enough, she did it again. As a father, I had to keep my word in order to deal with this problem. I spanked her with my hand on her bottom a little harder. Finally, I had to take off my belt and spank this four-year old child. After this spanking which hurt, I spun her around on the bed and jumped into her face with all of the fierceness that I could muster and threatened her not to ever do this again. She was so terrified at this type of punishment that she never hit her sister again. In order to remedy the situation, I had to intensify the severity of her punishment for her own good. I have never spanked her older sister like this, but as a loving father, I did what it took to deal with stubbornness and her despite to my earlier spankings. Our heavenly Father works the same in our lives.

Pro 3:11 Comments – Note other translations:

BBE, “My son, do not make your heart hard against the Lord’s teaching; do not be made angry by his training:”

Rotherham, “The, chastening of Yahweh, my son, do not reject, nor loathe his rebuke;”

Pro 3:12  For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures