The use of the proverbs, 1-6. An exhortation to fear God, and believe his word, 7-9; to avoid the enticings of sinners, 10-19. Wisdom complains of her contempt, 20-23. She threatens her despisers, 24-33.
1 [The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.]
2 To know wisdom and instruction,/
to perceive the words of understanding,
3 To receive the instruction of wisdom,/
justice, judgment, and equity,
4 To give subtlety to the simple,/
to the young man knowledge and discretion,
5 A wise man will hear and will increase learning,/
and a man of understanding shall attain to wise counsels,
6 To understand a proverb and the interpretation,/
the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,/
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father/
and do not forsake the law of your mother,
9 For they shall be an ornament of grace to your head/
and chains around your neck.
10 My son, if sinners entice you,/
do not consent.
11 If they say, "Come with us. Let us lie in wait for blood./
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave,/
and whole, as those who go down into the pit.
13 We shall find all precious substance./
We shall fill our houses with plunder.
14 Cast in your lot among us./
Let us all have one purse,"
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them./
Refrain your foot from their path,
16 For their feet run to evil/
and make haste to shed blood.
17 Surely in vain the net is spread/
in the sight of any bird.
18 And they lie in wait for their own blood./
They lurk secretly for their own lives.
19 Thus are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain,/
who takes away the life of its owners.
20 Wisdom cries outside./
She utters her voice in the streets.
21 She cries in the chief place of concourse,/
in the openings of the gates./
In the city she utters her words, saying,
22 "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity,/
and the scorners delight in their scorning,/
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Turn at my reproof./
Behold, I will pour out my spirit to you./
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused,/
I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded.
25 But you have set at nothing all my counsel/
and rejected my reproof.
26 I also will laugh at your calamity./
I will mock when your fear comes,
27 When your fear comes as desolation,/
and your destruction comes as a whirlwind,/
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 They shall call upon me, but I will not answer./
They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me.
29 For they hated knowledge/
and did not choose the fear of the LORD.
30 They rejected my counsel./
They despised all my reproof.
31 Therefore, they shall eat of the fruit of their own way/
and be filled with their own devices.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them/
and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33 But whoever listens to me shall dwell in safety/
and shall be quiet from fear of evil."
Matthew Henry Commentary - Proverbs, Chapter 1[➚]
John Gill's Chapter Summary:
After the inscription, which gives the title of the book and describes the author by his name, descent, and dignity (Proverbs 1:1), follows the scope and design of it, which is to teach men wisdom and knowledge, even such as are simple and foolish, and particularly young men; nay, hereby wise men may grow wiser, and attain to a higher degree of learning (Proverbs 1:2-6); and the "first" doctrine taught in it is the fear of theLord, or devotion to God, which is the beginning of knowledge, though despised by fools (Proverbs 1:7). The next is obedience to parents, whose instructions, attended to, are more ornamental than chains of gold (Proverbs 1:8-9). And then follows a dissuasive from bad company, in which the arguments made use of by wicked men to draw in others with them, and the danger of compliance, are most strongly and beautifully represented (Proverbs 1:10-19). Then Wisdom, who is the instructor and teacher throughout the whole, is introduced as calling upon the simple and the scorners to leave their sins and turn to her, with a promise of the Spirit to them (Proverbs 1:20-23); but they slighting and rejecting her call, are threatened with just and irrevocable ruin and destruction (Proverbs 1:24-32). And the chapter is closed with a promise of safety and rest to those who hearken to her (Proverbs 1:33).
[v.1a] - "The proverbs of Solomon" - Applicable only to the first 29 chapters. See also the note for 1 Kings 4:32.
[v.1b] - Reference, 2nd Samuel 5:14, 12:24; 1st Kings 2:12, 4:32; 1st Chronicles 3:5, 14:4, 22:9, 28:5, 29:28; Ecclesiastes 12:9.
[v.2] - Reference, Deuteronomy 4:5-6; Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, 2:1-6, 4:5-7, 9:10, 15:33, 16:16.
[v.3] - Reference, Job 22:22; Proverbs 2:1, 9, 8:10-11, 19:20.
[v.4] - Reference, Psalm 34:11, 116:6, 119:9, 130; Proverbs 1:22-23, 2:10-11, 3:21, 8:5; 2nd Timothy 2:22; Titus 2:6.
[v.5] - Reference, Psalm 119:97-104; Proverbs 9:9, 10:14, 12:1, 14:6.
[v.6] - Reference, Psalm 49:4, 78:2; Matthew 13:10-17, 34-35; Mark 4:11-12, 33-34; Hebrews 5:11-14; 2nd Peter 3:15-17.
[v.7] - Reference, Deuteronomy 4:5-6; Job 28:28; Psalm 111:10, 112:1; Proverbs 1:22, 29, 30, 2:5, 5:12-13, 9:10, 15:5, 32-33, 18:2; Ecclesiastes 12:13; John 3:18-21; Romans 1:28.
[v.8] - Reference, Leviticus 19:3; Deuteronomy 21:18-21; 1st Samuel 2:25; Proverbs 2:1, 3:1, 4:1-4, 5:1-2, 6:20, 7:1, 23:22, 30:17; 2nd Timothy 1:5.
[v.9] - Reference, Proverbs 3:3, 21-22, 4:9, 6:20-21; Song of Solomon 1:10.
[v.10] - Reference, Genesis 39:7-10; Deuteronomy 13:6-8; Psalm 1:1, 50:18; Proverbs ch. 7, 13:20, 16:29, 20:19; Romans 16:17-18; Ephesians 5:11.
[v.11] - Reference, Psalm 10:8-10, 17:11-12, 35:7, 56:6, 64:2-6; Proverbs 1:16, 18, 12:6, 30:14; Jeremiah 5:26, 11:19; Micah 7:2; Matthew 26:3-4; Acts 23:12-15, 25:2-3.
[v.12] - Reference, Psalm 5:9, 28:1, 35:25, 56:1-2, 57:3, 124:3, 143:7; Lamentations 2:16; Romans 3:13.
[v.13] - Reference, Job 24:2-3; Proverbs 1:14, 19, 16:19; Jeremiah 22:13-17; Luke 12:15; 1st Timothy 6:9-10.
[v.14] - Reference, Proverbs 1:13, 15, 16:19.
[v.15] - Reference, Psalm 1:1, 26:4-5, 119:101; Proverbs 4:14-15, 27, 5:8, 9:6, 13:20, 24:1; Jeremiah 14:10; 2nd Corinthians 6:17.
[v.16] - Reference, Proverbs 4:16, 6:17-18, 12:6; Isaiah 59:7.
[v.17] - Reference, Job 35:11; Proverbs 1:18.
[v.18] - Reference, Esther 7:10; Psalm 7:14-16, 9:16; Proverbs 1:17, 5:21-23, 9:16-18, 11:19, 28:17; Matthew 27:3-5; Romans 2:5-6.
[v.19] - Reference, 2nd Samuel 18:11-13; 2nd Kings 5:20-27; Proverbs 15:27, 23:3-4; Ecclesiastes 5:13; Jeremiah 22:17-19; Micah 2:1-3, 3:10-12; Habakkuk 2:9; Acts 8:18-24; 1st Timothy 6:9-10; 2nd Peter 2:3, 12-16.
[v.20] - Reference, Proverbs 1:21, 8:1-4, 9:3; John 7:37.
[v.21] - Reference, Proverbs 1:20, 8:1-3, 9:3; Matthew 10:27; John 18:20; Acts 5:20.
[v.22] - Reference, Exodus 10:3, 16:28; Numbers 14:27; Psalm 1:1, 94:8; Proverbs 1:7, 29, 32, 3:34, 5:12-13, 6:9, 7:7, 8:5, 9:4-6, 16-18, 14:6, 15:12, 19:29, 21:11, 24, 22:3; Jeremiah 4:14; Matthew 17:17, 23:37; Luke 19:42; John 3:20.
[v.23] - Reference, Proverbs 1:25, 30, 6:23, 10:17, 12:1, 29:1; Isaiah 32:15, 45:8, 55:1-3, 5-6; Jeremiah 3:14; Ezekiel 18:27-32, 33:11; Hosea 14:1; Joel 2:28-32; Zechariah 12:10; Luke 11:13; John 7:37-39; Acts 2:36-38, 3:19, 26:19-20; Revelation 3:19.
[v.24] - Reference, 2nd Chronicles 36:16; Isaiah 50:2, 65:2, 12, 66:4; Jeremiah 7:13, 9:6, 35:17, 44:16; Ezekiel 8:18; Zechariah 7:11-13; Matthew 22:1-6, 23:37-38; Romans 10:21; Hebrews 12:25.
[v.25] - Reference, 2nd chronicles 36:16; Psalm 81:11, 107:11; Proverbs 1:30, 5:12-13, 12:1, 15:10; Jeremiah 35:17; Luke 7:30.
[v.26] - Reference, Deuteronomy 28:63; Psalm 2:4, 37:13, 59:8; Proverbs 6:15.
[v.27] - Reference, Job 27:7-9; Psalm 58:9, 69:22-28; Proverbs 3:25-26, 10:24-25; Isaiah 17:13; Nahum 1:3; Luke 21:23-28, 34-35; Romans 2:9; 1st Thessalonians 5:3; Revelation 6:15-17.
[v.28] - Reference, Job 27:7-9, 35:12; Psalm 18:41, 78:35-38; Proverbs 8:17, 15:29; Isaiah 1:15; Jeremiah 11:11, 14:12; Ezekiel 8:18; Hosea 5:6, 15, 6:1-4; Micah 3:4; Zechariah 7:13; Matthew 7:22-23, 25:10-12; Luke 13:25-27; James 4:3.
[v.29] - Reference, Job 21:14-15; Psalm 50:16-17; Proverbs 1:22, 5:12; Isaiah 27:11, 30:9-14; John 3:20; Acts 7:51-54.
[v.30] - Reference, Psalm 81:11; Proverbs 1:25, 28-29, 32-33; Jeremiah 8:9.
[v.31] - Reference, Job 4:8; Proverbs 5:22-23, 8:36, 12:14, 14:14, 22:8; Isaiah 3:10-11; Jeremiah 2:19, 6:19; Galatians 6:7-8.
[v.32] - Reference, Deuteronomy 32:15-43; Psalm 69:22, 92:6-7; Proverbs 1:22, 29-31, 5:22, 8:5, 36; Jeremiah 48:11-12; John 3:36; Hebrews 10:38-39, 12:25; Luke 12:16-21, 16:19-31; Hebrews 12:8; James 5:5.
[v.33] - Reference, Psalm 25:12-13, 81:13-14, 112:7-8; Proverbs 3:21-26, 8:32-35, 9:11, 12:21, 14:26; Ecclesiastes 8:12; Isaiah 26:3, 48:18, 55:3; Matthew 17:5; Luke 21:19; John 10:27-29; Romans 8:35-39; 1st Peter 1:3-5.