Bible Commentaries

The Proverbs of Solomon

Proverbs 1:1-19

The Book of Proverbs is not to be regarded simply as a collection of wise sayings, genial sentiments, prudent guesses, or affectionate exhortations. The book may be viewed, on the contrary, as representing the very science of practical philosophy. The proverb or saying is invariably put down after the event, and not before it In the latter case it would rank only with suggestions and speculations, but in the former case it expresses an accomplished and well-established fact. Viewed in this light, the Proverbs are supreme moral riches. We find in them what the wisest men in ancient times have proved to be the truth in the most practical aspects of life. When they speak of sin and penalty they not only propound a philosophy, they record a personal and general experience. When they praise understanding they can support their commendation by the largest indebtedness to its guidance and protection. When they say the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, they say in effect that, having tried every other form of Proverbs 1:2-4).

Here is a great proposal, nothing less than to invest the young man with wisdom and clothe him with honour and discretion. Not a word is said about riches or social position. Solomon had proved the vanity of these things. He distinctly shows that it is possible for a young man to lead an intellectual life, and to ennoble that life by moral purity and beneficence, so that there shall not only be intense mental brilliance, but solid and useful character. The mind was made for wisdom and instruction. Commonplace as this remark may appear, yet its recognition lies at the root of all true endeavour to increase in judgment and wisdom. Frivolity cannot satisfy the mind. Things finite leave the mind in a discontented temper. All things that may be gathered by the hand, and measured by the eye, and estimated by figures of arithmetic, have been proved to be but transient blessings. Yet who can define understanding, Proverbs 1:5-6).

"Appetite grows by what it feeds on." Listening is a sign of wisdom. Wisdom is not self-complete, in the sense of being final in its revelations to the human mind. What wisdom has given is but an earnest of what it will give to the listening and inquiring soul. The wise man hears with a view to an "increase of learning." To stop learning is really to prove that we have never begun it. This is true of Scriptural as well as of general learning. The meaning of the Bible is not limited by the letter. The best commentary upon the Bible is the history of mankind as we see it proceeding day by day. The Bible not only looks towards the past, but towards the future, and claims to prove its inspiration by keeping company with the evolution of all thought and action proved to be good and useful to mankind. We pay no worthy tribute to the Bible by supposing that we know it, simply because we can quote it in the letter, nor is it doing justice to inspiration by regarding it as final and complete as to its adaptations. Events occur which unexpectedly interpret doctrines. We do not limit the providence of God to ancient history, then why should we limit his revelation to ages long gone by? We hold that Providence is active and beneficent to-day; it is the joy of the Christian to believe that even now all the affairs of the world are ruled by a living Power consummate in wisdom and in love; recognising this immediate and living Providence, there should be no difficulty in so enlarging our conception of Providence as to bring within its scope the daily illumination of spiritual mysteries, and the consequent daily increase of spiritual learning. The aim of true Proverbs 1:7).

The expression, "the fear of the Lord," has been counted thirteen times in the Proverbs 1:8-9).

The word "son" in the eighth verse may be equivalent to the word "pupil" rather than to the word "child." The son is invited to accept the experience of those who have lived before him and tested life at many points. It is important to preserve the line of moral discovery in all its continuousness and completeness, lest life should be frittered away in making needless experiments. Earnest men will ask, What has been done already? What have our ancestors discovered as to the operation of moral laws? History thus becomes a commentary upon Proverbs 1:10-19).

Palestine was at all times exposed to the crime of brigandage, not only because of the wild character of its formation, but because of its neighbourhood to predatory tribes, who lost no opportunity of availing themselves of the weakness of the government supposed to preside over the destinies of that country. Although that which is local and temporary has no longer any place in these exhortations, the principle which inspires them is evermore operating in social life. Sinners enough are found in all ranks of society who would seek to tempt ardent and inexperienced youth to do that which promises immediate and substantial profit. Sinners who "entice" are the worst members of their species. Not only do they sin themselves, their delight is to corrupt and involve others. If sinners are so energetic, good men should be equally on the alert to repel their reproaches, and to bring the young into a state of spiritual security. Where the enemy is most active the Christian should be most watchful. Enticing sinners seek to excite enthusiasm in evil ways; there is a tone of grim cheerfulness and vivacity in their exhortations which would seem to promise the immediate realisation not only of great riches, but of great joy. As a matter of fact, men will do in crowds what they would shrink from doing in their individuality. Hence there has arisen a great distinction between war and murder. That which would be murder in the case of a single slaughter becomes glory in the destruction of hundreds and in the subjection of nationalities. Beware of all programmes the end of which is supposed to be self-aggrandisement. "We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil." As in the case of goodness, so in the case of evil, there is a distinct promise of reward. Nothing, therefore, is to be judged by the reward itself, but rather by the promises which culminate in the reward. Satan promises liberty to the man whom he enslaves. Probably at the moment of promising them freedom he is the more firmly riveting their manacles and fetters. It is the part of wise men to dissuade the young from doing that which is evil. They cannot always begin with positive or constructive work, so much has to be done that is of the nature of caution or prevention. The teacher in this case seeks to operate upon the sensibilities of the young by pointing out the cruelty of evildoers—"their feet make haste to shed blood," in their hearts they are men-haters, they are murderers, they are blasphemers against the law of life and security. The teacher further makes a philosophical appeal to the young when he points out that bad men actually "will wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives," yet they are blinded so that they cannot see how in reality they are suicides as well as murderers. The teacher, therefore, has strong ground on which to make an appeal to the reason and feeling of the young. He remembers that the wicked pursue a self-defeating policy—"he made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate." The Christian Church should energetically point out to the young the nets which are spread for them in every direction all over the field of life; it should also point out the hollowness of all immoral enthusiasm. In ancient days the wicked said to one another, and to those whom they would entangle, "Come ye, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant."

We have already seen in our studies in the Book of Deuteronomy that the same exhortation was delivered to the people of God in earliest times. "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy Proverbs 1:20-33

Wisdom now turns from her children and addresses those who despise her. The address extends from the20th verse to the23rd. Wisdom in this address is personated; it has been considered that the word in the plural number represents the varied and all but innumerable excellences of true and just understanding. Even if we take the personation as highly poetical, this need not divest the speech of such merits as can be tested by reason and experience. If in the first instance Wisdom is here to be regarded as signifying the highest intellectual sagacity combined with anxious moral discrimination, yet the highest form of the thought is only fulfilled in him who is in very deed the wisdom of God. A comparison of Luke 11:49 with Matthew 23:34 almost shuts us up to the conclusion that Jesus Christ applied these words to himself. The Apostle Paul says that Jesus Christ has been made unto us Proverbs 1:24-33).

The action now changes. We are to think of Wisdom having made her offer, and having been refused by those to whom she addressed herself. Mercy now gives place to judgment. The day of persuasion is limited. We may form some conception of the range and intensity of the speech of mercy when we consider the blackness and completeness of the judgment which follows refusal. If to understand man's sin we may have to look at God's mercy, so to understand God's mercy we may often have to look at God's judgments. When all heaven is black with thunder, because of the violence which is found in the earth, we may form some conception of the nature of the violence by the blackness of the thunder which threatens it. Whatever may be the doom which awaits the sinner, whatever theory of the future may be adopted by speculative thinkers, no man can peruse the Bible without being made to feel that the penalty which follows sin is appalling, not only beyond expression, but beyond imagination. It may be that Calvary can only be fully explained by perdition. The Son of God did not die to save men simply from the sleep of unconsciousness, or from the insignificant ruin of oblivion. Men should tread the sacred ground which relates to the future of sin with trembling feet. He who makes light of the doom of the sinner makes light of the whole priesthood of Jesus Christ. Whatever may be the speculative truth, it is not too much to say that the evangelical conception of law involves a very glorious conception of the work which Jesus Christ came to accomplish.

Notice that Wisdom can only "call." It is for the sinner to say whether he will accept or refuse. Wisdom says, "I have called," and then she adds, with mournful pathos, "ye refused." This is a vivid statement of a great philosophical thought; the action of the human will is a mystery which has never been fully explained, but it is everywhere recognised in the volume of revelation. Jesus Christ said, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." Even when the Saviour addressed men who came to him with the utmost humility, he said to them, "What will ye?" On the last day of the feast he offered to give water to the thirsty, but it was for the thirsty to say whether they would accept the gracious overture. Herein is the mystery of human nature; it is so weak as to be consumed before the moth, and yet so great that it can deny its God and reject his love. But the action does not rest at this point: an offer has been made and rejected, voices of reconciliation and pardon have been disregarded; beyond this there is an action exceeding all others in melancholy—Wisdom will laugh at the calamity of the sinner, and mock when fear comes upon the bad man. Surely beneath all the poetry in which this future is represented there is the very spirit of philosophy and justice. The reason is given for the terrible judgment The action on the divine side is in no sense arbitrary; even whilst the judgment burns as an oven it condescends to give a reason for its intensity. Observe the word "because" in the24th verse, after that word comes a statement of the reasons upon which God proceeds. What we have to ask is whether the impeachment itself is correct. Have we in very deed refused the offers of wisdom, have we disregarded the command of God, have we set at nought all the divine counsel, have we rejected all the holy reproof of the Lord? If we decide these inquiries in the affirmative, then the rest will proceed inevitably, irresistibly! So long as the offer is made our strength to accept it is recognised; but when that offer is rejected our only strength is to go forward to evil and ruin, to be driven before a righteous judgment into the punishment which awaits impurity and disobedience. Who can dwell upon the words "laugh" and "mock"? They need not be taken literally and thus become limited in their significance, or made to assume aspects which may be supposed to be unworthy of the Sovereign of the universe. They are poor signs of the reality of what God will do. He will act as if he laughed, and as if he mocked. There is a time predicted when men shall call unto the rocks and unto the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the face of the Lamb; but rocks and mountains have never been on the side of the sinner, all nature in her silent processes has ever been the servant and the ally of God. Nor does the action end even at this point. Let us see how the action now stands: first, Wisdom has called; secondly, men have refused; thirdly, judgment has ensued; and now, fourthly, those who have been condemned make suit unto the God they have despised. "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." Jesus Christ distinctly points out that there is a time when the door will be shut, and men will stand without, saying, "Lord, Lord, open unto us;" but he will answer, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." All the meaning of this, who shall adequately reveal? These are not matters for intellectual speculation; may they never be matters of actual experience! We cannot, however, but be struck with the careful manner in which reasons are always given for this outcome of evil courses. Hear how the indictment proceeds: "They hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsels: they despised all my reproof—therefore"! If men will not plough the earth, or cast in the seed, or take advantage of the opportunities created by the sun, in harvest they shall beg, and in winter they shall be desolate. Does any one complain of the arbitrariness of the course of nature? Do not men instantly sit in judgment upon those who have allowed the seasons to pass by without availing themselves of the opportunities offered? Instantly the spirit of criticism arises and declares that nature has been outraged, that law has been dishonoured, and that only suffering can follow. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; it is also a fearful thing to fall into the hands of neglected nature. The divine economy of the universe is one. A sacred unity binds together all worlds, all laws, all souls, all destinies. Surely he is a scorner and a fool who undertakes to live a life apart from that economy, and who supposes that, having detached himself from the central power, he can create a rival throne, and sway with success a competitive sceptre. "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?"