eBook - ePub
Proverbs
Paul Koptak
This is a test
Share book
- 720 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Proverbs
Paul Koptak
Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations
About This Book
The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context.
To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections:
- Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.
- Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible.
- Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved.
This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.
Frequently asked questions
How do I cancel my subscription?
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlegoâs features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan youâll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, weâve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is Proverbs an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access Proverbs by Paul Koptak in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theologie & Religion & Biblischer Kommentar. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Topic
Theologie & ReligionSubtopic
Biblischer KommentarText and Commentary on Proverbs
Proverbs 1:1â7
THE PROVERBS OF Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2for attaining wisdom and discipline;
for understanding words of insight;
3for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4for giving prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youngâ
5let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidanceâ
6for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.
7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Original Meaning
THESE SEVEN VERSES form a distinct unit of introduction. An introduction, contrary to much of our common experience in listening to popular speakers, is not a warm-up or a time for pleasantries. Biblical writers waste no time with anything less than matters of highest priority. They go to the heart of the matter, especially when dealing with first things: âIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earthâ (Gen. 1:1); âin the beginning was the Wordâ (John 1:1). At the beginning of Proverbs we have an introduction that declares without apology that âthe fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledgeâ (1:7).
We should always pay attention to beginnings and endings of literary works because writers tend to put their most important thoughts and images there. We should pay especially close attention to a literary introduction when it includes a phrase that is also found in the workâs conclusion. In this case, âfear of the LORDâ not only concludes this prologue and the first part of the book of Proverbs (i.e., chs. 1â9; cf. 9:10), it also appears at the end of the entire book (31:30). The writerâs use of this framing device of inclusio tells us to watch for âthe fear of the LORDâ as it recurs throughout the Proverbs and guides our reading of it. For now we observe that as Yahweh is the source of every beginning, so our fear of him (worship and faithfulness) is the beginning of the study of wisdom as well as its primary goal.
The introduction, most of it one long Hebrew sentence, not only honors the book of Proverbs with the names of its most revered kings, Solomon and David, it states the bookâs purpose. In a series of Hebrew infinitive verbs (six in all after verse 2; infinitives begin every verse but verses 5 and 7), we readers are told not only what the book is (a collection of meĆĄalim) and who receives the credit for the collection (Solomon),1 but what the book is for. In a word, this book was written to pass on wisdom. Such a statement of introduction was not unusual in the ancient world. Egyptian instructions in wisdom often named the speaker and recipient as part of their statement of purpose: to pass on wisdom for successful living from one generation to the next. So Ptahhotep taught his son, âThere is no one born wise.â2
We should also notice that this introduction includes a list of literary forms (âproverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wiseâ), reasons for studying them (âfor attaining wisdom . . . for giving prudenceâ), and qualities of character that readers should cultivate (âa disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fairâ). Finally, the prologue describes different sorts of people who will read and respond to the teaching of this book (âthe simple . . . the young . . . the wise . . . [and] foolsâ).
The different terms for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding have puzzled commentators, who have tried to determine what distinguishes one from another. Some have looked for patterns and progressions.3 Others have been content to say that the many terms are brought together to show that no one word can describe the reality and splendor of wisdom. Kidner put it well, comparing the prologue to a prism that breaks âthe plain daylight of wisdom (hokmah) into its rainbow of constituent colors.â4
The first of the purpose clauses says that the proverbs are âfor attaining wisdom and disciplineâ (1:2). âWisdomâ in its most general meaning is the acquired learning that helps one know what to do in a given situation.5 It includes knowledge and skill, whether that skill is applied to craft work (Isa. 40:20) or to the business of right living, as it is here. In this prologue, the Hebrew root hkm is used twice of wisdom (Prov. 1:2, 7) and twice for the wise persons who both acquire and teach it (1:5, 6). Therefore, one learns wisdom from those who are farther along in the process (cf. 12:15; 13:20). Yet such wisdom does not come apart from a right relationship to the Lord, here expressed as âfear.â Therefore, before going on, this prologue wants us to know that wisdom, taught by elders and received in the fear of God, is the primary goal for human life.
âWisdomâ is in first position as an indication of its primary importance (1:2), yet wisdom does not stand alone. It is paired with âdiscipline,â not only here but again in 1:6. âDisciplineâ (musar) basically refers to instruction, especially in the sense of correction. The word is used for Godâs discipline in Deuteronomy 11:2; Isaiah 26:16; and Psalm 50:17. Some of the proverbs use it for corporal punishment (Prov. 13:24; 22:15; 23:13). When paired with âwisdomâ (áž„okmah), discipline means submitting to instruction in order to reach the goal of wisdom. âListen to advice and accept instruction (musar), and in the end you will be wiseâ (19:20; cf. 23:23). The pairing of wisdom and discipline suggests that both are a way of life that one comes to know and learn.6 No one is born wise or without the need for discipline.
Discipline (musar) is also paired with âa prudent lifeâ (Ćekel)âa term for practical wisdom (1:3; cf. 16:22).7 Throughout Scripture, Ćekel refers to understanding and insight that can lead to good ends (Ezra 8:18) or bad (Dan. 8:25). It speaks of the ability to size up a situation and respond accordingly. When tempered with discipline, this practical wisdom leads one along good paths.
The second half of verse 3 continues to describe the disciplined and prudent life; it is characterized by actions that are âright and just and fair.â The break in the series of infinitive verbs adds extra emphasis on this trio of virtues (in Hebrew they appear in noun forms, ârighteousness, justice, and equityâ). We will meet them again in the next chapter, where they speak of how and why God gives wisdom (2:9). This triad is at the center of the prologueâs structure, and its goal for life is at the heart of the whole book.8 Righteousness, justice, and equity are also often used of God in the Psalms (Ps. 9:8; 33:5; 89:14; 96:10; 97:2; 103:17), and as attributes of God they set the standard for human interaction (58:1). They appear throughout Proverbs to show us how disciplined and prudent living is recognized.9
In Proverbs 1:4 we meet, for the first time, the person who is to receive this instruction in wisdom. That person is âsimpleâ or âuntutoredâ (peti; some translations even use âignorantâ),10 more lacking in instruction than intelligence. Remember that the statutes of the Lord make the simple wise (Ps. 19:8). The simple can be led astray (Prov. 1:10 uses the same root for âenticeâ), so there is sometimes a sense of âgullibleâ or ânaiveâ included as well. It is a significant term, for we will see in this same chapter that personified Wisdom rebukes the simple for remaining in ignorance (1:22). So also both Wisdom and Folly address their invitations to the simple in chapter 9.
The term âsimpleâ is set in parallel with âthe youngâ; thus, it seems that the first objects of wisdom teaching are those who need education in every area of life. They are to learn âprudence,â âknowledge,â and âdiscretion.â âPrudenceâ is here used as a positive description of hidden, private thoughts. Not saying everything that comes to mind has its advantages, but if thoughts are hidden in deceit, they appear as shrewdness or even cunning or scheming (Gen. 3:1; Ex. 21:14; Josh. 9:4). Likewise, âdiscretion,â the ability to make plans, can, when used for evil purposes, become the kind of craftiness that the Lord condemns (Prov. 12:2).11 âKnowledge,â by contrast, is a positive term that will receive a greater positive charge in 1:7 by its association with the fear of Yahweh.
Verse 5 brings another group of persons into view. Wisdom instruction is not only for the unlearned; the âwiseâ also listen and continue to learn while the âdiscerning get guidanceâ or strategies (see 11:14; 20:18; 24:6; 12:5 for a negative sense). The Hebrew grammar of the first phrase will allow a jussive sense of âlet the wise hear.â But whether the statement is directive or descriptive, it is clear that the character of learners determines their actions and the actions of learners reveal character.
Who are these wise ones? Coming after mention of the simple, the term âwiseâ may indicate those who are more experienced and accomplished in learning, those who would require skills of discernment that are more finely honed.12 Contrasted with the fools who are mentioned in 1:7, the wise are any who choose to follow the path of learning instead of passing it by. By placing the wise and discerning between the simple and the fools, the writer highlights the inevitable decision that all must make. The simple must choose to become one of the wise or by default will become one of the fools.
In 1:6, the last of the purpose clauses, âfor understandingâ (lehabin), takes as its object âproverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.â Two of the terms appear in the headings that divide the book into its parts: âproverbsâ (10:1; 25:1) and âsayingsâ (lit., âwords ofâ 22:17; 30:1; 31:1). Just as wisdom and discipline give âunderstandingâ (also lehabin) of âwords of insightâ in 1:2, so here the wise acquire learning that aids in understanding these ancient wisdom forms. The forms do not only teach wisdom, they offer training in interpreting its puzzles. Wisdom teaching was not typically communicated directly or in anything like our prose essay or magazine article. Proverbs and parables, sayings and riddles, all hide in order to reveal. They require some work and some exercise of wit on the part of the reader to crack the combination lock. There seems to be some higher level of learning at work than that offered to the simple and young in 1:4.
The âproverbâ and âparableâ both compare in order to instruct. It is less clear what the âsayingsâ (lit., âwordsâ) of the wise and th...