Proverbs 2
PATARGUMENT.- The attention of those that read this book being bespoke" in the foregoing chapter, he persuades them not only to read, bnt to receive and obey these good counsels’; by representing the benefits of being wise, that is, good and virtuous; and the mischiefs a man shall thereby avoid. The chief is, that he is sure to be under the guidance and blessing of God, who Avill impart more and more of himself to those that study Avisdom; Avhich is the scope of the former part of this chapter: and as, on the contrary;. if he d6 not order his Avays by the rules of wisdom, he i^ sure to wander most dangerously; so, if he keep close to them, they will preserve him from utter ruin; which is the design of the latter part of it. Where, under the figure of an adulterous woman, (ver. 16*.)’ some think he persuades us to shun all those [a] doctrines which draw away the mind from God ( such as those of the Epicureans and idolaters. But I take this to be intimated before, (ver. 12.) and therefore understand him literally: and then he seems to give a caution against the breach of the next commandment to that mentioned in the first chapter, (ver. 10, 11.) Avhere he charges his son by no means to - consent to join Avith murderers; and here to shun fornication and adultery, Avhich alienate the mind quite from wisdom, (ver. 16, 17, &c.) * This therefore is one of the first things wisdom directs us unto, and a principal benefit’ Ave receive by it; to preseme our understandings from being corrupted by keeping our bodies pure and undefiled* For too many, giving up themselves to fleshly lusts, are thereby Avholly perverted,, and never recover themselves, but live and die like fools. And one of the next points of Avisdom is, [6] to be taught * by the dear-bought experience of others; who have been ruined, body and soul, by those leAvd courses to Avhich Ave* are enticed. And here the avisc man leads us back as. far as the old Avorld; Avhicli Avas wholly destroyed by such villanies as men’s brutish lusts and passions carry them to commit. This seems to be implied in the word Rephaim, ver- 18. (concerning Avhich, see Mr. Mede,. p. 42.) Avho,* being abominably debauched themselves,, had corrupted the rest of the Avorld: so that there Avas. [CHAP. If. no way left to purge it, but by extirpating the whole raco of mankind, except the family of Noah. In short, here are both promises and threatenings to excite us to the study of wisdom; together with good directions to make our proceedings successful; which are principally these. First, our own diligence; secondly, dependance upon God for help and assistance; thirdly, a due value of that which ive seek; fourthly, avoiding such things as tvill plainly seduce us; and, lastly, putting in practice what tve knotv, that we may know more: for want of which many learned men have proved worse than tho most ignorant. Most of these are the sense of the beginning of tho chapter; and the last of them is the sense of ver. 10, 11. [c] There are those who look upon ver. 4. as a proverbial saying, borrowed from those that dig in mines: the former part of it expressing eager desire and great diligence; and the latter, invincible resolution and constant perseverance, notwithstanding those difficulties that occur to discourage our labour. Both which I have taken notice of in the Paraphrase; though I see nothing proverbial in it, more than in many other similitudes. [d] I do not know whether I need observe (it is so easy) that the phrase we meet withal ver. 19. go unto her, is a modest expression; used frequently in the holy books: as may be seen very often in one chapter, Gen. xxxviii. 2.8, 9, 1C. 18. them in intricate ways, directly cross to their own interest, safety, and pleasure; for the whole course of their life is nothing else but a shameful contradiction to their soberest reason and best understanding.
Proverbs 2:1
IfJLYson, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee. And now, my son, whose happiness I most heartily desire, let me tell thee for thy farther encouragement; that if thou dost entertain these ( exhortations which I have now given thee, and keep these precepts in remembrance, for the same end that corn is sown< and covered in the ground:
Proverbs 2:2
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thy heart to understanding. Listening with diligent attention, not to the enticements of such evilmen as I have described, but to the counsels and instructions of wisdom, with sincere affection, applying thy mind to understand thy duty:
Proverbs 2:3
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding. And moreover, if thou expressest such a desire of it, as men do of that which they most need; and without which they are in danger to perish; praying those that are able to inform thee; and beseeching God likewise with ardent devotion, that he would bring thee acquainted with it:
Proverbs 2:4
Jf thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures. If thou dost value this wisdom above the greatest treasures, and shew thy esteem of it by studious seeking for it, as coveftous men do for money; laying hold upon all occasions of profiting in knowledge, and pursuing thy advantages (as they do) when thouineetcst with them; not giving over thy labour presently;. if thou findest not what thou desirest; but inquiring still, and sparing no pains to know what the will of the Lord is: See Arg. [c]
Proverbs 2:5
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. Then thou shalt not fail to understand what it is to be truly religious; and that there is no wisdom comparable to it: and shalt find also what reason thero is to reverence, worship, and solicitously obey him, who is the almighty Creator, Governor, and Judge of all tho world.
Proverbs 2:6
For the Lord,giveth xvisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. For as wisdom, no less than all other good things, is the gift of the Lord (without whom all our pains and study about it will be ineffectual), so there is no doubt he will bestow it on those who esteem it above all worldly goo<fs; especially this most necessary part of it: which he hath already imparted to ns by his prophets and men inspired; who have given us a true knowledge and understanding of him*
Proverbs 2:7
He layeth up sound xvisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. And have assured us, that he hath solid and durable blessings (transcending all the transitory things of this life) reserved in store for upright men: and will protect all those, by his almighty providence, whose care it is to perform and complete obedience to him in all things.
Proverbs 2:8
He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the icay of his saints. That so he may preserve them in their integrity; and encourage them neither to swerve from the rules of justice, nor to cease to exercise mercy and kindness: for he hath a great favour to such pious persons; and will be their keeper and defender in such proceedings.
Proverbs 2:9
Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. By which thou shalt understand that justice and mercy in thy private dealings, and faithful discharge of thy trust in all public offices, and uprightness in every other virtue, are all of them the best, the most plain, easy, and natural way a man can take to bo happy.'
Proverbs 2:10
Wlien wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul. And when wisdom hath thus taken possession of thy very heart and affections; and thou findest an inward pleasure and satisfaction by observing the rules of piety and all manner of virtue:
Proverbs 2:11
Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. This alone will be a sufficient security to thee, and make thee unwilling to depart from them. For thy own experience will teach thee, that it is the greatest cunning to. go in those plain and open ways, and that no men understand their own interest so well, as they cannot be persuaded by any means to forsake them.
Proverbs 2:12
To deliver thee from the ivay of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things. Though otherwise thou mightest be seduced into a wrong course, yet this will deliver thee from that danger; and not suffer thee to be perverted by the mouth of him that would subtly insinuate his lewd principles into theo.
Proverbs 2:13
Who have the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness. Though thou shouldest be assaultod by many of them, thou shalt easily discover their folly, in leaving the straight, plain, and even paths of virtue, to walk blindly, they know not whither, in the perplexed ways of vice and wickedness.. t
Proverbs 2:14
Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in thefrowardr ness of the wicked. Being so mad as to rejoice when they have done any mischief; and having no higher pleasure than to pervert others, and make them as bad as themselves.
Proverbs 2:15
Whose ways are crooked, and they forward in their paths. That is, to draw them aside, and entangle
Proverbs 2:16
To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words. But such is that sweet satisfaction which (as I said, ver. 10, 11.) thou wilt find in the affectionate love of true wisdom, that it will deliver thee, not only from the snares of wicked men, but, which is more dangerous/of a naughty woman: whose company (though so pernicious that God would have thee perfectly estranged from her, if she were not of the commonwealth of Israel, yet) hath powerful charms in it, to flatter thee into her embraces. See Arg. [a]
Proverbs 2:17
Which for saketh the guide of her youth, and for-, getteth the covenant of her God. Above all other,’ from that filthy adulteress, who is so lewd as to leave her husband (though a worthy and perhaps noble person), to whom she was joined in her youth, when love is in its greatest warmth, and took him for her guide and governor; but hath wickedly broken the laws of God, and violated the solemn vow of fidelity to him, which she made when they were married.
Proverbs 2:18
For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. The least degree of that discretion which wisdom infuses, will teach thee to avoid her society, who loves nobody, now that she hath forsaken him that had her first affection; but seeks the ruin of all that go to her house: where, by one means or other, they are in danger to meet with their grave, and be sent to keep company with those old giants, who corrupted mankind with such filthiness and violence, that they brought a deluge upon the earth, (Gen. vi. 4, 5. 11.) Sec Arg. [6]
Proverbs 2:19
None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. “And this is very remarkable, that it is rarely seen that any body who is drawn into her impure embraces ever gets out again: but she holds them all so fast by her enchantments, and they are so blinded and bewildered by her arts, that, like men who have quite lost their way in a strange country, they seldom or never can hit into it, and recover themselves to a virtuous way of living. See Arg. [d]
Proverbs 2:20
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. In which the sincere love of wisdom (ver. 11, 12, &c.) will so secure thee; that escaping her snares, as well as those of wicked men, thou ^mayest imitate those excellent persons the patriarchs and prophets; and be preserved in the paths of those righteous men who have followed after them.
Proverbs 2:21
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. Which is as much as to say, that thou mayest be perfectly happy: for men of integrity (according to God’s promise, Dcut. xi. 8, 9. 21.) shall peaceably enjoy this good land which God hath given us; and they that study sincerely to please him in all things, shall leave it in possession to their posterity after them.
Proverbs 2:22
But the ivicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. But such impious men as I spoke of (according to what God himself hath also denounced, Deut. xi. 17. and other places) shall be cut down from the earth; where they may flourish, like a tree, for a time: nay, they that give themselves up to do wickedly, and keep no faith with God nor man, shall be plucked up, like ^ tree, by the very roots, and leave none to preserve their memory behind them.