1MY SON, IF YOU accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
Original Meaning
HAVING EXAMINED THE prologue (1:1–7) and the two warnings that follow (1:8–19, 20–33), we now enter into the first of the parents’ teachings on God’s gift of wisdom. Whereas chapter 1 opens with the invitation to study and adds warnings to those who refuse, chapter 2 calls the “son” to begin the study, followed by promises of finding wisdom and enjoying its protection. As was common in the ancient Near East, each section of teaching has a predictable pattern or form. An address (“My son”) is followed by a charge or condition (“if you accept my words”), which is followed in turn by a series of motivations or rewards (“then you will understand the fear of the LORD”). Often there is also a mention of final outcomes. The first chapter of the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope shows a similar form in its first section after the prologue:
Give your ears, hear the sayings,
Give your heart to understand them;
It profits to put them in your heart,
Woe to him who neglects them!
Let them rest in the casket of your belly,
May they be bolted in your heart,
You will find it a success;
You will find my words a storehouse for life,
Your being will prosper on the earth.1
While all of chapter 2 follows this pattern,2 other instructions use the pattern as an introduction to further teaching (see 7:1–5), and some develop variations on the pattern (see 3:1–10; 4:1–9; 5:1–6; 6:1–5). In this way, ancient teachers framed their instructions with relationship and rewards. Our attention to form can help us discern the approach they used.
Understanding the structure of this chapter is also essential to understanding its content and rhetorical purpose. (1) We should notice that the poem is compacted into twenty-two lines, the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. However, each verse does not begin with a different letter from the alphabet as do, for example, the acrostic poems in Proverbs 31, Lamentations 1–4, or Psalm 119. This use of a nonalphabetic acrostic format shows up again in chapter 5; some even think it appears at the conclusion of the instructions (Prov. 8:32–9:18).3 Clearly Proverbs concludes with an alphabetic acrostic in chapter 31, highlighting the importance of beginning and ending sections.4 The acrostic structure may highlight the idea of completion or comprehensiveness as does our saying, “Everything from A to Z.” If so, the structure of this chapter may itself be a way of stating that everything that needs to be said about this topic is said here in this book.
(2) The six subsections of chapter 2 form an extended conditional statement, the protasis (“if”) of verses 1–4 followed by five apodoses: “then” in verses 5–8, 9–11, “in order to” in verses 12–14, 16–19, and 20–22.5 Interestingly, the first three of these six sections begin with the letter aleph (“A,” vv. 4, 5, 9) and the last three begin with the letter lamed (“L,” vv. 12, 16, 20). Readers should note that lamed, the first letter of the second half of the Hebrew alphabet, is used in the second half of the poem.6 Based on these clues we can suggest the following outline:
Aleph stanza (2:1–4), “If you” (three times, vv. 1, 3, 4)
Aleph stanza (2:5–8), “Then you will understand” (“guard,” v. 8)
Aleph stanza (2:9–11), “Then you will understand” (“protect,” v. 11)
Lamed stanza (2:12–15), “to be saved” from evil men
Lamed stanza (2:16–19), “to be saved” from the adulteress
Lamed stanza (2:20–22), “in order to walk” safe in the land
This outline helps us observe the repetition of terms for understanding and protection, the dominant themes of the passage. Other interpreters see a progression that moves from knowledge of God to the resulting right behavior.7 The repetition of “save you” in 2:12 and 16, however, puts the stress on protection or deliverance from seduction. Wisdom protects by enabling its possessor to say no to sinful behavior.
Aleph Stanza, “If You” (2:1–4)
THE THREE “IF’S” that make up the protasis here equate accepting the parental teacher’s words with the quest for wisdom. Recalling the reference to that teaching in 1:8, the parent draws attention to “my words” and “my commands,” perhaps in contrast to the words of the gang in 1:10–14. The first imperative verb (“accept”) is the same Hebrew word used for “acquiring” in 1:3 (lqḥ); the second urges the son to “store up” the commands. This process of learning, accepting, and keeping is equated with attentiveness to wisdom and understanding (2:2), calling out for insight and understanding (2:3) and searching for them as for treasure of silver (2:4).8
Whereas wisdom “raises her voice” (1:20), here it is the young man who must cry aloud (2:3, both use the same Heb. expression for “lift the voice”), perhaps as a response. The stress is on the active role the young man must play in his education, calling out as if his life depends on it, searching as if the wealth of the world will be his, turning his ear and leaning his heart (often associated in the Old Testament with what one desires and chooses).9 The three “if you” phrases work together to portray this search for wisdom as strenuous, requiring all the strength one has. An instruction from the Egyptian twelfth dynasty (1940–1750 B.C.) urges the son to take on the life of the scribe and learn writing because it is superior to farming, fishing, and other types of hard and dirty labor. The pragmatic lecture then gives way to a more transcendent outlook: “A day in the school-room is excellent for you; it is for eternity, its works are (like) stone. . . . I shall tell you other things, to teach you wisdom.”10 Here too the rewards make the work worthwhile.
Aleph Stanza, “Then You Will Understand” (2:5–8)
THE FIRST OF the apodoses (beginning with “then” in v. 5 and followed by “for” in v. 6) presents the student with the first reward of such diligence. It is not wisdom, as we might expect, but God. The quest for wisdom, understanding, and insight (2:3) brings one to “the fear of the LORD” (2:5), the beginning of knowledge (cf. 1:7)—here set in parallel with “the knowledge of God.”11 This twofold foundation for wisdom study is repeated in 9:10 near the conclusion of the first major section of Proverbs. “Fear of the LORD” and “find” in 2:5 hark back to wisdom’s refusal to be found because her hearers did not choose to fear the Lord in 1:28–29. Knowledge such as this is more than intellectual apprehension; it is a way of knowing that permeates one’s entire being, touching the emotions and will. It requires the commitment of the whole person.
In contrast to “you will understand . . . and find” in 2:5, the Lord is the grammatical subject of all the statements that follow. It may come as no surprise that wisdom is in the final accounting a gift of God (2:6), but what a contrast that gift makes with the sweaty, fervent, and even desperate work of study just described! Fear of the Lord in Proverbs is often associated with human limits. Here the tension between human effort and divine grace does not “put us in our place,” it lifts us up and encourages success. The “knowledge” of 2:6 stands alone and takes on a more general meaning than “knowledge of God” in 2:5. “From his mouth” most likely depicts God as the great teacher working through the parent’s wisdom, teaching rather than giving direct revelation.
“Victory” or competence12 leads the list of benefits that follow (2:7–8), although the arena of that success is not mentioned (it most likely refers to success in life, esp. the ability to live life well).13 The three benefits that follow all mention Yahweh’s protection (“shield,” “guard”), the image of the way (“walk,” “course”), and the character of the way and its travelers (“upright,” “blameless,” “just,” “faithful”). Four descriptions of the traveler in verses 7–8 put responsibility on right living—that traveler is upright, blameless, just, and faithful. In sum, the search for wisdom brings the wonderful gifts of knowledge, especially knowledge of God, and as a result, the protection one needs to walk on the way. At least part of that knowledge is that of God as our guardian. Psalm 84:11 says, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (cf. Ps. 28:7).
Aleph Stanza, “Then You Will Understand” (2:9–11)
THE EMPHASIS ON PATH, character, and protection extends into this next section. Like the first apodosis (2:5–8), the second also begins with “then you will understand” and is followed by a “for,” which explains the opening claim. Here, instead of understanding “fear of the LORD,” the son understands “what is right, just and fair” (nouns in Heb.), repeating the central virtues of 1:3 associated with the “good path.” Knowledge of God is inseparable from ethical knowledge.
“Wisdom” and “knowledge” (paired again) are internalized in 2:10, entering the diligent heart and forming a character that seeks to do right by others. It is not clear whether we are to continue to view wisdom as a personification; it/she does not speak, wisdom acts (or is active), but so do the related terms of knowledge, discretion, and understanding. Discretion and understanding (terms associated with wisdom and knowledge), thus internalized, offer protection, but it is still not stated why the protection is needed.
Lamed Stanza, “To Be Saved” from Evil Men (2:12–15)
THE NEXT TWO SECTIONS describing “wicked men” (2:12–15) and the other woman (NIV “adulteress,” 2:16–19) are similar in a number of aspects: Both continue to use the image of the path, both place stress on the misuse of words, and most important, the young man needs to be protected from both. Notice that the young man is to be saved from the “ways” of the wicked men. The danger lies not in what the men will do to the young man but in their invitation to join them on their evil way (cf. 1:10–19; 4:14–19). Their “perverse” or twisted words (2:12) either lie or stir up evil—the latter is more likely, though the former is always present. The six descriptions of their way not only repeat the idea of leaving the straight path to walk the crooked, they stress the fact that they love doing it.14 By implication, internalized wisdom leaves the young man rejoicing in what is just, right, and fair; wisdom provides protection from seduction.
Lamed Stanza, “To Be Saved” from the Adulteress (2:16–19)
IF THERE IS DANGER to the young man from the influence of wicked men, a similar danger is represented by the woman who, like the wicked men, misuses words (2:16; lit., “smooth words”; cf. the “perverse words” of 2:12) and departs from right behavior (2:17; cf. 2:13); from her the young man needs to be saved (2:16, “to deliver you from”; cf. 2:12). Once again the problem is influence. Like the wicked men, she has left the good path and wants to take the young man along. She has not only left her husband (lit., “companion of her youth”),15 but she has also “ignored [lit., forgotten]16 the covenant of her God.”
While this use of the term “covenant” (the only one in Proverbs) refers to the covenant of marriage and not the covenant God made with Israel, one cannot help but remember that when Israel broke its covenant with God, the prophets likened Israel to an unfaithful wife (Jer. 3:6; Hos. 2:1–13). The abandonment of marriage became a symbol for faithlessness of all kinds.17 Unlike 2 Kings 17:35–38, the use of “covenant” here does not mention other gods, but in abandoning the covenant of marriage, this Israelite woman has in effect also severed covenant relationship with God.
While her actions are adulterous, the terms used to describe her in 2:16 are translations of Hebrew words that describe what is “strange” (nokriyyah, “foreign, strange, alien”; zarah, “foreign, other,” the latter used for strange or “unauthorized” fire in Lev. 10:1). Some scholarly discussion has argued that the strange woman symbolizes non-Israelite groups and influences toward idolatry, but this is unlikely.18 She is “strange” or “other” in the sense that her actions place her outside the norms of the Israelite community, even though she comes from within it.19 As with the wicked men, her choices are symbolic of a way of life, not of a nationality. She is estranged and a stranger to the way of Yahweh, but this is seen in her wayward behavior, not in any idolatry.
The strange or adulterous woman appears four times in Proverbs 1–9 (2:16–22; 5:1–23; 6:20–35; 7:1–27). Each description highlights the false and seductive nature of her words (2:16; 5:3; 6:24; 7:5) and the deadly end of her way (2:18; 5:5; 6:26; 7:26–27); these are repeated of Woman Folly in 9:17–18. Just as the violent men will meet a violent end, so the path of adultery is a path of folly that leads to death. Again, wisdom that is “stored up” and internalized (2:1) provides the needed protection against invitations to a path that only goes one way (2:19).
Lamed Stanza, “In Order to Walk” Safe in the Land (2:20–22)
THE FINAL REWARD for seeking wisdom is good company, walking together on the paths of the righteous.20 We can say that righteousness is its own reward and we would be right, but the conclusion of this long instruction also mentions the reward of life in the land. For ancient Israel, land was not considered a possession as much as a privilege. Its inhabitants lived on the land not as overlords but as stewards, enjoying the fruits of obedient relationship with God (Deut. 4:31–35; 8:1; Jer. 7:1–15). The wicked and the faithless (Deut. 8:19–20; 30:15–20; Isa. 24:6; Jer. 3:8, 20) enjoyed no such benefit.
The phrase “torn from it” echoes the threat of Yahweh in Deuteronomy 28:63: “Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.” Psalm 37 (esp. vv. 3, 9, 10–11, 22, 27–29, 34) depicts life lived in the land as true life and life outside the land as being “cut off,” a kind of death (see also Zech. 13:2, 8).21 This conclusion helps us appreciate the persuasive purpose of this whole chapter. In its original context, this instruction would be heard as an invitation to seek wisdom as a way of life—way emphasizing that wisdom is more than intellectual pursuit, life emphasizing its rewards of deliverance from removal from the land and death. It is God who accomplishes that deliverance and protection, and the means by which he accomplishes it is the gift of wisdom.
Bridging Contexts
THEME WORDS. When we ask how we are to understand this invitation to wisdom in our day, we begin by looking for the themes that stand out in the chapter and by asking what principles uphold those themes; the principles we find communicate what God is like and what God wills for us to be and do. One key to uncovering the main themes of a passage is the repetition of key words or clusters of words, a mainstay of biblical rhetoric. So we have seen that “wisdom” and “understanding” are not only the most repeated, they are also closely associated, sometimes set in parallel (2:2, 6, 10–11). These and other repeated words such as “upright” (2:7, 9, 13, 21 and its related terms), “protects” (2:7–8, 11–12, 16 and related terms including “save”), and the various words for “way” (2:8–9, 12–15, 18–20) function as theme words. In them, God’s gifts of wisdom and understanding are depicted as guardians to keep one walking in right relationship with God and humans. The image of the guardian extends the theme of accepting the parents’ teaching in order to withstand calls to take the wrong path.
Words and images repeated from earlier chapters are also important. Thus if, as we read, the book and its collection of proverbs and sayings are for attaining wisdom and discipline, these words from 1:1–7 and others are echoed in 2:1–2, where the appeal becomes more personal. In both chapters, the exhortation to heed the parents’ teaching is followed by teaching about the words of men and women. The two speeches of chapter 1 correspond to the twofold promise of protection from their enticements in chapter 2.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | ||
1–2 | Proverbs for gaining wisdom | 1–8 | Cry out and search for wisdom |
3 | Right, just, and fair | 9 | Right, just, and fair |
7 | Fear of LORD is beginning of knowledge | 5 | Fear of LORD and knowledge of God22 |
10–19 | Wicked men invite (paths) | 12–15 | Protection from wicked men (paths) |
20–31 | Wisdom abandons | 16–19 | Wisdom protects from strange woman |
32–33 | Death and life (live, škn, 33) | 20–22 | Life (live, škn, 21) and death |
Whereas chapter 1 begins with a description of the study followed by warnings of what happens to those who refuse, chapter 2 begins with a call to study followed by promises of finding wisdom and enjoying its protection. Just as chapter 1 ends with a promise of safety that seems out of place with all the warning that has gone before, so chapter 2 jolts the reader by following its promises of safety with a grave warning. Even as this text looks back to the preceding chapter, it also offers a preview of what is to come. Friendship with Yahweh (2:5–8) is the topic of 3:1–12; love of wisdom (2:9–11) is treated in 3:13–18 and 4:1–9, the seduction of evil men (2:12–15) appears again in 4:14–19, and the warning against adultery (2:16–19) is repeated in 5:1–20.23
In sum, this chapter functions within the literary context of Proverbs 1–9 to repeat the warnings and admonitions that come before it and present an overview of topics to come. When we ask what themes and underlying principles of this text speak to the life of the church today, we note that understanding the fear of Yahweh and protection from seductive influences both act as motivations that foster the desire for wisdom.
As we examine these themes, we can also ask what is new here. Repeated terms can also expand on ideas that have come before, so the word “understanding” and its cognates (2:2, 3, 5, 9, 11) develop important themes from chapter 1. In particular, the phrase “then you will understand” accompanies and introduces the exposition of two important topics from the prologue: fear of Yahweh (1:7) and communal virtues (what is right, just, and fair, 1:3). The parallel structure suggests that they are inseparable; right relation with God (based in fear and knowledge) and right relation with the community are two sides of the one coin of wisdom.
Understanding fear of the Lord and knowledge of God. (1) The statements about God that were only implied in chapter 1 (esp. 1:7) are made explicit in chapter 2: God is the One who gives wisdom, and it begins in a relationship with him. The quest for wisdom encouraged in 2:1–4 leads to its source. The knowledge of 1:7 is now filled out as knowledge of God. Although not stated outright, there is some indication that all true knowledge begins with knowledge of God.
The book of Proverbs is practical in its emphasis, but this does not mean that it is unconcerned about matters of theology and worship. The short but frequent references to “the LORD” (yhwh, i.e., Yahweh) are meant to be appreciated as precious, even as we view gold and jewels. Stated another way, the references to Yahweh in the book carry more weight, are more dense, and rightly receive an extra measure of our attention, for it is here that the writers lay out what they hold to be most basic and primary. If repetition is one way of placing emphasis on important themes, rare and infrequent use of significant, highly charged terms is another.
With this in mind, we can ask ourselves what it means to “understand the fear of the LORD” or to “find the knowledge of God” (2:6). If the Lord gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, even “directly from his mouth,” the close association with “fear” and “knowledge of God” suggests that wisdom is not just practical teaching or life lessons, it has something to do with relating to God. Conversely, theological study—study done with the intention to know God more fully—cannot be separated from the way one lives one’s life.24
In her book By the Renewing of Your Minds, Ellen Charry argues that modern and even postmodern theological discourse overlooks, as a function of its operational method, the pastoral intention of premodern theologians. Those thinkers sought, in her view, to inculcate the knowledge of God with the result that persons should love God “with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.” A statement from her preface reports on her experience of reading Athanasius, Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas (among others):
They were striving not only to articulate the meaning of the doctrines but also their pastoral value or salutarity—how they are good for us. I also noticed that they understood human happiness to be tied to virtuous character, which in turn comes from knowing God. Becoming an excellent person is predicated on knowing God. For these theologians, beauty, truth, and goodness—the foundation of human happiness—come from knowing and loving God and nowhere else.25
Charry quotes Paul’s “renewing of your minds” (her version of Eph. 4:23), but can we not say that the book of Proverbs also spurs us on to doctrinal study? We are mistaken if we make a distinction between the practical teaching of wisdom and the more explicit theological teaching of other parts of Scripture. As practical as wisdom can be, it is no less theocentric in its orientation.
(2) We affirm that knowing and loving God are ends in themselves, but the Scriptures do not separate that knowledge of God from virtue, and communal virtue at that. The famous statement of the Shema (“Hear . . . ,” Deut. 6:4) is followed immediately with a reference to the commands, the majority of which are about good treatment of one’s neighbor. Jesus linked his restatement of the Shema with the Levitical teaching that “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:34–40). So here in Proverbs 2 understanding the fear of Yahweh is set in parallel structure with understanding “what is right and just and fair—every good path.”
A path is in itself a symbol of community, because in walking a path, one walks where others have and continue to walk.26 The important issue is the companions one chooses, and this matter comes up again in 2:20, “You will walk in the ways of good men.” So the young man is told to avoid the ways of the perverse man and the wayward woman because they not only mean death for him, they mean destruction for the life of the community. Thus, the themes of right relation with God and neighbor from the prologue (1:1–7) are restated and expanded in chapter 2 with new insight and examples.
Righteousness, justice, and equity are theological terms that speak of right relation with God as the basis for right relation with one’s neighbor. I once heard Bruce Waltke explain that the football that broke his neighbor’s window not only affected his neighbor but his standing with his mother, who had told him not to kick the ball in the street. In wisdom terms, straying from the path of that wisdom teaching set before us damages our relationship with both God and neighbor.
Protection. What is also new in this chapter is the idea of protection. Wisdom and its accompanying virtues are God’s means to protect one assailed by wicked men (cf. 1:9–19) and wicked women (the antitype of wisdom, 1:20–33). Therefore, the warnings of danger voiced by the parents who quote the wicked men and Woman Wisdom in chapter 1 are followed by promises of protection from such dangers. “Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm” (1:33). Wisdom that warned and threatened in chapter 1 now becomes a gift that protects from waywardness.
Wisdom, knowledge, discretion, and understanding protect the young man by keeping him on good and safe paths (2:9–11). The word “good” in 2:9, 20 frames a section that repeats the image of leaving the good path to walk on the dark, crooked, and deadly ways (2:13–15, 18–19; if one includes verbs of motion, there is a mention of path in every verse). The path of these feet is matched with words that twist truth and smooth over deception; “perverse” words are “crooked” (2:12) and “seductive” words are “smooth” (2:16). In other words, wisdom protects the one who learns it from the dangerous consequences of lies.
The lies of the wicked men promise ill-gotten wealth without punishment, as we have seen in chapter 1. The lies of the strange woman are not yet stated but are heard in her other three appearances (5:1–6; 6:20–35; 7:1–27), lies that one can have what one wants without acknowledging any boundaries or suffering any consequences. No wonder Wisdom says, “Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm” (1:33).
Therefore, the second principle we learn from this chapter is that knowledge of God and God’s way provides protection against the lies that will ultimately cause our downfall. In the view of Proverbs, there are no “harmless lies” spoken by these evil characters. In seeking to bring the wisdom of Proverbs into our time, we must look for similar messages that might deceive and lead us along dangerous paths and look for ways that wisdom helps its possessor expose those lies. Wisdom enters the disciple’s heart and protects in the end, not only from the harm that might come to us if we depart from true and good pathways but also from the unrighteous, unjust, and uncaring lives that drag our communities down with us (2:9; cf. 1:3). After all, this is what these men and women will do to any who will listen.
Wisdom saves us not only from the lies of others but also from ourselves and what we might become if we heeded them. From this text we learn that without such protection, we can easily be led astray. Humility motivates one to hold back from claiming moral competence too quickly. Wisdom is not innate, it must be learned. At the same time, wisdom will help one learn to discern good from evil, to recognize it when it is coming. When we see the wicked men and strange woman as symbols of evil, then evil becomes real to us, an enemy of wisdom that the wise learn to avoid (14:16; cf. Job 28:8). One might even speak of a fear of evil that corresponds to the fear of Yahweh (Prov. 3:7; 16:6; cf. 8:13). We become good not only by learning what is right but by avoiding what is evil.27
Desire. The third theme that is emphasized and new in this chapter is the theme of desire, presented in the words of teacher about the son’s role in his education. All students have to do their homework, but more is implied here. The urgency with which the young man is told to seek wisdom suggests that education in wisdom begins with a desire to have it. It may be that words like yearning and longing are not strong enough to describe this desire that cries out and searches intently. Desire can be misdirected and step out of bounds, becoming irresponsible and destructive, as shown in chapter 1. The greedy men desired wealth and valued that more than the persons they would hurt to get it. In the fervent teaching of this chapter, desire is to be directed toward wisdom and carried out with the single-minded purpose of the treasure hunter.
Today’s readers may well ask: How does one teach about having desire? Put another way, how does one communicate it? This is the rhetorical problem the teacher tries to solve here, and the problem is no less acute in our own time. In fact, it may be worse. The peoples of Egypt and Mesopotamia left us wisdom writings, funeral inscriptions, and other literature that again and again affirmed the essential goodness of right dealing and justice. Those themes were emphasized over and over, right alongside descriptions of the good life (wealth, status, health, and longevity).
This is not to say, of course, that such aspirations were always followed by the citizens or their king (ask the enslaved Hebrews!), but they were woven into the literary culture of the time. If an archaeologist were to sift through the literature, films, and music of our time, I wonder if that future scholar would be puzzled by the flood of communication about desire in popular culture and the relative absence of any mention of virtue and responsibility. At the time of this writing, television game shows such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? enjoy great popularity. Would a show called Who Wants to be Good? draw the same audience?28 Moreover, the book of Proverbs sets all virtue in the context of the knowledge of God, and we must admit that the desires of our time and even our own desires have not consistently been directed toward knowledge of God.
The teacher must persuade the young learner that it is good to desire wisdom, and he does so in a way that at first seems artless. The teacher simply associates the search for wisdom with the search for other desirables, such as silver or hidden treasure, and then makes the surprising move of substituting fear and knowledge of God! There are no appeals or proofs that wisdom and knowledge of God are superior; rather, it is assumed. Someone might observe that in our day a teacher cannot make the same assumption, because the ancients did not divide life into sacred and secular realms the way we do. However, I believe that the parental teacher’s attempt to shape the young man’s desires is more likely to be successful in our day for that very reason, because it also does not make the mistake of separating the good life from the virtuous life (and its theological foundations).
We do make that separation, not by denying that virtue is good but by simply focusing on what we want and need, neglecting all else. I also have a hunch that the same process was at work many years ago and prompted the wisdom writings. Why would they have been created if there were not a need to teach and remember that desire and responsibility cannot be separated? The teacher of Proverbs believes that desires can be shaped, the good life kept in union with the wise life. As we move on to discuss the contemporary significance of this wisdom teaching, we will need to examine how the principles that shape the teacher’s views on desire, understanding, and protection work themselves out in our day.
Contemporary Significance
EDUCATION IN THE contemporary home. As I teach and preach from the book of Proverbs in local churches, parents often come up to talk after class or worship service, asking, “How can I get my kids to listen to this?” They then tell their stories of teenage children who are learning to say “no” to their guidance, just as they did when they were learning to talk. These parents are worried that their kids will not listen to them, but they are more concerned that their kids are listening to messages likely to lead them to harm.
In Martin Scorcese’s film Cape Fear, a released convict wants to take his revenge on the lawyer who fudged facts and flaunted procedures to send this wrongly accused man to prison. The ex-con makes the lawyer suffer, not by physically attacking him or his family but by making them afraid. He pretends to befriend his daughter and turns her against her parents, telling her that they set limits on her freedom to keep her from growing up; he tells her there is a world to explore where she can test out her own ideas and make her own choices.
Sadly, much of what the ex-con says about the parents is true, and as they become more and more afraid, they try to exert more and more control, telling their daughter not to have anything to do with him. This, of course, alienates her even more. Yet the daughter cannot see that parents must set limits as she learns how to handle her freedom, while the parents cannot see that they have failed to encourage her in that growth. The tender balance of restraint and freedom has been upset, and the crisis of the vengeful ex-con and his seductive words only make it worse.
In this chapter of Proverbs, the parental teachers are well aware that their son is susceptible to voices that call him to cast off the restraints of their teaching. They also know that those voices call at a time in life when desires for sexual experience and peer pressure are strong. But these teachers do not say “no” for the young man; instead, they give him reasons and resources to enable him to say “no” for himself. In addition, they teach him to say “yes” to the way that leads to life instead of death.
We can look at their approach to learn what we might practice for ourselves, but we should also remember that their world was not our world, so their practices cannot be applied in our day without some reflection about the differences. Also, following the approach of Proverbs will not guarantee that kids will listen, nor does it mean that something was done wrong if they do not. As we will see many times in the study of this book, Proverbs and biblical wisdom observe how life usually works, knowing full well that barking dogs do bite sometimes.29
The teaching of this chapter urges parents to take seriously the task of wisdom education in the home. This is not to say that churches can afford to ignore this portion of the Scriptures; rather, families must give it attention since parents are, as part of their task, the primary teachers. Education is taking place all the time in home, some intentional and much that is unaware, and so it seems reasonable to ensure that teaching in biblical wisdom be included in the process.
If we can draw a model of pedagogy out of this chapter, it is above all else grounded in God’s desire to be known and loved by young and old alike. The simple but profound thought that God delights to be in relationship with us is encouraging and motivating. Education in the ancient Near East could be harsh and demanding with a heavy emphasis on the authority of the teacher. Many have seen Israelite wisdom teaching as similar, quoting the “spare the rod and spoil the child” texts (13:24; 19:25; 22:15; 29:15, 17). Yet when we remember that God not only loves us but wants to be known and loved, we notice two things about this parental instruction.
(1) It not only urges the learner to listen, it encourages him or her to become active in acquiring learning, storing up, turning the ear, inclining the heart, crying aloud, and searching relentlessly. In a word, wisdom is a gift, but wisdom requires work. We must not only tell our children and young adults that they have the responsibility and right to determine the course of their learning, we must teach in a way that says that we believe it. We can encourage questions and critical reflection. We can ask learners to talk and write about what they see as important, and we can ask them to formulate their own questions about the subject under study. I often ask students in college and seminary classes, “What do you want to learn from this course?” I tell them that I have some content I want to teach and they need to learn, but I also do not want their concerns to go overlooked.
Moreover, young learners must be reminded that God has made sure that the search for wisdom always leads to him. God wants to be found, and while sin often has us looking for God the way a mouse looks for a cat, sin need not have the final say. I like to remind myself when I teach and preach that God is doing something in the lives of these people and that my job is to show them from Scripture how that works. I am grieved when friends tell me that they grew up hearing that God knows and watches everything they do, and that it was said in a way that brought needless shame. Let us be sure that our teaching brings out the other side, that God wants us to know him in all his goodness, splendor, and love.
(2) We can appreciate that teaching involves some learning that is not self-directed but rather approaches more of what we would call a lecture. The teacher urges the son to “accept” the words spoken and “store up” the commands (2:1) in a manner Fox likens to “rote learning.” In this way, the tradition of hard-won wisdom is passed on from generation to generation. While the son is encouraged to work at his learning, observing outcomes and discerning the truthfulness of the words he will hear, he is also to store up that which has been handed over to him, even if it is not seen as relevant or useful at the time.30
As any teacher and many a student know, study does not always pay its rewards right away. If wisdom is not only a work but a gift, we can encourage patience, recognizing that the fruit of wisdom must come in their season. We can honestly share how many of life’s lessons did not come to us until late, and we can also bear witness to the long, steady growth of knowledge of God in our lives. Perhaps also as teachers we may demonstrate the same patience ourselves as we wait and trust God to be at work in our children’s lives.
It is this combination of active learning and patient waiting that characterizes the educational approach at work here. If the son is told to store up the commands “within you” in 2:1 as a first step, he then awaits the time when wisdom enters the heart and becomes his own (2:10). The learner is not only asked to listen but to take initiative and ownership, to explore on his own, with the goal of becoming wise and knowing God, not simply conforming to parental norms. The son is also asked to make his own discerning choices of companionship, choosing good company over bad (2:20)—again, as in chapter 1, based on the ability to identify and avoid seductive speech. A process of receiving, responding, and finally assimilating or integrating wisdom into one’s life aims at the goal of independent moral and spiritual judgment.31
While directions about behavior are part of the parents’ teaching, they do not seem to nag the son about behavior but rather hold out the goal of becoming wise and free, able to decide what is right for one’s self. Knowing that God through wisdom protects the son, they learn to let go in trust and confidence that inspires us to do the same.
Education for all. Parents, then, also learn in this process of educating the next generation. If parents, or better all adults, want to become effective teachers, they too will take the lessons of chapter 2 to heart and not make the mistake of only directing them at the young. The matters of desire, understanding, and protection are just as central to the life of wisdom when one is past adolescence—perhaps even more so, because the seductions become more subtle. Kids may stray outside of the norms governing their exploration of desire, sexual and otherwise, but it is the adult population that dishonors marriage with adultery and destroys community with ruthless self-advancement. The film Cape Fear, mentioned earlier, shows the outwardly respectable lawyer admitting to a friend that he had bent the rules to gain a conviction, then cheating on his wife, then taking more and more illegal steps to eliminate the ex-con. The audience is left asking: Who is the evil one here, the man consumed with hate and revenge or the hypocritical representative of the law? The answer is, of course, both.
Therefore, we must ask ourselves what our actions reveal about our true desires. Are our greatest efforts directed toward acquiring wisdom? If so, what kind of wisdom do we seek, that which enables us to succeed or that which enables us to be good and do well? If we believe we have to choose between being good and doing well, we may have our answer. What goals do we have for learning wisdom? Do we value knowledge of God above all else, making time for the study, prayer, and meditation it needs to grow? Is loving God the result for which we long, hope, and pray?
In our churches, I am concerned that we ignore the wisdom writings, but also that we may teach them without highlighting that the goal of wisdom is knowing God. If Ellen Charry is right, then we study because we love God, and that study leads us to greater love. Certainly this is a motivation for study, as I remember that my favorite teachers in seminary were the ones who showed the love of God in their lives and showed the rest of us how to come to where they were.
Protection. Finally, we might ask ourselves how that knowledge and love of God protects us from the seductions urging us to chase after irresponsible wealth and pleasure. The power of this protection seems to lie in the ability to say no, to refuse to join the voices that would lead us astray into folly. For this reason, the protection of which we speak begins to sound more like resistance, and images of Paul’s armor-clad believer come to mind (Eph. 6:10–18).
Tucked between advertising for designer clothing and articles on children’s fashion, a feature in the New York Times Magazine described the life of a conservative Christian family.32 The parents have decided to build a home and family that participates as little as possible in a culture they believe has taken a wrong turn. They home-school their seven children, buy clothing at consignment stores to avoid going to shopping malls, and celebrate a simple Christmas with a single shared family gift. Why? Because they believe that in order to teach their children to live wisely, they need to eliminate outside influences as much as possible.
The author of the article responded with a mixture of admiration and bewilderment, writing that the “way they practice their faith puts them so sharply and purposefully at odds with the larger culture that it is hard not to see the Scheibners, conservative and law-abiding as they are, as rebels.” After reading the article, a professor at a divinity school wrote about his wonder at their ability to shape their own counterculture in a way that few Christian churches seem capable.33 The point to be made here is not for home-schooling versus public education, or even dropping out versus engagement, but rather for the education in wisdom that leads to resistance. If we fear for our children, we’d better fear for ourselves as well.