1MY SON, DO NOT forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you prosperity.
3Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
5Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
7Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.
8This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.
9Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with the firstfruits of all your crops;
10then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
and your vats will brim over with new wine.
11My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline
and do not resent his rebuke,
12because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.
13Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
the man who gains understanding,
14for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
15She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
16Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
18She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
those who lay hold of her will be blessed.
19By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
20by his knowledge the deeps were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.
21My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment,
do not let them out of your sight;
22they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
23Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble;
24when you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25Have no fear of sudden disaster
or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,
26for the LORD will be your confidence
and will keep your foot from being snared.
27Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act.
28Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow”—
when you now have it with you.
29Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
30Do not accuse a man for no reason—
when he has done you no harm.
31Do not envy a violent man
or choose any of his ways,
32for the LORD detests a perverse man
but takes the upright into his confidence.
33The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the home of the righteous.
34He mocks proud mockers
but gives grace to the humble.
35The wise inherit honor,
but fools he holds up to shame.
THE BENEFITS OF acquiring wisdom again take center stage in Proverbs 3, especially in the famous verse 5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” This verse is often understood as a promise of guidance and sometimes even as a warrant for making choices that go against one’s own judgment. “It seemed crazy, but I felt the Lord’s leading. . . .” However true it may be that God’s guidance can lead us in unexpected directions, a study of this verse in its context will both enrich and challenge this understanding. In short, the teaching of this chapter urges its readers and hearers to give up their fantasies of self-determination and self-sufficiency and turn to wisdom, a guide and protector from the real danger of self-destruction. This theme of chapter 2 is repeated and developed, adding the benefits of long life, wealth, and honor (see, e.g., 3:16); wisdom alone leads to life and šalom.
Proverbs 3 is constructed as a series of three instructions, each marked by the address “my son” (3:1, 11, 21). The most outstanding feature of these instructions is the list of five admonitions in the first (3:1–10) and the list of five prohibitions in the last (3:27–31). For this reason, many commentators find only two instructions, setting 3:13–20 apart as a hymn or interlude.1 In my judgment, the distinctive character of the texts featuring personified Wisdom does not necessarily determine rhetorical structure. While it is true that “my son” does not always mark a new section in Proverbs, there are other indicators that a three-part division is the intended design here. Each address is followed by an admonition beginning with “do not.” Moreover, the name of “the LORD” (Yahweh) occurs nine times in this chapter, three times in each of the divisions.2 An outline of the chapter based on a threefold division looks like this:
Five Admonitions: “Do not forget my teaching” (3:1–10)
Blessings of Wisdom: “Do not despise the LORD’s discipline” (3:11–20)
Five Prohibitions: “Do not let sound judgment and discernment out of your sight” (3:21–35)
This structure directs the reader to pay close attention to the prominence given to the name of Yahweh. Yahweh is to be trusted, feared, and honored (3:1–10), Yahweh disciplines and creates (3:11–20), and Yahweh looks after those who walk in his way, opposing the wicked (3:21–35). In the first section, the admonitions to trust, fear, and honor Yahweh come in direct succession (3:5, 7, 9). In the second and third sections, the name of Yahweh creates a frame around the connected teachings: wisdom’s benefits (3:11–12, 19) and the five teachings of neighbor love (3:26, 32–33).
This outline also helps us observe that the teaching of the parents and the discipline of Yahweh together offer the sound judgment and discernment the young learner will use to relate to the community. Given the focus on right relationship to God in 3:1–10 and right relation to members of the community in 3:21–35, one can see the themes of piety and righteousness from chapter 2 developed here (cf. 3:4, “favor and good name” before God and humans) as well as the theme of “finding” wisdom (2:1–6).3
Five Admonitions (3:1–10)
THE THREE BENEFITS of long life, prosperity, and good reputation appear at the very start of the first instruction (3:1–4). However, these objects of desire do not come as ends in themselves but as the result of effort in learning wisdom and living wisely. The teacher means to point out the difference. Five admonitions follow on one another, all taking the form of imperative, charge, and motivation. So, for example, following the typical address “my son,” the first admonition charges the son to remember parental teaching by keeping the commands in the heart,4 then presents the benefits of long life and prosperity (cf. 1:8; Ex. 20:2 may be in mind here). This admonition not only comes first, it serves as an introduction and summary of all that follows. Specific charges are linked to specific aspects of long life and prosperity as the list continues.
The four admonitions that follow each include some mention of God. The last three use the name Yahweh, making the claim that he is to be trusted, feared, and honored. Therefore, each admonition charges the son to give up a self-centered fantasy and replace it with a God-centered reality. Readers too are challenged to hand over the fantasies of callous independence (3:3–4), self-determination (3:5–6), freedom to make one’s own moral rules (3:7–8), total ownership of goods (3:9–10), and freedom from correction (3:11–12). Taken together, their message is clear: “You cannot be masters of your own destiny; you cannot be your own gods.”
Yet the charges do not stand alone, and the complete portrayal of God is not negative or harsh. The benefits of long life and “prosperity” (šalom, 3:2) become the key motivation for the entire section. Descriptions of a good name (3:4), straight paths (3:6), bodily health (3:8), and overflowing barns and wine vats (3:10) are all variations on the theme of the good life. It is better to think of these benefits as results rather than rewards. Wisdom writers understood the life of šalom as a gift that Yahweh intends for the enjoyment of all. They also knew that some choose to depart from that path and therefore also pass up the fruits that grow along its way.5
Verses 1–4 may be read together, or at least in parallel, highlighting the trio of long life, prosperity, and good name. The charges to keep teaching and commands in the heart (3:1) correspond with love and faithfulness written on the heart and bound around the neck (3:3). So also the benefits of many years and prosperity (3:2) is matched with favor of God and the community (3:4). This parallel stresses that remembering this teaching brings about desired benefits, but the benefits are acquired through wise and righteous living, not by chasing after them.
The metaphor of writing highlights this work of memory. The learner is told to write love and faithfulness on the tablets of the heart (3:3; cf. 1:9; 6:21; 7:3; Deut. 6:8; Jer. 31:33). So also writing and placing the commandments on doorposts and binding them on forehead and arms (Deut. 6:8–9; 11:20) write not so much to make a record for accuracy as to make a reminder of the place this word has in our lives.6
Although the terms “teaching” (torah), “commands” (miṣwot), “love” (ḥesed), and “faithfulness” (ʾemet) are most often used with reference to God’s own actions and attributes (and so highlight the intense presence of Yahweh in this passage), here they show how humans may learn to live life as God intended (Prov. 3:4; cf. Luke 2:52). The contrast here is not between sacred and secular wisdom as many interpreters claim, but between being wise in one’s own eyes (Prov. 3:7; cf. Isa. 5:20–21) and having favor in the sight (lit., “eyes”) of God and other humans.
The two admonitions in 3:5–8 go together like the pair in 3:1–4; the negative imperatives in both warn against trust in one’s own understanding (v. 5) and wisdom (v. 7). The positive imperatives come first, however; “trust in the LORD” and “fear the LORD” bring their welcome benefits of security and health. Just as in 3:1, 3 where the teaching is to be written on the heart, so here one is to “trust in the LORD with all your heart” (3:5). The parallel with “lean not on your own understanding” indicates that “trust” is trust in the goodness of God’s ways, communicated in covenantal teaching like that of Deuteronomy, but also here in wisdom teaching. Therefore, those who choose the way of wisdom as their own (3:6) trust that God knows how things ought to go and are willing to stake their lives on it.
Thus, 3:5 should not be used to support the notion that this confidence is a sort of blind trust that suspends critical judgment. Rather, the student of wisdom learns to have confidence that living for God is the most reasonable thing to do, and this will be proved as Yahweh makes straight the path (3:6). The Hebrew word for “straight” denotes travel made safe by clearing and leveling the road.7 Making a straight path is also a form of guidance, as, for example, when one creates a path for water (cf. NIV text note). In short, 3:5–6 speak more about guidance in ethical behavior than particular choices such as career or mate. Leaning on one’s own understanding is more than failing to pray about decisions. It is more like being wise in one’s own eyes (3:7), that is, believing that one can determine what is right and wrong without guidance from God and his gift of wisdom.
The last admonitions (3:9–10) stand out from the others; not only are they more specific, but they can also be traced to the rules for worship in Israel in the giving of firstfruits (Ex. 23:19; Num. 28:26–31; Deut. 26:1–11). The practice of offering a portion of one’s means to God acknowledges God as the source and provider. If there is any area in which people in every age are tempted to be wise in their own eyes, it is in the fantasy that wealth is a product of their own competence and nothing more. The teaching answers such a fantasy by pointing to barns of grain and vats of grapes, agricultural products of human labor that in the end are beyond human control. These blessings of overflowing containers completes the list of benefits enjoyed in the life of šalom (cf. Prov. 3:2).
In sum, the first instruction of chapter 3 sets its sights on the heart and its relation to God. In so doing, it looks ahead to the teaching of 4:20–27 that the heart is the wellspring of life. It is the heart that gives direction to a life by making the primary choice between arrogant self-reliance and trust. The heart that trusts Yahweh, fears Yahweh, and honors Yahweh understands and knows that life can only be found in paths that lead straight toward him, not away.
Blessings of Wisdom (3:11–20)
THE “MY SON” and “do not” of 3:11 mark the beginning of a new section, just as they do for 3:1 and 21. In this section there is only one admonition (to welcome Yahweh’s discipline), which is followed by a poem in praise of wisdom’s great worth. The admonition advises the young man to neither despise nor resent Yahweh’s “discipline” (musar) and “rebuke” (tokaḥat), for they are signs of fatherly love. The potential for the son to “despise” and “resent” such teaching stands in stark contrast with the “love” and “delight” with which it is given. Unlike the more tangible motivations of 3:1–10, this one holds out God’s love as a motive in itself. Taken in context with all of the parental instructions of chapters 1–9, the statement becomes a strong reminder that this parental teaching originates in the parental love of Yahweh. His discipline sets in motion a chain of teaching that extends from generation to generation (cf. 4:1–4).
The “discipline” (musar) spoken of here is primarily that of teaching and correction. It is not equivalent to punishment, although Proverbs uses the word in a few contexts where the translation “punishment” is warranted, usually in association with folly (13:24; 16:22; 22:15; 23:13). Discipline may use punishment as a teaching method to supplement verbal correction, but it is not clear that physical punishment is in view in this context.8
The parent’s verbal corrections of 3:1, 3, 5, 7 set the stage for the comparison with Yahweh’s fatherly chastening. The use of the word “rebuke” (tokaḥat) recalls the verbal correction offered by Wisdom (1:23, 25, 30), whose threats of coming disaster do not use the word “discipline” or “punishment.” Also, the emphasis on teaching and correction in this context does not include the idea of hardship or suffering,9 as it does in Job 5:17–18 or Hebrews 12:5–6 (which quotes this saying in a discussion of persecution). Other contexts use the motif of fatherly discipline for testing (Deut. 8:5) and punishment (2 Sam. 7:14; Ps. 89:32–33), but not these here. Verbal discipline both teaches and corrects.
The admonition is followed by a hymn-like poem in Proverbs 3:13–18. “Blessed,” the first word of verse 13 and the last word of verse 18, frames a section that extols the supreme worth of Woman Wisdom. This word also reminds readers that the Psalms describe the happiness of one who follows the teaching (torah) of Yahweh, to be desired “more than gold, more than pure gold” (Ps. 119:126–127; cf. 19:7–10). Personified Wisdom makes her second appearance in Proverbs, although she does not speak as she did in chapter 1. To “find wisdom” recalls the vocabulary of Proverbs 1:28: “They will look for me but will not find me,” and its echo in 8:17: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”
Two sets of images follow the blessing of the one who finds wisdom and gains understanding; in the first, images of silver, gold, and rubies compare her worth and profit to the world’s greatest wealth (3:14–15) of precious metals and jewels10 (and what they can buy). If their glitter fades next to her radiant worth, what becomes of all other dreams and desires? The last line reaches a climax with its answer: more than silver, more than gold, more than rubies, nothing you can think of compares!
A second series of images complements the offer of long life and prosperity from 3:2. Like a patron, Wisdom offers long life in her right hand, riches and honor in her left (3:16).11 Her ways are “pleasant” or perhaps kindly (noʿam), and her paths are “peace” (šalom). The repetition of šalom from 3:2 (NIV “prosperity”) once again identifies Wisdom with the parent’s teaching, just as her speech followed that of the parents in chapter 1.
As used throughout the book of Proverbs and indeed throughout the Bible, šalom is a term rich with meaning. It can variously be defined as peace, abundance, and well-being—all signs of the good life lived in harmony with God and God’s creation. Thus, this poem uses a number of images to get across its picture of šalom. The “tree of life” is a widespread symbol of goodness and blessing in the ancient world. Goddesses were often depicted as trees, sometimes flanked by worshipers.12 Here in Proverbs, the phrase that wisdom “is a tree of life” is most likely modeled after Genesis 3:22, but interpreters have also claimed influence from other ancient Near Eastern texts, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.13
In seeking to understand this image, we do well to examine other scriptural contexts first before casting a larger net into ancient Near Eastern literatures. In the book of Proverbs, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (11:30); so is a longing fulfilled (13:12), the teaching of the wise (13:14), and a tongue that brings healing (15:4). Thus wisdom as the tree of life inspires behaviors that are also life-giving. In Genesis, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil are both in the middle of the garden (Gen. 2:9). Yet after the first couple ate from the tree of knowledge in hopes of becoming “like God, knowing good and evil” (3:5), God held the first couple back from the tree of life to save them from becoming like God again and living forever (3:22–24).14 The everlasting trees in Ezekiel 47:12 bear fruit for food and leaves for healing. Both the Genesis and Ezekiel images appear in Revelation: The tree of life at last becomes accessible in Revelation 2:7 and Ezekiel’s tree bears its fruit in Revelation 22:2.
In sum, in the Old Testament the specific phrase “tree of life” is limited to Genesis and Proverbs, but the tree in Proverbs does not carry the narrow meaning of everlasting life; it appears as more of a source of good life and health than of eternal life.15 Yet readers of long ago may have been reminded of the account in Genesis and noted that now they are encouraged to take hold of the tree of life—here in Proverbs a metaphor for acquiring and following wisdom (the same word for “take hold” is used of the father’s words in Prov. 4:4).
A similar appeal is found in Psalm 1, where the one whose delight is in the law of Yahweh is compared to a flourishing tree. In both texts, the blessings of life follow on obedience to Yahweh’s teaching.16 It seems best, then, to understand the phrase “tree of life” in Proverbs 3:16–17 as summarizing the ways and benefits of wisdom. With this biblical usage as a base, references to ancient Near Eastern literature and iconography can enrich our understanding of this ancient imagery without requiring theories of direct influence.
In 3:19–20, a depiction similar to the creation account from Genesis 1 makes a surprising appearance, almost as if the tree of life triggers other thoughts about creation. Here “wisdom,” “understanding,” and “knowledge” are the guiding principles. The same wisdom that made a place for life by dividing the waters above from the waters below also lets down from above only enough water at a time to allow life to flourish. The blessing of water falling from the heavens may echo the blessing of Deuteronomy 28:12, “The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none,” and its reversal in 28:23: “The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron” (neither can be split to let water out).
If the admonitions in Proverbs 3:1–10 challenge the reader to remember that life and its goodness are gifts of Yahweh, this picture of creation does the same through poetic imagery. Moreover, if wisdom is the principle by which the Lord gives life, it makes sense that those who find it and lay hold of it (3:13, 18) are called “blessed.” Wisdom’s role in creation is merely sketched here, but it will be developed when she speaks for herself in chapter 8, using many of the terms found here.17 For now it is enough to notice that references to creation undergird the good life and šalom offered by wisdom through the parents’ teaching. If Woman Wisdom was involved in the creation of a place for life to thrive, then, metaphorically speaking, she surely can bestow God’s gift of life through her teaching.
Five Prohibitions (3:21–35)
THIS FINAL SECTION presents the typical elements of the instruction form in a different order: a charge to keep wisdom teaching (3:21), descriptions of benefits (3:22–26), and a series of ethical teachings (3:27–31). Departure from the form is also significant. Whereas the first of the instructions in this chapter came from the parent (3:1) and the second names “the LORD” (3:11–12), the third begins with a charge to keep “sound judgment and discernment” (3:21). This is the first of the addresses that does not refer to teaching external to the son, whether from the parents, Wisdom, or Yahweh. Instead, these acquired capacities for thinking and living in accordance with wisdom teaching will direct the young man on his way, keeping him safe.
The goal of wisdom teaching is the formation of a person of discernment. “Sound judgment” uses the same word as does 2:7 for “victory” (tušiyya) and denotes clear thinking in practical matters. “Discernment” (“discretion” in 1:7 and 2:11, mezimmah) refers to the capacity for internal thinking and planning.18 Thus planning and acting come together, using the terms the parents used earlier as they urged the son to accept their teaching. The gifts of wisdom’s skills promised in chapter 2 have now been acquired, and the father now urges the son to hold onto them: “Do not let them out of your sight” (3:21). The son hears his father tell him to keep them “before your eyes” to prevent becoming “wise in your own eyes” (3:7). The teachers of Proverbs (parents, Wisdom, Yahweh) do their work with the goal of imparting this ability so that students can use discernment and decide for themselves; a major theme of Proverbs is learning how to live wisely by internalizing teachings and using them to develop the skills of living.
As in chapter 2, “sound judgment and discernment” are associated with images of safety and security (2:7, 11), a reversal of the terrors of 1:22–32. Yahweh will keep the wise son safe; he will also keep his foot from being snared (“safety” [beṭaḥ] uses the same Heb. root as “trust” in 3:5). Most travel in the ancient world was by foot, so a safe road was a clear and smooth road, one free of stones and briars.19 Safe passage by day is paired with peaceful rest at night, confident that someone is standing guard (cf. Ps. 91:5; 127:2). The pairing of day and night is a merism, a figure of speech stressing that Yahweh protects all the time. The assurance that he will be the son’s confidence comes again in Proverbs 3:31–32, restating the disaster of the wicked in 3:25.
The list of five prohibitions against bad treatment of neighbors in 3:27–32 stands in structural symmetry with the five admonitions to honor Yahweh in 3:1–10. The structure seems to say that right relationship with God moves one to right dealings with one’s neighbors. Each prohibition begins with the Hebrew negative ʾal and concludes with a warrant or reason for the prohibition. The list can be best understood if these six verses are read as a sequence of three pairs (vv. 27–28, 29–30, 31–32).
The warning of 3:27, “Do not withhold good,” sounds like an odd way to recommend doing good, but the second line reads literally, “when it is in your hand to do,” leading readers from the general maxim in verse 27 to the particular case of one who pays what is owed in 3:28. Whether “it” refers to payment of a debt or wage or to making a gift or loan to help in time of need, the point is clear. Saying “tomorrow” is a way of putting off both neighbor and the opportunity to do a good deed. Employers in Israel were warned against taking advantage of the poor by withholding daily wages (Deut. 24:14–15; Lev. 19:13). Timely follow-through of one’s promises and commitments is also a good principle. “The positive aspect of the maxim is bis dat qui cito dat: ‘he gives twice who gives promptly.’ ”20 An ancient version of our “talk is cheap” comes from Sumer: “What comes out of someone’s mouth is not in his hand.”21
The next pair of prohibitions moves from the sin of withholding good to the greater wrong of planning and doing harm to a neighbor (Prov. 3:29–30; the term “neighbor” makes a link with vv. 27–28). Both withholding good and planning harm speak of damage done to an innocent neighbor who “lives trustfully” nearby (“trust” translating the same Heb. word as in 3:5 and “safety” in 3:23).22 As in the case of withholding payment, here again an innocent neighbor’s expectations are thwarted, this time by a false accusation (most likely in a legal dispute). Trust is repaid with treachery. Ahab and Jezebel’s theft of Naboth’s vineyard is the Bible’s most vivid example of a false accusation used for illegal gain (2 Kings 21:1–26).
A single prohibition and its supporting argument form the final pair of prohibitions (Prov. 3:31–32). Ways of violence stand in contrast with ways that acknowledge Yahweh (3:6) and wisdom’s paths of peace (3:17). The terms “no reason” (ḥinnam, v. 30) and “violent men” (ʾiš ḥamas, v. 31) recall the bandits of 1:10–19 and the wicked men of 2:12–15, men whose ways are not to be taken (1:15; 2:12). They are not to be “envied” because Yahweh “detests” them—“detests” designating that which he finds an abomination (toʿ abat yhwh). This phrase is found only in Deuteronomy23 and Proverbs. While some argue for Proverbs’ dependence on Deuteronomy, we simply note the use of the term to express God’s intense hatred of evil and leave questions of literary influence aside.24 “Confidence” (sod) repeats the Hebrew term for “foundations” in 3:19; here it is most likely a term for God’s secret counsel (cf. Amos 3:7).
The final three verses continue the series of contrasts that began in Proverbs 3:32, each comparing Yahweh’s dealings with the righteous and the wicked. If the earlier section of admonitions (3:3–11) put Yahweh at the center of the disciplined life, these contrasts add to the earlier list of benefits, stressing God’s friendship with the wise. “Grace” (ḥen) recalls the favor of 3:4 and 22 (cf. James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). “Honor” (kabod, Prov. 3:35) looks back to the honor given to God in 3:9. God’s opposition to the wicked takes on a social dimension, mockers being mocked in return and fools held up to shame in the community.
Verse 35 reverses the order of the previous contrasts so that the wise come first and fools come in dead last. In all, this third instruction juxtaposes the safety of the righteous with good done to the trusting neighbor. Threats of ruin to the wicked (3:25, 33) frame the teaching about doing good, not harm (3:27–31). Blessing comes to the righteous (cf. 10:6–7, 22). Keeping one’s neighbor safe results in safe protection from Yahweh. This chapter, like the two before it, ends with a vision of trouble for the wicked and safety for the righteous.
In sum, the three instructions of chapter 3 work together to present the benefits of acquiring wisdom by appealing to human desires for the good life in all of its dimensions, spiritual and social. The good life of šalom only comes about when we seek it for others instead of for ourselves only. Love and faithfulness (3:3) not only embody God’s way of doing things; they win favor and a good name, with God and with those who benefit from our commitment to that way. Fear of Yahweh (3:7) leads one to turn away from doing evil to others. Honoring Yahweh with wealth (3:9) certainly involves fair treatment of neighbors and care for the poor. Finally, trust in Yahweh is more than trust for our own well-being; it is for that of others. The straight path of 3:5 is echoed in 3:25, 31–33 as safety from the ruin of the wicked.
AS WE BRING the insights of this chapter into our own time, we must remember that “trust in the LORD” in the context of this chapter also carries with it the idea of following the Lord’s way of wisdom in order to enjoy its benefits. Believers today can make the mistake of taking the rich imagery of blessing in these instructions as promises rather than as motivations to learn and live by wisdom. These instructions do not promise that those who trust the Lord will find the right career or life partner or always enjoy success and prosperity. Rather, they urge their readers to let wisdom guide them in the way they go about enjoying the gifts of this life and to keep them from making the error of setting their own good life above that of others.
Consumerism. As contemporary culture is saturated with the ethos of consumerism, so the culture of ancient Israel had its own perils of making the gifts of health, reputation, and prosperity into the highest goals in life, bypassing the virtues of humble worship and neighbor love. The biblical stories of wily Jacob meeting his match in his greedy uncle Laban (Gen. 27:1–31:55) show that this danger has always been with us, though today’s marketing strategies present the undisciplined pursuit of our desires as a virtue. Magazine racks filled with advice on how to pursue Money and Healthy Living set out smiling examples for us to follow, and Christians can mistakenly transfer the advice and promises of those teachers over to the biblical text, perhaps without realizing what they are doing. This is not to say that believers should not desire life’s good things, that we should not manage our finances or quit exercising, but rather that we were created to desire more than that.
The parental wisdom teachers of Proverbs set out to correct the human tendency to pursue the fruits of wisdom as ends in themselves. They knew the dangers of putting the blessings of life, possessions, and status before all else, even in the place of God, and of making them into idols. They saw that without fear of Yahweh and the love of wisdom, the quest for the good life can go terribly wrong. They offered their instruction and correction to show us how to put first things first, to keep us from putting the cart of the good life before the horse of wise and godly living. Again, remember that the portraits of wickedness in these chapters are extreme examples of what can happen in yielding to the same temptations that assault us. While we may not live like those examples of evil, we may give in to those seductions to lesser degrees.
Šalom. The sages who gave us the book of Proverbs drew their insights from observation of the way life works and from the traditions of Israel we know today as the Old Testament. Twice in this chapter the word šalom is used to describe Wisdom’s benefits (“prosperity,” 3:2) and the paths by which they are attained (wisdom’s paths are “peace,” 3:17). Thus the term šalom can be used for well-being (Gen. 29:6; 43:27; Ps. 28:3; Isa. 7:18; Jer. 6:14) as well as for friendly relationships (Gen. 34:21; Judg. 4:17; 1 Kings 4:24; Zech. 6:13) and peace.
There is a wordplay on Solomon’s name (šelomoh) and peace (šalom) in 1 Chronicles 22:9–10.25 This meaning corresponds to the only other use of the word šalom in Proverbs: “There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace” (Prov. 12:20). Faithful use of words and actions promotes šalom in relationships and demonstrates that God is present there. “Our creator does not want us to live in broken relationships, hurting each other with words and images that destroy our joy and delight and spread hatred and despair.”26 As two of the three occurrences in Proverbs of šalom are here in this chapter, we must pay special attention to that theme.
Key terms for the benefits of šalom in the first section recur in the second and third, joining them together as links in a chain. In the first instruction, the Hebrew terms for “prolong your life” (ʾorek yamim) and “prosperity” (šalom) in 3:2 are used again in the second instruction as “long life” (3:16) and “peace” (3:17). Thus the rewards for attending to the parental teaching are identified with wisdom and its benefits. The “honor” (root kbd) of the firstfruits in 3:9 is answered with honor from wisdom (3:9) and Yahweh (3:35).
Love of God and neighbor. We have seen that just as chapter 2 used the literary form of the acrostic to define itself as a unit, so chapter 3 uses the rhetorical device of inclusio or framing. The parallels between the first instruction with its list of five admonitions and the third with its list of five prohibitions are key to understanding the message of the chapter. We have also seen that the one list describes right relation to God and the other right relation to neighbor, yet the teaching makes use of common vocabulary and imagery. Just as the young learner is never to let love and faithfulness “leave” (3:3), so he must preserve (lit., “not leave”) sound judgment and discernment (3:21). In each case the reward is “life” (hayyim, 3:2, 22). The word “favor” (ḥen, 3:4), coming as a reward for keeping love and faithfulness tied around the “neck,” appears again in the third instruction as “grace” for the neck (3:22). The “trust” in Yahweh who makes paths straight (3:5) is echoed in the “safety” on the way (root bṭḥ, 3:5, 23).
Moreover, insofar as we have noted some correspondence between the first instruction and the charge to love God in Deuteronomy 6,27 we also observe that it extends to the third instruction about fair dealings with neighbors.28 In this way the twin concerns in Deuteronomy of love of God and love of neighbor resonate with the teaching of Proverbs 3. Thus, the one concrete teaching in the first teaching is the offer of the firstfruits (3:9; cf. Deut. 26:1–11), and this is answered in the third section with the teaching that can be read, “do not withhold good from its owner” (Prov. 3:27; cf. Deut. 24:12–15; cf. 15:9).
When Jesus brought together the commands to love God and one’s neighbor (Mark 12:28; cf. Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18), he drew from an old biblical tradition, one common to Deuteronomic teaching and Proverbs’ wisdom. This tradition knew how easy it is to forget to trust, fear, and honor Yahweh, and they knew that those who forget God start to forget their neighbors as well. Idolatry and injustice are never far away from each other. These terms seem strong for our own day, because they are so definitive. Who would answer yes to the questions: “Are you an idolater? Do you practice injustice?” But we know, as did the sages of old, that these dangers do not announce themselves when they come on the scene, they simply appeal to our desires and tempt us to put those desires above all else (cf. James 1:14–15).
The direct teaching of the first and third instructions urges us to examine our lives, mixture of good intentions and weaknesses that they are, and to strive for consistency. We may not conduct our lives the way the teacher says the wicked do, but that teacher also knows we are subject to the same temptations. As we seek to bring the teaching of this chapter into our own day, we will also take care to not separate love of God from love of neighbor, whether they be neighbors in our church, community, or human race.
Woman Wisdom. Sandwiched between the direct teaching of two instructions on right relations with God and with neighbors is the indirect or poetic instruction on Yahweh’s discipline. It moves from the address and charge into the motivation of God’s love for those he teaches and his poem in praise of wisdom. Women in churches and classes have told me that they appreciate the positive association of this personification of Wisdom with teaching and the tree of life, since the association of Eve and the tree of life in Genesis is often the only image that is heard in church teaching. The neglect can support the error that extends the error of Eve’s action to all women, assuming that somehow they are weaker or more susceptible to sin. Students of church history know that this misinterpretation has a long tradition behind it. The picture of Woman Wisdom as a teacher and source of life is a welcome corrective and should be lifted up.
What shall we say about the story of Eve and the fruit that she saw was “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom?” (Gen. 3:6). This is not the place to do justice to the extensive history of interpretation of this foundational passage, but we may wonder if it was the third quality, “desirable for gaining wisdom,” that must have been especially appealing since all the trees of the garden were pleasing to the eye and good for food (Gen. 2:9). Reading the story with Proverbs 3 in mind, we might ask, Did the first couple fail to trust in Yahweh? Did they seek to become wise in their own eyes? Was their rejection of Yahweh’s instruction not to eat from the tree a way of despising his discipline and correction?
Whatever the answers to those questions may be, I suggest that the sages’ positive use of images reminds us of the painful Genesis story in order to tell a new story, in which instruction is received and life with its blessing is granted.29 It directs our attention past the grief that drives Psalm 90 with its images of dust and brevity and toward the joy of life that comes in Psalm 1, a poem that uses the words and images also used here: obedience, openness to God, blessedness, trees that thrive. Here in Proverbs as in Psalm 1, God watches over the way of the righteous but not the way of the wicked (Ps. 1:6). In bringing this teaching into our own time, we must allow God’s discipline to teach us the difference between grasping for forbidden fruit to make us wise in our own eyes and holding on to the tree of life, that is, wisdom that has learned to trust.
Trust. In the teaching of Proverbs, trust is the antidote to worry, not because it means we will have all we desire but because trust will keep us from taking matters into our own hands—that is, to turn from God’s way to life and its blessings in order to grab the fruit for ourselves that we may well have been given in time. The problem is the human inclination to put well-being and possessions above everything else, even neighbor and God. This being the danger, we can see why the teacher is at such pains to tell us that wisdom is worth more than silver, gold, jewels, or anything else we might imagine. Wisdom here is the symbol for the obedient life sketched out in the rest of the chapter. To hold her is to hold everything; to miss her is to miss life.
Perhaps the greatest illusion of all time is that there is nothing of more value than certain pieces of metal or stone. So Jesus taught his followers, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. . . . For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. . . . No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Therefore, I tell you, do not worry . . .” (Matt. 6:19–25). Thus, the teacher’s comparison of wisdom’s worth with silver, gold, and precious stones is not only meant to increase our estimation of her but also to make us aware of the need to put those valuables in their proper place. If we put them first, then there is no life, no šalom. If wisdom is devalued, so is God’s discipline, and as a result, so are other persons.
Trust in Yahweh is more a matter of yielding to the wisdom of his ways than in expecting provision; trust is the antidote toward the self-rule of autonomy.30 Having said this, Proverbs 3 also reminds us that by putting obedience over the concern for the goods of this world, we do find that we have been provided for. Furthermore, trust in Yahweh implies that he is trustworthy; to give him the reins means he knows what is good for us better than we do ourselves. This is not to say that trusting God means we no longer are responsible for figuring out the best course of action, but that we put God’s desires at the center of our decision-making. The parent’s instruction, “Do not forget my teaching,” seeks to nurture a heart that trusts Yahweh and abandons the fantasies of autonomy, untutored self-rule.
Discipline and correction. In this chapter there is the good news that through the parents’ teaching in wisdom, God disciplines and corrects. Moreover, that discipline is the sign of love, love like a father for his son. Of course, it is the love of parent for child that is expressed in the language of the time and the ancient genre of wisdom instruction. This is not the preferential love that Jacob showed to Joseph, the “son of his old age” (Gen. 37:3), or that of the father who buys a baseball glove for his child yet to be born. This parental love seeks to shape character. The repeated prohibitions (“do not”) use the binary approach31 of “not this, but that” to correct learners, just as a violin teacher takes hold of the hand of the student to say, “Stop doing that and do it this way.” Correction is as important to teaching as positive instruction.
It is good news that God remains willing to correct instead of writing off those who err. As we read the contrasts between the righteous and the wicked, we should remember that it is not Yahweh who has given up on the wicked but the wicked who have given up on Yahweh and his correction. It is that corrective aspect of instruction that protects and keeps us safe from “the ruin of the wicked.” In other words, the safety described again and again in Proverbs is not primarily that of angels who keep us from stepping in front of speeding trucks (although I believe this does happen). Rather, the correction of the Lord keeps us from stepping onto paths that inevitably lead to destruction. Again, this is said, not to make less of divine protection but rather to understand the original intention of this text. We err when we interpret instruction as a promise.
We also misunderstand 3:11–12 when we set them in the context of suffering, a context foreign to Proverbs. I do not deny, of course, that suffering can be a great teacher; many persons who have suffered illness or great loss will testify that it is. Suffering as a means of God’s discipline is part of the argument of Job’s comforters in Job 5:17–18 and 33:15–30. Striking and wounding are specified in Job 5:17–18 in parallel with binding and healing, but there is no such reference to striking in Proverbs 3:11–12 and no indication that the discipline and rebuke mentioned there are anything other than verbal instruction and correction.
Inasmuch as it is presumptuous and dangerous to counsel that suffering is sent to teach (remember that the counsel of Job’s friends was finally rejected by God), I believe it is also mistaken to use this text from Proverbs to counsel those who are experiencing great pain. Jesus, like Job, refused to connect physical misfortune and suffering to sin, as in the case of the man born blind (John 9:1–5). Except for clear cases when consequences follow from wrongdoing, when we presume to know what has brought on the suffering of another, we are in danger of inflicting great hurt and dishonoring God.
But what of Hebrews 12:5–6 and its quotation of this text? Note first of all that Proverbs 3:11–12 is applied to the suffering of persecution, not personal suffering. Note too that Hebrews stresses the point of sonship, as expounded in Hebrews 12:7–10, probably quoting the LXX of Proverbs and its translation of “punish”32 to demonstrate that the hardship of persecution is not a sign of God’s abandonment but of God’s love. Hebrews was written to encourage the perseverance of Christians suffering the hardship of persecution, not illness or personal loss.
Moreover, I maintain that this understanding of hardship as discipline comes from the wider biblical tradition, not this text of Proverbs. The stress in Proverbs 3 is on protection and freedom from evil’s consequences, not on coping with pain and suffering. If we find ourselves ready to say something like, “Perhaps this misfortune happened because the LORD wants to teach you . . .” we should hold our tongues, practicing another teaching of the book of Proverbs.
We might be able to better appreciate the rhetorical strategy of 3:11–12 and their context by looking at Deuteronomy 8:1–9:5, a text with concerns and terms similar to those of Proverbs 3. There we read a charge to follow Moses’ command with a reward of life (Deut. 8:1), followed by a review of Yahweh’s leading and teaching in the desert: “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you” (8:5). The Israelites are to walk in his ways and fear him (8:6) as he leads them into a land of lush provision (8:7–13), never forgetting Yahweh or trusting their own ability (8:14–18). They are not to trust in their own righteousness but to recognize that the wickedness of the nations drove them out (9:4–5).
They are also to remember that Yahweh led them into the desert to humble them and test them, and to teach them that persons “[do] not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deut. 8:3). In other words, the emphasis is on provision; God led them into a place where there was no water or food and gave it to them (8:15–16), and this was done to “discipline” (or “instruct,” musar [8:5]) them and give them something to remember (8:17). If they forgot, then they were not to be disciplined but destroyed like the other nations (8:19–20). The focus is not on punishment but provision. Israel was brought to a place of need to learn that there is more to life than the satisfaction of need; there is trusting relationship with God. Israel failed to learn the lesson as Zephaniah 3:2 reports. Speaking of Jerusalem, he says: “She obeys no one, she accepts no correction [musar]. She does not trust [beṭaḥ] in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.”
I believe something similar is going on in Proverbs 3: God disciplines (3:11–12) and directs the student’s attention to Wisdom and her provision (3:3–18). Wisdom is involved in the creation of a place with just enough water for life to thrive (3:19–20), and provision comes from God’s hand, not our own. The lesson is taught by means of blessing, not punishment. Disaster comes to the wicked (3:25, 31–35), not as instruction but as judgment.
To sum up, Proverbs 3 is about trust and about how trust can discipline our desires in the direction of God and the gift of wisdom. Desires can move us to greed or, as the teaching of this chapter shows, toward contentment. The chapter urges us to honor God, find wisdom, and do good to our neighbors—all three touching on the way we think about and handle our wealth. Central to the chapter is the image of creation; by wisdom and understanding, a life-sustaining environment was established, life-threatening flood waters were held back, and life-giving dew was allowed to fall. These poetic images of wisdom reinforce the directives to love God and neighbor by inserting a picture of God making a place for life. They support the claim that trust in Yahweh does bring the šalom of security, health, and plenty. They also provide a model for a life lived in harmony with one’s neighbors, illustrating another dimension of šalom.
In short, the hymn-like praise of wisdom links together the instructions on relating to God and neighbor in a way that underscores aspects of life in each (cf. “life” in 3:2, 18, 22). As we have looked at the three instructions and their interaction with one another, we have seen that teaching about wisdom (3:7, 13–19, 35) appears in each as well as the benefits of life, plenty, and honor. However, most important is the chapter’s insistence that wisdom is the means God uses to sustain and nurture life. If Wisdom was instrumental in God’s bringing order and life to this created world, then she can surely do the same for those who find her.
Contemporary Significance
AS WE LISTEN to hear the message these principles have for our contemporary situation, we must also take care to understand these principles in the intention they were given. They are not sure-fire promises of success, as if Yahweh were bound to provide a healthy and prosperous life to all who turn to him. We know better, and so did the people of long ago. They knew that there is no formula that will give us mastery over our future or mastery over God. In fact, the motive clauses in these admonitions are not promises at all; they are descriptions of how life generally turns out for those who understand its principles. They offer no guarantees against sickness or poverty, but they do suggest how we can avoid bringing them on ourselves.
The big message. As teachers and preachers work at communicating the message of these three instructions, it is my hope that the larger message of the whole will shape the teaching of any one part. Here’s how it goes: Do not be wise in your own eyes so that you fail to trust that God’s ways are best (3:1–10). Do not reject the Lord’s teaching so that you miss the life-giving riches of wisdom (3:11–20). Do not lose your sense of judgment and discernment so that you take what belongs to your neighbors (3:21–32). If you remember these things, you will preserve life and šalom for others and for yourselves.
Preachers and teachers may want to focus on the main point of each of the three instructions separately, but they should do so with the rhetorical strategy of the whole chapter in view. Although there are directives at the beginning and end of the chapter, the primary rhetorical strategy is to make changes in attitude that will lead to changes in actions. In other words, directives about tithing firstfruits and paying what is owed to others all point to one’s inner responses toward God, toward others, and toward wealth.
To say this is not to imply that actions are not important, but rather the contrary, that actions reveal attitudes because they are motivated by attitudes. Kenneth Burke called attitude an incipient action, or as I like to say, an action waiting to happen. He understood that the most effective rhetoric seeks to make changes in how people think and feel about the world around them, believing that changes made there will influence the choices they make. The rhetoric of this chapter, setting a poetic teaching on the value of wisdom between two sets of practical teachings, was shaped to influence our attitudes toward persons and things, to teach us how to respond to each.
I once received a gift of a unique calendar. Instead of pictures, each month posted a different quote from C. S. Lewis. The one I remember (but have yet to track down) said that only two things last forever: God and human persons. As I reflect on that statement, I realize how easy it is to try to use God and people in our love of things, instead of working the other way around. The sages who preserved and passed down Proverbs 3 believed that this deadly reversal of priorities can itself be turned around. They saw the dangers of living life under one’s own rule, so they placed teaching about loving Yahweh first. They saw that in our worry over our security, we can all too easily value riches above anything or anyone, so they put images of wisdom and creation next. Finally, they knew how easy it is to hold back or even to take what is not ours, so they offered their teaching on right treatment of neighbors.
Here is the rhetorical strategy behind those famous words, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” Trust is the antidote to autonomy, worry, and a preoccupation with holding and taking. Put another way, this chapter sets out trust as a way to learn how to love God, how to love the things of this world, and how to love other persons, keeping each in its proper place.
The novels of Wallace Stegner tell stories of people who, to greater or lesser degrees, failed to learn the lessons of this chapter. His first, The Big Rock Candy Mountain, was based on the life of his family, his father a figure of all that was foolhardy about the early twentieth-century expansion of the American West. Reflecting on that experience years later, he wrote:
Ordinary people . . . are just as susceptible to dreams as the ambitious and greedy, and respond as excitedly to the adventure, the freedom, the apparently inexhaustible richness of the West. . . . I know that historical hope, energy, carelessness, and self-deception. I knew it before I could talk. Father practically invented it, though he qualified more as sucker than as booster, and profited accordingly.33
Stegner’s father moved his family continually around the West, always in search of the big payoff—sometimes farming, sometimes speculating, sometimes running illegal liquor. His last get-rich-quick scheme moved him to buy land and cut down acres of two-hundred-year old oak trees and sell them for firewood. Stegner remembers, “He died broke and friendless in a fleabag hotel, having done more human and environmental damage than he could have repaired in a second lifetime.”34 He took the name for The Big Rock Candy Mountain from the hobo song his father used to sing about a land where everyone can get something for nothing. In a television interview, Stegner said, “I was trying to write my father out of my life,” for in the father’s search for the big windfall, his family became the losers.
Practicing šalom In Proverbs we find a father and mother who hope to write themselves into their son’s life for good, and a Lord who, like a father, wants to do the same. Their images of good life and šalom are more than some version of the legendary Schlarafenland, where rivers flow wine and roasted chickens run by with fork and knife sticking out. Their instructions do not promise something for nothing but rather the hard-won fruits of learning that transform a person from the inside out. There are really only two commands in this chapter. The first, said in many ways, is “find wisdom,” with its implications of learning the teachings so we can learn to love. The second is “keep a close watch on your hand,” making sure it does not hold back or grasp what is not ours in the first place. Notice these are not far from Jesus’ command to love God and one’s neighbor. Believers cannot separate the two. Put another way using terms central to this chapter, believers cannot enjoy šalom without practicing šalom.
We could say that following the directives and transforming our perspective by means of the three instructions in this chapter leads to a life of virtue, which is an acquired character that makes choices based on what is good in the practice itself, beyond whatever positive outcomes are the result. The reward is ultimately the reward of doing what is right for its own sake. Some business ethicists believe that the possession of virtue, not a foolproof set of rules or guidelines, best explains positive ethical decisions that are made in business.35 Moral codes and company credos give words to what is expected of corporations because they focus not so much on what to do in every case but on what kind of people and corporation the credo envisions.
Today’s corporate business world is vastly different from the family-owned agrarian business of ancient times; one main difference is that responsibility for the corporation’s actions is often diffused. Employees at all levels feel that they have little impact on the practices of the organization, but a group of theologians and business executives met to discuss ethical codes to guide individual and company actions. They developed the “Ten Commandments for the Marketplace,” which sound as if they were inspired by the teaching of the sages:
1. Treat individuals as sacred. People are more than means to another’s end.
2. Be generous. The benefits will exceed the cost in the long term.
3. Practice moderation. Obsession with winning is dehumanizing and idolatrous.
4. Disclose mistakes. Confession and restitution are necessary means to restoring ethical character.
5. Arrange priorities. Have long-range goals and principles in mind.
6. Keep promises. Trust, confidence, and authenticity are built over a period of time.
7. Tell the truth. Falsifying information destroys credibility.
8. Exercise a more inclusive sense of stewardship. Charity does not stop at home but extends throughout our global-oriented society.
9. Insist on being well informed. Judgment without knowledge is dangerous.
10. Be profitable without losing your soul in the process. Evaluate your Profit and Loss Statement in light of your trade-offs—a business audit is much more than an accounting of dollars and cents.36
Racial reconciliation. Perhaps there is no greater opportunity for the practice of šalom in the American church than the work of racial reconciliation, since it is here that the church is given the chance to heal and restore what has been held back for so long. Here’s what I mean. As I write, the nation is celebrating the birthday of Martin Luther King, and the familiar cadences of “I have a dream” are sounding on radio and television. King began his speech with another metaphor, the check returned for “insufficient funds.” Stating that the authors of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence signed a “promissory note” to guarantee all citizens “the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” King went on:
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we’ve come to cash this check—a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now.37
King may or may not have known that he was making a paraphrase of the instruction, “Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow,’ ” but he knew that his concern for fairness came from the Bible.
A pastor I know was making plans to attend a denominational conference on the theme of ethnic diversity. When he talked about it with some members of the congregation, they responded with bewilderment. “Why would you need to go to that?” they asked. “We don’t have any diversity in our community or our church. We’re all white here.” The pastor explained that this was just the problem in our nation and our churches, citing the adage that the most segregated hour of the week is 11 o’clock on Sunday morning.
The pastor went to the conference and heard preachers of all colors speak powerfully to the topic, one quoting Cornelius Plantinga Jr.’s definition of sin as the “vandalization of shalom.”38 The preacher explained that šalom is not a passive blessing but an active participation with God in nurturing well-being for individuals and communities. Because it can be either dismantled or built up, “peace” is often too mild a translation that can misinterpret šalom. Many believe that peace is a passive experience, the absence of war, but peace requires much hard work. The preacher went on to talk about economics and opportunity, adding that the biblical vision of šalom is a fruit of justice that addresses who gets what and when.
The pastor then went back and talked with the congregation about ways they might work to practice šalom to counteract the ways it is vandalized in our churches and communities. As they talked, attitudes began to change. Contacts were made with a neighboring congregation from a different ethnic background, and the relationship has grown. The various efforts of churches and parachurch organizations toward racial reconciliation take steps forward that are welcome. We will argue over means, but we must not ignore the need to reach the goal.
A story of šalom Trust in the Lord brings about a šalom that is a result of the obedient life and a gift of God. A few years back I received a letter that seemed so much in accord with the images of wisdom and šalom that I asked permission to share its story. The letter came from an old college friend who started his studies with a strong determination to become a doctor. He was a Christian, but sometime during that year he made a shift in priorities and put a sign on the door of his dorm room to mark the change. After his name he wrote, MAJOR: GOD. MINOR: Biology. He finished college and ROTC, joined the Army, and went to medical school. He became a pediatrician, and, after his time of service, went career, turning down more lucrative offers in the belief that the Army was where God had called him to be.
He and his wife had five kids while they moved all over the country for various Army assignments. They did not want to take a call to Hawaii because it was so far from family and living conditions would be crowded. But after prayer and careful consideration they went, and they began to take foster children into their tiny home. One day my friend and his wife heard about twin babies, born premature with multiple problems, back in the hospital with bruises and broken bones just three months after going home. One had congenital heart problems; the other had a fractured neck. No foster home could be found to take both babies, so they brought them home and put their resources to work. My friend arranged for numerous surgeries for the neck, spinal cord, and heart. His wife, a social worker, stayed with them at a number of hospitals on the island and mainland; one trip separated them for a month. When the court terminated parental rights, they adopted the twins the day they turned three.
In their letter, my friend, the pediatrician, said that these were the most difficult and emotionally disturbed kids he had ever seen but added that they could not think of giving them up. The letter went on to list the activities of the other five kids, each in turn: sports, music, dance, and help with the care of the twins. I finished reading the letter, wondering what those children think as they watch their parents’ faith in action, making a space for life in their home and lives. This story is told, not to say that everyone is called or able to reach out like this, for situations and resources differ. But it is offered as an example of parents who hope to write themselves, their love of God and his wisdom, into their children’s lives, who have ordered their priorities so that life and šalom come first, hoping that their children will take hold of the tree of life and learn to make a place for others to live. Let their story be our encouragement, and let wisdom be our teacher.