Notes
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A Word from the Author
1. T. S. Eliot, Collected Poems 1909–1962 (New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1963), 147.
Chapter One
1. There are also “wisdom psalms”: 1, 19, 32, 34, 37, 49, 73, 78, 112, 119, 127–128, 133.
2. Roy Zuck, Biblical Theology of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody, 1991), 232.
3. Among the Jews, proverbs were a popular and accepted way to digest and preserve wisdom. (For proverbs outside the book of Proverbs, see 1 Sam. 10:11–12; 24:13; Ezek. 12:22–23; 16:44; 18:1–2. See also Matt. 9:12, 17; 24:18; John 4:35, 37; 9:4; 1 Cor. 6:13; 14:8; 15:33.)
4. Proverbs 3:11–12 is quoted in Hebrews 12:5–6; 3:34 in James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5; 11:31 in 1 Peter 4:18; 25:21–22 in Romans 12:20; and 26:11 in 2 Peter 2:22.
5. Derek Kidner, Proverbs (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries) (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1964), 22.
6. Keep in mind that “wealth” means much more than possessing material things. The Bible doesn’t promise that obedient Christians will all be healthy, wealthy, and successful. It does promise that they will have godly character, enjoy their Father’s generous gifts to meet all their needs, and escape many of the physical and emotional pains and problems that the ungodly usually suffer. God’s covenant with the Jews promised special blessings if they obeyed and chastisement if they disobeyed (see Deut. 27—28), but the book of Proverbs also emphasizes the “true riches” of the spiritual life that are summarized in Christ’s beatitudes. It has well been said that true happiness lies not in the greatness of your possessions but in the “fewness” of your wants.
7. Charles Bridges, Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1959), 3–4.
8. Laird Harris, Gleason Archer, and Bruce Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Chicago: Moody, 1980), 283.
9. The phrase “the beginning of the creation of God” in Revelation 3:14 (KJV) cannot mean that Jesus was the first thing God created, since the Son of God was with the Father before there was a creation (John 1:15). The Greek word arche can mean either “first in time” or “first in rank”; therefore, the NIV translates the phrase “the ruler of God’s creation.” The familiar title “firstborn” can also refer to rank. As “the firstborn of every creature” (Col. 1:15 KJV), Jesus is the head of creation (“the firstborn over all creation” NIV).
10. Remember that the Hebrew society was strongly masculine and that primarily the fathers trained the sons, while the mothers trained the daughters. The masculine emphasis in Scripture must not be interpreted as a sexist bias but rather as a characteristic of the Jewish culture of that day, a characteristic that should no longer persist in the light of the gospel (Gal. 3:26–29).
11. The Hebrew word for “hear” is shema. The Jewish confession of faith in Deuteronomy 6:4–5 is called “the Shema.” Implied in the word hear is receiving and obeying God’s Word.
12. Andrew A. Bonar, Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne (London: Banner of Truth, 1966), 29.
Chapter Two
1. The father’s statement, “my son,” is found twenty-three times in Proverbs, but the influence of the mother isn’t ignored. See 1:8; 4:3; 6:20; 10:1; 15:20; 19:26; 20:20; 23:22; 23:25; 28:24; 30:11, 17; 31:1ff.
2. James 1:14 uses the images of hunting and fishing to get the same point across. The verbs “drawn away” and “enticed” carry the idea of “luring with bait,” whether baiting a trap or a fishing hook. Temptation is the bait, and Satan wants us to think we can grab the bait and avoid the consequences (Gen. 3:5). Alas, it never works that way.
3. In Proverbs, three Hebrew words are translated “fool”: kesyl, the dull, stupid fool; ewiyl, the corrupt fool who is morally perverted; nabal, the stubborn, brutish fool whose mind is made up and won’t be convinced. For a vivid example of this third variety of fool, see 1 Samuel 25.
Chapter Three
1. This has been my life verse since 1948 when I entered seminary to prepare for ministry, and I can bear witness that it has never failed me. When you walk on God’s path, you delight in God’s presence and enjoy God’s pleasures. You have life, joy, and pleasure—and it gets better and better as life progresses!
Chapter Four
1. I realize that modern psychology considers to be “sexual” many if not most of our human responses to one another; for, after all, we are sexual beings and not robots. However, the phrase “sexual intimacy outside the bonds of marriage” refers specifically to intercourse and forms of sexual relationship that substitute for intercourse. Our Lord spoke of “fornications” (plural) in Matthew 15:19; the edict of the Jerusalem conference mentioned “fornication,” which certainly included the sexual sins condemned by the law of Moses (Acts 15:20; Lev. 18). It appears that in some contexts the words adultery and fornication are inclusive of various forms of sexual sins.
2. Quentin Crisp, Manners from Heaven (New York: Harper & Row, 1984), ch. 7.
3. The Myth of the Greener Grass, by J. Allan Petersen (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1983), is one of the best books from a biblical point of view on understanding and preventing extramarital affairs and healing marriages that have been violated by them. As every pastor knows, more of this kind of sin goes on in local churches than we dare openly admit.
4. The basic meaning of the Hebrew word is “to go astray, to err” and can describe the results of drinking too much alcohol (20:1; Isa. 28:7). It’s translated “go astray” in Proverbs 5:23 (KJV); in verses 19–20, it means “to be ravished, intoxicated.”
5. The command to bind God’s Word to various parts of the body was taken literally by the Pharisees (3:3; 6:21; 7:3; Deut. 6:8–9); this was the origin of the “phylactery” (Matt. 23:5), a small leather case containing four portions of the Old Testament (Ex. 13:1–10; 11–16; Deut. 6:4–9; 11:13–21) written on parchment. When attending public prayers, the orthodox Jew tied one phylactery to his forehead and the other to his left arm. They also put a phylactery at the door of their houses. Phylactery is a word that comes from the Greek and means “to watch over, to safeguard.” It was their belief that wearing God’s Word like an amulet would protect them from evil.
Chapter Five
1. Let me remind you that the book of Proverbs has a definite masculine focus because in the ancient Jewish society daughters usually weren’t educated for the affairs of life. Most of them were kept secluded and prepared for marriage and motherhood. For the most part, when you read “man” in Proverbs, interpret it generically and read “person,” whether male or female. Proverbs isn’t a sexist book, but it was written in the context of a strongly male-oriented society.
2. George Morrison, Sun-Rise: Addresses from a City Pulpit (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1903), 169–77. Kregel Publications has embarked on the project of reprinting all of George Morrison’s books, and I recommend them to you. He was a peerless preacher.
3. Some contemporary theology so emphasizes God’s love that it loses sight of the fact that God also hates. God has no pleasure in sin (Ps. 5:4). Sin grieves the Father (Gen. 6:6), the Son (Mark 3:5), and the Spirit (Eph. 4:30). Love and hatred can exist in the same heart (see Ps. 97:10; Amos 5:14–15; Ps. 45:7; Rom. 12:9). If God’s people loved holiness more, they would hate sin more. God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), but He is also light (1 John 1:5) and a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29).
Chapter Six
1. Charles Bridges, Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1959), 179.
2. Brooks Atkinson, Once Around the Sun (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1951), 37.
3. This oft-quoted statement is the last line of Thomas Gray’s poem, “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” but its message is usually misunderstood. In the poem, Gray contrasts the joyful innocence of children in school to the difficulties they will have when they reach adulthood. He asks us not to rob them of their youthful pleasures too soon. There will be time enough for them to learn that life isn’t always fun and games. We expect a certain amount of naive innocence in children, but not in adults.
4. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First and Second Series (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1938), 31. Emerson was one of the preachers of the “success philosophy” that has become the unofficial civil religion of the United States. His essay “Self-Reliance” is the “Bible” of the under-believers and overachievers in the business world, and some of its humanistic ideas have infiltrated the church and produced a “success theology” that is unbiblical. I enjoy reading Emerson, but I carefully separate the wheat from the chaff.
5. There is a “sanctified self-confidence” that’s based on faith, energized by the Holy Spirit, and glorifies God. Paul expressed it when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13 NKJV); David gave testimony to it in Psalm 18:29–39.
6. Isaac’s favoritism toward Esau (Gen. 25:28), Jacob’s pampering of Joseph (Gen. 37:3), and David’s failure to discipline his sons properly all helped to create the family problems I’ve mentioned.
7. Some commentators translate the phrase drink violence (“damage”) as “to be stripped bare.” In other words, send a fool on an important mission and you’ll end up crippled and humiliated!
Chapter Seven
1. The origin of the word scam is obscure. It comes from carnival jargon and may be a variation of the word scheme. Before the law stepped in to control such things, some carnival workers were notorious at fleecing the unsuspecting public with get-rich-quick offers. Alas, what was once confined to carnivals is now found on Wall Street.
2. Ronald Sailler and David Wyrtzen, The Practice of Wisdom, (Chicago: Moody, 1992), 82.
3. Of course, we don’t give to others in order to get something back, because that would be selfish. We must be motivated by love and a desire to honor the Lord.
4. The story of “King Midas and the Golden Touch” is supposed to teach this important lesson. As the king acquired more and more gold, he discovered the hard way the things that were really important to him.
5. I wrote that in jest, of course, but only to get your attention and remind you of your accountability before God. Christians will want their last wills and testaments also to be a last will and testimony. How we dispose of the wealth God gives us, whether it be little or much, tells other people what is really important to us. It’s frightening how many professed believers don’t even have a will! Where is their sense of stewardship?
Chapter Eight
1. In marriage, two people become one flesh (Gen. 2:24); therefore, if one partner dies, the marriage is dissolved (Rom. 7:1–3) and the living partner may remarry “in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:39). The book of Proverbs doesn’t whitewash the problems that can be faced in marriage, but nowhere does it deal with divorce. It magnifies God’s original plan for marriage and the home, and that’s what we should do today. People who get married with one hand on an escape hatch aren’t likely to have a happy home.
2. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 19:11–12 that not everybody is supposed to get married, and Paul states that singleness is a gift from God just as much as is marriage (1 Cor. 7:7). I once heard the gifted Christian educator Henrietta Mears say that the only reason she wasn’t married was because the apostle Paul was dead!
3. The proverb “Spare the rod and spoil the child” goes back to the days of Rome (Qui parcit virge, odit filium = “Who spares the rod, hates [his] son”) and has been in English literature since the year 1000. Those exact words aren’t found in Scripture, but Proverbs 13:24 comes closest: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes [early].” The Roman proverb no doubt comes from the Hebrew proverb, which is much older.
4. In The New American Commentary, Duane A. Garrett translates the verse “Train up a child in a manner befitting a child, and even as he grows old he will not turn from it” (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1993), vol. 14, 188. See also Gleason Archer’s explanation in Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1982), 252–53. We don’t know how much spiritual instruction Solomon received from his father, David, but when Solomon was old, he turned away from the Lord (1 Kings 11:1–8). Some students think that Ecclesiastes is his “confession of faith,” written after he returned to the Lord, but the book doesn’t say so and it isn’t wise to speculate.
Chapter Nine
1. Robert B. Downs, Books That Changed the World (New York: New American Library, 1956), 129.
2. Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct (New York: William Morrow, 1994), 15, 18. Dr. Pinker is professor and director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In his book The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes, philosopher Mortimer J. Adler calls human speech “the pivotal fact.” He says that “man is the only talking, the only naming, declaring or questioning, affirming or denying, the only arguing, agreeing or disagreeing, the only discursive, animal” (New York: World Publishing Co., 1968), 112. That is what makes us different from the “other animals.”
3. According to Genesis 3:1–7, Satan tempted Eve to eat of the forbidden tree so she would become like God, “knowing good and evil.” But it isn’t necessary to disobey God to develop discernment; His divine wisdom instructs us concerning good and evil, and is our “tree of life” (see Prov. 3:18).
4. The Greek word translated “sound” (hugiaino) gives us the English word hygiene, and means, “to be sound in health.”
5. The Hebrew word translated “quarrel” has legal overtones and can refer to a lawsuit (Ex. 23:2–3 NIV). Solomon’s counsel is wise: it’s better to keep cool and speak calmly than to argue with your opponent and end up with an expensive lawsuit that nobody really wins.
6. The Greek word translated “willing to yield” (“easy to be entreated”) speaks of a conciliatory attitude and not a compromising bargain that seeks for “peace at any price.” Conciliatory people are willing to hear all sides of a matter and honestly seek for areas of agreement. They are open to “yielding to persuasion.” Some people mistake prejudice and stubbornness for conviction and faithfulness.
7. In his novel 1984 (New York: Penguin, 1992), George Orwell warned us about “newspeak”; in his book Doublespeak (New York: Harper & Row, 1989), William Lutz explains today’s version of what Orwell predicted half a century ago. It’s frightening!
Chapter Ten
1. Paul is referring to Abraham’s faith in Genesis 15:6. Some people have the idea that sinners during the Old Testament era were saved by good works, while sinners today are saved by faith in Christ, but this idea is wrong. Anybody who has ever been saved has been saved by faith, because nobody can be saved by good works (Eph. 2:8–9). Hebrews 11 informs us that Old Testament saints were saved by faith, and Habakkuk 2:4 states, “The just shall live by his faith.” This verse is quoted in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38; these three epistles make it very clear that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ and faith alone.
2. Justification is the gracious act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ and gives us a righteous standing in His sight. Sanctification is the divine process whereby God makes His children more like Jesus Christ as we walk in the Spirit and yield to His will. The person who is justified will want to reject sin and obey God because justification involves sharing the life of God as well as having a right standing before God (Rom. 5:18). A right position before the Lord leads to a right practice in daily life.
Chapter Eleven
1. God never violates any person’s freedom, but He works so that His purposes are accomplished even through the lives of people who don’t know Him or won’t acknowledge Him. This was true of Cyrus (2 Chron. 36:22; Isa. 44:28—45:1), Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 25:9; 27:6), and Pharaoh (Ex. 9:16; Rom. 9:14–18).
2. The KJV reads “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly,” and the margin of the NKJV reads “A man who has friends may come to ruin.” The idea seems to be that having many companions but no real friends could lead a person to ruin, for there’s nobody who cares enough about him to rebuke him. The original text is difficult, but the NIV seems to say it best.
3. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God”; the phrase “be still” literally means “take your hands off” or “stop your striving.” There are times when we prove our faith simply by waiting on the Lord and allowing Him to work. Naomi’s advice to Ruth was excellent: “Sit still, my daughter” (Ruth 3:18), and so was Moses’ instruction to Israel at the Red Sea: “Stand still!” (Ex. 14:13). But when it’s time to act, no amount of devotion will substitute for obedience. (See Josh. 7:10ff.; 1 Sam. 16:1ff.; 1 Kings 19:15ff.)
4. G. Campbell Morgan, The Westminster Pulpit, vol. IV (London: Pickering and Inglis, 1955), 147.
Chapter Twelve
1. Arnold M. Washton and Donna Boundy, Willpower’s Not Enough (New York: Harper & Row, 1989), 7–18.
2. See Habakkuk 2:15; Isaiah 5:11–22; 28:1–3; Amos 6:3–6; Deuteronomy 21:20.
3. I haven’t been able to learn when the Jews added wine to their Passover meal, although some authorities claim the custom goes back to the days of the first temple. Wine isn’t mentioned in Exodus 12:11–27, but by the time you get to the New Testament, wine is a part of the meal (Matt. 26:26–30). Would they use unleavened bread and leavened (fermented) wine? Since four different cups of wine were used in the ceremony, the wine was diluted.
4. The Lincoln (Neb.) Star, July 15, 1994.
5. It’s worth noting that immorality is closely associated with drunkenness (Prov. 23:27–28), for the two often go together.
6. The Hebrew word translated “redness” in the KJV and “bloodshot” in the NIV, means “dullness, dimness.” The drunkard’s vision is blurred so that he doesn’t see clearly what is there and claims he sees what isn’t there. Too much alcohol can produce bloodshot eyes as well as a ruddy face. Some expositors think that the word suggests “blacked eyes,” i.e., as the result of a fight; yet true as it is, that probably isn’t what the writer had in mind.
7. Lemuel means “devoted to God” and may have been another name for King Solomon. God’s special name for Solomon was Jedidiah, which means “beloved of Jehovah.” We don’t know for sure who King Lemuel and his mother were, and it’s useless to speculate.
8. In Paul’s day, wine was used for medicinal purposes (1 Tim. 5:23), but this doesn’t give us license to make an ancient practice into a modern norm. Many people seize this one verse but reject everything else Paul wrote in this epistle. If we’re going to obey one admonition, why not obey all of them?
9. A report issued by the Commission on Substance Abuse at Colleges and Universities, sponsored by Columbia University, states that drinking is a serious problem on American campuses. Ninety-five percent of violent crime on campus is alcohol related. Sixty percent of the female students who had sexually transmitted diseases were “under the influence of alcohol at the time of intercourse,” and alcohol was involved in 90 percent of all campus rapes. At the time of the survey, 42 percent of the students (men and women) admitted “binge drinking” within the previous two weeks. One-third of the students drink primarily to get drunk. Students who live in fraternity and sorority houses drink more than other students. One ponders the future of the nation if the next generation of leaders is already suffering from “bottle fatigue.”
10. Twenty-one percent of the people ages eighteen to thirty-four would keep the money, but only 2 percent of the people sixty-five and older would do so. Where is our younger generation getting its ethical standards?
Chapter Thirteen
1. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1961), 7. This is one of the finest devotional studies of the attributes of God in print. See also Richard L. Strauss, The Joy of Knowing God (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux, 1984).
2. Ibid., 11.
3. For a fuller treatment of the subject, see Be Holy, my exposition of Leviticus (Colorado Springs: Victor Books, 1994).
4. The quotation is from “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. The word invictus is Latin for “invincible, unconquered.” Henley suffered from tuberculosis of the bones and bravely endured at least twenty operations, but one wishes he had given the Lord credit for some of the determination that kept him going. We admire any person’s courage in the face of seeming defeat, and his poem is an inspiring clarion call to personal courage, but the Christian believer would prefer 2 Corinthians 12:7–10.
5. These were the opening words of his sermon preached at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, on Sunday evening, February 4, 1866. See vol. 58 of The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 13.
6. The word translated “redeemer” in Proverbs 23:11 is goel and refers to the kinsman-redeemer, such as Boaz in the book of Ruth. For the law governing the redemption of property, see Leviticus 25:47–55. The goel had to be a close relative who was willing to pay and able to pay. He is a picture of Jesus Christ, who in His incarnation took upon Himself flesh and blood (Heb. 2:14) that He might redeem us from our spiritual bankruptcy and sin. See my book Be Committed for an exposition of Ruth and an explanation of the law of the kinsman-redeemer (Colorado Springs: Victor Books, 1993).
7. Most scholars believe that Psalm 23 was a product of David’s latter years and not the poem of a young shepherd. It’s possible that it grew out of the insurrection caused by his wicked son Absalom (2 Sam. 15—19). David had experienced many difficulties in his long life, yet he saw only God’s goodness and mercy.
8. The hymn we call “I Sing the Mighty Power of God,” Isaac Watts titled “Praise for Creation and Providence.” It was originally written for children. For some reason, we’ve lost one verse from some of our hymnals:
His hand is my perpetual guard,
He keeps me with His eye;
Why should I then forget the Lord,
Whose is for ever nigh?
Paul used divine creation as part of his proof that the Gentiles, who were never given the revelation of God’s law, are still guilty before God and will be judged by Him (Rom. 1:18ff.).
9. A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology, one-volume edition (Philadelphia: The Judson Press, 1949), 419. Strong goes on to say, “Providence does not exclude, but rather implies the operation of natural law, by which we mean God’s regular way of working.… Prayer without the use of means is an insult to God” (439).
10. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, 70.