Proverbs chapter 2
Search for wisdom. The LORD protects those who seek wisdom. Wisdom will enter into your heart. It will deliver you from evil men. And evil women.
SEARCH FOR WISDOM
VERSE 1. My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;
VERSE 2. So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
VERSE 3. Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;
VERSE 4. If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:
seek. We are to seek for wisdom. It does not hunt us down. We do not have it naturally, nor does it come to us automatically.
Instead, acquiring wisdom takes effort on our part.
Just as school children have to sweat it out to learn math and reading and writing, so too godly wisdom is acquired through human effort, in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
her. Wisdom is personified as a female. She appears as a prophet or street teacher.
search for her. Sources of real wisdom are not easy to find. We must hunt for them.
THE LORD PROTECTS THOSE WHO SEEK WISDOM
VERSE 5. then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
VERSE 6. For the LORD gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
the LORD gives wisdom. Most translations say “the LORD loves wisdom.”
Out of his mouth. In our day, the words of the LORD are available to us in the Bible.
VERSE 7. He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;
He is a shield. The LORD protects people who seek wisdom.
walk in integrity. Many people do not walk with honesty. Instead, they are selfish or foolish. Or they lie to get their way.
And there is the matter of sin:
Romans 3:23. for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
WISDOM WILL ENTER INTO YOUR HEART
VERSE 8. that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his holy ones.
VERSE 9. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.
VERSE 10. For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
wisdom will enter into your heart. This would be wonderful!
Knowledge will be pleasant. For many people, to learn new things is drudgery. But for the person who seeks wisdom, it is life itself.
VERSE 11. Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,
WISDOM WILL DELIVER YOU FROM EVIL MEN
VERSE 12. to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;
VERSE 13. who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
VERSE 14. who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;
VERSE 15. who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:
WISDOM WILL DELIVER YOU FROM EVIL WOMEN
VERSE 16. To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;
the strange woman. That is, “the wife of another” (NAB translation). Adultery was a violation of the commandments:
Exodus 20:14. You shall not commit adultery.
the foreigner. That is, “the adulteress” (NAB translation).
The Book of Proverbs often reveals a deeply negative view of women. That probably reflects a misogynistic personality on the part of the men who wrote the book. Read more »
VERSE 17. who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:
VERSE 18. for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits.
VERSE 19. None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:
VERSE 20. that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
VERSE 21. For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.
VERSE 22. But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.
PROVERBS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, Sluggard, Tree of Life, Misogynism
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.