Proverbs 2: Contrasting following wisdom
[Preliminary Comments: The second chapter shows the attitude and approach necessary to be blessed by following these proverbs & teaching and the blessings that follow [v.1-12]. The way of the wicked is contrasted [v.12b-15] particularly that of the seducer who brings destruction [v.16-19]. He concludes with contrasting walking the paths of wisdom with the path of wickedness [v.20-22]. The blessings of following wisdom are clear, as are the warnings of the folly and dangers of the path of wickedness.]
PART 1: v.1-12: The benefits of following this teaching
v.1-4 Conditions for getting benefit from the proverbs
v.1 My son, if you accept my words
and [if you] store up my commands within you,
v.2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding –
v.3 indeed, if you call out for insight
and [if you] cry aloud for understanding,
v.4 and if you look for it as for silver
and [if you] search for it as for hidden treasure,
v.5 The results
v.5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
v.6-8 The blessings of God
v.6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
v.7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose way of life is blameless,
v.8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
v.9 A further outcome
v.9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair – every good path.
v.10-12a The outworkings of these things
v.10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
v.11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
v.12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
PART 2: v.12b-19: The Ways & Folly of the Wicked
v.12b-15 The ways of the wicked to be avoided
from men whose words are perverse,
v.13 who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
v.14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
v.15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
v.16,17 Deliverance from the Seducer comes with wisdom
v.16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her seductive words,
v.17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
v.18,19 The destruction she brings
v.18 Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
v.19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
PART 3: v.20-22: Walking the right paths
v.20,21 The right paths
v.20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
v.21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
v.22 The destruction of the wicked
v.22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.