Proverbs 3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 3:35

The wise - The person who follows the dictates of wisdom, as mentioned above, shall inherit glory; because, being one of the heavenly family, a child of God, he has thereby heaven for his inheritance; but fools, such as those mentioned chapters 1 and 2, shall have ignominy for their exaltation. Many such fools as Solomon speaks of are exalted to the gibbet and gallows. The way to prevent this and the like evils, is to attend to the voice of wisdom. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:1

My son ( b'ni ) serves to externally connect this discourse with the preceding. Forget not my law. This admonition bears a strong resemblance to that in Proverbs 1:8 , though the terms employed are somewhat different, torah and mits'oth here occupying the place respectively of musar and torah in that passage. My law ( torathi ) , is literally, my teaching, or doctrine, from the root yarah, "to teach." The torah is the whole body of salutary doctrine, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:1-4

Making the heart a treasury of good principles I. THE TREASURE . Innumerable impressions are constantly being made upon our minds, and as constantly transferring themselves into memories. Frivolous thoughts, false notions, corrupt images, once harboured, take up their abode in the soul, and ultimately modify its Character to the likeness of themselves. It is most important for us to guard our memories from such things, and to fill them with more worthy stores. Consider, therefore, the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:1-4

Cherishing the truth We have here— I. THE ESSENTIAL THING IMPLIED . It is implied that the Law of God has been heard and understood; also that it has been received as Divine, and taken as the true guide of life. The teacher or preacher has sometimes to assume this; but too often it is an assumption unjustified by the facts. When it is justified, there come— II. TWO SPECIALLY VALUABLE VIRTUES INSISTED UPON . Mercy and truth ( Proverbs 3:3 ) are to be... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:1-10

Precepts and promises of wisdom I. THE CONNECTION OF PRECEPT AND PROMISE . 1 . Precept needs confirmation. We cannot but ask— Why should we pursue this or that line of conduct in preference to another? Why should men be God-fearing, honest, chaste? We are rational creatures, not "dumb driven cattle," to be forced along a given road. We must have reasons; and it is to reason in us that the Divine reason ever makes appeal. 2 . The confirmation is found in experience.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:1-18

4. Fourth admonitory discourse. The third chapter introduces us to a group of admonitions, and the first of these ( Proverbs 3:1-18 ) forms the fourth admonitory discourse of the teacher. To all intents and purposes this is a continuation of the discourse in the preceding chapter, for inasmuch as that described the benefits, spiritual and moral, which follow from the pursuit of Wisdom, in promoting godliness and providing safety from evil companions, so this in like manner depicts the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:2

Length of days ( orek yamim ); Vulgate, longitudo dierum. The expression is literally "extension of days," and signifies the prolongation of life, its duration to the appointed limit—a meaning which is brought out in the LXX . μῆκος βίου , "length of days," the Greek word βίος being used, not of existence, but of the time and course of life. It occurs again in Proverbs 3:16 , and also in Job 12:12 and Psalms 21:4 . "Length of days" is represented as a blessing in the Old... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:3

Mercy and truth ( khesed vermeth ); properly, love and truth ; Vulgate, misericordia et veritas ; LXX ; ἐλεημοσύναι καὶ πίστεις . With this verse begin the commandments which are alluded to in Proverbs 3:1 . The Hebrew khesed has to be understood in its widest sense, though the Vulgate and the LXX . confine it to one aspect of its meaning, viz. that which refers to the relation of man to man, to the pity evoked by the sight of another's misfortunes, and to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:4

So shalt thou find ( vum'lsa ); literally, and find. A peculiar use of the imperative, the imperative kal ( m'tsa ) with vav consecutive ( וִ ) being equivalent to the future, "thou shalt find," as in the Authorized Version. This construction, where two imperatives are joined, the former containing an exhortation or admonition, the second a promise made on the condition implied in the first, and the second imperative being used as a future, occurs again in Proverbs 4:4 ; ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord ( b'takh el yehovah ); literally, trust in Jehovah. Entire reliance upon Jehovah, implied in the words, "with all thine heart," is here appropriately placed at the head of a series of admonitions which especially have God and man's relations with him in view, inasmuch as such confidence or trust, with its corresponding idea of the renunciation of reliance on self, is, as Zockler truly remarks, a "fundamental principle of all religion." It is the first lesson to be... read more

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