Proverbs 10:1

II. MISCELLANEOUS PROVERBS OF SOLOMON (Proverbs 10:1-22:16)

We are adopting a different style of commentary on these separate, disconnected maxims, most of them needing no explanation or comment whatever. The very simplicity of these axiomatic expressions, along with their common, everyday meaning, is in fact the secret of their strength and beauty.

"There seems to be no order in the arrangement of these proverbs; and so there will be no divisions noted here other than chapters and verses."[1] Some scholars, of course, have attempted to identify groups or subdivisions in this long list of proverbs; but none that we have seen is convincing. All such, "Groupings are secondary; and the main burden of exegesis must be borne by the individual sentences."[2]

Many of the comments which we have reviewed are little more than the author's attempt to repeat the message of the proverb in different phraseology; and quite frequently this is helpful. Our purpose here will be to follow, in some degree at least, that pattern of exegesis. We shall also call upon the various Old Testament translations and versions for different renditions of the various proverbs. Also, we shall, in many instances, note the various readings advocated by 19th century scholars, current authors, and the ancient versions. We shall give special attention to any New Testament light on any of these. All aboard for an exciting journey!

Proverbs 10:1

"A wise son maketh a glad father; But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother."

"The non-mention, generally in Proverbs, of daughters and women may be attributed in part to the relatively small estimation in which women of the ancient world were held."[3]

The teaching here is simply that, "A wise son makes a happy father, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother."[4] Of course, the converse is true also. A wise son makes happy parents; a foolish one grieves both his father and his mother. The same thing, of course, is true of daughters. It is the antithetical pattern of most of these proverbs that dictates the phraseolgy.