Proverbs 2:20 - Exposition

That (Hebrew, לְמַעַן l'maan ); in order that (Vulgate, ut ) , carries us back properly to Proverbs 2:11 . The protecting power of wisdom is developed in a positive direction. Negatively, it delivers from the evil man and from the strange woman, but it does more—"it shall keep thee in order that thou mayest walk in a good way," etc. The Hebrew לְמַעַן ( l'maan ) is coordinate with "to deliver thee," but it serves to bring the discourse to a conclusion. Umbreit renders it "therefore," thus making what follows an inference from the preceding discourse. So the Syriac, ambula igitur, "therefore walk." In the way of good men ( בְּדֶרֶךְ טוֹבִים , b'derek tovim ); i.e. in the way of the good, in an ethical sense, i.e. the upright, as in Isaiah 5:20 . The Vulgate renders, in via bona, "in the good way." "The way of good men" is the way of God's commandments, the way of obedience. Keep . The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר ( shamar ) is here used in the sense of "to observe," "to attend to," but in a different sense from Psalms 17:4 , "I have observed the ways of the violent man," i.e. that I might avoid them. To keep the paths of the righteous is to carefully attend to the life of obedience which they follow. The LXX . closely connects this verse with the preceding, and renders, "For if they had walked in good ways, they would have found the paths of righteousness light."