Chapter 4
Section 1, 1-10: First, the reader is urged to hear. Many of the Proverbs start this way. Then the writer relates that his own father urged him to get wisdom, to grow in wisdom, because it will make your life better, more peaceful, more successful. "...The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight." vs. 7
The word translated "insight" in vss 1 and 5 seem to be translated as "understanding" pretty much every where else in the Bible that they occur. Interlinear shows "understanding" even in these ESV verses that read as insight. NLT translates it good judgement. Perhaps what is in view is more than understanding - a deeper comprehension - than just glossing right over it as understanding. NET calls it discernment. This verse:
9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" [1Ki 3:9 ESV]
When God asked Solomon what he wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom, right? Actually no. He asked for an understanding mind, the word for understanding being this word "insight" or "understanding". Well...not quite. There is also this:
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, 30 so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. [1Ki 4:29-30 ESV]
He asked for understanding, and God gave him both wisdom and understanding. They are very different words, but I don't know the shades of meaning. Maybe, like yesterday, understanding is about the numbers - about how things work, while wisdom is un-quantifiable.
Just to top it all off, there is this verse:
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. [Pro 4:7 ESV]
Interesting isn't it. I read Proverbs to gain wisdom, and I don't even know the difference between wisdom and understanding. And now I also read that this verse is omitted from the Septuagint entirely!
2023 - All these chapters so far have encouraged the seeking of, and the remembering of, wisdom. Implication is that it CAN be learned and that we ought to learn it. And it seems the way to learn it is to listen to those who already have it. It is like wisdom must be passed on, not invented. Like the multiplication tables. The better you learn the basics the further you can go.
Section 2: 10-13, I have taught you wisdom, hold onto it, and have a better life. Then the lesson, 13-17 - Do not choose the evil way. They can't sleep unless they've done evil, they live with violence. The alternative to that is vvs 18, 19. where life gets brighter and brighter for the righteous, while the evil stumble in the dark, and don't know what tripped them up. This verse:
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. [Pro 4:18 ESV] We should be getting wiser as we go older, if we are seeking what is right. But the violent lose even what they have. They stumble through life in darkness, as in the next verse:
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. [Pro 4:19 ESV]
Section 3: 20-23, another urging for the reader to listen to these wise words. Then, watch what you say, look straight ahead when you walk, and make sure of each step. Go straight ahead. That's the right way.
2021 - There are three sections to this Proverb, each beginning with a call for the hearer/reader to pay attention to what is about to be said. There is an urging to listen to the advice about to be offered, and details of the results of heading that advice, then there is the advice itself, and that is followed by the consequences of ignoring the advice. It is like the writer has distilled the learning of his whole life into three crucially important axioms which, if followed, lead to the best life we can have. This verse contains the first axiom: 5 Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. [Pro 4:5 ESV]
The first, best advice is to seek out real wisdom, real truth. We are to spend our time on what is true, worthy, and timeless. We should look for wisdom in the words of those already wise. We should search for wisdom, buy it if it costs money, and never let it go. There is also another idea that is implicit here. Wisdom is "old". Wisdom is never the newest fad, the untried truth, the "discovery" of the current generation. For something to be "wisdom", it must have stood the test of time. If it is wisdom, your parents knew about it, the previous generation knew, and most probably many generations before that knew it, understood it and had done their part in testing it to make sure it held up. Consider this fundamental characteristic of wisdom in light of the things going on today. So many of the ideas that are being put forward today and disturbing the peace and tranquility of our lives are brand new to us. They were unknown as recently as the previous generation. They are in fact little more than postulated but as yet untested theories. These ideas do not stand up to the test for true wisdom. Therefore we should not embrace them but hold fast to what we were taught. If these new ideas are sound, they will stand the test of time. The first axiom then, is that wisdom comes from the past, not from the present. It comes from history, not from science.
Wow! What a great 1 of 3 Facebook post!
The second axiom in this Proverb is found here: 14 Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. [Pro 4:14 ESV]. Here is personal responsibility. We all make choices. The writer of this Proverb now focuses on which choice is best. Note that he doesn't present this as a continuum, where you can choose to operate half a standard deviation below the mean (half good and half bad) so a little bit worse than most people but still better than a lot of other people. Neither can we choose to be a bit better than average and just be content right there. We can't decide to just work hard enough for a D, nor to be content with a B. We can't, because the choices keep coming - every day, week and year. We are urged here to avoid the low roads every single time our journey takes us past one. These choices in life start early and never stop. When we're children, we might have to decide whether to admit we took an unauthorized cookie from the jar. Later, we might have to decide whether to disclose the rampant termite damage in the house we're trying to sell. For some, who've already gotten well down one of those evil paths, the choice might be whether or not to kill someone after robbing them. Make no mistake, though. Wherever we are in life right now, we still have to choose, every day, where to go from here. The advice in this verse is to always take the high road.
Possible FB post 2 of 3.
The third axiom in Proverbs 4 is here in this verse: 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. [Pro 4:23 ESV]
There is an old adage that says "Character is what you do when no one else is around." I think that's what this is about because the next few verses are warnings against half truths, hidden objectives, and flirtation with evil. We can behave any way we want, and we can fool almost everyone if we practice. We can make Christians believe we are saints, we can make fellow prisoners fear us as pure evil. But we cannot fool ourselves about who we are, and we cannot fool God about who we are. This Proverb urges us to keep duplicity far from us and to ensure that what we seem to be is what we really are. Pilgrims on the path to being what God wants for us should be who we really are.
Possible FB post 3 of 3. What a chapter. As many times as I've read this Proverb, I never saw these before.