Proverbs 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
I. Title and Introduction
Chapter 1
Purpose of the Proverbs of Solomon[a]
1 The proverbs[b] of Solomon,(A) the son of David,
king of Israel:
2 That people may know wisdom and discipline,[c]
may understand intelligent sayings;
3 May receive instruction in wise conduct,
in what is right, just and fair;
4 That resourcefulness may be imparted to the naive,[d]
knowledge and discretion to the young.
5 The wise by hearing them will advance in learning,
the intelligent will gain sound guidance,
6 To comprehend proverb and byword,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 Fear of the Lord[e] is the beginning of knowledge;(B)
fools despise wisdom and discipline.
II. Instructions of Parents and of Woman Wisdom
The Path of the Wicked: Greed and Violence[f]
8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and reject not your mother’s teaching;
9 A graceful diadem will they be for your head;
a pendant for your neck.
10 My son, should sinners entice you,
11 do not go if they say, “Come along with us!
Let us lie in wait for blood,
unprovoked, let us trap the innocent;
12 Let us swallow them alive, like Sheol,
whole, like those who go down to the pit!
13 All kinds of precious wealth shall we gain,
we shall fill our houses with booty;
14 Cast in your lot with us,
we shall all have one purse!”
15 My son, do not walk in the way with them,
hold back your foot from their path!
16 [For their feet run to evil,
they hasten to shed blood.(C)]
17 In vain a net is spread[g]
right under the eyes of any bird—
18 They lie in wait for their own blood,
they set a trap for their own lives.
19 This is the way of everyone greedy for loot:
it takes away their lives.
Wisdom in Person Gives a Warning[h]
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the open squares she raises her voice;(D)
21 Down the crowded ways she calls out,
at the city gates she utters her words:
22 [i]“How long, you naive ones, will you love naivete,
23 How long will you turn away at my reproof?
[The arrogant delight in their arrogance,
and fools hate knowledge.]
Lo! I will pour out to you my spirit,
I will acquaint you with my words:
24 ‘Because I called and you refused,
extended my hand and no one took notice;(E)
25 Because you disdained all my counsel,
and my reproof you ignored—
26 I, in my turn, will laugh at your doom;
will mock when terror overtakes you;
27 When terror comes upon you like a storm,
and your doom approaches like a whirlwind;
when distress and anguish befall you.’
28 Then they will call me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me, but will not find me,
29 Because they hated knowledge,
and the fear of the Lord they did not choose.
30 They ignored my counsel,
they spurned all my reproof;
31 Well, then, they shall eat the fruit[j] of their own way,
and with their own devices be glutted.
32 For the straying of the naive kills them,
the smugness of fools destroys them.
33 But whoever obeys me dwells in security,
in peace, without fear of harm.”(F)
Footnotes
- 1:1–7 The prologue explains the purpose of the book. The book has a sapiential, ethical, and religious dimension: to bring the inexperienced to knowledge and right conduct, to increase the facility of those already wise for interpreting proverbs, parables and riddles, and to encourage the fulfillment of one’s duties to God.
- 1:1 Proverbs: the Hebrew word mashal is broader than English “proverb,” embracing the instructions of chaps. 1–9 and the sayings, observations, and comparisons of chaps. 10–31.
- 1:2 Discipline: education or formation which dispels ignorance and corrects vice. Note the reprise of v. 2a in v. 7b.
- 1:4 Naive: immature, inexperienced, sometimes the young, hence easily influenced for good or evil.
- 1:7 Fear of the Lord: primarily a disposition rather than the emotion of fear; reverential awe and respect toward God combined with obedience to God’s will.
- 1:8–19 A parental warning to a young person leaving home, for them to avoid the company of the greedy and violent. Two ways lie before the hearer, a way that leads to death and a way that leads to life. The trap which the wicked set for the innocent (v. 11) in the end takes away the lives of the wicked themselves (v. 19). This theme will recur especially in chaps. 1–9. A second theme introduced here is that of founding (or managing) a household and choosing a spouse. A third theme is the human obstacles to attaining wisdom. Here (and in 2:12–15 and 4:10–19), the obstacle is men (always in the plural); in 2:16–19; 5:1–6; 6:20–35; chap. 7; 9:13–18, the obstacle to the quest is the “foreign” woman (always in the singular).
- 1:17 A difficult verse. The most probable interpretation is that no fowler lifts up the net so the bird can see it. The verse might be paraphrased: God does not let those who walk on evil paths see the net that will entrap them. The passive construction (“a net is spread”) is sometimes used to express divine activity. Verse 16 is a later attempt to add clarity. It is a quotation from Is 59:7 and is not in the best Greek manuscripts.
- 1:20–33
Wisdom is personified as in chaps. 8 and 9:1–6. With divine authority she proclaims the moral order, threatening to leave to their own devices those who disregard her invitation. All three speeches of Woman Wisdom have common features: a setting in city streets; an audience of simple or naive people; a competing appeal (chap. 7 is the competing appeal for chap. 8); an invitation to a relationship that brings long life, riches, repute.
The structure of the speeches is: A: setting (vv. 20–21); B: Wisdom’s withdrawal, rebuke and announcement (vv. 22–23); reason and rejection I (vv. 24–27); reason and rejection II (vv. 28–31); summary (v. 32); C: the effects of Wisdom’s presence (v. 33). Wisdom’s opening speech is an extended threat ending with a brief invitation (v. 33). Her second speech is an extended invitation ending with a brief threat (8:36). The surprisingly abrupt and harsh tone of her speech is perhaps to be explained as a response to the arrogant words of the men in the previous scene (1:8–19).
- 1:22–23 There is textual confusion. Verse 22bc (in the third person) is an addition, interrupting vv. 22a and 23a (in the second person). The addition has been put in brackets, to separate it from the original poem. The original verses do not ask for a change of heart but begin to detail the consequences of disobedience to Wisdom.
- 1:31 Eat the fruit: sinners are punished by the consequences of their sins. Wisdom’s voice echoes that of the parents in vv. 8–19. The parents mediate wisdom in vv. 8–19, but here Wisdom herself speaks.
Proverbs 1
1599 Geneva Bible
The [a]Proverbs of Solomon
1 2 The power and use of the word of God. 7 Of the fear of God and knowledge of his word. 10 We may not consent to the enticings of sinners. 20 Wisdom complaineth that she is contemned. 24 The punishment of them that contemn her.
1 The Parables of Solomon the son of David king of Israel,
2 To know wisdom, [b]and instruction, to understand the words [c]of knowledge,
3 To receive [d]instruction to do wisely, by [e]justice and judgment and equity,
4 To give unto the [f]simple sharpness of wit, and to the child knowledge and discretion.
5 And wise man shall hear and increase in learning, and a man of [g]understanding shall attain unto wise counsels,
6 To understand a parable, and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
7 ¶ (A)The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear thy [h]father’s instruction, and forsake not thy [i]mother’s teaching.
9 For they shall be [j]a comely ornament unto thine head, and as chains for thy neck.
10 ¶ My son, [k]if sinners do entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they say, Come with us, we will lay wait for [l]blood, and lie privily for the innocent without a cause:
12 We will swallow them up alive like a [m]grave, even whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious riches, and fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in thy lot among us, we will all have one [n]purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them: refrain thy foot from their [o]path.
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
17 Certainly as without cause the net is spread before the eyes of all that hath wing:
18 So they lay wait for blood, and lie privily for [p]their lives.
19 Such are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain: he would take away [q]the life of the owners thereof.
20 ¶ [r]Wisdom crieth without: she uttereth her voice in the [s]streets.
21 She calleth in the high street, among the prease in the enterings of the gates, and uttereth her words in the city, saying,
22 O ye [t]foolish, how long will ye love foolishness? and the scornful take their pleasure in scorning? and the fools hate knowledge?
23 (Turn you at my correction: lo, I will pour out my mind unto you, and make you understand my words.)
24 Because I have called, and ye refused: I have stretched out mine hand, and none would regard.
25 But ye have despised all my counsel, and would none of my correction,
26 I will also [u]laugh at your destruction, and mock when your fear cometh.
27 When [v]your fear cometh like sudden desolation, and your destruction shall come like a whirlwind: when affliction and anguish shall come upon you,
28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer: they shall seek me early, but they shall not [w]find me,
29 Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
30 They would none of my counsel, but [x]despised all my correction.
31 Therefore shall they eat of the [y]fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32 For [z]ease slayeth the foolish, and the prosperity of fools destroyeth them.
33 But he that obeyeth me, shall dwell safely, and be quiet from fear of evil.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 1:1 This word Proverb, or Parable, signifieth a grave and notable sentence, worthy to be kept in memory: and is sometimes taken in the evil part for a mock or scoff.
- Proverbs 1:2 That is, what we ought to know and follow, and what we ought to refuse.
- Proverbs 1:2 Meaning, the word of God wherein is the only true knowledge.
- Proverbs 1:3 To learn to submit ourselves to the correction of those that are wise.
- Proverbs 1:3 By living justly and rendering to every man that which appertaineth unto him.
- Proverbs 1:4 To such as have no discretion to rule themselves.
- Proverbs 1:5 As he showeth that these parables containing the effect of religion as touching manners and doctrine, do appertain to the simple people: so doth he declare that the same is also necessary for them that are wise and learned.
- Proverbs 1:8 He speaketh this in the Name of God, which is the universal Father of all creatures, or in the name of the pastor of the Church, who is as a father.
- Proverbs 1:8 That is, of the Church, wherein the faithful are begotten by the incorruptible seed of God’s word.
- Proverbs 1:9 Hebrew, increase of grace.
- Proverbs 1:10 To wit, the wicked which have not the fear of God.
- Proverbs 1:11 He speaketh not only of the shedding of blood with hand, but of all crafty practices which tend to the detriment of our neighbor.
- Proverbs 1:12 As the grave is never satiated, so the avarice of the wicked and their cruelty hath none end.
- Proverbs 1:14 He showeth whereby the wicked are allured to join together, because they have every one part of the spoil of the innocent.
- Proverbs 1:15 That is, have nothing at all to do with them.
- Proverbs 1:18 He showeth that there is no cause to move these wicked to spoil the innocent, but their avarice and cruelty.
- Proverbs 1:19 Whereby he concludeth, that the covetous man is a murderer.
- Proverbs 1:20 This wisdom is the eternal word of God.
- Proverbs 1:20 So that none can pretend ignorance.
- Proverbs 1:22 Wisdom reproveth three kinds of men: the foolish or simple which err of ignorance, and the mockers that cannot suffer to be taught, and the fools which are drowned in worldly lusts and hate the knowledge of godliness.
- Proverbs 1:26 This is spoken according to our capacity, signifying that the wicked, which mock and jest at God’s word, shall have the just reward of their mocking.
- Proverbs 1:27 That is, your destruction, which thing you feared.
- Proverbs 1:28 Because they sought not with an affection to God, but for ease of their own grief.
- Proverbs 1:30 Showing that without faith and obedience, we can not call upon God aright.
- Proverbs 1:31 They shall feel what commodity their wicked life shall give them.
- Proverbs 1:32 That is, the prosperity and sensuality wherein they delight.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
