> [[proverbs-01|← Previous]] | [[proverbs-00|TOC]] | [[proverbs-03|Next →]] --- # Proverbs, Chapter 2 ## Chapter 2 ### The Blessings of Wisdom 1 My son, if you receive my words ^proverbs-02-1 and treasure my commands, 2 Turning your ear to wisdom, ^proverbs-02-2 inclining your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you call for intelligence, ^proverbs-02-3 and to understanding raise your voice; 4 If you seek her like silver, ^proverbs-02-4 and like hidden treasures search her out, 5 Then will you understand the fear of the LORD; ^proverbs-02-5 the knowledge of God you will find; 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, ^proverbs-02-6 from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He has success in store for the upright, ^proverbs-02-7 is the shield of those who walk honestly, 8 Guarding the paths of justice, ^proverbs-02-8 protecting the way of his faithful ones, 9 Then you will understand what is right and just, ^proverbs-02-9 what is fair, every good path; 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, ^proverbs-02-10 knowledge will be at home in your soul, 11 Discretion will watch over you, ^proverbs-02-11 understanding will guard you; 12 Saving you from the way of the wicked, ^proverbs-02-12 from those whose speech is perverse. 13 From those who have left the straight paths ^proverbs-02-13 to walk in the ways of darkness, 14 Who delight in doing evil ^proverbs-02-14 and celebrate perversity; 15 Whose ways are crooked, ^proverbs-02-15 whose paths are devious; 16 Saving you from a stranger, ^proverbs-02-16 from a foreign woman with her smooth words, 17 One who forsakes the companion of her youth ^proverbs-02-17 and forgets the covenant of her God; 18 For her path sinks down to death, ^proverbs-02-18 and her footsteps lead to the shades. 19 None who enter there come back, ^proverbs-02-19 or gain the paths of life. 20 Thus you may walk in the way of the good, ^proverbs-02-20 and keep to the paths of the just. 21 For the upright will dwell in the land, ^proverbs-02-21 people of integrity will remain in it; 22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land, ^proverbs-02-22 the faithless will be rooted out of it. \* (2:1] – [22) Chapter [2] is a single poem, an acrostic of twenty-two lines, the number of consonants in the Hebrew alphabet. In vv. [1] – [11], the letter *aleph*, the first letter of the alphabet, predominates, and in vv. [12] – [22], the letter *lamed*, the first letter of the second half of the alphabet. A single structure runs through the whole: if (*aleph*) you search…then (*aleph*) the Lord/Wisdom will grant…saving (*lamed*) you from the wicked man/woman…thus (*lamed*) you can walk in the safe way…. \* (2:2] – [3) Wisdom…understanding…intelligence: various names or aspects of the same gift. \* (2:12] – [15) As in [1:8] – [19], there is an obstacle to the quest for wisdom—deceitful and violent men. Cf. also [4:10] – [19]. They offer a way of life that is opposed to the way of wisdom. \* (2:16] – [19) A second obstacle and counter-figure to Wisdom, personified as an attractive woman, is the “stranger,” or “foreigner,” from outside the territory or kinship group, hence inappropriate as a marriage partner. In Proverbs she comes to be identified with Woman Folly, whose deceitful words promise life but lead to death. Woman Folly appears also in chap. [5], [6:20] – [35], chap. [7] and [9:13] – [18]. Covenant: refers to the vow uttered with divine sanction at the woman’s previous marriage, as the parallel verse suggests. She is already married and relations with her would be adulterous. \* (2:18) Shades: the inhabitants of Sheol. \* (2:21] – [22) Verses [21] – [22] echo the ending of Wisdom’s speech in [1:32] – [33], in which refusing Wisdom’s invitation meant death and obedience to her meant life. The same set of ideas is found in [Ps 37] (especially vv. [3], [9], [11], [22], [29], [34], and [38]): to live on (or inherit) the land and to be uprooted from the land are expressions of divine recompense. a. (2:6) [Jb 32:8]; ([[wisdom-07|Wis 7]]:25]; [Sir 1:1]; [Jas 1:5]. b. (2:16) [Prv 5:3], [20]; [6:24]; [7:5]; [22:14]. c. (2:18) [Prv 5:5]; [7:27]. d. (2:21) [Prv 10:7], [30]; [Jb 18:17]; ([[psalm-21|Ps 21]]:9] – [13]; [37:22], [28]. --- _New American Bible, revised edition_ (2010, 1991, 1986, 1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. > [[proverbs-01|← Previous]] | [[proverbs-00|TOC]] | [[proverbs-03|Next →]]