Introduction to Proverbs: Proverbs 1:8-19

8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother: 9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck. 10 My son, if sinners entice thee, Consent thou not. 11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: 12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; And whole, as those that go down into the pit: 13 We shall find all precious substance, We shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; Let us all have one purse: 15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, And make haste to shed blood. 17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. 18 And they lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives. 19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; Which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

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Last week, we looked at Proverbs 1:1-7 and we talked a bit about the purpose, authorship, and timing of the writings contained in Proverbs. We know, from our studies and our reading that Proverbs was written by King Solomon, with edits and additions by other authors, some known and others unknown.

Proverbs, based on our reading from last week, serves the purpose of all wisdom literature in that it provides a more practical look at life from a perspective of wisdom. Proverbs, of the the three, deals the least with the wisdom of God in that it the primary objective of it is to tackle things of life. However, as discussed, we can expect to see throughout the scriptures a continual showing of Godly action through the scriptures that do not directly references the God of said action.

Last week, in the text, we learn the author’s intended audience and purpose, which is generic in that it is targeted to everyone. People at every level of wisdom, at every level of knowledge, every level of age, and so on. The goal being for everyone to take time to learn from the wisdom of the scriptures. That said, the text does make clear that the most wise thing we can do and the foundation for any wisdom we do gain is the knowledge that God is the ultimate source of wisdom and is to be feared as the living God.

Allow for Questions?

Write some of the questions down if possible.

Scripture Study

Proverbs 1:8–9 KJV 1900

8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the law of thy mother: 9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, And chains about thy neck.

I find it interesting that as soon as we learn about the wisdom in fearing God, the scriptures moves to establishing the nature of the parent-child relationship as a source of instruction and law.

Rooted in the roles of the father and mother, the father teaches his son the ways of life (in a caste system) and the Mother provides him structure in his life and his home.

In this imagery, the words of a mother and father, are likened to the adornments of a ruler.

A crown is representative of the heavenly knowledge bestowed upon a ruler, who is typically a vicar for Christ.

A chain with seal/ or ring is representative of the heavenly authority bestowed upon a rule, who is typically an extension of Christ’s hand.

In this imagery, the mother and father take on the role of the Priest and the King as they crown their son with the tools to serve as King-Priests, the ultimate desire of God.

Proverbs 1:10–12 CEVDK

10 Don’t be tempted by sinners or listen 11 when they say, “Come on! Let’s gang up and kill somebody, just for the fun of it! 12 They’re well and healthy now, but we’ll finish them off once and for all.

I like the way this reads best in the CEV because it makes the text very plain in intention.

Even here, the scriptures addresses the problem and notion of peer pressure.

We have an amazing proclivity to follow the leader and we end up in negative situations because we allowed people to impose false truth upon us.

Here we see, the practicality of not following the crowd in every action but we can also see where the concept of something like peer pressure to participate in something like gang activity comes across as merely an issue of children, but in the context of scripture, it begins to make more sense for adults.

If you will give into peer pressure about beating up people, surely you will give into pressure against serving the God of Abraham.

Proverbs 1:13–14 KJV 1900

13 We shall find all precious substance, We shall fill our houses with spoil: 14 Cast in thy lot among us; Let us all have one purse:

Here we see the danger of the entire thing, where the scriptures opens to us.

We see the temptation of the entire operation where we would rather split things outside the will of God, than to have our own things inside the will of God.

Proverbs 1:15–16 KJV 1900

15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; Refrain thy foot from their path: 16 For their feet run to evil, And make haste to shed blood.

Here we see shades of Psalms 1:1 “1 Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”

Here we see where the line of Godly injustice is truly drawn.

A clear distinction is made between committing murder and taking from the work of someone else’s hands.

In this we see the difference in their societal expectations but then we also see the amount of pride that God takes in the works of his people.

God was proud of Abel for his hard work in producing an offering and made clear to Abel that to not work hard is indicative of sin at your front door.

Here, God says that the intention to steal was evil as a separate action unto the actual murder.

Proverbs 1:17 KJV 1900

17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

Proverbs 1:17 CEVDK

17 They are like a bird that sees the bait, but ignores the trap.

The CEV once again supplies a worthy understanding of this verse with a very great interpretation of the scripture. Here a bit of inference is made based on the textual analysis of the Word of God. To underscore this point, I will look to my Proverbs Commentary by Duane Garrett.

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (1) First Exhortation (1:8–19)

Verse 17 is confusing as translated in the NIV and most versions. Even if one is willing to admit that a bird is intelligent enough to recognize the purpose of a trap when it sees it (which is doubtful), the proverb has no point in context. In addition, the Hebrew cannot sustain the translation “spread a net.” The line is best rendered, “In the eyes of a bird, the net is strewn [with grain] for no reason.” In other words, the bird does not see any connection between the net and what is scattered on it; he just sees food that is free for the taking. In the process he is trapped and killed. In the same way, the gang cannot see the connection between their acts of robbery and the fate that entraps them.

In most scripture when this Hebrew word is used, it is applied to the spreading of grain, many times onto a threshing floor. Hence why, IN THIS SOLE INTERPRETATION, is the word translate in this way. However, by implying that this means not to spread the net but to spread GRAIN into the net, you can infer a better meaning that is more in line with the nature of the scripture and the other uses of that word.

Proverbs 1:18 CEVDK

18 They gang up to murder someone, but they are the victims.

Proverbs 1:19 NLT

19 Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money; it robs them of life.

I see immense parallel between these two passages, as God makes abundantly clear that the wages of sin is death. You can try your foolishness today but you are robbing yourself of your own life.

Job 24:24–25 The Message

24 They may get their brief successes, but then it’s over, nothing to show for it. Like yesterday’s newspaper, they’re used to wrap up the garbage. 25 You’re free to try to prove me a liar, but you won’t be able to do it.”

Allow for Final Questions?

Prayer Requests

Sheree

Continued wisdom

Knowing when things we are doing are out of trauma or habit and being able to address it.

Gabbie

Anxiety as it pertains to dealing with internship

Being responsible and knowing how to do that/ or manage that.

Praying for her feelings as an imposter, and understanding that she has something to offer to them.

Zach

Continued prayer for anxiety and worries, and knowing what to do and when

Roger

I hear God for everyone but myself.

Prayer: Roger

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