Matthew Poole and continuators on Proverbs 2

1. MY son , if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee ;

These words are spoken by Solomon, either, 1▪ in the name of wisdom, as before: or rather, 2. in his own name.

Lay them up in thy Mind and Heart with care, as men do their choicest Treasures.

Marginal references: Chap. 7. 1.

2. So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding :

Give thy self to the study of it with affection and diligence.

3. Yea, if thou criest after knowledg, and liftest up thy voice for understanding.

To wit, unto God, the onely giver of it, v. 6. Heb. If thou callest, invitest it to come unto thee, earnestly desirest its conduct.

Marginal references: Heb. givest [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word].

4. If thou seekest her as Silver, and searchest for her, as for hid treasures :

With the same unwearied diligence and earnest desire and patient expectation under all delays, disappointments, and difficulties, which Worldlings use in the purchase of Riches, or in digging in Mines of Silver.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 13▪ 44▪

5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD , and find the knowledge of God.

More perfectly and profitably; for that very seeking and searching after it, v. 4. supposed some understanding.

Which is the beginning of this Wisdom, Chap. 1. 7.

6. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

Heb. will give, hath promised to give it, to wit, to those that so seek it. Whereby he also teacheth them not to ascribe any Wisdom which they may obtain unto their own Wit and industry, but onely unto God's favour and blessing.

From his Word or appointment and good will, as the Word of God is taken, Deut. 8. 3.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters]in. 3. 9, 12. [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 1. 5.; Heb. will [illegible: 1 word].

7. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

Heb. Essence or substance, either 1. solid and true felicity, opposed to the vain enjoyments of this World, which are said to have no substance or being, Prov. 23. 5. or 2. true and substantial Wisdom, which is satisfactory and everlasting; opposed to worldly Wisdom, which is but an empty shadow of Wisdom, and perisheth with us.

To protect and save them from that mischief and ruine which shall befall all wicked men.

Marginal references: Ch. 30. 5.

8. He keepeth the paths of judgment , and preserveth the way of his Saints .

He guardeth and guideth the paths or ways, i. e. the counsels and actions, of good men, as the next Clause explains this, which are called Paths of Iudgment, or, righteous Paths, Iudgment being here put for Righteousness, as it is Psal. 99. 4. and oft elsewhere. And keeping of Paths may be put for keeping them in their Paths so as they shall neither swerve from them, nor stumble and fall in them.

The same thing repeated in other words.

Marginal references: Heb. to keep. S[illegible: 1+ letters] Gr.; Psal. 146. 9

9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity , yea, every good path .

When thou hast done thy part expressed, v. 1. 2, 3, &c. and God in answer to thy desires hath given thee Wisdom, v. 6. or when it is with thee, as it follows, v. 10.

All the parts of thy duty to Man, as well as the fear of God. v. 5. which contains all duties to God. These three words are used here, as also Chap. 1. 3. to signifie the same thing.

The practice of all Vertues and Graces.

10. When wisdom entreth into thine heart , and knowledge is pleasant unto thy Soul;

When thou dost truly love it and passionately desire it, and hide its Precepts in thy Heart, according to Psal. 119. 11.

11. Discretion shall preserve thee , understanding shall keep thee:

From wicked courses and the mischiefs which attend upon them, as is particularly expressed in the following Verses.

12. To deliver thee from the way of the evil man , from the man that speaketh froward things .

From following his counsel or example, which others for want of Wisdom commonly do.

With design to corrupt thy mind and entice thee to evil Principles or Practices.

13. Who leave the paths of uprightness , to walk in the ways of darkness :

The way of God's Precepts.

i. e. Of sin, which is oft called darkness, as Rom. 13. 12, &c. Eph. 5. 11. because it comes from darkness, ignorance and errour, and loves darkness and hates light, and leads to utter darkness.

14. Who rejoyce to do evil , and delight in the frowardness of the wicked .

Seeking and embracing occasions of sin with diligence and greediness, and pleasing themselves both in the practice and remembrance of sin, whereas upright men abhor and watch against all occasions of sin beforehand, and mourn bitterly for it afterwards.

Not onely in their own sins, but in the sins of other wicked men, which shews a greater malignity of mind and love to sin. See Rom. 1. 32.

15. Whose ways are crooked , and they froward in their paths.

Or, Who make their ways crooked, i. e. whose course of Life swerves from the right and straight way of God's Law.

Marginal references: Heb. who are crooked in their ways.

16. To deliver thee from the strange woman , even from the stranger which flattereth with her words .

From the Adulteress or Whore, called strange, partly because such Persons were commonly Heathens or are supposed to be such by reason of that severe Law against these practices in Israelitish women, Deut. 23. 17. or are justly reputed Heathens, as being degenerate Israelites, which are oft called Strangers, as hath been noted in the book of the Psalms: and partly because conversation with such Persons is forbidden to men, as those Israelites which were not Levites are called Strangers, Numb. 1. 51. in respect of the Holy things which they were prohibited to touch? and forbidden Fire is called strange fire, Num. 3. 4.

Which useth all arts and ways to allure men to unchast actions: one kind being put for all the rest.

Marginal references: Ch. 5. 3. & 6. 24 & 7. 5.

17. Which forsaketh the guide of her youth , and forgetteth the covenant of her God .

To wit, her Husband whom she took to be her guide and governour, and that in her youth; which circumstance is added to aggravate her sin and shame, because love is commonly most sincere and servent between an Husband and Wife of youth, as they are for that reason emphatically called, Prov. 5. 18. Isa. 54. 6. Ioel. 1. 8. Mal. 2. 14, 15.

i. e. Violateth or breaketh, as that word is commonly used in a practical sense.

The marriage Covenant, so called partly because God is the Author and Institutor of that society and mutual Obligation: and partly because God is called to be the witness and judge of that solemn Promise and Covenant, and the avenger of the transgression of it.

Marginal references: Jer. 3. 4.

18. For her house inclineth unto death , and her paths unto the dead .

Conversation with her (which was most free and usual in her own House) is the ready and certain way to Death, which it brings many ways, by wasting a Mans Vital spirits and shortning his life, by exposing him to many and dangerous Diseases, which Physicians have declared and proved to be the effects of inordinate lust, as also to the fury of jealous Husbands or Friends, and sometimes to the Sword of Civil Justice, and undoubtedly, without repentance, to God's wrath and the second Death. This is here mentioned as one great priviledge and blessed fruit of Wisdom.

Or, as the Chaldee and some others render it▪ unto the Giants, to wit, those rebellious Giants, Gen. 6. 4. or, as others, unto the damned, or, unto H[illegible: 1+ letters]ll. See for this word Iob 7. 9. Psal. 88. 11. Prov. 9. 18. & 21. 16.

19. None that go unto her , return again , neither take they hold of the paths of life .

Few or none. An hyperbolical expression used, Isa. 64. 7.

That go to her House, or that lie with her, as this Phrase is used, Gen. 16. 4. & 30. 4. Ios. 2. 3.

From her and from this wickedness unto God. Adulterers and Whoremongers are very rarely brought to repentance, but are generally hardned by the power and deceitfulness of that Lust, and by God's just judgment, peculiarly inflicted upon such Persons, Heb. 13. 4. He alludes to the nature of corporal death, from which no man can without a Miracle return to this life.

Of those courses which lead to true and eternal Life.

20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men , and keep the path of the righteous.

This depends upon v. 11▪ and is mentioned as another happy fruit of Wisdom, the former being declared from v. 12. to this Verse.

Follow the counsels and examples of the godly. Whereby he intimates that it is not sufficient to abstain from evil company and practices, but that we must choose the conversation of good men.

21. For the upright shall dwell in the land , and the perfect shall remain in it.

Shall have a peaceable and comfortable abode in the Land o[illegible: 1+ letters] Canaan, which also is a type of their everlasting felicity. See Psal. 37. 3, 9, 18, 29.

Marginal references: Psal. 37. 29.