| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: |
Proverbs of Solomon – Based on the promised wisdom from above and on experiences gained under peculiar and varied circumstances. R1517:5
Although he spoke 3000 Proverbs (1 Kings 4:32), they were not all deemed of the Lord worthy of preservation as a portion of the sacred Scriptures. R2053:4
Those who reverence the Lord he recognizes as sons. To such the counsels of these Proverbs are addressed, while warnings are given to others. R1518:5
Solomon was granted a supernatural wisdom that he might prefigure Jesus, the "greater than Solomon." (Matt. 12:42) R2053:2
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| 2 For knowing wisdom and instruction, For understanding sayings of intelligence, |
Wisdom – Dealing with wisdom from the earthly standpoint, not the heavenly wisdom, not spiritual understanding. R2053:1
Solomon was granted a supernatural wisdom that he might represent our Lord. R2053:2
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| 3 For receiving the instruction of wisdom, Righteousness, judgment, and uprightness, |
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| 4 For giving to simple ones prudence, To a youth knowledge and discretion. |
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| 5 (The wise doth hear and increaseth learning, And the intelligent doth obtain counsels.) |
A wise man will hear – No matter how wise a man may be, he still has opportunity to increase his wisdom, and a teachable attitude and desire to know the truth are necessary. R2053:3
Christians need to search the Scriptures daily that they might more perfectly understand the divine plan. R2053:3
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| 6 For understanding a proverb and its sweetness, Words of the wise and their acute sayings. |
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| 7 Fear of Jehovah [is] a beginning of knowledge, Wisdom and instruction fools have despised! |
The fear of the LORD – Solomon here quotes from one of his father David's Psalms. (Psa. 111:10) R2053:3
Proper reverence for him, now so generally lacking. R2053:5
Allowing our minds to dwell upon the grandeur of God's benevolent, loving and glorious character until a glimpse of his glory awakens in us a feeling of admiration, veneration and love. R1518:3
In the training of a child, every suggestion should take the Lord into consideration. F554
Other fears are discountenanced among the Lord's people; the fear of the Lord should be their only one. CR9:1
Of knowledge – Knowledge from God is accompanied by its equal of understanding and this is how we have become established in the faith. If God gives us knowledge he also gives us a test on that knowledge, and fortifies it with the understanding thereof. R4093:2*
Fools despise wisdom – As mankind awakens from the superstition of the past they go to the opposite extreme of doubt, skepticism, infidelity, irreverence for God and his Word. R2053:5
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| 8 Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, And leave not the law of thy mother, |
My son – Only those begotten of the truth and in covenant with God. R1518:5
Of thy father – God. R1518:5
True prosperity lies in obedience to parents, and in general, learning from the experiences of those who have gone before. R2053:6
Of thy mother – The Abrahamic covenant, typified by Sarah. R4019:5, R1518:5
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| 9 For a graceful wreath [are] they to thy head, And chains to thy neck. |
Be an ornament – Mark of honor and respect. R2053:6
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| 10 My son, if sinners entice thee be not willing. |
If sinners – Literally the brigands of Solomon's day, much more common then than now. R2054:1
Figuratively the trusts and monopolies (including labor trusts) of our day. R1518:5, R2054:1
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| 11 If they say, 'Come with us, we lay wait for blood, We watch secretly for the innocent without cause, |
Come with us – Join our union or trust. R1518:6
Lay wait for blood – For opportunities to squeeze the life out of those under our power--financially or otherwise kill those opposed to us. R1518:6
Social brigandage, in passing laws that do violence to the liberties and interests of others. R2054:4
Lurk privily – Watch for opportunity to take advantage of their ignorance of our movements. R1519:1
Robbing others by misrepresentation, swindling advertisements, fraudulent deceptions, trickery, etc. R2054:1
For the innocent – It is chiefly the innocent who suffer most from such conspiracies. R1519:1
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| 12 We swallow them as Sheol alive, And whole as those going down [to] the pit, |
Let us – This purports to be the language of murderers who would destroy their victims quickly, and have them lost from sight and from memory. E366
Swallow them up – Completely destroy them as competitors. R1519:1
As in an earthquake, as in Num. 16:30-33. R2600:2
Alive as the grave – As sheol, oblivion, lost from sight and memory. E366
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| 13 Every precious substance we find, We fill our houses [with] spoil, |
With spoil – Grow rich upon the loss and injuries of others. R1519:1
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| 14 Thy lot thou dost cast among us, One purse is to all of us.' |
All have one purse – Let us put our money and skill together so that we can control the markets and reap the harvest. R1519:1
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| 15 My son! go not in the way with them, Withhold thy foot from their path, |
Walk not thou – "My soul, come not thou into their secret" scheming. (Gen. 49:6) CR351:4*
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| 16 For their feet to evil do run, And they haste to shed blood. |
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| 17 Surely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird. |
Sight of any bird – Both Capital and Labor can see the devices of each other. R1519:1
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| 18 And they for their own blood lay wait, They watch secretly for their own lives. |
And they – These conspirators. R1519:2
Their own blood – Get caught in their own traps. R1519:2, R2054:4
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| 19 So [are] the paths of every gainer of dishonest gain, The life of its owners it taketh. |
Greedy of gain – "Then they that will (to) be rich fall into temptation and a snare." (1 Tim. 6:9) R2054:4
The life – The living. R1519:2
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| 20 Wisdom in an out-place crieth aloud, In broad places she giveth forth her voice, |
Wisdom – The voice of righteousness and prudence, the voice of God. R1519:2
Crieth without – Never before were the obligations of human brotherhood forced upon the attention of all men as they are today. R1519:2
In the streets – The "golden rule" is coming to the front, even in the newspapers of our day. R1519:2
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| 21 At the head of the multitudes she calleth, In the openings of the gates, In the city her sayings she saith: |
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| 22 'Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity And have scorners their scorning desired And do fools hate knowledge |
Love simplicity – Prefer to remain in ignorance of the just and right ways of the Lord. R1519:3
In their scorning – Of justice and truth. R1519:3
Hate knowledge – The wisdom that cometh from above. R1519:3
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| 23 Turn back at my reproof, lo, I pour forth to you my spirit, I make known my words with you. |
At my reproof – But they will not turn, because they "Imagine a vain thing," --they "set themselves together against the Lord and against his anointed." (Psa. 2:2) R1519:3
I will pour out – Make manifest. R1519:3
My spirit – My disposition. R1519:3
My words unto you – Notwithstanding the fact that they hate such a knowledge. R1519:3
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| 24 Because I have called, and ye refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending, |
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| 25 And ye slight all my counsel, And my reproof ye have not desired. |
All my counsel – As contained in my Word. R2241:1
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| 26 I also in your calamity do laugh, I deride when your fear cometh, |
I also will laugh – "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision." (Psa. 2:4) R1519:4, R1079:5
At your calamity – The culmination of the present (1893) unrest will be a terrific whirlwind. R1519:4
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| 27 When your fear cometh as destruction, And your calamity as a hurricane doth come, When on you come adversity and distress. |
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| 28 Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not. |
I will not answer – It will not avert the trouble for men to call upon the Lord once it has begun. R1519:4
"God heareth not sinners." (John 9:31) R2024:1
Prayer privileges are restricted to those who, desiring to flee from sin, come to a knowledge of the Savior and accept the favor of God. R2024:1
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| 29 Because that they have hated knowledge, And the fear of Jehovah have not chosen. |
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| 30 They have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof, |
None of my counsel – Some reject the Word of the Lord in toto; others, as truly rejectors, accept it nominally, but never in the sense of putting it into practice in their daily lives. R2241:1
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| 31 And they eat of the fruit of their way, And from their own counsels they are filled. |
Of their own way – The whirlwind of trouble will be the result of their own selfishness. R1519:4
Illustrated by the end of King Saul. R3240:5
And be filled – To satisfaction. R1519:4
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| 32 For the turning of the simple slayeth them, And the security of the foolish destroyeth them. |
The turning away – From the heavenly wisdom to the earthly wisdom of selfishness. R1519:5
Shall slay them – Incite the jealousy and hatred of the masses and make them special objects of attack in the time of trouble. R1519:5
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| 33 And whoso is hearkening to me dwelleth confidently, And [is] quiet from fear of evil!' |
Shall dwell safely – "The Lord knoweth them that are his." (2 Tim. 2:19) R1519:5
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