Proverbs 1
Proverbs 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter is a part of the first collection of the book.
Text
Hebrew
The following table shows the Hebrew text of Proverbs 1 with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation.| Verse | Hebrew | English translation |
| 1 | The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; | |
| 2 | To know wisdom and instruction; To comprehend the words of understanding; | |
| 3 | To receive the discipline of wisdom, Justice, and right, and equity; | |
| 4 | To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion; | |
| 5 | That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning, And the man of understanding may attain unto wise counsels; | |
| 6 | To understand a proverb, and a figure; The words of the wise, and their dark sayings. | |
| [|7] | The fear of the is the beginning of knowledge; But the foolish despise wisdom and discipline. | |
| 8 | Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, And forsake not the teaching of thy mother; | |
| 9 | For they shall be a chaplet 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 lie in wait for blood, Let us lurk 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, restrain thy foot from their path; | |
| 16 | For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. | |
| 17 | For in vain the net is spread in the eyes of any bird; | |
| 18 | And these lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk for their own lives. | |
| 19 | So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; it taketh away the life of the owners thereof. | |
| 20 | Wisdom crieth aloud in the streets, she uttereth her voice in the broad places; | |
| 21 | She calleth at the head of the noisy streets, at the entrances of the gates, in the city, she uttereth her words: | |
| 22 | 'How long, ye thoughtless, will ye love thoughtlessness? And how long will scorners delight them in scorning, And fools hate knowledge? | |
| 23 | Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. | |
| 24 | Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man attended, | |
| 25 | But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; | |
| 26 | I also, in your calamity, will laugh, I will mock when your dread cometh; | |
| 27 | When your dread cometh as a storm, and your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; When trouble and distress come upon you. | |
| 28 | Then will they call me, but I will not answer, they will seek me earnestly, but they shall not find me. | |
| 29 | For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the ; | |
| 30 | They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. | |
| 31 | Therefore, shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. | |
| 32 | For the waywardness of the thoughtless shall slay them, and the confidence of fools shall destroy them. | |
| 33 | But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell securely, and shall be quiet without fear of evil.' |
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q102 with extant verses 27–33.There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.
Analysis
This chapter opens a section regarded as the first collection in the book of Proverbs, known as "Didactic discourses". The Jerusalem Bible describes chapters 1–9 as a prologue of the chapters 10–22:16, the so-called " proverbs of Solomon", as "the body of the book".The chapter has the following structure:
- Introduction
- Avoid Evil Men
- Wisdom's First Speech
Introduction (1:1–7)
Verse 1
- "Proverb": from Hebrew noun מָשָׁל,, can refer to "an object lesson based on or using a comparison or analogy", also can be "a short pithy statement", "object lesson drawn from experience", "saying or by-word", or "an oracle of future blessing".
- "The Proverbs of Solomon": a phrase that is considered the title for the entire book, although it does not mean that Solomon authored or collected all the proverbs in this book, because some sections are collections bearing the names different authors, such as the "sayings of the wise", "more sayings of the wise", "the words of Agur" and "the words of Lemuel". The book might not be in its final canonical form in the days of Solomon, because there is a note in it that "the men of Hezekiah" added a collection of Solomonic proverbs to the existing form of the book.
Verse 2
- "To know" from a Hebrew stative verb יָדַע,, which can mean "to come to know" or "to become wise in".
- "Wisdom" from Hebrew noun חָכְמָה,, which means 'skill, ability' and could be nuanced "moral skill." The term refers to "skill" that produces something of value, such as the manual skills of craftsmen, the navigational skills of sailors, abilities of weavers, or capabilities of administrators. Deuteronomy 4:6 refers to the statutes and laws given by God as Israel's wisdom. To learn about wisdom means 'to become equipped with the skills necessary to live a good and successful life'.
- "Instruction": The noun physical or parental: "discipline; chastisement" verbal: "warning; exhortation" and moral: "training; instruction", such as received under the authority of a parent or teacher. This term is paired with "wisdom" four times in the book.
Verse 7
- "Fear of the ": from the Hebrew phrase יִרְאַת יְהוָה,, with "YHWH" in form of objective genitive, as the object of "fear and wonder". This expression embraces both reverence for God and obedience to him ; stated here as the prerequisite of true wisdom with a repetition in 9:10 as a literary inclusion for the section comprising Proverbs 1–9, forming a central theme of the book.
- "Fear": from the Hebrew term יִרְאָה,, originated from the root יָרֵא,, which has a three-fold range of meanings: "be in dread or terror", "to stand in awe", "to revere; to respect" ; all of these appear in Exodus 20:20.
- "Beginning" may imply first in order, or importance, or the 'best part'.
Avoiding evil men (1:8–19)
- an appeal for attentiveness ;
- the directive expressed as a command or prohibition, and
- motivation clauses to heed the directive.