= Proverbs 2 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Proverbs_1|Previous]] | [[Proverbs_3|Next]] ] == Proverbs 2 1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. 7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. 8 He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. 9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. 10 When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; 11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: 12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; 13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; 14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; 15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: 16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; 17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. 18 For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. 19 None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. 20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. 22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. == Notes == Cross Reference == Concordance == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 My son, if you accept my words You will be my son if you accept my words. ==== Verse 2 to make...attentive to wisdom to toil in [learning] Torah. ==== Verse 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord This refers back to the topic above, in which he said, “For if you call for understanding.” ==== Verse 6 For the Lord gives wisdom Here you have learned that it [wisdom] is great, for it was given from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore, you must acquire it. ==== Verse 7 He lays up sound wisdom for the upright The Holy One, blessed be He, hid it [wisdom] with Him for twenty-six generations until He gave it to the generation of the desert. a shield for those who walk in integrity (He lays up a shield for those who walk with integrity); i.e., it will be a shield for you. ==== Verse 8 to keep the paths of justice For through it, they will keep the paths of justice, and He will guard the way of His pious so that they do not stumble. ==== Verse 11 thought Heb. מזמה. The Torah shall watch over you. ==== Verse 12 who speaks perversity Those are the people who distort the thing. [Rashi as it appears in Lublin and Waxman ed.] Malbim ed. reads: who distorts the words of the Torah after his erroneous view. Vilna and Warsaw editions read: They are the apostates who distort the words of the Torah to evil. ==== Verse 15 and perverse in their paths Heb. ונלוזים. Every expression of נלוז is an expression of crookedness, as it is always next to עקש, and עקש is an expression of crookedness, as it is stated (Isa. 42:16): “and crooked paths (ומעקשים) into straight ones.” and perverse in their paths They are crooked in their corrupt ways. ==== Verse 16 To save you from a strange woman From the assembly of idolatry [apostasy], which is sectarianism. It cannot be said that he spoke only of the actual adulteress, for what is the praise of the Torah, that he says here, “to save you from a strange woman,” and not from any other sin. Rather, this is the casting off of the yoke of all the commandments. ==== Verse 18 for her house sinks to death This refers back to “to save you, etc.” for whoever comes to her house will sink and slip as if down an incline that leads to death, and the Torah will guard you from this fall. Hence, it is a great thing for you. the dead Heb. רפאים, those who neglect (נרפים) the way of goodness and are forsaken without support until they fall into Gehinnom. ==== Verse 19 none...return It is hard for them to part with it and to repent. ==== Verse 20 in order that you go This refers back to the above verse (verse 12): “To save you from an evil way,” in order to lead you in the way of the good. ==== Verse 21 For the upright shall dwell in the land In the world to come. shall remain therein when the wicked descend to Gehinnom.