Proverbs 2

2.1  "accept"  lays the foundation for all the subsequent conditions (1-4) and promises (5-22) --BW
2.2
2.3  Note the similarity between call out and lift up voice to Wisdom in 1.21-22 and the contrast with 1.24-25
2.5  C. Newsom makes the astute observation that "allegiance preceeds understanding, not the other way around."  --BW
.

110508 Carpenter flock notes - Proverbs 2 esp. 1-11

General structure

I Development of character  (Aleph)  (1-11)

     A. If you will ...

     B. Then understand fear/knowledge of LORD/God

     C. Then understand r., j., e., & good path

II. Deliverance from the wicked  (Lamed)  (12-22)

     A. To deliver from the wicked man

     B. To deliver from the immoral woman

     C. Walk in the good way

Discuss repeated words, etc.

I. If you will

     1a  Accept the "catechism" by faith

     1b  Memorize and internalize with religious affection

     2  Pay attention to

     3  Desire

     4. Seek and sacrifice for

II. Then you will...

     5  Understand (perceive) find (arrive @)  F or L   know God

     6  For Divine origin of wisdom  knowledge understand

     7a sores up  (pun with v. 1b)

     7b-8  shield

              guards:  watch over, protect

              preserves:  cause a state or condition to remain.

III. Then understand  r., j., e., as in 1.3

     2. Pleasant  (enjoyed like a delicacy)  more than just knowing something

     3.  Not from an attack, but from bad choices.

APPLICATION:

 

     .

Proverbs 1.20-33 for Parents

A few things I am thinking about...
1.22  What causes the simple to love simplicity?  How do we position them to "see the light" and wise up?
1.23 What is the correct response of a parent to a child who hates knowledge (What kind of knowledge is it talking about here? Book learning, Bible verses, or something more related to 1.4 and 1.7 where it is associated with discretion and the fear of the Lord with and wisdom and instruction).  There is a hint in verse 23.  
1.28  How do we teach our children that life is not an endless stream of second, third, fourth, etc. chances?
1.29  "Choose" is an important word for children.  As parents our responsibility is not to give our children choices but teach the to discern and choose the right way, the fear of the Lord.  How do you teach your children to make good choices?
1.32a and 33a  What is being contrasted in 32b with turning away 1.32b and 33b  What is the difference between complacency and safety?  How can our children tell which one they have? 






(also Proverbs 1:4; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 1:29; Proverbs 2:5-6; Proverbs 2:10; Proverbs 3:20; Proverbs 8:10; Proverbs 8:12; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 10:14; Proverbs 11:9; Proverbs 12:1; Proverbs 12:23; Proverbs 13:16; Proverbs 14:6; Proverbs 15:2; Proverbs 15:7; Proverbs 15:14; Proverbs 17:27; Proverbs 18:15; Proverbs 19:2; Proverbs 20:15; Proverbs 22:12; Proverbs 24:4-5; Proverbs 29:7; Proverbs 30:3).

Genesis 47-49

47.29  Please do not bury me in Egypt...
49.3 Ruben ... unstable as water...
49.5 Simeon ...their wrath, for it is cruel.
49.8 Judah ...
49.13  Zebulun...
49.14 Issachar... became a band of slaves...
49.16 Dan... shall judge his people
49.19   Gad...shall triumph as last...
49.20  Asher ... rich...
49.21 Naphtali... a deer let loose...
49.22 Joseph ... .
.

The way / path in Proverbs

Derek Strong's Number:   01870  TWOT - 453a

דֶּרֶך (derek). Way, road, journey, manner, work.

Related to the verb dārak “to tread, trample”; hence, it refers first to a path worn by constant walking. Genesis 3:24 mentions the “way to the tree of life,” blocked after the fall of man. Hagar was on the road to Shur when an angel met her (Gen 16:7). This could also be translated “on the way” to Shur (cf. Gen 38:21; Ex 4:24). Sometimes derek can refer to a major highway, such as the king’s highway (derek hammelek) running north and south in Transjordan (Num 20:17; 21:22). The “way of the sea” (Isa 9:1 [H 8:23]), known later as the Via Maris, extended from Gaza to Damascus. Exodus 13:17 mentions the road along the coast from Egypt through Philistine country.

derek can also mean “journey,” usually one of several days’ duration. Joseph prepared supplies for his father’s journey to Egypt (Gen 45:23), and the Gibeonites tricked Joshua by claiming to have completed “a very long journey” (Josh 9:13). Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal as he suggested their god might be “on a journey” (I Kgs 18:27). In Gen 24:21 Abraham’s servant thanks God for making his journey (or “mission”) to Mesopotamia successful.

More numerous are the metaphorical uses of derek. It often refers to the actions and behavior of men, who either follow the way of the righteous or the way of the wicked (Ps 1:6). The way of the righteous is closely linked with “the way of the Lord.” Parents are to command their children “to keep the way of the Lord” (Gen 18:19; cf. Prov 22:6), which is found in the statutes and commands of God’s law (I Kgs 2:3). God’s ways are much higher than man’s ways, and the wicked is urged to forsake his sinful way (Isa 55:7–9).

God sent the flood because men “had corrupted their ways” (Gen 6:12) and even after the giving of the law, Israel quickly deviated from the way of the Lord (Deut 9:16) though they were assured that their ways would not be successful (Deut 28:29). During the divided kingdom, the rulers of Israel consistently walked in the way of Jeroboam and ignored God (I Kgs 16:26). They took a path that seemed right, but in the end it led to death (Prov 14:12).

In Prov 30:19 the behavior of a man courting a maiden is compared with the uncanny movement of an eagle in the sky, a snake on a rock, and a ship in the sea.

Occasionally derek means “manner” or “custom.” Lot’s daughters committed incest with their father because they thought that, after the destruction of Sodom, the normal “custom” of marriage was impossible (Gen 19:31). Later in Genesis, Rachel excused herself from rising in her father’s presence because “the manner of women (her menstrual period) is upon me” (31:35).

Twice in Job and once in Proverbs derek refers to God’s work in a creation context. In Job 40:19 the mighty Behemoth is called “the first of the works of God.” The identical idiom (rēʾšîtderek) in Prov 8:22 may refer to personified wisdom as the first of God’s works also. In Job 26:14 the evidence of God’s power in creation and in history is called “the fringes of His ways” (NASB) or “the outer fringe of his works” (NIV).

“Ways” has the unusual sense of “sexual favors” in Jer 3:13 and Prov 31:3.

The cognate noun in Ug, drkt, is clearly used to mean “dominion, thrones of dominion” (AisWUS no. 792; UT 19: no. 702 “rule, dominion”). The relation between the meaning “road” and “dominion” is not clear, but it may be seen in the meaning cited by Gordon (UT id.) “to march.” The idea of “tread” could extend to tread down in authority or to tread upon a road or way. In any case there are ot passages which seem to be elucidated by the translation “dominion, power, force, authority.” Pope finds two in Job:17:9 and 26:14 (“Job” AB, in loc.); Dahood argues for such a meaning in a number of places in the Psalms and elsewhere (Bib 38:306–20). The places he suggests in his “Psalms” AB include: Ps 1:1, 6; 67:2 [H 3]; 77:13 [H 14]; 90:16; 101:2; 102:23 [H 24]; 119:37; 138:5 and 146:9. Some of these are convincing; some are not. The meaning is allowed in HCHL and should doubtless be adopted in a few ot contexts. ---- Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

Proverbs 1:15
My son, do not walk in the way with them,
Keep your foot from their path;
Proverbs 1:31
Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
Proverbs 2:8
He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
Proverbs 2:12-13
To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
Proverbs 2:20 20
So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
Proverbs 3:6
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:17
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
Proverbs 3:23
Then you will walk safely in your way,
And your foot will not stumble.
Proverbs 4:11
I have taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
Proverbs 4:14
Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
Proverbs 4:19
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.
Proverbs 4:26
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Proverbs 5:8
Remove your way far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house,
Proverbs 5:21
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord,
And He ponders all his paths.
Proverbs 6:6
Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
Proverbs 6:23
For the commandment is a lamp,
And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life,
Proverbs 7:8
Passing along the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house
Proverbs 7:25
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths;
Proverbs 7:27
Her house is the way to hell,
Descending to the chambers of death.
Proverbs 8:2
She takes her stand on the top of the high hill,
Beside the way, where the paths meet.
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate.
Proverbs 8:22
"The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
Proverbs 9:6
Forsake foolishness and live,
And go in the way of understanding.
Proverbs 9:15
13 A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple,
and knows nothing. 14 For she sits at the door of her house,
On a seat by the highest places of the city,
15 To call to those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
To call to those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
Proverbs 10:9
He who walks with integrity walks securely,
But he who perverts his ways will become known.
Proverbs 10:29
The way of the Lord is strength for the upright,
But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
Proverbs 11:5
The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright,
But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
Proverbs 11:20
Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord,
But the blameless in their ways are His delight.
Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But he who heeds counsel is wise.
Proverbs 12:26
The righteous should choose his friends carefully,
For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Proverbs 12:28
In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death.
Proverbs 13:6
Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
But wickedness overthrows the sinner.
Proverbs 13:15
Good understanding gains favor,
But the way of the unfaithful is hard.
Proverbs 14:2
He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord,
But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.
Proverbs 14:8
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.
Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 14:14
The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways,
But a good man will be satisfied from above.
Proverbs 15:9
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But He loves him who follows righteousness.
Proverbs 15:19
The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns,
But the way of the upright is a highway.
Proverbs 16:22
All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the spirits.
Proverbs 16:7
When a man's ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Proverbs 16:9
A man's heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:17
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who keeps his way preserves his soul.
Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 16:29
A violent man entices his neighbor,
And leads him in a way that is not good.
Proverbs 16:31
The silver-haired head is a crown of glory,
If it is found in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 19:3
The foolishness of a man twists his way,
And his heart frets against the Lord.
Proverbs 19:16
He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul,
But he who is careless of his ways will die.
Proverbs 21:2
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
But the Lord weighs the hearts.
Proverbs 21:8
The way of a guilty man is perverse;
But as for the pure, his work is right.
Proverbs 21:16
A man who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the assembly of the dead.
Proverbs 22:5-6
Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse;
He who guards his soul will be far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 26:13
The lazy man says, "There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion is in the streets!"
Proverbs 28:6
Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
Than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.
Proverbs 28:10
Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way,
He himself will fall into his own pit;
But the blameless will inherit good.
Proverbs 28:18
Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved,
But he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.
Proverbs 29:27
An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.
Proverbs 30:19-20
The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.
20 This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, "I have done no wickedness."
Proverbs 31:3
Do not give your strength to women,
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.
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Ma`gal    Strong's Number H4570  TWOT - 1560f

5047 II. מַעְגָּל (mǎʿ∙gāl): n.masc.; ≡ Str 4570; TWOT 1560f—1. direction in life, teaching, formally, rutted path, i.e., verbal teaching as a figurative extension of a well-worn path (Ps 17:5; 23:3; Pr 2:9; 4:11+); 2. life, course of life, formally, path, i.e., the way one conducts oneself in life as a figurative extension of a well-worn path (Ps 140:6[EB 5]; Pr 2:15, 18; 4:26; 5:6, 21; Isa 26:7; 59:8+); 3. path ruts, wheel tracks, i.e., grooves in a dirt path as a condition of being often used by carts (Ps 65:12[EB 11]+), note: the picture is one of so much being on a cart it spills off onto the ground into the wheel tracks^. ----Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.)
Proverbs 2:18
For her house leads down to death,
And her paths to the dead;
Proverbs 4:26
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Proverbs 5:6
Lest you ponder her path of life--
Her ways are unstable;
You do not know them.

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Nathiyb  Strong's Number:  H5410   TWOT - 1440a,1440b 
1440a  נָתִיב (nātîb) path.

נָתִיב (nātîb). Path, way. Some lexicographers have taken nātîb as an adjective, perhaps meaning “trodden” (though a possibly cognate Arabic verb means “swell, be prominent or protrude”), used also substantively for a beaten path. In taking such an approach, said lexicons then consider the feminine form which occurs in Prov 12:28 to modify “way” (derek), i.e., “a well-trodden way.” Highly noteworthy is the fact that these two terms occur only in poetic (including the prophetic writings) passages. All five (or six—see above) occurrences of the shorter word are limited to Job and Ps, and the more widespread nĕtîbâ is found only in the Song of Deborah (Jud 5), Job, Ps, Prov, and the writings of three prophets.

The path or track referred to by nātîb in Job 28:7 and 41:32 [H 24] is a physical one, though in the latter case it is produced on the surface of water. A more figurative usage is found in Job 18:10, where a trap is set in the path of the wicked, and in Ps 78:50. which describes God as smoothing a way for his anger to strike the Egyptians. Psalm 119:35 affords an excellent example of the use of this term, with a patently self-evident sense, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.”

Similarly, a nĕtîbâ is a (foot-) path or way which one travels physically or morally. This noun is often used in parallel with the more common and prosaic derek; (q.v.) in the sense of a course of life, especially one which is of God’s appointment, as in Isa 42:16. It speaks of moral character or action, either good (of wisdom, Prov 3:17; justice, Prov 8:20; light, Job 24:13) or wicked (Prov 1:15; Isa 59:8, such as that of the adulteress, in (Prov 7:25). “Bypath” definitely captures the sense of Jer 18:15.

The closest synonym to these two terms would be ʾōraḥ, also poetic for path or way, while much more distinctive would be maʿgāl “track, rut” and mĕsillâ “highway, embankment.” ----- Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

Proverbs 3:17
Her [wisdom] ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
Proverbs 8:20
I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
Proverbs 12:28
In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'orach    Strong's Number:   0734   TWOT - 161a 
161a    אֹרַח (ʾōraḥ) way, path.

The verb is used five times in the ot. Job is accused of “keeping company” with the workers of iniquity (34:8). Normally it means “traveller,” one who is on the move (Jud 19:17; II Sam 12:4; Jer 14:8, where it is applied to God; Jer 9:2 [H 1]).

אֹרַח (ʾōraḥ). Way, path. Although the word appears fifty-eight times in the ot, forty-five of them are limited to three books: Prov, nineteen times; Ps, fifteen times; Job, eleven times. Most often ʾōraḥ is used in a figurative way, describing the way to life or to death. It often is parallel with the word derek, meaning “way, lifestyle.” “Teach me your way (derek), O Lord, and lead me in a plain (?) path (ʾōraḥ),” (Ps 27:11). “Do not enter the path (ʾōraḥ) of the wicked, nor go in the way (derek) of evil men” (Prov 4:14; cf. Ps 139:3; Prov 2:8; 12:28: Job 6:18; Isa 30:11).----- Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
Proverbs 1:19
19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;
It takes away the life of its owners.
Proverbs 2:8
8 He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
Proverbs 2:13
From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
Proverbs 2:15
15 Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;
Proverbs 2:19-20
None who go to her return,
Nor do they regain the paths of life--
20 So you may walk in the way of goodness,
And keep to the paths of righteousness.
Proverbs 4:14
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
Proverbs 4:18
18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
Proverbs 5:6
6 Lest you ponder her [immoral woman] path of life--
Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.
Proverbs 8:20
I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
Proverbs 10:17
He who keeps instruction is in the way of life,
But he who refuses correction goes astray.
Proverbs 12:28
In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death.
Proverbs 15:10
Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way,
And he who hates correction will die.
Proverbs 15:19
19 The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns,
But the way of the upright is a highway.
Proverbs 15:24
The way of life winds upward for the wise,
That he may turn away from hell below.
Proverbs 17:23
A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back
To pervert the ways of justice.
Proverbs 22:25
25 Lest you learn his [angry man] ways
And set a snare for your soul.