Proverbs for Parents - Proverbs 1.8-19

The TNIV is a very dynamic (aka interpretive) translation which can be helpful in places like Proverbs 1:17-19.
"How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!
Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who get it.

The wording here emphasizes two things. First, greed blinds us to it's dangers. That is an insidious side affect, because is causes us to miss the next danger. Second, it "takes away their life." What does it profit a man to gain the the whole world and loose its own soul? It slowly sucks the life out of us and can result in eternal death.

A lesson here seems to be to demonstrate caution, be extra suspicious of our motives, and seek the cousel of others when we want something too badly. So, how do I do that and how do I show my kids how to? Maybe that is part of the thinking for the advice to "sleep on it."

Fundamentals for Preaching the Book of Proverbs, Lecture 4

Fundamentals for Preaching the Book of Proverbs, Lecture 4

Bruce K. Waltke

http://www.dts.edu/media/play/preaching-fundamentals-of-proverbs-part-iii-bruce-waltke/  

This lecture includes

FIVE: UNDERSTANDING ITS WORDS

SIX: UNDERSTANDING THE FEAR OF "I AM"

And some expositing of Prov. 30: 32-33; 10.6-13; and 2:1-5

Thank you Dr. Baily and faculty for inviting me.  It’s been a wonderful week.  You just embraced me with love and affection, and it’s been wonderful.  The first day Chaplain Bill made mention that half the faculty had been my students, but there’s one person on this faculty who was my teacher and exemplifies 2 Timothy 2 of a faithful teacher.  That’s Dwight Pentecost.  Thank you Dwight.

It’s also fitting that I honor those who helped me with the power point presentation.  It’s the first time I’ve ever done it and probably the last time.   Linda Tomchalk [sp?] prepared them and Jim Hoover and I along with Linda edited them because I had mistimed myself so badly.  So we’ve been up here every morning at 8:30 tring to adjust, and they’ve just been terrific.  Would you join me in expressing appreciation to them. 

The preamble to Proverbs we have been arguing teaches the expositor the code that opens the lock to the gated paradise of Proverbs.  In the past two lectures we learned the first four numbers of the code: (1) understanding the literary genre, assuring the expositor that God's authority is stamped on its coined and relevant proverbs; (2) understanding its human authors, especially Solomon, challenging the expositor to sympathize with the King’s commitment to Israel’s covenant and with his witt; (3) understanding its concept of wisdom, namely, social skills that produce an abundant life of health, wealth, and peace; and (4) understanding its intended audiences: originally the royal court, then democratized to Israel's youth, and finally extended in the cannon to all the people of God.

We now learn the last two numbers of the code; understanding its words (1:6), and understanding the concept of "the fear of  I AM " (v. 7).  [3:44]

NUMBER FIVE: UNDERSTANDING ITS WORDS

Understanding its words comes from, “For obtaining wisdom, Understanding words of insight.”  Well, that’s verse two in the summary statement.   The preamble's summary statement of purpose includes the words, "for understanding words of insight" (1:2b). In Hebrew, unlike English, "word" refers to a whole sentence—in this case to the  proverb or saying—not an isolated term within them. Verse six at the end of the preamble’s purpose clauses expands this introductory summary statement to, “For understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings of the wise, and their riddles.” 

“Words of insight” of the summary (v. 2) are now specified as proverbs which refers to Solomon’s proverbs exclusively and sayings which refers to the sayings of others than Solomon. Words of insight are now collected as proverbs and its parallel sayings of the book’s seven collections.  The proverbs and sayings are further specified as parables and riddles.  The terms proverbs, parables, and riddles are used together in Habakkuk 2.6 for the same poem suggesting that the parallel synonyms parables and riddles are coreferential terms for the parallel synonyms proverbs and sayings.  The proverbs of Solomon and sayings of the wise are parables and riddles because they demand the noetic* and existential** function to relate the proverb to one’s own situation. 

*noetic: 1. of or pertaining to the mind. 2. originating in or apprehended by the reason.

** existential:  1. of or relating to existence, esp human existence 2. philosophy  pertaining to what exists, and is thus known by experience rather than reason; empirical as opposed to theoretical (dictionary.reference.com)

The book’s aphorisms call upon their audience to make a critical, intuitive judgment on their own situation.  Consider, for example, Agur’s numerical saying in chapter thirty.  “The sayings of Agura, son of Jakeb, an oracle.” and then one of his numerical  sayings, "Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; badgers are people of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings' palaces."

According to the superscript of Agur's inspired sayings in 31 he addresses his sayings to Ithiel, a court official, whom he warns not to exalt himself above his superiors in 30: 32-33. Agur, a moral teacher and prophet, is not aiming to teach zoology through this numerical parable about weak creatures. Rather, the small animals in his riddle represent a weak and vulnerable official such as Ithiel, and Ithiel represents all God's people. Yet the vulnerable creatures (in Hebrew literal, "people" to point us to the metaphor) functions as a parable, an allusion on survival. From the weak ant, learn to prepare for the future by making provision ahead of time. A possible allusion is to store the inspired proverbs and sayings to have them ready on one's lips when needed (22:18), as Jesus did in having the Book of the Law on His lips to defeat the devil.

From the defenseless hyrax or rock badger learn to find protection in the crag of a rock, such as trusting God, Who revealed Himself in Proverbs, with all our heart (3:5; 22:19). And from the locust learn not to be a maverick but to prevail in community. And yes, wonder of wonders, though nothing more than a lizard, you may live in a royal palace, even the ivory palace of heaven.  

This interpretation is not allegorical; it is the intention of the riddle to be applied in such a way.  [9:32]

Whether the riddle like nature of Proverbs refers as well to rhetorical criticism is uncertain, but the expositor of Proverbs must master the book's rhetoric. Consider the grouping of proverbs in Collection 2 found in 10.6-13. This grouping  pertains to communication.

⁶ Blessings crown the head of the righteous,

but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked”

(The mouth of the wicked in Hebrew is p̄î  r^ešā·ʿîm , overwhelms is y^eḵǎs·sě(h),  and violence is ḥā·mās)

⁷ The name of the righteous is used in blessings,

but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸ The wise in heart accept commands,

but a chattering [and in TNIV, literally "lippy".  It’s the word for lips, a lip of fools, but a chattering fool would be a good dynamic equivalent.) fool comes to ruin.

⁹ Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,

but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

¹⁰ (Literally whoever winks the eye, which is not like our winking and flirting, but it means to wink maliciously.)

Whoever winks maliciously causes grief,

and a chattering fool (a lippy fool) comes to ruin.

¹¹ The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,

but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence

(Now its saying …Hebrew words)

¹² Hatred stirs up dissension,

but love covers over all wrongs.

¹³ Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,

but a rod is for the back of the one who has no sense.

¹⁴ The wise store up knowledge,

but the mouth of a fool is immanent terror.

On first reading the collection seems a willy-nilly lumping together of unrelated proverbs, but a knowledge of rhetorical criticism suggests that the demarcated unit falls into two equal halves, each having four proverbs consisting of antithetical parallels. Note the “but” in verses  6-9 and 11-14 around a proverb that functions as a janus.  Janus in the technical word in rhetorical criticism for a transition. It’s the Roman god of doorways, one head two faces, looking back, looking ahead.  It’s like the month of January from this god. So the janus, you look back; you look ahead.  Around a proverb that functions as a Janus separating the two halves and consisting of a synthetic parallel.  Note the “and” not “but” (v. 10).  [13:20]

The unit is unified and made more memorable by mentioning two body parts in the first verse of each quatrain (a quatrain being two verses). Note the two body parts in the first verse of the quatrains of the two verses, the two quatrains in the first half, “Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.  Verse eight, “The wise in heart accept commands, but a lippy fool comes to ruin.” The pivot also mentions two body parts.  “Whoever winks the eye causes grief, and a chattering fool comes to ruin. Now note the mentioning of two body parts in the first part of the quatrains in the second part.  “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.”  “Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of one who lacks sense.

Of these body parts the focus is on those involved in communication. Note the fourfold mention of the mouth in verse six, twice in verse ten, verse fourteen.  The treefold mention of the lips, verses eight, ten and thirteen, and the reference to the sinister eye (v. 10). In sum six of the nine verses mention body parts and of the eleven mentioned body parts, eight refer to organs of communication. The key word "mouth" and "lip" point to the unit's topic, "speech," or more broadly, "communication."   [15:33]

Thematically the first half of the unit focuses on the effects of good and bad communication on oneself. “Blessings—(That means people will pray God’s blessings on this person) Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.”  That means is boomerangs and destroys them.  Verse seven, “The name of the righteous is used in blessing,”  (That is as one blesses others they invoke God’s blessing that that person will be like the memory of this person),  “but the name of the wicked will rot. The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.  Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.

            The second half focuses on the effect of good and bad speech on others. 

“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense. “

The synthetic center verse (v. 10) chiastically reverses the pattern, pointing to the pain of communication on others in 10a and its pain to self in 10b. “Whoever winks maliciously causes grief to others, and a chattering fool comes to ruin to self”  [17:42]  The connection between the pivot and the first half and its unexpected reversal is clearly signaled by repeating verse 8b and  10b.  “The wise in heart accept commands, but the chattering fool comes to ruin.”  “Whoever winks maliciously (or winks the eye) causes grief, and a chattering comes to ruin.”  In light of the pivot that divides the focus on the good and bad effects of communication on oneself and on others other patterns emerge. "Mouth" occurs in the two verses that introduce the unit's two halves. “Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.”  Verse eleven, “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” 

Moreover, both introductions, verses six and eleven, juxtapose "righteous" versus "wicked." Even more striking is the play in sound and sense in these introductions: "but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked" (v. 6b) and "but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence" translate the same Hebrew (reading Hebrew). The chiastic parallelism in verse 6 shows that hamas "violence" is the subject. kacah means "cover," and [Hebrew words] "the mouth of the wicked" is the object. But in verse 11 the chiastic parallelism shows that hamas, "violence" is the object (kacah now means "cover"), and "the mouth of the wicked" is the subject. The initial pun both links the two halves and signals that the first pertains to the effects of communication on oneself (w. 6-9), and the second on its effects on others.   [20:12]

Moreover, "mouth," a key word in the semantic domain of communication, frames the unit.  “Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the  mouth of the wicked.”  “The wise store up commands (verse 14), but the mouth of the fool is like a cherry bomb amid terror.”  By the way, this translation will be found only in the TNIV and that was voted for unanimously by the committee.  [laughing]  Rare moments.

Unless the expositor the wears the glasses of rhetorical criticism in reading the Hebrew text, he cannot see clearly its meaning and its message. To coin a proverb, "To know what a text means, one must know how it means."  

Having solved the riddle, the expositor in now in a position to state his big idea.  Good communication heals; bad communication hurts. Of course there is a pun in the thesis: good speech heals Self and others, and bad speech hurts Self and others. From that, the message becomes, Learn to speak well and heal yourself and your community; avoid bad speech that destroys your life burns down the community.

     Moreover a sermonic outline can be developed that faithfully represents the exegetical outline of the text. 

I. The beneficial and baneful effects of speech on oneself (w. 6-7)

A. Beneficial effects of good speech

1. People will crown you with blessings during your lifetime   

2. Your memory will bring blessings on others for generations  

      3. You will walk securely and not be tripped up   

B. Baneful effects of bad speech

1. Your violent speech will boomerang and come back upon you

2. Your memory will rot and stink

3. You will come to ruin

Note the alternating parallelism between one (crown you) and one prime (come back on you); Two (memory a blessing) and two prime (memory a stench); Three (walk securely) and three prime (come to ruin).

Now the second half,

II. The beneficial and baneful effects of speech on others (w. 11-14)

A. Beneficial effects of good speech on others

1. Your righteous speech will be a fountain of life

2. Your discerning lips will yield wisdom   

3. Your wise speech will be a storehouse of knowledge   

B. Baneful effects of sinister speech on others

1. Sinister speech causes grief (v. 10a)

2. Hateful speech causes quarrels (v. 12a)

3. Foolish speech is like a cherry bomb.  You never know when is going to explode and destroy a community.

III. Conclusion

A. Accept these commands (v. 8a)

            Β. Live by them constantly (v. 9a)

C It is a matter of the heart: hate versus love (v. 12)3

In my commentary of Proverbs pages (47-48) I give the expositor the glasses of rhetorical criticism to enable him to read, and I also give the expositor the Hebrew that most of us don’t have time to master, and that’s why I wrote the commentary.  [24:40]

Let us know learn the final number of the code to unlock the door .  NUMBER SIX: UNDERSTANDING THE FEAR OF "I AM"

According to the preamble the final code number for the expositor to unlock  Proverbs is his mastery of the concept of "the fear of Ί Am.' "

The preambles to the Egyptian instruction literature contain a code similar to the first five numbers, but this sixth number, understanding "the fear of Ί Am" is unique to the Bible. Many call this number the key to the Book of Proverbs. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." [25:30]

"Beginning" means the fundamental, the foundation, on which all else is built; it may be likened to the first step of a ladder on which the other steps are built, not to a starting block that the runner leaves behind. Elsewhere "the fear of Ί Am' " is said to be founded on wisdom, not on its coreferential term "knowledge" as here. Probably the corelative term "knowledge" was used in 1:7 to make the pun and inclusio with 1:2, as we noted HOìDì nùDn ηζπ.  To know widom and instruction and then the different six syntax "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge [nin]; but wisdom and instruction fools despise.”

The expositor can gain mastery of the concept of "the fear of Ί Am" by 1) noting that the expression is a collocation of two Hebrew terms, 2) by defining the collocation from its uses, and 3) by exegeting 2:1-4, which analyzes the psychological-spiritual components of "the fear of Ί Am.'"

One, "The fear of Ί Am' " is a collocation.  It is a collocation of two words (mrr ηχτ), whose combination yields a distinct meaning. The formula H₂0 is not the same as the differentiated two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen. Even as one will not understand "butterfly" by analyzing “butter” and “fly” independently, so also "the fear of Ί Am' " cannot be understood by studying "fear" and "I Am" in isolation.

Two, uses of the “fear of I AM,”  From the collocation’s uses it can be deduced that “the fear of I AM” involves both rational and nonrational aspects of the human psyche. On the one hand "fear of Ί Am" entails a rational aspect, an involvement with words of an objective revelation that can be taught and memorized.  Note Psalm 19:7-9. 

The law of the Lord is perfect,

reviving the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

Making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

Giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

Giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure,

Enduring forever

The ordinances of the Lord are sure

And altogether righteous.

In these four quatrains "the fear of Ί Am'" is equated with "law," "statutes," "precepts," "commands," and "ordinances."

 On the other hand "the fear of Ί Am" also entails a nonrational aspect, an emotional response of fear, love, and trust. The unified psychological poles of fear and love come prominently to the fore in a surprisingly uniform way. Deuteronomy treats "love of Ί Am' " and "fear of Ί Am' " as coreferential terms in many texts [cf. 5:29 with 6:2; and 6:5 with Josh. 24:14; cf. Prov. 10:12, 20; 13:5]. This emotional response finds expression in humility, that is to say a brokenness that obeys the I AM. "Fear of Ί Am' " and humility are parallel terms in Proverbs 15:33.   "Wisdom's instruction is to fear Ί Am and humility comes before honor." And in 22:4 “fear of I AM” is in apposition to humility.  22:4 reads, literally, "The wages for humility—the fear of Ί Am’ sort—is riches, honor, and life." TNIV glosses uniquely the awkward grammar by, "Humility is the fear of I AM…" [30:10]

The emotional link connecting God's objective revelation and with meekness is "the fear of Ί Am.' " The wise humble themselves before God's revelation because they fear and stand in awe of Him,  who holds their lives in His hand. For the wise "the fear of Ί Am'" and the love of "I Am" are coreferential terms for their spiritual disposition. Both aspects of their psyche are rooted in their faith. They believe I AM is, that He has spoken in the Bible in such a book as Proverbs, that He says what He means, and that He means what He says. They believe His promises and love Him; they believe His threats and fear Him. In sum Charles Bridges says that the fear of the Lord is "that affectionate reverence, by which the child of God bends himself humbly and carefully to his Father's law."

Exegesis of Proverbs 2:1-5

We now exegete 2:1-5 which analyzes the psychological spiritual components that comprise “fear of I AM.”  "My son, if you accept my commands, (store up my words rather which are my proverbs and sayings) and store up my commands within you, by making your ear attentive you will apply your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of I AM  and find the knowledge of God."  [40:53]

 First then, accepting the catechism.

All  four verses that comprise the condition for understanding "the fear of Ί Am,' " mention the objective revelation that the mind must engage wisdom’s expression in its words.  The wisdom in view is the seven collections of Proverbs.  I will refer to their proverbs as sayings by "the catechism."

            Let us now look at the words that unpack the psyche of one who fears I AM.   The first is to accept the catechism, laying the foundation for the heaping up of other terms. "To accept" entails a faith commitment to the catechism. The philosopher of science, Michael Polanyi argues that true knowledge flows from personal commitment to a set of particulars, as tools or clues, to shape a skillful achievement, not from mere detached observation of them. From a set of clues the scientist commits himself to a theory that leads to new knowledge. Somewhat analogously, a child knows, discovers, learns, and experiences the skill of riding a bicycle by risking and committing himself or herself to the ride and using skillful actions—not by acquiring facts about a bicycle. One understands "the fear of Ί Am' " and knows God not merely by reading and/or hearing the catechism but by accepting it, that is to say, by entrusting one's life and behavior to the God who stands behind the catechism. This commitment is counterintuitive because it calls on the catechumen to serve others, not self.  In fact that commitment with the faith that God rewards that lifestyle. In fact that commitment may involve taking up a cross, that is to accept death, to serve God and others.  [34:22]

B. By memorizing the catechism with religious affection.

In the second condition, "if you store up my commands within you," "commands" escalates "words," and "store up" escalates "accept." "Store up" means to hide or conceal something for a definite purpose.  It also implies that one prizes and treasures what is being stored. The metaphor alludes to memorizing with religious affection the catechism. The prologue to the Thirty Sayings of the Wise reaffirms this second component of what it means to fear "I Am," that is to say, to memorize the catechism with religious affection.  It’s prologue, "Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips." If you want a pure life this is how to do it.

C. By paying attention to the catechism.

But, memorization is not enough. One must pay attention to what is memorized. Verse two breaks the syntax between the conditional clauses of verse 1, 3, and 4 and the consequence in verse 5 and so constitutes an aside. Literally verse 2 reads, "by making your ear attentive to wisdom you will incline your heart to understanding." The aside has its own condition and consequence, for it implies, "If you pay attention to the wisdom taught in these sayings, you will incline your heart to understanding.”  That is piety and ethics.

"To make the ear attentive" is a vivid way of saying "to pay attention." Simone Weil and others argue that moral improvement does not come about by the exercise of the will. "Moral change,” she says, “comes from an attention to the world whose natural result is a decrease in egoism through an increased sense of the reality of someone or something.”  Again, “Change of behaving, metanoia, is not brought about by straining and 'will-power,' but by a long deep process of un-selfing."⁵ The psychological process "inclines the heart," a metaphor meaning "to win over the heart." When a student has an increased sense of the reality of attention to the catechism, the truth of the catechism wins over the heart from self-absorption to experiencing the fear of "I Am."

D. By passionate desire for the truths of the catechism.

The fourth component in this heaping up of parallel terms to hear stereophonically what it means to fear of I AM is to desire the catechism passionately.  Indeed if you "Call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding." “Cry aloud” glosses a Hebrew term that refers to a fervent and emotional situation, as such when Joseph wept so loudly in his own chambers that Pharaoh's whole household heard him.    [38:01]

Finally, earnestly studying the catechism.

The fifth component achieves the desired extension of the conceptual range of what is meant by "the fear of Ί Am.' " "If you seek for it as for silver,  search for it as for hidden treasure."    "To seek" means to search for something lost or missed, and when that something is silver and the crown jewels, the desire to fulfill a wish or realize a plan, that searching has an extreme emotional nuance.  It means "to strive after something, be busy, be concerned." The metaphor also may also imply that a great deal of effort and sacrifice must be expected to get it. "Though it cost all you have, get understanding" (v. 7).       [38:58]

CONCLUSION

          In Conclusion, the Christian expositor recognizes that the initial condition leading to "the fear of Ί Am'" to accept is God's good gift.  “Every good and perfect gift,” including faith, “comes from God.”  In other words expositor too depends on God's grace to empower his preaching. Moreover, the Christian expositor takes note of the progress of revelation. In the God encountered His people in the catechism of these seven collections, their memorizing it with religious affection, their "deselfing" themselves in their paying attention to it, and their passionate yearning and willingness to make sacrifices to realize its truth.
           In the New Testament God encounters His people in His own person, in His Son. "The fear of Ί Am'" for the Church now entails their engaging in these spiritual/psychological processes with reference to Jesus Christ and His teachings. His teachings extend those of the catechism to their fullest range. Now righteousness is seen to entail dying for sinners as He had.  In Christ's resurrection the abundant life promised in Proverbs reaches its full conceptual range. Jesus Christ brought the full light of the day  and the expositor preaches the Book of Proverbs in the zenith of the day.  Thank you.

Genesis 19--

Genesis

19.19  but I cannot dwell in the mountians...

19.30  Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains...  Hmmm.  So he ended up doing what God asked him to in the first place.

21.20  So God was with the lad...  Even though he was not the son of promise.
22.2 love...  I think this may be the first mention of love in the Bible.
22.8  provide for himself...  not for Abraham and Isacc...  A lot to think about there.
.

Genesis 16-

Genesis

16. 15  You are the God who sees...  Great name for God, but I am wondering a little about the exact wording and wished I could just pick up the Hebrew and understand it.

17.8  Also I will give your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger...  I still can't figure out how you "figurative" that promise away and apply it to the church.  There are physical descendants of Abraham, flawed and unbelieving as they are, who have a promise to receive.  Oh that they would turn to Jesus and be blessed.

17.17  fell on his face and laughed...

18.12  Sarah laughed within herself and said...  The laugh of faith and the laugh of disbelief.

18.14  This is an inspiring question to keep in mind.

18.19  to do righteousness and justice...  I wonder how many of us have this on our parenting list.

18.25b  This is a great question to keep in mind when life seems all "topsey turvey" and confusing..

Psalm 37

37.11  meek shall inherit the earth...  

37.22  blessed by Him shall inherit the earth...  Both of these are similar to the beatitude in Matthew 5 and their context in this psalm enriches the meaning.

37.37  the future of that man is peace...  This helps to reinforce the "big picture" perspective of the righteous and wicked.

TWOT

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (http://www.amazon.com/Theological-Wordbook-Old-Testament-2-vol/dp/0802486312) is a great Bible study resource as illustrated by this article on the word the ESV translates "steadfast love."

            698      חסד (ḥsd) I. Assumed root of the following.

           698a      חֶסֶד (ḥesed) kindness, loving-kindness, mercy and similar words (KJV). (RSV usually has steadfast love, occasionally loyalty, NASB lovingkindness, kindness, love, NIV unfailing love.)

           698b      חָסִיד (ḥāsîd) holy one, godly, saint. RSV faithful, godly one, loyal. NIV, saint, godly.

           698c      חֲסִידָה (ḥăsîdâ) stork (perhaps because it was thought to be kind to its young).

For centuries the word ḥesed was translated with words like mercy, kindness, love. The LXX usually uses eleos “mercy,” and the Latin misericordia. The Targum and Syriac use frequently a cognate of ṭob. The root is not found in Akkadian or Ugaritic. The lexicons up through BDB and GB (which said Liebe, Gunst, Gnade, love, goodness, grace) are similar. KB however is the “mutual liability of those … belonging together.”

In 1927 Nelson Glueck, shortly preceded by I. Elbogen, published a doctoral dissertation in German translated into English by A. Gottschalk, Hesed in the Bible with an introduction by G. A. LaRue which is a watershed in the discussion. His views have been widely accepted. In brief, Glueck built on the growing idea that Israel was bound to its deity by covenants like the Hittite and other treaties. He held that God is pictured as dealing basically in this way with Israel. The Ten Commandments, etc. were stipulations of the covenant, Israel’s victories were rewards of covenant keeping, her apostasy was covenant violation and God’s hesed was not basically mercy, but loyalty to his covenant obligations, a loyalty which the Israelites should also show. He was followed substantially by W. F. Lofthouse (1933), N. H. Snaith (1944), H. W. Robinson (1946), Ugo Masing (1954), and many others.

There were others, however, who disagreed. F. Assension (1949) argued for mercy, basing his views on the OT versions. H. J. Stoebe (doctoral dissertation 1951, also articles in 1952 VT and in THAT) argued for good-heartedness, kindness. Sidney Hills and also Katherine D. Sakenfeld (The Meaning of Ḥesed in the Hebrew Bible, a Nevi Inquiry), held in general that ḥesed denotes free acts of rescue or deliverance which in prophetic usage includes faithfulness. For this historical survey and references see Sakenfeld pp. 1–13 (hereafter called Sak.); also LaRue in the book by Glueck (here called G.)

The writer would stress that the theological difference is considerable whether the Ten Commandments are stipulations to a covenant restricted to Israel to which God remains true and to which he demands loyalty, or whether they are eternal principles stemming from God’s nature and his creation to which all men are obligated and according to which God will judge in justice or beyond that will show love, mercy and kindness.

On the meaning of our word ḥesed it is convenient to start, as G. and Sak. have done, with the secular usage, i.e. between man and man. Glueck argues that ḥesed is practiced in an ethically binding relationship of relatives, hosts, allies, friends and rulers. It is fidelity to covenantal obligations real or implied. Sakenfeld goes over the same material and concludes that indeed a relationship is present (love almost necessitates a subject-object relation) but that the ḥesed is freely given. “Freedom of decision” is essential. The help is vital, someone is in a position to help, the helper does so in his own freedom and this “is the central feature in all the texts” (p. 45).

Glueck certainly seems to find obligation where there is none. Stoebe gives an extensive treatment of ḥesed in THAT (pp. 599–622) and remarks (p. 607) that I Kgs is an instance where ḥesed is unexpected. Benhaded was defeated. He could claim no obligation. He hoped for mercy, kindness. Stoebe cites the men of Jabesh also (II Sam 2:5). Saul had died in defeat. The care of Saul’s body seems clearly to have been a free act of kindness.

Also Laban’s willingness to send Rebekah to Isaac was not from any covenant obligation (though G. cites the appeal to providence in v. 50). It was a kindness to a long-lost relative. He could easily have said “no.” The beautiful story of Ruth is tarnished by considering Ruth’s action as motivated by contractual obligations. The Lord had no obligation to get the widows new husbands in Moab (1:8–9). Ruth went with Naomi from pure love. Boaz recognized her action as goodness in 2:11–12 and calls it ḥesed in 3:10. Even Glueck inclined toward kindness here. The action of Rahab was kindness (Josh 2:12). Her loyalty would naturally and legally be to her king and city. The angels in Gen 19:19 were hardly bound by covenant obligation—or any obligation—to Lot. Indeed the basis of their action is said in v. 16 to have been their compassion (cf. Isa 63:9). In Gen 21:23 Abimelech cites his previous ḥesed as grounds for making the covenant with Abraham which required further ḥesed. Glueck makes something of I Sam 20:8, 14, 15 where David and Jonathan swore friendship. This covenant, says G. was the basis of the ḥesed. Here, perhaps, is G’s major mistake. He forgets that covenants arise on the basis of a relationship and that the obligations are often deeper than the covenant. Verse 17 shows that Jonathan’s love moved him to make the covenant. When Jonathan died, David lamented for him out of love, not obligation (II Sam 1:26). David’s ḥesed to Saul’s house is said to be for the sake of Jonathan, not because of a legal obligation (II Sam 9:1, 3, 7). Glueck seems to miss the mark widely when he says it was neither grace nor mercy; it was brotherliness required by covenantal loyalty. Such a view has failed to see the depth of David’s character. Stoebe calls it the spontaneous proof of a cordial friendly attitude (herzlich freundlich Gesinnung). Other examples must be omitted, but they are similar. All parties agree that in Est 2:9, 17 the word is used of favor, kindness, but some try to make this usage unusual being post-exilic.

When we come to the ḥesed of God, the problem is that of course God was in covenant relation with the patriarchs and with Israel. Therefore his ḥesed can be called covenant ḥesed without contradiction. But by the same token God’s righteousness, judgment, fidelity, etc. could be called covenant judgment, etc. The question is, do the texts ascribe his ḥesed to his covenants or to his everlasting love’? Is not ḥesed as Dom Sorg observed (see Bibliography) really the OT reflex of “God is love”?

A prominent early usage is in God’s declaration of his own character: Ex 20:6 parallel to Deut 5:10 and also Ex 34:6–7. These passages are discussed by G., Sak. and Stoebe from the viewpoint of documentary division first. But aside from this Sak. emphasizes the freedom of God’s ḥesed. in all these passages. She notes the proximity to words for mercy in Ex 34:6–7 and remarks that it is “this aspect of God’s ḥesed (as his mercy) which takes on greater importance in exilic and postexilic writing”—of which she envisions a good bit—(p. 119). However, she considers Ex 20 and Deut 5 as in a “covenantal context” (p. 131) and holds that “those who are loyal (loving) will receive ḥesed while those who are disloyal (hating) will be punished” (p. 131). She is led into this covenantal emphasis by the prior idea that since secular treaties speak of love, brotherhood and friendship between suzerain and vassal, that therefore these are covenant words and show that a covenant was at least implied. This view forgets that love is a covenant word because kings borrowed it from general use to try to render covenants effective. They tried to make the vassal promise to act like a brother, friend and husband. It does not follow that God’s love is merely a factor in a covenant; rather the covenant is the sign and expression of his love. McCarthy more acceptably says, “the form of the Sinai story in Ex 19–24 which is reflected in the text without later additions does not bear out the contention that the story reflects an organization according to covenant form.” His view is that the power and glory of Yahweh and the ceremonies conducted effected the union “more than history, oath, threat and promise” (McCarthy, D. J., Treaty and Covenant, Pontif. Bib. Inst., ed. of 1963, p. 163).

The text itself of Ex 20 and Deut 5 simply says that God’s love (ḥesed) to those who love him (ʾāhab) is the opposite of what he will show to those who hate him. The context of these commands is surely God’s will for all mankind, although his special care, indeed his covenant, is with Israel. That ḥesed refers only to this covenant and not to the eternal divine kindness back of it, however, is a fallacious assumption.

The text of Ex 34:6–7 is fuller and more solemn, coming as it does after the great apostasy. It was a tender revelation of God’s self to Moses. Sakenfeld is right here “that forgiveness must always have been latent [at least!] in the theological usage of ḥesed” even before the exile (p. 119). The association with divine mercy is surely patent in the words and in the context of the occasion of the apostasy. The word raḥûm with its overtones of mother love, and ḥannûn “grace” combined with the phrase “slow to anger” all emphasize the character of God who is love. He is great in ḥesed and ʾemet (of which more later). He keeps ḥesed for thousands which is immediately related to forgiveness of sin. That all this simply says that God keeps his oath seems trivial. The oath is kept because it is the loving God who speaks the oath.

Sakenfeld nicely brings together the several passages dependent on Ex 34:6–7. They are: Num 14:18–19; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 103:8; 145:8 (cf. 9 and 10); Joel 2:13; and Jon 4:2. Of these passages, only Ps 86:15 includes the word ʾemet after ḥesed. They all speak of the love of the Lord and some mention his forgiveness. None specifically ground the ḥesed in covenant.

The phrase ḥesed and ʾemet “truth” mentioned above is thought by some to argue for the concept of loyalty or fidelity in ḥesed. It occurs some twenty-five times with about seven more in less close connection. Most agree it is a hendiadys and one noun serves to describe the other. Therefore the phrase means “faithful love” or “true kindness” or the like. Kindness and faithfulness is a fair equivalent hendiadys in English. The combination hardly seems to further the idea of fidelity to a covenant in the word ḥesed. If the term already meant that, why would the qualifier “faithful” be added? Usually, as in the usage of ḥesed alone, there is no covenant expressed to which fidelity is due. It is alleged in I Kgs 3:3, but although God’s ḥesed to David in making his son king was indeed according to covenant; it was also according to his love which lay back of his covenant. The text does not ascribe it to covenant loyalty. Stoebe points out in Ps 89 that the covenant of v. 3 is based on the ḥesed of v. 2 [H 4 and 3] (THAT, p. 615).

Another pair of nouns is covenant, bĕrît, and ḥesed used seven times with some other instances of use in near contexts. The main instance is Deut 7:9, 12 which has echoes in I Kgs 8:23; II Chr 6:14; Neh 1:5; 9:32; and Dan 9:4. It itself is called by Stoebe (THAT, p. 616) a paraphrase of Ex 34:6. He remarks that Deut 7:8 already bases all God’s favor on his love. If this pair be translated “covenantal love” or “covenant and love,” it should be remembered that the love is back of the covenant. This point is illustrated by Jer 2:2 where the ḥesed of Israel’s youth is likened to the love of a bride. The love of a bride is the basis of the promise, not the result.

It should be mentioned that ḥesed is also paired about fifteen times with nouns of mercy like raḥûm, e.g. Ps 103:4; Zech 7:9 (and cf. Ex 34:6–7 above), ḥēn, e.g. Gen 19:19; Ps 109:12, tanḥûm, Ps 94:18–19, etc. These instances usually stand as paired nouns not really in an adjectival relation. The implication is that ḥesed is one of the words descriptive of the love of God.

So, it is obvious that God was in covenant relation with Israel, also that he expressed this relation in ḥesed, that God’s ḥesed was eternal (Note the refrain of Ps 136)—though the ḥesed of Ephraim and others was not (Hos 6:4). However, it is by no means clear that ḥesed necessarily involves a covenant or means fidelity to a covenant. Stoebe argues that it refers to an attitude as well as to actions. This attitude is parallel to love, raḥûm goodness, ṭôb, etc. It is a kind of love, including mercy, ḥannûn, when the object is in a pitiful state. It often takes verbs of action, “do,” “keep,” and so refers to acts of love as well as to the attribute. The word “lovingkindness” of the KJV is archaic, but not far from the fulness of meaning of the word.

חָסִיד (ḥāsîd). Holy one, saint. Whether God’s people in the OT were called ḥāsîd because they were characterized by ḥesed (as seems likely) or were so called because they were objects of God’s ḥesed may not be certain. The word is used thirty-two times, twenty-five of them in the Pss. It is used in sing.. and pl. Once, Ps 16:16, it refers to the Holy One to come. The word became used for the orthodox party in the days of the Maccabeans.

     Bibliography: Dentan, R. C., “The Literary Affinities of Exodus 34:6ff.,” VT 13:34–51. Freedman, D. N., “God Compassionate and Merciful,” Western Watch 6:6–24. Glueck, Nelson, esed in the Bible, trans. by A. Gottschalk, Hebrew Union College Press, 1967. Kuyper, Lester J., “Grace and Truth,” Reformed Review 16:1–16. Sakenfeld, Katherine D., The Meaning of esed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry, Scholars Press, 1978. Snaith, N.H., The Distinctive Ideas of the Old Testament, Schocken, 1964, pp. 94–130. Sorg, Dom Rembert, Hasid in the Psalms, Pro decimo Press, 1953. Stoebe, H. J., “Die Bedeutung des Wortes Hasad im Alten Testament,” VT 2:244–54. Yarbrough, Glen, “The Significance of ḥsd in the Old Testament,” Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1959. TDNT, I, pp. 696–701. THAT, I, pp. 599–622.

     Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (305–307). Chicago: Moody Press.

Job 34-

34. 4  This is a great prayer and reminder for us. "Good" ( טּוֹב  ṭôḇ ) seems to mean "that which gives aesthetic or moral satisfaction" in this verse.

34.10-15  I really like this section of verses.  Thinking "big thoughts" about God here.

34.32  teach me what I do not see;   The most dangerous things are the ones we don't know about, especially about ourselves like here.

35.6-7  So much for the "I'm the center of the universe" mindset we find ourselves in. These verses help us to not get too full of ourselves.
35.9-12  Used this good reminder in a morning prayer meeting today.  Keeping this reminder on my mind.
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Lecture 3, Fundamentals for Preaching the Book of Proverbs

By Bruce [Dr. Waltke is Professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida and has written an extensive two volume commentary on Proverbs  .  This is the third lecture (2.8.07) in a four-part series (The first lecture was not given a number.), delivered as the W. H. Griffith Thomas Lectureship at Dallas Theological Seminary, February 6-9, 2007.  Listen as you read at http://www.dts.edu/media/play/preaching-fundamentals-of-proverbs-part-ii-bruce-waltke/ ]

This lecture primarily deals with...

The Concept of Wisdom 

•    the use of the root for wisdom in the Old Testament corpus
•    its synonyms or sevenfold equivalent terms in verse two through six
•    and its co-referential terms, righteousness and knowledge   
The Audience of the Book

•    budding officials

•    all of Israel’s youth

•    all of God's People.  
The Identification of Woman Wisdom.

 .

This lectureship reflected on the theory of preaching Proverbs we have analyzed preaching Proverbs is based on two fundamental truths. The first set which was featured in lecture one contained the fundamentals of preaching such as demarcating the text.  The second set which we are considering in lectures two through four pertain to six fundamental concepts of Proverbs for preaching the book which we liken to the code of a combination lock. 
1. The first number to be dialed is the knowledge of the literary genre.  As a genre of wisdom literature Proverbs claims to be an inspired revelation from the Creator and its species as proverbs entails that it coins this revelation in short, pithy, memorable sound bites.  These memorable saying demands that the audience exercises his or her imagination in an effort to forge some sort of equivalent connection between the proverbs and the audience’s situation. 
2. The second number that unlocks the—opens the book’s lock and gives access to the book’s paradise is knowledge of the human author which we didn’t have time to develop.  To understand him the hearer must understand his spirit, namely, his love for Israel’s covenants and his whit to see and to speak.  In this lecture we learn two more numbers to unlock the book.  [2:39]
3. Number three, understanding the concept of wisdom.  The third number to unlock the book is to understand the concept of wisdom.  The book’s purpose is to gain wisdom.  Wisdom is the books key word.  The root “to be wise” occurs 102 times.  Almost a third of its uses in the entire Old Testament including Job and Ecclesiastes Obviously to know his topic, the central part of the expositor’s big idea, the expositor must master the concept of wisdom.  Mastery over this profound term can be gained by three considerations:
•    the use of the root for wisdom in the Old Testament corpus,
•    its synonyms or sevenfold equivalent terms in verse two through six,
•    and its co-referential terms, righteousness and knowledge, one that uses of the root “to be wise.” 
[First?] In Biblical texts outside Proverbs the noun wise is used of technical and artist skills (Exodus 28:3) of the arts of magic (Ex. 7:11), of government, (Ecclesiastes 4:13), of diplomacy (1 Kings 5:7), and of war (Isaiah 10:3).  There was enough commonality to these five specific uses of the word to deduce the abstract meaning “masterful understanding, skill, expertise.”  In Proverbs there is enough commonality of the use of the root to abstract the more specific sense “social skill, masterful understanding of proper social relationships.”  By proper and skillful social relationships is meant the skill of relating to God and to all sorts of people, rich and poor, wise and foolish, young and old, parent and child, and so forth.  [5:30]
[Second?] Having abstracted the meaning of skill from its uses let us now consider its seven equivalent terms in the preamble.  Von Rad referred to the Bible’s proclivity for the heaping up of terms for wisdom as a "stereometric" way of thinking to achieve “the desired extension of the conceptual range.”  The preamble heaps up seven more terms: instruction, insight, prudence, knowledge, discretion, learning, and guidance. These seven virtues come as Wisdom’s attendants. Woman Wisdom says, “I, Wisdom, dwell together with prudence. I possess knowledge and discretion.  To fear I AM is to hate evil.  I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.  Counsel and sound judgment are mine.  I have insight.  I have power. (8:12-15). 
Three, WISDOM’S CO-REFERENTIAL TERM, RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
Wisdom and its synonyms, however, are neutral with regard to morality.    For example, Pharaoh labels his magicians who have mastered black magic as wide men (Exodus 7:11).  And although a murder may be or•mä', or cunning (Exodus 21.14), wisdom dwells with or•mä', translated prudence (Proverbs 8.12).  In the book of Proverbs wisdom and its equivalents are never used as pejorative terms, or even as morally neutral terms.  Wisdom and here attendants are protected again misunderstanding by the coreferential terms such as "righteousness," "justice," "equity."
Coreferential terms refer to terms belonging to different semantic domains but having the same referent. For example in the United States a person may be referred to as the vice president by his relationship to the president or as chair of the senate by his relationship to the senate. Though different concepts, he cannot be one without being the other. "Vice president" and "chair of the senate" designate different notions, but always refer to the same person. The same is true of the "the righteous" and "the wise." They are terms pertaining to the different semantic fields of ethics and of intelligence, but they refer to the same person. The wise are righteous and the righteous are wise; they go together like the proverbial horse and a carriage. The preamble binds together the coreferential, sapiential,* and ethical terms, for example, in verse 3: "for a acquiring a disciplined, prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair."
* containing, exhibiting, or affording wisdom; characterized by wisdom. (dictionary.com)
Moreover, throughout the book "wise" and "righteous" versus "fool" and "wickedness" are used interchangeably.  So to master the concept of wisdom its coreferential term righteousness must also be clearly defined.  Righteousness in the book of Proverbs is not a cold, upright term like the marble columns at a church, cold and hard.  It is a social term signifying that people do right by each other as defined by God's covenants with Israel. To put the meanings of righteous and wicked in nutshells "righteousness" means "to disadvantage self as necessary in order to advantage others," and "wickedness" means "to disadvantage others in order to advantage oneself." For example, a student who takes a reserved book out of the library to get an A, leaving the rest of the class to get a lower grade, is wicked, that is a fool.  By contrast a student who resists the temptation to check out a rare book from the library so that his or her classmates have the opportunity to read and write an "A" paper, even if it means the getting a lower grade, is righteous, wise.  The first student has social skill.  The second student has none. Righteousness, the disadvantaging of self to advantage others, is counterintuitive. Folly, that is to advantage oneself at the expense of others, is bound up in the heart of the child.  Jesus Christ is the supreme example of wisdom according to this definition for he died for sinners.  [12:31]
Fourth then, WISDOM AND KNOWLDEDGE.
Having defined wisdom as social skills by its uses and notice equivalent terms to maximize its range of meaning, and nuanced its neutral meaning by its coreferential term righteousness and its equivalents, we nail down the concept of wisdom by noting coreferential term "knowledge." The inseparable connection of "wisdom" and "knowledge" can be inferred from their parallelism in the inclusion* that surrounds the prologue.  1:7 reads “The fear of I AM is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and discipline.” 
And at the end of the prologue, (9:10) "The fear of I AM is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." “Wisdom" and "knowledge," though different notions, appear to be and they are throughout the book interchangeable.
* Inclusio is the bracketing of a passage of text with the same set of words at the start and end.  (http://changingminds.org/techniques/language/figures_speech/inclusio.htm)
Wisdom and knowledge are inseparable because moral social knowledge is essential to wisdom’s social skill.
 The Wright brothers "miraculously" flew the first airplane because they were the first to dope out and apply the laws of aerodynamics.  With the knowledge of aerodynamics humans can fly.  In Proverbs "wisdom" denotes mastery over social relationships by knowing the deed-destiny nexus—that is, righteous behavior (serving others) tears down strongholds in relationships and promotes the life of an individual and a community. The point, the proverbs of Solomon and the sayings of the wise provide the knowledge that, when actualized, affects social skills, wisdom.  [15:06]
4. Then the fourth lock identifying the audience.
The fourth number to be dialed in opening the combination lock to paradise is identifying the book's audience. Haden Robinson says that the difference between a novice preacher and an experienced preacher is that the novice’s first question is, “What shall I preach?”  The first question of the seasoned preacher is, “To whom am I speaking?” The expositor must understand to whom his text was addressed. The answer in Proverbs is threefold: originally budding officials in Jerusalem's royal court, then all of Israel's youth, and, third, all the God’s people.  [16:09]
First then, budding officials.  Before being collected into the collections that compose the Book of Proverbs, its aphorisms were coined by kings and royal officials. The named authors in Proverbs are King Solomon, King Hezekiah's men, King Lemuel, and the court official Agur. The analogous ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature names both the vizier who coined and collected the sayings, and the budding official, usually  his son, whom he mentors.
The original court setting of the apothegms* explains their dominant royal content. "When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive" (23:1-3). Obviously the admonishment is addressed to a court official, not to a normal, run-of-the-mill person. From his analysis of chapters 28-29 Bruce Malchow labeled those chapters a manual for kings.  [17:39]
* "a pithy saying," 1550s, from Gk. apophthegma  "terse, pointed saying," lit. "something clearly spoken," from apophthengesthai  "to speak one's opinion plainly," from apo-  "from" (see apo-) + phthengesthai  "to utter." (Online Etymology Dictionary @ dictionary.com)
Secondly, all of Israel’s youth, wise and simpletons.  When these collections of aphorisms were gathered to comprise the Book of Proverbs, they were democratized for all of Israel's youth, not for just the royal court. In striking contrast to the Egyptian parallel instruction literature, the Book of Proverbs names no addressee. Rather I say it democratizes its audience to include all of Israel's youth.
Thus the preamble reads, "For giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance" (1:4-5).
The simpletons are qualified simply by "young" which means inexperienced and the "wise" are specified those that listen to knowledge.  Let us identify these two groups more closely.  
First of all, the wise. The parents' ten lectures in the prologue are addressed to their son in the home. Essentially they call upon the son "to hear" and so "to be wise." Their first "lecture" points to their content: "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching" or torah.
This admonition that begins Collection I, which is composed of lectures and sermons, comports well with the first proverb of Collection II 10.1-16, which you may remember, which though not in the form of an admonition, implies it: "A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother" (10:1, NIV). 
The development in the parental lectures from “listen” to “not forget” suggests that the son is excepting the parental wisdom. Note the advance from “Listen, my son” that introduces the first lecture to the introductory exhortation in the third lecture,  "My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart" (3:1). 
Note a progression is evident in the fourth sermon. "Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. . . “  And it continues, “She is the tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. . . . My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion" (3:13, 18, 21).
In sum, the son is assumed to be accepting the parents' lectures and growing in wisdom.  [21:02]
Now, the simpleton. Whereas the son orients himself to the parents' lectures in the home, the simpleton has moved beyond puberty and is about to enter society as an adult without having made a decision to own the catechism that preserves Israel’s covenant values.
Simpleton" renders the Hebrew word peth•ē', which means woodenly "open." In this book a simpleton is gullible.  Open to the wise and to the fools.  He is a covenant child by flesh, history, and memory but not spiritually committed to Israel’s world and life view of reality as revealed in its covenants and in the book of Proverbs.  Simpletons, though having been taught Israel’s catechism in the home under the tutelage of their parents, opt to remain open to their peer group of fools is now grown beyond puberty and is about to enter the city where  but he  will be tempted by wicked men and women will tempt him with easy money and easy sex.  At the entrance o the gate before he enters the city Woman Wisdom offers him his last chance. 
“Does not Wisdom call out,
Does not understanding raise here voice at the highest point along the way where the paths meet she takes her stand? 
Beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance she cries aloud,
To you o people I call aloud, I raise my voice to all humankind
You who are simple gain prudence’
You who are foolish set your heart on in.”  (8.1-5)
The simpleton is damned (1.22).  "How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? . . . Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you" (1:22-26).
Both wisdom and folly at the end of the prologue contend for the soul of the simpleton as represented by their rival invitations to their fictitious meals. Woman Wisdom has built a perfect house with seven pillars, large enough to host all who want to enter and dine with her. Hers is a royal banquet of mixed wine, that is the catechistic collections that follow. "Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent her female slaves, and she calls from the highest point of the city, 'Let all who are simple come to my house!' To those who have no sense she says, 'Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the ways of insight' ".
Woman Folly also appeals to the simpletons to come into her house. She pretentiously sits as queen, inviting the simple to drink stolen water, that is to enjoy sex outside of marriage. She stands in sharp contrast to Woman Wisdom's strong wine of wise sayings. "Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, 'Let all who are simple come and hear!' To those who have no sense, she says, 'Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!' But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the realm of the dead" (9.1-18).
In sum the expositor motivates the youth of his congregation to grow in wisdom with the threat of eternal life, and threatens the uncommitted with the possibility of death.  [25.57]
The audience, sons and daughters. The wise and simple in the book are reckoned as sons. Are the daughters excluded from the book's audience? Although ??? can mean "child," the obvious male orientation of the book shows that the son, not the daughter, is in view. Nevertheless Proverbs infers that daughters were not excluded from being educated in Israel’s catechism of aphorisms and that the book has women as well as men in its audience.
This is so because the mother is identified along with the father as the authoritative voice in the home. She is mentioned in parallel with the father at the book’s scenes.  For example in the prologue’s first sermon, "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's torah" (1:8) and in the introduction to the second collection at the seam it reads, "A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.”  The mention of the mother at these crucial junctures strongly infers that when the father is mentioned in the other terse, epigrammatic* proverbs, the mother, although not mentioned, is an unstated parallel with the father. Both parents are the authoritative voices in the home before their children. The book's conclusion points to the noble wife and mother as the exemplar of the book's teachings (31:10-31), and she is commended for having faithful instruction on her tongue (31. 26).  The point, for the mother to instruct her household she herself had to know Israel's inherited wisdom. The dissemination of the book's content through the mother entails that she herself had to be taught wisdom in the home by her father or by her husband. Deuteronomy [31:9-12] explicitly states that the women were instructed in the Book of the Law, and Proverbs infers they memorized its catechism.
*epigram: any witty, ingenious, or pointed saying tersely expressed.  epigrammatic: of or like an epigram; terse and ingenious in expression.  (dictionary.com)
Instead of mentioning his daughter, the father singled out the son because the male offspring was expected to assume leadership in defining the family's identity and values.  [28:44]
New audience, all of God's People.
When the Book of Proverbs was recognized as canonical literature, at least included in the list of books, its audience expanded beyond the royal court and Israel's youth to the entire covenant community, young and old alike. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." [2 Tim. 3:16-17]  
The book sets no age limit on learning wisdom. "Let the wise listen and add to their learning." [Prov. 1:5] What Augustine said of the Bible—"It is shallow enough for a baby to wade in, but deep enough for an elephant to drown in it"—is especially true of Proverbs. In other words the expositor addresses all the discerning: novitiate and trained, the wise of all ages. And there is no time restraint on growing in wisdom.   [36:06]
And now an excursus, the IDENTIFICATION OF WOMAN WISDOM.
Since the parents lectured the son in the home and Woman Wisdom (a factitious woman represents wisdom’s teaching) preached to the simpletons at the city gate, the expositor should have an understanding of this woman street preacher’s identity.
First, Wisdom is represented as a woman because abstract nouns, such as khok•mä',  (gloss “wisdom"), commonly end with the suffix ah, in Hebrew. However, ah suffix with animate nouns signifies the feminine gender in contrast to the masculine. So when an abstract noun that ends in ah is personified, as in the case of khok•mä', it must be personified as a female. Karl Brugmann demonstrated in 1895 that this grammatical phenomenon is true of mythic personifications in all languages. For example Russians personify the days of the week as male or female on the basis of the day's grammatical gender.
Now let us analyze her persona, her role. In the two addresses to simpletons at the entrance to the gate our mythic Woman is unique. She wears a prophet's mantle, carries a sage's scroll, and wears a goddess-like diadem. She preaches and pleads with a prophet's passion, thinks and circulates with "intellectuals," and wields the authority of God. The prophetic, sapient, and divine components of her characterization so penetrate each other that she emerges as a unique personality whose only peer is Jesus Christ. Her identification as the incarnate heavenly being who in humiliation accepts the rejection by the masses of her offer to them of eternal life functions within the canon as a foreshadowing of Him who is greater than Solomon. 
But what is her identity?  But she is not Jesus Christ. Contrary to hardened orthodoxy, rather she is a figurative personification of the book's wisdom that is promoted in its proverbs. According to the preamble the book's aim is to teach wisdom through these collections of inspired aphorisms. The book's key word, wisdom, refers to the substance of these sayings. Wisdom in this book never refers to anything else. Exegetically the only possible interpretation of her identity is that she is a figurative personification of the book's teaching.
In her famous soliloquy in 8:22-31 Woman Wisdom argues that she (that is  the wisdom of this book) was born from God's nature, existed before anything else was formed, and saw the whole creation. "I AM brought me (this wisdom) forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was constantly(unique to TNIV and a very important word. It does not mean craftsman, or child. It certainly means constantly.  That by the way was voted unanimously.) Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in humankind."
In other words because she was begotten from the divine nature, Solomon's teaching derives from God's attributes, and because she was constantly at the Creator's side while He made everything, Solomon's teachings are based on comprehensive knowledge, and so as we argued in the last lecture, represents absolute certain values, not contingent evaluations.
In conclusion, an expositor who give Woman Wisdom a voice from their pulpits, inferentially wears a prophet's mantle, carries a sage's scroll, and wears a heavenly crown as they proclaim with a clear voice and full lungs God's truth from the pulpit. Let him preach as boldly, urgently, and passionately as Woman Wisdom.  Thank you.  [36:06]