Proverbs 2:10-22

Proverbs 2:10-22

[10] When wisdom  entereth  into thine heart,  and knowledge  is pleasant  unto thy soul;  [11] Discretion  shall preserve  thee, understanding  shall keep  [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,  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] 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.

What does Proverbs 2:10-22 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Wisdom safeguards a person morally. The first part of this pericope shows how God protects the wise ( Proverbs 2:10-11; cf. Proverbs 2:7-8). The last part presents the temptations one can overcome as he or she seeks wisdom ( Proverbs 2:12-19). When a person submits himself or herself to God and gains Wisdom of Solomon , the ways of the wicked will lose some of their attractiveness. The wise person will see that the adventuress who promises thrills is offering something she cannot give, except in the most immediate sensual sense.
The "strange" woman ( Proverbs 2:16) is one "outside the circle of his [1] proper relations, that Isaiah , a harlot or an adulteress." [2] The word does not necessarily mean that she is a foreigner. Probably she is a stranger to the conventions of Israel"s corporate life. [3]
"If the evil man uses perverse words to snare the unwary [4], the adulteress uses flattering words. Someone has said that flattery isn"t communication, it is manipulation; it"s people telling us things about ourselves that we enjoy hearing and wish were true." [1]
The "covenant" she has left ( Proverbs 2:17) seems to refer to her own marriage covenant ( Malachi 2:14), rather than to the covenant law that prohibited adultery ( Exodus 20:14). [6] The "land" ( Proverbs 2:21-22) is the Promised Land of Canaan.
This chapter, like the previous one, ends by contrasting the ends of the wicked and the righteous ( Proverbs 2:21-22; cf. Proverbs 1:32-33). It is a long poem that appeals to the reader to pursue Wisdom of Solomon , and then identifies the benefits of following wisdom. Chapter2emphasizes moral stability as a fruit of wisdom.