Introductory Exhortation Followed By The Requirement To Trust In YHWH, To Fear YHWH And To Honour YHWH (Proverbs 3:1-10).
Solomon here speaks of wisdom and understanding in terms of ‘my torah -- my commandments'. It is observance of these that will ensure longevity and wellbeing. In view of the Scriptural precedents for these words (Exodus 24:12; Deuteronomy 30:10 '; Jos 22:5; 1 Kings 2:3; etc.) it is clear that Solomon see his wisdom as complementary to the Torah and therefore to YHWH's covenant with Israel. It was that Torah which stressed the need for love for God and one's neighbour (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18), a stress that Solomon brings out here. His ‘son' must ensure that observance of YHWH's instruction is accompanied by covenant love and truth, for thereby he will find favour with both God and men. This is then followed by the injunctions to ‘trust in YHWH -- fear YHWH -- and honour YHWH', for it is in association with YHWH that wisdom can be obtained and carried out in practise.
These first ten verses form a chiasmus:
A My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days, and years of life, and peace (wellbeing), will they add to you (Proverbs 3:1-2).
B Do not let kindness and truth forsake you, bind them about your neck, write them upon the tablet of your heart, so will you find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man (Proverbs 3:3-4).
C Trust in YHWH with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways know him, and he will direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).
B Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear YHWH, and depart from evil, it will be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones (Proverbs 3:7-8).
A Honour YHWH with your substance, and with the first-fruits of all your increase, so will your barns be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).
Note that in A the actions called for will result in longevity and wellbeing, whilst the actions in the parallel will result in prosperity and plenty. In B the actions will produce spiritual wellbeing, as will the actions in the parallel. Central in C is the requirement to trust wholly in YHWH and to know Him in daily life.
‘My son, do not forget my law (torah),
But let your heart keep my commandments,
For length of days, and years of life,
And peace, will they add to you.'
Solomon calls on ‘my son' to observe his instruction (torah) and commandments from ‘the heart'. The observance is to be inward, not just outward. A wholehearted obedience is called for.
The Hebrew words for ‘law' and ‘commandments' are so closely associated with YHWH's covenant with Israel that that covenant could hardly not have been in Solomon's mind. Indeed that it was so comes out in Proverbs 3:9. But here they are expressed in terms of Solomon's wisdom teaching. Solomon sees himself as re-presenting the Torah. He can thus speak of ‘my instruction' and ‘my commandments' (compare Proverbs 1:7 ‘the torah of your mother'). The teaching of the Torah has become personalised. Solomon is re-expressing it (as Moses did in Deuteronomy).
We can compare in this regard how the covenant is assumed in Proverbs 3:9, has been mentioned in Proverbs 2:17, and is almost certainly in mind in Proverbs 6:23 where we read that ‘the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is a light'. Both commandment and torah are words regularly used of covenant requirements, e.g. Exodus 24:12; Deuteronomy 30:10 '; Jos 22:5; 1 Kings 2:3; etc. Thus Solomon is here expressing his wisdom in terms of covenant obedience.
And the consequence of obedience to his instruction will be ‘length of days and years of life, and wellbeing' (compare Proverbs 3:16; Proverbs 9:11). In Proverbs 10:27 the same is the consequence of the fear of YHWH. Thus Solomon's teaching and the fear of YHWH are equated. They are to obey his teaching because they fear YHWH. In Exodus 20:12 (compare Ephesians 6:3) a similar prolonging of day was promised to those who honoured father and mother, in other words responded to their authority and instruction (Proverbs 1:7). In Deuteronomy 4:40; Deuteronomy 5:33; Deuteronomy 6:2; Deuteronomy 11:8-9 such prolonging of days was promised to those who kept the statutes and commandments of YHWH and walked in His ways. Solomon thus also equated his teaching with the Torah.
‘And peace (wellbeing, prosperity).' He will not only live long, but his life will prosper and be one of peace and security.
‘Do not let kindness and truth forsake you,
Bind them about your neck,
Write them upon the tablet of your heart,
So will you find favour and good understanding
In the sight (the eyes) of God and man.'
Along with obedience the young man is to hold firmly to ‘lovingkindness and truth'. He is to be compassionate (having chesed - covenant love) and honourable, without deceit. Indeed he is to bind compassion and truth about his neck, as ancient man bound his signet around his neck (Genesis 38:18), so that they are revealed as his means of identification. And he is to write them on the tablet of his heart (compare Deuteronomy 11:18; Jeremiah 31:31), so that they are permanent and living and an intrinsic part of him. These are to be the two virtues which mark him off as God's man. In Proverbs 16:6 they are brought into close connection with the fear of YHWH. They are in complete contrast with the violence and deceit and false love of the ungodly (Proverbs 1:11-15; Proverbs 2:12-20). We can compare here the words of James in James 3:13-18.
And the consequence of doing this will be that he will be viewed with favour and appreciation by both God and man. He will be seen as a man of good repute whose heart is right. ‘In the eyes of' may indicate that what they think of him shines forth from their eyes. Compare Proverbs 15:30. The unexpected use of ‘God' rather than YHWH may indicate that the words ‘God and man' echoed a recognised general saying.
A Threefold Charge - Trust In, Fear And Honour YHWH.
In true New Testament fashion Solomon now brings out that the emphasis is not to be simply on the young man observing Solomon's commandments, but on his doing so because of his own personal response to God. It is this which differentiates a living faith from a dead legalism. The emphasis is on the fact that he is to ‘trust in', ‘fear' and ‘honour' YHWH, revealing this by walking in the ways of His revealed wisdom. This is central to Solomon's wisdom teaching, in total contrast to the wisdom teaching of other nations. Wisdom is to be followed because it is YHWH's wisdom. It is YHWH Who is to be heeded and obeyed.
We have here the three aspects of the godly life. It commences with personal response to, and trust in God. This leads on to ‘fearing God' and obeying Him on the one hand, and honouring and worshipping Him on the other.
‘Trust in YHWH with all your heart,
And do not rely on your own understanding,
In all your ways know him,
And he will direct (make straight) your paths.'
The young man is firstly to ‘trust in YHWH with all his heart', and this will result in him having YHWH's understanding (for he is not to rely on his own). The word for trust means ‘lean wholly on' (compare Psalms 22:10). YHWH is to be his full support and his sole source of understanding. His whole confidence is to be in Him. And he is to do so with all his inner self (his ‘heart'). This does, of course, include leaning on His revealed wisdom, but it is that wisdom as revealed to him by God Himself (Proverbs 2:6-8). YHWH and His wisdom are inextricably combined. He is not only to know wisdom, he is to know YHWH, and the word ‘know' is a word of personal relationship (see Galatians 4:9). It is because he knows YHWH that he appreciates YHWH's true wisdom. In contrast he is not to lean on/rely on his own wisdom and understanding. For God's ways are not man's ways (Romans 11:33). However, if he walks in a personal relationship with YHWH (knows Him), it is YHWH who will guide him and direct his paths in the right way (literally ‘make straight your path'), largely through His wisdom and His word.
‘Do not be wise in your own eyes,
Fear YHWH, and depart from evil,
It will be health to your navel,
And marrow to your bones.'
Solomon secondly calls on the young man to ‘fear YHWH', something which will make him wise (rather than relying on his own wisdom). Note how ‘fearing YHWH' is contrasted with being worldly-wise. To fear YHWH results in having God's wisdom and following it. It indicates submission to God and His wisdom and instruction, but with the emphasis not on wisdom but on YHWH. And the consequence of this will be that he will depart from all that comes short of good. For fearing God and following evil at the same time is simply not possible. In contrast are those who are wise in their own eyes. They follow their own ways. These have been depicted in Proverbs 1:11-14; Proverbs 2:12-15. They are also depicted in 1 Corinthians 1:20 to 1 Corinthians 2:5. They walk in wayward paths. They are inappreciative of God's wisdom, and therefore of His truth.
However, if the young man does ‘fear YHWH', responding to Him in loving obedience, (as a man fears his parents and responds to them - Leviticus 19:3), it will strengthen him within. The navel and the bones have in mind the inner man. To ancient man the navel was the means of entry of life. The bones were the inward part of the body representing the inner man (Proverbs 15:30; Proverbs 16:24; Psalms 34:19-20; Psalms 35:10). The marrow was what made the bones strong. So this is not promising health of body, although that may follow, but health of heart and mind, a healthy inward life.
Honour YHWH with your substance,
And with the first-fruits of all your increase,
So will your store-places be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine.'
Solomon thirdly calls on the young man to honour YHWH, to treat Him as of value. And in those days nothing revealed this more genuinely than a grateful and cheerful offering of men's substance to Him in sacrifices and offerings, which included the willing offerings of the firstfruits (see 2 Corinthians 8:6-7). As with Abel the quality of the sacrifice was dependent on the attitude of heart of the sacrificer (he willingly gave of what he first received and of the fat portions. He did not grudge what he gave to God). Solomon is not here proposing a bargain with God, as if he were saying, ‘if we do this, He will do that'. He is rather calling on the young man to offer to God gladly and freely from his substance because his heart is right with God. But inevitably, because of what God is, it will result in full barns and overflowing vats of wine. For God is no man's debtor.
The store-places would be pits and silos in the ground, or small rooms and sheds or larger storehouses above ground. The vats would be the lower pit of the wine-press in which the wine was collected, after it had first been trodden in the upper pit, and had flowed down a conduit into the lower pit. Such would be the quantity of grapes that the pit would overflow.
In these words we have a clear reference to offerings as stipulated in the Torah. Having God's wisdom will result in obedience to the requirements of the Torah. Solomon's wisdom did not replace the Torah, it supported it.