YHWH As Chastening Father And Wise Creator Inculcates Wisdom And Understanding As A Tree Of Life To Those Whom He Loves (Proverbs 3:11-20).
The reference to ‘my son' in Proverbs 3:11 (although in the Hebrew text not at the beginning of the sentence) points to the opening of a new subsection in the passage (as does the fact that it follows the chiasmus in Proverbs 3:1-10). Here YHWH is seen as acting to ensure the reception of His wisdom by those whom He loves. And He does it by means of discipline, by ‘the chastening instruction of wisdom' (Proverbs 1:3). The man whom He loves will be subject to His rod. Solomon recognises the waywardness of even a good man's heart, and realises that wisdom and understanding must partially be obtained as a consequence of stern discipline. Nevertheless this must be borne patiently because of the value of such wisdom and understanding, indeed because wisdom actually lies at the very root of creation. Note how the subsection commences with YHWH's fatherly activity as He fashions those whom He loves, and ends with His creative, and even violent, activity by which He fashioned the world which He saw as ‘very good'. YHWH's activity in saving and creating forms an inclusio. This reminds us again that it is YHWH's wisdom and understanding that is being inculcated.
Thus this subsection commences with the idea of YHWH, as Father of those whom He loves, fashioning and shaping those who are truly His by chastening and reproof, in order to inculcate into them wisdom and understanding. The great value of that wisdom and understanding is then described in terms of longevity, security, pleasantness, prosperity and mention of the tree of life, all reminiscent of Eden (note how Eden similarly springs to mind in the prophets - Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 36:35; Joel 2:3), and the subsection ends with the reminder that this wisdom is rooted in creation. The One Who initially founded, fashioned and shaped the world by wisdom, (and gave man the tree of life), is now through chastening and reproof, and through wisdom and understanding which are as a tree of life, fashioning those whom He loves in a new work of creation. Thus God's chastening and reproof of those whom He loves is set against the background of creation and the fall
The subsection may be analysed chiastically as follows:
A Do not despise, my son, the chastening of YHWH, nor be weary of his reproof, for whom YHWH loves he reproves, even as a father the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:11-12).
B Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who obtains understanding, for the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and its profit than fine gold (Proverbs 3:13-14).
C She is more precious than rubies, and none of the things you can desire are to be compared to her, length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honour (Proverbs 3:15-16).
B Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace, she is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her, and happy is every one who retains her (Proverbs 3:17-18).
A YHWH by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he established the heavens, by his knowledge the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew (Proverbs 3:19-20).
In A YHWH, acting (in wisdom and understanding) like a father, will discipline his son in order to fashion and shape him, inculcating wisdom and understanding into the one whom He loves, undoubtedly seeking to restore him to what he once was, (it is a tree of life to him) and in the parallel this can be compared with the importance of God's wisdom and understanding as Creator in the fashioning and shaping of the world. His wisdom in shaping the world thus still goes on in the chastening of His people. We should in fact note here that the idea of YHWH's fatherhood and creatorship go hand in hand in the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 32:6; Isaiah 45:9-12; Malachi 2:10; Luke 3:38; Ephesians 3:14-15). Having created He acts as Father to His creation. In B the man who finds wisdom and understanding is happy, and in the parallel everyone who retains wisdom/understanding is happy. Central in C is the incomparable worth of God's wisdom/understanding.
We may see from this subsection Solomon's way of thinking. God having created the universe by wisdom, had seen man lose access to the tree of life because he thrust aside God's wisdom and replaced it with the serpent's wisdom (his ‘subtlety', a word used of the shrewd/prudent, and therefore wise, man in Proverbs 12:16; Proverbs 12:23; Proverbs 13:16; Proverbs 14:8; Proverbs 14:15; Proverbs 14:18; Proverbs 22:3). Now He is at work to restore man to his former state, using reproof and discipline in order to turn man back to His wisdom which is as a tree of life, a wisdom which fundamentally lies at the root of, and shaped and fashioned, creation, and is now shaping and fashioning His new creation (compare Ephesians 2:10).
‘Do not despise (reject), my son, the chastening of YHWH,
Nor be weary of his reproof,
For whom YHWH loves he reproves,
Even as a father the son in whom he delights.
The young man is not to reject or despise the chastening of YHWH, nor to grow weary when he is constantly reproved. For he must remember that he is being shaped and fashioned by a loving YHWH, in the same way as a loving father who is proud of his son, shapes and fashions him.
In Malachi 2:10 we see that Israel closely connected God's fatherhood with His position as creator and a similar connection occurs here (compare Proverbs 3:19-20). Nevertheless Israel also saw God's fatherhood as evidence that God had chosen some from among many to be special to Him. Thus the idea of YHWH as the Father of His true people is emphasised in Exodus 4:22 where He declares, ‘Israel is My son, my firstborn', and this was confirmed by Moses in Deuteronomy 14:1, ‘you are the children of YHWH your God'. In other words the son of YHWH is one chosen by Him. But here in Proverbs the son is not all Israel, but the responsive remnant of Israel, those who take heed to the wisdom that comes from God and respond to His chastening. And each of them (‘my son') is called on not to despise the chastening of YHWH, or be wearied by His reproof. They are to see that the chastening and reproving by God of His people is a necessary part of their progression. Indeed just as a loving father who delights in his son, chastens him, such chastening is evidence of YHWH's love for those who are His true people. Israel had experienced such chastening in the wilderness days (Deuteronomy 8:3-5; Deuteronomy 11:2), and during the period of the Judges, and it comes in many forms, including reproof (Proverbs 19:25; Psalms 141:5), being subjected to others (Proverbs 5:9-13; 2 Samuel 7:14), persecution (Hebrews 12:3-11 where this passage is cited; compare Romans 8:28-39) sickness and even death (1 Corinthians 11:30-32).
Whilst YHWH is not here called Father, the implication of His fatherly love is clear, and we have here the clear beginnings of the idea that not all Israel were YHWH's beloved children. Thus YHWH is seen as fashioning and shaping those who are His own, having set His love upon them. And the thing that distinguishes them is their responsiveness to His wisdom, that wisdom that God initially revealed at creation when He fashioned and shaped the world (verses Proverbs 3:19-20), and now brings to bear in restoring those on whom He sets His love. Indeed that wisdom is as a restorative tree of life (Proverbs 3:18), restoring man to what he lost through the fall. Through it He has now set out to fashion and shape those whom He loves, restoring them to abundant life.
‘Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
And the man who obtains understanding,
For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver,
And its profit than fine gold.'
It is now made clear that the fashioning and shaping of His beloved sons is in order to inculcate in them wisdom and understanding. He Who by wisdom created and fashioned the world, is now recreating and refashioning those who are His by imparting to them wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 2:5-6). For in the final analysis men find wisdom and obtain understanding because YHWH Himself gives it to them (Proverbs 2:6).
And happy is the man who ‘finds' (the word implies not by accident, but by searching out) such wisdom, and obtains such understanding for it is better than gaining silver, and more profitable than fine gold. (Note how the ‘it' refers to both wisdom and understanding seen as one). We may see an expansion of this idea in Psalms 1 where the man is happy who deeply studies YHWH's instruction and thereby rejects sin, and in Matthew 5:3-10 where Jesus Himself taught the happiness of those who obtained God's favour and received from Him true wisdom and understanding.
Note that whilst that wisdom was given by God, and is in fact an important aspect of His creative work, it still has to be sought and found. Nevertheless man cannot find it solely by his own efforts. He can only find it because it has been given by God in words that come from God (Proverbs 2:6).
‘She (wisdom/understanding) is more precious than rubies,
And none of the things you can desire are to be compared to her,
Length of days is in her right hand,
In her left hand are riches and honour.'
The value of such spiritual wisdom and understanding is now revealed. It is more precious even than ‘rubies' (the word signifies some red material of value (Lamentations 4:7), possibly red coral as found in the Red Sea. The same word is found in Proverbs 8:11; Proverbs 20:15; Proverbs 31:10; Job 28:18 as indicating something precious). Indeed nothing that a man can desire is comparable in value to wisdom and understanding, for they offer on the one hand a long life (compare Proverbs 3:2; Proverbs 10:27), and on the other prosperity and honour. Here are the gifts which men desire above all others, to live long, to enjoy prosperity and to be held in high esteem. And they are all granted to the truly wise through their response to the wisdom of God. This was something that Solomon knew from his own experience, for because he sought from God wisdom above all else, he was promised both prosperity and length of days (1 Kings 3:9-14).
The fact that length of days is held in the right hand may indicate the importance being laid on this, for what are prosperity and fame without length of days? And indeed the phrase may well be intended to include the idea of physical wellbeing, indicating length of days in good health, for otherwise they would simply be a burden.
‘In her left hand are riches and honour.' This is not a promise that those who become wise will become financially rich. Certainly it includes a certain level of material prosperity (compare Proverbs 10:4), but the main idea is of richness of life which goes along with that prosperity. It is the blessing of YHWH that makes rich (Proverbs 10:22; compare Proverbs 13:8). We can compare here Proverbs 8:18 which speaks of ‘durable riches and righteousness'.
That all this was generally true in Solomon's day we can be confident. It was a time of peace and prosperity, with no major wars, and conditions which allowed truly good men to live long and benefit from their wise living. We are similarly reminded of how in the eighteenth century John Wesley bemoaned the fact that godly living so enabled many of his Methodists to prosper materially, that it put them in danger of a diminution of their spiritual enthusiasm. Solomon, of course, overlooked the fact that his own extravagance, and his building schemes with their forced levies, often prevented this from being true for all.
The New Testament recognises the same principle, although seeing it in terms of eternal life and spiritual prosperity. Jesus Himself made clear that those who obtained true wisdom and understanding by responding to Him would be blessed in this life and finally enjoy eternal life (Matthew 19:29).
It may be that the reference to ‘fine gold' and rubies (or ‘red coral') had in mind the ‘good gold', bdellium and onyx stone found in connection with the ‘garden of Eden' (Genesis 2:12) in the same way as the tree of life which is shortly mentioned. Solomon in his splendour would necessarily expand on their magnificence. He may well not have thought much of bdellium and onyx stone. There is an Edenic quality about the promises given, length of day, riches and honour, pleasantness, peace, tree of life.
‘Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace,
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her,
And happy is every one who retains her.'
The happiness of the one who obtains wisdom from God is now again emphasised, and the benefits of obtaining such wisdom continue to be described. In contrast with the ways of the unwise (Proverbs 2:12-15; Proverbs 2:18-20), her ways are ways of pleasantness and peace. For the wise will not only experience spiritual blessing, but they will also avoid unnecessary discord, and will in general as a consequence of their good lives be in favour with the authorities (Romans 13:3-4; 1 Peter 2:13-17) and with their neighbours. The New Testament takes up the idea and emphasises that true believers in Christ will enjoy lives of pleasantness and peace, receiving ‘life more abundant' (John 10:10), ‘the peace which passes all understanding' (Philippians 4:7) and ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory' (1 Peter 1:8).
Indeed God's wisdom is ‘a tree of life to those who lay hold on her'. The idea behind this phrase (which is followed by a mention of creation) may well be of a figurative restoration from the fall. Adam exchanged God's wisdom (‘you shall not eat of the tree of knowing good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you will certainly die') for the serpent's subtlety/prudence (‘you shall not certainly die'). Thereby he lost access to the tree of life (Genesis 2:9; Genesis 3:22; Genesis 3:24) and became a dying man. Now by turning back to God's wisdom those who are his receive a new impetus for righteous living, and enter into God's promise that ‘those who do these things will live in them' (Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 4:1; Deuteronomy 8:1), clearly in contrast to those who do not do them and who will therefore die, first spiritually and then physically. It is noteworthy that constant contact with the tree of life was seemingly necessary (Genesis 3:22), and of course the same applies to the wisdom that comes from God. The same figure is found in Proverbs 11:30; Proverbs 13:12; Proverbs 15:4 supporting the case for the unity of Proverbs 1:1 to Proverbs 24:34, but in those cases it does not directly have in mind wisdom
It is probable (see introduction) that Solomon saw in this reference to the tree of life a promise of a future life, that is, ‘eternal life', although not in any thought out sense. If he did not then we see a greater fulfilment of it promised in the New Testament where those who receive Jesus Christ, God's wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30), thereby receive eternal life, pictured in Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:2 in terms of the tree of life. But the Davidic Psalms do undoubtedly offer a glimpse of such a future hope (e.g. Psalms 16:10-11; Psalms 17:15) and it may well therefore have been an intrinsic part of Solomon's thinking. And this especially so in the light of representations of the tree of life or its equivalent, the plant of life, in the mythology of nations round about, which offered immortality.
‘YHWH by wisdom founded the earth,
By understanding he established the heavens,
By his knowledge the depths were broken up,
And the skies drop down the dew.'
The vastness of the value of YHWH's wisdom and understanding is now brought out by associating it with the founding and shaping of creation. YHWH's wisdom is seen as intrinsic within His creating work. And by that wisdom YHWH founded the earth, and by that understanding He established the Heavens. And by it, as revealed in His knowledge, He broke up the depths and caused the skies to drop down dew, thus watering the earth for man's benefit. Thus having created He fashioned. We may well see in the ‘breaking up of the depths' and the ‘dropping down of the dew' symbols of YHWH's chastening work in breaking up man's sinfulness through chastening (Proverbs 3:11-12), and His provision of wisdom in watering men's lives. This latter idea has already been found in Proverbs 1:23 (the pouring down of wisdom's spirit).
The breaking up of the depths is not referring to the separating of the water from the water (Genesis 1:7), for it parallels the pouring of the dew from Heaven. Thus it refers to the waters below being caused to water the earth in accordance with Genesis 2:6, just as the dew is the water from above. This is confirmed in Genesis 7:11 where ‘all the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened' refers to the waters below (the sea) and the waters above (the clouds.