Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.
Through desire (through self-willed and self-seeking desire of wisdom) a man, having separated himself (from other men), seeketh (and) intermeddleth with all wisdom - Hebrew, tuwshiyaah (H8454): literally, all that is solid and stable: subsistence, essence, existence. The Pharisees were such; from the Hebrew, paarash (H6567), 'to separate.' They trusted in themselves, and in their own wisdom, despising others (Luke 18:9; Luke 16:15; Jude 1:19). All heresy has more or less originated in the self-conceit which leads men to separate themselves from the congregation of the Lord (Ezekiel 14:7; Hosea 9:10; Hebrews 10:25). Maurer translates, 'He who separateth himself seeketh after his desire.' The English version equally suits the Hebrew, and the "seeketh" is more expressive indefinitely taken. The two evils censured are:
(1) That of those who think that they are born for themselves, and ought to live and die for themselves, and that others ought to be ministers of their self-seeking desires.
(2) That of those who intermeddle with what does not concern them.
The motive is "through (his own) desire" of being esteemed singularly learned, as Proverbs 18:2 shows, not from sincere "delight in understanding." His aim is singularity through self-seeking "desire" (Psalms 10:3; Psalms 112:10) of raising himself to a separate elevation from the common crowd, and of being thought versed in all that can be known: so he "intermeddleth with all wisdom." His restless appetite for making himself special and separate from others is marked by the indefinite verb "seeketh," it not being added what he seeketh, for he hardly knows himself what, but certainly not peace, charity, and humility: he foolishly affects a monopoly of wisdom.