Proverbs 3:11

HAPPINESS AND BLESSING OF THOSE WHO TRUST IN GOD

"My son, despise not the chastening of Jehovah;

Neither be weary of his reproof:

For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth,

Even as the father the son in whom he delighteth.

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,

And the man that getteth understanding.

For the gaining of it is better than silver,

And the profit thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies:

And none of the things that thou canst desire are to be compared unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand;

In her left hand are riches and honor.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

And all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her:

And happy is every one that retaineth her.

Jehovah, thy 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."

In this paragraph are enumerated a number of the marvelous blessings of trusting in the Lord which far exceed and surpass any material prosperity. Happiness, peace, pleasantness, honor, length of days - these are the things more profitable than silver or gold. "These are truly `the good things' of life, the blessings which all men are seeking."[18]

"Despise not the chastening of Jehovah" (Proverbs 3:11). This understanding of the utility of sufferings and misfortunes borne by the righteous, "Is the same solution to that problem that was proposed by both Eliphaz (Job 5:17f) and Elihu."[19] And, although their understanding of it as it regarded the miseries of Job was inaccurate, it is nevertheless one of the valid reasons why God causes his saints to pass through afflictions.

"God's people, like Jonah, may fall into sin and fall asleep in the storm; but for those whom God's loves, he will send some terrible tempest to awaken them. The true Christian is thankful for the very afflictions that some despise, because he is able to use them as the occasion for his complete return to duty."[20]

"Hebrews 12:5-6 quotes this passage verbatim from the Septuagint (LXX) and Sinaiticus Versions of the Old Testament."[21] For further commentary on the subject of Chastening, we refer to Vol. 10 in our New Testament Commentaries (Hebrews), pp. 293-296.

"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom" (Proverbs 3:13). Tate observed that here there are two elements in the admonition regarding wisdom: "This verse speaks of finding wisdom; and Proverbs 3:18 says `Happy is the man that retaineth it."[22]

"The gaining of it (wisdom) is better than the gaining of silver" (Proverbs 3:14). We like Kidner's terse comment on this that, "Wisdom will make you richer than money ever will."[23]

This writer is deeply impressed with the personification of Wisdom in Proverbs 3:15-16; and we have taken the liberty of capitalizing Wisdom here. To the Christian "Christ is our Wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:30); and, as Tate observed, "There is presumed some degree of an independent existence of Wisdom which antedates the creation of the universe (Proverbs 3:19-20)."[24] This harmonizes completely with the fact of God's having created all things by Jesus Christ our Lord (Hebrews 1:2).

Cook also noted that, "This passage is a link in the chain which connects the Wisdom mentioned here with the Divine Word ([@Logos]) of John 1:3; and therefore this passage takes its place among the proofs of the dogmatic statements of the Nicene Creed."[25]

"She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her" (Proverbs 3:18). "The Book of Proverbs is the only book in the Bible that mentions the tree of life except the first (Genesis) and last (Revelation)."[26] Other references in Proverbs to the tree of life are Proverbs 11;30; 13:12; and Proverbs 15:4.

This first section of Proverbs (Proverbs 1-9) exists in the format of some ten speeches, most of them beginning with the words, "My son." Walls pointed out that, "The 3rd, 4th, and 5th of these speeches begin in Proverbs 3:1,11,21 in this chapter."[27] We have now come to this fifth speech.