Proverbs 1:29-30 - Exposition

Belong to Proverbs 1:28 , and are not the antecedent clauses to Proverbs 1:31 , as Zochler remarks. They recapitulate the charges already made against the sinners in Proverbs 1:22 and Proverbs 1:25 , and now set them forth as the ground or reason why Wisdom, on her part, turns a deaf ear to their entreatries. Wisdom will disregard the n because they have previously disregatded her. The connection is denoted in the LXX . by γὰρ , for the Hebrew takbath ki, equivalent to " because, " and in the Authorized Version by the punctuation. Did not choose the fear of the Lord. The verb "to choose" ( בָּחַר , bakhar ) combines in itself the meanings of eligere and diligere (Fleischer), and therefore signifies here not only choice of, but also the fuller sense of love for, the fear of the Lord. They despised ; i.e. rejected the reproof with scorn or derision, sneered or turned up their noses at it ( μυκτηρίζειν , LXX .), disparaged it ( detrahere, Vulgate), or, more strongly, as Gejerus says, execrated it. Their rejection of reproof is stigmatized in stronger terms than in Proverbs 1:25 .