Proverbs 1:32 - Exposition

Wisdom now brings her address to a close by contrasting the destruction and ruin of the foolish, and the security of those who listen to her voice. The turning away; מְשׁוּבָה ( m'shuvah ) , from שׁוּב ( shuv ) , "to turn about, or to return" (which is used metaphorically of conversion), here means defection, turning away; and hence apostasy ( aversio Vulgate, Chaldee Paraphrase, Syriac; perversitio, Cast. Version); the "backsliding" of Jeremiah 8:5 ; Hosea 11:7 . Abea Ezra understands it to signify "ease," as in the marginal reading; but there seems no warrant for taking the word in that sense. The LXX . renders the passage quite differently, ἀνθ ὧν γὰρ ἠδίκουν νηπίους φονευθησονταί "For because they wronged the young, they shall be slain;" so also the Arabic. The turning away is from the warnings and invitations of Wisdom, and implies rebelliousness against God. The prosperity . The word in the original ( שַׁלְוָה , shal'vah ) is here used in a bad sense, and means "carelessness, indolence," that carnal security which is induced by prosperity and worldly success, as in Jeremiah 22:21 , "I spoke to thee in thy prosperity (security), but thou saidst, I will not hear" (cf. Ezekiel 16:49 , where it is translated "idleness." So Dathe translates, "Incuria ignavorum eos perdit." The Chaldee Paraphrase and Syriac Versions read "error." It occurs in a good sense as "tranquillity," "security," in Proverbs 17:1 and Psalms 122:7 . The derivation of the word is from שָׁלָה ( shalah ) . "to be tranquil, to be safe, secure." Marines remarks that it is more difficult to bear prosperity than adversity, because we endure adversity, we are corrupted by prosperity, and prosperity or ease makes fools mad. The false security of the prosperous is illustrated by our Lord in his parable of the rich fool ( Luke 12:16-21 ). The LXX . differs again from the Hebrew in the second clause of this verse, καὶ ἐξετασμός ἀσεβεῖς ὀλεῖ ; i.e. the carefully considered judgment of God concerning them shall destroy them. The LXX , is followed by the Arabia. Them ; i.e. the fools themselves, and not other sinners, as Ben Ezra says, though the apparent security of fools, the impunity with which they seem to go on in their wickedness, and the success of their plans, may lead others to destruction.