Proverbs 1:33 - Exposition

Hearkeneth unto me. Wisdom, in closing her address, draws a beautiful picture of the real security and peace of the righteous, as contrasted with the false security of the wicked. As on the one side rejection of her counsels, her warnings, and invitations, carries with it punishment and irretrievable ruin; so, on the other, the hearkening to her words, and loving obedience, are rewarded by her with the choicest blessings. Shall dwell safely ; that is, with confidence, without danger ( absque terrore, Vulgate). The phrase, שָכַן בֶּטַד ( shachan betakh ) , is used in Deuteronomy 33:12-18 of the safety with which the covenant people should dwell in the land that God had given them; but it is capable of a further extension of meaning beyond mere temporal security, viz. to the spiritual peace of the righteous. The psalmist also employs it to describe the confidence with which he awaits the resurrection, when he says, "My flesh also shall rest in hope [or, 'dwell confidently']" ( Psalms 16:9 ). So here Wisdom promises that he who hearkens to her shall dwell calmly and undisturbed amidst the distractions of the world. The promise agrees with the description of Wisdom elsewhere that "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." And shall be quiet; ( שַׁאֲנַן , shaanan, perfect pilel). Wisdom regards her assurance as already accomplished, and hence the perfect in the original is used for the future. The hearers and doers of her will shall live in tranquillity; nay, they are already doing so. It is a thing not only in prospect, but in possession. From fear of evil; i.e. either without any fear of evil, fear being removed ( timore sublato, Vulgate), or, as the Authorized Version expresses it, connecting the phrase more intimately with the verb—"quiet from fear of evil." It is not only evil, רֲעַה ( raah ) , in its substantial form, as calamity, they are to be free from, but even the fear of it. The tranquillity will be supreme.