Proverbs 8:10 - Exposition

Receive my instruction, and not silver ; i.e. acquire wisdom rather than silver, if ever the choice is yours. And knowledge rather than choice gold (comp. Proverbs 8:19 ; Proverbs 3:1-35 :140. (For "knowledge," daath, see on Proverbs 2:10 .) The comparison is implied rather than expressed in the first clause, while it is made clear in the second. Thus Hosea 6:6 , "I desired mercy, and not sacrifice," the second matter mentioned being, not necessarily of no importance, but always in such cases of inferior importance to the other. We may quote Horace's complaint of the worldliness of his countrymen, a marked contrast to the inspired counsel of Proverbs ('Epist.,' Proverbs 1:1 , 52)—

" Villus argentum est auro, virtutibus aurum.

O cives, cives! quaerenda pecunia primum est,

Virtus post nummos ."