Proverbs 1:2

2. As in the first verse we have the title of the book, so in this and the following verses, to the sixth, we have its design or object stated and explained. The purpose is disciplinary, educational; first, with respect to the young man, and then to him that is already wise, instructed.

To know wisdom and instruction That is, that the reader may know or acquire wisdom. The verb ידע , yadha’h, comprehends the active knowing, both as inchoative and as completed; that is, to come to know, to gain a knowledge of, and also to know, to have a knowledge of. It is used in the first sense here that the reader or pupil may attain to, or acquire, wisdom.

To perceive the words of understanding Or, more literally, to discern the words of discernment. The noun at the end of the clause is from the same root as the infinitive at the beginning. The primary idea is, that of separating; then of distinguishing, or making distinctions. It implies attention and the power of accurate discrimination, or observing the difference between one thing and another their different qualities, properties, and relations; the power of analysis and classification; hence, of precision and clearness of thought, of seeing “through and through” things. The object of the book, therefore, is, that the student, thoroughly informed and disciplined, may be capable of penetrating abstruse and difficult subjects; of understanding and relishing the teachings of the most profound instructors. When beginning his course he finds it impossible to understand fully his teachers and his text books. He is unable to grasp the subject, either in the aggregate or the details. Terms are new, strange, and confusing. The attempt to seize unwonted thought distracts him. But that discipline and cultivation, which the wise Teacher proposes, gradually clears his vision, and strengthens and enlarges his intellect, until the objects of his pursuit stand out vividly before his mind in all their relations and intricacies. He has mastered his subject, and gained his end.