Chapter commentary
Proverbs Chapter 2
서론
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简体中文
English original
Solomon, having foretold the destruction of those who are obstinate in their impiety, in this chapter applies himself to those who are willing to be taught; and, I. He shows them that, if they would diligently use the means of knowledge and grace, they should obtain of God the knowledge and grace which they seek, Pr 2:1-9. II. He shows them of what unspeakable advantage it would be to them. 1. It would preserve them from the snares of evil men (Pr 2:10-15) and of evil women, Pr 2:16-19. 2. It would direct them into, and keep them in, the way of good men, Pr 2:20-22. So that in this chapter we are taught both how to get wisdom and how to use it when we have it, that we may neither seek it, nor receive it in vain.
1-9
The Search after Wisdom Encouraged
简体中文
寻求智慧蒙激励
¹ 我儿，你若领受我的言语，存记我的命令，
² 侧耳听智慧，专心求聪明，
³ 呼求明哲，扬声求聪明，
⁴ 寻找她，如寻找银子，搜求她，如搜求隐藏的珍宝，
⁵ 你就明白敬畏耶和华，得以认识神。
⁶ 因为耶和华赐人智慧，知识和聪明都由他口而出。
⁷ 他给正直人存留真智慧，给行为纯正的人作盾牌，
⁸ 为要保守公平人的路，护庇虔诚人的道。
⁹ 那时你就明白公义、公平、正直，一切的善道。
约伯早在此以前便已问过：智慧有何处可寻？聪明之处在哪里呢？（伯二十八12、20），并曾给出这样一个总括的答复（伯二十八23）：神明白智慧的道路；但所罗门在此更进一步，告诉我们既在何处可以寻见，又如何可以得着。我们在此被告知：
I. 我们要得着智慧，当用何等方法。
1. 我们必须紧紧留意神的道，因为那是智慧的言语，能使我们因得救而有智慧，箴二1、2。（一）我们必须确信，神的言语乃是智慧与聪明的泉源和准则，并且不必妄想比它们所能使我们成就的更有智慧。我们必须侧耳听它们，专心求它们，如同求智慧或聪明本身。在人的著作中或可寻得许多智慧的言语，但神的启示，以及建立其上的真信仰，乃是全备的智慧。（二）我们必须照此甘心乐意地领受神的道，欢迎它，连命令带应许，都不发怨言、不争辩。主啊，请说，仆人敬听。（三）我们必须把它们存记在身，如同存留我们唯恐被夺的珍宝。我们不单要领受，也要存留神的道，把它珍藏在心里，叫它常在我们手边。（四）我们必须侧耳听它们；我们必须抓住一切听神道的机会，专注严肃地侧耳而听，如同唯恐错过它的人。（五）我们必须专心求它们，否则侧耳而听对我们毫无益处。
2. 我们必须多多祷告，箴二3。我们必须呼求明哲，如同将要饿死的人苦苦求饼。微弱的愿望不能成事；我们必须恳切，如同那知道知识之宝贵、又知道自己缺乏的人。我们必须呼求，如同初生的婴孩切慕那纯净的灵奶。彼前二2。我们必须为聪明扬声，扬声直达于天；这些美善全备的赏赐当从那里指望，雅一17，伯三十八34。我们必须将声音献与聪明（原文如此），为它发言，为它表决，把舌头降服于智慧的命令之下。我们必须将声音分别为圣归与它；既已专心向它，便当将声音用在寻求它上。所罗门在这方法上可以写下屡试不爽的字样；他为智慧祷告，便如此得着了。
3. 我们必须甘心劳苦（箴二4）；我们必须寻找她，如寻找银子，将她远远看重过这世上一切的财富，并为搜求她而劳力，如同那些在矿坑里挖掘的人，他们以不知疲倦的勤勉、不可屈服的恒心与决意，劳苦冒险去追寻矿砂；又如那些立志要发财的人，清早起来，深夜方睡，无所不用其极地积聚钱财、充满库房。我们在运用求知之途上，也当如此殷勤，竭力追求认识耶和华。
II. 我们运用这些方法，可以指望何等的成效。我们的劳苦必不徒然；因为：1. 我们必晓得如何与神保持相交相通："你必明白敬畏耶和华（箴二5），就是说，你必晓得如何正确地敬拜他，必被引入各样典章的含义与奥秘中，并得以应验其设立的目的。"你必得以认识神，这乃是我们正确敬畏他所必需的。我们当看明，认识神是何等关乎我们的益处，并当以对他相称的情感与敬慕来表明这一点。2. 我们必晓得如何向众人正当地行事（箴二9）："你必藉着神的道明白公义、公平、正直，必学得那些公正、慈爱、诚实待人的原则，叫它们在你一生的言行中引导你、治理你，使你能胜任各样关系、各样事务，并在各样的托付上忠心。这道不单要给你关于公义的正确观念，也要给你实行公义、将各人当得的归给各人的心志；因为凡不行公义的，便是未曾真正明白公义。"这要引导他们行一切的善道，因为圣经能使属神的人得以完全。要注意：唯有那知道自己本分的人，才有最美的知识，诗一一一10。
III. 我们追求智慧时，有何根据可指望这等成效；我们在这事上必须单单从神支取激励，箴二6-8。
1. 神有智慧可赐，箴二6。耶和华不单自己有智慧，更赐人智慧，这是世上最有智慧的人所不能做的，因为开通人的悟性乃是神独有的权能。凡受造之物里的智慧，都是他的恩赐，他白白的恩赐，他厚赐与人（雅一5），已赐给了许多人，如今仍在赐下；故此让我们向他祈求。
2. 他以启示他旨意的恩典赐福世界。由他口而出，藉着律法与先知，藉着所写的道和他的众仆人——这两样都是他向世人说话的口——知识和聪明便临到，就是那样一种真理与良善的显明，我们若接受、领受其印记，便要使我们真正有知识、有聪明。我们有圣经可查考，并能在其中存心殷勤寻求便寻得智慧，这既是叫我们追求智慧的约束，也是激励。
3. 他特别预备，叫那些真诚乐意遵行他旨意的良善人，得着他们所必需的知识与聪明，约七17。让他们寻求智慧，他们便寻见；让他们祈求，便有赐给他们，箴二7、8。这里要观察：（一）谁是这样蒙恩眷的人。他们是正直人，神的形象在他们身上得了更新，那形象在于公义；又是那些行为纯正的人，就是无论对神对人都行事诚实、凡所知的本分都凭良心去尽的人。他们是他的虔诚人，专心归他的荣耀，分别出来归他使用。（二）为他们所预备的是什么。〔一〕训诲。求智慧的途径是赐给众人的，但智慧本身，真智慧，却是为正直人存留，存留在他们的元首基督里面，一切智慧知识的宝藏都积蓄在他里面，他也为我们成了从神而来的智慧。那在道中作启示之灵的，也在成圣之人的心里作智慧之灵，就是那明哲人的智慧，能明白自己当行的道；这是真智慧，根基稳固，原则坚实，所产生的果效有长存的益处。〔二〕满足。有人译作：他为正直人存留实质，不单是实在的知识，也是实在的福乐与安慰，箴八21。财富乃是虚而不实之物，那些有财富的人不过自以为有福；但在应许里、在天上为正直人所存留的，必使他们真实、彻底、永远有福。〔三〕保护。连那些行为纯正的人，也可能为试验他们的信心而被带入危险，但神现今是、将来也必是他们的盾牌，叫一切临到他们的事都不能真正伤害他们，也不能使他们怀有惊惶的忧虑；他们是安稳的，也必自知安稳。亚伯拉罕，不要惧怕，我是你的盾牌。耶和华所认识、所看顾的，乃是他们的道，就是他们所行的公平的路。〔四〕恒忍到底的恩典。我们若倚靠神，求他赐智慧，他必扶持我们持守正直，使我们能保守公平的路，无论怎样受引诱要偏离其外；因为他护庇虔诚人的道，叫它不致偏邪，从而保守他们安然无可指摘地行在其中，直到他属天的国度。神所赐我们恩典的确据，若善加运用，必激发并促进我们尽本分的努力。你们当恐惧战兢做成你们得救的工夫，因为是神在你们里面运行。
English original
The Search after Wisdom Encouraged
¹ My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
² So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
³ Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
⁴ If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
⁵ Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
⁶ For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
⁷ He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
⁸ He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
⁹ Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path.
Job had asked, long before this, Where shall wisdom be found? Whence cometh wisdom? (Job 28:12,20) and he had given this general answer (Job 28:23), God knoweth the place of it; but Solomon here goes further, and tells us both where we may find it and how we may get it. We are here told,
I. What means we must use that we may obtain wisdom.
1. We must closely attend to the word of God, for that is the word of wisdom, which is able to make us wise unto salvation, Pr 2:1,2. (1.) We must be convinced that the words of God are the fountain and standard of wisdom and understanding, and that we need not desire to be wiser than they will make us. We must incline our ear and apply our hearts to them, as to wisdom or understanding itself. Many wise things may be found in human compositions, but divine revelation, and true religion built upon it, are all wisdom. (2.) We must, accordingly, receive the word of God with all readiness of mind, and bid it welcome, even the commandments as well as the promises, without murmuring or disputing. Speak, Lord, for thy servant hears. (3.) We must hide them with us, as we do our treasures, which we are afraid of being robbed of. We must not only receive, but retain, the word of God, and lodge it in our hearts, that it may be always ready to us. (4.) We must incline our ear to them; we must lay hold on all opportunities of hearing the word of God, and listen to it with attention and seriousness, as those that are afraid of letting it slip. (5.) We must apply our hearts to them, else inclining the ear to them will stand us in no stead.
2. We must be much in prayer, Pr 2:3. We must cry after knowledge, as one that is ready to perish for hunger begs hard for bread. Faint desires will not prevail; we must be importunate, as those that know the worth of knowledge and our own want of it. We must cry, as new-born babes, after the sincere milk of the word. 1Pe 2:2. We must lift our voice for understanding lift it up to heaven; thence these good and perfect gifts must be expected, Jam 1:17, Job 38:34. We must give our voice to understanding (so the word is), speak for it, vote for it, submit the tongue to the command of wisdom. We must consecrate our voice to it; having applied our heart to it, we must employ our voice in seeking for it. Solomon could write probatum est—a tried remedy, upon this method; he prayed for wisdom and so obtained it.
3. We must be willing to take pains (Pr 2:4); we must seek it as silver, preferring it far before all the wealth of this world, and labouring in search of it as those who dig in the mines, who undergo great toil and run great hazards, with indefatigable industry and invincible constancy and resolution, in pursuit of the ore; or as those who will be rich rise up early, and sit up late, and turn every stone to get money and fill their treasures. Thus diligent must we be in the use of the means of knowledge, following on to know the Lord.
II. What success we may hope for in the use of these means. Our labour shall not be in vain; for, 1. We shall know how to maintain our acquaintance and communion with God: "Thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord (Pr 2:5), that is, thou shalt know how to worship him aright, shalt be led into the meaning and mystery of every ordinance, and be enabled to answer the end of its institution." Thou shalt find the knowledge of God, which is necessary to our fearing him aright. It concerns us to understand how much it is our interest to know God, and to evidence it by agreeable affections towards him and adorations of him. 2. We shall know how to conduct ourselves aright towards all men (Pr 2:9): "Thou shalt understand, by the word of God, righteousness, and judgment, and equity, shalt learn those principles of justice, and charity, and fair dealing, which shall guide and govern thee in the whole course of thy conversation, shall make thee fit for every relation, every business, and faithful to every trust. It shall give thee not only a right notion of justice, but a disposition to practise it, and to render to all their due; for those that do not do justly do not rightly understand it." This will lead them in every good path, for the scripture will make the man of God perfect. Note, Those have the best knowledge who know their duty, Ps 111:10.
III. What ground we have to hope for this success in our pursuits of wisdom; we must take our encouragement herein from God only, Pr 2:6-8.
1. God has wisdom to bestow, Pr 2:6. The Lord not only is wise himself, but he gives wisdom, and that is more than the wisest men in the world can do, for it is God's prerogative to open the understanding. All the wisdom that is in any creature is his gift, his free gift, and he gives it liberally (Jam 1:5), has given it to many, and is still giving it; to him therefore let us apply for it.
2. He has blessed the world with a revelation of his will. Out of his mouth, by the law and the prophets, by the written word and by his ministers, both which are his mouth to the children of men, come knowledge and understanding, such a discovery of truth and good as, if we admit and receive the impressions of it, will make us truly knowing and intelligent. It is both an engagement and encouragement to search after wisdom that we have the scriptures to search, in which we may find it if we seek it diligently.
3. He has particularly provided that good men, who are sincerely disposed to do his will, shall have that knowledge and that understanding which are necessary for them, Joh 7:17. Let them seek wisdom, and they shall find it; let them ask, and it shall be given them, Pr 2:7,8. Observe here, (1.) Who those are that are thus favoured. They are the righteous, on whom the image of God is renewed, which consists in righteousness, and those who walk uprightly, who are honest in their dealings both with God and man and make conscience of doing their duty as far as they know it. They are his saints, devoted to his honour, and set apart for his service. (2.) What it is that is provided for them. [1.] Instruction. The means of wisdom are given to all, but wisdom itself, sound wisdom, is laid up for the righteous, laid up in Christ their head, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and who is made of God to us wisdom. The same that is the Spirit of revelation in the word is a Spirit of wisdom in the souls of those that are sanctified, that wisdom of the prudent which is to understand his way; and it is sound wisdom, its foundations firm, its principles solid, and its products of lasting advantage. [2.] Satisfaction. Some read it, He lays up substance for the righteous, not only substantial knowledge, but substantial happiness and comfort, Pr 8:21. Riches are things that are not, and those that have them only fancy themselves happy; but what is laid up in the promises and in heaven for the righteous will make them truly, thoroughly, and eternally happy. [3.] Protection. Even those who walk uprightly may be brought into danger for the trial of their faith, but God is, and will be, a buckler to them, so that nothing that happens to them shall do them any real hurt, or possess them with any terrific apprehensions; they are safe, and they shall think themselves so. Fear not, Abraham; I am thy shield. It is their way, the paths of judgment in which they walk, that the Lord knows, and owns, and takes care of. [4.] Grace to persevere to the end. If we depend upon God, and seek to him for wisdom, he will uphold us in our integrity, will enable us to keep the paths of judgment, however we may be tempted to turn aside out of them; for he preserves the way of his saints, that it be not perverted, and so preserves them in it safe and blameless to his heavenly kingdom. The assurances God has given us of his grace, if duly improved, will excite and quicken our endeavours in doing our duty. Work out your salvation, for God works in you.
10-22
The Benefits Conferred by Wisdom
简体中文
智慧所赐的益处
¹⁰ 智慧必入你心；你的灵要以知识为美。
¹¹ 谋略必护卫你；聪明必保守你，
¹² 要救你脱离恶人的道，脱离说乖谬话的人。
¹³ 那等人舍弃正直的路，行走黑暗的道，
¹⁴ 欢喜作恶，喜爱恶人的乖僻，
¹⁵ 在他们的道中弯曲，在他们的路上偏僻。
¹⁶ 智慧要救你脱离淫妇，就是那用谄媚话语勾引人的外女。
¹⁷ 她离弃幼年的配偶，忘了神的盟约。
¹⁸ 她的家陷入死地；她的路偏向阴间。
¹⁹ 凡到她那里去的，不得转回，也得不着生命的路。
²⁰ 智慧必使你行善人的道，守义人的路。
²¹ 正直人必在世上居住；完全人必在地上存留。
²² 惟有恶人必从地上剪除；奸诈的，必从地上拔出。
这几节的要旨是要说明：1. 真智慧对我们有何等大的益处；它必保守我们脱离那通向毁灭的罪之道路，在此事上向我们所施的恩，比用世上一切财富叫我们富足更大。2. 我们当如何善用神所赐的智慧；我们必须用它来引导自己行在美德的路上，并以它武装自己抵挡各样的试探。3. 我们可凭何等规则来察验自己是否有这智慧。这树将凭果子被认出来；我们若真有智慧，就必显在我们小心躲避一切恶人与恶行之上。
这智慧对我们有以下用处，
I. 为要保守我们脱离恶事，脱离罪恶，从而也脱离随罪而来的祸患。
1. 概括而言（箴 2:10,11），“当智慧完全占有你时，它必保守你。”智慧何时完全占有我们呢？(1.) 当它在我们里面掌权之时。当它不仅以观念充满头脑，更进入心里，对心有支配的能力和影响——当它在那里坐宝座，给情感和私欲定规矩——当它进入心里如同面酵进入面团，散发它的滋味，把心改变成它自己的形像——那时它便可能于我们有益。(2.) 当我们以它为乐之时，就是知识以灵为美之时：“当你开始以它为最可喜悦的享受，又甘心乐意、心满意足地顺服它的规则——当你称行美德不是奴役和苦差，乃是自由与喜乐，称认真敬虔的生活为人在这世上所能过的最有福的生活——那时你必寻见它的益处。”它的约束纵在某些方面叫身体不快，连这些也必叫灵魂喜悦。当我们到了这地步，谋略必护卫我们，保守我们。神保守圣民的道（箴 2:8），赐他们谋略，叫他们躲开祸患，保守自己，叫那恶者不能害他们。要注意：心中掌权的恩典之原则，无论对内里的败坏还是对外来的试探，都是大有能力的保障（传 9:16,18）。
2. 更具体而言，智慧必保守我们，
(1.) 脱离原则败坏的人，就是那些无神、亵渎的人，他们专以败坏少年人的判断为业，把对信仰的偏见和为罪辩护的论调灌输到人心里：“它必救你脱离恶人的道（箴 2:12），这是何等有福的拯救，如同从死亡的口中得救一般，脱离他所行、又想劝你去行的道路。”这仇敌起初被说成是一个人（箴 2:12），一个恶人，后来却说成是许多人（箴 2:13）；有一帮人、一伙人，联合起来抵挡信仰，彼此携手维护魔鬼的国度及其利益。[1.] 他们有一种与一切善事相违的灵：他们说乖谬话；他们尽其所能地攻击信仰，既显出自己对信仰的仇恨，又劝阻别人远离信仰。他们是撒但的辩护士；他们为巴力辩护，败坏主的正道。亵渎的智士何等乖戾地为罪争辩，又何等乖谬地挑剔神的道！智慧必保守我们，或不与这等人来往，或至少不被他们所诱惑。[2.] 他们自己乃是从善事上背道之人，这等人常是信仰最恶毒、最危险的仇敌，犹利安便是一例（箴 2:13）：他们舍弃正直的路，就是他们从小所受教、又曾起步而行的路，他们抖落所受教育的影响，斩断起初满有指望之开端的线索，去行走黑暗的道，行在那些恨光的恶道中，人在其中被无知和谬误蒙着眼睛领着走，这些道路又领人进入更深的黑暗。罪的道路乃是黑暗的道路，既无安慰又不安全；那些舍弃正直之路又平坦、又愉快、又光明的人，竟去行那些恶道，何等愚昧！（诗 82:5，约一 2:11）。[3.] 他们以罪为乐，既乐意自己犯罪，又乐意看别人犯罪（箴 2:14）：他们遇有作恶的机会就欢喜，又因任何邪恶诡计的成就和得逞而欢喜。愚妄人以行恶为戏耍；在他们看，没有什么景象比看见恶人的乖僻更可喜的了，就是看见那些本有指望的人被引入罪的道路，然后看见他们在那道路上刚硬坚定。他们若能看出魔鬼的国度得了地步，便欢喜（参 罗 1:32），他们已到了这等不敬虔的地步。[4.] 他们在罪中刚硬不化（箴 2:15）：他们的道路弯曲，许多迂回曲折，为要躲避良心责备的追讨，又削弱其力量；他们诡诈的心给他们预备了某种狡猾的托辞、某种巧妙的遁词，好叫他们在恶事上的手得着坚固；他们就在那迷宫弯曲的曲径中，躲避神的道和自己良心的捉拿；因为他们在路上偏僻，就是说，他们决意要行在这等道路上，无论有什么相反的话。凡智慧人都必躲避这等人的同伴。
(2.) 脱离行为败坏的妇人。前者领人入属灵的恶事，就是未成圣之心思的私欲；这些却领人入肉体的私欲，玷污身体这活的圣殿，同时又与灵魂争战。这淫妇在此称为外女，因为凡稍有智慧或良善之人都不愿与她有任何来往；每一个以色列人都当躲避她，如同躲避外邦人、躲避那与神圣选民为外人的人一般。她真是个外女！全然与一切理性、美德和荣誉的原则隔绝了。能脱离淫妇的勾引乃是大恩典，试想，[1.] 她何等虚假。谁愿与那满了诡诈的人来往呢？她是个外女；因为，第一，她对所勾引的人虚假。她说好话，告诉他自己何等仰慕他过于别人，又对他何等有情；但她用谄媚话语；她对他并无真情，也不求他的好处，正如大利拉不求参孙的好处一样。她所图谋的不过是骗取他的钱财，满足自己卑鄙的私欲。第二，她对自己的丈夫虚假，违背了她对他所负的神圣义务。他乃是她幼年的配偶；她嫁他时便拣选他作配偶，将自己交托他引导，应许单单服侍他、撇下众人。她却离弃了他，因此断不能指望她对别人忠诚；凡接待她的，便与她同有这虚假。第三，她对神自己虚假：她忘了神的盟约，就是婚姻之约（箴 2:17），神不仅是这约的见证人，更是其中的一方，因他既设立了这制度，双方便都向他起誓彼此忠诚。她所得罪的不仅是丈夫，更是她的神，神必审判行淫和奸淫的人，因他们藐视所起的誓，背弃所立的约（结 17:18，玛 2:14）。[2.] 与她结交之人何等致命（箴 2:18,19）。愿别人的苦难作我们的警戒。要谨防淫乱的罪；因为，第一，犯此罪者的毁灭是确定无可逃避的，他们若不悔改。这罪直接趋向于杀灭灵魂，扑灭其中一切良善的情感与心志，使灵魂暴露在神的忿怒与咒诅之下，并落在他公义的刀剑之下。那活在禁戒之乐中的人，活着的时候就是死的。愿谋略护卫各人，不仅脱离恶妇，更脱离那恶宅，因为那家陷入死地；它正在那条直通永死的路上；她的路偏向阴间，有人译作偏向上古的巨人——就是上古世界的罪人，他们活在奢华放荡中，竟未到时候便被剪除，根基被洪水冲塌。我们的主耶稣以随罪而来永远的痛苦来吓阻我们远离罪中之乐。在那里虫是不死的，火是不灭的。参 太 5:28,29。第二，他们的悔改与挽回极其危险：凡到她那里去的，几乎无一得转回。被魔鬼这网罗缠住之人能自拔得救的，实在罕见，因这罪的诡诈何等坚硬了人的心、蒙蔽了人的心思。他们一旦失去对生命之路的把握，便不知如何重新抓住它，反倒被这等卑鄙的私欲全然迷惑昏乱了。许多有学问的解经者认为，这警戒不可亲近外女，除字面意义外，还当从比喻的意义来理解，作为一种警戒，1. 抵挡拜偶像，就是属灵的淫乱。智慧必保守你远离与拜偶像之人的一切亲密往来，并保守你不向与他们联合的心倾斜，这事多世代以来对以色列有何等可怕的后果，连所罗门自己也是如此。2. 抵挡身体的私欲与嗜好败坏灵魂的智识与官能。智慧必保守你不被属肉体的心思所掳，不使心灵屈服于肉体的辖制，就是那臭名昭著的淫妇，她离弃她的向导，违背我们神的盟约，偏向死地，又在她得着无人搅扰的辖制时，使灵魂的光景陷入绝望。
II. 这智慧必引导指示我们行善（箴 2:20）：智慧必使你行善人的道。我们必须躲避恶人的道和外女的道，好叫我们行在善道上；我们必须离恶，好叫我们学善。要注意：1. 有一条道特别是善人的道，就是善人就其本相、就其真为善人而言，向来所行的道。2. 行在那道上乃是我们的智慧，要寻问那古道而行（耶 6:16，来 6:12, 12:1）。我们不可只行在那道上一时，乃要持守那道，行在其中，永不偏离：义人的路乃是生命的路，凡有智慧、一旦抓住它的人，都必持守不放。“好叫你效法那些卓越的人，就是众先祖和众先知（帕特里克主教如此意译），并蒙保守行在那些跟随他们之义人的路上。”我们不仅要按圣徒的美好榜样大致拣选自己的道路，更要在拣选自己具体的路径上从他们领受指引；要察看那踪迹，照着群羊的脚踪而行。此处给出两个当如此拣选的理由：——(1.) 因为人的正直必成为他们的稳固（箴 2:21）。这正直必成为稳固，[1.] 在他们个人身上：正直人必在世上居住，平安宁静地，一生之久；他们的正直也促成此事，因为它安定他们的心思，引导他们的谋略，赢得邻舍的善意，又使他们有资格得着神特别的恩眷。[2.] 在他们的家室上：完全人，连同他们的后裔，必在地上存留。他们必永远居住存留在天上的迦南，地上的迦南不过是其预表。(2.) 因为人的罪孽必成为他们的毁灭（箴 2:22）。看那拣选恶人之道的恶人结局如何；他们必被剪除，不仅从将来的天堂并一切得着天堂的指望中被剪除，更是现今从地上被剪除，就是他们倾心爱慕、又在其上积聚财宝之处。他们以为要在地上扎根，他们和他们的家室却必从地上被拔出，于他们是审判，于地却是怜悯。有一日将到，必不给他们留下根本枝条（玛 4:1）。那么愿那智慧进入我们的心，又以我们的灵为美，它必保守我们脱离那以此为终局的道路。
English original
The Benefits Conferred by Wisdom
¹⁰ When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
¹¹ Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
¹² To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
¹³ Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
¹⁴ Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
¹⁵ Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
¹⁶ To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
¹⁷ Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
¹⁸ For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead.
¹⁹ None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.
²⁰ That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
²¹ For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
²² But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
The scope of these verses is to show, 1. What great advantage true wisdom will be of to us; it will keep us from the paths of sin, which lead to ruin, and will therein do us a greater kindness than if it enriched us with all the wealth of the world. 2. What good use we should make of the wisdom God gives us; we must use it for our own guidance in the paths of virtue, and for the arming of us against temptations of every kind. 3. By what rules we may try ourselves whether we have this wisdom or no. This tree will be known by its fruits; if we be truly wise, it will appear by our care to avoid all evil company and evil practices.
This wisdom will be of use to us,
I. For our preservation from evil, from the evil of sin, and, consequently, from the evil of trouble that attends it.
1. In general (Pr 2:10,11), "When wisdom has entire possession of thee, it will keep thee." And when has it an entire possession of us? (1.) When it has dominion over us. When it not only fills the head with notions, but enters into the heart and has a commanding power and influence upon that,—when it is upon the throne there, and gives law to the affections and passions,—when it enters into the heart as the leaven into the dough, to diffuse its relish there, and to change it into its own image—then it is likely to do us good. (2.) When we have delight in it, when knowledge becomes pleasant to the soul: "When thou beginnest to relish it as the most agreeable entertainment, and art subject to its rules, of choice, and with satisfaction,—when thou callest the practice of virtue, not a slavery and a task, but liberty and pleasure, and a life of serious godliness the most comfortable life a man can live in this world,—then thou wilt find the benefit of it." Though its restraints should be in some respects unpleasant to the body, yet even those must be pleasant to the soul. When it has come to this, with us, discretion shall preserve us and keep us. God keeps the way of his saints (Pr 2:8), by giving them discretion to keep out of harm's way, to keep themselves that the wicked one touch them not. Note, A principle of grace reigning in the heart will be a powerful preservative both against corruptions within and temptations without, Ec 9:16,18.
2. More particularly, wisdom will preserve us,
(1.) From men of corrupt principles, atheistical profane men, who make it their business to debauch young men's judgments, and instil into their minds prejudices against religion and arguments for vice: "It will deliver thee from the way of the evil man (Pr 2:12), and a blessed deliverance it will be, as from the very jaws of death, from the way in which he walks, and in which he would persuade thee to walk." The enemy is spoken of as one (Pr 2:12), an evil man, but afterwards as many (Pr 2:13); there is a club, a gang of them, that are in confederacy against religion, and join hand in hand for the support of the devil's kingdom and the interests of it. [1.] They have a spirit of contradiction to that which is good: They speak froward things; they say all they can against religion, both to show their own enmity to it and to dissuade others from it. They are advocates for Satan; they plead for Baal, and pervert the right ways of the Lord. How peevishly will profane wits argue for sin, and with what frowardness will they carp at the word of God! Wisdom will keep us either from conversing with such men or at least from being ensnared by them. [2.] They are themselves apostates from that which is good, and such are commonly the most malicious and dangerous enemies religion has, witness Julian (Pr 2:13): They leave the paths of uprightness, which they were trained up in and had set out in, shake off the influences of their education, and break off the thread of their hopeful beginnings, to walk in the ways of darkness, in those wicked ways which hate the light, in which men are led blindfold by ignorance and error, and which lead men into utter darkness. The ways of sin are ways of darkness, uncomfortable and unsafe; what fools are those that leave the plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in those ways! Ps 82:5, 1Jo 2:11. [3.] They take a pleasure in sin, both in committing it themselves and in seeing others commit it (Pr 2:14): They rejoice in an opportunity to do evil, and in the accomplishment and success of any wicked project. It is sport to fools to do mischief; nor is any sight more grateful to them than to see the frowardness of the wicked, to see those that are hopeful drawn into the ways of sin, and then to see them hardened and confirmed in those ways. They are pleased if they can discern that the devil's kingdom gets ground (see Ro 1:32), such a height of impiety have they arrived at. [4.] They are resolute in sin (Pr 2:15): Their ways are crooked, a great many windings and turnings to escape the pursuit of their convictions and break the force of them; some sly excuse, some subtle evasion or other, their deceitful hearts furnish them with, for the strengthening of their hands in their wickedness; and in the crooked mazes of that labyrinth they secure themselves from the arrests of God's word and their own consciences; for they are froward in their paths, that is, they are resolved to go on in them, whatever is said against it. Every wise man will shun the company of such as these.
(2.) From women of corrupt practices. The former lead to spiritual wickednesses, the lusts of the unsanctified mind; these lead to fleshly lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, but withal war against the soul. The adulteress is here called the strange woman, because no man that has any wisdom or goodness in him will have any acquaintance with her; she is to be shunned by every Israelite as if she were a heathen, and a stranger to that sacred commonwealth. A strange woman indeed! utterly estranged from all principles of reason, virtue, and honour. It is a great mercy to be delivered from the allurements of the adulteress, considering, [1.] How false she is. Who will have any dealings with those that are made up of treachery? She is a strange woman; for, First, She is false to him whom she entices. She speaks fair, tells him how much she admires him above any man, and what a kindness she has for him; but she flatters with her words; she has no true affection for him, nor any desire of his welfare, any more than Delilah had of Samson's. All she designs is to pick his pocket and gratify a base lust of her own. Secondly, She is false to her husband, and violates the sacred obligation she lies under to him. He was the guide of her youth; by marrying him she chose him to be so, and submitted herself to his guidance, with a promise to attend him only, and forsake all others. But she has forsaken him, and therefore it cannot be thought that she should be faithful to any one else; and whoever entertains her is partaker with her in her falsehood. Thirdly, She is false to God himself: She forgets the covenant of her God, the marriage-covenant (Pr 2:17), to which God is not only a witness, but a party, for, he having instituted the ordinance, both sides vow to him to be true to each other. It is not her husband only that she sins against, but her God, who will judge whoremongers and adulterers because they despise the oath and break the covenant, Eze 17:18, Mal 2:14. [2.] How fatal it will prove to those that fall in league with her, Pr 2:18,19. Let the sufferings of others be our warnings. Take heed of the sin of whoredom; for, First, The ruin of those who are guilty of it is certain and unavoidable, if they do not repent. It is a sin that has a direct tendency to the killing of the soul, the extinguishing of all good affections and dispositions in it, and the exposing of it to the wrath and curse of God and the sword of his justice. Those that live in forbidden pleasures are dead while they live. Let discretion preserve every man, not only from the evil woman, but from the evil house, for the house inclines to death; it is in the road that leads directly to eternal death; and her paths unto Rephaim, to the giants (so some read it), the sinners of the old world, who, living in luxury and excess of riot, were cut down out of time, and their foundation was overthrown with a flood. Our Lord Jesus deters us from sinful pleasures with the consideration of everlasting torments which follow them. Where the worm dies not, nor is the fire quenched. See Mt 5:28,29. Secondly, Their repentance and recovery are extremely hazardous: None, or next to none, that go unto her, return again. It is very rare that any who are caught in this snare of the devil recover themselves, so much is the heart hardened, and the mind blinded, by the deceitfulness of this sin. Having once lost their hold of the paths of life, they know not how to take hold of them again, but are perfectly besotted and bewitched with those base lusts. Many learned interpreters think that this caution against the strange woman, besides the literal sense, is to be understood figuratively, as a caution, 1. Against idolatry, which is spiritual whoredom. Wisdom will keep thee from all familiarity with the worshippers of images, and all inclination to join with them, which had for many ages been of such pernicious consequence to Israel and proved so to Solomon himself. 2. Against the debauching of the intellectual powers and faculties of the soul by the lusts and appetites of the body. Wisdom will keep thee from being captivated by the carnal mind, and from subjecting the spirit to the dominion of the flesh, that notorious adulteress which forsakes its guide, violates the covenant of our God, which inclines to death, and which, when it has got an undisturbed dominion, makes the case of the soul desperate.
II. This wisdom will be of use to guide and direct us in that which is good (Pr 2:20): That thou mayest walk in the way of good men. We must avoid the way of the evil man, and the strange woman, in order that we may walk in good ways; we must cease to do evil, in order that we may learn to do well. Note, 1. There is a way which is peculiarly the way of good men, the way in which good men, as such, and as far as they have really been such, have always walked. 2. It will be our wisdom to walk in that way, to ask for the good old way and walk therein, Jer 6:16, Heb 6:12,12:1. And we must not only walk in that way awhile, but we must keep it, keep in it, and never turn aside out of it: The paths of the righteous are the paths of life, which all that are wise, having taken hold of, will keep their hold of. "That thou mayest imitate those excellent persons, the patriarchs and prophets (so bishop Patrick paraphrases it), and be preserved in the paths of those righteous men who followed after them." We must not only choose our way in general by the good examples of the saints, but must also take directions from them in the choice of our particular paths; observe the track, and go forth by the footsteps of the flock. Two reasons are here given why we should thus choose:—(1.) Because men's integrity will be their establishment, Pr 2:21. It will be the establishment, [1.] Of their persons: The upright shall dwell in the land, peaceably and quietly, as long as they live; and their uprightness will contribute to it, as it settles their minds, guides their counsels, gains them the good-will of their neighbours, and entitles them to God's special favour. [2.] Of their families: The perfect, in their posterity, shall remain in it. They shall dwell and remain for ever in the heavenly Canaan, of which the earthly one was but a type. (2.) Because men's iniquity will be their destruction, Pr 2:22. See what becomes of the wicked, who choose the way of the evil man; they shall be cut off, not only from heaven hereafter and all hopes of that, but from the earth now, on which they set their affections, and in which they lay up their treasure. They think to take root in it, but they and their families shall be rooted out of it, in judgment to them, but in mercy to the earth. There is a day coming which shall leave them neither root nor branch, Mal 4:1. Let that wisdom then enter into our hearts, and be pleasant to our souls, which will keep us out of a way that will end thus.
所罗门既已预告那些顽梗不敬虔之人的毁灭，本章便转向那些愿意受教的人；并且，I. 他向他们表明，若他们愿意殷勤使用知识与恩典的途径，就必从神得着他们所寻求的知识与恩典，Pr 2:1-9。II. 他向他们表明，这对他们有何等说不尽的益处。1. 这必保守他们脱离恶人的网罗（Pr 2:10-15），也脱离恶妇的网罗，Pr 2:16-19。2. 这必引导他们进入善人的道路，并保守他们行在其中，Pr 2:20-22。因此，在本章中，我们既受教知道如何获得智慧，也受教知道得着智慧之后如何运用，免得我们寻求智慧或领受智慧都是徒然。