Proverbs 18:1-2, A Serious Student!
November 25, Proverbs 18:1-2
Phil. 3:13-14; 1 Tm. 4:14-16; 2 Tm. 2:4 “Would you know the secret of the Lord?”
A Serious Student!
Our desires often outrun our accomplishments. There are still many things unfinished, but is that always bad? “Desire is the chariot-wheel of the soul, the spring of energy and delight” (Bridges). This is another way of saying, “There is no kind of knowledge which, in the hands of the diligent and skillful, will not turn to account” (Bp. Horne). Yet it is good to know and grasp your opportunity.
1. Two Opposite Views: Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeks and intermeddles with all wisdom (Eph. 5:15-17).
a. View One takes Pr.18:1 as referring to genuine pursuit of wisdom. This person has secluded himself to study. He pursues it because he has special delight in it. The word intermeddles appears twice more in Proverbs (17:14; 20:3). It is the context alone that determines whether this means something good or bad. It has been interpreted “give himself wholly to,” and what’s wrong with that? Here is one, then, who, having caught the scent, is like a hound in pursuit of a deer. This sets up a sharp contrast with the next verse (Jer. 1:5; Zech. 7:3; Rom. 1:1).
b. View Two takes this as condemning “the selfish isolation of the selfseeker.” Commentators have trouble with the word separation, and accuse this man of being a quarrelsome isolationist. Perowne opts for the RV rendering where desire is taken to mean his own self-indulgent desire. Versions we consulted have followed this lead. Perowne makes this a proverb about “boorish irresponsibility!” The Versions give rages against, quarrels with, or shows contempt, and say it is about The Evil of Isolation. Here is a “self-conceited, hair-brained fool seeking to satisfy his fancy” (Schultens). Henry gives both views without passing a judgment. Wardlaw, Bridges, and Lawson all opt for the first view (a), and so does Thomas who thinks it “agrees with our version” and the context. Is it not interesting that the NRSV adds, “Meaning of Hebrew uncertain”? Yet the versions do not give any other meaning! Here they are interpreters, not translators!
2. Two Opposite Visions: In the first view, this man (v.1) loves and pursues knowledge (2:1-6), but the fool (v.2) undervalues and despises it. They are opposites. That’s the contrast. They represent two opposing visions of wisdom. The fool has a “closed mind but open mouth” in which he puts both feet, thus discovering, exposing, his heart. He pours out his ignorance. How revealing that is! Here are two different views of life that distinguish between the fool and the wise. Bridges cites John the Baptist, Apostle Paul, the Lord Jesus Himself, as those who separated themselves the better to accomplish “their momentous work.” He adds that every Christian minister should do likewise in order to “give himself wholly to” his office. How much we owe to men like Dean Burgon and Robert Dick Wilson who separated themselves and intermeddled with all knowledge!
Thought: “We must dare to be peculiar” (J.C. Ryle).
Prayer: Lord, grant me to know the love that passes knowledge.