EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
22.
it] The change from the plural, “bind
them,” “tie
them,” of
Proverbs 6:21, and the return to “it,” “the commandment,” “the law,” in
Proverbs 6:23 (comp.
Proverbs 6:20) indicate not only the substantial identity of the teaching of the father and the mother, but the source of that identity in the one law of God, of which they are both the authorised exponents (
Deuteronomy 6:7).
Verse 22. - The going, sleeping, and awaking occur in the same order in the Pentateuch, from which the ideas of this and the preceding verse are evidently derived (see
Deuteronomy 6:7 and Deuteronomy 11:19). Though only specifying three conditions, they refer to the whole conduct of life, and hence the verse promises direction, guardianship, and converse of wisdom, which will undoubtedly attend life where the precepts of parents are lovingly treasured and obediently observed. The Authorized Version conveys the impression that it is "the keeping" of the parents' precepts, etc., which is to bear such results; but it is better to understand "it" as signifying the whole teaching or doctrine of wisdom, as Delitzsch. Wisdom becomes personified in the representation, and identified with her teaching.
It shalllead thee. The Hebrew verb
nakhah, "to lead," in the sense of "to direct," like the Latin
dirigere (Delitzsch), and as it is used in Exodus and Numbers,
passim. In the Psalms (
Psalm 5:9;
Psalm 27:11;
Psalm 31:4, etc.) it is employed of God as governing men. Hence, in the affairs of life, Wisdom will so guide and control us that we shall act uprightly. There is the further notion imported into the word of preservation from evil (cf.
Proverbs 3:23, "Thou shalt walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble").
When thousleepest; or,
when thou liest down, as in
Proverbs 3:25, where the same verb occurs.
It shall keep thee;i.e. watch over, keep safe, or preserve; as in the Vulgate,
custodire, and the LXX.
φυλαττεῖν. We have had the same verb,
shamar, before in
Proverbs 2:11. Wisdom will be as it were a guardian angel in our hours of repose.
When thou awakest; Hebrew,
hakitsotha, the hiph. perfect of
kutz. This word only occurs here. The hiph. form,
hekitz, is intransitive, "to be aroused" (cf. the LXX.,
ἐγειρομένῳ)
.It shall talk with thee; rather,
she. Bertheau renders, "She will make thee thoughtful;" and Dathe, "Let them be thy meditation;" but the accusative suffix designates the person who is the object of the action of the verb, as in
Psalm 5:5;
Psalm 42:4;
Zechariah 7:5 (Zockler) and as Delitzseh remarks, the personification requires something more than a mere meditation with one's self on the precepts of Wisdom. Wisdom herself shall hold converse with thee (cf. the LXX.,
συλλαλῇ σοι), she shall suggest thoughts how thou art to behave thyself. The meaning of the verb, "to meditate," "to think deeply," however, need not be lost sight of. Proverbs 6:22
The representation of the good doctrine is now personified, and becomes identified with it.
When thou walkest, it will guide thee;
When thou liest down, it will keep watch over thee;
And when thou wakest, it will talk with thee.
The subject is the doctrine of wisdom, with which the representation of wisdom herself is identified. The futures are not expressive of a wish or of an admonition, but of a promise; the form of the third clause shows this. Thus, and in the same succession as in the schemaDeuteronomy 6:7, cf.Proverbs 11:19, are the three circumstances of the outward life distinguished: going, lying down, and rising up. The punctuation בּהתהלכך, found here and there, is Ben-Naphtali's variant; Ben-Asher and also the Textus rec. reject the Metheg in this case, vid., Baer's Metheg-Setzung, 28. The verb נחה, with its Hiph. in a strengthened Kal-signification, is more frequently found in the Psalms than in the Proverbs; the Arab. nh' shows that it properly signifies to direct (dirigere), to give direction, to move in a definite direction. שׁמר with על, to take into protection, we had alreadyProverbs 2:11; this author has favourite forms of expression, in the repetition of which he takes delight. With lying down, sleeping is associated. והקיצות is, asPsalm 139:18, the hypoth. perf., according to Ewald, 357a: et ut expergefactus es, illa te compellabit. Bertheau incorrectly: she will make thee thoughtful. But apart from the fact that there is no evidence of the existence of this Hiph. in the language of the Bible, the personification demands a clearer figure. שׂיח (שׂוּח) signifies mental speech and audible speech (Genesis 24:63, poet., in the Talmudic
(Note: The conjecture thrown out by Wetstein, that (Arab.) shykh is equivalent to משׂיח (מסיח), speaker, is untenable, since the verb shakh, to be old, a so-called munsarif, i.e., conjugated throughout, is used in all forms, and thus is certainly the root of the shykh.)
a common word); with ב, speaking concerning something (fabulari de),Psalm 69:13; with the accus., that which is said of a thing,Psalm 145:5, or the address, briefly for שׂיח ל,Job 12:8 (as מגּן with accus.Proverbs 4:9 equals מגן ל): when thou art awake, wisdom will forthwith enter into conversation with thee, and fill thy thoughts with right matter, and give to thy hands the right direction and consecration.
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