The fear of the LORDThis phrase emphasizes a reverential awe and respect for God, which is foundational in the Hebrew understanding of wisdom. In the ancient Near Eastern context, "fear" often implied a deep respect and acknowledgment of a deity's power and authority. This concept is echoed throughout the Old Testament, such as in
Job 28:28 and
Psalm 111:10, where the fear of the Lord is linked to wisdom and understanding. It is not about being afraid in a negative sense but recognizing God's holiness and sovereignty, which leads to a life aligned with His will.
is the beginning of knowledge
The term "beginning" suggests that the fear of the Lord is the starting point or foundation for acquiring true knowledge. In biblical terms, knowledge is not merely intellectual but involves a moral and spiritual dimension. This aligns with the creation narrative, where God is the source of all wisdom and understanding. The Hebrew culture valued wisdom as a practical skill for living, and this verse sets the tone for the entire book of Proverbs, which is a guide for living wisely in accordance with God's principles.
but fools despise wisdom and discipline
In contrast to those who fear the Lord, "fools" in the biblical sense are those who reject God's ways and live according to their own understanding. The term "fool" is often used in Proverbs to describe someone who is morally deficient and lacks spiritual insight. This rejection of wisdom and discipline is not merely intellectual but is a willful disregard for God's instruction. The cultural context of ancient Israel placed a high value on community and learning from elders, so to despise wisdom and discipline was to reject the very fabric of societal and spiritual life. This theme is further explored inProverbs 12:1 and 15:5, where the consequences of rejecting wisdom are highlighted.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
SolomonTraditionally attributed as the author of Proverbs, Solomon was the son of King David and known for his wisdom.
2.
The LORD (Yahweh)The covenant name of God in the Hebrew Bible, emphasizing His eternal and self-existent nature.
3.
FoolsIn the context of Proverbs, fools are those who reject wisdom and instruction, often characterized by moral and spiritual folly.
4.
WisdomA central theme in Proverbs, representing not just knowledge, but the practical application of God's truth in daily life.
5.
DisciplineThe Hebrew word "musar" implies correction, instruction, and moral training, essential for acquiring wisdom.
Teaching Points
The Foundation of KnowledgeThe fear of the Lord is not just the starting point but the foundation upon which all true knowledge is built. Reverence for God aligns our hearts and minds with His truth.
The Nature of True WisdomTrue wisdom is more than intellectual understanding; it involves moral insight and the ability to apply God's principles in everyday life.
The Consequences of Rejecting WisdomFools, as described in Proverbs, suffer the consequences of their rejection of wisdom and discipline. This serves as a warning to value and seek God's guidance.
The Role of Discipline in Spiritual GrowthDiscipline, or "musar," is essential for spiritual growth. It involves correction and instruction, leading to maturity and a deeper relationship with God.
The Fear of the Lord as a LifestyleFearing the Lord is a lifestyle choice that influences every aspect of our lives, guiding our decisions, relationships, and priorities.
Lists and Questions
Top 10 Lessons from Proverbs 1
Are atheists more intelligent than religious believers?
What does the Bible say about critical thinking?
Does fearing God extend lifespan?
What are the consequences of acting foolishly?2.--FIFTEEN DIDACTIC POEMS, OR DISCOURSES ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS (
Proverbs 1:7 to
Proverbs 9:18).
(a) First Discourse:--Against Companionship in Robbery(Proverbs 1:7-19).
(7)The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.--The first discourse is prefaced by a distich, which serves as a key-note to all the teaching of the book. This expression, "the fear of the Lord," occurs thirteen times in the Proverbs, and plays a prominent part throughout the Old Testament.
"When God of old came down from heaven,
In power and wrath He came."
That law which was given amid "blackness, and darkness, and tempest" was enforced by the threat, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Galatians 3:10). Men had to be taught how hateful sin was to God, and the lesson was for the most part instilled into them by the fear of immediate punishment. (Comp. Deuteronomy 28) But when the lesson had been learnt, and when mankind had found by experience that they were unable to keep the law of God by their own strength, then the new covenant of mercy was revealed from Calvary, even free justification "by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). And with this new message a new motive to obedience was preached. The "fear of the Lord" was now superseded by the higher duty of the "love of God," and of man, for His sake. "The love of Christ constraineth us," says St. Paul. "We love Him because He first loved us," writes St. John. Now, it was seen that, although the "fear of the Lord" may be the "beginning of wisdom," yet something better still may be aimed at: that "he that feareth is not made perfect in love;" and so the teaching of St. John, the last New Testament writer, is summed up in the words, "If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1John 4:11). . . .
Verse 7-ch. 9:18. - Part II. INTRODUCTORY SECTION. The first main section of the book begins here and ends at
Proverbs 9:18. It consists of a series of fifteen admonitory discourses addressed to youth by the Teacher and Wisdom personified, with the view to exhibit the excellence of wisdom, and generally to illustrate the motto, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge," or wisdom. It urges strong encouragements to virtue, and equally strong dissuasives from vice, and shows that the attainment of wisdom in its true sense is the aim of all moral effort.
Verse 7. -
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. This proposition is by some commentators regarded as the motto, symbol, or device of the book (Delitzsch, Umbreit, Zockler, Plumptre). Others, following the Masoretic arrangement of the Hebrew text, consider it as forming part of the superscription (Ewald, Bertheau, Elster, Keil). As a general proposition expressing the essence of the philosophy of the Israelites, and from its relation to the rest of the contents of this book, it seems rightly to occupy a special and individual position. The proposition occurs again in the Proverbs in
Proverbs 9:10, and it is met with in similar or slightly modified forms in other books which belong to the same group of sacred writings, that is, those which treat of religious philosophy - the Khokhmah;
e.g.Job 28:28;
Psalm 111:10;
Ecclesiastes 12:13; Ecclus. 1:16, 25. With this maxim we may compare "The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom" (
Proverbs 15:33).
The fear of the Lord (
יִרְאַת יְהוָה,
yir'ath y'hovah); literally,
the fear of Jehovah. The expression describes that reverential attitude or holy fear which man, when his heart is set aright, observes towards God. The original word,
יִרְאַת (
yir'ath) for "fear," is properly the infinitive of
יָרֵא, (
yare), "to fear or reverence," and as a substantive means "reverence or holy fear" (Gesenius).
Servile or abject fear (as Jerome, Beda, Estius) is not to be understood, but
filial fear (as Gejerus, Mercerus, Cornelius a Lapide, Cartwright), by which we fear to offend God - that fear of Jehovah which is elsewhere described as "to hate evil" (
Proverbs 8:13), and in which a predominating element is love. Wardlaw remarks that the "fear of the Lord" is in invariable union with love and in invariable proportion to it. We truly fear God just in proportion as we truly love him. The fear of the Lord also carries with it the whole worship of God. It is observable that the word
Jehovah (
יְהוָה) is used in the Hebrew, and not
Elohim (
אְלֶהִים), a peculiarity which is invariably marked in the Authorized Version by small capitals.
The beginning; Hebrew,
רֵאשִׁית (
reshith). This word has been understood in three different senses:
(1) Asinitium, the beginning;i.e. the initial step or starting point at which every one who wishes to follow true wisdom must begin (Gejerus, Zockler, Plumptre).
(2) Ascaput;i.e. the most excellent or principal part, the noblest or best wisdom. This sense is adopted in the marginal reading (comp. alsoProverbs 4:7) (Holden, Trapp).
(3) As theprincipium (Vulgate);i.e. the origin, or basis, as inMicah 1:12, "She is the origin, or basis (reshith) of the sin of the daughter of Zion." Delitzsch regards the original,reshith, as embracing the two ideas of commencement and origin, in the same way as the Greekἀρχὴ. Wisdom has its origin in God, and whoever fears him receives it if he prays in faith (cf.James 1:5, sqq.) (Vatablus, Mercerus, Delitzsch). That the first sense, viz. that of beginning, is to be understood here appears from the parallel passage inProverbs 10:10, where the corresponding word isתְּחִלָּת. (t'killath), "beginning," from the rootחָלַל (khalal), "to begin;" cf. also the LXX.ἀρχὴ, in this sense, and theinitium of the Syriac and Arabic Versions. All previous knowledge to "the fear of the Lord" is comparative folly. He who would advance in knowledge must first be imbued with a reverence or holy fear of God. Butfools despise wisdom and instruction; or, according to the inverted order of the words in the original,wisdom and instruction fools despise, the association of ideas in the three words, "knowledge," "wisdom," and "instruction," thus being more continuously sustained. This arrangement links on the two latter words with "the fear of the Lord," and so helps towards the elucidation of the sense in which "fools" is to be understoodFools;ךאוִילִים (evilim), plural ofךאוִיּל (evil), from the rootאָוַל (aval), "to be perverse," here properly designates the incorrigible, as inProverbs 27:22, and those who are unwilling to know God (Jeremiah 4:22), and hence refuse and despise wisdom and salutary discipline, those "who set at nought all his counsel, and will none of his reproof." The word is opposed to the "prudent" (Proverbs 12:16) and to the "wise" (Proverbs 10:14). Delitzsch understands it as "thick, hard, stupid," from theroot aval, coalescere, incrassari. Schultens usesπαχεῖς, equivalent toerassi pro stupidis, to represent the original. Dunn takes it in the same sense as "gross or dull of understanding." Fuerst, adopted by Wordsworth, regards it in the sense of having no moral stamina, from the root meaning "to be slack, weak, lax, or lazy." But none of these explanations seems, in my opinion, to coincide sufficiently with the evil and depraved activity expressed in the verb "despise," which follows, and which describes the conduct of this class. The LXX. renders the word or action byἀσεβεῖς, equivalent toimpii, "godless," "profane," and the Vulgate bystulti. Despise;בָּזוּ (bazu) is perfect, but is properly translated by the present, because the perfect here represents a condition long continued and still existing (Gesenius, § 126); cf. the Latinodi,memini, etc. The LXX. uses the futureἐξουθενήσουσιν,i.e. they will set at nought; the Vulgate, the present (despiciunt). The radical meaning is most probably contemptuous trampling under the feet (Geseuius).Wisdom and instruction (see ver. 2). The latter clause of this verse is antithetical to the former, but the antithesis is obscurely expressed. In the Authorized Version it is marked by the adversative conjunction "but," which, however, is not in the original. The LXX. has a striking interpolation in this verse between the first and second clauses, which is partly taken fromPsalm 111:10 (Σύνεσις δέ ἀγαθὴ πᾶσι τοῖς ποιοῦσιν αὐτήν εὐσέβεια δὲ εἰς Θεὸν ἀρχὴ αἰσθήσεως, "And a good understanding have all they that do it: and reverence towards God is the beginning of knowledge"). Compare the Arabic Version, which has the same interpolation:Et intellectus bonus onmibus facientibus eam. Sana religio in Deum est initium prudentiae.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
The fearיִרְאַ֣ת(yir·’aṯ)Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3374:Fear, reverenceof the LORDיְ֭הוָה(Yah·weh)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068:LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel[is] the beginningרֵאשִׁ֣ית(rê·šîṯ)Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 7225:The first, in place, time, order, rankof knowledge,דָּ֑עַת(dā·‘aṯ)Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 1847:Knowledge[but] foolsאֱוִילִ֥ים(’ĕ·wî·lîm)Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 191:Foolishdespiseבָּֽזוּ׃(bā·zū)Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 936:To disrespectwisdomחָכְמָ֥ה(ḥāḵ·māh)Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2451:Wisdomand discipline.וּ֝מוּסָ֗ר(ū·mū·sār)Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4148:Chastisement, reproof, warning, instruction, restraint
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OT Poetry: Proverbs 1:7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning (Prov. Pro Pr) 
