---
title: "Clarke"
description: "Verse Proverbs 2:1. My son — Here the tutor still continues to instruct his disciple. Hide my commandments with thee — Treasure them up in thy heart, and"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/proverbs/2"
---

Verse [Proverbs 2:1](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/1). ***My son*** — Here the *tutor* still continues to instruct his *disciple*.
***Hide my commandments with thee*** — Treasure them up in thy heart, and then act from them through the medium of thy *affections*. He who has the rule of his *duty* only in his *Bible* and in his *head*, is not likely to be a steady, consistent character; his heart is not engaged, and his obedience, in any case, can be only *forced*, or done from a *sense of duty*: it is not the obedience of a *loving,* *dutiful child*, to an *affectionate father*. But he who has the word of God in his *heart*, works *from his heart*; his heart goes with him in all things, and he delights to do the will of his heavenly Father, because *his law is in his heart*. See [Proverbs 3:3](../../../kjv/proverbs/3/3).

Verse [Proverbs 2:4](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/4). ***If thou seekest her as silver*** — How do men seek money? What will they not do to get rich? Reader, seek the salvation of thy soul as earnestly as the covetous man seeks wealth; and be ashamed of thyself, if thou be less in earnest after the *true* *riches* than he is after *perishing wealth*.
***Hid treasures*** — The original word signifies property of any kind *concealed* in the earth, in caves or such like; and may also mean *treasures*, such as the *precious metals* or *precious stones*, which are presumptively known to exist in such and such *mines*. And how are these sought? Learn from the following circumstance: In the Brazils *slaves* are employed to scrape up the soil from the bed of the Rio Janeiro, and wash it carefully, in order to find particles of *gold* and *diamonds*; and it is a law of the state, that he who finds a diamond of so many carats shall have his *freedom*. This causes the greatest ardour and diligence in searching, washing out the soil, picking, c., in order to find such diamonds, and the greatest anxiety for success so precious is *liberty* to the human heart. This method of searching for gold and precious stones is alluded to in [Proverbs 3:13-15](../../../kjv/proverbs/3/13-15). In this way Solomon wishes men to seek for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding; and he who succeeds finds the *liberty* of the children of God, and is saved from the *slavery* of *sin* and the *empire of death*.

Verse [Proverbs 2:7](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/7). ***He layeth up sound wisdom*** — תושיה *tushiyah*. We have met with this word in Job; see [Job 5:12](../../../kjv/job/5/12); [Job 6:13](../../../kjv/job/6/13); [Job 11:6](../../../kjv/job/11/6); [Job 12:16](../../../kjv/job/12/16). *See especially Clarke's note on "*[Job 11:6](../../../kjv/job/11/6)*"*, where the different acceptations of the word are given. *Coverdale* translates, "He preserveth the welfare of the righteous." It is difficult to find, in any language, a term proper to express the original meaning of the word; its seems to mean generally the *essence* or *substance* of a thing, THE thing itself - that which is *chief* of its *kind*. *He layeth up WHAT IS ESSENTIAL for the righteous*.

Verse [Proverbs 2:9](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/9). ***Then shalt thou understand*** — He who is taught of God understands the whole law of *justice, mercy, righteousness*, and *truth*; God has written this on his heart. He who understands these things by *books* only is never likely to practise or profit by them.

Verse [Proverbs 2:11](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/11). ***Discretion shall preserve thee*** — מזמה *mezimmah*. See on [Proverbs 1:4](../../../kjv/proverbs/1/4). Here the word is taken in a good sense, a *good device*. The man *invents purposes* of good; and all his *schemes, plans*, and *devices*, have for their object God's glory and the good of man: he deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things he shall stand. *Coverdale* translates, "Then shall COUNSEL preserve thee." A very good translation, much better than the present.

Verse [Proverbs 2:12](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/12). ***The man that speaketh froward things.*** — תהפכות *tahpuchoth*, things of *subversion*; from תפך *taphach*, to *turn* or *change* the *course of a thing*. Men who wish to *subvert* the *state* of things, whether *civil* or *religious*; who are seditious themselves, and wish to make others so. These speak much of *liberty* and *oppression*, deal greatly in *broad assertions*, and endeavour especially to corrupt the minds of *youth*.

Verse [Proverbs 2:16](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/16). ***The stranger*****which*****flattereth with her words*** — החליקה *hechelikah*, she that *smooths* with her words. The original intimates the *glib, oily* speeches of a *prostitute*. The English *lick* is supposed to be derived from the original word.

Verse [Proverbs 2:17](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/17). ***Which forsaketh the guide of her youth*** — Leaves her father's house and instructions, and abandons herself to the public.
***The covenant of her God.*** — Renounces the *true religion*, and mixes with *idolaters*; for among them prostitution was enormous. Or by the *covenant* may be meant the *matrimonial contract*, which is a *covenant made in the presence of God between the contracting* *parties*, in which they bind themselves to be faithful to each other.

Verse [Proverbs 2:18](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/18). ***For her house inclineth unto death*** — It is generally in *by* and *secret places* that such women establish themselves. They go out of the *high road* to get a residence; and every step that is taken towards their house is a step towards *death*. The path of sin is the path of ruin: the path of duty is the way of safety. For *her paths* incline *unto the dead*, רפאים repheim, the *inhabitants of the invisible world*. The woman who abandons herself to prostitution soon *contracts*, and generally *communicates*, that *disease*, which, above all others, signs the speediest and most effectual *passport* to the *invisible world*. Therefore it is said,

Verse [Proverbs 2:19](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/19). ***None that go unto her return again*** — There are very few instances of prostitutes ever returning to the paths of sobriety and truth; perhaps *not one* of such as become prostitutes *through a* *natural propensity to debauchery*. Among those who have been *deceived, debauched*, and *abandoned*, many have been reclaimed; and to such alone *penitentiaries* may be useful; to the others they may only be incentives to farther sinning. *Rakes* and *debauchees* are sometimes converted: but most of them *never lay hold on the* *path of life*; they have had their *health* destroyed, and never *recover* it. The original, חיים *chaiyim*, means *lives*; not only the *health* of the *body* is destroyed, but the *soul* is *ruined*. Thus the unhappy man may be said to be *doubly* slain.

Verse [Proverbs 2:20](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/20). ***That thou mayest mark*** — Therefore thou shalt walk.

Verse [Proverbs 2:22](../../../kjv/proverbs/2/22). ***Transgressors*** — בוגדים *bogedim*. The *garment men*, the *hypocrites*; those who *act borrowed characters*, who go under a *cloak; dissemblers*. All such shall be *rooted out of the land*; they shall not be blessed with *posterity*. In general it is so: and were it not so, one evil offspring succeeding another, *adding* their *own* to their *predecessors'* vices, the earth would become so exceedingly corrupt that a *second flood*, or a *fire*, would be necessary to purge it.

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