to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
knowledge
לַבִּינָ֣הla.bi.Nah
H998
understanding · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
up
תִּתֵּ֥ןti.Ten
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
voice
קוֹלֶֽךָko.Le.cha
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
understanding
לַ֝תְּבוּנָ֗הla.te.vu.Nah
H8394
intelligence · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Ephesians 1:17-18 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
1 Kings 3:9-12 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge thi…
Psalms 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
Psalms 119:125 I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.
Psalms 119:169 Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word.
1 Chronicles 22:12 Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 2:1-9
Job had asked, long before this, Where shall wisdom be found? Whence cometh wisdom? (Job 28:12, Job 28:20) and he had given this general answer (v. 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, Pro 2:1, Pro 2:2. (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 hea…
Yea, if--literally, "When if," that is, in such a case.
knowledge--or, "discrimination."
understanding--as in Pro 2:2.
John Gill on Proverbs 2:3
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge,.... Of God, Christ, and the Gospel; not only bow the ear and bend the mind to these things, but importunately and fervently pray for them; not only attend the ministry of the word by men, but cry to God to give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of divine and spiritual things; which supposes some sense of a want of it, an hearty desire for it, having some apprehension of the worth and value of it; and that it is to be had, as there is indeed great reason to hope for and expect it, James 1:5;
and liftest up thy voice for understanding; for Christ, who is understanding as well as wisdom, Proverbs 8:14; or rather for an understanding of th…
Instead of כּי אם there is an old אל תקרי
(Note: Regarding this formula, see Strack's Prolegomena, pp. 66-70.)
(read not so, but thus), כי אם (if thou callest understanding mother), which supposes the phrase כי אם (lxx) as traditional. If אם were intended (according to which the Targ. in the Bibl. rabbinica, but not in Norzi's text, translates), then 3b would correspond; vid., Pro 7:4, cf. Job 17:14. Thus: Yea, if thou callest for understanding, i.e., callest her to thee (Pro 18:6), invitest her to thee (Pro 9:15). The ק of בּקּשׁ is, with the exception of the imper. (e.g., בּקּשׁוּ), always without the Dagesh. Pro 2:4 belongs to the ideas in the Book of Job found in these introductory disco…
The Church Fathers
For if you call out for wisdom, etc. We ought to call upon, that is, to invoke through prayer, none but God. When therefore he teaches that wisdom is to be invoked, he shows beyond doubt, that not just any wisdom, that is, knowledge of heavenly or earthly things, but the very knowledge of the Divine is to be gained by us. For in the perception of this wisdom, the highest perception of blessedness is found, as attested by herself, who, praying to the Father for us, says: And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John XVII). It should be noted, however, that he advises both to call upon wisdom and to incline our heart to understanding prudence, because it is certainly necessary both to implore divine help in all things, and with the Lord's help, to do the good we are able. For without him we can do nothing, nor again without our effort, however small, should we believe we are to be saved by him.
God's wisdom … [works] "in many forms and many ways" through technical skill, scientific knowledge, faith, prophecy; it shows us its power to our benefit, because "all wisdom comes from the Lord and is with him to all eternity," as the wisdom of Jesus puts it. "For if you call for practical wisdom and perception at the top of your voice, if you seek it as you would a treasure of silver, and if you track it down ardently, then you will realize the meaning of reverence for God and you will grasp the perception of God." The prophet spoke to distinguish this from the philosophic approach to perception. He is teaching us with great dignity and solemnity to search it out in order to progress toward reverence for God. So he opposed to it perception made in reverence for God, alluding to revealed knowledge in these words: "For God grants wisdom from his mouth together with perception and practical wisdom, and stores up help for the righteous." When people are made righteous by philosophy, they have stored help for themselves and inward perception which leads to reverence for God.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Desire · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Fear, Godly · Searching the Scriptures gives the understanding of — Searching the Scriptures gives the understanding of
Hunger · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Seekers · 5:8;8:5,6; — 5:8;8:5,6;
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
