A Father’s Words

Words of Wisdom Father to Son

My son, hear the instruction of your father. Solomon was writing these proverbs or works of poetry to his children to teach them in the ways of wisdom. He created a written copy of them that has made its way down to our generation to be a blessing to us also.

The Institution of Family

God instituted the family structure. Two people fall in love with each other, get married, and then are blessed with children whom they love with a love that no one else can have for them.

And then those parents do everything in their power to see that their children go the right way in life, and there is always a desire that the children have a better life than the parents had. Unfortunately, a lot of damage has been done to the institutions of marriage and family in recent generations. But God’s original place of safety was in the family unit.

Hear the instruction of your father and obey it. Do not forsake and leave behind the law of your mother. These things were for our good, because our parents loved us and only wanted the best for us.

An Ornament of Grace

Those things that your parents tried to instill in you to help you in your life can be worn as ornaments of beauty on you when kept and obeyed.

The Folly of Youth

If sinners entice you, or pathah (paw-thaw’), you, that is, if they attempt to flatter you or allure you to join with them, do not agree to it.

It’s interesting that young people don’t often seem to recognize it when their friends and associates are on a fast track in the wrong direction. It also seems that those same friends and associates are bent on recruiting others to join them in their folly.

Let Us Lurk Secretly

Let us lay wait secretly for the innocent without any reason and swallow them up. Criminal behavior is acceptable to them. In fact, they take pleasure in it.

We Will Fill Our Houses With Spoil

We will steal all kinds of valuable things from them, and we will fill our houses with treasure. And to an immature mind this can sound like a good idea. This kind of thinking can have an enticing effect on a young and naïve mind.

One Purse

Join up with us and we will all have one money stash. After all, there is honor among thieves, right? No, there isn’t. But it can sound reasonable to a young mind.

Walk in Righteousness

My son, don’t walk in that direction, don’t let your foot touch that path. Because they are running somewhere to do bad things, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Not only are they thieves, but they are also murderers.

In the Sight of Any Bird

This is an interesting verse. It seems on the surface that this means it doesn’t do any good to set a trap for a bird if it sees you doing it. Why would it go into the trap? But as we ponder this verse it becomes clear, based on the following verse, that he means that it’s vain or useless to spread a net in the sight of a bird, because the bird will fly into it anyway.

For Their Own Lives

They lay in wait for their own blood. They are lurking secretly for their own lives. They think they are setting a trap for others, but in reality, they themselves will get caught by it. They are setting a trap, they are spreading a net, in their own sight for someone else, but they will ultimately be caught by it.

The Ways of the Greedy

This is the way, or the road travelled by every one who is greedy of gain, or batsa (baw-tsah), that is to say, who profits or gets gain by violence. He will always end up being trapped in his own devices.

A young person, or even an older one, who is taught these things, could avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble in their lives.