study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
• Amazon.com
– $10.13 hard copy
– $9.62 Kindle
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
• Purpose:
– To encourage his son to follow after wisdom
and reject the path of the fool
• Author: Solomon
– Wisest person of his day (1 Kings 4:29-31, 34),
authored more than 3,000 proverbs (1 Kings
4:32; Ecc. 12:9)
– Very likely Song of Solomon was written as a
young man, Proverbs in his middle years and
Ecclesiastes towards the end of his life.
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
• Chapters 1-9
– Lengthy Discourses on Wisdom and Folly
– Approximately 17 separate discourses
– Much focus is placed upon the call of Lady
Wisdom and Lady Folly for the devotion of the
young man.
• Chapters 10-31
– Generally short tidbits of truth (Proverbs) that
relate to everyday parts of life.
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
Superscription (1:1)
1. 1:1-7:
The Purpose of the Book
2. 1:8-19:
Avoid Evil Associations
3. 1:20-33:
Don't Resist Woman Wisdom
4. 2:1-22:
The Benefits of the Way of Wisdom
5. 3:1-12:
Trust in the Lord
6. 3:13-20:
Praising Wisdom
7. 3:21-35:
The Integrity of Wisdom
8. 4:1-9:
Embrace Wisdom!
9. 4:10-19:
Stay on the Right Path
10. 4:20-27:
Guard Your Heart
11. 5:1-23:
Avoid Promiscuous Women; Love Your Wife
12. 6:1-19:
Wisdom Admonitions: Loans, Laziness, Lying, and Other Topics
13. 6:20-35:
The Danger of Adultery
14. 7:1-27:
Avoid Promiscuous Women: Part II
15. 8:1-36:
Wisdom's Autobiography
16. 9:1-6, 13-18: The Ultimate Encounter. Wisdom or Folly
17. 9:7-12:
Miscellaneous Wisdom Sayings (Longman III)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
• “Running throughout Proverbs and wisdom
literature in general is the idea that proverbs are
not universal truths that are always relevant and
rightly applied; rather, they are context-sensitive. . .
Wise people know not only how to interpret the
words on the page or the words spoken by other
people but also how to interpret people themselves
and, more broadly, the situation in which they find
themselves…Wisdom is knowing the right time and
the right circumstance to apply the right principle
to the right person,” Tremper Longman.
• Wisdom is knowledge rightly applied!
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
• Proverbs are to be read with an
understanding mind taking into account the
style of writing employed and the imagery
intended for the original audience. To truly
understand many Proverbs one must do
some historical digging to put the proverb
in its historical context.
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
“A king is pleased with righteous lips;
he loves honest words.” Proverbs 16:13
– A repetition of the same idea with a more specific
attention given during the second phrase
– A king: the subject (not repeated)
– pleased = loves
– righteous lips = honest words
“When the king smiles, there is life;
his favor refreshes like a spring rain.”
Proverbs 16:15
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
“A wise woman builds her home,
but a foolish woman tears it down with
her own hands.
Those who follow the right path fear the Lord;
those who take the wrong path despise
him.
The proud talk of fools becomes a rod with
which others beat them,
but the words of the wise keep them safe.
An honest witness does not lie;
A false witness breathes lies”
Proverbs 14:1-3; 5
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
“Better to have little with fear from the Lord
than to have great treasure with inner
turmoil.
A bowl of soup with someone you love is
better than steak with someone you hate.”
Proverbs 15:16-17
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
“As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the
eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.”
Proverbs 10:26
“A beautiful woman who lacks discretion is
like a gold ring in a pig’s snout.”
Proverbs 11:22
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
 Wisdom
hokma focused on more than just intellectual
knowledge, but applying knowledge rightly to life.
 Wise hakam
2 To know wisdom
(hokma) and instruction (musar), To
perceive(bin) the words of understanding (biynah),
3
To receive the instruction(musar) of wisdom (skl), Justice
(sedeq), judgment (mispat), and equity (mesarim);
4 To
give prudence (‘orma) to the simple, To the young
man knowledge (da’at) and discretion (mezimma)—
5
A wise (hakam) man will hear and increase (‘asap)
learning (lekah), And a man of understanding (bin) will
attain wise counsel, (tahbulah)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
• discipline/correction musar implies the threat of
punishment or the application of punishment if the
instruction is not obeyed.
2 To know wisdom
(hokma) and instruction (musar), To
perceive(bin) the words of understanding (biynah),
3
To receive the instruction(musar) of wisdom (skl), Justice
(sedeq), judgment (mispat), and equity (mesarim);
4 To
give prudence (‘orma) to the simple, To the young
man knowledge (da’at) and discretion (mezimma)—
5
A wise (hakam) man will hear and increase (‘asap)
learning (lekah), And a man of understanding (bin) will
attain wise counsel, (tahbulah)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
 understanding bin
focused slightly more on intellectual
knowledge than does wisdom
 knowledge
da’at same as above
2 To know wisdom
(hokma) and instruction (musar), To
perceive(bin) the words of understanding (biynah),
3
To receive the instruction(musar) of wisdom (skl), Justice
(sedeq), judgment (mispat), and equity (mesarim);
4 To
give prudence (‘orma) to the simple, To the young
man knowledge (da’at) and discretion (mezimma)—
5
A wise (hakam) man will hear and increase (‘asap)
learning (lekah), And a man of understanding (bin) will
attain wise counsel, (tahbulah)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
 successful/wisdom skl
to have insight- refers to the
moment of recognition of the true nature of a situation.
2
To know (yada)wisdom (hokma) and instruction (musar), To
perceive(bin) the words of understanding (biynah),
3 To receive the instruction(musar) of wisdom (skl), Justice
(sedeq), judgment (mispat), and equity (mesarim);
4 To give prudence (‘orma) to the simple, To the young man
knowledge (da’at) and discretion (mezimma)—
5 A wise (hakam) man will hear and increase (‘asap) learning
(lekah), And a man of understanding (bin) will attain wise
counsel, (tahbulah)
6 To understand a proverb (mashal) and an enigma, The words of
the wise (hakam) and their riddles.
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:



justice
sedeq
follow wisdom.
judgment
mispat
fair/equity
mesarim
these three words are used to describe the actions of those that
connected to the idea of a judge that makes a ruling
2
To know (yada)wisdom (hokma) and instruction (musar), To
perceive(bin) the words of understanding (biynah),
3 To receive the instruction(musar) of wisdom (skl), Justice
(sedeq), judgment (mispat), and equity (mesarim);
4 To give prudence (‘orma) to the simple, To the young man
knowledge (da’at) and discretion (mezimma)—
5 A wise (hakam) man will hear and increase (‘asap) learning
(lekah), And a man of understanding (bin) will attain wise
counsel, (tahbulah)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:


prudence/insight ‘orma
closely related to mezimma and referse to the ability to use
reason to navigate the problems of life
discretion
mezimma ability to differentiate the right and the wrong way to
handle a situation.
2
To know (yada)wisdom (hokma) and instruction (musar), To
perceive(bin) the words of understanding (biynah),
3 To receive the instruction(musar) of wisdom (skl), Justice
(sedeq), judgment (mispat), and equity (mesarim);
4 To give prudence (‘orma) to the simple, To the young man
knowledge (da’at) and discretion (mezimma)—
5 A wise (hakam) man will hear and increase (‘asap) learning
(lekah), And a man of understanding (bin) will attain wise
counsel, (tahbulah)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:



increase
‘asap
increase, add to
learning
lekah
instruction, learning, teaching
wise counsel tahbulah direction, counsel-originally of rope-pulling to steer a ship
2 To know wisdom
(hokma) and instruction (musar), To
perceive(bin) the words of understanding (biynah),
3
To receive the instruction(musar) of wisdom (skl), Justice
(sedeq), judgment (mispat), and equity (mesarim);
4 To
give prudence (‘orma) to the simple, To the young
man knowledge (da’at) and discretion (mezimma)—
5
A wise (hakam) man will hear and increase (‘asap)
learning (lekah), And a man of understanding (bin) will
attain wise counsel, (tahbulah)
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
 Proverb mashal
 riddles hivah
 enigma malizah
brief, terse sentence of popular sagacity
riddle, enigmatic, perplexing saying or question
satire, mocking poem
6
To understand a proverb (mashal) and an enigma (malizah), The
words of the wise (hakam) and their riddles (hivah).
7
The fear (yir’ah) of the Lord is the beginning (re’shiyth) of
knowledge (yada), But fools (‘eviyl) despise wisdom (hokma) and
instruction (musar).
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20
study of Proverbs
Walking With the Wise:
 fools
‘eviyl
always a person who is morally bad
despising wisdom and discipline, mockers, quarrelsome,
useless to instruct him
6
To understand a proverb (mashal) and an enigma (malizah),
The words of the wise (hakam) and their riddles (hivah).
7
The fear (yir’ah) of the Lord is the beginning (re’shiyth) of
knowledge (yada), But fools (‘eviyl) despise wisdom (hokma)
and instruction (musar).
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20