January 2

to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their griddles.
Proverbs 1:4-6

In verses four through six we will see the objects of wisdom and the forms of wisdom found in the proverbs.

The first object of wisdom is those who do not have it - the simple. The "naïve" are those who are the spiritual idiots. The Hebrew term appears to signify those whose minds are open to influence, who can be easily led. In Proverbs they are open minded; open to the instruction of wisdom or folly. They believe every word they hear. Their mind is like an open door, unable to keep anything out and unable to keep anything in. It is no commendable thing in Proverbs to be “open-minded.”

Those who are most often naïve, (though not the only ones) are the "youth." This refers to a young person with special stress on youthfulness. It is parallel to those who are fools emphasizing the idea of immaturity. This is one of the reasons the provblog of the day is so beneficial for those in one28.

The Proverbs are also directed at a second group - the sophisticated. Though this verse seems to be somewhat out of place, it is quite appropriate as it points out that wisdom is not only for the immature, but also for the mature and the wise.

It is, in fact, a definition of the "wise" man that he will always be increasing – always adding to his learning. It has been said that the most wise are the ones who ask the most questions. The wise person is never satisfied, but always hungering and thirsting for more. The wise person continually seeks out and pursues, acquires, sells all he has to gain wisdom.

That brings us to the form of wisdom in the book of Proverbs. The word "proverb" is the key word here, and the following three terms are synonyms, indicating that the earliest form of teaching was figurative, not literal. A "figure" is a word that describes a saying which looks forward to another meaning. The "words of the wise" can refer to any of teaching, and "riddles" refers to a difficult question, parable, or perplexing saying. It is a sort of 'dark utterance,' like something put indirectly and needing interpretation. They were often like puzzles propounded in contests of wit (cf. Judges 14).

While the intent of these forms of wisdom was not to hide or conceal wisdom, these forms are not always the most easy to understand. They are not necessarily meant to be grasped quickly. There are no shortcuts to wisdom, and perhaps that is why such emphasis is places on “acquiring,” pursuing, getting, buying, seeking and obtaining wisdom (cf. Proverbs 2:1-8).