Proverbs 1:29

Pro 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

Ver. 29. For that they hated knowledge.] These are the worst sort of sinners, {Pro 1:22} that not only slight knowledge, but hate it, as thieves do a torch in the night; curse it, as Ethiopians do the scorching sun; fly against it, as bats do against the light. {a} "This is the condemnation"; {Joh 3:19-20} this is hell aforehand.

And did not choose.] Aρετη, quasi αιρετη: Aγαθον, quasi αγαν θεατον. "Refuse the evil, and choose the good." {Isa 7:16} "Choose the things that please God"; {Isa 56:4} "that wherein he delights." {Isa 65:12} Such a choice made Moses; {Heb 11:25} and Joshua; {Jos 24:15} and Mary. {Luk 10:42}

{a} Herodot.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 1:29-32. For that they hated knowledge — Hated the light of divine truth, because it discovered to them the evil of their ways, Joh 3:20; or, hated the practical knowledge of God, and of their duty to him, and did not choose — That is, heartily approve of and love, the fear of the Lord — But chose to walk in the way of their own heart, and in the sight of their own eyes. They would none of my counsel — Refused to be guided by my counsels and precepts. Therefore shall they eat, &c. — Their wages shall be according to their work, and they shall reap as they sowed, Gal 6:7-8. They shall receive punishment answerable to their sins; and be filled with their own devices — Shall be surfeited, as Dr. Waterland renders the word, with the fruits and effects of their wicked devices. The sin, which was sweet in their mouths, shall be bitterness in their bellies, and that destruction which they plotted against others shall fall upon themselves. For the turning away — From God, and his counsels and ways; (opposed to hearkening unto God, Pro 1:33;) of the simple — Of the weak and foolish, who are easily deceived and persuaded, shall slay them — The evil example of such shall mislead them, and prove their ruin. But the Hebrew משׁובת פתים, rather means, the quiet, repose, or ease, (as it is rendered in the margin,) that is, the apparent happiness of the simple; of the men who have neglected my instruction, and have been so void of reason as to deliver themselves up to follow the example and advice of the wicked; shall slay them — Shall be fatal to them; a sense which accords with, and is further explained by, the next clause. And the prosperity of fools shall destroy them — It shall be the occasion of their ruin, by making them presumptuous and secure, worldly and proud, and forgetful of God and of their own eternal happiness, whereby they will provoke God’s wrath, and bring upon themselves swift and certain destruction. Thus he answers the common objection against the fear of God, taken from the present impunity and prosperity of ungodly men.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:29-30 they hated knowledge: There is no middle ground in the language of Proverbs. One either loves and embraces Wisdom or hates and rejects her.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The sinner's infatuated rejection brings his ruin.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 29. They hated knowledge] This argues the deepest degree of intellectual and moral depravity.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For that they hated knowledge,.... Spiritual and evangelical; the knowledge of the Scriptures, of the promises and prophecies of them respecting the Messiah, though they were called upon and exhorted to "search" them; the knowledge of the Messiah, his person, offices, and grace; the knowledge of his Gospel, and the doctrines of it; see Pro 1:22;

and did not choose the fear of the Lord; which is the beginning of knowledge, Pro 1:7; instead of choosing, they cast off the fear of the Lord; and by their rejection of the Messiah, and their usage of him, it plainly appeared that the fear of God was not before their eyes nor upon their hearts; nor did they choose or care for the pure, spiritual, and evangelical worship of God, introduced in the Gospel dispensation; the ordinances of Christ they did not choose to submit to; and would neither go into he kingdom of God or Gospel church state themselves, nor suffer those that were entering to go in, Mat 23:13; but rather chose their superstition and will worship, according to the tradition of the elders, by which they made the word and worship of God of none effect.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

This is no arbitrary sentence. The fault was all along their own. The fruit of their own ways is death.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Hated knowledge, to wit, the practical knowledge of God, and of their duty to him, as it is explained in the following clause.

Did not choose; not heartily approve of it and love it, but only made some show of it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

29. For that — Because connecting with the preceding; or, as others think, more closely with what follows. Observe, again, how knowledge, all useful knowledge, and the fear of the Lord, are intimately associated. See on Pro_1:7. Note the change of person here. Wisdom turns away from them, and speaks of them, not to them.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 29 and 30 belong to ver. 28, and are not the antecedent clauses to ver. 31, as Zochler remarks. They recapitulate the charges already made against the sinners in vers. 22 and 25, and now set them forth as the ground or reason why Wisdom, on her part, turns a deaf ear to their entreatries. Wisdom will disregard the n because they have previously disregatded her. The connection is denoted in the LXX by gar , for the Hebrew takbath ki, equivalent to because," and in the Authorized Version by the punctuation. Did not choose the fear of the Lord. The verb "to choose" (rjB, bakhar) combines in itself the meanings of eligere and diligere (Fleischer), and therefore signifies here not only choice of, but also the fuller sense of love for, the fear of the Lord. They despised; i.e. rejected the reproof with scorn or derision, sneered or turned up their noses at it (mukthrizein , LXX), disparaged it (detrahere, Vulgate), or, more strongly, as Gejerus says, execrated it. Their rejection of reproof is stigmatized in stronger terms than in ver. 25.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Knowledge - The practical knowledge of God and of their duty.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

fear

Also; Pro 1:7. (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.