Proverbs 2:5

Pro 2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Ver. 5. Then shalt thou understand.] Then shalt thou be as those noble Romans were, {Rom 15:14} "full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others"; in fine, well accomplished Christian, that hath Christian for his name, and Catholic for his surname, Such a Catholic as Augustine describeth when he saith, Boni Catholici sunt qui et fidem integram sequuntur et bonos mores. Those be good Catholics that believe well and live well. These be not those ancient Roman Catholics.

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_2:5

Find the knowledge of God.

The benefits of religion

Religion, whether natural or revealed, has always the same beneficial influence on the mind. In youth, in health and prosperity, it awakens feelings of gratitude and sublime love, and purifies at the same time that which it exalts; but it is in misfortune, in sickness, in age, that its effects are more truly and beneficially felt; when submission is cherished in faith and humble trust in the Divine will, when duties become pleasures, undecaying sources of consolation, then it creates powers which were believed to be extinct, and gives a freshness to the mind which was supposed to have passed away for ever, but which is now renovated as an immortal hope. Its influence outlives all earthly enjoyments, and becomes stronger as the organs decay and the frame dissolves; it appears as that evening star of light in the horizon of life which we are sure is to become, in another season, a morning star, and to throw its radiance through the gloom and shadow of death. (Sir Humphrey Davey.)

Knowledge of God the result of revelation

I do not look to the Bible to teach me what I or my successors may some day find out by the use of observations and the inductive faculties; I go to the Bible to learn what I cannot find out for myself. Apart from revelation, what do I know about the world to come, about anything but what I can touch, taste, and handle? What hope have I for the future if I look only to nature? Nature tells me that when I die I shall probably be just like the dog, or horse, or any other animal. All immortal, none immortal, she seems to say. Therefore I must get light from revelation. I must even look to revelation for the motives which influence conduct, for personally I am not satisfied with these systems of ethics that are founded on utilitarian motives. I do not see how I can be said to have knowledge of God unless He in some way reveal Himself to me. (Prof. Bonney.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. Then — When thou so seekest and searchest.

Shalt thou understand — Discern, comprehend, and attain to.

Fear of the Lord — That true piety, of which the author speaks, and which is the highest of all knowledge.

Knowledge of God — Divine knowledge, sanctified learning. This is the first instance where the word God occurs in parallelism with Jehovah. It occurs only eight times in the book, namely: in Pro_2:5; Pro_2:17; Pro_3:4; Pro_21:12; Pro_25:2; Pro_26:10; Pro_30:5; Pro_30:9. Comp. Pro_1:7; 1Ki_10:10; 1Ki_10:27; Job_28:28; Jer_41:8; Mat_13:14.

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

2:5 The quest for true wisdom leads to God. Wisdom is impossible without fear of the Lord (1:7).

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

This (saith he) is the true wisdom, to know and fear God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

understand--or, "perceive intelligently."

find--obtain.

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

(5) Find the knowledge of God.—It is the highest of all gifts, even eternal life itself, to know God, the Giver of all good things. It was to bestow this knowledge upon man that Christ came into the world (Joh_17:3). He promises (Pro_14:21) the manifestation of Himself as the reward of obedience and love. And yet our highest knowledge of God in this life must be so imperfect, in comparison with the knowledge of Him hereafter, when we shall see Him “face to face” (1Co_13:12), that St. Paul. (Gal_4:9) describes our relation to Him now as better expressed by “being known of Him:” i.e., recognised, acknowledged by Him as His children, rather than by “knowing” Him.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord,.... The grace of fear, and the exercise of it: which is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, and is a treasure itself, Pro 1:7. By means of the Gospel the Lord works it in the hearts of his people by his Spirit; and by the same leads them into the riches of his special grace and "goodness", which they are influenced by to "fear", and the Lord for the sake of it: and particularly they are led hereby to the pardoning grace and mercy of God, which is with him, that he may "be feared"; and it is the Gospel which induces and encourages a true filial fear of God, by which men "depart from evil"; for that teaches them to deny all manner of sin, and to live a godly life and conversation: so that through a diligent search after the knowledge of the Gospel, and an attaining it, men come to have a spiritual, experimental, and practical understanding of the fear of God as a grace; and also, as it includes the whole worship of God, by means of Gospel light, they come to understand what sort of worship that is God is to be worshipped with; that it is pure, spiritual, and evangelical, suited to his nature and will: what the ordinances of divine service are; and that these are to be kept as they were delivered, and in the exercise of faith, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory, of God, without trusting to them or depending on them for salvation. And this is the advantage arising from a diligent search after the doctrine of wisdom, or the Gospel, and a knowledge and understanding of it; and is used as an argument encouraging to it; and another follows;

and find the knowledge of God; such a knowledge of God as is not to be found by the light of nature, in the whole volume of the creatures, and in all the writings of the philosophers; no, nor in the law of Moses; for though much of God and his perfections may be seen and known by the things that are made, and much of the will of God by the law he gave; yet by neither of these is the knowledge of God in Christ, which is "life eternal". This only is to be found in the Gospel, and by means of it; here only it is brought to light; and through this men not only find it, but increase more and more in it: herein is a glorious display of his persons and perfections, of his counsels and purposes, of his covenant and promises, of his mind and will, with respect to doctrine and worship; and of the way of peace, life, and salvation, by Jesus Christ; which must serve greatly to engage and excite persons to a diligent search and pursuit after it. And all that is here said is designed to encourage a diligent search after divine things; for, as the poet (n) says, there is nothing so difficult but by searching may be found out.

(n) Terent. Heautont. Act. 4. Sc. 1.

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

The promise. The highest blessedness is to know God Joh 17:3. If any distinction between “the Lord” יהוה yehovâh and “God” אלהים 'elohı̂ym can be pressed here, it is that in the former the personality, in the latter the glory, of the divine nature is prominent.

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

Understand more perfectly and profitably; for that very seeking and searching after it, Pro 2:4, supposed some understanding.

The fear of the Lord; which is the beginning of this wisdom, Pro 1:7.

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

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord. Then (a), introducing the first apodosis, and answering to the conditional "if" of vers. 1, 3, 4. The earnest endeavour after Wisdom meets with its reward, and those that seek shall find: (cf. Mat_7:7) and thus an inducement is held forth to listen to the admonition of the teacher. Understand implies the power of discernment, but Zockler gives it the further moaning of taking to one"s self as a spiritual possession, just as "find" meaning primarily "to arrive at" conveys the idea of getting possession of (Mercerus). The fear of the Lord (hwOjy tary, yir"ath y"hovah); "the fear of Jehovah," as in Pro_1:7. As it is the beginning, so it is the highest form of knowledge and the greatest good. Elsewhere it is represented as a fountain of life. (Pro_15:27) All true wisdom is summed up in "the fear of the Lord." It here means the reverence due to him, and so comprises the whole range of the religious affections and feelings, which respond to various attributes of the Divine character as they are revealed, and which find their expression in holy worship. The knowledge of God ( td, daath Elohim); literally, the knowledge of Elohim. Not merely cognition, but knowledge in its wider sense. The two ideas of "the fear of the Lord" and "the knowledge of God" act reciprocally on each other. Just as without reverence of God there can be no knowledge of him in its true sense, so the knowledge of God will increase and deepen the feeling of reverence. But it is noticeable that the teacher here, as in Pro_9:10, where, however, it is "the knowledge of the holy" ( td, daath k"doshim), gives the chief place to reverence, and thus indicates that it is the basis of knowledge, which is its fruit and result. The relation here suggested is analogous to that which subsists between faith and knowledge, and recalls the celebrated dictum of Anselm: "Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam; sed credo, ut intelligam." Elohim, here interchanged with Jehovah, is not of frequent occurrence in the Proverbs, as it is only found therein five times, while the predominating word which is used to designate the Deity is Jehovah. But it is difficult to draw any distinction between them here. Jehovah may refer more especially to the Personality of the Divine nature, while Elohim may refer to Christ"s glory (Plumptre). Bishop Wordsworth thinks that a distinction is made between the knowledge of Elohim and the knowledge of man which is of little worth.

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

fear

Also; Pro 3:7, (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.

then you will understand the fear of the Lord This refers back to the topic above, in which he said, “For if you call for understanding.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.