Proverbs 2:12 Commentary and Bible Study

New pictures begin here. In interpreting these we must always keep in mind that in the Bible a proverb is a parable or a comparison. The writers of modern commentaries only take them at a literal level. For instance, in verses 12-15 they limit the meaning to the importance of avoiding crooks. They forget that proverbs are parables. Likewise verse 16 is limited to a warning against prostitutes. That is a complete misunderstanding and is to mistake the illustration for the substantial lesson: the prostitute is a picture of a particular class of evil.The first warning beginning in verse 12 is about mental deception, a mental trap. The crook is a picture of mental fraud or dishonesty. Imagine a disreputable salesman, a cheat. He is almost incapable of being straightforward; he is doomed; he will never be honest. The word for evil is very strong; it means a broken, low class cheat. He will try to deceive. He intends to swindle.-a bad situation and he seeks to dress it up. There were two classes of salesman around in those days as well as ours. There was always a seamy class of salesman, incapable of doing anything straight; they were broken, corrupt, utterly perverse. Just as such a man would be incapable of presenting his goods openly, so this world is incapable of presenting what it has to offer us honestly. The ideas, promises and teachings of this world have a corrupting influence. This type of salesman is inevitably crooked and his speech is flawed.