CRITICAL NOTES.--+1. Proverbs.+ See Introduction. +2. Instruction,+ properly "chastisement," signifying moral training, admonition, then good habits, the practical side of wisdom. +3. Wisdom.+ A different word from that in ver. 2. It means "prudence." +Justice+ relates to a man's attitude in relation with God, and would be better translated "righteousness." +Judgment+ includes our duties to our fellow-man and should be rendered "justice." +Equity+ is "uprightness," "sincerity of purpose." +4. Subtlety,+ "prudence." +Simple,+ literally "the open," those easily persuaded. +5. Wise counsels,+ or "capability to guide," literally _"helmsmanship."_ +7. Fools,+ derived from a word meaning to be gross and dull of understanding. Gesenius understands it to signify "one who turns away," the "perverse." +10. Entice thee,+ "lay thee open." Miller here reads, "if sinners would make a door of thy simplicity, afford thou no entrance." +17.+ Some interpret this verse as referring to the godly who escape the snares laid for them, others to the wicked, who, not so wise as the bird, plunge themselves into ruin by plotting against the good. Then the _blood_ and _lives_ of ver. 18 refer to the blood and life of the sinner. +20.+ The word _wisdom_ is in the plural form in the Hebrew. +27. Desolation,+ or "tempest." +28.+ To seek early denotes "earnestly." See ch. viii. 17, Hos. v. 15. The person now changes from the second to the third, "as though wisdom were increasingly alienated." _(Miller)._ +32.+ The +turning away+ of the simple, _i.e.,_ their rejection of wisdom. +Prosperity,+ "Security," "idle, easy rest." _MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 1-4. THE AUTHOR, HIS METHOD, AND HIS OBJECT.