+III. The main object of the utterer of these proverbs.+ "To give subtilty to the simple." The man who has to travel a dangerous path may be ignorant of the way to arrive at his destination in safety. His simplicity arises from his ignorance. Anyone who has gone the same way before, and has thus experimentally gained the knowledge which he lacks, can make him wise upon this subject. Solomon has trodden the greater part of the path of human life, those who had not done so were the _simple,_ or ignorant, to whom he here desires to impart the knowledge which might save them from moral ruin. There were those in the days of Solomon, as there are now, who would take advantage of simplicity to destroy character. Solomon desires to preserve and strengthen character by showing how to avoid and resist sin. OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS. Verse 1. The Bible is not given to teach us philosophy, but religion: not to show us the way to science, but the way to holiness and heaven. Notwithstanding, therefore, the extent and variety of Solomon's knowledge in botany, in natural history, and other departments of science, we have in preservation none whatever of his discoveries or his speculations on such subjects.--_Wardlaw._ The Queen of Sheba came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear Solomon's wisdom. Did she come so far upon uncertain reports, and shall not we receive with gladness his instructions, since he is come to us to be our teacher?--_Lawson._ Verse 2. The general idea of wisdom is, that it consists in the choice of the best ends, and of the best means for their attainment. This definition admits of application both in a lower and higher department. In the first place it may be applied to the whole conduct of human life,--in all its daily intercourse and ordinary transactions, and amidst all its varying circumstances. . . . To accommodate our conduct to these variations--to suit to all of them the application of the great general principles and precepts of the Divine law, and "to guide our affairs with discretion in them all," requires _"wisdom."_ And for enabling us to act our part rightly, creditably, and usefully, from day to day, there is in this book an immense fund of admirable counsel and salutary direction. And then, secondly, the knowledge of wisdom may be taken in its higher application--to interests of a superior order, to spiritual duties, to all that regards true religion and the salvation of the soul. Wisdom, in this book, is generally understood in this its highest application, as might indeed be expected in a book of instructions from God. How important soever may be the successful and prudential regulation of our temporal affairs, yet in a Divine communication to man, as an immortal creature, we cannot conceive it to be the only, or the principal subject.--_Wardlaw._