Here the wise man begins with warning his son against association with the self-indulgent in drinking or eating. Next he commends heed to parents. Then he counsels to truth and understanding through it, with the joy it gives to the father and mother. Lastly he warns against corruption as utterly ruinous on all sides.
“Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.
Be not among wine-bibbers, among gluttonous eaters of flesh.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe with rags.
Hearken unto thy father that begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Buy the truth, and sell [it] not—wisdom and instruction and understanding.
The father of the righteous one shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy of him.
Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
My son give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
For a whore [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit;
She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men” (vers. 19-28).
The first part consists of parental advice against social dangers (19-25). The second (26-28) rises to Jehovah who warns of a still deeper personal danger. All opens with an affectionate appeal of a general kind.
“Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.” Not talking but hearing is the path to wisdom, and the heart is as much concerned at least as the ears.
Love of company outside, and free from home proprieties, is no little snare. Hence it is said, “Be not among wine-bibbers, among gluttonous eaters of flesh:” a temptation to the fast growth of youth, apt to be impatient of restraint, and full of impetuous energy.
Both eating and drinking expose to lack of moderation, especially if either became a habit. “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe with rags.” Shame and suffering must be the end of so unworthy a way; and where is the fear of Jehovah in it?
Hence the more earnest expostulation of ver. 22 and from both sides. “Hearken to thy father that begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.” How sad to fail in reverence to parents, and especially to the one who had the chief care and love unfailing when the child most needed both! Oh! the shame of despising one's mother when she is old, and ought to have still more honor!
Then comes weighty counsel, and in particular at the start of public life. “Buy the truth, and sell it not—wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” No money, it is true, can buy the truth; but the heart's desire and waiting on Him who gives freely and upbraids not. But there are many temptations to sell it for fleshly and worldly attractions, from which He alone can preserve. We may observe how truth leads to and is shown in the practical shape of wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
How emphatic too is the effect on the father's heart when this is so! “The father of a righteous one shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise one shall have joy over him.”
This is repeated, and yet more, in ver. 25: “Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bore thee rejoice.” How happy too for the child!
But ver. 26 brings in Jehovah, it would seem, who claims the heart unreservedly. “My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe (or, delight in) my ways.” He, rather than the natural father, can speak thus without limit; and where the heart is thus given to Him, the eyes do verily delight in His ways; for they are goodness and mercy, truth and faithfulness.
On the other hand the snare from a harlot is perilous indeed. Lost to shame, her intrigues are subtle and varied. She “is a deep ditch”, as “a strange woman is a narrow pit,” out of which extrication can only be through divine mercy and power. The peril is further pointed out in ver. 28 “She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.” It is not only that she has her insatiable ends, but that it leads on the other side to no end of wicked advantage and demoralization in every form.