Commenting
on the attributes of a true learner according to the book of Proverbs, Daniel
Estes wrote the following which is something anyone seeking to learn about the
theology and Scripture should exemplify:
The leaner must assimilate wisdom
The capstone of the role of the learner in
Proverbs 1-9 is the assimilation of wisdom as a coherent philosophy of life. As
the learner develops a pattern of life organized around wisdom he achieves an
internally consistent value system (Gronlund 1985:38). All aspects of life are
united by wisdom to form an integrated person living skilfully in Yahweh’s
ordered world.
This thorough commitment to Yahweh’s values
is described in the metaphors of Proverbs 3:3:
Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
The learner must keep constantly in mind the
values which wisdom endeavours to inculcate in him. In other words, learning is
not compartmentalized in one area of life, but it must continually permeate the
whole of existence.
In Proverbs 4:23 the heart [lēb] is used again to speak of the
centre of the person that controls the rational and emotional life. Farmer
(1991:40) summarizes the significance of lēb
in this context:
The Hebrew word leb/lebab (translated ‘heart’) can also be translated ‘mind’
because its range of meaning in Hebrew includes concepts we often associate
with the word ‘mind’ in English. The ‘heart/mind’ represent the place within
the human body where both rational and emotional decisions are made. In vv.
23-27 the instructor’s advice encompasses the heart (v. 23), the mouth and lips
(v. 24), the eyes (v. 25), and the feet (vv. 26-27). Each part named represents
an activity which ought to be governed by wisdom teachings. Only a concerted
effort by the whole person can succeed at wisdom’s task.
The heart is the ‘wellspring of life’, so it
must be guarded more than anything else (Whybray 1994b:82). Control of this
vital centre of personal existence comes by choice, not by chance, for the
learner is exhorted, ‘guard your heart’. The learner is personally responsible
to decide to keep his heart aligned to wisdom. When the heart, from which all
of lie springs, is guarded, then all subsidiary areas of the person, including
hearing (4:20-22), speech (4:24), sight (4:25) and action (4:26-27), are
affected. The ultimate result is that the learner stays on the path of wisdom,
without swerving to the right or to the left.
The integrating point for the learner’s life
must be the fear of Yahweh, the fundamental concept which is the foundation . .
.and the goal . . .for wisdom in Proverbs 1-9. It is the fear of Yahweh that is
the primary principle of knowledge (1:7) and wisdom (9:10). By contrast, folly
refuses to choose the fear of Yahweh (1:29). As Aitken (1986:15) remarks this
concept ‘touches the pulse of Israel’s religious faith and practice in all its
vitality, embracing reverence for and devotion to God, and, above all, loyalty
and obedience to him.’ In order to assimilate wisdom, the learner must organize
all of life according to the fear of Yahweh. This commitment integrates every
aspect of personal existence into a coherent philosophy of life predicated on
wisdom. (Daniel J. Estes, Hear, My Son:
Teaching and Learning in Proverbs 1-9 [New Studies in Biblical Theology 4;
Leicester: Apollos, 1997], 147-48)
