Proverbs 6:20-23

1). An Appeal To ‘My Son' To Keep His Commandment And Not Forsake The Torah (Proverbs 6:20).

That Solomon sees ‘his' commandment and torah as based on the commandment and Torah as given by Moses is brought out here by the description of the commandment as a lamp and the torah as a light. This was how Israel saw the Torah (Psalms 119:105; Psalms 43:3). It is also made clear by the technical terms used (commandment and torah were descriptions closely connected with the Torah. See for example Exodus 24:12; Deuteronomy 30:10; Jos 22:5; 1 Kings 2:3; etc.), and by the fact that ‘the Torah of Moses' (Joshua 1:7; Joshua 8:31; Joshua 22:5; Joshua 23:6; Judges 1:16; Judges 4:11) would undoubtedly have formed a background to Solomon's thinking, having been taught to him from an early age (his knowledge of them is assumed in 1 Kings 2:3).

This subsection follows the usual chiastic pattern:

A My son, keep the commandment of your father, and forsake not the law of your mother, bind them continually on your heart, tie them about your neck (Proverbs 6:20).

B When you walk, it will lead you (Proverbs 6:22 a).

C When you sleep, it will watch over you (Proverbs 6:22 b).

B And when you awake, it will talk with you (Proverbs 6:22 c).

A For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life (Proverbs 6:23).

Note than in A reference is to the commandment and the torah (law) which are to be constantly heeded, whilst in the parallel similar reference is made to the commandment and the torah which indicate the way of life. In B and parallel they give daily guidance. Centrally in C they watch over him while he sleeps.

Proverbs 6:20

‘My son, keep the commandment of your father,

And forsake not the law (torah) of your mother,

Bind them continually on your heart,

Fasten them about your neck.'

He was to ‘keep the commandment of his father', that is guard it and observe it. He was ‘not to forsake the torah (law) of his mother'. These words assume a body of specific teaching passed on by father and mother which are in conformity to each other. We can contrast here Proverbs 1:8 where the exhortation was to ‘hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother'. It was the responsibility of the family heads to ensure that their children were taught the covenant law (e.g. Deuteronomy 11:19). Any instruction by father or mother would therefore inevitably involve the Torah, and in the case of youngsters this would be done by the mother. The use of torah here is therefore significant.

The same combination of commandment and torah is found in Proverbs 3:1 except for the fact that there it speaks of ‘my commandments', and is in the plural (and has been in every reference up to this point - Proverbs 2:1; Proverbs 3:1; Proverbs 4:4). Its primary reference there was to Solomon's commandments, although as reflecting God's commandments. It may be that here the aim of the singular is in order to emphasise that there is reference to a specific commandment, the commandment not to commit adultery. Or more likely it may be because ‘the commandment' is a composite word in parallel with torah (compare Deuteronomy 17:19), both referring to the law of Moses as passed on by father and mother. Solomon's assumption is that father and mother are passing on sound teaching (he can hardly be saying, ‘do whatever your father and mother tell you no matter what it is'), and in Israel that would be based on the Torah of Moses..

‘His son' is to bind them continually in his heart (inner being). He must treasure them and consider them and respond to them continually. He is to ‘fasten them about his neck'. Like a necklace he is to make them an adornment to him. For this picture compare Proverbs 1:9; Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 3:22.

This verse reminds us of Moses' instruction in Deuteronomy 11:18 (compare Deuteronomy 6:6;, ‘therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes', but here abbreviated and altered in order to conform to the previous illustrations. This is another indication that the torah (law) of Moses is in mind.

Proverbs 6:22

‘When you walk, it will lead you,

When you sleep, it will watch over you,

And when you awake, it will talk with you.'

.

Note the change from ‘them' (referring either to ‘the commandment' and ‘the torah' or to the instructions that they contained) to ‘it', referring to the combination of both, or to wisdom, which is, of course, an exemplification of both. If the latter it emphasises the close connection between wisdom and the commandment and torah on which the teaching of father and mother is based.

God's wisdom, His commandment and Torah, will lead him in his daily walk, will watch over him when he sleeps, giving him peaceful sleep (Proverbs 3:24), and will speak to him when he is awake (‘when I awake I am still with you' - Psalms 139:18). It will be to him like a shepherd, and indeed like a mother and father. It will thus affect every part of his life. It is a reminder to us that we should look to the guidance of God's word in our daily walk, and allow it to talk to us when we first wake up, whilst through the night our knowledge of that word will give us peaceful sleep (compare Proverbs 3:24; Psalms 4:8).

Proverbs 6:23

‘For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light,

And reproofs of instruction are the way of life.'

The commandment and the torah of his father and mother, as given by God, will lead him because they are a lamp and a light. They give him light when he first wakes up. They continually illuminate his way. They show him the way that he should take, and enable him to avoid objects over which he might stumble. They guide him in the way that is pleasing to God. In the words of the Psalmist (Psalms 119:105), ‘your word is a lamp to my feet, and light to my path'. The Psalmist may well have obtained his thought from this passage.

‘Reproofs of instruction are the way of life.' For the way of wholesome and abundant life is entered into and walked in by responding to the reproofs of disciplinary instruction, and these come from the commandment and torah. In order to enjoy life disciplinary instruction is necessary (compare Proverbs 3:11).