Proverbs 8:4

Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) O men—i.e., “great ones;” “sons of man” are those of inferior rank; comp. the Hebrew of Isaiah 2:9, where the same words are translated “great man,” and “mean man.” Comp. the generality of the invitation of Psalm 49:2.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:1-11 The will of God is made known by the works of creation, and by the consciences of men, but more clearly by Moses and the prophets. The chief difficulty is to get men to attend to instruction. Yet attention to the words of Christ, will guide the most ignorant into saving knowledge of the truth. Where there is an understanding heart, and willingness to receive the truth in love, wisdom is valued above silver and gold.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Men ... sons of man - The two words are used, which, like viri and homines, describe the higher and the lower, the stronger and the weaker. Compare the Psalm 49:2 note.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 8

Pr 8:1-36. Contrasted with sensual allurements are the advantages of divine wisdom, which publicly invites men, offers the best principles of life, and the most valuable benefits resulting from receiving her counsels. Her relation to the divine plans and acts is introduced, as in Pr 3:19, 20, though more fully, to commend her desirableness for men, and the whole is closed by an assurance that those finding her find God's favor, and those neglecting ruin themselves. Many regard the passage as a description of the Son of God by the title, Wisdom, which the older Jews used (and by which He is called in Lu 11:49), as Joh 1:1, &c., describes Him by that of Logos, the Word. But the passage may be taken as a personification of wisdom: for, (1) Though described as with God, wisdom is not asserted to be God. (2) The use of personal attributes is equally consistent with a personification, as with the description of a real person. (3) The personal pronouns used accord with the gender (feminine) of wisdom constantly, and are never changed to that of the person meant, as sometimes occurs in a corresponding use of spirit, which is neuter in Greek, but to which masculine pronouns are often applied (Joh 16:14), when the acts of the Holy Spirit are described. (4) Such a personification is agreeable to the style of this book (compare Pr 1:20; 3:16, 17; 4:8; 6:20-22; 9:1-4), whereas no prophetical or other allusions to the Saviour or the new dispensation are found among the quotations of this book in the New Testament, and unless this be such, none exist. (5) Nothing is lost as to the importance of this passage, which still remains a most ornate and also solemn and impressive teaching of inspiration on the value of wisdom.

1-4. The publicity and universality of the call contrast with the secrecy and intrigues of the wicked (Pr 7:8, &c.).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

To all men without exception, even to the meanest, who are thus called, Psalm 49:2.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Unto you, O men, I call,.... Not angels, the fallen angels; for, as they had nothing to do with Christ, he had nothing to do with them, or say unto them, Matthew 8:29; nor the brutes, irrational creatures; for, though the Gospel is to be preached to every creature, yet only to rational ones, Mark 16:15, "men", whom God has loved and Christ has redeemed; these are by the Gospel called, and called effectually. There are some men indeed who are only externally called; but there are others who are also called with an holy calling, of which See Gill on Proverbs 1:24. Some think men of eminence are here meant, as rich men, so Aben Ezra; or men of wisdom and knowledge, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, and learned doctors among the Jews; but it rather seems to design men indefinitely, of whatsoever rank or order, state or condition;

and my voice is to the sons of men; which some interpret of the poor, as Aben Ezra; or those who are more illiterate, or the common people; so that high and low, rich and poor, have the Gospel preached unto them; but the phrase seems to intend the same as before, the same thing is said in different words.

Geneva Study Bible

Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 4-11. - She summons various classes of persons to attend to her, showing how trustworthy she is, and how precious her instruction. Verse 4. - Unto you, O men, I call. "Men," ishim (אִישִׁים); equivalent to ἄνδρες, viri, men in the highest sense, who have some wisdom and experience, but need further enlightenment (Isaiah 53:3; Psalm 141:4). The sons of man; בְּנֵי אָדָם, "children of Adam;" equivalent to ἄνθρωποι, homines, the general kind of men, who are taken up with material interests. St. Gregory notes ('Moral ,' 27:6) that persons (heroines) of perfect life are in Scripture sometimes called "men" (viri). And again, "Scripture is wont to call those persons 'men' who follow the ways of the Lord with firm and steady steps. Whence Wisdom says in the Proverbs, 'Unto you, O men, I call.' As if she were saying openly, 'I do not speak to women, but to men; because they who are of an unstable mind cannot at all understand my words'" ('Moral.,' 28:12, Oxford transl.). Proverbs 8:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Now begins the discourse. The exordium summons general attention to it with the emphasis of its absolute truth:

4 "To you, ye men, is my discourse addressed,

   And my call is to the children of men!

5 Apprehend, O ye simple ones, what wisdom is;

   And, ye fools what understanding is.

6 Hear, for I will speak princely things,

   And the opening of my lips is upright.

7 For my mouth uttereth truth,

   And a wicked thing is an abomination to my lips.

8 The utterances of my mouth are in rectitude,

   There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

9 To the men of understanding they are all to the point,

   And plain to those who have attained knowledge."

Hitzig rejects this section, Proverbs 8:4-12, as he does several others in chap. 8 and 9, as spurious. But if this preamble, which reminds us of Elihu, is not according to every one's taste, yet in respect of the circle of conception and thought, as well as of the varying development of certain fundamental thoughts, it is altogether after the manner of the poet. The terminology is one that is strange to us; the translation of it is therefore difficult; that which is given above strives at least not to be so bad as to bring discredit on the poet. The tautology and flatness of Proverbs 8:4 disappears when one understands אישׁים and בּני אדם like the Attic ἄνδρες and ἄνθρωποι; vid., under Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 53:3 (where אישׁים, as here and Psalm 141:4, is equivalent to בּני אישׁ, Psalm 49:3; Psalm 4:3). Wisdom turns herself with her discourses to high and low, to persons of standing and to the proletariat. The verbal clause 4a interchanges with a noun clause 4b, as frequently a preposition with its noun (e.g., Proverbs 8:8) completes the whole predicate of a semistich (Fl.).