¹Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding, ²For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my instruction. ³When I was a son to my father, tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, ⁴Then he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live …”

Wisdom must be taught—most eminently by a father to a son, a parent to a child. God gives this responsibility to the family and not to social institutions. Any government that claims exclusive authority to control the teaching of children goes patently against God’s created intention that family is the priority. The primary and best venue for learning wisdom is not public schools or even private schools. Nor is it the children’s programs at church. God has built into the nature of humanity for wisdom to be derivatively learned as it is intentionally passed down from one generation in the home to the next.

The book of Proverbs carries the father-son motif throughout, as can be seen in the repeated use of the words “father” (twenty-six times), “son” (fifty-five times), and “my son” (twenty-five times). The mother’s influence is also acknowledged as necessary (“mother” fourteen times), and it reflects and lines up with the teaching about fathers and sons.

Of course, many today will object to the patriarchal-structuralism of the Bible, but we leave that debate to others. We believe God has chosen to use the father-son relationship to be His literary vehicle for conveying the truth of how wisdom is to be learned. Indeed, our society seems to be rampant with the consequences of failure by fathers in this respect, more so than by mothers.

Solomon is passing on what he learned from his father, David. He began this book by identifying himself not simply as Solomon but as “Solomon, son of David” (Prov. 1:8), and now he refers to the teachings he received from David. He was one of many sons of David (see 2 Sam 3:2-5, 1 Chron. 3:1-9; see https://www.gotquestions.org/David-children.html for details of David’s wives, concubines, and children). But Solomon seemed to have held a special place in the heart of his mother, Bathsheba (“only son in the sight of my mother”).

Solomon’s rehearsal of his father David’s directive to him (“Let your heart hold fast my word; keep my commandments and live”) reflects the teaching of Moses:

“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.” (Deut. 5:16)

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deut. 6:4–7)

We cannot overemphasize the role a father plays in the development of wisdom in the life of his children. The mandate for fathers is not only to model and teach wisdom but to teach them the principle behind the propagation of wisdom; the father is to impart wisdom, and the child is to embrace the wisdom his father teaches. The responsibility lies with both parent and child, ensuring that wisdom passes down to succeeding generations.

Lord, I confess that at times I rejected my earthly father’s wisdom. But I also thank You for the wisdom my parents taught me, which has stood me in good stead all these years.