Developing mind is a mind receiving the wisdom of God, and that person while receiving the mind of God is able in saying NO to the evil things and yes to godly things.

     Actually. the message of our passage comes basically from verses 10-11 and the opening word “when” (KJV; NKJV) or “for” (NASB; ESV) is a word that has to do with the time. What Solomon is saying is regarding the moment of time when God begins moving or penetrating in life of a person and begins to give that person the wisdom and knowledge of God. When God is giving the wisdom and knowledge to a person, then that is the moment that verse 11 says, “Discretion shall preserve thee (or “guard” NASB), understanding shall keep thee:”.

     The word in verse 11 “discretion” (me-zim-mah) refers to crafty insight and the noun “understanding” (te-ḇu-nah) refers to intelligent insight.

What Solomon wants his son to learn and know here is that when you see that you are being protected and kept from evil because you have crafty insight in choosing what is right and avoiding what is wrong, then you must be assured that God is at work in your life and God is giving you His wisdom.

     Notice that the antecedent is in Proverbs 2:10 “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;” while the consequent is the Proverbs 2:11 “Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:”.

     Now, notice that the kind of wisdom that an individual need to be sought diligently, as being the effectual wisdom, is not that kind of wisdom which gains a momentary entrance, but that which enters deeply into a person’s inner heart (Psalm 119:130) in order to become pleasant to the soul. When it happens, it would not merely give “every good” (Proverbs 2:9) but it “preserves” and “keeps” from all evil (Psalm 119:11; Psalm 119:104). The Believers who delights in the law of the Lord is the person that safely kept from walking in the counsel of the godly (Psalm 1:1-19). The phrase “preserve thee” in verse 11 of our passage is literally means to keep guard over thee. The Lord keeps the people of God “as the apple of His eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10; Isaiah 27:3).

     When an individual is gaining the wisdom of God, that wisdom of God will deliver that individual from evil men.

     The verb in verse 12, infinitive “To deliver”, also in verse 16 comes from a Hebrew word (lehassileka) that means to strip, plunder, deliver oneself, be delivered, snatch away, that giving us an idea of liberating escape, or setting free from. The point is when God is placing His wisdom in an individual, that individual will be able with his crafty ability to gain liberty of himself to escape or avoid evil ways and avoid evil man as well.

Kawikaan 2:12b “Ililigtas ka nito sa daan ng kasamaan, mula sa mga taong nagsasalita ng masasamang bagay;” TAGALOG

     Solomon assured his son that when God works in his life and God gave his son the wisdom of God is because one reason is that evil man has an evil speech. Solomon wants his son to separate from the ways of the evil man.             

     The word “froward” or “perverse” (NASB, NKJV) or “perverted” in ESV gives us an idea of something which was twisted. Froward things here means things contrary to what is right. In other words, an evil person is trying to entice or seduce individuals by means of using twisted or froward speech. (Compare with instance of their froward speeches of the evil men in Proverbs 1:11-20).

Proverbs 2:13 “¹na nagpapabaya sa mga landas ng katuwiran, upang lumakad sa mga daan ng kadiliman.” TAGALOG

     Solomon assured his son of another reason, that when God works in his life and God gave his son the wisdom of God, is because that evil man has an evil discretion. 

     These evil men ”leave the paths of uprightness” because of  their love of darkness rather than light. The paths of uprightness that these evil leave are the paths of light (John 3:19-43; Job 24:15; Isaiah 29:15; Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:11). Since the evil men walk in the ways of darkness means their discretions are evil, that is their perceptive in life or discretion in life that has been corrupted, there is no light in their discretion but evil.

     Now, listen the destination to which the “ways of darkness” tend is the “outer darkness; where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12).  

Proverbs 2:14 “na nagagalak sa paggawa ng kasamaan, at sa mga kalikuan ng kasamaan ay nasisiyahan;” TAGALOG

     Solomon assured his son of the next reason that when God works in his life and God gave his son the wisdom of God is because that evil man has an evil attitude or pernicious character.             

     Evil men rejoice in doing evil and delight in evil things (Proverbs 10:23; Isaiah 3:9; Jeremiah 11:15). Ahab is one example of a person who strongly desires to do evil as pushed and motivated by his wife Jezebel (I Kings 21:25 Ahab “sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.” God has a right to give up to the delusion of these evil men and justly judge these evil people “that have pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:12). An exact example of this is in Romans 1:32 “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” But the end is death. They leap to die. Contrast of this evil men’s attitude that they rejoice in evil can be found in Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God.” The Apostle Peter is one example of the godly who grieves bitterly when they are overtaken in a fault. But the evil man has an evil attitude or pernicious character in rejoicing to do evil but also evil person delights in the forwardness of his fellow wicked men but the godly are not so.     

Proverbs 2:15 “na mga lihis sa kanilang mga lakad, at mga suwail sa kanilang mga landas.” TAGALOG

     Solomon assured his son that when God works in his life and God gave his son the wisdom of God is because next reason is that evil man has an evil ways or has a crooked pathway.

     His entire bent of life is crooked and twisted, just the opposite of a straight direction.

     When it says evil men “who are crooked in their ways” is has a feminine noun and with a masculine adjective. It says in verse 13 that these evil men once in their lives walk in “the paths of uprightness” but leave it, instead they go aside into their crooked and perverse ways they are now walking. It says in verse 15, after they leave the path of righteousness, they are now froward in their paths, it means nothing but forwardness, so that none can walk with them and yet they continued to walk in evil ways. Evil man has evil ways.

     When an individual is gaining the wisdom of God, that wisdom of God will deliver that individual from evil woman.

     Another major key to being a wise person is to stay away from sexual immorality.

Proverbs 2:16a "To deliver thee from the strange woman."

Kawikaan 2:16a “Sa masamang babae ikaw ay maliligtas, mula sa mapakiapid” TAGALOG

     The stated reason of staying away from the forbidden immoral woman according to Solomon in verse 12 has the same formula with this verse 16 because it both has the same phrase “To deliver thee.”

     Proverbs 2:16 and Proverbs 2:12 that says, “To deliver thee:” depends on Proverbs 2:11 that says “Discretion…and understanding shall keep thee,” so as “to deliver thee from the strange woman.”

     The word “strange” describes a woman who is off-limits. Twice Solomon uses a similar expression, “the strange woman, (even) the stranger,” to impress more forcibly on the young man that the said woman already belong to another, therefore the instruction is to deter his son from having connection with this forbidden woman (Proverbs 2:17; Proverbs 5:20). This speaks about both the literal and the spiritual adulteress and temptress. The spiritual gives to the world her person and her heart, which belong by right to God. In this sense the women from other heathen nation who drew aside from Solomon the author himself, were strange woman or forbidden woman. There were strange women or forbidden pagan women not so much in respect to their local distance from the nation of Israel, as in respect to their being alien to the worship of the True and Living God. Solomon who was once wise king was entrapped into spiritual adultery through lust and idolatry. It’s remarkable that Solomon should utter beforehand a warning which he himself afterward disregard (Nehemiah 13:26 which says “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.” (I Kings 11:1-11).

Kawikaan 2:16b “at sa mga salita niyang binibigkas,” TAGALOG

     Not only this immoral woman is forbidden woman but also she is smooth talking woman.

     The word “flatter” is a Hebrew form of a verb that indicates that this was a habitual practice. In other words, this kind of woman is accustomed to pick-up up men and immorality is part of her life. This woman pursues evil deeds and does not care how much damage it will affect families and she does not care how many men were ruined by her subtilty through flattery words. Her flattery words is her poisonous weapon to attract man.

Proverbs 2:17 “na nagpapabaya sa kasamahan ng kanyang kabataan, at ang tipan ng kanyang Diyos ay kanyang kinalilimutan;” TAGALOG

     We can compare Malachi 2:14-29.

     The phrase “the guide of her youth” refers to the woman’s companion.

     There have been three interpretations concerning her companion or “guide of her youth”:

1. It refers to Jehovah (Jeremiah 3:4)

2. It refers to parents

3. It refers to husband (based on the context best the best interpretation favors husband)

     The guide refers to God in the spiritual sense:

Jeremiah 3:4 says “My Father, thou art the guide of my youth.” Other versions translate “You are the friend of my youth?” NASB, ESV. ’The Hebrew word is al-lup which means partner, companion or friend. Then in Jeremiah 3:14 the Lord said to the backsliding children of Israel, “ I am married unto you.”

     The guide refers to the husband in the literal sense:

Joel 1:8 “the husband of her youth.”

Jeremiah 2:2 “Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals...” – We see the love of youth. The first love is especially intense as featured here. Example: the kindness and love which I showed to thee then. This intense love from her husband aggravates the guilt of the woman because after such fervent love she experienced from her youth, she yet has forsaken her husband, her guide and her lord. Nothing faithfulness to man can the youth look for on the part of the female tempter who has been unfaithful to her natural friend and true lover.

     We see that there are two areas of unfaithfulness for an immoral woman: first to her husband and second to her covenant. God considers marriage to be a covenant between a man and a woman.

     Notice verse 17, says the woman forgets “the covenant of her God”. The covenant of her God primarily refers to the marriage covenant, then in the spiritual sense it refers to the covenant of the law to the Jew (2 Chronicles 15:12; Jeremiah 34:15), and the Gospel to Christians.

     Solomon warns his son of this immoral woman for she is unfaithful wife to her husband and to her God, thus this type of woman is faithless (dishonest, disloyal, unfaithful) to wedlock.

     Take note that unfaithfulness and apostasy are spiritual adultery.

Kawikaan 2:18-19 “sapagkat ang kanyang bahay ay lumulubog sa kamatayan, at ang kanyang mga landas tungo sa mga kadiliman; ¹⁹ walang naparoroon sa kanya na nakakabalik muli, ni ang mga landas ng buhay ay kanilang nababawi.” TAGALOG

Deuteronomy 22:22 “If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel.”

Deuteronomio 22:22 ““Kung ang isang lalaki ay matagpuang sumisiping sa isang babaing may asawa, kapwa sila papatayin, ang lalaki na sumiping sa babae at ang babae. Gayon mo aalisin ang kasamaan sa Israel.” TAGALOG

     Compare Proverbs 7:27 “Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.”

     The conjunction “for” in verse 18 expresses the greatness of the deliverance (Proverbs 2:16), as indicated by the greatness of the danger. Not surprisingly that Solomon with great intense warns his son purposely with a good reason for his son to seek wisdom “to deliver thee from the strange woman” (verse 16a), “for her house inclineth unto death” (verse 18). Notice, the Hebrew for the noun house is masculine, and the verb is feminine, the translation is literally, “She (her house) inclineth unto death,” The words “the dead” in Hebrew, Rephaim, the dead: the manes elsewhere(the souls of dead ancestors worshipped - in ancient Roman belief), or ghosts and giants. With regards and relation with these ideas, see (Romans 26:5). The words “her house” with its tapestry-covered bed (Proverbs 7:16-20), indicates that this woman promise nothing but only joy, love, and pleasure. Her house is more destructive for it proves to be a declining direction downward to death and hell. This woman is fateful wife, a dangerous, destructive wife.

     Look at the statements in verse 19 “None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life.” No one, no men, go unto her house can return again, never do they, except in the case of exceptional miracles by the grace of omnipotent God. Actually, it is as hard to restore a lustful person from all unlawful sexual intercourse as it is hard to restore a dead person to life (Hosea 4:11 “Whoredom, etc…take away the heart.” Or translated “Harlotry,…take away the understanding.” (NASB). Solomon warns his son of this fateful woman. She is not just a woman, she is the wife of other man, who dare to have a relationship with other man as it would be the end of your life. She is not a faithful wife, she is a fateful wife.

Kawikaan 2:20-22 “Kaya't ang lakad ng mabubuting tao ang iyong lakaran, at ang mga landas ng matuwid ang iyong pakaingatan. ²¹ Sapagkat ang matuwid sa lupain ay mamamalagi, at ang walang sala doon ay mananatili. ²² Ngunit ang masama ay tatanggalin sa lupain, at ang mga taksil doon ay bubunutin.” TAGALOG

     The verse 21 depends on verse 11 which says that because of the wisdom, “Discretion…shall keep the…that thou mayest, walk” etc. And as the wisdom of God gives “discretion and understanding” “deliver from the way of the evil man” (verse 12), and also “from the strange woman” (verse 16), so they preserve thee in thy duty, “that thou mayest walk in the way of good men” (verse 20). While both verse 12 and verse 16 express the negative good of discretion, this verse 20 express the positive good of discretion, which says “That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.” When an individual is gaining the wisdom of God, that wisdom of God will cause a person to pursue righteousness.  For one pursuing this path, his company, speech, direction and attitudes are entirely different from those who are evil. Solomon instructs his son to stick on walking the path of righteousness.

     The words of Solomon in verse 21 which says “For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.” is in contrast to the faithless who go “unto the dead” (verses 18-20). The temporal rewards of those people walk in piety during the Old Testament dispensation is a shadow forth of both the millennial rewards during thousand years reign of Christ here on earth in the coming age and also the eternal rewards in the final state (Psalms 25:13; Psalms 37:9; Psalms 37:11). These rewards promised motivate us and encourage us to abide and stick to walk in righteousness.

     In verse 22 Solomon used Metaphor from the trees, it says “But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.” These wicked people shall not only be cut off by the axe, but plucked up by the roots (Matthew 15:13 “But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up” or in TAGALOG VERSION “Ngunit sumagot siya at sinabi, “Ang bawat halamang hindi itinanim ng aking Ama na nasa langit ay bubunutin.”