if you accept my words
The conditional "if" introduces the idea of choice and personal responsibility. Acceptance implies not just hearing but receiving and valuing the teachings. This echoes the biblical principle of free will and the importance of choosing to follow God's ways (Deuteronomy 30:19). The "words" refer to divine wisdom, which is consistent with the emphasis on the power and importance of God's Word throughout Scripture (Psalm 119:11, John 1:1).

and hide my commandments within you
"Hiding" commandments suggests internalizing and treasuring them, much like the psalmist who says, "I have hidden your word in my heart" (Psalm 119:11). This internalization is crucial for spiritual growth and moral integrity. The commandments are not merely rules but are seen as life-giving instructions from God, reflecting His character and will. This phrase also foreshadows the New Covenant promise where God's laws are written on the hearts of believers (Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10).

(c) Third Discourse:--An Exhortation to follow after Wisdom (Proverbs 2).

(1) Hide--i.e., store up. (Comp. Proverbs 2:4.)

(1) Vers. 1-9: a statement of the conditions which, if fulfilled, result in the highest knowledge of Jehovah - the fear of Jehovah and the knowledge of God, who is the Source of wisdom and the Protection and Ensurer of safety to the righteous.

(2) Vers. 10-19: the negatively beneficial results of Wisdom, in delivery from the paths of evil, from destructive lusts and passions, from the temptations of wicked men and wicked women.

(3) Vers. 20-22: the epilogue, or conclusion, combining encouragement on the one hand, and warning on the other. Verse 1. - The teacher here reverts to the original form of his address, as appears from the employment of the term, my son. It seems clear that it is no longer Wisdom personified who is the speaker, from the fact that the words, "wisdom and understanding" in ver. 2 are used without the possessive pronoun "my," which would have been undoubtedly inserted if this address had been a continuation of the discourse in the preceding chapter. Some of the ideas of that address, however, are restated, as the crying and lifting up the voice after Wisdom, and the conclusion, wherein the respective destinies of the pious and wicked are portrayed. The particle "if" (אֵם) is conditional, and serves to introduce the series of clauses (vers. 1-4) which lay down the conditions upon which the promises depend, and which form the protasis to the double apodosis in vers. 5 and 9. De Wette, Meyer, and Delitzsch regard it as voluntative, as expressing a wish on the part of the teacher, and translate, "Oh that thou wouldst!" and אִם, "if," is used in this way in Psalm 139:19; but the LXX. (ἐάν) and Vulgate (si) make it conditional. It is repeated in an emphatic form in ver. 3. Receive. The verbs "receive" and "hide" show that the endeavour after Wisdom is to be candid and sincere. "To receive" (לָקַה) seems to be here used, like the LXX. δεχέσθαι in the sense of "to receive graciously," "to admit the words of Wisdom." It is noticeable that there is a gradation in emphasis in the various terms here used by the teacher. Just as "commandments" is stronger than "words," so "hide" is stronger than "receive." The emphasizing is carried on in the following verses in the same way, and at length culminates in ver. 4, which sums up the ardent spirit in which the search after Wisdom is to be prosecuted in presenting it to us in its strongest form. Hide. The original (צַפַן, tsaphan) is here used in a different sense to that in which it occurs in Proverbs 1:11 and 18. It here refers, as in Proverbs 7:1; Proverbs 10:14; and Proverbs 13:22, to the storing or laying up, as of treasure, in some secret repository, and means "to lay up." The Divine commands of the teacher are to be hidden in safe custody in the memory, in the understanding, in the conscience, and in the heart (cf. Proverbs 4:21; Proverbs 7:1). The psalmist expresses the same idea in Psalm 119:11, "Thy words have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee."

Parallel Commentaries ...