if you seek it like silver
The word "seek" in Hebrew is "בקש" (baqash), which implies a diligent and intentional pursuit. In the ancient world, silver was a highly valued commodity, often used as currency and a symbol of wealth and prosperity. The comparison to silver suggests that wisdom should be pursued with the same fervor and dedication as one would pursue material wealth. This reflects a heart posture that prioritizes spiritual riches over earthly gains, emphasizing the eternal value of wisdom. The pursuit of wisdom is not passive but requires active engagement and a deep desire to understand God's truth.

and search it out like hidden treasure
The phrase "search it out" comes from the Hebrew "חפש" (chaphas), which conveys a thorough and exhaustive investigation. Hidden treasures in ancient times were often buried or concealed, requiring effort and perseverance to uncover. This imagery suggests that wisdom is not always immediately apparent and may require persistent effort to discover. The comparison to hidden treasure highlights the preciousness and rarity of true wisdom, encouraging believers to invest time and energy into understanding God's Word. This pursuit is not merely intellectual but involves the heart and soul, seeking divine insight and understanding that transforms one's life. The verse calls for a relentless quest for wisdom, akin to an adventurer's quest for treasure, underscoring the immense value and reward of finding and applying God's wisdom in our lives.

(4) If thou seekest her as silver.--That the process of mining was understood long before the time of Solomon, is proved by the remains of copper mines discovered in the peninsula of Sinai, and the gold mines in the Bisharee desert of Egypt. Rock inscriptions have been found near the former, dating from a great age, in the opinion of Lepsius from 4000 B.C. (See the article "Mines," in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible; comp. also the description in Job 28:1-11.) Silver was brought to Solomon from Arabia (2Chronicles 9:14) and Tarshish (2Chronicles 9:21), probably Tartessus, in Spain.

Searchest for her as for hid treasures.--From the great insecurity of life and property in Eastern countries, the hiding of treasures in the earth has always been of frequent occurrence. It would often, no doubt, happen that the owner would die without disclosing the place of concealment to any one else, and the treasure thus be lost. Hunting after such hoards has in consequence been always of the keenest interest to Orientals, and as such furnishes the groundwork for one of our Lord's parables (Matthew 13:44).

Verse 4. - If thou seekest, etc. The climax in the series of conditions is reached in this verse; and the imagery employed in both clauses indicates that the search after Wisdom is to be persevering, unrelaxing, and diligent, like the unremitting toil and labour with which men carry on mining operations. "To seek" (בָּקַשׁ, bakash) in the original is properly "to seek diligently" (piel), and is kindred to "to search" (קָפַשׂ, khaphas), which again is equivalent to "to dig" (חָפַר, khaphar), the Vulgate effodere, "to dig out." Compare the expression in Job 3:21, "And dig for it more than for hid treasures." We trace in these verbs the idea in the mind of the teacher indicated above, which finds expression also in the object of the search, the silver, in its crude state, and the hidden treasures (מַטְמֹנִים mat'monim), i.e. the treasures of gold, silver, and precious metal concealed in the earth. The comparison here made between the search for Wisdom and the search for the hidden treasures of the earth was not unfamiliar to the Hebrew mind, as it is found worked out with great beauty of detail in the twenty-eighth chapter of Job. Again, the comparison of Wisdom with things most precious in the estimation of man is natural and common, and occurs in Psalm 119:72; Job 28:15-19. The same ideas and comparisons here used are presented to us in the New Testament teaching, in our Lord's parable of the man who finds the hid treasure in the field, and, in the phraseology of St. Paul, who speaks of "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," and of "the unsearchable riches of Christ." "Divine knowledge is an inexhaustible mine of precious ore" (Wardlaw). The language of the Proverbs would receive additional three from the circumstances of the reign of Solomon, the most splendid and prosperous era in the annals of the Jewish national history, in the means taken to secure the treasures of other and distant countries; the wealth and the riches of that reign (see 2 Chronicles 9:20-22) would help to bring out the idea of the superlative value of Wisdom. In no era of the Jewish national history was there such abundance of riches, such splendid prosperity, as in the reign of Solomon, whose ships of Tarshish brought "gold and silver" (see 2 Chronicles 9:20-22), and this state of things would give point to the comparisons which the teacher uses in our text.

Parallel Commentaries ...


if
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you seek
תְּבַקְשֶׁ֥נָּה (tə·ḇaq·šen·nāh)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1245: To search out, to strive after

it like silver
כַכָּ֑סֶף (ḵak·kā·sep̄)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3701: Silver, money

and search it out
תַּחְפְּשֶֽׂנָּה׃ (taḥ·pə·śen·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 2664: To seek, to conceal oneself, mask

like hidden treasure,
וְֽכַמַּטְמוֹנִ֥ים (wə·ḵam·maṭ·mō·w·nîm)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4301: A secret storehouse, a secreted valuable, money


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 2:4 If you seek her as silver (Prov. Pro Pr)