October 9, 2023

The Bible Edge

Practical Points to Ponder from Proverbs

Proverbs 7:2

Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

The phrase “the apple of my eye” has seemed to take on the meaning of that thing that is valued above all others. It is that object that one gazes upon, meditates about, and watches continually. Shakespeare used it in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, evidently speaking of the literal pupil of his eye. But in the Bible, it is used figuratively as something of great interest and object of one’s affection. David asked the Lord to keep him as the …apple of the eye… in Psalm 17:8. What a bold ask from a bold man.

In Proverbs 7 the entire chapter is to warn about the “strange woman.” If Solomon were writing to his daughter, he would probably have warned her about the “strange man,” Herein is contained great wisdom from a man known for his unparalleled wisdom. He states a situation from which he was an eyewitness. He describes the character of the male as being “simple,” and the woman as being “strange.” He warns him in his simpleness and describes her in her strangeness. He warns of the resulting end of the simple one yielding to the strange one. It’s an awful end, one that no one would wish on another, not even an enemy.

The remedy. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. It’s interesting that Hebrews 12:9 seems to pick up on this thing of living. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? Solomon was warning his son, by extension though he warns us all. Learning to obey a parent is the first step to learning to obey the Lord, the Father of spirits. Keeping His law as the apple of the eye will undoubtedly keep any and all from the awful results of sin.

William T. Howe, Ph.D.