Men ... sons of man - The two words are used, which, like viri and homines, describe the higher and the lower, the stronger and the weaker. Compare the Psalm 49:2 note.

Unto you, O men - אישים ishim, men of wealth and power, will I call; and not to you alone, for my voice is אל בני אדם al beney Adam, "to all the descendants of Adam;" to the whole human race. As Jesus Christ tasted death for every man, so the Gospel proclaims salvation to all: to You - to every individual, my voice is addressed. Thou hast sinned; and thou must perish, if not saved by grace.

Unto you, O men, I call,.... Not angels, the fallen angels; for, as they had nothing to do with Christ, he had nothing to do with them, or say unto them, Matthew 8:29; nor the brutes, irrational creatures; for, though the Gospel is to be preached to every creature, yet only to rational ones, Mark 16:15, "men", whom God has loved and Christ has redeemed; these are by the Gospel called, and called effectually. There are some men indeed who are only externally called; but there are others who are also called with an holy calling, of which See Gill on Proverbs 1:24. Some think men of eminence are here meant, as rich men, so Aben Ezra; or men of wisdom and knowledge, such as the Scribes and Pharisees, and learned doctors among the Jews; but it rather seems to design men indefinitely, of whatsoever rank or order, state or condition;

and my voice is to the sons of men; which some interpret of the poor, as Aben Ezra; or those who are more illiterate, or the common people; so that high and low, rich and poor, have the Gospel preached unto them; but the phrase seems to intend the same as before, the same thing is said in different words.

Now begins the discourse. The exordium summons general attention to it with the emphasis of its absolute truth:

4 "To you, ye men, is my discourse addressed,

   And my call is to the children of men!

5 Apprehend, O ye simple ones, what wisdom is;

   And, ye fools what understanding is.

6 Hear, for I will speak princely things,

   And the opening of my lips is upright.

7 For my mouth uttereth truth,

   And a wicked thing is an abomination to my lips.

8 The utterances of my mouth are in rectitude,

   There is nothing crooked or perverse in them.

9 To the men of understanding they are all to the point,

   And plain to those who have attained knowledge."

Hitzig rejects this section, Proverbs 8:4-12, as he does several others in chap. 8 and 9, as spurious. But if this preamble, which reminds us of Elihu, is not according to every one's taste, yet in respect of the circle of conception and thought, as well as of the varying development of certain fundamental thoughts, it is altogether after the manner of the poet. The terminology is one that is strange to us; the translation of it is therefore difficult; that which is given above strives at least not to be so bad as to bring discredit on the poet. The tautology and flatness of Proverbs 8:4 disappears when one understands אישׁים and בּני אדם like the Attic ἄνδρες and ἄνθρωποι; vid., under Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 53:3 (where אישׁים, as here and Psalm 141:4, is equivalent to בּני אישׁ, Psalm 49:3; Psalm 4:3). Wisdom turns herself with her discourses to high and low, to persons of standing and to the proletariat. The verbal clause 4a interchanges with a noun clause 4b, as frequently a preposition with its noun (e.g., Proverbs 8:8) completes the whole predicate of a semistich (Fl.).

Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.

8:4 O men - To all men without exception.

8:1-11 The will of God is made known by the works of creation, and by the consciences of men, but more clearly by Moses and the prophets. The chief difficulty is to get men to attend to instruction. Yet attention to the words of Christ, will guide the most ignorant into saving knowledge of the truth. Where there is an understanding heart, and willingness to receive the truth in love, wisdom is valued above silver and gold.