Fathers and Mothers

Proverbs 10:1

The proverbs of Solomon. This is the title of the new part of the book; it is omitted in the Septuagint. There is some kind of loose connection in the grouping of these proverbs, but it is difficult to follow. Wordsworth considers the present chapter to contain exemplifications of the principles and results of the two ways of life displayed in the preceding nine chapters. The antithetical character of the sentences is most marked and well-sustained. As the book is specially designed for the edification of youth, it begins with an appropriate saying. A wise son maketh a glad father. As wisdom comprises all moral excellence, and folly is vice and perversity, the opposite characters attributed to the son are obvious.

The mother is introduced for the sake of parallelism; though some commentators suggest that, as the father would be naturally elated by his son’s virtues, which would conduce to honour and high estate, so the mother would be grieved at vices which her training had not subdued, and her indulgence had fostered. If this seems somewhat far-fetched, we may consider that the father in the maxim includes the mother, and the mother the father, the two being separated for the purpose of contrast (see on ch. 26:3). The word for heaviness occurs in ch. 14:13 and 17:21.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). Proverbs (p. 195). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.