Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, And the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.
Prudent - Properly “gifted with understanding,” the form of the word expressing, that he was “endowed with” this “understanding,” as a gift from God. And He shall know them. While the wise of this world disbelieve, jeer, scoff at them, in the name of human reason, he who has not the natural quickness of man only, but who is endued with the true wisdom, shall “know” them. So our Lord says, “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it is of God” John 7:17. The word, “wise,” may especially mean him who contemplates these truths and understands them in themselves, yet plainly so as to act upon them; and the word “endued with prudence,” may especially describe such as are gifted with readiness to apply that knowledge to practice, in judgment, discrimination, act . By uniting both, the prophet joins contemplative and practical wisdom, and intensifies the expression of God’s desire that we should be endowed with them.