With Proverbs 2, the parental speaker begins a positive recommendation of wisdom, which encompasses three lengthy exhortations (chaps. 2–4). Proverbs 2 lays the foundation, describing the source and primary benefits of wisdom, while chapters 3–4 offer more detailed descriptions of the values of wise behavior. One striking emphasis in Proverbs 2 is the acquisition of wisdom as the result of both intensive human effort and divine endowment, while the remaining instructions focus on the first of these two, human effort. Furthermore, the instruction in chapter 2 differs from the others in Proverbs 1–9 in that it contains no imperative verbal forms in the Hebrew text. If one pays close attention to the sequence of conjunctions (i.e., if, then, for, thus), a clear structure emerges. Three (or f…