Proverbs 4:5-9

5 1Get wisdom; get 2insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; 3love her, and she will guard you.
7 4The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get 5insight.
8 Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will 6honor you 7if you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head 8a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown."

Proverbs 4:5-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PROVERBS 4

In this chapter Solomon advises to seek after wisdom, to avoid bad company, and to continue in the right paths of goodness and truth: he excites attention to what he had to say, from the relation he stood in to the persons addressed; from the nature of his instructions, which were good and profitable; and from his own example, in attending to those his parents gave him, Pr 4:1-4; He exhorts above all things to get wisdom, from the superior excellency of it, and from the preservation, promotion, and honour, to be had by it, Pr 4:5-9; and he further enforces big exhortations, from their being the means of a comfortable life, and of the prolongation of it, and of leading in a right way without straitness or stumbling, Pr 4:10-13. And then proceeds to caution against bad company, and going into a bad way of life; which is enforced from the mischief done by those that walk in it, and from the darkness of it, to which the path of the just is opposed, Pr 4:14-19. And the exhortation to attend to and observe his instructions, and keep them, is repeated, from the consideration of their being life and health to them, Pr 4:20-22; and that they might be preserved, and not departed from, direction's are given about ordering the heart, mouth, lips, eyes, and feet, Pr 4:23-27.

Cross References 8

  • 1. Proverbs 2:2
  • 2. [See ver. 1 above]
  • 3. [2 Thessalonians 2:10]
  • 4. [Proverbs 1:7]
  • 5. [See ver. 1 above]
  • 6. 1 Samuel 2:30
  • 7. [Song of Songs 2:6]
  • 8. Proverbs 1:9
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.