Proverbs 4:19-27

19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thy heart.
22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23 Keep thy heart more than anything that is guarded; for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from thee perverseness of mouth, and corrupt lips put far from thee.
25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be well-ordered.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left; remove thy foot from evil.

Proverbs 4:19-27 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.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. 'Words,' dabar; 'sayings,' omer; Ps. 119.11.
  • [b]. Lit. 'corruptness of, inconsistency,' or 'perverseness of:' same root word as ch. 3.32.
  • [c]. See Note i, ch. 2.9.
  • [d]. Or 'and all thy ways shall be established.'
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.