Proverbs 4:3-13

3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
4 He taught me also and said unto me, "Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding; forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee; love her, and she shall keep thee.
7 Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding.
8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee honor when thou dost embrace her.
9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee."
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13 Hold fast to instruction, let her not go; keep her, for she is thy life.

Proverbs 4:3-13 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.

Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.