Proverbs 4:4-14

4 He taught me and said unto me, Sustain thine heart with 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 Grow in wisdom, and she shall promote thee; she shall bring thee to honour when thou hast embraced her.
9 She shall give to thine head an increase of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
10 Hear, O my son, and receive my words, and the years of thy life shall be multiplied.
11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have caused thee to walk in right paths.
12 When thou goest in these paths, thy steps shall not be hindered; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
13 Take fast hold of chastening; do not let go; keep this; for it is thy life.
14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

Proverbs 4:4-14 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.

The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010