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Text -- Proverbs 4:1-23 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Admonition to Follow Righteousness and Avoid Wickedness
4:1 Listen , children , to a father’s instruction , and pay attention so that you may gain discernment .
4:2 Because I give you good instruction , do not forsake my teaching .
4:3 When I was a son to my father , a tender only child before my mother ,
4:4 he taught me, and he said to me: “Let your heart lay hold of my words ; keep my commands so that you will live .
4:5 Acquire wisdom , acquire understanding ; do not forget and do not turn aside from the words I speak .
4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will guard you.
4:7 Wisdom is supreme – so acquire wisdom , and whatever you acquire , acquire understanding !
4:8 Esteem her highly and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her.
4:9 She will place a fair garland on your head ; she will bestow a beautiful crown on you.”
4:10 Listen , my child , and accept my words , so that the years of your life will be many .
4:11 I will guide you in the way of wisdom and I will lead you in upright paths .
4:12 When you walk , your steps will not be hampered , and when you run , you will not stumble .
4:13 Hold on to instruction , do not let it go ; protect it, because it is your life .
4:14 Do not enter the path of the wicked or walk in the way of those who are evil .
4:15 Avoid it, do not go on it; turn away from it, and go on .
4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm ; they are robbed of sleep until they make someone stumble .
4:17 For they eat bread gained from wickedness and drink wine obtained from violence .
4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light , growing brighter brighter and brighter until full day .
4:19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness ; they do not know what causes them to stumble .
4:20 My child , pay attention to my words ; listen attentively to my sayings .
4:21 Do not let them depart from your sight , guard them within your heart ;
4:22 for they are life to those who find them and healing to one’s entire body .
4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance , for from it are the sources of life .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Young Men |
Wisdom |
Children |
PATH; PATHWAY |
GET; GETTING |
Fellowship |
RELATIONSHIPS, FAMILY |
Malice |
Temptation |
CROWN |
Sin |
Associations |
Day |
Grace of God |
Diligence |
Perseverance |
Wicked |
Wine |
Watchfulness |
Righteous |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Pro 4:1; Pro 4:1; Pro 4:1; Pro 4:1; Pro 4:1; Pro 4:2; Pro 4:2; Pro 4:3; Pro 4:3; Pro 4:3; Pro 4:4; Pro 4:5; Pro 4:5; Pro 4:6; Pro 4:7; Pro 4:7; Pro 4:7; Pro 4:7; Pro 4:8; Pro 4:9; Pro 4:9; Pro 4:9; Pro 4:10; Pro 4:10; Pro 4:10; Pro 4:11; Pro 4:11; Pro 4:11; Pro 4:12; Pro 4:12; Pro 4:12; Pro 4:13; Pro 4:13; Pro 4:14; Pro 4:15; Pro 4:16; Pro 4:16; Pro 4:16; Pro 4:17; Pro 4:17; Pro 4:17; Pro 4:18; Pro 4:18; Pro 4:18; Pro 4:19; Pro 4:19; Pro 4:20; Pro 4:20; Pro 4:21; Pro 4:21; Pro 4:21; Pro 4:22; Pro 4:23; Pro 4:23
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NET Notes: Pro 4:2 The word לֶקַח (leqakh, “instruction”) can be subjective (instruction acquired) or objective (the thing bein...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:4 The imperative with the vav expresses volitional sequence after the preceding imperative: “keep and then you will live,” meaning “ke...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:5 The verse uses repetition for the imperative “acquire” to underscore the importance of getting wisdom; it then uses two verb forms for the...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:6 Heb “her”; the 3rd person feminine singular referent is personified “wisdom,” which has been specified in the translation for ...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:7 The verse is not in the LXX; some textual critics delete the verse as an impossible gloss that interrupts vv. 6 and 8 (e.g., C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC]...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:8 The verb is the Pilpel imperative from סָלַל (salal, “to lift up; to cast up”). So the imperative means R...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:9 This verse uses wedding imagery: The wife (wisdom) who is embraced by her husband (the disciple) will place the wedding crown on the head of her new b...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:11 Heb “in the tracks of uprightness”; cf. NAB “on straightforward paths.” Both the verb and the object of the preposition make u...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:12 The progression from walking to running is an idiom called “anabasis,” suggesting that as greater and swifter progress is made, there will...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:14 The verb אָשַׁר (’ashar, “to walk”) is not to be confused with the identically spelled homonym &...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:15 The verb עָבַר (’avar, “to cross over; to travel through”) ends both cola. In the first it warns again...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:16 The Hiphil imperfect (Kethib) means “cause to stumble.” This idiom (from hypocatastasis) means “bring injury/ruin to someone” ...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:17 Heb “the wine of violence” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV). This is a genitive of source, meaning that the wine they drink was plundered from the...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:18 Heb “until the day is established.” This expression refers to the coming of the full day or the time of high noon.
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NET Notes: Pro 4:20 Commentators note the use of the body in this section: ear (v. 20), eyes (v. 21), flesh (v. 22), heart (v. 23), lips (v. 24), eyes (v. 25), feet (v. 2...
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NET Notes: Pro 4:21 The words “eyes” and “heart” are metonymies of subject representing the faculties of each. Cf. CEV “think about it all.&...
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