Proverbs 4
4:1-2 These verses introduce a series of a father’s exhortations to his sons to pay attention to his instruction. See 4:20; 5:1; 7:24.
4:3 Being a true son implies obedience, not merely being a male child. A tender child is delicate as well as teachable. Precious means to be treated as if an only child (Jr 6:26; Am 8:10; Zch 12:10).
4:4,6 To keep . . . commands is to listen attentively, retain, and obey them; it could also be translated “guard.” Those who keep their way in godly wisdom (v. 21; 2:20; 5:2; 7:1-2; 8:32; 10:17; 16:17; 19:16; 22:5) will in turn be watched over and guarded by wisdom or the Lord (2:8,11; 3:26; 6:22,24; 7:5; 14:3).
4:5-8 Get translates a common Hebrew word for “purchase.” There is a great emphasis here that wisdom and understanding are the most important acquisitions (16:16; 18:15; 23:23; cp. 17:16)—literally “in all your purchasing, purchase understanding” (4:7), that is, spend all your assets on understanding. Supreme could also mean the beginning (1:7), the first thing to get. As with salvation, the cost of godly wisdom is not silver and gold. Rather, a person must stop desiring anything else and love . . . cherish, and embrace only the one thing—that is part of what it means to give up one’s life for something. Paradoxically, the cost is both nothing and everything (Is 55:1; Mt 13:44-46; 16:24; 19:21,27; Lk 5:11,28; Php 3:8).
4:9 The garland and crown are symbolic of God’s grace and favor being visible in one’s life.
4:10-19 The wicked are addicted to doing evil—it is their refreshment and their nourishment (vv. 16-17). The son is exhorted to hold on to the good and warned not even to try the bad (vv. 13-15; cp. 1:15). Quantity and quality of life are the incentives (vv. 10,13,22; 8:35; see note at 3:22). The righteous increase in light while the wicked stumble in gloom (vv.18-19; cp. Jb 29:2-3; 1Pt 2:9; Rv 21:23-24). The foolish wicked don’t know that there is a connection between sin and punishment (5:6; 7:23; 9:18; 28:22).
4:20-21 See note at 4:1-2.
4:22 On life, see note at 3:22.
4:23 Above all else is literally “more than all guarding.” To guard something is to make sure that it does not get away and that it is safe from attack. In Hebrew the heart is the location of knowledge and also the preconscious source of decisions (27:19; Mt 15:18). Your heart is who you are, the “true you” that directs all your thoughts and emotions. You can educate your heart (Pr 24:32)—consciously form and modify a worldview—after which decisions and actions flow from it (16:9,23; Lk 6:45; Rm 10:10; 2Co 9:7). This education can be worldly, carried out by yourself, or godly, carried out by the Holy Spirit (Pr 2:6; Jr 24:7; Ezk 36:26-27; Ac 16:14; Rm 2:29). The inclination of your heart directs your mortal life and determines whether you enter eternal life (3:22).
4:24 While as a rule the heart determines what comes out of the mouth (see v. 23), false speech can eventually poison the heart.
4:25-27 Undivided attention to the right path (cp. 17:24; 27:20) and a determination not to even sample evil (cp. vv. 13-15; 1:15) assure that your ways will be established. The passive voice implies that it is God who does it. “Established” is fixed and firm, secure, not subject to change or to destruction (12:3; 16:3; 24:3; 25:5). Right or . . . left expresses the whole range of evil paths. That is not to say that a middle road, a compromise, is the good way, but that it is important not to leave the only good way.
