Proverbs 4 is the fourth chapter of the

Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs (, ; , ; , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)/the Christian Old Testament. It is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012. The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 1:1 may be intended to regard

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post- exilic period. This chapter is a part of the first collection of the book. The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

entitles this chapter, "On choosing wisdom".

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

text of Proverbs 4 with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in

are of the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; ) is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretic Text defines the Jewish canon and its precise letter-text, with its vocaliz ...

, which includes the

Aleppo Codex The Aleppo Codex () is a medieval bound manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was written in the city of Tiberias in the tenth century CE (circa 920) under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, and was endorsed for its accuracy by Maimonides. ...

(10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). There is also a translation into

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

known as the

Septuagint The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...

, made in the last few centuries BC; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(B;

\mathfrak

^B; 4th century),

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(S; BHK:

\mathfrak

^S; 4th century), and

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(A;

\mathfrak

^A; 5th century).

Analysis

This chapter belongs to a section regarded as the first collection in the book of Proverbs (comprising Proverbs 1– 9), known as "Didactic discourses". The

describes chapters 1–9 as a prologue of the chapters 10–22:16, the so-called " ctualproverbs of

", as "the body of the book". This chapter has the following structure: *an exhortation to acquire wisdom (verses 1–4a), *a list of the benefits of wisdom (4b–9), *a call to pursue a righteous lifestyle (10–13), *a warning against a wicked lifestyle (14–19), and *an exhortation to righteousness (20–27).

Get Wisdom! (4:1–9)

This passage focuses on the value of Wisdom, so it needs to be acquired at all costs (verse 7). The father's appeal (verses 1–2) is reinforced by recounting his own experience when he was taught the lesson by his own parents (verses 3–4), demonstrating the importance of a "home" as the place for an educational discipline to get Wisdom (cf. Exodus 12:26–27; Deuteronomy 6:6–7, 20–25), and the transmission from one generation to the next. In verses 6–9 Wisdom is personified as 'a bride to be wooed', and who, in return, will 'love and honor those who embrace her', in contrast to the spurious love and deadly embrace of the seductress.

Verse 1

:''Hear, O children, the instruction of a father,'' ::''and attend to know understanding.'' *"Know": in Hebrew literally "in order to come to know", from the interpretation of the stative verb , ''yadaʿ'', which can also mean "to learn."Note on Proverbs 4:1 in NET Bible

The right way and the wrong way (4:10–27)

The metaphor of a road with two ways in one's life is important in the teaching of Proverbs, even if it occurs many times (cf. Proverbs 1:15,19; 2:8–22; 3:17, 23, etc.), in counseling young people to avoid the path of the wicked, but to stay on the way of wisdom ("paths of uprightness" that is "straight and level"; cf. Proverbs 3:6), which is the good path (cf. Proverbs 2:9) and also the secure path (cf. Proverbs 3:23) without fear of stumbling (verse 12; cf. Psalm 18:36), brightly illuminated (verse 18; steadily increasing brightness from the first flickers of dawn to the full splendor of the noonday sun). On the other hand, the way of the wicked, with evil activities (Proverbs 1:18-19) and twisted paths (Proverbs 2:12–15), is shrouded in 'deep darkness' (verse 19; the same term is used the plague of darkness in Egypt in Exodus 10:22, or as the consequences of the day of the Lord in Joel 2:2; Amos 5:20, etc), which hinders those who walk on it to even see what their feet strike on the final, fatal step (cf. Job 18:7–12; Jeremiah 13:16; 23:12). The appeal to accept the father's words (verse 10) resumes in the final paragraph (verses 20–27) because they are 'life' and 'healing' (verse 22; cf. Proverbs 3:8).

References

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

translations: *
Mishlei - Proverbs - Chapter 4 (Judaica Press)
translation ith Rashi's commentary">Rashi.html" ;"title="ith Rashi">ith Rashi's commentaryat Chabad.org *

translations: *
''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Book of Proverbs Chapter 4 King James Version

What is the REAL Meaning of Proverbs 4:23?
* Various versions {{DEFAULTSORT:Proverbs 4 Book of Proverbs chapters">04