For length of days - Three eminent blessings are promised here: ימים ארך orech yamim , long days; חיים שנות shenoth chaiyim , years of lives; 3. שלום shalom , prosperity; i.e. health, long life, and abundance. read more
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee - Let these be thy constant companions through life. Bind them about thy neck - Keep them constantly in view. Write them upon the table of thine heart - let them be thy moving principles; feel them as well as see them. read more
So shalt thou find favor - Thou shalt be acceptable to God, and thou shalt enjoy a sense of his approbation. And good understanding - Men shall weigh thy character and conduct; and by this appreciate thy motives, and give thee credit for sincerity and uprightness. Though religion is frequently persecuted, and religious people suffer at first where they are not fully known; yet a truly religious and benevolent character will in general be prized wherever it is well known. The envy of men... read more
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart - This is a most important precept: God is the Fountain of all good. He has made his intelligent creatures dependent upon himself. He requires them to be conscious of that dependence. He has promised to communicate what they need. He commands them to believe his promise, and look for its fulfillment. And to do this without doubt, fear, or distrust; "with their whole heart." Lean not unto thine own understanding - תשען אל al tishshaen ... read more
In all thy ways acknowledge him - Begin, continue, and end every work, purpose, and device, with God. Earnestly pray for his direction at the commencement; look for his continual support in the progress; and so begin and continue that all may terminate in his glory: and then it will certainly be to thy good; for we never honor God, without serving ourselves. This passage is well rendered in my old MS. Bible: Have trost in the Lord of all thin herte and ne lene thou to thi prudence: in all... read more
It shall be health to thy navel - We need not puzzle ourselves to find out what we may suppose to be a more delicate meaning for the original word שר shor than navel; for I am satisfied a more proper cannot be found. It is well known that it is by the umbilical cord that the fetus receives its nourishment all the time it is in the womb of the mother. It receives nothing by the mouth, nor by any other means: by this alone all nourishment is received, and the circulation of the blood kept... read more
My son ( b'ni ) serves to externally connect this discourse with the preceding. Forget not my law. This admonition bears a strong resemblance to that in Proverbs 1:8 , though the terms employed are somewhat different, torah and mits'oth here occupying the place respectively of musar and torah in that passage. My law ( torathi ) , is literally, my teaching, or doctrine, from the root yarah, "to teach." The torah is the whole body of salutary doctrine, and... read more
Making the heart a treasury of good principles I. THE TREASURE . Innumerable impressions are constantly being made upon our minds, and as constantly transferring themselves into memories. Frivolous thoughts, false notions, corrupt images, once harboured, take up their abode in the soul, and ultimately modify its Character to the likeness of themselves. It is most important for us to guard our memories from such things, and to fill them with more worthy stores. Consider, therefore, the... read more
Cherishing the truth We have here— I. THE ESSENTIAL THING IMPLIED . It is implied that the Law of God has been heard and understood; also that it has been received as Divine, and taken as the true guide of life. The teacher or preacher has sometimes to assume this; but too often it is an assumption unjustified by the facts. When it is justified, there come— II. TWO SPECIALLY VALUABLE VIRTUES INSISTED UPON . Mercy and truth ( Proverbs 3:3 ) are to be... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 3:1
My son - The preceptor continues to deliver his lessons. Forget not my law - Remember what thou hast heard, and practice what thou dost remember; and let all obedience be from the heart: "Let thy heart keep my commandments." read more