John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 4:1-27
Ancestral Wisdom. The Two PathsIn Proverbs 4:1-9 the teacher lays stress on the fact that his instruction is a repetition of his father’s. No teaching was thought valuable save that which was handed down from one generation to another. The best pupil was the one who was ’a cemented cistern which loses not a drop.’ Proverbs 4:10-19 might be called the doctrine of the two paths, the two ways of life. 20-27 enjoin strict attention to instruction and to conduct.7. Lit. ’The beginning of wisdom is,... read more
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Proverbs 4:1-9
6. Teaching the love of Wisdom 4:1-9"This chapter is comprised of three discourses on the value of wisdom, each including the motifs of instruction, exhortation, command, and motivation." [Note: Ross, p. 922.] The first section of verses in this chapter shows how parents can pass along the love of wisdom: mainly by personal influence. Solomon’s instruction here was very positive. Rather than saying, "Don’t do this and that!" which he did elsewhere (cf. Proverbs 3:27-31), he wanted his sons to... read more