Proverbs 4:1

"In this chapter, there are three hortatory discourses (Proverbs 4:1-9; Proverbs 4:10-19, and Proverbs 4:20-27), exactly similar to the ones in Proverbs 2 and Proverbs 3. The subject is the praise of Wisdom, and the description of the blessings which she confers."[1] These are labeled the sixth, seventh and eighth discourses by Walls,[2] but the sixth is called the "seventh" by Deane."[3] We do not consider these divisions either very clearly marked or very important.

THE SIXTH DISCOURSE

Proverbs 4:1-9

"Hear, my son, the instructions of a father,

And attend to know understanding:

For I give you good doctrine;

Forsake ye not my law.

For I was a son unto my father,

Tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

And he taught me, and said unto me:

Let thy heart retain my words;

Keep my commandments, and live;

Get wisdom, get understanding;

Forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth;

Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee;

Love her, and she will keep thee.

Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom;

Yea, with all thy getting get understanding.

Exalt her, and she will promote thee;

She will bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her.

She will give to thy head a chaplet of grace;

A crown of beauty will she deliver to thee."

In spite of the fact of these verses being delivered in the form of a father's instructions to a son, "The entire chapter may be read (and should be read) as though God was speaking to all men everywhere."[4]

"Forsake ye not my law" (Proverbs 4:2). Deane reminds us that, "The word law here, as also in Proverbs 1:8, is from the Hebrew [~Torah]," which is the technical word for the Pentateuch, or the Law of Moses. The marginal alternative reading counsel should be ignored. The proof of this is found in the reference here, in Proverbs 4:3,4, by Solomon, the author of these lines, to the instructions which his father David had given him, a sample of which may be read in 1 Chronicles 22:12-13, where the Law of Moses is clearly stated to be precisely that doctrine that Solomon here professes to be delivering to his own son. Therefore, we can find no agreement with Tate's remark that, "The authority mentioned here is the discipline of the teacher."[5] No! The true authority of these words is that of God Himself as revealed to Moses in the Pentateuch.

"My father ... he taught me" (Proverbs 4:3-4). "These words underline the great Old Testament principle that truth and history are maintained through the family, and our own age could well re-learn this lesson."[6]

"With all thy getting get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7). Kidner's comment is, "What it takes is not brains or opportunity, but decision."[7] We might add that persistence and determination are also involved; and as James Moffatt's Translation of the Bible, 1929, translated it, "At any cost get knowledge."

We should exercise care, however, to remember the Biblical revelation of what knowledge, or wisdom, really is. It is not merely what some would call a good education. The true wisdom is to know Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30) and to obey him. This type of wisdom does not come in the form of university degrees, but from the faithful obedience of humble and contrite hearts.