Proverbs 4:1 - Exposition

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father. This exhortation is identical with that in Proverbs 1:8 , except that the address, "ye children," indicating a new departure, is now used instead of "my son," which has been hitherto employed (see Proverbs 1:8 ; Proverbs 2:1 ; Proverbs 3:1 , Proverbs 3:21 ), and "of thy father" is altered to "of a father." The verb is the same, occurring here, of course, in the plural number. The appeal is evidently intended to rouse attention. Attention is especially necessary to secure a knowledge of Divine truth. Ye children ( bhanim ) . This address occurs again twice in the second group of admonitory discourses—in Proverbs 5:7 and Proverbs 7:24 , and also in the appeal of Wisdom personified in Proverbs 8:32 , and, with these exceptions, nowhere else in the Proverbs. It is used by David, and it is possible that when the teacher penned these words he had in mind Psalms 34:11 , "Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord." The similarity in the address serves to connect the teacher of wisdom with David, and thus to identify him with Solomon, while it also leads to the conclusion that the advice which follows in Psalms 34:4-19 is in substance that which David had given his son. On "instruction," see Psalms 1:1-6 :8. Of a father ( av ). It is difficult, owing to the want of the pronominal suffix, to determine accurately whether the teacher is referring to himself or to his own father in the expression. The following verse