Proverbs 4:4 - Exposition

From this verse to Proverbs 4:19 inclusive, the teacher quotes the instruction which he had received of his father. His object in doing so is to show that his own teaching was in harmony with it, and therefore worthy of attention. His precepts, admonitions, and warnings are not his only, but those of his father. Other examples of David's instructions to Solomon are found in 1 Kings 2:2 ; 1 Chronicles 22:12 , 1 Chronicles 22:13 ; 1 Chronicles 28:9 . And he taught; i.e. his father, for vayyoreni is masculine. The LXX . renders, "They said and taught me ( οἳ ἔλεγον καὶ ἐδιδασκόν με )," as if the precepts which follow were the combined teaching of David and Bathsheba. This variation is due to the mention of both parents in the preceding verse. Retain ; yith'mok, kal future, used imperatively, of thamak, "to take hold of," and metaphorically, as here, "to hold fast" (see Proverbs 3:18 ). The LXX . Renders ἐρειδέτω , imperative of ἐρείδω , "to fix firm." Symmachus has κατεχέτω , "give heed to." And live; i.e. and thou shalt live, as the kal imperative, kh'yeh, from khayah, "to live," has here the force of the future (cf. Vulgate, et vives ) . The meaning is, "And thou shalt enjoy a long and happy life." Temporal life alone seems to be indicated, as in 1 Chronicles 28:10 (cf. Proverbs 3:2 ). The Syriac addition, "And my law as the apple of thine eye," is probably borrowed from Proverbs 7:2 , where we meet with the mine admonition.