Proverbs 5:1 - Exposition

The admonitory address is very similar to that in Proverbs 4:20 , except that here the teacher says," Attend to my wisdom, bow down thine ear to my understanding, " instead of "Attend to my words, and incline thine ear unto my saying ." It is not merely "wisdom" and "understanding" in the abstract, but wisdom which he has appropriated to himself, made his own, and which he knows by experience to be true wisdom. It may therefore have the sense of experience and observation, both of which increase with years. To "bow down the ear" is to listen attentively, and so to fix the mind intently on what is being said. Compare the similar expressions in Psalms 31:2 and Proverbs 2:2 ; Proverbs 4:20 ; 33:12. The same idea is expressed in Mare Antony's address to his countrymen, "Lend me your ears" (Shakespeare, 'Julius Caesar,' act 3. sc. 2).