Chapter Four

1–3. The Wise Man will teach his listeners, as children, or more precisely will teach his own children and all others by the teachings which he once heard from his parents, especially from his father. 4–9. The essence of the teachings of the Wise Man’s father—exhortation to wisdom with indication of its goods. 10–19. Warning against deviations onto the path of wickedness. 20–27. Earnest exhortation not to forget the father’s commandments.

Proverbs 4:1. Listen, children, to a father’s instruction, and pay attention to gain understanding; Proverbs 4:2. for I give you good teaching. Do not abandon my instruction. Proverbs 4:3. For I was a son to my father, tender and only beloved of my mother, The teaching of wisdom and piety delivered by the Wise Man has all the greater force of truth and obligation in that it is not merely the possession and creation of a single teacher, but was received by him as an inheritance from his forebears, most closely from his parents, by whom he was a dearly beloved son (verse 3). Tradition (παράδοσις τῶν πατέρων) elevated the authority of all teaching of wisdom (cf. Job 8:8 ff.; Job 15 ff.; Sir 8:9). All the more could Solomon resort to such a means of exhortation, since already at the beginning of his discourse (Prov 1:8) he mentioned the duty of obedience to the testament of father and mother. Here (verse 1) and below (Prov 5:7 and Prov 7:24) the address is not to “son” but to “children,” since in the instructive speech the Wise Man refers to his own example and “as a son appears Solomon himself.” What his father taught the Wise Man is spoken of below from verse 4 onward.

Proverbs 4:4. and he taught me, saying, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live. Proverbs 4:5. Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding; do not forget this and do not depart from the words of my mouth. Proverbs 4:6. Do not abandon her, and she will guard you; love her, and she will protect you. Proverbs 4:7. The beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom, and with all you possess acquire understanding. Proverbs 4:8. Esteem her highly, and she will exalt you; she will bring you honor if you embrace her; Proverbs 4:9. she will place on your head a garland of grace; she will bestow on you a crown of beauty. The exhortations of the father (David, according to the LXX, Slavonic—and mother: οἳ ἔλεγον καί ἐδίδασκον με, “who spoke and taught me”) to Solomon, both in content and character are similar to the exhortations of Solomon himself to young people, scattered throughout the Book of Proverbs. The chief subject of David’s speech and teaching to Solomon (verses 4 onwards; cf. 1 Chr 28:9), as also of Solomon himself to his listeners, was the law of God, contained in the Pentateuch of Moses; but then, received by human reason, the Law must be applied to his life and activity, and this demands special “wisdom” (hokhma), special “understanding” (bina), and fatherly instruction to Solomon repeatedly enjoins—somewhat like the cries of a merchant offering his merchandise, according to Umbreit’s expression (verses 6; cf. verse 8b), striving for wisdom and unwavering faithfulness to it (verses 5, 7; cf. Prov 3:14). Wisdom here is compared to a beloved wife (cf. Sir 15:2), who protects her loved husband from all evils; is presented as the supreme good, for which one must sacrifice all other goods: “the beginning of wisdom is: acquire wisdom, and with all you possess acquire understanding” (verse 7). Verses 8–9 speak of the beneficial and attractive fruits of acquiring wisdom (cf. Prov 1:9).

Proverbs 4:10. Listen, my son, and receive my words,—and the years of your life will be many. Proverbs 4:11. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in straight paths. Proverbs 4:12. When you walk, your steps will not be restricted, and when you run, you will not stumble. Proverbs 4:13. Hold fast to instruction, do not let it go; guard it, for it is your life. Proverbs 4:14. Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil; Proverbs 4:15. leave it, do not walk in it; turn away from it and pass by; Proverbs 4:16. for they do not sleep if they do not do evil; they lose their sleep unless they bring someone to fall; Proverbs 4:17. for they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. Proverbs 4:18. The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, growing brighter until full day. Proverbs 4:19. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what they will stumble over. Continuing to depict the goods of following the paths of wisdom, David now also cautions Solomon against deviating onto the paths of wickedness (verses 14–19). Instructions about the paths of wisdom become more specific—they indicate the very character of living according to the paths of wisdom; wisdom opens for its zealot a long life (verse 10) and correct course of life—favorable life circumstances (verse 11) and absence of overwhelming obstacles on the life’s path (verse 12). Turning then to a new group of instructions—warnings—David again strongly urges (verse 13) the son to unwavering observance of his teachings of wisdom, for they contain true life for the one who keeps them—urges in view of dangerous temptations for a young person. The further depiction (verses 14–17) of the path of the wicked has much in common with their characterization in 1–19. If the paths of the wicked, encouraging unrestricted expansion and strengthening of base passions of human nature, forever deprive a person of peace of mind and tranquility and prepare for him every danger at each step (verses 16–17, 19), then, by contrast, the path of the righteous or their moral conduct is compared (verse 18) to the light of the rising and gradually approaching midday sun (cf. Isa 60:3; Prov 6:23). Like sunlight begins with the appearance of dawn, gradually intensifies, and at midday reaches its highest point, so similarly the life of the righteous presents a series of gradual successes in moral advancement: as they move along life’s path, their life activity becomes ever cleaner and brighter (cf. Matt 5:16), from lower stages of moral perfection they ascend to higher, until at last they reach the state of which the Savior prophesied: then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, Matt 13:43 (see Bishop Vissarion, p. 56–57).

Proverbs 4:20. My son, attend to my words; incline your ear to my sayings; Proverbs 4:21. let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart: Proverbs 4:22. for they are life to those who find them, and health to all one’s flesh. Proverbs 4:23. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it comes forth the springs of life. Proverbs 4:24. Put away from you a lying mouth, and put far from you devious speech. Proverbs 4:25. Let your eyes look directly ahead, and your gaze be fixed straight before you. Proverbs 4:26. Consider the path under your feet, and let all your ways be established. Proverbs 4:27. Do not turn to the right or to the left; keep your foot far from evil, Proverbs 4:28. [for the Lord observes the paths of the right, and the left are corrupt. Proverbs 4:29. He Himself will make your paths straight, and your ways He will guide in peace.] Again (verse 20) the listeners are urged (cf. Prov 3:21 etc.) to especially attentive reception of the teachings of wisdom, which for those who fulfill them appear not only as nourishing and supporting true spiritual life, but also beneficial for the body itself (verse 22: a thought similar to that expressed in the words of the Apostle, “godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of life both in this present age and in the age to come,” 1 Tim 4:8). But so that a person may obtain proper steadfastness in good and invulnerability against evil temptations, to every zealot of wisdom—piety it is necessary with all care, more than any other treasure, to guard his heart (Hebrew: lev): “for from it comes forth the springs of life” (Hebrew: totze hayim, LXX: ἕξοδοι ζωῆς). The heart, according to biblical understanding, serves as the center, the focus both of the physically organic nature of a person (Ps 21:27; Isa 1:5; Jer 4:18) and of his soul and spiritual life (Ps 83:3; Jer 11:20), more particularly—not only of various sensations, feelings and emotions (Prov 31:11; Judg 16:15), but also of the highest manifestations of the spirit, such as: decisions of the will (1 Sam 14:7; 1 Sam 8:17 etc.), knowledge and the force of reason (1 Sam 10:2 Judg 16:17; Prov 17:16), and finally, as the center and bearer of moral life (Ps 50:12; 1 Sam 3:6; Prov 7:10 and many others). In this last sense, the Old Testament-biblical “heart” comes closest to the Christian concept of “conscience”; in this sense, as a pure moral consciousness (cf. the New Testament ἀγαθὴ συνείδησις 1 Tim 1:5; 1 Pet 3:16), the heart is used here Prov 4:23 (cf. Ps 50:12; Job 27:6; 1 Sam 25:31), as is shown by the further verses 24–25, warning against all deceitfulness, against all hypocrisy and such (cf. Prov 6:13; Sir 27:25; cf. Matt 6:22-23), which corrupt the normal flow of moral life, regulated by a good conscience. Only under the condition of an unimpaired moral conscience can the paths of the moral life of a person be firm (verse 26; cf. Ps 108:133; Heb 12:13). Verse 27 presents a compressed summary of all the fatherly exhortations toward the path of wisdom and virtue and in form of expression reminds of a similar exhortation of the lawgiver Moses, Deut 5:32. The LXX and Vulgate extend this verse in comparison with the Hebrew text with the words: ὁδούς γὰρ τὰς ἐκ δεξιῶν οἶδεν ὁ θεός, διεστραμμένοι δέ εἰσιν αἱ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν; αὐτὸς δέ ὀρθὰς ποιήσει τὰς τροχίάς σου, τάς δε πορείας σου ἐν εἰρήνη προάγει. This addition is also found in the Vulgate, as well as in the Slavonic and Russian—Synodal translation of the Book of Proverbs (in Archbishop Macarius’ translation these words are absent). In thought these words represent a repetition and development of the thought of verses 26–27. In view of the consistency of various Greek text manuscripts in the transmission of this addition, as well as in view of the authority of the Vulgate, one can suppose that these words could have been found in the Hebrew original from which the LXX translation was made (cf. Franz Delitzsch. Das Salomonische Spruchbuch. Leipzig. 1873, p. 39). * * * Solomon was not “only beloved” of his mother, that is, of Bathsheba: according to 1 Chr 3:5 David by Bathsheba had four sons (including Solomon). From this in many ancient Hebrew manuscripts (in Kenic and Rossi) the expression of verse 3: lipne-immi, before the face of my mother, is replaced by another expression: livne-immi, to the sons of my mother, that is, to brothers or among brothers, and the word yachid will mean not only-begotten (as in the Vulgate and Russian) but “beloved,” LXX: ἡγαπώμενος.