Proverbs 4:1

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. Proverbs 4:1.-The young are urged by Solomon, as he was urged by his father, to get wisdom as the principal thing, and as that which will give glory to its possessors (Proverbs 4:1). The youth is warned so to keep Wisdom, who is his preserver from stumbling, as not to go in the way of evil men, whose aim is mischief and violence, and whose way is darkness, as contrasted with the paths of the just, which is as the shining light, ever growing in brightness (Proverbs 4:10). The youth is admonished to earnestly attend to the words of wisdom, as being life to those that find them; and for this end to keep...

1-13 We must look upon our teachers as our fathers: though instruction carry in it reproof and correction, bid it welcome. Solomon's parents loved him, therefore taught him. Wise and godly men, in every age of the world, and rank in society, agree that true wisdom consists in obedience, and is united to happiness. Get wisdom, take pains for it. Get the rule over thy corruptions; take more pains to get this than the wealth of this world. An interest in Christ's salvation is necessary. This wisdom is the one thing needful. A soul without true wisdom and grace is a dead soul. How poor, contemptible, and wretched are those, who, with all their wealth and power, die without getting understanding, without Christ, without hope, and without God! Let us give heed to the sayings of Him who has the words of eternal life. Thus our path will be plain before us: by taking, and keeping fast hold of ins...

CHAPTER IV _The preceptor calls his pupils, and tells them how himself was_ _educated_, 1-4; _specifies the teachings he received_, 5-19; _and exhorts his pupil to persevere in well-doing, and to avoid_ _evil_, 20-27. NOTES ON CHAP. IV Verse Proverbs 4:1. _HEAR, YE CHILDREN_] Come, my pupils, and hear how a father instructed his child. Such as I received from _my father_ I give to you, and they were the teachings of a wise and affectionate parent to his only son, a peculiar object of his regards, and also those of a _fond mother_. He introduces the subject thus, to show tha

The words “ye children” indicate as usual a new section returning, after the break of Proverbs 3:27, to the old strain of fatherly counsel....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 4:1 7. _Seventh admonitory discourse. _We here enter upon the second group of admonitory discourses, as is indicated by the opening address, "my children," and which occurs again in Proverbs 5:7 and Proverbs 7:24. This group extends to the end of Proverbs 7:1. Its prevailing tone is that of warning rather than of positive exhortations, which have been the rule hitherto. The general aim of the discourse before us, as of those preceding, is to exalt Wisdom, to exhibit her as a subject worthy of all earnest endeavour and sacrifice, but it is noticeable that the teacher introd

HEAR, YE CHILDREN, THE INSTRUCTION OF A FATHER,.... Either of God their father, as Gersom interprets it; or rather of Solomon their father: and so he recommends his instruction from the relation he stood in to them; for, since he was their father, he would give them no bad instruction; and, since they were his children, they ought to receive it: by whom are meant, not his children in a natural sense, or the children of his body; but his disciples, such who applied to him for knowledge, and whom he undertook to learn; AND ATTEND TO KNOW UNDERSTANDING; what would serve to enlighten, enlarge, improve, and inform their understandings; what would lead them into the knowledge and understanding of things divine and spiritual, and which would be worth knowing; and of having their understandings stored and enriched with....

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. Solomon's training (Proverbs 4:1)_ 2. Hear, O my son: Receive my sayings (Proverbs 4:10) 3. My son, attend to my words. (Proverbs 4:20) Proverbs 4:1. This passage shows the early training which Solomon received and he passeth on the instructions. It is said that these verses formed a model for many Puritan homes in England and the Scotland of the covenant. He was the beloved one, his father's true son. Note the different exhortation, about wisdom: Forget it not; forsake her not; love her; exalt her. Then the promises: She shall preserve thee; she shall keep thee; she shall promote thee

CHILDREN. sons. INSTRUCTION. correction, or admonition. KNOW UNDERSTANDING. learn discernment....

Seventh Address. Chap. Proverbs 4:1-9 Resuming, after the parenthesis (Proverbs 3:27-35) the style and tone of fatherly address of the preceding sections, the Teacher commends Wisdom to his scholars as his children, by the example of his own early education. Mr Horton happily remarks, "This chapter begins with a charming little piece of autobiography," and quotes Wordsworth's words, "Wisdom doth live with children round her knees....

HEAR, YE CHILDREN— Solomon here proposes himself as an example of docility; but in such a manner, that he refers all the advantages of his education to the early impressions which he received from his father and his mother under the blessing of Divine wisdom. He makes this appear by all his attachment; tender and respectful as it was, and by his sincere regard to his parents, particularly to his mother, to whose eulogy he has consecrated almost the whole 31st chapter. The principal instructions in the present chapter are these; that parents ought to take the utmost care to instruct their children diligently, and the higher their station the more accurate should their education be. Above all things, the excellence of wisdom, holiness, and virtue, is to be inculcated. See on Proverbs 4:7. Next to this they are to be cautioned against evil company, as the bane of youth; the wretchedness of...