Christian Standard Bible
Proverbs 4:5
5Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth.
Proverbs 4:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
- New International Version (NIV)Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
Context of Proverbs 4:5
3When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother, 4he taught me and said, “Your heart must hold on to my words. Keep my commands and live. Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth. 6Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you. 7Wisdom is supreme — so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding.
Read all of Proverbs 4Proverbs 4:5 word by word
קְנֵ֣ה חָ֭כְמָה קְנֵ֣ה בִינָ֑ה אַל־תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח וְאַל־תֵּ֝֗ט מֵֽאִמְרֵי־פִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 4:5
- Proverbs 1:22“How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge?
- Proverbs 2:2listening closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding;
- Proverbs 3:13Happy is a man who finds wisdom and who acquires understanding,
- Proverbs 8:5Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced; develop common sense, you who are foolish.
- Proverbs 17:16Why does a fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?
- Proverbs 18:1One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound wisdom.
- Proverbs 19:8The one who acquires good sense loves himself; one who safeguards understanding finds success.
- Proverbs 23:23Buy — and do not sell — truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
- James 1:5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God — who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly — and it will be given to him.
- 2 Chronicles 34:2He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or the left.
- Job 23:11My feet have followed in his tracks; I have kept to his way and not turned aside.
- Psalms 44:18Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from your path.
- Psalms 119:51The arrogant constantly ridicule me, but I do not turn away from your instruction.
Commentaries on Proverbs 4:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Get wisdom - True religion is essential to thy happiness; never forget its teachings, nor go aside from the path it prescribes.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4-20Verses 4-20 The counsel which has come to him, in substance, from his father. Compare it with 2 Samuel 23:2 etc.; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Chronicles 29:17; Psalm 15:1-5; Psalm 24:1-10; Proverbs 4:7 Or, “The beginning of wisdom is - get wisdom.” To seek is to find, to desire is to obtain. Proverbs 4:12 The ever-recurring parable of the journey of life. In the way of wisdom the path is clear and open, obstacles disappear; in the quickest activity (“when thou…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5In the Old Testament, forgetting means more than just not remembering; it also means failing to obey.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. Get--as a possession not to be given up. neither decline--that is, from obeying my word.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 4:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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