New International Version
Proverbs 4:1
1Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
Proverbs 4:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding;
- New Living Translation (NLT)My children, listen when your father corrects you. Pay attention and learn good judgment,
Context of Proverbs 4:1
Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. 2I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. 3For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother.
Read all of Proverbs 4Proverbs 4:1 word by word
שִׁמְע֣וּ בָ֭נִים מ֣וּסַר אָ֑ב וְ֝הַקְשִׁ֗יבוּ לָדַ֥עַת בִּינָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 4:1
- Proverbs 2:1My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,
- Proverbs 5:1My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight,
- Proverbs 7:4Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and to insight, “You are my relative.”
- Proverbs 8:32“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.
- Proverbs 19:20Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
- Proverbs 22:17Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,
- Hebrews 2:1We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Commentaries on Proverbs 4:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Hear, 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 that the teaching he received, and which he was about to give them, was the most excellent of its kind. By this he ensured their attention, and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1The words “ye children” indicate as usual a new section returning, after the break of Proverbs 3:27-35, to the old strain of fatherly counsel.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Exhortation to the study of wisdom. (1-13) Cautions against bad company, Exhortation to faith and holiness. (14-27) Verses 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Discourses in Proverbs 1–9 often start with a call to listen (compare 1:8, 23; 2:1; 4:20–21; 5:1–2; 6:20–23; 7:1–3). Listen...to a father’s instruction: Children should listen because they have made mistakes.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-271-2. (Compare Pr 1:8). to know--in order to know. doctrine--the matter of learning (Pr 1:5), such as he had received (La 3:1).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 4:1
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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