Proverbs 4:13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is your life. Instruction is not here used for acquisition of knowledge or intellectual enlargement. It is synonymous with wisdom, understanding, heavenly teaching. Note — 1. The extreme earnestness which the wise son of David displays in pressing his advice. 2. The text suggests the natural alienation of the heart from instruction. It does not receive it willingly. It does not retain it, if received, without difficulty. 3. The last clause of the text resolves the whole question into a simple and intelligible proposition. It brings the matter to a point. Dost thou desire to live — not the life that now is, the transient and ephemeral existence of a corruptible body — but in that never-ending state when a thousand years will be as one day? Then take fast hold of instruction — in obtaining her thou hast secured thy object, for she is thy life. There is, in that word life, a comprehensiveness which conveys the fulness of joy to the penitent soul. (Lord Bishop of Winchester.) Parallel Verses KJV: Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.WEB: Take firm hold of instruction. Don't let her go. Keep her, for she is your life. |
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