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Read the Bible

King James Version

Proverbs 4:13

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Wisdom;   Young Men;   Thompson Chain Reference - Appropriation;   Call, Divine;   Duty;   God's;   Three-Fold Duty of Life;   Wisdom;   Wisdom-Folly;   The Topic Concordance - Instruction;   Life;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Life;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs book of;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for February 4;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Hold on to instruction; don’t let go.Guard it, for it is your life.
Hebrew Names Version
Take firm hold of instruction. Don't let her go. Keep her, for she is your life.
English Standard Version
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.
New Century Version
Always remember what you have been taught, and don't let go of it. Keep all that you have learned; it is the most important thing in life.
New English Translation
Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; protect it, because it is your life.
Amplified Bible
Take hold of instruction; [actively seek it, grip it firmly and] do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.
New American Standard Bible
Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.
World English Bible
Take firm hold of instruction. Don't let her go. Keep her, for she is your life.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Take holde of instruction, and leaue not: keepe her, for shee is thy life.
Legacy Standard Bible
Seize discipline; do not let go.Guard her, for she is your life.
Berean Standard Bible
Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.
Contemporary English Version
Hold firmly to my teaching and never let go. It will mean life for you.
Complete Jewish Bible
Hold fast to discipline, don't let it go; guard it, for it is your life.
Darby Translation
Take fast hold of instruction, let [her] not go: keep her, for she is thy life.
Easy-to-Read Version
Always remember this teaching. Don't forget it. It is the key to life, so guard it well.
George Lamsa Translation
Take fast hold of my instruction, and do not forsake her; keep her, for she is your life.
Good News Translation
Always remember what you have learned. Your education is your life—guard it well.
Lexham English Bible
Seize the instruction! Do not let go! Guard her, for she is your life.
Literal Translation
Take fast hold of instruction, do not let her go; keep her, for she is your life.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Take fast holde of doctryne, let her not go: kepe her, for she is thy life.
American Standard Version
Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: Keep her; for she is thy life.
Bible in Basic English
Take learning in your hands, do not let her go: keep her, for she is your life.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go; keep her, for she is thy life.
King James Version (1611)
Take fast hold of instruction, let her not goe; keepe her, for she is thy life.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Take fast holde of doctrine, and let her not go: kepe her, for she is thy life.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Take hold of my instruction; let it not go, —but keep it for thyself for thy life.
English Revised Version
Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Holde thou teching, and forsake it not; kepe thou it, for it is thi lijf.
Update Bible Version
Take fast hold of instruction; don't let her go: Keep her; for she is your life.
Webster's Bible Translation
Take fast hold of instruction; let [her] not go: keep her; for she [is] thy life.
New King James Version
Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is your life.
New Living Translation
Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life.
New Life Bible
Take hold of teaching. Do not let go. Watch over her, for she is your life.
New Revised Standard
Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Take fast hold of correction, let her not go, - keep her, for, she, is thy life.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy life.
Revised Standard Version
Keep hold of instruction, do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.
Young's Literal Translation
Lay hold on instruction, do not desist, Keep her, for she [is] thy life.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

Contextual Overview

1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. 10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Take: Proverbs 3:18, Proverbs 23:23, Acts 2:42, Acts 11:23, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Hebrews 2:1, Revelation 2:13, Revelation 12:11

let: Genesis 32:26, Song of Solomon 3:4, Luke 24:27-29, John 4:39-42

she: Proverbs 3:22, Deuteronomy 32:47, Ecclesiastes 7:12, John 6:68

Reciprocal: Job 27:6 - I hold fast Proverbs 6:23 - the way Proverbs 7:2 - Keep Proverbs 10:17 - the way Isaiah 56:2 - layeth Jeremiah 6:8 - Be thou Jeremiah 8:5 - they hold John 4:40 - they 1 Corinthians 15:2 - keep in memory 2 Timothy 1:13 - Hold Hebrews 6:18 - lay

Cross-References

Job 15:22
He believeth not that he shall return out of darkness, and he is waited for of the sword.
Revelation 16:9
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Revelation 16:11
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Revelation 16:21
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Take fast hold of instruction,.... Not the law, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it; but the instruction of wisdom, the doctrine of Christ or the Gospel; see Proverbs 8:1; which is an instruction into the mind and will of God, concerning the salvation of men; into the grace of God, showing that salvation, in all its branches, is of pure grace; into the person and offices of Christ, and into the business of salvation through him; into the doctrines of peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life by him. This should be "taken fast hold of"; in order to which, men should take heed unto it, attentively hear it; they should come with a cordial affection to it, and an eager desire after it, or they will never lay fast hold on it; for taking fast hold, as it supposes a careful attention to the Gospel, so a reception of it in the love of it, and an eagerness to be possessed of it: such may be said to take fast hold on it, who receive it into their hearts, and not into their heads only; head knowledge of the Gospel instruction is not hold fast enough, it must be heart knowledge of it; it is taken fast hold on when it is mixed with faith when heard; when it is digested and incorporated as it were into men, and becomes the ingrafted word; when men are led experimentally and practically into it, and are not hearers only, but doers of it; and, being thus taken fast hold of,

let [her] not go; the instruction of wisdom, or the Gospel of Christ; do not drop it, nor depart from it, nor waver about it; nor be languid in a profession of it, nor indifferent to it: "be not remiss" x, as the word signifies; or let not thine hand be remiss, or let not thine hand go; having, as it were with both hands, took fast hold of the Gospel, hold it fast, neither drop it through negligence and carelessness, nor suffer it to be taken from thee by fraud or force;

keep her, for she [is] thy life; which may be understood either of the Gospel, Wisdom's instruction, which should be kept as a rich treasure, and not parted with at any rate; since it is the means of quickening dead sinners; of showing sensible ones the way of life by Christ; of producing faith in them, by which they live upon him; and of maintaining and supporting the spiritual life in them, and of reviving and comforting them under the most drooping and afflictive circumstances; a man would as soon part with his life surely as part with this! Or else, seeing the feminine gender is here used, which does not agree with the word translated "instruction", but with "wisdom", mentioned Proverbs 4:11; so Aben Ezra; therefore Christ may be here meant, who is to be kept as the pearl of great price, being more precious than rubies and all desirable things, and especially since he is the "life" of his people: he is the author and maintainer of their spiritual life; he is their life itself, it is hid with him; and because he lives, they live also: all the comforts and supplies of life are from him, and he is their eternal life; it is given through him and by him, and ties greatly in the enjoyment of him.

x אל תרף "ne remittas", Tigurine version, Mercerus, Gejerus, Michaelis.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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; Psalms 15:1-5; Psalms 24:1-10; Psalms 37:0.

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 runnest”) there is no risk of falling.

Proverbs 4:13

She is thy life - Another parallel between personified Wisdom in this book and the Incarnate Wisdom in John 1:4.

Proverbs 4:16

A fearful stage of debasement. Sin is the condition without which there can be no repose.

Proverbs 4:17

i. e., Bread and wine gained by unjust deeds. Compare Amos 2:8. A less probable interpretation is, “They eat wickedness as bread, and drink violence as wine.” Compare Job 15:16; Job 34:7.

Proverbs 4:18

Shining ... shineth - The two Hebrew words are different; the first having the sense of bright or clear. The beauty of a cloudless sunshine growing on, shining as it goes, to the full and perfect day, is chosen as the fittest figure of the ever increasing brightness of the good man’s life. Compare the marginal reference.

Proverbs 4:19

Compare our Lord’s teaching John 11:10; John 12:35.

Proverbs 4:20

The teacher speaks again in his own person.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 4:13. Take fast hold — החזק hachazek, seize it strongly, and keep the hold; and do this as for life. Learn all thou canst, retain what thou hast learnt, and keep the reason continually in view - it is for thy life.


 
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