Pro 4:20-27 | Clarke

Proverbs 4:20-27

Verse 21

Keep them in the midst of thine heart - Let them be wrapped up in the very center of thy affections; that they may give spring and energy to every desire, word, and wish. Verse 23

Keep thy heart with all diligence - "Above all keeping," guard thy heart. He who knows any thing of himself, knows how apt his affections are to go astray.

For out of it are the issues of life - תוצאות חיים totseoth chaiyim, "the goings out of lives." Is not this a plain allusion to the arteries which carry the blood from the heart through the whole body, and to the utmost extremities? As long as the heart is capable of receiving and propelling the blood, so long life is continued. Now as the heart is the fountain whence all the streams of life proceed, care must be taken that the fountain be not stopped up nor injured. A double watch for its safety must be kept up. So in spiritual things: the heart is the seat of the Lord of life and glory; and the streams of spiritual life proceed from him to all the powers and faculties of the soul. Watch with all diligence, that this fountain be not sealed up, nor these streams of life be cut off. Therefore "put away from thee a froward mouth and perverse lips - and let thy eyes look straight on." Or, in other words, look inwardlook onward - look upward.

I know that the twenty-third verse is understood as principally referring to the evils which proceed from the heart, and which must be guarded against; and the good purposes that must be formed in it, from which life takes its colouring. The former should be opposed; the latter should be encouraged and strengthened. If the heart be pure and holy, all its purposes will be just and good. If it be impure and defiled, nothing will proceed from it but abomination. But though all this be true, I have preferred following what I believe to be the metaphor in the text. Verse 24

A froward mouth - Beware of hastiness, anger, and rash speeches.

And perverse lips - Do not delight in nor acquire the habit of contradicting and gainsaying; and beware of calumniating and backbiting your neighbor. Verse 26

Ponder the path of thy feet - Weigh well the part thou shouldst act in life. See that thou contract no bad habits. Verse 27

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left - Avoid all crooked ways. Be an upright, downright, and straight-forward man. Avoid tricks, wiles, and deceptions of this kind.

To this the Septuagint and Vulgate add the following verse: Αυτος δε ορθας ποιησει τας τροχιας σου, τας δε πορειας σου εν ειρηνη προαξει. Ipse autem rectos faciet cursus tuos; itinera autem tua in pace producet. "For himself will make thy paths straight and thy journeyings will he conduct in prosperity." The Arabic has also a clause to the same effect. But nothing like this is found in the Hebrew, Chaldee, or Syriac; nor in the Vulgate, as printed in the Complutensian Polyglot; nor in that of Antwerp or of Paris; but it is in the Greek text of those editions, in the editio princeps of the Vulgate, in five of my own MSS., and in the old MS. Bible. De Lyra rejects the clause as a gloss that stands on no authority. If an addition, it is certainly very ancient; and the promise it contains is true whether the clause be authentic or not.