Proverbs 4

Discourse 4. Addressed To ‘Sons’. Wisdom And Understanding Are To Be Sought And Cherished, For They Produce Spiritual Beauty, and Lead Those Who Respond Unto The Perfect Day (Proverbs 4:1-19 ).

In chapters 1-3 we discerned a threefold pattern on which the discourses were based. This pattern commenced with an exhortation to hear and ended with a contrast between the fates of the upright and the wicked, and contained three parts. We might look for the same here. However, from this point on we have more of a problem in determining the content of each discourse as the pattern is not so clear. Thus some here see Proverbs 4:1-9 as a separate discourse in itself. However one clue might be found in the opening words in Proverbs 4:1; Proverbs 4:10 where we have the opening injunction to ‘hear’ (with ‘attend to’ following as a parallel). This is in contrast with Proverbs 4:20 and Proverbs 5:1 where we have the opening words ‘attend to --’ (with ‘incline your ear’ following as a parallel). This suggests that the dividing line between discourses comes at Proverbs 4:19, something which might then be seen as confirmed by the fact that Proverbs 4:17-19 gives us a contrast between the fate of the wicked and the fate of the righteous, paralleling final contrasts in previous discourses (Proverbs 1:32-33; Proverbs 2:21-22 and Proverbs 3:33-35). If this be accepted then this present discourse may be seen as Proverbs 4:1-19. Again it may be seen as dividing into three subsections, namely:

1) A general appeal to ‘sons’ (Proverbs 4:1-2).

2) An autobiographical reminiscence of what his father taught him as ‘a son’ (Proverbs 4:3-9).

3) A call to ‘my son’ to follow the paths of uprightness with its advantages rather than the path of the wicked in its darkness (Proverbs 4:10-19).

This discourse, therefore, follows the pattern of the previous three discourses, commencing with an appeal to hear his words (Proverbs 4:1-2; compare Proverbs 1:8-9; Proverbs 2:1-11; Proverbs 3:1-10), followed by an autobiographical reminiscence of how his father taught him and appealed to him in the same way (Proverbs 4:3-9), followed by the call to follow the paths of uprightness rather than the path of the wicked.