Proverbs 4:11 - Exposition

The perfects, I have taught and I have led, in the original seem to have here the absolute signification of the past. The father recalls the instruction which he has given in times past. So Delitzsch. But Gejerus gives them the combined force of the past and future, "I have taught and I will more fully teach," and so with the other verb. The Vulgate renders, monstrabo, "I will show," and ducam, " I will lead." In the way of wisdom ( b'derek khok'mah ) may mean "in the way that leads to, or by which you come to Wisdom; I have taught you the manner in which Wisdom may be attained;" or "the way in which Wisdom walks" (Zockler). The ways of Wisdom are described in Proverbs 3:17 as " ways of pleasantness." The next clause seems to indicate that the latter explanation is to be preferred. The ( be ) indicates the subject in which instruction has been given. In right paths ( b'ma'g'le yosher ); literally, in the paths of rectitude ; i.e. of straightness, paths of which the characteristic is uprightness. (On "paths," as signifying a carriageway, see Proverbs 2:9 .) Instruction and direction have formed the two elements in the father's teaching. These present us with a model of education. "To teach duty without truth is to teach practice without motive ; to teach truth without duty is to teach motive without the practice to which it should lead" (Wardlaw).