The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
Parallel translations
- WEB The teaching of the wise is a spring of life, to turn from the snares of death.
- BSB The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one from the snares of death.
- NKJV The law of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.
- NASB The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn aside from the snares of death.
- NLT The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The teaching of the wise is a life-giving spring that steers people from deadly traps. Wisdom rescues from destruction.
Overview
Wise instruction is pictured as a 'spring of life,' refreshing and sustaining, and as a guide that turns one away from 'the snares of death.' The same imagery is applied to the fear of the LORD elsewhere in Proverbs, linking wisdom to reverence for God. Ultimately Christ's words are 'spirit and life' (John 6:63) and lead from death to life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 10:11The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
- Prov 14:27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
- Ps 18:5The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
- 2 Sam 22:6–7The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
- Prov 16:17The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
- Ps 116:3The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
- Prov 16:6By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
- Prov 9:11For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
- Prov 15:24The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.
- Prov 16:22Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 13:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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