Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
Parallel translations
- WEB Listen, sons, to a father’s instruction. Pay attention and know understanding;
- BSB Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
- NKJV Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding;
- NASB Listen, my sons, to the instruction of a father, And pay attention so that you may gain understanding,
- NLT My children, listen when your father corrects you. Pay attention and learn good judgment,
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
A father calls his children to hear his instruction and gain understanding. Wisdom is handed down and must be actively received.
Overview
Chapter 4 opens a new appeal in which the teacher addresses his 'sons' and urges attentive listening. Wisdom is presented as a heritage passed from one generation to the next, requiring deliberate attention. This honors the biblical pattern of godly instruction within families (Deut 6:6-7; Eph 6:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Heb 2:1Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
- Ps 34:11Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
- Prov 1:8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
- Prov 2:1–5My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
- 1 Th 2:11–12As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children,
- Prov 5:1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
- Prov 7:4Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
- Prov 19:20Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.
- Prov 22:17Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
- Prov 6:20–23My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
- Prov 8:32–36Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 4:1 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.