For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I was a son to my father, tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.
- BSB When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,
- NKJV When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
- NASB When I was a son to my father, Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,
- NLT For I, too, was once my father’s son, tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.
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 father recalls being himself a beloved, only child, taught by his own father. The wisdom he gives is wisdom he first received.
Overview
The teacher grounds his authority in his own experience as a cherished son who was lovingly instructed. This shows wisdom as a living tradition, lovingly handed from parent to child across generations. It models the covenant faithfulness that passes the knowledge of God down the line of believers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Chr 22:5And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
- 1 Chr 29:1Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.
- Rom 12:16Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
- 2 Sam 12:24–25And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.
- Zech 12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
- 1 Kgs 1:13–17Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign?
- Jer 10:23O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
- 1 Chr 3:5And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel:
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 4:3 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.