For I, too, was once my father’s son, tenderly loved as my mother’s only child.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I was a son to my father, tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.
- KJV For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved 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,
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 22:5David said, “Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for Yahweh must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David prepared abundantly before his death.
- 1 Chr 29:1David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Yahweh God.
- Rom 12:16Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits.
- 2 Sam 12:24–25David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Yahweh loved him;
- Zech 12:10I will pour on David’s house, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they will look to me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for his only son, and will grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for his firstborn.
- 1 Kgs 1:13–17Go in to king David, and tell him, ‘Didn’t you, my lord, king, swear to your servant, saying, “Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?” Why then does Adonijah reign?’
- Jer 10:23Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
- 1 Chr 3:5and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, 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.