Avoid it - Let it be the serious purpose of thy soul to shun every appearance of evil.
Pass not by it - Never, for the sake of worldly gain, or through complaisance to others, approach the way that thou wouldst not wish to be found in when God calls thee into the eternal world.
Turn from it - If, through unwatchfulness or unfaithfulness, thou at any time get near or into the way of sin, turn from it with the utmost speed, and humble thyself before thy Maker.
And pass away - Speed from it, run for thy life, and get to the utmost distance; eternally diverging so as never to come near it whilst thou hast a being.
The counsel which has come to him, in substance, from his father. Compare it with 2 Samuel 23:2 etc.; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Chronicles 29:17; Psalm 15:1-5; Psalm 24:1-10; Proverbs 4:7
Or, “The beginning of wisdom is - get wisdom.” To seek is to find, to desire is to obtain.
Proverbs 4:12
The ever-recurring parable of the journey of life. In the way of wisdom the path is clear and open, obstacles disappear; in the quickest activity (“when thou runnest”) there is no risk of falling.
Proverbs 4:13
She is thy life - Another parallel between personified Wisdom in this book and the Incarnate Wisdom in John 1:4.
Proverbs 4:16
A fearful stage of debasement. Sin is the condition without which there can be no repose.
Proverbs 4:17
i. e., Bread and wine gained by unjust deeds. Compare Amos 2:8. A less probable interpretation is, “They eat wickedness as bread, and drink violence as wine.” Compare Job 15:16; Job 34:7.
Proverbs 4:18
Shining shineth - The two Hebrew words are different; the first having the sense of bright or clear. The beauty of a cloudless sunshine growing on, shining as it goes, to the full and perfect day, is chosen as the fittest figure of the ever increasing brightness of the good man‘s life. Compare the marginal reference.
Proverbs 4:19
Compare our Lord‘s teaching John 11:10; John 12:35.
Proverbs 4:20
The teacher speaks again in his own person.