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Read the Bible
New King James Version
Proverbs 1:4
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced,knowledge and discretion to a young man—
To give prudence to the simple, Knowledge and discretion to the young man:
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth—
They make the uneducated wise and give knowledge and sense to the young.
To impart shrewdness to the morally naive, and a discerning plan to the young person.
That prudence (good judgment, astute common sense) may be given to the naive or inexperienced [who are easily misled], And knowledge and discretion (intelligent discernment) to the youth,
To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,
To give prudence to the simple, Knowledge and discretion to the young man:
To giue vnto the simple, sharpenesse of wit, and to the childe knowledge and discretion.
To give prudence to the simple,To the youth knowledge and discretion;
to impart prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young,
From these, an ordinary person can learn to be smart, and young people can gain knowledge and good sense.
for endowing with caution those who don't think and the young person with knowledge and discretion.
to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
These proverbs will make even those without education smart. They will teach young people what they need to know and how to use what they have learned.
To give subtlety to the simple, to the young men knowledge and discretion.
They can make an inexperienced person clever and teach young people how to be resourceful.
to give shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and purpose to the young,
to give sense to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man.
That the very babes might haue wyt, and that yonge men might haue knowlege and vnderstondinge.
To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:
To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose:
To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion;
To giue subtiltie to the simple, to the yong man knowledge and discretion.
To geue wyt vnto the simple, and that the young men myght haue knowledge and vnderstandyng.
that he might give subtlety to the simple, and to the young man discernment and understanding.
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion:
that felnesse be youun to litle children, and kunnyng, and vndurstonding to a yong wexynge man.
To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion:
To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young.
They give wisdom to the child-like, and much learning and wisdom to those who are young.
to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young—
For giving To the simple shrewdness, To the young man, knowledge and discretion.
To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding.
that prudence may be given to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth--
For giving to simple ones -- prudence, To a youth -- knowledge and discretion.
To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge and discretion,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
subtlety: Proverbs 1:22, Proverbs 1:23, Proverbs 8:5, Proverbs 9:4-6, Psalms 19:7, Psalms 119:130, Isaiah 35:8
to the: Proverbs 7:7-24, Proverbs 8:17, Proverbs 8:32, Psalms 34:11, Psalms 119:9, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Ecclesiastes 11:10, Ecclesiastes 12:1, 2 Timothy 2:22, Titus 2:6
discretion: or, advisement
Reciprocal: Jeremiah 3:4 - the guide
Cross-References
And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.
Truly the light is sweet, And it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun;
Gill's Notes on the Bible
To give subtlety to the simple,.... Men of mean abilities, weak capacities, shallow understandings, incautious, credulous, and easily imposed upon: these, by attending to what is herein contained, may arrive to a serpentine subtlety; though they are simple and harmless as doves, may become as wise as serpents; may attain to an exquisite knowledge of divine things and know even more than the wise and sage philosophers among the Gentiles, or any of the Rabbins and masters of Israel; or any of the princes of this world, whose wisdom comes to nought; and become very cautious and circumspect how they are drawn aside by the old serpent the devil, or by such who lie in wait to deceive; and perform their duty both to God and man;
to the young man knowledge and discretion; or "thought" i; who wants both: this book will teach him the knowledge of things moral, civil, and religious: to think and act aright; how to behave and conduct himself wisely and discreetly before men; and be a means of forming his mind betimes for piety and religion; and of furnishing him with rules for his deportment in future life, in all the periods of it; and in whatsoever state and condition he may come into. A "young man [may] cleanse his way", Psalms 119:9, reform his manners, behave with purity and uprightness, by taking "heed" to the things herein contained.
i ×××× "cogitationem", Pagninus, Mercerus; "bonam cogitationem", Michaelis.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
This verse points out the two classes for which the book will be useful:
(1) the âsimple,â literally the âopen,â the open-hearted, the minds ready to receive impressions for good or evil Proverbs 1:22; and
(2) the âyoung,â who need both knowledge and discipline.
To these the teacher offers the âsubtilty,â which may turn to evil Exodus 21:14 and become as the wisdom of the serpent Genesis 3:1, but which also takes its place, as that wisdom does, among the highest moral gifts Matthew 10:16; the âknowledgeâ of good and evil; and the âdiscretion,â or discernment, which sets a man on his guard, and keeps him from being duped by false advisers. The Septuagint renderings, ÏÎ±Î½Î¿Ï ÏγιÌα panourgia for âsubtilty,â αιÌÌÏθηÏÎ¹Ï aistheÌsis for âknowledge,â εÌÌννοια ennoia for âdiscretion,â are interesting as showing the endeavor to find exact parallels for the Hebrew in the terminology of Greek ethics.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Proverbs 1:4. To give subtilty to the simple — The word simple, from simplex, compounded of sine, without, and plica, a fold, properly signifies plain and honest, one that has no by-ends in view, who is what he appears to be; and is opposed to complex, from complico, to fold together, to make one rope or cord out of many strands; but because honesty and plaindealing are so rare in the world, and none but the truly religious man will practice them, farther than the fear of the law obliges him, hence simple has sunk into a state of progressive deterioration. At first, it signified, as above, without fold, unmixed, uncompounded: this was its radical meaning. Then, as applied to men, it signified innocent, harmless, without disguise; but, as such persons were rather an unfashionable sort of people, it sunk in its meaning to homely, homespun, mean, ordinary. And, as worldly men, who were seeking their portion in this life, and had little to do with religion, supposed that wisdom, wit, and understanding, were given to men that they might make the best of them in reference to the things of this life, the word sunk still lower in its meaning, and signified silly, foolish; and there, to the dishonour of our language and morals, it stands! I have taken those acceptations which I have marked in Italics out of the first dictionary that came to hand - Martin's; but if I had gone to Johnson, I might have added to SILLY, not wise, not cunning. Simplicity, that meant at first, as MARTIN defines it, openness, plaindealing, downright honesty, is now degraded to weakness, silliness, foolishness. And these terms will continue thus degraded, till downright honesty and plaindealing get again into vogue. There are two Hebrew words generally supposed to come from the same root, which in our common version are rendered the simple, פת××× pethaim, and פת×× or פת××× pethayim; the former comes from ×¤×ª× patha, to be rash, hasty; the latter, from ×¤×ª× pathah, to draw aside, seduce, entice. It is the first of these words which is used here, and may be applied to youth; the inconsiderate, the unwary, who, for want of knowledge and experience, act precipitately. Hence the Vulgate renders it parvulis, little ones, young children, or little children, as my old MS.; or very babes, as Coverdale. The Septuagint renders it ακακοιÏ, those that are without evil; and the versions in general understand it of those who are young, giddy, and inexperienced.
To the young man — × ×¢×¨ naar is frequently used to signify such as are in the state of adolescence, grown up boys, very well translated in my old MS. yunge fulwaxen; what we would now call the grown up lads. These, as being giddy and inexperienced, stand in especial need of lessons of wisdom and discretion. The Hebrew for discretion, ×××× mezimmah, is taken both in a good and bad sense, as ×× zam, its root, signifies to devise or imagine; for the device may be either mischief, or the contrivance of some good purpose.
