Proverbs 3:1
in Proverbs 3My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My son, forget not my law; But let thy heart keep my commandments:
KJV
My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
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This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseMy law - The law of God, which might be called his law, as the gospel is called Paul's gospel, 2Tim ii, 8, because delivered by him.
This site's exposition
My son, do not forget my teaching
on Proverbs 3:1-4
“My son, do not forget my teaching” opens the section's standing address. “Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you” pairs two words joined across the Old Testament, worn like jewelry at the neck. The command to “write them on the tablet of your heart” moves from ornament to inscription.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
What of this fact, that God in so many passages commands that all his precepts be kept and carried out? How can he command if there is no free choice? And what of that "blessed man" about whom the psalmist says that "his will has been according to the law of the Lord"? Does he not make it perfectly clear that it is by the will that a man takes his stand on the side of God's law? Finally, there are many commandments that in one way or another refer by name to the will. For example, "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." And there are similar passages, such as, "Do not become like the horse and the mule, who have no understanding"; and, "Do not cast off the counsels of your mother"; and, "Be not wise in your own conceit"; and, "Do not fall away from the correction of the Lord"; and, "Neglect not the law"; and, "Do not refrain from helping the needy"; and, "Plan no evil against your friends"; and, "Mind not the deceit of a woman"; and, "He would not understand that he might do well"; and, "They were unwilling to take correction." What do such numerous passages from the books of the Old Testament show, except that a person's will is possessed of free choice?
Those who forget the law are the ones who violate it; yet those who remember the law are the ones who live in accordance with the law. Likewise, those who observe the sayings of God are those who keep them, and those who destroy them …
The Medieval Church1 voice
My son, do not forget my law, etc. Here he teaches that works of mercy should be insisted upon, and that we should not trust in our own strength, but seek help from God. And he arranges all these things in a suitable order; for, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(4.) Our wills and affections must be subject to them and must in every thing conform to them. Not only our heads, but our hearts, must keep God's commandments; in them, as in the ark of the testimony, both the tables of the law must be deposited. To encourage us to submit ourselves to all the restraints and injunctions of the divine law, we are assured (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
My son, forget not my law,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
My son - The preceptor continues to deliver his lessons. Forget not my law - Remember what thou hast heard, and practice what thou dost remember; and let all obedience be from the heart: “Let thy heart keep my commandments.”
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּ֭נִי | beni | O son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| תּוֹרָתִ֣י | torati | instruction my | H8451 → | 219 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּשְׁכָּ֑ח | tishkach | you forget | H7911 → | 102 times |
| וּ֝מִצְוֹתַ֗י | umitzvotai | and commandments my | H4687 → | 181 times |
| יִצֹּ֥ר | yitzor | let it keep | H5341 → | 63 times |
| לִבֶּֽךָ׃ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
בְּ֭נִיO son my
beniH1121 →4930 times
תּוֹרָתִ֣יinstruction my
toratiH8451 →219 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּשְׁכָּ֑חyou forget
tishkachH7911 →102 times
וּ֝מִצְוֹתַ֗יand commandments my
umitzvotaiH4687 →181 times
יִצֹּ֥רlet it keep
yitzorH5341 →63 times
לִבֶּֽךָ׃heart your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 4:5Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
it leads to
- James 1:5
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- Proverbs 3:13–18
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,
- Proverbs 1:22–23
“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
- 2 Chronicles 34:2
And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
- Psalms 44:18
Our hearts have not turned back; our steps have not strayed from Your path.
- James 1:5
Through
Proverbs 1:8Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
it leads to
- Proverbs 6:20
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
- Proverbs 30:17
As for the eye that mocks a father and scorns obedience to a mother, may the ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures devour it.
- Proverbs 6:20
Through
Psalms 119:16I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
it leads to
- Psalms 119:24
Your testimonies are indeed my delight; they are my counselors.
- Psalms 119:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, ON GRACE AND FREE WILL 2:4; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON PROVERBS 27:3.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.