Proverbs 2:1
in Proverbs 2My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My son, if thou wilt receive my words, And lay up my commandments with thee;
KJV
My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
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This verse in Proverbs 2
Commentary
7 notes on this verseWisdom is open to all and loves humankind. Anyway, Solomon says, "My son, if you accept my words of instruction and keep them deep within you, your ear will listen to wisdom." This means that the word is sown and kept deep in the soul of the learner as if in the ground. This is spiritual growth.So he adds, "You shall direct your heart to understanding and direct it towards instruction for your son."
This site's exposition
My son, if you accept my words
on Proverbs 2:1-4
In the Hebrew the whole chapter is one long conditional sentence, a single sweep from if to then. The line “if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure” borrows from mining, the digging that fills Job 28's picture.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
My son, if you accept my words, etc. He who stores up God's commandments within himself is he who, listening, carefully hides them in his heart, as the one who says: I have hidden your words in my heart, so that I might not sin …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
My son,....
Many wise things may be found in human compositions, but divine revelation, and true religion built upon it, are all wisdom. (2.) We must, accordingly, receive the word of God with all readiness of mind, and bid it welcome, even the commandments as well as the promises, without murmuring or disputing.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Now in the divine order comes the promise Pro 2:5. The conditions of its fulfillment are stated in Pro 2:1-4 in four sets of parallel clauses, each with some shade of distinct meaning. Thus, not “receiving” only, but “hiding” or treasuring up - not the “ear” only, but the “heart” - not the mere “cry,” but the eager “lifting up the voice.”
My son - Here the tutor still continues to instruct his disciple. Hide my commandments with theel Treasure them up in thy heart, and then act from them through the medium of thy affections. He who has the rule of his duty only in his Bible and in his head, is not likely to be a steady, consistent character; his heart is not engaged, and his obedience, in any case, can be only forced, or done from a sense of duty: it is not the obedience of a loving, dutiful child, to an affectionate father. But he who has the word of God in his heart, works from his heart; his heart goes with him in all things, and he delights to do the will of his heavenly Father, because his law is in his heart. See Pro 3:3.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
My son, if you accept my words You will be my son if you accept my words.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תִּקַּ֣ח | tikach | you will receive | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֲמָרָ֑י | ʾamarai | words my | H561 → | 49 times |
| וּ֝מִצְוֹתַ֗י | umitzvotai | and commandments my | H4687 → | 181 times |
| תִּצְפֹּ֥ן | titzpon | you will treasure | H6845 → | 32 times |
| אִתָּֽךְ׃ | ʾitakh | with you | H854 → | 929 times |
בְּ֭נִיO son my
beniH1121 →4930 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
תִּקַּ֣חyou will receive
tikachH3947 →966 times
אֲמָרָ֑יwords my
ʾamaraiH561 →49 times
וּ֝מִצְוֹתַ֗יand commandments my
umitzvotaiH4687 →181 times
תִּצְפֹּ֥ןyou will treasure
titzponH6845 →32 times
אִתָּֽךְ׃with you
ʾitakhH854 →929 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 3:1My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:8
Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- John 14:21–24
Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
- Proverbs 4:5
Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
- Deuteronomy 6:6–9
These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
- Psalms 119:16
I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
- Proverbs 1:8
Through
Proverbs 1:3and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.
it leads to
- Proverbs 2:1–9
My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
- Job 22:22
Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.
- Proverbs 2:1–9
Through
Proverbs 4:1Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
it leads to
- Hebrews 2:1
We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- Hebrews 2:1
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 1; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.