Proverbs 3:2
in Proverbs 3for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For length of days, and years of life, And peace, will they add to thee.
KJV
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
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This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor length of days, and long life,.... Or, "years of life", or "lives" (f); a long life of usefulness and comfort here, and eternal life hereafter: the law of Moses promised a long life to the observers of it; but the Gospel of Christ brings an immortal life to light and promises to all believers in him that they shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.
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.
This site's exposition
years and peace to your life
Adam Clarke counts three blessings in the verse: length of days, years of life and shalom, which he reads as health, long life and abundance. The fifth commandment at Exodus 20:12 attaches the same long days to honoring parents. The son's obedience is that honor.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
For length of days, and years of life, etc. Lest the imposition of observing precepts should disturb the listener, he prefaces with certain rewards, and so enumerates the precepts. For by the length of days, he signifies eternal light; by the years of life, the …
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
As grace increases, peace shall increase; and of the increase of Christ's government and peace, in the heart as well as in the world, there shall be no end. Great and growing peace have those that love the law. We must have a continual regard to God's promises, which go along with his precepts, and are to be received, and retained, with them (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
For length of days - Three eminent blessings are promised here: 1. ארך ימים orech yamim, long days; 2. שנות חיים shenoth chaiyim, years of lives; 3. שלום shalom, prosperity; i.e. health, long life, and abundance.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Three words carry on the chain of blessings: (1) “Length of days” (see the Psa 91:16 note); (2) “Years of life,” i. e., of a life worth living (compare Psa 30:5; Psa 42:8); (3) “Peace,” tranquility inward and outward, the serenity of life continuing through old age until death. Compare 1Ti 4:8.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֹ֣רֶךְ | ʾorekh | length of | H753 → | 95 times |
| יָ֭מִים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וּשְׁנ֣וֹת | ushenot | and years of | H8141 → | 877 times |
| חַיִּ֑ים | chaiyim | life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| וְ֝שָׁל֗וֹם | veshalom | and peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| יוֹסִ֥יפוּ | yosifu | they will add | H3254 → | 212 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | to you |
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֹ֣רֶךְlength of
ʾorekhH753 →95 times
יָ֭מִיםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
וּשְׁנ֣וֹתand years of
ushenotH8141 →877 times
חַיִּ֑יםlife
chaiyimH2416 →498 times
וְ֝שָׁל֗וֹםand peace
veshalomH7965 →236 times
יוֹסִ֥יפוּthey will add
yosifuH3254 →212 times
לָֽךְ׃to you
lakh
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
Psalms 91:16With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:16
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 21:4
He asked You for life, and You granted it— length of days, forever and ever.
- Psalms 50:23
He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”
- Isaiah 65:20–22
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails…
- Proverbs 3:16
Through
Proverbs 9:11For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:2
so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 10:27
The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be cut short.
- Deuteronomy 6:2
Through
Psalms 128:6that you may see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
it leads to
- Job 42:16
After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.
- Genesis 50:23
He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.
- Job 42:16
Where this verse is studied
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.