Proverbs 4:11
in Proverbs 4I will guide you in the way of wisdom; I will lead you on straight paths.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in paths of uprightness.
KJV
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.
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This verse in Proverbs 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThere is only one way of truth, but different paths from different places join it, just like tributaries flowing into a perennial river. So these are really inspired words: "Hear, my son, and accept my words, to have many paths of life. I am teaching you the ways of wisdom, so that its springs may never fail you"—that is, those which spurt from the same soil. He is not merely affirming that there is more than one path of salvation for a single righteous person. He adds that there are plenty of righteous people and plenty of routes for them.
This site's exposition
the years of your life will be many
on Proverbs 4:10-13
The father turns from wisdom's rewards to wisdom's road, promising that “your steps will not be impeded”. Instruction is to be gripped and kept, because “it is your life,” language stronger than the “love her” of 4:6. The unhindered path pictures a life ordered by wisdom.
This site's exposition
I will lead you on straight paths
The Hebrew puts both verbs in the past, taught and led, so the son is reminded of lessons already given. The way of wisdom is one road, and many straight paths run into it. Verse 12 promises room to run.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
I will lead you in the paths of equity, etc. Paths, that is, actions of equity, while they begin, seem narrow and strait; but when they take progress, already by habit they seem spacious and broad, as the Psalmist testifies, who when he began told …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
"Venture not into the company of those that are infected with the plague, no, not though thou think thyself guarded with an antidote." 2. If at any time we are inveigled into an evil way, we must hasten out of it. "If, ere thou wast aware, thou didst enter in at the gate, because it was wide, go not on in the way of evil men.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom,....
(1.) By way of precept and exhortation. David, in teaching his son, though he was a child of great capacity and quick apprehension, yet to show that he was in good earnest, and to affect his child the more with what he said, expressed himself with great warmth and importunity, and inculcated the same thing again and again.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
When you walk, your step will not be straightened One who does not spread out his legs is likely to fall.
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. 6 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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּדֶ֣רֶךְ | bederekh | <in> [the] way of | H1870 → | 707 times |
| חָ֭כְמָה | chokhmah | wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| הֹרֵתִ֑יךָ | horetikha | I taught you | H3384 → | 80 times |
| הִ֝דְרַכְתִּ֗יךָ | hidrakhtikha | I led you | H1869 → | |
| בְּמַעְגְּלֵי־ | bema'gelei- | in tracks of | H4570 → | 16 times |
| יֹֽשֶׁר׃ | yosher | uprightness | H3476 → | 14 times |
בְּדֶ֣רֶךְ<in> [the] way of
bederekhH1870 →707 times
חָ֭כְמָהwisdom
chokhmahH2451 →153 times
הֹרֵתִ֑יךָI taught you
horetikhaH3384 →80 times
הִ֝דְרַכְתִּ֗יךָI led you
hidrakhtikhaH1869 →
בְּמַעְגְּלֵי־in tracks of
bema'gelei-H4570 →16 times
יֹֽשֶׁר׃uprightness
yosherH3476 →14 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
Psalms 23:3He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
it leads to
- Isaiah 42:16
I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These…
- Psalms 31:3
For You are my rock and my fortress; lead me and guide me for the sake of Your name.
- Psalms 19:7
The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
- Psalms 51:10
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
- Psalms 143:8–10
Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.
- Isaiah 42:16
Through
Proverbs 8:9They are all plain to the discerning, and upright to those who find knowledge.
it leads to
- Proverbs 14:6
A mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
- 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 14:6
Through
Proverbs 8:6Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.
it leads to
- Matthew 7:28–29
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching,
- Matthew 7:28–29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.