Proverbs 5:2
in Proverbs 5that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That thou mayest preserve discretion, And that thy lips may keep knowledge.
KJV
That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
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This verse in Proverbs 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThat thou mayest regard discretion,.... Observe it; retain it in thine heart, as Aben Ezra adds, and use it; think, speak, and act discreetly, and so avoid the bad woman afterwards described: the Vulgate Latin version is, "that thou mayest keep the thoughts"; and so Gersom interprets the word; "good thoughts", according to the Septuagint version; the thoughts of the heart are to be observed.
This site's exposition
pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight
on Proverbs 5:1-6
The son is told to “maintain discretion” before the warning names its subject, because the danger of “the forbidden woman” begins with pleasant speech. Her end reverses her opening, “bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword,” a taste that shows only after the sweet one has worked.
This site's exposition
that you may maintain discretion
Discretion is mezimmah again, as at 2:11. John Gill notes that the Vulgate reads keep the thoughts, and the Septuagint good thoughts. Lips that preserve knowledge stand against the lips of the forbidden woman in verse 3.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
That you may guard your thoughts, etc. Thoughts, by which you rightly believe; lips, by which you profess the faith itself in simple words, and usual, as well as ecclesiastical ones. But, according to the letter: He who adheres to a harlot defiles even his …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Solomon here, as a faithful watchman, gives fair warning to all, as they regard their lives and comforts, to dread this sin, for it will certainly be their ruin. Two things we are here warned to take heed of:-- 1. That we do not listen to the charms of this sin.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And that thy lips may keep - literally, “and thy lips shall keep.”
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לִשְׁמֹ֥ר | lishmor | to preserve | H8104 → | 468 times |
| מְזִמּ֑וֹת | mezimot | discretion | H4209 → | 19 times |
| וְ֝דַ֗עַת | vedaat | and knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
| שְׂפָתֶ֥יךָ | sefateikha | lips your | H8193 → | 176 times |
| יִנְצֹֽרוּ׃ | yintzoru | they will observe | H5341 → | 63 times |
לִשְׁמֹ֥רto preserve
lishmorH8104 →468 times
מְזִמּ֑וֹתdiscretion
mezimotH4209 →19 times
וְ֝דַ֗עַתand knowledge
vedaatH1847 →92 times
שְׂפָתֶ֥יךָlips your
sefateikhaH8193 →176 times
יִנְצֹֽרוּ׃they will observe
yintzoruH5341 →63 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 119:13With my lips I proclaim all the judgments of Your mouth.
it leads to
- Psalms 71:15–18
My mouth will declare Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long, though I cannot know their full measure.
- Psalms 40:9–10
I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.
- Psalms 37:30
The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
- Psalms 34:11
Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
- Psalms 118:17
I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
- Psalms 71:15–18
Through
Proverbs 16:23The heart of the wise man instructs his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:28
The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil.
- Matthew 12:34–35
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Proverbs 15:28
Through
Proverbs 15:7The lips of the wise spread knowledge, but not so the hearts of fools.
it leads to
- Matthew 12:34
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Matthew 12:34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.