Proverbs 3 · Verse 21

Proverbs 3:21

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:
Proverbs 3:21, King James Version

Proverbs 3:21 in other translations

BSBMy son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment.
WEBMy son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion,
ASVMy son, let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep sound wisdom and discretion:
YLTMy son! let them not turn from thine eyes, Keep thou wisdom and thoughtfulness,
DARBYMy son, let them not depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion:
BBEMy son, keep good sense, and do not let wise purpose go from your eyes.
WebsterMy son, let not them depart from thy eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

What does Proverbs 3:21 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. sound wisdom--(compare Pr 2:7). let ... eyes--that is, these words of instruction.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 21 Let not them depart from thine eyes - Never forget that God, who is the author of nature, directs and governs it in all things; for it is no self-determining agent. Keep sound wisdom and discretion - תושיה ומזמה tushiyah umezimmah. We have met with both these words before. Tushiyah is the essence or substance of a thing; mezimmah is the resolution or purpose formed in reference to something good or excellent. To acknowledge God as the author of all good, is the tushiyah, the essence, of a godly man's creed; to resolve to act according to the directions of his wisdom, is the mezimmah, the religious purpose, that will bring good to ourselves and glory to God. These bring life to the soul, and are ornamental to the man who acts in this way, Pro 3:22.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 3:21-26
Let us not suffer Christ's words to depart from us, but keep sound wisdom and discretion; then shall we walk safely in his ways. The natural life, and all that belongs to it, shall be under the protection of God's providence; the spiritual life, and all its interests, under the protection of his grace, so that we shall be kept from falling into sin or trouble.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 3:21 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

בְּ֭נִיBe.niO son myH1121
אַל\־'al-may notH408
יָלֻ֣זוּya.Lu.zuthey departH3868
מֵעֵינֶ֑יךָme.'ei.Nei.khafrom eyes yourH5869
נְצֹ֥רne.TzorkeepH5341
תֻּ֝שִׁיָּ֗הtu.shi.Yahsound wisdomH8454
וּמְזִמָּֽה\׃u.me.zi.Mahand discretionH4209

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 3:21

  • Joshua 1:8

    This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

  • Deuteronomy 6:6-9

    And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

  • Deuteronomy 32:46-47

    And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

  • Proverbs 4:21

    Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

  • Hebrews 2:1-3

    Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

  • Deuteronomy 4:9

    Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

  • John 8:31

    Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

  • 1 John 2:27

    But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

  • Proverbs 3:1-3

    My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

  • 1 John 2:24

    Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

  • John 15:6-7

    If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

  • Proverbs 2:7

    He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
let.
1-3; De 4:9; 6:6-9; Jos 1:8; Joh 8:31; 15:6,7; Heb 2:1-3
1Jo 2:24,27
keep.
2:7; De 32:46,47

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 3:20

    By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

  • Proverbs 3:21

    My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

  • Proverbs 3:22

    So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Read all of Proverbs 3

Proverbs 3:21 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Hijo mío, no se aparten estas cosas de tus ojos; guarda la ley y el consejo;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Mon fils, que ces choses ne s’éloignent point de tes yeux: garde le sain conseil et la réflexion,
German
Elberfelder 1871
Mein Sohn, laß sie nicht von deinen Augen weichen, bewahre klugen Rat und Besonnenheit;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Fili mi, ne effluant hæc ab oculis tuis. Custodi legem atque consilium,