Proverbs 4:14

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 4:14-19. Enter not into the path of the wicked — Avoid their practices and company; and go not in the way of evil men — Do not proceed further therein. If thou hast unadvisedly entered into it, do not persist in it, but get thee speedily out of it. Avoid it, pass not by it — Keep at a great distance from it. Turn from it, &c. — Shun all occasions of sin. For they sleep not — They cannot compose themselves to sleep with quietness and satisfaction to their own minds; unless they cause some to fall — Into their snares, either into sin or mischief. For they eat the bread of wickedness — Wickedness is as necessary and as pleasant to them as their bread; or, they live wholly upon what they get by wicked courses. Which gives the reason why they could not sleep without prey. And drink the wine of violence — That is, gotten by violence: see on the former clause. But the path of the just is as the shining light — The common course of their lives, or actions, is pure and spotless, clear and certain, safe and comfortable as light is; and their presence enlightens, instructs, edifies, and rejoices others. They carry light into every place by their example, and by their instructions. That shineth more and more unto the perfect day — Righteous men daily grow more and more in knowledge, and grace, and consolation, until all be perfected and swallowed up in glory. But the way of the wicked is as darkness — Full of gross ignorance and error, of uncertainty and confusion, of iniquity, of danger, and of misery: all which come under the name of darkness in the Scriptures, and suit well with the context. They know not at what they stumble — Hebrew, במה יכשׁלו, at what they shall, or are about to, stumble. Though they are always in danger, yet they are always secure, and do not discern their danger, nor the cause, or manner, or time of their ruin, till they be surprised with it. Or, as some interpret the clause, “They commit sin without scruple; they deliver themselves up to it without remorse; they fall without grief, and continue in it without repentance.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:14-27 The way of evil men may seem pleasant, and the nearest way to compass some end; but it is an evil way, and will end ill; if thou love thy God and thy soul, avoid it. It is not said, Keep at a due distance, but at a great distance; never think you can get far enough from it. The way of the righteous is light; Christ is their Way, and he is the Light. The saints will not be perfect till they reach heaven, but there they shall shine as the sun in his strength. The way of sin is as darkness. The way of the wicked is dark, therefore dangerous; they fall into sin, but know not how to avoid it. They fall into trouble, but never seek to know wherefore God contends with them, nor what will be in the end of it. This is the way we are bid to shun. Attentive hearing the word of God, is a good sign of a work of grace begun in the heart, and a good means of carrying it on. There is in the word of God a proper remedy for all diseases of the soul. Keep thy heart with all diligence. We must set a strict guard upon our souls; keep our hearts from doing hurt, and getting hurt. A good reason is given; because out of it are the issues of life. Above all, we should seek from the Lord Jesus that living water, the sanctifying Spirit, issuing forth unto everlasting life. Thus we shall be enabled to put away a froward mouth and perverse lips; our eyes will be turned from beholding vanity, looking straight forward, and walking by the rule of God's word, treading in the steps of our Lord and Master. Lord, forgive the past, and enable us to follow thee more closely for the time to come.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

She is thy life - Another parallel between personified Wisdom in this book and the Incarnate Wisdom in John 1:4.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. (Compare Ps 1:1). Avoid all temptations to the beginning of evil.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Enter not into the path of the wicked; avoid their courses and company.

Go not; do not proceed further. If thou hast unadvisedly entered into it, do not persist in it, but get thee speedily out of it.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Enter not into the path of the wicked,.... Which leads to eternal death; join not with them in their wicked ways and practices; have no fellowship, keep no company, with them; do not set one foot in the path they tread, lest thou shouldest be tempted to proceed to more ungodliness; you do not know where and when there will be a stop, when once you begin, therefore enter not. The Vulgate Latin version is, "do not delight in the paths of the ungodly": but this supposes not only entrance, but progress and continuance in them, whereas the first is dehorted from in these words:

and go not in the way of evil men; if tempted and prevailed upon to take a step and make a trial, do not proceed; withdraw at once, do not go on. Some render it, seeing the word used has sometimes the signification of blessedness in it, "do not esteem the way of evil men blessed" (y); nor reckon thyself or them happy that walk in such ways; they are far from it: hence the Targum, Septuagint, and Syriac versions are, "do not envy the ways of wicked men"; their seeming pleasure will end in bitterness: the Arabic version is, "do not imitate" them; do not follow their example, and do as they do.

(y) "in via malorum ne te beatum existimes", Tiguriue version; "ne beatam praedices viam malorum", Michaelis.

Geneva Study Bible

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. The earnest warning of this and the following verses recalls the similar warnings of Proverbs 1:19 ff.; Proverbs 2:12 ff.; Proverbs 3:31 ff.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - From admonition the father passes to warning. The connection with the preceding section is obvious. There are two ways diametrically opposite - the way of wisdom and the way of evil; the one the way of life, the other fraught with death, because a way of darkness and violence. As the father has dealt with the former, so now he deals with the latter. With these warnings we may also comp. Proverbs 1:10-15 and Proverbs 2:10-15, where much the same warning is given, and the way of the wicked is described in almost the same terms. The warning of the father takes a threefold form:

(1) enter not;

(2) go not;

(3) avoid.

In effect he says this is the only course to be adopted in order to keep a firm hold of Wisdom which he has counselled in the preceding verse (13). Enter not; al-tavo, from bo. "to come in," "to enter," i.e. do not even enter. The Vulgate renders, "Delight not in," evidently from reading tove, which occurs in Proverbs 1:10. But our reading is to be preferred, as avah, "to acquiesce in," from which tov'e, is not used with בִּ, here denoting place, but with לִ. Go not (al-t'ashsher); i.e. do not walk in. The two verbs "to enter" (bo) and "to go" (ishsher) stand in the relation of entering and going on - ingressus and progressus. So Gejerus and Delitzsch. The piel ishsher, here used, is properly "to go straight on," like the kal ashar, of which it is an intensive (cf. Proverbs 9:6). It is the bold, presumptuous walk, the stepping straight out of the evil, which is here indicated, and against this the father warns his son. The sense is, "If you have entered the way of the wicked, do not continue or persevere in it." The other meanings of the verb ashar, viz. "to guide straight" (Proverbs 23:19), "to esteem happy and prosperous" (Proverbs 31:28), are not in place here, as they destroy the parallelism of thought, and on the same ground the LXX. and Syriac renderings, "envy not" and μηδὲ ζηλώσῆς, are to be rejected. The wicked (ishaim), i.e. the godless (cf, Psalm 1:1), is parallel with "evil men" (raim), i.e. the habitually wicked. Proverbs 4:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The exhortations attracting by means of promises, now become warnings fitted to alarm:

13 Hold fast to instruction, let her not go;

     Keep her, for she is thy life.

14 Into the path of the wicked enter not,

     And walk not in the way of the evil

15 Avoid it, enter not into it;

     Turn from it and pass away.

16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil,

     And they are deprived of sleep unless they bring others to ruin.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness,

     And they drink the wine of violence.

Elsewhere מוּסר means also self-discipline, or moral religious education, Proverbs 1:3; here discipline, i.e., parental educative counsel. תּרף is the segolated fut. apoc. Hiph. (indic. תּרפּה) from tarp, cf. the imper. Hiph. הרף from harp. נצּרה is the imper. Kal (not Piel, as Aben Ezra thinks) with Dagesh dirimens; cf. the verbal substantive נצּרה Psalm 141:3, with similar Dagesh, after the form יקּהה, Genesis 49:10. מוּסר (elsewhere always masc.) is here used in the fem. as the synonym of the name of wisdom: keep her (instruction), for she is thy life,

(Note: Punctuate כּי היא; the Zinnorith represents the place of the Makkeph, vid., Torath Emeth, p. 9.)

i.e., the life of thy life. In Proverbs 4:14 the godless (vid., on the root-idea of רשׁע under Psalm 1:1) and the habitually wicked, i.e., the vicious, stand in parallelism; בּוא and אשּׁר are related as entering and going on, ingressus and progressus. The verb אשׁר signifies, like ישׁר, to be straight, even, fortunate, whence אשׁר equals Arab. yusâr, happiness, and to step straight out, Proverbs 9:6, of which meanings אשּׁר is partly the intensive, as here, partly the causative, Proverbs 23:19 (elsewhere causative of the meaning, to be happy, Genesis 30:13). The meaning progredi is not mediated by a supplementary צעדיו; the derivative אשׁוּר (אשּׁוּר), a step, shows that it is derived immediately from the root-idea of a movement in a straight line. Still less justifiable is the rendering by Schultens, ne vestigia imprimas in via malorum; for the Arab. âththr is denom. of ithr, אתר, the primitive verb roots of which, athr, אתר equals אשׁר, are lost.