What Does Proverbs 3:1 Mean in the King James?
My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse places the heart in the role of a watchman, keeping instruction alive by guarding it.
THE MEANING
Instruction reaches beyond what you can recite: it lives in your heart as a direction your inner life actively preserves. Remembering and guarding belong together, so its words remain present in the way you meet the day.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the belief that instruction matters only as stored information, locating its keeping in the heart’s active guardianship.
THE ROOT
יִצֹּר
yitsor
GROWS FROM
נצר
natsar
To guard, watch over, or preserve.
“keep” in this verse is yitsor. The heart’s keeping is watchful preservation: it holds the instruction in view and keeps it present. The same consonants appear in נֵצֶר (netser), “shoot” or “branch,” offering an image of guarded life continuing to grow.
ALSO GROWS
notser: One who guards or preserves.
נֹצֵר
It makes clear that keeping the commandments involves the heart acting as their guardian.
netser: A shoot or branch.
נֵצֶר
It offers a living image of what is preserved continuing to grow.
תּוֹרָה
torah
GROWS FROM
ירה
yarah
To direct or instruct; the word group also carries the sense of pointing or casting.
“law” in this verse is torah. Torah carries the sense of instruction that gives direction. The heart guards that direction, joining the verse’s two images: teaching received and teaching kept present.
ALSO GROWS
moreh: Teacher or one who instructs.
מוֹרֶה
It shows Torah as guidance given through teaching.
horah: Taught or instructed.
הוֹרָה
It echoes the instruction the heart is asked to preserve.
THE PATTERN
Instruction becomes a living inner direction when it is held and guarded in the heart.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.THE THREAD
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.“Keep” here also translates נצר (natsar), the root behind “let thine heart keep” in Proverbs 3:1. The shared root links guarding the words with seeking wholeheartedly: keeping is an active attentiveness of the heart.
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