What Does Proverbs 3:21 Mean in the King James?

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

Proverbs 3:21 · KJV

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

Wisdom stays near through attention: what you keep in sight can keep shaping how you see.

THE MEANING

The verse speaks to you as a son, someone addressed in relationship. Sound wisdom and discretion are kept from slipping out of view, close enough to shape how you perceive and choose. What is guarded in attention remains available now.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that wisdom, once acquired, can be left unattended; the verse presents it as something that can slip from view.

THE ROOT

נְצֹר

nəṣōr

GROWS FROM

נצר

n-ṣ-r

Guard, watch, preserve.

The Hebrew word for “keep” carries the sense of guarding or watching over something. Wisdom and discretion are not merely possessed; they are kept in view through continuing attention.

ALSO GROWS

nāṣar: To guard, keep, or preserve.

נָצַר

This is the verb’s base form and makes the verse’s keeping an act of protection.

nōṣēr: One who keeps or guards; a keeper.

נֹצֵר

This related form presents guarding as an ongoing role, not a single act.

מְזִמָּה

məzimmāh

GROWS FROM

זמם

z-m-m

Devise, plan, or form an intention.

Discretion here carries the sense of deliberate thought and design, not only cautious restraint. Joined with sound wisdom, it is considered purpose kept in view; the root’s wider range also includes schemes, showing that planning can serve different ends.

ALSO GROWS

zāmam: To devise or plan.

זָמַם

This verb reveals the deliberate thought beneath the noun “discretion.”

zimmāh: A plan, device, or scheme.

זִמָּה

This related noun shows the same capacity for forming a design, which wisdom gives direction.

THE PATTERN

Wisdom is preserved through sustained attention, keeping the inner life and its direction from drifting.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23 · KJVThe same Hebrew root ⁨נצר⁩ (natsar), meaning to guard or preserve, is used to describe keeping the heart.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Deuteronomy 6:8 · KJVThe words are held before the eyes, expressing how what remains in view can shape a person’s direction.

The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

Luke 11:34 · KJVThe state of the eye is linked to the condition of the whole body, echoing the verse’s attention to what remains before the eyes.

THE THREAD

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨נצר⁩ (natsar), meaning to guard or preserve: one keeps wisdom and discretion before the eyes, and the other guards the heart. The shared root connects attention and inner life as parts of the same act of keeping.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us