What Does Proverbs 4:6 Mean in the King James?
Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
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 two Hebrew verbs for keeping make wisdom more than something you hold onto: she becomes the one keeping watch over you.
THE MEANING
When you stay with wisdom and love her, she watches over you and guards you in return. Her care is named twice, so protection is woven into the bond the verse describes.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wisdom’s care runs only one way: she is not only kept close by you; she becomes a keeper over you.
THE ROOT
וְתִשְׁמְרֶךָ
vetishmereka
GROWS FROM
שמר
shamar
To watch, keep, or guard.
The verb rendered “preserve” comes from the same root as שֹׁמֵר (shomer, watchman or keeper) and מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret, guard duty or charge). Wisdom is presented as an active guardian, not merely a teaching you retain.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: Watchman, keeper
שֹׁמֵר
This keeper-word makes the guarding role in the verse concrete.
mishmeret: Guard duty, charge
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
Its sense of an entrusted watch echoes the care wisdom gives in return.
וְתִצְּרֶךָ
vetitsrekha
GROWS FROM
נצר
natsar
To guard, keep, or preserve.
“keep” in this verse is vetitsrekha. The second promise uses נצר (natsar), another root of keeping. Its related word נֵצֶר (netser, shoot or branch) adds an image of living growth: the verse pairs wisdom’s guarding with protection of what is still growing.
ALSO GROWS
notser: One who guards or keeps
נֹצֵר
This keeper-word repeats the root’s active sense of watching over something.
netser: Shoot, branch
נֵצֶר
This related shoot-word adds the image of living growth that guarding can protect.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom’s guardianship answers the reader’s fidelity: what is held close becomes a keeper.
Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.THE THREAD
Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:This verse pairs שָׁמַר (shamar, watch or keep) and נָצַר (natsar, guard or preserve), the same two roots behind Proverbs 4:6. The repetition reveals wisdom’s keeping as a recurring promise: what you stay with also watches over you.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us