What Does Proverbs 6:21 Mean in the King James?
Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
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
“Bind” makes wisdom a bond with the inner self: these words are carried close continually, not stored for later.
THE MEANING
The instruction is fastened to your heart continually and kept close around your neck. It stays at the center of your inner life and near you as you move through the day.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the idea that wisdom is useful only when recalled for a decision: here, the words remain bound close before any particular choice arises.
THE ROOT
קָשְׁרֵם
qāshĕrēm
GROWS FROM
קשר
To bind, tie, or fasten together.
“Bind” in this verse is qāshĕrēm. The verb qāshar belongs to a word family that describes things bound or joined together. The image holds more than remembering: the instruction is attached to the inner person and kept close as an ongoing part of life.
ALSO GROWS
qesher: Conspiracy or a group bound together toward a shared purpose.
קֶשֶׁר
The same root can describe people joined by a bond; here, it pictures the words held fast to the person.
qeshurah: Bound or attached, as in Genesis 44:30, where one life is bound to another.
קְשׁוּרָה
This branch makes the image intimate: what is bound is held close, not kept at a distance.
THE PATTERN
What guides a person is pictured as words taken inward and kept continually close.
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.Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.THE THREAD
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:It uses the same verb, קָשַׁר (qāshar), “bind,” then adds writing on the heart. The repeated image shows the words both fastened close and inscribed within.
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