What Does Proverbs 4:20 Mean?
My son, give ear to my words; bend your ear to my sayings.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.THE KEY
Wisdom begins as a turn of the ear: attention is the posture that lets a word reach you.
THE MEANING
You are addressed as someone who can receive wisdom, and receiving begins in the attention you give to the words. Your ear turns toward what is spoken, making listening the point where wisdom can reach the direction of your life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that wisdom arrives simply because words are audible dissolves here: the verse portrays listening as attention turned toward what is spoken.
THE ROOT
הַט
hat
GROWS FROM
נטה
to stretch out, extend, bend, or turn aside
“bend” in this verse is hat. The verb makes listening spatial: the ear is turned toward the words rather than simply receiving sound. Its root carries the sense of extension and direction, so the verse presents attention as a movement toward what is spoken.
ALSO GROWS
natah: to stretch out, extend, bend, or turn aside
נָטָה
This is the root verb behind “incline,” revealing that the ear’s attention has a direction.
matteh: staff, rod, or tribe
מַטֶּה
This related form carries the image of something extended or bent, echoing the physical orientation inside “incline.”
דְּבָרַי
devarai
GROWS FROM
דבר
word, speech, matter, or thing
The Hebrew word for “words” can also mean a matter or thing, joining what is spoken to the substance it carries. The verse’s words are not presented as sound alone; they hold something that attentive listening can receive.
ALSO GROWS
davar: word, matter, thing, or affair
דָּבָר
The same word can name both what is said and the matter being spoken about.
dibber: to speak or utter
דִּבֵּר
This verbal branch ties the spoken act directly to the “words” toward which the ear turns.
הַקְשִׁיבָה
haqshiva
GROWS FROM
קשב
to listen closely, give heed, or pay attention
“give ear” in this verse is haqshiva. This is attentive listening, not sound passing by. Together with the turn of the ear, it shows attention from both sides: the mind gives heed, and the ear faces the words.
ALSO GROWS
hishqiv: to listen closely or heed
הִקְשִׁיב
This verb form carries the same focused listening called for in the verse.
maqshiv: listening or one who listens attentively
מַקְשִׁיב
This related form names the listener’s attentive stance, linking the action to the person receiving the words.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom takes shape through directed attention: the ear turns toward what gives understanding.
So that you bend your ear toward wisdom, and your heart toward discernment.Bend your ear and come to me. Hear and respond, and your living soul shall live. I will cut a covenant of the ages with you, the steady faithful loves of David.Know this, my beloved brothers. Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to swell.THE THREAD
So that you bend your ear toward wisdom, and your heart toward discernment.Both verses use the root נָטָה (natah), meaning to stretch out, extend, or turn aside, for the ear’s “incline.” Here the ear turns toward sayings; there it turns toward wisdom, revealing the same movement of attention.
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