to stretch or spread out · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
hand
יָמִ֥יןya.Min
H3225
the right hand or side (leg · noun, common feminine singular absolute
left
וּשְׂמֹ֑אולu.se.Mol
H8040
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
remove
הָסֵ֖רha.Ser
H5493
to turn off (literal or figurative) · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
foot
רַגְלְךָ֣rag.le.Kha
H7272
a foot (as used in walking) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
evil
מֵרָֽעme.Ra'
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · preposition + adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 5:32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Joshua 1:7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: tur…
Deuteronomy 28:14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods t…
Proverbs 16:17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Deuteronomy 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Isaiah 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Romans 12:9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 4:20–end
Solomon, having warned us not to do evil, here teaches us how to do well. It is not enough for us to shun the occasions of sin, but we must study the methods of duty.
I. We must have a continual regard to the word of God and endeavour that it may be always ready to us.
1. The sayings of wisdom must be our principles by which we must govern ourselves, our monitors to warn us of duty and danger; and therefore, (1.) We must receive them readily: "Incline thy ear to them (Pro 4:20); humbly bow to them; diligently listen to them." The attentive hearing of the word of God is a good sign of a work of grace begun in the heart and a good means of carrying it on. It is to be hoped that those are resol…
(Compare Pro 4:25). Avoid all by-paths of evil (Deu 2:27; Deu 17:11). A life of integrity requires attention to heart, speech, eyes, and conduct.
Next: Proverbs Chapter 5
John Gill on Proverbs 4:27
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left,.... Either into the road of immorality and profaneness, or into that of error, superstition, and false worship; but attend to the way of holiness and truth, directed to in the word of God; see Isaiah 30:21; nor be moved out of it by threatenings and menaces, nor by flatteries and promises; neither be cast down with adversity, nor be lifted up with prosperity; but keep on in an even way, attending to that which is just and right; leaving all events with God, as knowing you are in the way of your duty, and in which he would have you walk;
remove, by foot from evil; from walking in evil ways and along with evil men, and from doing evil things; abstai…
After this general preface the exhortation now becomes special:
23 Above all other things that are to be guarded, keep thy heart,
For out from it life has its issues.
24 Put away from thee perverseness of mouth,
And waywardness of lips put far from thee.
25 Thine eyes should look straight forward,
And thine eyelids look straight to the end before thee.
26 Make even the path of thy feet,
And let all thy ways be correct.
27 Turn not aside to the right and to the left;
Remove thy foot from evil.
Although משׁמר in itself and in this connection may mean the object to be watchfully avoided (cavendi) (vid., under Pro 2:20): thus the usage of the language lying before us applies it, yet only as deno…
The Church Fathers
We must really walk on the King's highway and take care not to turn aside from it either to the right hand or to the left, as the Proverbs say. For such is the case with our passions, and such in this matter is the task of the good shepherd, if he is to know properly the souls of his flock, and to guide them according to the methods of a pastoral care which is right and just, and worthy of our true Shepherd.
Let us hold fast, then, the confession of this faith, without faltering or failure. One alone is there who was born without sin, in the likeness of sinful flesh, who lived without sin amid the sins of others, and who died without sin on account of our sins. "Let us turn neither to the right hand nor to the left." For to turn to the right hand is to deceive oneself, by saying that we are without sin; and to turn to the left is to surrender oneself to one's sins with a sort of impunity, in I know not how perverse and depraved a recklessness.
Do not turn to the right or to the left. The right way is taken as good, the left as reprobate. Therefore, we are forbidden to turn to the right way, but not to decline to the right. One turns to the left who is unjust; one turns to the right who arrogates to himself that he is just; one turns to the right who presumes on his own strengths; one turns to the left who, because of his frailty, despairs of being able to be saved; one turns to the left who serves folly; one turns to the right who wishes to be wiser than he ought to be. This is also understood in the same way concerning the rest of the virtues and vices.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Decision · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Heedfulness · Commanded — Commanded
Integrity · 16:19,20; — 16:19,20;
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Because a person’s words originate in the heart, Proverbs teaches extensively about speech. One of the most basic lessons is to avoid perverse or corrupt speech, later defined as lies, slander, gossip, and rumor (6:12; 17:4; 18:8).
