to mound up (especially a turnpike) · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
promote
וּֽתְרוֹמְמֶ֑ךָּu.te.ro.Me.ka
H7311
to be high actively · conjunction + verb, piel, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
honour
תְּ֝כַבֵּ֗דְךָte.kha.Be.de.kha
H3513
to be heavy · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
embrace
תְחַבְּקֶֽנָּהte.chab.be.Ke.nah
H2263
to clasp (the hands or in embrace) · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
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
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and eve…
1 Samuel 2:30 Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now t…
Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
1 Kings 3:5-13 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
Proverbs 22:4 By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 4:1-13
Here we have,
I. The invitation which Solomon gives to his children to come and receive instruction from him (Pro 4:1, Pro 4:2): Hear, you children, the instruction of a father. That is, 1. "Let my own children, in the first place, receive and give good heed to those instructions which I set down for the use of others also." Note, Magistrates and ministers, who are entrusted with the direction of larger societies, are concerned to take a more than ordinary care for the good instruction of their own families; from this duty their public work will by no means excuse them. This charity must begin at home, though it must not end there; for he that has not his children in subjection with all grav…
As you highly esteem her, she will raise you to honor.
embrace her--with fond affection.
John Gill on Proverbs 4:8
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee,.... Christ is to be exalted in his person, by asserting his proper deity; by ascribing all divine perfections to him; by allowing him to be the author of all divine works; by giving him divine worship and homage; by owning his divine and eternal sonship, and distinct personality: he is to be exalted in all his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, and as the only Redeemer and Saviour; by trusting in him, embracing his Gospel, and submitting to his ordinances, and such that exalt him, he will "promote" them here and hereafter; of which more in the next clause. According to the Talmudists (u), the word for "exalt" signifies a diligent search, by turning t…
The meaning of the ἁπ. γεγρ. סלסל is determined by רומם in the parallel clause; סלל signifies to raise, exalt, as a way or dam by heaping up; the Pilpel, here tropical: to value or estimate highly. Bttcher interprets well: hold it high in price, raise it (as a purchaser) always higher, make offer for it upon offer. The lxx (approved by Bertheau), περιχαράκωσον αὐτήν, circumvallate it, i.e., surround it with a wall (סללה) - a strange and here unsuitable figure. Hold it high, says the author, and so it will reward
(Note: Lwenstein has rightly ותרוממך, vid., my preface to Baer's Genesis, p. vii.)
thee with a high place, and (with chiastic transposition of the performance and the consequence…
The Church Fathers
And what is meant by "exalt (fortify) her? "Surround her with holy thoughts; for you have need of large defence, since there are many things to imperil such a possession. But if it is in our power to fortify her, and if there are virtues in our power which exalt the knowledge of God, these will be her bulwarks,-as, for example, practice, study, and the whole chain of other virtues; and the man who observes these, honours wisdom; and the reward is, to be exalted to be with her, and to be embraced by her in the chamber of heaven.
If a man is going to carry out the advice of Solomon and take for helpmate and life-companion that true Wisdom of which he says, "Love her, and she shall keep thee," "honour her, that she may embrace thee," then he will prepare himself in a manner worthy of such a love, so as to feast with all the joyous wedding guests in spotless raiment, and not be cast forth, while claiming to sit at that feast, for not having put on the wedding garment. It is plain moreover that the argument applies equally to men and women, to move them towards such a marriage. "There is neither male nor female," the Apostle says; "Christ is all, and in all"; and so it is equally reasonable that he who is enamoured of wisdom should hold the Object of his passionate desire, Who is the True Wisdom; and that the soul which cleaves to the undying Bridegroom should have the fruition of her love for the true Wisdom, which is God. We have now sufficiently revealed the nature of the spiritual union, and the Object of the pure and heavenly Love.
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
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
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).
Wisdom often, though not always, brings relational and material prosperity.
Rashi on Proverbs 4:8
Search for her Heb. סלסלה search for her. Review it to examine it minutely, as in (Jer. 6:9): “as a vintager over the searchings (סלסלות)” who goes repeatedly through the vineyard and brings back his hand to search for the single grapes. In the expression of the Sages (Rosh Hashanah 26b), curls (מסלסל) his hair.
