The Meaning of Proverbs 4:3 Explained

Proverbs 4:3

KJV: For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

YLT: For, a son I have been to my father -- tender, And an only one before my mother.

Darby: For I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother.

ASV: For I was a son unto my father, Tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For I was my father's  son,  tender  and only  [beloved] in the sight  of my mother. 

What does Proverbs 4:3 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 4:1-9 - The Counsels Of Experience.
Here are many duties! Be generous! Of course we must discriminate-to whom it is due; and we must be prudent-when it is in the power of thine hand, Proverbs 3:27. Moreover, be prompt, Proverbs 3:28. Don't stir up strife or take a mean advantage, Proverbs 3:29-30. In the presence of the prosperity of the violent and evil man, repress envy and recall Psalms 37:1-40.
The word translated secret in Proverbs 3:32 should be rendered "friendship." See Psalms 25:14. Remember that Jesus calls us into this sacred inner circle, John 15:15. Count on God blessing your home-life, Proverbs 3:33. Be lowly and claim your great inheritance, Proverbs 3:34-35. See Matthew 5:3.
We are next admitted into an ancient Hebrew home, Proverbs 4:1-9. We can hear the old patriarch advising his son, with deep and fond anxiety, that he should make the best of his life. What a difference would come over the land if fathers spoke more often like this! But to speak thus needs a background of noble living. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 4

1  persuades to wisdom
14  and to show wickedness
20  He exhorts to sanctification

What do the individual words in Proverbs 4:3 mean?

When son I was of my father Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother
כִּי־ בֵ֭ן הָיִ֣יתִי לְאָבִ֑י רַ֥ךְ וְ֝יָחִ֗יד לִפְנֵ֥י אִמִּֽי

בֵ֭ן  son 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
הָיִ֣יתִי  I  was 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לְאָבִ֑י  of  my  father 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
רַ֥ךְ  Tender 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: רַךְ  
Sense: tender, soft, delicate, weak.
וְ֝יָחִ֗יד  and  the  only  one 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adjective, masculine singular
Root: יָחִיד  
Sense: only, only one, solitary, one.
לִפְנֵ֥י  in  the  sight 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
אִמִּֽי  of  my  mother 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: אֵם  
Sense: mother.