The Meaning of Proverbs 4:5 Explained

Proverbs 4:5

KJV: Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

YLT: Get wisdom, get understanding, Do not forget, nor turn away From the sayings of my mouth.

Darby: Get wisdom, get intelligence: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

ASV: Get wisdom, get understanding; Forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Get  wisdom,  get  understanding:  forget  [it] not; neither decline  from the words  of my mouth. 

What does Proverbs 4:5 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 4:5 mean?

Get wisdom understanding not do forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth
קְנֵ֣ה חָ֭כְמָה ! בִינָ֑ה אַל־ תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח וְאַל־ תֵּ֝֗ט מֵֽאִמְרֵי־ פִֽי

קְנֵ֣ה  Get 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: קָנָה 
Sense: to get, acquire, create, buy, possess.
חָ֭כְמָה  wisdom 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: חָכְמָה  
Sense: wisdom.
! בִינָ֑ה  understanding 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: בִּינָה  
Sense: understanding, discernment.
תִּשְׁכַּ֥ח  do  forget 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular
Root: כָּשַׁח 
Sense: to forget, ignore, wither.
וְאַל־  nor 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Adverb
Root: אַל  
Sense: not, no, nor, neither, nothing (as wish or preference).
תֵּ֝֗ט  turn  away 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Jussive, second person masculine singular
Root: נָטָה 
Sense: to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow.
מֵֽאִמְרֵי־  from  the  words 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: אֵמֶר 
Sense: utterance, speech, word, saying, promise, command.
פִֽי  of  my  mouth 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: פֶּה  
Sense: mouth.