Passage

Proverbs 4.20

Book: Proverbs · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

18. But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19. The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble.

20. My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings.

Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thy heart. 22. For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. (Proverbs 4:18-22, ASV)

WEB

18. But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day. 19. The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over.

20. My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.

Let them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the center of your heart. 22. For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body. (Proverbs 4:18-22, WEB)

KJV

18. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

20. My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. ^{health: Heb. medicine} (Proverbs 4:18-22, KJV)

YLT

18. And the path of the righteous [is] as a shining light, Going and brightening till the day is established, 19. The way of the wicked [is] as darkness, They have not known at what they stumble.

20. My son, to my words give attention, To my sayings incline thine ear,

Let them not turn aside from thine eyes, Preserve them in the midst of thy heart. 22. For life they [are] to those finding them, And to all their flesh healing. (Proverbs 4:18-22, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Lexicon:

H7181 - qashab

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.