4:4 he taught me, and he said to me:
“Let your heart lay hold of my words;
keep my commands so that 1 you will live.
4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, 2 and she will protect you;
love her, and she will guard you.
4:21 Do not let them depart 3 from your sight,
guard 4 them within your heart; 5
1 tn The imperative with the vav expresses volitional sequence after the preceding imperative: “keep and then you will live,” meaning “keep so that you may live.”
2 tn Heb “her”; the 3rd person feminine singular referent is personified “wisdom,” which has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The Hiphil form יַלִּיזוּ (yallizu) follows the Aramaic with gemination. The verb means “to turn aside; to depart” (intransitive Hiphil or inner causative).
4 tn Or “keep” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV and many others).
5 sn The words “eyes” and “heart” are metonymies of subject representing the faculties of each. Cf. CEV “think about it all.”