Proverbs 4:12

When you walk, your steps ¹  will not be hampered, ²  and when you run, ³  you will not stumble.

2Sa 22:37; Job 18:7,8; Ps 18:36; Ps 91:11,12; Ps 119:165; Pr 3:23; Pr 4:19; Pr 6:22; Jer 31:9; Joh 11:9,10; Ro 9:32,33; 1Pe 2:8; 1Jo 2:10,11

¹ sn The noun צַעֲדֶךָ (tsa’adekha, “your steps”) and the temporal infinitive בְּלֶכְתְּךָ (belekhtÿkha, “when you walk”) use the idiom of walking to represent the course of life. On that course there will be no obstacles; the “path” will be straight – morally and practically.

² sn The verb צָרַר (tsarar, “to be narrow; to be constricted”) refers to that which is narrow or constricted, signifying distress, trouble, adversity; that which was wide-open or broad represents freedom and deliverance.

³ sn The progression from walking to running is an idiom called “anabasis,” suggesting that as greater and swifter progress is made, there will be nothing to impede the progress (e.g., Isa 40:31).