Proverbs 4:23

Guard your heart with all vigilance, ¹  for from it are the sources ²  of life.

De 4:9; Ps 139:23,24; Pr 3:21; Pr 4:7; Pr 11:16; Pr 13:3; Pr 22:5; Pr 23:19; Pr 28:26; Ec 5:13; Jer 17:9; Mt 12:35; Mt 15:19; Mr 7:21-23; Mr 14:38; Heb 12:15; Jas 1:14,15

¹ tn Heb “more than all guarding.” This idiom means “with all vigilance.” The construction uses the preposition מִן (min) to express “above; beyond,” the word “all” and the noun “prison; guard; act of guarding.” The latter is the use here (BDB 1038 s.v. מִשְׁמָר).

² sn The word תּוֹצְאוֹת (tots’ot, from יָצָא, yatsa’) means “outgoings; extremities; sources.” It is used here for starting points, like a fountainhead, and so the translation “sources” works well.