Humility is both a grace and a vessel to receive grace.--_Trapp._ * * * * * * CHAPTER IV. CRITICAL NOTES.--+2. Doctrine,+ Literally something received, handed over; the author so describes it because he received it from his father. The Septuagint and the Vulgate translate by +donum,+ "a gift." +3. Tender and only,+ "dearly-beloved"--not that Solomon was Bathsheba's only son (1 Chron. iii. 5). +5. Get,+ Heb. "acquire or buy"--spare no cost. The repetition of the verb makes the injunction more imperative. +Forget+ is a word in Hebrew that takes the preposition _from_. In the idea of forgetting there is naturally involved that of turning aside or away from the object to be remembered. +6.+ Miller translates the last clause: "Love her, and she shall stand sentry over thee." +7.+ The first clause of this verse contains only four words, viz.: +Beginning,+ or "principal thing;" +Wisdom; get wisdom.+ Its terseness has led to various translations. Hitzig and others read: "The highest thing is wisdom." Miller translates: "As the height of wisdom, get wisdom." Delitzsch--The beginning of wisdom is: "Get wisdom." +With,+ not to be taken in the sense of "in connection with," but "by means of," or "at the price of." +8. Exalt+ or "esteem." +9.+ Last clause, or "she shall compass thee with a crown of glory." +10.+ As is all other instances (see Notes on Chap. iii. 2), Miller translates the promise: "And they shall grow greater to thee through years of life." +14. Go not.+ The Heb. is literally "to go straightforward;" also, "to pronounce happy." +15. Avoid,+ "Let it go," "reject it." +Turn from it,+ _i.e._, even if thou hast entered, turn back. +16.+ Miller here reads: "For the mere reason that they sleep not, rest assured they do mischief; and that their sleep is stolen, rest assured they occasion stumbling:" and understands it to mean that the more sleepless the industrious impenitent, the faster he is carrying everything to eternal ruin. But all other commentators of importance read as in the English version. +18. Shining light,+ Lit. "the light of dawn that grows and brightens even to the establishment of the day." +19. Darkness,+ "thick darkness," the gloom of midnight. +22. Health,+ or "healing." +23.+ "Above all other watching, keep thy heart," some read: "Keep thy heart with all (kinds of) keeping." _Issues_--"currents," "outgoings." +24. Froward mouth,+ Lit., "distortion," "crookedness." +26. Ponder,+ "make level, or straight."