Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 1:5

"That the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; And that the man of understanding may attain unto sound counsels:" — Proverbs 1:5 (ASV)

But it is not for the young only that he writes. The “man of understanding” may gain “wise counsels,” literally, the power to “steer” his course rightly on the dangerous seas of life. This “steersmanship,” it may be noted, is a word almost unique to Proverbs (compare “counsel” in Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 12:5; Proverbs 24:6).