John Gill Commentary Proverbs 16:17

"The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: He that keepeth his way preserveth his soul." — Proverbs 16:17 (ASV)

The highway of the upright [is] to depart from evil Upright persons, such who are upright in heart, and walk uprightly; these walk in the highway of holiness, in which men, though fools, shall not err; in the King's highway, the highway of the King of kings; in the plain beaten path of God's commandments; and so shun the bypaths of sin, and abstain from all appearance of it: this is their common constant course of life; they are studiously concerned to walk herein, and take delight in so doing; whereby they escape many evils others fall into;

he that keeps his way preserves his soul , that keeps on in his way, the way in which the upright walk; whose eyes look right on, and his eyelids straight before him; who ponders the path of his feet, and turns neither to the right hand nor the left; who walks circumspectly and carefully; observes the road he is in, to keep in it, and not go out of it; such a man preserves his soul from many snares and temptations, troubles, dangers, and evils, which he would be otherwise liable to.

Here the Masorites put the word (yux) , signifying that this is the half or middle of the book.