John Gill Commentary Proverbs 7

My son, keep my words: Doctrines and instructions; which, as a father to a son, or a master to his scholars, he had delivered; these he would have him observe and attend to; and lay up my commandments with you.

These are to be kept as a treasure in his heart, to be brought out upon occasion; to be kept as valuable, and made use of as an antidote against and a preservative from sinning; see (Psalms 119:11).

The Septuagint and Arabic versions add, what is not in the Hebrew text, "son, honour the Lord, and you shall be strong;" the Arabic adds, "and he shall strengthen you; and fear none besides him."

Keep my commandments and live Not the commandments of the law only, but the commandments of Christ; and even the doctrines of Christ are so called, as faith in him, and love to the saints, (1 John 3:23) (John 14:21John 14:23) ; which is the way to live comfortably, peaceably, pleasantly, and honourably;

and my law as the apple of your eye ; the doctrine of Christ, the law of the Lord, that goes out of Zion; which should be as dear to men as the apple of their eye, and as carefully preserved, that the least injury is not done to it; it should be kept inviolate.

Bind them upon your fingers Let the above words and doctrines be as ready and familiar as if they were at the fingers' ends; or let them be always fresh in memory, as a piece of thread is tied about the fingers, to put in mind of anything to be done; or let them be as rings upon the fingers, both memorial and ornamental: or put into practice the things taught and commanded; the fingers being the instruments of action, and especially of doing things nicely and accurately;

write them upon the table of your heart that they may be strong in the memory, deep in the affection, and abiding in the understanding and will; see (Proverbs 3:3) .

Say unto wisdom, You are [my] sister
Intimately acquainted, greatly beloved, and highly delighted in: this may be understood both of the Gospel, the wisdom of God in a mystery, which men should be conversant with, be strongly affected to, and take delight and pleasure in; and of Christ, the essential Wisdom of God, and who stands in the relation of a brother to his people, and should be respected as such;

and call understanding [your] kinswoman ;
or "kinsman" ^F1 ; such Christ is in our nature, our "goel", our near kinsman, partaker of the same flesh and blood, and therefore is not ashamed to call us brethren, nor should we be ashamed to call him kinsman: moreover, his Word and Gospel, and the understanding of it, should be familiar to us; it should be well "known" ^F2 by us, as the word used signifies, and dwell richly in us.

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: (edm) "cognatum", Piscator.
• F2: "Notam", Montanus, Michaelis.

That they may keep you from the strange woman

Nothing has a greater tendency than Christ and his Gospel, and an intimate acquaintance with them, and a retention of them, to keep from all sin, from all fleshly lusts, from the sin of uncleanness; and also from all the errors, heresies, idolatry, superstition, and will worship, of the whore of Rome; a stranger to God and true godliness, to Christ and his truths, the Spirit and his operations; from the stranger [which] flattereth with her words ;

(See Gill on Proverbs 2:16), (See Gill on Proverbs 5:3), and (See Gill on Proverbs 6:24).