Proverbs 4:25

Pro 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Ver. 25. Let thine eyes look right on.] E regione, vel in rectum. Let them be fixed upon right objects. Get that stoic eye of our Saviour; get a patriarch’s eye; be well skilled in Moses’s optics; {Heb 11:27} have oculum in metam, which was Ludovicus Vives’s motto. Do as mariners that have their eye on the star, their hand on the stern. A man may not look intently upon that which he may not love. The disciples were set agog by beholding the beauty of the temple. {Mat 24:2} If therefore thine eye offend thee, or cause thee to offend, pull it out of the old Adam, and set it in the new man. If thou use it not well, thou wilt wish that thou hadst pulled it out indeed, as Democritus did.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_4:25

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Eyes right

These words occur in a passage wherein the wise man exhorts us to take care of all parts of our nature, which he indicates by members of the body. Every part of our nature needs to be carefully watched, lest in any way it should become the cause of sin. Any one member or faculty is readily able to defile all the rest, and therefore every part must be guarded with care. Having eyes, use them; using them, take care to use them honestly. Some persons are always as if they were asleep. Others are somewhat awake mentally, but are not looking right on; they are star-gazing; they lead but a purposeless life. A man ought to have a way; it should be a straight way; and in that straight way he should persevere. The best way for a man is the way which God has made for him. When you are on the Kings highway, you may go ahead without fear.

I. Let Christ be your way. If He be, you will begin first to seek to have Christ. Then you will want to know Christ. Then you will go on to obey Christ. Then you will seek to be like Christ.

II. Set your eyes on Christ as your way. Think of Him, consider Him, study Him.

1. That you may know the way of life, let your eyes be fixed on Him.

2. That you may follow Him well, follow Him wholly. Gather up all your faculties to go after the Lord.

3. Look alone to Jesus, and do this to keep your spirits up. Some live in retrospection; others in unhealthy introspection; and yet others carry much too far a sort of circumspection. If you begin to look two ways at a time, you will miss the Lord Jesus. Under the Jewish law no man who had a squint was allowed to be a priest.

III. Let your eyes distinctly and directly look to Christ alone.

1. Look not to any human guide.

2. Look to Christ for yourself.

3. Look not to any secondary aims.

4. Forget all things when seeing Christ.

5. Take care that you continue gazing upon Christ until you have faith in Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Simplicity

What is in these terms specially indicated is simplicity of principle and aim; singleness of motive; an upright, unswerving regard to duty. The path of duty is one. It is narrow and straight. On it the eye should constantly and steadily be set--looking right on, not to any seducing objects that present themselves on the one hand or on the other. Many things may allure--may hold out tempting seductions from the onward path. Many other paths may appear more smooth, more easy, and in all respects for the time more desirable; but the one and only question must ever be, What is duty? (R. Wardlaw, D.D.)

Looking to our way of life

Gods people have their minds made up as to all those things which concern their everlasting interests. But to know our way is of little use unless we keep that way in view. There are many spiritual travellers who know the way to Zion, but have not their faces thitherward. The text is an important motto for every man who is setting out for heaven. To understand the use and value of this precept, consider it--

I. As it applies to the faith of the child of God. By the faith is meant the great doctrines on which their hopes are grounded. Often, in our experience, we are tempted to entertain unworthy thoughts of the gracious Saviour; to mix up our own works with the plan of His redemption, to place the confidence in frames and feelings, in notions and professions, which should be placed in Him alone. Against such temptations the text provides a remedy. Keep Jesus constantly in view.

II. As it applies to the duties of the child of God. The text is a preservative against unlawful pleasures and indulgences. It is an exhortation to a close and constant obedience to the revealed will of God, and to the duty of Christian integrity--to an honest, upright, guileless conduct in all our dealings with mankind. Seek, then, strength from God, that you may continue steadfast in the holy course of life, as advised in this text. (A. Roberts, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let . . . before thee--that is, pursue a sincere and direct purpose, avoiding temptations.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(25) Let thine eyes look right on.—Comp. the advice of Sir_7:36, “Whatsoever thou takest in hand, remember the end,” and of Heb_12:2, to look “unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let thine eyes look right on,.... To the path of truth and holiness, without turning or looking to the right hand or left, as it is afterwards expressed; to the word of truth, as the rule to walk by; to Christ, the author and finisher of faith, from whom all grace, and the supplies of it, are to be had; and to the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God;

and thine eyelids look straight before thee; to the precepts of the word, to observe them; to the promises of it for encouragement; to the examples of the saints gone before, as motives to excite diligence, and to exercise patience, faith, and hope; to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life, and to the blessed hope laid up in heaven.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Steps. Be attentive to thy own affairs, Proverbs xvii. 24.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Direct all thine actions by a good intention, to a right end, and keep thy mind fixed upon that way which leads to it, and neither look nor turn aside to the right hand nor to the left, as it follows, Pro 4:27.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Eyelids look straight — Rather, be straight or level. A caution against all insincerity of word or conduct. Comp. Pro_6:13; Pro_10:10; Mat_6:22-23.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids lock straight before thee. "To look right on" and "to look straight before one" is to fix the eyes steadily and unswervingly upon an object before them, not to allow the gaze to deflect either to the right hand or to the left. As a noun, the word nokakh, rendered "right on," signifies what is straight in front of one; adverbially, it has the same meaning as that given in the Authorized Version. The corresponding "before" (neged) is substantively the side of any object which is opposite one, and as a preposition is equivalent to "before," "in the presence of," like the Latin coram. The versions (LXX, Syriac, Targum) take nokakh in the sense of "right things:" "Let thine eyes look at right things;" contemplate them, aim at justice and equity. This meaning is given to the cognate adjective nakoakh in Pro_8:9 Pro_24:26 Isa_26:10 Isa_30:10 Isa_59:14; but in the Proverbs the word nokakh only occurs twice (here and ver. 21), either as an adverb, "right on," "straightforwardly," or as a preposition, "before." Look straight. Gesenius takes this verb yashar in hiph., "to make straight," as used elliptically: "Let thine eyelids direct a way before thee;" but the meaning is the same as "Let them look straight before thee." The Syriac, Gejerus, and Holden render, "Let thine eyelids direct thy way before thee;" i.e. do nothing rashly, but everything with premeditation; examine thy conduct, and see that it is right. The verb yashar has this meaning, "to direct," in Pro_3:6 Pro_11:5, but it is here used intransitively (Mercerus). Eyelids ( aph"appim); so called from their fluttering, rapid motion, here used by way of poetic parallelism with "eyes." What the command inculcates is simplicity of aim or principle, singleness of motive. The moral gaze is to be steadily fixed, because if it wanders indolently, lasciviously, aimlessly, it imperils the purity of the soul. This verse may be understood, as Zockler, as containing a command levelled against dishonest practices. The man who intends to cheat his neighbour looks this way and that how he may deceive him. Such an interpretation may be maintained on the ground that the former verse is directed against falsehood in speech; this against falsehood in action. But the former view is preferable. If you wish to keep the heart, you must be guided by simplicity of aim; look not aside either to the one hand or to the other, lest you may be led astray by the seductions and temptations which imperil the onward and upward progress of the soul. The passage reminds us of the "single eye" (aplouv ), "simple," i.e. intent on heaven and God, of Mat_6:22.

Vers. 25-27. Spiritual drilling.

The whole man must be drilled into form and disciplined into orderly action, just as the whole armour of God is necessary for the protection of the soldier of Christ. It is not enough for safety to wear a helmet while the breast is exposed, nor to bare the head while the lees are covered; and it is not enough for service that part of our nature is trained to obedience. We must seek to have all in right order.

I THE HEART. This must be guarded most sedulously, and before all else. We cannot have our actions right in the sight of God while the heart is perverted. The attempt to secure this only ends in hypocrisy. The first duty of the soldier is loyalty. The first duty of the Christian is fidelity. Nevertheless, though the fountain must be pure if the stream is to be pure, its purity will not secure the water against subsequent defilement. It is not enough to think of the state of the heart, we must also consider the course of our actions. A pseudo-spirituality ends in indifference to morals, and even in positive immorality. St. Paul did not think his work done when he had laid the foundation of the Christian character. He sought the "edification," the "building up," of it by detailed and earnest instruction in Christian morals.

II THE LIPS. The first and most ready expression of the state of the heart is in our conversation. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Now, it is important to remember that we are responsible for our words. For "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment". (Mat_12:36) Words are deeds. They carry influence and linger in memories and are transmitted from one to another long after the speaker has forgotten them.

III THE EYES. The eye is one of the chief gateways of knowledge. According to the objects on which we fix it, the class of our knowledge will be determined. It is the guide in our actions. Now, it is requisite that the Christian have:

1. A straight and single" sight, (see Mat_6:22) looking only at the truth, with no stray glances at the innumerable deceptions of low self-interest.

2. A long sight, looking at the end of the race the Celestial City, neither allured by the fascinations of Vanity Fair nor distracted by the horrors of the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

3. An upward gaze fixed on God and Christ rather than on worldly loss or gain.

IV THE FEET. All the life leads on to the outgoings of activity. The ultimate question is In what way are we going? Here the requisite is that the feet should go straight on. There are many ways of wrong, only one of right; hence the breadth of the former and the narrowness of the latter. We must especially avoid the error of falling into extremes. While shunning the track to the left let us see that we do not go off on that to the right. The path of duty is between these extremes. Yet the way to find it is not by seeking for a mean and so only accepting a compromise, but by aiming at the true and the right and pressing straight on to them irrespective of all conflicting influences.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Right on - Direct all thine actions to a right end, and keep thy mind fixed upon that way which leads to it, and neither look or turn aside to the right-hand or the left.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Let your eyes look forward Let them look to truth and uprightness.

and let your eyelids look straight ahead of you Let them look at what is upright, to straighten your way before you.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.