Proverbs 4:27

Pro 4:27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Ver. 27. Turn not to the right.] Keep the king’s highway; keep within God’s precincts, and ye keep under his protection. The heathen orator {a} could say, A recta conscientia ne latum quidem unguem discedendum; A man may not depart a hair’s breadth all his life long from the dictates of a good conscience.

Remove thy foot from evil.] Bestir thee no otherwise than if thou hadst trod upon a snake. "Abhor that which is evil"; {Rom 12:9} "abstain from all appearance," all shows and shadows of it. {1Th 5:22} Run from the occasions of it; "come not near the doors of her house." {Pro 5:8}

{a} Cic. in Offic.

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_4:27

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left.

Religious and moral conduct

Whatever the belief of men be, they generally pride themselves on the possession of some good moral qualities. The sense of duty is deeply rooted in the human heart. But as there is a constant strife between the lower and higher parts of our nature, between inclination and principle, this produces much contradiction and inconsistency in conduct. Hence arise most of the extremes into which men run in their moral behaviour. One of the first and most common of those extremes is that of placing all virtue either in justice on the one hand or in generosity on the other. Both these classes of men run to a faulty extreme. The perfection of our social character consists in properly tempering the two with one another; in holding that middle course which admits of our being just without being rigid, and allows us to be generous without being unjust. We must next guard against either too great severity or too great facility of manners. He who leans to the side of severity is harsh in his censures and narrow in his opinions. The opposite extreme is more dangerous--that of too great facility and accommodation to the ways of others. Such a man views every character with an indulgent eye. Nothing, in moral conduct, is more difficult than to avoid turning here, either to the right hand or to the left; to preserve a just medium. True religion enjoins us to pursue the difficult but honourable aim of uniting good-nature with fixed religious principle, affable manners with untainted virtue. Further, we run to one extreme, when we contemn altogether the opinions of mankind; to another, when we court their praise too eagerly. The former discovers a high degree of pride and self-conceit. The latter betrays servility of spirit. He who extinguishes all regard to the sentiments of mankind suppresses one incentive to honourable deeds, and removes one of the strongest checks on vice. He who is actuated solely by the love of human praise encroaches on the higher respect which he owes to conscience and to God. Hence, virtue is often counterfeited, and religious truths have been disguised, or unfairly represented, in order to be suited to popular tastes. Then there is the danger of running to the extreme of anxiety about worldly interests on the one hand and of negligence on the other. We need also to be warned against the extreme of engaging in a course of life too busy and hurried, or of being devoted to one too retired and unemployed. We are formed for a mixture of action and retreat. Temper business with serious meditation, and enliven retreat by returns of action and industry. Let us study to attain a regular, uniform, consistent character, where nothing that is excessive or disproportioned shall come forward to view. Turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, we shall, as far as our frailty permits, approach to the perfection of the human character. (Hugh Blair, D. D.)

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

(Compare Pro 4:25). Avoid all by-paths of evil (Deu 2:27; Deu 17:11). A life of integrity requires attention to heart, speech, eyes, and conduct.

Next: Proverbs Chapter 5

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

Verse 27. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left] Avoid all crooked ways. Be an upright, downright, and straight-forward man. Avoid tricks, wiles, and deceptions of this kind.

To this the Septuagint and Vulgate add the following verse: Αυτος δε ορθας ποιησει τας τροχιας σου, τας δε πορειας σου εν ειρηνη προαξει. Ipse autem rectos faciet cursus tuos; itinera autem tua in pace producet. "For himself will make thy paths straight and thy journeyings will he conduct in prosperity." The Arabic has also a clause to the same effect. But nothing like this is found in the Hebrew, Chaldee, or Syriac; nor in the Vulgate, as printed in the Complutensian Polyglot; nor in that of Antwerp or of Paris; but it is in the Greek text of those editions, in the editio princeps of the Vulgate, in five of my own MSS., and in the old MS. Bible. De Lyra rejects the clause as a gloss that stands on no authority. If an addition, it is certainly very ancient; and the promise it contains is true whether the clause be authentic or not.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(27) Turn not aside . . .—Comp. the direction of Jos_1:7, and the praise accorded to David (1Ki_15:5).

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

27. At the end of this verse the LXX. add:

“For the ways on the right God knoweth,

But the ways on the left are crooked.

And He will make straight thy paths,

And thy goings will He conduct in peace.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left,.... Either into the road of immorality and profaneness, or into that of error, superstition, and false worship; but attend to the way of holiness and truth, directed to in the word of God; see Isa 30:21; nor be moved out of it by threatenings and menaces, nor by flatteries and promises; neither be cast down with adversity, nor be lifted up with prosperity; but keep on in an even way, attending to that which is just and right; leaving all events with God, as knowing you are in the way of your duty, and in which he would have you walk;

remove, by foot from evil; from walking in evil ways and along with evil men, and from doing evil things; abstain from all appearance of evil, keep at a distance from it; the evil of sin brings on the evil of punishment. There are two verses added in the Septuagint, Arabic, and Vulgate Latin versions, which are not in the Hebrew text;

"for the ways which are on the right hand God knoweth; but those that are on the left are perverse. He will make thy paths right, and promote thy goings in peace.''

Next: Proverbs Chapter 5

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

The ever-recurring image of the straight road on which no one ever loses his way represents here as elsewhere the onward course through life of the man who seeks and finds wisdom.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For, &c. What follows in not in Hebrew or the Complutensian (Calmet) Septuagint. But it is in the Roman [Septuagint], &c., (Haydock) and in the new edition of St. Jerome, as it was explained by Ven. Bede. Lyranus and Cajetan reject it. (Calmet)

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).

Fly all extremes, and neither add to God’s commands, nor take from them.

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

27. Turn not… right hand nor to the left — Let nothing turn thee aside from the path of virtue, honesty, and fair dealing; of morality and religion. Temptations will be many and various, but whenever the seemingly plausible, pleasurable, or profitable evil is presented to thy thought, instantly reject it and turn away from it. Some versions, as the Septuagint, add here the following: “For God knows the ways on the right hand, but those on the left are crooked. And he will make thy ways straight, and will guide thy steps in peace.” This is an ancient addition, and is correct in sentiment, but not authentic. The frequent use in this book of such terms as way, path, step, walk, etc., deserves a passing notice. Indeed, they are not peculiar to this book, but belong to human thought and expression in general. Such terms are so natural to express action of every kind, whether physical or moral, that we scarcely recognise them as tropical. They are applied not only to outward actions, but to internal operations, thoughts, purposes, feelings, states and character. The idea of succession involved in all mental operations, exercises, and even states, readily suggests a progress, of which walking is, perhaps, the most fitting emblem. Then, by association, come such things as are related to walking, as the way, the feet, the steps, etc. A man’s “way,” in Scripture, is his conduct and character; his action and life; his thoughts, purposes, and plans; and all these considered from a moral or religious point of view. “Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa_55:8-9. The last clause may be considered exegetical of the preceding ones.

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

This verse, with which the teacher closes this discourse, is very closely connected with ver. 26, which it more fully explains. The command is the parallel of ver. 25. As in ver. 25, the gaze is to be concentrated. So here the feet are not to deflect nor turn aside to byways. Nothing is to be permitted to draw one off from the right way, neither adversity, nor prosperity, nor anything which can possess the power of temptation (Bayne and Wardlaw). Remove thy foot from evil. A fuller expression than "depart from evil," of Pro_3:7. Both the LXX and the Vulgate add, "For the Lord knows the ways which are on thy right hand; but they are perverse which are on thy left. He shall make thy paths straight, and shall advance thy ways in peace."

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

Turn neither right nor left of the good weight.

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.