Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Proverbs 3:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse opens with “My son, let not them depart from thine eyes” and develops the line through “keep sound wisdom and discretion”.
Sound wisdom is kept in view so that a neck can wear it and a soul can live
This verse is one part of that explanation in Proverbs 3:21–26. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Proverbs 3:21–26
Read Proverbs 3:21 with 3:21–26. Read alone, “My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom…” could turn a compressed observation, warning, comparison, or command into a guarantee or complete policy. The full unit establishes: opens with “My son, let not them depart from thine eyes” and develops the line through “keep sound wisdom and discretion”; by 3:26, it contributes the claim, image, or instruction “For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken”. Together the unit concentrates on life, death, safety, and the long direction of choices, family teaching, responsibility, and mutual care, wisdom, folly, teachability, and moral perception within “Purpose, parental discourses, and the rival invitations of Wisdom and Folly.”
Why This Verse Appears Here
Proverbs 3:21–26 continues “Wisdom is better than treasure and rooted in creation” by carrying “Keep sound wisdom and walk securely” within the same sustained discourse, admonition, numbered form, or poem. Within that relationship, this verse opens with “My son, let not them depart from thine eyes” and develops the line through “keep sound wisdom and discretion”.
What Remains True
Family relationships can transmit wisdom and responsibility, but their authority remains accountable to truth, safety, and justice. In Proverbs 3:21, that bounded truth is expressed through “My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom…,” not through a promise detached from its literary form.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Proverbs 3:21–26 — Keep sound wisdom and walk securelySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, canonical order, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: Proverbs 3:21–26, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Proverbs
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used only for the exact unit's lexical, grammatical, parallel, superscription, number-saying, and acrostic questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Prov.xml, OSIS 3:21-3:26
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Proverbs with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, lexical, grammatical, syntactic, parallelism, and older-English controls for the exact range.
Exact location: NET Bible Proverbs PDF, printed pp. 1084-1088, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 3:21–26
Open source ↗