Proverbs 7:1-5 “How Apples, Fingers, and Hearts Keep You Safe”

“My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within you.  Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your nearest kin, that they may keep you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words.”

This is the last of the 10 paternal appeals in Proverbs. Solomon exhorts his son to keep & treasure what is about to be said. These commands are so important that by keeping them, you will live. The law should be treasured as the apple of your eye.

What does the phrase “apple of your eye” mean? It is used four times in Scripture:

1. In this verse, the father is asking his son to keep “my law as the apple of your heart.”
2. In Psalm 17:8, David prays that God would keep him as the apple of His eye.
3. In Zechariah 2:8, God calls those who are faithful to Him the “apple of My eye.”
4. Finally, in Deuteronomy 32:10, God calls Israel the “apple of His eye.”

Clearly, this refers to that which is precious. The apple may very well refer to the pupil of the eye. The pupil very precious and must always be protected so as not to lose your sight. Certainly, Solomon wants his son to treasure these commands within by writing them on the tablet of his heart where they are permanent, secure, and internalized so that they will guide the son, saving him from suffering at the hands of an immoral woman, who seduces with such flattery that many fall into her trap.

Note all the descriptions on how we are to keep and value these words and commands:

1.   Bind them on your fingers

2.   Write them on the tablet of your heart.

3.   Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”

4.   Call understanding your nearest kin.

Solomon used these many descriptions to stress the importance of these words. He considered these words of great importance because of the danger he was trying to protect his son from. The danger is the immoral woman who flatters you in your youth when you are unaware of the danger and when your sexual desires are strongest. Solomon clearly spells out the imminent danger of this seductress in the last verse: “Her house is the way to hell, descending to the chambers of death.”