“Let them not escape from your sight” is literally “Don’t let them depart from your eyes.” “Them” refers to the words or sayings used in verse 20. For the meaning of this expression see 3.21.

“Keep them within your heart”: “Keep” translates the same word and concept as in 4.4. This is the positive side of the negative command in the first line. “Keep them within your heart” means to think, remember, and reflect on them. Many languages express the idea of retaining something in the mind as guarding or keeping in the heart, liver, or stomach. In some languages this thought is expressed as “keep it warm in your innermost.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .