Holding fast: 'Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.' 'Hold on' (tamakh) means to seize and retain. 'Guard it well' (natsar otah) emphasizes vigilance. 'It is your life' (ki hu chayeycha) gives the reason for vigilance: instruction is not peripheral but essential to life itself. To lose instruction is to lose one's anchor to life. The verse reflects the conviction that moral formation is a matter of life and death. The young person must be willing to defend his commitment to wisdom against the forces that would displace it.

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