For they (shall be) an ornament of grace unto thy head. The sentiment here expressed is put forward as an inducement to youth to observe obedience towards the instruction of the father and the law of the mother, and the meaning is that, just as in popular opinion ornaments and jewels are supposed to set off the personal form, so obedience towards parents in the ways of virtue embellishes the moral character (Bayne, Cartwright, Holden).
An ornament of grace; Hebrew, לִוְיַת הֵן (liveyath khen); literally, a wreath or garland of grace. We meet with the same expression in Proverbs 4:9, "She [i.e. wisdom] shall give to thine head an ornament of grace."
The Hebrew לִוְיה (liveyah) is derived from the root לָוָה (lavah), "to wind a roll" (Delitzsch) or "to be joined closely with" (Gesenius), and hence signifies an ornament that is twisted, and so a wreath or garland.
Gejerus and Schultens translate the phrase by corolla gratiosa, i.e. "a crown full of grace," and so meaning conferring or producing grace, just as the expression, "the chastisement of our peace" (Isaiah 53:5), means the chastisement bringing or procuring our peace.
So again a "precious stone," in Proverbs 17:8, margin, "a stone of grace," is one conferring gracefulness. The marginal reading, "an adding" (additamentum, Vatablus), conveys, though obscurely, the same idea; and this sense is again reproduced in the Vulgate, ut addatur gratia capiti suo.
The LXX. reads, στέφανος χαρίτων. And chains about thy neck. Chains; properly, necklaces; עֲנָקִים (anakim), plural of עֲנָק (anak), "a cellar or necklace;" the κλοιός χρύσεος, or "golden collar," of the LXX; and torques (i.
e. twisted neckchain) of the Vulgate. There is a very apposite parallel to this verse in Proverbs 6:20, Proverbs 6:21 (cf. Proverbs 3:3; see also 8:26). The gold chain round the neck was a mark of distinction, and was conferred on Joseph by Pharaoh when investing him with authority and dignity (Genesis 41:42), and on Daniel by Belshazzar in the same way (Daniel 5:29; see So Daniel 4:9).
The mere adornment of the person with gold and pearls, without the further adornment of the moral character with Christian graces, is deprecated both by St. Paul and St. Peter (see 1 Timothy 2:9, 1 Timothy 2:10, and 1 Peter 3:3, 1 Peter 3:4).
Neck, גַּרְגְּרֹת (garegeroth) only occurs in the plural (Gesenius). (See Proverbs 3:3, Proverbs 3:22; Proverbs 6:21.