Proverbs 4:3

“For I was my father’s son, etc.] Or, “a son to my father”f87; so Solomon was to God, his heavenly Father, (<100714>2 Samuel 7:14); which Jarchi observes, and gives as the sense of this place: but his father David is meant, whose son he was; though he was not his only one, he had others besides him. But the sense is, that he was his darling, his beloved son, whom he loved above the rest; as he was beloved of the Lord, and therefore his name was called Jedidiah, so he was beloved of his father; and, because he had a peculiar love for him, he took a particular care of his education; tender and only [beloved] in the sight of my mother; his mother Bathsheba, who had a most affectionate regard to…”

“father's son--emphatic, a son specially regarded, and so called tender, as an object of special care (compare Ch1 22:7; Ch1 29:1); an idea further expressed by only beloved--or, "as an only son" (Gen 22:2), though he had brothers (see on Ch1 3:5).”

“Probably the words of Solomon himself, who looks back from his glorious throne and his matured wisdom to the training which was the starting point. The part taken by Bathsheba in 1 Kings 1:0, no less than the friendship between her and Nathan, indicates that a mother’s training might well have laid the foundation of the king’s future wisdom. Among the Israelites and Egyptians alone, of the nations of the old world, was the son’s reverence for the mother placed side by side with that which he owed to his father. Only beloved, - literally “only,” but the word is used apparently (as in Genesis 22:2, Genesis 22:12) in its derived sense, “beloved like an only son.” The Vulgate gives “unigenitus.”…”

“Tender - Young and tender in years, and tenderly educated. Only beloved - Beloved above all the rest. Proverbs 4:4”

“4:3 my father’s son . . . my mother’s only child: In Proverbs, both parents give instruction in wisdom. This involvement of both parents is unique among the traditions of the ancient Near East.”

“Sa2 12:24, Sa2 12:25; Kg1 1:13-17; Ch1 3:5, Ch1 22:5, Ch1 29:1; Jer 10:23; Rom 12:16 Proverbs 4:4”