The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
– Proverbs 13:14
[T]he word for law means direction or instruction. It can refer to any instruction, though it often refers to God’s law-word. Here it is qualified as the law of the wise. The wise have the fear of the Lord and have acquired wisdom (Proverbs 14:27). Their wise instruction functions two ways. The fountain of life imagery suggests they are a source of life as well as refreshment. Their law also teaches to depart from the snares of death, or delivers from death (Proverbs 15:24; 16:6, 17).