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Text -- Proverbs 8:1-36 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Appeal of Wisdom
8:1 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice ?
8:2 At the top of the elevated places along the way , at the intersection of the paths she takes her stand ;
8:3 beside the gates opening into the city , at the entrance of the doorways she cries out :
8:4 “To you, O people , I call out, and my voice calls to all mankind .
8:5 You who are naive , discern wisdom ! And you fools , understand discernment !
8:6 Listen , for I will speak excellent things , and my lips will utter what is right .
8:7 For my mouth speaks truth , and my lips hate wickedness .
8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous ; there is nothing in them twisted or crooked .
8:9 All of them are clear to the discerning and upright to those who find knowledge .
8:10 Receive my instruction rather than silver , and knowledge rather than choice gold .
8:11 For wisdom is better than rubies , and desirable things cannot be compared to her.
8:12 “I , wisdom , live with prudence , and I find knowledge and discretion .
8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil ; I hate arrogant pride and the evil way and perverse utterances .
8:14 Counsel and sound wisdom belong to me; I possess understanding and might .
8:15 Kings reign by means of me, and potentates decree righteousness ;
8:16 by me princes rule , as well as nobles and all righteous judges .
8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.
8:18 Riches and honor are with me, long-lasting wealth and righteousness .
8:19 My fruit is better than the purest gold , and what I produce is better than choice silver .
8:20 I walk in the path of righteousness , in the pathway of justice ,
8:21 that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth , and that I may fill their treasuries .
8:22 The Lord created me as the beginning of his works , before his deeds of long ago .
8:23 From eternity I was appointed , from the beginning , from before the world existed.
8:24 When there were no deep oceans I was born , when there were no springs overflowing with water ;
8:25 before the mountains were set in place– before the hills – I was born ,
8:26 before he made the earth and its fields , or the beginning of the dust of the world .
8:27 When he established the heavens , I was there ; when he marked out the horizon over the face of the deep ,
8:28 when he established the clouds above , when the fountains of the deep grew strong ,
8:29 when he gave the sea his decree that the waters should not pass over his command , when he marked out the foundations of the earth ,
8:30 then I was beside him as a master craftsman , and I was his delight day by day , rejoicing before him at all times ,
8:31 rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth , and delighting in its people .
8:32 “So now , children , listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways .
8:33 Listen to my instruction so that you may be wise , and do not neglect it.
8:34 Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching at my doors day by day , waiting beside my doorway .
8:35 For the one who finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord .
8:36 But the one who does not find me brings harm to himself ; all who hate me love death .”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Wisdom |
Personification |
PROVERBS, THE BOOK OF |
Jesus, The Christ |
God |
WISDOM OF SOLOMON, THE |
LOGOS |
MEDIATION; MEDIATOR |
Salvation |
Earth |
Gold |
Children |
Deep, The |
GATE |
SUBTIL; SUBTLE; SUBTLETY; SUBTILTY |
PRINCE |
Desire |
Call |
Government |
DELIGHT |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Pro 8:1; Pro 8:2; Pro 8:2; Pro 8:3; Pro 8:3; Pro 8:4; Pro 8:4; Pro 8:4; Pro 8:5; Pro 8:5; Pro 8:6; Pro 8:6; Pro 8:7; Pro 8:7; Pro 8:7; Pro 8:7; Pro 8:8; Pro 8:8; Pro 8:9; Pro 8:10; Pro 8:10; Pro 8:11; Pro 8:12; Pro 8:12; Pro 8:13; Pro 8:13; Pro 8:13; Pro 8:13; Pro 8:14; Pro 8:14; Pro 8:14; Pro 8:15; Pro 8:15; Pro 8:16; Pro 8:16; Pro 8:17; Pro 8:19; Pro 8:19; Pro 8:21; Pro 8:21; Pro 8:21; Pro 8:22; Pro 8:22; Pro 8:22; Pro 8:22; Pro 8:23; Pro 8:23; Pro 8:24; Pro 8:24; Pro 8:24; Pro 8:26; Pro 8:26; Pro 8:27; Pro 8:28; Pro 8:29; Pro 8:30; Pro 8:30; Pro 8:30; Pro 8:31; Pro 8:31; Pro 8:31; Pro 8:32; Pro 8:33; Pro 8:33; Pro 8:34; Pro 8:34; Pro 8:34; Pro 8:34; Pro 8:35; Pro 8:35; Pro 8:36; Pro 8:36; Pro 8:36; Pro 8:36; Pro 8:36
NET Notes: Pro 8:1 In this chapter wisdom is personified. In 1:20-33 wisdom proclaims her value, and in 3:19-26 wisdom is the agent of creation. Such a personification h...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:2 Heb “at the house of the paths.” The “house” is not literal here, but refers to where the paths meet (cf. ASV, NIV), that is, ...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:3 The cry is a very loud ringing cry that could not be missed. The term רָנַן (ranan) means “to give a ringing cry.&...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:4 Heb “sons of man.” Cf. NAB “the children of men”; NCV, NLT “all people”; NRSV “all that live.”
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NET Notes: Pro 8:5 Heb “heart.” The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) often functions metonymically for wisdom, understanding, discernmen...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:6 Heb “opening of my lips” (so KJV, NASB). The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause, with the organ of speech put for what is said...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:8 The verb פָּתַל (patal) means “to twist.” In the Niphal it means “to wrestle” (to twist on...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:9 Heb “front of.” Describing the sayings as “right in front” means they are open, obvious, and clear, as opposed to words that m...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:12 This verb form is an imperfect, whereas the verb in the first colon was a perfect tense. The perfect should be classified as a gnomic perfect, and thi...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:13 Heb “and a mouth of perverse things.” The word “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what is said; and the noun תַ...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:14 In vv. 14-17 the pronouns come first and should receive greater prominence – although it is not always easy to do this with English.
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NET Notes: Pro 8:16 Many of the MT mss read “sovereigns [princes], all the judges of the earth.” The LXX has “sovereigns…rule the earth.” Bu...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:19 The language of the text with “fruit” and “ingathering” is the language of the harvest – what the crops yield. So the fi...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:21 The LXX adds at the end of this verse: “If I declare to you the things of daily occurrence, I will remember to recount the things of old.”
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NET Notes: Pro 8:22 The claim of wisdom in this passage is that she was foundational to all that God would do.
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NET Notes: Pro 8:23 The verb “existed” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation in the light of the context.
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NET Notes: Pro 8:27 The infinitive construct בְּחוּקוֹ (bÿkhuqo, “to cut; to engrave; to mark”) and...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:28 To form a better parallel some commentators read this infinitive בַּעֲזוֹז (ba’azoz), R...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:30 The word is a plural of intensification for “delight”; it describes wisdom as the object of delight. The LXX has the suffix; the Hebrew do...
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NET Notes: Pro 8:33 The construction uses two imperatives joined with the vav (ו); this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is being expressed.
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NET Notes: Pro 8:35 The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same nuance as the perfect tense that came before it, setting out the timeless principle.
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