Proverbs 8: Wisdom calls out to everyone | Bible study
Wisdom is pictured as a lady who stands where everyone can hear and tells them how good it is to be wise. She was with God before He made the world, and whoever finds her finds life.
Proverbs 8:1
Listen! Wisdom is calling. Good sense is shouting so everyone can hear.
Is it not Wisdom who is calling?
The question expects the answer yes. After the secret, night-time invitation of the adulteress in chapter 7, the writer points to another woman who calls openly.
Is it not Understanding who lifts up her voice?
The same thing said a second way. Understanding is another name for Wisdom here, and raising the voice means she intends to be heard by everyone.
חכמה · chokmah · skill at living
Skill at living, pictured as a woman who speaks. From here to verse 36 she is the speaker or the subject.
קרא · qara · call out
To call aloud, to summon. The same verb as in 1:20-24, where she called and was refused.
תבונה · tevunah · discernment
From bin, to tell apart. Used here as a second name for Wisdom.
נתן קול · natan qol · give voice
Literally she gives her voice. She speaks at full volume, not in a whisper.
Proverbs 8:2
She stands on the hilltop beside the road, right where the paths cross.
At the top of the high places along the road,
She picks the spot where she can be seen and heard from furthest away. Nothing about her is hidden.
at the crossroads, she takes up her position.
A crossroads is where travellers must choose a direction. She stations herself exactly where decisions are made.
מרום · marom · high place
An elevated spot. In 9:3 Wisdom calls from the heights again, and in 9:14 Folly copies her.
דרך · derek · road, way of life
A road, and so a manner of life. She stands beside the literal road to speak about the other kind.
נתיבה · netivah · trodden track
The Hebrew phrase is literally the house of paths, the place where tracks come together: a junction.
נצב · natsav · station oneself
To take a fixed position, like a sentry or a herald. She is not passing through; she is posted there.
Proverbs 8:3
Next to the city gates, where everyone goes in and out, she calls in a loud voice:
Beside the gates, at the mouth of the town,
She moves from the roads outside to the gate itself, the one point everyone entering or leaving must pass.
at the entrance of the doorways, she cries aloud:
She stands in the very opening. The three place names in the verse narrow in on the same spot so the reader sees that she cannot be avoided.
שער · sha'ar · city gate
The place of public business and judgment, as in 1:21.
פה · peh · mouth
Literally at the mouth of the town. The same word is used for Wisdom's own mouth in verse 8.
קרת · qeret · town
A rare poetic word for a town, used again in 9:3 and 9:14.
רנן · ranan · ringing cry
A loud, ringing cry, the same verb as 1:20.
The city gate was a roofed passage with rooms on each side where elders sat, trials were held and deals were witnessed (Ruth 4:1-11). Speaking there was the ancient equivalent of speaking in the town hall and the market at once.
Proverbs 8:4
I am calling to all of you. My words are for every person in the world.
It is to you, men, that I call;
Her speech begins. She addresses the people in front of her directly, not a select class of students.
my voice goes out to the whole human race.
The second line widens the audience as far as it can go. Wisdom is offered to every human being, not to Israel's scholars only.
איש · ish · man, individual
The plural here is an uncommon form, ishim. It addresses people as individuals.
קרא · qara · call out
The verb of verse 1, now in her own mouth.
בני אדם · benei adam · sons of Adam
Literally the sons of Adam, humanity as a whole. The phrase returns in verse 31 as the object of her delight.
Proverbs 8:5
If you are easily tricked, learn to be careful. If you have been foolish, learn some good sense.
You gullible ones, learn what shrewdness is;
She starts with those who most need her. The gullible can still learn; what they lack is the ability to see through things.
you fools, get some sense into your heart.
Even the thick-headed fool is invited. Nobody is written off at the start of the speech; the only question is whether they will listen.
פתי · peti · open, gullible
From a root meaning to be open. Open to everything, and so easily led.
בין · bin · discern, grasp
To tell one thing from another. The command is given twice, once to each group.
ערמה · ormah · shrewdness
The good kind of cunning: not being easily fooled. It is the exact cure for the peti (1:4).
כסיל · kesil · dull fool
The thick, self-satisfied fool, harder to reach than the peti.
לב · lev · heart, mind
The Hebrew word here is heart, the centre of thinking and deciding. The fool is told to understand heart, that is, to get a mind.
The second line is literally 'fools, understand heart'. NASB puts 'wisdom' for heart. Other versions have 'be of an understanding heart' or 'gain sense'. The Hebrew for wisdom, chokmah, is not in this verse.
Proverbs 8:6
Listen, because what I have to say is important. Everything I tell you is right.
Listen, because I am going to speak princely things,
The reason to listen is the quality of what is said. Her words carry the weight of a ruler's words.
and when I open my lips, what comes out is straight.
The second line adds the moral quality. Her speech is not only weighty but honest, with nothing bent in it.
שמע · shama · hear and heed
To hear and act on it. She asks for this again three times in verses 32 to 34.
נגיד · nagid · princely things
Nagid is normally a leader or prince. The plural is used here for words fit for a prince: weighty and commanding.
שפה · saphah · lip
The first of several speech organs in verses 6 to 8: lips, palate, mouth.
מישרים · mesharim · straight things
From yashar, straight or level. One of the three aims of the book in 1:3.
Proverbs 8:7
My mouth tells the truth. I cannot stand bad and untrue words.
For my mouth speaks what is true,
This explains why her words are straight. Truth is what she habitually says, the way a person mutters what is always on their mind.
and wickedness is something my lips detest.
The contrast to the first line. She does not merely avoid wrong speech; it disgusts her, the way an unclean thing disgusts.
חך · chek · palate
Literally the palate, the roof of the mouth, where food is tasted and words are formed.
הגה · hagah · murmur, utter
To murmur or speak in a low voice, the word for meditating on God's law in Psalm 1:2. Truth is what her mouth turns over constantly.
אמת · emet · truth, reliability
What is firm and can be relied on. Truth in Hebrew is something you can lean your weight on.
רשע · resha · wrong, guilt
The noun behind rasha, the wicked person. Wrongdoing that makes one guilty.
תועבה · to'evah · detestable thing
Something loathsome. Proverbs usually says what is an abomination to the LORD; here Wisdom shares His revulsion.
Proverbs 8:8
Every word I say is good and fair. None of it is twisted or meant to trick you.
Every word from my mouth is spoken in what is right;
She claims this of all her words without exception. There is no part of her teaching you need to be suspicious of.
not one of them is twisted or crooked.
The same claim from the negative side. The picture is of a rope or a road with no kinks; nothing she says is bent to trick you.
פה · peh · mouth
The ordinary word for mouth. Compare the twisted mouth she hates in verse 13.
צדק · tsedeq · what is right
Conformity to a right standard. The same word describes the rulings of good rulers in verses 15 and 16.
פתל · patal · twisted
From a root meaning to twist, as cord is twisted. Speech that winds around to deceive.
עקש · iqqesh · bent, crooked
Bent out of line. Proverbs often uses it of crooked people and crooked ways (2:15).
Proverbs 8:9
To anyone who understands, my words are plain. People who have learned know they are right.
They are all plain to the one who has understanding,
Her words are clear, but to a certain kind of hearer. A person with discernment finds them obvious and direct.
and straight to those who find knowledge.
The partner line says the same of those who have found knowledge. If her words seem unclear or wrong, the fault lies in the hearer.
נכח · nakoach · straight ahead, plain
What lies directly in front of you. Her words go straight to the point with no detour.
בין · bin · discern, grasp
The verb commanded in verse 5. Those who obey that command find the rest plain.
ישר · yashar · straight, upright
Straight, level. The adjective behind mesharim in verse 6.
מצא · matsa · find
To find, come upon, attain. The first of five uses in the chapter; it ends with finding life in verse 35.
דעת · da'at · knowledge
Knowledge gained by experience and relationship, from yada.
Proverbs 8:10
Choose my teaching over silver. Pick knowing what is right over the best gold.
Take my discipline rather than silver,
She puts a choice in front of the hearer. If you must choose between being corrected by her and getting paid, take the correction.
and knowledge rather than the finest gold.
The partner line raises the stakes from silver to gold. Knowing how to live is worth more than the most valuable metal there is.
לקח · laqach · take, grasp
To take hold of. The same verb as receiving discipline in 1:3.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction
Correction that shapes a person. What she offers first is not information but discipline.
כסף · keseph · silver, money
Silver was the everyday money of the ancient world, so the word also simply means money.
חרוץ נבחר · charuts nivchar · selected gold
Charuts is a poetic word for gold. Nivchar is from bachar, to choose: gold that has been picked out as the best.
Proverbs 8:11
Being wise is better than jewels. Nothing you could ever wish for is as good.
For wisdom is better than precious stones,
The reason for the choice in verse 10. Wisdom is compared with the costliest thing a person could own and comes out ahead.
and nothing you could want is equal to her.
The comparison is extended to everything. Take any object of desire at all; it does not come level with her.
טוב · tov · good, better
Hebrew makes a comparison by saying good from: wisdom is good beyond jewels.
פנינים · peninim · corals, gems
A costly gem, probably red coral or pearl; the exact stone is not certain. The capable wife of 31:10 is worth more than these too.
חפץ · chephets · delight, desire
Whatever a person takes pleasure in or wishes for.
שוה · shavah · be level with
To be equal or level. Nothing reaches her height. The verse is nearly the same as 3:15.
Proverbs 8:12
I am Wisdom, and I live with good sense. I know the facts and I think ahead.
I, Wisdom, live alongside shrewdness,
She now describes herself. Shrewdness is pictured as her housemate: where wisdom is, practical good sense is always found too.
and I have knowledge and careful planning at my disposal.
She adds two more companions. Wisdom is not vague goodwill; it comes with knowing the facts and thinking ahead.
שכן · shakan · settle, dwell
To settle and live somewhere, the verb in 1:33. She has made her home with shrewdness.
ערמה · ormah · shrewdness
The quality she told the gullible to learn in verse 5. She can teach it because she lives with it.
מצא · matsa · find, attain
Here in the sense of attaining or having within reach.
מזמה · mezimmah · foresight, planning
The ability to think a plan through. The Hebrew is plural: well-considered plans.
Proverbs 8:13
If you respect God, you hate what is bad. I hate pride and showing off, doing wrong, and twisted talk.
To fear the LORD is to hate what is evil.
This defines the fear of the LORD by what it does. Reverence for God is not only a feeling; it shows as a settled hatred of what is wrong.
Pride, arrogance, the way of evil,
She lists what she herself hates. Pride comes first, named twice in two forms, because the proud person cannot be taught.
and the mouth that twists things: these I hate.
The list ends with crooked speech, the opposite of her own mouth in verses 6 to 8. Wisdom and God hate the same things.
יראה · yir'ah · reverent awe
Taking God with full seriousness. The foundation named in 1:7 and again in 9:10.
שנא · sane · hate
Active rejection. The verb is used twice in this verse, once of the God-fearer and once of Wisdom, and returns in verse 36.
רע · ra · bad, harmful
The broad word for what is bad or does harm.
גאה · ge'ah · pride
From a root meaning to rise up high. This form of the noun occurs only here.
גאון · ga'on · haughtiness
From the same root as ge'ah. The two words sound alike in Hebrew: ge'ah and ga'on.
פי תהפכות · pi tahpukot · mouth of twistings
Tahpukot comes from haphak, to turn over. A mouth that turns things upside down, calling wrong right.
Proverbs 8:14
Good advice and good plans come from me. I understand things, and I am strong.
Counsel belongs to me, and sound competence;
She lists what she possesses. Good advice and the practical ability to carry a plan through are both hers to give.
I am insight; strength belongs to me.
She adds understanding and strength. Together the four make up what anyone who leads needs, which prepares for the kings of verse 15.
עצה · etsah · counsel
A considered plan or piece of advice. In 1:25 it was her counsel that the fools brushed aside.
תושיה · tushiyyah · effective competence
Wisdom that works: sound judgment and the success it brings. God stores it up for the upright in 2:7.
בינה · binah · insight
She does not say she has insight but that she is insight.
גבורה · gevurah · strength, might
The strength of a warrior. Isaiah 11:2 lists counsel and strength together among the gifts of the Spirit on the coming king.
Proverbs 8:15
With my help, kings rule well and leaders make fair laws.
Through me kings reign,
Any king who truly governs does so by using wisdom. Ruling well is a skill, and she is the source of it.
and rulers write laws that are just.
The second line gives the specific case. When a ruler writes a just law, wisdom is what made it just.
מלך · melek · king
In Hebrew the noun and the verb are the same root: kings king.
רוזן · rozen · high official
A poetic word for a dignitary or ruler, often paired with kings (Psalm 2:2).
חקק · chaqaq · engrave, enact
To cut into stone or a tablet, and so to enact a law. God does the same thing to the world in verses 27 and 29.
צדק · tsedeq · what is right
The word of verse 8. Their decrees are right in the same way her words are right.
Laws and royal decrees were literally engraved on stone or clay so they could not be altered. To engrave was to make something fixed and public.
Proverbs 8:16
Princes and every other leader who judges fairly do it with my help.
Through me princes govern, and nobles too,
The claim of verse 15 is extended down from kings to every rank of official.
everyone who judges rightly.
This sums up the list. Wherever anyone in authority gives a right judgment, wisdom is at work. It does not say every ruler is wise, only that all good rule comes from her.
שר · sar · official, chief
An official or commander under the king.
שרר · sarar · act as chief
The verb from the same root as sar. As in verse 15, noun and verb match: chiefs act as chiefs.
נדיב · nadiv · noble, generous one
From a root meaning willing or generous. A person of rank who was expected to be open-handed.
שפט · shaphat · judge, govern
To decide cases and so to govern. The root of mishpat, justice.
צדק · tsedeq · what is right
Literally judges of rightness.
Hebrew manuscripts differ in the last word. Some read 'all judges of righteousness', which NASB follows; others read 'all judges of the earth', which several versions follow. The two Hebrew words look similar.
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me. Anyone who looks hard for me will find me.
I love those who love me,
She turns from rulers to anyone at all. Her love is given in return to those who love her; she does not stay distant from a person who wants her.
and those who search hard for me find me.
The promise attached to that love. Earnest searching for wisdom succeeds. This is the reverse of 1:28, where those who had refused her searched too late and did not find.
אהב · ahav · love
Love as chosen attachment and loyalty. It returns in verses 21 and 36.
שחר · shachar · seek at dawn
Related to the word for dawn: to look for something early and eagerly. The same verb as in 1:28.
מצא · matsa · find
The promise that she can be found. Verse 35 says what else is found with her.
Proverbs 8:18
I have riches and honour to give. My riches last, and they come with doing what is right.
Wealth and honor are with me,
She has material and social goods to give. Proverbs does not despise riches; it says where the lasting kind come from.
wealth that lasts, and what is right.
The second line qualifies the first. Her wealth endures, and it comes joined to right living, so it is not the kind gained by wronging anyone.
עשר · osher · wealth
Material wealth.
כבוד · kavod · weight, honor
From a root meaning heavy. Honor is a person's weight in the eyes of others.
הון עתק · hon ateq · lasting riches
Hon is wealth. Ateq is a rare word describing it as lasting, wealth that stays and can be passed on.
צדקה · tsedaqah · right conduct
Right conduct, especially toward others. Listed as part of her wealth, not as something separate from it.
Proverbs 8:19
What I give you is better than the purest gold and the finest silver.
My fruit is better than gold, even refined gold,
She is pictured as a tree or a field. What grows from her is worth more than the purest gold.
and what I yield is better than the finest silver.
The same point with silver. Verse 10 said to choose her over these metals; this verse says the return on that choice beats them.
פרי · peri · fruit, produce
What a thing naturally produces. In 1:31 fools eat the fruit of their own way; here is the other harvest.
חרוץ · charuts · gold
The poetic word for gold used in verse 10.
פז · paz · refined gold
Gold that has been refined, the highest grade.
תבואה · tevu'ah · produce, income
From the verb to come in: what comes in from a field at harvest, and so income.
כסף נבחר · keseph nivchar · selected silver
The silver of verse 10 with the adjective that there described the gold.
Proverbs 8:20
I walk on the road of doing right. I stay in the middle of the path of fairness.
I walk on the road of what is right,
This says where Wisdom is to be found. She keeps to one road, so anyone who wants her company must walk there.
down the middle of the paths of justice,
She is not at the edge of that road but in the centre of it. Her gifts in the next verse are handed out there and nowhere else.
הלך · halak · walk, go about
The verb form means to walk about habitually. This is her regular beat.
ארח · orach · path, course
A path or course of life.
צדקה · tsedaqah · right conduct
The word of verse 18, now the name of her road.
נתיבה · netivah · trodden track
The beaten tracks of verse 2.
משפט · mishpat · right verdicts
Right decisions, especially in how others are treated. Paired with tsedaqah throughout the Old Testament.
Proverbs 8:21
There I give good things to those who love me, and I fill their treasure rooms.
to hand down real substance to those who love me,
This is the purpose of her walk in verse 20. She gives those who love her an inheritance, something solid that is truly theirs.
and to fill their storehouses.
The gift is generous. She does not give a little; she fills the place where a household keeps its valuables.
נחל · nachal · give as inheritance
To cause someone to inherit. The word for Israel receiving its land: a permanent family possession, not a wage.
אהב · ahav · love
The people of verse 17. Her love for them takes the form of an inheritance.
יש · yesh · substance
Normally the little word meaning there is. Used as a noun only here: what really exists, real substance.
אוצר · otsar · storehouse
A storeroom for valuables or supplies.
Proverbs 8:22
God had me with Him at the very start, before He made anything else long ago.
The LORD had me as the beginning of His way,
The speech turns to where she comes from. Before God did anything else, Wisdom was already His. This is why she has the authority claimed in verses 12 to 21.
before His works of long ago.
The second line stresses the order. She is earlier than the oldest thing God made, so nothing in creation was made without her.
יהוה · YHWH · God's covenant name
God's personal name. It stands first in the Hebrew sentence: the subject of this section is what the LORD did.
קנה · qanah · acquire, possess, beget
Most often to acquire or own, as in 4:7 where the reader is told to get wisdom. It can also mean to produce or bring forth, as in Genesis 4:1 and 14:19.
ראשית · reshit · start and chief part
The word of Genesis 1:1 and Proverbs 1:7. First in time and first in rank.
דרך · derek · road, course of action
God too has a way, His course of action. Wisdom stands at the head of it.
קדם · qedem · before, of old
What is in front, and so what is earliest. A different word for before is used in verse 25.
Qanah is the most debated word in the chapter. 'Created' follows the ancient Greek translation; 'possessed' follows the usual meaning of the verb and is found in other versions; 'brought forth' fits the birth language of verses 24 and 25. All agree on the point of the passage: Wisdom was with God before anything else existed. Christians have long read this passage alongside John 1:1-3 and Colossians 1:15-17.
Proverbs 8:23
I was given my place before time began, before the earth was even there.
From ages past I was set in place,
She was given her position before time as we count it. The verb pictures an installation into office.
from the start, before the earth began.
Two more time phrases push the date back further. The earth itself has a beginning, and she is before it.
עולם · olam · remotest time
Time stretching out of sight, past or future. Here the remotest past.
נסך · nasak · pour out, install
Usually to pour out. The same verb is used in Psalm 2:6 for God installing His king on Zion.
ראש · rosh · head, start
Literally head: the top or the start of a thing. Related to reshit in verse 22.
ארץ · erets · earth, land
The earth or the land. Its making is described in verses 26 and 29.
The verb can be taken from a root meaning to pour out, giving 'installed' or 'set up', or from a similar root meaning to weave, giving 'formed' or 'fashioned' (compare Psalm 139:13). Versions differ accordingly.
Proverbs 8:24
I was born before there were any deep oceans, and before there were springs bubbling with water.
When there were no deep oceans, I was brought to birth,
She now goes through the parts of the world one by one, starting at the bottom. The deep sea, which in Genesis 1:2 is there before the first day's work, did not yet exist when she was born.
when there were no springs heavy with water.
The springs that feed the sea from below were not there either. Even the sources of the oldest thing on earth are younger than she is.
תהום · tehom · the deep
The primeval deep of Genesis 1:2. It returns in verses 27 and 28.
חול · chul · be born in labor
To writhe in labor, and so to be brought to birth. A plain birth word, repeated in verse 25.
מעין · ma'yan · spring, fountain
A place where water comes up out of the ground.
כבד · kaved · heavy, laden
Heavy. The springs are described as weighed down with water. The root of kavod, honor, in verse 18.
Proverbs 8:25
The mountains had not been put in place yet, and there were no hills. I was already born.
Before the mountains were sunk into place,
From the sea she moves to the land. Mountains were the standard picture of what is oldest and most fixed, and she is older.
before the hills, I was brought to birth.
The partner line repeats the point with hills and repeats the birth verb from verse 24, so that it frames the two verses.
הר · har · mountain
Mountains stand for great age elsewhere too: Psalm 90:2 says God was God before the mountains were born.
טבע · taba · sink down
To sink. The mountains are pictured as having their bases sunk into the earth like pillars set in sockets.
גבעה · giv'ah · hill
The regular partner of mountains in Hebrew poetry.
חול · chul · be born in labor
The verb of verse 24, repeated.
Proverbs 8:26
God had not yet made the earth or its fields. Not even the first speck of dust was there.
when He had not yet made the earth or the open country,
The list reaches the ground people live and farm on. None of it had been made.
or the very first grains of the world's soil.
She goes down to the smallest unit. Not even the first speck of dust existed. Since Adam was formed from dust, this also puts her before humanity.
עשה · asah · make, do
The ordinary word for making, used throughout Genesis 1. The subject is God; Wisdom is watching.
חוץ · chuts · outside places
Literally the outside places: open country beyond the town. The same word was street in 1:20.
עפר · aphar · dust, loose soil
Loose earth. The material the man was formed from in Genesis 2:7.
תבל · tevel · inhabited world
A poetic word for the world as a place where things live and grow. It returns in verse 31.
Proverbs 8:27
I was there when God set the sky in place and drew the line where the sky meets the sea.
When He set the heavens in place, I was there;
The tense of the story changes. Verses 24 to 26 said what did not yet exist; now God begins to build, and she says she was present for it.
when He drew a circle on the surface of the deep,
The circle is the horizon, the line where sky meets sea all the way round. God is pictured as a builder marking out his plan with a compass.
כון · kun · set firm, prepare
To make firm and ready. In 3:19 God set the heavens in place by understanding; here Wisdom says she saw it happen.
שמים · shamayim · sky, heavens
The sky and all that is above.
חקק · chaqaq · engrave, mark out
The verb used of rulers enacting law in verse 15. God engraves the shape of the world as a king engraves a statute.
חוג · chug · circle, horizon
A drawn circle. Job 26:10 uses the same picture of a circle marked on the face of the waters.
תהום · tehom · the deep
The deep that did not exist in verse 24 is now there and is being given its limits.
Proverbs 8:28
I watched Him make the clouds above strong and fill the springs deep under the sea.
when He made the clouds above firm,
God fixes the upper waters in place. The sky that holds the rain is made solid enough to do its work.
when the fountains of the deep grew strong,
He does the same below. The springs under the sea are given their force. Above and below are both set, with the world between them.
אמץ · amats · make strong
To make strong or solid.
שחק · shachaq · clouds, sky
The thin clouds, and so the sky they float in. A poetic partner to heavens in verse 27.
עין · ayin · spring, eye
The same word means both eye and spring. The fountains of the deep are also named in Genesis 7:11.
עזז · azaz · be strong
To be strong or to prevail. The springs became powerful, or were made secure.
Proverbs 8:29
He told the sea how far it could come, and the water obeyed. He marked out the bottom of the earth, and I was there.
when He gave the sea its limit,
The sea is the wildest thing in the ancient picture of the world. God sets a line for it as a king sets a law.
so that the waters would not go past what He said,
This gives the purpose of the limit. The shoreline is described as a spoken order that the water obeys. The sea is treated as a subject under command.
when He marked out the foundations of the earth,
The earth is pictured as a building whose footings God traces before laying them. This closes the list of His works that she witnessed.
חק · choq · decree, set limit
The noun from chaqaq: something engraved, so a statute or a fixed limit. The sea has a law.
ים · yam · sea
The sea, which in Job 38:8-11 God shuts behind doors and tells how far it may come.
עבר · avar · cross over
To cross or pass over. The same verb is used for transgressing a command, so the water does not trespass.
פה · peh · mouth
Literally His mouth: what He spoke.
חקק · chaqaq · engrave, mark out
The root appears twice in this verse, after its use in verse 27. The world is a decreed thing.
מוסד · mosad · foundation
The footing a building stands on.
Proverbs 8:30
I was right beside Him like a skilled builder. I made Him happy every day, and I was always laughing and playing in front of Him.
then I was at His side, a skilled craftsman,
This is the main clause the whole run of 'when' lines in verses 27 to 29 has been leading to. While God built, she was right beside Him.
and I was a delight day after day,
Her presence was joy. The Hebrew says simply that she was delight, every single day of the work.
playing in front of Him all the time,
The verb is the one for laughing and playing. Creation is described as glad work, with Wisdom rejoicing in God's presence the whole time.
אצל · etsel · at the side of
Right next to. She was not at a distance from the work.
אמון · amon · craftsman
A rare word. Read as craftsman, it says wisdom was the skill by which the world was built, which matches 3:19.
שעשעים · sha'ashu'im · delight, pleasure
Keen pleasure. Psalm 119 uses the word for delight in God's law. The Hebrew does not say whose delight; NASB supplies His.
יום יום · yom yom · day by day
Literally day day. The same phrase describes the listener's watch at her doors in verse 34.
שחק · sachaq · laugh, play
To laugh, play or celebrate. It is used of children playing in the streets in Zechariah 8:5.
Amon is uncertain. 'Master workman' or 'craftsman' is one reading. The other, found in older versions as 'one brought up with him', takes it as a child being raised, which suits the birth words of verses 24 and 25 and the play of this verse. Either way she is beside God and glad.
Proverbs 8:31
How glad I was about the world He made! And how happy people made me!
playing in His inhabited world,
The play of verse 30 moves from before God to the finished earth. Wisdom is glad about the world itself.
and my delight was in the human race.
The section ends on people. The two words of verse 30 return in reverse order, so that her joy before God and her joy in humanity mirror each other. This is why she calls out to mankind in verse 4.
שחק · sachaq · laugh, play
The verb of verse 30, now located on the earth.
תבל · tevel · inhabited world
The word of verse 26. What did not yet exist there is now a place to rejoice in.
שעשעים · sha'ashu'im · delight, pleasure
The noun of verse 30. There she was a delight; here she has delight, and its object is people.
בני אדם · benei adam · sons of Adam
The phrase of verse 4. The ones she calls to are the ones she delights in.
Proverbs 8:32
So now, children, listen to me. Those who follow my ways are truly happy.
So now, sons, listen to me;
'So now' draws the conclusion from everything she has said. If she is this old, this close to God, and this glad about people, she should be heard.
happy are those who keep to my ways.
The reason to listen is given as a blessing. Those who stay on her road are the fortunate ones.
בן · ben · son
She addresses her hearers the way the father has addressed his son since 1:8. Her voice and the parent's teaching are the same voice.
שמע · shama · hear and heed
The command of verse 6, picked up again for the close of the speech.
אשרי · ashrei · how fortunate
An exclamation: how well off is that person. It is the first word of Psalm 1.
שמר · shamar · guard, keep
To guard or watch over. The same verb is translated waiting in verse 34.
דרך · derek · road, way of life
The road of verse 20, where she walks.
Proverbs 8:33
Listen when you are taught and corrected, and you will be wise. Don't just let it slide past you.
Listen to correction and become wise;
The route to wisdom is stated in three words in Hebrew: hear discipline, be wise. Accepting correction is the cause, and wisdom is the result.
do not brush it off.
The warning that goes with it. The danger is not arguing with correction but simply letting it slide.
שמע · shama · hear and heed
Second of three uses in verses 32 to 34.
מוסר · musar · discipline, correction
The discipline she told them to take instead of silver in verse 10.
חכם · chakam · be wise
The verb from the same root as chokmah. It is a command: wisdom is something you can decide to move toward.
פרע · para · let go, let loose
To let something go loose. The same verb described the fools who let her counsel go in 1:25.
Proverbs 8:34
Happy is the person who listens to me, who comes to my door every day and waits there for me.
Happy is the person who listens to me,
A second blessing, now on the individual. The following two lines describe what that listening looks like in practice.
keeping watch at my doors day after day,
The listener is pictured standing at her door every day so as not to miss her when she comes out. Listening is a daily habit, not a single event.
standing guard at the posts of my doorway.
The same picture again. The person is as close to her entrance as it is possible to be, alert and ready. In verse 3 she stood at the city's gates calling; now the wise person stands at hers.
אשרי · ashrei · how fortunate
The exclamation of verse 32, repeated.
שמע · shama · hear and heed
The third use in three verses.
שקד · shaqad · stay awake, watch
To be wakeful and on the lookout. Jeremiah 1:11-12 plays on this verb and the name of the almond tree, the first to wake in spring.
דלת · delet · door
The door leaf itself. A different word from the city gates of verse 3.
שמר · shamar · guard, keep
The verb for keeping her ways in verse 32. Here it is a guard keeping his post.
מזוזה · mezuzah · doorpost
The upright post of a door frame. Israel was told to write God's words on the doorposts of the house (Deuteronomy 6:9).
People who wanted something from a king or great householder waited at his door each morning to be on hand when he appeared. The picture is of a servant, student or petitioner who makes sure to be there first.
Proverbs 8:35
Whoever finds me finds life, and God is pleased with them.
For whoever finds me finds life,
The reason for the blessing in verse 34. What is at stake in finding wisdom is life itself, in its full sense: a life that is long, good, and right with God.
and draws favor from the LORD.
The second gain is God's approval. To find Wisdom is to be accepted by the One she stood beside in verse 30.
מצא · matsa · find
Used twice in the line. The promise of verse 17, that she can be found, is completed here: with her you find life.
חיים · chayyim · life
More than survival: life as it is meant to be. The opposite, death, ends the next verse and the chapter.
פוק · puq · draw out, obtain
To bring out or obtain. The same phrase, obtaining favor from the LORD, is used of the man who finds a wife in 18:22.
רצון · ratson · acceptance, goodwill
God's pleasure in a person. In Proverbs it is the regular opposite of to'evah, abomination (11:1, 12:22).
Proverbs 8:36
But whoever misses me hurts themselves. All who hate me are choosing death.
But whoever misses me does violence to his own life;
The contrast to verse 35. The person who fails to find her is not just missing a benefit. He is injuring himself.
all who hate me love death.
The final line puts it at its sharpest. Nobody thinks they love death, but rejecting wisdom is choosing it. The chapter ends on the two verbs love and hate with their objects swapped from verse 17.
חטא · chata · miss, sin
The basic sense is to miss a target or a way (Judges 20:16). Set against finds in verse 35, it means the one who misses her.
חמס · chamas · do violence to
To treat violently. The word for the violence that filled the earth before the flood (Genesis 6:11), here turned on oneself.
נפש · nephesh · soul, whole self
His own life and person. The same thought as 1:18, where the gang ambushes its own nephesh.
שנא · sane · hate
Wisdom hates evil (verse 13). To hate her is to side with what she hates.
אהב · ahav · love
In verse 17 love was directed at Wisdom. Here the only thing left to love is death.
מות · mavet · death
The last word of the speech, set against life in verse 35.
'Sins against me' and 'misses me' are both possible. The verb means to miss as well as to sin, and 'misses me' brings out the contrast with 'finds me' in verse 35.