Proverbs 18:11
in Proverbs 18A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city; it is like a high wall in his imagination.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, And as a high wall in his own imagination.
KJV
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.
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This verse in Proverbs 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe wealth of the rich is his strong city, etc. Earthly wealth cannot always defend; indeed, many are captured or killed because of riches. Thus Ecclesiastes also says, Riches kept to the harm of their owner; for they perish in a terrible affliction. Therefore, it …
This site's exposition
The name of the Lord is a strong tower
on Proverbs 18:10-11
The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous running into it and finding safety, set directly against the rich man's wealth as his own strong city, a high wall in his own conceit, the pairing the bench draws deliberately across the two verses. One tower actually shelters and the other only feels like shelter, and Bridges reads the placement as the chapter's clearest contrast between real and imagined security. The wording is identical in shape, a tower matched to a wall, so the reader is meant to weigh them together.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The gift of fortitude is given by God protecting. For God protects us according to hierarchical ordering, fortifying us within and without. "The substance of the rich man is a city of strength and like a strong wall surrounding him." Fortitude is, as from a …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The rich man's wealth is his strong city,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
What the name of the Lord is to the righteous Pro 18:10, that wealth is to the rich. He flees to it for refuge as to a strong city; but it is so only “in his own conceit” or imagination. High - In the Hebrew the same word as “safe” Pro 18:10, and manifestly used in reference to it.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and like a strong wall his wealth is to him in his chambers. Since the house is paved with a floor of stones that cover the earth, it is called אבן משכית, a covering stone.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The name of the Lord is a tower of strength; the righteous runs into it and is strengthened Heb. ונשגב.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ה֣וֹן | hon | [the] wealth of | H1952 → | 26 times |
| עָ֭שִׁיר | ʾashir | a rich [person] | H6223 → | 23 times |
| קִרְיַ֣ת | kiryat | [is] [the] town of | H7151 → | 29 times |
| עֻזּ֑וֹ | uzo | strength his | H5797 → | 92 times |
| וּכְחוֹמָ֥ה | ukhechomah | and like a wall | H2346 → | |
| נִ֝שְׂגָּבָ֗ה | nisgavah | high | H7682 → | 20 times |
| בְּמַשְׂכִּיתֽוֹ׃ | bemaskito | in own imagination his | H4906 → |
ה֣וֹן[the] wealth of
honH1952 →26 times
עָ֭שִׁירa rich [person]
ʾashirH6223 →23 times
קִרְיַ֣ת[is] [the] town of
kiryatH7151 →29 times
עֻזּ֑וֹstrength his
uzoH5797 →92 times
וּכְחוֹמָ֥הand like a wall
ukhechomahH2346 →
נִ֝שְׂגָּבָ֗הhigh
nisgavahH7682 →20 times
בְּמַשְׂכִּיתֽוֹ׃in own imagination his
bemaskitoH4906 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 7:12For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:35
For whoever finds me finds life and obtains the favor of the LORD.
- Proverbs 3:18
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.
- Proverbs 2:7
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,
- Proverbs 11:4
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Proverbs 18:10–11
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
- Proverbs 8:35
Through
Proverbs 10:15The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:7
All the brothers of a poor man hate him—how much more do his friends avoid him! He may pursue them with pleading, but they are nowhere to be found.
- Psalms 52:7
“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Proverbs 14:20
The poor man is hated even by his neighbor, but many are those who love the rich.
- Proverbs 19:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.