Proverbs 3:18 BSB — MannaFest

Proverbs 3:18

She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.

KJV

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

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Commentary

4 voices

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 16:4.3 (253)

I turn to the most wise Solomon as a witness when he said about wisdom, "The tree of life is for all who embrace it." Therefore, if "wisdom is the tree of life," without a doubt, there is another tree of prudence, another of knowledge and another of justice. For logically it is not said that only wisdom, of all the virtues, was worthy to be called "the tree of life" but that the other virtues by no means received names of a similar sort. Therefore, "the trees of the field will give their fruit."

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

A tree - A pledge of everlasting life. He alludes to the tree of life, and intimates, that this is the only restorer of that life which we have lost by sin.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

She is a tree of life - עץ חיים ets chaiyim, “the tree of lives,” alluding most manifestly to the tree so called which God in the beginning planted in the garden of Paradise, by eating the fruit of which all the wastes of nature might have been continually repaired, so as to prevent death for ever. This is an opinion which appears probable enough. The blessings which wisdom - true religion - gives to men, preserve them in life, comfort them through life, cause them to triumph in death, and ensure them a glorious immortality.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

7 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
עֵץ־	'etz-	[is] a tree of	H6086 →
חַיִּ֣ים	chai.Yim	life	H2416 →
הִ֭יא	hi'	she	H1931 →
לַמַּחֲזִיקִ֣ים	la.ma.cha.zi.Kim	to <the> [those who] take hold	H2388 →
בָּ֑הּ	Bah	on her
וְֽתֹמְכֶ֥יהָ	ve.to.me.Khei.ha	and [those who] hold fast to her	H8551 →
מְאֻשָּֽׁר׃ פ	me.'u.Shar	[are] called blessed	H833 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Revelation 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the…
leads to
- Revelation 2:17
  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone…
- Revelation 2:11
  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
- Matthew 11:15
  He who has ears, let him hear.
- Revelation 13:9
  He who has an ear, let him hear:
- Matthew 13:43
  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Through
Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life…
leads to
- Revelation 22:14
  Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Revelation 2:7
  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
leads to
- Daniel 12:3
  Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.

Featured studies on this passage

On Proverbs 3:18

The Tree

Proverbs reuses Genesis' phrase without explaining it, which means the phrase was already common property. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who take hold of her.

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Wisdom and the Poets

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About Proverbs

King Solomon in Old Age — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Proverbs: the study guide →Read chapter 3 →The featured study →

Continue: Proverbs 3 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Proverbs

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Proverbs