Proverbs 3:19
in Proverbs 3The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding he established the heavens.
KJV
The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
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This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Athanasius of Alexandria296–373
Discourses Against the Arians 1.6.19 · Written before 373.
Solomon says, "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens." And this wisdom is the Word, and by him, as John says, "all things were made" [and without him not one thing was made]. This Word is Christ, "for there is one God the Father, from whom are all things. We are for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we are through him." If all things are through him, he himself should not be reckoned with the "all things."
This site's exposition
The LORD founded the earth by wisdom
on Proverbs 3:19-20
“The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding” moves wisdom from a quality to the instrument of creation. “By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open, and the clouds dripped with dew” keeps the depths and clouds of chapter 8.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 3 -- On Faith · Written before 523.
proposed
For in the beginning when He created the world and all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by …
Paul declares that it was said of the Son: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands." Whether therefore the Son made the heavens, as also the apostle would have it understood, while he himself certainly did not alone spread out the heavens without the Father; or as it stands in the book of Proverbs, "the Lord in wisdom has founded the earth, in understanding he has prepared the heavens," it is proved that neither the Father made the heavens alone without the Son, nor yet the Son without the Father.
You will find it said in Proverbs, "God by wisdom founded the earth, and by prudence he prepared the heaven." Thus there is a certain prudence of God which one does not seek [except] in Christ Jesus. For all such [virtues], insofar as they are of God, are Christ: he is the wisdom of God, he is the power of God, he is the righteousness of God, he is sanctification, he is redemption. In this way he is the prudence of God. But though there is one substance, for differences in the aspects the names are many. You do not understand the same thing about Christ when you understand him as wisdom and when you understand him as righteousness. For when he is wisdom, you mean the knowledge of things divine and human, but when he is righteousness, he is that power which allots to every person according to worth. And when he is sanctification, he is what enables those faithful and dedicated to God to become holy. In this way also then you will understand him as prudence, when he is the knowledge of what is good and evil, and what is neither.
The Medieval Church1 voice
The Lord founded the earth by wisdom, etc. God the Father through the Son created all things. Typically, however, He founded the earth by wisdom when He established the holy Church in the solidity of faith through Him; He stabilized the heavens with understanding when …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Christ is that Wisdom, by whom the worlds were made and still consist; happy therefore are those to whom he is made of God wisdom, for he has wherewithal to make good all the foregoing promises of long life, riches, and honour; for all the wealth of heaven, earth, and seas, is his.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Hereto Wisdom has been thought of in relation to men. Now the question comes, What is she in relation to God? and the answer is, that the creative act implies a Divine Wisdom, through which the Divine will acts. This thought, developed in Prov. 8, is the first link in the chain which connects this “Wisdom” with the Divine Word, the Logos of John’s Gospel. Compare Psa 33:6; Joh 1:3. The words of the writer of the Proverbs take their place among the proofs of the dogmatic statements of the Nicene Creed.
The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth - Here wisdom is taken in its proper acceptation, for that infinite knowledge and skill which God has manifested in the creation and composition of the earth, and in the structure and economy of the heavens. He has established the order as well as the essence of all things; so that though they vary in their positions, etc., yet they never change either their places, or their properties. Composition and analysis are not essential changes; the original particles, their forms and properties, remain the same.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְֽהוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בְּחָכְמָ֥ה | bechakhemah | by wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| יָֽסַד־ | yasad- | he founded | H3245 → | |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כּוֹנֵ֥ן | konen | he established | H3559 → | 217 times |
| שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| בִּתְבוּנָֽה׃ | bitvunah | by understanding | H8394 → | 42 times |
יְֽהוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בְּחָכְמָ֥הby wisdom
bechakhemahH2451 →153 times
יָֽסַד־he founded
yasad-H3245 →
אָ֑רֶץ[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
כּוֹנֵ֥ןhe established
konenH3559 →217 times
שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
בִּתְבוּנָֽה׃by understanding
bitvunahH8394 →42 times
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
John 1:3Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:16–17
For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and came to be.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- Psalms 33:6
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.
- Genesis 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the…
- Colossians 1:16–17
Through
Jeremiah 10:12The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
it leads to
- Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 1:1
Through
Psalms 104:24How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 10:12
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
- Psalms 40:5
Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us— none can compare to You— if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I…
- Jeremiah 10:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
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About Proverbs
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.2.29; Athanasius of Alexandria, Discourses Against the Arians 1.6.19; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 8:2.1 and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 3 -- On Faith.