Proverbs 8:12
in Proverbs 8I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I wisdom have made prudence my dwelling, And find out knowledge and discretion.
KJV
I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions.
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
10 notes on this verseI wisdom dwell with prudence - Prudence is defined, wisdom applied to practice; so wherever true wisdom is, it will lead to action, and its activity will be always in reference to the accomplishment of the best ends by the use of the most appropriate means.
This site's exposition
I wisdom dwell with prudence
on Proverbs 8:12-16
Wisdom keeps company: prudence, counsel, understanding, strength. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil plants the book's motto inside her self-description, and the hate list that follows (pride, arrogancy, the evil way, the froward mouth) makes the fear of the Lord concrete rather than a mood. By me kings reign is the claim that government itself runs on wisdom's credit, which Henry applies in both directions: rulers rule well by her, and rule at all by God's providence.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, etc. Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst (Matthew XVIII).
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The first counsel is that by which we are instructed to discern what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the judgment of right reason. Whence in Proverbs: 'I, wisdom, dwell in counsel and am present among learned thoughts.' 'I dwell …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The redeemer is the eternal Word and wisdom, the Logos. He is the Wisdom that speaks to the children of men in the former part of the chapter. All divine revelation passes through his hand, and centres in him; but of him as the personal Wisdom, the second person in the Godhead, in the judgment of many of the ancients, Solomon here speaks,
I dwell - My inseparable companion is prudence to govern all my actions, and to direct the actions of others. Find out - I help men to find out. Inventions - Of all ingenious contrivances for the glory of God, and for the good of men.
I Wisdom dwell with Prudence,.... Here Wisdom begins to speak in her own person, and continues to do so unto the end of the chapter; or Christ describes himself, pencils out and draws his own picture, and a most lovely one it is. In this clause Christ is described by the habitation in which he dwells, "I Wisdom inhabit Prudence" (c); so the words may be rendered; that is the house in which I dwell: or by his companion with whom he dwells, "with Prudence"; that is my companion with whom I am familiarly conversant.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Christ found out the knowledge of that great invention, and a costly one it was to him, man's salvation, by his satisfaction, an admirable expedient. We had found out many inventions for our ruin; he found out one for our recovery. The covenant of grace is so well ordered in all things that we must conclude that he who ordered it dwelt with prudence.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The connection of "wisdom" and "prudence" is that of the dictates of sound wisdom and its application. find . . . inventions--or, "devices," "discreet ways" (Pr 1:4).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wisdom first speaks warnings (Pro 1:24 note), next promises (Pro 2:1 note); but here she neither promises nor threatens, but speaks of her own excellence. “Prudence” is the “subtilty” (see the margin), the wiliness of the serpent Gen 3:1, in itself neutral, but capable of being turned to good as well as evil. Wisdom, occupied with things heavenly and eternal, also “dwells with” the practical tact and insight needed for the life of common men. “Witty inventions” are rather counsels. The truth intended is, that all special rules for the details of life spring out of the highest Wisdom as their source.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I dwelt [beside] cunning Beside cunning, for since a man has learned Torah, cunning about every matter enters into him.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Fear of the Lord is to hate evil This is the discipline that wisdom announces to the people.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲֽנִי־ | ʾani- | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| חָ֭כְמָה | chokhmah | wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| שָׁכַ֣נְתִּי | shakhanti | I dwell | H7931 → | 129 times |
| עָרְמָ֑ה | ʾaremah | prudence | H6195 → | 5 times |
| וְדַ֖עַת | vedaat | and knowledge of | H1847 → | 92 times |
| מְזִמּ֣וֹת | mezimot | discretion | H4209 → | 19 times |
| אֶמְצָֽא׃ | ʾemtza' | I find | H4672 → | 455 times |
אֲֽנִי־I
ʾani-H589 →874 times
חָ֭כְמָהwisdom
chokhmahH2451 →153 times
שָׁכַ֣נְתִּיI dwell
shakhantiH7931 →129 times
עָרְמָ֑הprudence
ʾaremahH6195 →5 times
וְדַ֖עַתand knowledge of
vedaatH1847 →92 times
מְזִמּ֣וֹתdiscretion
mezimotH4209 →19 times
אֶמְצָֽא׃I find
ʾemtza'H4672 →455 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
Romans 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
it leads to
- Job 11:7–9
Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Job 5:9
the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
- Psalms 92:5
How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!
- Colossians 2:2–3
that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
- Romans 2:4
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
- Job 11:7–9
Through
Proverbs 1:4To impart prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion to the young,
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:5
O simple ones, learn to be shrewd; O fools, gain understanding.
- Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
- Proverbs 8:5
Through
Isaiah 28:26For his God instructs and teaches him properly.
it leads to
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 1:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 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); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.