Proverbs 8:24
in Proverbs 8When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth, when no springs were overflowing with water.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When there were no depths, I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water.
KJV
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
4 notes on this verseWhen there were no depths, I was brought forth,.... Not only in the decree of God, as the head of the elect; foreordained to be the Redeemer of them, and to be the propitiation for their sins; and appointed the Judge of the world, and heir of all things; but "was begotten", as the Targum and Syriac version; the Septuagint is, "he begot me"; and so it is to be understood of the eternal generation and sonship of Christ; for the word חוללתי is used of generation, Job 15:
This site's exposition
The Lord possessed me in the beginning
on Proverbs 8:22-26
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way is one of the most argued verses in the Old Testament, and the argument turns on one Hebrew word, qanah, which the King James renders possessed and the Septuagint rendered created me. On that Greek reading the Arians built their claim that the Son was a creature, and the church answered that begotten is not made; the history is stated as history. The readings today are named with their holders: wisdom as the personified attribute of God, older than every made thing (so most of the bench, Delitzsch among them), and the passage read toward Christ the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24), so the older writers, hearing in was brought forth the language of begetting rather than making. The verses themselves say what no reading can remove: before depths, fountains, mountains and fields, wisdom already was.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
When there were no depths - תהמות tehomoth, before the original chaotic mass was formed. See Gen 1:2. I was brought forth - חוללתי cholalti, “I was produced as by laboring throes.” Mr. Parkhurst thinks that the heathen poets derived their idea of Minerva’s (wisdom’s) being born of Jupiter’s brain, from some such high poetic personification as that in the text.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
on Proverbs 8:22-31
Strictly, God's attributes are part of Himself. Yet, to the poetical structure of the whole passage, this commendation of wisdom is entirely consonant. In order of time all His attributes are coincident and eternal as Himself.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּאֵין־ | beein- | when there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| תְּהֹמ֥וֹת | tehomot | [were] [the] deeps | H8415 → | 36 times |
| חוֹלָ֑לְתִּי | cholalti | I was brought forth | H2342 → | 58 times |
| בְּאֵ֥ין | beein | when there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מַ֝עְיָנ֗וֹת | ma'yanot | [were] springs | H4599 → | 23 times |
| נִכְבַּדֵּי־ | nikhbadei- | abounding of | H3513 → | 113 times |
| מָֽיִם׃ | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
בְּאֵין־when there not
beein-H369 →789 times
תְּהֹמ֥וֹת[were] [the] deeps
tehomotH8415 →36 times
חוֹלָ֑לְתִּיI was brought forth
cholaltiH2342 →58 times
בְּאֵ֥יןwhen there not
beeinH369 →789 times
מַ֝עְיָנ֗וֹת[were] springs
ma'yanotH4599 →23 times
נִכְבַּדֵּי־abounding of
nikhbadei-H3513 →113 times
מָֽיִם׃water
mayimH4325 →581 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 1:14The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:9
This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
- 1 Timothy 3:16
By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world,…
- Galatians 4:4
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
- Isaiah 40:5
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
- 1 John 4:9
Through
Genesis 1:2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:23
I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- Psalms 104:30
When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.
- Jeremiah 4:23
Through
Hebrews 1:5For to which of the angels did God ever say: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father”? Or again: “I will be His Father, and He will be My Son”?
it leads to
- Psalms 2:7
I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.
- Psalms 2:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.