Proverbs 1:20
in Proverbs 1Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wisdom crieth aloud in the street; She uttereth her voice in the broad places;
KJV
Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
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This verse in Proverbs 1
Commentary
12 notes on this verseWisdom crieth - Here wisdom is again personified, as it is frequently, throughout this book; where nothing is meant but the teachings given to man, either by Divine revelation or the voice of the Holy Spirit in the heart. And this voice of wisdom is opposed to the seducing language of the wicked mentioned above. This voice is everywhere heard, in public, in private, in the streets, and in the house. Common sense, universal experience, and the law of justice written on the heart, as well as the law of God, testify against rapine and wrong of every kind.
This site's exposition
Wisdom calls out in the street
on Proverbs 1:20-21
Wisdom speaks as soon as the sinners have plotted. She “lifts her voice in the square” and speaks “at the city gates,” the city's most public places. They invite privately and specifically, and she calls publicly and to everyone, so no one can later say the offer never reached him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
Salvian the PresbyterFOUR BOOKS OF TIMOTHY TO THE CHURCH 4:1 · Written before 500.
proposed
What about this saying: "He who shall have persevered to the end, shall be saved," or that oracle of the divine word in the sacred proverbs: "Wisdom is proclaimed at the moment of departure"? These sayings show that, though wisdom is helpful in every age, …
It is written: "Wisdom is made known in death," that is to say, the life of the wise man is praised at the end of his life. Wherefore we read also in another place: "Do not praise a man during his lifetime"and again, "Praise not …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Wisdom preaches in the streets, etc. The Wisdom of God, indeed, is Christ, who, having lived in the world, revealed the mysteries of His divinity to a few and instructed them not to preach that He was Jesus Christ before His passion and resurrection, lest …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
This wisdom has been made manifest, hence "wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the open squares she raises her voice." And yet we do not find her, resembling the unlettered man who owns a book and has no concern for it. And so with …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
In vain - The fowler who spreads, his net in the sight of the bird looseth his labour. But these, are more foolish than the silly birds, and though they are not ignorant of the mischief which these evil courses will bring upon themselves, yet they will not take warning. Their own blood - The destruction which they design to others, fall upon themselves.
Wisdom - Having expressed the counsels of wicked men, he now declares the voice of wisdom. By wisdom he understands the wisdom of God revealed to men in his word. And this is said to cry with a loud voice, to intimate God's earnestness in inviting sinners to repentance.
Wisdom crieth without,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Others think that wisdom, as the divine attribute specially employed in acts of counsel and admonition, is here personified, and represents God. In either case the address is a most solemn and divine admonition, whose matter and spirit are eminently evangelical and impressive (see on Pr 8:1).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Wisdom is personified. In the Hebrew the noun is a feminine plural, as though this Wisdom were the queen of all wisdoms, uniting in herself all their excellences. She lifts up her voice, not in solitude, but in the haunts of men “without,” i. e., outside the walls, in the streets, at the highest point of all places of concourse, in the open space of the gates where the elders meet and the king sits in judgment, in the heart of the city itself Pro 1:21; through sages, lawgivers, teachers, and yet more through life and its experiences, she preaches to mankind. Socrates said that the fields and the trees taught him nothing, but that he found the wisdom he was seeking in his converse with the men whom he met as he walked in the streets and agora of Athens.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָ֭כְמוֹת | chakhemot | wisdom<s> | H2451 → | 153 times |
| בַּח֣וּץ | bachutz | in the street | H2351 → | 164 times |
| תָּרֹ֑נָּה | taronah | it cries aloud | H7442 → | 54 times |
| בָּ֝רְחֹב֗וֹת | barechovot | in the open places | H7339 → | 43 times |
| תִּתֵּ֥ן | titen | she gives | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| קוֹלָֽהּ׃ | kolah | voice her | H6963 → | 506 times |
חָ֭כְמוֹתwisdom<s>
chakhemotH2451 →153 times
בַּח֣וּץin the street
bachutzH2351 →164 times
תָּרֹ֑נָּהit cries aloud
taronahH7442 →54 times
בָּ֝רְחֹב֗וֹתin the open places
barechovotH7339 →43 times
תִּתֵּ֥ןshe gives
titenH5414 →2011 times
קוֹלָֽהּ׃voice her
kolahH6963 →506 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
1 Corinthians 1:24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Colossians 2:3
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- 1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
- Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
- 1 Corinthians 1:30
Through
Colossians 2:3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 1:24
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- 1 Corinthians 2:6–8
Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
- 1 Corinthians 1:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Proverbs
This page draws on 12 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, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Hilary of Arles, LIFE OF ST. HONORATUS, PREFACE 3; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Salvian the Presbyter, FOUR BOOKS OF TIMOTHY TO THE CHURCH 4:1.