Proverbs 14:1
in Proverbs 14Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Every wise woman buildeth her house; But the foolish plucketh it down with her own hands.
KJV
Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.
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This verse in Proverbs 14
Commentary
7 notes on this verseEvery wise woman buildeth her house,.... Not only by her fruitfulness, as Leah and Rachel built up the house of Israel; but by her good housewifery, prudent economy; looking well to the ways of her household; guiding the affairs of her house with discretion; keeping all things in a good decorum; and bringing up her children in virtue, and in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
This site's exposition
Every wise woman builds her house
on Proverbs 14:1-2
“Every wise woman builds her house,” but the foolish one “tears it down with her own hands”. Her ruin is domestic, a house undone by its own occupant. Walking “in uprightness” and fearing the LORD are one act, the fear the book names at 1:7 as “the beginning of knowledge”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And it was also said, "A wise woman builds a house, but the foolish will destroy it with her hands." This means that the wise woman encourages her neighbor in the fear of God and the love which is in her heart toward her sister …
A commentator
John ChrysostomCOMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 14:1 · Written before 407.
proposed
"The wise women built up their homes." The church built its house with its patience and hope in Christ, that is, it has roused and restored those entering it with its doctrine and faith. "The foolish destroyed it with her own hand." This is the heresy which becomes the cause for their eternal death.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A wise woman will build her house, etc. And each faithful soul, and the universal Church throughout the world, builds her mansion in the heavenly homeland through good deeds; but the wicked, by living badly and sometimes openly resisting, dissipate what has been well ordered …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Every wise woman - literally, Wise women. The fullest recognition that has as yet met us of the importance of woman, for good or evil, in all human society.
Every wise woman buildeth her house - By her prudent and industrious management she increases property in the family, furniture in the house, and food and raiment for her household. This is the true building of a house. The thriftless wife acts differently, and the opposite is the result. Household furniture, far from being increased, is dilapidated; and her household are ill-fed, ill-clothed, and worse educated.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The wisest of women Heb. חכמות, vowelized with a “patach,” is not a noun, but [it means that] the wisest of women build their houses, for they are preserved by them, like the wife of On the son of Peleth, as is explained in the chapter entitled “Chelek.”
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. 2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חַכְמ֣וֹת | chakhmot | wise [women] of | H2450 → | 138 times |
| נָ֭שִׁים | nashim | women | H802 → | 781 times |
| בָּנְתָ֣ה | banetah | she builds | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בֵיתָ֑הּ | veitah | house her | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְ֝אִוֶּ֗לֶת | veivelet | and a foolish woman | H200 → | 25 times |
| בְּיָדֶ֥יהָ | beyadeiha | with hands her | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| תֶהֶרְסֶֽנּוּ׃ | tehersenu | she tears down it | H2040 → | 43 times |
חַכְמ֣וֹתwise [women] of
chakhmotH2450 →138 times
נָ֭שִׁיםwomen
nashimH802 →781 times
בָּנְתָ֣הshe builds
banetahH1129 →376 times
בֵיתָ֑הּhouse her
veitahH1004 →2046 times
וְ֝אִוֶּ֗לֶתand a foolish woman
veiveletH200 →25 times
בְּיָדֶ֥יהָwith hands her
beyadeihaH3027 →1618 times
תֶהֶרְסֶֽנּוּ׃she tears down it
tehersenuH2040 →43 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
Proverbs 21:19Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:9
Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
- Proverbs 21:9
Through
Proverbs 21:9Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:13
A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.
- Proverbs 21:19
Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.
- Proverbs 25:24
Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
- Proverbs 27:15–16
A constant dripping on a rainy day and a contentious woman are alike—
- Proverbs 12:4
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Proverbs 19:13
Through
Ruth 4:11“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.…
it leads to
- Genesis 29:32
And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Matthew 2:6
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people…
- Genesis 29:32
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
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; Besa The Copt, FRAGMENT 29, LETTER TO ANTINOE 2:3-4; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 14:1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.