Proverbs 22:20
in Proverbs 22Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Have not I written unto thee excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,
KJV
Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
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This verse in Proverbs 22
Commentary
10 notes on this verseSolomon counsels that what we read "be transcribed in the heart in a threefold manner." I shall make known to your ears that which occurs to my mind, even beyond the things that we have said, and you yourself [should] do what is written: "Let one speak and the rest judge." Therefore, as I speak what I perceive, you consider and judge if it is correct or not correct.
This site's exposition
Incline your ear and hear the words
on Proverbs 22:17-21
"Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise" opens the book's third named section, after 1:1 and 10:1. Part of the section runs close to an Egyptian text, the Instruction of Amenemope. The traditional position holds these sayings as inspired wisdom in their own right.
This site's exposition
thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge
Readers render the phrase thirty sayings in several ways. John Gill reports three things and a threefold way, and Albert Barnes gives excellent things or, from another reading, long ago. Origen took the threefold sense as a charge to keep these written sayings of counsel and knowledge in the heart.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
John ChrysostomCOMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 22:20 · Written before 407.
proposed
As human beings consist of body, soul and spirit, so also Scripture consists of the body of letters, by which the ignorant man is benefited; and that is called "manual instruction." Second, it consists of soul, that is, a higher meaning, which the one who is higher in learning understands. It also consists of spirit, that is, a more sublime and spiritual contemplation which those who are perfect understand and speak.
He who has opened his heart through purity, contemplates the words of God in their practical, physical and theological sense. Accordingly, the whole corpus of Scripture may be divided into three parts: ethical, physical and theological. Consequently, Proverbs corresponds to the first part, Ecclesiastes to …
There are three kinds of spiritual knowledge—tropological, allegorical, anagogical—of which we read as follows in Proverbs: "But you describe these things to yourself in three ways according to the largeness of your heart."
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Philosophical knowledge is a certain knowledge of truth as investigable. Concerning this knowledge it is said in Proverbs: "Behold, I have described it for you in a threefold manner, in thoughts and knowledge, that I might show you the firmness and the words of truth." …
Behold, I have described it to you in three ways, etc. He delineated his doctrine to the listener in three ways: thinking, speaking, and executing it in works. With this threefold description, the whole little book shines richly if considered well.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Have not I written to thee excellent things,.... In the Scriptures. Some render it, "three things" (c); and think that Solomon refers to the three divisions of the Scriptures among the Jews, the law, the prophets, and holy writings; so Jarchi; but some of those writings then were not: or to the three books wrote by him; the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. Others render it, "in a threefold way" (d), as the Targum and several versions; that is, in various ways, in different forms and styles, in order the better to inform and instruct.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Excellent things - A meaning of the word derived from “the third,” i. e., “the chief of three warriors in a chariot” (compare Exo 14:7 note). Another reading of the Hebrew text gives “Have I not written to thee long ago?” and this would form a natural antithesis to “this day” of Pro 22:
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲלֹ֤א | halo' | ¿ not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כָתַ֣בְתִּי | khatavti | have I written | H3789 → | 224 times |
| לְ֭ךָ | lekha | for <the> you | ||
| שָׁלִישִׁ֑ים | shilshom | officers | H7991 → | |
| בְּמ֖וֹעֵצֹ֣ת | bemoetzot | <in> counsels | H4156 → | |
| וָדָֽעַת׃ | vadaat | and knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
הֲלֹ֤א¿ not
halo'H3808 →5168 times
כָתַ֣בְתִּיhave I written
khatavtiH3789 →224 times
לְ֭ךָfor <the> you
lekha
שָׁלִישִׁ֑יםofficers
shilshomH7991 →
בְּמ֖וֹעֵצֹ֣ת<in> counsels
bemoetzotH4156 →
וָדָֽעַת׃and knowledge
vadaatH1847 →92 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
Psalms 12:6The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace, like gold purified sevenfold.
it leads to
- Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
- Psalms 18:30
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- 2 Samuel 22:31
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
- Psalms 19:8
The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
- Psalms 66:10
For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver.
- Proverbs 30:5
Through
Proverbs 8:6Listen, for I speak of noble things, and the opening of my lips will reveal right.
it leads to
- Matthew 7:28–29
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching,
- Colossians 1:26
the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed to His saints.
- Proverbs 4:2
For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.
- Matthew 7:28–29
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on 10 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 4; Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON PROVERBS 247:22.20; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 14:8; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 22:20; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 21.