Proverbs 3:16
in Proverbs 3Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Length of days is in her right hand; In her left hand are riches and honor.
KJV
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.
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This verse in Proverbs 3
Commentary
9 notes on this verseSomeone may object: If the just man has no left hand, how is Wisdom written to have both a right hand and a left? A diligent reader will very easily judge how great is the difference between the right hand of Wisdom and the left, when he has noticed what things are said to be in her right and what in her left. For it is said: "Length of eternity and years of life are in her right hand, but in her left hand riches and glory."
This site's exposition
Long life is in her right hand
on Proverbs 3:16-18
“Long life is in her right hand” and riches and honor in the left picture wisdom as a giver. “All her ways are pleasant” names the road itself pleasant. “She is a tree of life” reaches back to Eden, the one place in Proverbs where wisdom is that tree.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
As Proverbs has it, "Length of days and years of life are in his right hand," and this means eternal blessedness, whereas "In his left hand are riches and glory," denoting the good things of this world, though there is no doubt that these can …
The Medieval Church3 voices
When the left hand of Christ is interpreted as referring to something good, the present life of holy church is understood. Hence it is written, "Length of days is in her right hand, in her left riches and glory." Length of days in her right …
Length of days is in her right hand, etc. With the vision of his divinity, He grants the chosen ones in perpetual light, and in this present life, he strengthens and illuminates them with the sacraments and charisms of his incarnation. He gives them, who …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistThe Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 26 · Written before 604.
proposed
The Church says by the voice of the elect, "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me." The left hand of God, to wit prosperity in the present life, she has put under her head, in that she presses it down in the intentness of her highest love. But the right hand of God embraces her, because in her entire devotion she is encompassed with His eternal blessedness. Hence again, it is said through Solomon, "Length of days is in her right hand, but in her left hand riches and glory." In speaking, then, of riches and glory being placed in her left hand, he shewed after what manner they are to be esteemed. Hence the Psalmist says, "Save me with thy right hand." For he says not, "with thy hand," but "with thy right hand;" in order, that is, to indicate, in saying "right hand," that it was eternal salvation that he sought. Hence again it is written, "Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemies." For the enemies of God, though they prosper in His left hand, are dashed to pieces with His right; since for the most part the present life elevates the bad, but the coming of eternal blessedness condemns them.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Length of days is in her right hand,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Wisdom is here represented as a bright and bountiful queen, reaching forth gifts to her faithful and loving subjects, and offering them to all that will submit to her government. (1.) Is length of days a blessing?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Length of days is in her right hand - A wicked man shortens his days by excesses; a righteous man prolongs his by temperance. In her left hand riches and honor - That is, her hands are full of the choicest benefits. There is nothing to be understood here by the right hand in preference to the left.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
in its right hand Those who make the right use of it and engage in it for its own sake will have length of days and surely riches and honor, but those who make the wrong [lit.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and all your desirable things Heb. חפציך all that you desire.
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. 3 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֹ֣רֶךְ | ʾorekh | length of | H753 → | 95 times |
| יָ֭מִים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| בִּֽימִינָ֑הּ | biminah | [is] in right [hand] her | H3225 → | 140 times |
| בִּ֝שְׂמֹאולָ֗הּ | bismolah | [are] in left [hand] her | H8040 → | |
| עֹ֣שֶׁר | ʾosher | wealth | H6239 → | 37 times |
| וְכָבֽוֹד׃ | vekhavod | and honor | H3519 → | 200 times |
אֹ֣רֶךְlength of
ʾorekhH753 →95 times
יָ֭מִיםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
בִּֽימִינָ֑הּ[is] in right [hand] her
biminahH3225 →140 times
בִּ֝שְׂמֹאולָ֗הּ[are] in left [hand] her
bismolahH8040 →
עֹ֣שֶׁרwealth
ʾosherH6239 →37 times
וְכָבֽוֹד׃and honor
vekhavodH3519 →200 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 22:4The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.
it leads to
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Proverbs 21:21
He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor.
- Psalms 112:1–3
Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.
- Matthew 6:33
Through
Proverbs 3:2for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Proverbs 4:10
Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Through
1 Kings 3:13Moreover, I will give you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal.
it leads to
- Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
- Ephesians 3:20
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Homilies on the Gospels 2:21; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 120:5; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 26; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS, ALTERNATE SERIES 61 (PSALM 15); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.