Proverbs 8:10
in Proverbs 8Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Receive my instruction, and not silver; And knowledge rather than choice gold.
KJV
Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
8 notes on this verse"Accept discipline, not silver," so that at a time of calamity or physical illness or domestic trouble, you would think nothing at all perverse of God, but accept the blows meted out by him with great patience as though you were being castigated for your sins. Thus, conscious of being disciplined, say, "I will bear the wrath of the Lord because I have sinned against him."
This site's exposition
for I speak of noble things
on Proverbs 8:6-11
Wisdom's credentials are moral before they are intellectual: “none are crooked or perverse”. “They are all plain to the discerning,” so any difficulty lies in the hearer. The price comparison, “my instruction instead of silver” and wisdom “more precious than rubies,” repeats the appraisal of 3:14-15.
This site's exposition
Receive my instruction instead of silver
Basil read instruction as discipline and applied the verse to illness and trouble received patiently from God. Silver and pure gold are the rival offer. Wisdom tells the simple to receive instruction instead.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Receive my discipline, etc. You cannot serve God and mammon (Luke XVI).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The redeemer is the eternal Word and wisdom, the Logos. He is the Wisdom that speaks to the children of men in the former part of the chapter. All divine revelation passes through his hand, and centres in him; but of him as the personal Wisdom, the second person in the Godhead, in the judgment of many of the ancients, Solomon here speaks,
20 I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: 21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. Wisdom here is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; it is Christ in the word and Christ in the heart, not only Christ revealed to us, but Christ revealed in us.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:32w-of-69
Receive my instruction, and not silver,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Receive my instruction, and not silver - A Hebrew idiom; receive my instruction in preference to silver.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קְחֽוּ־ | kechu- | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מוּסָרִ֥י | musari | discipline my | H4148 → | 50 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not [you take] | H408 → | 724 times |
| כָּ֑סֶף | kasef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| וְ֝דַ֗עַת | vedaat | and knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
| מֵחָר֥וּץ | mecharutz | more than gold | H2742 → | 19 times |
| נִבְחָֽר׃ | nivchar | chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
קְחֽוּ־take
kechu-H3947 →966 times
מוּסָרִ֥יdiscipline my
musariH4148 →50 times
וְאַל־and may not [you take]
veal-H408 →724 times
כָּ֑סֶףsilver
kasefH3701 →403 times
וְ֝דַ֗עַתand knowledge
vedaatH1847 →92 times
מֵחָר֥וּץmore than gold
mecharutzH2742 →19 times
נִבְחָֽר׃chosen
nivcharH977 →171 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 23:23Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:16
How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 18:15
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out.
- Matthew 13:44
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that…
- Psalms 119:72
The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
- Isaiah 55:1
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Proverbs 16:16
Through
Psalms 119:72The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
it leads to
- Psalms 19:10
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 8:10–11
Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
- Psalms 119:127
Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.
- Psalms 19:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY ON THE BEGINNING OF PROVERBS 5; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.