Proverbs 8:17
in Proverbs 8I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I love them that love me; And those that seek me diligently shall find me.
KJV
I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
8 notes on this verseFor indeed he says: "I love those who love me, and those who watch for me at dawn will find me." You see how he not only makes you certain of his love, if indeed you love him, but also of his solicitude, which he …
This site's exposition
those who seek me early shall find me
on Proverbs 8:17-21
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me” gives wisdom a covenant shape. Her riches are qualified twice, “enduring wealth and righteousness” and “better than gold,” set against the warning about wealth that “makes wings for itself” (23:5).
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
I love those who love me, etc. Such is it also in the Gospel: "But he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and manifest myself to him" (John 14). Surely, they who always in the renewed pursuit …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 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,
I love - I do not despise their love, but kindly accept it and recompence it with my love and favour. Early - With sincere affection and diligence, which he mentions as the evidence of their love.
I love them that love me,....
Those that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity shall be beloved of him with a peculiar distinguishing love: he will love them and manifest himself to them.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
I love them that love me - Wisdom shows itself; teaches man the knowledge of himself; shows him also the will of God concerning him; manifests the snares and dangers of life, the allurements and unsatisfactory nature of all sensual and sinful pleasures, the blessedness of true religion, and the solid happiness which an upright soul derives from the peace and approbation of its Maker. If, then, the heart embraces this wisdom, follows this Divine teaching, and gives itself to God, his love will be shed abroad in it by the influence of the Holy Spirit.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲ֭נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| אֹהֲבַ֣י | ʾohaveii | [those who] love me | H157 → | 211 times |
| אֵהָ֑ב | ʾehav | I love | H157 → | 211 times |
| וּ֝מְשַׁחֲרַ֗י | umeshacharai | and [those who] earnestly seek me | H7836 → | 12 times |
| יִמְצָאֻֽנְנִי׃ | yimtzauni | they find me | H4672 → | 455 times |
אֲ֭נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
אֹהֲבַ֣י[those who] love me
ʾohaveiiH157 →211 times
אֵהָ֑בI love
ʾehavH157 →211 times
וּ֝מְשַׁחֲרַ֗יand [those who] earnestly seek me
umeshacharaiH7836 →12 times
יִמְצָאֻֽנְנִי׃they find me
yimtzauniH4672 →455 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
Isaiah 55:6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Psalms 145:18
The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.
- Isaiah 45:19
I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth;…
- Psalms 32:6
Therefore let all the godly pray to You while You may be found. Surely when great waters rise, they will not come near.
- Psalms 14:2
The LORD looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Through
John 14:21Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
it leads to
- John 14:15
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,
- 1 John 2:5
But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:
- John 14:15
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; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 69; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.