Proverbs 8:27
in Proverbs 8I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When he established the heavens, I was there: When he set a circle upon the face of the deep,
KJV
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
10 notes on this verseLearn also that the Father was with him, and he with the Father, when all things were being made. Wisdom says, "When he was preparing the heavens I was with him, when he was making the fountains of waters." And in the Old Testament the Father … showed that the Son was to be worshiped with himself as the maker of all things.
This site's exposition
when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep
on Proverbs 8:27-31
Wisdom is present at “a boundary for the sea,” which Job 38:11 states: “You may come this far, but no farther”. The words “His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence” are familial, and the Hebrew amon, craftsman or nursling, is left unsettled.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This Wisdom uttered made the sky, The sky and light and all besides; All by the Word's almighty power Were fashioned, for the Word was God.
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 3 -- On Faith · Written before 523.
proposed
For in the beginning when He created the world and all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The work in nothing varied from the plan of it formed in the eternal mind. He was also employed in the third day's work, when the waters above the heavens, were gathered together by establishing the clouds above, and those under the heavens by strengthening the fountains of the deep, which send forth those waters (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
I was there - As co-worker with my Father. Depth - Of that great abyss of water and earth mixed together, which is called both earth and water and the deep, Gen. i, 2, when he made this lower world in the form of a globe.
When he prepared the heavens, I was there,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
A compass - Better as in the margin and Job 22:14 (see the note), i. e., the great vault of heaven stretched over the deep seas.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Strictly, God's attributes are part of Himself. Yet, to the poetical structure of the whole passage, this commendation of wisdom is entirely consonant. In order of time all His attributes are coincident and eternal as Himself.
When he prepared the heavens, I was there - For there is no part of the creation of God in which wisdom, skill, contrivance, are more manifest, than in the construction of the visible heavens. When he set a compass upon the face of the depth - Does not this refer to the establishment of the law of gravitation? by which all the particles of matter, tending to a common center, would produce in all bodies the orbicular form, which we see them have; so that even the waters are not only retained within their boundaries, but are subjected to the circular form, in their great aggregate of seas, as other parts of matter are. This is called here making a compass, בחקו חוג bechukko chug, sweeping a circle; and even this on the face of the deep, to bring the chaotic mass into form, regularity, and order.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּהֲכִינ֣וֹ | bahakhino | when established he | H3559 → | 217 times |
| שָׁ֭מַיִם | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| שָׁ֣ם | sham | [was] there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אָ֑נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| בְּח֥וּקוֹ | bechukov | when marked out he | H2710 → | 19 times |
| ח֝֗וּג | chug | a circle | H2329 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] surface of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| תְהֽוֹם׃ | tehom | [the] deep | H8415 → | 36 times |
בַּהֲכִינ֣וֹwhen established he
bahakhinoH3559 →217 times
שָׁ֭מַיִם[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
שָׁ֣ם[was] there
shamH8033 →834 times
אָ֑נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
בְּח֥וּקוֹwhen marked out he
bechukovH2710 →19 times
ח֝֗וּגa circle
chugH2329 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] surface of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
תְהֽוֹם׃[the] deep
tehomH8415 →36 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
Colossians 1:16For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
it leads to
- John 1:3
Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 11:36
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
- 1 Corinthians 8:6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and…
- Hebrews 2:10
In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting for God, for whom and through whom all things exist, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.
- 1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom,…
- John 1:3
Through
Proverbs 3:19The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
it leads to
- Psalms 104:24
How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 10:12
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:15
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 104:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this chapter
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); Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 3.11.85; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 3 -- On Faith and Prudentius, HYMNS FOR EVERY DAY 11.