Proverbs 8:30
in Proverbs 8Then I was a skilled craftsman at His side, and His delight day by day, rejoicing always in His presence.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then I was by him, as a master workman; And I was daily his delight, Rejoicing always before him,
KJV
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThen I was with him, as one brought up - אמון amon, a nursling, a darling child. Wisdom continues its parable, says Calmet; and represents itself as a new-born child which is ever near its parent, and takes pleasure to see him act, and to sport in his presence.
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.
This site's exposition
a skilled craftsman at His side
Clarke pictures Wisdom as a small child near its parent, glad to watch him work and playing in his presence. The Berean reads a skilled craftsman at His side. The delight runs both ways.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
We can therefore imagine no moment whatever when that power was not engaged in acts of well-doing. Whence it follows that there always existed [in God's wisdom] objects for this well-doing, namely, God's works or creatures, and that God, in the power of his providence, was always dispensing his blessings among them by doing them good in accordance with their condition and deserts. It follows plainly from this, that at no time whatever was God not creator, nor benefactor, nor providence.…God the Father always existed, and he always had an only-begotten Son, who at the same time, according to the explanation we have given above, is called wisdom. This is that wisdom in whom God delighted when the world was finished, in order that we might understand from this that God ever rejoices. In this wisdom, therefore, who ever existed with the Father, the creation was always present in form and outline, and there was never a time when the prefiguration of those things which hereafter were to be did not exist in wisdom.
We have that general seemliness; for God made the beauty of this world. We have it also in its parts; for when God made the light, and marked off the day from the night, when he made heaven, and separated land and seas, when he set the sun and moon and stars to shine upon the earth, he approved of them all one by one.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"And I delighted every day," etc. Saying "playing," he means rejoicing. Therefore, he was playing before the Father every day, because, as the prophet says, "From the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Mic. 5), he was rejoicing to be one with the Father. He …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), for he was the express image of his person, Heb. i. His eternity; he was begotten of the Father, for the Lord possessed him, as his own Son, his beloved Son, laid him in his bosom; he was brought forth as the only-begotten of the Father, and this before all worlds, which is most largely insisted upon here.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
13 ), but the mutual consciousness and good understanding that were between them concerning the work of man's redemption, which the Son was to undertake, and about which the counsel of peace was between them both, Zech. vi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
As one brought up with him - i. e., As his foster child. Others take the word in the original in another sense, “I was as his artificer,” a rendering which falls in best with the special point of the whole passage, the creative energy of Wisdom. Compare Wisdom Pro 7:21, Pro 7:22. Daily - Heb. “day by day.” As the Creator rejoiced in His workmanship Gen 1:4, Gen 1:10, Gen 1:12-13, so Wisdom rejoiced in the exuberance of her might and strength.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָֽאֶהְיֶ֥ה | vaehyeh | and I was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אֶצְל֗וֹ | ʾetzlo | beside him | H681 → | 61 times |
| אָ֫מ֥וֹן | ʾamon | an artisan | H525 → | |
| וָֽאֶהְיֶ֣ה | vaehyeh | and I was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שַׁ֭עֲשֻׁעִים | shaashuim | delight<s> | H8191 → | |
| י֤וֹם׀ | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| י֑וֹם | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| מְשַׂחֶ֖קֶת | mesacheket | playing | H7832 → | 36 times |
| לְפָנָ֣יו | lefanav | <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | at every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֵֽת׃ | ʾet | time | H6256 → | 296 times |
וָֽאֶהְיֶ֥הand I was
vaehyehH1961 →3559 times
אֶצְל֗וֹbeside him
ʾetzloH681 →61 times
אָ֫מ֥וֹןan artisan
ʾamonH525 →
וָֽאֶהְיֶ֣הand I was
vaehyehH1961 →3559 times
שַׁ֭עֲשֻׁעִיםdelight<s>
shaashuimH8191 →
י֤וֹם׀day
yomH3117 →2304 times
י֑וֹםday
yomH3117 →2304 times
מְשַׂחֶ֖קֶתplaying
mesacheketH7832 →36 times
לְפָנָ֣יו<to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 times
בְּכָל־at every
bekholH3605 →5413 times
עֵֽת׃time
ʾetH6256 →296 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
John 1:18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:15
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
- John 6:46
not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.
- Matthew 11:27
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses…
- Luke 10:22
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to…
- 1 John 4:12
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
- Colossians 1:15
Through
Isaiah 42:1“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
it leads to
- Matthew 12:18–21
“Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
- Luke 3:22
and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in a bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”
- Matthew 12:18–21
Through
Matthew 3:17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”
it leads to
- Isaiah 42:1
“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations.
- Isaiah 42:1
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Wisdom35 verses
On this page
Studies4
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 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 Duties of the Clergy 1.46.233; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:4.3-4.