Proverbs 8:31
in Proverbs 8I was rejoicing in His whole world, delighting together in the sons of men.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Rejoicing in his habitable earth; And my delight was with the sons of men.
KJV
Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
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This verse in Proverbs 8
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Wisdom rejoices yet more in the world as inhabited by God’s rational creatures. (compare Isa 45:18). Giving joy and delight to God, she finds her delight among the sons of men. These words, like the rest, are as an unconscious prophecy fulfilled in the Divine Word, in whom were “hid all the treasures of Wisdom.” Compare the marginal reference: in Him the Father was well pleased; and yet His “joy also is fulfilled,” not in the glory of the material universe, but in His work among the sons of men.
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
delighting together in the sons of men
Barnes reads the step from the whole world to the sons of men as a rise in joy, and compares Isaiah 45:18. He hears a prophecy fulfilled in the Word, whose joy is in His work among men. The sons of men were her audience in verse 4.
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 Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureOn the Reduction of the Arts to Theology · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
If we consider the fruit, we shall find the union of God and the soul. For every artisan who makes some work either makes it so that through it he may be praised, or so that through it something may be procured or gained for …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
It is certain that wisdom delights to be with men: whence she says: "My delights are to be with the children of men." But that wisdom does not dwell with us is not a defect on her part, but on ours. If we wish that …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
26 ), Let us make man, but in the redemption and salvation of man. The Son of God was ordained, before the world, to that great work, 1 Pet. i. A remnant of the sons of men were given him to be brought, through his grace, to his glory, and these were those in whom his delights were.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth,....
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.
Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth - There God displays especially his wisdom in ordering and directing human beings, and in providing for their wants. The wisdom of God is in an especial manner manifested in his providence. My delights were with the sons of men - This Divine wisdom, as it delighted in the creation of man, so it continues to delight in his instruction. Hence it is represented as offering its lessons of instruction continually, and using every means and opportunity to call men from folly and vice to sound knowledge, holiness, and happiness. It is to man that God especially gives wisdom; and he has it in the form of reason beyond all other creatures; therefore it is said, “My delights are with the sons of men;” to them I open my choicest treasures. They alone are capable of sapience, intelligence, and discursive reason.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְ֭שַׂחֶקֶת | mesacheket | playing | H7832 → | 36 times |
| בְּתֵבֵ֣ל | betevel | in [the] world of | H8398 → | |
| אַרְצ֑וֹ | ʾartzo | earth his | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְ֝שַׁעֲשֻׁעַ֗י | veshaashuai | and delight<s> my | H8191 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | [were] with | H854 → | 929 times |
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | [the] children of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָֽם׃ פ | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
מְ֭שַׂחֶקֶתplaying
mesacheketH7832 →36 times
בְּתֵבֵ֣לin [the] world of
betevelH8398 →
אַרְצ֑וֹearth his
ʾartzoH776 →2504 times
וְ֝שַׁעֲשֻׁעַ֗יand delight<s> my
veshaashuaiH8191 →
אֶת־[were] with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
בְּנֵ֥י[the] children of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
אָדָֽם׃ פhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 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
2 Corinthians 8:9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
it leads to
- Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
- Philippians 2:6–8
Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Matthew 20:28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
- Romans 5:8
But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Romans 8:32
Through
John 4:34Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
it leads to
- John 6:38
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- John 5:30
I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
- Job 23:12
I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
- John 17:4
I have glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work You gave Me to do.
- John 6:38
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 Duties of the Clergy 1.46.233; Bonaventure, On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9; 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.