Proverbs 9:10
in Proverbs 9The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
KJV
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
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This verse in Proverbs 9
Commentary
8 notes on this verseDiscipline is an index to doctrine. [The heretics] say that God is not to be feared. So everything is free to them and unrestrained. But where is God not feared, except where he is not present? Where God is not present, there is no truth either; and where there is no truth, discipline like theirs is natural. But where God is present, there is the fear of God, there are decent seriousness, vigilant care and anxious solicitude, well-tested selection, well-weighed communion and deserved promotion, religious obedience, devoted service, modest appearance, a united church, and all things godly.
This site's exposition
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom
on Proverbs 9:10-12
The book's motto returns at the seam between its two great sections, restating 1:7 almost word for word and marking this chapter as a hinge. Its second line pairs fear with “knowledge of the Holy One,” so wisdom never stands apart from the Lord it begins in.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
He also said, 'The beginning and the end is the fear of the Lord. For it is written, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10) and, when Abraham built an altar the Lord said to him, "Now I know that …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The fear of God avails for obtaining the illumination of divine wisdom, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." For the fear of the Lord is the extrinsic principle of wisdom and the intrinsic principle and the complement of wisdom; because …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(2.) The head must be filled with the knowledge of the things of God. The knowledge of holy things (the word is plural) is understanding, the things pertaining to the service of God (those are called holy things ), that pertain to our own sanctification; reproof is called that which is holy, Matt. vii.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The fear of the Lord - See on Pro 1:7 (note). The knowledge of the holy; קדשים kedoshim, of the holy ones: Sanctorum, of the saints - Vulgate. boulh agiwn, the counsel of the holy persons.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The holy - The word in the Hebrew is plural, agreeing, probably, with אלהים 'elohı̂ym understood (so in Pro 30:3). The knowledge of the Most Holy One stands as the counterpart to the fear of Yahweh.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and the knowledge of the holy ones is the root of understanding.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and they will add to you years of life Years of life are those of sustenance and wealth.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תְּחִלַּ֣ת | techilat | [is the] beginning of | H8462 → | |
| חָ֭כְמָה | chokhmah | wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| יִרְאַ֣ת | yirat | [the] fear of | H3374 → | 45 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְדַ֖עַת | vedaat | and [the] knowledge of | H1847 → | 92 times |
| קְדֹשִׁ֣ים | kedoshim | [the] holy [one<s>] | H6918 → | |
| בִּינָֽה׃ | binah | [is] understanding | H998 → | 38 times |
תְּחִלַּ֣ת[is the] beginning of
techilatH8462 →
חָ֭כְמָהwisdom
chokhmahH2451 →153 times
יִרְאַ֣ת[the] fear of
yiratH3374 →45 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְדַ֖עַתand [the] knowledge of
vedaatH1847 →92 times
קְדֹשִׁ֣ים[the] holy [one<s>]
kedoshimH6918 →
בִּינָֽה׃[is] understanding
binahH998 →38 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 1:7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
it leads to
- Job 28:28
And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 111:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Job 28:28
Through
Job 28:28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 4:6
Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 1:7
Through
Ecclesiastes 12:13When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your…
- Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Deuteronomy 6:2
so that you and your children and grandchildren may fear the LORD your God all the days of your lives by keeping all His statutes and commandments that I give you, and so that…
- Deuteronomy 10:12
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); Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Tertullian, PRESCRIPTIONS AGAINST HERETICS 43.