Proverbs 9:11
in Proverbs 9For through wisdom your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For by me thy days shall be multiplied, And the years of thy life shall be increased.
KJV
For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
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This verse in Proverbs 9
Commentary
5 notes on this verseFor by me thy days shall be multiplied,.... These are the words of Wisdom, and contain a reason and argument why her call and advice in the preceding verses should be listened unto, since she gives long life to her followers. She is a tree of life unto them, the author and giver of spiritual and eternal life; by means of her bread and her wine spiritual life is maintained, promoted, and preserved; and length of days, for ever and ever, is the gift of her right hand; see Pro 3:
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.
This site's exposition
your days will be multiplied
Clarke notes that three ancient versions add a long passage here on the man who trusts in falsehood and feeds on the wind. Verse 6 promised life to those who leave folly, and this verse measures it in days and years. Her guests live long.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It will bring thee to heaven, and there thy days shall be multiplied in infinitum--to infinity, and the years of thy life shall be increased without end. " There is no true wisdom but in the say of religion and no true life but in the end of that way.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For by me thy days shall be multiplied - Vice shortens human life, by a necessity of consequence: and by the same, righteousness lengthens it. There is a long addition here in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate: “He who trusts in falsity feeds on the winds; and is like him who chases the fowls of heaven. He forsakes the way of his own vineyard, and errs from the paths of his own inheritance. He enters also into lonely and desert places, and into a land abandoned to thirst; and his hands collect that which yieldeth no fruit.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and they will add to you years of life Years of life are those of sustenance and wealth.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and the knowledge of the holy ones is the root of understanding.
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בִ֭י | vi | by me | ||
| יִרְבּ֣וּ | yirbu | they will increase | H7235 → | 227 times |
| יָמֶ֑יךָ | yameikha | days your | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְיוֹסִ֥יפוּ | veyosifu | so they may add | H3254 → | 212 times |
| לְּ֝ךָ֗ | lekha | to you | ||
| שְׁנ֣וֹת | shenot | years of | H8141 → | 877 times |
| חַיִּֽים׃ | chaiyim | life | H2416 → | 498 times |
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בִ֭יby me
vi
יִרְבּ֣וּthey will increase
yirbuH7235 →227 times
יָמֶ֑יךָdays your
yameikhaH3117 →2304 times
וְיוֹסִ֥יפוּso they may add
veyosifuH3254 →212 times
לְּ֝ךָ֗to you
lekha
שְׁנ֣וֹתyears of
shenotH8141 →877 times
חַיִּֽים׃life
chaiyimH2416 →498 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 3:2for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Psalms 91:16
With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 4:10
Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
- Psalms 128:6
that you may see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
- Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Through
Proverbs 3:16Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:2
for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 6:10
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
- Proverbs 3:2
Through
Deuteronomy 6:2so 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…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:40
Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your…
- Deuteronomy 4:40
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; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.