Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Parallel translations
- WEB Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.
- BSB Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;
- NKJV Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.
- NASB ¶Wisdom shouts in the street, She raises her voice in the public square;
- NLT Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Wisdom is personified, crying out publicly in the streets. It matters because God's wisdom is not hidden but openly offered to all.
Overview
Wisdom is dramatized as a woman calling aloud in public, contrasting the secret enticements of sinners (vv. 11-14). Her open proclamation shows that the path of wisdom is freely available to anyone who will listen. Many see here a foreshadowing of Christ, the incarnate Wisdom who publicly calls sinners to Himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 9:3She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
- Col 2:3In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- Luke 11:49Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
- 1 Cor 1:24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
- Prov 8:1–5Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?
- 1 Cor 1:30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
- Matt 13:54And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
- John 7:37In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 1:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.