Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.
Parallel translations
- WEB Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- BSB Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- NKJV The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.
- NASB The wise woman builds her house, But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.
- NLT A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.
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
A wise woman builds up her household, but a foolish one tears it down. Wisdom or folly profoundly shapes the home.
Overview
This proverb personifies wisdom and folly through the image of women who either build or destroy their houses, highlighting the immense influence of wise living within the family. The 'house' includes both the physical home and the family's well-being and legacy. The wise builder echoes Christ's call to build one's life on the rock of His words (Matthew 7:24).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 31:10–31Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
- Prov 24:3–4Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
- Prov 21:9It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
- Prov 21:19It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
- Ruth 4:11And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders, said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Bethlehem:
- Prov 9:13–15A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.
- Prov 19:13A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
- 1 Kgs 16:31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
- 2 Kgs 11:1And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
- 1 Kgs 21:24–25Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 14:1 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.