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The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh’s name is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.
  • KJV The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
  • BSB The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
  • NKJV The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
  • NASB The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous runs into it and is safe.

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

The LORD's name is a secure refuge for the righteous. Those who trust in God find safety in Him.

Overview

Yahweh's name, His revealed character and presence, is pictured as a strong tower into which the righteous flee for safety. True security rests not in walls or wealth but in God Himself. This anticipates the gospel, in which salvation is found in the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21) and supremely in the name of Jesus, the only name by which we are saved (Acts 4:12), our refuge and strong tower.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 24

  • 2 Sam 22:3God is my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge. My savior, you save me from violence.
  • Ps 91:2I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
  • Isa 26:4Trust in Yahweh forever; for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.
  • Ps 144:2my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge; who subdues my people under me.
  • Ps 61:3–4For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
  • Ps 27:1By David. Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?
  • Ps 18:2Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
  • Gen 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.
  • Rev 1:8“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
  • Matt 1:23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel”; which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
  • Ps 56:3–4When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.
  • Isa 9:6For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
  • 1 Sam 30:6David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.
  • Ps 91:14“Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
  • Jer 23:6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. This is his name by which he shall be called: Yahweh our righteousness.
  • 2 Sam 22:45–47The foreigners will submit themselves to me. As soon as they hear of me, they will obey me.
  • Gen 32:28–29He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
  • Hab 3:19Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.
  • Exod 34:5–7Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed Yahweh’s name.
  • 2 Sam 22:51He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring, forever more.”
  • Isa 57:15For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
  • Exod 3:13–15Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”
  • Gen 32:11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, and the mothers with the children.
  • Exod 6:3and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 18:10YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 18:10 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.