A wise man scales the city of the mighty and pulls down the stronghold in which they trust.
Parallel translations
- WEB A wise man scales the city of the mighty, and brings down the strength of its confidence.
- KJV A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty, and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof.
- NKJV A wise man scales the city of the mighty, And brings down the trusted stronghold.
- NASB A wise person scales the city of the mighty And brings down the stronghold in which they trust.
- NLT The wise conquer the city of the strong and level the fortress in which they trust.
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 man can conquer a fortified city and topple its defenses. It matters because wisdom is mightier than mere strength.
Overview
Wisdom accomplishes what brute force cannot, overcoming the strongholds in which the mighty trust (Ecclesiastes 9:14-16; Proverbs 24:5). The verse exalts wisdom above military power. It reminds us that God's wisdom, not human might, secures true victory (1 Corinthians 1:25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Eccl 7:19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city.
- Prov 24:5A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge enhances his strength.
- Eccl 9:13–18I have also seen this wisdom under the sun, and it was great to me:
- 2 Sam 20:16–22a wise woman called out from the city, “Listen! Listen! Please tell Joab to come here so that I may speak with him.”
- 2 Sam 5:6–9Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.”
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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 21:22 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.