Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,
Parallel translations
- WEB Haven’t I written to you thirty excellent things of counsel and knowledge,
- KJV Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
- BSB Have I not written for you thirty sayings about counsel and knowledge,
- NKJV Have I not written to you excellent things Of counsels and knowledge,
- NLT I have written thirty sayings for you, filled with advice and knowledge.
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 teacher points to a deliberately rich body of counsel he has set down for the student.
Overview
The "thirty sayings" (a common rendering of the number here) mark this as a carefully composed unit of instruction. The phrasing has notable parallels to ancient Egyptian wisdom writings, yet Proverbs reframes all such counsel under the fear of the LORD. The deliberate, written form shows God's care to preserve reliable guidance, a care ultimately seen in the whole of inspired Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Pet 1:19–21We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts:
- Prov 8:6Hear, for I will speak excellent things. The opening of my lips is for right things.
- Ps 12:6Yahweh’s words are flawless words, as silver refined in a clay furnace, purified seven times.
- 2 Tim 3:15–17From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
- Hos 8:12I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing.
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 22:20 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
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