By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established;
Parallel translations
- WEB Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;
- KJV Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
- NKJV Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;
- NASB ¶By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;
- NLT A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.
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 household, and a life, is built and made secure through wisdom and understanding.
Overview
Wisdom is the true foundation for building anything lasting, whether a family, an estate, or a life. "House" can mean both a literal household and the broader life one constructs. This echoes Christ's image of the wise builder who founds his house on the rock by hearing and doing His words (Matt. 7:24-25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 14:1Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.
- Prov 9:1Wisdom has built her house; she has carved out her seven pillars.
- 1 Cor 3:9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- Col 2:7rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
- Jer 10:12The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
- 2 Sam 7:26so that Your name will be magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Your servant David will be established before You.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 24:3 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.