Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding.
Parallel translations
- KJV Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
- BSB Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,
- NKJV Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;
- NASB ¶Blessed is a person who finds wisdom, And one who obtains understanding.
- NLT Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.
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
Blessed is the one who finds wisdom and gains understanding. It matters because it pronounces true happiness on those who attain wisdom.
Overview
This verse opens a poem in praise of wisdom (vv. 13-18) with a beatitude: happy is the one who finds wisdom. Such blessedness comes from possessing what God prizes most. Since Christ is the wisdom of God, the deepest fulfillment of this blessing is found in knowing Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 8:32–35“Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.
- Prov 4:5–9Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don’t forget, neither swerve from the words of my mouth.
- Eccl 9:15–18Now a poor wise man was found in it, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.
- Prov 2:4If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:
- 1 Kgs 10:23–24So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom.
- Prov 18:1An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.
- 1 Kgs 10:1–9When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning Yahweh’s name, she came to test him with hard questions.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:13 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.