She is a tree of life to those who embrace her, and those who lay hold of her are blessed.
Parallel translations
- WEB She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.
- KJV She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
- NKJV She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who retain her.
- NASB She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are those who hold on to her.
- NLT Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.
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
Wisdom is a tree of life to those who grasp her, and those who hold her fast are blessed. Embracing God's wisdom restores something of the life lost in Eden.
Overview
The image of the tree of life recalls Eden (Gen 2:9; 3:22), suggesting that wisdom brings a measure of the life forfeited at the Fall. Those who 'lay hold' of her are happy, sharing in vitality and blessing. Scripture closes with the tree of life restored in Christ (Rev 22:2), the wisdom and life of God for his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 11:30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
- Rev 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
- Prov 15:4A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Gen 2:9Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- Prov 13:12Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
- Gen 3:22Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”
- Rev 22:2down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:18 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.