Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her.
- KJV Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
- NKJV Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
- NASB “Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her.
- NLT If you prize wisdom, she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will honor you.
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
Prize wisdom and she will exalt and honor you; embrace her and she will bring you honor. Those who cherish wisdom are themselves lifted up.
Overview
Wisdom honors those who honor her, exalting the one who esteems and embraces her. This is a relationship of mutual valuing rather than mere acquisition. The pattern reflects God's way: those who honor him he will honor (1 Sam 2:30), a principle fulfilled in the exaltation of those united to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Dan 12:3Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
- 1 Sam 2:30Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- Prov 3:35The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.
- Prov 22:4The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.
- 1 Kgs 3:5–13One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
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 4:8 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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