Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
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.
- BSB Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.
- 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 12:3Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
- 1 Sam 2:30“Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘I said indeed that your house, and the house of your father, should walk before me forever.’ But now Yahweh says, ‘Far be it from me; for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.
- Prov 3:35The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of fools.
- Prov 22:4The result of humility and the fear of Yahweh is wealth, honor, and life.
- 1 Kgs 3:5–13In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give 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
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.