Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,
Parallel translations
- WEB Tell wisdom, “You are my sister.” Call understanding your relative,
- KJV Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
- NKJV Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your nearest kin,
- NASB Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend,
- NLT Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family.
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
Embrace wisdom as a beloved sister and close relative. Cultivate an intimate, affectionate bond with wisdom.
Overview
The father urges the son to make wisdom and understanding his cherished kin, drawing them near in affectionate relationship. This intimacy with wisdom stands in deliberate contrast to the seductress about to be described. Loving wisdom closely is the surest protection against the allure of sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 4:6–8Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you.
- Prov 2:2–4if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
- Song 8:1O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
- Job 17:14and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
- Matt 12:49–50Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.
- Luke 11:27–28As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed 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 7:4 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.