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In the twilight, in the evening, In the middle of the night and the darkness.
Proverbs 7:9 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the middle of the night and in the darkness.
  • KJV In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
  • BSB at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.
  • NKJV In the twilight, in the evening, In the black and dark night.
  • NLT It was at twilight, in the evening, as deep darkness fell.

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

He approaches under cover of night and darkness. Sin often seeks the shadows.

Overview

The timing in twilight and deep darkness suggests both opportunity and the secrecy that wrongdoing prefers. Darkness here hints at the moral character of what is about to occur. Scripture often links deeds of sin with night and contrasts them with walking in the light.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Rom 13:12–14The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
  • Job 24:13–15“These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.
  • Eph 5:11Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them.
  • Gen 39:11About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside.
  • Exod 12:6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 7:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 7:9 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.