Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
Parallel translations
- WEB Receive my instruction rather than silver; knowledge rather than choice gold.
- KJV Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
- NKJV Receive my instruction, and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold;
- NASB “Accept my instruction and not silver, And knowledge rather than choice gold.
- NLT Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
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 calls us to value her instruction above silver and gold. What is truly precious is the knowledge of God, not material wealth.
Overview
Personified Wisdom urges hearers to prize her teaching over the most valued commodities of the ancient world. The contrast is deliberate: silver and 'choice gold' represent the highest earthly riches, yet they cannot rival godly instruction. This reorders our priorities, echoing Jesus' call to seek first God's kingdom (Matthew 6:33) and to treasure heavenly riches over earthly ones.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 2:4–5if you seek it like silver and search it out like hidden treasure,
- Ps 119:72The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
- Ps 119:127Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.
- Prov 23:23Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
- Prov 3:13–15Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,
- Prov 10:20The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.
- Acts 3:6But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
- Eccl 7:11Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good, and it benefits those who see the sun.
- Prov 16:16How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
- Ps 119:162I rejoice in Your promise like one who finds great spoil.
- Prov 8:19My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.
- 2 Cor 6:10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 8:10 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.