Receive my instruction rather than silver; knowledge rather than choice gold.
Parallel translations
- KJV Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.
- BSB Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure 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 her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:
- Ps 119:72The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver. YUD
- Ps 119:127Therefore I love your commandments more than gold, yes, more than pure gold.
- Prov 23:23Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
- Prov 3:13–15Happy is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gets understanding.
- Prov 10:20The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.
- Acts 3:6But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”
- Eccl 7:11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. Yes, it is more excellent for those who see the sun.
- Prov 16:16How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! Yes, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
- Ps 119:162I rejoice at your word, as one who finds great plunder.
- Prov 8:19My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold; my yield than choice silver.
- 2 Cor 6:10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
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 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.