For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
Parallel translations
- WEB For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can’t be compared to it.
- KJV For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
- NKJV For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.
- NASB “For wisdom is better than jewels; And all desirable things cannot compare with her.
- NLT For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can compare with it.
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 surpasses rubies and anything we could desire. Nothing we crave can be compared to her worth.
Overview
This verse caps the appeal of the previous one, declaring wisdom incomparable to even the rarest jewels. The point is not that material things are evil but that they are dwarfed by the value of knowing and walking with God. Paul echoes this when he counts all things loss compared to knowing Christ, in whom 'all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden' (Philippians 3:8; Colossians 2:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 4:5–7Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them.
- Prov 3:14–15for she is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than fine gold.
- Ps 19:10They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- Prov 16:16How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
- Ps 119:127Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.
- Prov 20:15There is an abundance of gold and rubies, but lips of knowledge are a rare treasure.
- Matt 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Job 28:15–19It cannot be bought with gold, nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
- Phil 3:8–9More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 8:11 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.