Limitless Word
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.
Proverbs 8:14 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Counsel and sound knowledge are mine. I have understanding and power.
  • BSB Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight and strength.
  • NKJV Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.
  • NASB “Advice is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine.
  • NLT Common sense and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine.

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

Counsel, sound wisdom, understanding, and power all belong to wisdom. Those who seek her gain resources for right and effective living.

Overview

Wisdom claims as her own the very faculties needed to govern life well: counsel, insight, and strength. These are not human achievements but gifts that flow from God through wisdom. The same qualities are attributed to the coming Messiah in Isaiah 11:2, pointing forward to Christ, on whom rests the Spirit of counsel and might.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Eccl 7:19Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city.
  • Isa 9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
  • Isa 40:14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?
  • Rom 11:33–34O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
  • Prov 24:5A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
  • Col 2:3In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
  • Rom 1:22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
  • Eccl 9:16–18Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.
  • Prov 2:6–7For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
  • 1 Cor 1:24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
  • John 1:9That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
  • 1 Cor 1:30But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 8:14YouTube · 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 8:14 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.