before he had made the earth and fields and the first handfuls of soil.
Parallel translations
- WEB while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
- KJV While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
- BSB before He made the land or fields, or any of the dust of the earth.
- NKJV While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields, Or the primal dust of the world.
- NASB While He had not yet made the earth and the fields, Nor the first dust of the world.
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 existed before God made the earth, fields, or even its first dust. Nothing in the created world predates her.
Overview
The catalog of creation continues, naming the earth, fields, and the very 'dust of the world' as things made after wisdom already was. This exhaustive listing drives home wisdom's complete priority over creation. It magnifies the wise, purposeful character of God's creative work, accomplished through his Word (Psalm 33:6; John 1:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Gen 1:1–31In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
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 8:26 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.