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Beside the gates to the city, at the entrances she cries out:
Proverbs 8:3 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, at the entry doors, she cries aloud:
  • KJV She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
  • NKJV She cries out by the gates, at the entry of the city, At the entrance of the doors:
  • NASB Beside the gates, at the opening to the city, At the entrance of the doors, she cries out:
  • NLT By the gates at the entrance to the town, on the road leading in, she cries aloud,

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 cries out at the city gates and entrances, the centers of public life. Her message reaches everyone.

Overview

Standing at the gates, where commerce and justice were conducted, wisdom proclaims her message to all comers. Her public platform shows she withholds her counsel from no one. The contrast with the secretive ways of folly could not be sharper.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Job 29:7When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
  • Luke 14:21–23The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
  • Acts 5:20“Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
  • Matt 22:9Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’
  • John 18:20“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus answered. “I always taught in the synagogues and at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 8:3YouTube · 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 8:3 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.