“I call to you, to all of you! I raise my voice to all people.
Parallel translations
- WEB “To you men, I call! I send my voice to the sons of mankind.
- KJV Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.
- BSB “To you, O men, I call out, and my cry is to the sons of men.
- NKJV “To you, O men, I call, And my voice is to the sons of men.
- NASB “To you, people, I call, And my voice is to mankind.
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 addresses all people, calling out to every human being. Her invitation is universal.
Overview
Wisdom directs her appeal to all men and to the sons of mankind without exception. No one is excluded from her summons to understanding. This universal call reflects the breadth of God's invitation to know and walk in truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 11:15He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
- Ps 49:1–3For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
- John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
- Ps 50:1A Psalm by Asaph. The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
- Rev 22:17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
- Titus 2:11–12For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
- Col 1:28whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;
- 2 Cor 5:19–20namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
- Col 1:23if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant.
- 1 Tim 2:4–6who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 8:4 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.