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She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city:
Proverbs 9:3 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
  • BSB She has sent out her maidservants; she calls out from the heights of the city.
  • NKJV She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city,
  • NASB She has sent out her attendants, she calls out From the tops of the heights of the city:
  • NLT She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city.

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 sends out her servants and calls publicly from the heights of the city. Her invitation is open, urgent, and offered to all.

Overview

Wisdom does not wait passively but actively sends out messengers and proclaims her call from the most public places. This open, earnest summons reflects the seeking heart of God, who calls broadly to all who will hear. It foreshadows the proclamation of the gospel, sent out through messengers to the ends of the earth (Romans 10:14-15).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Prov 9:14She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,
  • Prov 8:1–3Doesn’t wisdom cry out? Doesn’t understanding raise her voice?
  • Matt 22:3–4and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.
  • Ps 68:11The Lord announced the word. The ones who proclaim it are a great company.
  • Prov 1:20–23Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.
  • 2 Cor 5:20–21We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
  • Luke 11:49Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute,
  • Matt 22:9Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’
  • John 18:20Jesus answered him, “I spoke openly to the world. I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where the Jews always meet. I said nothing in secret.
  • Luke 14:21–23“That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
  • John 7:37Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
  • Luke 14:17He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
  • Rom 10:15And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Good News of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”

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 9:3YouTube · 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 9:3 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.