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“Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed.
Proverbs 9:5 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!
  • KJV Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
  • NKJV “Come,eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed.
  • NASB “Come, eat of my food And drink of the wine I have mixed.
  • NLT “Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed.

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 urges the simple to come, eat her bread, and drink her mixed wine. She offers nourishment that gives true life.

Overview

The invitation to eat and drink pictures receiving wisdom's instruction as life-giving food. To partake is to take wisdom into oneself and be sustained by it. This imagery points forward to Christ, the bread of life and the true vine, who invites the hungry and thirsty to come to him and be satisfied (John 6:35; 7:37).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • John 6:27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”
  • Song 5:1I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved.
  • Prov 9:17“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
  • Jer 31:12–14They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.
  • Matt 26:26–28While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.”
  • Ps 22:29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.
  • Isa 55:1–3“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
  • Prov 9:2She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
  • John 6:49–58Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.
  • Ps 22:26The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

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 9:5YouTube · 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 9:5 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.