What Does Proverbs 1:21 Mean in the King James?
She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verse locates Wisdom inside the city’s roar, voicing her own sayings at the thresholds where people pass.
THE MEANING
Wisdom speaks into the crowded life around you, where people gather and doors open. Her voice meets you amid divided attention and the ordinary movement of the city. The doubled phrase, “her words she says,” makes her speech unmistakable and present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wisdom is hidden behind special access: she speaks where the city’s people meet, at entrances and in public.
THE ROOT
תִּקְרָא
tiqra from qara
GROWS FROM
קרא
To call out, summon, or name.
“crieth” in this verse is tiqra from qara. This verb carries the force of a public summons. Wisdom’s cry gathers attention at the city’s busiest thresholds.
ALSO GROWS
miqra: A convocation or public reading.
מִקְרָא
The same root can name a gathering called into being, echoing Wisdom’s voice among the people.
qeri’ah: Calling or reading aloud.
קְרִיאָה
It keeps the sense of voiced address present in “crieth.”
הֹמִיּוֹת
homiyyot
GROWS FROM
המה
To murmur, roar, or make a tumult.
“concourse” in this verse is homiyyot. The place Wisdom chooses is marked by bustle and noise. Her voice rises within the city’s clamor, where ordinary life is already in motion.
ALSO GROWS
hamon: A multitude or crowd; also a sound or tumult.
הָמוֹן
It draws the “concourse” into view as a gathering of people and noise.
hamiyyah: Murmuring or tumult.
הֲמִיָּה
It emphasizes the surrounding sound into which Wisdom’s call enters.
אֲמָרֶיהָ תֹאמֵר
amareha tomar
GROWS FROM
אמר
To say or speak.
“her words ... uttereth” in this verse is amareha tomar. The phrase places “her sayings” beside a verb from the same root: literally, “her sayings she says.” The echo makes speech the substance of her public presence: Wisdom is present in the city through her own voiced sayings.
ALSO GROWS
imrah: A saying or utterance.
אִמְרָה
It shares the root of “her words,” showing that her message is made of spoken sayings.
ma’amar: A statement or decree.
מַאֲמָר
It carries the same root into a spoken declaration, reinforcing the verse’s emphasis on voiced words.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom’s voice meets people in shared public places, where the whole community can hear.
She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.THE THREAD
Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?“Cry” comes from the same Hebrew root, קרא (qara, to call out or summon), as “crieth” here. Proverbs 8:1 names Wisdom’s cry directly; this verse places that same call amid the city’s noise and at its gates.
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