What Does Proverbs 1:6 Mean in the King James?

To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

Proverbs 1:6 · KJV

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

A proverb and a riddle both make discernment part of how wisdom reaches you.

THE MEANING

This verse speaks to you as someone capable of discerning layered meaning. A proverb compresses insight into a saying, while a riddle leaves meaning to be perceived beneath its first surface. Wisdom reaches you through words that invite understanding.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Meaning is not necessarily absent when a saying feels obscure; some wisdom is carried in a form that calls for discernment.

THE ROOT

לְהָבִין

lehavin

GROWS FROM

בין

b-y-n

To distinguish or discern; hence, to understand.

The Hebrew word for “understand” carries the sense of discerning distinctions and relations. That makes the proverb, its interpretation, and the riddle exercises in perception: meaning opens as you see how the words fit together.

ALSO GROWS

binah: Understanding; discernment.

בִּינָה

This names the faculty the verse calls into action: perceiving distinctions and relations in a saying.

mevin: One who understands or discerns.

מֵבִין

The same root describes a person who perceives how words and ideas fit together.

THE PATTERN

Wisdom often comes in compressed speech whose meaning opens through discernment.

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Proverbs 25:2 · KJVThe concealed matter invites searching, making discovery part of how its meaning is received.

I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

Psalm 78:2 · KJVThe verse places parable and dark sayings together as forms through which wisdom is spoken.

And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:

Mark 4:11 · KJVParables carry a mystery whose meaning is given to be perceived.

THE THREAD

Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:5 · KJV

Proverbs 2:5 repeats the root behind “understand,” connecting the discernment of layered sayings with perceiving the awe of the LORD. The same understanding reaches beyond words to a living perception of God.

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