What Does Proverbs 4:8 Mean in the King James?
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
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
You gain weight by lifting wisdom up: what you honor becomes what raises you.
THE MEANING
Wisdom is present as someone you can draw close and embrace. When you give her the higher place, she lifts you and your life gains weight. The verse links elevation to intimacy with wisdom.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that your rise depends on promoting yourself: this verse says your elevation follows from giving wisdom the higher place.
THE ROOT
תְּכַבֵּדְךָ
tekhabbedekha
GROWS FROM
כבד
K-B-D
To be heavy or weighty; by extension, to honor or give weight.
“honour” in this verse is tekhabbedekha. The honor wisdom brings is weight: substance and significance, not merely public praise. The same root appears in kavod, meaning weight, honor, or glory, so the verse pictures wisdom making your life weighty.
ALSO GROWS
kavod: Weight, honor, or glory.
כָּבוֹד
This branch makes the verse’s promise concrete: wisdom gives you weight.
kaved: Heavy or weighty.
כָּבֵד
This is the root’s basic sense beneath the idea of honor.
סַלְסְלֶהָ
salsel·eha
GROWS FROM
סלל
S-L-L
To raise up or heap up.
“Exalt” in this verse is salsel·eha. The verse begins with raising wisdom up, then says she raises you. A related word for a raised roadway shows how lifting something can also prepare a way forward.
ALSO GROWS
mesillah: A highway or raised roadway.
מְסִלָּה
The same root that calls you to exalt wisdom can describe raising a path.
sollu: Cast up or raise, as in preparing a highway.
סֹלּוּ
This branch echoes the verse’s movement: what is lifted becomes a way forward.
תְּרוֹמְמֶךָּ
teromemekha
GROWS FROM
רום
R-W-M
To rise, be high, or lift up.
“promote” in this verse is teromemekha. The word for wisdom’s action toward you comes from the root for rising. The verse makes elevation the result of embracing wisdom, not a separate prize you pursue.
ALSO GROWS
ram: High or elevated.
רָם
This branch names the upward movement contained in wisdom’s promise.
marom: Height or a high place.
מָרוֹם
The same root can name the height toward which wisdom raises you.
THE PATTERN
What you give weight to shapes the weight and elevation you receive.
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.THE THREAD
Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.Both verses use כבד (kabad), meaning to be weighty or to honor. Proverbs says wisdom brings you weight when you embrace her; here, honoring the LORD is met with honor.
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