What Does Proverbs 8:19 Mean in the King James?
My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.
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
Wisdom’s yield is what comes in and grows from her, and the verse values that above even the finest metal.
THE MEANING
Wisdom speaks of her fruit and yield as more valuable than gold and selected silver. Her worth appears in what grows and comes forth through her, while metal is something accumulated. The verse measures value by what wisdom produces.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wealth is the surest proof of value: wisdom’s fruit and yield outweigh even prized metal.
THE ROOT
תְּבוּאָתִי
tevu’ati
GROWS FROM
בוא
bo’
Come, enter, arrive; תְּבוּאָה names produce or income as what comes in.
The word rendered “revenue” carries the sense of an incoming yield: wisdom is a source from which something arrives. The verse measures her worth by what she brings forth, not by metal held in hand.
ALSO GROWS
bo’: Come, enter
בּוֹא
This verb gives the root sense behind a yield understood as what comes in.
mavo: Entrance, entryway
מָבוֹא
An entrance is a place of coming in, echoing the arrival held in תְּבוּאָה.
tevu’ah: Produce, yield, income
תְּבוּאָה
This is the yield word in the verse, here in its possessive form: wisdom’s produce.
פִּרְיִי
piryî
GROWS FROM
פרה
parah
Bear fruit, be fruitful, produce.
The Hebrew noun for “fruit” belongs to the root meaning “be fruitful.” The verse’s first image of wisdom’s value is an outcome tied to ongoing fruitfulness: what grows from wisdom matters more than what can be stored.
ALSO GROWS
parah: Bear fruit, be fruitful
פָּרָה
The verb names the fruitfulness beneath the noun “fruit” in the verse.
hifrah: Make fruitful
הִפְרָה
This causative form shows the same root describing fruitfulness brought about or increased.
נִבְחָר
nivchar
GROWS FROM
בחר
bachar
Choose, select.
The silver is described as selected: the comparison reaches even the metal already marked out as choice. Wisdom’s yield exceeds what people carefully distinguish as most valuable.
ALSO GROWS
bachar: Choose, select
בָּחַר
This verb is the root action behind the silver being called “choice.”
mivchar: Choice selection, the best of something
מִבְחָר
This noun carries the sense of a selected or finest portion, sharpening the verse’s comparison.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom’s value appears in what it brings forth, surpassing the wealth people prize and store.
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.THE THREAD
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.The Hebrew word translated “gain” is תְּבוּאָה (tevu’ah), produce or yield, from בוא (bo’), “come in.” It shares the root behind the “revenue” in this verse, revealing wisdom’s value as the yield that arrives through her.
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