What Does Proverbs 9:1 Mean in the King James?
Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
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 makes a house by hewing its supports into form: what holds the structure emerges through careful cutting.
THE MEANING
Wisdom is building an inhabitable life, shaping its support through the hewing of seven pillars. The verse presents understanding as formed structure, not merely an idea held in the mind.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wisdom is only something to know: here, wisdom takes shape as a dwelling with supports.
THE ROOT
חָצְבָה
ḥāṣəvāh
GROWS FROM
חצב
ḥ-ṣ-b
to cut, hew, or quarry
“hewn out” in this verse is ḥāṣəvāh. The pillar is shaped by cutting: support takes form as stone is worked. The verse’s stability comes through deliberate shaping, not simply piling up more material.
ALSO GROWS
ḥōṣēv: a hewer or quarry worker
חֹצֵב
The same root names the one who does the cutting, making wisdom’s work active and skilled.
maḥtsev: a quarry
מַחְצֵב
The root also names the place stone is cut from, linking the pillar to the work of drawing structure out of raw material.
בָּנְתָה
bāntāh
GROWS FROM
בנה
b-n-h
to build or establish a structure
“builded” in this verse is bāntāh. The verse gives wisdom the work of a builder: she makes a house that can be inhabited. Paired with the verb for hewing, building includes both establishing a dwelling and shaping what will support it.
ALSO GROWS
bōneh: a builder
בּוֹנֶה
This form names the one who builds, showing wisdom as an active maker rather than an abstract quality.
mivneh: a structure or building
מִבְנֶה
The same root gives a name to the formed structure, connecting wisdom’s action with the lasting shape it produces.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom takes durable form when a dwelling is built, established, and given a sound foundation.
Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:THE THREAD
Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:“Builded” here and “builded” in Proverbs 24:3 share בנה (b-n-h, build). There, understanding establishes the house wisdom builds, opening these seven pillars as part of wisdom’s recurring architecture.
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