What Does Proverbs 9:5 Mean in the King James?
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
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
In Hebrew, “eat” and “bread” share the root ל־ח־ם, so Wisdom’s gift and the act of receiving it belong to one word family.
THE MEANING
Wisdom meets you with a table already prepared. Her words make understanding something you receive and take in: bread to eat and wine already mixed for drinking. The verse places you at the table as a guest, not a spectator.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that wisdom is only something to hear and analyze from a distance; here, wisdom is nourishment to be received.
THE ROOT
לַחֲמוּ
lachamu
GROWS FROM
לחם
L-Ḥ-M
Food and bread; to eat or feed.
“eat / bread” in this verse is lachamu. The Hebrew repeats ל־ח־ם in both what Wisdom gives and what the guest does; English separates them into “bread” and “eat.” The shared seed pictures Wisdom’s teaching as nourishment whose meaning is realized as it is taken in.
ALSO GROWS
lechem: Bread; food.
לֶחֶם
This is the noun translated “bread,” sharing its consonants with the verb for eating in the invitation.
lacham: To eat; to feed.
לָחַם
This verbal form names the guest’s action and ties it directly to Wisdom’s provision.
מָסָכְתִּי
masakhti
GROWS FROM
מסך
M-S-K
To mix or blend, especially a drink.
“mingled” in this verse is masakhti. Wisdom says she has blended the wine, describing deliberate preparation rather than mere pouring. The same verb appears as she prepares her table in Proverbs 9:2, so the invitation rests on a meal already made ready.
ALSO GROWS
masak: To mix or mingle.
מָסַךְ
This is the verb used for Wisdom’s preparation of the wine in Proverbs 9:2.
mesekh: A mixture; mixed wine.
מֶסֶךְ
This noun carries the root’s sense of a drink blended for the table.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom and divine life meet the reader as nourishment to receive and experience.
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.THE THREAD
She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.The same verb מָסַךְ (masak, to mix) appears in “mingled” here and in verse 2. The table is furnished and the wine blended before Wisdom calls the guest to eat.
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