What Does Proverbs 1:23 Mean?
Turn at my reproof. Look, I breathe out my breath to you; I make my words known to you.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.THE KEY
The turn Wisdom asks for is the opening through which breath pours and hidden words become known.
THE MEANING
When Wisdom’s correction reaches you, turning toward it opens you to what she pours out: breath that animates and words that become clear. The reproof is not the end of the exchange; it is where knowing begins.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that correction means rejection: here, the turn prompted by reproof is met with poured-out breath and made-known words.
THE ROOT
תָּשׁוּבוּ
tashuvu
GROWS FROM
שׁוּב
shuv
To turn back or return.
English can make “turn” sound like a one-way command, but שׁוּב carries the sense of return. A related branch names turning away; the shared root makes the hinge visible: correction meets you where your direction can change.
ALSO GROWS
shuv: Turn, return.
שׁוּב
This is the action Wisdom calls for: a return toward her correction.
meshubah: Turning away; backsliding.
מְשׁוּבָה
This related form shows the same root can name movement away as well as return, making direction central to the verse.
אַבִּיעָה
ʾabbiʿah
GROWS FROM
נבע
To bubble up, flow, or gush forth.
“breathe out” in this verse is ʾabbiʿah. The verb translated “pour out” also carries the sense of bubbling up or uttering: a source comes into flow. In Psalm 19:2, this same root describes day uttering speech, joining the poured-out breath here with the words Wisdom makes known.
ALSO GROWS
navaʿ: Flow, gush, bubble forth; utter.
נָבַע
Its sense of utterance links Wisdom’s poured-out breath with the words that follow.
noveaʿ: Flowing, welling up.
נֹבֵעַ
This form evokes a spring coming into flow, giving “pour out” the feel of a living source rather than a static deposit.
רוּחִי
ruḥi
GROWS FROM
רוּחַ
Moving air: wind and breath, and the animating spirit.
The same Hebrew word can mean wind, breath, or spirit; English separates senses that Hebrew holds together. Wisdom’s poured-out ruach is not only an idea delivered to you: it is breath, the living movement through which her words become known.
ALSO GROWS
ruach: Wind; moving air.
רוּחַ
The image of wind gives the outpouring movement and force.
ruach: Breath; the animating spirit.
רוּחַ
This sense brings the promise close: Wisdom’s own living breath is poured toward you.
THE PATTERN
Turning toward wisdom’s correction opens a living outflow of breath, speech, and knowing.
Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts, Turn to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the LORD of hosts.For I will pour waters upon the thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground. I will pour my breath upon your seed, and my blessing upon your shoots.Day to day wells up speech; and night to night shows knowing.THE THREAD
Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD of hosts, Turn to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the LORD of hosts.Both verses use שׁוּב (shuv, turn or return): Proverbs speaks of turning at Wisdom’s reproof, and Zechariah shows that turning met by a return toward you. Read beside that exchange, the promised outpouring becomes part of a living response to your turn.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us