What Does Proverbs 8:14 Mean?
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am discernment; strength is mine.
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
Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.THE KEY
The wisdom speaking here holds counsel, discernment, and strength as one capacity.
THE MEANING
Wisdom is not only a voice that gives counsel; she is understanding and strength too. What becomes clear is joined to the capacity to meet it, because both belong to the same source.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that seeing clearly leaves you powerless: the wisdom that gives counsel also possesses strength.
THE ROOT
עֵצָה
ʿēṣāh
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ץ
To advise, deliberate, or give counsel.
The word translated “counsel” grows from the verb for advising or deliberating; its word family includes both the counsel given and the counselor. Wisdom speaks as the capacity that can shape a course and offer guidance within it.
ALSO GROWS
yaʿats: To advise or deliberate.
יָעַץ
The verb behind “counsel” shows that wisdom’s counsel involves active judgment, not merely a saying to remember.
yoʿets: Counselor or adviser.
יוֹעֵץ
This branch names the one who gives counsel, echoing Wisdom’s first-person voice in the verse.
בִּינָה
bināh
GROWS FROM
ב־י־ן
To discern or distinguish between things; hence, to understand.
“discernment” in this verse is bināh. The root carries the idea of discerning between things. Understanding is active distinction-making: Wisdom sees what differs and can therefore offer counsel that fits.
ALSO GROWS
bin: To discern or understand.
בִּין
This verb shows understanding as perception that distinguishes, the seeing within Wisdom’s counsel.
tevunah: Understanding, insight, or discernment.
תְּבוּנָה
This related noun reinforces that the verse presents discernment as part of Wisdom’s own nature.
גְּבוּרָה
gevūrāh
GROWS FROM
ג־ב־ר
To be strong or prevail.
This root connects strength with prevailing: its word family includes the mighty one and the strong person. The verse joins discernment to capacity, presenting strength as something Wisdom possesses, not a force separate from her.
ALSO GROWS
gibbor: Mighty one or warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
This branch shows the root’s sense of strength expressed as might.
gever: Man or strong person.
גֶּבֶר
This related word carries the same root’s association with strength and capacity.
THE PATTERN
In wisdom, counsel and understanding belong together with the strength to prevail.
With him is wisdom and strength; counsel and understanding are his.And the breath of the LORD will rest upon him, the breath of wisdom and discernment, of counsel and strength, of knowing and of the awe of the LORD.But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, the Anointed One, the power of God and the wisdom of God.THE THREAD
And the breath of the LORD will rest upon him, the breath of wisdom and discernment, of counsel and strength, of knowing and of the awe of the LORD.Isaiah repeats the same Hebrew words translated “counsel” and “might” here, and pairs them with understanding. The echo shows these as joined capacities within Wisdom, rather than separate traits.
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