What Does Proverbs 8:19 Mean?
My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my harvest than chosen silver.
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
My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.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.
“harvest” in this verse is tevu’ati. 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.
“chosen” in this verse is nivchar. 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 its trade is better than the trade of silver, and its yield than fine gold.How good is the buying of wisdom, more than gold, and of discernment, chosen over silver.But the wisdom that is from above is first set apart, then whole, gentle, and easy to yield to, full of faithful love and good fruits, undivided, and without a mask.THE THREAD
For its trade is better than the trade of silver, and its yield 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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