Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 8:14
Counsel [is] mine, and sound wisdom: I [am] understanding; I have strength.
14. sound wisdom ] So the same word is rendered both by A.V. and R.V. in Pro 2:7. Here, however, R.V. renders sound knowledge, and in marg. offers the alternative, effectual working.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pro 8:14
I have understanding; I have strength.
The self-assertion of Christ
Here is more than a florid personification of wisdom. It is the Word who is from everlasting–Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
I. The self-assertion of Christ. Exhibited in three ways.
1. Christ claims a boundless power of satisfying human wants.
2. Christ claims for Himself the most transcendent ideals.
3. Christ claims the possession of absolute truth, by the very form and mode, as well as by the substance, of His teaching.
II. The bearing of that self-assertion on certain difficulties of our day. Take the tone of much of the record in the Old Testament.
1. The Old Testament is a progressive system. Then much of it must be imperfect.
2. The Old Testament contains the pathology and diagnosis of sin. In meeting the difficulties of the Old Testament, the self-assertion of the Amen is our stay. He who spake the words given in Mat 5:17-18, knew the Old Testament. We talk of the extermination of the Canaanites. Are we gentler than He? We are offended by the polygamy of the patriarchs. Can we survey marriage with a purer gaze than that of the virgin eye which is also the eye of God? We take the book as it is from the hand of Him who says, I am understanding.
3. Take the general sources of unbelief and their salient characteristics. The source of unbelief is not always genuine thought, it is often feebleness of character and moral enervation. The secret of strength is to believe in Him who says, I have strength. (Abp. W. Alexander.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. Counsel is mine] Direction how to act in all circumstances and on all occasions must come from wisdom: the foolish man can give no counsel, cannot show another how he is to act in the various changes and chances of life. The wise man alone can give this counsel; and he can give it only as continually receiving instruction from God: for this Divine wisdom can say, TUSHIYAH, substance, reality, essence, all belong to me: I am the Fountain whence all are derived. Man may be wise, and good, and prudent, and ingenious; but these he derives from me, and they are dependently in him. But in me all these are independently and essentially inherent.
And sound wisdom] See above. This is a totally false translation: tushiyah means essence, substance, reality; the source and substance of good. How ridiculous the support derived by certain authors from this translation in behalf of their system! See the writers on and quoters of Prov 8 (note).
I have strength.] Speaking still of wisdom, as communicating rays of its light to man, it enables him to bring every thing to his aid; to construct machines by which one man can do the work of hundreds. From it comes all mathematical learning, all mechanical knowledge; from it originally came the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, the pulley, in all its multiplications; and the lever, in all its combinations and varieties, came from this wisdom. And as all these can produce prodigies of power, far surpassing all kinds of animal energy, and all the effects of the utmost efforts of muscular force; hence the maxim of Lord Bacon, “Knowledge is power,” built on the maxim of the tushiyah itself; li geburah, MINE IS STRENGTH.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Sound wisdom: all solid, and substantial, and useful, yea essential wisdom, is natural and essential to me, for the word properly signifies essence.
I am understanding, or, my nature and essence, as was now said. Or, I am the author of understanding; as Joh 17:3. This is life eternal, i.e. this is the cause or means of it. I have strength courage and resolution to execute all my counsels, and to conquer all difficulties.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. It also gives the elementsof good character in counsel.
sound wisdom (Pr2:7).
I . . . strengthor,”As for me, understanding is strength to me,” the source ofpower (Ec 9:16); good judgmentgives more efficiency to actions;
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Counsel [is] mine, and sound wisdom,…. The words and sentiments in this and the following clause are the same with those in
Job 12:13; and scent to be taken from thence, which are spoken of God; and being here applied to Wisdom, show that a divine Person is meant; and are very applicable to him who the Wisdom of God, and the power of God; and on whom rests the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel, and of might, and of the fear of the Lord, 1Co 1:24. “Counsel” belongs to him, and is used and exercised by him, as concerned with the Father and Spirit, both in the words of nature and grace; to whom all the purposes and counsels of God are known; and who was consulted in the creation of man, and in his redemption, reconciliation, and salvation; the council of peace being between them both: and it belongs to him, and is used by him with respect to his people; he is council to them; he gives them counsel and advice, he being the wonderful Counsellor; he gave it in person when here on earth, both to sinners and to saints, and which continues on record: the Gospel is the counsel of Christ, and it is very suitable and seasonable, hearty, sincere, and faithful; is freely given, and, being taken, infallibly succeeds; see Re 3:18. And he is council for them; he appears for them in court; introduces their persons, and presents their petitions to his Father; pleads their cause, is their advocate, answers to all charges and accusations; and calls for and requires, in point of law and justice, every blessing of goodness for them. “Sound wisdom” belongs to Christ; “wisdom”, from whence he has his name in this book; “sound” wisdom, such as is solid and substantial, real and true, in opposition to the wisdom of the world, to knowledge falsely so called, to carnal, sensual, and earthly wisdom. The Gospel may be meant, which is the wisdom of God in a mystery; sound doctrine, a form of sound words, the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus: both grace and glory may be intended, which are both in the gift of Christ; grace is that “wisdom” which he makes his people to “know in the hidden part”; and glory is that “sound wisdom” laid up for the righteous, the better and more enduring substance in heaven. The word here used signifies essence or substance; and some render it, “whatsoever is” d; whatever has a being, that is Christ’s; all creatures are his, the earth and the fulness of it, and they that dwell therein;
I [am] understanding; essentially as a divine person; his understanding is infinite; there is no searching of it; it reaches to all persons and things: as Mediator, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding rests on him without measure, by which he was furnished for his prophetic office; as man, his understanding was amazing to all that knew him, and heard him. Christ not only has an understanding, but he is understanding itself; he is the fountain, author, and giver of understanding; of all the natural understanding there is in men; of the light of nature and reason, of those intellectual faculties which men are possessed of; and of all the spiritual understanding in divine things, which his people are partakers of, 1Jo 5:20;
I have strength; as the mighty God; which appears in his creation of all things out of nothing, in his upholding all things by his power, and in his government of the world. As Mediator, he has the Spirit of might upon him; all power in heaven and earth is given him; his strength is manifest in the salvation of his people, when he came travelling in the greatness of it to save them; by fulfilling the law for them; by bearing their sins, and the punishment due to them; and by destroying all their enemies: and in his plucking them out of the hands of Satan, out of the burning, out of the mire and clay at conversion; in bearing and supporting them under all their burdens, afflictions, and temptations, and in preserving them safe to his kingdom and glory; and in giving them strength in the mean time to bear the cross, to withstand temptations and corruptions, to exercise the graces of the spirit, and perform the duties of religion.
d “essentia”, Montanus, Tigurine version; “quicquid est”, Junius Tremellius “realitas”, Michaelis; “soliditas”, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After Wisdom has said what she hates, and thus what she is not, she now says what she is, has, and promises:
14 “Mine is counsel and promotion;
I am understanding, mine is strength.
15 By me kings reign,
And rulers govern justly.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles –
All judges of the earth.”
Whoever gives anything must himself possess it; in this sense Wisdom claims for herself counsel, promotion (in the sense of offering and containing that which is essentially and truly good; vid., concerning , Pro 2:7), and energy ( vid., Ecc 7:19). But she does not merely possess ; this is much rather her peculiar nature, and is one with her. That Pro 8:14 is formed after Job 12:13, Job 12:16 (Hitzig) is possible, without there following thence any argument against its genuineness. And if Pro 8:15., and Isa 32:1; Isa 10:1, stand in intentional reciprocal relation, then the priority is on the side of the author of the Proverbs. The connection gives to the laconic expression its intended comprehensiveness. It is not meant that Wisdom has the highest places in the state to give, but that she makes men capable of holding and discharging the duties of these.
Pro 8:15 Here we are led to think of legislation, but the usage of the language determines for the Po. only the significations of commanding, decreeing, or judging; is the object accus., the opposite of (decrees of unrighteousness), Isa 10:1. is a poetic word, from = Arab. razuna , to be heavy, weighty, then to be firm, incapable of being shaken, figuratively of majestic repose, dignity (cf. Arab. wqar and ) in the whole external habitus , in speech and action such as befits one invested with power (Fl.).
Pro 8:16 We may not explain the second clause of this verse: et ad ingenua impelluntur quicunque terrae imperant , for is adj. without such a verbal sense. But besides, is not pred., for which it is not adapted, because, with the obscuring of its ethical signification (from , to impel inwardly, viz., to noble conduct, particularly to liberality), it also denotes those who are noble only with reference to birth, and not to disposition (Isa 32:8). Thus is a fourth synonym for the highly exalted, and is the summary placing together of all kinds of dignity; for unites in itself references to government, administration of justice, and rule. is used, and not – a so-called asyndeton summativum. Instead of (lxx) there is found also the word (Syr., Targ., Jerome, Graec. Venet., adopted by Norzi after Codd. and Neapol. 1487). But this word, if not derived from the conclusion of the preceding verse, is not needed by the text, and gives a summary which does not accord with that which is summed up ( , , , ); besides, the Scripture elsewhere calls God Himself (Psa 9:5; Jer 11:20). The Masoretic reading
(Note: If the Masoretes had read , then would they have added the remark (“it does not further occur”), and inserted the expression in their Register of Expressions, which occurs but once, Masora finalis, p. 62.)
of most of the editions, which is also found in the Cod. Hillel ( )
(Note: One of the most ancient and celebrated Codd of the Heb. Scriptures, called Hillel from the name of the man who wrote it. Vid., Streack’s Prolegomena, p. 112. It was written about a.d. 600.)
merits the preference.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Wisdom’s Achievements
(Pro 8:14-21)
With frequent use of “I,” ME and MINE, wisdom cites her far reaching achievements:
Verse 14 assures that wisdom understands all needs and has the strength and resources to meet all situations, Pro 2:7; Ecc 7:19; Psa 92:5; Isa 28:29.
Verses 15-16 declare that kings, princes, judges and nobles rule by grant of wisdom’s insight and power, Job 12:12-13; Dan 2:20-21.
Verse 17 declares wisdom’s love and accessibility for all who seek her while opportunity is extended. She is actively seeking man at the same time men are called to seek her, and will not be hard to find by those in earnest, Pro 1:20-23; Pro 8:1-11. However, she can be missed, and with a sad consequence if persistently avoided or refused, Pro 1:24-32; Job 27:9-23; Job 35:12; Isa 1:15.
Verse 18 declares that riches that endure, honor and righteousness, are with wisdom.. To some extent material prosperity is bestowed upon those who seek and find wisdom, Pro 3:16; Pro 8:21; Psa 37:25; Mat 6:33.
Verse 19 however, declares, as Vs. 10-11 also, that the spiritual benefits of wisdom are far greater than the material; better than fine gold or choice silver, Pro 3:14-15.
Verses 20-21 affirm that wisdom leads in the way of righteousness and justice to cause those who love her to inherit substance, that which will endure. Verse 21 further affirms that wisdom will fill the treasures (depository) of those who love her; fill with that needed, Psa 23:1; Php_4:19.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Pro. 8:14-16
THE SOURCE OF TRUE POWER
I. Moral wisdom is the strength of kings. I have strength; by me kings rule. There is a kind of strength in all wisdom. The serpents strength is in his subtlety. The strength of the kingdom of darkness consists in a kind of wisdom of which our Lord speaks, when He says, The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light (Luk. 16:8). Many kingdoms have been founded and governed upon the basis of merely human sagacity. But in all such government there are elements of weakness. The foundation of all lasting, true government is to be found only in moral wisdom, in other words, in holiness. That king or ruler will in the long-run have the firmest hold upon his subjects who is himself ruled by Divine wisdom. His strength will be found in the fact, that he rules himself before he attempts to rule others. His personal character will be his chief strength. Christ Himself is strong to rule, because He is pre-eminently the Holy One.
II. Without moral wisdom there can be no righteous government. By me princes decree justice. A mans laws will be the outcome of his character. He will not make righteous laws unless he has himself submitted to moral rule. We are assured that all Gods decrees in relation to all His creatures are righteous, because we know Him to be altogether righteous. He has been declared by Him who knows Him best to be the righteous Father (Joh. 17:25), therefore we know that only righteous laws can be decreed by Him. And it is only in proportion as rulers are influenced by Him, and partake of His character, that they rule in righteousness.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Pro. 8:14. Wisdoms life is a thing of system. It has an assured result. It is the card-building of the spirit. One card supports another. It builds out with a declared dependence to the very end.Miller.
The Son of God is a counsellor, as Isaiah calleth Him; for He is both of the privy council of His Father, and the adviser of His Church. Moreover, He hath strength in Him, being the arm of God to conquer sin, with hell and Satan, and is able to do whatsoever He will. Substance (sound wisdom, see Critical Notes), or the being of things, is likewise His, for He causeth all creatures to be and subsist.Muffet.
Direction how to act in all circumstances and on all occasions must come from wisdom: the foolish man can give no counsel, cannot show another how he is to act in the various changes and chances of life. The wise man alone can give this counsel, and he can give it only as continually receiving instruction from God: for this Divine Wisdom can say, substance, reality, essence, (see Critical Notes on Sound Wisdom), all belong to me: I am the fountain whence all are derived. Man may be wise, and good, and prudent, and ingenious; but these he derives from me, and they are dependently in him. But in me all these are independently and essentially inherent.Adam Clarke.
Many things are done, but not having counsel for the foundation of them, are weak and rotten and fall again to nothing. Many have understanding what is to be done, and how to do it, but have not strength to effect it: again many have strength of effecting, but have not understanding how to go about it. But the eternal wisdom hath all. It is no strength which by His strength is not supported, no understanding which by His understanding is not enlightened, no counsel which by His counsel is not guided.Jermin.
Knowledge is power, and knowledge in union with wisdomthe ability to use knowledge arightmultiplies the power. In proportion as there is understanding and wisdom, is there strengthmoral and spiritual strengthstrength to act and to suffer, to do and to bear.Wardlaw.
Pro. 8:15-16. The chief monarchs of the world come unto their sceptres by the power and permission of the Son of God. Lawgivers and counsellors, by His direction and inspiration, give advice and invent politic laws. Inferior rulers keep their places, countenance, and authority by His assistance, whereunto they also rise by His secret disposing of matters. Finally, judges and justices who use to keep courts and sit on benches, do by Him, from Him, and for Him, pronounce sentence, handle matters of state, execute laws, and finally determine all cases.Muffet.
Here is a divine prophecy concerning Him who said, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth (Mat. 23:18), and who has on His head many crowns (Rev. 19:12), and on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16), and of whom it is written, that by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist (Col. 1:16-17).Wordsworth.
Kings are kings only as they are wise, that is, wise in the sense of holiness. It does not mean holiness as altogether distinct from virtue, but holiness as that moral right which belongs to all ranks of moral intelligences. The virtue that belongs to God, and the virtue that belongs to Gabriel, and the virtue that remains in man, and the virtue that is wrecked in hell, are not all different qualities of moral right, but are all identically the same. One moral quality inheres in all. Government being a moral work, the man that governs must have a moral heart. And, as there are no two sorts of virtue, he truly exercises his kingship just in proportion as he is holy, i.e., in the language of this inspired book, just in proportion as he is spiritually wise.Miller.
Every kingdom is a province of the universal empire of the King of Kings. Men may mix their own pride, folly, and self-will with this appointment. But Gods providential counter-working preserves the substantial blessing.Bridges.
This language may be considered as implying
(1) that human government, in all its branches, is the appointment of Divine Wisdom
2. That all who sustain positions of authority and power should act habitually under the influence of Divine Wisdom
3. That no authority can be rightly exercised, and no judicial process successfully carried out, without the direction of Wisdom
4. That Divine wisdom exercises control over all human agents in the administration of public affairs.Wardlaw.
By me kings reign, not as if men did behold that book, and accordingly frame their laws, but because it worketh in them when the laws which they make are righteous.Hooker.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(14) Sound wisdom.See above on Pro. 2:7.
Strength.Comp. Ecc. 7:19. For these various gifts of wisdom, comp. Isa. 11:2.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Counsel is mine, etc. It is doubtful whether this rendering gives the precise idea of the original. Perhaps the following more nearly expresses it: Stability and reality belong to me; that is, I teach that which is durable and real. The latter clause Stuart renders: “As for me, my might is understanding;” that is, with me understanding is strength: Bacon’s maxim, “Knowledge is power.” This is, probably, introductory to what follows.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 8:14. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom Good government: Houbigant; who renders the next clause, Prudence is mine; mine is fortitude.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 8:14 Counsel [is] mine, and sound wisdom: I [am] understanding; I have strength.
Ver. 14. Counsel is mine, &c. ] Christ is “wise in heart, and mighty in strength,” Job 9:4 his Church’s both counsellor Isa 9:6 and champion; Isa 37:23-24 and though she be but a “virgin daughter of Zion,” yet she despiseth her adversary, and laughs him to scorn, Pro 8:22 because she hath one that is in love with her, and will fight her quarrel, who is
A , . a
Hostibus haud tergo sed forti pectore notus. b
a De Achille Homerus.
b De Achille Catullus.
sound wisdom. See note on Pro 2:7.
understandings = discernment. See note on Pro 1:2.
Counsel: Isa 9:6, Isa 40:14, Joh 1:9, Rom 11:33, Rom 11:34, 1Co 1:24, 1Co 1:30, Col 2:3
sound: Pro 2:6, Pro 2:7, Rom 1:22
I have: Pro 24:5, Ecc 7:19, Ecc 9:16-18
Reciprocal: Job 12:13 – counsel Job 28:23 – General Psa 16:7 – who hath Dan 2:20 – for wisdom Dan 2:23 – who hast Eph 1:11 – the counsel 2Ti 1:7 – a sound 2Ti 1:13 – the form
STRONG SON OF GOD!
I am understanding; I have strength.
Pro 8:14
Consider (1) the self-assertion of Christ; (2) the bearing of that self-assertion on certain difficulties of our day.
I. The self-assertion of Christ is exhibited in three ways:(1) Christ claims a boundless power of satisfying human wants. (2) Christ claims for Himself the most transcendent ideals. (3) Christ claims the possession of absolute truth by the very form and mode as well as by the substance of His teaching.
II. Consider the bearing of this on the difficulty which seems to be felt with distressing poignancy by many just at present.I mean the tone of much of the record in the Old Testament. (1) The Old Testament is a progressive system. (2) The Old Testament contains the pathology and diagnosis of sin. (3) After all, it is chiefly to the thought of the text that we turn for confirmation. The great self-assertion of the Amen is our stay. We take the book as it is from the hand of Him Who says, I am understanding.
Archbishop Alexander.
Illustration
There, in that Divine Man, in His gentle love, in His deep and weighty words, in His power to give them that find Him life, we have the highest embodiment of the wisdom of God, which was before all worlds, and yet stoops to each lowly and obedient heart. It is not enough then for us to seek knowledge and get understanding apart from Jesus, but to seek Him diligently and early, as we are bidden in Pro 8:17, sure that when we win Him, we shall possess all the wealth of truth and knowledge that we require for this life and the next. He is the Truth and the Life. Truth apart from Him neither nourishes nor inspires. But all truth, as it is in Jesus, is the food of souls.
Pro 8:14-15. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom Hebrew, , and essence, that is, all solid, substantial, and useful wisdom is natural and essential to me. I am understanding By my nature and essence. Or, I am the author of understanding. I have strength Courage, resolution, and power, to execute all my counsels, and to conquer all difficulties. By me kings reign They obtain their kingdoms by my appointment and providence; and if they rule their kingdoms wisely and justly, it is by my counsel and assistance. And princes decree justice Their injustice or wickedness is from themselves, but all the just and good things which they do they owe to my guidance and aid. All authority and power come from God; and all those who are established over others have received from the author of this wisdom all their superiority. Whether God gives a prince in his anger or in his mercy, it is he who hath established him; nor can they worthily exercise their power without the succours and assistance of wisdom. A prince may be a prince without having wisdom; but without it he can neither be a good nor a happy prince. Wisdom is the very first of royal qualities. The best and most excellent present which God can give to men, is a just and virtuous prince, and one like himself. Dodd.
Wisdom and success 8:14-21
Wisdom is the key to many material and immaterial benefits, but mostly the latter type. Wisdom is better than gold in two senses: the wise man is able to earn gold, but he is able to use wisdom to do more than he can with gold. Yet wisdom is available only to those who seek it; unlike gold, wisdom is not something one can inherit.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)