Proverbs 4 · a question people ask

"Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding" (4:7). Can wisdom be bought?

In the text

Here is what the verse says. In Hebrew that half of the verse has no word for costs; it is and with all your qinyan, get understanding. Brown-Driver-Briggs gives qinyan as "thing got or acquired, acquisition", and the verb get, qanah, as "get, acquire" (tap Get). Proverbs has the same verb where the WEB says Buy: "Buy the truth, and don’t sell it" (Proverbs 23:23). With the same verb for buy, it also asks, "Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, since he has no understanding?" (Proverbs 17:16), and it says, "For the LORD gives wisdom" (Proverbs 2:6). So the book says, "though it costs all your possessions, get understanding" (4:7), asks why a fool has money in his hand to buy wisdom (17:16), and says the LORD gives wisdom (2:6). In chapter 4, Get wisdom stands beside "Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth" (4:5). The chapter doesn't say more about how wisdom is got, and these notes don't either.

The verses

“Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don’t forget, and don’t deviate from the words of my mouth.”
Proverbs 4:5 · World English Bible
“Wisdom is supreme. Get wisdom. Yes, though it costs all your possessions, get understanding.”
Proverbs 4:7 · World English Bible
“Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.”
Proverbs 23:23 · World English Bible
“Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, since he has no understanding?”
Proverbs 17:16 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 4

Proverbs 4: Keep your heart

Proverbs 4 hands teaching down three generations: a father gives his sons what his own father taught him (4:3-4). The Keep of "Keep your heart" (4:23) is the verb of wisdom that "will keep you" (4:6), and the Hebrew word behind wellspring is used most often of a border (Joshua 15:4).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions