Bible Strands
Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The passage is part of a continuous parental exhortation in Proverbs 4, directed to a student or son, linking the pursuit of wisdom to personal preservation and honor.
The words — The Hebrew opens with רֵאשִׁית (re'shit), literally "first" or "supreme," followed by the repeated imperative קְנֵה (qneh), meaning "acquire" or "buy."
The thread — The theme of wisdom as a supreme, protective possession appears in Proverbs 23:23 and Ecclesiastes 7:12, which compare wisdom to a shelter and a valuable investment.
Why it lands — The text demands that a reader treat understanding not as a passive trait but as a deliberate pursuit, prioritizing it above every other acquisition.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 7:12 For wisdom, like money, is a shelter, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner.
- Ecclesiastes 9:16 And I said, “Wisdom is better than strength, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.”
- Proverbs 23:23 Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
- Proverbs 16:16 How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
- Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- Mark 8:36 What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
- Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.
- Psalms 119:104 I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.
- Psalms 49:16 Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases.
- Proverbs 21:6 Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit.