Bible Strands
Proverbs 4:8
Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text delivers a direct parental instruction from a wisdom teacher to a student, issued immediately after declaring wisdom supreme and commanding its acquisition.
The words — סַלְסְלֶ֥הָ (sal.se.le.ha) translates literally as "esteem her" or "prize her," and תְחַבֲּקֶ֖נָּה (te.chab.bek.na) means "you will embrace her." These verbs frame the required human action before the stated divine or social response.
The thread — The correlation between pursuing wisdom and receiving elevation appears in Proverbs 3:35, 1 Samuel 2:30, and Daniel 12:3, where honor or radiant standing follows faithful adherence to understanding.
Why it lands — The verse commands the reader to actively value and hold onto wisdom, stating plainly that this pursuit results in exaltation and honor. It requires a deliberate, sustained commitment to understanding rather than passive observation.
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
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
Cross-references
- Daniel 12:3 Then the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.
- 1 Samuel 2:30 Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- Proverbs 3:35 The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.
- 1 Kings 3:5 One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
- Proverbs 22:4 The rewards of humility and the fear of the LORD are wealth and honor and life.