Proverbs 7:4

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The passage addresses a listener instructed to internalize teachings by tying them to fingers and writing them on the heart, immediately preceding a warning about a seductive stranger.

The words — אֱמֹר ('eMor) means "say," and לַֽ֭/חָכְמָה (la/chaKheMah) means "to wisdom." אֲחֹתִ/י ('aChoTi) translates literally as "my sister," while וּ֝/מֹדָ֗ע (u/moDa') and לַ/בִּינָ֥ה (la/biNah) command the listener to call discernment a "relative" or "kinsman."

The thread — The kinship language for wisdom appears in Job 17:14, where the speaker ironically addresses corruption and the worm as father, mother, and sister.

Why it lands — The verse demands a deliberate, intimate commitment to wisdom and discernment as a protective discipline before exposure to seductive danger.

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

אֱמֹ֣ר'e.Morsay לַֽ֭חָכְמָהLa./cha.khe.mahto <the>/ wisdom אֲחֹ֣תִי'a.Cho.t/i[are] sister/ my אָ֑תְּ'Atyou וּ֝מֹדָ֗עu./mo.Da'and/ a relative לַבִּינָ֥הla./bi.Nahto <the>/ discernment תִקְרָֽא׃tik.Ra'you will call

King James Version

Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

Cross-references

Proverbs 2:2 if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
Proverbs 4:6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will guard you.
Job 17:14 and say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
Song of Solomon 8:1 O that you were to me like a brother who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outdoors, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me.
Matthew 12:49 Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.
Luke 11:27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You!”