Bible Strands
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A wisdom teacher addresses a student, closing the section that contrasts Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly (Proverbs 9:1–12). It functions as a capstone: v.9 says the wise can still be taught, v.11 promises extended life, and v.10 names the entry condition between them.
The words — תְּחִלָּת (te·chi·la·t) means "beginning" in the sense of "head, front, leading part," not merely a temporal start. דַּעַת (da·'at), "knowledge," is paired with קְדֹשִׁים (qə·do·shim), "the Holy One," making the second half a specific relational knowledge rather than generic information.
The thread — The same formula appears in Proverbs 1:7 ("beginning of knowledge"), Psalms 111:10 ("beginning of wisdom"), and Job 28:28, where the fear of the Lord is not merely the beginning but wisdom itself. The consistent pattern across wisdom literature is that reverence for Yahweh is the structural ground of all understanding.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to concede that intellectual skill without this orientation is not wisdom but something else. The verse does not invite a feeling; it names a precondition that, if absent, leaves the rest of Proverbs' practical counsel without a foundation.
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
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Cross-references
- Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
- Job 28:28 And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13 When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
- Proverbs 2:5 then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.
- 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
- John 17:3 Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
- Proverbs 30:3 I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.
- Matthew 11:27 All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.