Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
fear	יִרְאַ֣ת yir.'At	H3374	fear (also used as infinitive) · noun, common feminine singular construct
LORD	יְ֭הוָה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
beginning	רֵאשִׁ֣ית re.Shit	H7225	the first · noun, common feminine singular construct
knowledge	דָּ֑עַת Da.'at	H1847	knowledge · noun, common feminine singular absolute
fools	אֱוִילִ֥ים 'e.vi.Lim	H191	(figuratively) silly · adjective, masculine plural absolute
despise	בָּֽזוּ Ba.zu	H936	to disrespect · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
wisdom	חָכְמָ֥ה chokh.mah	H2451	wisdom (in a good sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
instruction	וּ֝מוּסָ֗ר u.mu.Sar	H4148	properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Psalms 111:10-112:1 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.
Proverbs 18:2 A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.
Proverbs 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Proverbs 1:29-30 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 1:7-9

Solomon, having undertaken to teach a young man knowledge and discretion, here lays down two general rules to be observed in order thereunto, and those are, to fear God and honour his parents, which two fundamental laws of morality Pythagoras begins his golden verses with, but the former of them in a wretchedly corrupted state. Primum, deos immortales cole, parentesque honora - First worship the immortal gods, and honour your parents. To make young people such as they should be, I. Let them have regard to God as their supreme. 1. He lays down this truth, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Pro 1:7); it is the principal part of knowledge (so the margin); it is the head of…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord--the principle of true piety (compare Pro 2:5; Pro 14:26-27; Job 28:28; Psa 34:11; Psa 111:10; Act 9:31). beginning--first part, foundation. fools--the stupid and indifferent to God's character and government; hence the wicked.

John Gill on Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,.... Here properly the book begins, and this is the first of the proverbs, and an excellent one; it is such an one as is not to be found in all the writings of the Heathens. By "the fear of the Lord" is not meant a servile fear, a fear of punishment, of hell, wrath, and damnation, which is the effect of the first work of the law upon the conscience; but a filial fear, and supposes knowledge of God as a father, of his love and grace in Christ, particularly of his forgiving love, from whence it arises, Psalm 130:4; it is a holy, humble, fiducial fear of God; a reverential affection for him, and devotion to him; it includes the whole of religio…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 1:1-7

The external title, i.e., the Synagogue name, of the whole collection of Proverbs is משׁלי (Mishle), the word with which it commences. Origen (Euseb. h. e. vi. 25) uses the name Μισλώθ, i.e., משׁלות, which occurs in the Talmud and Midrash as the designation of the book, from its contents. In a similar way, the names given to the Psalter, תּהלּים and תּהלּות, are interchanged. This external title is followed by one which the Book of Proverbs, viewed as to its gradual formation, and first the older portion, gives to itself. It reaches from Pro 1:1 to Pro 1:6, and names not only the contents and the author of the book, but also commends it in regard to the service which it is capable of render…

The Church Fathers

To know goodness is not sufficient to reach blessedness, if one does not put goodness into practice with works. Piety toward God is actually the beginning of knowledge.
— Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 1:7

To the atheist is the name fool most accurately applied in truth and nature: if the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, lack of fear and denial of him would be the opposite of wisdom.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON PSALM 14:3

He also said, 'The beginning and the end is the fear of the Lord. For it is written, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10) and, when Abraham built an altar the Lord said to him, "Now I know that you fear God" (Gen. 22:12).'
— Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fear of the Lord the — Is in the Old Testament used as a designation of true piety (Prov. 1:7; Job 28:28; Ps. 19:9). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial…
Blindness · 21:14;22:13,14; — 21:14;22:13,14;
Fool · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fools · Despise instruction — Despise instruction
Knowledge · The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of — The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of
Reverence · 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58; — 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58;
Titles And Names Of The Wicked · Fools — Fools
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Young Men · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 1:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 1:7-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 1:7

John Gill on Proverbs 1:7

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 1:1-7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 1:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 1:7-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 1:7

John Gill on Proverbs 1:7

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 1:1-7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 1:7

Rashi on Proverbs 1:7