Proverbs 22:20

Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
written	כָתַ֣בְתִּי kha.Tav.ti	H3789	to grave · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
thee	שִׁלְשׁוֹם shilshôwm	H8032	trebly
things	שָׁלִישִׁ֑ים shil.shom	H7991	a triple · noun, common masculine plural absolute
counsels	בְּמ֖וֹעֵצֹ֣ת be.Mo.'e.Tzot	H4156	a purpose · preposition + noun, common feminine plural absolute
knowledge	וָדָֽעַת va.Da.'at	H1847	knowledge · conjunction + noun, common feminine 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

Proverbs 8:6 Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
2 Peter 1:19-21 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the d…
Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ…
Hosea 8:12 I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 22:17-21

Solomon here changes his style and manner of speaking. Hitherto, for the most part, since the beginning of ch. 10, he had laid down doctrinal truths, and but now and then dropped a word of exhortation, leaving us to make the application as we went along; but here, to the end of ch. 24, he directs his speech to his son, his pupil, his reader, his hearer, speaking as to a particular person. Hitherto, for the most part, his sense was comprised in one verse, but here usually it is drawn out further. See how Wisdom tries variety of methods with us, lest we should be cloyed with any one. To awaken attention and to assist our application the method of direct address is here adopted. Ministers must…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 22:20

excellent things--or probably of former times. counsels and knowledge--both advice and instruction.

John Gill on Proverbs 22:20

Have not I written to thee excellent things,.... In the Scriptures. Some render it, "three things" (c); and think that Solomon refers to the three divisions of the Scriptures among the Jews, the law, the prophets, and holy writings; so Jarchi; but some of those writings then were not: or to the three books wrote by him; the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. Others render it, "in a threefold way" (d), as the Targum and several versions; that is, in various ways, in different forms and styles, in order the better to inform and instruct. But it is best, with Kimchi, Gersom, and Ben Melech, to render it, "excellent things", as we do; such are the truths of the Gospel; they are more exce…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 22:17-21

Pro 22:17-21, forming the introduction to this appendix, are these Words of the Wise: 17 Incline thine ear and hear the words of the wise, And direct thine heart to my knowledge! 18 For it is pleasant if thou keep them in thine heart; Let them abide together on thy lips. 19 That thy trust may be placed in Jahve, I have taught thee to-day, even thee! 20 Have not I written unto thee choice proverbs, Containing counsels and knowledge, 21 To make thee to know the rule of the words of truth, That thou mightest bring back words which are truth to them that send thee? From Pro 10:1 to Pro 22:16 are the "Proverbs of Solomon," and not "The Words of the Wise;" thus the above παραίνεσις is not an epil…

The Church Fathers

There are three kinds of spiritual knowledge—tropological, allegorical, anagogical—of which we read as follows in Proverbs: "But you describe these things to yourself in three ways according to the largeness of your heart."
— John Cassian, CONFERENCE 14:8

Behold, I have described it to you in three ways, etc. He delineated his doctrine to the listener in three ways: thinking, speaking, and executing it in works. With this threefold description, the whole little book shines richly if considered well.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

He who has opened his heart through purity, contemplates the words of God in their practical, physical and theological sense. Accordingly, the whole corpus of Scripture may be divided into three parts: ethical, physical and theological. Consequently, Proverbs corresponds to the first part, Ecclesiastes to the second, and Song of Songs to the third.
— Evagrius Ponticus, SCHOLIA ON PROVERBS 247:22.20

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

Proverbs, Book of — A collection of moral and philosophical maxims of a wide range of subjects presented in a poetic form. This book sets forth the “philosophy of practical life. It is the sign to us that the Bible does…
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO

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 22:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 22:17-21

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 22:20

John Gill on Proverbs 22:20

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 22:17-21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 22:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 22:17-21

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 22:20

John Gill on Proverbs 22:20

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 22:17-21

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 22:20

Rashi on Proverbs 22:20