knowledge · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
depths
תְּהוֹמ֣וֹתte.ho.Mot
H8415
an abyss (as a surging mass of water) · noun, common feminine plural absolute
up
נִבְקָ֑עוּniv.Ka.'u
H1234
to cleave · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
clouds
וּ֝שְׁחָקִ֗יםu.she.cha.Kim
H7834
a powder (as beaten small) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
down
יִרְעֲפוּyir.'a.fu-
H7491
to drip · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
dew
טָֽלTal
H2919
dew (as covering vegetation) · 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
Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the…
Psalms 65:9-12 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn,…
Genesis 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Genesis 27:28 Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine:
Job 36:27-28 For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof:
Job 38:8-11 Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
Job 38:26-28 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
Genesis 27:37-39 And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with cor…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 3:13-20
Solomon had pressed us earnestly to seek diligently for wisdom (Pro 2:1, etc.), and had assured us that we should succeed in our sincere and constant pursuits. But the question is, What shall we get by it when we have found it? Prospect of advantage is the spring and spur of industry; he therefore shows us how much it will be to our profit, laying this down for an unquestionable truth, Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, that true wisdom which consists in the knowledge and love of God, and an entire conformity to all the intentions of his truths, providences, and laws. Now observe,
I. What it is to find wisdom so as to be made happy by it.
1. We must get it. He is the happy man who, having…
The place of wisdom in the economy of creation and providence commends it to men, who, in proportion to their finite powers, may possess this invaluable attribute, and are thus encouraged by the divine example of its use to seek its possession.
John Gill on Proverbs 3:20
By his knowledge the depths are broken up,.... From whence fountains and rivers flow, and whereby that great cavity was made which holds that large confluence of waters called the sea, Genesis 1:9. Some refer this to the breaking up the fountains of the great deep at the flood, Genesis 7:11; and others to the dividing of the waters of the Red sea when Israel came out of Egypt, Psalm 78:13; all wonderful works of divine wisdom, and show the greatness of him, in whom are "hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge", Colossians 2:3, by whom they were done;
and the clouds drop down the dew; which makes the earth fruitful, and is put for all the blessings of nature, Genesis 27:28; the drops o…
This place of a mediatrix - the speaker here now continues - she had from the beginning. God's world-creating work was mediated by her:
19 Jahve hath by wisdom founded the earth,
Established the heavens by understanding.
20 By His knowledge the water-floods broke forth,
And the sky dropped down dew.
That wisdom is meant by which God planned the world-idea, and now also wrought it out; the wisdom in which God conceived the world ere it was framed, and by which also He gave external realization to His thoughts; the wisdom which is indeed an attribute of God and a characteristic of His actions, since she is a property of His nature, and His nature attests itself in her, but not less, as appears…
The Church Fathers
By His wisdom the depths burst forth. When in the days of Noah all the fountains of the great abyss were broken up, or when through the daily course the fountains and rivers emanate from the abyss through the veins of the earth. Otherwise, by His wisdom the depths burst forth, when, by the grace of Christ granted, the profound mysteries of the heavens become known to the faithful.
And the clouds condense with dew. It is clear according to the letter, but allegorically the clouds are the teachers of the Church, elevated by contemplation and life, watering the hearts of listeners, like the land subjected to them by doctrine. Which condense with dew, because by the most subtle discernment they examine their virtues, which profit them, which lift them to high things, and which display examples to the lesser, and they examine them.
For in the beginning when He created the world and all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by His understanding; and by His knowledge were the depths broken up, and the clouds distilled water." And again wisdom saith, "When He constructed the heaven I was with Him, and when He made a circle upon the face of the deep, and when He made firm the clouds from above, and when the fountains of the depths became strong." Now wisdom was with God in His primaeval works, but in this second creation faith is with Him; and in this second giving of birth He hath taken to Himself faith as a helpmeet. In everything faith cleaveth to God, and without it to-day He worketh no new things. It were an easy thing for Him to give thee birth from water and spirit without it, but until it is satisfied He doth not give thee new birth. He is able to make thee a new creature, and from being old to make thee new, but until He receiveth from thee faith as a pledge He neither changeth thee nor maketh thee a new creature.
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
Clouds · Power and wisdom of God exhibited in condensing — Power and wisdom of God exhibited in condensing
Dew · From the clouds — From the clouds
Knowledge · Is power — Is power
Strife · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
