while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
Parallel Translations
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while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
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While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
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While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world.
Cross-references (1)
Passages linked to Proverbs 8:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 1:1-31 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day. God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 8:26 While as yet he had not made…
Pro 8:26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
Ver. 26. Nor the fields, nor the highest.] {See Trapp on "Pro 8:24"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The earth, i.e. the dry land, called earth after…
The earth, i.e. the dry land, called earth after it was separated from the waters, Gen 1:10.
The fields; the plain and open parts of the earth, distinguished from the mountains and hills, and the valleys enclosed between them.
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The highest part; or, the first part, or beginning; or, the best part, Heb. the head; that which exceeds other parts in riches or fruitfulness; which he seems to distinguish from the common fields.
Of the dust of the world; of this lower part of the world, which consisteth of dust.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain While as yet he had not made the earth,....…
While as yet he had not made the earth,.... That is, the Lord, who possessed Wisdom, or Christ, and by whom he was set up; he as yet had not made the earth, when this was done; this shows that the earth had a beginning, contrary to those philosophers who asserted the eternity of it; that Christ was before that was, for it was made by him; and consequently he must be eternal, and was before any man was, since the earth was made before man; and that he was not of the earth, earthy, as was the first man;
nor the fields; the plain parts of the earth, in opposition to the mountains and hills before mentioned; the valleys and meadows that lay between them, full of grass, flowers, and fruits; pleasant to behold, and profitable to be enjoyed; so the word is also rendered Job 5:10; and "valleys", by the Targum here: or the "out parts" (m); the extremities of the earth, the two poles of it; the uninhabitable parts of the earth, as distinct from the habitable part of it afterwards mentioned: or all with out it; the ambient and spacious ether;
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nor the highest part of the dust of the world: meaning, not the mountains and hills, which are before mentioned, and are the highest part of the earth; but rather "the chief of the dust of the earth" (n), as the words may be rendered; these are the metals and minerals within it; the gold, silver, and precious stones, of which we read very early, Gen 2:12; or the "beginning", the first and chief, the "prima materia", even the dusts of the world, out of which man and all the creatures were made, Gen 2:6. Dr. Lister (o) was of opinion that sand was once the most exterior and general cover of the surface of the whole earth; partly because all our northern mountains are covered with it, more or less, at this day; and partly because of its great hardness, durableness, and unalterable quality; and the higher the mountains be, he says, still the more and coarser the sand is; and if so, this might with propriety be called the highest part of the dust of the earth. But Christ was before any of them, as well as is more excellent than they. Or it may be man is designed, who was made of the dust of the earth; even the first man Adam, so Jarchi, Gen 2:7; before whom Christ was: yea, the human nature of Christ himself may be meant, which is fairer than any of the children of men, and the chief of all the individuals of human nature; being without sin, and united to the Son of God, and also the curious workmanship of the Spirit of God. Now Christ, as the Son of God, as the only begotten of the Father, existed before his human nature did, or before he was the Son of man.
(m) "quae extra sunt", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "exteriora", Cocceius, Michaelis. (n) "caput", Montanus, Tigurine version; "summam", Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens. (o) In Philosoph. Transact. abridged, vol. 2. p. 452, 453.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The earth - The dry land called earth after…
The earth - The dry land called earth after it was separated from the waters Gen. i, 10. Fields - The plain and open parts of the earth distinguished from the mountains. Dust - Of this lower part of the world which consists of dust.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 26. The highest part of the dust of…
Verse 26. The highest part of the dust of the world] ראש עפרות תבל rosh aphroth tebel, "the first particle of matter." The prima materia, the primitive atom. All these verses (Pr 8:3-29) are a periphrasis for I existed before creation; consequently before time was. I dwelt in God as a principle which might be communicated in its influences to intellectual beings when formed.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The highest part of the dust of the world…
The highest part of the dust of the world - literally, “the head of the dusts of the world;” an image of either:
(1) the dry land, habitable, fit for cultivation, as contrasted with the waters of the chaotic deep; or
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(2) man himself. Compare Ecc 3:20.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Poles. Hebrew, "head or height of the dust of…
Poles. Hebrew, "head or height of the dust of the world." (Haydock) --- I subsisted with the chaos, before things appeared in their present form. (Calmet) --- The poles denote the north and south, or the four quarters of the world. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain fields--or, "out places," "deserts," as opposite to (habitable) "world."
fields--or, "out places," "deserts," as opposite to (habitable) "world."
highest part--or, "sum," all particles together,
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 26. The fields — חוצות, (hhutsoth,) the exterior surface,…
26. The fields — חוצות, (hhutsoth,) the exterior surface, or ostensible part.
Nor the highest part of the dust of the world — ראשׁ עפרות תבל, (rosh ‘haphroth tebhel,) the first dust of the world — the primeval atoms, seemingly opposed to the hhutsoth — the observable part. “World,” (tebhel,) a poetic word from בלל, (balal,) one of the meanings of which is to mix, mingle — the compounded mass of the earth. The sense of the whole, throwing off the poetic garb, and carrying forward the verb from the preceding verse, appears to be: I was produced while yet he had not made the land, neither the observable exterior nor the interior atoms of the complex globe. Some expositors fancy that the highest part of the dust of the earth means man himself, originally formed of the dust of the earth.
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The drift of the thought in Pro_8:23-27, is seemingly this: We have, first, the proposition, (Pro_8:23,) I existed before the earth (as a whole) existed. This is amplified in sundry particulars, first, (Pro_8:24,) before the fluid parts, the oceans and streams; second, (Pro_8:25,) before the solid parts, especially the more prominent and observable, as the mountains and hills; third, (ver.
26,) an amplification of this again, descending to other particulars — the surface of the land and its internal components — the original atoms or particles of the same. Wisdom was before all these.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 26. highest part] Rather, beginning; R.V. text (“or sum,”…
26. highest part] Rather, beginning; R.V. text (“or sum,” marg.); i.e. the primary elements out of which other things were subsequently formed. Comp. “all his work which God created and made,” Gen_2:3.
The idea that man is intended as the “chief part of the dust of the earth,” out of which he was formed, has little to commend it.
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dust] Lit. dusts (plural), i.e. particles, or clods, of earth. Comp. dusts of gold, Job_28:6, where R.V. marg. suggests lumps.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (26) The earth.—i.e., the cultivated and enclosed part of…
(26) The earth.—i.e., the cultivated and enclosed part of it.
The fields.—The open country.
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The highest part of the dust of the world. Literally, “the head of the dusts of the fertile earth” i.e. the heaps of the clods of arable land, or better perhaps, “the sum of the atoms of dust.” Some refer to Gen_2:7, and interpret the words of man, as formed out of the dust.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The earth, nor the fields. The distinction intended is…
The earth, nor the fields. The distinction intended is land as cultivated and occupied by buildings, etc., and waste uncultivated land outside towns. Septuagint, "The Lord made countries and uninhabited places (aoikhtouv );" Vulgate, Adhuc terram non fecerat, et flumina. Hebrew, chutsoth; things without, abroad, hence open country. The Vulgate rendering, and that of Aquila and Symmaehus, exodouv , are plainly erroneous, as waters have already been mentioned (ver. 24). The highest part of the dust of the world; literally, the head of the dusts of the world. Some have interpreted this expression of "man," the chief of those creatures which are made of the dust of the ground. (Gen_3:19 Ecc_3:20) But the idea comes in awkwardly here; it is not natural to introduce man amid the inanimate works of nature, or to use such an enigmatical designation for him. St. Jerome has, cardines orbis terrarum, "the world"s hinges;" Septuagint, "the inhabited summits of the earth beneath the heavens; according to St. Hilary ("De Trinit.," 12), "cacumina quae habitantur sub coelo." Others take the term to signify the capes or promontories of the world, the peaks and elevations; others, the clods of dry, amble land, in contrast to the untilled waste of waters; others, the chief elements, the matter of which the earth is composed. This last interpretation would lead us back to a period which has already been passed. Amid the many possible explanations, it is perhaps best (with Delitzsch, Nowack, etc.) to take rosh, "head" as equivalent to "sum," "mass," as in Psa_139:17. "How great is the sum (rosh ) of them!" Then the expression comprehensively means all the mass of earth"s dust.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 I was born ... I was there
I was born ... I was there
This is wisdom speaking about herself. (See: Personification)
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was born
"I was alive"
established
To establish something is to bring into being on a stable basis. AT: "created" or "made"
when he drew a circle on the surface of the deep
This refers to setting a limit to how far someone in a ship at sea can see all around himself. AT: "when he marked on the ocean's surface how far a person at sea can see in every direction" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
the deep
"the ocean"
translationWords
Yahweh
earth
heaven
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.