Pro 4:7 | KD | STEP | Referring to , the father further explains that wisdom begins with the striving after it, and that this striving is itself its fundamental beginning: 7 The beginning of wisdom is “Get wisdom,” And with [um, at the price of] all thou hast gotten get understanding, 8 Esteem her, so shall she lift thee up; She will bring thee honour if thou dost embrace her. 9 She will put on thine head a graceful garland, She will bestow upon thee a glorious diadem. In the motto of the book, , the author would say that the fear of Jahve is that from which all wisdom takes its origin. יראת יהוה ( ) is the subject, and as such it stands foremost. Here he means to say what the beginning of wisdom consists in. ראשׁית חכמה is the subject, and stands forth as such. The predicate may also be read קנה־חכמה (= קנות), after Pro 16:16. The beginning of wisdom is (consists in) the getting of wisdom; but the imperative קנה, which also Aq., Sym., Theod. (κτῆσαι), Jerome, Syr., Targ. express (the lxx leaves untranslated), is supported by 7b. Hitzig, after Mercier, De Dieu, and Döderlein, translates the verse thus: “the highest thing is wisdom; get wisdom,” which Zöckler approves of; but the reasons which determine him to this rendering are subtleties: if the author had wished himself to be so understood, he ought at least to have written the words ראשׁית החכמה. But ראשׁית חכמה is a genitive of relation, as is to be expected from the relativity of the idea ראשׁית, and his intention is to say that the beginning of wisdom consists in the proposition קנה חכמה (cf. the similar formula, ); this proposition is truly the lapis philosophorum , it contains all that is necessary in order to becoming wise. Therefore the Greek σοφία called itself modestly φιλοσοφία; for ἀρχὴ σὐτῆς the Book of Wisdom has, , ἡ ἀληθεστάτη παιδείας ἐπιθυμία. In 7b the proposition is expressed which contains the specificum helping to wisdom. The בּ denotes price: give all for wisdom ( , ); no price is too high, no sacrifice too great for it.

‏ Proverbs 4:7

Referring to Pro 4:5, the father further explains that wisdom begins with the striving after it, and that this striving is itself its fundamental beginning: 7 The beginning of wisdom is “Get wisdom,” And with [um, at the price of] all thou hast gotten get understanding, 8 Esteem her, so shall she lift thee up; She will bring thee honour if thou dost embrace her. 9 She will put on thine head a graceful garland, She will bestow upon thee a glorious diadem.

In the motto of the book, Pro 1:7, the author would say that the fear of Jahve is that from which all wisdom takes its origin. יראת יהוה (Pro 1:7) is the subject, and as such it stands foremost. Here he means to say what the beginning of wisdom consists in. ראשׁית חכמה is the subject, and stands forth as such. The predicate may also be read קנה־חכמה (= קנות), after Pro 16:16. The beginning of wisdom is (consists in) the getting of wisdom; but the imperative קנה, which also Aq., Sym., Theod. (κτῆσαι), Jerome, Syr., Targ. express (the lxx leaves Pro 4:7 untranslated), is supported by 7b. Hitzig, after Mercier, De Dieu, and Döderlein, translates the verse thus: “the highest thing is wisdom; get wisdom,” which Zöckler approves of; but the reasons which determine him to this rendering are subtleties: if the author had wished himself to be so understood, he ought at least to have written the words ראשׁית החכמה. But ראשׁית חכמה is a genitive of relation, as is to be expected from the relativity of the idea ראשׁית, and his intention is to say that the beginning of wisdom consists in the proposition קנה חכמה (cf. the similar formula, Ecc 12:13); this proposition is truly the lapis philosophorum, it contains all that is necessary in order to becoming wise. Therefore the Greek σοφία called itself modestly φιλοσοφία; for ἀρχὴ σὐτῆς the Book of Wisdom has, Pro 6:18, ἡ ἀληθεστάτη παιδείας ἐπιθυμία. In 7b the proposition is expressed which contains the specificum helping to wisdom. The בּ denotes price: give all for wisdom (Mat 13:46, Mat 13:44); no price is too high, no sacrifice too great for it.