Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge"
The motto of the book. The Hebrew has two lines: the fear of the LORD is the beginning (reshit) of knowledge (da'at); fools despise wisdom and instruction. The library's Greek has four lines, adding "prudence is good to all who practise it; piety toward God is the beginning of discernment" (wording close to Psalm 111:10). The Vulgate reads "beginning of wisdom," as in 9:10.
Disputed addition: some witnesses include it, some do not
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ includes the disputed words · ✕ does not include them · ❝ quotes part of them · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
Every witness, in order
Collections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)
The proverb as first composed
No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Proverbs are two small Qumran fragments (4Q102, 4Q103, 1st century BC – 1st century AD, reported).
Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592
Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Timor Domini principium sapientiæ; sapientiam atque doctrinam stulti despiciunt.
Latin position: Proverbs 1:7. Jerome translated Proverbs from Hebrew (c. AD 398), so the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
יִרְאַ֣ת יְ֭הוָה רֵאשִׁ֣ית דָּ֑עַת חָכְמָ֥ה וּ֝מוּסָ֗ר אֱוִילִ֥ים בָּֽזוּ׃
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction fools despise
Hebrew position: Proverbs 1:7.
AD 1008
Psalm 111:10 (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
רֵ֘אשִׁ֤ית חָכְמָ֨ה ׀ יִרְאַ֬ת יְהוָ֗ה שֵׂ֣כֶל ט֭וֹב לְכָל־עֹשֵׂיהֶ֑ם תְּ֝הִלָּת֗וֹ עֹמֶ֥דֶת לָעַֽד׃
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the LORD; good understanding have all who do them
The similar line in the Psalms.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872
Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
La crainte du Seigneur est le commencement de la sagesse; la prudence est bonne à tous ceux qui la mettent en pratique; la piété envers Dieu est le principe de la sagesse; les insensés méprisent la sagesse et la doctrine.
Greek (digital file) position: Proverbs 1:7. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). No Göttingen critical edition of Greek Proverbs is published yet; a C check needs Rahlfs–Hanhart and specialist studies.
What changed, and why
Reshit means "beginning" (as in Genesis 1:1) or "first, chief part." So the line can mean that reverence for God is where knowledge starts, or that it is the most important part of knowledge; both may be intended.
The Greek plus is one of many in Greek Proverbs. Its added lines resemble Psalm 111:10 in its Greek form ("the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do thereafter"). Most scholars think the Greek translator or an early reviser expanded the motto by drawing on the Psalm; whether a Hebrew manuscript ever had these lines is unknown (C check: Rahlfs and the Greek apparatus).
The Vulgate's principium sapientiae ("beginning of wisdom") in 1:7 harmonizes with 9:10; Jerome's Hebrew may have read the same as the Masoretic Text, with his wording influenced by the familiar formula. The motto returns in 9:10 and is echoed at the very end of the book (31:30), framing Proverbs.
What the evidence shows
- The library's Greek of 1:7 has two lines not in the Hebrew.
- The Greek plus draws on Psalm 111:10.
- The Vulgate reads 'wisdom' where the Hebrew reads 'knowledge.'
Sources
Related lessons
- Proverbs 1: The Beginning of Knowledge →Proverbs opens with a title ("The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel"), a statement of purpose (vv. 2–6), and its motto: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (v. 7). A father then warns his son against a gang that promises easy wealth through violence (vv. 8–19). Finally Wisdom herself, pictured as a woman, shouts at the city gates and warns those who ignore her (vv. 20–33). Three voices in one chapter: the editor, the parent, and Wisdom.
- Proverbs 9: Two Houses, Two Invitations →Proverbs 1–9 ends with two hostesses. Wisdom has built her house with seven pillars, prepared meat and wine, and sends her servant girls to call the simple: "Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled… Forsake the foolish, and live" (vv. 1–6). Between the two invitations stand sayings about correcting scorners and the wise, and the motto again: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (vv. 7–12). Then Woman Folly, loud and ignorant, sits at her door and calls the same passers-by: "Stolen waters are sweet"; but "the dead are there" (vv. 13–18).