'Wisdom' in the Bible

A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad,But he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth.

The rod and reproof give wisdom,But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

Neither have I learned wisdom,Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

She opens her mouth in wisdom,And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.”

And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.

Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.

So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done?

And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Wisdom along with an inheritance is goodAnd an advantage to those who see the sun.

For wisdom is protection just as money is protection,But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessors.

Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

I directed my mind to know, to investigate and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of folly and the foolishness of madness.

Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.

When I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night),

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.

But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded.

Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Dead flies make a perfumer’s oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.

If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.

For he has said,“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,For I have understanding;And I removed the boundaries of the peoplesAnd plundered their treasures,And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,The spirit of wisdom and understanding,The spirit of counsel and strength,The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

This also comes from the Lord of hosts,Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.

Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”

And He will be the stability of your times,A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge;The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

“You felt secure in your wickedness and said,‘No one sees me,’Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you;For you have said in your heart,‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’

“The wise men are put to shame,They are dismayed and caught;Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,And what kind of wisdom do they have?

Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;

It is He who made the earth by His power,Who established the world by His wisdom;And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens.

Concerning Edom.Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?Has good counsel been lost to the prudent?Has their wisdom decayed?

It is He who made the earth by His power,Who established the world by His wisdom,And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens.

“By your wisdom and understandingYou have acquired riches for yourselfAnd have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries.

“By your great wisdom, by your tradeYou have increased your richesAnd your heart is lifted up because of your riches—

Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you,The most ruthless of the nations.And they will draw their swordsAgainst the beauty of your wisdomAnd defile your splendor.

“Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God,“You had the seal of perfection,Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.I cast you to the ground;I put you before kings,That they may see you.

youths in whom was no defect, who were good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom, endowed with understanding and discerning knowledge, and who had ability for serving in the king’s court; and he ordered him to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.

As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.

As for every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king consulted them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in all his realm.

Daniel said,“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,For wisdom and power belong to Him.

“It is He who changes the times and the epochs;He removes kings and establishes kings;He gives wisdom to wise menAnd knowledge to men of understanding.

“To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,For You have given me wisdom and power;Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,For You have made known to us the king’s matter.”

But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, conjurers, Chaldeans and diviners.

Now I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

The voice of the Lord will call to the city—And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:“Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time?

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?

The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute,

for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

For it is written,“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;

but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.

and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;

but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”;

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit;

For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.

which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.

and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

saying with a loud voice,“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”