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Happy Is the One Who Finds Wisdom

Proverbs 3:13 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

¹³Happy is a man who finds wisdom,
and the one who gains understanding,

Many Christians might not be aware of these “beatitudes,” as well as others in the Book of Proverbs (8:32, 34; 14:21; 16:20; 20:7; 28:14; 29:18). The RSV, LEB, CSB, and the UASV render the Hebrew word (asre) “happy, while the ESV and the NASB render it “blessed.” Happy, blessed: (אָשֵׁרִי Asheri; μακάριος makarios) Asre occurs 11 times in the Hebrew Old Testament and makarios 50 times in the Greek New Testament. Happiness and being highly favored by God characterize this joy. It is speaking of a person who is content, full of joy. This is not to be confused with the Hebrew word barak which means, “to bless,” as in a divine blessing. The Hebrew barak and the Greek eulogeo is the act of being blessed, while the Hebrew asre and Greek makarios are the state or condition of the person who is being blessed, who is a highly favored one. – 1 Ki 10:8; Ps 1:1; 119:1-2; Pro. 14:21; 16:20; Matt. 5:3-11; 11:6; 13:16; Lu 1:45; John 13:17; 20:29; Ac 20:35; Rom. 4:7-8 to mention just a few.

As we know by now, wisdom is personified in the book of Proverbs as a female, which helps the reader to understand better the different qualities that make up wisdom.^[1] Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge correctly. One may have substantial knowledge but lacks the ability to use it because wisdom is absent.

Understanding is the ability to see how the facets, characteristics, features, or parts of something have a significant connection with or bearing to one another, to be able to picture the whole matter and not just small pieces of information. Proverbs 9:10 says, “Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” This means that if we are ever to have a deeper understanding of things, it must be in conjunction with Jehovah God and his will and purposes. If we possess understanding, we are the type of people that can connect the new information with what we already know, which means, “knowledge is easy to one who has understanding.” (Pro. 14:6) Verse 13 is reminiscent of this repeated language found in the book of Proverbs where a young man “who finds a wife,” which “is a good thing,” as “her worth is far above jewels.” (Pro. 18:22; 31:10) Yes, finding wisdom is like finding a worthy wife.

[1] Wisdom is mentioned in the book of Proverbs 46 times!