Blog - Proverbs 3:15

If you like this blog, then you will like Get Wisdom, Get Understanding which is Pastor Wagner's commentary series on the book of Proverbs which is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle. Find out more here. For all the blogs in this series, click here: Proverbs Commentary. Proverbs 3:15 "She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her." (Pro 3:15)

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In Proverbs 3:13, Solomon declared that the man that finds wisdom is happy (fortunate). In verse 14, he gave two reasons why that is so. In this verse, he gives two more reasons to prove his case, the first of which is that "she is more precious than rubies" (Pro 3:15). Rubies are among the most rare and expensive gemstones on earth, costing between $1000-$3000 per carat for one of high quality. To this day, rubies are referred to as precious (of great price; having a high value; costly - OED) stones. As he describes the exceeding value of wisdom, Solomon compares it to increasingly more valuable commodities. In the previous verse he began by comparing wisdom to silver and then to gold, which historically was worth about 16 times as much as silver and today is worth 80 times as much. By weight, rubies are currently worth approximately 200 times as much as gold. A believer should now begin to understand the immense value that God places on wisdom. Since wisdom is found in God's word (Pro 2:6), how valuable must reading, searching, and meditating in the scriptures be in the eyes of God? All the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. In the unlikely case that a man has no interest in silver, gold, or rubies, God gives one final comparison that proves the unparalleled value of wisdom. All of the things that a man desires cannot equal wisdom. Wisdom doesn't merely surpass the value of a man's most prized possessions; or even all the things that he owns; or greater yet, all the things that he desires; but rather all the things that he can desire. Take all of the endless things that a man can think of and wish for and add them all together, and they not only are unequal to wisdom, but they are not to be compared to her. Just as a drop cannot be compared to an ocean, or a candle to a forest fire, so all the priceless things a man can conceive of cannot be compared to wisdom. Do you now, dear reader, understand why God said that "Wisdom is the principal (first or highest in rank or importance) thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding" (Pro 4:7)?

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