To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.

PROVERBS 1:6KJV
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Proverbs 1:6 (KJV)

What does Proverbs 1:6 mean?

Proverbs 1:6 describes one purpose of the teaching that opens the book: to help people grasp wise sayings, including those whose meaning takes thought to uncover. The verse treats wisdom as something expressed in different forms, from concise proverbs to puzzling expressions.

The KJV phrase “dark sayings” pictures words whose meaning is not immediately clear. After mentioning a wise person’s growth in verse 5, verse 6 points to the kinds of speech that such a person can learn to understand.

The Hebrew behind Proverbs 1:6

  • “proverb” — מָשָׁל (mashal): This word often refers to a wise saying or comparison. In this verse, the term can cover more than a short, familiar saying.
  • “interpretation” — מְלִיצָה (melitsah): This word can refer to a figurative or challenging expression. The KJV calls it an “interpretation,” while the Hebrew term may describe another kind of saying to be understood.
  • “sayings” — חִידָה (ḥidah): This word often means a riddle or puzzling saying. It helps explain why the KJV describes these sayings as “dark”: their sense may be hidden.

Why Proverbs 1:6 matters

  • Understanding is presented as a skill that can grow. Verse 5 speaks of a wise person increasing in learning, and verse 6 continues with the ability “to understand.”
  • The verse includes more than sayings that are easy to grasp. “The words of the wise” include “dark sayings,” so careful thought is part of hearing what wise speakers mean.
  • The opening passage connects understanding with its starting point. Verse 7 follows with “the fear of the LORD,” meaning reverence for the LORD, as “the beginning of knowledge.”

Where else these words appear

“interpretation” Hebrew H4426 · used in 2 verses

  • Habakkuk 2:6 Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

“sayings” Hebrew H2420 · used in 17 verses

  • Numbers 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
  • Judges 14:16 And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
  • 2 Chronicles 9:1 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

“proverb” Hebrew H4912 · used in 39 verses

  • Numbers 23:7 And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel.
  • 2 Chronicles 7:20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
  • Ecclesiastes 12:9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

“wise” Hebrew H2450 · used in 133 verses

  • Genesis 41:8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
  • Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
  • Ecclesiastes 2:16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.