In the Bible, wisdom is portrayed as a woman. In the Book of Proverbs it says, “Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman” (Proverbs 7:4 KJV). Furthermore it says in Proverbs 24:3, “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established.” So logically, if the house is built upon wisdom, and wisdom is a woman, then couldn’t today’s quote be Biblical?

“The house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman.” – Mexican Proverb

We see that this quote is not from the Bible, but it does underscore how important the role of women is. A house, i.e. the home in which a family is raised, can either stand or fall by the woman who runs that house. And if that woman stands on the Rock of Jesus, so too then does that house.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree with this or is it a stretch?

Thank you to Bible or Not reader Athena Pierce for sharing her wisdom with the rest of our readers. Well, technically it’s God’s wisdom, Athena is the willing messenger of today’s Bible quote.

“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end, you will be wise.” – Proverbs 19:20 NIV

The Book of Proverbs is widely recognized as a book of wisdom, written mostly by Solomon who had the promise from God, and reputation at his time, of being the most wise of all kings.

Today’s Bible quote comes with a promise: if you listen, then you will be wise. With that wisdom comes spiritual and often times natural prosperity. Within the same chapter of Proverbs, there is also a warning for not listening as well:

“Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge”. – Proverbs 19:27 NIV

To learn more about the Book of Proverbs, a.k.a. the Proverbs of Solomon, go here. We hope you also enjoy our other quotes about wisdom.

Bible or Not Fun: did you notice that today’s Bible verse is what I call a Bible Sequence? Notice Proverbs chapter 19, verse 20 - 19:20. Another example would be Matthew 5:6 - “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”. This is a fun way to explore the scriptures and create memory verses. For similar fun see Bible Doubles.

An earlier post talked about how a malicious man disguises himself, with the intent to deceive and harm others. Today’s Bible or Not quote is a popular saying that helps us deal with that. Jesus said:

“Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” - Matthew 10:16 NKJV

The original serpent in the garden caused the downfall of mankind  – Satan disguised himself, deceived Eve, and brought suffering upon all mankind. Is Jesus saying that we should be “wise” like that? In a word, yes. But it’s all about intent.

As saints of God we must use wisdom and understand the ways of the world so that we can protect ourselves and our loved ones. Our intent is defensive, not offensive. And we also apply Jesus’ teaching that we are in the world, but not of the world. We are to walk circumspectly (looking all around very observantly) according to the principles of God, NOT according to the principles of the wisdom of this world.

So yes, be as wise as serpents, however, never use that wisdom to cause any harm to others, however innocuous it may seem. Be like the dove, which is the symbol of peace. We are to gain wisdom for the purpose of helping others, promoting peace and bringing others to Christ. It’s similar to something the Apostle Paul said: “in wisdom be mature adults but in malice be like little children [paraphrase].”