Proverbs 8:26

Pro 8:26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

Ver. 26. Nor the fields, nor the highest.] {See Trapp on "Pro 8:24"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

fields--or, "out places," "deserts," as opposite to (habitable) "world."

highest part--or, "sum," all particles together,

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 26. The highest part of the dust of the world] ראש עפרות תבל rosh aphroth tebel, "the first particle of matter." The prima materia, the primitive atom. All these verses (Pr 8:3-29) are a periphrasis for I existed before creation; consequently before time was. I dwelt in God as a principle which might be communicated in its influences to intellectual beings when formed.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(26) The earth.—i.e., the cultivated and enclosed part of it.

The fields.—The open country.

The highest part of the dust of the world. Literally, “the head of the dusts of the fertile earth” i.e. the heaps of the clods of arable land, or better perhaps, “the sum of the atoms of dust.” Some refer to Gen_2:7, and interpret the words of man, as formed out of the dust.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. highest part] Rather, beginning; R.V. text (“or sum,” marg.); i.e. the primary elements out of which other things were subsequently formed. Comp. “all his work which God created and made,” Gen_2:3.

The idea that man is intended as the “chief part of the dust of the earth,” out of which he was formed, has little to commend it.

dust] Lit. dusts (plural), i.e. particles, or clods, of earth. Comp. dusts of gold, Job_28:6, where R.V. marg. suggests lumps.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

While as yet he had not made the earth,.... That is, the Lord, who possessed Wisdom, or Christ, and by whom he was set up; he as yet had not made the earth, when this was done; this shows that the earth had a beginning, contrary to those philosophers who asserted the eternity of it; that Christ was before that was, for it was made by him; and consequently he must be eternal, and was before any man was, since the earth was made before man; and that he was not of the earth, earthy, as was the first man;

nor the fields; the plain parts of the earth, in opposition to the mountains and hills before mentioned; the valleys and meadows that lay between them, full of grass, flowers, and fruits; pleasant to behold, and profitable to be enjoyed; so the word is also rendered Job 5:10; and "valleys", by the Targum here: or the "out parts" (m); the extremities of the earth, the two poles of it; the uninhabitable parts of the earth, as distinct from the habitable part of it afterwards mentioned: or all with out it; the ambient and spacious ether;

nor the highest part of the dust of the world: meaning, not the mountains and hills, which are before mentioned, and are the highest part of the earth; but rather "the chief of the dust of the earth" (n), as the words may be rendered; these are the metals and minerals within it; the gold, silver, and precious stones, of which we read very early, Gen 2:12; or the "beginning", the first and chief, the "prima materia", even the dusts of the world, out of which man and all the creatures were made, Gen 2:6. Dr. Lister (o) was of opinion that sand was once the most exterior and general cover of the surface of the whole earth; partly because all our northern mountains are covered with it, more or less, at this day; and partly because of its great hardness, durableness, and unalterable quality; and the higher the mountains be, he says, still the more and coarser the sand is; and if so, this might with propriety be called the highest part of the dust of the earth. But Christ was before any of them, as well as is more excellent than they. Or it may be man is designed, who was made of the dust of the earth; even the first man Adam, so Jarchi, Gen 2:7; before whom Christ was: yea, the human nature of Christ himself may be meant, which is fairer than any of the children of men, and the chief of all the individuals of human nature; being without sin, and united to the Son of God, and also the curious workmanship of the Spirit of God. Now Christ, as the Son of God, as the only begotten of the Father, existed before his human nature did, or before he was the Son of man.

(m) "quae extra sunt", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "exteriora", Cocceius, Michaelis. (n) "caput", Montanus, Tigurine version; "summam", Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens. (o) In Philosoph. Transact. abridged, vol. 2. p. 452, 453.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The highest part of the dust of the world - literally, “the head of the dusts of the world;” an image of either:

(1) the dry land, habitable, fit for cultivation, as contrasted with the waters of the chaotic deep; or

(2) man himself. Compare Ecc 3:20.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Poles. Hebrew, "head or height of the dust of the world." (Haydock) --- I subsisted with the chaos, before things appeared in their present form. (Calmet) --- The poles denote the north and south, or the four quarters of the world. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The earth, i.e. the dry land, called earth after it was separated from the waters, Gen 1:10.

The fields; the plain and open parts of the earth, distinguished from the mountains and hills, and the valleys enclosed between them.

The highest part; or, the first part, or beginning; or, the best part, Heb. the head; that which exceeds other parts in riches or fruitfulness; which he seems to distinguish from the common fields.

Of the dust of the world; of this lower part of the world, which consisteth of dust.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

26. The fields — חוצות, (hhutsoth,) the exterior surface, or ostensible part.

Nor the highest part of the dust of the world — ראשׁ עפרות תבל, (rosh ‘haphroth tebhel,) the first dust of the world — the primeval atoms, seemingly opposed to the hhutsoth — the observable part. “World,” (tebhel,) a poetic word from בלל, (balal,) one of the meanings of which is to mix, mingle — the compounded mass of the earth. The sense of the whole, throwing off the poetic garb, and carrying forward the verb from the preceding verse, appears to be: I was produced while yet he had not made the land, neither the observable exterior nor the interior atoms of the complex globe. Some expositors fancy that the highest part of the dust of the earth means man himself, originally formed of the dust of the earth.

The drift of the thought in Pro_8:23-27, is seemingly this: We have, first, the proposition, (Pro_8:23,) I existed before the earth (as a whole) existed. This is amplified in sundry particulars, first, (Pro_8:24,) before the fluid parts, the oceans and streams; second, (Pro_8:25,) before the solid parts, especially the more prominent and observable, as the mountains and hills; third, (ver.

26,) an amplification of this again, descending to other particulars — the surface of the land and its internal components — the original atoms or particles of the same. Wisdom was before all these.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The earth, nor the fields. The distinction intended is land as cultivated and occupied by buildings, etc., and waste uncultivated land outside towns. Septuagint, "The Lord made countries and uninhabited places (aoikhtouv );" Vulgate, Adhuc terram non fecerat, et flumina. Hebrew, chutsoth; things without, abroad, hence open country. The Vulgate rendering, and that of Aquila and Symmaehus, exodouv , are plainly erroneous, as waters have already been mentioned (ver. 24). The highest part of the dust of the world; literally, the head of the dusts of the world. Some have interpreted this expression of "man," the chief of those creatures which are made of the dust of the ground. (Gen_3:19 Ecc_3:20) But the idea comes in awkwardly here; it is not natural to introduce man amid the inanimate works of nature, or to use such an enigmatical designation for him. St. Jerome has, cardines orbis terrarum, "the world"s hinges;" Septuagint, "the inhabited summits of the earth beneath the heavens; according to St. Hilary ("De Trinit.," 12), "cacumina quae habitantur sub coelo." Others take the term to signify the capes or promontories of the world, the peaks and elevations; others, the clods of dry, amble land, in contrast to the untilled waste of waters; others, the chief elements, the matter of which the earth is composed. This last interpretation would lead us back to a period which has already been passed. Amid the many possible explanations, it is perhaps best (with Delitzsch, Nowack, etc.) to take rosh, "head" as equivalent to "sum," "mass," as in Psa_139:17. "How great is the sum (rosh ) of them!" Then the expression comprehensively means all the mass of earth"s dust.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The earth - The dry land called earth after it was separated from the waters Gen. i, 10. Fields - The plain and open parts of the earth distinguished from the mountains. Dust - Of this lower part of the world which consists of dust.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

I was born ... I was there

This is wisdom speaking about herself. (See: Personification)

was born

"I was alive"

established

To establish something is to bring into being on a stable basis. AT: "created" or "made"

when he drew a circle on the surface of the deep

This refers to setting a limit to how far someone in a ship at sea can see all around himself. AT: "when he marked on the ocean's surface how far a person at sea can see in every direction" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

the deep

"the ocean"

translationWords

Yahweh

earth

heaven

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

the land and the outsides The land of Israel and other lands.

and the beginning of the dust of the earth The first man.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.