Proverbs 3:18
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
KJV
Lignum vitæ est his qui apprehenderint eam, et qui tenuerit eam beatus.
Vulgate
ξύλον ζωῆς ἐστι πᾶσι τοῖς ἀντεχομένοις αὐτῆς, καὶ τοῖς ἐπερειδομένοις ἐπ’ αὐτὴν ὡς ἐπὶ Κύριον.
LXX
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.
ASV
עֵץ חַיִּ֣ים הִ֭יא לַ/מַּחֲזִיקִ֣ים בָּ֑/הּ וְֽ/תֹמְכֶ֥י/הָ מְאֻשָּֽׁר
Hebrew
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In the original Hebrew
6 distinct Hebrew words appear in this verse.
ה֖וּא
hv'
pronoun · 1878×
הֶחֱזִ֗יק
hchzyq
verb · 289×
חַי
chy
verb · 502×
נִי
ny
verb · 17×
עֵ֣ץ
'ts
noun · 324×
תוֹמֵ֥ךְ
tvmk
verb · 21×
Historic Christian voices
5 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.
City of God · 2 passages
Chapter 20.—That the Flesh Now Resting in Peace Shall Be Raised to a Perfection Not Enjoyed by the Flesh of Our First Parents. Thus the souls of departed saints are not affected by the death which dismisses them from their bodies, because their flesh rests in hope, no matter what indignities it receives after sensation is gone. For they do not desire that their bodies be forgot…
Chapter 26.—Of the Sacrifices Offered to God by the Saints, Which are to Be Pleasing to Him, as in the Primitive Days and Former Years. And it was with the design of showing that His city shall not then follow this custom, that God said that the sons of Levi should offer sacrifices in righteousness,—not therefore in sin, and consequently not for sin. And hence we see how vainly…
The tree of life represents wisdom (sophia), through which the soul attains immortality, while the tree of knowledge of good and evil represents the intermediate moral faculty that can lead either to virtue or to vice. Philo reads these not as literal trees in a garden but as powers within the human soul. To eat of the tree of life is to live by divine Wisdom; to eat of the tre…
Cross-references
- 1Pet 3:10 — For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
- 1Tim 6:12 — Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
- Deut 32:47 — For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
- Eccl 7:12 — For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.
- Gen 2:9 — And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evi
- Gen 2:9 — And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evi
- Gen 3:22 — And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
- Gen 3:22 — And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
- Heb 6:18 — That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
- Prov 4:13 — Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.
- Prov 6:23 — For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
- Prov 8:34 — Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
- Prov 10:17 — He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
- Prov 11:30 — The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
- Prov 11:30 — The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
- Prov 13:12 — Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
- Prov 13:12 — Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
- Prov 15:4 — A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
- Prov 15:4 — A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
- Prov 19:8 — He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.
- Rev 2:7 — He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
- Rev 2:7 — He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
- Rev 22:2 — In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were fo
- Rev 22:2 — In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were fo