Proverbs 24

Wisdom, Understanding, & Knowledge

 "By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established.  By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches."  Proverbs 24:3

What a lovely analogy.  I'm not sure that I fully grasp it entirely, even now, but in my mind, there is an image of a beautiful, comfortable, stimulating home furnished with treasures.  However, these are not worldly treasures but spiritual ones.

I'm curious to tease out the difference between "wisdom"  "knowledge" and "understanding."  Is he trying to get at some deeper nuance here or just stating that when we take time to be discerning and thoughtful that our lives will be rich indeed?

wisdom

chokmâh
khok-maw'
From H2449; wisdom (in a good sense): - skillful, wisdom, wisely, wit.

understanding

tâbûn  tebûnâh  tôbûnâh

taw-boon', teb-oo-naw', to-boo-naw'

The second and third forms being feminine; from H995; intelligence; by implication an argument; by extension caprice: - discretion, reason, skilfulness, understanding, wisdom.

knowledge

da‛ath

dah'-ath

From H3045; knowledge: - cunning, [ig-] norantly, know(-ledge), [un-] awares (wittingly).

Those that manage their affairs with wisdom and equity, that are diligent in the use of lawful means for increasing what they have that spare from luxury and spend in charity, are in a fair way to have their shops, their warehouses, their chambers, filled with all precious and pleasant riches - precious because got by honest labour, and the substance of a diligent man is precious - pleasant because enjoyed with holy cheerfulness. -mh

On "house building" from Proverbs 14:1

 "Fleischer says: “to build the house is figuratively equivalent to, to regulate well the affairs of a house, and to keep them in a good condition; the contrary, to tear down the house, is the same contrast as the Arab. 'amârat âlbyt and kharab albyt. Thus e.g., in Burckhardt's Sprüchw. 217, harrt ṣabrt bythâ 'amârat, a good woman (ein braves Weib) has patience (with her husband), and thereby she builds up her house (at the same time an example of the use of the preterite in like general sentences for individualizing); also No. 430 of the same work: 'amârat âlbyt wla kharâbt, it is becoming to build the house, not to destroy it; cf. in the Thousand and One Nights, where a woman who had compelled her husband to separate from her says: âna âlty 'amalt hadhâ barwḥy wâkhrnt byty bnfsy. Burckhardt there makes the remark: 'amârat âlbyt denotes the family placed in good circumstances - father, mother, and children all living together happily and peacefully.” This conditional relation of the wife to the house expresses itself in her being named as house-wife (cf. Hausehre [= honour of a house] used by Luther, Psa_68:13), to which the Talmudic דְּבֵיתִי (= uxor mea) answers; the wife is noted for this, and hence is called עיקר הבית, the root and foundation of the house; vid., Buxtorf's Lex. col. 301. In truth, the oneness of the house is more dependent on the mother than on the father. A wise mother can, if her husband be dead or neglectful of his duty, always keep the house together; but if the house-wife has neither understanding nor good-will for her calling, then the best will of the house-father cannot hinder the dissolution of the house, prudence and patience only conceal and mitigate the process of dissolution - folly, viz., of the house-wife, always becomes more and more, according to the degree in which this is a caricature of her calling, the ruin of the house." -K & Dh