Proverbs 27:26 — Word Study
WLCכְּבָשִׂ֥ים לִלְבוּשֶׁ֑ךָ וּמְחִ֥יר שָׂ֝דֶ֗ה עַתּוּדִֽים׃
BSAthe lambskebes [young rams, for clothing] will provide you with clothinglᵉbûwsh [garments, covering] and the goatsʻattûwd [full-grown males, for sacrifice] with the pricemᵉchîyr [payment, wages] of a fieldsâdeh [land, cultivated area]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| כְּבָשִׂ֥ים | lambs | Noun common, masculine plural absolute |
| לִלְבוּשֶׁ֑ךָ | [are] for clothing your | Preposition, noun common masculine singular construct, suffix |
| וּמְחִ֥יר | and [the] price of | Conjunction, noun common masculine singular construct |
| שָׂ֝דֶ֗ה | a field | Noun common, masculine singular absolute |
| עַתּוּדִֽים׃ | goats | Noun common, masculine plural absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. |
| KJV | The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. |
| ASV | The lambs are for thy clothing, And the goats are the price of the field; |
| YLT | Lambs [are] for thy clothing, And the price of the field [are] he-goats, |
| WEB | The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field. |
| BBE | The lambs are for your clothing, and the he-goats make the value of a field: |
Where they part company is מְחִיר — see How Translations Differ.
The verse is structured with one main clause followed by a conjunction that introduces a second main clause, showing the relationship between the two subjects.
7 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them ›
clause
subjectכֶּבֶשׂ
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Proverbs 27:26
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Practical Wisdom on Resourcesgenerated
Proverbs 27:26 discusses the practical benefits of livestock in providing clothing and financial resources. This verse highlights the interconnectedness of agriculture and daily life, emphasizing how livestock serves multiple purposes in a household, as seen in the surrounding verses that discuss the transient nature of wealth and the importance of sustenance.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Job 31:20 | if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep, |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 1 reference, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — כְּבָשִׂ֥ים, ke.va.Simgenerated
The word כְּבָשִׂ֥ים (*kevasim*) is the masculine plural form of כֶּבֶשׂ (*kebes*), meaning 'lambs.' It refers to young rams or lambs, typically used for clothing or sacrifice. The parsing indicates it is a common noun in plural form, showing that multiple lambs are intended.
In biblical contexts, lambs symbolize innocence and are often associated with sacrifice. Here, they are practical resources for clothing, indicating their value in everyday life.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main verb is implicit in the phrase כְּבָשִׂ֥ים לִלְבוּשֶׁ֑ךָ, indicating that lambs provide clothing, while the conjunction וּמְחִ֥יר introduces a second subject, עַתּוּדִֽים, which provides the price of a field. This structure emphasizes the dual roles of the animals mentioned.
Hebrew syntax places the subjects at the beginning, highlighting the lambs and goats as the primary focus of the verse.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates כְּבָשִׂ֥ים as πρόβατα (*probata*), which means 'sheep.' This choice maintains the focus on the livestock's utility.
For עַתּוּדִֽים, the LXX uses ἄρνες (*arnes*), which also refers to male goats, reflecting the same sacrificial connotation found in the Hebrew.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Proverbs 27:26 tells us that lambs provide clothing and goats provide the price for a field. This verse highlights how these animals are essential for both clothing and financial resources, emphasizing their importance in daily life.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The verse illustrates that livestock, such as lambs and goats, are not only sources of clothing but also financial resources, showing their multifaceted value.
Lambs were often used for clothing and sacrifice, while goats were valued for their milk and as sacrificial animals.
It implies that goats can be sold or traded to obtain financial resources necessary for purchasing land.
Clothing symbolizes protection and identity, indicating that the lambs provide not just physical garments but also a sense of well-being.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways do I rely on resources around me, just as the verse describes the use of livestock?
- How can I better appreciate the practical aspects of the resources I have in my life?
- What lessons can I learn about stewardship from the way livestock are portrayed in this verse?
- How might this verse influence my understanding of provision and gratitude?
The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it
Bede comments on the practical implications of this verse, highlighting the significance of lambs and goats in providing for human needs.
Lambs for your clothing, etc. He calls the innocent lambs, the penitent kids. You will be clothed with the fleece of the lambs, while you, the pastor, improve by the good manners of obedient disciples, and seeing their laudable deeds,Early Church Fathers on Proverbs 27 →
Commentators on this verse — 7 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Proverbs 27:26 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThe lambs [are] for thy clothing,.... This is another argument, exciting to diligence in the pastoral calling, taken from the profit arising from it: the wool of the lambs, or rather "sheep", as many
Read John Gill on Proverbs 27 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryThe lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. The lambs (are) for thy clothing - with their fleeces.
Read Robert Jamieson on Proverbs 27 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleThe lambs are for thy clothing; by their wool and skins, either used to clothe thyself with or sold to purchase all manner of clothing for thyself and family. The goats are the price of the field; by the sale whereof thou mayst either pay the rent of the field which thou hirest, or purchase fields or lands for thyself. Either goats are put for all cattle, or he mentions goats, because these might better be spared and sold than sheep, which brought a more certain and constant profit to the owner.
Read Matthew Poole on Proverbs 27 →John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New TestamentsProverbs 27:26 The lambs [are] for thy clothing, and the goats [are] the price of the field.Ver. 26. The lambs are for thy clothing.] Ad esum et ad usum, for food and raiment a profitable creature. Some creatures are profitable alive, not dead, as the dog, horse, &c.; some dead, not alive, as the hog; some both, as the ox; yet none so profitable as the sheep. And the goats are the price of thy field.] Wherewith thou mayest pay thy rent, and besides hire tillage, or it may be purchase land, and have money in thy purse to do thy needs with.
Read John Trapp on Proverbs 27 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(26) And the goats are the price of the field—i.e., you can purchase a field from the profit of your goats.
Read Charles John Ellicott on Proverbs 27 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 26. The lambs are for thy clothing] So many fleeces are given in some places as rent to the landlord.
Read AdamClarke on Proverbs 27 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible26. Goats — ςϊεγιν, (‘hattudhim,) literally, bucks, either of sheep or goats, but here, perhaps, as in Authorized Version, used for goats in general, or for the full grown of sheep and goats.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Proverbs 27 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.
The lambs are for your clothing, and the goats are the price of a field.
the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field.
the lambs will be for your clothing, and the goats will be for the price of a field.
Tyndale line
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
The lambs are for thy clothing, And the goats are the price of the field;
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field:
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.
The lambes are for thy clothing, and the goates are the price of the fielde.
Strictly literal
The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of a field;
Lambs [are] for thy clothing, And the price of the field [are] he-goats,
Lambs [are] for your clothing, || And the price of the field [are] male goats,
The sheep are for thy clothing, and he-goats are the purchase-price of a field.
Those lambs will provide your clothing and the goats will provide the price of the field.
From the Latin
Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the field.
Simplified
and the lambs have provided you wool to make clothing, and the sale of goats have paid for a field,
The lambs are for your clothing, and the he-goats make the value of a field:
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text of Proverbs 27:26 reads, "כְּבָשִׂ֥ים לִלְבוּשֶׁ֑ךָ וּמְחִ֥יר שָׂ֝דֶ֗ה עַתּוּדִֽים׃" which translates to "the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field." The Septuagint agrees with the Masoretic Text in terms of the key concepts and words, as all five words correspond directly, though the order and articles differ due to the nature of Greek syntax. There are no significant differences in meaning or content between these witnesses for this verse.
כְּבָשִׂ֥ים לִלְבוּשֶׁ֑ךָ וּמְחִ֥יר שָׂ֝דֶ֗ה עַתּוּדִֽים׃
5 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Proverbs 27:26
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
כֶּ֫בֶשׂ (*kebes*) means 'lamb' and can also refer to a young ram or sheep. The word is derived from an unused root suggesting a meaning related to dominance. It appears in various contexts in the Old Testament, primarily denoting young sheep.
כֶּ֫בֶשׂ 107 n.m. lamb
base
H3532 כֶּ֫בֶשׂ lamb
3532 kebes keh-bes'
from an unused root meaning to dominate; a ram (just old
enough to butt):--lamb, sheep.
כֶּ֫בֶשׂ (ke.ve.s) — lamb.
lamb, sheep, young ram
N-mp — Noun common · masculine plural absoluteHNcmpa
are the young of sheep, but originally included also the young of goats. They formed an important part of almost every sacrifice. (Exodus 29:38-41; Numbers 28:9,11; 29:2,13-40) etc. [On the paschal lamb see PASSOVER]
לְבוּשׁ (lebush) refers to clothing or garments in a literal or figurative sense, and can also imply a euphemism for a wife. It encompasses terms like apparel and raiment. The word is derived from a root meaning related to clothing, and its Aramaic equivalent is noted as well.
לְבוּשׁ, לְבֻשׁ n.m. garment, clothing, raiment
base
H3830 לְבוּשׁ, לְבֻשׁ garment, clothing, raiment
3830 lbuwsh leb-oosh'
or lbush {leb-oosh'}; from 3847; a garment (literally or
figuratively); by implication (euphem.) a wife:--apparel,
clothed with, clothing, garment, raiment, vestment, vesture.
see HEBREW for 03847
לְבוּשׁ (le.vush) — clothing.
clothing, garment, apparel, raiment
Aramaic equivalent: le.vush (לְבוּשׁ "garment" H3831)
Prep | N-ms | Suff — Preposition · noun common masculine singular construct · suffixHR/Ncmsc/Sp2ms
מְחִיר (mechir) refers to the concepts of price and hire, indicating payment or wages for goods or services. It is derived from a root meaning to buy, emphasizing its connection to transactions and worth. The entries consistently highlight its use in contexts related to financial exchange.
מְחִיר n.m. price, hire (as that which is placed in front of one, presented, offered)
base
H4242 מְחִיר price, hire
4242 mchiyr mekk-eer'
from an unused root meaning to buy; price, payment,
wages:--gain, hire, price, sold, worth.
מְחִיר (me.chir) — price.
1) price, hire
1a) price
1b) hire, reward, gain
Conj | N-ms — Conjunction · noun common masculine singular constructHC/Ncmsc
ov:
(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.
OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]
1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.
I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.
For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.
Lamentations 3:1.
The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.
Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.
That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.
Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…
שָׂדַי (saday) and שָׂדֶה (sadeh) both refer to a field or land, encompassing cultivated areas, open fields, and regions opposed to mountains or seas. The terms can denote specific portions of ground and are associated with wildlife habitats. They derive from a root meaning to spread out, indicating flat, expansive areas.
שָׂדַי n.m. field, land
cultivated field
home of wild beasts
plain, opp. mt.
land, opp. sea
base
שָׂדֶה 819 n.m. id. [u.ak.ab]
(ordinary contr. form)open field, country
definite portion of ground, field, land
land, opp. sea
base
H7704a שָׂדַי field, land . cultivated field
. home of wild beasts
. plain, opp. mt.
. land, opp. sea
H7704b שָׂדֶה id. [7704a] . open field, country
. definite portion of ground, field, land
. land, opp. sea
7704 sadeh saw-deh'
or saday {saw-dah'-ee}; from an unused root meaning to spread
out; a field (as flat):--country, field, ground, land, soil,
X wild.
שָׂדַי (sa.day) — Sirion.
This name means field, land, plain
Another spelling of cher.mon (חֶרְמוֹן "(Mount )Hermon" H2768)
שָׂדֶה (sa.deh) — land: soil.
: soil
1) field, land
1a) open field, country
1b) definite portion of ground, field, land
1c) land (opposed to sea)
שָׂדֶה (sa.deh) — land: country.
: country/field
1) field, land
1a) open field, country
1b) definite portion of ground, field, land
1c) land (opposed to sea)
שָׂדֶה (sa.deh) — Field (of the Launderer).
Combined with ka.vas (כָּבַס "Washer's" H3526)
This name means field, land
שָׂדֶה (sa.deh) — land: wildlife.
: wild(animals/plants)
1) field, land
1a) open field, country
1b) definite portion of ground, field, land
1c) land (opposed to sea)
שָׂדַי (sa.day) — field.
1) field, land
1a) cultivated field
1b) of home of wild beasts
1c) plain (opposed to mountain)
1d) land (opposed to sea)
N-ms — Noun common · masculine singular absoluteHNcmsa
feld.
See AGRICULTURE.
Field
(Heb. sadeh), a cultivated field, but unenclosed. It is applied to any cultivated ground or pasture (Gen. 29:2; 31:4; 34:7), or tillage (Gen. 37:7; 47:24). It is also applied to woodland (Ps. 132:6) or mountain top (Judg. 9:32, 36; 2 Sam. 1:21). It denotes sometimes a cultivated region as opposed to the wilderness (Gen. 33:19; 36:35). Unwalled villages or scattered houses are spoken of as “in the fields” (Deut. 28:3, 16; Lev. 25:31;
The Hebrew sadeh is applied to any cultivated ground, and in some instances in marked opposition to the neighboring wilderness. On the other hand the sadeh is frequently contrasted with what is enclosed, whether a vineyard, a garden or a walled town. In many passages the term implies what is remote from a house, (Genesis 4:8; 24:63; 22:25) or settled habitation, as in the case of Esau. (Genesis 25:27) The separate plots of ground were marked off by stones, which might easily be removed, (19:14; 27:17) cf. Job 24:2; Prov 22:28; 23:10 The absence of fences rendered the fields liable to damage from straying cattle, (Exodus…
עַתּוּד (attuwd) refers to a he-goat or ram, specifically indicating a full-grown animal. It can also figuratively denote leaders among people, described as 'chief ones.' The word is derived from a root meaning 'prepared' and is used only in the plural form.
H6260 עַתּוּד he-goat
6260 `attuwd at-tood'
or sattud {at-tood'}; from 6257; prepared, i.e. full grown;
spoken only (in plural) of he-goats, or (figuratively) leaders
of the people:--chief one, (he) goat, ram.
see HEBREW for 06257
עַתּוּד (at.tud) — goat.
ram, he-goat, chief one
N-mp — Noun common · masculine plural absoluteHNcmpa