☀️
← Back to Lexicon
H525 · Hebrew · Old Testament
אָמוֹן
Amon
Noun, masculine
Master craftsman; nursling, ward

Definition

The Hebrew amon (אָמוֹן) is a rare but richly significant word appearing primarily in Proverbs 8:30. Its meaning is debated: it can mean "craftsman" or "master workman" (from a root related to uman, skilled work), or alternatively "nursling" or "ward" (one tenderly cared for). The ambiguity is itself meaningful — Wisdom is portrayed either as the skilled architect of creation alongside God, or as the beloved child delighting in God's presence.

Usage & Theological Significance

Proverbs 8:30 is one of the most theologically dense verses in the wisdom literature. Wisdom says she was beside God as an amon — a term that became central to early Christian reflection on the divine Logos. If amon means "master craftsman," Wisdom was God's creative partner; if it means "nursling," Wisdom was God's beloved delight. Early church fathers saw this as a foreshadowing of the Son's eternal relationship with the Father — the Word through whom all things were made (John 1:3). Either reading establishes Wisdom's eternal intimacy with God and her role in the joy of creation.

Key Bible Verses

Proverbs 8:30 then I was beside him, like a master workman [amon], and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.
Proverbs 8:31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.
Jeremiah 52:15 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried into exile some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans [amon].
Song of Solomon 7:1 How beautiful are your feet in sandals, O noble daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of a master hand [amon].
Nahum 3:8 Are you better than Thebes that sat by the Nile, with water around her, her rampart a sea, and water her wall?

Related Words

External Resources

🌙
☀️