A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
Parallel translations
- WEB that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:
- KJV A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
- BSB let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel
- NASB A wise person will hear and increase in learning, And a person of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
- NLT Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Even the wise grow wiser by listening. It matters because no one outgrows the need to keep learning godly counsel.
Overview
Wisdom is not a fixed possession but a lifelong pursuit; the wise increase in learning and the discerning gain guidance. This humility before instruction marks genuine wisdom over against the fool's self-sufficiency. Such teachability ultimately bows before Christ, in whom wisdom is complete.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 12:1Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
- Prov 9:9Instruct a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
- 1 Cor 10:15I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say.
- Job 34:16“If now you have understanding, hear this. Listen to the voice of my words.
- Job 34:10“Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God, that he should do wickedness, from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.
- Ps 119:98–100Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for your commandments are always with me.
- Job 34:34Men of understanding will tell me, yes, every wise man who hears me:
- 2 Chr 25:16As he talked with him, the king said to him, “Have we made you one of the king’s counselors? Stop! Why should you be struck down?” Then the prophet stopped, and said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this, and have not listened to my counsel.”
- 1 Sam 25:32–33David said to Abigail, “Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you today to meet me!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 1:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.