It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is a fool’s pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding’s pleasure.
- BSB The fool delights in shameful conduct, but a man of understanding has wisdom.
- NKJV To do evil is like sport to a fool, But a man of understanding has wisdom.
- NASB Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, And so is wisdom to a person of understanding.
- NLT Doing wrong is fun for a fool, but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.
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
The fool delights in doing wickedness, but the discerning find pleasure in wisdom. Our delights reveal our character.
Overview
What a person enjoys exposes the heart: the fool takes pleasure in evil, while the wise delight in understanding. This contrast shows that sin and wisdom are not merely matters of action but of desire. The renewed heart, transformed by God's grace, learns to delight in what is good, as the psalmist delights in God's law (Psalm 1:2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 15:21Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.
- Prov 2:14Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
- Prov 14:9Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.
- Prov 26:18–19As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death,
- Eccl 11:9Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 10:23 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.