Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
- KJV Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
- NKJV Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.
- NASB One who loves discipline loves knowledge, But one who hates rebuke is stupid.
- NLT To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction.
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
To love discipline is to love knowledge, but to hate correction is stupid. Teachability is essential to growing in wisdom.
Overview
This proverb bluntly contrasts the wise person who welcomes correction with the one who despises reproof and is therefore 'stupid,' or brutish. A willingness to be corrected is the gateway to knowledge. Such humble teachableness marks the disciple of Christ, who submits to God's loving discipline as a son or daughter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 15:10Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.
- Prov 9:7–8He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.
- Ps 119:97–100Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.
- Prov 5:12–13and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
- Prov 18:1He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.
- Ps 32:9Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.
- Prov 8:17I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
- Ps 92:6A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,
- 2 Th 2:10and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- Prov 2:10–11For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.
- Isa 1:3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
- Prov 8:32Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.
- Ps 119:27Make clear to me the way of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 12:1 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.