Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.
Parallel translations
- WEB Pride only breeds quarrels, but with ones who take advice is wisdom.
- KJV Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
- NKJV By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.
- NASB Through overconfidence comes nothing but strife, But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.
- NLT Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.
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
Pride produces strife, but those who take advice gain wisdom. Teachability is the path to peace and understanding.
Overview
Pride insists on its own way and so breeds quarrels, whereas humility welcomes counsel and grows wise. The proverb commends the willingness to be corrected as a mark of true wisdom. This echoes the gospel pattern, where humbling oneself to receive instruction stands opposite the self-exalting pride that resists God (James 4:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Prov 19:20Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.
- Prov 12:15–16The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel.
- Prov 17:14To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- 1 Tim 6:4he is conceited and understands nothing. Instead, he has an unhealthy interest in controversies and semantics, out of which come envy, strife, abusive talk, evil suspicions,
- 3 Jn 1:9–10I have written to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not accept our instruction.
- Luke 22:24A dispute also arose among the disciples as to which of them would be considered the greatest.
- Jas 3:14–16But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.
- Jas 4:1What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- Prov 21:24Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man—of him who acts with excessive pride.
- Luke 14:28–32Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it?
- 1 Kgs 12:16When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
- Judg 8:1–3Then the men of Ephraim said to Gideon, “Why have you done this to us? Why did you fail to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they contended with him violently.
- Prov 20:18Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.
- Acts 6:1–5In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
- 1 Kgs 12:10–11The young men who had grown up with him replied, “This is how you should answer these people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter.’ This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!
- 2 Kgs 14:10You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”
- Prov 25:8do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?
- Judg 12:1–6Then the men of Ephraim assembled and crossed the Jordan to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why have you crossed over to fight the Ammonites without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down with you inside!”
- Jas 4:5–6Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
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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 13:10 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.