A mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
Parallel translations
- WEB A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn’t find it, but knowledge comes easily to a discerning person.
- KJV A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.
- ESV A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
- NKJV A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it, But knowledge is easy to him who understands.
- NASB A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none, But knowledge is easy for one who has understanding.
- NLT A mocker seeks wisdom and never finds it, but knowledge comes easily to those with understanding.
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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 scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but the discerning find knowledge easily. A humble, teachable heart is the prerequisite for wisdom.
Overview
The mocker looks for wisdom yet cannot find it because his scornful spirit bars the way, while the discerning person, approaching humbly, gains knowledge readily. The difference lies not in access but in attitude. This reflects the principle that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) and that God gives wisdom to the humble.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Jas 1:5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- Matt 13:11–12He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
- Matt 11:25–27At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Prov 8:9They are all plain to the discerning, and upright to those who find knowledge.
- 1 Cor 3:18–19Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- 1 Cor 8:2The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
- Jer 8:9The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?
- Prov 18:2A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in airing his opinions.
- Ps 119:18Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
- Prov 26:12Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Ps 119:98–100Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.
- Prov 17:24Wisdom is the focus of the discerning, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
- Matt 6:22–23The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
- Rom 1:21–28For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- 2 Pet 3:3–5Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
- Rom 9:31–32but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
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 14:6 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
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