A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.
Parallel translations
- WEB A rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred lashes into a fool.
- KJV A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.
- BSB A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.
- NKJV Rebuke is more effective for a wise man Than a hundred blows on a fool.
- NASB A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool.
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
A single rebuke teaches a discerning person more than a hundred blows teach a fool. It matters because teachability, not punishment, is what truly produces growth.
Overview
This proverb shows that a person of understanding learns more from one word of correction than a fool does from severe discipline. The difference lies in the heart's willingness to receive reproof. It commends a humble, teachable spirit as essential to wisdom (cf. Proverbs 15:31-32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Rev 3:19As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Prov 9:8–9Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
- Prov 15:5A fool despises his father’s correction, but he who heeds reproof shows prudence.
- Prov 13:1A wise son listens to his father’s instruction, but a scoffer doesn’t listen to rebuke.
- Prov 29:19A servant can’t be corrected by words. Though he understands, yet he will not respond.
- Prov 19:25Flog a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; rebuke one who has understanding, and he will gain knowledge.
- Ps 141:5Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
- Prov 27:22Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 17:10 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.