Why should the fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?
Parallel translations
- WEB Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, since he has no understanding?
- KJV Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
- ESV Why should a fool have money in his hand to buy wisdom when he has no sense?
- NKJV Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom, Since he has no heart for it?
- NASB Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, When he has no sense?
- NLT It is senseless to pay to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
It is futile for a fool to have money to buy wisdom when he has no heart to receive it. It matters because wisdom cannot be purchased without a teachable, willing heart.
Overview
This proverb poses a pointed question: what use is money in a fool's hand to acquire wisdom when he lacks the desire and capacity to gain understanding? Wisdom requires a receptive heart, not merely resources. It underscores that true understanding is a matter of disposition and the fear of the Lord, not mere acquisition.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 21:25–26The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.
- Prov 23:23Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
- Acts 28:26–27‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Prov 8:4–5“To you, O men, I call out, and my cry is to the sons of men.
- Deut 5:29If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
- Prov 18:15The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out.
- 2 Cor 6:1As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- Prov 1:22–23“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
- Ps 81:11–13But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- John 3:20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
- Hos 4:11Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Acts 13:46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
- Prov 9:4–6“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.
- Prov 14:6A mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
- Isa 55:1–3“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
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 17:16 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.