A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
Parallel translations
- WEB A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who causes shame, and shall have a part in the inheritance among the brothers.
- BSB A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share his inheritance as one of the brothers.
- NKJV A wise servant will rule over a son who causes shame, And will share an inheritance among the brothers.
- NASB A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully, And will share in the inheritance among brothers.
- NLT A wise servant will rule over the master’s disgraceful son and will share the inheritance of the master’s children.
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 wise servant may rise above a disgraceful son and even share the inheritance. It matters because wisdom and character, not mere birth, ultimately determine honor.
Overview
This proverb teaches that a prudent servant can come to rule over a shameful son and inherit alongside heirs. Worth is measured by wisdom and conduct rather than status alone. It anticipates the gospel reversal in which faithfulness, not lineage, brings inheritance, and outsiders become heirs in Christ (Galatians 4:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 10:5He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.
- Eccl 4:13Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished.
- Prov 14:35The king’s favour is toward a wise servant: but his wrath is against him that causeth shame.
- Prov 19:26He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.
- Prov 29:15The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
- Prov 11:29He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.
- Gen 24:4–67But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
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 17:2 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.