Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.
- KJV He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
- BSB He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him.
- NKJV He who answers a matter before he hears it, It is folly and shame to him.
- NASB One who gives an answer before he hears, It is foolishness and shame to him.
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
Answering before truly listening is foolish and shameful. Hasty replies that skip understanding bring disgrace.
Overview
This proverb rebukes the one who responds before he has heard, calling it folly and shame. It commends patient, attentive listening as the foundation of wise speech and fair judgment. James echoes the principle in urging believers to be quick to hear and slow to speak (James 1:19), a humble teachability that honors others and reflects the wisdom of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 7:51“Does our law judge a man, unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”
- Deut 13:14then you shall inquire, and make search, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done among you,
- Prov 20:25It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.
- Job 29:16I was a father to the needy. The cause of him who I didn’t know, I searched out.
- Esth 8:5–17She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right to the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.
- Dan 6:9Therefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
- 2 Sam 16:4Then the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” Ziba said, “I bow down. Let me find favor in your sight, my lord, O king.”
- 2 Sam 19:24–30Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king; and he had neither groomed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came home in peace.
- Esth 3:10–15The king took his ring from his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.
- Dan 6:14Then the king, when he heard these words, was very displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the going down of the sun to rescue him.
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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 18:13 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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