It isn’t good to have zeal without knowledge; nor being hasty with one’s feet and missing the way.
Parallel translations
- KJV Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.
- BSB Even zeal is no good without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps misses the mark.
- NKJV Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet.
- NASB Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And one who hurries his footsteps errs.
- NLT Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.
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
Zeal without knowledge and reckless haste lead one astray. Eagerness must be guided by wisdom.
Overview
This proverb warns that desire or zeal lacking knowledge is not good, and that hasty feet miss the way. Enthusiasm uninformed by wisdom causes error and stumbling. The verse commends thoughtful, well-directed action over impulsive zeal, a balance the New Testament also urges, lest zeal be 'not according to knowledge' (Rom. 10:2) and so go astray from God's truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Prov 21:5The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty.
- Phil 1:9This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment;
- Prov 29:20Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Eccl 7:9Don’t be hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
- Isa 28:16Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of a sure foundation. He who believes shall not act hastily.
- Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
- John 16:3They will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.
- Rom 10:2For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
- Prov 14:29He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
- Prov 28:22A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn’t know that poverty waits for him.
- Prov 1:16for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.
- Eccl 12:9Further, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Yes, he pondered, sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
- Prov 28:20A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.
- Prov 25:8Don’t be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?
- Prov 10:21The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.
- Isa 27:11When its boughs are withered, they will be broken off. The women will come and set them on fire, for they are a people of no understanding. Therefore he who made them will not have compassion on them, and he who formed them will show them no favor.
- Job 31:5“If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit
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 19:2 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.