Punishment is made for mockers, and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.
Parallel translations
- WEB Penalties are prepared for scoffers, and beatings for the backs of fools.
- KJV Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.
- BSB Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.
- NKJV Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And beatings for the backs of fools.
- NASB Judgments are prepared for scoffers, And beatings for the backs of fools.
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
Judgment is ready for scoffers and fools. Those who mock wisdom will face certain consequences.
Overview
This proverb declares that penalties are prepared for scoffers and beatings for the backs of fools, affirming that persistent mockery and folly meet sure correction. It closes the chapter's reflections on the fool with a sober warning of accountability. The certainty of judgment on stubborn rebellion magnifies the mercy of the gospel, which offers escape through Christ to all who turn from folly to wisdom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 26:3A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools!
- Prov 10:13Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.
- Prov 9:12If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.
- 2 Pet 3:3–7knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts,
- Acts 13:40–41Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets:
- Prov 18:6A fool’s lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.
- Prov 3:34Surely he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble.
- Isa 29:20For the ruthless is brought to nothing, and the scoffer ceases, and all those who are alert to do evil are cut off —
- Isa 28:22Now therefore don’t be scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, on the whole earth.
- Prov 17:10A rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred lashes into a fool.
- Heb 12:6For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”
- Prov 7:22He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose.
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 19:29 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.