Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise—apply your mind to my knowledge—
Parallel translations
- WEB Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.
- KJV Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
- NKJV Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge;
- NASB ¶Extend your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;
- NLT Listen to the words of the wise; apply your heart to my instruction.
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
The teacher calls the student to lean in attentively and take wisdom to heart, not merely hear it.
Overview
This verse opens the section often called "the Words of the Wise" (22:17-24:22), a distinct collection within Proverbs. Wisdom requires active reception: turning the ear and applying the heart, not passive listening. Jesus likewise pressed His hearers to "have ears to hear" and to receive His word into good soil (Matt. 13:9, 23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 90:12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
- Prov 23:12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
- Prov 3:1My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- Eccl 7:25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
- Prov 2:2–5if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
- Prov 1:3and for receiving instruction in wise living and in righteousness, justice, and equity.
- Matt 17:5While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
- Prov 8:33–34Listen to instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.
- Eccl 8:9All this I have seen, applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun; there is a time when one man lords it over another to his own detriment.
- Isa 55:3Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant—My loving devotion promised to David.
- Prov 5:1–2My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
- Eccl 8:16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
- Prov 4:4–8he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
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 22:17 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.