Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
Parallel translations
- WEB Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.
- BSB Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise—apply your mind to 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 apply our hearts unto wisdom.
- Prov 23:12Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
- Prov 3:1My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
- Eccl 7:25I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
- Prov 2:2–5So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
- Prov 1:3To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
- Matt 17:5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
- Prov 8:33–34Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
- Eccl 8:9All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.
- Isa 55:3Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
- Prov 5:1–2My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
- Eccl 8:16When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
- Prov 4:4–8He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.