My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine:
Parallel translations
- KJV My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
- BSB My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.
- NKJV My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;
- NASB ¶My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad,
- NLT My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice!
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
A parent's deepest joy is to see wisdom take root in a child's heart.
Overview
The teacher's gladness springs not from a child's success but from a wise heart. This reveals that the goal of instruction is inward transformation, not mere outward performance. It mirrors the joy of God over those who walk in truth, and of Christ's servants over the spiritual maturing of their children in the faith (3 John 4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Prov 23:24–25The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
- 2 Jn 1:4I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father.
- 3 Jn 1:3–4For I rejoiced greatly, when brothers came and testified about your truth, even as you walk in truth.
- Zeph 3:17Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
- Prov 29:3Whoever loves wisdom brings joy to his father; but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
- Prov 2:1My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;
- John 15:11I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
- 1 Th 3:8–9For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.
- Prov 4:1Listen, sons, to a father’s instruction. Pay attention and know understanding;
- 1 Jn 2:1My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
- Jer 32:41Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”
- Prov 1:10My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent.
- Prov 10:1The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
- Prov 15:20A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.
- John 21:5Jesus therefore said to them, “Children, have you anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.”
- Matt 9:2Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.”
- Luke 15:23–24Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate;
- 1 Th 2:19–20For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
- Luke 15:32But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 23:15 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.