One who rebukes a person will afterward find more favor Than one who flatters with the tongue.
Parallel translations
- WEB One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.
- KJV He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.
- BSB He who rebukes a man will later find more favor than one who flatters with his tongue.
- NKJV He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward Than he who flatters with the tongue.
- NLT In the end, people appreciate honest criticism far more than flattery.
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
Honest rebuke ultimately wins more gratitude than flattery. It teaches that loving correction serves people better than empty praise.
Overview
The proverb assures that the one who rebukes truthfully will eventually find more favor than the flatterer whose smooth words deceive. Genuine love speaks needed truth even when it is initially unwelcome. This reflects how Christ and faithful shepherds correct those they love for their good, and such truth-telling builds lasting trust (Ephesians 4:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 27:5–6Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
- Matt 18:15“If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother.
- Ps 141:5Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
- Prov 29:5A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
- Gal 2:11But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned.
- 1 Kgs 1:32–40King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king.
- 2 Pet 3:15–16Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you;
- 1 Kgs 1:23They told the king, saying, “Behold, Nathan the prophet!” When he had come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
- 2 Sam 12:7Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
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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 28:23 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
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