Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever keeps the law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.
- BSB A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.
- NKJV Whoever keeps the law is a discerning son, But a companion of gluttons shames his father.
- NASB He who keeps the Law is a discerning son, But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.
- NLT Young people who obey the law are wise; those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.
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 son who keeps the law is wise, but one who runs with gluttons disgraces his father. It connects obedience to honor and bad company to shame.
Overview
Keeping God's law marks a discerning son, while companionship with self-indulgent gluttons brings shame upon the family. The verse warns that our associations and obedience reflect on those who raised us. It points toward the honor brought to the Father by the obedient Son, Christ, who perfectly kept the law on our behalf (John 8:29).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 29:3Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
- Prov 29:15The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
- 1 Pet 4:3–4For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
- Prov 3:1–35My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
- Prov 23:19–22Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
- Prov 28:24Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.
- Prov 19:26He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.
- Luke 15:13And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
- Prov 2:1–6My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
- Luke 15:30But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
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 28:7 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.