A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.
Parallel translations
- WEB A servant can’t be corrected by words. Though he understands, yet he will not respond.
- BSB A servant cannot be corrected by words alone; though he understands, he will not respond.
- NKJV A servant will not be corrected by mere words; For though he understands, he will not respond.
- NASB A slave will not be instructed by words alone; For though he understands, there will be no response.
- NLT Words alone will not discipline a servant; the words may be understood, but they are not heeded.
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
Some hardened people will not change by words alone, understanding correction yet refusing to obey.
Overview
In Israel's household economy a stubborn servant might grasp instruction perfectly and still defy it, exposing a problem of the will, not the intellect. The proverb soberly acknowledges that mere words cannot soften a rebellious heart. It anticipates the gospel truth that the deepest disobedience requires more than instruction; it requires the transforming grace of God that gives a new heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Prov 26:3A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back.
- Job 19:16I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.
- Prov 30:22For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
Resources, by level
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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 29:19 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.