But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death.”
- KJV But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
- NKJV But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; All those who hate me love death.”
- NASB “But one who sins against me injures himself; All those who hate me love death.”
- NLT But those who miss me injure themselves. All who hate me love death.”
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
Whoever sins against wisdom harms himself, and all who hate her love death. Rejecting wisdom is self-destruction.
Overview
The chapter closes with a sober warning: to reject wisdom is to wrong one's own soul, and to hate wisdom is, in effect, to love death. The two ways—life through wisdom and death through its rejection—frame the choice set before every hearer. This anticipates the gospel summons to choose life in Christ rather than perish (John 3:36).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 15:32He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
- Prov 1:31So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- 1 Cor 16:22If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be under a curse. Come, O Lord!
- John 15:23–24Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
- Prov 20:2The terror of a king is like the roar of a lion; whoever provokes him forfeits his own life.
- Prov 12:1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
- Heb 10:29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?
- Ezek 18:31Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- John 3:19–20And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- Prov 5:11–12At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,
- Prov 5:22–23The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Heb 2:3how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
- Acts 13:46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.
- Ezek 33:11Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
- Prov 21:6Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit.
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 8:36 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.