Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
- BSB Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
- NKJV Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
- NASB Do not rebuke a scoffer, or he will hate you; Rebuke a wise person and he will love you.
- NLT So don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you.
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
Don't rebuke a scoffer, who will hate you, but reprove a wise man, who will love you. The wise welcome correction; the scornful resent it.
Overview
The verse contrasts two responses to reproof, teaching practical discernment about when correction will bear fruit. The wise person values truth more than comfort and so loves the one who corrects him. This humble teachability is a mark of those being shaped by God's wisdom, and ultimately by the Spirit who convicts and conforms us to Christ (Psalm 141:5).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Prov 13:18Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.
- Ps 141:5Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
- Prov 23:9Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
- Prov 15:12A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.
- Matt 7:6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
- Prov 29:1He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
- Prov 28:23He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.
- Lev 19:17Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
- Matt 15:14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
- Heb 6:4–8For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
- 2 Pet 3:15–16And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
- 2 Sam 12:7–14And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;
- Num 14:6–10And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
- 1 Kgs 1:23And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
- 1 Kgs 1:32And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king.
- 1 Kgs 22:8And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
- Gal 2:11–14But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
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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 9:8 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.