Proverbs 10:23
in Proverbs 10The fool delights in shameful conduct, but a man of understanding has wisdom.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness; And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.
KJV
It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
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This verse in Proverbs 10
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAs if through laughter a fool works mischief, etc. Prudence takes its name from providence. Therefore, it is foolish to rejoice in mischief (Proverb. XIV). However, it is wise and worthy of a man to foresee that laughter will be mixed with pain, and the …
This site's exposition
The tongue of the just is as choice silver
on Proverbs 10:20-25
The cluster closes on the tongue's worth and the fool's danger: choice silver against a worthless heart, many fed by righteous lips while fools die for want of the wisdom no one gave them. The blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it answers the wealth-cluster of the chapter's opening from the other direction, gain that costs nothing further because it did not come from a slack or a grasping hand. The chapter turns from speech to outcome in its last two verses here, the wicked passing like a whirlwind while the righteous stands as an everlasting foundation, the fear that finally overtakes one and the desire that is finally granted to the other.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is as sport to a fool to do mischief,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
It is a sport to a fool to do mischief - What a millstone weight of iniquity hangs about the necks of most of the jesters. facetious and witty people! “How many lies do they tell in jest, to go to the devil in earnest!”
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
As the fool finds his sport in doing mischief, so the man of understanding finds in wisdom his truest refreshment and delight.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּשְׂח֣וֹק | kischok | [is] like sport | H7814 → | |
| לִ֭כְסִיל | likhsil | for a fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
| עֲשׂ֣וֹת | asot | to do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| זִמָּ֑ה | zimah | wickedness | H2154 → | 29 times |
| וְ֝חָכְמָ֗ה | vechakhemah | and wisdom | H2451 → | 153 times |
| לְאִ֣ישׁ | leish | for a person of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| תְּבוּנָֽה׃ | tevunah | understanding | H8394 → | 42 times |
כִּשְׂח֣וֹק[is] like sport
kischokH7814 →
לִ֭כְסִילfor a fool
likhsilH3684 →70 times
עֲשׂ֣וֹתto do
asotH6213 →2628 times
זִמָּ֑הwickedness
zimahH2154 →29 times
וְ֝חָכְמָ֗הand wisdom
vechakhemahH2451 →153 times
לְאִ֣ישׁfor a person of
leishH376 →1663 times
תְּבוּנָֽה׃understanding
tevunahH8394 →42 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes,…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- Lamentations 3:27
It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
Through
Proverbs 15:21Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:15
Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
- Proverbs 14:16
A wise man fears and turns from evil, but a fool is careless and reckless.
- Ephesians 5:15
Through
Proverbs 2:14from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,
it leads to
- Romans 1:32
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
- Romans 1:32
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
