Proverbs 11:14
in Proverbs 11For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but with many counselors comes deliverance.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Where no wise guidance is, the people falleth; But in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
KJV
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
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This verse in Proverbs 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
Cassian said, 'Moses the Hermit told us, "It is good not to hide our thoughts; we ought to disclose them to discreet and devout elders; but not to those who are old merely in years, for many have found final despair instead of comfort by …
This site's exposition
He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour
on Proverbs 11:12-14
He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour while the man of understanding holds his peace, and the contrast sets up the next verse's specific case: the talebearer reveals secrets that a faithful spirit conceals. Where no counsel is the people fall, but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety, a proverb the bench applies to nations and households alike, since both stand or fall on whether wise voices are heard before decisions are made.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Desert FathersThe Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks · Written before 500.
proposed
A brother asked Poemen, 'I am suffering damage to my soul by being with my abba. What do you advise me to do? Should I continue to stay with him?' Poemen knew that his soul was being harmed by his abba, and he was surprised …
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Where there is no guidance, the nation falls," etc. Lest you should think that, if you cannot correct the faults of a friend, you should keep them hidden, he rightly says that a people without a governor will fall; but there will be safety where …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Where no counsel is, the people fall,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Counsel - See Pro 1:5 note. This precept may well be thought of as coming with special force at the time of the organization of the monarchy of Israel. Compare 1Ki 12:6.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Without strategy When trouble befalls Israel, and they do not put their heart to understand, to fast and to repent, the people will fall.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
will be broken by it The wicked man who gave his heart as surety to idolatry.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּאֵ֣ין | beein | when there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| תַּ֭חְבֻּלוֹת | tachbulot | [are] wise directions | H8458 → | 6 times |
| יִפָּל־ | yipol- | it falls | H5307 → | 435 times |
| עָ֑ם | ʾam | a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וּ֝תְשׁוּעָ֗ה | uteshuah | and victory | H8668 → | 34 times |
| בְּרֹ֣ב | bero | [is] in a multitude of | H7230 → | 149 times |
| יוֹעֵֽץ׃ | yoetz | counselor[s] | H3289 → | 79 times |
בְּאֵ֣יןwhen there not
beeinH369 →789 times
תַּ֭חְבֻּלוֹת[are] wise directions
tachbulotH8458 →6 times
יִפָּל־it falls
yipol-H5307 →435 times
עָ֑םa people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
וּ֝תְשׁוּעָ֗הand victory
uteshuahH8668 →34 times
בְּרֹ֣ב[is] in a multitude of
beroH7230 →149 times
יוֹעֵֽץ׃counselor[s]
yoetzH3289 →79 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
Proverbs 15:22Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
it leads to
- Proverbs 20:18
Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 20:18
Through
Proverbs 20:18Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:22
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 14:31
Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 24:6
Only with sound guidance should you wage war, and victory lies in a multitude of counselors.
- Judges 1:1–2
After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?”
- Proverbs 15:22
Through
Proverbs 24:6Only with sound guidance should you wage war, and victory lies in a multitude of counselors.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:10–20
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
- Ephesians 6:10–20
Through
Proverbs 16:22Understanding is a fountain of life to its possessor, but the discipline of fools is folly.
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:14
The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one from the snares of death.
- Matthew 15:14
Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Proverbs 13:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.