Proverbs 19:27
in Proverbs 19If you cease to hear instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Cease, my son, to hear instruction Only to err from the words of knowledge.
KJV
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.
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This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
literally, Cease, my son, to hear instruction, that thou mayest err from the words of knowledge; advice given ironically to do that to which his weakness leads him, with a clear knowledge of the evil to which he is drifting.
This site's exposition
He that wasteth his father
on Proverbs 19:26-29
Wasting a father and chasing away a mother earns the son the names shame and reproach, the household's worst outcome named without softening. Cease, my son, to hear instruction that causes error is read by the bench as ironic warning, telling the son to stop listening to bad counsel rather than good. An ungodly witness scorns judgment and the wicked mouth devours iniquity, and the chapter closes where the book often does, judgments prepared for scorners and stripes for the back of fools, consequence stated as fact rather than threat.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction,.... The counsel of bad men, or the doctrine of false teachers.
They are greedy, and glad of that which gives them an opportunity to sin: The mouth of the wicked eagerly devours iniquity, drinks it in like water, Job xv. 29 Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Cease, my son - Hear nothing that would lead thee away from God and his truth.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חַֽדַל־ | chadal- | cease | H2308 → | 58 times |
| בְּ֭נִי | beni | O son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לִשְׁמֹ֣עַ | lishmoa' | to listen to | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| מוּסָ֑ר | musar | correction | H4148 → | 50 times |
| לִ֝שְׁג֗וֹת | lishgot | to stray | H7686 → | 21 times |
| מֵֽאִמְרֵי־ | meimrei- | from words of | H561 → | 49 times |
| דָֽעַת׃ | daat | knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
חַֽדַל־cease
chadal-H2308 →58 times
בְּ֭נִיO son my
beniH1121 →4930 times
לִשְׁמֹ֣עַto listen to
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
מוּסָ֑רcorrection
musarH4148 →50 times
לִ֝שְׁג֗וֹתto stray
lishgotH7686 →21 times
מֵֽאִמְרֵי־from words of
meimrei-H561 →49 times
דָֽעַת׃knowledge
daatH1847 →92 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
1 John 4:1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.
- 2 Peter 2:1
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…
- 1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Through
Matthew 7:15Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
it leads to
- 1 John 4:1
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
- Matthew 24:11
and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.
- 2 Peter 2:1–3
Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…
- 1 John 4:1
Through
Mark 4:24He went on to say, “Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and even more will be added to you.
it leads to
- Hebrews 2:1
We must pay closer attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
- Luke 8:18
Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”
- Hebrews 2:1
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
