Proverbs 23:12
in Proverbs 23Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Apply thy heart unto instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
KJV
Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Apply thine heart unto instruction
on Proverbs 23:12-14
Apply thine heart unto instruction reopens the father's direct appeal after the ruler-and-landmark sayings, and the rod verses that follow are among the book's plainest on discipline: withhold not correction, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt deliver his soul from hell states the stakes in the starkest terms the collection uses, correction aimed at the child's whole future rather than at the moment's offense. The commentators read the passage inside its ancient household setting and never as counsel detached from the father's evident love in the surrounding verses.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Apply thine heart unto instruction,....
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָבִ֣יאָה | haviah | bring ! | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לַמּוּסָ֣ר | lamusar | to <the> discipline | H4148 → | 50 times |
| לִבֶּ֑ךָ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| וְ֝אָזְנֶ֗ךָ | veazenekha | and ears your | H241 → | 187 times |
| לְאִמְרֵי־ | leimrei- | to words of | H561 → | 49 times |
| דָֽעַת׃ | daat | knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
הָבִ֣יאָהbring !
haviahH935 →2568 times
לַמּוּסָ֣רto <the> discipline
lamusarH4148 →50 times
לִבֶּ֑ךָheart your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
וְ֝אָזְנֶ֗ךָand ears your
veazenekhaH241 →187 times
לְאִמְרֵי־to words of
leimrei-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
Ezekiel 33:31So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest…
it leads to
- Matthew 13:22
The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
- Psalms 78:36–37
But they deceived Him with their mouths, and lied to Him with their tongues.
- James 1:22–24
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- Luke 11:28
But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
- Matthew 13:22
Through
Proverbs 23:19Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.
it leads to
- Proverbs 23:26
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
- Proverbs 4:10–23
Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
- Proverbs 9:6
Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
- Proverbs 23:26
About Proverbs
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.