Proverbs 1:23
in Proverbs 1If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you.
KJV
Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
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This verse in Proverbs 1
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Athanasius of Alexandria296–373
Discourses Against the Arians 2.39 · Written before 373.
For where at all have they found in divine Scripture, or from whom have they heard, that there is another Word and another wisdom besides this Son, that they should frame to themselves such a doctrine? True, indeed, it is written, "Are not my words like fire, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?" and in the Proverbs, "I will make known my words unto you."
This site's exposition
How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways
on Proverbs 1:22-27
Wisdom names three kinds of refusal, “simple ones,” “scoffers” and “fools,” the book's vocabulary for resistance to instruction, from the untaught to the contemptuous. Her answer, “I will mock your calamity,” is the harvest of a chosen path, spoken by the one who warned against it.
This site's exposition
I would have poured out my spirit on you
Poured out my spirit is the wording Joel 2:28 later uses of the Spirit of God. Albert Barnes hears in it the promise of John 14:26, the Spirit teaching and the words made known together. The gift waited on one condition: to turn at her rebuke.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
So, then, let us obey his most holy and glorious name and escape the threats which wisdom has predicted against the disobedient. In that way we shall live in peace, having our confidence in his most holy and majestic name. Accept our advice, and you will never regret it. For as God lives, as the Lord Jesus Christ lives and the Holy Spirit (on whom the elect believe and hope), the man who with humility and eager considerateness and with no regrets does what God has decreed and ordered will be enlisted and enrolled in the ranks of those who are saved through Jesus Christ. Through him be the glory to God for ever and ever. Amen.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Turn at my reproof. He reproved the Jews through the mouths of the apostles, because they were unwilling to believe, and even then He admonished them to turn after He had risen and ascended.
Behold, I will pour out my Spirit to you, etc. If you still, he says, neglect to convert, I will bring upon you the vengeance you have deserved, and I will show that the words I have predicted about your destruction are true. Indeed, he …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
In vain - The fowler who spreads, his net in the sight of the bird looseth his labour. But these, are more foolish than the silly birds, and though they are not ignorant of the mischief which these evil courses will bring upon themselves, yet they will not take warning. Their own blood - The destruction which they design to others, fall upon themselves.
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Turn ye at my reproof,....
Our heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him. [2.] The means of this grace is the word, which, if we take it aright, will turn us; it is therefore promised, " I will make known my words unto you, not only speak them to you, but make them known, give you to understand them." Note, Special grace is necessary to a sincere conversion.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The teaching of Divine Wisdom is essentially the same as that of the Divine Word Joh 7:38-39. “Turning,” repentance and conversion, this is what she calls the simple to. The promise of the Spirit is also like His Joh 14:26. And with the spirit there are to be also the “words” of Wisdom. Not the “spirit” alone, nor “words” alone, but both together, each doing its appointed work - this is the divine instrumentality for the education of such as will receive it.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Others think that wisdom, as the divine attribute specially employed in acts of counsel and admonition, is here personified, and represents God. In either case the address is a most solemn and divine admonition, whose matter and spirit are eminently evangelical and impressive (see on Pr 8:1).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
reproof--implying conviction deserving it (compare Joh 16:8, Margin). pour out--abundantly impart. my spirit--whether of wisdom personified, or of Christ, a divine agent.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Turn you at my reproof - לתוכחתי lethochachti, at my convincing mode of arguing; attend to my demonstrations. This is properly the meaning of the original word. I will pour out my spirit unto you - “I wil expresse my mynde unto you;” Coverdale. Loo I shall bryngen to you my Spirit; Old MS. Bible. If you will hear, ye shall have ample instruction.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| תָּשׁ֗וּבוּ | tashuvu | you will turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| לְֽת֫וֹכַחְתִּ֥י | letokhachti | to rebuke my | H8433 → | 28 times |
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אַבִּ֣יעָה | ʾabiah | I will pour out | H5042 → | 11 times |
| לָכֶ֣ם | lakhem | to you | ||
| רוּחִ֑י | ruchi | spirit my | H7307 → | 378 times |
| אוֹדִ֖יעָה | ʾodiah | let me declare | H3045 → | 945 times |
| דְבָרַ֣י | devarai | words my | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אֶתְכֶֽם׃ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
תָּשׁ֗וּבוּyou will turn back
tashuvuH7725 →1056 times
לְֽת֫וֹכַחְתִּ֥יto rebuke my
letokhachtiH8433 →28 times
הִנֵּ֤הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אַבִּ֣יעָהI will pour out
ʾabiahH5042 →11 times
לָכֶ֣םto you
lakhem
רוּחִ֑יspirit my
ruchiH7307 →378 times
אוֹדִ֖יעָהlet me declare
ʾodiahH3045 →945 times
דְבָרַ֣יwords my
devaraiH1697 →1440 times
אֶתְכֶֽם׃<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 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
Joel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
it leads to
- Acts 2:16–21
No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
- Ezekiel 39:29
And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Isaiah 32:15
until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
- Acts 2:39
This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Acts 2:2–4
Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
- Acts 2:16–21
Through
Ezekiel 33:11Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live.…
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 2:4
who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
- Ezekiel 18:23
Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?
- 1 Timothy 2:4
Through
Acts 3:19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
it leads to
- Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
- Acts 2:38
Where this verse is studied
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About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Athanasius of Alexandria, Discourses Against the Arians 2.39; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Clement of Rome, 1 CLEMENT 58; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.