Proverbs 1:24
in Proverbs 1Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man hath regarded;
KJV
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
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This verse in Proverbs 1
Commentary
16 notes on this verseBecause I have called - These and the following words appear to be spoken of the persons who are described, Pro 1:11-19, who have refused to return from their evil ways till arrested by the hand of justice; and here the wise man points out their deplorable state. They are now about to suffer according to the demands of the law, for their depredations.
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
no one took my outstretched hand
An outstretched hand calls someone to come near. Adam Clarke takes the ones who refused as the sinners, who would not turn until the hand of justice took hold of them. Isaiah 65:2 gives the same outstretched hands to the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
What room is there for just complaint when each suffers according to his deeds? There is this exception which I can easily prove, namely, we never suffer in proportion to our deeds, and God deals with us much more leniently than we deal with him. …
How then is the heaven stretched forth? Wisdom stretches it forth. For it is clear that wisdom stretches it forth in the text: "Since I stretched forth words and you did not pay attention." He speaks of words being stretched forth; in this way the heaven is stretched forth.
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PROLOGUE · Written before 253.
proposed
If there is someone who meditates in the law of the Lord day and night, and if there is someone who is like the mouth of the just because he meditates on wisdom, he will be able to investigate diligently and find these things. If nonetheless he has rightly sought and by his seeking knocked on the door of wisdom, asking from God to open it for him, he also deserves to receive the Word of wisdom and the Word of knowledge through the Holy Spirit and to become a participant of that wisdom which said, "For I stretched out my words and you did not hear." And rightly he said that he "stretched out words" in his heart, to whom God had given, as we said above, "the breadth of the heart." For the heart is made broad of that man who can explain those things that have been said briefly in figurative language, taking assertions from the divine books with a broader teaching.
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Gregory the Dialogist40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 12 · Written before 604.
proposed
For this is why the Lord says through Solomon: "I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was no one who paid attention; you despised all my counsel, and neglected my reproofs. I also will laugh at your destruction, and will mock when what you feared comes upon you. When sudden calamity rushes in, and destruction presses on like a storm, when tribulation and anguish come upon you, then they will call upon me, and I will not hear; they will rise early, and they will not find me." Behold, they cry out to be opened to, and, compelled by the pain of their rejection, they double the title of Lord, saying: "Lord, Lord, open to us." They offer prayers, but they are not known, because the Lord then abandons as if unknown those whom He now does not recognize as His own through the merit of their life.
Because I called, and you refused. Saying: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matthew XI).
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
I extended my hand, etc. First by doing good and healing all oppressed by the devil, later by suffering on the cross.
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Against those who speak against the counsels of God, it is said in Proverbs: 'I have called and you refused; you have despised all my counsel and neglected my reproofs; therefore I will laugh at your destruction.' A dog, when it lies in the straw …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 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
6 ), and therefore she goes on to tell them what will be in the end hereof. (1.) The crime is recited and it is highly provoking. See what it is for which judgment will be given against impenitent sinners in the great day, and you will say they deserve it, and the Lord is righteous in it.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
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.
Because I have called, and ye refused,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The threats and warnings of Wisdom are also foreshadowings of the teaching of Jesus. There will come a time when “too late” shall be written on all efforts, on all remorse. Compare Mat 25:10, Mat 25:30.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יַ֣עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | |
| קָ֭רָאתִי | karati | I called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| וַתְּמָאֵ֑נוּ | vatemaenu | and you refused | H3985 → | 41 times |
| נָטִ֥יתִי | natiti | I offered | H5186 → | 214 times |
| יָ֝דִ֗י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְאֵ֣ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מַקְשִֽׁיב׃ | makshiv | [was] an attentive [one] | H7181 → | 46 times |
יַ֣עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →
קָ֭רָאתִיI called
karatiH7121 →733 times
וַתְּמָאֵ֑נוּand you refused
vatemaenuH3985 →41 times
נָטִ֥יתִיI offered
natitiH5186 →214 times
יָ֝דִ֗יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
וְאֵ֣יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
מַקְשִֽׁיב׃[was] an attentive [one]
makshivH7181 →46 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
Romans 10:21But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:2–5
All day long I have held out My hands to an obstinate people who walk in the wrong path, who follow their own imaginations,
- Isaiah 65:2–5
Through
Isaiah 66:4So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and…
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:12
I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Kings 21:2
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD by following the abominations of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.
- Isaiah 65:12
Through
Isaiah 65:12I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:13
And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 7:13
Through
Jeremiah 7:13And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:15–16
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 7:25
From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.
- Zechariah 7:13
And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Hosea 11:2
But the more I called Israel, the farther they departed from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images.
- 2 Chronicles 36:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Proverbs
This page draws on 12 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); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7; Gregory the Dialogist, 40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 12; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 8:2.3; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PROLOGUE and Salvian the Presbyter, THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 3:9.