Proverbs 19:10
in Proverbs 19Luxury is unseemly for a fool—how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Delicate living is not seemly for a fool; Much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
KJV
Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
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This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
5 notes on this verseDelight is not seemly for a fool,.... Such an one as Nabal, whose name and nature were alike; and whose prosperity ill became him, and the mirth and delight he had in it, 1Sa 25:25; for, as the wise man elsewhere says, "the prosperity of fools shall destroy them", Pro 1:26; they do not know how to make a right use of their prosperity; nor to moderate their enjoyments, pleasures, and delights.
This site's exposition
Luxury is unseemly for a fool
on Proverbs 19:10-12
Luxury is unseemly for a fool, and worse still is "a slave to rule over princes," things set out of their proper order. A man's insight gives him patience and "his virtue is to overlook an offense," restraint the chapter praises again before its end.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Delight is not seemly for a fool - תענוג taanug, splendid or luxurious living, rank, equipage, etc. These sit ill on a fool, though he be by birth a lord. For a servant to have rule over princes - I pity the king who delivers himself into the hands of his own ministers. Such a one loses his character, and cannnot be respected by his subjects, or rather their subjects. But it is still worse when a person of mean extraction is raised to the throne, or to any place of power; he is generally cruel and tyrannical.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The fool is incapable of properly using pleasure as knowledge, yet for him to have it is less incongruous than the undue elevation of servants. Let each abide in his calling (1Co 7:20).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
“Delight,” high unrestrained enjoyment, is to the “fool” who lacks wisdom but a temptation and a snare. The second clause carries the thought on to what the despotism of Eastern monarchies often presented, the objectionable rule of some favored slave, it might be, of alien birth, over the princes and nobles of the land.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Pleasure does not befit a fool, much less a slave It is derived by an a fortiori conclusion that it does not befit a slave to rule over princes.
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. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נָאוֶ֣ה | naveh | [is] suitable | H5000 → | 10 times |
| לִכְסִ֣יל | likhsil | for a fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
| תַּעֲנ֑וּג | taanug | luxury | H8588 → | |
| אַ֝֗ף | ʾaf | indeed? | H637 → | 134 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לְעֶ֤בֶד׀ | leeved | for a slave | H5650 → | 799 times |
| מְשֹׁ֬ל | meshol | to rule | H4910 → | 81 times |
| בְּשָׂרִֽים׃ | besarim | over princes | H8269 → | 421 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נָאוֶ֣ה[is] suitable
navehH5000 →10 times
לִכְסִ֣ילfor a fool
likhsilH3684 →70 times
תַּעֲנ֑וּגluxury
taanugH8588 →
אַ֝֗ףindeed?
ʾafH637 →134 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
לְעֶ֤בֶד׀for a slave
leevedH5650 →799 times
מְשֹׁ֬לto rule
mesholH4910 →81 times
בְּשָׂרִֽים׃over princes
besarimH8269 →421 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
Luke 16:23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:4
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;
- Matthew 23:33
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
- Luke 16:28
for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’
- Matthew 18:9
And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown…
- Revelation 14:10–11
he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and…
- 2 Peter 2:4
Through
Luke 16:19Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 16:49
Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.
- Luke 18:24–25
Seeing the man’s sadness, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
- Ezekiel 16:49
Through
Proverbs 26:1Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
it leads to
- Proverbs 28:16
A leader who lacks judgment is also a great oppressor, but he who hates dishonest profit will prolong his days.
- Proverbs 28:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.