Proverbs 23:15
in Proverbs 23My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine:
KJV
My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Another continuous exhortation rather than a collection of maxims. Pro 23:16 The teacher rejoices when the disciple’s heart Pro 23:15 receives wisdom, and yet more when his lips can utter it. Reins - See Job 19:27 note. Pro 23:17 Envy sinners - Compare in Psa 37:1; Psa 73:3; the feeling which looks half-longingly at the prosperity of evil doers. Some connect the verb “envy” with the second clause, “envy not sinners, but envy, emulate, the fear of the Lord.” Pro 23:18 Or, For if there is an end (hereafter), thine expectations shall not be cut off.
This site's exposition
My son, if your heart is wise
on Proverbs 23:15-16
The father turns from correction to affection without a seam: "if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice." The words "my own heart" press the father's personal stake in the son's wisdom. The inmost being, the King James "reins", names the innermost organs in Hebrew idiom.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
My son, if thine heart be wise,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
when your lips speak right things since your heart has grown wise.
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּ֭נִי | beni | O son my | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| חָכַ֣ם | chakham | it is wise | H2449 → | 27 times |
| לִבֶּ֑ךָ | libekha | heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| יִשְׂמַ֖ח | yismach | it will rejoice | H8055 → | 155 times |
| לִבִּ֣י | libi | heart my | H3820 → | 595 times |
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אָֽנִי׃ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
בְּ֭נִיO son my
beniH1121 →4930 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
חָכַ֣םit is wise
chakhamH2449 →27 times
לִבֶּ֑ךָheart your
libekhaH3820 →595 times
יִשְׂמַ֖חit will rejoice
yismachH8055 →155 times
לִבִּ֣יheart my
libiH3820 →595 times
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אָֽנִי׃I
ʾaniH589 →874 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
Zephaniah 3:17The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
it leads to
- Psalms 149:4
For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
- Psalms 147:11
The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
- Hebrews 7:25
Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
- Isaiah 62:4–5
No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will…
- Jeremiah 32:41
Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
- Psalms 149:4
Through
2 John 1:4I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us.
it leads to
- 3 John 1:3–4
For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in which you continue to walk.
- Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- 3 John 1:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).