Proverbs 5:13
in Proverbs 5I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
KJV
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
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This verse in Proverbs 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
How I hated discipline
on Proverbs 5:12-14
A man near ruin confesses, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!” in a speech the father stages so the son can hear his future regret now. The words “I am on the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly” name a public fall.
This site's exposition
the voice of my teachers
The confession remembers the voice of the teachers who spoke all along, the father who told his sons to listen in verse 7. Incline the ear repeats his command at 5:1, now recalled as refused. Paul at 2 Corinthians 7:10 names this worldly sorrow.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers,....
Note, Those who have had a good education and do not live up to it will have a great deal to answer for another day; and those who will not now remember what they were taught, to conform themselves to it, will be made to remember it as an aggravation of their sin, and consequently of their ruin.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
I was almost in all evil There is but a step between me and Gehinnom. (Because of a little thing, I was now “in all evil,” for I did not obey my instructors; had I obeyed them, this would not have happened to me. From Rabbi Joseph Kara.)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְֽלֹא־ | velosha'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֭מַעְתִּי | shama'ti | I listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּק֣וֹל | bekol | to [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| מוֹרָ֑י | morai | instructor my | H4175 → | |
| וְ֝לִֽמְלַמְּדַ֗י | velimlamedai | and to teachers my | H3925 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִטִּ֥יתִי | hititi | I inclined | H5186 → | 214 times |
| אָזְנִֽי׃ | ʾazeni | ear my | H241 → | 187 times |
וְֽלֹא־and not
velosha'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֭מַעְתִּיI listened
shama'tiH8085 →1159 times
בְּק֣וֹלto [the] voice of
bekolH6963 →506 times
מוֹרָ֑יinstructor my
moraiH4175 →
וְ֝לִֽמְלַמְּדַ֗יand to teachers my
velimlamedaiH3925 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
הִטִּ֥יתִיI inclined
hititiH5186 →214 times
אָזְנִֽי׃ear my
ʾazeniH241 →187 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
Hebrews 13:7Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13
But we ask you, brothers, to acknowledge those who work diligently among you, who preside over you in the Lord and give you instruction.
- Hebrews 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch over your souls as those who must give an account. To this end, allow them to lead with joy and not with grief, for…
- Philippians 3:17
Join one another in following my example, brothers, and carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you.
- Hebrews 6:12
Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord when you welcomed the message with the joy of the Holy Spirit, in spite of your great suffering.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13
Through
Luke 15:18I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:40
Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
- 1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Luke 15:21
The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
- Lamentations 3:40
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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.