Proverbs 9:12
in Proverbs 9If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself; And if thou scoffest, thou alone shalt bear it.
KJV
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
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This verse in Proverbs 9
Commentary
7 notes on this verseObserve that the wise man must be useful to many; so that he who is useful only to himself cannot be wise. For great is the condemnation of wisdom if she reserves her power simply for the one possessing her. But as poison is not injurious to another body, but only to that one which takes it, so also the man who turns out wicked will injure himself, and not another. For no man of real virtue is injured by a wicked man.
This site's exposition
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom
on Proverbs 9:10-12
The book's motto returns at the seam between its two great sections, restating 1:7 almost word for word and marking this chapter as a hinge. Its second line pairs fear with “knowledge of the Holy One,” so wisdom never stands apart from the Lord it begins in.
This site's exposition
you alone will bear the consequences
Hippolytus warns that a wise man must be useful to many, or his wisdom stands condemned. The one who scoffs is like poison, harmful only to the body that takes it. The mocker of verse 7 bears his own consequences.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself,.... He is wise that harkens to Wisdom's advice, that obeys her call, turns in to her house, and becomes her guest; and such an one is wise for himself, it is for his own good, profit, and advantage; for the good of his soul, for his present peace and comfort, and for his future bliss and happiness.
We have heard what Christ has to say, to engage our affections to God and godliness, and one would think the whole world should go after him; but here we are told how industrious the tempter is to seduce unwary souls into the paths of sin, and with the most he gains his point, and Wisdom's courtship is not effectual.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
If thou be wise - It is thy own interest to be religious. Though thy example may be very useful to thy neighbors and friends, yet the chief benefit is to thyself. But if thou scorn - refuse to receive - the doctrines of wisdom, and die in thy sins, thou alone shalt suffer the vengeance of an offended God.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The great law of personal retribution (compare Mat 7:2). The Septuagint makes a curious addition to this verse, “My son, if thou wilt be wise for thyself, thou shalt be wise also for thy neighbors; but if thou turn out evil, thou alone shalt bear evil. He who resteth on lies shall guide the winds, and the same shall hunt after winged birds, for he hath left the ways of his own vineyard, and has gone astray with the wheels of his own husbandry. He goeth through a wilderness without water, and over a land set in thirsty places, and with his hands he gathereth barrenness.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and they will add to you years of life Years of life are those of sustenance and wealth.
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. 2 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
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| חָ֭כַמְתָּ | chakhamta | you are wise | H2449 → | 27 times |
| חָכַ֣מְתָּ | chakhamta | you are wise | H2449 → | 27 times |
| לָּ֑ךְ | lakh | for yourself | ||
| וְ֝לַ֗צְתָּ | velatzta | and you mock | H3887 → | 28 times |
| לְֽבַדְּךָ֥ | levadekha | to alone you | H905 → | |
| תִשָּֽׂא׃ | tisa' | you will bear [it] | H5375 → | 656 times |
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
חָ֭כַמְתָּyou are wise
chakhamtaH2449 →27 times
חָכַ֣מְתָּyou are wise
chakhamtaH2449 →27 times
לָּ֑ךְfor yourself
lakh
וְ֝לַ֗צְתָּand you mock
velatztaH3887 →28 times
לְֽבַדְּךָ֥to alone you
levadekhaH905 →
תִשָּֽׂא׃you will bear [it]
tisa'H5375 →656 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
Ezekiel 18:20The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 14:6
Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not…
- Deuteronomy 24:16
Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
- Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
- Jeremiah 31:29–30
“In those days, it will no longer be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.’
- 2 Kings 14:6
Through
Job 22:21Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought.…
- Isaiah 27:5
Or let them lay claim to My protection; let them make peace with Me—yes, let them make peace with Me.”
- Psalms 34:10
Young lions go lacking and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
- Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this verse
On this chapter
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; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.