Whoever loves wisdom brings joy to his father; but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
Parallel Translations
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Whoever loves wisdom brings joy to his father; but a companion of prostitutes squanders his wealth.
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Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
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Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father; but he that keepeth company with harlots wasteth his substance.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Proverbs 29:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 27:11 Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart, then I can answer my tormentor.
- Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
- Proverbs 15:20 A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.
- Luke 15:30 But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
- Proverbs 6:26 For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.
- Proverbs 28:7 Whoever keeps the law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.
- Luke 15:13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
- Proverbs 5:8-10 Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house, lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one; lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
- Proverbs 21:17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil won’t be rich.
- Proverbs 21:20 There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.
- Proverbs 23:15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
- Proverbs 23:24-25 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him. Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
- Proverbs 28:19 One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.
- Luke 1:13-17 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias, because your request has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to prepare a people prepared for the Lord.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 29:3 Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but…
Pro 29:3 Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth [his] substance.
Ver. 3. Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father.] {See Trapp on "Pro 10:1"}
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But he that keepeth company with harlots.] {See Trapp on "Pro 5:9"} Those she sinners, as they call them, are costly creatures, and they that keep them care not what cost they cast away upon them.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Loveth wisdom; and therefore hateth and escheweth all folly…
Loveth wisdom; and therefore hateth and escheweth all folly and wickedness.
Keepeth company with harlots; whereby he plainly discovers himself to want wisdom; of which see Pro 7:7, &c.
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Spendeth his substance; whereby he not only ruineth himself, but also grieveth his father, as is implied from the opposite clause.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Both the parts of this verse repeat what has…
Both the parts of this verse repeat what has been often said, but, on comparing them together, the sense of them will be enlarged from each other. 1. Be it observed, to the honour of a virtuous young man, that he loves wisdom, he is a philosopher (for that signifies a lover of wisdom), for religion is the best philosophy; he avoids bad company, and especially the company of lewd women. Hereby he rejoices his parents, and has the satisfaction of being a comfort to them, and increases his estate, and is likely to live comfortably. 2. Be it observed, to the reproach of a vicious young man, that he hates wisdom; he keeps company with scandalous women, who will be his ruin, both in soul and body; he grieves his parents, and, like the prodigal son, devours their living with harlots. Nothing will beggar men sooner than the lusts of uncleanness; and the best preservative from those ruinous lusts is wisdom.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father,.... He that is…
Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father,.... He that is a philosopher, especially a religious one, that not only loves and seeks after natural wisdom, but moral wisdom and knowledge; and more particularly evangelical wisdom, Christ the Wisdom of God, who is to be valued and loved above all things; the Gospel of Christ, which is the wisdom of God in a mystery; and the knowledge of it which is the wisdom which comes from above and is pure and peaceable; and which lies much in the fear of God, and in the faith of Jesus Christ, attended with all the fruits of righteousness: such a son makes glad his father, both because of his temporal good, since he does not waste but improve the substance he has given him; and because of his spiritual and eternal welfare; and since instead of being a reproach he is an honour to him; see Pro 10:1;
but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance: his father has given him, and comes to want and beggary; all which is a grief to his parents: or, "that feeds harlots" (i); who live in a riotous and voluptuous manner, and soon drain a man of his substance, and bring him to a morsel of bread; see Luk 15:13; and such a son grieves his father, seeing he spends his substance and damns his soul.
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(i) "nutrit", V. L. "pascit", Pagninus, Piscator, Gejerus, Schultens; "pascitur", Michaelis; "pascens", Montanus, Mercerus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. But he that keepeth company] רעה roeh,…
Verse 3. But he that keepeth company] רעה roeh, he that feedeth harlots, יאבד yeabed, shall utterly destroy his substance. Has there ever been a single case to the contrary?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Spendeth ... - The laws of parallelism would lead…
Spendeth ... - The laws of parallelism would lead us to expect “troubleth his father,” but that is passed over as a thing about which the profligate would not care, and he is reminded of what comes home to him, that he is on the road to ruin.
The king - The ruler, as the supreme fountain of all justice, and as the ideal judge, is contrasted with the taker of bribers.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain These Proverbs in substance have been given before.†1 Yet…
These Proverbs in substance have been given before.†1 Yet the variations are instructive. The wisdom is here more distinctly described as loving wisdom. For ’he is wise not only, who hath arrived at a complete habit of wisdom, but who doth as yet love it, or desire it, and listen to it.’†2 Do not we hang off too loosely from its heavenly influence? Let it be manifestly our great object, not as a good thing, but the best — "the principle thing."†3 The awakened sinner loves it from the sense of want; the Christian from its satisfying delight. The taste gives a keen edge to the appetite. What we have grasped of the blessing bears no comparison to what remains. The day-dreams of a world of vanity engage our affections no longer.
Let the young man consider "wisdom’s pleasantness and peace,"†4 her light and security,†5 her "durable riches,"†6 and glorious inheritance;†7 and "wilt thou not from this time cry" to the God of wisdom — "My Father! thou art the guide of my youth"? (Jer 3:4 .) Let him have the flower of thine age. Is not the best sacrifice due to him, who is above the songs of heaven, who has obtained a kingdom for those that love him? No worldly honor, no success of talent, will rejoice a godly father, as will this choice for eternity. (Pro 23:23-25 .)
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Folly brings its own shame and sorrow. "The companion of the riotous and vain persons" is readily found in fellowship with harlots, saddening his father, by spending his substance. (Pro 28:7, Pro 28:19 .) One course of vanity leads to another. All end alike in ruin.†8 He may possess the external endowment. But the love of wisdom is the only preservative from "besetting snares."†9
Deep indeed is the anxiety — the joy or the sorrow — connected with children.†10 May it give a deeper tone of simplicity and pleading in dedicating them to God,†11 and training them up for his service! Let us early present them, as "the children, whom the Lord hath given us;" but as his, more than our own — his property — his inheritance. (Psa 127:3 .) Here are our springs of diligence, of hope, and of ultimate reward.
Footnotes:
†1 Pro 10:1; Pro 15:20 ; Pro 23:15, Pro 23:24-25 ; Pro 27:11 ; Pro 28:7 .
†2 Basil, quoted by Bp. Patrick. Preface to Proverbs.
†3 Pro 4:7. See the beautiful description, Sir 6:18-31 ; Sir 6:24 . Bp. Lowth’s elegant translation. - Lect. On Heb. Poetry, 24.
†4 Pro 3:17.
†5 Pro 8:20; Pro 4:11-12 .
†6 Pro 3:14-15; Pro 8:18-19 .
†7 Pro 3:35.
†8 Pro 5:9; Pro 6:26 . Luk 15:30 .
†9 Pro 4:6; Pro 7:4-5 .
†10 Pro 17:21, Pro 17:25 .
†11 1Sa 1:26-28 .
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Compare Pro 4:6-7; Pro 10:1, &c.).
(Compare Pro 4:6-7; Pro 10:1, &c.).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Spendeth his substance — Squanders his wealth. There…
3. Spendeth his substance — Squanders his wealth. There are but few ways in which riches are so soon and so surely dissipated as by association with lewd women. Comp. Pro_10:1; Pro_6:26; Pro_28:7.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. wisdom] regarded, as the second clause of the…
3. wisdom] regarded, as the second clause of the verse shews, as leading to purity of life. Comp. Pro_2:10; Pro_2:16.
spendeth] Rather, wasteth, R.V. ἀπολεῖ, LXX. Comp. διεσκόρπισε τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ … ὁ καταφαγών σου τὸν βίον μετὰ τῶν πορνῶν, Luk_15:13; Luk_15:30.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Whoso loveth wisdom . . .—This verse is…
(3) Whoso loveth wisdom . . .—This verse is illustrated by the parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The first hemistich is a variation of Pr 10.…
The first hemistich is a variation of Pr 10. I (where see note). Keepeth company with; literally, feedeth, as Pro_28:7. Harlots. (see on Pro_6:26) Such vice leads to the wasting of substance, (Luk_15:13) and the great sorrow of the parent. Septuagint, "But he that pastureth (poimainei ) harlots shall waste wealth."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 by justice
by justice
The abstract noun "justice" can be translated as a noun phrase. AT: "by doing what is just" or "by making just laws" (See: Abstract Nouns)
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translationWords
love
wise
joy
prostitute
king
just
bribe
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 29:3 A man’s wisdom affects his parents (10:1; 15:20;…
29:3 A man’s wisdom affects his parents (10:1; 15:20; 17:21). • Prostitutes cost money and a man’s wealth is rapidly wasted on them.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.