Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you.
Parallel Translations
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Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you.
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Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
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Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee; reprove a wise man, and he will love thee.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Proverbs 9:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 141:5 Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness; let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head; don’t let my head refuse it; Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
- Proverbs 13:18 Poverty and shame come to him who refuses discipline, but he who heeds correction shall be honored.
- Proverbs 23:9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
- Proverbs 15:12 A scoffer doesn’t love to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.
- Proverbs 29:1 He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy.
- Matthew 7:6 “Don’t give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
- Proverbs 28:23 One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.
- Leviticus 19:17 “ ‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.
- Matthew 15:14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
- Hebrews 6:4-8 For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame. For the land which has drunk the rain that comes often on it and produces a crop suitable for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and near being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
- 2 Samuel 12:7-14 Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ ” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh’s enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you will surely die.”
- 2 Peter 3:15-16 Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
- Numbers 14:6-10 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey. Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.” But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. Yahweh’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel.
- 1 Kings 1:23 They told the king, saying, “Behold, Nathan the prophet!” When he had come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning them that are incorrigible, which Christ calleth dogs…
Meaning them that are incorrigible, which Christ calleth dogs and swine: or he speaketh this in comparison, not that the wicked should not be rebuked, but he showeth their malice, and the small hope of profit.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate…
Pro 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
Ver. 8. Reprove not a scorner.] See my "Commonplace of Admonition." Look how dogs prefer loathsome carrion before the sweetest odours, and would fly in the faces of such as would drive them from it: so is it here.
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And he will love thee.] When he hath well considered he will, though, for present, he may seem to do otherwise; as Ass swaggered with the prophet, and put him in prison. We read in the ecclesiastical history that Agapetus, bishop of Rome, being sent by Theodatus, king of Goths, to Constantinople on an embassy to Justinian, and having obtained a peace, he was earnestly entreated by the emperor to subscribe and confirm the heresy of Eutyches. This when he utterly refused to do, the emperor threatened him in case he did not. Agapetus thereto boldly replied - I had a desire to wait upon Justinian, whom I took to be a most pious prince; but now I perceive him to be a most violent persecutor, a second Dioclesian. With this free reproof, and God’s blessing with it, Justinian was so wrought upon, that he presently embraced the true faith, and banishing bishop Anthemius, a great propagator of the Eutychian heresy, he set up Menna, an orthodox divine, in his room, whom Agapetus consecrated, if Platina may be believed. {a} David loved Nathan the better while he lived for dealing so plainly with him, and named him a commissioner for the declaring of his successor. {1Ki 1:32-35} So Alipius loved Augustine for reproving him.
{a} Funcius.
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 Reprove not a scorner; an obstinate and incorrigible sinner,…
Reprove not a scorner; an obstinate and incorrigible sinner, who scornfully rejects and despiseth the means of amendment. Thus physicians deny physic to persons in desperate condition.
Lest he hate thee; whereby thou wilt not only expose thyself without necessity to his malice and rage, but also make thyself utterly uncapable of doing him that good which possibly thou mightest do by other more prudent and proper means.
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Rebuke a wise man; who is opposed to the scorner, to intimate that scorners, howsoever they are thought by themselves or others to be witty or wise, yet in God’s account, and in truth, are fools.
He will love thee; both for that faithfulness and charity which he perceiveth in thee, and for that benefit which he receiveth from thee.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee,.... For…
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee,.... For wicked men are apt to hate those that publicly rebuke them, Amo 5:10. Hence minister's of the word are of all men most hated; though this also should be bore with, could it be thought, or there was any reason to believe, that the reproof would be of any service. The scorner here, and in the preceding verses, may not only design profane sinners, sensualists, and atheists, that despise all religion, and scoff at all that is good; but also proud scornful Pharisees, such who derided Christ himself, and trusted in themselves, and despised others, Christ and his apostles, and their ministrations, Luk 16:14; and such, as Christ came not to call them himself, so he bid his disciples let them alone, Mat 9:13;
rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee; as David did Nathan; and who was determined to take kindly the reproof of any righteous man, Psa 141:5. Such who are spiritually wise will be thankful for the reproof of Gospel ministers, and even of private Christians, and will love and esteem them for their faithfulness and uprightness, and for the good which they themselves receive hereby.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain A scorner - An obstinate and incorrigible sinner.
A scorner - An obstinate and incorrigible sinner.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 9:8-9. Reprove not a scorner — An incorrigible…
Pro 9:8-9. Reprove not a scorner — An incorrigible sinner, who despises and scornfully rejects the means of amendment. Thus physicians deny physic to persons in a desperate condition; lest he hate thee — Whereby thou wilt not only expose thyself, without necessity, to his malice and rage, but also make thyself utterly incapable of doing that good, which, possibly, thou mightest do by other more prudent and proper means. Rebuke a wise man — Who is opposed to the scorner, to intimate that scorners, however they are thought by themselves or others to be witty or wise, yet, in God’s account, and in truth, are fools; and he will love thee — Both for that faithfulness and charity which he perceives in thee, and for that benefit which he receives from thee. Give instruction to a wise man — In the Hebrew it is only give; for, as receiving is put for learning, (Pro 1:3,) so giving is put for teaching. And he will be yet wiser — This is an undoubted maxim, that a man disposed to learn, who and has already hearkened to the instructions of wisdom, will grow wiser by reprehension; and the advice given to a just, or righteous man, one truly desirous of knowing and practising his duty, will make him yet better, and much improve him in every branch of piety and virtue.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Reprove not a scorner — This is not…
8. Reprove not a scorner — This is not to be understood as an imperative prohibition, to be observed in all cases; but as a strong way of stating the effects of reproof upon a scoffer: if thou reprove, etc. So the next clause, also.
Rebuke — If thou admonish or advise a wise man, he will love thee, will appreciate thy fidelity, even though at first it may wound him.
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Compare Psa_141:5. Zockler’s interpretation of the drift of thought here is, that it is an invitation to abandon intercourse with such persons, for you will gain nothing but contempt and insult by their association. Comp. Mat_7:6.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee. (see…
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee. (see the last note, and comp. Pro_15:12, and note there) There are times when reproof only hardens and exasperates. "It is not proper," says St. Gregory, "for the good man to fear lest the scorner should utter abuse at him when he is chidden, but lest, being drawn into hatred, he should be made worse" ("Moral.," 8:67). "Bad men sometimes we spare, and not ourselves, if from the love of those we cease from the rebuking of them. Whence it is needful that we sometimes endure keeping to ourselves what they are, in order that they may learn in us by our good living what they are not". (ibid., 20:47, Oxford transl.) Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. So Psa_141:5, "Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me, it shall be as oil upon the head; let not my head refuse it". (comp. Pro_19:25 Pro_25:12 Pro_27:6)
Reproof.
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I HOW TO GIVE REPROOF. The duty of reproving is one of the most difficult and delicate ever attempted. The people who are most rash in adventuring upon it too often fall into the greatest blunders, while those who are really fitted to undertake it shrink from the attempt. The mere utterance of a protest is generally worse than useless. It only raises anger and provokes to greater obstinacy. Unless there is some probability of convincing a man of the wrongness of his conduct, there is little good in administering rebukes to him. It is not the duty of any man to raise up enemies without cause. We should all seek, as far as in us lies, to live peaceably with all men. Of course, it may he incumbent upon us sometimes so to act that we shall provoke opposition. Jesus Christ could have avoided the enmity of the Jews, but only by unfaithfulness to his mission. Where we are in the way of our mission, or when any duty will be accomplished or any good done, we must not shrink from rousing antagonism. To do so is cowardice, not peaceableness. But if no good is done, we may only bring a nest of hornets about our heads by our indiscretion. Let us understand that while we are never to sanction evil doing, we are only called to rebuke it when the rebuke will not be certainly rejected; then we must risk insult for the sake of righteousness. The practical point, then. is that we consider the character of a man before attempting to rebuke him, and that we be not so anxious to protest against sin as to counsel the sinner and guide him to better ways. If he is in a hard, scornful mood, we had better wait for a more fitting opportunity. If he is too strong for us, we shall only injure the cause of right by attempting to grapple with him. Weak champions of Christianity have often only hurt themselves, discredited their cause, and afforded a triumph to powerful opponents by their rash encounters. In all cases to reprove well requires wisdom, tact, simplicity, humanity.
II HOW TO RECEIVE REPROOF. He who hates the reprover will become himself a scorner; the wise man will love the reprover. Our manner of accepting merited reproof will therefore be a test of our character. Thus viewed, may not the text class many of us with the scorners, though we had little suspected where our true place was to be found? It is too common for a man to reject all reproof with rage. Not inquiring whether the accusation is true, he unjustly regards it as an attack upon himself, as a personal insult. There may be fault with the reprover very often there is. But a wise man will not shelter himself behind that. Granting that the method of reproof was unwise, harsh, offensive; still, was there no ground for any reproof? To be angry at all reproof is to be one of the worst of scorners to scorn right and truth. For the conscientious man will not dare to reject appeals to his conscience; he will feel bound to listen to them, no matter how unwelcome the voice that speaks them. He will desire to be free from faults. Should he not, therefore, thank those people who show them to him? If he loves goodness, he ought to lore those whose advice will help him to remove the greatest hindrances to attaining it. If he hates sin as the disease of his soul, he should accept reproof as medicine, and treat the reprover as a valuable physician.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.