Proverbs 15:31

The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
ear	אֹ֗זֶן 'O.zen	H241	broadness. i.e. (concrete) the ear (from its form in ma… · noun, common feminine singular absolute
heareth	שֹׁ֭מַעַת Sho.ma.'at	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular construct
reproof	תּוֹכַ֣חַת to.Kha.chat	H8433	chastisement · noun, common feminine singular construct
life	חַיִּ֑ים chai.Yim	H2416	alive · noun, common masculine plural absolute
abideth	תָּלִֽין ta.Lin	H3885	to stop (usually over night) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
among	בְּקֶ֖רֶב be.Ke.rev	H7130	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
wise	חֲכָמִ֣ים cha.kha.Mim	H2450	wise · adjective, masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 15:5 A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.
Proverbs 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Proverbs 9:8-9 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.
Proverbs 19:20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.
John 15:3-4 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Proverbs 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
Proverbs 13:20 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Isaiah 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 15:31

Note, 1. It is the character of a wise man that he is very willing to be reproved, and therefore chooses to converse with those that, both by their words and example, will show him what is amiss in him: The ear that can take the reproof will love the reprover. Faithful friendly reproofs are here called the reproofs of life, not only because they are to be given in a lively manner, and with a prudent zeal (and we must reprove by our lives as well as by our doctrine), but because, where they are well-taken, they are means of spiritual life, and lead to eternal life, and (as some think) to distinguish them from rebukes and reproaches for well-doing, which are rather reproofs of death, which we…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 15:31

(Compare Pro 10:17). reproof of life--which leads to life. abideth . . . wise--is numbered among them.

John Gill on Proverbs 15:31

The ear that heareth the reproof of life,.... That is given according to the word of life, in a warm, fervent, and lively manner, with zeal, and in good earnest; which reproves the life of another by his own, as well as by words; and which tends to the spiritual and eternal life of the person reproved; being taken, a man that diligently hearkens to, kindly and cordially receives, and cheerfully obeys such reproof given him, abideth among the wise; he not only chooseth to be among them, that he may have the advantage of their wise counsels and reproofs, but he becomes wise himself thereby, and attains to the character of a wise man, and is numbered among them; such a man abides in the house…

Read the whole note in the console

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 15:31

31 An ear which heareth the doctrine of life Keeps itself in the circle of the wise. As, Pro 6:33, תוכחות מוסר means instructions aiming at discipline, so here תּוכחת חיּים means instructions which have life as their end, i.e., as showing how one may attain unto true life; Hitzig's חכם, for חיים, is a fancy. Is now the meaning this, that the ear which willingly hears and receives such doctrine of life will come to dwell among the wise, i.e., that such an one (for אזן is synecdoche partis pro persona, as Job 29:11) will have his residence among wise men, as being one of them, inter eos sedem firmam habebit iisque annumerabitur (Fl.)? By such a rendering, one is surprised at the harshness of t…

The Church Fathers

The ear that hears the corrections of life, etc. The disciple who obediently listens to the corrections of teachers often progresses to the very seat of honor. Finally, Paul, who humbly submitted to the correction of his Creator, subsequently reached the seat of apostolic dignity.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ear, The · Should: Hear and obey reproof — Should: Hear and obey reproof
Reproof · Leads to: Wisdom — Leads to: Wisdom

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 15:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 15:31

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 15:31

John Gill on Proverbs 15:31

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 15:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 15:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 15:31

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 15:31

John Gill on Proverbs 15:31

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 15:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 15:30

Rashi on Proverbs 15:30