Proverbs 14:8

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit. THE WISDOM OF THE PRUDENT (IS) TO UNDERSTAND HIS WAY - what he ought to do and how to behave: to do nothing rashly, but with return judgment; to understand what is incumbent on him by his calling (; ); not to be wise in other people's business and duties and yet a feel in one's own: to begin with one's self, what sins most beset one, what are our dangers, and how to meet them. BUT THE FOLLY OF FOOLS (IS) DECEIT. Their folly is their cunningly devised deceits which they pride themselves on as BUT THE FOLLY OF FOOLS (IS) DECEIT. Their folly is their cunningly devised deceits which they pride themselves on as master-strokes of wisdom. The wise m...

Verse Proverbs 14:8. IS _TO UNDERSTAND HIS WAY_] Instead of הבין _habin_, to _understand_, הכין hachin, to DIRECT his way, is found in one MS. It makes a very good sense....

The Hebrew counterpart to the Greek “Know thyself.” “The highest wisdom is for a person to understand his own way. The most extreme folly is self-deceit.” The word “deceit” may, however, involve fraud practiced upon others. The folly of fools shows itself then in their ceaseless effort to deceive....

EXPOSITION PROVERBS 14:1 EVERY WISE WOMAN BUILDETH HER HOUSE. Wise women order well their household matters and their families; they have an important influence, and exercise it beneficially. Γυναικὸς ἐσθλῆς ἐστὶ σώζειν οἰκίαν_._ "A good wife is the saving of a house." The versions render as above. A different pointing of the word translated "wise" (_chakhmoth_)_ _will give "wisdom" (_chokhmoth_)_, _which it seems best to read here, as the parallel to the abstract term "folly" in the second member. So we have, "Wisdom hath builded her house" (Proverbs 9:1; comp. Proverbs 1:20). Thus: "The wi

THE WISDOM OF THE PRUDENT [IS] TO UNDERSTAND HIS WAY,.... The way of his calling, in which he should abide, and how to manage it in the best manner; the way of his duty, that he may walk inoffensively both towards God and men; and the way of life and salvation, which is by Jesus Christ, which to understand and to walk in is the highest wisdom and prudence; BUT THE FOLLY OF FOOLS [IS] DECEIT: or "the wisdom of fools", which the opposition requires, and is meant, and is what the Holy Ghost calls "folly", as elsewhere, 1 Corinthians 3:19; this is itself "deceit"; it is science, falsely so called; it lies in tricking and deceiving; and the issue of it is, not only the deceiving of others, but themselves also: such is the folly of the man of sin and followers, which lies in deceiving the inhabitants of the earth with their sorceries and superstitions, with their lyi

CHAPTER 14 THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH: THE RICH AND THE POOR The contrast now concerns the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor. Let us see some of these contrasts. “In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise shall preserve them” Proverbs 14:3. The foolish shoots forth his foolishness like a branch. Separation from the foolish man is commanded in the seventh verse. The wise cannot have fellowship with the foolish, as the believer is not to be yoked to the unbeliever. Fools make a mock at sin Proverbs 14:9). The word “sin” in the original means “trespass offering.” That is exactly what the foolish man does, including the religious fool; he denies both sin and the blessed provision God has made to deliver from the guilt and power of sin. But among the righteous, says

PROVERBS 14. In this, as in each of the preceding Chapter s in this section, aphorisms on the moral government of the world come first in number. There are rather more in this chapter of a political and social character, while a group that might be called psychological appears for the first time (_e.g._ Proverbs 14:10; Proverbs 14:13, and in part Proverbs 14:30). The contrast between wisdom and folly, simplicity and prudence, also yields a fairly numerous group. PROVERBS 14:1. MT cannot be translated. Proverbs 14:1 a is p

WISDOM. Hebrew. _chokma._ See note on Proverbs 1:2. THE PRUDENT. a prudent one. See note on "subtil", Genesis 3:1. IS TO UNDERSTAND. Not to vainly speculate about it, or to pry into the ways of others. DECEIT. lying. Hebrew. _ramah._ See note on Proverbs 11:18....

_deceit_ It has been questioned whether this means _self_-deceit, as the parallel might seem to suggest, or deceiving others. But the design of the proverb is to shew that the two things are really one. Whereas the wisdom of the prudent consists in his understanding his own character and conduct, in its relation to God, to his neighbour and to himself, the folly of fools is that being self-deceived, they think they can deceive God and man to their own advantage. Comp. 2 Timothy 3:13....

THE WISDOM OF THE PRUDENT— Lord Bacon renders this verse thus: _A wise man is wary of his way; a cunning fool seeks evasion._ There be two sorts of wisdom, says he; the one true and sound, the other counterfeit and false; which last Solomon hesitates not to call folly. He who applies himself to the former takes heed to his own ways and footings; foreseeing dangers, studying remedies, using the assistance of good men, and fortifying himself against the wicked: wary how he enters upon a business, and not unprepared for a handsome retreat: attentive to advantages, courageous against impediments, with innumerable other things relating to the government of his own ways and actions. But that other kind is made up altogether of fallacies and cunning devices, and relies wholly upon the hopes of circumventing others, and framing them as it lists. This wisdom the parable rejects, not only as wicke...