The ear that heareth the reproof of life shall abide among the wise.
Wisdom here is not about what a person says. It is about what he is willing to hear — and what he must hear is a correction. Two questions follow. Why does the verse call a rebuke life-giving? And why does listening to one settle a person among the wise?
One writer says the ear must accept one lesson before it can take in any other.
The ear is truly circumcised when it accepts the lesson God gives. "The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise" (Prov. 15:31). So the ear becomes truly beautiful and able to hear everything else rightly when it has first heard the condemnation on man himself. Once he accepts that condemnation, it always brings him to the never-failing blessing God has for him.
The reproof is called life-giving for this reason: the word that condemns a man is the word that brings him to blessing.
Hearing is not passive. The verse describes love for correction, and there is no neutral middle option.
Very great is the blessing to the love that welcomes, instead of disdaining, the reproof of life; it ensures abiding among the wise. Otherwise it is an easy thing to turn, and turn again, to folly.
Reproof is painful to receive. Refusing it costs far more.
Refusing instruction brings great danger and great sin. But the one who hears it, even in the painful form of reproof, gains sense — and that is surely better than silver and gold.
Being wise does not put anyone past the need for correction. Taking it to heart leads on to the fear of the Lord, and to the humility that comes before honour.
We all need rebukes, even if we are wise. In fact, in being wise we shall listen to rebukes and let them correct us, and abide in the company of those who are wise (v. 31)... By taking rebuke to heart one also gains understanding (v. 32). This understanding will strengthen his fear of the Lord, which is indeed the instruction of wisdom (v. 33)... Only as we take the place of humble dependence on the Lord — the place of true humility — can we expect to find honour.
Earlier in the same chapter stands the opposite figure. He does not just lack knowledge. He avoids anyone who might correct him.
A scorner is a bolder sinner against God and his own soul. He has no love for reproof; "he will not go to the wise." Self is his aim, and in practice his God. Folly is his life, and so he scornfully refuses all wisdom from above.
To "dwell among the wise" is about company, not just character. Another proverb about walking with wise men shows that the friends we choose both reveal the heart and shape it.
As the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, so the heart values the company and counsel of the wise; and walking with them supplies good lessons. But a companion of fools shows all too clearly where his heart is. He cannot avoid being corrupted by their evil talk, and unless someone rescues him he will be destroyed.
A readiness to be corrected is rare. No one works it up in himself.
The refusal of instruction stands in contrast with the readiness to take reproof to heart — a rare and precious trait in anyone... But what honour falls to the wise and lowly mind that welcomes and weighs reproof! Grace alone can make it real.
- Hear — The ear is set right when it first accepts God's verdict on the hearer. That acceptance opens the way to His never-failing blessing.
- Welcome — Love welcomes reproof instead of looking down on it. Refuse it, and turning back to folly is easy.
- Gain — Reproof in its painful form gives good sense, worth more than silver and gold. Refusing instruction is both a danger and a sin.
- Dwell — A listening ear wins company. The heart that values wise counsel walks with the wise; the friend of fools is corrupted and destroyed.
- Receive — This readiness is rare, and grace alone makes it real. It grows into the fear of the Lord, and humility comes before honour.
He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul; but he that heareth reproof getteth sense.
Correction stings, and this verse says your answer to it decides which side you land on: one man waves it off and works against himself, the other listens and walks away richer. So what does a person gain by hearing that he is wrong, and what does he lose by refusing?
The proverb sets a danger against a profit. One writer weighs what the listener walks away with:
The danger and the sin of refusing instruction are great. But the one who hears it, even in the painful form of reproof, gains heart, which is surely better than silver and gold.
Reproof is not softened here. It is instruction in its painful form, and the gain is inward: the heart and sense the verse calls intelligence.
The first half of the verse turns the damage back on the man himself. Older wording reads "despises his own soul." He is not only rejecting the person who corrected him. He is going against the sense inside him that said the same thing.
But the one who despises instruction despises his own soul, because even our own soul advises us to be careful and to think clearly. Taking a rebuke to heart also brings understanding (v. 32). That understanding will strengthen his fear of the Lord, which is the instruction of wisdom (v. 33), and also "the beginning of wisdom." Only by taking the place of humble dependence on the Lord — the place of true humility — can we expect to find honor.
Pride is what makes a person refuse. And even a believer still needs the soul discipline that reproof brings.
Our original uprightness was lost in the fall. So even where grace has given a new nature, the soul still needs discipline. That discipline is a blessing where there is genuine humility that values knowledge from above. Pride and vanity both look down on reproof, and so they go from bad to worse. Those who will not admit their faults, or accept honest correction, sink below what it means to be human.
The "wise" man in Proverbs is not the man who never needs correcting. The dividing line is what he does when correction arrives.
Correction and reproof are for those who have an ear to hear, so that they do not live in a way that contradicts what they claim. That is why we are told here, "Reprove a wise man, and he will love you." A wise man may not always follow the path of wisdom; he may need reproof. A fool is one who never listens, though he is always ready to find fault. A wise man listens and weighs what he hears. When he sees that it is from God, he will love you.
The one who corrects has a duty too. He must speak in genuine love, and a wise person will recognise it:
Of course, the reproof should be given in genuine love. If it is, a wise man will see this. Instruction given to a wise man will make him wiser still, because such teaching adds to what he knows.
One writer traces this pattern through the life of Saul, Israel's first king, and finds it is not rare.
It shows us the way of man, the way of a child of this world. He goes on in self-will, with a desperate set purpose, to take the world as his portion at any cost. This is no theory, and it is no rare case. We meet the same thing in our world every day, and we would meet it in ourselves too, if God did not graciously keep us… "He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing" (Prov. 29:1).
A willing ear is not something a person produces on his own.
Poverty and shame belong to the person who has no ear for the instruction that enriches everyone and that everyone needs. But what honour comes to the wise and lowly mind that welcomes reproof and weighs it! Grace alone can make it real.
- Refuse — and you lose. Turning instruction away is not independence. The man despises his own soul and silences the sense inside him that urged care.
- Refuse — because of pride. Pride and vanity look down on reproof, so they go from bad to worse. Those who will not admit their faults sink below what it means to be human.
- Refuse repeatedly — and it ends badly. Saul carried self-will to the end. A man often reproved, who stiffens his neck, is suddenly broken beyond healing.
- Hear — and you gain. The one who listens, even when instruction comes in its painful form, gains heart and sense — worth more than silver and gold.
- Hear — and grace makes it possible. The lowly mind that welcomes and weighs reproof is not self-made. Grace alone makes it real, and humble dependence comes before honour.