He that instructeth a scorner getteth to himself shame; and he that reproveth a wicked [man] [getteth] to himself a blot.
In this chapter Wisdom builds her house and calls out an open invitation. At verse 7 the tone turns from welcome to warning: what happens when you take the truth to someone who has already decided to sneer at it?
The verse does not describe an ordinary wrongdoer. One writer traces the scorner's contempt back to what he has made his centre.
A scorner is a bolder sinner against God and his own soul. He does not love to be reproved; "to the wise he will not go." Self is his aim and in practice his God, and folly is his life. That makes him a contemptuous refuser of all wisdom from above.
That refusal explains why correction rebounds on the one who offers it. The same writer first pictures a son who takes his father's correction to heart.
A wise son thankfully accepts what God has provided in the family, and pays attention to his father's correction — all the more when he is made to feel that folly is bound up in a child's heart, his own included. But what hope can there be of a scorner? Of one who cannot imagine himself to blame, and counts as an enemy the man who is faithful enough to tell him the truth?
The verse names two returns: abuse and injury. One commentator, quoting an older translation that reads "shame," takes both as coming from the person corrected, not from the act itself.
In contrast, we read, "He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself," that is, shame from the scoffer. In the same way, if I rebuke a wicked man, I will reap more harm than he does (v. 7). How much better to offer him the gospel of God's grace!
The warning comes at a deliberate point, just before Wisdom's rival appears. Holding back from the scorner is not weakness. It is wisdom handling its own enemies.
There is another woman. But before speaking of her, the Spirit teaches that instruction is wasted on the scorner. He will only hate the one who reproves him. Wisdom is wise even in dealing with its enemies.
Reproof only works if something in the person can answer it. Where nothing does, the fault lies in the hearer, not in the reproof. One writer sets the Lord's own words about holy things and dogs beside this verse.
So we are plainly warned against meddling with the scorner. To correct such people is useless; they are willing to load shame on you. "Let them alone," said the Lord to the disciples. You may only gain a blot by reproving a wicked person. They have a deeper need — to be born again. Where there is no life, hatred is the result. Reproving a scorner is no wiser than giving what is holy to the dogs, or casting pearls before the swine. The outcome may be that they trample the misdirected word under their feet, and turn and attack you.
Does that shut the door on saying anything to such people? One writer answers no. The Lord's words about dogs and pearls do not narrow the gospel:
This has nothing to do with the gospel. The gospel has to do with every creature, no matter how bad they are. God's grace goes out to the most unlikely and the most unworthy. But we must be careful about setting what belongs specially to the believer in front of people who are not saved.
Verse 7 shuts the door on reproof. It does not shut the door on the gospel.
Now the Christian has the gospel to press on the careless. But this is the good news of what God has done in Christ for him, wicked as he may be, to bring him to Himself. So everything fits together. Correction and reproof are for those who have an ear to hear, so that their walk matches what they profess. A fool never hears, though he is always ready to find fault. A wise man listens and weighs; when he recognizes what is of God, he will love you.
- Refusal. The scorner is not just mistaken. He is a "contemptuous refuser of all wisdom from above" — self is his aim, and he cannot imagine himself to blame.
- Recoil. Correct him and the abuse comes straight back from him. Rebuke the wicked man and you reap more harm than he does.
- Restraint. Holding back is itself wisdom, not cowardice: "wisdom is wise even in dealing with its enemies."
- Root. Reproof cannot fix what is wrong with him — "they have a deeper need: to be born again. Where there is no life, hatred is the result."
- Replacement. Give the scorner the gospel of God's grace; save correction and reproof for those who have an ear to hear.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee; reprove a wise [man], and he will love thee.
Proverbs 9 ends with Wisdom's table spread and her invitation going out. Then, before folly makes her rival call, comes this warning about who will listen and who will not. The verse divides all hearers into two kinds by a single test: what a person does with correction.
Being told not to correct a scoffer sounds unloving. Then you see what lies behind his reaction. Commentators trace his hatred back to something missing in him.
Then we are warned plainly against meddling with the scorner. Correcting such people is pointless; they will readily heap shame on you. Let them alone, said the Lord to the disciples. Reproving a wicked person may only leave you with a stain. They have a deeper need — to be born again. Where there is no life, hatred is the result. There is no more wisdom in reproving a scorner than in giving what is holy to the dogs, or in throwing pearls to pigs. The end may be that they trample the misdirected word underfoot, and turn and tear you.
A scoffer is not simply someone who slips up. He has already refused correction before it comes.
A scorner is a bolder sinner against God and his own soul. He does not like to be reproved; "he will not go to the wise." Self is his aim and in practice his God, and folly is his life. So he scornfully refuses all wisdom from above.
Elsewhere Kelly describes the same man:
He cannot imagine himself to be at fault. He treats anyone honest enough to tell him the truth as an enemy.
Holding back from a scoffer is itself an act of wisdom. Wisdom knows who she is speaking to.
The Spirit teaches that instruction is wasted on the scorner. He will only hate the one who reproves him. Wisdom is wise even in dealing with its enemies.
Saying nothing is not the whole answer. If reproof will only harden him, there is another word that can be given.
In contrast, we read, "He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself," that is, shame from the scoffer. Similarly, if I rebuke a wicked man, I will reap more harm than he does (v. 7). How much better to offer him the gospel of God's grace!
The two approaches are not in conflict. Correction assumes a person who already claims to walk with God; the good news assumes nothing at all.
Now the Christian has the gospel to press on those who take no notice. It is the good news of what God has done in Christ to bring him to Himself, wicked as he may be. So it all fits together. 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.
A wise man is not someone who never needs correction. He is someone who can hear God in it.
A wise man may not always follow the path of wisdom; he may need reproof. A fool is one who never hears, though he is always ready to find fault. A wise man listens and weighs; when he recognizes what is of God, he will love you.
The verse says nothing about tone. Grant adds that the spirit behind the reproof matters, and that the wise hearer can tell the difference.
Of course, the reproof should come from genuine love. If it does, a wise man will see it. Teach a wise man and he will grow wiser still, because such teaching adds to what he knows.
Behind the refusal to learn is a self-satisfaction that never suspects itself. It does not get the last word.
Egoism is necessarily unwise and evil, because man is sinful, and God is unknown and untrusted. It is self-satisfied and refuses to learn, having no distrust of its own dark, selfish, and sinful state. God despises no one, however lowly. But He hates the proud and will punish the scorner.
- Two hearers. One test — correction — sorts everyone: the scoffer hates the reprover, the wise man loves him.
- Two roots. The hatred comes from a deeper lack; where there is no life, hatred is the result, and the real need is to be born again.
- Two responses. Hold back reproof from the scoffer and offer him the gospel instead. Correction is for those who already have an ear to hear.
- Two conditions of the heart. Self-satisfaction refuses to learn. The wise man listens, weighs, and recognises what is of God.
- Two outcomes. Reproof in the wrong place brings shame and a stain. Reproof given in genuine love makes a wise man wiser. God Himself will punish the scorner.