Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 15:14
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
14. seeketh feedeth on ] The one delights in the active pursuit of knowledge, which ever creates in those who find it a craving for more; the other lies down like a satiated animal, and feeds and ruminates on the folly, which quenches all high desire.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Their hearts are set upon wickedness, which is meat and drink to them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. (Compare Pro 10:21;Pro 10:22). The wise grow wiser,the fools more foolish (Pr 9:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge,…. He that has in his heart an understanding of divine and spiritual things, of the Gospel and of the truths of it, will seek earnestly and diligently in the use of proper means after more knowledge; as he will desire to know more of Christ, his person, offices, and grace, he will follow on to know him, and not be content with the present degree of knowledge he has attained unto; he will hear and read the word, and pray and meditate, in order to come to a more perfect knowledge of the son of God, and of those things which relate to his spiritual peace and eternal welfare;
but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness; on foolish talking and jesting; on foolish and unlearned questions; on foolish and false doctrines; on foolish and hurtful lusts; on wind and ashes, a deceived heart having turned them aside: they take pleasure and satisfaction in those things; feed their fancy with them and feast upon them, which shows what fools they are; and such all unregenerate men be.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
14 The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
Here are two things to be wondered at:– 1. A wise man not satisfied with his wisdom, but still seeking the increase of it; the more he has the more he would have: The heart of him that has understanding, rejoices so in the knowledge it has attained to that it is still coveting more, and in the use of the means of knowledge is still labouring for more, growing in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ. Si dixisti, Sufficit, periisti–If you say, I have enough, you are undone. 2. A fool well satisfied with his folly and not seeking the cure of it. While a good man hungers after the solid satisfactions of grace, a carnal mind feasts on the gratifications of appetite and fancy. Vain mirth and sensual pleasures are its delight, and with these it can rest contented, flattering itself in these foolish ways.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Wise Seeker or Satisfied Fool
Verse 14 suggests that the wise recognize the value of knowledge and make an effort to acquire it; but fools are content to feed their minds on foolishness, Pro 18:15; Pro 12:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. Seeketh knowledge As a hungry man does food. Feedeth on (or relishes) foolishness Only frivolous, vain, and unprofitable discourse. Zockler renders, from the various readings, “face of fools feedeth.” etc.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Man Of Understanding Overcomes Adverse Circumstances And Enjoys A Life Of Pleasantness Whilst The Fool Continually Experiences Trouble ( Pro 15:14-21 ).
This subsection is in an inclusio concerning understanding and folly (Pro 15:14; Pro 15:21). The understanding seeks knowledge (Pro 15:14) and makes straight his going (Pro 15:21), the fool feeds on folly (Pro 15:14), and enjoys it because he lacks wisdom (Pro 15:21). Indeed his folly is the only enjoyment the fool gets for he is afflicted and experiences evil days (Pro 15:15); he experiences trouble (Pro 15:16); he experiences hatred (Pro 15:17); he experiences contention (Pro 15:18); his way is strewn with thorn bushes (Pro 15:19); and he has family problems (Pro 15:20).
In contrast the understanding have a cheerful heart (Pro 15:15); fear YHWH (Pro 15:16); experience love (Pro 15:17); avoid strife (Pro 15:18); walk a smooth path (Pro 15:19); and enjoy a happy family life (Pro 15:20).
Note how the first four verses in the subsection all have to do with eating, either directly or indirectly. Thus the mouth of the fool feeds on folly (Pro 15:14); the cheerful heart has a continual feast (Pro 15:15); it is better to have a little with the fear of YHWH (Pro 15:16); and a dinner of vegetables with love is better than a fatted calf with hatred (Pro 15:16), with three of them indicating that the understanding can triumph over their physical circumstances (Pro 15:15-17). The next three verses then indicate that the righteous can, as a consequence of righteousness, have a life of pleasantness, one that is void of strife (Pro 15:18); is like walking on a highway (Pro 15:19); and enjoys glad parenthood (Pro 15:20). All this is the difference that having understanding makes.
The subsection can be presented chiastically:
A The heart of him who has UNDERSTANDING seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on FOLLY (Pro 15:14).
B All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a CHEERFUL heart has a continual feast (Pro 15:15).
C Better is little, with the fear of YHWH, than great treasure and trouble with it (Pro 15:16).
D Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred with it (Pro 15:17).
D A wrathful man stirs up contention, but he who is slow to anger appeases strife (Pro 15:18).
C The way of the sluggard is as a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is made a highway (Pro 15:19).
B A wise son makes a GLAD father, but a foolish man despises his mother (Pro 15:20).
A FOLLY is joy to him who is void of wisdom, but a man of UNDERSTANDING makes straight his going (Pro 15:21).
Note that in A the heart of the one who has understanding seeks knowledge, and the fool feeds on folly, and in the parallel the man of understanding makes straight his going (as one who seeks knowledge), whilst the unwise love folly. In B the ‘man of cheerful heart’ is parallel with ‘the glad father’. In C the unrighteous experience trouble, and in the parallel the sluggard meets up with thorns. Centrally in D love and hatred in the first proverb are paralleled by being slow to anger and being contentious in the second proverb.
Pro 15:14
‘The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
But the mouth of fools grazes (feeds) on folly.’
In Pro 15:11 the ‘hearts’ of men were known to YHWH, and in Pro 15:13-14 something about those ‘hearts’ is revealed (note the repetition of ‘heart’). Here now we have a further revelation concerning the heart of man thus connecting this subsection with the last. Here it is the heart of one who has understanding, one who is wise (wisdom and understanding were regularly paralleled in the Prologue). And such a heart seeks the true knowledge of God. The truly wise man will want to know God and His ways, for nothing is more important to a person than this. ‘A man of understanding makes straight his going’ (Pro 15:21), that is, walks uprightly in God’s ways, because he has come to a knowledge of God.
In contrast is the fool. The mouth of fools grazes on folly. (The verb is the usual one for grazing sheep). For folly is all that the fool has to talk about. He excludes God from his so-called ‘wisdom’. It may be deep wisdom in the eyes of the world, but it is folly in God’s eyes and with regard to God’s ways. As the parallel passage tells us, the thing that is a joy to those who lack wisdom is folly (Pro 15:21). Note the contrast between ‘seeking’, a verb which indicates effort and determination, and ‘grazing’, a verb which indicates a passive response to a situation. The fool grazes on folly because he cannot raise the effort to seek something outside of it.
Pro 15:15
‘All the days of the afflicted are evil,
But he who is of a cheerful heart has a continual feast.’
It should be noted that the contrast here is not between the afflicted and the unafflicted, but between those who are permanently (all the days) afflicted in spirit and those who are continually cheerful of heart. This must be so because someone who is temporarily afflicted can also be cheerful of heart. The point is that how we view life can make a great difference to our enjoyment of it. Temporary afflictions may weigh us down, but those whose hearts are set on God eventually rise above them. Their trust is in Him.
Take, for example, Paul’s words in Php 4:11, ‘I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content’. He was saying that even when he was physically afflicted, his heart was content. Thus the afflicted here are not the physically afflicted but the emotionally afflicted. They are those who are not cheerful of heart. They are those who are not rejoicing in YHWH. We can contrast them with Habakkuk in Hab 3:17-18, where after indicating a total lack in this world’s goods he declared, ‘yet will I rejoice in YHWH, I will joy in the God of my salvation. YHWH the Lord is my strength, and He makes my feet like hind’s feet, and will make me walk on my high places.’ Even though he was physically afflicted he had a cheerful heart. So this proverb parallels that in Pro 15:13, ‘A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken,’ which indicates that in the long term the set of our heart determines our enjoyment of life (we all experience sorrows in the short term).
The proverb is thus saying that those who allow themselves to be continually weighed down by the cares of this world will find that they continually have bad days, whilst those who are of a cheerful heart, because they trust in God and in Christ, will find that life is a continual celebratory feast. (Compare 2Co 4:8; 2Co 6:9-10). A similar thought is contained in the next two proverbs, which are linked with this one by the use of ‘tob’ (‘good’, therefore, in context ‘cheerful/better’).
Pro 15:16
‘Better is little, with the fear of YHWH,
Than great treasure and trouble with it.’
The emphasis here is on the fact that our enjoyment of life is not dependent on our circumstances. It is better to have little along with reverently fearing YHWH (and thus on the whole avoiding worry and trouble), than to have great treasure which brings worry and trouble with it. The point is that riches are not everything, but that fearing YHWH is. Compare Heb 10:34. Indeed people who get rich quickly have often discovered that it brings trouble with it.
Pro 15:17
‘Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is,
Than a fatted bullock and hatred with it.’
The thought of Pro 15:16 is continued using another example. It is better to have a poor man’s dinner, and be in a house where love is prevalent, than to enjoy a rich man’s dinner, and be subjected to hatred. The ‘dinner of herbs’ would for many families be the norm. It is not indicating poverty. Relatively few could afford a fatted bullock. Their few animals were work animals. The emphasis is rather on how much better it is to live in a loving environment, than in one where hatred is prevalent. Solomon’s point is that being wealthy and enjoying luxuries does not make up for that.
Pro 15:18
‘A wrathful man stirs up contention,
But he who is slow to anger appeases strife.’
In this proverb the love and hatred of the previous proverb is illustrated. The household where contention is prevalent is compared with the peaceful household. The bad-tempered or quick-tempered man stirs up contention, ‘sowing discord among brothers’ (Pro 6:19). He is thus like the worthless man. In contrast the one who can control his temper (the man of understanding) sows peace. He calms down stressful situations. He prevents strife from getting out of hand. He is a wise man.
This is not, of course, limited to households. It is true in life. The bad-tempered man (and therefore foolish man) arouses bad feelings wherever he goes, the self-controlled man (and therefore wise man) constantly calms down bad feelings. It thus applies in every walk of life.
Pro 15:19
‘The way of the sluggard is as a hedge of thorns,
But the path of the upright is made a highway.’
This proverb may well have in mind the work environment of the two contrasting people. In those days land was divided into strips of arable land, each often having differing ownership, with pathways in between on which to walk so as not to tread down the grain. The thorns which grew on the sluggard’s land unchecked would soon spread to his pathways. The pathway of the upright man, the hard worker, would be constantly trodden and would therefore be like a highway.
Solomon then sees this as depicting the general direction of their lives. The sluggard will constantly come up against thorn bushes, whether literal or metaphorical, because he makes no effort to ensure a smooth life, and no one else will bother to help him. It is one of the consequences of being a sluggard. The upright man, who does all that he can to ensure that life runs smoothly, and has many friends who will help him, will find his way ahead like a prepared highway. Where necessary he or his helpful and loving friends will arrange for the lowering of the mountains and the raising of the valleys well in time so as to ensure a level path (compare Isa 40:4; Isa 57:14).
That the contrast is between the sluggard and the upright (rather than the hard worker) brings out that there is some dishonesty in being a sluggard. He robs society of the contribution that he should make towards it, and sponges on those who work hard.
Pro 15:20
‘A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish man despises his mother.’
The cheerful heart which has a continual feast (Pro 15:15), has prepared the way for this proverb. Here the thought is of a wise son and a glad father. And the father is glad because his son has not turned out to be a fool. His son has heeded reproof and has sought wisdom, and this has maintained harmony in the household (contrast Pro 15:16-18) and contributes to the family wellbeing.
In contrast is the foolish man who despises his mother. Note the description ‘man’ instead of ‘son’. He has no filial loyalty and is therefore excluded from the family. He refuses to listen to her instruction in the Torah (Pro 1:8 b). He rejects her call to wisdom. It goes without saying that he is a grief to his mother (Pro 10:1 b) and that he causes trouble, and stirs up contention in the household (Pro 15:16; Pro 15:18). He walks the way of all those in the Prologue who reject wisdom (Pro 1:11-19; Pro 1:24-31; Pro 2:12-22; etc.).
Pro 15:21
‘Folly is joy to him who is void of wisdom,
But a man of understanding makes straight his going.’
This verse forms an inclusio with Pro 15:14. There the man who had understanding sought the knowledge of God, here as a consequence he makes straight his going. He takes the straight path and walks in it. But in contrast is the one who is void of wisdom. Folly is his joy. Even what he says leads on to folly (Pro 15:14).
Note the contrast between the fools joy in folly and the cheerful heart (Pro 15:15) of the righteous. Together with the glad father (Pro 15:20) the latter found joy in wisdom and understanding. But the fool’s joy is to be void of wisdom, something which will result in evil days (Pro 15:15); trouble (Pro 15:16); experience of hatred (Pro 15:17); contention (Pro 15:18); a way through thorn bushes (Pro 15:19); and broken family relationships (Pro 15:20).
Pro 15:20-21 may be seen as closing the first part of Solomon’s proverbs in an apt way, the first part (Pro 15:20) forming an inclusio with Pro 10:1.
‘A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish man despises his mother,
Folly is joy to him who is void of wisdom,
But a man of understanding makes straight his going.’
Note the chiastic ‘wise son — foolish man — folly — man of understanding.’ A wise son makes a glad father because as a man of understanding his direction of life is straight, whilst a foolish man despises his mother by enjoying folly, and being void of the wisdom which she has striven to teach him. This sums up much of the previous teaching, and brings out the importance of heeding the wise instruction of father and mother.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
v. 14. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
Better is it to sit down to the poorest table where Jesus is, and his love manifested in blessing the scanty fare, than all the luxuries of unsanctified fulness. Reader! if we eye Christ in everything, then shall we truly enjoy Christ in everything.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 15:14 The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
Ver. 14. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge. ] As a hungry man seeks meat, or a covetous man gold, the more he hath, the more he desires. Moses was no sooner off the mount where he had seen God face to face, but he cries, “Lord, shew me thy glory.” David, that knew more than his teachers, cries ever and anon, “Teach me thy statutes.” Job prefers knowledge before his necessary food. Pro 23:12 Chrysippus was so studious that he would not take time to eat his food, but had perished with hunger if his maid Melissa had not put food into his mouth. John ate the book that the angel gave him. Rev 10:9 Jacobus de Voragine and Petrus Comestor had their names from devouring the Bible. Let fools feed on foolishness, as swine do on swill, as flies do on blotches, as carrion kites do on stinking carcases, as Tartars do on dead camels, asses, dogs, cats, &c. The wise man finds no such sweetness in the most delicate and dainty dishes, as in the search after divine knowledge. Psa 119:103 Even Aristotle saith that a little knowledge, though conjectural, about heavenly things, is to be preferred above knowledge, though certain, about earthly things. And Agur saith, it is to “ascend into heaven.” Pro 30:4
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
understanding. Hebrew. binah (Pro 1:2). Same word as in Pro 15:21, but not in Pro 15:32.
seeketh knowledge. Illustrations: Solomon (1Ki 3:5-10. 1Ki 19:8); Queen of Sheba (1Ki 10. Mat 12:42); Mary (Luk 10:39); Nicodemus (Joh 3:1, Joh 3:2); the Ethiopian (Act 8:28); the Bereans (Act 17:11).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 15:14
Pro 15:14
“The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge; But the mouth of fools feedeth on folly.”
The wise man is always diligent in the acquisition of more knowledge; but the fool (the wicked man) enjoys hearing and believing all kinds of nonsense. Of this class are those who read the papers for their astrological prognostications.
Pro 15:14. The person who has knowledge wants more, and he gets it. Solomon desired wisdom that he might rule Gods great people and follow his famous father upon the throne of Israel (1Ki 3:5-9). Note the vastness of his growing wisdom and understanding (1Ki 4:29-34). Pulpit Commentary: The wise man…is always seeking to learn more…The fool is always gaping and devouring every silly, or slanderous, or wicked word that comes in his way, and in his turn utters and disseminates it.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
heart: Pro 1:5, Pro 9:9, 1Ki 3:6-12, Psa 119:97, Psa 119:100, Act 17:11, 2Pe 3:18
the mouth: Pro 12:23, Isa 30:10, Isa 44:20, Hos 12:1
Reciprocal: Pro 8:9 – General Pro 15:32 – getteth understanding Pro 17:24 – before Pro 18:15 – General Pro 19:28 – the Pro 21:11 – when the wise Eze 13:3 – foolish