Mishle 13:20

20 He that walketh with chachamim shall be wise, but a companion of kesilim (fools) shall come to harm.

Mishle 13:20 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 13:20

He that walketh with wise [men] shall be wise
Who is a companion of them that fear the Lord; converses frequently with them in private about spiritual and experimental things, and walks with them in public in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord; he by those means grows wiser and wiser, gains a large stock of spiritual knowledge and experience; for this holds good both in natural and spiritual wisdom, a man of any capacity at all will improve by keeping wise company; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed;
the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "shall become like them"; be a fool as they are, and grow still more and more foolish. The Septuagint version is, "shall be known"; known by the company he keeps to be a fool also: or rather, "shall be broken" F20; ruined and destroyed, "evil communications corrupt good manners", ( 1 Corinthians 15:33 ) , and so bring to ruin and destruction.


FOOTNOTES:

F20 (ewry) "conteretur", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Mercerus, Gejerus; "conquassabitur", Cocceius; "fragetur", Michaelis; "infringetur", Schultens, so Ben Melech.

Mishle 13:20 In-Context

18 Poverty and shame shall be to him that disdains musar, but he that is shomer over tokhakhat (reproof) shall be honored.
19 The ta’avah (desire, longing) fulfilled is sweet to the nefesh, but it is to’evat kesilim (the abomination of fools) to depart from rah.
20 He that walketh with chachamim shall be wise, but a companion of kesilim (fools) shall come to harm.
21 Ra’ah (disaster) pursueth chatta’im (sinners), but tov is the reward of the tzaddikim.
22 A tov (good man) leaveth an inheritance to his bnei banim, and the wealth of the choteh (sinner) is laid up for the tzaddik.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.