Proverbs 24:7

Saying 23

7 Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.

Proverbs 24:7 in Other Translations

KJV
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.
ESV
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.
NLT
7 Wisdom is too lofty for fools. Among leaders at the city gate, they have nothing to say.
MSG
7 Wise conversation is way over the head of fools; in a serious discussion they haven't a clue.
CSB
7 Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool; he does not open his mouth at the gate.

Proverbs 24:7 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 24:7

Wisdom [is] too high for a fool
It is out of his reach, he cannot attain it; natural wisdom, or the knowledge of many things in nature; at least it seems so to himself, and therefore will not take any pains, or make use of any means, to obtain it; as the knowledge of human laws; of medicine, of philosophy, of languages, or of any of the liberal arts and sciences; or he has not really a capacity for it. This is more especially true of spiritual wisdom, or of the knowledge of divine things in a spiritual way; or of the things Of the Spirit of God, which a natural man cannot know, because they are spiritually discerned; it is God only makes men to know this kind of wisdom in the hidden part, ( 1 Corinthians 2:14 ) ( Psalms 51:6 ) ; for as a "fool" here denotes a wicked man, let his natural parts be what they will; so wisdom spiritual knowledge, and experience of divine things, which is too high for an unregenerate man to reach; see a like phrase in ( Psalms 139:6 ) ; he openeth not his mouth in the gate;
he is not qualified far it; and if he has any knowledge of himself, he will not venture to speak in a public assembly, in the house of parliament, in a court of judicature, or in the company of men of knowledge and sense; and indeed it is his highest wisdom to keep silence, and not betray his ignorance: and so with regard to spiritual things; a man that wisdom is too high for, and he has no share of it, shall not or ought not to open his mouth where Wisdom cries; even in the gates of the cities, or in the public assemblies of the saints, ( Proverbs 1:21 ) ( 8:3 ) .

Proverbs 24:7 In-Context

5 The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength.
6 Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.
7 Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.
8 Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer.
9 The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker.
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