Proverbs 12:8

8 A man shall be known by his teaching; but he that is vain and heartless, shall be open to despising.

Proverbs 12:8 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 12:8

A man shall be commended according to his wisdom
Not according to his birth and pedigree; not according to his riches and wealth; not according to the places of honour and trust he may be in; but according to his wisdom, which he discovers in his words and actions, in his life and conversation: not according to the wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish; not according to the wisdom of the world, which comes to nought, either natural or civil; especially that which lies in sophistry and subtlety, in wicked craft and cunning, whereby men trick, overreach, and defraud one another; but according to that which is spiritual and evangelical; which lies in the knowledge of Christ, and of God in Christ, and of those things which belong to salvation; the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord, and which comes from above, and is pure and peaceable. A man possessed of this is commended by all wise and good men, and by the Lord himself; as the wise man is by Christ, ( Matthew 7:24 Matthew 7:25 ) ; who builds his house on a rock; for which reason it stands, as in the preceding verse; but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised;
and which appears by the perverse words he speaks against God and Christ; against his people, ways, and worship, as antichrist and his followers do; and by his perverse actions, which are contrary to the light of nature, to the law of God, and Gospel of Christ: and such vile persons are contemned in the eyes of all good men, and are had in abhorrence by the Lord himself; for such who despise him are lightly esteemed; see ( Proverbs 18:3 ) .

Proverbs 12:8 In-Context

6 The words of wicked men set treason to blood; the mouth of just men shall deliver them. (The words of the wicked set ambush for blood; the words of the righteous shall save them.)
7 (Over)Turn thou wicked men, and they shall not be; but the houses of just men shall dwell perfectly. (Overturn thou, or bring thou down, the wicked, and they shall not be; but the families of the righteous shall continue.)
8 A man shall be known by his teaching; but he that is vain and heartless, shall be open to despising.
9 Better is a poor man, and sufficient (un)to himself, than (to be) a (self-)glorious man, and needy of bread.
10 A just man knoweth the lives of his work beasts; but the entrails of wicked men be cruel. (A righteous person careth for the lives of his work beasts; but the hearts of the wicked be cruel.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.