Proverbs 13:20

20 Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

Proverbs 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.

Proverbs 13:20 In-Context

18 Refuse discipline and end up homeless; embrace correction and live an honored life.
19 Souls who follow their hearts thrive; fools bent on evil despise matters of soul.
20 Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
21 Disaster entraps sinners, but God-loyal people get a good life.
22 A good life gets passed on to the grandchildren; ill-gotten wealth ends up with good people.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.