Drift Bible

Proverbs Chapter 9

Proverbs 9:9

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Proverbs 9:9

תֵּ֣ן לְ֭חָכָם וְיֶחְכַּם־ע֑וֹד הוֹדַ֥ע לְ֝צַדִּ֗יק וְי֣וֹסֶף לֶֽקַח׃

tēn ləḥākām wəyeḥkam-ʿôd; hôdaʿ ləṣaddîq wəyôsep leqaḥ.

Give to-a-wise-one, and-he-will-grow-wise still; make-known to-a-righteous-one, and-he-will-add learning.

What it meant

Give something to a wise person, whether a correction, a lesson or just an opening, and he will grow wiser still. Let a righteous person in on what you know, and he will add it to the teaching he has already taken in.

The verse continues verse 8 ("rebuke a wise man, and he will love you"), and the Hebrew does not even say what you give. It barely matters. Hand the wise person anything, even a rebuke that would make a mocker hate you, and he turns it into more wisdom. The first line repeats one root on purpose: give to the wise, and he gets wise. The little word "still" (or "yet more") pictures wisdom that keeps growing, never a finished thing. In the second line, "make known" means let him in on it. "Righteous" means a person who does right by God and neighbour, the same person as "the wise" seen from the moral side. "Learning" translates a word that comes from "to take": teaching that has been received. The verse closes with almost the same words as the book's opening invitation (1:5, "let the wise hear and increase in learning"), and so ties the first section of Proverbs into a loop. The mark of the wise, good person is not that he already knows. It is that he can still receive.

Where the English drifted

  • righteous ṣaddîq

    What we hear
    Pious and religious, or morally superior and self-righteous, or (in theology) having a legal status of being declared right before God.
    What they heard
    A person whose actual conduct is right: honest, fair and loyal toward God and neighbour within the community. In Proverbs this is the moral side of being wise.

    Where the later meaning came from: Everyday English, where "righteous" has narrowed toward religiosity and smugness, plus later theological debates about how people are justified, which give the word a legal sense it doesn't have in this proverb.

  • learning leqaḥ

    What we hear
    Academic study, education, book knowledge.
    What they heard
    Teaching that has been received, passed on mostly by speech from parent or teacher to student. The word comes from "to take."

    Where the later meaning came from: The modern association of "learning" with schools and scholarship.

What the first hearers heard

To its first hearers, young men being trained in households or among scribes and officials, the verse was both a diagnosis and an encouragement. The diagnosis: what separates people is not how much they know but how they respond to correction. A mocker hears a rebuke as an attack. A wise person hears it as a gift. The encouragement: anyone who keeps receiving keeps growing, and a teacher's effort is never wasted on such a person.

It also set out how the teacher should behave. Pour your effort into those who can take it in (v. 9) and don't waste it arguing with mockers (vv. 7–8). Because the verse echoes 1:5, a hearer who had followed the instruction from the start would notice that the book's opening goal ("let the wise hear and increase in learning") was being restated just before the closing line about the fear of the LORD (9:10). Wisdom here is something you take in, not something you own. It is formed in a relationship of being taught, and that relationship rests on reverence for God.

Later Jewish and Christian readers recognised a similar pattern in the saying "to whoever has, more will be given" (Matt 13:12; 25:29). That is a shared idea, not a quotation, and Jesus applies it to responding to the kingdom of God rather than to wisdom teaching.

Every word
  1. תֵּ֣ן

    tēn · H5414

    give

    A command addressed to one person: "give!" The Hebrew never says what is to be given. The reader fills it in from verse 8, which is about rebuking, so it means correction, instruction, or (in the Greek translation) a chance to learn. Leaving the object out puts the focus on the person receiving, not on the gift.

  2. לְ֭חָכָם

    ləḥākām · H2450

    wise (person)

    "To a wise one." This is the same "wise man" as in verse 8, the one who loves you for rebuking him. In Proverbs a wise person is skilled at living well, and above all he is willing to be taught.

  3. וְיֶחְכַּם־

    wəyeḥkam · H2449

    be/become wise

    "And he will become wise." The verb comes from the same root as the noun just before it, so the line repeats itself on purpose: give to the wise and he gets wise. Coming after a command, the "and" marks what follows as the result: "so that he becomes wiser."

  4. ע֑וֹד

    ʿôd · H5750

    still, yet, again, more

    "Still" or "yet more." One word turns the line into a picture of wisdom that keeps growing: he is already wise and will be wiser still.

  5. הוֹדַ֥ע

    hôdaʿ · H3045

    make known, cause to know

    A command form of "know" that means "cause to know": inform, teach, let him in on it. It matches "give" in the first line but is more specific about what is given: knowledge.

  6. לְ֝צַדִּ֗יק

    ləṣaddîq · H6662

    righteous, just (person)

    "To a righteous one." This person stands in the same slot as "the wise" in the first line. In Proverbs the two are the same kind of person seen from two sides: skilled at living, and faithful to what is right toward God and neighbour.

  7. וְי֣וֹסֶף

    wəyôsep · H3254

    add, increase, do again

    "And he will add," again a result: "so that he adds to." The picture is one of accumulation, with new teaching piled onto what he already has. It echoes Proverbs 1:5 word for word.

  8. לֶֽקַח׃

    leqaḥ · H3948

    teaching, learning, instruction

    Comes from the verb "to take," so it means what is taken in: teaching that is passed on and received. Here it is what the righteous person gains, his store of learning or his grasp of the teaching.

Key words, in depth

חָכָם ḥākām H2450

Range of meaning

Skilled, expert, competent. It covers craftsmen (Exod 28:3; 35:25; Isa 40:20), counsellors and royal advisers (Gen 41:8; 2 Sam 14:2), and in Proverbs the person who has mastered the art of living well before God and among people. The verb חָכַם means "be or become wise." In Proverbs the mark of the wise person is that he can still be taught (1:5; 12:15; 13:1; 15:31).

Against the English

Modern English "wise" can suggest someone who is finished: a sage with nothing left to learn, or simply a clever or educated person. In Proverbs the wise person is still learning, and his wisdom is practical skill with a moral and religious root (9:10), not intelligence or schooling.

How it drifted

Mild drift. English "wise" has moved toward intelligence and calm detachment, while the Hebrew word has kept the sense of skill learned under a master.

Used elsewhere in the period

Egyptian teachings that are close relatives of Proverbs (Ptahhotep, Amenemope) praise the "silent," teachable listener and set him against the hot-headed man who won't listen. Ptahhotep warns that no craftsman ever reaches full mastery, and that is the same idea as "wiser still." The Greek Septuagint uses σοφός throughout.

What it does in this verse

The verse makes the root say the same thing twice: give to the wise, and he becomes wise. Its point is that wisdom shows itself as the ability to keep taking in more. The wise person is wise because he does not treat his wisdom as finished.

צַדִּיק ṣaddîq H6662

Range of meaning

Someone who acts rightly within the relationships and order set up by God: honest in court and in trade, faithful to neighbour and community, loyal to God. In law it can also mean "in the right, innocent" (Deut 25:1). In Proverbs it is the steady opposite of the "wicked" (רָשָׁע) and lines up closely with "the wise."

Against the English

KJV says "just," while BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV and NLT say "righteous." Modern readers often hear "righteous" as churchy, morally superior or self-righteous, or as the later theological idea of a legal status before God. The Hebrew word describes a person's actual conduct and character: someone who does right by others.

How it drifted

In everyday English "righteous" has narrowed to religious piety or smug moralism, and in theology it often carries ideas of legal standing taken from much later debates about how people are made right with God.

Used elsewhere in the period

Very common in Proverbs (over 60 times), especially in the paired sayings of chapters 10–15, where the righteous person's speech, path and hope are set against the wicked person's. In the Septuagint it is δίκαιος.

What it does in this verse

By setting "righteous" alongside "wise," the verse shows that in Proverbs, being teachable is a moral quality and not only a mental one. The person who lives rightly is also the person who can take correction. The mocker of verses 7–8 fails on both counts.

לֶקַח leqaḥ H3948

Range of meaning

From לָקַח, "to take." It means "what is received": teaching, instruction, learning, and also the persuasive power of speech. Deut 32:2 "my teaching"; Prov 4:2 "good teaching"; Prov 1:5 and 9:9 "increase in learning"; Prov 7:21 "persuasive speech" (the seductress's "much leqaḥ"); Prov 16:21, 23 "persuasiveness."

Against the English

English "learning" (KJV, BSB, WEB) can suggest academic study or book knowledge. The Hebrew word points to teaching passed on by speech and received from a teacher, a body of instruction taken in.

How it drifted

In modern use "learning" leans toward schooling and scholarship. Proverbs pictures instruction passed on by word of mouth from parent or teacher to student.

Used elsewhere in the period

HALOT and BDB both note how the word is formed from "to take" and how it shades from "teaching" into "persuasiveness." In the Septuagint, Prov 1:5 has "will be wiser," while 9:9 reads "will add to receive" (προσθήσει τοῦ δέχεσθαι), which keeps the idea of receiving that comes from "take."

What it does in this verse

The verse ends with almost the same words as Prov 1:5 ("let the wise hear and add learning"). That ties the end of the book's opening section back to its beginning. The righteous person "adds" to what he has received, so his store of teaching keeps growing.

תֵּן tēn H5414

Range of meaning

"Give, put, set, allow." It is one of the most common and flexible verbs in Hebrew.

Against the English

Most English versions supply an object: "Give instruction" (KJV marks "instruction" in italics as added; ESV and NASB print it plainly) or turn the verb into "Instruct" (BSB, WEB, NIV, NLT). YLT keeps the bare "Give to the wise."

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint supplies ἀφορμήν, "an opportunity, a starting point": "give the wise an opportunity, and he will be wiser." The Latin Vulgate follows with "occasionem."

What it does in this verse

Because the object is left out, whatever you give a wise person (a rebuke, as in verse 8, or instruction, or even just an opening) makes him wiser. The gift is not what matters. What matters is the person who receives it.

The world behind it

Proverbs 1–9 is written as instruction from a father, or a teacher speaking as one, to a son or student, the way wisdom was passed on in Israelite households and in the circles that trained scribes and royal officials. Egyptian teachings of the same kind (Ptahhotep, Amenemope) share its main concern: who is worth teaching? Those texts praise the quiet, attentive listener and give up on the hot-headed man.

Verses 7–12 come between two matching scenes. In 9:1–6 Lady Wisdom invites the "simple" (the naïve, still unformed) to her banquet, and in 9:13–18 Lady Folly sends out a rival invitation. These middle sayings work like a teacher's note on who will actually respond. The mocker (לֵץ, lets) is the person who has decided he needs no correction, and rebuking him earns you insult and hatred (vv. 7–8). The wise and righteous person welcomes correction and grows from it (vv. 8–9). Verse 10 then names where all of this starts: "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." That line echoes 1:7 and closes the frame around chapters 1–9.

How the translations handle it
  • BSB Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
  • KJV Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and he will be yet wiser: teach a just [man], and he will increase in learning.
  • WEB Instruct a wise person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning.
  • YLT Give to the wise, and he is wiser still, Make known to the righteous, And he increaseth learning.

BSB“Instruct a wise man… teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.”

Gets right
Clear, natural English. "Wiser still" keeps the sense of continuing growth.
Loses
"Instruct" settles which kind of giving is meant and so loses the open-ended "give" that links back to the rebuke of verse 8.

KJV“Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and he will be yet wiser: teach a just [man], and he will increase in learning.”

Gets right
Keeps the verb "give" and honestly marks "instruction" in italics as added. "Just" avoids the churchy ring of "righteous."
Loses
Supplying "instruction" still narrows a gift that verse 8 shows can be a rebuke. "Learning" may suggest schooling.

WEB“Instruct a wise person… Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning.”

Gets right
"Person" fits the general point of the proverb, and "still wiser" keeps "ʿôd."
Loses
Like BSB, it turns "give" into "instruct" and loses the open, unnamed object.

YLT“Give to the wise, and he is wiser still, Make known to the righteous, And he increaseth learning.”

Gets right
The most literal. It keeps the unstated object of "give" and the force of "make known."
Loses
"He is wiser still" smooths over the sense of result ("so that he becomes wiser"), and the bare "give to the wise" sounds odd in English.

ESV“Give instruction to a wise man”

Gets right
Keeps the verb "give," and "still wiser" keeps the growth.
Loses
Prints "instruction" as if it were in the text, with no sign that it was supplied.

NASB“Give instruction… increase his learning”

Gets right
Close to the Hebrew in structure.
Loses
Like ESV, it supplies "instruction" without marking it.

NIV“Instruct the wise… add to their learning”

Gets right
"Add to" captures the cumulative picture in yāsap, and plural "they" makes the general point.
Loses
"Instruct" narrows the open "give," and the plural loses the individual focus of the Hebrew.

NLT“Instruct the wise… they will learn even more”

Gets right
Very readable. It gets the main point, continuing growth, across.
Loses
Loses the echo of Prov 1:5 ("increase in learning") and the sense of teaching received and added to.
Text and manuscripts

The Hebrew text (Masoretic Text) has no significant manuscript variants in this verse.

  • Septuagint (Greek): δίδου σοφῷ ἀφορμήν, καὶ σοφώτερος ἔσται· γνώριζε δικαίῳ, καὶ προσθήσει τοῦ δέχεσθαι, "Give a wise man an opportunity (a starting point), and he will be wiser; make it known to a righteous man, and he will go on to receive more." The translator supplied the missing object as "opportunity," which makes the saying even more open: the wise person needs only an opening. The second line keeps the idea of receiving that is built into the Hebrew word for "learning."
  • Vulgate (Latin): da sapienti occasionem et addetur ei sapientia; doce iustum et festinabit accipere, "give the wise an occasion and wisdom will be added to him; teach the just and he will hasten to receive." It follows the Greek on "occasion" and emphasises how eager the righteous person is to receive.
  • Supplied data: the transliteration "Le.cha.khom" given for לְחָכָם reflects a particular pronunciation tradition. Standard academic transliteration is ləḥākām. The lemma, Strong's number and parsing information are otherwise sound. וְיֶחְכַּם is best read as a result clause after the command ("so that he becomes wiser").
Where scholars differ

Are 9:7–12 an original part of Wisdom's speech or a later insertion?

  • An inserted collection of sayings that interrupts the matching banquet scenes of Wisdom (9:1–6) and Folly (9:13–18).

    The mode of address changes, from invitation to wise sayings about mockers. Verse 11 ("For through me your days will be many") reads naturally right after verse 6. Commentators such as Michael Fox (Anchor Yale Bible) treat vv. 7–12 as secondary.

  • An integral part of the chapter that explains who will accept Wisdom's invitation.

    Verses 7–9 explain why some accept and some mock, which prepares for the two rival invitations. Verse 10 echoes 1:7 to close the frame around chapters 1–9, and verse 9 echoes 1:5. Bruce Waltke (NICOT) and others read the passage as a deliberate part of the chapter's design.

What is the unstated object of "give" (tēn)?

  • A rebuke or correction, carried over from verse 8.

    Verse 8 ends "rebuke a wise man, and he will love you". Verse 9 picks up the same "wise man" and gives the result.

  • Instruction in general.

    The second line has "make known" and "learning." Most translations supply "instruction" (KJV in italics).

  • An opportunity or opening.

    The Septuagint's ἀφορμήν and the Vulgate's occasionem. These reflect early interpretation, not a different Hebrew text.

Sources
  • HALOT s.v. לֶקַח
  • BDB s.v. לֶקַח, חָכָם, צַדִּיק
  • HALOT s.v. צַדִּיק
  • Septuagint (Rahlfs), Proverbs 9:9
  • Vulgate, Proverbs 9:9
  • Michael V. Fox, Proverbs 1–9 (Anchor Yale Bible 18A)
  • Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1–15 (NICOT)
  • Roland E. Murphy, Proverbs (Word Biblical Commentary 22)
  • Instruction of Ptahhotep (Egyptian wisdom literature)

Original-language data: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (CC BY 4.0).

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