Bible Strands
Jeremiah 9:23
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to Israel during a period of impending national judgment, immediately following an oracle describing unburied corpses in open fields. The words — יִתְהַלֵּל (yit.ha.Lel) translates literally as “he boasts,” paired with the prohibition אַל (al) meaning “may not” or “let not.” The thread — The warning against self-reliant wisdom echoes Isaiah 5:21, while the theme of God overturning human power aligns with 1 Corinthians 1:27 and Ecclesiastes 9:11. Why it lands — The text commands readers to abandon pride in human capability and redirect their confidence to the character of God, as the following verse specifies.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
- Isaiah 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
- Romans 1:22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- 1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- Psalms 49:6 They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- Ezekiel 7:19 They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs with wealth, for it became the stumbling block that brought their iniquity.
- Job 31:24 If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
- 1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- James 3:14 But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth.