Bible Strands
Proverbs 15:14
A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom author addresses a general audience through paired contrasts, positioning this saying between observations about emotional health and daily hardship.
The words — לֵב (lev) literally means "heart," representing the inner seat of perception, while אִוּלֶת ('i.vu.le.t) translates directly as "foolishness" or "folly."
The thread — The active pursuit of understanding recurs in Proverbs 9:9 and 18:15, while Isaiah 30:10 shows people demanding messages that avoid confronting truth.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to actively pursue understanding and deliberately avoid consuming foolish speech.
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
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 9:9 Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
- Proverbs 18:15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out.
- Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- 2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
- Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
- Proverbs 1:5 let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel
- 1 Kings 3:6 Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
- Psalms 119:97 Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.
- Psalms 119:100 I discern more than the elders, for I obey Your precepts.
- Isaiah 44:20 He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”