Bible Strands
Proverbs 15:22
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author of Proverbs addresses the reader within a wisdom collection that contrasts the paths of the foolish and the discerning. This instruction follows a direct comparison between the joy of folly and the steady walk of understanding.
The words — The text contrasts מַ֭חֲשָׁבוֹת (Ma.cha.sha.Vot), literally "plans," which הָפֵ֣ר (ha.Fer) means "go wrong," with תָּקֽוּם (ta.Kum), meaning "is established." These terms frame the verse’s core mechanism of failure and success.
The thread — The theme of seeking guidance for plans appears in Proverbs 11:14, which notes a nation falls without guidance but finds deliverance with many counselors. Proverbs 20:18 parallels this by instructing readers to establish plans through consultation and conduct warfare under sound guidance.
Why it lands — The text states that decisions fail without advice but succeed when multiple counselors are consulted. It asks the reader to actively seek external perspective before acting, treating consultation as a practical requirement for stability.
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
Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 11:14 For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but with many counselors comes deliverance.
- Proverbs 20:18 Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.
- Ecclesiastes 8:6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.