Bible Strands
Proverbs 17:2
A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share his inheritance as one of the brothers.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The text is a wisdom instruction addressing a learner about household hierarchy and inheritance distribution. It presents a scenario where moral merit overrides traditional birth order.
The words — מַשְׂכִּיל (mas.Kil) means [who] acts prudently, while מֵבִישׁ (me.Vish) means [who] acts shamefully, establishing the moral contrast that drives the verse.
The thread — This contrast appears in Proverbs 10:5, which pairs a wise son with a disgraceful one, and in Proverbs 14:35, which contrasts a wise servant with a shameful one. Proverbs 19:26 further defines the disgraceful son as one who assaults his parents.
Why it lands — The text states that a prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share the inheritance as a brother. It requires the reader to accept that moral conduct, not lineage, determines household authority and material standing.
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
A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 10:5 He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.
- Proverbs 14:35 A king delights in a wise servant, but his anger falls on the shameful.
- Proverbs 19:26 He who assaults his father or evicts his mother is a son who brings shame and disgrace.
- Ecclesiastes 4:13 Better is a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take a warning.
- Proverbs 11:29 He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
- Proverbs 29:15 A rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.
- Genesis 24:4 but will go to my country and my kindred to take a wife for my son Isaac.”