Bible Strands
Proverbs 17:24
Wisdom is the focus of the discerning, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The passage functions as a standalone wisdom maxim positioned between a warning about judicial bribery and a proverb on familial grief, addressing a general audience of learners.
The words — חָכְמָ֑ה (chokh.mah) means wisdom, and אָֽרֶץ ('A.retz) means earth, establishing the contrast between a fixed object of attention and distant, scattered wandering.
The thread — This tension between directed insight and aimless wandering appears in Ecclesiastes 2:14, Ecclesiastes 8:1, and Psalms 119:37, which all regulate the direction and clarity of human vision.
Why it lands — The text states that the discerning keep their gaze fixed on wisdom while the fool's attention scatters to remote places, requiring the reader to consciously anchor their focus on discernment rather than distraction.
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
Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 2:14 The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.
- Ecclesiastes 8:1 Who is like the wise man? Who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.
- Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- Proverbs 14:6 A mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
- Proverbs 15:14 A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
- Proverbs 23:5 When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
- Ecclesiastes 6:9 Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.
- John 7:17 If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.
- 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.