Bible Strands
Proverbs 19:10
Luxury is unseemly for a fool—how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom teacher addresses a general reader within a collection of pragmatic sayings, positioned between a warning about false witnesses and an instruction on patience.
The words — נָאוֶה (na.Veh) means "suitable" or "befitting," and תַּעֲנ֑וּג (ta.'a.Nug) denotes "luxury." The text states that such extravagance is not fitting for a fool.
The thread — The motif of misplaced honor appears in Proverbs 26:1, which declares honor unbecoming for a fool. Proverbs 30:21 introduces a list of things that cause the earth to tremble, and Luke 16:19 describes a man living in joyous splendor.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that status and indulgence require corresponding character, warning against elevating the unqualified or pursuing excess without wisdom.
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
Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 30:21 Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:
- Proverbs 26:1 Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
- Luke 16:19 Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Luke 16:23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
- 1 Samuel 25:36 When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
- 2 Samuel 3:24 So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done? Look, Abner came to you. Why did you dismiss him? Now he is getting away!
- 2 Samuel 3:39 And I am weak this day, though anointed as king, and these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too fierce for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil!”
- Esther 3:15 The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
- Ecclesiastes 10:5 There is an evil I have seen under the sun—an error that proceeds from the ruler:
- Isaiah 3:5 The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable.