Bible Strands
Proverbs 21:24
Mocker is the name of the proud and arrogant man—of him who acts with excessive pride.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The author of Proverbs addresses a general audience, positioning this definition between a warning against careless speech and a description of the slacker’s fatal craving.
The words — לֵץ (letz) translates literally to "mocker," and זָדוֹן (za.don) denotes "pride" or "arrogance," which the verse explicitly equates with the mocker’s identity.
The thread — This figure appears in Proverbs 1:22 as the scoffers who delight in scorn, in Ecclesiastes 7:8 as the proud spirit contrasted with patience, and in Psalms 1:1 as the wicked counsel from which the righteous must turn away.
Why it lands — The text states that excessive pride defines a mocker and drives destructive behavior; it asks the reader to recognize this posture as incompatible with guarded speech and diligent work, and to actively reject it.
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
Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.
Cross-references
- Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- Ecclesiastes 7:8 The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.
- Proverbs 1:22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?
- Proverbs 18:12 Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.
- Proverbs 19:29 Judgments are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.
- Matthew 2:16 When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
- Esther 3:5 When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or pay him homage, he was filled with rage.
- Proverbs 6:17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
- Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Isaiah 16:6 We have heard of Moab’s pomposity, his exceeding pride and conceit, his overflowing arrogance. But his boasting is empty.