Bible Strands
Proverbs 3:35
The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The sage addresses wisdom students immediately after contrasting God’s grace to the humble with His mockery of the proud in Proverbs 3:34.
The words — The verse centers on חֲכָמִ֣ים (cha.kha.Mim), literally wise people, and מֵרִ֥ים (me.Rim), which denotes the active lifting up of קָלֽוֹן (ka.Lon), shame.
The thread — This motif of divine reversal runs through Psalms 132:18, where God clothes enemies with shame, and 1 Samuel 2:30, which contrasts honored servants with disgraced ones.
Why it lands — The text demands a clear-eyed assessment of one's own conduct, recognizing that lasting honor is earned through wisdom while pride inevitably produces public disgrace.
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
The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
Cross-references
- Psalms 132:18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown upon him will gleam.”
- Isaiah 65:13 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
- 1 Samuel 2:30 Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- Psalms 73:24 You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.
- Daniel 12:2 And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Proverbs 4:8 Prize her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you.
- Proverbs 13:8 Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.