Bible Strands
Proverbs 8:33
Listen to instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Wisdom addresses her listeners as "my sons" in a moment of urgent exhortation, positioning her instruction as the prerequisite for blessing. She speaks immediately before promising blessedness to those who keep her ways and watch at her doors.
The words — The Hebrew verb שִׁמְעוּ (shim.'U) commands "listen to," paired with מוּסָר (mu.Sar), meaning "correction." The text links these to וַחֲכָמוּ (va./cha.Kha.mu), commanding the listener to "act wisely," while warning against תִפְרָעוּ (tif.Ra.'u), which denotes neglecting the teaching.
The thread — This command to heed instruction parallels Proverbs 1:8 and 4:1, where parental teaching is similarly required, and stands in contrast to the refusal recorded in Psalms 81:11. The pattern of listening to wisdom or divine instruction as a condition for blessing runs through the wisdom corpus and prophetic texts.
Why it lands — The verse demands active attention to correction, directly linking the act of listening to the outcome of wisdom. It requires the reader to choose heedfulness over neglect as a practical discipline for gaining understanding.
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
Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 4:1 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
- Psalms 81:11 But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.
- Proverbs 1:8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.
- Proverbs 5:1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; incline your ear to my insight,
- Proverbs 1:2 for gaining wisdom and discipline, for comprehending words of insight,
- Romans 10:16 But not all of them welcomed the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
- Hebrews 12:25 See to it that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if the people did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns us from heaven?
- Proverbs 1:21 in the main concourse she cries aloud, at the city gates she makes her speech:
- Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Acts 7:35 This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.