Bible Strands
Proverbs 9:12
If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the reader directly in the closing contrast of Wisdom's discourse, marking the transition from the invitation of wisdom to the warning against folly.
The words — The Hebrew חָ֭כַמְתָּ (cha.kham.ta) literally means "you are wise," while לְֽ/בַדְּ/ךָ֥ (le./va.de./Kha) translates to "to alone you," anchoring the outcome to the individual.
The thread — The text's emphasis on personal accountability runs through Ezekiel 18:20 regarding bearing one's own iniquity, and the profile of the scoffer reappears in 2 Peter 3:3.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to accept that wisdom yields only personal benefit, while rejection leaves the scoffer isolated to face the consequences without external rescue.
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
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
Cross-references
- Job 22:2 “Can a man be of use to God? Can even a wise man benefit Him?
- Ezekiel 18:20 The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.
- 2 Peter 3:3 Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
- Job 22:21 Reconcile now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you.
- Proverbs 16:26 A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger drives him onward.
- Job 35:6 If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? If you multiply your transgressions, what do you do to Him?
- Isaiah 28:22 So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.
- 2 Peter 3:16 He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.