What Does Proverbs 9:7 Mean in the King James?
He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Correction aimed at contempt returns as disgrace: the hearer’s refusal turns the corrector into the target.
THE MEANING
The word of correction meets a scorner and a wicked person, and shame and a blemish fall back on the one who speaks. Reproof does not by itself make a hearer receptive; here contempt turns the exchange against the corrector. The verse holds this consequence in the present, without promising that a true correction will be safely received.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse undoes is that sound correction will always be received on its merits and leave its speaker unharmed.
THE ROOT
יֹסֵר
yōsēr
GROWS FROM
יסר
y-s-r
to discipline, chasten, or instruct
“reproveth” in this verse is yōsēr. This verb joins correction with the shaping work of discipline; it is more than pointing out a fault. Its branch מוּסָר (mûsār), instruction or discipline, shows what the reproof aims to impart, while the scorner’s response blocks that movement toward instruction.
ALSO GROWS
mûsār: instruction, discipline
מוּסָר
This branch names the formative purpose carried within the act of correcting.
yissûrîm: chastening, disciplines
יִסּוּרִים
This branch keeps correction connected to the painful work of being disciplined, a work the scorner refuses to receive.
מוֹכִיחַ
mōkîaḥ
GROWS FROM
יכח
y-kh-ch
to decide, establish, prove, or reprove
The root behind “rebuketh” can describe establishing a case or showing what is right, as well as reproving. The verse exposes the limit of that effort: making the case does not compel the hearer to receive it, and the speaker may instead bear the disgrace.
ALSO GROWS
tôkēḥâ: reproof, correction
תּוֹכֵחָה
This noun shows the same root at work as the act of correction named in the verse.
hôkîaḥ: to prove, convince, or reprove
הוֹכִיחַ
This verb holds together presenting a case and correcting someone, revealing the reason rebuke can carry a claim about what is right.
קָלוֹן
qālôn
GROWS FROM
קלל
q-l-l
to be slight or light; to make light of or treat as insignificant
The Hebrew word for “shame” is linked to being made light of or treated as insignificant. That shade makes the consequence social as well as inward: the corrector may become the one held in contempt.
ALSO GROWS
qālal: to be slight, or to make light of
קָלַל
This verb gives “shame” the added sense of being diminished or treated as having little weight.
qelālāh: curse
קְלָלָה
This related word shows how the root can move from treating someone lightly to words that bring dishonor upon them.
THE PATTERN
Correction bears different fruit depending on whether the hearer receives it or turns against it.
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.THE THREAD
A scorner loveth not one that reproveth him: neither will he go unto the wise.The Hebrew repeats the root יכח (y-kh-ch), meaning to prove or reprove, in the word translated “reproveth.” Proverbs 9:7 names the disgrace that may fall on the corrector; this verse shows the scorner’s resistance that gives rise to it.
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