What Does Proverbs 15:20 Mean?
A wise son gladdens a father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother.THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “son” is traditionally linked to “build,” so a person’s wisdom or folly becomes part of what builds or burdens a family.
THE MEANING
A wise son’s way brings joy to his father, while folly shows itself in contempt for his mother. A person’s character reaches into the family bond and is felt by others now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that a person’s choices stay private and affect no one else.
THE ROOT
בֵּן
ben
GROWS FROM
בנה
banah
to build
The word for son, בֵּן (ben), is traditionally connected to בנה (banah), “to build.” That link lets the verse’s family language carry a deeper connection: a person’s character enters the life being built among those closest to them.
ALSO GROWS
banah: to build
בָּנָה
This is the verb traditionally linked to בֵּן (ben), son; it brings the idea of building into the family relationship named in the verse.
ben: son, child
בֵּן
The word identifies the son whose wisdom reaches beyond himself into his father’s joy.
THE PATTERN
A child’s way of living reaches beyond the self, becoming joy or sorrow within the family bond.
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes his father glad; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.The father of the aligned one leaps and leaps with joy, and the one who begets a wise child rejoices in him.For this son of mine was dead, and is living again; he had lost his way, and is found." And they began to be glad.THE THREAD
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes his father glad; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.This verse repeats the wise-son and glad-father pairing, then names the other side as a foolish man’s contempt for his mother; Proverbs 10:1 calls that heaviness. The shared word בֵּן (ben, “son”) carries the traditional link to בנה (banah, “build”), joining a person’s character to the life built within the family.
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