Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, August 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Literal Standard Version

Proverbs 26:12

You have seen a man wise in his own eyes, || More hope of a fool than of him!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Conceit;   Confidence;   False Confidence;   Fool;   Pride;   Self-Righteousness;   Thompson Chain Reference - Conceit;   Humility-Pride;   The Topic Concordance - Wisdom;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Pride;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Religion;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Greek Versions of Ot;   Proverbs, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Conceit;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Do you see a person who is wise in his own eyes?There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Hebrew Names Version
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
King James Version
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
English Standard Version
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
New American Standard Bible
Do you see a person wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
New Century Version
There is more hope for a foolish person than for those who think they are wise.
Amplified Bible
Do you see a man [who is unteachable and] wise in his own eyes and full of self-conceit? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
World English Bible
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Seest thou a man wise in his owne conceite? more hope is of a foole then of him.
Legacy Standard Bible
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Berean Standard Bible
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Contemporary English Version
There is more hope for a fool than for someone who says, "I'm really smart!"
Complete Jewish Bible
Do you see someone who thinks himself wise? There is more hope for a fool than for him!
Darby Translation
Hast thou seen a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope of a fool than of him.
Easy-to-Read Version
People who think they are wise when they are not are worse than fools.
George Lamsa Translation
If you should see a man wise in his own eyes, a fool is much better than he.
Good News Translation
The most stupid fool is better off than those who think they are wise when they are not.
Lexham English Bible
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Literal Translation
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf thou seyest a man yt is wyse in his owne conceate, there is more hope in a foole then in hi.
American Standard Version
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.
Bible in Basic English
Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Seest thou a man wise in his own eyes? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
King James Version (1611)
Seest thou a man wise in his owne conceit? There is more hope of a foole then of him.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
If thou seest a man that is wise in his owne conceipt: there is more hope in a foole, then in hym.
English Revised Version
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thou hast seyn a man seme wijs to hym silf; an vnkunnyng man schal haue hope more than he.
Update Bible Version
Do you see a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.
Webster's Bible Translation
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? [there is] more hope of a fool than of him.
New English Translation
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
New King James Version
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
New Living Translation
There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.
New Life Bible
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
New Revised Standard
Do you see persons wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for fools than for them.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thou hast seen a man wise in his own eye, - more hope of a dullard, than of him!
Douay-Rheims Bible
Hast thou seen a man wise in his own conceit? there shall be more hope of a fool than of him.
Revised Standard Version
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Young's Literal Translation
Thou hast seen a man wise in his own eyes, More hope of a fool than of him!
THE MESSAGE
See that man who thinks he's so smart? You can expect far more from a fool than from him.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Contextual Overview

12You have seen a man wise in his own eyes, || More hope of a fool than of him!

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Seest: Proverbs 22:29, Proverbs 29:20, Matthew 21:31, Luke 7:44

a man: Proverbs 26:5, Proverbs 26:16, Proverbs 28:11, Proverbs 29:20, Matthew 21:31, Luke 18:11, Romans 12:16, 1 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Corinthians 3:19, 2 Corinthians 8:1, 2 Corinthians 8:2, Revelation 3:17

Reciprocal: Proverbs 3:7 - Be Proverbs 12:15 - way Proverbs 14:6 - scorner Proverbs 23:4 - cease Proverbs 30:32 - thou hast done Isaiah 5:21 - wise Ezekiel 28:5 - thy great wisdom Matthew 6:23 - If Luke 11:35 - General John 9:34 - and dost John 9:41 - If John 11:49 - Ye Acts 17:18 - babbler Romans 1:22 - General Romans 2:19 - art confident Romans 11:25 - lest Romans 12:3 - not to 1 Corinthians 8:2 - if 2 Corinthians 10:12 - are not wise Galatians 6:3 - if 1 Timothy 6:4 - He

Cross-References

Genesis 24:1
And Abraham [is] old, he has entered into days, and YHWH has blessed Abraham in all [things];
Genesis 24:35
and YHWH has blessed my lord exceedingly, and he is great; and He gives to him flock, and herd, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and donkeys;
Genesis 26:3
sojourn in this land, and I am with you, and bless you, for to you and to your seed I give all these lands, and I have established the oath which I have sworn to your father Abraham;
Genesis 26:7
and men of the place ask him of his wife, and he says, "She [is] my sister": for he has been afraid to say, "My wife—lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, for she [is] of good appearance."
Genesis 26:8
And it comes to pass, when the days have been prolonged to him there, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looks through the window, and sees, and behold, Isaac is playing with his wife Rebekah.
Genesis 26:10
And Abimelech says, "What [is] this you have done to us? As a little thing one of the people had lain with your wife, and you had brought on us guilt";
Genesis 26:11
and Abimelech commands all the people, saying, "He who comes against this man or against his wife, dying does die."
Genesis 26:29
do no evil with us, as we have not touched you, and as we have only done good with you, and send you away in peace; you [are] now blessed of YHWH."
Genesis 30:30
for [it is] little which you have had at my appearance, and it breaks forth into a multitude, and YHWH blesses you at my coming; and now, when do I make, I also, for my own house?"
Job 42:12
And YHWH has blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning, and he has fourteen thousand of a flock, and six thousand camels, and one thousand pairs of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit,.... Or "in his own eyes" b; as multitudes may be seen, by looking round; man is a creature but of small knowledge in things natural, civil, mechanical, philosophical, moral, or divine; yet greatly conceited for the most part of his knowledge and wisdom. As by a "fool" in this book is generally understood a wicked profane man, so by a wise man is meant a good and righteous man, and may be so understood here; and many there are who are good and righteous only their own conceit and esteem, not truly so; they place their righteousness in outward things, in the observance of external duties; and though there may be some little imperfection in them, yet they think, as they mean well, God will accept the will for the deed: and some have imagined they have arrived to perfection; and such are generally conceited, proud, and haughty, and despise others; all which flows from ignorance; for, though they fancy themselves to be wise, they are very ignorant of themselves; of the plague of their own hearts; of the law of God, and the spirituality of it, and the extensiveness of its demands; of the strict justice and righteousness of God, which will not admit of an imperfect righteousness in the room of a perfect one; and also of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the nature and necessity of that to justify: and this being their case, they are in very dangerous circumstances; they are building on a sand; they are liable to fall into a ditch; they cannot be justified nor saved by their own works; they oppose themselves to God's way of justifying and saving sinners; and he sets himself against them, he resisteth the proud. Wherefore

[there is] more hope of a fool than of him; of a profane sinner than of a self-righteous person; for Christ came to save sinners, to call them to repentance, and he receives them as such; but not self-righteous persons; and, humanly speaking, there is a greater likelihood and greater hopes of convincing sinners, and bringing them to repentance and to forsake their sins, than there is of convincing a self-righteous man of the insufficiency of his righteousness, and the folly of trusting to it, and of bringing him to repent of such a confidence, and to forsake it; for it is most natural to him; it is his own, and the effect of great labour and pains; and encourages vanity and boasting, which would be excluded should he part with it; see Matthew 21:31.

b בעיניו "in oculis suis", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, &c.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile