Proverbs 12:8
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Cross References
2 Corinthians 10:18
18For it isn’t he who commends himself who is approved, but whom the Lord commends.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15
10According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it. 11For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. 14If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.
1 Corinthians 4:5
5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
Matthew 27:4-5
4saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
5He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary and departed. Then he went away and hanged himself.
Proverbs 3:35
35The wise will inherit glory, but shame will be the promotion of fools.
5 more
Acts 12:23
23Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn’t give God the glory. Then he was eaten by worms and died.
Daniel 12:2
2Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
Genesis 41:39
39Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you.
Malachi 2:8-9
8But you have turned away from the path. You have caused many to stumble in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Armies. 9“Therefore I have also made you contemptible and wicked before all the people, according to the way you have not kept my ways, but have had respect for persons in the law.
Luke 12:42-44
42The Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times? 43Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. 44Truly I tell you that he will set him over all that he has.
Study
Proverbs 12:8
Being sensible means thinking about the consequences before acting. A warped mind acts without thinking.
Section overviews (1)
Proverbs 10:1–22.16
This section is called The Proverbs of Solomon. It mostly contains short pieces of advice and observations. These sayings often use antithetical parallelism to compare wisdom and righteousness with foolishness and wickedness. The proverbs seem to be arranged randomly, similar to Egyptian and Mesopotamian wisdom literature. Some proverbs repeat:
Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25
Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22
Proverbs 19:24 and 26:15
Proverbs 20:16 and 27:13
Proverbs 21:9 and 25:24
Proverbs 22:3 and 27:12
Sometimes, a group of proverbs shares a similar theme (for example, Proverbs 16:1–11).
12:8
despised--as opposed to commended (Pro 11:12).
perverse heart--or, "wicked principles," as opposed to one of wisdom.
12:8
We are here told whence to expect a good name. Reputation is what most have a high regard to and stand much upon. Now it is certain, 1. The best reputation is that which attends virtue and serious piety, and the prudent conduct of life: A man shall be commended by all that are wise and good, in conformity to the judgment of God himself, which we are sure is according to truth, not according to his riches or preferments, his craft and subtlety, but according to his wisdom, the honesty of his designs and the prudent choice of means to compass them. 2. The worst reproach is that which follows wickedness and an opposition to that which is good: He that is of a perverse heart, that turns aside to crooked ways, and goes on frowardly in them, shall be despised. Providence will bring him to poverty and contempt, and all that have a true sense of honour will despise him as unworthy to be dealt with and unfit to be trusted, as a blemish and scandal to mankind.
12:8
A man shall be commended according to his wisdom,.... Not according to his birth and pedigree; not according to his riches and wealth; not according to the places of honour and trust he may be in; but according to his wisdom, which he discovers in his words and actions, in his life and conversation: not according to the wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish; not according to the wisdom of the world, which comes to nought, either natural or civil; especially that which lies in sophistry and subtlety, in wicked craft and cunning, whereby men trick, overreach, and defraud one another; but according to that which is spiritual and evangelical; which lies in the knowledge of Christ, and of God in Christ, and of those things which belong to salvation; the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord, and which comes from above, and is pure and peaceable. A man possessed of this is commended by all wise and good men, and by the Lord himself; as the wise man is by Christ, Matthew 7:24; who builds his house on a rock; for which reason it stands, as in the preceding verse;
but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised; and which appears by the perverse words he speaks against God and Christ; against his people, ways, and worship, as antichrist and his followers do; and by his perverse actions, which are contrary to the light of nature, to the law of God, and Gospel of Christ: and such vile persons are contemned in the eyes of all good men, and are had in abhorrence by the Lord himself; for such who despise him are lightly esteemed; see Proverbs 18:3.
12:8
A man shall be commended, to wit, by wise and good men, according to his wisdom; more or less according to the degree of wisdom which his discourses and actions discover to be in him.
He that is of a perverse heart, which he showeth by his wicked words and conversation, shall be despised by God and all wise men.
12:8
8 According to the measure of his intelligence is a man praised,
And whoever is of a perverse mind is despised.
Everywhere in the Mishle שׂכל has no other meaning than intellectus. The praise which is given to a man measures itself לפי שׂכלו (punctuate לפי־שׂכלו, according to Torath Emeth, p. 41, Accentssystem, xx. 1), i.e., according to the measure (so לפי is used in the oldest form of the language) of his intelligence, or as we may also say, of his culture; for in these proverbs, which make the fear of God the highest principle, שׂכל means also understanding of moral excellence, not merely the intellectual superiority of natural gifts. הלּל is here a relative conception of manifold gradations, but it does not mean renown in general, but good renown. Parallel with שׂכלו, לב refers to the understanding (νοῦς); the rendering of Lwenstein, "who is of false heart," is defective. נעוה (synon. of נפתּל and עקּשׁ, but nowhere else interchanging with it) means here a vero et recto detortus et aversus (Fl.). Such a man who has not a good understanding, nor any certain rule of judgment, falls under contempt (Graec. Venet. τῷ ὀντωτῇ εἰς μυσαγμόν, after the false reading of יהוה instead of יהיה), i.e., he defames himself by his crooked judgment of men, of things and their relations, and is on this account in no position rightly to make use of them.