Proverbs 10:8

What It Means To Be Wise in Heart

Commonplace –

“The wise in heart shall receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall” (Proverbs 10:8).

What does it mean to be wise? In Proverbs 10:8, Solomon offers a snapshot of the actions of the wise contrasted with that of the foolish. He begins by specifying what he means by wisdom. He is focusing on the wise in heart. According to Strong’s, the word ‘heart’ means the actual physical heart, but is “also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything” (“leb”). The wise in heart have knowledge and understanding in their soul. When the wise hear God’s commandments, they actively receive them. The word ‘receive’, according to Strong’s means “to take” (“laqah”), actively grasping and retaining the commandments. Those who have knowledge and understanding in their soul are actively grasping and retaining God’s commandments.

In contrast to the wise in heart, the prating fool never stops talking long enough to hear the Word being spoken. He is also active, but not in receiving. The fool is active in constantly giving a stream of meaningless words. In the end, he shall fall through his own folly. He is deaf to the commandments and is left to suffer the consequences. As Matthew Henry notes, “Those that are full of tongue seldom look well to their feet, and therefore stumble and fall” (691).

Works Cited

“Proverbs 10:8”. Biblehub.com. https://biblehub.com/proverbs/10-8.htm#google_vignette. Accessed 18 Dec 2025.

“Laqah”. BlueLetterBible.com. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3947/kjv/wlc/0-1/. Accessed 18 Dec 2025.

“Leb”. BlueLetterBible.com. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3820/kjv/wlc/0-1/. Accessed 18 Dec 2025.

Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 10:8.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

© 2025 Angela Hormberg