Correction can make the naive wiser, and the truly understanding grow even more through reproof.
Correction and its ripple effects are described in Proverbs 19:25: Strike a scoffer and the naive may become shrewd, but reprove one who has understanding and he will gain knowledge (v. 25). Different people respond differently to correction.
When a scoffer is punished, the naive may become shrewd. The scoffer himself may remain hardened, but observers can still learn from the visible consequence. Proverbs often presents the naive as still formable, and this is one example.
But when you reprove one who has understanding, they gain even more. The wise do not merely watch correction from afar; they receive it directly. Because they are teachable, reproof becomes knowledge rather than merely pain.
Proverbs 19:25
25 Strike a scoffer and the naive may become shrewd,
But reprove one who has understanding and he will gain knowledge.
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Proverbs 19:25 meaning
Correction and its ripple effects are described in Proverbs 19:25: Strike a scoffer and the naive may become shrewd, but reprove one who has understanding and he will gain knowledge (v. 25). Different people respond differently to correction.
When a scoffer is punished, the naive may become shrewd. The scoffer himself may remain hardened, but observers can still learn from the visible consequence. Proverbs often presents the naive as still formable, and this is one example.
But when you reprove one who has understanding, they gain even more. The wise do not merely watch correction from afar; they receive it directly. Because they are teachable, reproof becomes knowledge rather than merely pain.