A son who loves wisdom gladdens his father, while a son keeping company with harlots wastes wealth.
Solomon contrasts two sons in Proverbs 29:3: A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth (v. 3).
A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad. The son's love for wisdom, not just his obedience to it, is what gladdens the father. He has internalized the right values. He pursues wisdom for its own sake. The father can rest knowing his son's heart is set on what matters.
The other son's life takes a different shape: He who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth. Money, time, and standing all dissipate in the pursuit of fleeting pleasures. The father, in this case, watches inheritance scatter into the air. The verse pairs gladness and grief in the parental heart, depending on what kind of man the son chooses to become. The prodigal son in Luke 15 acts out the second half of this proverb in narrative form.
Proverbs 29:3
3 A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad,
But he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth.
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Proverbs 29:3 meaning
Solomon contrasts two sons in Proverbs 29:3: A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth (v. 3).
A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad. The son's love for wisdom, not just his obedience to it, is what gladdens the father. He has internalized the right values. He pursues wisdom for its own sake. The father can rest knowing his son's heart is set on what matters.
The other son's life takes a different shape: He who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth. Money, time, and standing all dissipate in the pursuit of fleeting pleasures. The father, in this case, watches inheritance scatter into the air. The verse pairs gladness and grief in the parental heart, depending on what kind of man the son chooses to become. The prodigal son in Luke 15 acts out the second half of this proverb in narrative form.