Proverbs 14:33

Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(33) But that which is in the midst of fools is made known.—“Wisdom” is the subject of this as of the former half of the verse. “Wisdom rests in the heart of him that hath understanding;” he does not care to drag it out and exhibit it, but the fool cannot keep to himself anything which he thinks he knows.

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 14:33. Wisdom resteth in the heart, &c. — Is laid up and hid there, and not vainly or rashly uttered by him, but only brought forth upon necessary or fit occasions; but that which is in the midst — That is, in the heart; of fools, is made known — That folly which is there instead of wisdom, or that small degree of wisdom which they have, they will publish in all times and companies, without any consideration or discretion.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:18. Sin is the shame of sinners; but wisdom is the honour of the wise. 19. Even bad men acknowledge the excellency of God's people. 20. Friendship in the world is governed by self-interest. It is good to have God our Friend; he will not desert us. 21. To despise a man for his employment or appearance is a sin. 22. How wisely those consult their own interest, who not only do good, but devise it! 23. Labour of the head, or of the hand, will turn to some good account. But if men's religion runs all out in talk and noise, they will come to nothing. 24. The riches of men of wisdom and piety enlarge their usefulness. 25. An upright man will venture the displeasure of the greatest, to bring truth to light. 26,27. Those who fear the Lord so as to obey and serve him, have a strong ground of confidence, and will be preserved. Let us seek to this Fountain of life, that we may escape the snares of death. 28. Let all that wish well to the kingdom of Christ, do what they can, that many may be added to his church. 29. A mild, patient man is one that learns of Christ, who is Wisdom itself. Unbridled passion is folly made known. 30. An upright, contented, and benevolent mind, tends to health. 31. To oppress the poor is to reproach our Creator. 32. The wicked man has his soul forced from him; he dies in his sins, under the guilt and power of them. But godly men, though they have pain and some dread of death, have the blessed hope, which God, who cannot lie, has given them. 33. Wisdom possesses the heart, and thus regulates the affections and tempers. 34. Piety and holiness always promote industry, sobriety, and honesty. 35. The great King who reigns over heaven and earth, will reward faithful servants who honour his gospel by the proper discharge of the duties of their stations: he despises not the services of the lowest.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Omit "that which is." "Wisdom" is the subject of both clauses. She is "made nown," i. e., by the very force of contrast, in the midst of fools; or she is reserved and reticent in the one, noisy and boastful in the other. The Septuagint and some other versions get over the difficulty, by reading "Wisdom is not made known."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

33. resteth—preserved in quietness for use, while fools blazon their folly (Pr 12:23; 13:16).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Resteth; is laid up and hid there, and not vainly nor rashly uttered by him, but only upon necessary or fit occasions.

In the midst, i.e. in the heart, which is expressed by this very word, Psalm 64:6, and elsewhere. That folly which is there instead of wisdom; or, that small degree of wisdom or knowledge which they have.

Is made known; they will publish it in all times and companies, without any consideration or discretion.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding,.... It is in his heart, as the treasury where it is laid up, and where it is kept in safety; here it lies hid and undiscerned, unmolested and undisturbed; no noise is made about it, or any ostentation of it; it dwells quietly and constantly there;

but that which is in the midst of fools is made known; the least share of knowledge which such persons have, or think they have, does not lie long in the midst of them; they take every opportunity of showing it to others, or of letting others know what they have attained to; and thereby, instead of getting the character of wise and prudent men, obtain that of fools; for, though a prudent man is communicative of his knowledge to others, it is at proper times, and in proper places, and to proper persons, which fools do not observe; but, without any manner of judgment or discretion, or regard to persons, places, and seasons, vainly thrust out their knowledge, and so proclaim their folly. The Syriac version is,

"in the heart of fools it shall not be known;''

it has no place there.

Geneva Study Bible

Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is {m} in the midst of fools is made known.

(m) Forasmuch as they are convicted by it, and silenced.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

33. the midst] Rather (answering to the heart in the 1st clause) the inward part, R.V. Adopting this, we may render, either with A.V. and R.V. text, “that which is in the inward part” (i.e. their folly, comp. Proverbs 12:23); or “but in the inward part of fools it (wisdom, any modicum of it which they have or think they have), so far from resting and biding its time, is blurted out.”

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 33. - Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding. The wise man is not always blurting out and making a display of his wisdom; he lets it lie still and hidden till there is occasion to use it with effect (Proverbs 10:14; Proverbs 12:23). But that which is in the midst of fools is made known; literally and better, but in the midst of fools it, wisdom, maketh itself known. That is, in contrast to the folly of fools, wisdom is seen to great advantage; or, it may be, the conceited display of the fool's so called wisdom is contrasted with the modesty and reticence of the really intelligent man. "A fool's heart is ever dancing on his lips," says a proverb. So Ecclus. 21:26, "The heart of fools is in their mouth; but the mouth of the wise is in their heart." Theognia, 1163 -

Ὀφθαλμοὶ καὶ γκῶσσα καὶ οὔατα καὶ νόος ἀνδρῶν
Ἐν μέσσῳ στηθέων ἐν αυνετοις φύεται.

"The eyes, and tongue, and ears, and mind alike
Are centred in the bosom of the wise." Vulgate, "In the heart of the prudent resteth wisdom, and it will teach all the unlearned." Wisdom sits enshrined in the intelligent man's mind, and thence disseminates instruction and light around to all who need it. The Septuagint, with which agree the Syriac, Aquila, and Theodotion, inserts a negative in the second clause, thus: "In the good heart of a man shall rest wisdom, but in the heart of fools it is not discerned" (Wisd. 1:4). Proverbs 14:33

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

33 Wisdom rests in the heart of the man of understanding;

     But the heart of fools it maketh itself known.

Most interpreters know not what to make of the second line here. The lxx (and after it the Syr.), and as it appears, also Aquila and Theodotion, insert οὐ; the Targ. improves the Peshito, for it inserts אוּלת (so that Proverbs 12:23; Proverbs 13:16, and Proverbs 15:2 are related). And Abulwald explains: in the heart of fools it is lost; Euchel: it reels about; but these are imaginary interpretations resting on a misunderstanding of the passages, in which ידע means to come to feel, and הודיע to give to feel (to punish, correct). Kimchi rightly adheres to the one ascertained meaning of the words, according to which the Venet. μέσον δὲ ἀφρόνων γνωσθήσεται. So also the translation of Jerome: et indoctos quosque (quoque) erudiet, is formed, for he understands the "and is manifest among fools" (Luther) not merely, as C. B. Michaelis, after the saying: opposita juxta se posita magis elucescunt, but of a becoming manifest, which is salutary to these. Certainly בּקרב can mean among equals in the circle, of Proverbs 15:31; but if, as here and e.g., Jeremiah 31:31, בקרב is interchanged with בלב, and if חכמה בקרב is the subject spoken of, as 1 Kings 3:28, then בקרב does not mean among (in the midst of), but in the heart of the fool. According to this, the Talmud rightly, by comparison with the current proverb (Meza 85b): אסתירא בלגינא קישׁ קישׁ קריא, a stater in a flaggon cries Kish, Kish, i.e., makes much clatter. In the heart of the understanding wisdom rests, i.e., remains silent and still, for the understanding feels himself personally happy in its possession, endeavours always the more to deepen it, and lets it operate within; on the contrary, wisdom in the heart of fools makes itself manifest: they are not able to keep to themselves the wisdom which they imagine they possess, or the portion of wisdom which is in reality theirs; but they think, as it is said in Persius: Scire tuum nihil est nisi scire hoc te sciat alter. They discredit and waste their little portion of wisdom (instead of thinking on its increase) by obtrusive ostentatious babbling.