Proverbs 13:10
Pride breeds conflict, but humility that receives counsel produces wisdom.
10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is with people who take advice.
Pride breeds conflict, but humility that receives counsel produces wisdom.
To expose pride as a primary cause of conflict and to commend humility that receives counsel as the path to wisdom.
Proverbs 13 continues the book’s wisdom-and-folly contrasts through compact sayings that train covenant-shaped judgment for daily life. The verse stands among neighboring proverbs that contrast righteous stability with wicked diminishment (13:9) and honest, patient gain with dishonest haste (13:11). Within this cluster, 13:10 focuses on a relational arena where wisdom and folly become visible: conflict, counsel, and the posture of the heart toward correction. The proverb offers a diagnostic: persistent contention often reveals inner arrogance, while peaceable discernment is nurtured by receptive learning. The saying assumes a community context where counsel is available and must be either received or resisted.
Proverbs presents wisdom instruction for covenant life, often framed as parental counsel and community-shaped learning. The saying assumes a social setting where disputes arise and where the wise respond by receiving advice rather than asserting themselves.
Instruction, Speech, Desire, Wealth, and the Way of the Wise
Wisdom receives instruction, guards speech, walks with the wise, handles desire and wealth patiently, and embraces loving discipline, while folly rejects correction and reaps ruin, shame, and hunger.