Proverbs 14:24
Wisdom produces honorable gain, but folly only deepens foolishness.
24 The crown of the wise is their riches, but the folly of fools crowns them with folly.
Wisdom produces honorable gain, but folly only deepens foolishness.
To contrast the honorable fruit produced by wisdom with the self-perpetuating nature of folly.
Proverbs 14 continues a sequence of short antithetical sayings that contrast the wise and the fool, righteousness and wickedness, and speech and action. Verse 24 sits within a cluster that highlights the fruit of one’s way of life: labor versus empty talk (v.23), truthful witness that rescues (v.25), and fear of the LORD as refuge and life (vv.26–27). The saying uses a visible image (“crown”) to communicate that the wise person’s gain carries honor and stability rather than shame. It also uses repetition (“folly…folly”) to emphasize that foolishness cycles back into itself rather than producing constructive fruit. The placement reinforces that Proverbs is forming discernment: learn to read outcomes as evidence of wisdom or folly over time. The verse therefore functions as a diagnostic proverb within the larger collection—testing the reader’s values and expectations about what is truly worth having.
Wisdom instruction within Israel’s covenant life, shaped for community formation through memorable sayings.
The Fear of the LORD, the Way That Seems Right, and Wisdom for Household, Speech, and Community
Wisdom fears the LORD, discerns the way of life, builds households, speaks truth, shows kindness to the needy, and rejects the self-deceiving path that seems right but ends in death.