The Meaning of Proverbs 10:8 Explained

Proverbs 10:8

KJV: The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.

YLT: The wise in heart accepteth commands, And a talkative fool kicketh.

Darby: The wise in heart receiveth commandments; but a prating fool shall fall.

ASV: The wise in heart will receive commandments; But a prating fool shall fall.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The wise  in heart  will receive  commandments:  but a prating  fool  shall fall. 

What does Proverbs 10:8 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 10:1-16 - The Righteous And The Wicked
Wealth has its advantages, which are more than apparent. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, Proverbs 10:15; but the treasures which have been obtained by wickedness are soon dissipated. They profit nothing, Proverbs 10:2. This book contains the striking thought that ill-earned wealth is never gathered for the benefit of the possessor, but rather for the benefit of the righteous, and must be useless until it gets into hands which will use it benevolently and rightly.
But there is another kind of wealth, which will never take wings to fly away, which no moth can corrupt nor thief steal, and which will avail not only here but here-after. Note the antithesis of Proverbs 10:2. If you would increase your wealth, give it away. See Proverbs 10:4.
The covering work of love, referred to in Proverbs 10:12, is emphasized in 1 Corinthians 13:7, r.v., margin, 1 Peter 4:8, and James 5:20. God covers sin, so that the memory of it is obliterated, Ezekiel 33:16. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 10

1  Proverbs of Solomon: observations of moral virtues, and their contrary vices

What do the individual words in Proverbs 10:8 mean?

The wise in heart will receive commands but a fool prating will fall
חֲכַם־ לֵ֭ב יִקַּ֣ח מִצְוֺ֑ת וֶאֱוִ֥יל שְׂ֝פָתַ֗יִם יִלָּבֵֽט

חֲכַם־  The  wise 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular construct
Root: חָכָם  
Sense: wise, wise (man).
לֵ֭ב  in  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
יִקַּ֣ח  will  receive 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָקַח 
Sense: to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away.
מִצְוֺ֑ת  commands 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: מִצְוָה  
Sense: commandment.
וֶאֱוִ֥יל  but  a  fool 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: אֱוִיל  
Sense: be foolish, foolish.
שְׂ֝פָתַ֗יִם  prating 
Parse: Noun, fd
Root: שָׂפָה  
Sense: lip, language, speech, shore, bank, brink, brim, side, edge, border, binding.
יִלָּבֵֽט  will  fall 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: לָבַט  
Sense: to throw down, thrust down, thrust out, thrust away.