Proverbs 9:7

Proverbs 9:7, in plain English

Don't waste your energy trying to correct someone who mocks wisdom; you'll only end up shamed or defiled by the attempt.

Why it's here

A mocker isn't someone confused who needs explanation—they're someone hardened in their resistance. You recognize this person because they ridicule wisdom itself. Engaging with them won't fix them; it will only pull you down.

Who's speaking

The wisdom teacher, giving you practical guidance

Where it sits in the story

Jesus would later teach something similar—don't cast pearls before swine. Some people have closed their hearts, and your job isn't to force them open.

The scholarly reading

Correcting a mocker (one who scorns wisdom) brings shame to yourself; rebuking the wicked corrupts even the person giving the rebuke—some people are simply unreceptive to correction.

Language and setting

The לֵץ (mocker, scoffer) is not simply wrong but actively hostile to wisdom, having chosen contempt as their posture toward truth; the Hebrew לַקַּח (brings) and נִשְׁמַר (taints) suggest active contamination. In the educational context, the teacher is warning students: not everyone is educable, and attempting to force correction upon the unwilling is both futile and spiritually hazardous to yourself.

Voice

The wisdom teacher shifts to direct instruction about relational discernment—how to distinguish between those worth investing in and those who will only mock your efforts.

Significance

This reflects a theological realism found throughout Scripture: human resistance to truth is sometimes adamantine (hardened), as seen in Pharaoh's hardened heart or the repeated rejection of the prophets.

5“Come, eat my bread and drink the wine I have mixed.

6Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”

7He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.

8Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

9Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.

Read all of Proverbs 9 — Wisdom builds a house and sets a table. Folly does the same. Both call out to the simple. The choice defines everything that follows.