Proverbs 19:10

Proverbs 19:10 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
• New International Version (NIV)It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury— how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
• English Standard Version (ESV)It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Luxury is not fitting for a fool, Much less for a servant to rule over princes.

Context of Proverbs 19:10

8He who gains wisdom and good sense loves (preserves) his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good and prosper. 9A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who breathes lies will perish. Luxury is not fitting for a fool; Much less for a slave to rule over princes. 11Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger, And it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment]. 12The king’s wrath terrifies like the roaring of a lion, But his favor is as [refreshing and nourishing as] dew on the grass.

Proverbs 19:10 word by word

לֹֽא־נָאוֶ֣ה לִכְסִ֣יל תַּעֲנ֑וּג אַ֝֗ף כִּֽי־לְעֶ֤בֶד׀ מְשֹׁ֬ל בְּשָׂרִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Delightתַּעֲנוּגta‛ănûg ta‛ănûg ta‛ănûgâh · luxuryH8588
• is not seemlyנָאוֶהnâ'veh · lovelyH5000
• for a foolכְּסִילkesîyl · foolH3684
• much less for a servantעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• to have ruleמָשַׁלmâshal · to ruleH4910
• over princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269

Cross-references for Proverbs 19:10

• Proverbs 30:21Under three things the earth is disquieted and quakes, And under four it cannot bear up:
• 1 Samuel 25:36Then Abigail came to Nabal, and he was holding a feast in his house [for the shearers], like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s mood was joyous because he was very drunk; so she told him nothing at all until the morning light.
• Esther 3:15The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued at the citadel in Susa. And while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was perplexed [by the unusual and alarming decree].
• Isaiah 5:11Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!
• Isaiah 22:12Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
• Hosea 7:3They make the king glad with their wickedness, And the princes with their lies.
• Hosea 9:1Do not rejoice, O Israel, with exultation as do the [pagan] peoples, For you have played the prostitute, turning away from your God. You have loved prostitutes’ earnings on every threshing floor [attributing the harvest to the Baals instead of to God].
• Amos 6:3Do you put off the day of punishment, Yet cause the seat of violence to come near?
• Luke 16:19“Now there was a certain rich man who was habitually dressed in expensive purple and fine linen, and celebrated and lived joyously in splendor every day.
• James 4:9Be miserable and grieve and weep [over your sin]. Let your [foolish] laughter be turned to mourning and your [reckless] joy to gloom.
• 2 Samuel 3:24Then Joab came to the king and said, “What have you done? Behold, Abner came to you; why did you send him away, so that he is already gone?
• Ecclesiastes 10:5There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which proceeds from the ruler—
• Isaiah 3:5And the people will be oppressed, Each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; The boy will be arrogant and insolent toward the elder And the vulgar (common) toward the honorable [person of rank].

Commentaries on Proverbs 19:10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10Delight is not seemly for a fool - תענוג taanug, splendid or luxurious living, rank, equipage, etc. These sit ill on a fool, though he be by birth a lord. For a servant to have rule over princes - I pity the king who delivers himself into the hands of his own ministers. Such a one loses his character, and cannnot be respected by his subjects, or rather their subjects. But it is still worse when a person of mean extraction is raised to the throne, or to…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10“Delight,” high unrestrained enjoyment, is to the “fool” who lacks wisdom but a temptation and a snare. The second clause carries the thought on to what the despotism of Eastern monarchies often presented, the objectionable rule of some favored slave, it might be, of alien birth, over the princes and nobles of the land.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10Verse 10 A man that has not wisdom and grace, has no right or title to true joy. It is very unseemly for one who is a servant to sin, to oppress God's free-men.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. (Compare Pr 17:7). The fool is incapable of properly using pleasure as knowledge, yet for him to have it is less incongruous than the undue elevation of servants. Let each abide in his calling (1Co 7:20).Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 19:10

• Citizens
• Servant

In the dictionaries

• Judgment
• Pity
• Scorner
• Slothfulness
• Proverb
• Proverbs, the Book of

Commentaries on Proverbs 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings