Advice

Advice - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

ADVI'CE, n. [L. viso, to see, to visit.]

1. Counsel; an opinion recommended, or offered, as worthy to be followed.

What advice give ye? 2 Chr 10.

With good advice make war. Prov 20.

We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.

2. Prudence; deliberate consideration.

3. Information; notice; intelligence; as, we have late advices from France.

To take advice, is to consult with others.

ADVI'CE BOAT, n. A vessel employed to carry dispatches or information.

Advise - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

ADVI'SE, v.t. s as z. [See Advice.]

1. To give counsel to; to offer an opinion, as worthy or expedient to be followed; as, I advise you to be cautious of speculation.

2. To give information; to communicate notice; to make acquainted with; followed by of, before the thing communicated; as, the merchants were advised of the risk.

3. To deliberate, consider, or consult.

Advise thyself of what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 1 Chr 21.

But in this sense, it is usually intransitive.

ADVI'SE, v.i. To deliberate, weigh well, or consider.

Advise and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. 2 Sam 24.

To advise with is to consult for the purpose of taking the opinions of others.

Advisement - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

ADVI'SEMENT, n.

1. Counsel; information; circumspection.

2. Consultation.

The action standing continued nisi for advisement.

Counsel - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

COUNSEL, n. [L., to consult; to ask, to assail.]

1. Advice; opinion, or instruction, given upon request or otherwise, for directing the judgment or conduct of another; opinion given upon deliberation or consultation.

Every purpose is established by counsel. Prov 20.

Thou hast not hearkened to my counsel. 2 Chr 25.

2. Consultation; interchange of opinions.

We took sweet counsel together. Psa 55.

3. Deliberation; examination of consequences.

They all confess that, in the working of that first cause, counsel is used, reason followed, and a way observed.

4. Prudence; deliberate opinion or judgment, or the faculty or habit of judging with caution.

O how comely is the wisdom of old men, and understanding and counsel to men of honor. Ecclus. 25.

The law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients. Ezek 7.

5. In a bad sense, evil advice or designs; art; machination.

The counsel of the froward is carried headlong. Job 5.

6. Secresy; the secrets entrusted in consultation; secret opinions or purposes. Let a man keep his own counsel.

7. In a scriptural sense, purpose; design; will; decree.

What thy counsel determined before to be done. Acts 4.

To show the immutability of his counsel. Heb 6.

8. Directions of Gods word.

Thou shalt guide me by thy counsel. Psa 73.

9. The will of God or his truth and doctrines concerning the way of salvation.

I have not shunned to declare to you all the counsel of God. Acts 20.

10. Those who give counsel in law; any counselor or advocate, or any number of counselors, barristers or sergeants; as the plaintiffs counsel, or the defendants counsel. The attorney-general and solicitor-general are the kings counsel. In this sense, the word has no plural; but in the singular number, is applicable to one or more persons.

COUNSEL, v.t. [L.]

1. To give advice or deliberate opinion to another for the government of his conduct; to advise.

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. Revelations 3.

2. To exhort, warn, admonish, or instruct. We ought frequently to counsel our children against the vices of the age.

They that will not be counseled, cannot be helped.

3. To advise or recommend; as, to counsel a crime. [Not much used.]

Counsellor - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

An adviser (Prov. 11:14; 15:22), a king's state counsellor (2 Sam. 15:12). Used once of the Messiah (Isa. 9:6). In Mark 15:43, Luke 23:50, the word probably means a member of the Jewish Sanhedrim.

Wise men - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

Mentioned in Dan. 2:12 included three classes, (1) astrologers, (2) Chaldeans, and (3) soothsayers. The word in the original (hakamim) probably means "medicine men. In Chaldea medicine was only a branch of magic. The "wise men" of Matt. 2:7, who came from the East to Jerusalem, were magi from Persia or Arabia.

ad-vis', ad-viz', ad-viz'-ment: Aside from their regular meaning these words are peculiarly employed as follows:

(1) Advice' In 2Sa 19:43 (from, dabhar, "word") the meaning is equal to "request" (the Revised Version, margin "were we not the first to speak of bringing back"). In 1Sa 25:33 the King James Version (from, Ta`am, "taste," "reason") "advice" is equal to "sagacity" (the Revised Version (British and American) "blessed be thy discretion"). In 2Ch 25:17 (from ya`ac, "to give or take counsel") the meaning seems to be "to consult with oneself"; compare also Jud 19:30 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "take counsel").

(2) Advise: In 2Sa 24:13 the King James Version (from yadha, "to know") "to advise" means "to advise oneself," i.e. "to consider" (the Revised Version (British and American) "advise thee") Compare also 1Ch 21:12 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "consider" from, ra'ah, "to see") and Pr 13:10 where "well- advised" is the same as "considerate" (from ya`ac; see 2Ch 25:17).

(3) Advisement (antiquated): Found once in the Old Testament in 1Ch 12:19 (from `etsah, "counsel"), where "upon advisement" means "upon deliberation." Compare 2Macc 14:20 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "when these proposals had been long considered").

A. L. Breslich

koun'-sel, koun'-seler (sumboulion): Ordinarily found as object of verb "to take" or "to give," expressing, beside the idea of a practical end to be reached, that of consultation and deliberation among those united in a common cause (Mt 12:14; Mr 3:6). A counselor (sumboulos) is a confidential adviser (Ro 11:34); often in the Old Testament (Isa 9:6; Pr 24:6, etc.). Confounded in the King James Version with "councillor" (see above), the latter being an official adviser, which the former does not necessarily mean.

wiz'-men: In addition to the uses of "wise" specified in the article WISDOM, the adjective is employed occasionally as the technical description of men who are adepts in magic, divination, etc. (e.g. in Ge 41:8; Ex 7:11; Es 1:13; Da 2:27; 5:15). Naturally, however, in the ancient world the boundary between genuine knowledge and astrology, etc., was exceedingly vague, and it was never denied that real knowledge could be gained along lines that we know to be futile. So the initiation of Moses into all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Ac 7:22) or of Daniel into all the learning of the Chaldeans (Da 1:4) met with no disapproval. These great men could be trusted to avoid the moral and religious pitfalls of such pursuits. For the ordinary Israelites, however the uncompromising prohibition of idolatry closed the door definitely to all studies of this kind. See ASTROLOGY; DIVINATION, etc. And for the Wise-men of Mt 2 see MAGI.

Burton Scott Easton

Definition

The terms “counsel” and “advice” have the same meaning and refer to helping someone decide wisely about what to do in a certain situation. A wise “counselor” or “advisor” is someone who gives advice or counsel that will help a person make right choices.

• Kings often have official advisors or counselors to help them decide important matters that affect the people they are ruling.
• Sometimes the advice or counsel that is given is not good. Evil advisors may urge a king to take action or make a decree that will harm him or his people.
• Depending on the context, “advice” or “counsel” could also be translated as “help in deciding” or “warnings” or “exhortations” or “guidance.”
• The action, to “counsel” could be translated as to “advise” or to “make suggestions” or to “exhort.”
• Note that “counsel” is a different word than “council,” which refers to a group of people.

(See also: exhort, Holy Spirit, wise)

Bible References

Word Data

• Strong’s: H1697, H1847, H1875, H1884, H1907, H3272, H3289, H3982, H4156, H4431, H5475, H5779, H6440, H6963, H6098, H7592, H8458, G10110, G10120, G11060, G48230, G48250

Definition

In the Bible, the term “wise men” is often a technical term referring to men with unusual knowledge and abilities who served in a king’s royal court as advisors to the king or other high officials.

Old Testament

• The “wise men” who served pharaohs or other kings were often scholars who studied the stars, especially looking for special meanings for the patterns that the stars made in their positions in the sky. Sometimes “wise men” also practiced divination of performed acts of magic, probably by the power of evil spirits.
• Often wise men were expected to explain the meanings of dreams. For example, King Nebuchadnezzar demanded that his wise men describe his dreams and tell him what they meant, but none of them was able to do this, except Daniel who had received this knowledge from God.

New Testament

• The group of men who came from eastern regions to worship Jesus were called “magi,” which is often translated as “wise men,” since this probably refers to scholars who served a ruler of an eastern country.

Translation Suggestions

• Depending on the context, the term “wise men” could be translated using the term “wise” or with a phrase such as “gifted men” or “educated men” or some other term that refers to men who have an important job working for a ruler.

(See also: Babylon, Daniel, divination, magic, Nebuchadnezzar, ruler, wise)

Bible References

• 1 Chronicles 27:32-34
• Daniel 2:1-2
• Daniel 2:10-11

Word Data

• Strong’s: H2445, H2450, H3778, H3779, G46800