Verse Lens · Concise explanation

Proverbs 15:31 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 31. The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

This verse contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise”.

Read It With

  • Proverbs 15:28–33

The line at Proverbs 15:31 contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise”. Its place in Proverbs 15:28–33 matters because the edited collection joins it to instruction, correction, and formation, justice, truthful judgment, and protection from exploitation, reverent accountability before the LORD.

Why This Verse Appears Here

At verse 15:31, Proverbs contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise”. The line belongs to “Instruction, correction, and formation — The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the...” and remains governed by the unit's source limits and misuse boundaries.

Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation

“The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise”

In plain language: instruction, correction, and formation

This verse contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise”.

Why it matters: This wording gives the verse its distinct role inside the cluster.

How certain? strong

What Remains True

Wise correction aims at learning, responsibility, and protection rather than domination or pain for its own sake. In Proverbs 15:31, that bounded truth is expressed through “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise,” not through a promise detached from its literary form.

How It Can Shape Life

  • Use calm, age-appropriate, nonviolent guidance, clear boundaries, repair, and qualified support when ordinary correction is not enough. For Proverbs 15:31, preserve the sequence: verse role (contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise”) -> contextual meaning in Proverbs 15:28–33 -> proportionate truth -> this accountable response.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read Proverbs 15:28–33 — Instruction, correction, and formation — The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the...
Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? strong

Where care is needed

This sentence saying states a context-shaped moral pattern. Its small-cluster boundary and degree of generality remain reviewable; exceptional outcomes do not make the observation meaningless or turn it into a guarantee.

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, canonical order, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.

Exact location: Proverbs 15:28–33, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Proverbs

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used only for the exact unit's lexical, grammatical, parallel, superscription, number-saying, and acrostic questions.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Prov.xml, OSIS 15:28-15:33

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Proverbs with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: Verse-attached textual, lexical, grammatical, syntactic, parallelism, and older-English controls for the exact range.

Exact location: NET Bible Proverbs PDF, printed pp. 1121-1125, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 15:28–33

Open source ↗
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