Proverbs 14:18 - Meaning and Application

Note, sin is the shame of sinners. The simple, who love their foolishness, gain nothing from it. They inherit folly. Some say this comes by inheritance, because our corrupt nature comes down from our first parents, and all the misery that follows it comes with that inheritance. It is like a disease handed down through the family line. Yet sinners are as attached to it as a man is to his property, and they hold on to it just as tightly. What they value in themselves is really foolish, and what will come of their simplicity except more folly? In the end, they will deeply regret their own unwise choice.

Wisdom is the honor of the wise. The prudent crown themselves with knowledge, because they see it as their brightest ornament, and they desire nothing more. They bind it on their heads like a crown, and they are not willing to let it go. They keep pressing forward toward fuller knowledge, and that will bring honor to both their beginnings and their progress. They will receive praise for it. Wise people will be respected as if they were crowned rulers. Some read the verse this way, they crown knowledge, meaning they are a credit to what they profess. Wisdom is not only approved, but honored, by all her children.