Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 28:23 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: King James Version
" He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue. "
Proverbs 28:23
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
22 He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come
23 He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue.
24 Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.
25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
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Flatterers may please people for a while, but later those same people will hate and despise them. If they ever come to see the evil of the sinful ways they were encouraged in, and if they grow ashamed of the pride and vanity that those flatteries fed, they will turn against the smooth-tongued flatterers. They will also reject the praise itself, because it had a harmful effect and has become disgusting to them.
By contrast, honest reprovers may upset people at first, yet later they are often loved and respected. A friend who faithfully tells someone his faults may stir up anger for the moment, and may even get harsh words instead of thanks. Still, that friend will later have the comfort of knowing he did his duty, and the person corrected may admit it was a kindness. In time, that person will think highly of the reprover’s wisdom and faithfulness, and will see him as a true friend.
It is like a surgeon who hurts when he searches a wound. A patient may cry out against him at first, but once the wound is healed, he will pay him well and thank him too.
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From This Chapter
Proverbs 28:1
"The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."
Proverbs 28:2
"For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged."
Proverbs 28:3
"A poor man that oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food."
Proverbs 28:4
"They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend"
Proverbs 28:5
"Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand"
Proverbs 28:6
"Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich."
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