Proverbs 17:21

17:20 He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. He that hath a froward: Heb. The froward of heart

He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

KJV

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He who becomes the father of a fool grieves. The father of a fool has no joy.

He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.

He that begets a fool does it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool has no joy.

17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. like: or, to

What does Proverbs 17:21 mean?

Proverbs 17:21 is a verse in the book of Proverbs, in the Old Testament. In the original Hebrew, key words include יָלַד (yâlad), כְּסִיל (kᵉçîyl), תּוּגָה (tûwgâh). It connects to 12 cross-referenced passages elsewhere in Scripture.

Hebrew interlinear

that

begettethיָלַדyâlad/yaw-lad'/H3205to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage

foolכְּסִילkᵉçîyl/kes-eel'/H3684properly, fat, i.e. (figuratively) stupid or silly

doeth

his

sorrow:תּוּגָהtûwgâh/too-gaw'/H8424depression (of spirits); concretely a grief

and

the

fatherאָבʼâb/awb/H1father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application

foolנָבָלnâbâl/naw-bawl'/H5036stupid; wicked (especially impious)

hath

joy.שָׂמַחsâmach/saw-makh'/H8055probably to brighten up, i.e. (figuratively) be (causatively, make) blithe or gleesome

Commentary on Proverbs 17:21

HENRY_FULL · Proverbs 17:21

This expresses that very emphatically which many wise and good men feel very sensibly, what a grievous vexatious thing it is to have a foolish wicked child. See here, 1. How uncertain all our creature-comforts are, so that we are often not only disappointed in them, but that proves the greatest cross in which we promised ourselves most satisfaction. There was joy when a man-child was born into the world, and yet, if he prove vicious, his own father will wish he had never been born. The name of Absalom signifies his father's peace, but he was his greatest trouble. It should moderate the desire of having children, and the delights of their parents in them, that they may prove a grief to them; yet it should silence the murmurings of the afflicted father in that case that if his son be a fool he is a fool of his own begetting, and therefore he must make the best of him, and take it up as his cross, the rather because Adam begets a son in his own likeness. 2. How unwise we are in suffering one affliction (and that of an untoward child as likely as any other) to drown the sense of a thousand mercies: The father of a fool lays that so much to heart that he has no joy of any thing else. For this he may thank himself; there are joys sufficient to counterbalance even that sorrow. 22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Cross-references

Related passages from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Job 6:2

Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! laid: Heb. lifted up

Job 33:22

Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

Proverbs 17:14

The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.

Proverbs 17:15

He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.

Proverbs 22:11

He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend. for: or, and hath grace in his lips

Isaiah 53:3

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. we hid: or, he hid as it were his face from us: Heb. as an hiding of faces from him, or, from us

Isaiah 53:10

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. thou: or, his soul shall make an offering

Isaiah 53:11

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Lamentations 3:15

He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood. bitterness: Heb. bitternesses

Matthew 26:37

And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

Mark 14:33

And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

Mark 14:34

And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

Verses like this

Other verses that share key original-language words with Proverbs 17:21.

Genesis 10:21

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

Genesis 4:20

And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

Proverbs 10:1

The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.

Frequently asked questions

What does Proverbs 17:21 say?

Proverbs 17:21 (King James Version) reads: "He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy."

Is Proverbs 17:21 in the Old or New Testament?

Proverbs 17:21 is in the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Proverbs.

Reflect

As you read Proverbs 17:21, what is one truth here you can carry into today?

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