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Proverbs 24:5 · World English Bible

Proverbs 24:5 Meaning A Wise Man Has Great Power

A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;

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What does Proverbs 24:5 mean?

The strength meant here is not the ego's, which braces and defends and grows more brittle the harder it grips. It is the quiet power of a mind that has understood, for the one who sees truly has nothing left to fear and therefore nothing left to guard.

From the Christian Psychology reading below.

Proverbs 24:5 through 1 lens

The same verse, read by one tradition.

CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY

Christian Psychology

The strength meant here is not the ego's, which braces and defends and grows more brittle the harder it grips. It is the quiet power of a mind that has understood, for the one who sees truly has nothing left to fear and therefore nothing left to guard. Wisdom and strength are not two things but one, since to know what is real is already to be beyond the reach of what is not.

Such strength increases not by conquering but by releasing. Each grievance a mind lays down leaves it lighter and surer, until it discovers that the might it sought through struggle was only ever the peace that comes of needing no defense.

Wise man: the mind established in true understanding, whose strength is not effort or defense but the calm of having nothing to fear

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Christian Psychology lens

Live Proverbs 24:5 today

  1. When someone criticizes you and you feel your whole body tighten, unclench your jaw and your shoulders first. Then decide whether a reply is even needed.
  2. In an argument at home, try saying that you may be wrong about part of it. The ground does not give way, and the room changes.
  3. Under pressure at work, let go of one thing you have been gripping, a task, a bit of credit, the last word. You will feel lighter, not weaker.

What am I holding so tightly that it has started holding me?

The same truth in other traditions

Tao Te Ching 76

The hard and rigid break, while the soft and yielding endure. Bracing is not strength.

Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius

He said the mind that is not disturbed is a fortress, and that no one can take from you what you have stopped defending.

Buddhism

Real strength shows in the one who stays steady under insult, not the one who returns it. Letting go takes more than hitting back.

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