Proverbs 14:16 (BSB)

A wise man fears and turns from evil, but a fool is careless and reckless.

From Proverbs 14. Also in the ESV.

Commentary on Proverbs 14:16

• Matthew Henry (Presbyterian), Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on Proverbs 14:16: Note, 1. Holy fear is an excellent guard upon every holy thing, and against every thing that is unholy. It is wisdom to depart from evil, from the evil of sin, and thereby from all other evil; and therefore it is wisdom to fear, that is, to be jealous over ourselves with a godly jealousy, to keep up a dread of God's wrath, to be...
• John Gill (Reformed Baptist), Exposition of the Old and New Testaments on Proverbs 14:16: A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil,.... He fears God, and is careful not to offend him; wherefore he departs from sin, stands at a distance from it, abstains from all appearance of it; being influenced by the goodness and grace of God unto him, he fears the Lord and his goodness, and therefore avoids all occasions of sinning against him: his motive is...
• Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (Reformed), Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible on Proverbs 14:16: (Compare Pro 3:7; Pro 28:14). rageth--acts proudly and conceitedly.
• Keil & Delitzsch (Lutheran), Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament on Proverbs 14:16: Pro 14:16 16 The wise feareth and departeth from evil; But the fool loseth his wits and is regardless. Our editions have ירא with Munach, as if חכם ירא were a substantive with its adjective; but Cod. 1294 has חכם with Rebia, and thus it must be: חכם is the subject, and what follows is its complex predicate.