A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
A wise (man) will hear, and will increase learning - (Proverbs 9:9.) "Learning" - literally, that which is received (Hebrew, leqach (H3948)). True wisdom is never stationary, but always progressive; because it secures the ground behind it as a basis for further advances. The Sciolist is "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). 'He who is not adding, is wasting; he who is not increasing knowledge, is losing from it,' (Rabbi Hillel, ch. 1, 'Aboth.') These proverbs are designed for not merely the "simple" (Proverbs 1:4), but the "wise" also, if only they be willing to hear, or rather to obey; because this part of philosophy consists in acting, in which he is most learned who most obeys (Bayne); cf. John 8:47. The wiser one is, the swifter will he be to hear, the slower to speak (James 1:19).
And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels - "wise counsels" х tachªbulot (H8458)] - literally, in steering or guiding a ship, from a Hebrew root, chebel (H2256), the cords with which the sail is managed, by which the ship is directed in its course by the chobel - i:e., steersman or commander. The wise man's counsels are such figurative cords for the guidance of himself and others in the house, the State, the Church, etc. Our life is a voyage. The "man of understanding" (Hebrew, naabown (H995): from the same root as biynaah (H998), "understanding," Proverbs 1:2, or discernment) - 'the man of discernment' - "shall attain unto" - literally, acquire and possess.