A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.
A reproof entereth more into [descends into, from naachat (H5181 )] a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool - literally, 'than to strike a fool a hundred times.' It is the height of folly to harden one's self against the reproofs of God, and so to incur His "hundred stripes." 'A generous horse is ruled even by the shadow of the rod; a lazy beast cannot be stirred even by a spur' (Curtius, 7:4). Tender susceptibility to the monitions of our Father, by His Word, His ministers, and His Providential dealings, is the mark of a gracious soul.