Made Wise by “the Laying of a Fine”

PROVERBS 21:11 says: “By the laying of a fine on the ridiculer the inexperienced becomes wise; and by one’s giving insight to a wise person he gets knowledge.”

An “inexperienced” one often has difficulty appreciating why a certain course of conduct is wrong. In time, though, he may observe a “ridiculer”​—one who scoffs at the principles of God’s Word—​become caught in his wickedness and suffer “distress and hard times.” (Proverbs 1:27) Under the Mosaic Law, appropriate ‘punishment’ (King James Version), or more literally “a fine,” could have been levied on the wrongdoer.​—Compare Exodus 21:22; Deuteronomy 22:19.

The effect on the inexperienced one? Finally seeing the reward of wrongdoing, he could ‘become wise’ and determine not to follow such a course himself. (Compare Proverbs 19:25.) By way of contrast, “a wise person” already knows from past experience, observation, and knowledge of Bible principles that a certain course of conduct is unwholesome or destructive. He does not always need to observe the ruinous outcome of a certain act to be convinced of its wrongfulness. He can thus gain new ‘insights’ by mere instruction, rather than by bitter experience.