Bird's-eye view
Proverbs 13:20 is a crisp, two-part declaration that functions as a fundamental law of spiritual and practical reality. It sets before us the principle of moral contagion. The first clause presents the positive side: wisdom is communicable. By choosing to associate with the wise, one becomes wise. The second clause presents the stark negative: folly is also communicable, and its end is destruction. This is not about mere intellectual agreement, but about the formative power of fellowship. Who you walk with determines where you are going and who you will be when you get there. The proverb establishes a sharp antithesis, a core feature of wisdom literature. There is the way of wisdom, which is life, and the way of folly, which is death. Your choice of companions is a primary indicator of which path you are on. It is a deeply practical proverb, forcing a self-examination of our closest relationships and their effect on our soul.
In essence, Solomon is teaching that sanctification is a community project. While a man’s relationship with God is personal, it is never private. We are shaped, molded, and influenced by our friends, mentors, and associates. The proverb assumes that we learn by imitation, absorbing the habits, attitudes, and worldview of those we spend our time with. Therefore, the choice of friends is not a matter of personal preference or social convenience; it is a matter of ultimate destiny. To choose a fool for a friend is to choose eventual harm for yourself.
Outline
- 1. The Law of Moral Contagion (Prov 13:20)
- a. The Positive Contagion: Assimilating Wisdom Through Fellowship (Prov 13:20a)
- b. The Negative Contagion: Assimilating Folly Unto Destruction (Prov 13:20b)
Context In Proverbs
This proverb sits within a collection of Solomon's wisdom that repeatedly contrasts the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the fool, the diligent and the lazy. Chapter 13 is filled with these sharp comparisons. For instance, verse 1 speaks of a wise son heeding his father's instruction, while a scoffer does not listen. Verse 14 calls the teaching of the wise a "fountain of life." Verse 20 fits seamlessly into this pattern. It is not an isolated aphorism but part of a sustained argument about the nature of two paths. The "walking" in our verse echoes the language of Proverbs 1 and 2, which warns the son not to "walk in the way" of sinners. The entire book of Proverbs is a father's appeal to his son to choose the path of wisdom, personified as a woman to be loved, and to reject the path of folly, personified as the adulteress. This verse makes it plain that one of the most critical decisions in choosing our path is choosing our companions.
Key Issues
- The Nature of Biblical Friendship
- The Power of Imitation in Sanctification
- The Antithesis Between Wisdom and Folly
- Corporate and Covenantal Responsibility
- The Definition of a "Fool" in Proverbs
The Company You Keep
In our radically individualistic age, we tend to think of personal development as a solo project. We read our books, have our quiet times, and work on our character in isolation. But the Bible knows nothing of this. The Scriptures assume that we are porous creatures, constantly absorbing things from our environment. And the most potent part of that environment is the people in it. This proverb is not about the wise man in his study or the fool in his tavern; it is about the bystanders, the associates, the companions. It is about who you walk with on the way to the study or the tavern.
Wisdom and folly are presented here as communicable diseases, or perhaps better, as communicable health. You catch them from others. This is why the New Testament places such a heavy emphasis on fellowship, the "one another" commands, and the corporate life of the church. We are to exhort one another, encourage one another, and admonish one another. Why? Because we leak. We are prone to wander, and the company of wise saints is one of God's primary means of grace to keep us on the path. Conversely, the company of fools is a constant, gravitational pull toward destruction. This proverb is a call to be ruthlessly intentional about the company we keep, because our souls are at stake.
Verse by Verse Commentary
20 He who walks with the wise will be wise,
The verb "walks" is covenantal language. It describes a manner of life, a consistent pattern of behavior and association. It is not about a single conversation or a brief acquaintance. It means to order your life alongside, to travel in the same direction, to keep company with. The promise is straightforward: if you do this with wise men, you yourself will become wise. You will absorb it through their counsel, their example, their priorities, and even their casual conversation. Wisdom is not simply a set of abstract principles to be memorized; it is an embodied skill, a craft that is learned through apprenticeship. You learn how to be a wise father by watching wise fathers. You learn to be a wise husband by listening to wise husbands. You cannot learn it from a book in the same way you can learn it from a life. This is why Paul could say, "imitate me as I imitate Christ." This is God's ordinary method for training His people.
But the friend of fools will suffer harm.
The second clause shifts from the verb "walks" to the noun "friend" or "companion." The Hebrew word here implies pasturing together, being a shepherd's companion. It speaks of a chosen association. And the outcome is just as certain as in the first clause, but far more grim. The companion of fools will "suffer harm," or as the King James has it, "be destroyed." The implication is not just that you will be caught in the splash zone when the fool's life inevitably blows up. The proverb goes deeper. The companion of fools becomes a fool, and therefore he reaps the fool's reward, which is destruction. Folly is a moral and spiritual rot, and if you hang around the rotting, you will begin to rot yourself. The harm is not accidental; it is the necessary consequence of embracing folly. You cannot be a true friend to a fool without participating in his folly, and you cannot participate in his folly without sharing in his judgment.
Application
The application of this proverb must be handled with a pair of scissors. First, you must take these scissors and audit your friendships. Who are you walking with? Who are your closest counselors, your confidants, the people whose opinions you value most? Are they wise? Do they fear God? Do they love His law? Do they speak the truth in love? Or are they fools, who, according to Proverbs, are characterized by scoffing at sin, trusting in their own hearts, and rejecting correction? This proverb demands that we make conscious, deliberate choices about our inner circle. This is not a call to be unfriendly or unkind to unbelievers, but it is a strict prohibition against covenanting with them in intimate friendship.
Second, you must turn the scissors on yourself. Are you a wise friend to others? Is your company a means of grace to those who walk with you? Does your conversation build up, or does it tear down? When your friends leave your presence, are they more encouraged in the path of wisdom or more comfortable in some folly? This proverb works in both directions. We are not just passive recipients of influence; we are active agents of it. The Christian life is a call to be the kind of wise friend that this proverb commends. We are to walk in wisdom toward outsiders, and we are certainly to walk in wisdom with our brothers and sisters. The ultimate wise friend is the Lord Jesus Christ, who calls us His friends. To walk with Him is to walk with Wisdom incarnate, and it is only by walking with Him that we have any wisdom to offer to anyone else.