A wise man is strong,Yes, a man of knowledge increases strength;
For by wise counsel you will wage your own war,And in a multitude of counselors there is safety.
Proverbs 24:5–6 · NKJVPart of Strength and Counsel in War, Proverbs 24:5–6.
Quick answer
And here is where that strength gets spent: on the war you are actually in. The saying says the decisive resource is other people's counsel, not your own nerve.
Read the whole unit
Read the whole unit
The first verse makes a claim the ancient world would have found arguable, that wisdom belongs in the same category as physical power rather than as its consolation. Then the second verse tests it on the hardest case, which is what this collection likes to do. War is where strength is supposed to settle things, and the saying says counsel settles them.
The phrase "your own war" is worth catching. The Hebrew makes it personal, the war you are waging, which stops the verse from being about generals and hands it to the reader. And the second line puts safety in the multitude of counselors, a plural, which is a quiet argument against the single trusted advisor as much as against going it alone. The book said the same thing at 20:18 and 11:14. One honest tension is worth naming rather than smoothing: 21:31 has just said that deliverance belongs to the LORD, and this verse uses the same Hebrew word for what many counselors provide. The book is content to say both without reconciling them, and so is this entry.
What this verse contributes
the application, and the plural. Safety is in counselors, more than one of them.
The other half
Wisdom is not the alternative to strength, it is a form of it. The second line goes further and says knowledge keeps adding to it.
Related: Proverbs 20:18 · Proverbs 11:14 · Proverbs 21:31 · Ecclesiastes 9:14–16
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.