A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.Proverbs 14:5-8
The thought in 5 is echoed again in 25 (cf also 12:17, 19:5, 9, 21:28, 25:18). In the spiritual sense, we may link it with 2 Corinthians 4:2, where Paul speaks of 'handling the word of God deceitfully'. The scorner in 6 is not simply one lacking in seriousness; he is a rebel against God and has refused His ways. It is this refusal that blinds a man's mind and therefore closes it to true wisdom. The statement in 6b needs to be understood aright. Knowledge is not easy in the sense of there being nothing to it, but rather easy of access and readily available to those who seek it truly. A sincere desire to know the truth is the best preparation for the attainment of knowledge and wisdom. We should compare the thought in 7 with Jesus' words in Matthew 7:6, 'Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine'. There comes a time when one refuses to discuss spiritual things any further with someone who is obviously truculent and insincere. The man who always ready for an argument, but who clearly is not interested in being brought to conviction, ought not, for the good of his soul, to be argued with. Perhaps the point of what is said in 8 is that the true believer needs to be prudent and discerning enough to know when the time to withdraw from such a one has come and to act accordingly (cf 2Thessalonians 3:6 for a similar thought and injunction).