Be not Conceited

BE NOT CONCEITED
Romans 12:16

TRANSLATIONS

"Do not be wise in your own estimation" --- NASB, NAB, McCord

"Be not wise in your own conceits" --- KJV, Lamsa, ASV

"Do not be conceited" --- NIV, Berkeley, Goodspeed

"Don't think you know it all" --- LB

"Do not keep thinking how wise you are" --- NEB

"Do not think of yourselves as wise" --- TEV

"Never be conceited" --- RSV

"Do not think how smart you are" --- NCV

"Don't be the great somebody" --- Message

"Don't think you are 'wise'" --- SEB

"Do not be wise in your own opinion" --- NKJV

"Do not become discreet in your own eyes" --- NWT

"Stop being conceited" --- Williams

"Don't become set in your own opinions" --- Phillips

WORD STUDY
This whole phrase suggests "one who deems himself wise" (Thayer, p. 658). It means "to be wise in your own estimation = relying on your own wisdom" (Arndt, p. 866). See -- Romans 11:25; 12:3; I Corinthians 13:4; II Corinthians 11:19; Proverbs 3:7; Isaiah 5:21.
COMMENTARY
"There is something especially isolating in that form of self-conceit" (Maclaren, p. 293).
"Nothing swells the minds of men so much as a high notion of their own wisdom" (Calvin, p. 471).
"Do not trust in the conceit of your own superior skill and understanding, and refuse to hearken to the counsel of others" (Barnes, p. 287).
"Do not be puffed up with a sense of your own wisdom. Overconfidence in self leads to presumption, which is offensive to God and man. When men conceive the idea that they are wise, then they are unwilling to look to God for wisdom. They follow their own conceits. Most of the failures in religion and in business come from too high an estimate of one's self" (Lipscomb, p. 229-30).
"Those who are wise 'before themselves,' or in their own estimation merely, are self-conceited" (Shedd, p. 370).
"Conceit has no place in the life ruled by love (I Cor. 13:4)" (Expos. Comm., p. 134).
"And be not puffed up with an opinion of your own wisdom, lest it make you despise instruction" (MacKnight, p. 439).
"Be not puffed up with an opinion of your own consequence; for this will prove that the consequence itself is imaginary. Do not suppose that wisdom and discernment dwell alone with you. Believe that you stand in need both of help and instruction from others" (Clarke, p. 141).

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