C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch on Proverbs 15:32

Pro 15:32

Two proverbs with the catchword מוּסר: 32 He that refuseth correction lightly values his soul;      But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

Regarding פּורע מוּסר, vid., Pro 13:18, cf. Pro 1:25, and מואס נפשׁו, Pro 8:36. נפשׁו contains more than the later expression עצמו, self; it is equivalent to חיּיו (Job 9:21), for the נפשׁ is the bond of union between the intellectual and the corporeal life. The despising of the soul is then the neglecting, endangering, exposing of the life; in a word, it is suicide (10b). Pro 19:8 is a variation derived from this distich: “He who gains understanding loves his soul,” according to which the lxx translate here ἀγαπᾷ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. לב the Midrash explains by חכמה שׁנתונה בלב; but the correct view is, that לב is not thought of as a formal power, but as operative and carried into effect in conformity with its destination.