3 Whips are for horses, and harnesses are for donkeys,
so paddles are good for fools.
4 Don’t answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or you will be just like them.
5 Answer fools when they speak foolishly,
or they will think they are really wise.
6 Sending a message by a foolish person
is like cutting off your feet or drinking poison.
7 A wise saying spoken by a fool
is as useless as the legs of a crippled person.
8 Giving honor to a foolish person
is like tying a stone in a slingshot.
9 A wise saying spoken by a fool
is like a thorn stuck in the hand of a drunk.
10 Hiring a foolish person or anyone just passing by
is like an archer shooting at just anything.
11 A fool who repeats his foolishness
is like a dog that goes back to what it has thrown up.
12 There is more hope for a foolish person
than for those who think they are wise. – Proverbs 26:2-10
The discussion of wisdom and foolishness in the Proverbs is usually a discussion of godliness versus sin or evil. It is rare that foolishness is referring to intellectual deficiencies as we would use the term today.
In Peter’s passage on false teachers (2 Peter 2) we see him quote verse 11 – a vivid simile about a Christian returning to sin.
Paul refers to verse 12 as he discusses giving over our lives to God in Romans 12.
Can you see how relevant the Proverbs are when we equate foolishness with sin?
October 26, 2011
Comments Off on Proverbs 26:2-10 – Dealing With Sinful People