5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Have the same respect one for another, not minding high things, but going along with the lowly: be not wise in your own eyes:
And the Pharisees and Sadducees, coming to [him], asked him, tempting [him], to shew them a sign out of heaven. But he answering said to them, When evening is come, ye say, Fine weather, for the sky is red; and in the morning, A storm to-day, for the sky is red [and] lowering; ye know [how] to discern the face of the sky, but ye cannot the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it save the sign of Jonas. And he left them and went away.
And a person said to him out of the crowd, Teacher, speak to my brother to divide the inheritance with me. But he said to him, Man, who established me [as] a judge or a divider over you? And he said to them, Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for [it is] not because a man is in abundance [that] his life is in his possessions. And he spoke a parable to them, saying, The land of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. And he reasoned within himself saying, What shall I do? for I have not [a place] where I shall lay up my fruits. And he said, This will I do: I will take away my granaries and build greater, and there I will lay up all my produce and my good things; and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid by for many years; repose thyself, eat, drink, be merry. But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared? Thus is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
This testimony is true; for which cause rebuke them severely, that they may be sound in the faith,
And they said to him again, What did he do to thee? how opened he thine eyes? He answered them, I told you already and ye did not hear: why do ye desire to hear again? do ye also wish to become his disciples? They railed at him, and said, Thou art his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but [as to] this [man], we know not whence he is. The man answered and said to them, Now in this is a wonderful thing, that *ye* do not know whence he is, and he has opened mine eyes. [But] we know that God does not hear sinners; but if any one be God-fearing and do his will, him he hears. Since time was, it has not been heard that any one opened the eyes of one born blind. If this [man] were not of God he would be able to do nothing.
But when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said to them, Let him that is without sin among you first cast the stone at her.
And one said to him, Sir, [are] such as are to be saved few in number? But he said unto them, Strive with earnestness to enter in through the narrow door, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in and will not be able. From the time that the master of the house shall have risen up and shall have shut the door, and ye shall begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he answering shall say to you, I know you not whence ye are: then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence and drunk, and thou hast taught in our streets; and he shall say, I tell you, I do not know you whence ye are; depart from me, all [ye] workers of iniquity. There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out. And they shall come from east and west, and from north and south, and shall lie down at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.
Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micah upon the cheek, and said, Where now went the Spirit of Jehovah from me to speak to thee? And Micah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go from chamber to chamber to hide thyself. And the king of Israel said, Take Micah and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son; and thou shalt say, Thus says the king: Put this [man] in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. And Micah said, If thou return at all in peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O peoples, all of you!
Then went the Pharisees and held a council how they might ensnare him in speaking. And they send out to him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that thou art true and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one, for thou regardest not men's person; tell us therefore what thou thinkest: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said, Why tempt ye me, hypocrites? Shew me the money of the tribute. And they presented to him a denarius. And he says to them, Whose [is] this image and superscription? They say to him, Caesar's. Then he says to them, Pay then what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God. And when they heard [him], they wondered, and left him, and went away. On that day came to him Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection; and they demanded of him, saying, Teacher, Moses said, If any one die, not having children, his brother shall marry his wife and shall raise up seed to his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren; and the first having married died, and not having seed, left his wife to his brother. In like manner also the second and the third, unto the seven. And last of all the woman also died. In the resurrection therefore of which of the seven shall she be wife, for all had her? And Jesus answering said to them, Ye err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, *I* am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not God of [the] dead, but of [the] living.
And when he came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him [as he was] teaching, saying, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answering said to them, *I* also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, *I* also will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John, whence was it? of heaven or of men? And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we should say, Of heaven, he will say to us, Why then have ye not believed him? but if we should say, Of men, we fear the crowd, for all hold John for a prophet. And answering Jesus they said, We do not know. *He* also said to them, Neither do *I* tell you by what authority I do these things.
Then the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem come up to Jesus, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress what has been delivered by the ancients? for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. But he answering said to them, Why do *ye* also transgress the commandment of God on account of your traditional teaching?
And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words from his mouth? And Baruch said unto them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote [them] with ink in the book.
Hast thou seen a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope of a fool than of him.
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Proverbs 26
Commentary on Proverbs 26 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 26
Pr 26:1-28.
1. The incongruities of nature illustrate also those of the moral world. The fool's unworthiness is also implied (Pr 17:7; 19:10).
2. Though not obvious to us,
the bird—literally, "sparrow"—and
swallow—have an object in their motions, so penal evil falls on none without a reason.
3. The rod is as much needed by fools and as well suited to them, as whips and bridles are for beasts.
4, 5. Answer not—that is, approvingly by like folly.
5. Answer—by reproof.
6. A fool fails by folly as surely as if he were maimed.
drinketh damage—that is, gets it abundantly (Job 15:16; 34:7).
7. legs … equal—or, "take away the legs," or "the legs … are weak." In any case the idea is that they are the occasion of an awkwardness, such as the fool shows in using a parable or proverb (see Introduction; Pr 17:7).
8. A stone, bound in a sling, is useless; so honor, conferred on a fool, is thrown away.
9. As vexatious and unmanageable as a thorn in a drunkard's hand is a parable to a fool. He will be as apt to misuse is as to use it rightly.
10. Various versions of this are proposed (compare Margin). Better perhaps—"Much He injures (or literally, "wounds") all who reward," &c., that is, society is injured by encouraging evil men.
transgressors—may be rendered "vagrants." The word "God" is improperly supplied.
11. returneth … folly—Though disgusting to others, the fool delights in his folly.
12. The self-conceited are taught with more difficulty than the stupid.
13. (Compare Pr 22:13).
14. (Compare Pr 6:10; 24:33).
15. (Compare Pr 19:24).
16. The thoughtless being ignorant of their ignorance are conceited.
17. meddleth—as in Pr 20:19; 24:21; as either holding a dog by the ears or letting him go involves danger, so success in another man's strife or failure involves a useless risk of reputation, does no good, and may do us harm.
18, 19. Such are reckless of results.
20, 21. The talebearers foster (Pr 16:28), and the contentious excite, strife.
22. (Compare Pr 18:8).
23. Warm professions can no more give value to insincerity than silver coating to rude earthenware.
24. dissembleth—though an unusual sense of the word (compare Margin), is allowable, and better suits the context, which sets forth hypocrisy.
25. Sentiment of Pr 26:24 carried out.
seven abominations in his heart—that is, very many (compare Pr 24:16).
26, 27. Deceit will at last be exposed, and the wicked by their own arts often bring on retribution (compare Pr 12:13; Ps 7:16; 9:17, &c.).
28. Men hate those they injure.
A lying tongue—"lips" for the persons (compare Pr 4:24; Ps 12:3).