Proverbs26chapter 26

Proverbs 26:1

“In Palestine there is commonly hardly any rain from the early showers of spring to October. Hence, “rain in harvest” became sometimes (see the marginal reference) a supernatural sign, sometimes, as here, a proverb for whatever was strange and incongruous.”

Proverbs 26:2

"As birds and sparrows fly away, so the curse causeless shall not come upon any one." And again [Solomon] says, "Those that bring reproaches are exceedingly foolish." But as the bee, a creature as to its strength feeble, if it stings anyone, loses its sting and becomes a drone; in the same manner you also, whatsoever injustice you do to others, will bring it upon yourselves. .

Proverbs 26:2

“As the bird - צפור tsippor is taken often for the sparrow; but means generally any small bird. As the sparrow flies about the house, and the swallow emigrates to strange countries; so an undeserved malediction may flutter about the neighborhood for a season: but in a short time it will disappear as the bird of passage; and never take effect on the innocent person against whom it was pronounced.”

Proverbs 26:3

“The rod is as much needed by fools and as well suited to them, as whips and bridles are for beasts. Answer not--that is, approvingly by like folly.”

Proverbs 26:4

“Answer not a fool - On this and the following verse Bishop Warburton, who has written well on many things, and very indifferently on the doctrine of grace, has written with force and perspicuity: “Had this advice been given simply, and without circumstance, to answer the fool, and not to answer him, one who had reverence for the text would satisfy himself in supposing that the different directions referred to the doing a thing in and out of season;”

Proverbs 26:6

Cutteth off the feet - Sending by such a person is utterly useless. My old MS. Bible translates well: Halt in feet and drinking wickednesse that sendith wordis bi a foole messager. Nothing but lameness in himself can vindicate his sending it by such hands; and, after all, the expedient will be worse than the total omission, for he is likely to drink wickedness, i.e., the mischief occasioned by the fool’s misconduct. Coverdale nearly hits the sense as usual: “He is lame of his fete, yee dronken is he in vanite, that committeth eny thinge to a foole.”

Proverbs 26:7

Or, Take away the legs of the lame man, and the parable that is in the mouth of fools: both are alike useless to their possessors. Other meanings are: (1) “The legs of the lame man are feeble, so is parable in the mouth of fools.” (2) “the lifting up of the legs of a lame man, i. e., his attempts at dancing, are as the parable in the mouth of fools.”

Proverbs 26:8

“As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honor to a fool - It is entirely thrown away. This, however, is a difficult proverb; and the versions give but little light on the subject. The Hebrew may be translated, “As a piece of precious stone among a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honor to a fool.” Or, As he that putteth a precious stone in a heap of stones.”

Proverbs 26:9

“The sin of all people is not taken away by the Lamb if they neither grieve nor are tormented till it be taken away. For since thorns have not only been sown but have also taken deep root in the hands of everyone who has become drunk because of evil, and has lost sobriety, according to what is said in Proverbs, "Thorns grow in the hand of the drunkard." So what must we say in addition regarding the extent of distress they produce in him who has received such plants into the body of his own soul?”

Proverbs 26:9

“Better: “As a thorn which is lifted up in the hand of the drunkard” etc. As such a weapon so used may do mischief to the man himself or to others, so may the sharp, keen-edged proverb when used by one who does not understand it.”

Proverbs 26:10

“The great God that formed all things - Or, A great man grieveth all, and he hireth the fool, he hireth also transgressors, where this verse is very differently translated. I shall add that of Coverdale: “A man of experience discerneth all thinges well: but whoso hyreth a foole, hyreth soch one as wyl take no hede.” The רב rab may mean either the great God, or a great man: hence the two renderings, in the text and in the margin.”

Proverbs 26:10

“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.”

Proverbs 26:11

“11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. What an abominable thing sin is, and how hateful sometimes it is made to appear, even to the sinner himself. When his conscience is convinced, or he feels smart from his sin, he is sick of it, and vomits it up; he seems then to detest it and to be willing to part with it.”

Proverbs 26:12

“There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, a person wise in his own conceit; and a still greater evil is to charge with the instruction of others a person who is not even aware of his own ignorance.”

Proverbs 26:13

“The sluggard says, A lion is in the way, etc. Many, when they hear words of exhortation, blame the devil, saying that they indeed wish to begin the path of righteousness, but are hindered by Satan so that they might not accomplish it; and thus, …”

Proverbs 26:13

“Compare the marginal reference note. Here there is greater dramatic vividness in the two words used: (1) A roaring one, (2) a lion, more specifically.”

Proverbs 26:15

“The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom,.... To keep it warm; Jarchi's note is, "he puts his hand in a hot basin, because of the cold.'' The word (c) for "bosom" does sometimes signify a "pot" or basin.”

Proverbs 26:16

“Than seven men that can render a reason - Seven here only means perfection, abundance, or multitude. He is wiser in his own eyes than a multitude of the wisest men. “Than seven men that sytt and teach.” - Coverdale; i.e., than seven doctors of the law, or heads of the schools of the prophets, who always sat while they taught.”

Proverbs 26:17

“As he who takes a dog by the ears, etc. The Apostle says, Do not strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers (II Tim. II). Therefore, whoever is simple-minded, and if the ear of one of the two who are …”

Proverbs 26:18

“As a mad man, who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death. Or the instruments of death, as Aben Ezra; or the sharp arrows of death, as the Targum and Syriac version; who casts firebrands into the houses and barns of his neighbours, to consume them; or arrows at their persons and cattle, to destroy them; or any other instruments of death, which none but a mad man, or one wickedly mad, would do.”

Proverbs 26:18

“The teacher cuts off the plea which people make when they have hurt their neighbor by lies, that they “did not mean mischief,” that they were “only in fun.” Such jesting is like that of the madman flinging firebrands or arrows.”

Proverbs 26:19

“So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour,.... By telling him a lie; or by reporting false things concerning him; or by cheating him in trade and commerce; or by taking his goods privately from him; and, when caught in either of these, and saith, Am not I in sport? do not be angry, I designed no hurt; it is all in jest, a mere joke: but, had he not been apprehended, it would have been in earnest, as he was.”

Proverbs 26:20

“Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out - The tale-receiver and the tale-bearer are the agents of discord. If none received the slander in the first instance, it could not be propagated. Hence our proverb, “The receiver is as bad as the thief.” And our laws treat them equally; for the receiver of stolen goods, knowing them to be stolen, is hanged, as well as he who stole them.”

Proverbs 26:22

“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. These expressions are the same with those in Pro 18:8; and are here repeated, as being found along with others by the men of Hezekiah, Pro 25:1; as some others likewise are; and also because of the importance of them; and to impress the minds of men with a sense of the evil of such a practice, that they may shun it, and avoid those that are given to it. See Gill on Pro 18:8.”

Proverbs 26:22

“They wound the reputation of him who is belied, and perhaps the wound proves incurable, and even the plaster of a recantation (which yet can seldom be obtained) may not prove wide enough for it. They wound the love and charity which he to whom they are spoken ought to have for his neighbour and give a fatal stab to friendship and Christian fellowship.”

Proverbs 26:23

“Burning lips, and a wicked heart,.... Either burning with wrath and malice; breathing out threatenings and slaughter; pursuing men with reproaches and slanders, arising from a wicked heart: or rather, burning with profession of love to God, and affection to good men; with great pretensions of kindness, and promises of good things, when their hearts are wicked, and they design noticing less; say one thing with their lips, with the greatest show of affection and sincerity, and mean another in their hearts.”

Proverbs 26:23

“Burning lips - i. e., “Lips glowing with, affection, uttering warm words of love,” joined with a malignant heart, are like a piece of broken earthenware from the furnace, which glitters with the silver drops at stick to it, but is itself worthless.”

Proverbs 26:24

“Satan is an enemy that hates us, and yet in his temptations speaks fair, as he did to Eve, but it is madness to give credit to him, for there are seven abominations in his heart; seven other spirits does one unclean spirit bring more wicked than himself.”

Proverbs 26:25

Seven abominations - Compare Pro 26:16 note. Here “seven” retains, perhaps, its significance as the symbol of completeness. Evil has, as it were, gone through all its work, and holds its accursed Sabbath in the heart in which all things are “very evil.”

Proverbs 26:26

“Better, “Hatred is covered by deceit, but in the midst of the congregation his wickedness will be made manifest,” i. e., then, in the time of need, the feigned friendship will pass into open enmity.”

Proverbs 26:26

“The righteous God will take the wise, not only in their own craftiness, but in their own cruelty. It is the plotter's doom. Haman is hanged on a gallows of his own preparing. ----------nec lex est justior ulla Quam necis artifices arte perire sua-- Nor is there any law more just than that the contrivers of destruction should perish by their own arts.”

Proverbs 26:27

“Rolleth a stone - The illustration refers, probably, to the use made of stones in the rough warfare of an earlier age. Compare Jdg 9:53; 2Sa 11:21. The man is supposed to be rolling the stone up to the heights.”

Proverbs 26:28

“A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it - He that injures another hates him in proportion to the injury he has done him; and, strange to tell, in proportion to the innocence of the oppressed. The debtor cannot bear the sight of his creditor; nor the knave, of him whom he has injured.”