Fool

How Nave’s arranged it

• General scriptures concerningPsalms 5:5Psalms 14:1Psalms 53:1Psalms 74:18–22Psalms 107:17Proverbs 1:7Proverbs 1:22Proverbs 3:35Proverbs 9:6–8Proverbs 9:13–17Proverbs 10:1Proverbs 10:8Proverbs 10:10Proverbs 10:13Proverbs 10:14Proverbs 10:18Proverbs 10:23Proverbs 14:1Proverbs 14:7–9Proverbs 14:15
• PARABLES OF
• Of the foolish virgnsMatthew 25:1–13
• Of the rich foolLuke 12:16–20

The passages, in Bible order (42)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Psalms 5:5

   The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 5:52 voices

   "The foolish shall not stand in thy sight." Sinners are fools written large. A little sin is a great folly, and the greatest of all folly is great sin. Such sinful fools as these must be banished from the court of heaven. Earthly kings were wont to have fools in their trains, but the only wise God will have no fools in his palace above. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." It is not a little dislike, but a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated of God is an awful thing.

   “The foolish - Referring still to his enemies, as having this character, and urging the fact that they “had” such a character as a reason why God should hear him, and deliver him. The word “foolish” here, הוללים hôleliym, is used to denote the wicked, under the common idea in the Scriptures that sin is folly. Compare Psa 14:1. It is rendered by Prof. Alexander, “the proud” or “insolent.” The Aramaic renders it “deriders;” Latin Vulgate: “unjust;” Septuagint “transgressors;” Gesenius, Lexicon, “proud.” So DeWette.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 5:5→

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2. Psalms 14:1

   The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 14:12 voices

   "The fool." The Atheist is the fool pre-eminently, and a fool universally. He would not deny God if he were not a fool by nature, and having denied God it is no marvel that he becomes a fool in practice. Sin is always folly, and as it is the height of sin to attack the very existence of the Most High, so it is also the greatest imaginable folly. To say there is no God is to belie the plainest evidence, which is obstinacy; to oppose the common consent of mankind, which is stupidity; to stifle consciousness, which is madness.

   “This statement [about fools] is directly followed by one pointing out that their actions correspond with their thoughts: "They are corrupt, and their behavior is evil." The unrighteous person corrupts his body in every possible way: stealing, committing adultery, cursing, getting drunk, and doing similar things.… Count on it: those who are fools in their thoughts will do wicked deeds. As the Lord said [to the Pharisees], "How can you speak good things when you are evil?" And they truly were evil, because their thoughts were wicked.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 14:1→

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3. Psalms 53:1

   The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 53:12 voices

   “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. And this he does because he is a fool. Being a fool he speaks according to his nature; being a great fool he meddles with a great subject, and comes to a wild conclusion. The atheist is, morally as well as mentally, a fool, a fool in the heart as well as in the head; a fool in morals as well as in philosophy. With the denial of God as a starting point, we may well conclude that the fool's progress is a rapid, riotous, raving, ruinous one.

   “It makes men filthy, altogether filthy. Wilful sinners are offensive in the nostrils of the God of heaven and of the holy angels. What decency soever proud sinners pretend to, it is certain that wickedness is the greatest defilement in the world.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 53:1→

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4. Psalms 74:18–22

   Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O LORD, how a foolish people has spurned Your name.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 74:18–221 voice

   “This was that which they roared in the sanctuary; they triumphed as if they had now got the mastery of the God is Israel, of whom they had heard such great things.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 74:18–22→

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5. Psalms 107:17

   Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 107:172 voices

   “Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Many sicknesses are the direct result of foolish acts. Thoughtless and lustful men by drunkenness, gluttony, and the indulgence of their passions fill their bodies with diseases of the worst kind. Sin is at the bottom of all sorrow, but some sorrows are the immediate results of wickedness: men by a course of transgression afflict themselves and are fools for their pains.

   “It is the sin of the soul that is the cause of sickness; we bring it upon ourselves both meritoriously and efficiently: Fools, because of their transgression, are thus afflicted; they are thus corrected for the sins they have committed and thus cured of their evil inclinations to sin.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 107:17→

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6. Proverbs 1:7

   The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 1:72 voices

   “It is also the beginning of good discipline, as it is written: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7); for those who fear the Lord turn away from error and direct their ways to the path of virtue. For unless someone fears God, they cannot renounce sin.

   “The beginning of wisdom is found in the temper of reverence and awe. The fear of the finite in the presence of the Infinite, of the sinful in the presence of the Holy (compare Job 42:5-6), this for the Israelite was the starting-point of all true wisdom. In the Book of Job 28:28 it appears as an oracle accompanied by the noblest poetry. In Psa 111:10 it comes as the choral close of a temple hymn. Here it is the watchword of a true ethical education. This fear has no torment, and is compatible with child-like love.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 1:7→

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7. Proverbs 1:22

   “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 1:222 voices

   “Compare the Psa 1:1 note. (1) The “simple,” literally, “open,” i. e. fatally open to evil; (2) the “scorners,” mocking at all good; (3) lastly, the “fools” in the sense of being hardened, obstinate, perverse, hating the knowledge they have rejected.

   “Others think that wisdom, as the divine attribute specially employed in acts of counsel and admonition, is here personified, and represents God. In either case the address is a most solemn and divine admonition, whose matter and spirit are eminently evangelical and impressive (see on Pr 8:1).

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 1:22→

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8. Proverbs 3:35

   The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 3:352 voices

   “The wise - The person who follows the dictates of wisdom, as mentioned above, shall inherit glory; because, being one of the heavenly family, a child of God, he has thereby heaven for his inheritance; but fools, such as those mentioned chapters 1 and 2, shall have ignominy for their exaltation. Many such fools as Solomon speaks of are exalted to the gibbet and gallows. The way to prevent this and the like evils, is to attend to the voice of wisdom.

   “They will not simply obtain, but inherit. The wicked, again, even though they are exalted, are exalted only so as to have greater dishonour. For as one does not honour an ugly and mis-shapen fellow, if he exalts him, but only dishonours him the more, by making his shame manifest to a larger number; so also God exalts the wicked, in order that He may make their disgrace patent. For Pharaoh was exalted, but only to have the world as his accuser.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 3:35→

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9. Proverbs 9:6–8

   Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”

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10. Proverbs 9:13–17

    The woman named Folly is loud; she is naive and knows nothing.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 9:13–172 voices

    “A foolish woman is clamorous,.... Some by this woman understand folly itself, as opposed to wisdom; others blind reason, ignorant of divine things; others carnal sensual pleasure, which entices and draws men to that which is evil; others heresy and superstition; others the old serpent, the devil; she seems to be the same with the strange woman and harlot before described, Pro 2:16, &c. and being set in direct opposition to Wisdom, or Christ, seems to design antichrist, who is described in the book of the Revelation as the great whore; and all the characters here agree with the same.

    “The picture of the harlot as the representative of the sensual life, the Folly between which and Wisdom the young man has to make his choice (Pro 9:3 note). “Simple,” in the worst sense, as open to all forms of evil. “Knoweth nothing,” ignorant with the ignorance which is willful and reckless.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 9:13–17→

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11. Proverbs 10:1

    The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:11 voice

    “The proverbs of Solomon - Some ancient MSS. of the Vulgate have Proverbiorum liber secundus, “The second book of the Proverbs.” The preceding nine chapters can only be considered as an introduction, if indeed they may be said to make even a part, of the proverbs of Solomon, which appear to commence only at the tenth chapter.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:1→

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12. Proverbs 10:8

    A wise heart will receive commandments, but foolish lips will come to ruin.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:82 voices

    “The wise in heart will receive commandments,.... Such who have true wisdom in the hidden part of the heart, of which the fear of the Lord is the beginning: these will not only, as good subjects, honour their king, and attend to his lawful commands; and, as dutiful children, regard those of their parents; and, as faithful servants, hearken to those of their masters; but, as such that fear the Lord, will receive and cheerfully obey the commandments of God and Christ; but a prating fool shall fall; like Diotrephes, that prated against the Apostle John and other saints.

    “A prating fool shall fall - This clause is repeated in the tenth verse. The wise man will receive the commandment: but the shallow blabbing fool shall be cast down. See Pro 10:10.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:8→

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13. Proverbs 10:10

    He who winks the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will come to ruin.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:102 voices

    “Two vices contrasted; hypocrisy, or insinuating evil against one (Pr 6:13; Ps 35:19), and rashness of speech. In each case, the results are on the evildoers.

    “He that winketh with the eye,.... The Syriac and Arabic versions add, "with fraud". A descriptive character of a wicked man, Pro 6:13; who so does, either to draw and allure persons to go along with him, and join him in his evil practices; or by way of scorn and contempt of others; or as a token to another of its being the proper time to circumvent his neighbour, or do him an injury.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:10→

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14. Proverbs 10:13

    Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks judgment.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:132 voices

    “i. e., The wisdom of the wise is seen in the words that issue from his lips; the folly of the fool is not only seen in his speech, but brings upon him the chastisement which he well deserves.

    “In the lips of the wise is found wisdom, etc. The rod on the back is vengeance on the posterior, that is, in the following life; well expressed by that famous plague by which the Philistines were struck on their buttocks (1 Sam. V). Therefore, …

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:13→

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15. Proverbs 10:14

    The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:142 voices

    “Lay up - In their minds, to be brought forth upon fit occasions. Knowledge - Whereby they may be enabled to speak both what, and when it is seasonable. But - Fools are more forward to lay out than to lay up, and for want of knowledge speak much and foolishly, whereby they frequently bring destruction upon themselves.

    “The wise hide knowledge. Knowing indeed, that there is a time to be silent and a time to speak (Eccl. III). Hence the prophet says, "While the sinner stood against me, I was mute and humbled and silent from good things" (Psal. XXXVIII). And the …

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:14→

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16. Proverbs 10:18

    The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 10:181 voice

    “He that hideth hatred with lying lips,.... Or he whose "lying lips hide hatred", which is much the same; who pretends to be a friend, and outwardly behaves as one, but inwardly nourishes and cherishes hatred in his heart, which he covers and conceals, till he has a proper opportunity of showing it; as Absalom to Ammon, Joab to Amasa, the men of Anathoth to Jeremiah, and Judas to Christ; see Pro 26:24. Or, "he that hideth hatred is a man of lying lips" (m); he is a liar, as the person next described is a fool.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 10:18→

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