Proverbs 26:1
in Proverbs 26Like snow in summer and rain at harvest, honor does not befit a fool.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, So honor is not seemly for a fool.
KJV
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.
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This verse in Proverbs 26
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
As snow in summer
on Proverbs 26:1-3
The chapter opens a portrait gallery of the fool, eleven proverbs hung in a row, and the first three set the method: comparison. Honour on a fool is weather out of season, snow in summer and rain in harvest, wrong and damaging at once; the causeless curse flies off like the sparrow and lands nowhere. The rod for the fool's back completes a working set with the whip and the bridle, and the commentators note the grim placement: what guides a horse and an ass must correct the man who will not be guided by words.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Just as snow in summer, etc. This verse warns that the teaching honor should not be conferred on the unlearned. Snow in summer and rain in harvest represent the persecutions of the unbelievers at the time of the preaching of the gospel, which, when they …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
35 ) Wisdom's children must justify her. 6 He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. 7 The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
quarantine:debris,scripture (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens; scripture-overlap:85%@v6-7
As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As snow in summer - None of these is suitable to the time; and at this unsuitable time, both are unwelcome: so a fool to be in honor is unbecoming.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Like snow in the summer when they spread the figs in the sun to dry them and to make fig cakes, as is stated (II Sam.:2): “the bread and the dried figs for the young men to eat.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּשֶּׁ֤לֶג׀ | kasheleg | like <the> snow | H7950 → | 20 times |
| בַּקַּ֗יִץ | bakayitz | in the summer | H7019 → | 20 times |
| וְכַמָּטָ֥ר | vekhamatar | and like <the> rain | H4306 → | |
| בַּקָּצִ֑יר | bakatzir | at the harvest | H7105 → | 54 times |
| כֵּ֤ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נָאוֶ֖ה | naveh | [is] suitable | H5000 → | 10 times |
| לִכְסִ֣יל | likhsil | for a fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
| כָּבֽוֹד׃ | kavod | honor | H3519 → | 200 times |
כַּשֶּׁ֤לֶג׀like <the> snow
kashelegH7950 →20 times
בַּקַּ֗יִץin the summer
bakayitzH7019 →20 times
וְכַמָּטָ֥רand like <the> rain
vekhamatarH4306 →
בַּקָּצִ֑ירat the harvest
bakatzirH7105 →54 times
כֵּ֤ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נָאוֶ֖ה[is] suitable
navehH5000 →10 times
לִכְסִ֣ילfor a fool
likhsilH3684 →70 times
כָּבֽוֹד׃honor
kavodH3519 →200 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Esther 4:6So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate,
it leads to
- Esther 4:3
In every province to which the king’s command and edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
- Esther 4:3
Through
Psalms 12:8The wicked wander freely, and vileness is exalted among men.
it leads to
- Mark 14:63–65
At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses?
- Proverbs 29:12
If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.
- Psalms 55:10–11
Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.
- Mark 14:63–65
Through
Proverbs 19:10Luxury is unseemly for a fool—how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
it leads to
- Proverbs 30:21–22
Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:
- Luke 16:19
Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Proverbs 30:21–22
Through
Proverbs 28:16A leader who lacks judgment is also a great oppressor, but he who hates dishonest profit will prolong his days.
it leads to
- Exodus 18:21
Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
- Isaiah 33:15–16
He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
- Exodus 18:21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.