Proverbs 26:11
in Proverbs 26As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As a dog that returneth to his vomit, So is a fool that repeateth his folly.
KJV
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
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This verse in Proverbs 26
Commentary
8 notes on this verse11 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.
This site's exposition
As a dog returns to its vomit
on Proverbs 26:11-12
The dog returning to its vomit is quoted at 2 Peter 2:22 as a true proverb and applied there to those who turned back. After eleven verses on the fool, the self-satisfied man ranks below him, for "There is more hope for a fool than for him."
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
These, no doubt, are the things suffered by clerics, monks or virgins who are proud, disobedient and lukewarm. When at the beginning of their life they abandoned the ways of this world and with a fervent spirit fled to the service of holy religion, through …
Don't you know that people so unconcerned about their own salvation and vacillating between attention to it and headlong course into the devil's net are compared in sacred Scripture with dogs? It says, remember, "The person who turns away from his sin and then goes back to it is like a dog returning to its vomit."
The Medieval Church2 voices
As a dog returns to his vomit, etc. When a dog vomits, he surely ejects the food that was weighing down his chest; but when he returns to his vomit, he is again burdened by what had relieved him; and those who lament their sins, …
We have learned that in some less observant monasteries, men have entered and brought their capital with them and later, losing their religious fervor, have made great trouble in demanding their property. Returning to the world which they had left, as dogs return to their …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
As a dog returneth to his vomit,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
As a dog returneth to his vomit - See note on 2Pe 2:22.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The Master created all The Holy One, blessed be He, created all and sustains all, the fool like the wise man. We do not need any wisdom.
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כְּ֭כֶלֶב | kekhelev | like a dog | H3611 → | |
| שָׁ֣ב | shav | [which] returns | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קֵא֑וֹ | keo | own vomit its | H6892 → | |
| כְּ֝סִ֗יל | kesil | a fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
| שׁוֹנֶ֥ה | shoneh | [who] repeats | H8138 → | 21 times |
| בְאִוַּלְתּֽוֹ׃ | veivalto | <in> foolishness his | H200 → | 25 times |
כְּ֭כֶלֶבlike a dog
kekhelevH3611 →
שָׁ֣ב[which] returns
shavH7725 →1056 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
קֵא֑וֹown vomit its
keoH6892 →
כְּ֝סִ֗ילa fool
kesilH3684 →70 times
שׁוֹנֶ֥ה[who] repeats
shonehH8138 →21 times
בְאִוַּלְתּֽוֹ׃<in> foolishness his
veivaltoH200 →25 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
Matthew 12:45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So…
it leads to
- Luke 11:26
Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.”
- Hebrews 6:4–8
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
- Hebrews 10:26–31
If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- Mark 5:9
“What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.”
- 2 Peter 2:14–22
Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.
- Luke 11:26
Through
Exodus 8:15When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:10
Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 8:11
When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Hebrews 3:15
As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
- Isaiah 26:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 237:3; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Fructuosus of Braga, GENERAL RULE FOR MONASTERIES 18; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 6:2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.