Proverbs 26:7
in Proverbs 26Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The legs of the lame hang loose; So is a parable in the mouth of fools.
KJV
The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
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This verse in Proverbs 26
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.”
This site's exposition
sendeth a message by the hand of a fool
on Proverbs 26:6-10
The middle proverbs price the fool's involvement in serious business: entrust him with a message and you have cut off your own feet, honour him and you have bound the stone into the sling, where by the plain figure the stone you meant to throw stays fastened to you. A parable in the mouth of fools twice over, hanging useless as a lame man's legs, piercing the hand like the drunkard's thorn: even true words are dangerous carried by the wrong man. Verse 10's Hebrew is notoriously difficult and the versions divide; the King James gives the great God rewarding fool and transgressor alike, and the bench states the alternatives without forcing one.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Lame in his feet and drinking iniquity, etc. It may happen that any wise person sends a fool on a mission, not knowing that he is a fool; yet he does not lose the glory of his wisdom, since he believed in the good from …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The legs of the lame are not equal,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּלְי֣וּ | dalyu | they hang down | H1809 → | |
| שֹׁ֭קַיִם | shokayim | legs | H7785 → | |
| מִפִּסֵּ֑חַ | mipiseach | from a lame [person] | H6455 → | |
| וּ֝מָשָׁ֗ל | umashal | and a proverb | H4912 → | 39 times |
| בְּפִ֣י | befi | in [the] mouth of | H6310 → | 498 times |
| כְסִילִֽים׃ | khesilim | fools | H3684 → | 70 times |
דַּלְי֣וּthey hang down
dalyuH1809 →
שֹׁ֭קַיִםlegs
shokayimH7785 →
מִפִּסֵּ֑חַfrom a lame [person]
mipiseachH6455 →
וּ֝מָשָׁ֗לand a proverb
umashalH4912 →39 times
בְּפִ֣יin [the] mouth of
befiH6310 →498 times
כְסִילִֽים׃fools
khesilimH3684 →70 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
Psalms 64:8They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
it leads to
- Proverbs 18:7
A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Proverbs 12:13
An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- Psalms 140:9
May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
- Jeremiah 18:16
They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
- Jeremiah 48:27
Was not Israel your object of ridicule? Was he ever found among thieves? For whenever you speak of him you shake your head.
- Proverbs 18:7
Through
Proverbs 17:7Eloquent words are unfit for a fool; how much worse are lying lips to a ruler!
it leads to
- Proverbs 29:12
If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.
- Psalms 50:16–17
To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
- Proverbs 29:12
Through
Proverbs 26:9Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
it leads to
- Proverbs 23:35
“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”
- Proverbs 23:35
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; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).