Proverbs 27:22
in Proverbs 27Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not depart from him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with bruised grain, Yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
KJV
Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 27
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThough thou shouldest bray a fool - Leaving all other conjectures, of which commentators are full, I would propose, that this is a metaphor taken from pounding metallic ores in very large mortars, such as are still common in the East, in order that, when subjected to the action of the fire, the metal may be the more easily separated from the ore. However you may try, by precept or example, or both, to instruct a stupid man, your labor is lost; his foolishness cannot be separated from him.
This site's exposition
Hell and destruction are never full
on Proverbs 27:20-22
Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied, names the grave's appetite and human appetite in the same breath, one figure for both. As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise, repeats the refining figure of 17:3 in a new application, that praise tests a man the way fire tests metal and shows what he is made of. Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him, ends the cluster on folly's stubbornness, a condition no force from outside can beat out of a man.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The obstinate wickedness of such is incurable by the heaviest inflictions. 23, 24. flocks--constituted the staple of wealth. It is only by care and diligence that the most solid possessions can be perpetuated (Pr 23:5).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Bray - To pound wheat in a mortar with a pestle, in order to free the wheat from its husks and impurities, is to go through a far more elaborate process than threshing. But the folly of the fool is not thus to be got rid of. It sticks to him to the last; all discipline, teaching, experience seem to be wasted on him.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִ֥ם | ʾim | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תִּכְתּֽוֹשׁ־ | tikhtoosh- | you will pound | H3806 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֱוִ֨יל׀ | haevil | the fool | H191 → | 26 times |
| בַּֽמַּכְתֵּ֡שׁ | bamakhtesh | in <the> mortar | H4388 → | |
| בְּת֣וֹךְ | betokh | in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָ֭רִיפוֹת | harifot | the grain<s> | H7383 → | |
| בַּֽעֱלִ֑י | baeli | with the pestle | H5940 → | |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָס֥וּר | tasur | it will depart | H5493 → | 299 times |
| מֵ֝עָלָ֗יו | mealav | from with <the> him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אִוַּלְתּֽוֹ׃ פ | ʾivalto | foolishness his | H200 → | 25 times |
אִ֥םif
ʾimH518 →1069 times
תִּכְתּֽוֹשׁ־you will pound
tikhtoosh-H3806 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֱוִ֨יל׀the fool
haevilH191 →26 times
בַּֽמַּכְתֵּ֡שׁin <the> mortar
bamakhteshH4388 →
בְּת֣וֹךְin among
betokhH8432 →418 times
הָ֭רִיפוֹתthe grain<s>
harifotH7383 →
בַּֽעֱלִ֑יwith the pestle
baeliH5940 →
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָס֥וּרit will depart
tasurH5493 →299 times
מֵ֝עָלָ֗יוfrom with <the> him
mealavH5921 →5755 times
אִוַּלְתּֽוֹ׃ פfoolishness his
ʾivaltoH200 →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
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?”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 5:3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 56:12
“Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
- Jeremiah 5:3
Through
Isaiah 1:5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
it leads to
- Daniel 9:8–11
O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.
- Ezekiel 24:13
Because of the indecency of your uncleanness I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be purified from your filthiness. You will not be pure again until My wrath against you has subsided.
- Revelation 16:8–11
Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given power to scorch the people with fire.
- Daniel 9:8–11
Through
Jeremiah 5:3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:28
Therefore you must say to them, ‘This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the LORD their God and would not receive correction. Truth has perished; it has disappeared from…
- Jeremiah 2:30
“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
- Jeremiah 7:28
Through
Exodus 12:30During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead.
it leads to
- Exodus 11:6
Then a great cry will go out over all the land of Egypt. Such an outcry has never been heard before and will never be heard again.
- Exodus 11:6
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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.