Proverbs 26:4
in Proverbs 26Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Answer not a fool according to his folly, Lest thou also be like unto him.
KJV
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
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This verse in Proverbs 26
Commentary
9 notes on this verse[David] used not to answer the enemy that provoked him, the sinner that exasperated him. As he says elsewhere, "As though he were deaf he heard not them that speak vanity and imagine deceit, and as though he were dumb he opened not his mouth to them." Again, in another place, it is said, "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like to him."The first duty then is to have due measure in our speech. In this way a sacrifice of praise is offered up to God.
This site's exposition
Do not answer a fool according to his folly
on Proverbs 26:4-5
"Do not answer a fool according to his folly" stands beside "Answer a fool according to his folly." A proverb is wisdom for a situation. Do not sink to his manner, "or you yourself will be like him," yet puncture his self-estimate, "lest he become wise in his own eyes."
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
I had treated you with contempt, Demetrian, as you railed with sacrilegious mouth against God, who is one and true, and frequently cried out with impious words, thinking it more fitting and better to ignore with silence the ignorance of a man in error than to provoke with speech the fury of a man in madness. And I did not do this without the authority of the divine teaching, since it is written, "Do not say anything in the ears of the foolish, lest when he hears he may mock your wise words," and again, "Do not answer the foolish according to his folly, lest you become like him."
Your flight is a good one if you do not answer the fool according to his folly. Your flight is good if you direct your footsteps away from the countenance of fools. Indeed, one swiftly goes astray with bad guides; but if you wish your flight to be a good one, remove your ways far from their words.
It is more agreeable to remain silent on such questions and to consider their foolish and irreverent assumptions unworthy of a response, since the divine words forbid it, saying, "Answer not a fool according to his folly." But the fool, according to the prophet, is …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, etc. Answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in his own eyes. These should not be seen as mutually contradictory, not to answer a fool according to his foolishness, and to answer …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Answer not a fool according to his folly,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Answer not a fool - On this and the following verse Bishop Warburton, who has written well on many things, and very indifferently on the doctrine of grace, has written with force and perspicuity: “Had this advice been given simply, and without circumstance, to answer the fool, and not to answer him, one who had reverence for the text would satisfy himself in supposing that the different directions referred to the doing a thing in and out of season;
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Two sides of a truth. To “answer a fool according to his folly” is in Pro 26:4 to bandy words with him, to descend to his level of coarse anger and vile abuse; in Pro 26:5 it is to say the right word at the right time, to expose his unwisdom and untruth to others and to himself, not by a teaching beyond his reach, but by words that he is just able to apprehend. The apparent contradiction between the two verses led some of the rabbis to question the canonical authority of this book. The Pythagoreans had maxims expressing a truth in precepts seemingly contradictory.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תַּ֣עַן | taan | you answer | H6030 → | 331 times |
| כְּ֭סִיל | kesil | a fool | H3684 → | 70 times |
| כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ | keivalto | according to foolishness his | H200 → | 25 times |
| פֶּֽן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| תִּשְׁוֶה־ | tishveh- | you should become like | H7737 → | 21 times |
| לּ֥וֹ | lo | <to> him | ||
| גַם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אָֽתָּה׃ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תַּ֣עַןyou answer
taanH6030 →331 times
כְּ֭סִילa fool
kesilH3684 →70 times
כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹaccording to foolishness his
keivaltoH200 →25 times
פֶּֽן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
תִּשְׁוֶה־you should become like
tishveh-H7737 →21 times
לּ֥וֹ<to> him
lo
גַם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אָֽתָּה׃you
ʾatahH859 →1094 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
1 Peter 3:9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
it leads to
- Romans 12:17
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.
- Proverbs 20:22
Do not say, “I will avenge this evil!” Wait on the LORD, and He will save you.
- Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse.
- Romans 12:19–21
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:15
Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.
- Romans 12:17
Through
Jude 1:9But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
it leads to
- Zechariah 3:2
And the LORD said to Satan: “The LORD rebukes you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a firebrand snatched from the fire?”
- 2 Peter 2:11
Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 34:6
And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows the location of his grave.
- Zechariah 3:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On the Duties of the Clergy 1.10.34-35; Ambrose of Milan, FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 9:56; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Cyprian, Treatise V. An Address to Demetrianus 1; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Macrina the Younger, ON THE SOUL AND THE RESURRECTION and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.