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Two empty stools facing each other inside a plain stone gateway at hard noon, a cup left on the ground between them.

Hezekiah’s collection

Proverbs 26

Some people you answer, and some you don’t. Knowing which is half of wisdom.

28 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–7The father's talksWhy the book exists, then a father to his son
  2. 8–9Wisdom callsHer house and Folly's
  3. 10–22:16Solomon's sayingsTwo lines at a time
  4. 22:17–24The sayings of the wiseThirty sayings, and a few more
  5. 25–29Hezekiah's collectionMore of Solomon, copied out laterChapter 26
  6. 30AgurNumbered sayings from a weary man
  7. 31LemuelA mother's words, and the noble wife

Similitudes and Instructions

Heavy rain beating down on cut grain sheaves lying in a field, water standing between them.

Sayings

What does not fit

  1. Wisdom

    Snow in summer

    Like snow in summer and rain at harvest,

    honor does not befit a fool.

  2. Words

    A curse with no landing

    Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow,

    an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

  3. Wisdom

    A rod for fools

    A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,

    and a rod for the backs of fools!

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,

or you yourself will be like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly,

lest he become wise in his own eyes.

Two true sayings

A fool speaksDon’t answer26:4Or you becomelike himAnswer26:5Or he thinkshe’s wiseWhich fits thismoment?

Whiteboard

Both are true, and the book sets them side by side on purpose. Wisdom knows which one this moment needs.

A woven wool sling lying on a rock, a smooth stone bound tight into its pouch with cord.

Sayings

A fool’s hands

  1. Wisdom

    A message by a fool

    Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence

    is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.

  2. Lame legs

    Like lame legs hanging limp

    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

  3. A stone tied in a sling

    Like binding a stone into a sling

    is the giving of honor to a fool.

  4. A thorn in the hand

    Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard

    is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

  5. Hiring a passerby

    Like an archer who wounds at random

    is he who hires a fool or passerby.

As a dog returns to its vomit,

so a fool repeats his folly.

Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Question

Quick question

Go back to verses 4 and 5 for a moment.

Why does Proverbs tell you both to answer and not to answer a fool?

The last orange embers glowing in a bed of gray ash, a dry white stick crumbling across them.

Sayings

How a fire is fed

  1. Anger

    A dog by the ears

    Like one who grabs a dog by the ears

    is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.

  2. Words

    Only joking

    Like a madman shooting firebrands

    and deadly arrows,

    so is the man who deceives his neighbor

    and says, “I was only joking!”

  3. No wood, no fire

    Without wood, a fire goes out;

    without gossip, a conflict ceases.

  4. Anger

    Fuel for strife

    Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire,

    so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.

  5. Words

    Choice morsels

    The words of a gossip are like choice morsels

    that go down into the inmost being.

Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.

Proverbs 26:20

A clay pot with a bright thin silvery glaze, chipped at the lip to show the coarse earthenware beneath, on a dark stone.

Like glaze covering an earthen vessel

are burning lips and a wicked heart.

Sayings

What the lips hide

  1. Words

    Gracious lips, hidden hate

    A hateful man disguises himself with his speech,

    but he lays up deceit in his heart.

    When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,

    for seven abominations fill his heart.

  2. Exposed in the assembly

    Though his hatred is concealed by deception,

    his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

  3. Justice

    Pit and stone

    He who digs a pit will fall into it,

    and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

  4. Words

    A lying, flattering mouth

    A lying tongue hates those it crushes,

    and a flattering mouth causes ruin.

Reflect

Take it home

What talk are you feeding? What would go out if you stopped?

You’ve experienced

Proverbs 26

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A verse to carry with you

Without wood, a fire goes out; without gossip, a conflict ceases.

Proverbs 26:20

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