Proverbs 26

Proverbs 26 is a sharp portrait gallery of three troublemakers: the fool (verses 1-12), the slacker (13-16), and the meddler, gossip and deceiver who stir up strife (17-28). Its vivid pictures show how foolishness, laziness and a lying tongue damage people, and how they finally trap those who practice them.

Proverbs 26:1

Snow in summer and rain at harvest are out of place and do harm. Honor given to a fool is just as wrong. It rewards what is not earned, and it can spoil the one honored and mislead those who watch.

BSA: honor (“glory, great respect”): Even weighty public respect, not just small praise, is unfitting when the person has rejected wisdom.

Proverbs 26:2

A bird flits about and never settles. In the same way a curse with no just cause has nowhere to land. This comforts the innocent: when words of ill will are undeserved, God does not let them take hold.

BSA: undeserved (“unjust, undeserved, causeless”): The curse fails because it has no real reason behind it.

See also: Numbers 23:8.

Proverbs 26:3

Animals are steered with whip and bridle. A fool who will not listen to reason may need hard correction too. The verse is blunt: some people learn only through discipline, not through advice.

BSA: fools (“stupid or silly ones, rejecting God’s wisdom”): The Bible’s fool is not just unintelligent but one who refuses God’s wisdom.

Proverbs 26:4

Do not stoop to a fool’s level by arguing in his own foolish way, with insults, tricks or anger. If you do, you start to look like him. Sometimes wisdom means refusing to play his game.

BSA: like (“equal to, similar to”): Matching his folly makes you the same kind of person in character, not only in the moment.

Proverbs 26:5

The very next verse seems to say the opposite. Sometimes a fool must be answered, and in a way that shows up his folly, so he does not think himself wise. Wisdom is knowing which situation you are in.

BSA: wise (“intelligent, skilled”): A fool left unanswered may think he is truly clever and grow in conceit.

See also: Proverbs 26:4.

Proverbs 26:6

Sending an important message with a fool is self-harm. It is as if you cut off your own feet. You will get a twisted report or none at all, and what you meant to do will fail.

BSA: feet (“ability to move forward”): Using a fool as your messenger cripples your own progress.

Proverbs 26:7

Lame legs hang limp and cannot carry the person. So a wise saying cannot do its work in a fool’s mouth. He may repeat it, but he does not live it, so it has no strength or direction.

BSA: proverb (“wise saying, parable”): Even a true saying becomes useless when the speaker does not grasp or obey it.

Proverbs 26:8

A stone tied tight in a sling cannot be thrown, so it does nothing. Giving honor to a fool is just as pointless, and may even backfire. The honor is wasted and can hurt the one who gives it.

BSA: binding (“confining, tying up”): The stone is held fast so it cannot fly, just as honor is trapped uselessly on a fool.

Proverbs 26:9

A drunk who grabs a thorn feels no pain at first but is hurt. A fool who quotes Scripture or wise sayings can wound others and himself. A proverb used carelessly or for a wrong purpose becomes dangerous.

BSA: drunkard (“intoxicated, under the influence”): Like a drunk, the fool handles truth clumsily and without feeling its sharpness.

Proverbs 26:10

This verse is hard to translate, and Christians read it in different ways. Its main point is clear. Hiring a fool or a stranger without checking him is like shooting arrows blindly, and innocent people get hurt. Choose helpers with care.

BSA: passerby (“one who crosses over, a transient”): A stranger passing through has no record or loyalty to vouch for him.

Proverbs 26:11

A dog going back to what made it sick is a plain and unpleasant picture. Fools repeat their folly, though it has already sickened them. Failing to learn from our own mistakes is what marks foolishness.

BSA: repeats (“does again, reverts to”): The fool turns back to the same folly instead of leaving it behind.

See also: 2 Peter 2:22.

Proverbs 26:12

Self-satisfaction is worse than plain foolishness. A fool may still learn, but the person who thinks he already knows everything will not listen. Humility is where wisdom begins.

BSA: hope (“expectation, confidence”): There is little expectation of change for someone who sees no need of it.

See also: Proverbs 3:7; Romans 12:16.

Proverbs 26:13

The lazy man invents excuses. A lion in the street is a ridiculous reason for staying home, and he does not really believe it himself. The verse shows how laziness can make a person exaggerate dangers to avoid duty.

BSA: slacker (“slothful man, hater of work”): The word suggests someone who actively dislikes work, not just someone who is tired.

See also: Proverbs 22:13.

Proverbs 26:14

A door swings back and forth on its hinges but never goes anywhere. The lazy person turns over in bed in the same way, busy with movement but not getting up to do anything. The picture is both funny and sad.

BSA: hinges (“a pivot point”): Like a door fixed on one pivot, he moves around but stays in the same place.

Proverbs 26:15

This is exaggerated on purpose. The lazy man has put his hand in the dish, yet finds it too much trouble to lift the food to his mouth. Laziness can make a person fail even at what he wants, and even to feed himself.

BSA: wearies (“makes disgusted, tires”): He is not just tired but sick of the effort.

See also: Proverbs 19:24.

Proverbs 26:16

The lazy man cannot be told anything. He believes himself wiser than seven who give sensible advice. The number seven stands for a full and complete number of counselors. His conceit shuts out all of them.

BSA: discreetly (“with good sense, intelligently, sensibly”): These counselors answer with sound reasons, yet he does not accept them.

Proverbs 26:17

Grabbing a dog by the ears is asking to be bitten. Jumping into someone else’s quarrel is the same. Often a stranger who takes sides only brings pain on himself and makes matters worse.

BSA: meddles (“interferes, involves himself”): The verse points to someone who forces himself into a matter that is none of his concern.

See also: Proverbs 20:3.

Proverbs 26:18-19

A deceiver who hurts his neighbor and says he was only joking is like a madman throwing fire and deadly arrows. He cannot hide behind a laugh. Deceit that wounds is not a joke, and it harms trust.

BSA: joking (“laughing, in sport”): He tries to turn real harm into a game.

Proverbs 26:20

A fire needs fuel, and a quarrel needs talk. When gossip stops, the conflict often dies down. This is a simple way to see how much of our conflict is kept alive by words.

BSA: gossip (“talebearing, whispering, rumor-spreading”): It is the quiet passing on of stories that feeds a fight.

Proverbs 26:21

Charcoal keeps embers glowing and wood keeps a fire going. A quarrelsome man does the same for conflict. Peace is hard to find where someone loves to argue, and he leaves strife burning where it might have ended.

BSA: quarrelsome (“contentious, argumentative”): Such a man not only joins fights but provides the fuel for them.

See also: Proverbs 15:18.

Proverbs 26:22

Gossip is tasty. People swallow it eagerly, and it sinks deep inside. That is why it is hard to forget what we have heard, and why we must be careful what we listen to as well as what we say.

BSA: inmost being (“innermost parts, the belly, the seat of emotions”): Gossip reaches the deepest part of a person and shapes his feelings.

See also: Proverbs 18:8.

Proverbs 26:23

A cheap clay pot can be coated with shiny glaze to look like silver. Smooth, passionate words can cover an evil heart in the same way. What shines on the outside may not show what is inside.

BSA: glaze (“shiny lead glaze, silver dross”): The shine is only a thin covering over worthless material.

See also: Matthew 23:27.

Proverbs 26:24

A hateful man hides his hatred behind his speech. His mouth sounds friendly, but he is storing up deceit within him. Words alone do not tell us a person’s heart, and God sees what we cannot.

BSA: disguises (“counterfeits, dissembles”): He plays a part with his words, as an actor wears a mask.

Proverbs 26:25

Do not be taken in by pleasant talk from someone you have reason to distrust. Seven here stands for a heart full of evil, packed with it. Wisdom looks at character and deeds, not only at charm.

BSA: graciously (“fairly, with kind words”): His voice is charming, which is why it is so easy to be fooled.

Proverbs 26:26

Hidden hatred will not stay hidden forever. A day will come when what he really is will be shown publicly. Deception may work for a time, but it does not last, and truth finally comes into the open.

BSA: exposed (“revealed, laid open”): His evil is shown openly, with all the cover taken away.

See also: Luke 12:2.

Proverbs 26:27

Those who set traps for others catch themselves. A stone rolled to crush someone comes back on the one who pushed it. Evil plans tend to turn on those who make them, and this shows God’s justice at work.

BSA: pit (“a grave, destruction”): The pit he digs for another becomes his own place of ruin.

See also: Psalm 7:15-16; Ecclesiastes 10:8.

Proverbs 26:28

A liar hates the very people he hurts. He wrongs them and then holds a grudge against them. The flatterer’s smooth mouth does the same thing in a different way, because false praise leads people to stumble and fall.

BSA: flattering (“smooth, deceitful”): Flattery is slippery speech that hides ill intent. ruin (“destruction or overthrow, a cause of stumbling”): Flattery brings people down, not up.