Year 8, Day 317: Proverbs 26

Theological Commentary: Click Here

While this whole chapter is not devoted to the fool, a good portion of it is!  The fool is the antithesis of the content in the book of Proverbs.  The fool is the person that the advice in the book of Proverbs is meant to change.  As we draw near the end of the book, examine the fool, for the Proverbs grow blunter.

Honor is as fitting for a fool as snow belongs in summer or rain belongs in the harvest.  Snow in the summer is more than just an anomaly or a paradox.  Snow in the summer means an abnormally low range of temperatures.  That means it could stunt the growth of the crops.  It could even kill the crops.  Snow in the summer can be outright dangerous to a pre-modern society!  For that matter, think about rain in the autumn.  Grains can’t be gathered effectively in the rain.  Instead, the crops sit in the field.  They may overripen.  They may spoil.  What is the point of this?  Giving honor to a fool is about as dangerous as snow in the summer and rain in the harvest.  When a fool is given honor, we send the wrong message.  Other people will imitate the behavior of the fool.  The fool certainly won’t learn from any mistakes!

Another pair of interesting proverbs about the fool are found in Proverbs 26:4-5.  In verse 4, we hear that we are not to answer a fool according to his folly.  In other words, we are not to lower ourselves to their level.  We are not to respond to the fool in foolishness.  When we stoop to the level of the fool, we actually honor his methods.  We don’t need to do that.  Yet, in verse 5 we hear that we are to answer the fool according to his folly.  What this means is that we shouldn’t be afraid to show the fool why he is foolish.  Often, we put the fool in their place so that they can see the error of their ways.  We don’t answer the fool foolishly lest we honor them, we answer them in such a way that their foolishness becomes crystal clear.

Finally, my all-time favorite proverb.  As a dog returns to its vomit, so is a fool who returns to his folly.  I’d never understood what this proverb meant until I owned dogs.  More than once I’ve had a dog eat their meal and then a few minutes later they throw it up.  Unless the dog is stopped, within seconds the dog will re-consume the food, stomach acid and all!  I find it utterly repulsive, but I cannot deny it happens.  The author of the Proverbs tells us that the fool is no different.  The fool goes to repeat the same behavior that caused them to be sick in the first place.  In other words, they re-consume the same things that made them ill in the first place.  There is no learning, just instinct – and bad ones at that.

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