The English words fool and folly come from the Latin "The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of
Proverbs destroyed by arrogant people who laugh at biblical truth and seek to have their own way. All spiritual leaders need to read and heed Acts 20:28–31 and James 3:13–18. Scoffers are "an abomination to men" (Prov. 24:9) and to God. In fact, the Lord "scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble" (3:34 nkjv). This verse is quoted both by James (4:6) and Peter (1 Peter 5:5). "Judgments are prepared for scoffers" (Prov. 19:29), and because scorners mock God, God mocks the scorners. Consider what the Lord did to the builders at Babel (Gen. 11), to Pharaoh at the Red Sea (Ex. 14), to Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon (Dan. 4), to Herod Agrippa in Judea (Acts 12:20–25), and a host of others who defied His will.
have a tendency to speak before they know what they're saying or what's being discussed (18:13). "Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (29:20 nkjv). "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise" (12:15 nkjv). You can't warn fools or tell them anything they need to know because they already know everything!
Fools do a lot of talking, but they never accomplish what they've talked about. "The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall" (10:8; see v. 10). The word translated "prating" means "to babble and talk excessively" and is related to the word "prattle." It's much easier to talk about things than to hear God's Word and obey it.
Lies and slander are what fools specialize in (10:18), and the wise person won't stay around to listen (14:7–8). "The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the fool does not do so" (15:7 nkjv). "Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool" (17:7 nkjv). All of us must be careful what kind of conversation we listen to, because Jesus said, "Take heed what you hear" (Mark 4:24). Furthermore, when fools are speaking, what they say could start a fight! (18:6–7)
3. The Fool The English words fool and folly come from the Latin follis, which means "bellows." It also describes a person's puffed-up cheeks. Follis indicates that a fool is a windbag, somebody full of air but lacking in substance. Fools may look like giants, but when the wind is taken out of them, they shrink dramatically and reveal what they really are—pygmies.
Fools can't control their temper. "A fool's wrath is known at once, but a prudent man covers shame" (12:16 nkjv). "He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly" (14:29 nkjv). "Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; when he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive" (17:28 nkjv). "A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back" (29:11 nkjv).
In Proverbs, three different Hebrew words are translated "fool": kesyl, the dull, stupid fool who is stubborn; ewiyl, the corrupt fool who is morally perverted and unreasonable; and nabal, the fool who is like a stubborn animal, the brutish fool. (See 1 Sam. 25.) In this summary of the characteristics of the fool, we'll combine the verses and not distinguish the three different types. After all, fools are fools, no matter what name we give them!
When business is being transacted in the city gate (Ruth 4), fools should keep quiet if they want to appear wise (Prov. 24:7)! It's unfortunate that some people think they must always speak at meetings, even when they have nothing to say.
Fools won't learn from God's Word. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning [controlling principle] of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (1:7). The problem with fools isn't low IQ or deficient education. Their big problem is their heart: They won't acknowledge the Lord and submit to Him. "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom. 3:18).
Don't incur the wrath of a fool unless you want to carry a terrible burden. "A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both" (27:3). Once a fool is angry with you, he or she will carry on the war to the bitter end and do a great deal of damage. That's why we must exercise discernment when we disagree with fools or try to counsel them. "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes" (26:4–5 niv). Sometimes fools deserve only a deaf ear; other times they must be rebuked and their folly answered from the Word. It takes wisdom to know which response is correct, lest we end up casting pearls before swine.
A fool's own father can't instruct him (Prov. 15:5), and if you try to debate with him, it will only lead to trouble (29:9). Why? Because fools actually enjoy their folly and think they're really living! "Folly is a joy to him who is destitute of discernment" (15:21 nkjv; see 1:22; 12:15; 18:2). Warn them about sin and they laugh at you (14:9).
One reason fools don't learn wisdom is because they can't keep their eyes focused on what's important. "A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth" (17:24 niv). Instead of dealing with reality, the fool lives in a faraway fantasy world. God's Word helps people keep their feet on the ground and make wise decisions in this difficult world in which we live.
Fools are proud and self-confident. "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered" (28:26 nkjv). "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (26:12). We hear people saying, "Well, if I know my own heart …" but God warns us that we don't know our own hearts and we can't always trust what our hearts say to us. "The heart is deceitful above
Fools can't control their speech. "The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness" (15:2 nkjv; see 13:16). The fool's speech is proud and know-it-all (14:3), and fools
Proverbs and make anything useful out of him. Wise parents should discipline foolish children to give them hope (22:15),6 but a foolish adult can be changed only by the grace of God. Unless fools repent and turn to the Lord, they will live as slaves (11:29) and "die without instruction" (5:23).
all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9).
Many people today believe what Emerson wrote: "Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string."4 Or they may follow William Ernest Henley's philosophy as expressed in his famous poem, "Invictus": "I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul." These expressions of proud human achievement sound very much like Satan's offer in Eden: "You will be like God" (Gen. 3:5 nkjv), which is the basis of the New Age movement. Whatever exalts man will ultimately fail; whatever glorifies God will last forever.5
Fools don't know how to use wealth properly. "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has" (21:20 niv). Fools may know the price of everything, but they know the value of nothing; they waste their wealth on things stupid and sinful. "Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice, but a companion of harlots wastes his wealth" (29:3 nkjv). This verse reminds us of our Lord's Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–24). "The crown of the wise is their riches, but the foolishness of fools is [yields] folly" (Prov. 14:24). The wise have something to leave to their children, but fools waste both their wealth and their opportunities to increase it. "Luxury is not fitting for a fool" (19:10).
Because of their proud self-confidence, fools like to meddle, especially when there's something to argue about: "It is an honor for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling" (Prov. 20:3). Anybody can start a quarrel, but it takes a wise person to be able to stop one or, better yet, to avoid one (30:32–33). Fools think that fighting over minor disagreements will bring them honor, but it only makes them greater fools.
Fools can't be trusted with responsibility. "As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool" (26:1 nkjv). The word honor in the Hebrew (kabod) means "heavy, weighty," and can refer to the glory of God and the special respect given to people. A fool doesn't have what it takes to handle responsibility successfully and win the respect of others. Giving honor to a fool is about as fitting as snow in summer or as helpful as rain during harvest! Both mean disaster.
While waiting for a Sunday morning worship service to begin at a church where I was to be the guest preacher, I sat in an adult Sunday school class that met in the church sanctuary. One man in that class questioned almost everything the teacher said and really made a nuisance of himself quibbling about minor things. He wanted to appear wise, but he only convinced us that he was a fool. As I sat there listening, I thought of 1 Timothy 6:4–5: "He is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings" (nkjv).
In 26:3–12, Solomon elaborates on this theme by presenting a number of vivid pictures of the fool and what happens when you give him a job to do. For one thing, you'll have to treat him like a dumb animal and use a whip to motivate him (v. 3; see Ps. 32:9). Try to give him orders and explain what he's to do and you're in danger of becoming like him (Prov. 26:4–5). Send him on an important mission and you might as well cripple yourself, and be prepared for trouble (v. 6).7 As a lame person's legs are useless to take him anywhere, so a fool can't "get anywhere" with a proverb (v. 7). He not only confuses others, but he harms himself, like a drunk punctured by a thorn (v. 9). Don't ask a fool to teach the Bible, because he won't know what he's talking about and it's painful to listen to him. And don't ask a fool to wage war because he ties the stone in the sling (v. 8)!
Fools create problems and bring sorrow, especially to their parents. "A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother" (Prov. 10:1 nkjv; see 15:20; 17:21, 25). Every godly father says to his son, "Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart" (27:11 niv), but the pages of the Bible record the sorrow that foolish sons brought to their parents.
Cain grieved his parents when he killed his brother Abel (Gen. 4). Esau deliberately married heathen women just to provoke his father Isaac (Gen. 28:6–9). Jacob's sons lied to him about their brother Joseph and broke his heart (Gen. 37). Samson grieved his parents by living with pagan women and fraternizing with the enemies of Israel (Judg. 13—16). David's sons broke his heart with their evil ways. Amnon violated his halfsister Tamar, and Absalom killed him for doing it (2 Sam. 13). Then Absalom rebelled against David and seized the kingdom (2 Sam. 15—18).
The original text of verse 10 is very difficult and there are many varied translations. "Like an archer who wounds everyone, so is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by" (NASB). "Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or any passerby" (niv). "Like an archer who wounds everybody is he who hires a passing fool or drunkard" (RSV). Note that the emphasis is on the one doing the hiring and not on the fool. If you hire a fool (or just anybody who passes by) and give him or her responsibility, you might just as well start shooting at random, because the fool will do a lot of damage. Of course, nobody in his
Can anything be done to change foolish children into wise men and women? "Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him" (Prov. 27:22 niv). Women in the ancient world ground grain in a bowl (mortar) using a hard tool (pestle) with which they could crack and pulverize the kernels. The image is clear: no amount of pressure or pain will change a fool
Proverbs right mind would start shooting at random, so, nobody in his right mind would hire a fool.
message is usually misunderstood. In the poem, Gray contrasts the joyful innocence of children in school to the difficulties they will have when they reach adulthood. He asks us not to rob them of their youthful pleasures too soon. There will be time enough for them to learn that life isn't always fun and games. We expect a certain amount of naive innocence in children, but not in adults. 4 Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First and Second Series (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1938), 31. Emerson was one of the preachers of the "success philosophy" that has become the unofficial civil religion of the United States. His essay, "Self-Reliance," is the "Bible" of the under-believers and overachievers in the business world, and some of its humanistic ideas have infiltrated the church and produced a "success theology" that is unbiblical. I enjoy reading Emerson, but I carefully separate the wheat from the chaff. 5 There is a "sanctified self-confidence" that's based on faith, energized by the Holy Spirit, and glorifies God. Paul expressed it when he wrote, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13 nkjv); David gave testimony to it in Psalm 18:29–39. 6 Isaac's favoritism toward Esau (Gen. 25:28), Jacob's pampering of Joseph (Gen. 37:3), and David's failure to discipline his sons properly all helped to create the family problems I've mentioned. 7 Some commentators translate the phrase "drink violence" ("damage") as "to be stripped bare." In other words, send a fool on an important mission and you'll end up crippled and humiliated!
Fools don't learn from their mistakes but go right back to the same old mess, like a dog returning to eat his vomit (v. 11). Experience is a good teacher for the wise, but not for fools. This verse is quoted in 2 Peter 2:22 as a description of counterfeit believers who follow false teachers. Like a sow that's been washed, they look better on the outside; and like a dog that's vomited, they feel better on the inside; but they're still not sheep! They don't have the divine new nature; consequently, they go right back to the old life. Obedience and perseverance in the things of the Lord are proof of conversion.
What will happen to the fool? "A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord" (Prov. 19:3 niv). This reminds us of Pharaoh in Exodus 5— 15, who saw his country ruined by God's plagues and yet wouldn't give in to the Lord. He raged against Jehovah and Moses and even pursued the Jews to take them back, only to see his best soldiers drowned in the Red Sea. God's discipline helps a wise person obey the Word, but punishment only makes a foolish person more wicked. The same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay.
Because they "feed on foolishness" (Prov. 15:14), fools have no moral strength. "The lips [words] of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of wisdom" (10:21). They not only lack spiritual and intellectual nourishment, but they also lack refreshing water: "Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools" (16:22 niv). The image of words and God's law as "a fountain of life" is also found in 10:11; 13:14; 14:27; and 18:4. Follow Wisdom and you live on a fruitful oasis; follow Folly and your home is an arid desert.
CHAPTER SEVEN "RICH MAN, POOR MAN, BEGGAR MAN, THIEF" M
The fool will "die without instruction" (5:23). "The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools" (3:35). They will hear God's voice say, "Fool! This night your soul will be required of you" (Luke 12:20 nkjv), but then it will be too late.
oney isn't everything," said a wit, "but it does keep you in touch with your children."
On a more serious level, Paul summarized the Christian philosophy of wealth when he wrote, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need" (Eph. 4:28 nkjv). According to Paul, you can get wealth in three ways: by stealing it, earning it, or receiving it as a gift, which would include getting it as an inheritance. Stealing is wrong (Ex. 20:15), labor is honorable (Ex. 20:9), and "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
The only fools who are "wise fools" are Christians, because they're "fools for Christ's sake" (1 Cor. 4:10). The world calls them fools, but in trusting Jesus Christ and committing their lives to Him, they've made the wisest decision anybody can make.
I read about a man who bore witness to his faith in a busy shopping area by wearing a sandwich board which read: I'M A FOOL FOR JESUS CHRIST. WHOSE FOOL ARE YOU?
A wise question! Be sure you can give a wise answer.
In the book of Proverbs, King Solomon tells us a great deal about these three kinds of people—the thieves, the workers, and the poor who need our help. (Among the thieves, I'm including "the sluggard," the lazy person who never works but expects others to take care of him. That's being a thief, isn't it?) However, wealthy as he was (1 Kings 4; 10), King Solomon emphasized that God's wisdom is more important than money. "How much better is it to get wisdom than
Notes 1 Charles R. Bridges, Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1959), 179. 2 Brooks Atkinson, Once around the Sun (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1951), 37. 3 This oft-quoted statement is the last line of Thomas Gray's poem, "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College," but its