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Proverbs 26:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Proverbs 26:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 26
How To Deal with the Foolish[a]
1 Like snow in the summer or rain during the harvest,[b]
honor does not befit a fool.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a swallow in flight,
an undeserved curse will never reach home.
3 Use a whip for a horse, a bridle for a donkey,
and a stick for the back of fools.[c]
Footnotes
- Proverbs 26:1 Opposed to wisdom is folly, which is not mere thoughtlessness but rather stupidity that is synonymous with wickedness, vicious fickleness or instability, and the refusal to consider God, humans, and the order of things. Such folly is, in the eyes of the ancients, congenital and without remedy. Hence, the Book of Proverbs never seeks to convert the foolish or senseless; its purpose is to caution the naive and the simple against such behavior. This is a point of pride, however, for the greatest folly is to believe oneself to be a sage (Prov 3:7).
- Proverbs 26:1 Rain during the harvest: rain rarely occurs in Palestine during the harvest, i.e., June through September.
- Proverbs 26:3 A stick for the back of fools: see Prov 14:3; 19:29.
