Proverbs 26:4

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Answer	תַּ֣עַן Ta.'an	H6030	properly · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
fool	כְּ֭סִיל Ke.sil	H3684	properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
folly	כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ ke.'i.val.To	H200	silliness · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
like	תִּשְׁוֶה tish.veh-	H7737	properly · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
1 Peter 3:9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit…
Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusat…
1 Kings 12:14 And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also ch…
Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
Judges 12:1-6 And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight again…
2 Samuel 19:41-43 And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and ha…
1 Kings 12:16 So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither h…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 26:4-5

See here the noble security of the scripture-style, which seems to contradict itself, but really does not. Wise men have need to be directed how to deal with fools; and they have never more need of wisdom than in dealing with such, to know when to keep silence and when to speak, for there may be a time for both. 1. In some cases a wise man will not set his wit to that of a fool so far as to answer him according to his folly "If he boast of himself, do not answer him by boasting of thyself. If he rail and talk passionately, do not thou rail and talk passionately too. If he tell one great lie, do not thou tell another to match it. If he calumniate thy friends, do not thou calumniate his. If he…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 26:4

Answer not--that is, approvingly by like folly.

John Gill on Proverbs 26:4

Answer not a fool according to his folly,.... Sometimes a fool, or wicked man, is not to be answered at all; as the ministers of Hezekiah answered not a word to Rabshakeh; nor Jeremiah the prophet to Hananiah; nor Christ to the Scribes and Pharisees; and when an answer is returned, it should not be in his foolish way and manner, rendering evil for evil, and railing for railing, in the same virulent, lying, calumniating, and reproachful language; lest thou also be like unto him; lest thou also, who art a man of understanding and sense, and hast passed for one among men, come under the same imputation, and be reckoned a fool like him.

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 26:4

4 Answer not the fool according to his folly, Lest thou thyself also become like unto him. After, or according to his folly, is here equivalent to recognising the foolish supposition and the foolish object of his question, and thereupon considering it, as if, e.g., he asked why the ignorant man was happier than the man who had much knowledge, or how one may acquire the art of making gold; for "a fool can ask more than ten wise men can answer." He who recognises such questions as justifiable, and thus sanctions them, places himself on an equality with the fool, and easily himself becomes one. The proverb that follows affirms apparently the direct contrary:

The Church Fathers

It is more agreeable to remain silent on such questions and to consider their foolish and irreverent assumptions unworthy of a response, since the divine words forbid it, saying, "Answer not a fool according to his folly." But the fool, according to the prophet, is "the one who says there is no God."
— Macrina the Younger, ON THE SOUL AND THE RESURRECTION

Your flight is a good one if you do not answer the fool according to his folly. Your flight is good if you direct your footsteps away from the countenance of fools. Indeed, one swiftly goes astray with bad guides; but if you wish your flight to be a good one, remove your ways far from their words.
— Ambrose of Milan, FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 9:56

Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness, etc. Answer a fool according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in his own eyes. These should not be seen as mutually contradictory, not to answer a fool according to his foolishness, and to answer a fool according to his foolishness: for both correspond according to the diversity of times and persons, while the fool is also disregarded because he does not receive wisdom, and foolish pride is checked by another kind of foolishness, just as the Apostle also says, I have become a fool, you compelled me (II Cor. XII).
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fool · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Prudence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Speaking · FOLLY IN — FOLLY IN

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 26:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 26:4-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 26:4

John Gill on Proverbs 26:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 26:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 26:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 26:4-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 26:4

John Gill on Proverbs 26:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 26:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 26:4-5

Rashi on Proverbs 26:4