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Proverbs 26 · a question people ask

"Don’t answer a fool according to his folly" (26:4), and then "Answer a fool according to his folly" (26:5). Which is it?

In the text

The two sayings stand side by side, and each gives its own reason. "Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him" (26:4). "Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes" (26:5). In Hebrew both open with the same verb and the same two words after it, and 26:4 has don't in front (tap answer, folly). Both reasons begin with the same Hebrew word, pen, the WEB's lest. The verses don't say when to do the one and when the other, and these notes don't either. The book asks its readers "to understand a proverb" (Proverbs 1:6), and it keeps these two together. The introduction to Proverbs points to this pair to show how the book sets sayings side by side that pull different ways, and the notes on Proverbs 15 and 22 point to it too (Proverbs 15:1, 22:6).

The verses

“Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”
Proverbs 26:4-5 · World English Bible
“to understand a proverb and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.”
Proverbs 1:6 · World English Bible
“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Proverbs 15:1 · World English Bible
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 26

Proverbs 26: Answer a fool

The sayings about the fool (Proverbs 26:1-12) and the sayings about the sluggard (Proverbs 26:13-16) both close on the man wise in his own eyes (Proverbs 26:12, 26:16), in Hebrew the same two words each time, and the reason Proverbs 26:5 gives for answering a fool. And the saying about the dog (Proverbs 26:11) is the one Peter calls "the true proverb" (2 Peter 2:22).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions