261 As snow in summer and rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.
3 A whip for the horse, A bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the fool's back.
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6 He who sends a message by the hand of a fool Cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. 7 Like the legs of the lame that hang limp Is a proverb in the mouth of fools. 8 Like one who binds a stone in a sling Is he who gives honor to a fool. 9 Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.
11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.
12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 26:1-12
Commentary on Proverbs 26:1
(Read Proverbs 26:1)
Honour is out of season to those unworthy and unfit for it.
Commentary on Proverbs 26:2
(Read Proverbs 26:2)
He that is cursed without cause, the curse shall do him no more harm than the bird that flies over his head.
Commentary on Proverbs 26:3
(Read Proverbs 26:3)
Every creature must be dealt with according to its nature, but careless and profligate sinners never will be ruled by reason and persuasion. Man indeed is born like the wild ass's colt; but some, by the grace of God, are changed.
Commentary on Proverbs 26:4-5
(Read Proverbs 26:4-5)
We are to fit our remarks to the man, and address them to his conscience, so as may best end the debate.
Commentary on Proverbs 26:6-9
(Read Proverbs 26:6-9)
Fools are not fit to be trusted, nor to have any honour. Wise sayings, as a foolish man delivers and applies them, lose their usefulness.
Commentary on Proverbs 26:10
(Read Proverbs 26:10)
This verse may either declare how the Lord, the Creator of all men, will deal with sinners according to their guilt, or, how the powerful among men should disgrace and punish the wicked.
Commentary on Proverbs 26:11
(Read Proverbs 26:11)
The dog is a loathsome emblem of those sinners who return to their vices, 2 Peter 2:22.
Commentary on Proverbs 26:12
(Read Proverbs 26:12)
We see many a one who has some little sense, but is proud of it. This describes those who think their spiritual state to be good, when really it is very bad.