Help a brother out
Proverbs 26:4-5 (NLT)
4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
I was reading this passage awhile ago and was kind of puzzled by the placement of these two verses. I'm guessing something get's lost in the translation between the original Hebrew and english. I tried checking some other translations for some clarity, but with the exception of the Message, I couldn't find much help. The Message says
4 Don't respond to the stupidity of a fool;
you'll only look foolish yourself.
5 Answer a fool in simple terms
so he doesn't get a swelled head.
I guess my question is, does the Hebrew use two different words for fool or arguments? Or am I just reading too far into it.
4 Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5 Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
I was reading this passage awhile ago and was kind of puzzled by the placement of these two verses. I'm guessing something get's lost in the translation between the original Hebrew and english. I tried checking some other translations for some clarity, but with the exception of the Message, I couldn't find much help. The Message says
4 Don't respond to the stupidity of a fool;
you'll only look foolish yourself.
5 Answer a fool in simple terms
so he doesn't get a swelled head.
I guess my question is, does the Hebrew use two different words for fool or arguments? Or am I just reading too far into it.
posted by Jeff Myers at 2:14 AM
3 Comments:
My translation:
4 Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty and the pig loves it.
-or-
4. Never have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.
5. Stupid is as stupid does.
Don't quote me on this but I think I remember being taught the words are different. I do remember actually having a huge discussion on this in one of my classes. Obviously it stuck with me. I'll look through some notes but don't be surprised if I come back with nothing!
Hey Jeff,
You might not remember me, but I was a student at Bethel a couple of years ago. Anyway, I randomly ran across your blog from Rachel Erdel's blog and saw your post about Proverbs 26:4-5. I am in Div. school at Duke right now and I'm taking Hebrew and I looked it up and the words are exactly the same in both verses (kes-eel is how you would pronounce the Hebrew in English). The Geneva Bible notes say "Consent not to him in his doings" for verse 4 and "Reprove him as the matter requires" for verse 5. I'm not sure if that helps you at all, but there you have it.
Julia Kuehn
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