Context No. 3495 of 4322 · Proverbs

Proverbs 26:1-16: in context

1Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. 2Like a fluttering sparrow, like a darting swallow, so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest. 3A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools! 4Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. 5Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. 6One who sends a message by the hand of a fool is cutting off feet and drinking violence. 7Like the legs of the lame that hang loose, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. 8As one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool. 9Like a thorn bush that goes into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. 10As an archer who wounds all, so is he who hires a fool or he who hires those who pass by. 11As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly. 12Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. 13The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A fierce lion roams the streets!” 14As the door turns on its hinges, so does the sluggard on his bed. 15The sluggard buries his hand in the dish. He is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. 16The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with discretion.

This chapter piles up vivid images of folly, and two threads stand out. The first is the danger of being wise in one's own eyes: do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Self-satisfied conceit is worse than plain foolishness, because it cannot be corrected; the person who is sure he already knows leaves no room to learn.

The second is the sluggard, full of excuses, there is a lion in the road!, turning on his bed like a door on its hinges, too lazy even to bring his hand back from the dish to his mouth, and yet convinced he is wiser than seven sensible people. Both the conceited and the lazy share the same blindness to their own real condition. The proverbs prod us toward honest self-knowledge, warning against the self-deception that makes us think we are wiser, or more diligent, than we truly are. The first step out of folly is to stop being wise in our own eyes and let ourselves be taught.

Am I honest about my own folly and laziness, or am I wise in my own eyes, so self-satisfied that I cannot be taught or corrected?

Sources

Proverbs 26:12: "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
Proverbs 26:11: "As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly."
Proverbs 26:16: "The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who answer with discretion."