the Second Week after Easter
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New Living Translation
Proverbs 26:5
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
Answer a fool according to his foolishnessor he’ll become wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves, So that he will not be wise in his own eyes.
Answer fools when they speak foolishly, or they will think they are really wise.
Answer [and correct the erroneous concepts of] a fool according to his folly, Otherwise he will be wise in his own eyes [if he thinks you agree with him].
Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answere a foole according to his foolishnes, least he be wise in his owne conceite.
Answer a fool according to his folly,Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
But if you answer any fools, show how foolish they are, so they won't feel smart.
but answer a fool as his folly deserves, so that he won't think he is wise.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
But answer a fool according to your wisdom, lest he think in himself that he is wise.
Give a silly answer to a silly question, and the one who asked it will realize that he's not as smart as he thinks.
Answer a fool according to his folly, or else he will be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool according to his foolishness, that he not be wise in his own eyes.
but make ye foole an answere to his foolishnesse, lest he be wyse in his owne coceate.
Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answere a foole according to his folly, lest hee be wise in his owne conceit.
But make the foole an aunswere to his foolishnesse, lest he be wyse in his owne conceipt.
lest they drink, and forget wisdom, and be not able to judge the poor rightly.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Answere thou a fool bi his fooli, lest he seme to him silf to be wijs.
Answer a fool according to his folly, Or else he will be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own estimation.
Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool in the way he has earned by his foolish acts, so he will not be wise in his own eyes.
Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.
Answer a dullard according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise.
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Answer a fool in simple terms so he doesn't get a swelled head.
Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
a fool: 1 Kings 22:24-28, Jeremiah 36:17, Jeremiah 36:18, Matthew 15:1-3, Matthew 16:1-4, Matthew 21:23-27, Matthew 22:15-32, Luke 12:13-21, Luke 13:23-30, John 8:7, John 9:26-33, Titus 1:13
lest: Proverbs 26:12, Proverbs 28:11, Romans 11:25
conceit: Heb. eyes, Isaiah 5:21, Romans 12:16
Reciprocal: Proverbs 23:9 - Speak Matthew 21:24 - I also Matthew 22:22 - they marvelled Mark 11:33 - Neither Luke 20:8 - General Luke 20:26 - they could Luke 20:40 - General John 8:49 - I have not Colossians 4:6 - how
Cross-References
So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
On that very day Abraham took his son, Ishmael, and every male in his household, including those born there and those he had bought. Then he circumcised them, cutting off their foreskins, just as God had told him.
I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised."
"This is what the Lord says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that
And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me."
A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham's time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.
The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.
So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
"Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Answer a fool according to his folly,.... The Targum is,
"but speak with a fool in thy wisdom;''
and the Syriac version,
"yea, speak with a fool according to thy wisdom;''
which would at once remove the seeming contradiction in these words to the former, but then they are not a true version; indeed it is right, and must be the sense, that when a fool is answered, as it is sometimes necessary he should, that it be done in wisdom, and so as to expose his folly; he is to be answered and not answered according to different times, places, and circumstances, and manner of answering; he is to be answered when there is any hope of doing him good, or of doing good to others; or of preventing ill impressions being made upon others by what he has said; when the glory of God, the good of the church, and the cause of truth, require it; and when he would otherwise glory and triumph, as if his words or works were unanswerable, as follow;
lest he be wise in his own conceit; which fools are apt to be, and the rather when no answer is given them; imagining it arises from the strength of their arguments, and their nervous way of reasoning, when it is rather from a neglect and contempt of them.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Two sides of a truth. To âanswer a fool according to his follyâ is in Proverbs 26:4 to bandy words with him, to descend to his level of coarse anger and vile abuse; in Proverbs 26:5 it is to say the right word at the right time, to expose his unwisdom and untruth to others and to himself, not by a teaching beyond his reach, but by words that he is just able to apprehend. The apparent contradiction between the two verses led some of the rabbis to question the canonical authority of this book. The Pythagoreans had maxims expressing a truth in precepts seemingly contradictory.