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Bible Dictionaries
Fool
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or The term fool in Scripture language differs from what is understood in the general acceptation of the word among men. By fool we mean one that is weak in his intellect, and an idiot. But not so in the word of God. Thus in the psalms, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.." (Psalms 14:1) But the sense is, that the wicked and ungodly have by their action said this. So again, that pride and haughtiness of men, which prompts them to reject Christ, this in Scripture language is called folly. Hence the apostle saith, "The world by wisdom knew not God; and it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21) By comparing two passages in Scripture together, the sense of the word is very strongly marked. Thus the prophet Isaiah saith, speaking of bad men, that"It is a people of no understanding; therefore, he that made them will not have mercy upon them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour." (Isaiah 27:11) Now, that it might not be supposed, that this being void of understanding was the natural and unavoidable condition of idiotism, which brought upon them the displeasure of God, and for which the Lord would shew them no favour, the Holy Ghost, by his servant Job, hath very fully shewn in what that want of understanding consisted."And unto man he said, Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:28)
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Fool'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/f/fool.html. London. 1828.
