Proverbs 26:17
He who passes by, [and] meddles with strife not his, [is like] he who takes a dog by the ears.
A Conservative Version
In The King James Version
In Context
16The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men who can render a reason.
18As a madman who casts firebrands, arrows, and death,
Cross References
Proverbs 17:11An evil man seeks only rebellion. Therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.
Proverbs 20:3It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarrelling.
2 Timothy 2:23But shun foolish and uneducated questions, knowing that they breed quarrels.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 26:17
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. Observe, 1. The high opinion which the sluggard has of himself, notwithstanding the gross absurdity and folly of his slothfulness: He thinks himself wiser than seven men, than seven wise men, for they are such as can render a reason. It is the wisdom of a man to be able to render a reason, of a good man to be able to give a reason of the hope that is in him, 1 Pet. iii. 15 . What we do we should be able to render a reason for,… Read the whole commentary →