Proverbs 17:12
It is better to come face to face with a bear whose young ones have been taken away than with a foolish man acting foolishly.
Bible in Basic English
In The King James Version
Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
In Context
11An uncontrolled man is only looking for trouble, so a cruel servant will be sent against him.
13If anyone gives back evil for good, evil will never go away from his house.
Cross References
2 Kings 2:24And turning back, he saw them, and put a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the wood and put forty-two of the children to death.
Proverbs 28:15Like a loud-voiced lion and a wandering bear, is an evil ruler over a poor people.
Matthew 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was very angry; and he sent out, and put to death all the male children in Beth-lehem and in all the parts round about it, from two years old and under, acting on the knowledge which he had got with care from the wise men.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:12
11 An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. Here is the sin and punishment of an evil man. 1. His sin. He is an evil man indeed that seeks all occasions to rebel against God, and the government God has set over him, and to contradict and quarrel with those about him. Quærit jurgia—He picks quarrels; so some. There are some that are actuated by a spirit of opposition, that will contradict for contradiction-sake, that will go on frowardly in their wicked ways in… Read the whole commentary →