Proverbs 26:4
Geue not the foole an aunswere after his foolishnes, lest thou become like vnto him.
Bible (Bishops')
In The King James Version
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
In Context
3Unto the horse belongeth a whip, to the asse a brydle: and a rod to the fooles backe.
5But make the foole an aunswere to his foolishnesse, lest he be wyse in his owne conceipt.
Cross References
Judges 12:1And the men of Ephraim gathered them selues together, & went northwarde, & sayd vnto Iephthah: Wherfore wentest thou to fight against the children of Ammon, and dyddest not call vs to go with thee? we will therfore burne thine house vpon thee with fire.
Proverbs 26:5But make the foole an aunswere to his foolishnesse, lest he be wyse in his owne conceipt.
1 Peter 2:21For herevnto veryly were ye called, for Christe also suffered for vs, leauyng vs an ensample, that ye should folowe his steppes.
Jude 1:9Yet Michael the Archangel, when he stroue agaynst the deuyll, and disputed about the body of Moyses, durst not geue raylyng sentence, but sayde, the Lorde rebuke thee.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 26:4
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. Here, 1. Wicked men are compared to the horse and the ass, so brutish are they, so unreasonable, so unruly, and not to be governed but by force or fear, so low has sin sunk men, so much below themselves. Man indeed is born like the wild ass's colt, but as some by the grace of God are changed, and become rational, so others by custom in sin are hardened, and become more and more sottish, as the horse and the mule, Ps. xxxii. 9 . 2.… Read the whole commentary →