Proverbs 26:4
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou become like him.
Brenton Septuagint
In The King James Version
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
In Context
3As a whip for a horse, and a goad for an ass, so is a rod for a simple nation.
5Yet answer a fool according to his folly, lest he seem wise in his own conceit.
Cross References
Judges 12:1And the men of Ephraim + 12:1 i. e. by calling.assembled themselves, and passed on to the north, and said to Jephthae, Wherefore didst thou go over to fight with the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thy house over thee with fire.
1 Kings 12:14And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
2 Kings 14:8Then Amessias sent messengers to Joas son of Joachaz son of Ju king of Israel, saying, Come, let us + 14:8 Gr. appear to faces.look one another in the face.
Proverbs 26:5Yet answer a fool according to his folly, lest he seem wise in his own conceit.
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 →