Proverbs 17:12
It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.
Berean Standard Bible
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 evil man seeks only rebellion; a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
13If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never leave his house.
Cross References
2 Kings 2:24Then he turned around, looked at them, and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Suddenly two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.
Proverbs 28:15Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.
Matthew 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
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 →