Proverbs 17:26

It is not right to force someone who has done nothing wrong to pay a fine; it is wrong to punish good/respected people.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

In Context

25Children who are foolish cause their father to be sad and also cause their mother to be very sorrowful.

27Those who have good sense do not talk a lot, and those who ◄control their tempers/keep themselves from becoming very angry► are truly wise.

Read all of Proverbs 17

Cross References

Genesis 18:25It would certainly not be right for you to do such a thing, to kill righteous people along with wicked ones, and treat righteous people and wicked people the same way. You could not do that, because you, who are the judge of everyone on the earth, will certainly do what is right regarding the people of Sodom!” [RHQ]

2 Samuel 3:39Even though Yahweh appointed me to be the king, today I feel weak. These two sons of Zeruiah, Joab and Abishai, are very violent; I cannot control them. So I hope/desire that Yahweh will punish them severely in return for this wicked thing that they have done!”

2 Samuel 19:7So, now go and thank your soldiers for what they did. Because I solemnly declare that if you do not do that, none of them will still be with you by tomorrow morning and that would be worse for you than all the disasters/troubles that you have experienced since you were a boy.”

Proverbs 17:15There are two things that Yahweh hates: ◄Condemning innocent people/Saying that people who have done nothing wrong must be punished►, and declaring that people who have done wicked things should not be punished.

Micah 5:1“But now, you people of Jerusalem, gather your troops together, because even though you have a wall around your city to protect it, enemy soldiers are surrounding the city. And soon they will strike your leader on his face, with a rod.”

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:26

25 A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. Observe, 1. Wicked children are an affliction to both their parents. They are an occasion of anger to the father (so the word signifies), because they contemn his authority, but of sorrow and bitterness to the mother, because they abuse her tenderness. The parents, being joint-sufferers, should therefore bring mutual comfort to bear them up under it, and strive to make it as easy as they can, the mother to mollify the father's anger,… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Proverbs 17:26