Proverbs 26:4
If a foolish person asks a foolish question, do not answer him, because if you answer his question, you are just as foolish as he is.
Translation for Translators
In The King James Version
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
In Context
Cross References
Judges 12:1The men of the tribe of Ephraim summoned their soldiers, and they crossed the Jordan River to the town of Zaphon to talk with Jephthah. They said to him, “◄Why did you not ask us for help?/You should have requested us► to help your army fight the Ammon people-group. So we will burn down your house while you are in it.”
1 Kings 12:14He told them what the younger men had advised. He said, “My father put heavy burdens of work and taxes on you, but I will put heavier burdens on you. It was as though he beat you with whips, but I will beat you with whips that have pieces of metal in them!”
2 Kings 14:8Then Amaziah sent messengers to King Jehoash of Israel, saying “Come here and let’s talk together.”
Proverbs 26:5If you give a foolish answer to someone who asks a foolish question, he will realize that he is ◄not very wise/foolish►.
1 Peter 2:21One of the reasons why God chose you is that you would suffer. When Christ suffered for you, he became an example for you, in order that you would ◄imitate what/do like► he did.
Jude 1:9When ◄the devil/Satan► argued with the chief angel, Michael, about who would take away the body of the prophet Moses to bury it, Michael did not do as these teachers of false doctrine do. Even though Michael has much more authority than they do, he did not disrespectfully ◄revile/say evil things to► Satan and accuse/condemn him. Instead, he only said, “ I desire that the Lord God will rebuke you!”
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 →