Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless,
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like one who binds the stone in the sling
is one who gives honour to a fool.
Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like an archer who wounds everyone
is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.Proverbs 26:4-10
The contradiction in 4 and 5 is only seeming: it bears witness to the dilemma we are placed in by the fool. To answer him is almost to lower oneself to his level; not to answer him is to do harm to the fool who needs correction. 'Cutteth off’ in 6 corresponds to our modern idiom, ‘takes the feet from'. The meaning is that to send a message by a fool makes pretty sure that it will not get there, and if so, damage will be done. The RSV translates 7 ‘Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools'. The idea is that the legs promise much, but fulfil little - promises of action which do not lead to anything. It is the kind of proverb which is echoed in our modern saying, 'He does not fly every time he flaps his wings'. Two possible meanings can be given to 8. One is to take 'bind’ in the sense of tying the stone into the sling. This would be to stultify the whole point of the exercise for the stone is there to be slung out. The message, then, is that of incongruity. The other meaning is that you never know (unless you are an expert) where the stone is going to land, and if you honour a fool, you do not know what he will do next. A thorn-branch in the hand of a drunkard (9) is almost certain to prove harmful to himself and to others, and the same is true when a fool sets up to teach. He is like to destroy himself and those who heed him. The scholars tell us that the original text of 10 is very uncertain, and a comparison of RSV and AV will show how differently it has been construed. The AV makes sense as it reads, and gives its own solemn message about the certainty of judgment on fools and transgressors. If we follow the RSV, the meaning will be that a fool and a drunkard make equally poor employees, the one being as bad and useless as the other.