Proverbs 26:4-5?

Question

Can someone please explain to me Proverbs 26:4-5? I really don't understand that.

Answer 1

It simply says not to bother answering a fool.If you tell him he is wrong he won't believe it.If you agree with him that makes you a fool as well.

Answer 2

In one verse, the Bible says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself” (Proverbs 26:4).

In the very next verse we read, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:5).


There's no winning with a fool. Answer him or don’t answer him. He’s a fool.

That’s a very convenient way of looking at things. It allows me to say, “Thank you, God, that I am not like any of those fools out there.”

One of the frustrating things that we don’t like about the Book of Proverbs is that sometimes it seems to contradict itself. But we have proverbs in the English language that do the same thing. For instance, we’ll say, “Look before you leap”, and then we’ll say, “He who hesitates is lost.” Which is it?

Answer 3

Proverbs 26:4-5
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Don't sink to someone else's level when in a dispute with them....or else you will become just as foolish as they.

Answer 4

It's saying there is no point in answering something foolish. (like some of the questions on Y/A) Because it will make the foolish person think that he is wise. Even if it's only in his own eyes. If you read further It explains several things it is like.

Answer 5

It's funny how all the believers are so programmed that their cerebral cortex cannot even process that they are reading contradictory statements, one says do not and the other says do.

But the question is whether "according to his folly", which sounds like it might be a colloquialism in the orginal language, is used in the same sense in both dictums. I suspect not, or whoever collected the sayings would not place a pair together that obviously negate each other. So something is lost in the context and translation apparently.

Here's another one: Does God punish us for our fathers sins or not?
Yes he does:
(Exodus 20:5) - "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,"
(Deuteronomy 5:9) - "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,"
(Exodus 34:6-7) - "Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."
(1 Cor. 15:22) - "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive."
No he doesn't:
(Deuteronomy 24:16) - "Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin."
(Ezekiel 18:20) - "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself."
In this case, the :yes he does" verses are explained as dealing with spiritual and environmental influences, such as: if you're father is drunken wife beater with no moral standards and no work ethic you are likely to become one as well. The "no he doesn't" is in a section dealing with legal standards, i.e. that it isn't legal to imprison children because their father is a thief.

Answer 6

Proverbs 26:4,5
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

A fool, in Matthew 23, is one who sits in Moses' seat: Law.
http://www.godshew.org/Allegory4.htm

The second law in Matthew 22:36-40 is "like unto the first".
http://www.godshew.org/TwainShew4.htm#Laws

So it means don't be as awful lawful as fools, hypocrites, vipers, and blind guides who sit in Moses' seat: Law. Rather be grace us, which is "above" such first and second law law on high in the heavens. For Christ is seated in heaven: higher than the heavens; Not right on high in the plural divided heavens. For being right of left/right law/law is still "law": "sin and death".
http://www.godshew.org/RevelatorySermons21.html
http://www.godshew.org/RevelatorySermons15.htm

Being grace us is not imputing sin then forgiving it.
Being grace us is simply not imputing any sin at all.
For sin, when "it is finished", brings forth "death".
http://www.godshew.org/TwainShew2.htm#Finisheds

To wit, "that God" was in "Christ" reconciling the world:
(is to say that God was not in Jesus alienating the world)
- that God is light(only) void of darkness: grace void of law.
- Christ is the end of the law: Romans 10:4
- the word of reconciliation is grace, not law.

As Solomon said in Proverbs 4: "with all thy getting, get understanding"; and "understanding" = "grace glory".

Which things are an "allegory": Galatains 4.
http://www.godshew.org/Allegory.htm

The "grace" of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.

Answer 7

It means do not react to the foolishness of some people as it will only make yourself appear to be foolish. Instead answer such foolishness in a simple and accurate manner and to not be swayed by their foolish ways.

Answer 8

It means that to entertain foolish things is to reinforce it, when you should be dispelling this foolishness, and not acting like a fool yourself.

Answer 9

I'm guessing...

Don't answer a fool on his terms. Rather answer him on your own terms to make him smart.

Don't answer a stupid question with a stupid answer, but answer with response that will enlighten him.

That'll come in handy on this site.

Answer 10

it basically says that we are all fools here at "Yahoo Answers" because we have all sunk to the level of arguing with fools