The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting March 26th on Proverbs 26:5-8

                    March 26th?     Read Proverbs 26!

[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers. My amateur comments are offered below each of today's verses from Proverbs.]

Have you ever noticed that, as most months have 31 days, so the Book of Proverbs has 31 chapters? Fascinating right? Well, it is at least interesting, and coincidentally beneficial to those who would like to read a portion of thought provoking scripture every day of the month. You might like to read the calendar coordinated chapter from Proverbs every day this month (I've included the whole chapter below!) and then see if my comments on a few of those verses line up with your own observations. My plan is to go through the year, writing my response to about one seventh of each chapter's verses every day, during each of the 7 months that have 31 days.  Clear as mud? That's what I thought.

I hope you check in, and leave a comment. Especially if I say something really off base and need to be corrected, because, as we will learn this month on the 27th, Proverbs 27:5 says

                                "Better is open rebuke than hidden love." 

                                          Today's inspired verses, 5-8, are highlighted in red

                                                (and my questionable comments are in blue).

Proverbs 26

1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the backs of fools!
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you yourself will be just like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.


5) Did you remember reading verse 4 in January (or did you read it just now?)?  Compare it to verse 5 and then scratch your head, for there seems to be a contradiction here.  Verse 4 says "don't engage the fool" and verse 5 says "make sure you shut the fool up".  Well I think Solomon knows his stuff.  The point is that you have to play it by ear, sadly realizing that, no matter what, the fools control the game.  Simply being fools, they require the wise to invest all kinds of time and energy just to deal with them, one way or the other.  

6 Sending a message by the hands of a fool
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison. 


6) How many episodes did The Three Stooges get out of this theme?  Some poor sap or other, who had never heard of the stooges, failed to recognize them as such (fools) and sent them on an important mission.  Of course they made a big mess of it and the only good news is that somebody happened to catch it all on film for our entertainment!  I don't know if anyone had their feet cut off or drank poison, but a lot of guts were split and there was a bunch of ROFL.

7 Like the useless legs of one who is lame
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. 


7) As long as we're talking about the Stooges, Moe, Larry and Curly (and Shemp) were the all time experts at trying to say something smart and having it come out lame.  It's interesting that we now call somebody's failed verbal expression, "lame".  I hope that violation of the separation of church and state is prohibited in public schools; after all, that insult has Biblical roots!

8 Like tying a stone in a sling
is the giving of honor to a fool.

8) A wise person will receive a compliment with grace, and then with humility, forward the honor back to his predecessors.  The stone will not STAY in the sling, but will go out to do its work.  The fool will cling to whatever compliment comes his way and call for the world to stand still while he elaborates on his great worth!  Nothing but a big head will come from the stone being tied up to that useless sling.

9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10 Like an archer who wounds at random
is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,
so fools repeat their folly.
12 Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for them.

13 A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,
a fierce lion roaming the streets!”
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
than seven people who answer discreetly.

17 Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears
is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

18 Like a maniac shooting
flaming arrows of death
19 is one who deceives their neighbor
and says, “I was only joking!”

20 Without wood a fire goes out;
without a gossip a quarrel dies down.
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.

23 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware
are fervent[a] lips with an evil heart.
24 Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,
but in their hearts they harbor deceit.
25 Though their speech is charming, do not believe them,
for seven abominations fill their hearts.
26 Their malice may be concealed by deception,
but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it;
if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.
28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
Footnotes:
Proverbs 26:23 Hebrew; Septuagint smooth