Amplified Bible
Proverbs 26:7
7Like the legs which are useless to the lame, So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who cannot learn from its wisdom].
Proverbs 26:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
- New International Version (NIV)Like the useless legs of one who is lame is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Like the legs of the lame that hang limp Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Context of Proverbs 26:7
5Answer [and correct the erroneous concepts of] a fool according to his folly, Otherwise he will be wise in his own eyes [if he thinks you agree with him]. 6He who sends a message by the hand of a fool Cuts off his own feet (sabotages himself) and drinks the violence [it brings on himself as a consequence]. Like the legs which are useless to the lame, So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who cannot learn from its wisdom]. 8Like one who [absurdly] binds a stone in a sling [making it impossible to throw], So is he who [absurdly] gives honor to a fool. 9Like a thorn that goes [without being felt] into the hand of a drunken man, So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who remains unaffected by its wisdom].
Read all of Proverbs 26Proverbs 26:7 word by word
דַּלְי֣וּ שֹׁ֭קַיִם מִפִּסֵּ֑חַ וּ֝מָשָׁ֗ל בְּפִ֣י כְסִילִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 26:7
- Proverbs 26:9Like a thorn that goes [without being felt] into the hand of a drunken man, So is a proverb in the mouth of a fool [who remains unaffected by its wisdom].
- Proverbs 17:7Excellent speech does not benefit a fool [who is spiritually blind], Much less do lying lips benefit a prince.
- Psalms 50:16But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite My statutes Or to take My covenant on your lips?
- Psalms 64:8So they will be caused to stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who gaze at them will shake the head [in scorn].
- Matthew 7:4Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye?
- Luke 4:23So He said to them, “You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’ ”
Commentaries on Proverbs 26:7
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Or, Take away the legs of the lame man, and the parable that is in the mouth of fools: both are alike useless to their possessors. Other meanings are: (1) “The legs of the lame man are feeble, so is parable in the mouth of fools.” (2) “the lifting up of the legs of a lame man, i. e., his attempts at dancing, are as the parable in the mouth of fools.”Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-9Verses 6-9 Fools are not fit to be trusted, nor to have any honour. Wise sayings, as a foolish man delivers and applies them, lose their usefulness.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7A fool might know a proverb but not use it correctly. Compare with Proverbs 26:9.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. legs ... equal--or, "take away the legs," or "the legs ... are weak." In any case the idea is that they are the occasion of an awkwardness, such as the fool shows in using a parable or proverb (see Introduction; Pr 17:7).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 26:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 26
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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