Proverbs 27:22

Proverbs 27:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
• New International Version (NIV)Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding them like grain with a pestle, you will not remove their folly from them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

Context of Proverbs 27:22

20Sheol (the place of the dead) and Abaddon (the underworld) are never satisfied; Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied. 21The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold [to separate the impurities of the metal], And each is tested by the praise given to him [and his response to it, whether humble or proud]. Even though you pound a [hardened, arrogant] fool [who rejects wisdom] in a mortar with a pestle like grain, Yet his foolishness will not leave him. 23Be diligent to know the condition of your flocks, And pay attention to your herds; 24For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.

Proverbs 27:22 word by word

אִ֥ם תִּכְתּֽוֹשׁ־אֶת־הָאֱוִ֨יל׀ בַּֽמַּכְתֵּ֡שׁ בְּת֣וֹךְ הָ֭רִיפוֹת בַּֽעֱלִ֑י לֹא־תָס֥וּר מֵ֝עָלָ֗יו אִוַּלְתּֽוֹ׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Though thou shouldest brayכָּתַשׁkâthash · to poundH3806
• a foolאֱוִיל'ĕvîyl · fool(ish)H191
• in a mortarמַכְתֵּשׁmaktêsh · hollowH4388
• amongתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
• wheatרִיפָהrîyphâh riphâh · grainH7383
• with a pestleעֱלִי‛ĕlîy · pestleH5940
• will not his foolishnessאִוֶּ֫לֶת'ivveleth · follyH200
• departסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: departH5493

Cross-references for Proverbs 27:22

• Proverbs 23:25Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who gave birth to you rejoice [in your wise and godly choices].
• Exodus 12:30Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry [of heartache and sorrow] in Egypt, for there was no house where there was not someone dead.
• Exodus 14:5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, “What is this that we have done? We have let Israel go from serving us!”
• Exodus 15:9The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be satisfied against them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall dispossess them and drive them out.’
• 2 Chronicles 28:22In the time of his distress, this same King Ahaz became yet more unfaithful to the Lord.
• Isaiah 1:5Why should you be stricken and punished again [since no change results from it]? You [only] continue to rebel. The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint and sick.
• Jeremiah 5:3O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them, But they did not weaken; You have consumed them, But they refused to take correction or instruction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to repent and return to You.
• Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, and all the women who were standing by, a large group, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah, saying,
• Revelation 16:10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness; and people gnawed their tongues because of the pain [of their excruciating anguish and severe torment],

Commentaries on Proverbs 27:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Though thou shouldest bray a fool - Leaving all other conjectures, of which commentators are full, I would propose, that this is a metaphor taken from pounding metallic ores in very large mortars, such as are still common in the East, in order that, when subjected to the action of the fire, the metal may be the more easily separated from the ore. However you may try, by precept or example, or both, to instruct a stupid man, your labor is lost; his…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Bray - To pound wheat in a mortar with a pestle, in order to free the wheat from its husks and impurities, is to go through a far more elaborate process than threshing. But the folly of the fool is not thus to be got rid of. It sticks to him to the last; all discipline, teaching, experience seem to be wasted on him.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22Verse 22 Some are so bad, that even severe methods do not answer the end; what remains but that they should be rejected? The new-creating power of God's grace alone is able to make a change.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22A fool's character is full of foolishness.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. The obstinate wickedness of such is incurable by the heaviest inflictions.Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 27:22

• Bray
• Mortar
• Wheat
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Answer
• Boast
• Bray
• Contentious
• Look
• Mortar
• Soul
• Wrath
• Fool; Folly
• Hezekiah (2)

Commentaries on Proverbs 27

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings