New English Translation
Proverbs 27:22
22If you should pound the fool in the mortar among the grain with the pestle, his foolishness would not depart from him.
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
20As Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so the eyes of a person are never satisfied. 21As the crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold, so a person is proved by the praise he receives. If you should pound the fool in the mortar among the grain with the pestle, his foolishness would not depart from him. 23Pay careful attention to the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds, 24for riches do not last forever, nor does a crown last from generation to generation.
Read all of Proverbs 27Proverbs 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 23:25May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.
- Exodus 12:30Pharaoh got up in the night, along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house in which there was not someone dead.
- Exodus 14:5When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, “What in the world have we done? For we have released the people of Israel from serving us!”
- Exodus 15:9The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire will be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’
- 2 Chronicles 28:22During his time of trouble King Ahaz was even more unfaithful to the Lord.
- Isaiah 1:5Why do you insist on being battered? Why do you continue to rebel? Your head has a massive wound, your whole body is weak.
- Jeremiah 5:3Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected. They have become as hardheaded as a rock. They refuse to change their ways.
- Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who were aware that their wives were sacrificing to other gods, as well as all their wives, answered Jeremiah. There was a great crowd of them representing all the people who lived in northern and southern Egypt. They answered,
- Revelation 16:10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that darkness covered his kingdom, and people began to bite their tongues because of their pain.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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