Proverbs 26:7

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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg.

Context of Proverbs 26:7

5Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. 6Sending a message by the hands of a fool is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison. Like the useless legs of one who is lame is a proverb in the mouth of a fool. 8Like tying a stone in a sling is the giving of honor to a fool. 9Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

Proverbs 26:7 word by word

דַּלְי֣וּ שֹׁ֭קַיִם מִפִּסֵּ֑חַ וּ֝מָשָׁ֗ל בְּפִ֣י כְסִילִֽים׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The legsשׁוֹקshôq · legH7785
• of the lameפִּסֵּחַpissêach · lameH6455
• are not equalדָּלַלdâlal · to languishH1809
• a parableמָשָׁלmâshâl · proverbH4912
• in the mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
• of foolsכְּסִילkesîyl · foolH3684

Cross-references for Proverbs 26:7

• Proverbs 26:9Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
• Proverbs 17:7Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!
• Psalms 50:16But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?
• Psalms 64:8He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
• Matthew 7:4How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
• Luke 4:23Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”

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

• Fool
• Speaking

In the dictionaries

• Causeless
• Conceit
• Kindle
• Render
• Seemly
• Sport
• Talebearer
• Hezekiah (2)
• Lame
• Leg

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