New King James Version
Proverbs 27:22
22Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will 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 Living Translation (NLT)You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.
Context of Proverbs 27:22
20Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied. 21The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, And a man is valued by what others say of him. Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him. 23Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds; 24For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
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 23:25Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice.
- Exodus 12:30So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
- Exodus 14:5Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that 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 on them. I will draw my sword, My hand shall destroy them.’
- 2 Chronicles 28:22Now in the time of his distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the Lord. This is that King Ahaz.
- Isaiah 1:5Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints.
- Jeremiah 5:3O Lord, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, But they have not grieved; You have consumed them, But they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; They have refused to return.
- Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:
- Revelation 16:10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries