Proverbs 26

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Magtanong sa AI tungkol sa kabanatang ito

Proverbs 26 is a portrait gallery of people not to become. Verses 1 to 12 describe the fool in a string of similes: honor on him is like snow in summer, a proverb in his mouth hangs like a lame man's legs, and, in the line everyone remembers, he returns to his folly as a dog returns to its vomit. Verses 13 to 16 mock the sluggard, who imagines a lion in the road and turns on his bed like a door on its hinges. Verses 17 to 28 turn to the troublemaker: the meddler who grabs a dog by the ears, the prankster who says "I was only joking," the gossip whose words go down like choice morsels, and the flatterer whose smooth speech hides seven abominations.

Buksan ang komentaryo ng kabanata

Proverbs 26 is the funniest chapter in the Bible and one of the sharpest. It is built almost entirely out of comparisons, and the comparisons are unforgettable: snow in summer, a stone tied into a sling, a thorn in a drunkard's hand, a dog grabbed by the ears, a door turning on its hinges, a man too lazy to lift his hand from the dish to his mouth. The first twelve verses are about the fool, and they are less interested in defining him than in showing how everything goes wrong around him. Give him honor and it does not fit; send a message by him and you might as well cut off your own feet; put a proverb in his mouth and it hangs there useless. In the middle sit two verses that say opposite things back to back, do not answer a fool according to his folly, answer a fool according to his folly, and the book leaves them there on purpose, because knowing which one applies is what wisdom is. The sluggard gets four verses, each more absurd than the last, ending with the observation that he thinks himself wiser than seven sensible men. Then the chapter turns to the people who make life miserable for others: meddlers, pranksters who hurt people and call it a joke, gossips, quarrelers who keep the fire going, and, most dangerous of all, the person who speaks graciously while storing up hatred. The last verse could stand as a summary of the whole collection: a lying tongue hates the people it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.

Historical and literary context

The chapter belongs to the second Solomonic collection, which 25:1 says was copied out by the men of King Hezekiah of Judah around 700 BC. That places its editing in a period of religious reform and literary activity, when the court gathered older sayings for the training of officials. The proverbs assume a small-town world of shared roads, neighbors' quarrels, hired labor, and messengers sent by hand. Egyptian and Mesopotamian wisdom texts have close parallels to the sayings on the fool and the sluggard, and the form here, an image in the first half of the line and its application in the second, is the standard pattern of the comparative proverb.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 12 form a unit on the fool, framed by "honor" in verse 1 and the man "wise in his own eyes" in verse 12, with the famous contradictory pair of verses 4 and 5 near its center. Verses 13 to 16 are four sayings on the sluggard, climaxing in his estimate of himself as wiser than seven wise men. Verses 17 to 19 warn against meddling and dangerous jokes. Verses 20 to 22 treat gossip and quarrelling as fuel for fire. Verses 23 to 26 describe the hateful man whose speech is a glaze over cheap clay. Verses 27 and 28 close with the pit that swallows its digger and the lying tongue.

Why this chapter matters

Verses 4 and 5 are the most famous pair in Proverbs and the clearest lesson in how the book works: wisdom is not a rule but a judgment about which rule fits the moment. Ancient rabbis debated whether the contradiction disqualified the book and concluded that both sayings are true in different situations. Verse 11 was quoted by Peter, in 2 Peter 2:22, for people who return to old ways. Verse 12 makes self-assurance a worse condition than folly, a theme that runs through the whole book. Verse 20, "without gossip, a conflict ceases," is the standard biblical text against gossip.

Interpretive tension to watch

The tension the chapter announces in verses 4 and 5 it never resolves, and that is the point: the reader must decide when answering a fool makes you like him and when silence lets him think he has won. Verse 2 promises that an undeserved curse does not land, and verse 27 that the pit catches its digger, but the rest of Proverbs, and books like Job, know that this does not always happen quickly. The sayings describe how the world tends to go, not a guarantee of how it will go in every case.

Mga tanong para sa kabanatang ito

  • Verses 4 and 5 give opposite advice about answering a fool. How do you decide which applies in a given conversation?
  • The sluggard invents a lion in the road. What excuses serve that purpose today?
  • Verse 22 says gossip goes down like choice morsels. Why is it so hard to refuse?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

1 जिस तरह गर्मी के दिनों में बर्फ़ और दिरौ के वक्त बारिश, उसी तरह बेवक़ूफ़ को 'इज़्ज़त ज़ेब नहीं देती। 2 जिस तरह गौरय्या आवारा फिरती और अबाबील उड़ती रहती है, उसी तरह बे वजह ला'नत बेमतलब है। 3 घोड़े के लिए चाबुक और गधे के लिए लगाम, लेकिन बेवक़ूफ़ की पीठ के लिए छड़ी है। 4 बेवक़ूफ़ को उसकी हिमाक़त के मुताबिक़ जवाब न दे, मबादा तू भी उसकी तरह हो जाए। 5 बेवक़ूफ़ को उसकी हिमाक़त के मुताबिक जवाब दे, ऐसा न हो कि वह अपनी नज़र में 'अक़्लमंद ठहरे। 6 जो बेवक़ूफ़ के हाथ पैग़ाम भेजता है, अपने पाँव पर कुल्हाड़ा मारता और नुक़सान का प्याला पीता है। 7 जिस तरह लंगड़े की टाँग लड़खड़ाती है, उसी तरह बेवक़ूफ़ के मुँह में तमसील है। 8 बेवक़ूफ़ की ता'ज़ीम करने वाला, गोया जवाहिर को पत्थरों के ढेर में रखता है। 9 बेवक़ूफ़ के मुँह में तमसील, शराबी के हाथ में चुभने वाले काँटे की तरह है। 10 जो बेवक़ूफ़ों और राहगुज़रों को मज़दूरी पर लगाता है, उस तीरंदाज़ की तरह है जो सबको ज़ख़्मी करता है। 11 जिस तरह कुत्ता अपने उगले हुए को फिर खाता है, उसी तरह बेवक़ूफ़ अपनी बेवक़ूफ़ी को दोहराता है। 12 क्या तू उसको जो अपनी नज़र में 'अक़्लमंद है देखता है? उसके मुक़ाबिले में बेवक़ूफ़ से ज़्यादा उम्मीद है। 13 सुस्त आदमी कहता है, राह में शेर है, शेर — ए — बबर गलियों में है! 14 जिस तरह दरवाज़ा अपनी चूलों पर फिरता है, उसी तरह सुस्त आदमी अपने बिस्तर पर करवट बदलता रहता है। 15 सुस्त आदमी अपना हाथ थाली में डालता है, और उसे फिर मुँह तक लाना उसको थका देता है। 16 काहिल अपनी नज़र में 'अक़्लमंद है, बल्कि दलील लाने वाले सात शख्सों से बढ़ कर। 17 जो रास्ता चलते हुए पराए झगड़े में दख़्ल देता है, उसकी तरह है जो कुत्ते को कान से पकड़ता है। 18 जैसा वह दीवाना जो जलती लकड़ियाँ और मौत के तीर फेंकता है, 19 वैसा ही वह शख़्स है जो अपने पड़ोसी को दग़ा देता है, और कहता है, मैं तो दिल्लगी कर रहा था। 20 लकड़ी न होने से आग बुझ जाती है, इसलिए जहाँ चुगलख़ोर नहीं वहाँ झगड़ा मौकूफ़ हो जाता है। 21 जैसे अंगारों पर कोयले और आग पर ईंधन है, वैसे ही झगड़ालू झगड़ा खड़ा करने के लिए है। 22 चुगलख़ोरकी बातें लज़ीज़ निवाले हैं, और वह खूब हज़म हो जाती हैं। 23 उलफ़ती, लब बदख़्वाह दिल के साथ, उस ठीकरे की तरह है जिस पर खोटी चाँदी मेंढ़ी हो। 24 कीनावर दिल में दग़ा रखता है, लेकिन अपनी बातों से छिपाता है; 25 जब वह मीठी मीठी बातें करे तो उसका यक़ीन न कर, क्यूँकि उसके दिल में कमाल नफ़रत है। 26 अगरचे उसकी बदख़्वाही मक्र में छिपी है, तो भी उसकी बदी जमा'अत के आमने सामने खोल दी जाएगी। 27 जो गढ़ा खोदता है, आप ही उसमें गिरेगा; और जो पत्थर ढलकाता है, वह पलटकर उसी पर पड़ेगा। 28 झूटी ज़बान उनका कीना रखती है जिनको उस ने घायल किया है, और चापलूस मुँह तबाही करता है।

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