Proverbs 26 · Verse 4

Proverbs 26:4

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

Proverbs 26:4, King James Version

Proverbs 26:4 in other translations

BSB	Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him.
WEB	Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.
ASV	Answer not a fool according to his folly, Lest thou also be like unto him.
YLT	Answer not a fool according to his folly, Lest thou be like to him--even thou.
DARBY	Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
BBE	Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.
Webster	Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like him.

What does Proverbs 26:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 26:4-5

4-5. Answer not--that is, approvingly by like folly.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 4 Answer not a fool - On this and the following verse Bishop Warburton, who has written well on many things, and very indifferently on the doctrine of grace, has written with force and perspicuity: "Had this advice been given simply, and without circumstance, to answer the fool, and not to answer him, one who had reverence for the text would satisfy himself in supposing that the different directions referred to the doing a thing in and out of season; 1. The reasons given why a fool should not be answered according to his folly, is, "lest he (the answerer) should be like unto him." 2. The reason given why the fool should be answered according to his folly, is, "lest he (the fool) should be wise in his own conceit." 1. "The cause assigned for forbidding to answer, therefore, plainly insinuates that the defender of religion should not imitate the insulter of it in his modes of disputation, which may be comprised in sophistry, buffoonery, and scurrility. 2. "The cause assigned for directing to answer, as plainly intimates that the sage should address himself to confute the fool upon his own false principles, by showing that they lead to conclusions very wide from, very opposite to, those impieties he would deduce from them. If any thing can allay the fool's vanity, and prevent his being wise in his own conceit, it must be the dishonor of having his own principles turned against himself, and shown to be destructive of his own conclusions." - Treatise on Grace. Preface.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 26:4-5

We are to fit our remarks to the man, and address them to his conscience, so as may best end the debate.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 26:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

אַל\־'al-may notH408

תַּ֣עַןTa.'anyou answerH6030

כְּ֭סִילKe.sila foolH3684

כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹke.'i.val.Toaccording to foolishness hisH200

פֶּֽן\־pen-lestH6435

תִּשְׁוֶה\־tish.veh-you should become likeH7737

לּ֥וֹlo<to> him

גַם\־gam-alsoH1571

אָֽתָּה\׃'A.tahyouH859

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 26:4

1 Peter 3:9
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
Proverbs 26:5
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Jude 1:9
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
Proverbs 17:14
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
1 Kings 12:14
And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.
1 Kings 12:16
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
2 Samuel 19:41-43
And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all David’s men with him, over Jordan? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king’s cost? or hath he given us any gift? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in David than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our advice should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
Judges 12:1-6
And the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and went northward, and said unto Jephthah, Wherefore passedst thou over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didst not call us to go with thee? we will burn thine house upon thee with fire. And Jephthah said unto them, I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, ye delivered me not out of their hands. And when I saw that ye delivered me not, I put my life in my hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and the Lord delivered them into my hand: wherefore then are ye come up unto me this day, to fight against me? Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites. …
2 Kings 14:8-10
Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us look one another in the face. And Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trode down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
1 Peter 2:21-23
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Isaiah 36:21
But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

17:14; Jud 12:1-6; 2Sa 19:41-43; 1Ki 12:14,16; 2Ki 14:8-10
1Pe 2:21-23; 3:9; Jude 1:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Proverbs 26:3
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back.
Proverbs 26:4
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Proverbs 26:5
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

Read all of Proverbs 26

Proverbs 26:4 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Nunca respondas al necio en conformidad á su necedad, para que no seas tú también como él.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Ne réponds pas au sot selon sa folie, de peur que toi aussi tu ne lui ressembles.
German Elberfelder 1871	Antworte dem Toren nicht nach seiner Narrheit, damit nicht auch du ihm gleich werdest.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Ne respondeas stulto juxta stultitiam suam, ne efficiaris ei similis.