Proverbs 26 · Verse 6

Proverbs 26:6

He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.

Proverbs 26:6, King James Version

Proverbs 26:6 in other translations

BSB	Like cutting off one’s own feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.
WEB	One who sends a message by the hand of a fool is cutting off feet and drinking violence.
ASV	He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool Cutteth off his own feet, and drinketh in damage.
YLT	He is cutting off feet, he is drinking injury, Who is sending things by the hand of a fool.
DARBY	He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off his own feet, and drinketh damage.
BBE	He who sends news by the hand of a foolish man is cutting off his feet and drinking in damage.
Webster	He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.

What does Proverbs 26:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. A fool fails by folly as surely as if he were maimed. drinketh damage--that is, gets it abundantly (Job 15:16; 34:7).

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6 Cutteth off the feet - Sending by such a person is utterly useless. My old MS. Bible translates well: Halt in feet and drinking wickednesse that sendith wordis bi a foole messager. Nothing but lameness in himself can vindicate his sending it by such hands; and, after all, the expedient will be worse than the total omission, for he is likely to drink wickedness, i.e., the mischief occasioned by the fool's misconduct. Coverdale nearly hits the sense as usual: "He is lame of his fete, yee dronken is he in vanite, that committeth eny thinge to a foole."

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 26:6-9

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.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 26:6 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.

מְקַצֶּ֣הme.ka.Tzeh[one who] cuts offH7096

רַ֭גְלַיִםRag.la.yimfeetH7272

חָמָ֣סcha.MasviolenceH2555

שֹׁתֶ֑הsho.Teh[one who] drinksH8354

שֹׁלֵ֖חַsho.Le.ach[one who] sendsH7971

דְּבָרִ֣יםde.va.RimwordsH1697

בְּיַד\־be.yad-by [the] hand ofH3027

כְּסִֽיל\׃ke.Sila foolH3684

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

Cross references for Proverbs 26:6

Proverbs 13:17
A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.
Proverbs 10:26
As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
Proverbs 25:13
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.
Numbers 13:31
But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

sendeth.
10:26; 13:17; 25:13; Nu 13:31
damage. or, violence.

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

Context

Proverbs 26:5
Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Proverbs 26:6
He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage.
Proverbs 26:7
The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

Read all of Proverbs 26

Proverbs 26:6 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Como el que se corta los pies y bebe su daño, así es el que envía algo por mano de un necio.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Celui qui envoie des messages par la main d’un sot, se coupe les pieds et boit l’injustice.
German Elberfelder 1871	Die Füße haut sich ab, Unbill trinkt, wer Bestellungen ausrichten läßt durch einen Toren.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Claudus pedibus, et iniquitatem bibens, qui mittit verba per nuntium stultum.