26:1–3 These verses open the chapter with the Topic-Comment form seen throughout chapter 25.181 Two sayings about the fool surround a central saying about a curse. Snow in summer is an obvious surprise. Like rain at harvest, it can destroy crops and leave a house in desperation. Like these two weather anomalies, the fool is fit not for “honor” (26:1) but to have a “rod” taken to his back (v. 3). The word “honor” could be translated “glory” to retain its play on the same word in the saying about the king’s glory in 25:27.

In the middle of this pair we have the only verse in 26:1–12 that does not mention the fool. However, its use of qilelat (“curse”) plays along with the repetition of the k/q and l consonants mentioned above—a point reinforced by the fact that qilelat appears only one other time in Proverbs (27:14). But what does it mean when a “curse that is causeless does not alight”? The verse is difficult to translate but probably means something along the lines of “an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (NIV). Perhaps it is the fool’s curse we are meant to imagine as not coming to rest on its mark. In any case, strange as it may be to our ears, the saying clearly adds breadth to this list of things about proper fit.

26:4–5 These may be some of the most well known and most controversial proverbs in the book. Also, while the verses clearly belong with surrounding context about the fool, they are the only two admonitions amid the ten sayings in verses 1–12.

Taken together, the admonitions advise us to speak and to hold our tongues at the same time. One mistake makes us a fool; the other makes the fool believe he is wise.

It has been common at times for commentators to see this as evidence of contradictory material in Proverbs, leading to the sense that wisdom and ethics are relative at best and hopeless at worst. Such conclusions are needlessly hasty in light of the fact that the book affirms the reliability of the created order while allowing for the limits of human ability to perceive it. Regarding conversations with fools, who can be especially wily and difficult to answer, these admonitions show us the true challenge of the wisdom required for making things fit within the created order. In fact, there are few rules that decide the countless decisions we face in the gray areas of life, for we risk the errors on both sides of our judgments—to speak or not to speak. One must use great care and humility, for the wrong word at the wrong time can be costly. The fact that Jesus could so often silence his accusers should awaken us to his incomparable wisdom in what he said and what he refused to say.

26:6–10 Van Leeuwen shows us that the surrounding context in this chapter provides several examples of the kinds of circumstances we face, in which we must apply the admonitions in verses 4–5 to fools in our midst: sending messengers (v. 6), speaking proverbs (vv. 7, 9), giving “glory” (vv. 1, 8), and hiring workers (v. 10).182 Verse 6 is a close variant of sayings in 10:26 and 13:17; since fools are dangerous with truth, they should not be trusted to carry a message. The practical applications are endless here, and we have doubtless all learned that words spoken in confidence so often get distorted, misunderstood, or wrongly used against ourselves or others. Proverbs 26:7, 9 make something of a more contemplative lament about the way in which fools lack the wisdom to speak the right words at the right time. Pilate’s succinct answer to Jesus, “What is truth?” falls flat in the face of the one who is Truth. All the power, wealth, and education belonging to Rome can embody the deepest and costliest kind of folly. The painful image of the thorn in the hand brings this lesson home in a way that makes us wince—all the more so because the fool, like the drunkard, remains unaware of the harm he is doing to himself. The meaning of a stone bound in the string (v. 8) is not immediately clear. Most interpreters believe the fool has tied the stone into a sling, making it useless.

In the saying about hiring a fool in verse 10 we see a lesson that overlaps with other material in the opening poem (vv. 6, 9). Fools are unreliable when handling messages, proverbs, or daily labor. To be wise is to be on guard for folly in others. (Cf. Response section.)

26:11–12 This exemplary poem is capped by two memorable sayings. In keeping with the proverbs that evoke shock and pain in surrounding chapters, verse 11 creates a caricature of the committed fool who refuses to learn or seek wisdom, comparing him to the dog that seeks out its own vomit. The final saying in verse 12 rebukes those who believe they might be immune to the warnings in this poem; self-confidence, being “wise in his own eyes,” is mostly likely a sign of folly rather than of wisdom (3:7; 26:5, 16; 28:11; 29:20; cf. Response section).

26:13–16 Here the chapter turns from the topic of the fool to that of the sluggard, or slothful person. The sluggard is a lazy person, whereas sloth is a broader vice by which people avoid work and responsibility through either idleness (sleep; 26:14) or aimless busyness. The fuller vice of sloth is clearly in play in this section.

We would expect the lazy person to be a master of excuses, a habit mocked here, beginning with his irrational fear of the unknown (v. 13; cf. 22:13). Proverbs 26:14 despises the sluggard whose only activity is to shift his position in bed. In verse 15 the sluggard is so pitiful that he cannot even supply his daily need for food. These three images peak with a fourth insult equating the sluggard with the fool—each is “wise in his own eyes.” Overconfidence is a fruit of pride and an enemy of wisdom. (For more on the wisdom required to know oneself cf. Response section on Proverbs 25.)

26:17–26 This section gathers several longer sayings about annoying and dangerous people. Our first encounter is with the person who intervenes in others’ disputes—a person the proverb writer compares to a dolt who lacks the basic sense to avoid obvious physical danger (v. 17). The center of this saying (Hb. ʿober mitʿabber) repeats two forms of the same verb, playing upon its sound and variant meanings: the ESV renders these as “passing” (dog) and (one who) “meddles.” As noted above, wordplay dominates verses 1–12 and other parts of this chapter.

The violent second saying in verses 18–19 accentuates the danger of the careless and dishonest joker. The deceitfulness of this neighbor sounds a lot like the one who makes empty promises in 25:14 and the false witness in 25:18. While the violence exaggerates things, it is necessary to illustrate the socially destructive power of foolish and thoughtless speech.

The trio in 26:20–22 is joined by “whisperer” in the outside verses (vv. 20, 22). The first two sayings (vv. 20–21) develop naturally from the incendiary language in verses 18–19. The sayings give us two more images that link danger and desire with two opposite kinds of socially destructive speech: the deceptive softness of whispering and the disruptiveness of loud quarrelling. Leaving the fiery imagery behind, verse 22 closes this group with a metaphor comparing the secrets of the whisperer to luxurious food (cf. 18:8). We can reasonably assume that most of the proverbs in chapters 25–29 came to life in the royal courts, where angry arguments and dainty secrets told around feasts spelled the downfall of many a ruler. Our own day is not so different.

This group closes with a single saying in 26:23 that introduces the three related sayings of verses 24–26. False advertising, or duplicity, is the controlling idea of the whole group—highlighted at the opening by the sparkling sheen (lit., “silver and dross”) that covers the basic pottery that is used for simple, daily work (v. 23). “Fervent lips” is literally “burning lips,” fitting the fiery metaphors dominating the latter half of this chapter.

The final three sayings apply the deceptiveness of the shiny pot (v. 23) to the outer appearance and inner realities of duplicitous people. The first (v. 24) is the hateful person who deceives others with speech. Verse 25 turns from a saying to advice to avoid people whose favorable speech belies their wicked hearts.

The final saying (v. 26) forecasts the fate of these deceptive neighbors, who will be “exposed in the assembly.” Fitting with this section, the saying is more seductive than meets the eye; it could mean that the wicked will be found out or punished but could also mean that the wicked person is just a type of Trojan horse, waiting to make his true identity known when he gains a public hearing.183 Jeremiah delivers a lengthy critique of these kinds of people who have filled the community of Israel:

    Everyone deceives his neighbor,

    and no one speaks the truth;

    they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

    they weary themselves committing iniquity.

    Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

    they refuse to know me, declares the Lord. (Jer. 9:5–6; cf. Ps. 41:6)

Such disturbing and deceitful people within the community attract the Lord’s displeasure and judgment.

26:27–28 Proverbs 26 closes with two final portraits of dangerous and deceptive people. The first portrait in verse 27 presents a classic picture of irony, in which someone who digs pits (i.e., traps) becomes a victim of his own deception: the fool fools himself. In the book of Esther Haman plays this fool many times, eventually being hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai, who in turn ascended to the place Haman had hoped to secure for himself (Est. 8:7).

The final verse features two lines that juxtapose the liar and the flatterer. The characters are alike in the way their deceptive speech creates disorder and suffering in the community. Few things are more difficult than seeing through the ruse of manipulative people, and yet, given the damage they can cause, few things are more urgent for the wise.