So, I will commence by outlining some things that became apparent to me as I examined these two verses alongside each other. We will split each verse into two parts, right where both the English and Hebrew break them (indicated by a comma and line break in English). We will refer to the first part of each verse as part A, and the second part as part B.
1"Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
2"Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes."
~ Proverbs 26:4-51
In both verses, part A is actually identical, except for the verb constructions (and a missing dagesh in כְּסִיל on the part of verse 5). In other words, the phrase translated "according to his folly" in verse 4 is the exact same phrase translated "as his folly deserves" in verse 5. As far as words are concerned, then, the only difference lies in the verbs: "do not answer" or "answer" respectively. Here is a summary of the matter:
- Both verbs are of the same basic root עָנָה (pronounced 'Ah-nah' meaning "he answered")2.
- Verse 4 is written simply with a 2nd masculine singular verb and the subjective negative3 אַל ( pronounced 'Al').
- Verse 5, on the contrary, utilizes a masculine singular imperative of the same root (עָנָה)
- Observation: the first appears as a prohibition, instructing the audience what not to do. The second is plain imperative denoting desired potential action - here is what the audience should do. This is not optional but instructional -"answer!". The verbs are written as masculine singulars, so they are referring to an individual audience (not a group setting) who has a singular responsibility for this wisdom. This, then, is inclusive of personal interactions with the fool.Part B in both verses is introduced with the same particle פֶּן (pronounced "pen") which can be translated as "so that not" or "lest", being a preventative conjunction4. So, basically, if you don't follow part A of each verse, part B is going to happen. Part A prevents part B from returning true, to borrow programming rhetoric.
The remainder of verse 4 is still giving me plenty of thought material, and I have yet to conclude anything definitive. So, I will not feign such a conclusion here, but merely give you what I have to work with myself.
Following the פֶּן mentioned above, verse 4 presents an imperfect stative5 verb, which has as its basic meaning "to be the same" or "equal with". Now, since it is imperfect, it is also not simply a stative verb, but also a dynamic one. In other words, it should be understood as "become the same", and not merely "be the same".
Now, this is where I encounter material that still demands more careful thought and, perhaps, knowledge of Hebrew linguistic mechanisms. A very wooden literal (most likely overly wooden) translation of the remainder of verse 4 would go like this:
"to him as well as you"
Coupling that with the preceding words, the end product is:
"So that you would not become like to him as well as you"
As you can tell, my fluidity breaks down after the English word "like". Hence, yet again will I find myself investing time in study centered around the 'complexities' at hand.
But on to verse 5, we should remember that part A suffers no breach in wording from 4A save in that the verb is written as a command, not as the prohibition. Also, part B is introduced with the same preventative particle פֶּן, basically saying 'do part A so part B doesn't happen'. Following this word, we again find a dynamic stative verb, which will be treated as the previous one, and is of the familiar root הָיָה (pronounced "ha-Yah", meaning "he was"). Since it is both a stative verb and in the imperfect form, it should be treated as a dynamic stative and not a static stative. So, it is translated 'he will become' or 'he became' and not simply 'he was'. The rest of the verse, then, tells us what he (the fool from part A) will become: "wise in his eyes". In a previous blog post (this one), I made mention of Hebrew accents and some of how they pertain to understanding the Hebrew text as it has been preserved and handed down to us. In that post, I made particular note of the category of accents called "disjunctive accents" (as they 'disjoin' parts of a sentence) largely because it pertained especially to the matter at hand (regarding Isaiah 40:3 and Mark 1:3's apparent misquotation of it). However, there is also another category of accents called "conjunctive accents". Can you guess what they do? They 'conjoin' certain parts of the sentence together inseparably. Such is the situation at hand in this portion of our verse 4. There is a conjunctive accent called a 'munach' found on the word translated "wise", thus connecting it with the following word which is translated "in his own eyes" ( all one word in Hebrew). So, the wisdom spoken of in this part of the verse to is not to be separated from the reality that it is specifically in his own estimation that the fool is wise, he is wise in his own eyes.So, to pull a few thoughts together from this, in verse 4 you are the one who is effected, while in verse 5 it is the fool. In both cases, each individual of concern becomes something, not is something. He engages in process resulting in a condition. In verse 4 you yourself risk becoming like the fool, while in verse 5 the fool is at risk of becoming wise in his own eyes.
Now, this opens a door worth peeking into on the topic of being wise in your own eyes. I believe it is worth our time because it is the reason why we should "answer a fool according to his folly" in verse 5. One of the best places I can point you towards to get a general idea of what Proverbs has to say about this issue is actually the very chapter we are already in.
In verse 1 we find that honor is as out of place with a fool as snow is in the summer, or rain in the harvest (given the Middle Eastern climate). Verse 3 proceeds to put fools on the same level as horses and donkeys by means of needing instruments of correction and direction - whips, bridles, and rods respectively. We've already investigated a fair amount into verses 4-5, and verse 6 continues to say that a fool shouldn't be trusted as a messenger, as he is nothing but pain and harm to his deployer. In verse 7 we find that a fool can't even put a proverb to good use if he has one, and such possession is pointless and cumbersome - he can't use it the way it was meant to be used. Verse 8 continues to inform us what fools do with proverbs: mindlessly inflict pain, potentially on themselves and others, like a thorn in the hand of a drunkard. In verse 11 we find the repulsive comparison between a fool failing to learn at least by experience and instead engaging in the same folly all over again, and a dog who tastelessly consumes what he just vomited as waste.
Then we get to verse 12:
"Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
That's pretty bad. Out of all that this chapter has already said about the fool, out of all the shame, uselessness, pain, grossness and everything else, the man who is wise in his own eyes is worse off. If the fool seemed hopeless, what can be said of this man?
Don't let the fool get there. When you engage in discussion with a fool, you have engaged in a rescue operation. He is progressing towards being solidified in the condition of considering himself wise although he is not, and you must stop him to the best of your ability. He is at risk of getting to the point where he looks at all that he is and all he thinks and all he does and then says "Behold - wisdom!". Don't contribute to that.
But he is not the only person at risk, right? You yourself must be kept from becoming as he is, and joining him in his downward slide. If you refuse to discern and acknowledge the reality of his condition and respond to him accordingly, you are doing both him and yourself and tremendous disfavor. Such deliberate, or even apathetic, ignorance shouldn't be categorized as 'love' - it isn't. Should an emotion that refuses to act for the ultimate good of the other person at the risk of our own ease and convenience really qualify as love? Who do we really love in that situation?
In closing, then, we must keep it in our minds that the fool will proceed to also be wise in his own eyes unless responded to in a manner appropriate his foolishness. And, you yourself will proceed to become even as the he is unless you guard yourself from answering him in a manner equal his folly. If a fool is to be rescued from himself, he must be dealt with such that he sees his own foolishness6, not such that he welcomes you as a fellow fool.
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1 Quoted from the NASB Updated version.
2 Definitions are either 'common' vocabulary words, or are presented as researched Koehler & Baumgartner Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament volume 2, hereafter referred to as HALOT along with volume 1.
3 "Subjective negative" is a term denoting negation (basically the word "not" as in "do not eat penguins") limited to the time and situation of the writing, as opposed to a command for all time all places. Basically, it is understood as "don't do such-and-such at this time, here and now" as opposed to what the objective negative says: "Don't ever do such-and-such". The use of the subjective negative in the book of Proverbs (and perhaps the somewhat associated concept of the Hebrew Jussive) are not the topics of this post - so for now just know that they're there.
4 A rough definition of 'preventative conjunction' is a word which joins two thoughts together such that the former prevents the latter from happening.
5 A stative verb is one that describes being something as opposed to doing something. Further, when a stative verb appears in a Hebrew form called the imperfect, it is understood to describe becoming something, not just being something. Hence the term "dynamic stative" as opposed to "static stative".
6Not yours! This is not warrant to brashfully inform everyone you don't approve of exactly what your evaluation renders, but a call for wisdom and discernment in both evaluating and replying to people - according to wisdom imparted by the rest of the book of Proverbs as well as the entire revealed Word of God.
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