Proverbs 26:11

11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

Proverbs 26:11 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:11

As a dog returneth to his vomit
Who being sick with what he has eaten, casts it up again, and afterwards returns unto it and licks it up; [so] a fool returneth to his folly,
or "repeats" ^F1 it, time after time, many times, as Ben Melech; or a wicked man turns to his wickedness, who, having had some qualms upon his conscience for sin, for a while forsakes it; but that fit being over, and he forgetting all his former horror and uneasiness, returns to his old course of life: a wicked man is here compared to a dog, as he is elsewhere for his impudence and voraciousness in sinning; and the filthiness of sin is expressed by the vomit of a dog, than which nothing is more nauseous and loathsome; and the apostasy of the sinner, from an external course of righteousness into open profaneness is signified by the return of this creature to it. This is said to be a "true proverb", ( 2 Peter 2:22 ) , where it is quoted and applied.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (hnwv) "qui iterat", Tigurine version, Michaelis; "iterans", Montanus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Gejerus; "duplicans", Schultens.

Proverbs 26:11 In-Context

9 A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.

10 An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots at random.

11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.

12 There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.

13 The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”