Proverbs 26:7

7 The legs of a disabled person hang limp; so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

Proverbs 26:7 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:7

The legs of the lame are not equal
Or as "the lifting up the legs by one that is lame" F13, to dance to a pipe or violin, is very unseemly, and does but the more expose his infirmity, and can give no pleasure to others, but causes derision and contempt; so [is] a parable in the mouth of fools;
an apophthegm, or sententious expression of his own, which he delivers out as a wise saying, but is lame and halts; it is not consistent with itself, but like the legs of a lame man, one higher than the other: or one of the proverbs of this book, or rather any passage of Scripture, in the mouth of a wicked man; or any religious discourse of his is very unsuitable, since his life and conversation do not agree with it; it is as disagreeable to hear such a man talk of religious affairs as it is to see a lame man dance; or whose legs imitate buckets at a well, where one goes up and another down, as Gussetius F14 interprets the word.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (hopm Myqwv wyld) "elevatio crurum a claudo facta", Gejerus, Michaelis.
F14 "Femora claudi imitantur situlas", Gussetius, p. 188. "situlas agunt crura ex claudio", Schultens; "instar binarum sitularum in puteo alternatium adscendentium ac descendentium", Gejerus.

Proverbs 26:7 In-Context

5 Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes.
6 It is like cutting off one's foot and drinking down violence, to send a message by a fool.
7 The legs of a disabled person hang limp; so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8 It is like binding a stone in a sling to give honor to a fool.
9 Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.