Proverbs 26:4

4 Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.

Proverbs 26:4 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:4

Answer not a fool according to his folly
Sometimes a fool, or wicked man, is not to be answered at all; as the ministers of Hezekiah answered not a word to Rabshakeh; nor Jeremiah the prophet to Hananiah; nor Christ to the Scribes and Pharisees; and when an answer is returned, it should not be in his foolish way and manner, rendering evil for evil, and railing for railing, in the same virulent, lying, calumniating, and reproachful language; lest thou also be like unto him;
lest thou also, who art a man of understanding and sense, and hast passed for one among men, come under the same imputation, and be reckoned a fool like him.

Proverbs 26:4 In-Context

2 As the sparrow in her wandering and the swallow in her flight, so the curse does not come without a cause.

3 A whip for the horse, a mouth-bit for the ass, and a rod for the back of the foolish.

4 Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him.

5 Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself.

6 He who sends news by the hand of a foolish man is cutting off his feet and drinking in damage.