10 Harsh Bible Verses about the Fool

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There's no God.’
They are corrupt; they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.’”

In Letter 19 of Festal Letters by Athanasius, he says, “’They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings.' Of such as are fools in their thoughts, the actions are wicked, as He [Jesus] says, 'can you, being evil, speak good things? (Matthew 12:34);' for they were evil, because they thought wickedness. Or how can those do just acts, whose minds are set upon fraud?”

Psalm 14 is an anguished groaning for Christ to come save His church. David, this Psalm’s human writer, was extremely anxious for God’s people. We can see a direct correlation to this Psalm in Romans 3:10-12. And Psalm 53:1 mirrors this verse.

In verse 1, the word for fool is that which was used for Nabal from 1 Samuel 25 (see #5 below). The fool noted in Psalm 14 is one with no honest or spiritual sense, and this fool is aggressive in their foolishness. No matter what he says or does, he is whole-hearted in his belief that there is no God.

So foolish is this person that nothing will change his mind and his life won’t be affected even if “a god” exists. Hence, he does not fear any consequences from his unbelief. As such, the fool can do no good. The fool is corrupt inside and out and is likened to humanity before the Great Flood (Genesis 6).

In an instant, verse 2 shows us the Lord God who, “looks down from heaven…to see if any are wise and seek Him.” None do. The Psalm ends, however, with hope of a Savior from Zion. For even fools are not out of the Lord’s reach.

2. Psalm 92:6

“A stupid person does not know,
a fool does not understand this.”

To better understand this Psalm, we need the context (as is true for all verses and passages). It was written for Sabbath Day worship, and it proclaims the wonder of the Lord and His works. It’s a praise song from one who loves the Lord, and is thankful for Who he is and what He has done.

Verse 5 states, “How magnificent are your works, LORD, how profound Your thoughts!” No one can fully understand the Lord because His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). But the fool here is likened to an unbeliever — one who has no way of understanding or praising the Lord because he has missed the mark toward discerning the truth of God — the most fundamental truth of all.

"When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

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“Better for a person to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than a fool in his foolishness.”

Often, the Word of God brings pictures to mind that terrify the hearer (and reader). This proverb is no exception. This Psalm shows us that foolishness is not just a series of unwise choices, but instead they are sinful choices.

The consequences bear out that truth (no pun intended). The ferocious rage of a mother bear whose cubs have been taken can be likened to the unending wrath of God in hell against an unbeliever. No grace. And no second chances once the end comes.

Fools (those who reject the Lord) are stubborn in their stance against the Almighty. The fool is ethically blind and corrupt. Wisdom calls out for people (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; 8:1), but the fool in his foolishness decides against learning, discipline, and growth, thinking his intellectual “might” is enough. And they sway others in their folly.

4. Proverbs 20:3

“Honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute,
but any fool can get himself into a quarrel.”

Paul tells us, “If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). That is what an honorable person does — one who is clothed in Christ and walks by the Holy Spirit. A fool, on the other hand, argues purely for the sake of arguing. And they don’t have the wisdom or integrity to walk away from a disagreement.

This proverb gives us a contrast between Christlike and foolish behavior.

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“Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name — his name means Fool, and folly goes with him. And as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my lord sent.”

The Bible also uses the word stupid, which surprised me when I first read it, but it can be equated with a foolish action done by a fool. In 1 Samuel 25:25, Abigail speaks to David regarding her husband, Nabal. The short phrase, “he lives up to his name” can also be worded, “as his name is, so he is.”

A fool walks in foolishness, and he sows the proper recourse for his foolish actions. For his foolish actions against the Lord’s anointed (David) and David’s shepherds, the Lord struck Nabal dead (1 Samuel 25:38).

6. Matthew 5:22

“But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Whoever insults his brother or sister will be subject to the court. Whoever says, ‘You fool! ' will be subject to hellfire.”

Calling someone a fool is at least a personal affront and at most an outright attack against them. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He brings the Law to bear on His hearers. He was, in effect, squashing the Pharisees’ belief that the Law saves a person, and His highlight is no one outside of Himself can obey the Law perfectly.

Such a condemnation for calling someone a fool stems from the sixth commandment, because denouncing a person by calling them a fool is tantamount to murder. The Lord looks at the heart of a man, while the Jewish religious leaders focused on the outward appearances (cf. Ephesians 4:26-27).

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“I have been a fool; you forced it on me. You ought to have commended me, since I am not in any way inferior to those ‘super-apostles,’ even though I am nothing.”

Why is the Apostle Paul calling himself a fool? What he proclaimed was counter-intuitive to the culture of the day, which raised personal strength, human intellect, and accomplishments above the beliefs of the Christian faith.

In the immediately preceding passage (vv. 9-10), Paul says this, “But He (Christ) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul is not a fool in the Lord’s sight. He is, however, a fool in the sight of the world outside of Christ. Paul explains more in 1 Corinthians 4:10, “We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!” His life is a testimony to his weakness in self (flesh) and strength in the Lord Jesus.

8. Luke 24:25

“He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!’”

In this well-known passage (Luke 24:13-31), the risen Lord Jesus accompanies two disciples as they walk to Emmaus. The disciples had been discussing and arguing about all that had taken place in Jerusalem (Jesus’ crucifixion and death, and that Israel had not been redeemed).

Jesus asked them what they were discussing and Cleopas (one of the disciples), discouraged by the events, questions Jesus, who was as yet unknown to them. “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?”

The irony of his question doesn’t go unnoticed by us. Jesus was and is the only One who fully understood what happened. He confronts their foolishness (here, it connotes dullness and lack of understanding). Verse 27 shows the Lord’s compassion for these foolish men, “Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

Full understanding would not come until the Lord sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But these foolish disciples would finally understand what Jesus meant, and how Scripture is all about Him.

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“I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.”

In Acts 18:5-6, Paul states, “When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

1 Corinthians 1:21 sheds much light on what Paul means about wisdom in this verse, “For since, in God's wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.”

Paul’s obligation was to the Lord Jesus Christ. His mission field included Greeks (Gentiles), considered the wise of the world) and barbarians (those outside the Greek culture), who were considered foolish to the Greeks. Christians, too, were (and are) considered foolish for not believing as the general culture did (and does).

But we know, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, since it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness” (1 Corinthians 3:19).

10. Galatians 3:1-3

“You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh?”

Paul’s address to the Galatian church is often called his “angry” letter. This passage spells out why. Belief in Christ is our obedience, and to obey the Gospel is to believe in Christ. The Galatian church had come under the sway of false teachers (Judaizers) who told them (Gentile believers) that faith in Jesus was not enough for salvation. They insisted these new believers had to be circumcised, and ascribe to Jewish dietary laws and rituals.

When Paul write to the Ephesian church (Ephesians 2:5, 8), he reiterated the truth that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by works of the law. Paul, with sound, biblical principles, taught the Galatians that adding works-based rules and traditions of men to the Gospel nullifies the Gospel message, hence making them fools.

Paul’s was a moral reproach to the Galatian church, but, just as he did with all his other epistles, Paul ended his letter with a benediction of Christ’s grace upon them.

As you ponder passages about fools, remember, as long as we have breath, we are not beyond the grace of our Lord through a saving knowledge of the Gospel.

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