Proverbs 27:22

22 Though thou scourge a fool, disgracing him in the midst of the council, thou wilt in no wise remove his folly from him.

Proverbs 27:22 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 27:22

Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat
with a pestle
As the manna was, ( Numbers 11:8 ) ; and as wheat beat and bruised in a mortar, or ground in a mill, retains its own nature; so, let a wicked man be used ever so roughly or severely, by words, admonitions, reproofs, and counsels; or by deeds, by corrections and punishment, by hard words or blows, whether publicly or privately; in the midst of the congregation, as the Targum and Syriac version; or of the sanhedrim and council, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions; [yet] will not his foolishness depart from him;
his inbred depravity and natural malignity and folly will not remove, nor will he leave his course of sinning he has been accustomed to; he is stricken in vain, he will revolt more and more, ( Isaiah 1:5 ) ( Jeremiah 5:3 ) ( 13:23 ) . Anaxarchus the philosopher was ordered by the tyrant Nicocreon to be pounded to death in a stone mortar with iron pestles ^F17, and which he endured with great patience.

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Laert. in Vit. Anaxarch. l. 9. p. 668.

Proverbs 27:22 In-Context

20 Hell and destruction are not filled; so also are the eyes of men insatiable.

21 Fire is the trial for silver and gold; and a man is tried by the mouth of them that praise him. The heart of the transgressor seeks after mischiefs; but an upright heart seeks knowledge.

22 Though thou scourge a fool, disgracing him in the midst of the council, thou wilt in no wise remove his folly from him.

23 Do thou thoroughly know the number of thy flock, and pay attention to thine herds.

24 For a man not strength and power for ever; neither does he transmit it from generation to generation.