Proverbs 26:11

11 Like ¹a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who ²repeats his folly.

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 Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard, So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

10 Like an archer who wounds everyone, So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.

11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.

12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13 The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square!"

Cross References

• 1. 2 Peter 2:22
• 2. Exodus 8:15

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "with his"