Mishle 26:5

5 Answer a kesil (fool) according to his folly, lest he be chacham in his own eyes.

Mishle 26:5 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 26:5

Answer a fool according to his folly
The Targum is,

``but speak with a fool in thy wisdom;''

and the Syriac version,

``yea, speak with a fool according to thy wisdom;''

which would at once remove the seeming contradiction in these words to the former, but then they are not a true version; indeed it is right, and must be the sense, that when a fool is answered, as it is sometimes necessary he should, that it be done in wisdom, and so as to expose his folly; he is to be answered and not answered according to different times, places, and circumstances, and manner of answering; he is to be answered when there is any hope of doing him good, or of doing good to others; or of preventing ill impressions being made upon others by what he has said; when the glory of God, the good of the church, and the cause of truth, require it; and when he would otherwise glory and triumph, as if his words or works were unanswerable, as follow; lest he be wise in his own conceit;
which fools are apt to be, and the rather when no answer is given them; imagining it arises from the strength of their arguments, and their nervous way of reasoning, when it is rather from a neglect and contempt of them.

Mishle 26:5 In-Context

3 A shot (whip) for the sus, a bridle for the chamor, and a shevet for the back of kesilim.

4 Answer not a kesil (fool) according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

5 Answer a kesil (fool) according to his folly, lest he be chacham in his own eyes.

6 He that sendeth a message by the yad of a kesil (fool) cutteth off the raglayim, and drinketh chamas.

7 The legs of the pisei’ach (lame man) hang limp; so is a mashal in the peh (mouth) of kesilim.