Proverbs 26:6 - Meaning and Application

To encourage us to seek wisdom and use every means to gain it, Solomon shows here that fools are good for nothing. Some are dull and never really think or plan at all. Others are wicked and never think or plan for what is good.

First, fools are not fit to be trusted with business, even with a simple errand. Proverbs 26:6 says that if you send a message by a fool, a careless and careless person, he will misunderstand it, forget part of it, and deliver the rest badly. He may make so many mistakes that it would be almost as useless as if you had not sent him at all. Worse still, he may bring you damage, because he may shame you, mishandle your affairs, or even trick you. In Solomon’s way of speaking, a dishonest person and a fool often go together. It is also a disgrace to use such a person, because people tend to judge the master by the messenger.

Second, fools are not fit to receive honor. Solomon had already said in Proverbs 26:1 that honor does not suit a fool. Here he shows that honor is wasted on him, like a precious stone thrown into a pile of ordinary stones where it is buried and useless. It is also dangerous, like a stone tied in a sling, ready to do harm. To give honor to a fool is like putting a sword in a madman’s hand, because no one knows what harm he may do, even to the one who gave it to him.

Third, fools are not fit to speak wise sayings or handle serious matters, even if they have learned the words. When a foolish person repeats wise sayings, the sayings lose their worth because he shows he does not understand them. A proverb in a fool’s mouth stops being a proverb and becomes a joke. If a wicked man speaks religiously and talks about God’s covenant, he only brings shame on himself and on his religion.

Solomon compares this to lame legs, which do not move evenly and make a person’s walk awkward. In the same way, it is unseemly for a fool to give advice or speak thoughtfully while his life contradicts his words. His fine talk lifts him up for a moment, but his bad life pulls him down again, so his legs are uneven. As Bishop Patrick said, a wise saying fits a fool as badly as dancing fits a cripple. Just as a lame man should keep his seat, so a foolish or wicked man should keep silent.

Such a person can also do harm with his words, like a drunk man with a thorn or some sharp thing in his hand. He cuts himself and those near him because he does not know how to use it safely. In the same way, people who speak well but do not live well make their own guilt worse, and they may harden others by the gap between their words and their lives. Some take this verse to mean that the sharpest warning does not affect a fool at all, even if it comes from his own mouth, just as a drunk man does not feel a thorn scratch his hand (Proverbs 23:35).