Fool

VIEW:43 DATA:01-04-2020
FOOL.—The Heb. language is rich in words which express various kinds of folly. 1. The kesîl is glib of tongue, ‘his mouth is his destruction’ (Pro_18:7; cf. Pro_9:13; Pro_14:33); in Ecc_5:1 f. ‘the sacrifice of fools’ is offered by him who is rash with his mouth. But such an one is ‘light-hearted, thoughtless and noisy rather than vicious.’ 2. The sâkhâl manifests his folly not in speech, but in action; it was after David had numbered the people that he reproached himself for acting ‘very foolishly’ (2Sa_24:10). Consequences prove that fools of this class have blundered in their calculations (Gen_31:28, 1Sa_13:13, Isa_44:25). 3. The ’evîl is stupid, impatient of reproof, often sullen and quarrelsome. He despises wisdom and instruction (Pro_1:7; cf. Pro_15:5), is soon angry (Pro_12:16; Pro_27:3), and may sometimes be described as sinful (Pro_5:22 f., Pro_24:9). 4. The folly of the nâbhâl is never mere intellectual deficiency or stupidity; it is a moral fault, sometimes a crime, always a sin. ‘To commit folly’ is a euphemism for gross unchastity (Deu_22:21, Jer_29:23); the word is used also of sacrilege (Jos_7:15), of blasphemy (Psa_74:18), as well as of impiety in general (Deu_32:6, Psa_14:1). These words are sometimes employed in a more general sense; to determine the shade of meaning applicable in any passage, a study of the context is essential. For further details see Kennedy, Hebrew Synonyms, p. 29 ff.
In the NT the Gr. words for ‘fool’ describe him as ‘deficient in understanding’ (Luk_24:25), ‘unwise’ (Eph_5:16), ‘senseless’ (Luk_12:20), ‘unintelligent’ (Rom_1:21). The Gr. word which corresponds to the ‘impious fool’ of the OT is found in Mat_5:22 : Raca expresses ‘contempt for a man’s head = you stupid!’ But ‘fool’ (môre) expresses ‘contempt for his heart and character = you scoundrell’ (Bruce, EGT [Note: Expositor’s Greek Testament.] , in loc.). If môre were ‘a Hebrew expression of condemnation’ (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ), it would ‘enjoy the distinction of being the only pure Hebrew word in the Greek Testament’ (Field, Notes on the Translation of NT, p. 3). A ‘pure Hebrew word’ means a word not taken from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] and not Aramaic.
J. G. Tasker.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


FOLLY, or FOOLISHNESS. The term fool is to be understood sometimes according to its plain, literal meaning, as denoting a person void of understanding; but it is often used figuratively, Psa_38:5; Psa_69:5. “The fool,” that is, the impious sinner, “hath said in his heart, There is no God,” Psa_14:1. “I have sinned: do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly,” 1Ch_21:8. “Fools make a mock at sin,” Pro_14:9. See also the language of Tamar to her brother Amnon: “Do not this folly; for whither shall I cause my shame to go? And as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel,” 2Sa_13:13; that is, Thou wilt be accounted a very wicked person. Our Lord seems to have used the term in a sense somewhat peculiar in Mat_5:22 : “Whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” But the whole verse shows the meaning to be, that when any one of his professed disciples indulges a temper and disposition of mind contrary to charity, or that peculiar love which the brethren of Christ are bound by his law to have toward each other, Joh_13:34, not only showing anger against another without a cause, but also treating him with contemptuous language, and that with malicious intent, he shall be in danger of eternal destruction.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


The fool of Scripture is not an idiot, but an absurd person; not one who does not reason at all, but one who reasons wrong; also any one whose conduct is not regulated by the dictates of reason and religion. Foolishness, therefore, is not a private condition, but a condition of wrong action in the intellectual or sentient being, or in both (2Sa_13:12-13; Psa_38:5). In the Proverbs, however, 'foolishness' appears to be sometimes used for lack of understanding, although more generally for perverseness of will.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.


1Sa_26:21 (a) This is a type of one who has heard the Word of GOD but has deliberately refused to obey it.

Psa_14:1 (a) This indicates GOD's thought about the man who, in spite of all the evidence available, denies the existence of a personal GOD.

Pro_12:15 (a) The one who rejects the revelation of GOD and assumes his own thoughts and deductions about his path of life is a fool in GOD's sight.

Mat_5:22 (a) The man who mocks at the Christian who desires to live all out for GOD, and out and out for CHRIST in separation and consecration, and calls that Christian a fool for doing so, is condemned by GOD. He is opposed to GOD's plans.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.


Fool
(represented by several Hebrew and Greek words, especially נָבָל nabal, ἄφρων). The “fool” of Scripture is not an idiot, but an absurd person; not one who does not reason at all, but one who reasons wrong; also any one whose conduct is not regulated by the dictates of reason and religion (Psa_14:1). Foolishness, therefore, is not a negative condition, but a condition of wrong action in the intellectual or sentient being, or in both (2Sa_13:12-13; Psa_38:5). In the book of Proverbs, however, “foolishness” appears to be sometimes used for lack of understanding, although score generally for perverseness of will. The phrase “Thou fool” (Mat_5:22) implies not only angry temper, by which such severe language is, prompted, but a scornful, contemptuous feeling, utterly inconsistent with the love and meekness which characterize disciples of Christ, and, of course exposing thee individual who is under its influence. to eternal punishment. SEE WISDOM.

CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.





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