Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
- BSB It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.
- NKJV Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his folly.
- NASB Let a person meet a bear robbed of her cubs, Rather than a fool in his foolishness.
- NLT It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in foolishness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Encountering a fool in his folly is more dangerous than meeting a bear robbed of her cubs. It matters because the reckless harm caused by entrenched folly can be devastating.
Overview
Using vivid hyperbole, this proverb warns that a fool acting in his folly is more perilous than an enraged mother bear. Folly is not harmless but capable of great destruction. It urges serious caution about the danger posed by those committed to foolishness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 2 Sam 17:8For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people.
- Hos 13:8I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
- Prov 27:3A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.
- Prov 28:15As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
- Matt 2:16Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
- 2 Kgs 2:24And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 17:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.