Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
Parallel translations
- WEB Like the legs of the lame that hang loose, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
- KJV The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
- NKJV Like the legs of the lame that hang limp Is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
- NASB Like useless legs to one who cannot walk, So is a proverb in the mouths of fools.
- NLT A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
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
A proverb in a fool's mouth is as useless as a lame man's limp legs. Wise words misused by fools accomplish nothing.
Overview
Even true wisdom hangs limp and ineffective when spoken by one who neither understands nor lives it. The proverb shows that wise sayings require a wise speaker to bear fruit. It warns against mouthing truth without the character to embody it (Matt 7:21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 26:9Like a thorn that falls into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
- Prov 17:7Eloquent words are unfit for a fool; how much worse are lying lips to a ruler!
- Ps 64:8They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- Ps 50:16–21To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
- Matt 7:4–5How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?
- Luke 4:23Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’”
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 26:7 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.