Like the legs of the lame that hang loose, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
Parallel translations
- KJV The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
- BSB Like lame legs hanging limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
- 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 bush that goes into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
- Prov 17:7Arrogant speech isn’t fitting for a fool, much less do lying lips fit a prince.
- Ps 64:8Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads.
- Ps 50:16–21But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
- Matt 7:4–5Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye?
- Luke 4:23He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this parable, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.