As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.
Parallel translations
- WEB As one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool.
- BSB Like binding a stone into a sling is the giving of honor to a fool.
- NKJV Like one who binds a stone in a sling Is he who gives honor to a fool.
- NASB Like one who binds a stone in a sling, So is one who gives honor to a fool.
- NLT Honoring a fool is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
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
Giving honor to a fool is as senseless as tying a stone in a sling. Misplaced honor is dangerous and absurd.
Overview
A stone bound in a sling cannot be launched and may rebound on the one who throws it, picturing the futility and risk of honoring a fool. The image reinforces verse 1's warning. Honor belongs to the wise and ultimately to God, not to those who scorn wisdom.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Prov 26:1As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.
- Prov 30:22For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
- Prov 19:10Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
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 26:8 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.