Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not depart from him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, yet his foolishness will not be removed from him.
- KJV Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.
- NKJV Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, Yet his foolishness will not depart from him.
- NASB Though you pound the fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, His foolishness still will not leave him.
- NLT You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.
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
Folly is so deeply rooted that even harsh treatment cannot remove it from a fool. It soberly warns that mere punishment cannot change a hardened heart.
Overview
The drastic image of grinding a fool in a mortar shows that external force alone cannot extract ingrained foolishness from one who refuses correction. The problem lies in a stubborn heart, not a lack of pressure. Real transformation requires a new heart, which God promises to give through the gospel and the work of His Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 5:3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
- Prov 23:35“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”
- Isa 1:5Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? Your head has a massive wound, and your whole heart is afflicted.
- Rev 16:10–11And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish
- Jer 44:15–16Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, and all the women standing by—a great assembly—along with all the people living in the land of Egypt and in Pathros, said to Jeremiah,
- Exod 14:5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
- Exod 12:30During the night Pharaoh got up—he and all his officials and all the Egyptians—and there was loud wailing in Egypt; for there was no house without someone dead.
- 2 Chr 28:22–23In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.
- Exod 15:9The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
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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 27:22 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.