Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness 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.
- BSB Though you grind a fool like grain with mortar and a pestle, yet his folly will not 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, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
- Prov 23:35They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
- Isa 1:5Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
- Rev 16:10–11And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
- Jer 44:15–16Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
- Exod 14:5And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
- Exod 12:30And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
- 2 Chr 28:22–23And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.
- Exod 15:9The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall 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.