A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.
Parallel translations
- WEB A senseless man doesn’t know, neither does a fool understand this:
- KJV A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
- BSB A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,
- NASB A stupid person has no knowledge, Nor does a foolish person understand this:
- NLT Only a simpleton would not know, and only a fool would not understand this:
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
The senseless and foolish cannot understand God's deep works and purposes. Spiritual dullness, not lack of evidence, blinds people to God's wisdom.
Overview
This verse sets up a contrast: the depth of God's thoughts (v.5) is missed by those without spiritual understanding. The 'fool' in Scripture is not unintelligent but morally and spiritually obtuse, refusing the fear of the LORD. True understanding comes only as God grants wisdom, supremely through Christ in whom all wisdom is hidden (1 Corinthians 2:14; Colossians 2:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 73:22I was so senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you.
- Ps 94:8Consider, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you be wise?
- 1 Cor 2:14Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Prov 1:22“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?
- Ps 49:10For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
- Prov 24:7Wisdom is too high for a fool: he doesn’t open his mouth in the gate.
- Ps 14:1For the Chief Musician. By David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.
- Prov 30:2“Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.
- Luke 12:20“But God said to him, ‘You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared — whose will they be?’
- Jer 10:14Every man has become brutish and without knowledge; every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
- Ps 32:9Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
- Isa 1:3The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib; but Israel doesn’t know, my people don’t consider.”
- Ps 75:4I said to the arrogant, “Don’t boast!” I said to the wicked, “Don’t lift up the horn.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 92:6 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.