Week 25 Proverbs 26
When arguing with fools, don’t answer their foolish arguments, or you will becomes as foolish as they are.
When arguing with fools, be sure to answer their foolish arguments, or they will become wise in their own estimation.
I sit there thinking about these consecutive (and pretty contradictory-looking) verses.
Don’t argue with a foolish guy…
Argue with a foolish guy…
Hmmm….
With a Real Contradiction there’d be two things that are so different that one has to be wrong – wrong by definition. So for instance: ‘a foolish guy is wise’.
But Solomon’s Do-Argue and also Don’t-Argue are different…and a bit trickier. So for instance – maybe the idea is that I can’t both argue and not-argue at the very-same-time. But I can at different times or under different conditions. That’s a situation where Do-Argue & Don’t-Argue are more circumstance-or-time-dependent and doing both is possible.
So verse 4 would be saying that if I’m going to get into a foolish & degraded & acrimonious & destructive argument then better not to argue.
And verse 5 would be more like: I’m doing the other guy a disservice if I don’t at least point out the other-side.
That’s one way I can think about it to help myself make sense. I have to do something since Solomon doesn’t always leave me much to work with. A lot of the proverbs are minimalist sayings. Simple-Complex short-hand comments. And I have to dope them out as best I can.
Note: quotes from Proverbs 26:4 & 5 (NLT)