6<\/strong>. the feet<\/em> ] Rather his own<\/em> feet<\/strong>, R.V.<\/p>\n By choosing such a messenger he robs himself by his own act of the means of attaining his end, and suffers accordingly.<\/p>\n Cutteth off the feet – <\/B>Mutilates him, spoils the work which the messenger ought to fulfill.<\/P> Drinketh damage – <\/B>i. e., has to drink full draughts of shame and loss (compare Job 15:16<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Verse 6<\/span>. Cutteth off the feet<\/B><\/I>] Sending by such a person is utterly useless. My old MS. Bible translates well: Halt in feet<\/I> and drinking wickednesse that sendith wordis bi a foole messager<\/I>. Nothing but lameness<\/I> in himself<\/I> can vindicate his sending it by such hands; and, after all, the expedient will be worse than the total omission, for he is likely to drink wickedness<\/I>, i.e., the mischief occasioned by the fool’s misconduct. Coverdale<\/I> nearly hits the sense as usual: “He is lame of his fete, yee dronken is he in vanite, that committeth eny thinge to a foole.”<\/P> <\/p>\n He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool, <\/B>he that employeth a fool upon any important errand or business which is too hard for him, <\/P> cutteth off the feet, <\/B>to wit, of his messenger; he bids one go that wants legs; he sends one who wants that discretion, which is as necessary for that employment as legs are for going. <\/P> Drinketh damage; <\/B>he bringeth upon himself abundance of loss and mischief, not only spoiling that business about which he sends him, but making himself contemptible to the person to whom he sends him, and to others with him, as if he had not common prudence to choose a fit messenger, and giving occasion, by the folly of his messenger, to further misunderstandings, and jealousies, and inconveniences. For the phrase, we may observe that drinking in Scripture frequently notes the plentiful doing or receiving of any thing, as they who multiply sins are said to drink iniquity like water, Job 15:16<\/span>; 34:7<\/span>; and they who are greatly afflicted are commonly said to drink the cup. <\/P> <\/p>\n 6.<\/B> A fool fails by folly assurely as if he were maimed. <\/P> drinketh damage<\/B>thatis, gets it abundantly (Job 15:16<\/span>;Job 34:7<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool<\/strong>,…. Who knows not how to deliver it in a proper manner, and is incapable of taking the answer, and reporting it as he should; or unfaithful in it, and brings a bad or false report, as the spies did upon the good land;<\/p>\n cutteth off the feet<\/strong>; he may as well cut off his feet before he sends him, or send a man without feet, as such an one; for prudence, diligence, and faithfulness in doing a message, and bringing back the answer, are as necessary to a messenger as his feet are;<\/p>\n [and] drinketh damage<\/strong>; to himself; his message not being rightly performed, and business not done well; which is a loss to the sender, as well as to his credit and reputation with the person to whom he sends him; he hereby concluding that he must be a man of no great judgment and sense to send such a fool on his errand. Such are the unskilful ambassadors of princes; and such are unfaithful ministers, the messengers of the churches; see Pr 10:26<\/span>. The words in the original are three sentences, without a copulative, and stand in this order, “[he] that cutteth off feet; [he] that drinketh damage; [he] that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool”; that is, they are alike.<\/p>\n 6 He cutteth off the feet, he drinketh injury,<\/p>\n Who transacteth business by a fool.<\/p>\n He cutteth off, i.e.<\/em>, his own feet, as we say: he breaks his neck, il se casse le cou <\/em>; Lat. frangere brachium, crus, coxam; frangere navem <\/em> (Fleischer). He thinks to supplement his own two legs by those of the messenger, but in reality he cuts them off; for not only is the commission not carried out, but it is even badly carried out, so that instead of being refreshed (Pro 13:17<\/span>; Pro 25:13<\/span>) by the quick, faithful execution of it, he has to swallow nothing but damage; cf. Job 34:7<\/span>, where, however, drinking scorn is meant of another (lxx), not his own; on the contrary, here refers to injury suffered (as if it were , for the suff. of is for the most part objective); cf. the similar figures Pro 10:26<\/span>. So , to accomplish anything by the mediation of another, cf. Exo 4:13<\/span>; with ( ), 2Sa 15:36<\/span>. The reading (Jerome, Luther, claudus <\/em>) is unnecessary; since, as we saw, ,was ew includes it in the sibi<\/em>. The Syr. reads, after the lxx (the original text of which was ), , for he errs, as also does the Targumist, in thinking that can be used for ; but Hitzig adopts this reading, and renders: “from the end of the legs he swallows injury who sends messages by a fool.” The end of the legs are the feet, and the feet are those of the foolish messenger. The proverb in this form does not want in boldness, but the wisdom which Hitzig finds in its is certainly not mother-wit.<\/p>\n (Note: The Venet<\/em>. translates by , so (the post-bibl. designation of a fool) – one of the many indications that this translator is a Jew, and as such is not confined in his knowledge of language only to the bibl. Hebrew.)<\/p>\n Bttcher, on his part, also with , renders: “from the end of his feet he drinks in that which is bitter…” – that also is too artificial, and is unintelligible without the explanation of its discoverer. But that he who makes a fool his messenger becomes himself like unto one who cuts off his own legs, is a figure altogether excellent.<\/p>\n 6 He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and<\/I> drinketh damage. 7 The legs of the lame are not equal: so is<\/I> a parable in the mouth of fools. 8 As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is<\/I> he that giveth honour to a fool. 9 As<\/I> a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is<\/I> a parable in the mouth of fools.<\/P> To recommend wisdom to us, and to quicken us to the diligent use of all the means for the getting of wisdom, Solomon here shows that fools are fit for nothing; they are either sottish men, who will never think and design at all, or vicious men, who will never think and design well. 1. They are not fit to be entrusted with any business, not fit to go on an errand (v.<\/I><\/span> 6<\/span>): He that<\/I> does but send a message by the hand of a fool,<\/I> of a careless heedless person, one who is so full of his jests and so given to his pleasures that he cannot apply his mind to any thing that is serious, will find his message misunderstood, the one half of it forgotten, the rest awkwardly delivered, and so many blunders made about it that he might as well have cut off his legs,<\/I> that is, never have sent him. Nay, he will drink damage;<\/I> it will be very much to his prejudice to have employed such a one, who, instead of bringing him a good account of his affairs, will abuse him and put a trick upon him; for, in Solomon’s language, a knave and a fool are of the same signification. It will turn much to a man’s disgrace to make use of the service of a fool, for people will be apt to judge of the master by his messenger. 2. They are not fit to have any honour put upon them. He had said (v.<\/I><\/span> 1<\/span>), Honour is not seemly for a fool;<\/I> here he shows that it is lost and thrown away upon him, as if a man should throw a precious stone, or a stone fit to be used in weighing, into a heap of common stones, where it would be buried and of no use; it is as absurd as if a man should dress up a stone in purple<\/I> (so others); nay, it is dangerous, it is like a stone bound in a sling,<\/I> with which a man will be likely to do hurt. To give honour to a fool<\/I> is to put a sword in a madman’s hand, with which we know not what mischief he may do, even to those that put it into his hand. 3. They are not fit to deliver wise sayings, nor should they undertake to handle any matter of weight, though they should be instructed concerning it, and be able to say something to it. Wise sayings, as a foolish man delivers them and applies them (in such a manner that one may know he does not rightly understand them), lose their excellency and usefulness: A parable in the mouth of fools<\/I> ceases to be a parable, and becomes a jest. If a man who lives a wicked life, yet speaks religiously and takes God’s covenant into his mouth, (1.) He does but shame himself and his profession: As the legs of the lame are not equal,<\/I> by reason of which their going is unseemly, so unseemly is it for a fool to pretend to speak apophthegms, and give advice, and for a man to talk devoutly whose conversation is a constant contradiction to his talk and gives him the lie. His good words raise him up, but then his bad life takes him down, and so his legs are not equal.<\/I> “A wise saying,” (says bishop Patrick) “doth as ill become a fool as dancing doth a cripple; for, as his lameness never so much appears as when he would seem nimble, so the other’s folly is never so ridiculous as when he would seem wise.” As therefore it is best for a lame man to keep his seat, so it is best for a silly man, or a bad man, to hold his tongue. (2.) He does but do mischief with it to himself and others, as a drunkard does with a thorn, or any other sharp thing which he takes in his hand, with which he tears himself and those about him, because he knows not how to manage it. Those that talk well and do not live well, their good words will aggravate their own condemnation and others will be hardened by their inconsistency with themselves. Some give this sense of it: The sharpest saying, by which a sinner, one would think, should be pricked to the heart, makes no more impression upon a fool, no, though it come out of his own mouth, than the scratch of a thorn does upon the hand of a man when he is drunk, who then feels it not nor complains of it, ch.<\/I><\/span> xxiii. 35<\/span>.<\/P> The Conduct of Fools.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> When A Fool Is Messenger<\/strong><\/p>\n Verse 6-See comment on Pro 13:17<\/span><\/p>\n (6) Cutteth off the feet.<\/strong>He wants his business done, but if he sends a fool to do it, he might as well cut off his messengers legs, for the business will not be transacted; nay, worse than this, he will drink damage, i.e., <\/em>suffer positive mischief from the blundering of his emissary.<\/p>\n 6<\/strong>. <\/strong> Cutteth off the feet <\/strong> That is, of himself, as explained by the following clause. <\/p>\n Drinketh damage <\/strong> A man that employs a fool in his business cripples himself. Comp. Pro 10:26<\/span>; Pro 25:13<\/span>.<\/p>\n Pro 26:6<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>He that sendeth a message<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> Schultens renders this, He that cutteth off the feet, he that drinketh down bitterness, he that sendeth commands by the hand of a fool, <\/em>are equal: That is, there is the same simplicity in the one as in the other of these actions: The two former expressions are intended to exaggerate the latter; and the meaning of the proverb is, “He that employs a fool to execute his commands, does himself the greater injury, and will bring upon himself the greatest uneasiness.” The Syriac reads, He drinketh iniquity from under his feet, who sendeth a message by a fool. <\/em>The proverbial turn of the expression renders it extremely difficult to be understood. <\/p>\n Pro 26:6 He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, [and] drinketh damage.<\/p>\n Ver. 6. He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool.<\/strong> ] The worth of a faithful messenger he had set forth; Pro 15:13 here, the discommodity of a foolish one – such as were the spies Moses sent. Num 13:1-33<\/span> ; <\/em> Num 14:1-38 So when the prophet proves a fool, and the “spiritual man is mad,” Hos 9:7 things go on as heavily as if feet were wanting to a traveller, or as if a messenger had lost his legs.<\/p>\n sendeth a message: or, transacteth business. <\/p>\n Cutteth off the feet: i.e. his own feet = renders himself helpless. <\/p>\n sendeth: Pro 10:26, Pro 13:17, Pro 25:13, Num 13:31 <\/p>\n damage: or, violence <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Ki 16:12 – by Jehu the prophet Jer 37:2 – the prophet Dan 6:2 – and the<\/p>\n Pro 26:6. He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool He that employs a fool upon any important business, which is too hard for him; cutteth off the feet Namely, of his messenger: he bids one go that wants legs; he sends one that wants discretion, which is as necessary for that employment as legs are for running or walking; and drinketh damage Brings upon himself abundance of loss and mischief, not only spoiling the business about which he sends him, but making himself contemptible to the person to whom he sends him, and to others with him, as if he had not common prudence to choose a fit messenger, and giving occasion, by the folly of his messenger, to further misunderstandings, jealousies, and inconveniences. Drinking, it must be observed, in the Scriptures, frequently signifies the doing or receiving of any thing plentifully, as they who multiply sins are said to drink iniquity like water, and they who are greatly afflicted are commonly said to drink the cup of sorrow.<\/p>\n 26:6 He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off {c} the feet, {d} [and] drinketh damage.<\/p>\n (c) That is, of the messenger whom he sends.<\/p>\n (d) That is, receives damage by it.<\/p>\n He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, [and] drinketh damage. 6. the feet ] Rather his own feet, R.V. By choosing such a messenger he robs himself by his own act of the means of attaining his end, and suffers accordingly. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 26:6”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17158\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> <\/p>\nFuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"