Proverbs 24:9

Pro 24:9 The thought of foolishness [is] sin: and the scorner [is] an abomination to men.

Ver. 9. The thought of foolishness is sin.] The schools do well observe, that outward sins are maioris infamiae, of greater infamy; but inward heart sins are maioris reatus, of greater guilt, as we see in devils. {See Trapp on "Pro 14:22"}

And the scorner is an abomination to men.] Witness Julian, Lucian, Porphyry, Julius Scaliger, that proud hypercritic ( qui neminem prae se duxit hominem), Laurentius Valla, who jeered at other logicians, and extolled his own logic as the only best, calling it Logicam Laurentinam.

“ Iupiter hunc coeli dignatus honore fuisset,

Censorem linguae sed timet ipse suae. ” - Trithem.

But what an odious scorner was Quintinus the libertine, of whom Calvin complains, that he scoffed at every one of the holy apostles? Paul he called a broken vessel, John a foolish youth, Peter a denier of God, Matthew a usurer, En quomodo ille faetoris gurges putido ore suo blasphemare audebat! saith Calvin. {a} See how this stinking elf doth bark and blaspheme the saints. The basest can mock, as the abjects did David, {Psa 35:15} and Tobiah the servant did Nehemiah. {Neh 2:19} Scorners are the most base spirits. The Septuagint call them pests, {Psa 1:1} incorrigible, {Pro 21:1} proud persons, {Pro 3:34} naught, {Pro 9:12} &c.

{a} Calv., Inst. Advers. Libert, cap. 9.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro_24:9

The thought of foolishness is sin.

The nature of evil thoughts

I. What is meant by the thought of foolishness? Folly and sin signify the same thing in Scripture. We are not to understand thoughts of pure speculation as simple acts of the understanding; nor even a thought of sudden and transient inclination towards sin, which arises in our minds before we are aware and which we endeavour to stifle. Though such thoughts are sinful in their first rise and tendency, when the imagination has been long heated or their hearts corrupted by any criminal excess or disorder. We are to understand by a thought of foolishness one of complacency. Such a thought as the will not only consents to entertain, but which the mind delights to dwell and dilate itself upon. These evil thoughts proceed from some vicious reigning passion, or perhaps presumptuous sin. To give way to such vain and foolish thoughts is an argument of a mind very much turned and estranged from God. Such impure and loose thoughts are directly contrary to the fruits of the Spirit, and to those precepts of Holy Scripture which require us to be spiritually-minded. Many mistakenly think there is no sin in dwelling on evil thoughts, so long as they abstain from gross external acts of sin.

II. Rules and directions for the better regulation of our thoughts.

1. Take care to be always usefully or at least innocently employed.

2. Carefully examine what those things are which have been most apt to excite evil thoughts in us. And refrain from company, books, and circumstances which influence us for evil.

3. Evil thoughts frequently arise from prevailing natural temper.

4. Live under a constant sense of Gods presence and inspection over us.

5. All rules and directions will avail but little toward the better government of our thoughts without the illuminating and sanctifying graces of the Spirit of God. (R. Fiddes, D.D.)

And the scorner is an abomination to men.

The scorner

I. A description of the scorner.

1. He is one who runs counter to the general reason and maxims whereby the rest of mankind govern themselves. He places his greatest glory in those disorders which the rest of mankind are most ashamed of.

2. He is one who delights to walk in the way of sinners.

3. He would be thought of as believing that there is no God.

4. He delights in ridiculing those persons or things which have a more immediate relation to God.

5. The greatest effort of the scorner is against that order of men whose peculiar office it is to minister in things pertaining to God.

6. He makes it his business to confound the distinction of virtue and vice, to call evil good and good evil.

II. His rendering himself an abomination to men. This he does by--

1. His common swearing.

2. His profaneness.

3. His confounding the distinction of virtue and vice.

III. Useful improvements.

1. Men generally entertain a secret esteem and veneration for religion.

2. Take care to keep ourselves at as far a distance as possible from the profane temper of mind of the scorner. Never think of God, or speak of Him, save with reverence. Be careful not to obstruct the influence of religious considerations on our hearts. (R. Fiddes, D.D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Same thought varied.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. The thought of foolishness is sin] זמת אולת חטאת zimmath ivveleth chattath. "The device of folly is transgression;" or, "an evil purpose is sinful;" or, perhaps more literally, "the device of the foolish is sin." It has been variously understood by the versions.

"The cunning: of the fool is sin." - Targum.

"The imprudent man (or fool, αφρων) shall die in sins." - Septuagint.

So the Arabic.

The thinkynge of the fool is synne. - Old MS. Bible.

Fool is here taken for a wicked man, who is not only evil in his actions, but every thought of his heart is evil, and that continually. A simple thought about foolishness, or about sin itself, is not sinful; it is the purpose or device, the harbouring evil thoughts, and devising how to sin, that is criminal.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(9) The thought of foolishness is sin.—Rather, Sin is the contrivance (plotting) of self-will. Sin is the “transgression of the law” of God (1Jn_3:4), when we desert the plain rule of duty, and plot how we can indulge our own self-will.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. foolishness] i.e. fools: abstract for concrete.

and] “Or, but the scorner. Perhaps the meaning is that the very purpose of evil is sinful in the sight of God; but the bold and insolent transgressor is not only offensive to God but odious to men.” Rel. Tr. Soc. Commentary.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If thou faint in the day of adversity,.... When under bodily afflictions, stripping providences, reduced to great straits and wants; or under the violent persecutions of men, which is sometimes the case of the people of God; whose times are in his hands, times of adversity, as well as prosperity; and which are appointed by him, when they shall come, and how long they shall last; which is but for a short time, it is but a "day", and yet they are apt to "faint" under them, through the number and continuance of their afflictions; and especially when they apprehend them to be in wrath; when they have a sense of their sins at such a time, and no view of pardon; when they are under the hidings of God's face, their prayers do not seem to be heard, and salvation and deliverance do not come so soon as they expected; which, notwithstanding, shows the truth of what is next observed;

thy strength is small; such who are truly gracious are not indeed at such times wholly without strength; they are in some measure helped to bear up; but yet their sinkings and faintings show that they have but little strength: they have some faith that does not entirely fail, Christ praying for it; yet they are but of little faith; they have but a small degree of Christian fortitude and courage; there is a want of manliness in them; they act the part of children and babes in Christ; they do not quit themselves like men, and much less endure hardness, as good soldiers of Christ, as they should; they are, Ephraim like, without a heart, a courageous one, Hos 7:1. Some think the words have reference to what goes before, and the sense to be this, "if thou art remiss" (g); that is, if thou art careless and negligent in time of health and prosperity, in getting wisdom, as thinking it too high for thee, Pro 24:7; "in the day of adversity thy strength will be small"; thou wilt not have that to support thee which otherwise thou wouldest have had. Aben Ezra connects the sense with the following, "if thou art remiss", in helping and delivering thy friend in affliction, Pro 24:11; "in the day of adversity", or "of straitness, thy strength shall be strait"; thou shalt be left in thy distress and difficulties, and have none to help thee.

(g) "si remiseris", Tigurine version; "remissus fuisti", Pagninus, Montanus, Mercerus, Gejerus; "si remisse te geras", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Michaelis.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Of a fool. In as much as he is wicked. Though he may have some pious thoughts, he attends not to them. (Haydock) --- He thinks how he may commit evil, and renders himself hateful. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "a wicked thought is the sin of folly." Septuagint, "the fool dieth in sins." --- Detractor. Hebrew, "scoffer." (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The thought of foolishness is sin; the very inward thought or contrivance of evil, of which he spake Pro 24:8, even before it break forth into action, it is a sin in God’s sight, and it is hateful to God. Or

foolishness is put for foolish or wicked men, by comparing this with the next clause where the scorner is opposed to it. So the sense is, All the thoughts of wicked men are only evil, and that continually, as is said of man in his corrupt estate, Gen 6:5, and therefore abominable to God.

The scorner; he who not only deviseth and practiseth wickedness, but obstinately persists in it, and rejects all admonitions against it.

Is an abomination to men; is abominable not only to God, as all sinners are, but to all sober men.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. The thought (device or purpose) of foolishness is sin — A wicked device is sinful. A man is accountable for his thoughts, plans, purposes, as well as for his deeds. “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,” etc.

Mat_15:19; Mar_7:21. The scorner — Or scoffer.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The thought of foolishness is sin. "Sin" is the subject in this clause as "the scorner" is in the next; and what it says is that sin is the excogitation, the contriving of folly. The stoner is the real fool, m that he does not pursue his proper end, prepares misery for himself, is blind to his best interests. The connection between sin and folly, as between wisdom and righteousness, is continually enforced throughout the book. The scorner is an abomination to men. The man who scoffs at religion and every high aim is an object of abomination to the pious, and is also a cause of evil to others, leading them to thoughts and acts which are hateful in the eyes of God. Septuagint, "The fool dieth in sins, (Joh_8:24) and uncleanness belongeth to a pestilent man." The text here followed, as in other passages of this chapter, is quite different from the received one.

Sin and folly.

However these words are read, they point to an association of sin and folly. This may be regarded from two points of view, according as we start with the thought of the sin or with that of the folly.

I SIN IMPLIES FOLLY.

1. It chooses the worse of two courses. Thus it blunders into self-injury. Evil is not only culpable in the sight of God; it is hurtful to the evil doer. Its path is dark, degraded, disappointing. It is foolish to turn from the way of light and honour and satisfaction to such a course.

2. It is short-sighted. In choosing a way one should look to the end of it. It is madness for the belated traveller to turn aside to the grassy path when the rough, stony road would take him home, and he knows not whither the pleasanter way will lead him. "The wages of sin is death;" it is, then, nothing but folly to work for the master without considering his direful payment.

3. It perverts the thoughts. Sin involves folly, and it also leads to greater folly. Many sins directly poison and paralyze the intellectual faculties. All sins confuse the lines of right and truth. Thus the man who lives in sin is minding his eyes to the greatest facts. To know of the doctrine we must do the commandment. (Joh_7:17) The wilful sinner obscures the doctrine by breaking the commandment.

II FOLLY ISSUES IN SIN. We now look at the conjunction from the opposite point of view. We start with the folly. This is to be regarded as a seed of sin. It is true that sin is primarily concerned with the moral nature. A man cannot really sin altogether in ignorance, because if he does not know that he is doing a wrong thing, to him the thing is not wrong. But, on the other hand, there is a culpable ignorance, arising from carelessness, disregard for truth, moral obliquity. Now, as sin is at the root of that ignorance, so the ignorance may, in such a case, serve as a link m the miserable chain of consequences that drags new sins into existence. These facts should lead us to certain practical conclusions.

1. It is our duty to seek the light that we may avoid sin. Truth is not merely given as a luxury, it is, first of an, a beacon light. It is to guide us over the wilderness in the right way.

2. The teaching of children is a moral and religious duty. The advantages of education are usually discussed from a utilitarian standpoint. But the chief advantage is that it should open the eyes of children to the wisdom of doing right and to the folly of wickedness. Many poor children grow up among scenes of vice and crime without having an opportunity of knowing of a better way. The Christian Church is called to be a light in the world, leading from sin, not forcibly, but by showing the clear wisdom of goodness, as well as its moral obligation.

"The thought of foolishness.

It will be well to be on our guard against a possible mistake here; for next in importance to our knowledge of what things are wrong and hurtful, is our freedom from imaginary fears and morbid anxieties respecting those things which are perfectly innocent and pure. We look, then, at

I THOUGHTS WHICH MAY SEEM TO BE, BUT ARE NOT, CONDEMNED BY THESE WORDS.

1. The serious but not taken thoughts of childhood or of uneducated manhood. It is not every thought which cannot be characterized as wisdom that must be condemned as "foolishness." The honest attempts of artless simplicity to solve problems or to execute commands may be honourable and even commendable failures; they are the conditions of growth.

2. The lighter thoughts of the cultured and mature, thoughts of merriment and frolicsomeness, moving to honest laughter, are far from being sinful. They are clearly in accordance with the will of the Divine Father of our spirits, who is the Author of our nature, with its faculties and tendencies; they are often found to be a necessary relief under the otherwise intolerable strain of oppressive care and burdensome toil. One of the most serious and one of the most kind-hearted and successful servants of our race (Abraham Lincoln) was only saved from complete mental derangement during the terrible time of the civil war by finding occasional refuge in humour. But what are

II THE THOUGHTS WHICH ARE HERE CONDEMNED? The thoughts of foolishness.

1. Our responsibility for our thoughts. Impalpable and fugitive as they are, our thoughts are a very real part of ourselves, and they constitute a serious part of our responsibility to God. That they do so is clear; for:

(1) On them everything in human life and action ultimately depends. Action depends on will, will on feeling, and feeling on thought. It is what we think and how we think that determines what we do and what we are. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Thought is the very foundation of character.

(2) Thought is free. We may be compelled to speak or to act in certain prescribed ways; but we are masters of our own minds, and we can think as we like. How we think depends on our own volition.

(3) We either choose deliberately the subject of our thoughts (by selecting our friends, our books and papers, our topics of conversation), or we are led to think as we do by the mental and moral character which we have been deliberate]y forming; we are responsible for the stream because we are responsible for the spring.

2. The sinful character of foolish thoughts. Foolish thoughts may be

(1) irreverent, and all irreverence is sin; or they may be

(2) selfish, and all selfishness is sin; or

(3) impure, and all impurity is sin; or

(4) unkind and inconsiderate, unloving or vindictive, and all unkindness is sin; or

(5) short-sighted and worldly, and all worldliness is sin. (1Jn_2:15-17) The conclusion of the whole matter is that if we would be right with God, "harmless and blameless," we must be right in our "inward thought"; (see Heb_4:12) and that if we would be right there, in those central depths or our nature, we must

(a) place our whole nature under the direct rule of the Holy One himself;

(b) seek daily fop the cleansing influences of his Holy Spirit, the continual renewal of our mind by his inspiration;

(c) "keep our hearts beyond all keeping", (Pro_2:2-3) especially by welcoming, with eagerness and delight, all the wisdom of God that we can gather from his Word. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The thought - The very inward thought or contrivance of evil, is a sin in God's sight.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

This proverb is connected by זמת with Pro 24:8, and by אויל with Pro 24:7; it places the fool and the mocker over against one another.

The undertaking of folly is sin;

And an abomination to men is the scorner.

Since it is certain that for 9b the subject is "the scorner," so also "sin" is to be regarded as the subject of 9a. The special meaning flagitium, as Pro 21:27, זמּה will then not have here, but it derives it from the root-idea "to contrive, imagine," and signifies first only the collection and forthputting of the thoughts towards a definite end (Job 17:11), particularly the refined preparation, the contrivance of a sinful act. In a similar way we speak of a sinful beginning or undertaking. But if one regards sin in itself, or in its consequences, it is always a contrivance or desire of folly (gen. subjecti), or: one that bears on itself (gen. qualitatis) the character of folly; for it disturbs and destroys the relation of man to God and man, and rests, as Socrates in Plato says, on a false calculation. And the mocker (the mocker at religion and virtue) is תועבת לאדם. The form of combination stands here before a word with ל, as at Job 18:2; Job 24:5, and frequently. but why does not the poet say directly תועבת אדם? Perhaps to leave room for the double sense, that the mocker is not only an abomination to men, viz., to the better disposed; but also, for he makes others err as to their faith, and draws them into his frivolous thoughts, becomes to them a cause of abomination, i.e., of such conduct and of such thoughts as are an abomination before God (Pro 15:9, Pro 15:26).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

v. 9. The thought of foolishness, literally, "the meditation of folly," is sin, that is, even when folly tries to perform something with prudent reflection, the result is the same, a transgression of God’s holy Law, and the scorner is an abomination to men, his mockery makes him an object of loathing.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The counsel of folly Heb. זמת אולת, the counsel of folly is sin for those who perpetrate it.

and what makes man an abomination is scorn Scorn is what makes man an abomination to the Holy One blessed be He, and to people.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.