Proverbs 26:9

Pro 26:9 [As] a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so [is] a parable in the mouth of fools.

Ver. 9. As a thorn goeth up into the hand, &c.] He handleth it hard, as if it were another kind of wood, and it runs into his hand. So do profane persons pervert and pollute the Holy Scriptures, to their own and other men’s destruction. By a parable here the Hebrews understand either these parables of Solomon or the whole book of God. At this day no people under heaven do so abuse Scripture as the Jews do. For commending, in their familiar epistles, some letter they have received, they say, Eloquia Domini, eloquia pura, - The words of my Lord are pure words. When they flatter their friends, Pateat, they say, accessus ad aditum sanctitatis tuae: {a} Let me have access to the sanctuary of thy holiness. When they would testify themselves thankful, Nomini tuo psallam, - I will sing praise to thy name. When they complain, friends forsake them, "Lord," say they, "thou goest not forth with our armies." When they invite their friends to a banquet or a wedding, "In thee have I trusted; let me not be put to confusion." Lo, thus do these witless, wicked wretches abuse God’s parables, and take his name in vain. Whereas the very heathen could say, Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine, - God is not to be talked of lightly, loosely, disrespectfully. "Thou shalt fear that glorious and fearful name, Jehovah thy God," saith Moses, their own lawgiver. {Deu 28:58}

{a} Weemse.

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 26:9. As a thorn, &c. — “It is as dangerous for a fool to meddle with a proverb as for a drunkard to handle a thorn, wherewith he hurts himself: but the sharpest saying no more touches a fool with any compunction, though spoken by his own mouth, than the drunkard feels the thorn when it runs into his hand and gives him a grievous wound.” — Bishop Patrick.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26:9 A proverb misapplied by a fool might actually cause harm. Cp. 26:7.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Whereby he both hurteth himself and others.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

As vexatious and unmanageable as a thorn in a drunkard's hand is a parable to a fool. He will be as apt to misuse is as to use it rightly.

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

(9) As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard.—Rather, (As) a thornbush (which) comes into the hand of a drunkard, so (is) a parable (which comes) into the mouth of fools. They know not how to use it, and only do themselves and others harm by it. (Comp. 2Pe_3:16.)

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

9. As a thorn goeth up into the hand] i.e. as a thorn or thornbush taken up by a drunkard wounds himself.

This proverb carries the thought of Pro_26:7 a step further. A parable, or proverb, in the mouth of fools is not only useless but injurious. They take up a sharp, pointed saying, and instead of turning it to account, only injure themselves with it, as a drunkard pierces his own hand with the thorn which he grasps.

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.

As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard,.... And he perceives it not; or being in his hand he makes an ill use of it, and hurts himself and others with it;

so is a parable in the mouth of fools, a proverbial sentence respecting religious matters; or a passage of holy Scripture which either he understands not, and has no spiritual perception of, any more than the drunkard has of the thorn in his hand; or which being used as a pun, or by way of jest, as it is the manner of some to pun upon or jest with the Scripture, hurts himself and others, wounds his own conscience, and ruins the souls of others; for it is dangerous meddling with edge tools, and hard to kick against the pricks; so to do is like a drunken man's handling thorns, which he does without judgment, and to his own prejudice and others. Gussetius (x) understands this of a fish hook coming up into the hand of a drunkard empty, without taking any thing by it, and so alike useless is what is said by a fool.

(x) Ebr. Comment. p. 244.

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

Better: “As a thorn which is lifted up in the hand of the drunkard” etc. As such a weapon so used may do mischief to the man himself or to others, so may the sharp, keen-edged proverb when used by one who does not understand it.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

If. Hebrew, "as a thorn goeth up into the," &c. (Protestants) (Haydock) --- If he attempt to handle or to extract one, he will wound himself the more, as the fool would render truth and wisdom contemptible. (Calmet) --- Parable. Septuagint, "but slavery in the hands of fools" groweth up. (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).

As a thorn is in a drunkard’s hand, which he cannot hold and manage cautiously, but employeth to his own and others’ hurt,

so is a parable in the mouth of fools; as improper and unprofitable, and, by accident, hurtful to himself and others. See Poole "Pro 26:7".

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

9. As a thorn goeth up (or is taken up) into the hand of a drunkard — One drunk.

So is a parable (or proverb) in the mouth of fools — They will hurt themselves or others with it. A sarcasm.

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

As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard. There is here no idea of the drunkard"s hand being pierced with a thorn while he is insensible to the pain, but rather of his being armed with it, and ripe for mischief. So it is best to render, "A thornbush cometh into the hand of a drunkard;" he somehow gets possession of it, and in his stupid excitement is liable to become dangerous. Some understand hl of the growth of the thorn; thus the Septuagint, "Thorns grow in the hand of a drunkard;" Vulgate, "As if a thorn grew in the hand of a drunkard." But one does not see the bearing of such an expression; and the translation given above is more appropriate. So is a parable, etc. (as ver. 7). In that passage the wise saying in a fool"s mouth was compared with something useless, here it is compared with something injurious. He employs it purposely to wound others; or by the ignorant use of some sharp-edged word he does much mischief. In this hemistich the LXX has read l with a different vocalization, and renders, "servitude (douleia ) in the hand of fools." This seems to mean that it comes natural to fools to be manacled and restrained by force.

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

A thorn - As a thorn is in a drunkard's hand, which he cannot manage cautiously, but employs to his own and others hurt. So - As unprofitable, and, by accident, hurtful to himself and others.

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

9 A thorn goeth into the hand of a drunkard,

And a proverb in a fool's mouth;

i.e., if a proverb falls into a fool's mouth, it is as if a thorn entered into the hand of a drunken man; the one is as dangerous as the other, for fools misuse such a proverb, which, rightly used, instructs and improves, only to the wounding and grieving of another, as a drunken man makes use of the pointed instrument which he has possession of for coarse raillery, and as a welcome weapon of his strife. The lxx, Syr. (Targ.?), and Jerome interpret עלה in the sense of shooting up, i.e., of growing; Bttcher also, after Pro 24:31 and other passages, insists that the thorn which has shot up may be one that has not grown to perfection, and therefore not dangerous. But thorns grow not in the hand of any one; and one also does not perceive why the poet should speak of it as growing in the hand of a drunken man, which the use of the hand with it would only make worse. We have here עלה בידי, i.e., it has come into my hand, commonly used in the Mishna, which is used where anything, according to intention, falls into one's hands, as well as where it comes accidentally and unsought for, e.g., Nazir 23a, מי שׁנתכוון לעלות בידו בשׂר חזיר ועלה בידו בשׂר טלה, he who designs to obtain swine's flesh and (accidentally) obtains lamb's flesh. Thus rightly Heidenheim, Lwenstein, and the Venet.: ἄκανθα ἀνέβη εἰς χεῖρα μεθύοντος. חוח signifies a thorn bush, Kg2 14:9,

(Note: The plur. חוחים, Sa1 13:6, signifies not thorn bushes, but rock-splitting; in Damascus, chôcha means a little gate in the wing of a large door; vid., Wetstein's Nordarabien, p. 23.)

as well as a thorn, Sol 2:2, but where not the thorns of the rose, and indeed no rose at all, is meant. Luther thinks of the rose with the thorn when he explains: "When a drunkard carries and brandishes in his hand a thorn bush, he scratches more with it than allows the roses to be smelled - so a fool with the Scriptures, or a right saying, often does more harm than good." This paraphrase of Luther's interprets עלה ביד more correctly than his translation does; on the other hand, the latter more correctly is satisfied with a thorn twig (as a thorn twig which pierces into the hand of a drunken man); the roses are, however, assumed contrary to the text. This holds good also against Wessely's explanation: "the Mashal is like a rose not without thorns, but in the mouth of a fool is like a thorn without a rose, as when a drunken man seeks to pluck roses and gains by his effort nothing but being pierced by thorns." The idea of roses is to be rejected, because at the time when this proverb was formed there were no roses in Palestine. The proverb certainly means that a right Mashal, i.e., an ingenious excellent maxim, is something more and better than a חוח (the prick as of the Jewish thorn, Zizyphus vulgaris, or the Christus-thorn, the Ziz spina Christi); but in the mouth of a fool such a maxim becomes only a useless and a hurtful thing; for the fool so makes use of it, that he only embarrasses others and recklessly does injury to them. The lxx translates משׁל by δουλεία, and the Aram. by שׁטיוּתא; how the latter reached this "folly" is not apparent; but the lxx vocalized משׁל, according to which Hitzig, at the same time changing שׁכּור into שׂכוּר, translates: "thorns shoot up by the hand of the hireling, and tyranny by the mouth of fools." Although a hired labourer, yet, on this account, he is not devoid of conscience; thus 9a so corrected has something in its favour: one ought, as far as possible, to do all with his own hand; but the thought in 9b is far-fetched, and if Hitzig explains that want of judgment in the state councils creates despotism, so, on the other hand, Pro 24:7 says that the fool cannot give counsel in the gate, and therefore he holds his mouth.

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.)

Like a thorn ... is a proverb in the mouth of fools

How the two are alike can be stated clearly. AT: "A proverb in the mouth of fools is as dangerous as a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard" (See: Simile)

a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard

Possible meanings are 1) if a drunk person holds a thornbush, a thorn will prick his hand, or 2) if a drunk person is angry, he will pick up a thornbush and swing it at people. For the second meaning, the word "thorn" represents a thornbush. (See: Synecdoche)

in the mouth of fools

Here "mouth" is a metonym for speaking. AT: "in the speech of fools" or "that fools say" (See: Metonymy)

hires a fool

"gives a job to a fool"

translationWords

drunk

proverb

fool

archer

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

A thorn came up in a drunkard’s hand Just like a thorn that is stuck to a drunkard’s hand, so is the parable stated below stuck in the mouth of a fool to be for him as a thorn—yea, a painful thorn. Now what is the parable?...

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.