כְּסִיל
fool
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Adjective
- A word that describes or qualifies a noun.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H3684 appears in the Book of Proverbs — 49 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Proverbs
- Proverbs 1:22 וּ֝/כְסִילִ֗ים conj + Adjective Adjective mp "How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, And fools hate knowledge?
- Proverbs 1:32 כְּסִילִ֣ים adj Adjective mp For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
- Proverbs 3:35 וּ֝/כְסִילִ֗ים conj + n c mp The wise will inherit glory, But shame will be the promotion of fools.
- Proverbs 8:5 וּ֝/כְסִילִ֗ים conj + Adjective Adjective mp You simple, understand prudence. You fools, be of an understanding heart.
- Proverbs 10:1 כְּ֝סִ֗יל adj Adjective ms The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; But a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
- Proverbs 10:18 כְסִֽיל adj Adjective ms He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool.
- Proverbs 10:23 לִ֭/כְסִיל prep + Adjective Adjective ms It is a fool's pleasure to do wickedness, But wisdom is a man of understanding's pleasure.
- Proverbs 12:23 כְּ֝סִילִ֗ים adj Adjective mp A prudent man keeps his knowledge, But the hearts of fools proclaim foolishness.
- Proverbs 13:16 וּ֝/כְסִ֗יל conj + Adjective Adjective ms Every prudent man acts from knowledge, But a fool exposes folly.
- Proverbs 13:19 כְּ֝סִילִ֗ים adj Adjective mp Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, But fools detest turning from evil.
- Proverbs 13:20 כְסִילִ֣ים adj Adjective mp One who walks with wise men grows wise, But a companion of fools suffers harm.
- Proverbs 14:7 כְּסִ֑יל adj Adjective ms Stay away from a foolish man, For you won't find knowledge on his lips.
- Proverbs 14:8 כְּסִילִ֣ים adj Adjective mp The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way, But the folly of fools is deceit.
- Proverbs 14:16 וּ֝/כְסִ֗יל conj + Adjective Adjective ms A wise man fears, and shuns evil, But the fool is hotheaded and reckless.
- Proverbs 14:24 כְּסִילִ֣ים adj Adjective mp The crown of the wise is their riches, But the folly of fools crowns them with folly.
- Proverbs 14:33 כְּ֝סִילִ֗ים adj Adjective mp Wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding, And is even made known in the inward part of fools.
- Proverbs 15:2 כְ֝סִילִ֗ים adj Adjective mp The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, But the mouth of fools gush out folly.
- Proverbs 15:7 כְּסִילִ֣ים adj Adjective mp The lips of the wise spread knowledge; Not so with the heart of fools.
- Proverbs 15:14 כְ֝סִילִ֗ים adj Adjective mp The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, But the mouths of fools feed on folly.
- Proverbs 15:20 וּ/כְסִ֥יל conj + Adjective Adjective ms A wise son makes a father glad, But a foolish man despises his mother.
- Proverbs 17:10 כְּסִ֣יל adj Adjective ms A rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred lashes into a fool.
- Proverbs 17:12 כְּ֝סִ֗יל adj Adjective ms Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, Rather than a fool in his folly.
- Proverbs 17:16 כְּסִ֑יל adj Adjective ms Why is there money in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom, Seeing he has no understanding?
- Proverbs 17:21 כְּ֭סִיל adj Adjective ms He who becomes the father of a fool grieves. The father of a fool has no joy.
- Proverbs 17:24 כְ֝סִ֗יל adj Adjective ms Wisdom is before the face of one who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
- Proverbs 17:25 כְּסִ֑יל adj Adjective ms A foolish son brings grief to his father, And bitterness to her who bore him.
- Proverbs 18:2 כְּ֭סִיל adj Adjective ms A fool has no delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own opinion.
- Proverbs 18:6 כְ֭סִיל adj Adjective ms A fool's lips come into strife, And his mouth invites beatings.
- Proverbs 18:7 כְ֭סִיל adj Adjective ms A fool's mouth is his destruction, And his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Proverbs 19:1 כְסִֽיל adj Adjective ms Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than he who is perverse in his lips and is a fool.
- Proverbs 19:10 לִ/כְסִ֣יל prep + Adjective Adjective ms Delicate living is not appropriate for a fool, Much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
- Proverbs 19:13 כְּסִ֑יל adj Adjective ms A foolish son is the calamity of his father. A wife's quarrels are a continual dripping.
- Proverbs 19:29 כְּסִילִֽים adj Adjective mp Penalties are prepared for scoffers, And beatings for the backs of fools.
- Proverbs 21:20 וּ/כְסִ֖יל conj + Adjective Adjective ms There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; But a foolish man swallows it up.
- Proverbs 23:9 כְ֭סִיל adj Adjective ms Don't speak in the ears of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
- Proverbs 26:1 לִ/כְסִ֣יל prep + Adjective Adjective ms Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, So honor is not fitting for a fool.
- Proverbs 26:3 כְּסִילִֽים adj Adjective mp A whip for the horse, A bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the back of fools!
- Proverbs 26:4 כְּ֭סִיל adj Adjective ms Don't answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.
- Proverbs 26:5 כְ֭סִיל adj Adjective ms Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes.
- Proverbs 26:6 כְּסִֽיל adj Adjective ms One who sends a message by the hand of a fool Is cutting off feet and drinking violence.
- Proverbs 26:7 כְסִילִֽים adj Adjective mp Like the legs of the lame that hang loose: So is a parable in the mouth of fools.
- Proverbs 26:8 לִ/כְסִ֣יל prep + Adjective Adjective ms As one who binds a stone in a sling, So is he who gives honor to a fool.
- Proverbs 26:9 כְסִילִֽים adj Adjective mp Like a thornbush that goes into the hand of a drunkard, So is a parable in the mouth of fools.
- Proverbs 26:10 כְּ֝סִ֗יל adj Adjective ms As an archer who wounds all, So is he who hires a fool Or he who hires those who pass by.
- Proverbs 26:11 כְּ֝סִ֗יל adj Adjective ms As a dog that returns to his vomit, So is a fool who repeats his folly.
- Proverbs 26:12 לִ/כְסִ֣יל prep + Adjective Adjective ms Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Proverbs 28:26 כְסִ֑יל adj Adjective ms One who trusts in himself is a fool; But one who walks in wisdom, he is kept safe.
- Proverbs 29:11 כְסִ֑יל adj Adjective ms A fool vents all of his anger, But a wise man brings himself under control.
- Proverbs 29:20 לִ/כְסִ֣יל prep + Adjective Adjective ms Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“fool” is the headline sense of the Hebrew noun כסיל (kᵉçîyl). It clusters heavily in Proverbs, which alone accounts for 71% of its uses. It turns up in 69 verses across 3 books, a moderately common footprint. Its earliest occurrence is Psalms 49:10. Older and newer Bibles part ways — “fool” in the King James Version, “stupid” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) in modern versions. See the renderings breakdown. The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3684 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 69
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 69 distinct verses.
- 3 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 3 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #569
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 569 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 69 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Proverbs 49 verses 71%
- Ecclesiastes 17 verses 25%
- Psalms 3 verses 4%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 69 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 69 verses · 100%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 3 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Fool 28×, Fools 19×, Foolish 9×
- American Standard Version†: Fool 29×, Fools 18×, Foolish 7×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Fool 37×, Fools 17×, Foolish 9×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Stupid 19×, Stupid one 15×, Fool 11×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3684 across 70† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3684 across 70† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 10 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3684 across 70† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3684 across 79† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 0 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
כסיל I stupid fellow, dullard, fool
כסיל II Orion (relation to above √ obscure)
כסיל III loc. in S of tribe of Judah Jos 15
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. n.m. stupid fellow, dullard, fool;—כ׳ ψ 49:11 + 44 times; pl. כְּסִילִים ψ 94:8 + 25 times;—‖ בער ψ 49:11; 92:7; 94:8, elsewhere only in WisdLt; he hates knowledge Pr 1:22; delights not in understanding 18:2; it is his sport to do mischief 10:23; his heart proclaimeth אִוֶּלֶת 12:23; his mouth poureth it forth 15:2, and feedeth on it 15:14.
II. n.m. Orion (relation to above √ obscure);—Am 5:8 Jb 9:9; also משְׁכוֹת כ׳ תְּפַתֵּחַ 38:31 the cords of Orion wilt (canst) thou let out? (appar. some mythological allusion, v. Di Che, to giant bound in skies; cf. Hom Ὠρίωνα δοκεύει, and σθένος Ὠρίωνος); both times associated with the Pleiades; sf. כְּסִילֵיהֶם their Orions Is 13:10, Orion and other constellations of the same brilliancy.
III. n.pr.loc. in S of tribe of Judah Jos 15:30, prob. corrupt for בְּתוּל Jos 19:4; see בְּתוּאֵל.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from כסל (kâçal) (H3688) — to be foolish.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
כְּסִיל
- (b. h.)
- 1. (a denom. of כֶּסֶל q. v.) [one with thick loins, stout,] (cmp. טִפֵּשׁ) fool, foolish, overbearing. Y. Peah I, 15ᵇ bot.; Yalk. Ex. 415 (ref. to Prov. III, 26) דברים שאתה כ׳ בהם וכ׳ in things in which thou art foolish (ignorant), He will guard thy foot &c.—Pl. כְּסִילִים. Num. R. s. 16 (ref. to Prov. XXVI, 6) עשו עצמן כ׳ they (the spies) made fools of themselves. e.g. Proverbs 3:26
- 2. K’sil, the constellation Orion (v. Winer, Reallex. s. v. Nimrod). Ber. 58ᵇ
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 32 distinct written forms H3684 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| לִ/כְסִ֣יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 19:10 | 5 |
| וּ֝/כְסִילִ֗ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Proverbs 1:22 | 4 |
| כְ֭סִיל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 18:6 | 4 |
| כְּ֝סִ֗יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 10:1 | 4 |
| כְּסִ֑יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 14:7 | 4 |
| כְּסִילִ֣ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Proverbs 1:32 | 4 |
| וּ֝/כְסִ֗יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 13:16 | 3 |
| כְּ֝סִילִ֗ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Proverbs 12:23 | 3 |
| כְּ֭סִיל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 17:21 | 3 |
| כְּסִ֖יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 5:3 | 3 |
| כְּסִילִֽים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 7:5 | 3 |
| הַ/כְּסִ֑יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 6:8 | 2 |
| הַ/כְּסִיל֙ | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 2:15 | 2 |
| הַ/כְּסִילִ֖ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 5:1 | 2 |
| כְ֝סִילִ֗ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Proverbs 15:2 | 2 |
| כְסִ֑יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 28:26 | 2 |
| כְסִֽיל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 10:18 | 2 |
| כְסִילִֽים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Proverbs 26:7 | 2 |
| כְּסִ֣יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 17:10 | 2 |
| כְּסִילִ֖ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 7:4 | 2 |
| בַּ/כְּסִילִ֑ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 5:4 | 1 |
| בַּ/כְּסִילִֽים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 9:17 | 1 |
| הַ/כְּסִ֖יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 2:16 | 1 |
| הַ/כְּסִֽיל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 2:16 | 1 |
| וְ/הַ/כְּסִ֖יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 2:14 | 1 |
| וּ/כְסִ֔יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Ecclesiastes 4:13 | 1 |
| וּ/כְסִ֖יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 21:20 | 1 |
| וּ/כְסִ֥יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 15:20 | 1 |
| כְ֝סִ֗יל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 17:24 | 1 |
| כְסִילִ֣ים | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Plural, Absolute | Proverbs 13:20 | 1 |
| כְּסִֽיל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 26:6 | 1 |
| לִ֭/כְסִיל | Adjective, Adjective, Masculine, Singular, Absolute | Proverbs 10:23 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3684, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- כסלון Kiçlôwn H3692 Chislon
- כסלון Kᵉçâlôwn H3693 Chesalon
- כסלות Kᵉçullôwth H3694 Chesulloth
- כסיל Kᵉçîyl H3685 Orion
- כסיל Kᵉçîyl H3686 Chesil
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 10 — not the complete family. 5 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 67 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 69 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
