As one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool.
Parallel Translations
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As one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool.
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As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.
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As a small stone in a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Proverbs 26:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 26:1 Like snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
- Proverbs 30:22 For a servant when he is king, a fool when he is filled with food,
- Proverbs 19:10 Delicate living is not appropriate for a fool, much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 26:8 As he that bindeth a stone in…
Pro 26:8 As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so [is] he that giveth honour to a fool.
Ver. 8. As he that bindeth a stone in a sling.] A precious stone is not fit for a sling - where it will soon be cast away and lost; no more is honour for a fool. See Pro 26:1. Ebenezra saith that Margemah, here rendered a sling, signifies purple, and senseth it thus: As it is an absurd thing to wrap a pebble in purple, so is it to prefer a fool, as Saul did Doeg, as Ahasuerus Haman.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain As he that bindeth a stone in a sling;…
As he that bindeth a stone in a sling; whereby he hinders his own design of throwing the stone out of it; or, who fastens it there only for a season, that he may speedily and violently throw it away. Or, as it is rendered in our margin, and by many others, As he that putteth a precious stone (Heb. a stone, which is oft emphatically used for a precious stone, both in Scripture, as Exo 39:10; 1Ch 29:8, and elsewhere, and also in other authors) in an heap of stones, where it is obscured and lost.
So is he that giveth honour to a fool; no less absurd is he that giveth to a fool that honour and praise which he is not capable either of receiving, or retaining, or using aright, but it is quite wasted upon him, and doth him more hurt than good.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain As he that bindeth a stone in a sling,....…
As he that bindeth a stone in a sling,.... That so fastens it to it that it cannot be slung out of it, it becomes useless and does not answer the end for which it is put there; or that places it there that it may be cast out, and is cast out, and so is thrown away, and of no more use; or that puts a precious stone, so some interpret it, in a heap of common stones, even in such a heap as is used at the stoning of malefactors; or increases the heap of stones on such, which the more exposes them, and the greater reproach they are loaded with; so the more a fool is praised, it does but bring to mind his folly, and issues in his greater disgrace, so Gussetius (o): or rather it has respect to a precious stone put in such a heap of stones, as Luther; or else, according to Schultens, to such an one put into a heap of sepulchral stones; or, as Aben Ezra, that binds up a stone, a common stone, in purple, which to do is ridiculous, so R. Joseph Kimchi; the Vulgate Latin version renders it,
"as he that casts a stone to Mercury's heap;''
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a Heathen deity, called by the eastern people Mertholin and Margenah (p), which last is near the same with the Hebrew word here used; whose statue was set up where two or more ways met, to direct travellers; and who therefore out of respect to the deity, and to show gratitude to him, used to cast a stone to the heap for the support of it; and which stones, set up in such doubtful places, were dedicated to him, and were called after his name (q); and not only travellers did this in honour of the deity, and to make his statue more manifest (r), but also for profit, to clear the way from stones; and this custom obtained with the Indians, Arabs, Saracens, and now does with the Mahometans (s): and such heaps of stones were also placed in cities, and at the doors of houses, in honour of Mercury, and were called from him Hermae (t); these stones were also erected for borders of countries (u). But it is not probable that this custom obtained in Solomon's time; and yet some Jewish writers interpret it to this sense, as if he that gives honour to a fool is like him that casts a stone to Mercury; and Jarchi in the text observes it as the sense of some of their Rabbins,
"that he that teacheth the law to a disciple that is not fit, is as he that casts a stone to Mercury;''
and to cast a stone to Mercury is with them the same as to commit idolatry (w); but either of the former senses is best;
so is he that giveth honour to a fool; it is all thrown away and lost, as a stone out of a sling; or as unseemly as to put a precious stone among a heap of stones, or a common stone in purple; See Gill on Pro 26:1.
(o) Ebr. Comment. p. 777. (p) D. Herbert de Chefbury d. Relig Gent. c. 7. p. 58. (q) Suidas in voce (r) Phurnutus de Natura Deorum, p. 33. (s) Vid. D. Herbert de Cherbury, ut supra, p. 59. (t) Cornel. Nepot. Vit. Alcibiad. l. 7. c. 3. (u) Pausan. Corinth. sive, l. 2. p. 157. (w) Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 7. s. 6. & Maimon. in ib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Bindeth - Whereby he hinders his own design of…
Bindeth - Whereby he hinders his own design of throwing the stone out of it. So - No less absurd is he that giveth to a fool that honour which he is not capable of using aright.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. As he that bindeth a stone in…
Verse 8. As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.] It is entirely thrown away. This, however, is a difficult proverb; and the versions give but little light on the subject. The Hebrew may be translated, "As a piece of precious stone among a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honour to a fool." See the margin, and Parkhurst: but on this interpretation the meaning would rather be, "It is as useless to throw a jewel among a heap of stones to increase its bulk, as to give honour to a fool."
As he that sendith a stoon into a hepe of monee; so he that geveth to an unwiisman wirschip. - Old MS. Bible.
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"He that setteth a foole in hye dignite, that is even as yf a man dyd caste a precious stone upon the galous." - Coverdale. This translator refers to the custom of throwing a stone to the heap under which a criminal lay buried. The Vulgate gives some countenance to this translation: "He who gives honour to a fool is like one who throws a stone to Mercury's heap." Mercury was considered the deity who presided over the highways; and stones were erected in different places to guide the traveller. Hence those lines of Dr. Young: -
"Death stands like Mercuries in every way;
And kindly points us to our journey's end."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 26:8. As he that bindeth a stone in…
Pro 26:8. As he that bindeth a stone in a sling — Whereby he hinders his own design of throwing the stone out of it; so is he, &c. — No less absurd is he that giveth to a fool that honour which he is not capable of using aright. Bishop Patrick and Houbigant give a different interpretation of the verse, thus: “As a stone put into a sling stays not long there, so is that honour thrown away which is bestowed upon a fool.” Parkhurst, however, according to the translation in the margin, supposes the meaning to be, “As a spark, or small piece of precious stone, in a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain i. e., “To give honor to the fool is…
i. e., “To give honor to the fool is like binding a stone in a sling; you cannot throw it.” In each case you misapply and so waste. Others render in the sense of the margin: To use a precious stone where a pebble would be sufficient, is not less foolish than to give honor to a fool.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Mercury. The god of travellers, who were wont to…
Mercury. The god of travellers, who were wont to throw a stone at the foot of his statue, as the Indians (Vincent. Bellor. xxiv.) and Arabs did. Mahomet would not disturb this superstitious custom. The Rabbins style these statues Mercolis. But Septuagint, &c., give another sense, "as he that bindeth a stone (Calmet) in the boss of a ring, Greek: sphendone, (Menochius) or in a sling," can do no good, but only endanger himself or others, "so," &c. Yet margema is never used elsewhere for a sling, and it means undoubtedly "a heap of stones," (Calmet) as Montanus substitutes instead of "the sling," in Pagnin. "As a small piece of precious stone in a heap of stones is lost, so," &c. (Pole. Syn. Parkhurst in rogom.) (Haydock) --- Honour, or an office, in which he may do harm. (Calmet)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain A stone, bound in a sling, is useless; so…
A stone, bound in a sling, is useless; so honor, conferred on a fool, is thrown away.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. As he that bindeth a stone — The…
8. As he that bindeth a stone — The margin reads: “As he that putteth a precious stone into a heap of stones.” The reading of the text is supported by the Septuagint and Syriac, and is preferred by some very reputable modern critics. The moral is the same in both forms, namely: the folly or uselessness of giving honour — preferment, responsibility — to a fool — that is, an incapable and wicked man. These are some of the translations of the first clause: “As a bag of gems in a heap of stones” — a proverbial expression like that in Mat_7:6, casting pearls before swine. So Gesenius: “As a grain of precious stone in a heap of stones, so is he,” etc.
The precious stone in one case, and the honour in the other, is thrown away and lost. The Douay, following the Vulgate, reads: “As he that casteth a stone into a heap of mercury, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.” Did the translator take margemah for Mercury, the heathen god of the highways? But Schultens takes מרגמה, (margemah,) which occurs only here, and is rendered sling in the Authorized Version, to denote a heap of stones cast over a person stoned to death. This explanation would make the proverb more poignant. “The honour given to a fool is compared to a stone flung at a heap already thrown at a criminal stoned to death. It but adds to his shame. As the confining a precious stone in the sepulchral heap of an executed malefactor, where it must be disgraced, if not lost, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.” Zockler, Conant, and Miller prefer the old rendering, “a stone in a sling.” The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic support our Authorized Version. Miller maintains that the binding the stone in the sling means simply putting it there to be thrown, and, hence, to damage those it reaches.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. bindeth a stone in a sling] This, which…
8. bindeth a stone in a sling] This, which is the rendering of the LXX. (ὅς ἀποδεσμεύει λίθον ἐν σφενδόνῃ), must be taken to mean, he who “bindeth fast” (R.V. marg.) a stone so that it cannot come out, thus frustrating by his action the very purpose for which a stone is put into a sling. Such a proceeding is a fit emblem of the incongruity of “giving honour to a fool.” But the Heb. word thus rendered “sling,” that which casts away stones, occurs nowhere else, and it may have the meaning of a heap or collection of stones. And it is so understood both in A.V. marg., As he that putteth a precious stone in an heap of stones, and in R.V. text, As a bag of gems in an heap of stones. This rendering gives point to the comparison: To put honour on one who is so utterly undeserving of it as a fool, is like hiding precious stones among worthless pebbles. It necessitates however our understanding the word “stone,” used absolutely and without anything in the context (as in Exo_28:9; Exo_35:27) to limit its meaning, of a precious stone or gem.
Some commentators both ancient and modern have supposed that the “heap of stones” referred to is that under which the criminal who had been stoned to death lay buried. A similar idea appears in Coverdale’s rendering: “He that setteth a fool in hye dignite, that is even as yf a man dyd caste a precious stone upon the galous.”
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For the “bag,” “that which” (instead of “he that”) “bindeth fast,” or holdeth securely precious stones, or other valuables, comp. Pro_7:20; Gen_42:35 (“bundle”), where the Heb. word is the same as here.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) As he that bindeth a stone in a…
(8) As he that bindeth a stone in a sling . . .—i.e., the stone is soon gone from the sling and seen no more, so honour and a fool soon part company. This seems on the whole the most probable rendering of this verse.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain As he that bindeth a stone in a sling.…
As he that bindeth a stone in a sling. So Septuagint, OO apodesmeuei liyon en sfendonh . This gives a very good sense the point being either that the stone, after being firmly fitted in its place, quickly passes away from the sling, or, if more stress is laid on the word "bindeth," that the stone is so firmly fixed that it cannot be slung, and therefore never reaches the mark. The alternative rendering adopted by the Revised Version is this, "As a bag of gems in a heap of stones;" where the incongruity would consist either in exposing jewels on a cairn, or sepulchral monument, whence they could easily be filched, or in attracting undesirable attention. But there are grammatical and etymological reasons against this interpretation; and the Authorized Version is to be considered correct. The Vulgate is curious: Sieur qui mittit lapidem in acervum Mercurii. This rendering points to the custom, with which Jerome must have been familiar, of erecting statues of Mercury on the highways, which were thus placed under his protection. Round these statues were ranged heaps of stones, to which every wayfarer contributed by throwing a pebble as he passed. The absence of the critical faculty which discerned no absurdity in this anachronism is sufficiently remarkable. The Latin saying seems intended to denote useless labour, as we speak of "carrying coals to Newcastle." So is he that giveth honour to a fool. You pay respect to a fool, or place him in an honourable position, but your labour is wasted; he cannot act up to his dignity, he cannot maintain the honour; it passes away like the stone from the sling, or, if it remains, it is useless to him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain As he that bindeth a stone in a sling,…
Pro_26:8
As he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honour to a fool.
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Throwing a stone at an idol
The words should be translated, as Colonel Condor was the first to point out: As he that throweth a stone at an idol, so is he that giveth honour to a fool. The comparison refers to the universal custom, in ancient times, among Pagan nations of throwing a stone at an idolatrous shrine, not in execration of it, like the stones thrown to this day by the Jews at Absaloms pillar at Jerusalem, but in honour of it. At the foot of some sacred tree, or some pillar consecrated to idolatrous worship, a cairn or heap of stones is generally found; each stone testifying of a visit paid to the spot by some votary; and the larger the heap the greater the veneration shown. In Greece, the worship of Hermes or Mercury consisted in throwing a stone at his image, set up as a mark by the wayside to protect travellers on a journey. In Palestine, amongst the primitive Canaanite inhabitants that still survived, idolatry was widely practised; and in early times it was a common sight, on rising spots among the hills of Judea and Galilee, to come upon a menhir, or dolmen, in which the object of worship was a rude stone image, forming the nucleus of a cairn or heap of stones which had gradually grown around it, in remembrance of the visits paid by worshippers. In Scotland many cairns are made of the stones thrown at a rude stone monument, or cromlech, as an act of worship; and, perhaps, many of the cairns of remembrance raised to the dead may have originated from this act of worship. The old saying, I will add a stone to your cairn, was the highest expression of reverence and regard that could be offered to a friend. With this explanation the comparison used in the Scripture proverb becomes plain and forcible. The proverb could only have been used by an iconoclast; and very probably came into existence in the days of Hezekiah, after the wholesale destruction, by this pious and zealous monareh, of the altars and stone monuments of the Canaanite idolaters which had corrupted Israel. Hezekiah was bent on the work of national reformation, and the purification and consecration of the temple by a perfect ceremonial was accompanied by the overthrow of all the high places and the idolatrous images and rites connected with them, as antagonistic to the holiness of the land as Gods heritage. And, therefore, the proverb of the text would have a deep force and meaning in his day. Like one who continued the old practice of throwing a stone at an idolatrous monument, in token of worship, a practice now forbidden and proved to be vain and useless, so was he who gave honour to a fool. A fool was as unworthy of honour as an idol is of worship. In the one case there is no reason for the honour; and in the other case the worship is a mere empty foolish superstition. An idol is nothing, and a fool is a negation. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.