'Fool' in the Bible

My lord should not pay attention to this wicked man Nabal. He simply lives up to his name! His name means 'fool,' and he is indeed foolish! But I, your servant, did not see the servants my lord sent.

The king chanted the following lament for Abner: "Should Abner have died like a fool?

When David went home to pronounce a blessing on his own house, Michal, Saul's daughter, came out to meet him. She said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself this day! He has exposed himself today before his servants' slave girls the way a vulgar fool might do!"

I myself have seen the fool taking root, but suddenly I cursed his place of residence.

The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this.

The one who conceals hatred utters lies, and the one who spreads slander is certainly a fool.

Carrying out a wicked scheme is enjoyable to a fool, and so is wisdom for the one who has discernment.

The one who troubles his family will inherit nothing, and the fool will be a servant to the wise person.

The way of a fool is right in his own opinion, but the one who listens to advice is wise.

Every shrewd person acts with knowledge, but a fool displays his folly.

In the speech of a fool is a rod for his back, but the words of the wise protect them.

A wise person is cautious and turns from evil, but a fool throws off restraint and is overconfident.

The tongue of the wise treats knowledge correctly, but the mouth of the fool spouts out folly.

A fool rejects his father's discipline, but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense.

Excessive speech is not becoming for a fool; how much less are lies for a ruler!

A rebuke makes a greater impression on a discerning person than a hundred blows on a fool.

It is better for a person to meet a mother bear being robbed of her cubs, than to encounter a fool in his folly.

Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no intention of acquiring wisdom?

Whoever brings a fool into the world does so to his grief, and the father of a fool has no joy.

Wisdom is directly in front of the discerning person, but the eyes of a fool run to the ends of the earth.

Even a fool who remains silent is considered wise, and the one who holds his tongue is deemed discerning.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only in disclosing what is on his mind.

The lips of a fool enter into strife, and his mouth invites a flogging.

The mouth of a fool is his ruin, and his lips are a snare for his life.

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his speech and is a fool.

Luxury is not appropriate for a fool; how much less for a servant to rule over princes!

It is an honor for a person to cease from strife, but every fool quarrels.

Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

Wisdom is unattainable for a fool; in court he does not open his mouth.

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you yourself also be like him.

Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own estimation.

Like cutting off the feet or drinking violence, so is sending a message by the hand of a fool.

Like tying a stone in a sling, so is giving honor to a fool.

Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

Like an archer who wounds at random, so is the one who hires a fool or hires any passer-by.

Like a dog that returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but vexation by a fool is more burdensome than the two of them.

If you should pound the fool in the mortar among the grain with the pestle, his foolishness would not depart from him.

The one who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but the one who walks in wisdom will escape.

A fool lets fly with all his temper, but a wise person keeps it back.

Do you see someone who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

under a servant who becomes king, under a fool who is stuffed with food,

The wise man can see where he is going, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that the same fate happens to them both.

So I thought to myself, "The fate of the fool will happen even to me! Then what did I gain by becoming so excessively wise?" So I lamented to myself, "The benefits of wisdom are ultimately meaningless!"

For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies -- just like the fool!

Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!

The fool folds his hands and does no work, so he has nothing to eat but his own flesh.

Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words.

So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns under a cooking pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This kind of folly also is useless.

Surely oppression can turn a wise person into a fool; likewise, a bribe corrupts the heart.

Do not be excessively wicked and do not be a fool; otherwise you might die before your time.

Even when a fool walks along the road he lacks sense, and shows everyone what a fool he is.

The words of a wise person win him favor, but the words of a fool are self-destructive.

yet a fool keeps on babbling. No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future?

The toil of a stupid fool wears him out, because he does not even know the way to the city.

A fool will no longer be called honorable; a deceiver will no longer be called principled.

For a fool speaks disgraceful things; his mind plans out sinful deeds. He commits godless deeds and says misleading things about the Lord; he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.

The person who gathers wealth by unjust means is like the partridge that broods over eggs but does not hatch them. Before his life is half over he will lose his ill-gotten gains. At the end of his life it will be clear he was a fool."

"'As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word -- I, the Lord, have made a fool of that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

The prophet is considered a fool -- the inspired man is viewed as a madman -- because of the multitude of your sins and your intense animosity.

For a son thinks his father is a fool, a daughter challenges her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are his own servants.

But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults a brother will be brought before the council, and whoever says 'Fool' will be sent to fiery hell.

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies.

I say again, let no one think that I am a fool. But if you do, then at least accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.

For even if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I would be telling the truth, but I refrain from this so that no one may regard me beyond what he sees in me or what he hears from me,

I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison to those "super-apostles," even though I am nothing.

Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows,