Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. Proverbs 26:4-5
On the surface, we might sense contradicting counsels in these two verses. However, since we repose in the Word of God as an infallible guide, we must look below the surface to dispel the apparent inconsistency.
In Scripture, the term ‘fool’ does not merely refer to a silly person as we would say today. The term as it appears in Holy writ often indicates a spiteful, conceited, and wicked person. ‘He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool’ (Proverbs 10:18). Whenever a fool’s mouth ‘poureth out foolishness’ upon us (Proverbs 15:2), we are not to answer him ‘according to his folly’ - after the manner of a fool. By responding in his own demeaning, sarcastic or reproachful manner, we declare that we are ‘like unto him’ - we are reckoned as fools ourselves.
We are also counselled that ‘he that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot' (Proverbs 9:7). Whatever we might say in response to a scorner will fuel him on to misconstrue our words. As the Pharisees sought to ‘entangle [Jesus] in his talk’ (Matthew 22:15), the scorner’s purpose in engaging with you is to draw out anything that he may use against you. Often the best thing is to give him nothing to work with. Thus, not answering at all is often the best answer to give, as was done by Jesus and other holy men in Scripture. ‘It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling’ (Proverbs 20:3).
The follower of Christ is never to render ‘evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing’ (1 Peter 3:9). We are to bear in mind that those who oppose the truth, in reality ‘oppose themselves’, being in ‘the snare of the devil…taken captive by him at his will’ (2 Timothy 2:25-26). Our conversation, therefore, should always be moved by higher motives than the desire to win moral or theological debates.
But what does it mean to ‘answer a fool according to his folly’? Sometimes we are called to give a scathing rebuke to the impious prating of a fool, for his sake, or for the ones who are misled by his foolishness. As did Jesus on occasion, we are to warn fools of the damnation of hell that awaits those who do not repent. Such is the class whom Jude calls us, out of love, to ‘save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh’ (Jude 1:23).
Ultimately, the apparent contradiction between the two verses in question exists because different situations call for different responses, which discernment will indicate. The hopelessly obstinate fool is best left unanswered, but the fool who is not yet fully ‘wise in his own conceit’ should be answered ‘according to his folly’.
Christopher Sparks