Difference between revisions of "Fool"

<p> Any person who does not act wisely, that is, does not follow the warnings and requirements of God, which are founded in infinite wisdom. Hence "a fool" is put for a wicked man, an enemy or neglecter of God, [[Psalm]] 14:1 Proverbs 19:1 . So folly is put for wickedness, 2 Samuel 13:12,13 Psalm 38:5 , foolish lusts for wicked lusts, etc. [[Foolish]] talking, foolish questions, are vain, empty, unprofitable conversation, 2 Timothy 2:23 . </p>

<p> The term fool in [[Scripture]] language differs from what is understood in the general acceptation of the word among men. By fool we mean one that is weak in his intellect, and an idiot. But not so in the word of God. [[Thus]] in the psalms, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.." (Psalms 14:1) But the sense is, that the wicked and ungodly have by their action said this. So again, that pride and haughtiness of men, which prompts them to reject Christ, this in Scripture language is called folly. Hence the apostle saith, "The world by wisdom knew not God; and it pleased [[God]] by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21) By comparing two passages in Scripture together, the sense of the word is very strongly marked. Thus the prophet Isaiah saith, speaking of bad men, that"It is a people of no understanding; therefore, he that made them will not have mercy upon them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour." (Isaiah 27:11) Now, that it might not be supposed, that this being void of understanding was the natural and unavoidable condition of idiotism, which brought upon them the displeasure of God, and for which the Lord would shew them no favour, the [[Holy]] Ghost, by his servant Job, hath very fully shewn in what that want of understanding consisted."And unto man he said, [[Behold]] the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:28) </p>

<p> <strong> FOOL </strong> . The Heb. language is rich in words which express various kinds of folly. <strong> 1. </strong> The <em> kesîl </em> is glib of tongue, ‘his mouth is his destruction’ ( Proverbs 18:7; cf. Proverbs 9:13; Proverbs 14:33 ); in Ecclesiastes 5:1 f. ‘the sacrifice of fools’ is offered by him who is rash with his mouth. But such an one is ‘light-hearted, thoughtless and noisy rather than vicious.’ <strong> 2. </strong> The <em> sâkhâl </em> manifests his folly not in speech, but in action; it was after [[David]] had numbered the people that he reproached himself for acting ‘very foolishly’ ( 2 Samuel 24:10 ). Consequences prove that fools of this class have blundered in their calculations ( [[Genesis]] 31:28 , 1 Samuel 13:13 , Isaiah 44:25 ). <strong> 3. </strong> The <em> ’evîl </em> is stupid, impatient of reproof, often sullen and quarrelsome. He despises wisdom and instruction ( Proverbs 1:7; cf. Proverbs 15:5 ), is soon angry ( Proverbs 12:16; Proverbs 27:3 ), and may sometimes be described as sinful ( Proverbs 5:22 f., Proverbs 24:9 ). <strong> 4. </strong> The folly of the <em> nâbhâl </em> is never mere intellectual deficiency or stupidity; it is a moral fault, sometimes a crime, always a sin. ‘To commit folly’ is a euphemism for gross unchastity ( Deuteronomy 22:21 , Jeremiah 29:23 ); the word is used also of sacrilege ( Joshua 7:15 ), of blasphemy ( Psalms 74:18 ), as well as of impiety in general ( Deuteronomy 32:6 , Psalms 14:1 ). These words are sometimes employed in a more general sense; to determine the shade of meaning applicable in any passage, a study of the context is essential. For further details see Kennedy, <em> [[Hebrew]] Synonyms </em> , p. 29 ff. </p> <p> In the NT the Gr. words for ‘fool’ describe him as ‘deficient in understanding’ (Luke 24:25 ), ‘unwise’ ( Ephesians 5:16 ), ‘senseless’ ( Luke 12:20 ), ‘unintelligent’ ( Romans 1:21 ). The Gr. word which corresponds to the ‘impious fool’ of the OT is found in Matthew 5:22 : <em> [[Raca]] </em> expresses ‘contempt for a man’s head = you stupid!’ But ‘fool’ ( <em> môre </em> ) expresses ‘contempt for his heart and character = you scoundrell’ (Bruce, <em> EGT </em> <em> [Note: Expositor’s [[Greek]] Testament.] </em> <em> , in loc. </em> ). If <em> môre </em> were ‘a Hebrew expression of condemnation’ (RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ), it would ‘enjoy the distinction of being the <em> only </em> pure Hebrew word in the Greek Testament’ (Field, <em> [[Notes]] on the [[Translation]] of NT </em> , p. 3). A ‘ <em> pure </em> Hebrew word’ means a word not taken from the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] and not Aramaic. </p> <p> J. G. Tasker. </p>

<p> The diversity in the conceptions of folly is strikingly illustrated by the use in the writings of the [[Apostolic]] [[Church]] of the terms ‘fool’ and ‘foolish,’ translating the [[Greek]] words ἅφρων, μωρός, ἅσοφοι, ἀνόητος, ἀσύνετος, and related forms. </p> <p> 1. There appears to be a reference to folly as intentional clownishness in Ephesians 5:4. The [[Christian]] must avoid ‘foolish talking or jesting’ (μωρολογία καὶ εὐτραπελία). </p> <p> 2. [[Unseemly]] and undignified conduct is folly. [[Thus]] St. Paul, vindicating his apostleship, is reluctantly led to a self-commendation, such as, in other circumstances, only a fool in the folly of boasting would offer (2 Corinthians 11:16; 2 Corinthians 11:18; 2 Corinthians 11:21; 2 Corinthians 12:11; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:13). There is, however, a deeper folly-unwarranted boasting (2 Corinthians 12:6). [[Twice]] in these 2 Cor. passages a certain play on the idea of folly is presented. St. [[Paul]] in self-defence is compelled to speak as a fool, yet are not the real fools the Corinthians, ironically φρόνιμοι, for tolerating fools, namely the false teachers? (2 Corinthians 11:17; 2 Corinthians 11:19-20). Again the Apostle, having acknowledged ‘I speak as a fool’ (in my boasting), presently comes to the mere supposition that these false teachers are servants of Christ-the sense of the parenthesis changes-‘Now indeed, I do speak out of my mind’ (2 Corinthians 11:21; 2 Corinthians 11:23). </p> <p> 3. The term ‘fool’ (ἅφρων), signifying mental stupidity, is applied to the imaginary controversialist of 1 Corinthians 15:36, who finds unnecessary difficulties in the [[Resurrection]] (cf. the ‘foolish controversies’ of 1 Timothy 6:4, 2 Timothy 2:23, Titus 3:9). </p> <p> 4. The ‘foolish Galatians’ (ἀνόητοι) appear to be rebuked for bad judgment, rather than for moral perverseness. They must be ‘bewitched’ to have so readily accepted another teaching (Galatians 3:1-3). </p> <p> 5. Instances of moral folly are provided by those who live without regard to the chief end of life. These are ἅσοφοι and ἅφρονες (Ephesians 5:15-17). [[Foolish]] are the lusts of the rich (1 Timothy 6:9), and the unregenerate life is one of foolishness (Titus 3:3). </p> <p> 6. [[Heathenism]] supplied a conspicuous and illuminating case of moral and intellectual folly (Romans 1:18 f.; cf. Romans 2:20). To St. Paul, the worship of wood and stone indicated an underlying moral defect of liking for the unreal rather than for the real-for make-belief rather than for belief (Romans 2:25), which found expression in morality as well as in worship (Romans 2:24 f.). This moral folly led to intellectual foolishness, which ‘learned disputations’ disguised and fostered. There must be a moral element in sane intellectual judgment (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, and Carlyle’s comment upon Napoleon: ‘He did not know true from false now when he looked at them,-the fearfulest penalty a man pays for yielding to untruth of heart’ [ <i> Heroes and Hero-worship </i> , 1872, ‘The [[Hero]] as King,’ p. 221]). </p> <p> 7. In the judgment of the critical Greek intellectualists, the preaching of ‘Christ crucified’ was folly (1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:21; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 1:25). A gospel centred in the person of an ignominiously executed criminal, and finding indeed a mystic value in that death, was likely to provoke the contempt of a highly philosophical community. In contrast, St. Paul presents, as the true norm whereby wisdom and folly are to be judged, a mystic γνῶσις: to the unspiritual, foolishness (1 Corinthians 2:14), but to the initiated, the power and wisdom of [[God]] (1 Corinthians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30)-a presentation which invites comparison with the γνῶσις of the Mysteries. [[Probably]] the distinction here suggested is that between the intuitional, mystic experience of God and His power, and the intellectual theorizing <i> about </i> God and His dealings with the world. [[Religious]] ‘wisdom’ must be judged primarily in terms of spiritual experience rather than of theology. At the same time, St. Paul had no love for obscurantism (1 Corinthians 14). </p> <p> 8. The evil of the intellectual ism within the Church, indicated in 1 Cor., was not that it challenged the distinctive forms of Christian faith, but that it gave rise to the bitterness of religious controversy-sacrificed the love which never failed in value for the sake of the mere forms of knowledge, which at the best necessarily passed away in the coming of greater light (1 Corinthians 13:11). [[Let]] these childishly (1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 3:3) ‘wise’ become ‘fools’ that they may gain the wisdom of the childlike (1 Corinthians 3:18-23). </p> <p> 9. ‘Fools for Christ’s sake’-so St. Paul describes himself and his fellow-evangelists in 1 Corinthians 4:10. The epithet may have been applied on account of the ‘foolishness’ of the preaching (7); the contrast, however, with the φρόνιμοι ἐν Χριστῷ, <i> prudentes in Christo </i> , suggests that the reference is to the worldly-wiseman’s view of the sanctified ‘abandon’ of St. Paul and his kindred spirits, their flinging aside of policy and cunning, their counting as nought the things which the world deems precious. The [[Apostle]] is actually regarded by [[Festus]] as out of his mind (Acts 26:24). </p> <p> H. Bulcock. </p>

<p> Fool. This term, in Scripture, implies moral pravity. The fool is not merely an unreasonable, he is a sinful person. 2 Samuel 13:13; Psalms 14:1; Proverbs 19:1; Proverbs 19:29; Proverbs 20:3; Proverbs 26:4-5; Matthew 23:17; Romans 1:21-22. Hence the censure of one who unjustifiably cast so great a reproach upon a brother. Matthew 5:22. </p>