Do You Really Know What Is a Fool?

(compiled, grouped, & formatted by Bill Stevenson)

Note: My search in the Lockman Foundation’s Amplified Bible for “fool” resulted in 70 verses in the
Old Testament and 4 in the New Testament. I have sorted and grouped most of the verses. I have
included some of the contexts and deleted verses that did not directly indicate what a fool is.

***Prideful and arrogant--

Psalms 39:8 “Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the scorn {and} reproach of the
[self-confident] fool!”

Proverbs 28:26 “He who leans on, trusts in, {and} is confident of his own mind {and} heart is a
[self-confident] fool, but he who walks in skillful {and} Godly wisdom shall be delivered.”

Psalms 49:10 “For he sees that even wise men die; the [self-confident] fool and the stupid alike perish
and leave their wealth to others.”

Proverbs 10:23 “It is as sport to a [self-confident] fool to do wickedness, but to have skillful {and}
Godly wisdom is pleasure {and} relaxation to a man of understanding.”

Proverbs 12:15 “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who listens to counsel is wise.”

Proverbs 14:16 “A wise man suspects danger and cautiously avoids evil, but the fool bears himself
insolently and is [presumptuously] confident.”

Proverbs 15:2 “The tongue of the wise utters knowledge rightly, but the mouth of the [self-confident]
fool pours out folly.”

Proverbs 17:28 “Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he
is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Ecclesiastes 5:3 “For a dream comes with much business {and} painful effort, and a fool's voice with
many words.”

Proverbs 18:2 “A [self-confident] fool has no delight in understanding but only in revealing his
personal opinions {and} himself.”

***Not prudent or wise--

Psalms 92:6-8 “A man in his rude {and} uncultivated state knows not, neither does a [self-confident]
fool understand this: that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are
doomed to be destroyed forever. But You, Lord, are on high forever.”

Proverbs 15:14 “The mind of him who has understanding seeks knowledge and inquires after {and}
craves it, but the mouth of the [self-confident] fool feeds on folly.”

Proverbs 17:16 “Of what use is money in the hand of a [self-confident] fool to buy skillful {and}
Godly wisdom-- when he has no understanding {or} heart for it?”

Proverbs 17:24 “A man of understanding sets skillful {and} Godly wisdom before his face, but the
eyes of a [self-confident] fool are on the ends of the Earth.”

Ecclesiastes 10:3 “Even when he who is a fool walks along the road, his heart {and} understanding
fail him, and he says of everyone {and} to everyone that he is a fool.”

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Ecclesiastes 10:14 A fool also multiplies words, though no man can tell what will be-- and what will
happen after he is gone, who can tell him?

Ecclesiastes 7:6 “For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also
is vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)!”

***Made many mistakes--

1 Samuel 26:21 “Then said Saul, I have sinned. ‘Return, my son David, for I will no more do you
harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have erred
exceedingly.’”

Luke 12:16-23 & 34 “Then He [Jesus Christ] told them a parable, saying, ‘The land of a rich man was
fertile {and} yielded plentifully. And he considered {and} debated within himself, What shall I do? I have
no place [in which] to gather together my harvest. And he said, I will do this: I will pull down my
storehouses and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain {or produce} and my goods. And I
will say to my soul, Soul, you have many good things laid up, [enough] for many years. Take your ease;
eat, drink, {and} enjoy yourself merrily. But God said to him, You fool! This very night they [the
messengers of God] will demand your soul of you; and all the things that you have prepared, whose will
they be? Luke 12:21 So it is with the one who continues to lay up {and} hoard possessions for himself
and is not rich [in his relation] to God [this is how he fares]. And [Jesus] said to His Disciples, Therefore I
tell you, do not be anxious {and} troubled [with cares] about your life, as to what you will [have to] eat;
or about your body, as to what you will [have to] wear. For life is more than food, and the body [more]
than clothes…. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’”

Ecclesiastes 4:5 “The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh [destroying himself by
indolence].”

Proverbs 12:16 “A fool's wrath is quickly {and} openly known, but a prudent man ignores an insult.”

Proverbs 29:11 “A [self-confident] fool utters all his anger, but a wise man holds it back and stills it.”

Proverbs 17:12 “Let [the brute ferocity of] a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather than a [self-
confident] fool in his folly [when he is in a rage].”

Proverbs 27:3 “Stone is heavy and sand weighty, but a fool's [unreasoning] wrath is heavier {and}
more intolerable than both of them.”

Proverbs 13:16 “Every prudent man deals with knowledge, but a [self-confident] fool exposes {and}
flaunts his folly.”

Proverbs 14:3 “In the fool's own mouth is a rod [to shame] his pride, but the wise men's lip preserve
them.”

Proverbs 17:7 “Excellent speech does not befit [an empty-headed] fool-- much less do lying lips
befit a prince.”

Proverbs 19:1 “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his
speech and is a [self-confident] fool.

Proverbs 20:3 “It is an honor for a man to cease from strife {and} keep aloof from it, but every fool
will quarrel.”

Proverbs 24:7 “Wisdom is too high for a fool; he opens not his mouth in the gate [where the city's
rulers sit in judgment].”
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***Committed horrible sins--
Ecclesiastes 2:14 “The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness; and yet I
perceived that [in the end] one event happens to them both.”

Job 31:7-11 “‘If my step has turned out of [God's] way, and my heart has gone the way my eyes
[covetously] invited, and if any spot has stained my hands with guilt, then let me sow and let another eat;
yes, let the produce of my field {or} my offspring be rooted out. If my heart has been deceived {and} I
made a fool by a woman, or if I have [covetously] laid wait at my neighbor's door [until his departure],
then let my wife grind [meal, like a bondslave] for another, and let others bow down upon her. For
[adultery] is a heinous {and} chief crime, an iniquity [to demand action by] the judges {and}
punishment.’”

Proverbs 7:27 “With much justifying {and} enticing argument she persuades him, with the
allurements of her lips she leads him [to overcome his conscience and his fears] {and} forces him
along. Suddenly he [yields and] follows her reluctantly like an ox moving to the slaughter, like one
in fetters going to the correction [to be given] to a fool {or} {like a dog enticed by food to the
muzzle} till a dart [of passion] pierces {and} inflames his vitals; then like a bird fluttering straight
into the net [he hastens], not knowing that it will cost him his life. Listen to me now therefore, O you
sons, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart incline toward her ways, do not
stray into her paths. For she has cast down many wounded; indeed, all her slain are a mighty host. Her
house is the way to Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead), going down to the chambers of death.”

Isaiah 32:6 “For the fool speaks folly and his mind plans iniquity: practicing profane unGodliness
and speaking error concerning the Lord, leaving the craving of the hungry unsatisfied and causing
the drink of the thirsty to fail.”

Psalms 14:1 “The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt,
they have done abominable deeds; there is none that does good {or} right.”

Psalms 53:1 “The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ Corrupt {and} evil
are they, and doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.”

Jeremiah 17:11 “Like the partridge that gathers a brood which she did not hatch {and} sits on eggs
which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches by unjust means {and} not by right. He will leave
them, {or} they will leave him, in the midst of his days, and at his end he will be a fool.”

Proverbs 10:18 “He who hides hatred is of lying lips, and he who utters slander is a [self-confident]
fool.”

***Rebellious--
Proverbs 15:5 “A fool despises his father's instruction {and} correction, but he who regards reproof
acquires prudence.”

Proverbs 17:10 “A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes into a [self-
confident] fool.”

***For those who condone fools--

Proverbs 13:20 “He who walks [as a companion] with wise men is wise, but he who associates with
[self-confident] fools is [a fool himself and] shall smart for it.”

Proverbs 17:21 “He who becomes the parent of a [self-confident] fool does it to his sorrow, and the
father of [an empty-headed] fool has no joy [in him].”

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Proverbs 26:4-12 “Answer not a [self-confident] fool according to his folly, lest you also be like
him. Answer a [self-confident] fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes {and}
conceit. He who sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off the feet [of satisfactory delivery] and
drinks the damage. Like the legs of a lame man which hang loose, so is a parable in the mouth of a
fool. Like he who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a [self-confident] fool. Like a
thorn that goes [without being felt] into the hand of a drunken man, so is a proverb in the mouth of
a [self-confident] fool. [But] like an archer who wounds all, so is he who hires a fool or chance
passers-by. As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly. Do you see a man wise in his
own eyes {and} conceit? There is more hope for a [self-confident] fool than for him.”

***Implied possible rewards--

Proverbs 21:11 “When the scoffer is punished, the fool gets a lesson in being wise; but men of
[Godly] wisdom {and} good sense learn by being instructed.”

Proverbs 23:9 “Speak not in the ears of a [self-confident] fool, for he [or she] will despise the
[Godly] wisdom of your words.”

Proverbs 29:9 “If a wise man has an argument with a foolish man, the fool only rages or laughs,
and there is no rest.”

Proverbs 26:1 “Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a [self-
confident] fool.”

Proverbs 19:10 “Luxury is not fitting for a [self-confident] fool-- much less for a slave to rule over
princes.”

Proverbs 27:22 “Even though like grain you should pound a fool in a mortar with a pestle, yet will not
his foolishness depart from him.”

Proverbs 29:20 “Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a [self-
confident] fool than for him.”

Proverbs 18:6-7 “A [self-confident] fool's lips bring contention, and his mouth invites a beating. A
[self-confident] fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to himself.”

Ecclesiastes 10:12 “The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious {and} win him favor, but the lips of
a fool consume him.”

Isaiah 32:5 “The fool (the unbeliever and the unGodly) will no more be called noble, nor the crafty
{and} greedy [for gain] said to be bountiful {and} princely.”

Jeremiah 17:11 “Like the partridge that gathers a brood which she did not hatch {and} sits on eggs
which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches by unjust means {and} not by right. He will leave
them, {or} they will leave him, in the midst of his days, and at his end he will be a fool.”