Twelve Instances of Stupid—Back to Back

Twelve Instances of Stupid—Back to Back

Huh! Twelve instances of ‘stupid’ in the Bible. As much as I have been through it, as many times as I have heard different ones cited, I never knew they were all in one place.

The congregation has come around to Proverbs 26 for its weekly Bible reading. Proverbs 26–where all the ‘stupids’ are! One after another! Will I cite one for my own comment? If so, which one?

Some of them are real beauts. Such as 8: “Like tying a stone to a sling, So is giving glory to someone stupid.” I mean, you want that stone to fly when you whirl it up with a sling and let go. You think David would have taken out Goliath had the thing been tied there?

Bear in mind there is a moral component to ‘stupid’ as the Bible uses the term. It’s not just IQ.

The ‘stupids’ are immediately followed by a collection of 5 ‘lazys.’ Again, some are beauts: “A door keeps turning on its hinges, And the lazy one on his bed.” (vs 14) And I can still recall the circuit overseer who loved 15. He quoted it again and again: “The lazy one buries his hand in the banquet bowl, But he is too tired to bring it back to his mouth.” Can’t quite get it back there, even if it means starvation.

Then there is a long collection of unnamed stupids or lazys—usually stupids. Such as the busybody: “Like someone grabbing hold of a dog’s ears Is the one passing by who becomes furious about a quarrel that is not his.” Don’t think cocker spaniel. Think pit bull. Isn’t it nice when people mind their own business?

They’re all pithy thought-gems. Seems like they would fit here.

Keepers from Proverbs 27

The congregation is going through Proverbs 27 right now.

This one is a beaut. It just is:

“Even if you pound a fool with a pestle Like crushed grain in a mortar, His foolishness will not leave him.” (27:22)

Ha! Mash him and dash him, crush and smush, mix and reafix, run him over with a steamroller. Doesn’t matter what you do—that foolishness will not be separated from him.

This one is a worthy runner-up:

“When someone blesses his fellow man with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be counted as a curse to him.” (27:14)

People should be banned who are too chipper—you know, that character who shouts “GOOD MORNING!!” when you are not even sure that it is morning, and if so, how you feel about it.

I think the principle can be extended to those who think adding an exclamation mark will impart excitement to a text that is not otherwise that way.

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