Proverbs 26:13-28
For lack of wood the fire goes out,
Proverbs 26:20-21
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
Have you been setting — or fueling — any fires lately?
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! (James 3:5)
The first twelve verses in Proverbs 26 (yesterday) spoke of fools and their folly; then the first four verses in today’s reading referenced the sluggard and his ways. The author seems to harbor deep scorn for fools, but only ridicule for the lazy sluggard. However, Pr. 26:16 takes the sluggard to task: The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. But compare verse 16 with Pr. 26:12: Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. Put these two verses together and the author seems to set the fool above the sluggard. Flipped! But that’s all relative. The author has little regard for either the fool or the sluggard! Guidance for the wise among you!
I was hoping someone would pick up on “wiser in his own eyes” in Pr. 26:16 after talking about v. 12 yesterday…