Proverbs 26:10 kjv

The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.

Proverbs 26:10 nkjv

The great God who formed everything Gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages.

Proverbs 26:10 niv

Like an archer who wounds at random is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.

Proverbs 26:10 esv

Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.

Proverbs 26:10 nlt

An employer who hires a fool or a bystander
is like an archer who shoots at random.

Proverbs 26 verses

Proverbs 26 10 Meaning

Proverbs 26:10 is one of the most textually challenging verses in the book of Proverbs, with significant differences in translation among reputable English versions, leading to two primary interpretations.

One interpretation, reflected in versions like the NIV and CSB, portrays a harmful individual or action. It suggests, "Like an archer who wounds everyone is he who hires a fool or hires those who pass by." In this view, a great individual, perhaps powerful and reckless (like an archer wounding indiscriminately), causes widespread damage by making poor employment choices—hiring fools who are incompetent and destructive, or employing unreliable, opportunistic passers-by. This interpretation emphasizes the danger and harm resulting from a lack of discernment in leadership or patronage.

The second major interpretation, found in translations like the KJV, NKJV, and ESV, attributes the action to God. It states, "The great God who formed all things gives the fool his hire and gives transgressors their wages." Here, the verse speaks of God's universal governance and ultimate justice. God, as the Master Creator, sovereignly oversees all things and, in His perfect wisdom, ensures that both the foolish and the rebellious receive their due recompense, whether it be reward or punishment according to His will. This understanding emphasizes divine justice and sovereignty over human affairs, including the consequences of one's actions.

This analysis will navigate both significant interpretations due to the profound impact on the verse's meaning.

Proverbs 26 10 Context

Proverbs chapter 26 is largely dedicated to describing the nature and perils of fools, sluggards, and busybodies. Verses 1-12 particularly focus on the fool, presenting various facets of their character and how one should, or should not, interact with them. For example, verse 4 warns against answering a fool according to his folly, while verse 5 advises the opposite, indicating the careful discernment required when dealing with such individuals. Verse 6 describes the folly of entrusting a fool with a message.

Against this backdrop, Proverbs 26:10 either emphasizes the severe consequences of misplaced trust (hiring a fool) or provides a theological grounding for understanding why fools exist and what becomes of them (God's justice). If interpreted as concerning poor hiring practices, it serves as a culmination of the warnings in the preceding verses about the pervasive negative impact of a fool. If understood as divine action, it highlights God's sovereign role in allowing folly and sin to run their course, ultimately bringing them to judgment, which contextualizes why one needs wisdom to navigate a world where foolishness has consequences meted out by God.

Proverbs 26 10 Word analysis

• רַב (rav):
  • Meaning: "great," "much," "many," "chief," "master."
  • Significance: This word initiates the textual challenge. If it refers to God ("the great God" as in ESV, KJV), it emphasizes His power and sovereignty. If it refers to a "great person" or "master" who then errs (NIV, NASB), it sets up a powerful individual as the subject of error.
• מְחוֹלֵל (meḥôlel):
  • Meaning: This is the crux of the textual difficulty.
    • Interpretation 1 (Creator/Former): Related to the verb חוּל (chul), meaning "to writhe," "to bring forth," "to form," often associated with birth pangs and creation. Hence, "who formed" or "the creator." This supports the divine interpretation.
    • Interpretation 2 (Wounder/Archer): Often a proposed emendation or different vocalization of a similar root (חָלַל - ḥālal), meaning "to pierce," "to wound," "to profane." This interpretation often leads to "like an archer who wounds" (NIV) or "a master archer."
  • Significance: The choice of root here completely alters the meaning of the verse, from divine action to human folly causing harm. Scholars often prefer the "wounder" interpretation for better contextual fit with surrounding proverbs about harm from fools.
• כֹּל (kol):
  • Meaning: "all," "everything," "everyone."
  • Significance: In the "God created" view, this refers to "all things" that God formed. In the "archer who wounds" view, this refers to "everyone" whom the archer/harmful person wounds. The scope of "all" is central to understanding the extent of God's dominion or the archer's destructive impact.
• וְשֹׂכֵר (wĕśōḵēr):
  • Meaning: "and hires," "and hires out," from the verb שָׂכַר (sāḵar), meaning "to hire," "to employ," "to rent."
  • Significance: This part is relatively consistent across interpretations regarding the act of hiring. The variance is who is doing the hiring (God rewarding vs. a person making bad hires) and what is hired/rewarded.
• כְּסִיל (kĕsîl):
  • Meaning: "fool." A common term in Proverbs for someone intellectually dull, morally insensible, stubborn, and impervious to instruction, representing the opposite of wisdom.
  • Significance: Whether God rewards the fool (giving them their just due) or someone hires a fool (to their own detriment), the character of the fool remains consistently problematic, warranting clear identification.
• שֶׂכֶר (śeḵer) / שְׂכָרָם (śəḵārām):
  • Meaning: "hire," "wages," "recompense," "reward."
  • Significance: Refers to what is due to the fool and transgressors. In the "God rewards" view, it’s the divine apportionment of fate/justice. In the "harmful hiring" view, it could imply that the consequence of hiring a fool is negative "wages" for the employer, or that the fool receives the payment despite being destructive.
• עֹבְרִים (ʿōvərîm):
  • Meaning: "those who pass by," "passers-by."
  • Significance: Used by NIV and others, this suggests indiscriminate hiring of unreliable, unknown individuals, paralleling the foolish hire. Some ancient versions and commentaries relate this to "transgressors" (פּשע, from root for pass over or transgress). KJV/ESV's "transgressors" could be an interpretive leap based on surrounding verses where fools are often also transgressors. The precise nuance of "passers-by" in a hiring context emphasizes their lack of commitment, knowledge, or specific suitability, implying they are only seeking opportunistic gain rather than faithful service.

Words-group by Words-group analysis:

• "רַב מְחוֹלֵל כֹּל" (rav meḥôlel kol): This phrase constitutes the primary source of textual ambiguity.

  • "The great God who formed all things" (KJV, ESV): Interprets "rav" as "God" and "meḥôlel" as "former/creator." This points to God's universal creative power and His subsequent sovereign ordering of all creation, including His just dealings with humanity.
  • "Like an archer who wounds everyone" (NIV): Interprets "rav" as "master" or "great one," and "meḥôlel" as related to wounding. This sets up a powerful but dangerous individual, like a reckless archer, whose actions cause indiscriminate harm to "everyone."
  • Significance: This opening phrase sets the entire theological or practical direction of the proverb. The theological implication is divine omniscience and justice, while the practical implication is human responsibility for choices and their far-reaching harmful consequences.

• "וְשֹׂכֵר כְּסִיל וְשֹׂכֵר עֹבְרִים" (wĕśōḵēr kĕsîl wĕśōḵēr ʿōvərîm):

  • "Gives the fool his hire and gives transgressors their wages" (KJV, ESV): If God is the agent, then this describes God's just allocation of consequences to the fool and the transgressor. This is an expression of divine judgment or recompense in accordance with their nature and deeds.
  • "He who hires a fool or hires those who pass by" (NIV): If a reckless person/archer is the agent, then this describes a misguided act of hiring. It illustrates the destructive consequence of hiring unqualified (fool) or unreliable (passer-by) individuals, suggesting the employer themselves will incur harm, similar to the archer's indiscriminately wounded targets.
  • Significance: This parallelism highlights the detrimental effect of associating with the unwise. Whether it is God who determines the fool's lot or a person who foolishly empowers them, the folly leads to deserved recompense or generated harm.

Proverbs 26 10 Bonus section

The textual difficulty of Proverbs 26:10 is one of the most widely debated among Old Testament scholars. The Septuagint (LXX), an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, provides yet another fascinating reading, often translated as something akin to "Much is the rage of those who dwell in the heart, and great is the wrath of those who send the fools." This shows the profound interpretative struggle that even ancient translators faced with this verse's original Hebrew.

The difference stems primarily from the vocalization and potential underlying root of the word מְחוֹלֵל (meḥôlel). Hebrew consonant texts (like the Masoretic Text) leave vowels out, so מחולל could be vocalized to mean "creator," "wounds," or "profanes," depending on the intended root. Some scholars suggest the current Masoretic vocalization ("meḥôlel" as in "formed/created") might be an attempt to make sense of a difficult, possibly corrupted or unfamiliar, earlier form of the text, perhaps connecting it to the common biblical theme of God as creator. However, others propose it is a different verbal root, often a piel participle of חָלַל (ḥālal), implying "piercing," "wounding," or "profaning," which would fit the context of harm from an "archer." This explains why modern translations like the NIV move significantly away from the traditional KJV reading. The lack of a strong direct object for the archer's wounding in some readings led to a shift towards a causal interpretation: the archer causes everyone to be wounded by hiring a fool.

Ultimately, Proverbs' core message, regardless of specific textual challenges, emphasizes discerning character and the certainty of just recompense for all actions.

Proverbs 26 10 Commentary

Proverbs 26:10 stands as a poignant example of the rich but sometimes challenging nature of ancient Hebrew poetry. While scholarship leans towards the interpretation of the dangers of unwise employment choices due to a problematic Hebrew text, the theological alternative provides a compelling reflection on divine justice.

If read as a warning against harmful hiring, the proverb serves as a stark admonition: to elevate or empower a fool or an unreliable person is to court disaster. Just as an unhinged archer poses a universal threat, so too does a master who neglects discernment in selecting their agents or employees. This resonates with numerous Proverbs emphasizing prudence in associations and leadership. Hiring those lacking wisdom, character, or commitment inevitably brings disarray, financial loss, or social discredit. Such choices ultimately injure the decision-maker, just as the archer’s arrows harm many, or as the work of the incompetent damages all associated. It underscores the profound responsibility that comes with influence and patronage.

Conversely, if the verse is interpreted as speaking of the sovereign God, it reveals a foundational truth of divine justice: all beings, wise or foolish, obedient or transgressive, are ultimately subject to God's will and receive what is due to them. God, as the grand Creator of everything, operates in a perfectly just manner, ensuring that no deed goes unnoticed or unrewarded/unpunished. The "wages" for the fool and transgressor are a testament to God's righteous governance, not arbitrary whim. This perspective encourages trust in God's ultimate fairness and underscores that humanity's actions do not escape divine reckoning.

Both interpretations converge on a common underlying principle from Proverbs: there are clear, inevitable consequences for both wisdom and folly.

Examples:

• Hiring Interpretation: A business owner hiring a charismatic but lazy salesperson (the "fool") or employing casual, unchecked labor ("passers-by") for critical tasks, leading to loss of revenue or damaged reputation.
• Divine Interpretation: An individual who consistently chooses to live foolishly, ignoring wisdom and spiritual truth, will eventually experience the natural and divinely ordained consequences of their path (e.g., ruin, regret, separation from God), just as a transgressor receives the due wages of their sin.