Proverbs 27:3

27:3 A stone is heavy and sand is weighty,

but vexation ¹  by a fool is more burdensome ²  than the two of them.

Matthew 2:16

2:16 When Herod ³  saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he became enraged. He sent men ⁴  to kill all the children in Bethlehem ⁵  and throughout the surrounding region from the age of two and under, according to the time he had learned from the wise men.

[27:3]  ¹ tn The subject matter is the vexation produced by a fool. The term כַּעַס (ca’as) means “vexation” (ASV); provocation” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); “anger” (KJV “wrath”) and usually refers to undeserved treatment. Cf. NLT “the resentment caused by a fool.”

[27:3]  ² sn The contrast is made between dealing with the vexation of a fool and physical labor (moving stones and sand). More tiring is the vexation of a fool, for the mental and emotional effort it takes to deal with it is more draining than physical labor. It is, in the sense of this passage, almost unbearable.

[2:16]  ³ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.

[2:16]  ⁴ tn Or “soldiers.”

[2:16]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.