Proverbs 9:7-8

9:7 Whoever corrects ¹  a mocker is asking for ²  insult; ³ 

whoever reproves a wicked person receives ⁴  abuse.

9:8 Do not reprove ⁵  a mocker or ⁶  he will hate you;

reprove a wise person and he will love you.

Proverbs 26:4-5

26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, ⁷ 

lest you yourself also be like him. ⁸ 

26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, ⁹ 

lest he be wise in his own estimation. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 36:21

36:21 They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”

Matthew 7:6

7:6 Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces. ¹¹ 

Acts 13:45-46

13:45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, ¹²  and they began to contradict ¹³  what Paul was saying ¹⁴  by reviling him. ¹⁵  13:46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously, ¹⁶  “It was necessary to speak the word of God ¹⁷  to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy ¹⁸  of eternal life, we ¹⁹  are turning to the Gentiles. ²⁰ 

Acts 28:25-28

28:25 So they began to leave, ²¹  unable to agree among themselves, after Paul made one last statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly to your ancestors ²²  through the prophet Isaiah 28:26 when he said,

‘Go to this people and say,

“You will keep on hearing, ²³  but will never understand,

and you will keep on looking, ²⁴  but will never perceive.

28:27 For the heart of this people has become dull, ²⁵ 

and their ears are hard of hearing, ²⁶ 

and they have closed their eyes,

so that they would not see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, ²⁷  and I would heal them.”’ ²⁸ 

28:28 “Therefore be advised ²⁹  that this salvation from God ³⁰  has been sent to the Gentiles; ³¹  they ³²  will listen!”

[9:7]  ¹ tn The active participle יֹסֵר (yoser) describes one who tries to correct by means of instruction and discipline; it is paralleled by the Hiphil participle which refers to someone who rebukes or reproves another. Anyone trying this on these types of people would be inviting trouble.

[9:7]  ² tn Heb “receives for himself.”

[9:7]  ³ tn The word means “dishonor” or “disgrace.” It is paralleled with מוּמוֹ (mumo), translated “abuse.” The latter term means “blemish,” although some would emend the text to read “reproach.” The MT is figurative but not impossible to interpret: Whoever tries to rebuke a wicked person will receive only insults and perhaps physical attack.

[9:7]  ⁴ tn The verb “receives” is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness.

[9:8]  ⁵ tn In view of the expected response for reproof, the text now uses a negated jussive to advise against the attempt. This is paralleled antithetically by the imperative in the second colon. This imperative is in an understood conditional clause: “if you reprove a wise person.”

[9:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “lest he hate you.” The particle פֶּן (pen, “lest”) expresses fear or precaution (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 79, §476). The antonyms “love” and “hate” suggest that the latter means “reject” and the former means “choosing and embracing.”

[26:4]  ⁷ sn One should not answer a fool’s foolish questions in line with the fool’s mode of reasoning (J. H. Greenstone, Proverbs, 274).

[26:4]  ⁸ sn The person who descends to the level of a fool to argue with him only looks like a fool as well.

[26:5]  ⁹ sn The apparent contradiction with the last verse has troubled commentators for some time. The Rabbis solved it by saying that v. 4 referred to secular things, but v. 5 referred to sacred or religious controversies. While this does not resolve the issue, it does give a sound application for the two verses together – in negligible issues one should just ignore the stupid person, but in issues that matter the fool must be dealt with, lest credence be given to what he says (W. G. Plaut, Proverbs, 266). The text presents two proverbs each of which presents an aspect of the whole truth. One should not lower himself to the level of the fool, but there are times when the lesser of two evils is to do so, other than let the fool gain confidence that he is a wise person or be considered wise by others. Paul, for example, talked like a “fool” to correct the foolish ideas of the Corinthians (2 Cor 11:16-17; 12:11).

[26:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[7:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “otherwise the latter will trample them under their feet and the former will turn around and tear you to pieces.” This verse is sometimes understood as a chiasm of the pattern a-b-b-a, in which the first and last clauses belong together (“dogs…turn around and tear you to pieces”) and the second and third clauses belong together (“pigs…trample them under their feet”).

[13:45]  ¹² sn They were filled with jealousy. Their foolish response to the gospel is noted again (see Acts 5:17). The same verb is used in Acts 7:9; 17:5.

[13:45]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verb ἀντέλεγον (antelegon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect in the logical sequence of events: After they were filled with jealousy, the Jewish opponents began to contradict what Paul said.

[13:45]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the things being said by Paul.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:45]  ¹⁵ tn The participle βλασφημοῦντες (blasfhmounte") has been regarded as indicating the means of the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as a finite verb (“and reviled him”) in keeping with contemporary English style. The direct object (“him”) is implied rather than expressed and could be impersonal (“it,” referring to what Paul was saying rather than Paul himself), but the verb occurs more often in contexts involving defamation or slander against personal beings (not always God). For a very similar context to this one, compare Acts 18:6. The translation “blaspheme” is not used because in contemporary English its meaning is more narrowly defined and normally refers to blasphemy against God (not what Paul’s opponents were doing here). The modern term “slandering” comes close to what was being done to Paul here.

[13:46]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out courageously and said.” The redundancy is removed in the translation and the verb “replied” is used in keeping with the logical sequence of events. The theme of boldness reappears: Acts 4:24-30; 9:27-28.

[13:46]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken.” For smoothness and simplicity of English style, the passive construction has been converted to active voice in the translation.

[13:46]  ¹⁸ tn Or “and consider yourselves unworthy.”

[13:46]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “behold, we.” In this context ἰδού (idou) is not easily translated into English.

[13:46]  ²⁰ sn This turning to the Gentiles would be a shocking rebuke to 1st century Jews who thought they alone were the recipients of the promise.

[28:25]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verb ἀπελύοντο (apeluonto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[28:25]  ²² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[28:26]  ²³ tn Grk “you will hear with hearing” (an idiom).

[28:26]  ²⁴ tn Or “seeing”; Grk “you will look by looking” (an idiom).

[28:27]  ²⁵ tn Or “insensitive.”

[28:27]  ²⁶ tn Grk “they hear heavily with their ears” (an idiom for slow comprehension).

[28:27]  ²⁷ sn Note how the failure to respond to the message of the gospel is seen as a failure to turn.

[28:27]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.

[28:28]  ²⁹ tn Grk “Therefore let it be known to you.”

[28:28]  ³⁰ tn Or “of God.”

[28:28]  ³¹ sn The term Gentiles is in emphatic position in the Greek text of this clause. Once again there is the pattern: Jewish rejection of the gospel leads to an emphasis on Gentile inclusion (Acts 13:44-47).

[28:28]  ³² tn Grk “they also.”