fool נבל, nābhāl, אויל, ’ĕwı̄l, כּסיל, keṣı̄l, סכל, ṣākhāl and forms; ἄφρων, áphrōn, ἀφροσύνη, aphrosúnē, μωρός, mōrós):
I. In the Old Testament
1. General
Taking the words generally, apart from the Wisdom literature, we find nābhāl frequently translated “fool” and nebhālāh, “folly”; nābhāl, however, denotes a wicked person, an evil character, “shamelessly immoral,” equivalent to “a son of Belial” (Cheyne), rather than a merely “foolish” person, and nebhālāh, “wickedness,” “shameless impropriety,” rather than simple folly. We have almost a definition of nābhāl in [Isa 32:6]: “For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profaneness, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.” Abigail described her husband, Nābhāl, as “a son of Belial” (the Revised Version (British and American) “worthless fellow”), “for as his name is, so is he” ([1Sa 25:25]), and what we read of him bears out this character. Other occurrences of the words support the above meaning; they are generally associated with some form of wickedness, frequently with base and unnatural lewdness ([Gen 34:7]; [Deu 22:21]; [Jos 7:15]; [Jdg 19:23], [Jdg 19:14]; [Jdg 20:6], [Jdg 20:10]; [2Sa 13:12]). When in [Psa 14:1]; [Psa 53:1] it is said, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,” it is followed by the statement, “They are corrupt, they have done abominable works,” showing that more than “folly” is implied. In [Isa 32:5], [Isa 32:6] the King James Version nābhāl is translated “vile person” and nebhālāh “villany,” the Revised Version (British and American) “fool” and “folly,” [Jer 29:23]; hālal, implying loud boasting is in the King James Version translated “foolish,” but it means, rather, “arrogant,” which the Revised Version (British and American) adopts ([Psa 5:5]; [Psa 73:3]; [Psa 75:4], margin “fools”); ṣākhāl, “a fool,” also occurs ([Gen 31:28]; [1Sa 13:13], etc.) for which word see (4) below; also yā’al “to be empty,” “to be or become foolish” ([Num 12:11]; [Isa 19:13]; [Jer 5:4]; [Jer 50:36]).
2. The Wisdom Literature
In the Ḥokhmāh or Wisdom literature, which, within the Bible, is contained in Job, Proverbs (especially), Ecclesiastes, Canticles, some Psalms and certain portions of the prophetic writings, “fool” and “folly” are frequent and distinctive words. Their significance is best seen in contrast with “Wisdom.” This was the outcome of careful observation and long pondering on actual life in the light of religion and the Divine revelation. Wisdom had its seat in God and was imparted to those who “feared” Him (“The fear of Yahweh is the beginning (chief part) of knowledge” [Pro 1:7]). Such wisdom was the essence of life, and to be without it was to walk in the way of death and destruction. The fool was he who was thoughtless, careless, conceited, self-sufficient, indifferent to God and His Will, or who might even oppose and scoff at religion and wise instruction. See WISDOM. Various words are used to designate “the fool” and his “folly.”
(1) nābhāl ([Job 2:10]; [Job 30:8]; [Psa 53:1]; [Pro 17:7-21]); ה, nebhalah ([Job 42:8]; [Isa 9:17]) (see above).
(2) ’ĕwı̄l, one of the commonest, the idea conveyed by which is that of one who is hasty, impatient, self-sufficient ([Pro 12:15]; [Pro 15:5]; [Pro 16:22]); despising advice and instruction ([Pro 1:7]; [Pro 14:9]; [Pro 24:7]); ready to speak and act without thinking ([Pro 10:14]; [Pro 12:16]; [Pro 20:3]); quick to get angry, quarrel and cause strife ([Pro 11:29]; [Pro 14:17] ’iwweleth; [Pro 29:9]); unrestrained in his anger ([Job 5:2]; [Pro 17:12]); silly, stupid even with brute stupidity ([Pro 7:22]; [Pro 26:11]; [Pro 27:22]; compare [Isa 19:11]; [Jer 4:22]); he is associated with “transgression” ([Psa 107:17]; [Pro 13:15]; [Pro 17:18], [Pro 17:19]), with “sin” ([Pro 24:9]), with the “scoffer” (same place) ; ’iwweleth, “foolishness” occurs ([Psa 38:5]; [Psa 69:5]; [Pro 13:16]; “folly,” [Pro 14:8], [Pro 14:24], [Pro 14:29], etc.).
(3) keṣı̄l is the word most frequent in Proverbs. It is probably from a root meaning “thickness,” “sluggishness,” suggesting a slow, self-confident person, but it is used with a wide reference. Self-confidence appears ([Pro 14:16]; [Pro 28:26]); ignorance ([Ecc 2:14]); hate of instruction ([Pro 1:22]; [Pro 18:2]); thoughtlessness ([Pro 10:23]; [Pro 17:24]); self-exposure ([Pro 14:33]; [Pro 15:2]; [Pro 18:7]; [Pro 29:11]; [Ecc 5:1]; [Ecc 10:12]); anger and contention ([Pro 18:6]; [Pro 19:1]; [Ecc 7:9]); rage ([Pro 14:16]; [Pro 17:12]); indolence and improvidence ([Ecc 4:5]; [Pro 21:20]); silly merriment ([Ecc 7:4], [Ecc 7:5], [Ecc 7:6]); brutishness ([Pro 26:11]; compare [Psa 49:10]; [Psa 92:6]); it is associated with slander ([Pro 10:18]), with evil ([Pro 13:19]).
(4) ṣākhāl, ṣekhel, ṣikhlūth, also occur. These are probably from a root meaning “to be stopped up” (Cheyne), and are generally taken as denoting thickheadedness; but they are used in a stronger sense than mere foolishness (compare [1Sa 26:21]; [2Sa 24:10], etc.). These words do not occur in Prov, but in [Ecc 2:12]; [Ecc 7:25]; ṣikhlūth is associated with “madness” (“Wickedness is folly, and ... foolishness is madness”).
(5) pethı̄, “simple,” is only once translated “foolish” ([Pro 9:6] the King James Version).
(6) ba‛ar, ’brutish,” is translated “foolish” ([Psa 73:22] the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) “brutish”).
(7) tāphēl, “insipid,” “untempered,” is translated “foolish” ([Lam 2:14]); tiphlāh, “insipidity” ([Job 1:22], “foolishly,” the English Revised Version, “with foolishness”; [Job 24:12], “folly”; [Jer 23:13], “folly,” the King James Version margin”unsavoury, or, an absurd thing”).
(8) tohŏlāh ([Job 4:18]: “Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants; and his angels he chargeth with folly” (Delitzsch, “imperfection,” others, “error”), the King James Version margin”nor in his angels in whom he put light”).
II. In the Apocrypha
In the continuation of the Wisdom literature in The Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclus, “fool” frequently occurs with a signification similar to that in Proverbs; in The Wisdom of Solomon we have aphrōn (12:24; 15:5, etc.), in Ecclesiasticus, mōros (18:18; 19:11, etc.; 20:13; 21:16, etc.).
III. In the New Testament
In the New Testament we have various words translated “fool,” “foolish,” “folly,” etc., in the ordinary acceptation of these terms; aphrōn, “mindless,” “witless” ([Luk 11:40]; [Luk 12:20]; [1Co 15:36]); aphrosunē, “want of mind or wisdom” ([2Co 11:1]; [Mar 7:22]); ánoia, “want of understanding” ([2Ti 3:9]); mōraı́nō, “to make dull,” “foolish” ([Rom 1:22]; [1Co 1:20]); mōros, “dull,” “stupid” ([Mat 7:26]; [Mat 23:17]; [Mat 25:2]; [1Co 1:25], [1Co 1:27]); mōrı́a, “foolishness” ([1Co 1:18], etc.); mōrologı́a, “foolish talk” ([Eph 5:4]).
In [Mat 5:22] our Lord says: “Whosoever shall say (to his brother), Thou fool (mōré), shall be in danger of the hell of fire (the Gehenna of fire).” Two explanations of this word are possible: (1) that it is not the vocative of the Greek mōroš - a word which was applied by Jesus Himself to the Pharisees ([Mat 23:17], [Mat 23:19]), but represents the Hebrew mōrāh, “rebel” applied in [Num 20:10] by Moses to the people, “ye rebels” (for which he was believed to be excluded from the promised land; compare [Num 20:12]; hence, we have in the Revised Version, margin “or mōreh, a Hebrew expression of condemnation”); or (2) that, as our Lord spake in the Aramaic it is the Greek translation of a word representing the Hebrew nābhāl, “vile, or worthless fellow,” atheist, etc. ([Psa 14:1]; [Psa 53:1]).
