Pity the Fool?

"Timmy, come away from that cliff!" "Shhh, Balthasar. What cliff?" (Source)

     Religion is interesting. Most of the time, its goal is to inspire us away from our darker impulses and inspire us to better and brighter things. We are taught patience, forgiveness, forbearance, and all of those other nice words that would look lovely embroidered on a piece of cloth and hung over a mantelpiece. We are told to forgive our brother not once, not twice, but 490 times (Matthew 18:22) and to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). There is one person, however, who is not afforded this treatment in the lessons of the Bible--the fool.
     When we hear the word "fool" in the modern day, we might think of Mr. T, or some old crotchety grandparent saying, "don't be foolish". It's not a word that gets much usage. "Foolish" is a synonym for "stupid"--a person who just doesn't know any better. There are actually a few Hebrew words translated into the English "fool". A quick scan of the Strong's Concordance revealed these: 1, 2, 3, 4. The first definition and usage is the most fully-formed, meaning, "one who despises wisdom, who mocks when guilty, who is quarrelsome, who is licentious". A Biblical "fool" is more active than an English "fool". A Biblical fool tries harder to be foolish, is knowingly and stubbornly in the state of "fool". Keep that difference in mind as we continue.

This sentiment is more for modern fools, who can't help it (Source)

     Though the Torah/Law does not concern itself with rulings about fools, the book of Proverbs is almost entirely about avoiding both foolishness and fools. For context, Proverbs was written by Solomon, the son of David. Solomon was rewarded with extreme wisdom (1 Kings). As is fitting his knowledge, much of his writing has to do with wisdom and its importance. Solomon was not without problems, though. In addition to extreme wisdom, Solomon was blessed with a terrible son, Rehoboam. Rehoboam's actions led directly to the splitting of the kingdom of Israel. The people, upset with heavy taxes, asked Rehoboam to reduce them. Ignoring the advice of his elder and wise counselors, Rehoboam sought the advice of his childhood chums, who told him to oppress the people more. Rehoboam's answer to the people was as follows, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions." (1 Kings 12:14). Thankfully, he ignored his friends' advice to bring Solomon's "loins" into the matter (1 Kings 12:10). Knowing what Solomon was dealing with at home adds meaning to his long rants about the importance of wisdom and being a good son; Rehoboam obviously never listened to anything he said, probably adding more than a few gray hairs to Solomon's head.
     That being said, let's dive into what fools are said to do.

• The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkens unto counsel is wise. (Proverbs 12:15)
• A fool despises his father's instruction: but he that regards reproof is prudent. (Proverbs 15:5)
• A scorner loves not one that reproves him: neither will he go unto the wise. (Proverbs 15:12)
• A reproof enters more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool. (Proverbs 17:10)
• He that begets a fool does it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. (Proverbs 17:21)
• A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him. (Proverbs 17:25)
• Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. (Proverbs 23:9)
• Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. (Proverbs 23:20-22)
• Whoso keeps the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shames his father. (Proverbs 28:7)
• He that trusts in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walks wisely, he shall be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26)
• The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools. (Proverbs 26:7)

    There are many, many more places in the Bible speaking of fools. They talk excessively (Ecclesiastes 5:3); they celebrate while wiser folk mourn (Ecclesiastes 7:4); they do not plan ahead (Matthew 5); they are enslaved by pleasures (Titus 3:3), and so on, and so on. The picture painted is a clear one. Fools disregard sound advice, don't learn from their mistakes, disrespect their parents, party too hard, and trust themselves above all others. I'm sure we all know at least one person who has these traits--more likely, we know more than one. The question now becomes, what are we to do about it? Do they fit into another group? Do we care for them, as we do for our enemies and strangers? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer, no solid action suggested by the Law. All we have are the verses explaining the effect of fools.

• A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. (Proverbs 26:3)
• Answer a fool as his folly deserves, lest he be wise in his own eyes. (Proverbs 26:5)
• Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly. (Proverbs 17:12)

     As Proverbs tells us, and as Solomon was no doubt intimately aware, there isn't much to do. You can beat a fool, but as Proverbs 17:10 tells us, the lesson will not sink in. We are to rebuke a fool as deserved, but according to Proverbs 23:9, the fool will not listen. This leads us to the last verse on the list, Proverbs 17:12. Because of the thorny problem fools present, it's better to be attacked by an angry bear than to meet one. 

This photographer gets to meet both at once! (Source)

Conclusion

     What makes fools a tricky topic is the lack of clear guidelines. Repentant sinners should be forgiven; enemies should be cared for; friends, supported and assisted. The required instruction and punishment of fools doesn't do much good, so the best recourse, like when meeting an angry bear, seems to be to run far, far away. If you meet with a fool, I wish you godspeed. If you are the fool, I wish you luck in seeking wisdom.