Proverbs 27:22

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

אִ֥ם תִּכְתּֽוֹשׁ־אֶת־הָאֱוִ֨יל ׀ בַּֽמַּכְתֵּ֡שׁ בְּת֣וֹךְ הָ֭רִיפוֹת בַּֽעֱלִ֑י לֹא־תָס֥וּר מֵ֝עָלָ֗יו אִוַּלְתּֽוֹ׃ פ

Transliteration

ʾim tiktôš-ʾet-hāʾĕwîl bamaktēš bĕtôk hārîpôt baʿĕlî lōʾ-tāsûr mēʿālāyw ʾiwwaltô

Grammar Details

• *ʾim*: conjunction - if
• *tiktôš*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - you pound
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *hāʾĕwîl*: definite article + masculine singular - the fool
• *bamaktēš*: preposition + definite article + masculine singular - in the mortar
• *bĕtôk*: preposition + masculine singular construct - in the midst of
• *hārîpôt*: definite article + feminine plural - the grain
• *baʿĕlî*: preposition + definite article + masculine singular - with the pestle
• *lōʾ*: negative particle - not
• *tāsûr*: qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular - will depart
• *mēʿālāyw*: preposition + preposition + 3rd person masculine singular suffix - from upon him
• *ʾiwwaltô*: feminine singular + 3rd person masculine singular suffix - his foolishness

Word Meanings

• *kātaš*: pound/crush/beat
• *ʾĕwîl*: fool/foolish person
• *maktēš*: mortar/grinding bowl
• *tāwek*: midst/middle
• *rîpôt*: grain/crushed grain/groats
• *ʿĕlî*: pestle/club
• *sûr*: turn aside/depart/be removed
• *ʾiwwelet*: foolishness/folly

Referenced Verses

• Prov 23:35 : 35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
• Jer 5:3 : 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
• Isa 1:5 : 5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
• Jer 44:15-16 : 15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, 16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
• Rev 16:10-11 : 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
• Exod 12:30 : 30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
• Exod 14:5 : 5 And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
• Exod 15:9 : 9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
• 2 Chr 28:22-23 : 22 And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. 23 For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.