Proverbs — Chapter 26

Ne respondeas stulto iuxta stultitiam suam, ne efficiaris ei similis

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you become like him yourself. Lapide: This verse (and v.5, which seems to say the opposite) form a famous apparent contradiction that Lapide resolves by context: v.4 means do not answer a fool in his own foolish manner (imitating his passion, arrogance, or irrelevance), lest you reduce yourself to his level. V.5 means: do answer a fool (firmly, with truth), lest he think his folly is unanswerable and wisdom is silent before it. The synthesis: answer the fool, but don't answer foolishly — engage with substance but not with passion or mimicry.

Sicut canis qui revertitur ad vomitum suum, sic imprudens qui iterat stultitiam suam

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Lapide: One of the most vivid and memorable images in Proverbs. The dog who eats his vomit is a universally recognized figure of disgusting behavior — yet the fool who returns to his same sin, his same stupidity, his same moral failures is doing exactly this. 2 Peter 2:22 quotes this verse directly. Lapide: Habitual sin creates a perverse attachment to what is objectively repulsive — the sinner has lost the capacity to see his own condition. Only divine grace and sincere humility can break this cycle.