What is Foolishness? (32 Bible Verses on Folly)

The biblical concept of foolishness is acting in ways that go against wisdom and good sense. For instance, despising wisdom and instruction, getting angry quickly, or trusting only in ourselves are signs of foolishness. Speaking without thinking, rejecting advice, and engaging in reckless behavior are all foolish actions.

The Hebrew meaning of foolishness refers to a person who is arrogant, dull, and referred to as a simpleton. The Greek word for foolishness is “folly,” which means a lack of understanding and can be described as senselessness.

Repeating mistakes, talking too much without saying anything meaningful, and mocking sin also mark foolishness. Additionally, causing trouble, lacking self-control, spreading lies, ignoring others’ opinions, being prideful, misusing resources, refusing correction, and failing to learn from experience display foolishness. Essentially, anytime we ignore wisdom, act carelessly, or fail to seek understanding, we are exhibiting foolishness in God’s eyes.

We all display signs of foolishness at times. By learning what the Bible says about foolishness, we can avoid such behavior and the negative consequences that follow.

32 Bible Verses on Foolishness

Proverbs 1:7 (NIV): “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Proverbs 29:11 (NIV): “Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.”
Proverbs 28:26 (NIV): “Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.”
Ecclesiastes 5:3 (NIV): “A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.”
Proverbs 12:15 (NIV): “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.”
Proverbs 14:16 (NIV): “The wise fear the Lord and shun evil, but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure.”
Proverbs 26:11 (NIV): “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.”
Ecclesiastes 10:14 (NIV): “Fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming—who can tell someone else what will happen after them?”
Proverbs 14:9 (NIV): “Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.”
Proverbs 20:3 (NIV): “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.”
Proverbs 1:22 (NIV): “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?”
Proverbs 10:18 (NIV): “Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.”
Psalm 14:1 (NIV): “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”
Proverbs 18:2 (NIV): “Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions.”
Proverbs 21:20 (NIV): “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”
Proverbs 15:5 (NIV): “A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.”
Ecclesiastes 7:9 (NIV): “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.”
Proverbs 17:21 (NIV): “To have a fool for a child brings grief; there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.”
Proverbs 19:13 (NIV): “A foolish child is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof.”
Proverbs 26:12 (NIV): “Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.”
Ecclesiastes 2:14 (NIV): “The wise have eyes in their heads, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.”
Proverbs 17:24 (NIV): “A discerning person keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.”
Proverbs 18:7 (NIV): “The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.”
Proverbs 23:9 (NIV): “Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.”
Proverbs 24:8-9 (NIV): “Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer. The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker.”
Ecclesiastes 10:12-13 (NIV): “Words from the mouth of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips. At the beginning their words are folly; at the end they are wicked madness.”
Isaiah 32:6 (NIV): “For fools speak folly, their hearts are bent on evil: They practice ungodliness and spread error concerning the Lord; the hungry they leave empty and from the thirsty they withhold water.”
Proverbs 5:23 (NIV): “For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.”
Proverbs 6:32 (NIV): “But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.”
Proverbs 17:25 (NIV): “A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the mother who bore him.”
Proverbs 18:6 (NIV): “The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating.”
Psalm 107:17 (NIV): “Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.”