To Do Evil Is Like Sport to a Fool
To do evil is like sport to a fool, but a man of understanding has wisdom.
Wise King Solomon often contrasted God’s way of wisdom with the evil way of foolishness. Biblically, fools are people who “despise wisdom and instruction” and thus reject God and see no need to fear Him (Proverbs 1:7).
“The word translated sport usually means ‘joyous laughter’ (see Job 8:21; Ps. 126:2). At times it means ‘hollow laughter’ (14:13; Eccl. 7:3, 6). Here the proverb uses the word in a completely negative sense. For the fool, wickedness is only a game. He makes up the rules as he goes along; for him losing is only in getting caught. But a person who has understanding takes a longer-term perspective” (NKJV Study Bible, note on Proverbs 10:23-24).
For more on wisdom, see our article on “Proverbs.”
