SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR FOOLISH PEOPLE

There is a precedent of using this response to falsehood in the OT Hebrew.

1. kesil – which implies a self-confidence in Wisdom Literature (e.g., Proverbs 17 and 26; Ecclesiastes 7)

2. evil – which implies a mental competence also used mostly in Wisdom Literature (e.g., Isa. 29:11; 35:8; Hos. 9:7)

3. nabal – which implies an empty headed person (e.g., Deut. 32:6,21; 2 Sam. 3:33; 13:13; Ps. 14:1; 53:1; Jer. 12:11)

4. sakal – which implies a thickheaded person (e.g., 1 Sam. 26:21; Eccl. 2:19; 10:3,14)

Jesus used three words to describe foolish people.

1. aphrōn, Luke 11:40; 12:20

2. anoētos, Luke 24:25

3. mōros, Matt. 5:22; 23:17,19

The strongest statement by Jesus in regard to the use of a characterization of one person by another is in Matt. 5:22, where mōros reflects the Aramaic word raca, which means incapable of life.

Paul follows the OT and Jesus in using several terms to describe foolish people.

1. aphrōn, 1 Cor. 15:36; 2 Cor. 11:16,19; 12:6,11

2. mōros, 1 Cor. 3:18; 4:10 and a related form in Rom. 1:22

People who claim to know God, but think and act in inappropriate ways, are often characterized as poor thinkers! Paul's sarcastic comments, so frequent in 1 and 2 Corinthians, reveal this type of person. They were so confident that they possessed knowledge that they could not see nor recognize true knowledge!