Naval, Eveel, Sakal, Kesil: So Many FOOLS

FOOL: naval, eveel, sakal, kesil 

Today we’ll look at a few root words commonly translated as “fool”, “foolish”, or “folly” Why are there a few words for the concept of a fool? Well, Hebrew is not a basic language. Like most languages, there are many synonyms for many words. In the English language we have numerous words for a fool: a silly person, an idiot, an imbecile, a dimwit, an ass, a moron, a numbskull, an ignoramus, a buffoon and on and on we could go. Hebrew is no different. Today we’ll look at examples from four of the most common “foolish” Hebrew words:

Naval:

Na’vawl, adjective [foolish one] (Strong’s 5036).

The earliest use of naval comes in the fifth scroll of the Torah. The fools in this instance were the Hebrew people who made some very bad decisions:

Deuteronomy 32:5-6, 21

“They have acted corruptly against Him [YHWH], they are not His children, because of their defect; but are a perverse and crooked generation. Is this what you do to YHWH you foolish [naval נָבָ֖ל] and unwise people? Is He not your Father who has purchased you? He has made you and established you…“

…[YHWH:] “They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish [naval נָבָ֖ל] nation.”

Probably the most striking fool statement was repeated twice in the Psalms, in Psalm 53:1 and the following:

Psalm 14:1 

The fool [naval נָבָ֣ל] has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

In Scripture his may be the most determinate definition of a fool. Our atheist friends may disagree, but according to the Bible, they are fools.

Here is an example from the prophet Isaiah who used naval three times in a short passage:

Isaiah 32:5-6

No longer will the fool [l-naval לְנָבָ֖ל] be called noble, or the rogue be spoken of as generous. For a fool [naval נָבָל֙] speaks foolishness [n’valah נְבָלָ֣ה], and his heart inclines toward wickedness: to practice ungodliness and to speak error against YHWH, to keep the hungry person unsatisfied and to withhold drink from the thirsty.

Ezekiel cleverly used wordplay by choosing naval for foolish and paired it with the very similar Hebrew word for prophets:

Ezekiel 13:3

This is what the Lord YHWH says: “Woe to the foolish prophets [ha-n’vi’im ha-n’valim הנביאים הנבלים] who are following their own spirit and have seen nothing! Israel, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins.”

Ha-n’vi’im ha-n’valim is a bit of a tongue twister. N’vi’im (prophets) is very similar sounding to n’valim (fools) making it a great choice to put together, almost like a well placed mnemonic device. 

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that there is a certain man in the Tanakh named Nabal (Naval). He was aptly named Fool as he foolishly insulted and rejected David’s request for assistance. In comparison, Nabal’s wife Abigail acted very wisely, made peace with David, and saved the family land. Not long after the fool named Fool died after her heard of Abigail’s saving actions. 

Eveel/Evelet/Eveelee

E’veel, adjective (Strong’s 191). E’vili, adjective (Strong’s 196). E’velet, Feminine noun (Strong’s 200).

Let’s take a look at some eveel/evelet/eveelee examples which is found in Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Hosea:

Psalm 69:5

[David:] God, You know my foolishness [l-iwwal’ti לְאִוַּלְתִּ֑י], and my guilt is not hidden from You.

Proverbs 16:22

Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but the discipline of fools is foolishness [eh’vilim eevelet אולים אולת].

Proverbs 19:3

Foolishness [eevelet אִוֶּ֣לֶת] of a person ruins his way, and his heart rages against YHWH.

This passage highlighted that the actions of the foolish set him off course. The way to YHWH was not a path chosen by the foolish. Isaiah outlined the metaphorical highway to YHWH and the fools relationship to the highway: 

Isaiah 35:8-10

A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks that way, and fools [w-eh’vilim וֶאֱוִילִ֖ים] will not wander on it.

No lion will be there, nor will any vicious animal go up on it; they will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, and the redeemed of YHWH will return and come to Zion with joyful shouting, and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Sakal/Sekel/Sikluth

Sakal, verb (Strong’s 5528). Sekel, masculine noun (Strong’s 5529). Sakal, masculine noun (Strong’s 5530). Sik’lut, masculine noun (Strong’s 5531).

Surprisingly, sakal was never used in Proverbs or Psalms, but it was used heavily in the scroll of Ecclesiastes. It can also be found in the two books of Samuel, the two books of Chronicles, Isaiah and Jeremiah, as well as the first and only mention of a fool in Genesis. Who was the Genesis fool? If you guessed Jacob, you’d be right:

Genesis 31:27-29

[Laban to Jacob:] “Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with tambourine and with lyre; and did not allow me to kiss my grandchildren and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly [hi-s’kal’ta הִסְכַּ֥לְתָּֽ]. It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’”

Here are two other sakal examples:

Ecclesiastes 10:5-6

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like a mistake that proceeds from the ruler: foolishness [ha-sekel הַסֶּ֔כֶל] is set in many exalted places while the rich sit in humble places. 

Jeremiah 5:21-23

“Now hear this, you foolish [sakal סָכָ֖ל] and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. ‘Do you not fear Me?’ declares YHWH ‘Do you not tremble in My presence? For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an eternal limit, and it will not cross over it. Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they will not cross over it. But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and departed.’”

Kasal/Kesil/ Kesiluth

 Kasal, verb (Strong’s 3688). K’seel, masculine noun (Strong’s 3684). Kesiluth, feminine noun (Strong’s 3687).

The noun kesil is one of the more prominent words used to describe a fool. It appears prominently in Ecclesiastes, Psalms, and Proverbs. Here is a sampling:

Psalm 94:8-14

Pay attention, you stupid ones among the people; and when will you understand, foolish ones [u-k’silim וּ֝כְסִילִ֗ים]? He who planted the ear, does He not hear? Or He who formed the eye, does He not see? He who disciplines the nations, will He not rebuke, He who teaches mankind knowledge?

YHWH knows human thoughts, that they are mere breath. Blessed is the man whom You discipline, YHWH, and whom You teach from Your Law, so that You may grant him relief from the days of adversity, until a pit is dug for the wicked. For YHWH will not abandon His people, nor will He abandon His inheritance.

Proverbs 18:2

A fool [k’sil כְּ֭סִיל] does not delight in understanding, but in revealing his own mind.

Proverbs 26:1

Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest, so honour is not fitting for a fool [li-k’sil לִכְסִ֣יל].

Ecclesiastes 5:4

When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools [ba-k’silim בַּכְּסִילִ֑ים]. Pay what you vow!

Fools were consistently paired in opposition to the wise:

Proverbs 10:23

Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool [li-k’sil לִ֭כְסִיל], and so is wisdom to a person of understanding.

Proverbs 13:20

One who walks with wise people will be wise, but a companion of fools [k’silim כְסִילִ֣ים] will suffer harm.

Proverbs 29:11

A fool [k’sil כְסִ֑יל] always loses his temper, but a wise man holds it back.

Ecclesiastes  7:4-7, 9

The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools [k’silim כְּסִילִ֖ים] is in the house of pleasure. It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise person than for one to listen to the song of fools [k’silim כְּסִילִֽים]. For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool [ha-k’sil הַכְּסִ֑יל]; and this too is futility…

…Do not be eager in your spirit to be angry, for anger resides in the heart of fools [k’silim כְּסִילִ֖ים].

Combining Fools

Of course we often find passages that use more than one of these foolish’esque words. Naval appears to stand alone and I have not found it combined with other “foolish” words, but the other words are often matched together. Most frequently kesil is paired with eveel. Here are a few examples:

Proverbs 14:7-8

Leave the presence of a fool [k’sil כְּסִ֑יל], or you will not discern words of knowledge. The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way, but the foolishness of fools [w-eevelet k’silim וְאִוֶּ֖לֶת כְּסִילִ֣ים] is deceit.

Proverbs 15:2, 5

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge pleasant, but the mouth of fools [k-silim כְ֝סִילִ֗ים] spouts foolishness [eevelet אִוֶּֽלֶת]. …A fool [eh’vil אֱוִ֗יל] rejects his father’s discipline, but he who complies with rebuke is sensible.

Proverbs 26:4-5

Do not answer a fool [k’sil כְּ֭סִיל] according to his foolishness [k-eeval’tow כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ], or you will also be like him. Answer a fool [k’sil כְ֭סִיל] as his foolishness [k-eeval’tow כְּאִוַּלְתּ֑וֹ] deserves, so that he will not be wise in his own eyes.

Jeremiah 4:22

[YHWH:] “For My people are foolish [eh’vil אֱוִ֣יל], they do not know Me; they are foolish [s’kalim סְכָלִים֙] children and have no understanding. They are skillful at doing evil, but they do not know how to do good.”

The writing in the book of Ecclesiastes was especially adept at using wordplay between k’sil and sakal/sik’lut. The root of these two words are very similar in sound because they share the same letters, just in a different order (KSL vs SKL) :

Ecclesiastes 2:12-19a

So I turned to consider wisdom, insanity, and foolishness [w-sik’lut וְסִכְל֑וּת]; for what will the man do who will come after the king, except what has already been done? Then I saw that wisdom surpasses the foolish [ha-sik’lut הַסִּכְל֑וּת] as light surpasses the darkness. The wise person’s eyes are in his head, but the fool [w-ha-k’sil וְהַכְּסִ֖יל] walks in darkness. And yet I know that one and the same fate happens to both of them.

Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool [ha-k’sil הַכְּסִיל֙], it will also happen to me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is futility.” For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool [ha-k’sil הַכְּסִ֖יל], since in the coming days everything will soon be forgotten. And how the wise and the fool [ha-k’sil הַכְּסִֽיל] alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.

So I hated all the fruit of my labour for which I had laboured under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool [sakal סָכָ֔ל]? 

Ecclesiastes 7:25

I directed my mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness [kesel כֶּ֔סֶל] and the foolishness [w-ha-sik’lut וְהַסִּכְל֖וּת] of insanity.

Yeshua and the Fools

The Greek of the New Testament also has more than one word for fool. We will look at two: aphrón and móros. The New Testament scrolls reflected both when quoting Yeshua (Jesus).

So what did Yeshua say about fools? Well, He wasn’t shy about calling the Pharisees and synagogue leaders “fools”:

Luke 11:37-41

Now when He [Jesus] had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in and reclined at the table. When the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised that Jesus had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.

But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish; but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. Fools! [Greek: aphrones] Did He who made the outside not make the inside also? But give that which is within as a charitable gift, and then all things are clean for you.”

In the Luke passage aphones was used and translated as fools. In the following Matthew passages the Greek word moroi was preferred:

Matthew 23:16-17

[Jesus:] “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools [Greek: moroi] and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?”

Yeshua loved speaking in parables and riddles. Sometimes the were hard to suss out, but other times they were very clear:

Matthew 7:26-27

[Jesus:] “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish [moro] man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”

It was simple. Don’t be foolish. Listen and act on the words of Yeshua. Here’s another one of Yeshua’s parables:

Matthew 25:1-13

[Jesus:] “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish [Greek: morai], and five were prudent. For when the foolish [Greek: morai] took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them; but the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps.”

“Now while the groom was delaying, they all became drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’

Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish [Greek: morai] virgins said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’

However, the prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Yet later, the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour”.

All in all, the lessons about fools are pretty simple: 

• Don’t be a fool, but instead strive for wisdom
• Be careful with your words and your actions, those thing separate the fools from the wise
• Follow and act on the words and lessons of Yeshua
• Live your life wisely, not foolishly, knowing that at any moment you may take your last breath 

We’re not perfect. Very often we are foolish… and YHWH understands that… but we need to strive to be wise. That yearning for wisdom separates us from the foolish. If our goal is continually to be wise, that will outweigh our foolishness. Yeshua died to redeem us from our foolishness. We can’t be weighed down by it or defined by it.

Seek YHWH, seek wisdom, and follow and act on the words and life-lessons of Yeshua. This is a wise course of action which will act as an excellent immunization for foolishness. 

Finally, be prepared, like the prudent bridesmaids waiting for the groom to take them to the wedding feast. There’s a great party waiting for you in God’s heavenly Kingdom. Don’t be a fool and miss out!

Next week: Philistines