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Sense of the Day: To Act Foolishly

April 20, 2014 by Jonathan Watson

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Sense: to act foolishly

Definition: v. — to behave in a way that shows a lack of wisdom or understanding good judgment.

A sword against the diviners, that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, that they may be destroyed!

Jeremiah 50:36

Translations differ on who Jeremiah is talking to in 50:36. Is he talking to “oracle priests” (NASB), “diviners” (ESV, NRSV), or “false prophets” (NIV)? Regardless, he states that they “become fools,” which suggests that they begin “to act foolishly.” To understand what Jeremiah means, perhaps it would be helpful to see some examples of people in the Bible who act foolishly. If we look at the Bible Sense Lexicon entry for “to act foolishly” under the entry for yʾl, which is the Hebrew word used here in Jeremiah 50:36, we can find two other places in the Hebrew Bible with examples of foolish behavior. In Numbers 12:11, Aaron states that he and Miriam have “done foolishly” by speaking against Moses. In Jeremiah 5:4, the poor are said to “have no sense” (or be “foolish”) because they “do not know the way of the Lord.” These could provide helpful sermon illustrations to demonstrate what it means “to act foolishly.”

What is the Bible Sense Lexicon?

Sense of the Day is based on content from Logos’ Bible Sense Lexicon, which organizes biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek words by meaning based on a variety of semantic relationships. Sense of the Day provides examples of senses in context, along with insight into their application for theology and interpretation.

The Bible Sense Lexicon is a Logos dataset available in Logos 5 Gold and higher base packages. If you’re enrolled in the Logos Academic Discount Program, you can also find the Bible Sense Lexicon in the Biblical Languages base package. Take your studies even further by exploring semantic domains, engaging the biblical text like never before.

Learn more about the Bible Sense Lexicon.

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